Philippe Matthews Show Guru Advice, Author Reviews, Tech Reviews, Entertainment News

The new full body airport scanners received a lot of attention at the end of 2010. I travel frequently for my job so air travel is a big part of my life. I understand the need for security; I’m just not as convinced on the need for a full body scan that shows my completely exposed body.

It's International Women's Day--and in fact it's the hundredth such event. Google 's

A big breakthrough in the race for better biofuels was announced this week from the U.S. Department of Energy, where the department's BioEnergy Science Center figured out how to produce isobutanol, a gasoline-like fuel, directly from cellulose (i.e. corn stalks and switchgrass).

Web TV destination and production company Next New Networks has built its brand by scouting for talent on YouTube--but it looks like Google and YouTube may have been the one scouting NNN. Today YouTube, which Fast Company profiled in our February issue , announced that it had acquired NNN in a deal that could turn YouTube from content host to content creator. "Since launching in March 2007, the Next New Networks team has built a highly effective platform for developing, packaging and building audiences around original web video programming, attracting over 2 billion views and 6 million subscribers," wrote Tom Pickett, cirector of global content operations, in a blog post .

The iPad isn't just just a luxury device for gadget fetishists. The proof may soon be found in airline cockpits, where major airlines are testing out the iPad as a replacement for paper maps and clunky aviation computers

It's time to break out the manuscripts for Avon Impulse, a new digital romance imprint from Avon Books. The imprint launches next week with "A Lady's Wish," an e-novella from popular author Katherine Ashe--but amateurs also have a chance to get in on the action. The Avon Impulse website provides a simple form for aspiring authors to upload their manuscripts, along with general descriptions and answers to questions like, "What's your best line of dialogue?" and "Post the best scene or the first 1,000 words." The site helpfully suggests popular subgenres, such as steampunk, vampire, ghost, and shifter (who knew werewolves and their ilk so titillated the masses...?).

The life--and money--you save could be your own. With very few exceptions, killing people is bad for business

As worldwide demand for both food and biofuels increases, so does the the demand for palm oil, which can be used for both food and biofuel production. But while biofuels may cut down on CO2 emissions compared to petroleum, palm oil plantations have the nasty effect of releasing CO2 into the atmosphere--and the problem is only getting worse, according to a study from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the National University of Singapore.

Could blindness soon be a thing of the past? A California company called Second Sight recently received approval in Europe to sell the Argus II, a $115,000 gadget that can partially restore sight to patients with degenerative eye disease.

How would you feel if you met Danish Professor Henrik Scharfe and then moments later were introduced to another Henrik Scharfe, this time an almost identical android? A new Geminoid bot makes this possible

Skype just revealed something new--it's adopting in-app adverts.

The iPad 2 is only just out in public, but the iPhone 5 rumors are now ramping up, with hints the new phone may get an all-metal makeover. Does this make good sense

A 246-acre IT park is to be built in the Southern state of Kerala. Delhi's got its "Cyber city," the area in nearby Gurgaon where the likes of Yahoo!, Deloitte, and other large multinationals reside.

Depending on how you deploy it, live chat on a company website can be a boon for business or a terrible calamity. For some, it’s like adding a crack team of ace deal-closers who contribute directly to the bottom line. For others, it’s like hiring a surly, inattentive sales clerk who sends customers fleeing for the virtual door

"I started swearing to myself four or five years ago that I would never launch another product at SXSW," says Josh Wiliams, founder and CEO of Gowalla, the Austin-based check-in service. "That's never come true--my success record on that promise has just not been good." Already gearing up to make a splash at this year's SXSW, the company today launched Gowalla 3 for Android, creating a "freshly baked" port of the popular iPhone app.