Today a tattoo is a popular way of showing off a little individuality, but historically tattoos were used as a form of communication. Roman soldiers and slaves were tattooed on the hands, arms or even face as a way to alert those around them to their status, allowing authorities to more easily keep track of those in bondage. Soon tattoos might be used for communication again -- but for a very different purpose.

When biker Robert Swidersky learned about BikerOrNot.com from his son a few years ago, he decided he'd give it a shot."The more I used it, the more I found things I liked,"said Swidersky."I was informed about rides and events around me, and I could also inform others about rides and events, meet people, and create a fan page as to where I can share my hobbies or interests, or join other peoples' fan pages."

Linus Torvalds, the father of Linux, announced version 3.3 of the kernel Sunday. Among the most noteworthy changes found in 3.3 is the merging of kernel code from the Android project. Linux 3.3 also includes support for a new architecture, the Texas Instruments VelociTI Very Long Instruction Word architecture used in its C6x family of multicore devices.

How awful is the iPhone's native Mail app? My opinion: It's not awful at all. It isn't exactly a bright and shining paragon of mobile app awesomeness either, I suppose, and it hasn't changed a great deal since I first started using iOS regularly nearly four years ago. But it's a workhorse. It's simple, it does its job, there are no astoundingly bad design decisions, and I'm just accustomed to using it, warts and all.

Microsoft's next version of its office suite, Office 15, is currently available as a private preview for beta testers. However, a reviewer not bound by Microsoft's non-disclosure agreement claims to have used a copy, and he says the new version has a Metro look and feel to it that ties in Office to the minimalist aesthetics of Windows 8.

Security experts have been debating for years the merits of whitelists versus blacklists in securing an enterprise, and last week the debate continued to rage with the release of some test results from the Tolly Group. The group tested three endpoint protection programs: McAfee Endpoint Protection Suite, Symantec Endpoint Protection 12.1 and Parity Suite 6.0 from Bit9, which also sponsored the tests.

Windows 8 is likely the most ambitious UI project for Microsoft since Microsoft Bob, and we all know how that ended up. For what it was intended to do, Bob was both cutting-edge and very successful. However, the bar was set too high, and it failed spectacularly. We've since seen products like the RIM PlayBook -- which was a brilliant BlackBerry accessory but not designed to be a standalone product like the iPad -- fail for similar reasons.

I haven't had long to play with the new iPhoto app for iOS on my iPad 2, but first impressions might actually tell the tale pretty well this time: It's at once gorgeous, fluid, and fun ... but it's also confusing. How so? First, the look and feel. The app is broken out into four sections: Albums, Photos, Events and Journals.

The name of AT&T's pain, for this month anyway, is Matthew Spaccarelli. He's a customer that gave the carrier a small thumping in court, and that would have left AT&T with a very minor scab. But it seems the company just couldn't resist picking at it. It all started when Spaccarelli took AT&T to small-claims court over his smartphone data rate being throttled.

Nokia has confirmed that work is progressing on a Window 8 tablet device. That Nokia is opting for Windows 8 instead of Android is hardly a surprise, given Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop's history with Microsoft. Still, there are many questions surrounding the endeavor. What can Nokia bring to the tablet market that is unique?