Tech pundit Mike Elgan monitors the strange and wonderful world of gizmos, gadgets, and happenings. Did you know there's a site where a sexy woman moans your IP address? You'd never miss such developments if you were a Raw Feed reader. The closest thing in market is the HP Touchsmart as showcased by this video. And the closest thing out of market is Microsoft Surface as seen in this video. Taking from one of the videos, think of the possibilities. Compare this Apple Leopard, and then look at the iPhone. Now look at what they should have launched. It amazes me the number of people who have told me that, with a little improvement, their iPhone could replace their laptop (and they'd likely shift back to a desktop for office and home).

I just can't believe Apple is blind to this and think Steve is just trying to get Leopard out the door so he can shift resources to create an iPhone like PC (and iPod). Apple clearly could move into the enterprise but first they have to create a product as compelling for the desktop as they did with their phone. A diverse compendium of consumer tech factoids: Skype on the iPhone, saving data on a PC, and caffeine level calculators. (Caffeine level calculators? Have we really sunk to that level?) Nevertheless, the risks to the outlook are now more on the down side, given uncertainties about the global financial system, the U.S. outlook, and investors' risk appetite, including for emerging markets.

Twelve-month inflation is now projected to rise through the end of this year, reflecting exogenous shocks, including a jump in global food prices, unusually cold weather conditions in Chile, and disruptions in energy supply. Given the strong growth momentum, with excess capacity in the economy gradually vanishing and unemployment at historically low levels, the Banco Centrale has appropriately raised interest rates in recent months. This should insure that inflation expectations remain well-anchored around the 3 percent target and that food and energy price shocks do not spill over into other sectors. Looking ahead, with risks to the outlook more on the downside, the future monetary policy path will need to depend on economic and financial development in the coming months.

The strong improvement in the government's financial position in recent years has allowed a moderate reduction in the target for the structural surplus rule. We support this reduction and commend the government for keeping overall spending increases consistent with macroeconomic stability, as well as for the efforts to maintain the high quality of public spending in Chile. Keeping a small positive surplus target is appropriate, as it will allow the build up of some reserves to address future liabilities such as in the context of the planned reform of the pension system. Let me perhaps elaborate on the impact of the recent global financial turbulence. This impact has been relatively mild in Chile, both compared with most other countries in the region and also with Chile's own past experience. In our view, this is really a strong testimony to the very robust macroeconomic framework that Chile has built over the past two decades, with strong cushions against adverse shocks--a sound fiscal position, low public debt, and independent central bank, high international reserves, and a flexible exchange rate. The past few weeks have also served to underscore how resilient Chile's financial markets have become in the face of global turbulence.

Threats have widened relatively little. The exchange rate has been fairly stable, and in line with fundamentals. And the interbank market has continued to function in a normal way. This resilience reflects a healthy banking system and strong corporate balance sheets, again the result of Chile's excellent economic policy framework. Therefore, assuming no further major unexpected shocks or a global downturn, we believe that growth and employment in Chile will remain relatively strong, benefiting also from Chile's diversified export structure and continued brisk commodity demand. In truth, "consumer tech" is only part of what the wildly wide-ranging Boing Boing offers - the self-described "Dictionary of Wonderful Things" has few limits.

Panoramic cameras, five-foot animated Frankenstein monster, riffs on DRM, graphic novels...you just have to see it to understand it. While you're at it, take a look at co-editor Corey Doctorow's personal blog, Craphound. Both companies understand that the future is a connected world and that very high speeds over the network will allow things to be done remotely that require a local PC today. One new technology making the rounds in the Valley is from Teradici, a little company that may have made Google's and Cisco's dream of putting everything in the cloud a reality. They make a little part that will allow you to securely, and with minimal bandwidth, remote a full rich desktop experience over the network ,shifting all of the PC pain to a service provider. While I doubt they will remain independent for long, they are likely to have a huge impact on the future of our PCs at work and at home.