Geek Stuff

Parents at Cowles Elementary School, 6401 College Ave., can tune into a radio station in the school parking lot at dismissal time and hear a live broadcast of students announcing school news.

It's all thanks to one parent's technology hobby.

Bill Paxson, who has two kids at Cowles, is a stay-at-home dad who keeps up with the latest technology. One afternoon a few years ago he was sitting in his car in the school's crowded parking lot at dismissal time waiting to pick up his children. As he waited, he was using one of his latest gadgets - a low-power transmitter that allowed him to listen to music from his iPod on an FM station on his car stereo.

"I was thinking if these people knew what frequency I use to listen to my iPod, they could all listen if they wanted to," Paxson said. "Then it got me thinking, what if I had information for parents on my iPod and they all listened to that frequency. Then one thing led to another and I started exploring."

Apple Unveils Ultra-Thin Notebook

The new Apple notebook computer's major attribute is its sleek profile: it's about three-quarters of an inch thick and weighs three pounds. The Macbook Air features a full-sized keyboard, a 13-inch screen, a built-in camera, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, all powered by an Intel Corp. dual core chip.

Appearing on stage at the company's Macworld expo, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said the computer, which he called "world's thinnest notebook," will cost $1,799 and is scheduled to ship in about two weeks.