Last week, asteroid Apophis came within 9.3 million miles of crossing paths with Earth.

While NASA scientists have been predicting that the 1,000-foot-wide asteroid was never going to hit the planet this year, the usual groups of people who can’t seem to wait for the world’s end had revived their hopes, which were dashed by the failed Mayan calendar episode.

And their hopes are expected to be even more buoyant when the year 2036 gets closer. Scientists are now telling us that the asteroid is expected to get within 18,000 miles. Measured using scales that are more fitting when talking about the Universe, that would be just about like firing a gun with the barrel an inch away from your nose.

More frightening for the rest of us, in fact, more frightening than a bundle of ancient calendars is that current models predict small but real chances of the asteroid hitting our world, and sending us to our creator’s embrace.

Tough Tablets

Tired of how your tablet computer seems to back away from physical challenges as fast as butter melts under the summer sun? Perhaps, you might want to get your hands on one of Panasonic’s recently announced Toughpad tablets.

Available in Windows 8 and Android versions, the Panasonic tablets passed the MIL-STD-810g military-grade test that includes drops, ability to handle water, and temperature.

The Toughpad FZ-G1, the Windows variant, comes with a 1,920 x 1,200 display, and is powered by a 1.9GHz Ivy Bridge Intel Core 15-3437U processor and includes a 128GB SSD. Its RAM count can go as high as 8GB. It also comes with a battery the company claims offers up to 8 hours of operating time.

The Android Toughpad, the JT-B1, is a 7-inch tablet that runs the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS from Google. With a screen that features 1,024 x 600 pixels, the tablet comes with a 1.5GHz dual-core TI OMAP 4660 processor, 16GB of storage, and 1GB of RAM.

These tablets certainly are tough. Consumers, however, will surely wish they come with less tough prices. The Windows 8 Toughpad comes with an SRP of $2,900 while the Android variant can be had for $1,300.

Tough.

60M Windows 8 Licenses

Sold?

Microsoft recently announced that it has sold more than 60 million licenses and upgrades for its Windows 8 operating system during the software’s first 10 weeks in the market.

Microsoft’s chief financial officer Tami Reller said sales of the new OS are in line with those of its predecessor, the Windows 7. Although the company, like its rivals in the market, did not announce the number of licenses that were activated, the sales figures disprove some market analysts’ assertion that the new OS is a dud.

Apparently, however, the announcement failed to impress Morgan Stanley analysts who downgraded the software company’s stock from “buy” to “hold.”

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