Looks like newsmakers are done with their New Year's holiday.

Know Your Rights
A recent report from Oekom has placed the electronics industry as the most likely to violate workers' rights. So-called advances such as just-in-time delivery and the disposability of electronic gear such as iPods and cell phones has created the situation leading to the abuse of workers.

So, How Do You Right Click?
OnLive has developed a streaming application allowing iPad users to run Windows. Using streaming and cloud computing, Windows software can be run without being installed on the tablet itself. The app requires wifi access to run properly; anything less reduces the streaming and slows Windows down to the point where a 486 with XP is faster. This could be a big step towards replacing desktop PCs in businesses with tablets.

Nokia and Microsoft Team Up
The Consumers Electronics Show saw the introduction of the Lumia 900, a joint project by Nokia and Microsoft. The Lumia 900 is an attempt by both companies to catch up in the smartphone field. This could be a new entry point for geeks wanting to get work in a new OS and hardware environment – apps for the Windows phone could be in demand.

The End of Roaming Fees?
Roam Mobility of Vancouver has teamed up with T-Mobile in the US to provide roaming fee-less phone service in the US. Canadians pay some of the highest roaming fees in the world, with half the fees coming from travel to the US. Definitely a game-changer. Watch for the larger providers to react.

Tracking Epidemics? Google It!
A research team at Johns Hopkins Medicine has shown that Google Flu Trends has accurately predicted surges in flu cases at hospitals. The real-time Google search engine has better, more up-to-date information than the data released in government reports, which take time to process and release. Technology is getting more and more integrated into critical aspects of people's lives.

Social Networking Expands
A new scale by Fitbit has an added feature – it can tell your social network your weight. The idea is that a group of people working on weight loss can network their progress through Facebook, Twitter, or other social media. And, if that's not bad enough, terrorist groups are using social networking to recruit. However, in this case, social networks can also be used to spy on the groups.

–Scott D