Category: Technology

Wave-powered ‘ducks’ could purify seawater

Wave-powered ‘ducks’ could purify seawater – tech – 07 November 2006 – New Scientist Tech
Ocean waves could provide an energy-efficient way to desalinate seawater, say UK researchers. While conventional purification plants have high energy demands, the rocking motion of floating buoys could be used to drive a pump system for desalination.

The hollow core of each duck is half-filled with freshwater, to avoid corrosion and act as ballast, with the air above divided by a central section. To start working, the ballast water must be pre-heated to about 100°C but the whole system is insulated so that it only gradually loses heat and only needs to be refilled about once a month.

Big labels are f*cked, and DRM is dead

Big labels are f*cked, and DRM is dead – Peter Jenner | The Register
Few people know the music industry better than Peter Jenner. Pink Floyd’s first manager, who subsequently managed Syd Barrett’s solo career, Jenner has also looked after T.Rex, The Clash, Ian Dury, Disposable Heroes and Billy Bragg – who he manages today. He’s also secretary general of the International Music Managers Forum.

The major four music labels today are “fucked”, he says. Digital music pricing has been a scam where the consumer pays for manufacturing, distribution, and does all the work – and still has to pay more. Labels should outsource everything except finance and licensing.But he’s also optimistic that for almost everyone else – indie labels, musicians, songwriters and budding entrepreneurs – as well as network providers – the future’s going to be pretty bright. The Big Four know that the DRM era is nearly over – and within two or three years, he predicts, “most countries” in the world will have a blanket licensing regime where we exchange music freely, for a couple of quid a month. Continue reading “Big labels are f*cked, and DRM is dead”

Cell Phone Carriers Target Hispanics

Cell Phone Carriers Target Hispanics – Forbes.com
cell phone companies and other technology providers that are increasingly targeting a young, tech-savvy Hispanic population – at 43 million, the fastest-growing minority group in the U.S. – that is expected to have $1 trillion in buying power by 2010.

Latinos, on average, used 979 voice minutes per month in the third quarter of 2005, trailing only blacks in that area, according to estimates by Telephia Inc., a consumer research firm. Asians or Pacific Islanders used 845 minutes and whites used 632 minutes.

The sad state of computer security

The sad state of computer security | InfoWorld | Test Center | October 06, 2006 | By Roger A. Grimes
The world of computer security is so much worse than the average Internet user or politician believes. Bots own tens of millions of computers at any single point in time. The people who make a living at closing tens to hundreds of thousands of bot-infected computers a day readily admit that they are not making a dent in the bad guy’s ability to use bots for crime.

Most malware exists to steal your money. No need to guess why you’re infected anymore; it ain’t to send greetz to teenage hacker friends. The average criminal hacker is making thousands of dollars a day, if not more, and will never be caught. The only ones we ever catch and prosecute are the dumbest ones.

Just think about what it took to put mandatory data encryption of confidential data on the world’s radar screen. One-third of all adults had their financial information stolen this year. And outside of the government, encryption is still not mandated.

Most corporate networks can be owned in an hour. Just send a spam e-mail to corporate employees entitled “Pending 2006 Layoffs” pretending to be from the CEO, and have it contain one of the many MS-Office zero days with an unscannable remote access trojan. I do it for a living, and rarely do I have to wait more than a few minutes for complete network access.

Making Water From Thin Air

Wired News: Making Water From Thin Air
A company that developed technology capable of creating water out of thin air nearly anywhere in the world is now under contract to nourish U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq.

The cost to transport water by C-17 cargo planes, then truck it to the troops, runs $30 a gallon. The cost, including the machines from Aqua Sciences, will be reduced to 30 cents a gallon, Roy said.

Several systems on the market can create water through condensation, but the process requires a high level of humidity.

Aqua Sciences’ machines only require 14 percent humidity, Roy said. “That’s why this technology is superior and why they are getting the contracts.”

DNA evidence breaking tough cases open but there are problems

DNA evidence breaking tough cases open but there are problems | ZDNet Government Blog
Wahl said what goes on in DNA labs bears no resemblance to what TV shows like “CSI” portray, adding that he left his job in Las Vegas because the crushing caseloads left him “sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

Crime shows, he said, make things tougher for real labs because they create unrealistic expectations for “the viewing public, who are potential jurors, and even some district attorneys who watch TV and think that’s how the real world is.”

Cloudiness can creep in, she said, when a sample lifted from an object or person contains more than one DNA profile, when contamination of a sample occurs or when a given DNA profile is compared with profiles contained in a data bank.

With the latter, she said, a match doesn’t necessarily mean a culprit has been identified. Funk said that’s because the probability of connecting a particular DNA profile to one in a data base is much higher than it would be if a single profile is compared at random to another single profile. (Click Image to enlarge)

Nuke the Tar Sands 2

Peak Oil Debunked: 126. NUKE THE TAR SANDS 2

The only other option is to generate heat by burning the oil itself, and that would be a carbon emission nightmare. One thing is clear, however: the oil sands will be produced. It’s just a question of whether we’re going to do it the dirty way (and waste vast amounts of the oil in the process); or do it the clean way with nuclear. Environmentalists need to get their head around that. The option where we don’t produce the oil sands is a utopian dream. It’s not on the table.

From the recent article about the natural gas shortage that Calrton Palmer informed us about:

Oil sands producers are clearly concerned about natural gas prices and are experimenting with a range of alternatives that would reduce or eliminate the need for gas.

At its Whitesands in situ project, Petrobank and its partners are working on a plan to burn residual bitumen underground in order to loosen and recover the commercially available crude. That process would leave the carbon dioxide created from the burn trapped underground.

Several companies are also planning to burn asphalt-like bitumen to produce electricity and steam above ground.

Experts believe the future will be like Sci-Fi movies

Experts believe the future will be like Sci-Fi movies
In the latest study conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, over 700 technology experts were asked to evaluate an assortment of scenarios in an attempt to determine potential trends for the year 2020. With responses from representatives of the World Wide Web Consortium, ICANN, the Association of Internet Researchers, and major corporations like Google and IBM, the report reflects the perceptions of “Internet pioneers,” more than half of whom “were online before 1993.”

The highly speculative scenarios presented to respondents are all vaguely reminiscent of various themes commonly found in contemporary science fiction. From artificial intelligences dominating humanity to disgruntled Luddites engaging in violence, the poll looks more like an abandoned script by Michael Piller than a serious exploration of the future