Arizona,United States

Trend Micro, a computer security firm, is warning that social-networking sites are under attack from a new wave of malware, worms and rogue applications. Although a number of the leading social-network sites have been targeted, the problem has hit Facebook hardest.

"We didn't see a lot of these until recently," said Jamz Yaneza, the threat research manager for Trend Micro. "So far, they don't seem to be affecting users that much, although at least one Facebook group has been started by malware victims."

New technology at the nation's busiest border crossing can read chip-enabled travel documents up to 30 feet from an inspection booth, promising shorter waits but raising concerns about targeting by computer hackers.

San Diego's San Ysidro border crossing is a key test for the devices, known as radio frequency identification readers, because the facility is used by about 150,000 people daily.

It's the 13th land crossing to get the technology in recent months, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection plans to have it in place by June at the 39 busiest crossings with Mexico and Canada.

While technology manufacturers are cutting back on investments, computer chipmaker Intel is doing the opposite. The company said it will invest $7 billion over the next two years on three factory upgrades in the United States.

Intel said the investment is its largest on new manufacturing and represents 7,000 high-wage jobs. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company plans to upgrade existing facilities in Arizona, New Mexico and Oregon to manufacture its 32-nanometer products.

Google isn't immune to the economic downturn and is scaling back. The search giant will reassign 70 of its engineering positions and scale back its recruiting efforts by cutting 100 positions, it announced Wednesday.

Google said it is consolidating engineers from Texas, Norway and Sweden.

Not since the Gold Rush has there been such a stampede to stake out land in California and surrounding states, except this time, solar energy is the prize. The Bureau of Land Management has been swamped with applications for solar projects across millions of acres of desert since July.

Jennifer Wunder, an associate English professor at Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville, Ga., says she likes to keep her college-provided cell phone handy to send text messages and e-mails to students.

Wunder, 38, says her interaction with students is way up because she's reaching students on the same device they use.

"It's an incredible educational opportunity," she said.

On Jan. 7, she'll join about 75 fellow employees who will unplug their office phone and go wireless for good, said Lonnie Harvel, the school's chief information officer.

British retailer Tesco entered the U.S. market only last year but already it has managed to put Wal-Mart, the world's No. 1 retailer, on the defensive. Tesco fired the first salvo, in a battle that retailing analysts expect will intensify, by launching Fresh & Easy, a chain of 10,000-square-foot convenience stores, in cities across California, Nevada, and Arizona in November 2007. Eleven months later, Wal-Mart returned fire, taking on Tesco in Arizona with the debut of the similar-size Marketside, its first new store format in a decade.

by Anjuli Raza Kolb

Do biofuels compete with food for land resources? The debate rages on. University of Arizona biologist Robert Glenn, though, has a great compromise – grow the biofuels under the sea, where they won’t get in the way of food production.

Do biofuels compete with food for land resources?  The debate rages on.  University of Arizona biologist Robert Glenn, though, has a great compromise – grow the biofuels under the sea, where they won’t get in the way of food production.