A magnet is an object that emits invisble lines of force between its poles. The earth is no different it’s just one big magnet emitting its own magnetic field between its two poles. Earths magnetic field is called the magnetosphere and surrounds the planet stretching over 36,000 miles into space, but why do we have a magnetic field and what’s it good for ?

Well scientists believe that electrical currents within the Earths molten iron core combined with the natural motion generated from the Earths rotation produces our magnetic field. This process is otherwise known as the Dynamo Effect.

So how exactly does the magnetosphere help us ? Well for starters it shields the Earth from the charged particles and radiation emitted from the suns outer surface. This stream of particles also referred to as solar wind, travels towards the Earth at speeds as high as 1,000,000 mph. Was it not for the magnetosphere which stops and deflects the solar wind the Earth would have very little protection from these destructive forces.

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Microsoft announced more details about its new service Morro, its plan for Microsoft Security Essentials. Morro is a free antivirus service for Windows that looks like it really can give Symantec and McAfee a run for their money. Should they be worried? Check out some of the details below.

The most important detail to me: free. Sure I want to protect my computer from the zillions of threats out there, but when the money starts coming out of my pocket I start feeling like I need to live a little more on the edge and maybe surf Hulu and io9 without protection. But Morro has some actual features that I could get behind as well.

• Real-time protection
• Lightweight design (not as many features as the security suites you buy)
• Idle-time scanning
• CPU throttling
• Rootkit Protection

There are ups and downs to these features. Obviously if you go with something like Morro you won’t be getting the protection you would from real antivirus software, but this slimmed down version of Microsoft’s Live OneCare is definitely far better than nothing, and may have Symantec and McAfee feeling a little uncomfortable. Microsoft has already got Google and Nintendo squirming. Who’s next, Microsoft? Are you going to launch a new social networking site to rival Facebook?

We’ll have to wait and see, but it seems like Microsoft is riding an uncommon wave of success right now, so you probably should at least check out Morro it will be available to download on June 23.

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Having to plug your cell phone into the wall or car to charge it every day is so 20^th century and so far behind in the way we need our technology to function, that it’s about time someone has started to put serious research into a cell phone that can charge itself, without the wires. Apparently the Nokia Research Center in Cambridge, England thinks the same thing and are working on a way to charge our wireless phones wirelessly.

Thinking about our mobile lifestyles and how more and more often our phones are becoming our personal life assistants, it’s almost laughably archaic to think that we still need to be tethered to a power outlet and cord every 24 hours or so to juice up our devices again. Nokia is going to change that, if they have their way. Their new system would collect energy from the radio waves emitted by just about everything we use (TVs, antennas, WiFi things and so forth). Essentially the Nokia phones would catch these radio waves floating around in the air and harness them for energy.

Currently the prototype can do about 5 milliwatts of energy, apparently enough to keep a phone on standby charged indefinitely. They want to get it up to 50 milliwatts, which won’t keep the phone charged when we’re spending inordinate amounts of time watching video clips on Facebook, but will be able to slowly recharge the battery. The only real problem I foresee from this method of charging cell phones is that teenagers will suddenly start hanging out at the front of mall stores hoping to charge their phones from the RFID technology used in the alarm systems to keep shoplifters from carrying product out the door.

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Michael Jackson fans who bought tickets for his This Is It 50-day tour, would get their money back, eBay confirmed. About 750,000 tickets were sold for the series of 50 "comeback" concert performances by Michael Jackson, which were intended to take place beginning on 13 July 2009, at The O2 arena in London and continue throughout the year.

Each performance would have had a maximum capacity of 23,000 — it was estimated that more than one million people would have attended the shows. Randy Phillips, president and chief executive, AEG Live, (the organiser of Michael Jackson's concerts) stated that the first 10 dates alone would have earned the singer approximately £50 million.

eBay said, "The sad news of Michael Jackson’s death has left fans of the King of Pop bereft. eBay is committed to ensuring that no buyer is left out of pocket as a result of the unique nature of the event and will ensure all buyers on the site can receive a full refund for their ticket purchase."

On this basis, eBay and PayPal is extending its Buyer Protection to all Michael Jackson concert ticket purchases bought on eBay. The company will also help sellers by refunding eBay’s sales commission when they refund buyers for Michael Jackson ticket sales.

Final details of how buyers and sellers can work with eBay and PayPal will be announced early next week.

The O2 arena issued a statement indicating, "Full ticket refund information and procedures will be released early next week for all Michael Jackson This Is It shows."

Barry's Tickets Service also released a statement, "In light of the tragic news on Michael Jackson, all tickets purchased through www.BarrysTickets.com will be 100 per cent refunded directly to fans. Please e-mail us at info@barrystickets.com or contact us at (800) 348-8499. We will be in touch with everyone in due course."

Jackson died on 25 June 2009, following a cardiac arrest, 18 days before his planned first show.

AEG Live, who persuaded Jackson to sign up for the shows, is currently facing a liability of up to £300 million and an empty venue for the next nine months.

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