MANILA, Philippines — Fortified by the knowledge that we survived the past year, we look with hard-earned confidence to the coming year.

Never mind that we start the year with some unpleasant, malodorous business. Never mind that our first order of business involves impeaching a chief magistrate for alleged betrayal of the people's trust.

Our focus instead should be directed at searching for a safer place for the survivors of last year's tropical storm whose deluge swept thousands of people to their watery doom. We should assign majority of our resources into finding a timely and lasting solution or solutions for the safety issues brought about by these regularly occurring catastrophes.

While we are busy looking for ways to protect our people's lives, we should be working quite as hard in helping ourselves find alternative means of livelihood — ways of earning money and bringing food to our tables without denuding our forests and stripping away our mountains' protective designs.

But I guess, we can achieve or approximate all of these if and only if we could and would put our priorities straight. We should, I believe, put human safety and respect for nature above all else. Instead of going for all-out, never-mind-the-consequences development, maybe we should learn to see things from a long-term point of view.

Raspberry Pi

This project reminds me of the One Laptop Per Child initiative from a couple of years or so ago. Like OLPC, the Raspberry Pi project seeks to offer today's students a low-cost introduction to computer science and computer engineering. Instead of just teaching students how to create documents and files, this program aims to give them opportunities to learn about the basics of systems architecture and systems development.

The Raspberry Pi project envisions students as future computer makers, instead of merely becoming IT consumers.

At present, the organization behind the project has completed development of the circuit board of the proposed $25 computer designed to combine low-cost components with maximum computing capabilities. The computer is designed to use SD cards for storage and run on a 700MHz ARM chip. Python will be its main programming language.

Peripherals, such as mice, keyboard, and external storage, will be connected via a USB hub. It can use a TV for its monitor.

HP Fixes Printer Hacking

HP last week released a firmware update the company says will resolve a security issue with its networked LaserJet printers.

Here are some backgrounders on the LaserJet hacking hole that HP at first denied ever existed. MSNBC reported that some researchers from Columbia University found that some HP LaserJet printers and probably other similar devices were too welcoming with remote firmware updates. These printers had no means of verifying software included in those upgrades.

The researchers claimed that hackers using malware can take control of those HP printers, gain access to data, or even start a fire.

HP claims its latest firmware update closes that hole.

As a long-time user of an HP printer, I sure hope it does. I don't want any hacker to know how much time I spend updating my Facebook account.

Hitachi's Huge Hard Drives

Despite knowing that this would be a non-news next year, I am thrilled (OK, mildly thrilled) by Hitachi Global Storage Technologies' announcement of the Deskstar 5K4000 Internal Hard Drive Kit and Touro Desk External Hard Drive. Both of these hard drives come with 4TB of storage capacities.

That is 4 terabytes, not megabytes, not gigabytes. A trillion-byte drive is certainly light years away from the 1.44MB 3 1/2-inch floppies.

I am sure smaller drives (or other formats) with bigger storage capacities will be coming soon, but for now, hurrah for the Hitachi drives.