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Issue no. 39, 2003 Published: Oct 24, 2003
Europe issues open source migration tips
Study: Spam hurting e-mail use
Smart screens sample DNA
Body network gains speed
Electricity squeezed out of water
Cellphone 'radar' tracks traffic flow
Microsoft offers 'self destructing' documents
Researchers take debugging to the masses
Molecule-sized circuits 'set to replace silicon chip'
Robot skin stretches to the task
Computer games can treat phobias
New typeface to help dyslexics
A third of users get violent with PCs

Europe issues open source migration tips
A European Commission initiative has issued guidelines to member governments on how to migrate to open source software on both servers and desktops. Designed to support the rapid electronic exchange of information between member states' administrations, the guidelines are aimed at IT managers in public administrations, and includes information on staff changes, interoperability, security and user support. Part of the EC, the Interchange of Data between Administrators (IDA) drew up the Open Source Migration Guidelines to set out the basic principles that countries should follow. Nine member states provided input from their own practical experience. They place considerable emphasis on desktop and groupware migration, with details of the open source alternatives to, for instance, Windows applications. But it stresses that handling inter-working with existing systems is vital. The full document and a cost comparison model can be downloaded at http://europa.eu.int/ISPO/ida/jsps/index.jsp?fuseAction=showDocument&parent=news&documentID=1647
VNUnet UK Oct 22, 2003	back to top

Study: Spam hurting e-mail use
The billions of 'spam' messages that cross the internet daily are beginning to erode users' faith in e-mail communications, according to a report. Half of all internet users say spam has made them less trusting of all e-mail in general, the Pew Internet and American Life Project found, while one in four say they now use e-mail less because of spam. The June survey of 1,400 internet users found that most feel they can do little to block unwanted messages. More than half said the flood of spam makes it difficult to find messages they do want. Most respondents said they did not post their e-mail addresses to websites, and many said they used filters to block spam. But others admitted to behaviour likely to perpetuate the problem. Some 7 per cent said they had bought a product or service that was offered in an unsolicited e-mail, while one-third said they had clicked a link to get more information. Two-thirds said they had clicked a link to be removed from a spammer's e-mail list, an activity consumer advocates say is likely only to generate more spam.
Yahoo / Reuters Oct 23, 2003	back to top

Smart screens sample DNA
An intelligent liquid crystal displays which could bring mobile DNA fingerprinting a step closer has been developed by scientists. Joint research between Cambridge University scientists and Epson has yielded an intelligent, ultra-thin display device which combines clever circuitry and sensors. The technology could be used on a range of wireless mobile devices, like handheld computers or even wrist watches. The wafer-thin sensing displays are about the size of a film negative. The chip technology behind the display will be able not only to store but also to analyse information. It means in the future, police equipped with mobile devices could take DNA fingerprinting samples from people when they are on the beat. This could make it is a lot easier for samples to be recorded and stored, and raises the possibly of using wireless technology to compare database information with samples.
BBC News Oct 17, 2003	back to top

Body network gains speed
Researchers from NTT Docomo Multimedia Labs and NTT Microsystem Integration Labs in Japan have demonstrated a 10-megabits-per-second indoor network that uses human bodies as portable ethernet cables. The network, dubbed ElectAura-Net, is wireless, but instead of using radio waves, infrared light, or microwaves to transmit information it uses a combination of the electric field that emanates from humans and a similar field emanating from special floor tiles. The system could eventually provide high-speed wireless communications among portable electronic devices whose positions constantly change. The researchers' prototype network consists of a series of transceivers that can be placed every square metre under a tile or carpet floor, and a transceiver worn on the body or attached to a handheld device. The transceiver transmits data by oscillating the electric field surrounding the device. When the electric field that naturally emanates from a person intersects the electric field of the nearest tile transceiver, oscillations in one field are transmitted to the other.
Technology Research News Oct 22, 2003	back to top

Electricity squeezed out of water
Researchers at the University of Alberta in Canada have powered a light bulb by pumping water through a glass filter riddled with tiny holes. The 'electrokinetic battery' might drive portable electronic devices such as mobile phones, the group suggests. Inside the device, water molecules fall apart into positively charged hydrogen ions and negatively charged hydroxide ions. In the prototype, the surface of the porous glass filter is negatively charged, attracting hydrogen ions to form a layer. The pores are about ten thousandths of a millimetre wide - the same size as this layer. So the ions accumulate preferentially in the pores. Pressure is then applied to drive the liquid through the pores and move the charged ions from one side of the porous membrane to the other. In other words, a current flows. The current is tiny, but it adds up when the water flows through thousands of pores at once. Gravity drives water through, as the inlet pipe is 30 centimetres above the outlet. It produces a current of around one microamp - enough to power microscopic gears and switches.
Nature Oct 22, 2003	back to top

Cellphone 'radar' tracks traffic flow
Signals from cellphone masts can be used to track aircraft, monitor traffic congestion and spot speeding motorists without tipping them off. Conventional radar works by transmitting a signal, listening for the reflection and calculates the object's distance and speed. But the signals they send out are easy to detect. An alternative technique, called passive radar, listens in to the cacophony of radio signals in the environment and monitors the way moving objects change them. Now two British companies, Roke Manor Research and BAe Systems, have done the same thing with signals from cellphone masts. 'Celldar' works out the position of objects in the area by comparing the signals reflected from them with those it receives directly from a base station, whose positions are known. From the Doppler shift in the signal it can also calculate the target object's speed. Because the system is passive, drivers will have no way of telling whether they are being monitored. Passive systems cam also spot 'stealthy' aircraft and ships. To passive radar, these objects show up as shadows that can be spotted.
New Scientist Oct 22, 2003	back to top

Microsoft offers 'self destructing' documents
The latest version of Microsoft's Office software suite launched on Tuesday, with its most eye-catching feature a new ability to make documents and emails 'self-destruct'. Office 2003 comes with the ability to let users control the way other people use the documents they create. This can be used to prevent other people forwarding, copying or even printing a protected email message or document. The rights control feature in Office 2003 depends on having an intermediary computer system with Windows Server 2003 and a software package called Rights Management Service installed. A protected email message sent between two users is encrypted and the recipient's version of Outlook will check with the server to see if the user is allowed to edit, copy or forward the message. A time-stamp can also be applied to make the message unreadable after a certain date. Other documents that can be stored on a user's machine, such as Word files, are encrypted. Each user's version of Word will access the central server to determine how that person is allowed to use the document.
New Scientist Oct 21, 2003	back to top

Researchers take debugging to the masses
Researchers at the University of California and at Stanford University have released versions of several open-source software packages modified to send debugging information to a central site, letting people who use the software contribute to the bug-hunting effort. If the Cooperative Bug Isolation Project can get enough people to use the special versions, they essentially will be providing the eyes of debuggers more peepholes into software's inner workings. The project takes an open-source tack on the problem. It provides software called 'sampler' that open-source programmers can add to their own software to aid in debugging. When the sampler software is inserted into a program - a process that happens through use of a lightly modified version of the widely used GCC programming tool - the resulting program is 'instrumented' with instructions that capture data as the program runs.
ZDNet Oct 17, 2003	back to top

Molecule-sized circuits 'set to replace silicon chip'
US Scientists have created a minuscule electronic memory circuit from gold atoms in a development which could one day replace the silicon chip. The researchers have been able to make molecular-sized switches and memory chips from clumps of atoms. Their work, due to be published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, could eventually revolutionise computer technology as the microelectronic device dwarfs the silicon chip. The technology could lead to smaller, more powerful computers. In one study at the University of California at Los Angeles, a mesh of molecular-sized wires was created, with switches at the cross over points. At Rice University, in Houston, Texas, scientists built circuits from randomly laid out molecules. They created so-called nanocells, which could be used as memory or computer logic chips, by repeating electrical pulses between adjacent contact points.
Ananova Oct 20, 2003	back to top

Robot skin stretches to the task
The skin of a robot has to fulfil two apparently opposing needs: it must be elastic enough to lend the robot human-like dexterity, and yet carry enough wiring to allow it to sense its environment. Electrical engineers at Princeton University have developed a kind of connector incorporating broad metal strips that, unlike wires, can stretch up to twice their length and still conduct electricity. They think it will be ideal for use in robot skin as it could allow sensors to be placed all over a robot's body. The elastic metal film connectors based on gold film just 25 nanometres thick can stretch by at least 15 per cent in the rubbery silicone membrane in which they are embedded. Some of the contacts conduct even when stretched to twice their original length. This is because the gold film is corrugated, so it can be flattened out or compressed and still conduct electricity.
New Scientist Oct 22, 2003	back to top

Computer games can treat phobias
Popular computer games such as Half-Life and Unreal Tournament could provide a cheap and effective treatment for people with debilitating phobias, say Canadian computer scientists. Specially made virtual reality (VR) equipment is already used to treat certain types of phobia. But researchers at the University of Quebec in Canada took the simpler approach of customising existing games to create VR worlds for a range of phobias. Tests showed that the games stimulated a response that could be used to perform controlled treatment. The researchers suggest that computer games might be a cheap and easy-to-use form of VR treatment. The games also provide highly realistic graphics and can be easily adapted to an individual patient's particular fears. Within Half-Life, scenes containing various different types of spider were built to treat people with arachnophobia. Unreal Tournament was used to make environments for those with a fear of heights or confined spaces.
New Scientist Oct 20, 2003	back to top

New typeface to help dyslexics
Dyslexics who have trouble reading words online and in print may soon find relief in a new typeface being developed by a Dutch designer. Unlike traditional typefaces, which reuse the same forms for multiple letters - such as b and d, or p and q - the Read Regular typeface makes each letter significantly unique so that dyslexics can more easily distinguish one character from another. Additionally, Read Regular features simplified forms and extended openings in letters like c and e. Without these enhancements, the traditional fonts used on the web and in print can contribute to letter-reversal errors and other problems commonly associated with visual dyslexia. As part of her research for the Read Regular project, Natascha Frensch, who is dyslexic herself, tested her typefaces with nearly 100 dyslexic people. Although the typeface is complete, Frensch says she still needs to iron out licensing and distribution details before it is made available to the public.
Wired News Oct 21, 2003	back to top

A third of users get violent with PCs
Almost 40 per cent of computer users admit to swearing, shouting and becoming violent with troublesome PCs, and the problem is set to get worse. As spam and online fraud increase the pressure on beleaguered PC users, a fifth of them are threatening to give up on IT altogether. Security firm Symantec, which conducted a survey of UK computer users, said that a mere 14 per cent are never irritated by problems with their PC. This leaves 86 per cent driven mad by so-called 'PC pests'. The top problems are slow performance and system crashes (23 per cent); spam, scams and too much email (20 per cent); pop-up advertisements (15 per cent); and viruses (14 per cent). According to the findings, 39 per cent of us are likely to have an extreme reaction to computer-induced stress, including swearing, shouting and even violence. Mike Fisher of the British Association of Anger Management advises: 'The best thing to do is breathe deeply, remind yourself to keep your cool and take a break from your computer for a few minutes'.
VNUNet UK Oct 22, 2003	back to top