Laptop Wifi protection gets personal

Notebook shield claims to protect your marriage prospects

A new notebook accessory capitalises on the Wifi radiation scare by claiming to protect men where they may think it matters most.

The £19.99 Lapgard is a laminated leather-look pad that fits under a notebook to protect your marriage prospects.

Blurb on the product from vendor Amps states categorically: "Wifi brings added danger to laptop use."

This is far from an established fact, as the BBC was forced to admit recently when it backtracked over an alarmist Panorama programme on the subject. There is no evidence of radiation danger from Wifi - though, as with mobile phones, the technology is so new that any long-term effects will not yet be apparent.

The Lapgard blurb also states that as a man's "lap" may be just 2cm from a notebook Wifi transmitter, his marriage prospects are receiving radiation of a similar level to what the brain gets from mobile phones.

This will depend very much on the design of the notebook and its aerials, which can focus radiated energy towards the nearest base station; also radiation drops off with the square of the distance, so small differences in range can affect levels.

Less controversially the Lapgard is said to prevent your lap getting too hot, or worse. The box cites the case of a Swedish scientist who in 2002 burned his private parts by using his laptop on his lap for an hour, according to a letter in the medical journal The Lancet.

The Lapgard, which comes in four sizes for notebooks with screens measuring between 12in and 15in, does seem smarter and lighter than some similar products that have hit the market.