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Issue no. 18, 2004 Published: May 14, 2004
Europe slips behind on nano technology
Dot-eu domain name scramble timetable unveiled
US criticised over web controls
Quantum trick may multiply CD capacity
Colour display blocks prying eyes
Computer chip noise may betray code
Start-up brings Net telephony to cell phones
US moves to build top supercomputer
Mobile working threatens the 9 to 5
Upbeat computers boost users

Europe slips behind on nano technology
More investment in nanotech research is needed in Europe if it is to become a world leader in the field, according to a paper published this week by the European Commission. Research must be better co-ordinated across member states, with more money going towards training and infrastructure, it recommends. The document outlines how member states could strengthen research efforts and develop more commercially viable products. It also stresses that the impact of nano-tech on society needs to be considered. European research commissioner, Philippe Busquin, called for strong public-private partnerships, adding that nanotech applications must be developed in a responsible and transparent way. Early investment in the field was strong, and was reflected in the number of research papers published. Between 1997 and 1999, European research findings accounted for nearly one third of all published work in the field. However, Europe has now slipped behind Japan and the US, and is unlikely to remain competitive, according to the Commission.
The Register May 13, 2004	back to top

Dot-eu domain name scramble timetable unveiled
The European Commission has published the rules which will apply to the registrations of future dot-eu domain names. A year ago, the Commission chose Eurid (European Registry for Internet Domains) to officially manage the distribution of the new top-level domain. One of the first tasks that Eurid will be faced with is choosing the registration offices, which will be authorised to collect the domain name requests. The registration process will take place in three stages - firstly, member states and other joining countries can request that their official denomination only be attributed to the body that they designate to represent them. The second stage is reserved for holders of registered trademarks, or those with a sufficiently strong claim to a non-trademarked terms. During the third phase, which will begin in April 2005, the rest of the .eu names will be distributed on a first come, first served basis.
Silicon.com / ZDNet France May 12, 2004	back to top

US criticised over web controls
The US should reopen most of the sites shut down after September 11 because of terrorism fears, a report by the Rand Corporation says. The government-funded study found that the vast majority of official sites and databases posed little security risk. In the aftermath of September 11, the US authorities shut down some 36 sites and more than 600 public databases. But the report concluded that details about potential targets like airports and power plants, was readily available elsewhere. The researchers looked at 5,000 federal web pages. They found that none of the sites offered any information that was essential to a terrorist. Much of the data could be found in textbooks, non-government sites, trade journals or maps. The same applied to virtually all of the 629 officials databases the researchers looked at. In only four cases was there an argument to restrict public access because the databases contained details about pipelines, nuclear reactors and dams.
BBC News May 11, 2004	back to top

Quantum trick may multiply CD capacity
A fundamental law of classical physics has been broken by two teams of physicists who have linked particles of light together in a way that enhances its normal properties. Their method for 'entangling' photons could one day allow information to be more densely crammed and read from CDs and other memory devices. A physical principle called the diffraction limit says that light cannot be used to see or inscribe features that are smaller than half its wavelength. This limits the density of data on a CD, for example, and the size of the circuits that can be carved into microchips. But now physicists have got round this limit by 'entangling' the photons that they use. This process leaves the particles of light sharing a single quantum state, which makes them behave like a single photon with a shorter wavelength and higher energy. A Canadian team has entangled three photons while an Austrian team have created a four-photon entangled state. These results could lead to faster computer chips and increase a CD's capacity by a factor of nine.
New Scientist / Physicsweb / Nature May 12, 2004	back to top

Colour display blocks prying eyes
Researchers from the University of Tokushima in Japan have built a computer display that can be viewed only from directly in front of the screen. People looking at the display from even slight angles see only a random pattern of colour pixels. Each pixel on the display is divided into three black, one red, one green and one blue subpixel arranged in a pattern. A decoding mask that contains three transparent and three opaque subpixels decodes the view directly in front of the image. The subpixel pattern in the decoding mask determines which subpixels on the display show through to provide red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, yellow, black or white. Every pixel in the secret image is encrypted by a randomly chosen combination of display subpixel patterns. Because there are eight possible decoding mask subpixel patterns per pixel, a secret image of 256 by 256 pixels has 8 to the 256-times-256 power possible decoding mask subpixel patterns, according to the researchers.
Technology Review / TRN May 07, 2004	back to top

Computer chip noise may betray code
The noise emitted by computer chips could help code breakers decipher encrypted messages, according to preliminary research carried out at the Weizmann Institute in Israel. Researchers sampled the high-frequency audio produced by computer central processing units (CPU) in a recording studio. They discovered that they could distinguish between different cryptographic keys being processed by the chip, according to the frequency of the sound emitted. They also found they could determine the length of a string of characters by measuring the duration of certain sounds. This is because these correspond to the amount of time taken to process the key. These details could, in theory, make it substantially simpler for an assailant to break the code used to protect valuable data on a computer.
New Scientist May 11, 2004	back to top

Start-up brings Net telephony to cell phones
Communications start-up i2 Telecom International announced a new gadget that will allow cell phone users to make calls using voice-over-Internet Protocol technology (VoIP). The product, called InternetTalker MG-3, is expected to be released next month. VoIP technology is a cheap, Net-based alternative to traditional telephone service. InternetTalker MG-3 essentially acts as a bridge between customers' cell phones and their existing landline and internet connection. By calling into the phone line, consumers can establish a VoIP connection. The product's Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) standards help it work with multiple cellular protocols, including CDMA, TDMA and GSM.
ZDNet May 11, 2004	back to top

US moves to build top supercomputer
The US is launching a new push to regain the lead in the competition over who has the most powerful computer. The Energy Department announced plans to build the world's fastest civilian computer at a research laboratory in Tennessee with the help of three private companies. The supercomputer to be built at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory will have federal grants totalling $50 million over the initial two years. If successful, it will surpass in sustained computing power a machine unveiled in Japan two years ago. The project submitted by Oak Ridge scientists envisions a computer capable of sustaining 50 trillion calculations per second on a sustained basis, which would surpass the power of Japan's Earth Simulator, now considered the world's fastest.
CNN / AP May 12, 2004	back to top

Mobile working threatens the 9 to 5
Improvements in mobile technology are resulting in European workers ditching the traditional nine till five and spending more time on the road. According to an Economist Intelligence Unit study, conducted across more than 600 European employees in 10 countries, professionals are spending more hours away from their desks, from a quarter of their time spent on the road two years ago to an anticipated 42 per cent in two years' time. But the Intel-commissioned research found that despite the trend towards mobile working, more respondents felt they were less efficient when away from their desks than the number claiming to be more efficient. The majority, 97 per cent of businesspeople, were found to use mobile phones, while 82 per cent use laptops and 37 per cent use PDAs. Almost a third of survey's respondents said they use wireless hotspots, with 83 per cent of workers citing mobile and wireless working as creating a competitive advantage over rivals. Almost 90 per cent said mobile working improved client service.
VNUnet UK May 11, 2004	back to top

Upbeat computers boost users
Researchers from the University of Tampere in Finland have shown that when computers equipped with speech synthesizers gave users spoken positive reinforcement during software delays, users smiled more and performed better at subsequent problem-solving exercises. The researchers asked volunteers to solve a colour puzzle using a mouse. There were periodic delays in mouse movements, and following the delays users received emotionally-worded positive messages, emotionally- worded negative messages, or, as a control, no message at all. Positive and negative messages, translated from Finish, included 'The problem will soon be happily over', and 'This is annoying', respectively. The research showed that synthesised emotional messages affect the cognitive operations of the computer user, and could eventually be used to make using computers more pleasant and more productive. The researchers are working on a wireless feedback system that will provide the computer with feedback from users, and at the same time allow users to move around freely.
Technology Research News May 10, 2004	back to top