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The designer of the laptop as we know it, Bill Moggridge, passed away this last weekend at the age of 69. Morrgridge was one of the pioneers of industrial design that created the first laptop for Grid Systems, a startup firm. The first model that is also considered the first laptop ever the Grid Compass was his baby. At only 12 pounds weight it was a breakthrough for the current “mobile” solutions that were averaging at 26 pounds. It featured a folding display and it was used by NASA and the military. The price was $8,150, which was quite a lot back in 1982.

Someone is claiming that the one million UDIDs posted by Anonymous actually were taken from them and not the FBI or Apple. The company Blue Toad from Orlando FL says that they checked the pastebin file and it was a 98% match for their database. This is an interesting twist in the events that have seen Apple, the FBI and even AT&T linked to surveillance of Apple phones through the use of the UDID (Unique Device IDentifier). Apple has already stated that the UDID will no longer be supported in the next version of their iOS software that is expected to be released to the world tomorrow.

HP plans to sack even more people than it was previously announced. HP CEO, Meg Whitman has said that they will have to lay off 27,000 people to turn things around in the company, but apparently that was not enough and new numbers are saying that they will cut 2,000 more jobs. No explanations were given for this move, but it is possible that the increasing popularity of the tablet and smartphone market, where HP has nothing to offer, is scaring them. Additionally HP might feel that their personal computers just won’t be enough to compete with the new market. Don’t forget that HP is the largest PC maker in the world.

The FBI is getting on the biometric bandwagon as they are moving forward with a program to help them catch bad guys. The problem with the program, as always, is that these same systems that are intended to keep us safe can be abused. The new program dubbed The Next Generation Identification program is a $1 Billion “upgrade” to the national finger print database. The new system adds in a few items that could be very helpful in tracking down and catching the “bad guys”. The new data includes pictures, voice prints, iris scans, DNA and potentially more.