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Issue no. 14, 2004 Published: Apr 16, 2004
Attackers infiltrating supercomputer networks
Brain implant devices approved for trials
Intel launches secure mobile chips
Lindows changes name of operating system to Linspire
Spammers are tracking you, warn security experts
Researchers develop 3D search engine
Coming soon: seat by seat subtitles
'Smart gun' technology getting closer
Web inventor Berners-Lee wins technology award

Attackers infiltrating supercomputer networks
Hackers have broken into some of the world's most powerful computer clusters in recent weeks in an apparently coordinated cyberattack targeting research and academic institutions. Although officials sought Wednesday to play down the seriousness of the threats, some security experts warned that such a break-in could potentially enable a serious attack on the internet. Stanford University, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the San Diego Supercomputer Center and the University of Illinois' National Center for Supercomputing Applications were among the systems hit. Also affected was TeraGrid, a US government-funded effort to link together several supercomputers, including those at San Diego and NCSA. Experts say hackers could tap these powerful computers with plenty of internet bandwidth to launch denial-of-service attacks that can disrupt major websites and e-mail systems around the world, potentially bringing down the internet.
SiliconValley / AP Apr 14, 2004	back to top

Brain implant devices approved for trials
For years, futurists have dreamed of machines that can read minds, then act on instructions as they are thought. Now, human trials are set to begin on a brain-computer interface involving implants. US-based Cyberkinetics has received Food and Drug Administration approval to begin a clinical trial in which four-square-millimetre chips will be placed beneath the skulls of paralysed patients. If successful, the chips could allow patients to command a computer to act - merely by thinking about the instructions they wish to send. It is a small, early step in a mission to improve the quality of life for victims of strokes and debilitating diseases. Cyberkinetics will be the first to engage in a long-term, human trial with a sophisticated device placed inside a patient's brain. It hopes to bring a product to market in three to five years.
CNN / AP Apr 14, 2004	back to top

Intel launches secure mobile chips
A line of microprocessors built to keep data locked within a secure 'vault' inside mobile devices was launched by US chip maker Intel. The chips are designed for use in gadgets such as smart cellphones and PDAs. The PXA27x processor family, also known by the code-name 'Bulverde', are touted as a solution to the looming threat of mobile computer viruses and hacker attacks. But they will also make it possible to lock music and video files on mobile devices so that they cannot be copied or forwarded. Other new elements include features designed to boost performance and reduce power consumption. Bulverde chips will allow mobile phone makers to design programs that store valuable data, such as credit card information, within a cryptographically protected 'vault' inside the chip. This is to prevent other software programs from accessing the data without express permission from the user. Computer viruses and other malicious code should then be less able to cause significant damage.
New Scientist Apr 13, 2004	back to top

Lindows changes name of operating system to Linspire
Lindows on Wednesday changed the name of its LindowsOS operating system to Linspire, responding to a federal judge's refusal to halt Microsoft's trademark infringement lawsuits outside the United States. Michael Robertson, founder and chief executive officer, said Lindows would remain the company's name and that the moniker may be used to sell products in the United States. But he said that the company's flagship Linux operating system would be renamed Linspire worldwide and that it was shutting down its website, www.lindows.com. Visitors to the Lindows website Wednesday were automatically redirected to www.linspire.com. Lindows made the name change global because PC makers and software distributors often ship around the world, making it difficult to adopt two names, the company said. Microsoft welcomed the name change but said it had not decided whether to drop its lawsuits against Lindows.
SiliconValley / AP Apr 14, 2004	back to top

Spammers are tracking you, warn security experts
Many spammers are including illicit code in their unsolicited mail to help them detect active email addresses, a security firm warns. MX Logic claims that nearly 50 per cent of spam sent over the last 12 months included a 'spam beacon' - a piece of HTML code embedded in the email that detects when an email is opened or even just previewed. A beacon is typically a very small, transparent .gif image embedded in a webpage or email message's HTML code. Webpage authors embed a beacon in a page so that they can search webserver logs for the beacon and count how many times the page has been requested. Spammers, however, embed beacons in email messages, then use the beacon's image-tag to reference a script on the spammer's webserver. When the recipient opens the message, the HTML-capable email client the recipient is using processes the URL, opens an HTTP connection to the webserver, and passes a parameter that identifies the message recipient to the script. This parameter specifies the user's email address or even a database key that links to personal or profile data.
ZDNet UK / Windows Network Apr 15, 2004	back to top

Researchers develop 3D search engine
Computing researchers at Purdue University and Princeton University have developed new internet search engines that can mine catalogues of three-dimensional objects, like airplane parts or architectural features. All the users have to do is sketch what they are thinking of, and the search engines can produce comparable objects. With the Purdue search engine, designers could sketch the part they need and instantly see dozens in inventory that might fit the bill. Princeton University researchers have put a 3-D search engine online at http://shape.cs.princeton.edu/search.html that lets anyone sketch an object using a computer mouse, add a textual description, then search for similar models in design databases. Key to the method is the use of the voxel, the basic element of a 3-D object that is represented in a computer. Each voxel represents the volume of the object at any given point. Entries sketched by users are converted into voxels and voxel patterns are compared for similarities.
New York Times / AP Apr 16, 2004	back to top

Coming soon: seat by seat subtitles
Film subtitles that can be tailored to suit small sections of an audience could go on general release at the end of 2004. The system can produce on-screen subtitles for the whole audience, or can instead provide individuals with text on personal mini-screens that only they can see, allowing different language groups, or people who are deaf or hard of hearing to see their own set of subtitles. The Cinema Subtitling System (CSS) is being launched by Digital Theatre Systems. When the film is shown, a separate video projector simply superimposes the titles on the bottom of the screen. CSS also has a feature dubbed Reverse Window, which can provide subtitles for specific seats. The subtitles are displayed in mirror- image text on an electronic screen at the rear of the cinema. The selected seats each have a screen in front of them. The top part is clear, allowing the person to see the film, while the bottom part is silvered so that it reflects the subtitles from the back of the theatre.
New Scientist Apr 14, 2004	back to top

'Smart gun' technology getting closer
A new computer chip promises to keep police guns from firing if they fall into the wrong hands. The tiny chip would be implanted in a police officer's hand and would match up with a scanning device inside a handgun. If the officer and gun match, a digital signal unlocks the trigger so it can be fired. But if a child or criminal would get hold of the gun, it would be useless. The technology is the latest attempt to create a so-called 'smart gun' and could be marketed to law enforcement agencies within a year, according to Verichip, which has created the microchip. The chip, about the size of a grain of rice, needs no battery or power source. It works much like those that have been implanted in pets over the past decade so they can be identified if they get lost. The chip is inserted into the hand with a syringe. Once the technology is accepted, legislation could follow to encourage the use of smart guns.
GlobeTechnology / AP Apr 14, 2004	back to top

Web inventor Berners-Lee wins technology award
World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee won one million euros on Thursday, the largest single amount of money he has made from an invention that has made many others very rich. Berners-Lee, 48, was named the first winner of the world's largest technology award - the Millennium Technology Prize - by the Finnish Technology Award Foundation at a ceremony in the Finnish city of Espoo. Berners-Lee launched the World Wide Web in 1991 and gave the world easy access to information, revolutionising the way it worked and communicated. In his 1999 memoir 'Weaving the Web', Berners-Lee said he had once considered forming a start-up to exploit his invention but calculated the move was too risky. Companies such as Netscape and Microsoft filled the gap. Instead, he focused on expanding the use of the web as a mode of free expression and global collaboration and now heads the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), a non-profit group that works to enhance the web's functioning.
Yahoo / Reuters Apr 15, 2004	back to top