Why should religious leaders have a say in how I exercise my right to vote? I do not remember reading anything in the Bible about Jesus telling his disciples who to elect as Herod’s successor. So why should today's ministers and pastors, who all claim they are God's anointed ones, tell their respective flocks who to vote for?

Has God given them heavenly authority to feel slighted when one candidate fails to come to any of their gatherings and forums? Who do they think they are? Have they forgotten about Jesus' admonition, telling them not to seek the seat of honor? A little humility here can go a long way.

Maybe, these so-called prophets and ministers ought to read their bibles more often, and of course, the Constitution. They might learn a thing or two about the separation of church and state. This goes for their followers, too.

Everything we have we owe to God. The rest, let Caesar hold onto them.

Power Up, Virus

IT security company Symantec discovered a Trojan hidden inside the Energizer Duo USB battery charger. The Trojan Arucer.dll affects computers using Windows (Why are we not surprised?), allows the hacker or attacker to operate the affected computer with the same rights as those of the logged-in user.

This is not the first time that malware has been discovered inside electronic products. What would malware authors think of next: pacemakers, solar panels, remote control toys, or cars’ onboard computers?

Handsets for the Powerless

India-based mobile phone company Olive Telecommunications recently introduced its FrvrOn (short for “forever on”), a mobile handset that uses ordinary AAA-sized batteries. The 1,699-rupee ($35) mobile phone is designed for people who live in rural areas where power supplies are unreliable.

Since this also describes aptly the electric power situation in almost all of this country, we would be wise to import some of these Indian phones, or better yet, develop something similar.

The Indian phone can operate for three hours powered by its conventional lithium battery. The AAA-sized batteries would power it for another hour.

India is one of the fastest growing mobile phone markets in the world today. This is made possible by low-cost handsets and cheap calling and messaging rates. Maybe our government and mobile phone companies can learn a lesson or two from their Indian counterparts.

3-D TVs

Electronics giants Sony, Samsung, and Panasonic are selling three-dimensional televisions in the United States. Samsung and Panasonic start selling their 3-D TVs this week, while Sony plans to do so in June.

TV vendors are hoping to make a killing from anticipated consumer demand for 3-D televisions. This corner certainly hopes consumers would love 3-D TVs enough to pay some $500 more than the usual prices of similarly sized conventional TVs.

That’s all for the meantime, folks. Join me again next time as we keep on watching IT.