By Sue Crane, Editor
Big Bear Computer Club, CA www.bigbearcc.org
From the May, 2005 issue of the I/O Port Newsletter
Molecular Computer Would Be Faster, Smaller & Cheaper.
Researchers from Hewlett-Packard have created devices called crossbar latches
that can be used to perform calculations in microprocessors, the same function
silicon transistors now have. Crossbar latches--which consist of a grid of
microscopic wires linked by molecules at their intersections--are far smaller
and, potentially, far cheaper to make because they are produced using processes
more like inkjet printing than the etching processes required for today's chips.
HP has already shown how crossbar latches can be used in memory. "This is the
final piece of the puzzle for building a molecular computer," said Phil Kuekes,
senior computer architect and primary inventor at HP's Quantum Science Research
(QSR) unit.
New Laser Chip
Intel has created a chip containing eight continuous Raman lasers by using
fairly standard silicon processes rather than the somewhat expensive materials
and processes required for making lasers today. The lasers emit a continuous
stream of light that can then be modulated, or chopped up, into a stream of
impulses that can represent data. Cheap optical parts could not only lead to
faster computers but also to less expensive and more accurate medical equipment.
Faster Hard Drives
Dataslide proposes to abandon hard drive rotation in favor of vibration. A new
prototype drive has a rectangular plate coated with magnetic storage material. A
second plate hovers above with an array of lithographed heads on its surface.
The lower plate vibrates from side to side at 600 times per second, a process
that delivers data 10 times faster than a15,000 rpm rotating disk drive.
Dataslide envisions tweaking the product to increase the vibration to 100,000 a
second -- equivalent to a disk rotating at 12 million rpm.
Your Cell Phone Could Infect your Car!
A report by IBM Security Intelligence Services predicts that viruses spreading
to mobile phones, PDAs and wireless networks could infect the embedded computers
that increasingly are used to run basic automobile functions. The average new
car runs 20 computer processors and about 60 megabytes of software code, raising
more opportunities for malfunctions.
New Technology Could Bring Sight to the Blind
A small camera mounted on spectacles and connected to the optical nerve could
restore the sight of thousands of people suffering from deterioration of the
retina, European scientists said Monday. The technology could also help people
with the retinal disease macular degeneration, which can lead to loss of
fine-detail sight and which is one of the leading causes of visual impairment in
the United States. A camera mounted on glasses sends images to an electronic
device implanted behind the eye and stimulates the optic nerve, which passes the
information to the brain.
Edible origami by Canon?
The Canon i560 inkjet printer doesn't just print menus Moto restaurant in
Chicago; it prints menus you can eat. Homaru Cantu, the executive chef, prints
menus and many other items onto edible starch-based paper. Instead of using the
typical CMYK inks--cyan, magenta, yellow, and black--Cantu has filled the
cartridges with edible solutions. Think SSSB: sweet, sour, bitter, and salty.
Cantu uses combinations of these four liquids on the edible paper to create
dishes unlikely to be found anywhere else, such as "baked map of Alaska" and a
type of maki sushi that he wraps in flavored paper bearing images of sushi,
instead of seaweed.
Antispam Tools Initiate New HIV Vaccines
At the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston,
workers for Microsoft Research said they have been using database and antispam
software to identify previously unseen patterns in genetic mutations of HIV. The
researchers said their work illustrates how medical experts can use
machine-learning, data-mining and other software methods to sort through
millions of strains of HIV and improve vaccines. By seeking out genetic patterns
that could be used to train a person's immune system to fight the virus, they
are already making headway, the researchers said. The group reported that the
first of its proposed vaccine designs is already undergoing laboratory testing.
Databases Charged as Lax With Personal Information
After the huge security breach by ChoicePoint, releasing personal information of
145,000 individuals earlier this month, Senators Charles Schumber and Patrick
Leahy have requested hearings, declaing. "It's time to turn some sunshine on
these developments so the public can understand how and why their personal
information is being used," A Schumer spokesman claimed that a researcher at a
major corporation not involved in investigations was able to get the complete
social security numbers from Westlaw's information database using the
"People-Find" feature. Other companies have recently acknowledged that they may
have inadvertently left consumer information unprotected. The payroll records of
at least a dozen companies were exposed to the Internet by a flaw in the online
W-2 service of PayMaxx. A flaw in the PayMaxx Web site exposed the financial
information of customers' workers, the payroll-services firm acknowledges. In
addition, cell-phone service provider T-Mobile has dealt with ongoing security
problems that have led to the publication of celebrity Paris Hilton's personal
information and the phone numbers of many Hollywood stars.
Microsoft Authentication Changes Again
Customers who find themselves reinstalling Windows XP should be ready for a
headache: Microsoft will no longer support activation over the Internet for PCs
with Windows pre-installed. Intended to curb stealing and selling of
Certificates of Authenticity, the new security measure will initially be limited
to the Windows XP software preinstalled on systems shipped by the top 20 PC
sellers.
Battlestar Galactica Available for FREE Download!
In an unprecedented move, The SciFi channel has made Episode '33' (Season 1
Episode 1) of Battlestar Galactica (season 1 hasn't even concluded) available
for free, uncut and commercial free, online at SciFi.com. Also available are
deleted scenes from the series.
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