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. 32, 2002 Published: Sep 06, 2002
EU seeks bidders for European domain
Napster sell-off is quiet finale
Windows 2000 hit by mysterious attacks
New evidence may ban laptops in planes
Radio emerges from the electronic soup
Rock pool robot promises artificial life insight
Boeing develops reconfigurable satellite
Sony unveils net-connected hard-disk video recorder
Musical approach helps programmers catch bugs
'Blank' display hides computer data
Airwave camouflage to stop drive-by hacking
Messages to be stored and read 50,000 years later

EU seeks bidders for European domain
The European Commission is looking for an organisation to run .eu, the top-level internet domain name the Commission hopes to create for companies and individuals in EU member states. To qualify, the potential registry has to be a non-profit organisation incorporated under the laws of one of the EU's member states. Applicants will have to charge fees based on costs, and will have to provide mechanisms for other companies to become .eu-accredited. The deadline for application is October 25. After the EU has a plan in place for launching .eu, it will have to request approval from ICANN, which decides what goes into the domain name system root. ICANN which has already put the groundwork policies in place such that any request from the EU would likely be rubberstamped very quickly.
Yahoo / ComputerWire Sep 04, 2002	back to top

Napster sell-off is quiet finale
The music industry, which finally succeeded this week in killing Napster, still hopes to recover some cash from selling off the defunct online music company's assets. After a US court on Tuesday scuttled Bertelsmann's plan to acquire Napster, the company closed its doors and fired most of its 42 staff. Napster's founder Shawn Fanning and CEO Konrad Hilbers both resigned. It is a fairly quiet ending for Napster, whose explosive growth in 2000 shook the foundations of the music industry. Its software attracted an estimated 60m users - as well as copyright infringement lawsuits from Universal Music, Warner Music, EMI, BMG, and Sony. Record company executives said that Napster had two main assets that could attract bidders: its brand name and technology. The record companies believe they should receive any proceeds from a sale. The asset sales will be carried out by a court-appointed trustee.
Financial Times Sep 04, 2002	back to top

Windows 2000 hit by mysterious attacks
A rash of attacks on Windows 2000 servers has left Microsoft security experts baffled. The company issued a security warning about the attacks, which seem to be based around Trojan horse programs, but unusually the firm has yet to suggest any protective measures. Microsoft admitted that certain files on machines running Windows 2000 seem to be compromised. One file, 'gg.bat', attempts to connect to other computers using various administrator accounts. If successful, the file will then copy other files over to the compromised system. Another, 'seced.bat', changes security settings on the compromised system to make it easier for a hacker to log onto the computer at a later date. The last file, 'gates.txt', contains a list of numerical internet addresses. Microsoft said it has not yet been able to determine if the attack uses some new flaw in its operating system or just finds success because Windows 2000 system patches are out of date.
VNUnet UK / ZDNet Sep 05, 2002	back to top

New evidence may ban laptops in planes
Concerns over the safety of Ultra wideband (UWB) could see airplane passengers banned from using laptop computers while onboard a flight. Britain's Civil Aviation Authority is considering implementing the ban following research carried out by NASA scientists. Unlike most other wireless technologies, which are restricted to a small range of the radio communications spectrum, UWB uses low-powered pulses that spread over hundreds of megahertz of bandwidth. In the tests, NASA placed the UWB chip at various points inside a Boeing 747 and a Boeing 737. NASA detected interference with the instrument landing system after applying frequency modulation to the UWB chip. Interference with the traffic-alert collision avoidance systems also occurred after the power output of the chip has been boosted to some 100 times greater that its usual level. Laptops that include a UWB chip are expected to go on sale in 2003.
ZDNet Sep 03, 2002	back to top

Radio emerges from the electronic soup
A self-organising electronic circuit has stunned engineers by turning itself into a radio receiver. This accidental reinvention of the radio followed an experiment to see if an automated design process, that uses an evolutionary computer program, could be used to 'breed' an electronic circuit called an oscillator. An oscillator produces a repetitive electronic signal, usually in the form of a sine wave. Researchers at the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK, applied the program to a simple arrangement of transistors and found that instead of an oscillator, the circuit was behaving more like a radio receiver, picking up a signal from a nearby computer and delivering it as an output. In essence, the evolving circuit had cheated, relaying oscillations generated elsewhere, rather than generating its own. To pick up a radio signal you need other elements such as an antenna. After exhaustive testing the researchers found that a long track in the circuit board had functioned as the antenna. But how the circuit 'figured out' that this would work is unclear.
New Scientist Aug 31, 2002	back to top

Rock pool robot promises artificial life insight
American scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a robot that mimics simple sea life. The Public Anemone 'lives' submerged in a rock pool aquarium. The aim of the project is to create artificial life that is a close approximation of an actual organism. The researchers hope that studying how it copes with life in the pool will speed the development of more naturalistic robots. The anemone has a flexible spine-like body covered in a silicon skin that gives it a realistic texture. The scientists control its environment by computer, monitoring how it responds to sounds, light and touch.
Ananova Sep 02, 2002	back to top

Boeing develops reconfigurable satellite
Aircraft manufacturer Boeing has announced that it is developing a new satellite that will be cheaper, lighter and more flexible. The new models could be ready in two years and will be built much like the company's best-selling 601 satellite. It can be reconfigured in space, and the payload can be adjusted to handle internet, radio, telephone or other signals. It can also shift the signal to different regions of the globe as needed. The new model will carry the more powerful propulsion system and electronics of the larger 702 satellite. The average 601 sells for about $100m, while the 702 goes for about $200m. The new satellites are expected to cost somewhere in between.
VNUnet UK Aug 31, 2002	back to top

Sony unveils net-connected hard-disk video recorder
Sony gave a fresh peek this week into its strategy for linking consumer electronics to the web, unveiling a Net-connected video recorder that can seek out and record TV programs it thinks its owner would like. The device, which uses a hard-disk drive instead of optical discs or magnetic tapes, will be the first of Sony's 'Cocoon' line of products that aim to become an alternative to the PC for accessing internet content. The recorder includes a 160 gigabyte hard-disk drive, able to record 15 hours of high-definition TV or up to 100 hours of standard quality programs, with a possible expansion to 320 gigabytes. Hooked to an always-on broadband Internet connection, it accesses programming information online and records TV programs that match preferences selected from among 44 keywords. It can also analyse previous choices and items stored on its hard disk to discern a user's tastes and automatically record programs that fit that profile.
Washington Post / Reuters Sep 04, 2002	back to top

Musical approach helps programmers catch bugs
Making music out of computer code is helping programmers to catch the bugs that can cause software to go awry. Researchers at Loughborough University, UK, developed a system that automatically converts computer program code written in Pascal into simple 'music'. The researchers assigned particular musical phrases to different Pascal language constructs, such as conditional statements and loops. A synthesised chord, for example, represents conditional statements such as 'IF TRUE'. A loop could have an ascending string of synthesised notes associated with it. When different sections of code are put together, they should form a harmonious tune. But if a loop, for example, does not execute properly, the music would not ascend properly and the programmer should hear the error. Similarly, a duff statement would produce a different chord that would be immediately apparent.
New Scientist Sep 05, 2002	back to top

'Blank' display hides computer data
A computer screen that looks blank to anyone not wearing a pair of special polarising glasses has been developed by a Tokyo-based electronics company, Iizuka Denki Kogyo. The company believes the modified LCD monitor will appeal to financial institutions that need to keep sensitive information safe from prying eyes in a busy environment. Only authorised viewers wearing the special glasses would be able to read data on the screen. Anyone looking over their shoulder would see nothing at all. The displayed data is rendered invisible by doing away with a light-polarising screen from the front of the monitor. All LCD's use this filter to block some of the polarised light that passes through liquid crystals controlled by an electrical current. This makes it possible to display information by defining different parts of the screen in light and colour.
New Scientist Sep 03, 2002	back to top

Airwave camouflage to stop drive-by hacking
Software that generates a blizzard of bogus wireless network access points could bamboozle hackers trying to access corporate and home computer networks. This would stop them stealing wireless surfing time and exploring corporate wireless networks, according to its creators. Wireless network hacking has become an increasingly popular activity in the last few years. Networks have sprung up across cities and many are vulnerable to well-documented holes in their default set-ups. Software tools that can be downloaded for free from the internet, such as Netstumbler and Kismet, automatically search the airwaves for vulnerable networks. The practice of travelling around a city searching for networks to exploit has been dubbed 'wardriving'. The new software, Fake AP (Access Point) aims to stop would-be hackers by generating 53,000 bogus wireless access points in the vicinity of the one real access point. Only those with access rights can distinguish quickly the real point of entry through this airwave camouflage.
New Scientist Sep 04, 2002	back to top

Messages to be stored and read 50,000 years later
A group headed by a French scientist, putting together a satellite-based time capsule, is collecting messages that will orbit Earth for 50,000 years and then return to the planet. The non-profit 'KEO' program, costing at least $50m, is funded by more than two dozen mostly European firms, some of which have interests in the space industry. It has also been elected as UNESCO's 'Project for the 21st century'. The spherical, 220-pound satellite, which has several shields to protect it from shocks, cosmic debris and meteorites, will be launched in space from the French Arianne rocket by the end of 2003. 'We have enough memory on satellite to store six billion messages. The small, powerful, weak, strong and the rich have four pages (each) to pen down their thoughts,' said Jean-Marc Philippe, a scientist-turned-artist and the creator of KEO. http://www.keo.org/
Yahoo / Reuters Sep 03, 2002	back to top