UNU-MERIT: I&T Weekly

	Search \| Sitemap \| Intranet \| PhD Intranet

Subscribe to I&T Weekly A free e-zine about Innovation & Technology developments

text html Please type the above code:
	RSS feed

Previous Issues I&T Weekly

>> back to archive

Previous issues of I&T Weekly:

2013: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]

2012: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37]

2011: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44]

2010: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42]

2009: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42]

2008: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41]

2007: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40]

2006: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44]

2005: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40]

2004: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43]

2003: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47]

2002: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47]

2001: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]

Issue no. 27, 2002 Published: Jul 05, 2002
Analysts foresee WorldCom's bankruptcy
Net body under pressure
EU warns Microsoft on Palladium
Computers reach one billion mark
Music labels plant online decoys
Startup unveils nanoscale flash memory
New technology lets computers see in 3D
Researchers envisage turning light into liquid
'Hacktivists' to release covert communications tool
Home-care robots to hit Japanese stores this week

Analysts foresee WorldCom's bankruptcy
Many analysts predict that WorldCom, the company that handles half of the US internet traffic, will file for bankruptcy, although WorldCom CEO John Sidgmore said Tuesday that he hopes the company will not have to do so. However, analysts said the internet as a whole should be fine. WorldCom disclosed last month it had improperly accounted for nearly $4bn in expenses, inflating its earnings. The disclosure sent the company's stock plummeting, prompted the Securities and Exchange Commission to file fraud charges and triggered an avalanche of denunciations from politicians and investors. UUNet, a WorldCom subsidiary, is one of the internet's backbone providers. It controls the wires that ISPs use as superhighways to carry internet traffic between cities and across continents. UUNet handles more than 50 per cent of US internet traffic and with KPNQwest in Europe, it handles over half of European traffic as well. Thousands of companies in over 100 countries rely on WorldCom for internet access.
CNN / AP Jul 03, 2002	back to top

Net body under pressure
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the organisation that oversees the running of key parts of the internet, unanimously approved a reform plan at its recent summit that tries to make it more responsive and free it from endless policy debates. The reform plan accepted at the meeting in Romania last week remakes the ICANN board to give some previously critical groups a say in how it is run. The reforms also try to make ICANN achieve more rather than spend too long chewing over policy. One of the more controversial parts of the reform was to end the involvement of rank and file web users in the running of ICANN. The reforms are due to be implemented in the next few months. However, in September, the agreement that brought ICANN into existence expires and some US politicians have said that the organisation should be dissolved and its functions taken over by the US Government.
BBC News Jul 03, 2002	back to top

EU warns Microsoft on Palladium
Microsoft should be careful that its new software security plan does not shut out competitors, the EU's new antitrust enforcer said Monday. Microsoft's new security product, Palladium, would use MS Windows operating system and custom computer chips to encrypt data, such as documents, so that only the intended recipient could use them. That has raised questions among technologists and consumer advocates, who wonder whether a file encrypted using Palladium would be accessible on computers running Apple's Macintosh or Linux operating system. The EU will 'ensure that competitors have the capacity to offer the range of services they want to provide, including security', Philip Lowe said. Lowe starts work as the EU's director general for competition on September 1. 'We have always emphasised that there should be an emphasis on interoperability,' Lowe said.
Wired News / AP Jul 02, 2002	back to top

Computers reach one billion mark
Approximately 1 billion PCs have been shipped worldwide since the mid-'70s, according to a study released Sunday by consulting firm Gartner. Seventy-five per cent of these machines have gone into professional, or work-related, environments, while the other 25 per cent have been for personal, or home, use. Approximately 81.5 per cent of PCs shipped have been desktops. So far, the US has received 38.8 per cent of PCs shipped. Nearly 25 per cent have gone to Europe, while only 11.7 per cent have gone into the Asia-Pacific region, the fastest-growing market today. The vast majority of PCs shipped have been desktops. Only 16.4 per cent were notebooks, and 2.1 per cent were PC servers. These two markets, though, are expected to be the profit centres for manufacturers in the future. Gartner predicts that the number of PCs shipped will be doubled by 2007 or 2008. The greatest growth is expected to be in areas such as China, Latin America, eastern Europe and India.
ZDNet / BBC News Jul 01, 2002	back to top

Music labels plant online decoys
The music industry is adding more firepower to its arsenal in the fight against online piracy, planting 'decoys' on free peer-to-peer services and considering lawsuits against individual song-swappers, sources say. Many large record labels have resorted to what is known as 'spoofing', by hiring companies to distribute 'decoy' files that are empty or do not work in order to frustrate would-be downloaders of movies and music. Additionally, sources said the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which represents big music labels, is considering taking a new tack by suing individuals who use the services, rather than the companies that host them. Industry sources said the idea has sparked a debate among the record labels, who in the past have been loathe to sue individual users for fear of losing customers. Entrenched in its worst sales downturn in more than a decade, the music industry blames file sharing in part for the 5 per cent decline in music sales in 2001 and a continuing slump in sales this year.
News24 / Reuters Jul 04, 2002	back to top

Startup unveils nanoscale flash memory
Silicon Valley start-up Rolltronics has developed a nanoscale thin film memory that stores data in molecule-sized cylinders capable of retaining information even when power is switched off. The NanoMem technology can store 10 to 100 times more data in the same space as current flash memory and can be produced at a much lower cost, the company said. Data is stored in the molecules that self-assemble into cylindrical stacks in a sheet of plastic that is about one micron thick. The data is written in a low-voltage opto-electronic process that traps an electrical charge in the molecules of the plastic. Prototypes of the new memory technology, developed and tested at the University of Texas in Austin, revealed zero detectable data loss after 7,000 hours without power and zero data degradation after 1.5 billion read-write cycles.
VNUnet UK Jun 29, 2002	back to top

New technology lets computers see in 3D
A US start-up believes it can improve computer vision by combining a custom-designed chip with the way humans see. Human brains judge how far away objects are by comparing the slightly different view each eye sees. Tyzx hopes to build this stereo vision process into video cameras. The company has encoded a processing scheme into a custom chip called DeepSea, allowing the processor to determine not only the colour of each tiny patch of an image but also how far away it is from the camera. The technology could be a boon for surveillance systems, strengthening the ability to track people in banks, stores or airports. But it could have wider uses as well, helping focus a computer's attention and cutting down on the amount of data that needs to be crunched. For instance, vehicles could use the technology to detect obstacles in their path while filtering out visual noise.
Yahoo / CNET Jul 03, 2002	back to top

Researchers envisage turning light into liquid
Spanish scientists may have found a way of turning light into liquid. Computer simulations carried out at the University of Vigo in Ourense showed light splits into water-like droplets under certain conditions. The researchers are confident the phenomenon could lead to applications in next-generation computing. Manipulating the effect could offer a means of controlling the flow of photons around an optical circuit. The team made the discovery studying light pulses concentrated by a high-energy laser beam. They found the column of light displayed a surface tension akin to water. Bouncing the pulse off other surfaces shattered it into 'droplets'. But other scientists in the field appear to be sceptical. While the effect may appear in computer simulation, finding a material to repeat the condition in the laboratory could prove elusive.
New Scientist Jul 03, 2002	back to top

'Hacktivists' to release covert communications tool
An international group of 'hacktivists', Hactivismo, says it is about to release a computer program designed to let political dissidents communicate via the internet without fear of government eavesdropping. Hacktivismo says the program, named Camera/Shy, will make it simple to bury encrypted information in innocuous-looking images that can then be shared over the internet. Those with the same program will then be able to automatically detect and extract concealed information. Anyone monitoring the web for subversive activity will only see ordinary images. Hacktivismo says Camera/Shy has been designed for 'non-technical users' and will be similar to any normal browser. But it will automatically scan web pages for images containing concealed data. The program has been designed to work with any Microsoft operating system running Internet Explorer 5 or later. Camera/Shy will be released at the computer security convention H2K2 in New York City, on July 13.
New Scientist Jul 04, 2002	back to top

Home-care robots to hit Japanese stores this week
Home-care robots that can turn on video recorders and take digital photographs of pets while their owners are away will hit Japanese stores this week, toy company Takara said. The white-and-blue 16-centimetre robots, code-named FII-RII and controlled via cellphones, will go on sale on Friday. Users can use their cellphones to order the robot, which comes connected to a PC, to turn gadgets on and off using an infra-red sensor. FII-RII is also fitted with a digital camera on its face to send pictures of rooms or pets to absent owners. The other three firms involved are telecommunications carrier NTT West Corp plus two subsidiaries of the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (NTT).
News 24 / Sapa / AFP Jul 03, 2002	back to top