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Issue no. 3, 2001 Published: Aug 31, 2001
EU widens investigation of Microsoft bundling
Researchers connect brain cells to transistors
IBM builds first circuit within a single molecule
India to open first cyber police station
Superconductivity finding could lead to ultrafast computers
Voice of America considers anti-censorship tech
459 million people online - Survey
Record companies test CDs that cannot be downloaded or copied
Internet tapped for 'parasitic computing'

EU widens investigation of Microsoft bundling
Microsoft's legal problems deepened on Thursday when the European Commission extended its antitrust investigation into the software company. The Commission said the company may have abused competition law when it tied its new Media Player with its Windows operating system. Until now the Commission's inquiry, launched last year, has focused on the low-end server market. The inquiry into Media Player signals added European concerns that could affect Microsoft's soon-to-be-released Windows XP, which has tied several new software applications into its operating system. The Commission said it would not seek a delay in the launch of XP, scheduled for the end of October. But asked whether the new probe was a warning to Microsoft over its inclusion of Media Player, a European Union official said: ''You could take it like that.''
Financial Times Aug 31, 2001	back to top

Researchers connect brain cells to transistors
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Germany have created the first ever part mechanical, part organic electronic circuit. The research has effectively kick started a project that could see a brain grown on a piece of silicon, which could ultimately result in a thinking computer. The researchers have managed to attach snail neurones to transistors and demonstrate that the cells communicated with each other and the transistors. Each snail brain cell was attached to a field effect transistor, which amplifies voltages and stimulates the cell into activity. The scientists found that the neurones developed a connection, or synapse, between each other by releasing electrical signals. The same signals were also picked up by the transistors beneath the cells, proving that the neural network had directly interfaced with the silicon chip.
VNUnet UK Aug 31, 2001	back to top

IBM builds first circuit within a single molecule
IBM researchers have successfully built the first ever computer circuit contained within a single molecule. This could eventually lead to the production of extremely fast computers using tiny amounts of electric power. The circuit is known as a ''voltage inverter'' - also known as a ''NOT'' gate - one of three fundamental circuits used in computer chips. It was built from a carbon ''nanotubes''. This is a tube-shaped molecule consisting of carbon atoms and it has semiconductor properties, similar to those found in today's silicon-based chips. IBM is hopeful that carbon nanotube chips could eventually replace silicon chips. Smaller chips mean faster performance because electrons have shorter distances to travel and they consume less power.
Financial Times Aug 27, 2001	back to top

India to open first cyber police station
India's first police station to exclusively handle cyber crimes such as computer hacking, data damage and Internet fraud will start work in Bangalore on September 15, police said on Friday. The station, which would cover the state of Karnataka, was launched on Thursday, a senior police official said. The station, which would cover crimes under India's information technology law passed last year, was aimed at taking quick action on solving cyber crimes, taking the burden from local police. Local police stations would continue to register cyberspace crimes and would also carry out searches. The Cyber Crime Police Station has set up a website for complaints (http://ccps.karnatakastatepolice.org). India, joining a handful of nations, last year passed the cyber law that covers a wide range of issues, from the potential of electronic commerce to the possible threats posed by too much policing of Internet.
Yahoo / Reuters Aug 31, 2001	back to top

Superconductivity finding could lead to ultrafast computers
In a finding that could lead to new types of ultrafast computers, researchers at Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs report that they achieved superconductivity - electricity flowing without resistance - with carbon-60 at a temperature of about -156 degrees C by combining the carbon molecules with chloroform and bromoform. This mixture substantially raises the temperature at which carbon-60 can achieve superconductivity. Previous experiments had shown that carbon-60 when mixed with other chemicals could superconduct at -221 degrees C. The finding makes it much more likely that carbon-60 will become a useful superconductor in high-speed computers, the researcher say. The higher temperature means that electronic circuits made with carbon-60 would be superconductors at a cooling temperature achieved by liquid nitrogen. Previously, the lower temperature would require the use of liquid helium which is more expensive and difficult to maintain.
Nando Times / AP Aug 31, 2001	back to top

Voice of America considers anti-censorship tech
Voice of America (VOA) is considering new technology to allow Chinese citizens access to websites now blocked by their government, including some VOA sites. Software, called Triangle Boy, will act as a deflector for Chinese citizens who want to access banned Internet sites. The technology attempts to fool the government by sending the signal outside the government's firewall to a ''friends'' site, then bounces that signal to the ''banned'' site and back to your computer. Triangle Boy was developed by Safe Web, and debuted in March.
CNN Aug 30, 2001	back to top

459 million people online - Survey
A survey by Nielsen/NetRatings shows an increase of 30 million people online since the first quarter of 2001, reaching a projected 459 million people globally. According to the survey the US and Canada lost ground to the rest of the world. The area comprises 40 per cent of the online population now, compared to 41 per cent last quarter. Europe and the Middle East-Africa region maintained similar numbers from the first quarter, accounting for 27 per cent of the world's Internet population. However, the Asia-Pacific rim made slight gains, totalling 22 percent of the Internet's audience, (up from 20 per cent last quarter), while Latin America remains almost unchanged at 4 per cent.
Newsbytes Aug 28, 2001	back to top

Record companies test CDs that cannot be downloaded or copied
CD buyers have unwittingly become part of a secret global experiment by record companies Sony, EMI, BMG, Warner and Universal to stop people downloading music. The five are said to be testing a new technology that will make it impossible to transfer music properly from a shop-bought CD to a home computer. The ''stealth CDs'' are being slipped quietly into music stores around the world. They look and play like normal CDs but hidden in the music is a ground-breaking piece of encryption software. If the music is transferred to a computer the quality will be so low that the file will be unplayable. Even those who own CD-burning equipment will find the resultant copy will sound terrible.
The Independent Aug 27, 2001	back to top

Internet tapped for 'parasitic computing'
US scientists have figured out a way to induce unwitting Web servers across the world to perform mathematical calculations. The researchers solved a complex math problem with the unauthorised help of computers in North America, Europe and Asia. Using a remote server, the team divided the problem into packages, each associated with a potential answer. The bits were then hidden inside components of the standard transmission control protocol of the Internet, and sent on their way. The protocol component, called a checksum, is a mathematical procedure undertaken by a receiving computer to check the integrity of incoming information, making sure it had not been corrupted during transmission. The remote machine forces unaware target computers to solve a piece of a complex computational problem merely by engaging in standard communication.
CNN Aug 30, 2001	back to top