Dear Federal Communications Commission,

Flying is bad enough these days without spending the trip next to someone talking on a cell phone.

That seems to be a common opinion among the 7,696 people and businesses who responded to the FCC's proposal to allow cell phone conversations on commercial flights.

Comments included arguments from the National Academy of Sciences about interference with astronomy equipment, lots of diatribes about the extreme rudeness of cell phone yappers and a 174-page doctoral thesis from Graham W. Strauss of Carnegie Mellon University.

Strauss explored whether passengers knew that cell phones are currently banned for safety reasons and tried to show that passengers already use wireless devices on planes despite prohibitions against it.

"Limiting passenger electronics use onboard should continue and is the only method available to ensure the near-term safety of the flying public," he wrote.

The Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security chimed in as well, telling the FCC it should "carefully examine public safety and national security-related concerns before modifying, relaxing or lifting its current ban." Any rule change would also have to be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration and individual airlines.

For Annette Pollard of Port St. Lucie, Fla., no further study is necessary. "People on flights can be annoying enough without having to listen to their cell phone conversations," she wrote.

Many companies called for allowing cell phone use on planes. But at least one profession seems decidedly against it. The majority of the FCC's respondents who listed their professions were flight attendants.

"It would make an already tense cabin environment even more stressful," wrote Jeff Gross, an American Airlines attendant.

Perhaps one citizen's proposal could serve as middle ground: A pay-to-use, glassed-in, soundproof phone booth at the back of the plane.

-- Ellen Simon, AP Technology Writer

Small banks try tokens to protect online users

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Several small banks are launching heightened security programs this month to try to thwart identity theft and make customers feel more comfortable with online transactions.

West Chester, Pa.-based Stonebridge Bank and Corpus Christi, Texas-based American Bank are among the financial companies rolling out an optional program that relies on RSA Security Inc.'s "strong authentication" tokens, battery-powered devices that display a different 6-digit password every 60 seconds. To conduct online transactions, the customer must enter the random number on the display, as well as a user name and password.

The program is similar to an optional log-in service America Online and other financial services companies have introduced in recent months.

So-called multi-factor authentication -- requiring the user name and password, as well as a 6-digit code, thumb print, retina scan or other data -- is common in Scandinavia, Brazil and Singapore. In the United States, it's generally limited to employees accessing office networks remotely or people with high-value financial portfolios.

But with so many sites requiring passwords, many online shoppers and bankers have created simple passwords that are easy to guess -- or they post them on sticky notes at their computers. Last year, more than 9.9 million Americans became identity theft victims, costing the country roughly $5 billion, according to the Postal Inspection Service.

Fred Schea, chief financial officer of Stonebridge Bank, says the new program provides extra security without making customers remember another password. It also reduces risk for people who do their banking from laptops or public terminals at libraries, Internet cafes or other sites frequented by hackers who "sniff" passwords.

"We believe in the future multiple authentication levels will probably be required at most banks," Schea said. His bank will offer the RSA system for free to all 4,500 online customers for a year, then charge an annual $25 fee.

-- Rachel Konrad, AP Technology Writer

'Computational Couture' at MIT

A recent fashion show at the MIT Media Lab combined things of beauty with rules of math.

There was a weighted inflatable dress powered by a hacked vacuum cleaner, a purse designed using a Russian theory of inventive problem solving and a necklace made from 125-volt fuses. Other highlights: sneakers embedded with sensors and a shoulder-covering shrug wired like the vintage electronic game "Simon."

The show, called "Seamless: Computational Couture," was organized by MIT graduate students Christine Liu, 22, and Nick Knouf, 25, who were inspired by the cyborg looks created by the winner of the reality TV show "Project Runway."

Some pieces at the MIT show were more conceptual than others, such as a "reactive undergarment" that logs the experience of an airport pat-down, and a "kitty skirt," which has motors that turn tendrils on the skirt into cat toys. The skirt is meant to play on the predator/prey relationship, according to a description by its creator, Gemma Shusterman.

"You attract cats, but I think you also can attract other creatures, too," Liu said.

One outfit included boots that, with each step, pump air into a tube attached to a dress. The pumped-in air activates color-changing ink, so the dress's color changes to reflect how far the wearer had traveled.

The show, which featured about 30 high-tech looks from students at MIT, the Rhode Island School of Design and Harvard University, played to a packed house last month.

Is MIT starved for fashion?

"Its focus is not fashion," Knouf acknowledged. "But there are a lot of people at the Media Lab who we've found through this project who are interested in the future of fashion."

-- Ellen Simon, AP Technology Writer

This piece of interior decor can guard your home, too

TOKYO -- It looks like a watermelon-sized eyeball on wheels that glows in hues of purple, blue and orange while gurgling with whimsical buzzes and rings. But the new Roborior gadget isn't just interior decor.

It's also a virtual guard dog. It sports a digital camera, infrared sensors and videophone capability so absent homeowners can be notified of intruders.

When the 280,000 yen ($2,600) contraption by Japanese robot maker Tmsuk Co. Ltd. and Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. detects an intruder with one of its three infrared sensors, it will call its owner's cell phone and relay streaming video of the scene.

The phone handset can remotely operate the Roborior, telling it to go forward, backward, left or right, or to adjust the angle of the digital camera.

Roborior -- the name is a combination of "robot" and "interior" -- is set to go on sale in Japan in November or December. There are no overseas sales plans so far.

Designed by Paul White, who has worked on Bjork's album jackets, Roborior is meant to be a fashionable floor light that won't assert a pet-like personality common in other Japanese security and entertainment robots such as Tmsuk's four-legged electronic watchdog Banryu, which costs 2 million yen ($18,000).

The company hopes Roborior can better blend into homes.

-- Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer