The attentive folks over at Patently Apple have uncovered an application Apple filed with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for a Smart Bicycle System. Patently Apple compares the potential device to the Nike+iPod kit, geared towards cyclists instead of runners. The bicycle system would monitor all sorts of measurements - speed, distance, elevation and so on - all measured with sensors in an iPhone, the bike, or both. The patent - and Patently Apple's analysis of it - is exquisitely detailed, and worth a look for cycling enthusiasts and Apple fans alike.

Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit has revealed details about its forthcoming Office for Mac 2011 suite, which the company says will be released in late October of this year. Office 2011 will be offered in two similarly named editions: "Home and Student 2011" and "Home and Business 2011." The Home and Student edition costs $119, and includes Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Messenger. (For an extra $50, Messenger isn't installed. Just kidding.) If you need Outlook - which replaces Entourage - that's available in the Home and Business bundle, which will cost $199. Multi-installation licenses are available, too. Oh, and while Microsoft says there are only two editions, the company also announced a third version: "The Academic Edition" includes all the available Office apps - Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Messenger, and Outlook - but costs just $99. It's limited to higher education students, staff, and faculty, and anyone else who can disguise themselves as such.

An unattended MacBook is a tempting target, so if you're at all concerned about theft, either from your home or office (where laptops are easier to grab than desktop computers) or while you're out and about, GadgetTrak Laptop 3 can provide you with the location and identification information that police can use to recover your machine.

The New York Times has run a genuinely helpful "Practical Traveler" column focusing on the smartest ways to use a cell phone when you're travelling internationally, hopefully without paying usurious fees. iPhone owners in the United States are generally locked into AT&T and its GSM network; that means you can keep using your iPhone when you travel abroad, but you'll need to pay AT&T (rather generously) for a temporary international plan. The article offers practical tips, like disabling 3G and roaming to avoid incurring insane data charges, and relying on Wi-Fi instead. (AT&T's international data plan costs $24.99 for just 20 MB, which I might burn through just checking my email on the first day of vacation.) The column highlights other options, too, such as buying an international cell phone from a company like Telestial or Planet Omni, buying a local SIM card (if your phone is unlocked and you only want to make local calls), or relying on VoIP solutions like Skype.

In a painfully well-headlined review, Jacqui Cheng takes on Apple's new Magic Trackpad, and finds that it's both awesome and not-so-awesome. She really likes most of the multi-touch shortcuts that the trackpad can use, but says that precision is an issue, as it is with all trackpads. We won't spoil the ending, but the review does attempt to answer not just the question of whether the Magic Trackpad is good, but also whether it's $70-worth of good.

On the New York Times's health blog, Gretchen Reynolds discusses the dramatic increase in heart disease-related death for folks who sit for long periods (whether in front of a computer or television, or in the car). Even more alarming for those of us who try to get away from our screens for some exercise are recent studies that show that adding exercise to your daily routine fails to lessen the negative health impacts of a sedentary lifestyle. Rather, we desk jockeys should find ways to increase our physical activity while we work. Frequent walking breaks, pacing while you're talking on the phone, or converting to a standing desk, could truly be a lifesaver.