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Issue no. 23, 2003 Published: Jun 13, 2003
Cryptography breaks 100 km barrier
EU law taxes overseas net firms
File-swappers face the music
Revised computer worm targets financial firms
Japan's NTT develops faster optic-fibre technology
Infineon and IBM develop advanced magnetic memories
Danish study doubts injury risks from computers
Chip channels multiple colours
Smart airline seat detects shifty passengers
Nods drive audio interface

Cryptography breaks 100 km barrier
Researchers from Toshiba Europe, UK have broken the distance record for quantum cryptography, the optical technique that enables 'unhackable' communication along an optical fibre. They revealed their record- breaking link, which reaches over 100 km, at the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO) in Baltimore, US. In quantum cryptography each transmitted bit of a cryptographic key is encoded upon a single photon. Both sender and recipient have a key to decode the photon stream. Any attempt to hack into the link and capture the key will fail as it alters the quantum state of the intercepted photons. However, attenuation in the optical fibre and noise in the detection unit limits the distance over which the technique works. The Toshiba team was able to improve the link distance thanks to an ultra-low noise detector, which detects single photons. This detector is based on a gallium arsenide and aluminium gallium arsenide modulation doped field effect transistor (MODFET), which does not rely on avalanche processes and is therefore less prone to noise than conventional devices.
Physicsweb Jun 09, 2003	back to top

EU law taxes overseas net firms
On July 1, a new EU directive goes into effect requiring all internet firms to account for value-added tax, or VAT, on 'digital sales'. The law adds a 15 to 25 per cent levy on select internet transactions such as software and music downloads, monthly subscriptions to an internet service provider and on any product purchased through an online auction anywhere in the 15-member bloc of nations. The VAT tax is nothing new for some Net firms. European dot-coms have been charging customers VAT since their inception. Their overseas rivals though have been exempt, making foreign firms an obvious choice for the bargain-hunting consumer. Analysts say the new tax could dent sales in the short term, a blow for American dot-coms such as eBay and Amazon that are banking on higher growth in their overseas business.
Wired News / Reuters Jun 09, 2003	back to top

File-swappers face the music
In a victory for the record industry, US internet service provider Verizon has handed over the names of four customers accused of illegally copying music over the internet. Verizon was ordered to surrender the names to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) by a court of Appeal in Washington. The ruling removes the anonymity of millions of people in the US who download copyrighted music and films over the net. RIAA argued that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act allowed them to subpoena information about suspected pirates without first seeking a judge's blessing. The RIAA has said it intends to sent out a significant number of subpoenas. But it has not yet decided what action to take against the four Verizon customers it accuses of illegal file-sharing. In theory the DMCA could now be used by any record label or Hollywood studio to more easily identify people who it suspects of swapping pirated files on peer-to-peer services. But ISPs and privacy advocates say the DCMA is too wide-ranging, providing too much power to copyright holders at the expense of internet users.
VNUnet UK Jun 06, 2003	back to top

Revised computer worm targets financial firms
A revised version of the Bugbear computer worm, given the top threat rating by anti-virus software firms, has been found to contain a long list of financial companies. 'Bugbear.B' is derived from the original Bugbear computer worm, which infected many computers in October 2002. Among the worm's most malicious features is a 'back-door' program that allows remote control over an infected machine. It also has a 'keylogger' designed to grab passwords and other sensitive information. But perhaps the worm's most unusual feature is a long list of domain names belonging to financial institutions around the world. Researchers at UK anti-virus company Sophos are trying to determine the purpose of the list. Some ideas put forward suggest that the virus may act differently when running on computers inside those domains or that it may activate its keylogger when a victim visits their bank online, in an attempt to capture passwords.
New Scientist Jun 06, 2003	back to top

Japan's NTT develops faster optic-fibre technology
Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone said on Monday it had developed technology that drastically raises optic-fibre communication speeds for homes and offices. The new technology will increase communication speeds tenfold to one gigabyte per second, from around 100 megabytes per second for optic-fibre services now available, according to NTT. The company hopes to have the new technology ready for mass production within one to two years and then press ahead with commercialisation. The technology will make the downloading of movies and games from the internet easier. Two hours of video footage will be able to be downloaded in around 30 seconds, compared to seven minutes using existing technology.
CNET News / Reuters Jun 08, 2003	back to top

Infineon and IBM develop advanced magnetic memories
IBM and Infineon said on Tuesday they have integrated high density magnetic random access memory (MRAM) into a logic base. And that, they claim, means a breakthrough in commercialising the memory type, with MRAMs being introduced as soon as 2005. According to the firms, the introduction of MRAM technology will lead to computers that can be switched on and off as quickly as you turn on or off a light bulb. Because MRAM is non-volatile - it does not lose data like DRAM does when power is not supplied - booting time will be shortened considerably, because most data and settings are held in the magnetic cells. MRAM also typically has much higher access speeds than existing memory, and it will also support higher densities.
The Inquirer Jun 10, 2003	back to top

Danish study doubts injury risks from computers
Using a computer does not appear to pose a severe occupational hazard for developing the wrist and hand ailment known as carpal tunnel syndrome, according to a Danish study published on Tuesday. The finding was based on a survey of nearly 7,000 workers at 3,500 locations who were questioned initially on symptoms and 5,568 of the group who were assessed a year later. The syndrome, marked by tingling and numbness in the palm of the hand and fingers, occurs when the median nerve gets squeezed at the wrist. The researchers said they did find an association between use of a mouse for more than 20 hours a week and a slightly elevated risk of a possible problem but no statistically significant association with keyboard use. The research, appearing in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association, was conducted by the Department of Occupational Medicine, Herning Hospital, Herning, Denmark.
CNET / Reuters Jun 10, 2003	back to top

Chip channels multiple colours
The simple concept of proportionality is the key to a significant advance in the emerging field of integrated optics-chips that control light rather than electricity. The field could lead to high-speed, all optical computers, and smaller, more efficient communications devices. The photonic crystals that form integrated optics chips contain regularly spaced gaps that block certain wavelengths of light. By adding intentional defects, or areas without gaps, researchers can get photonic crystals to channel light through very small areas. It has been difficult, however, to make photonic crystals that effectively handle several wavelengths, or colours, of light at once. Kyoto University researchers have overcome this problem with a prototype add/drop multiplexer that is 250,000 times smaller than conventional devices. The device contains seven photonic crystals that have proportionally smaller gaps. Multiplexers are widely used in communications networks to increase bandwidth by putting several signals over the same line at once.
Technology Review / TRN Jun 11, 2003	back to top

Smart airline seat detects shifty passengers
Intelligent airline seats could automatically alert busy cabin crew to nervous, shifty passengers, who might be terrorists or air-ragers. The seats, being designed by Qinetiq, the UK's part-privatised defence lab, could also warn if passengers have been sitting still so long they risk developing deep vein thrombosis. The seats will contain a thicket of pressure sensors that will relay signals to a central computer to assess the seat occupant's behaviour. If passengers have been asleep or sitting still too long, say, a 'DVT Warning' might flash beneath the passenger's seat number, and a crew member could prompt the passenger to take a walk around the plane. And if the seat reveals the passenger may be in a state of high anxiety, a display can discreetly alert the cabin crew. Additional sensors and analytical software may one day help the crew to determine whether the passenger presents a security risk or is simply frightened of flying.
New Scientist Jun 12, 2003	back to top

Nods drive audio interface
Researchers from the University of Glasgow and the Canadian National Research Council have devised a pair of interaction techniques that allow people to manipulate mobile computers without looking at or talking to them. The first technique is a 3D audio menu that presents users with sounds or speech that seems to come from different directions. Users select items by nodding in the direction of the audio choice. The second technique involves tracing shapes like X, N, and / onto a screen. Key to the no-look method is audio feedback. The screen is divided into nine squares, and one of nine different chords sounds depending on where the user's finger is. The researchers' prototype employs 12 shapes to control an MP3 player. The techniques, which require headphones and a head-tracking device, are designed for mobile environments where people cannot take their eyes off another task, and for situations too noisy for speech recognition.
Technology Review / TRN Jun 09, 2003	back to top