Of course, the world is getting more frightening by the minute. As Stevie Wonder tells us in his song “Used to Be,” there are too many great wars in little places.

And day by day, we are bombarded with media reports of people getting killed, maimed, or orphaned, sometimes on a wholesale basis.

Volcanoes erupting, people rising up against their rulers, fighters blowing themselves up to take along a dozen or more of their perceived enemies, countries that cannot feed their population creating weapons of mass destruction and the rockets to deliver them, these are just some of what greet us when we turn on our TVs or check online news.

I guess most people think now is the time to be afraid, to be mistrustful, and to hate. And I cannot blame them. Sometimes, I think that way too.

But before we all crawl back to the cave where some say we came from, let us take a time to catch our breath. Might we realize that there is nothing to be afraid, if we tried? Or find out that what we fear today cannot compare to what our grandfathers and grandmothers faced in their time.

Whenever I fear that being afraid is about to overcome me, I always try to recall the stories my lolo and lola told me about their experiences during the World War II years. Stories of being always on the run, of scavenging for nourishment, and scurrying and scampering away in order to live for another day, when I think about these things, I always realize that today’s worries are quite trivial to what my grandparents and their generation had to endure.

Then I am always too embarrassed to be afraid.

Tablet Flexes Muscle

My favorite market research firm recently unveiled its market report for tablet computers for the fourth quarter of 2012.

According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker report, global shipments of tablets performed better than forecast, reaching 52.5 million units. The market grew 75.3 percent from 29.9 million units in the fourth quarter of the previous year. Shipments rose 74.3 percent from 30.1 million units of the third quarter 2012.

Lower average selling prices, more choices, and higher consumer spending during the holiday season are the main drivers of the market growth, according to IDC.

Apple’s iPad retained its market dominance, shipping some 22.9 million units. Strong sales of the iPad mini and the fourth-generation iPad drove the brand’s 48.1 percent shipment growth. Stronger competition in the market, however, slightly reduced Apple’s market share from 46.4 percent to 43.6 percent, its second straight quarter of declines.

Samsung, for its part, saw its shipment grow 263 percent year over year to almost 8 million units (Android and Windows 8). This allowed Samsung to grab 15.1 percent of the market.

China Hacks?

Allegations have been growing about China-based hackers infiltrating the computers of Western companies, governments, and foreign-based Chinese dissidents.

The latest incidents involve alleged attacks against American newspapers New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

The New York Times said cyber attacks against its computers started when the company first reported about the wealth accumulated allegedly by the family and relatives of China’s premier Wen Jiabao.

The Wall Street Journal also said its computers had been infiltrated by Chinese hackers.

Some products made in China might be of questionable quality, but they certainly have some of the world’s best hackers, apparently.

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