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Issue no. 10, 2003 Published: Mar 07, 2003
Net speed record smashed
EU sets jail terms for hackers
Lexmark wins injunction in copyright case
Group to measure 3D standards
Next Windows leaks onto the net
E-mail exposed to hackers
Water key to compound's superconductivity
Toshiba to show off fuel cell prototype
World's smallest combination lock uses IT
Scientist develop robotic finger with feeling
Paper speeds video access
China creates a digital signal processing chip
Europeans live life online

Net speed record smashed
Scientists have set a new internet speed record by transferring 6.7 gigabytes of data across 10,978 kilometres, from Sunnyvale in the US to Amsterdam in the Netherlands, in less than one minute Using a quantity of data equivalent to two feature-length DVD-quality movies, the transfer was accomplished at an average speed of more than 923 megabits per second, or more than 3,500 times faster than a typical home broadband connection. The data were sent across the Internet2 network. This is operated by a consortium of 200 universities working in a worldwide effort to develop and deploy tomorrow's internet. It is intended to connect and serve research and educational institutions at transmission speeds that allow near-instant transfer of hundreds of megabytes of data.
BBC News Mar 06, 2003	back to top

EU sets jail terms for hackers
Computer hackers and virus spreaders could be jailed for five years under new laws approved by EU justice ministers last week. The new law seeks to harmonise existing national rules in the EU. The law targets anyone who illegally enters a computer network or server. It is also aimed against anyone who sends computer viruses as well as other types of destructive software such as 'worms'. Hacking and spreading viruses, when committed by organised criminals, will be punished with jail terms of at least two years - and up to five years. Many hacking incidents are believed to go unreported by companies and government organisation because of the difficulty in tracking the culprits.
CNET / Reuters Feb 28, 2003	back to top

Lexmark wins injunction in copyright case
Lexmark has won the first round in its controversial legal action accusing printer cartridge remanufacturer Static Control Components (SCC) of infringing its copyright. The US District Court in the Eastern District of Kentucky issued a preliminary injunction against SCC in support of Lexmark's suit, which was filed in December last year. Lexmark claims that SCC's Smartek chip infringes its software copyrights and breaches the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by making it possible for people to bypass Lexmark's technological controls, which prevent empty toner cartridges being refilled. The pre-trial court order prohibits SCC from making, selling or otherwise distributing remanufactured laser toner cartridges or other products incorporating its Smartek microchip. SCC argued that the technology preventing customers from buying refilled cartridges from suppliers other than Lexmark is anti-competitive. While the court agreed that competition is in the public interest, it said that Lexmark's copyright has almost certainly been infringed.
VNUnet UK Mar 03, 2003	back to top

Group to measure 3D standards
Several high-tech companies have officially unveiled a consortium to create technical and safety standards for bringing three-dimensional displays to desktops, laptops and cell phones. The 3D Consortium was founded by a group of five Japanese manufacturers - Sony, Sanyo, Itochu, NTT Data and Sharp - which have begun to develop technology for screens where two-dimensional images stand out like holograms. To see images or run programs in 3D on these screens, users will not need special glasses or additional software. The consortium will look at a variety of issues. One of the first subcommittees will examine establishing methods for tweaking software applications so that they can take advantage of 3D screens. Hardware input-output specifications will be the subject of another subcommittee. Health and safety will also be a concern.
ZDNet / CNET Mar 04, 2003	back to top

Next Windows leaks onto the net
An early test version of the next major release of Microsoft Windows has been leaked onto the internet. The leaked version, code-named Longhorn, hints of major changes under the Windows hood, as Microsoft radically improves file management and searching features in Windows and in Yukon, the code-name for the next version of SQL Server. In Longhorn, Microsoft plans to introduce a new file system with enhanced storage capabilities. Known as Windows Future Storage (WinFS), the new means for storing, accessing or indexing files will replace NTFS and FAT32, the predecessors used by Windows XP. The file system is intended to make it easier to find information, no matter where it is stored or in what form. Other changes make it easier to sort existing data. A new My Pictures & Video folder organises digital images and movies by, among other means, the year. Microsoft has also added a My Contacts folder that could eventually act as a common database of contact information. Another new feature would let the searcher 'stack' files in virtual folders.
ZDNet / CNET Mar 04, 2003	back to top

E-mail exposed to hackers
As much as 75 per cent of all e-mails could be at risk from malicious hackers, who could exploit a critical security flaw in the most popular program used to send messages between computer networks. The hole does not directly affect personal computers but could expose e-mail and information sent over the internet using Sendmail software, according to researchers of security firm Internet Security Systems who discovered the flaw. The problem affects all versions of the software and Sendmail is urging users to download a patch from its website. A hacker can send a specially formatted message, take control of a mail server running Sendmail and then run a malicious program. The flaw is especially dangerous because an attacker does not need any specific knowledge of the target and could exploit the hole via an e-mail message.
BBC News Mar 04, 2003	back to top

Water key to compound's superconductivity
Scientists are continually on the look out for new superconductors - materials that conduct electricity perfectly - in the hopes of finding ones that operate at ever-higher temperatures. The first substances found to facilitate resistance-free electron flow did so only at temperatures hovering around absolute zero. The subsequent discovery that certain copper oxide ceramics can superconduct at higher temperatures gave researchers a new avenue to explore. Now researchers at the National Institute for Materials Science in Ibaraki, Japan started with a compound comprising layers of cobalt oxide with sodium ions sandwiched between them. The team found that when water was added to the mix, the resulting thick layer of sodium ions and water molecules led to superconducting behaviour.
Scientific American Mar 06, 2003	back to top

Toshiba to show off fuel cell prototype
Toshiba next week plans to exhibit a fuel cell prototype that it said has the potential to replace environmentally taxing, rechargeable batteries with clean-energy technology. Toshiba said it would present direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) technology for portable computers that can provide about five hours of power with a single cartridge of fuel. The new fuel cell, measuring about 275 mm by 75 mm by 40 mm, provides an instant power supply for a significant amount of time using replaceable methanol cartridges, the company said. Toshiba, which will showcase the prototype at the CeBit technology show in Hannover, Germany, next week, said it would continue to develop the DFMC technology and hopes to commercialise it next year. The consumer electronics industry is rushing to find ways to replace the nickel cadmium batteries and lithium ion batteries that today power most portable electronic devices. The drawback to existing power technologies is that they will inevitably hit a barrier, as faster processors and higher-resolution displays increase the overall demand for power.
ZDNet / CNET Mar 05, 2003	back to top

World's smallest combination lock uses IT
Researcher at Sandia National Laboratories in the US have unveiled a combination lock the size of a shirt button. Using microelectromechanical system (MEMS) design, the Recodable Locking Device has six notched gear wheels each the size of a full stop to replicate a traditional locking mechanism on a silicon chip. The resultant device gives a user just one chance to select the correct preset code - if the code is incorrect, the device mechanically locks shut until reset by the owner. The device is controlled by electrical signals, making it easy to integrate into existing computer security systems, and the owner can easily change the code at will. The combination lock was invented in 1862, but this is the first time the concept has been integrated with modern digital production techniques. The researchers think the system could be used in safety monitoring of dangerous systems: the mechanism can turn off a radiation therapy machine if too much radiation has been delivered for instance.
Yahoo / ZDNet UK Mar 05, 2003	back to top

Scientist develop robotic finger with feeling
Scientists at the Polytechnic University of Cartagenain, Spain have developed a robotic finger with a sense of touch. The finger is made from polypyrrole, a 'smart polymer' that expands in response to electric current and conducts differently in response to changes in pressure. To convert the polymer's shape change into a bending motion, two thin polypyrrole films are stuck to either side of an insulating plastic tape. When a positive charge to one of the films and a negative charge to the other is applied, the first contracts and the second swells, making the whole sandwich bend. These shape changes occur as electrons are pulled from or added to the chain-like polymer molecules in the films. This sets up a current of electrons from the negative to the positively charged film - so the bending motion uses up electrical energy. An object in the path of the finger's moving tip as it bends gets pushed away at the same speed. For heavier objects, the finger simply pushes with more force and uses more energy, 'feeling' the resistance it encounters.
Nature Mar 05, 2003	back to top

Paper speeds video access
Four thousand years of technology research has gone into the user interface we know as the book, which allows for useful activities like skimming, bookmarking, notating and highlighting. Researchers from the University of California at Berkeley and Ricoh Innovations are combining this technology with relative newcomers - barcodes and handhelds - in an attempt to bring some of the advantages of the book interface to video. The researchers' device uses paper transcripts to make it quicker and easier to access video records, including those of historical figures, court trials and medical procedures. The researchers added a hard drive and barcode reader to a handheld computer, and added barcodes to transcripts of oral history videos. They tested the device with 13 historians, who rely heavily on transcripts. The historians gave the device high marks for improving access to the richer original video. The researchers say their method will become more accessible in about three years when handheld computers regularly include cameras, which can read barcodes, and wireless internet access.
Technology Review Mar 04, 2003	back to top

China creates a digital signal processing chip
China has developed its own digital signal processing chip used in mobile phones and digital cameras in an effort to reduce reliance on imports, the official Xinhua news agency said on Thursday. The chip, which translates information such as sights and sounds into digital data, was the result of a two-year effort by researchers at Shanghai's Jiaotong University. The 16-bit chip is capable of conducting more than 200 million instructions per second. Taiwan-backed Chinese chip maker SMIC has said it may produce the digital chips at its Shanghai foundry once they are fully developed. China, eager to prove its technological savvy by launching domestically produced microprocessing chips, a next-generation mobile service and astronauts into space, has imported digital chips worth about $1.22 billion a year since 2000.
Yahoo / Reuters Mar 06, 2003	back to top

Europeans live life online
The internet is transforming the social habits of Europeans according to a study by internet service provider AOL, which looked at the online habits of surfers in the UK, France and Germany. Window shopping is being replaced by work shopping, with nearly a third of Europeans admitting to doing their online purchasing in the office. And a third said they used the office computer to look for holidays. But it is in the area of personal relationships that the online world is creating the most profound change in how people behave, the study found. One in two surfers asked someone out on a date via e-mail and excuses such as 'I lost your e-mail' are increasingly being used to avoid unwanted attentions. A third only provide their e-mail address when they meet someone, compared to 19 per cent who provide their telephone number. And more and more people are announcing life-changing news such as the birth of a baby, a wedding or a new job online.
BBC News Mar 04, 2003	back to top