If we were to ask you, what are the two things that can get most men's adrenaline rushing, you probably will guess the first one right. Yes, it is 'women'.. and the second ?.... Wrong, it is neither booze nor the thought of gambling a night away at a casino. It is 'Mail' in their inbox. Research and statistical reports of men surfing the Internet support this finding. As for us, in addition to the above two factors "learning new technology" gets us all pepped up too.

And talking of new technology, among all of the products showcased at the Bang!inux conference, one particular innovation that stood out among the rest was the Linux Wristwatch from the research stables of IBM. You might have heard about this stunning little gadget from the big blue, which weighs just a little more than 1.5 ounces (approx. 44 gms.) and runs Linux. You might have even read the press release on it. But what we bring you today is an article based on an informal chat with a part of the research team at IBM's Bangalore research center.

IBM or `Big Blue', as it is passionately called, is not only a multi-billion dollar giant with a fascinating product line, but also the single largest company with the most number of patents in the world. And if such a company, which has all along banked upon it's proprietary products for it's revenue, were to suddenly turn to Open source it makes you wonder and a little skeptically too. And this is just what's happening.

IBM's investment (to the tune of a billion dollars) has got the whole Open Source world rife with speculations about the Big Blue's interest in the Linux arena. Looks like IBM, this time around, don?t want to miss the turn-on-the-road (it has passed a few in the past). Now it wants to show the world that it is serious about the most happening Operating System--`Linux'.

(Image taken from IBM's web-site)

The technical specifications for the wristwatch running Linux are as follows:

* Kernel: 2.2.1

* X11R6 for the GUI env.

* Size:

Watch:56mm wide x 48mm long x 12.25mm thick

(2.20 inches x 1.89 inches x 0.48 inches)

MotherBoard: 27.5 mm wide x 35.3 mm long

(1.08 inches x 39 inches)

* Weight: 44 Gms ( Approx. 1.5 ounces)

* Touch sensitive display

* 8MB Flash

* 8MB DRAM

* IrDA

* Radio Frequency Wireless connectivity

* Rechargeable Lithium Polymer battery