Laptop

Baltimore County police are investigating an armed robbery that occurred near Towson University early Tuesday morning. The male victim told police that six to seven white men — one brandishing a handgun, the rest with knives — kicked in the victim's door of his residence on East Burke Avenue near campus, at about 1:40 a.m. Tuesday, said police Lt. Robert McCullough. He said the victim reported three laptops and a PlayStation were taken, but the victim was not injured.

A judiciary rules committee has postponed adopting a statewide policy on whether communications devices - including cell phones and laptops - will be allowed in Maryland courts. The group was set to vote on a rule banning such devices last week, but the issue has been held over until next month's meeting, said Sandra F. Haines, the reporter for the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, which is appointed by the Maryland Court of Appeals. Opponents of a ban argue that it amounts to backward thinking and extreme inconvenience, while proponents say it would protect witness identities by preventing cell phone pictures of them, and minimize disruptions.

You would be able to play games, read electronic books, listen to music, watch movies and choose from nearly 140,000 smart-phone applications - all while on the go with Apple Inc.'s new iPad. The question is whether you would want or need such a device, and be willing to pay $499 or more for it. After months of hype that culminated in days of water-cooler speculation, Apple unveiled Wednesday the highly anticipated iPad, essentially a personal computer contained in a portable flat-panel touch screen.

When the history of computing is written, our era may well be labeled "The Time of the Big Launch." Major innovations in personal computing live and die on the strength of their introductions, and rarely does a new device catch on over time, as would a car or a coffee maker. If the niche does not already exist, perhaps it never will. But with the coming of Apple's much-rumored tablet device, we may well see history in the making, as the importance of the product's debut is dwarfed by what it actually does.

There are a lot of technologically proficient people in Janet's World: people who can remotely trouble-shoot computer, router and Wi-Fi issues. People who don't have an anachronistic cow at the sight of the Macintosh Spinning Wheel of Panic or the PC Perpetually Turning Hourglass. People who can upload and download in their sleep, effortlessly turning jpegs into pdfs the way preschoolers turn sitting into somersaulting. I state this so that you know the competition was stiff for this year's Janet's World Technology Wizard Award.

VERO BEACH, Fla. -With his stethoscope decorated with three tiny koalas, Dennis Saver looks every bit the family doctor as he steps into the examining room of his small practice on Florida's Treasure Coast. When Saver begins to examine his patient, however, he does something that four out of five doctors in America do not do: He pulls out a computer. The little black Toshiba, its edges worn to the bare metal, now gets more use than the stethoscope and has become key to the care Saver gives his patients.

I was complaining about moving files and pictures and stuff from my old computer to my new laptop - the electronic equivalent of your parents moving out of the family home and into a condo - when one of my friends offered this commiseration. "Yeah. It's like having two men and not being able to remember which one you did what with." That's me, I thought. The microprocessor version of HBO's Big Love. I have this fresh, young, streamlined laptop that can go like mad and restart in seconds.

Name: : Checkpoint Friendly Laptop Protector What it is: : A laptop carrying case made by Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based Travelon that allows air travelers to get their computers through security without taking the machines out of their carrying cases. How it works: : The case can be adjusted to fit your computer snugly. Once you have a good fit, wedge it in - add nothing else or security officers will make you take it out - and slip the computer in another carrying case, like a briefcase or a backpack.

Police reports in baltimore city and county: Eastern Baltimore Shooting A man, 21, was shot in the neck by one of four teenage males in the 900 block of McAleer Court about 6 p.m. yesterday and was taken by a city Fire Department ambulance to Johns Hopkins Hospital. His condition was not available. Four young males riding on three dirt bikes were seen leaving the scene and were being sought. Anyone with information is asked to call district detectives at 410-396-2433. Northern Baltimore Armed robbery A deliveryman for Pizza Boli's was returning to his car parked in the 3500 block of Poole St. in Hampden after delivering food to the occupants of a house about 10 p.m. Saturday when he was stopped by a man wearing a ski mask and holding a revolver.