Techno-News Blog

By the Examiner-Enterprise

Crime Stoppers of Bartlesville/Washington County is advocating a new way to discourage thieves from stealing personal valuables, or if items are stolen, a more reliable way for recovery. DataDotDNA, which are as small as a grain of sand, hold a code on each dot that is stored in a national database which is accessible by police and insurance providers. The code on each DataDot links the property back to the owner and is easily traceable using the database. Traditional methods of identifying property are often fruitless, said local Crime Stoppers President John Lamb.

http://www.examiner-enterprise.com/articles/2011/01/09/business/bus993.txt

By Tom Simonite, Technology Review

The technology is becoming ubiquitous—but don’t expect to be able to call just anyone. A slew of new smart phones, tablet computers, and even TVs with front-facing cameras were announced at last week’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, opening the way for video calling to become the next big trend in communications. There’s just one problem: a lack of interoperability between different video-chat platforms could mean frustrations for users.

http://technologyreview.com/communications/27051/?p1=MstRcnt

By Tom Simonite, Technology Review

New processors are a big improvement, but it will take time for apps to take advantage. Steady improvements in performance are a given in the computing industry, but sometimes there’s a big leap forward. One occurred in the world of mobile computing last week, when the first smart phones and tablet computers with dual-core processors were unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The show-stealing Xoom tablet from Motorola, and also phones and tablets from Acer, HTC, and LG, all debuted with a new dual-core processor made by chip maker Nvidia. Competing microprocessor companies Marvell and Freescale Semiconductor also make dual-core chips for such devices. A processor’s core is the crucial component that receives and executes instructions. A single-core processor can execute only one instruction at a time, while a chip with multiple cores can process more instructions at once.

http://technologyreview.com/computing/27055/?p1=MstRcnt

By Sandra Swanson, Technology Review

Scanning prints at two meters could mean safer security checks. Over the years, fingerprinting has evolved from an inky mess to pressing fingers on sensor screens to even a few touch-free systems that work at a short distance. Now a company has developed a prototype of a device that can scan fingerprints from up to two meters away, an approach that could prove especially useful at security checkpoints. The device, called AIRprint, is being developed by Advanced Optical Systems (AOS). It detects fingerprints by shining polarized light onto a person’s hand and analyzing the reflection using two cameras configured to detect different polarizations.

http://technologyreview.com/biomedicine/27052/?p1=MstRcnt

by Erica Naone, Technology Review

When a piece of news breaks online, it’s hard to predict how widely it will be discussed in blog posts or tweets and for how long. Jure Leskovec, an assistant professor of computer science at Stanford University, is working to find a way to make it easier to predict which pieces of content will resonate for a long time. A lot of factors go into that equation, however—the content of the story itself, the popularity of the site where the story originally appeared, and the nature of the community of readers at which it’s aimed. Two new research papers, written by Leskovec and Stanford PhD candidate Jaewon Yang, reveal patterns in the way news stories are shared online, which offer a way to predict early on how a story’s popularity will rise and fall.

http://www.technologyreview.com/web/27083/?p1=A6&a=f

by Technology Review

Entanglement is the strange quantum phenomenon in which two or more particles become so deeply linked that they share the same existence. That leads to some counterintuitive effects, in particular, when two entangled particles become widely separated. When that happens, a measurement on one immediately influences the other, regardless of the distance between them. This “spooky-action-at-a-distance” has profound implications about the nature of reality but a clear understanding of it still eludes physicists. Today, they have something else to puzzle over. Jay Olson and Timothy Ralph at the University of Queensland in Australia say they’ve discovered a new type of entanglement that extends, not through space, but through time.

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/26270/?p1=A3

by Jolie O’Dell, Mashable

HTC has just announced a new line of 4G smartphones — the ThunderBolt will come out on Verizon, the Evo Shift on Sprint and the Inspire on AT&T. With these new arrivals, HTC’s portfolio of 4G devices has grown to six total, including the original Evo, the G2 and the MyTouch. We were lucky enough to grab side-by-side pics of all three devices at CES today. The Evo Shift, HTC’s newest Sprint device, features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a 5MP rear-facing camera and a low $149 price point that’s sure to attract would-be first-time smartphone buyers. The device has a relatively small, 3.6-inch display and no front-facing camera.

http://mashable.com/2011/01/08/htc-rolls-out-new-line-of-android-4g-smartphones-at-ces-pics/

by Intelligencer Journal/New Era

A single computer or television set can contain 5 to 7 pounds of toxic lead and other metals that shouldn’t end up in a landfill or incinerator. But until now, there hasn’t been a law in Pennsylvania keeping such common devices from being thrown out with the trash. Later this month, the state joins 23 others when an electronic waste recycling mandate goes into effect. The e-waste recycling bill was signed by Gov. Ed Rendell on Nov. 23. Manufacturers of televisions and computers sold in Pennsylvania will have to provide consumers with free ways to recycle such devices when they want to get rid of them.

http://www.waste-management-world.com/index/from-the-wires/wire-news-display/1335902251.html

By Steve Connor, Science Editor

The national electricity grid is wide open to a devastating cyber attack that could wreak havoc on the economy and make the 2008 financial crisis seem puny by comparison, a leading computer industry guru has told The Independent. James Martin, who has made a fortune from making predictions about future developments in computers, warned that the only sure way of safeguarding the electricity grid against a coordinated cyber assault is to disconnect it completely from the internet.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/leading-computer-expert-warns-of-cyber-attack-on-national-grid-2185155.html

by Charley Keyes, CNN

The military’s top officer warned Wednesday of the “substantial” and complex threat to the United States of cyber attack, and the potential for devastating impact. “We’ve got to come to a place where those threats are diminished, if not eliminated,” Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said at a news conference in Washington. “I would never go in, certainly in any area of warfare, into details on threats except to say they are substantial. We are focused on them.” Mullen said that cyberspace, like outer space, is a lawless terrain. “It’s an area with no rules, there are no boundaries, it happens with the speed of light,” Mullen said at the Washington Foreign Press Center.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/web/01/12/cyber.threat/index.html?section=cnn_latest

by Marketwire

The cyber threat landscape has matured over the past 10 years, due in part to the proliferation of new technologies and an increasing reliance on the Internet for personal, business and governmental needs. Wielding their keyboards, cyber criminals exploit new and existing technologies for financial gain, to exact revenge or to carry out political coups. In their wake, they leave behind the tattered remains of unsuspecting individuals’ life savings or companies’ intellectual property, or the potential for disruption of national infrastructures. Narus, Inc., the leader in real-time traffic intelligence for protecting governments, service providers and enterprises against cyber threats and the risks of doing business in cyber space, recently compiled a top 10 list of the latest cyber threat trends that will likely pop up over the next few years.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Narus-Reveals-Top-10-Cyber-iw-1632512250.html?x=0&.v=1

By Jon Murphy, PC World

The bad guys are getting smarter. Whether they are terrorists who realize another way to hurt the world and advance their agenda is to destabilize the economies of developed nations, especially leaders like the USA, disgruntled insiders, or “ordinary” criminals with a predominant profit motive, cyber crimes are increasing and becoming more costly. In information technology security circles, there is some buzz about a July 2010 Cost of Cyber Crime Benchmark Study of a representative sampling of U.S. companies conducted by the Ponemon Institute. This organization conducts independent research on privacy, data protection, and information security policy. The point that the Institute is seemingly trying to make with their representative study is that Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), especially as it relates to IT, needs to ramp up; companies are getting lax again/still and re-assuming an attitude of “it” (i.e.: bad things) won’t happen to them.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/216605/7_cyber_crime_facts_execs_need_to_know.html?tk=rss_news

By Jonathan Fildes, BBC

Wikipedia is too complicated for many people to modify despite billing itself as “the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit”, its founder has said. Jimmy Wales told BBC News the site wants a new generation of contributors, including more women. The online encyclopedia, which is 10 years old on 15 January, is the world’s fifth most popular site. It aims to increase its users from 400m to 1bn by 2015. But growth requires a new interface, said Mr Wales. “We have to support our old power users because they build the site,” he said. “But we also need to have a ramp for new users.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12171977

By: Michelle Maisto, eWeek

The expectation that Hewlett-Packard will finally introduce a WebOS-running tablet (or tablets) at its planned Feb. 9 event was all but confirmed by Todd Bradley, executive vice president of HP’s Personal Systems Group, during a recent television interview. In the segment aired, Jan. 7 from the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo asked Bradley, “Where’s your tablet? You said you’re preparing one to run WebOS. When will this device debut?” To which Bradley responded that HP has a “set of public announcements” planned for its Feb. 9 event, at which it will speak “broadly about the future of WeboS and the breadth of products that [the OS] will enable.”

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/HP-WebOS-Tablet-Now-Super-Likely-for-Feb-8-831186/?kc=rss

By the BBC

A global trial of the net’s new addressing system is being planned for 8 June. The test is being held to raise awareness about the imminent change from version 4 of the addressing scheme to version 6. Net giants Google, Facebook, Akamai and Yahoo have committed to taking part in the “test flight” of IPv6. Net firms are being encouraged to switch to IPv6 as addresses in the old scheme will run out by November 2011.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12183098

By Jane Wakefield, BBC

For children e-mail is “something your dad does” and their search engine of choice is as likely to be YouTube as Google. But with many of the disruptive technologies that drip-feed children in their leisure hours banned within school buildings, what hope do teachers have of engaging their tech-savvy pupils? At Bedford Primary School in Liverpool, social networking is embraced as part of the daily routine of school and learning. It has joined Radiowaves, a dedicated school-based social network, which now boasts 13,000 schools in 22 countries.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12193773

By Calvin Azuri, TMCnet

Consumers will be provided exceptional experiences with the new notebook and desktop PCs from HP. Ground-breaking technologies like HP CoolSense Technology and Beats Audio will be offered by the notebooks and desktop PCs launched by HP. Advanced cooling technology and the latest graphics are featured by the HP ENVY 17 line.

http://it.tmcnet.com/topics/it/articles/132446-hp-infuses-latest-technologies-into-new-consumer-pcs.htm

by Kate Russell, BBC

This week web reviewer Kate Russell looks at quick ways to update multiple social networking sites with Hellotxt and Ping.fm. She also looks at Paginglist, an attempt to conquer the fear of giving out phone numbers online by only providing a simple username – or “tag” – to start talking. At the Open University’s Darwin page, there is a tool to see what you would have looked like throughout history by uploading a photo and letting the programme take you back in time. Finally, Facebook users can make the most of the new-look profile page, which pulls photos from your album to create a personalised banner, with a special app that allows either one of a selection of ready-made

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/9360957.stm

by Rackspace

Cloud computing and related technologies can provide a catalyst for small- to medium-sized businesses to expand the their capabilities to be more in line with bigger companies, but employees and executives alike may need to educate themselves first in the ways of the cloud to see the benefits, according to recent research. While the cloud provides benefits to businesses of all sizes, including a reduction in IT hardware costs and near-limitless scalability, a poll conducted by Virtacore systems found many IT workers in the dark when it came down to what exactly the cloud means to business.

http://goo.gl/70rSG

By Jay Dougherty, News Factor

With bad computing practices, disaster can ensue. Here are some New Year’s technology resolutions that will help you achieve a carefree 2011 with technology. Vow to not lose data with proper backup systems, secure your social networks, use secure passwords, avoid being taken in by phishing attacks, and secure mobile data with encryption. A new year has just begun. And if you’re like many of us, you may already be well on your way to forgetting any New Year’s resolutions you made during an evening of revelry. But when it comes to your life with technology, a sobering fact remains: bad habits can cost you. The good news: it’s never too late to protect your data, your privacy, and your security. Here are some New Year’s technology resolutions that will help you achieve a carefree 2011 with technology.

http://www.newsfactor.com/news/Technology-Resolutions-for-2011/story.xhtml?story_id=013000G5312P&full_skip=1

By Eli Milchman, Cult of Mac

Check out this simply stunning 3D-mapping technology from Swedish-based C3 Technologies that elicited a uniform reaction of “holy %$*@!” from us when we saw it. One reason for its precision is that it was developed from recently declassified missile targeting technology originally developed by Swedish aerospace powerhouse Saab. In the San Francisco map, each individual house has been rendered in 3D, and the SDK comes with both SF and London maps, with maps for other major cities available from C3 and more being added. C3 also has a companion streets-level application similar to Google’s SreetView.

http://www.cultofmac.com/new-mind-blowing-3d-mapping-technology-for-ipad-ces-2011/76046