VIRUSES MULTIPLY SIGNIFICANTLY

By D.E.Levine

During the past 18 months, Symantec wrote antivirus signatures equal to the number it wrote during the last 18 years.

Figures like this show that while once viruses were created as a game perpetrated by bright programmers looking for ways to outwit the "system", now the plague of viruses is malicious in nature and growing more rapidly than ever before.

PAPER BATTERIES FROM STANFORD

By K.C.Bishoppe

Lightweight, bendable batteries have been created out of paper by researchers at Stanford University.

Created out of a sheet of paper coated with ink made of nanotubes and silver nanowires, the paper batteries are designed to be folded, crumpled and even soaked in acidic solution

The nanotubes used in the paper batteries and supercapacitors have a very small diameter, enabling the ink made from them to stick tightly to the paper. It's estimated by the university that the supercapacitors may be able to handle 40,000 charge-discharge cycles, which is more than lithium batteries can withstand.

It's well known that nanomaterials move electricity more efficiently than traditional materials and thus make better conductors.

Early in 2009 a Stanford research team used silicon nanowires to enable lithium-ion batteries to hold 10 times the charge they previously could hold.

MIT announced in April 2009 that researchers at the institution were combining nanotechnology with genetically engineered viruses to build batteries that could power hybrid cars and cell phones.

CANADA PLEDGES TO BUY GREEN FROM US

By M.S.Welles

The Canadian government has announced a pledge to only buy servers that are certified under the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star program.

Since the Canadian government is a huge purchasing power, its pledge to "buy green" is significant.

Canada has set ambitious goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fully expects green data centers to be a large part of the solution.

TEXTING AND DRIVING DON'T MIX

By K.C.Bishoppe

Common sense should tell drivers that it's inherently dangerous to drive and text at the same time.

Unfortunately, they don't seem to get the message and driving simulators show that individuals who are texting have worse control and more accidents than individuals speaking on cell phones.

While drivers speaking on the phone attempt to divide their attention between the two tasks of driving and speaking, those drivers who are texting have to switch their attention from one task to the other.

REBUILDING NETWORKS IN HAITI

By D.E.Levine

Following the massive earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010 workers and carriers are working non-stop to rebuild the communications systems in Haiti.

Because of the catastrophic events, Haiti's wired telecommunications system was destroyed and land line calls are an impossibility.

With poles and wires down and destroyed it looks as though Haiti may choose to abandon the wired network and go strictly wireless.

Relief organizations such as C.A.R.E. had employees in Haiti immediately following the earthquake and their only communication with their Atlanta headquarters was via SMS texting.

Gradually, some cell phone and Blackberry e-mail services have been restored. Aid groups have also installed broadband satellite links so they could communicate within and outside of the island.

Despite that, networks have been working intermittently and it has been necessary to bring in specialists from the U.S. to set up voice-over-IP phones and Internet connections.

Telecoms Sans Frontieres, an emergency telecommunications aid group, has successfully set up broadband satellite links for the United Nations peacekeeping force, an aid center at Haiti's Port-Au-Prince airport, and the national police headquarters.

U.S.GOVERNMENT LAGS BEHIND IN DIGITAL AGE

By D.E.Levine

Despite the rapid development and increased usage of communication networks, the U.S. government is woefully behind in establishing legislation for the digital age.

There are few standardized laws, standards or guidelines that provide a universally accepted way to conduct business. As a result, states attempt to write and implement their own laws and standards resulting in a hodgepodge of laws that apply only in certain areas and instances.

Because of this a multitude of problems have arisen. Data breaches in one state need to be addressed by laws governing the state where the information breached originated. For instance, if New York residents buy something online from a Colorado vendor and the vendor is breached, New York state data laws must be followed because the information on the customer is governed by those laws. If no laws exist applicable to that breach, NY state residents may never be notified concerning the breach, while Colorado customers would be governed and notified under Colorado law.

Consumers and vendors all want universal laws that are applicable to electronic activity in every state, in the same way.

INTERNET'S ENERGY EFFICIENCY AIM OF CONSORTIUM

By D.E.Levine

Bell Labs launched the Green Tech initiative earlier this year. The main thrust of the Green Tech initiative is to achieve bout 1,000-fold improvement in energy efficiency of the Internet and communications networks.

Bell Labs spokesmen predict that over the next decade billions of videos, images and other types of information will be shared over both public and private networks. It's anticipated that this will decrease our carbon imprint while simultaneously increasing world energy consumption.

Supported by the U.K,, U.S., France, South Korea and Portugal, the consortium is seeking to add the governments of other countries to its ranks and find solutions for reducing energy consumption. Additionally, the consortium hopes to develop new technologies and energy-efficient communication networks.

BI SOFTWARE GOES MAINSTREAM

By M.S.Welles

Who would have thought that open-source business intelligence (BI) software would grow so rapidly?

The developers of open-source forecast this phenomenom years ago but few people believed them.

In 2010 we see that open-source BI software, according to Gartner analysts, is good enough for routine applications and its use is doubling every year.

BI tools are definitely going mainstream. No longer considered just an option for cash-strapped companies and organizations, the free software from Actuate, Jedox, Jaspersoft, SpagoWorld and Pentaho is definitely spreading throughout the business world.

Although the software itself is free, development, support subscriptions and labor costs can run the bill into millions of dollars.

Additionally, it's necessary to staff up with talented open-source educated individuals or deployment and development could be will be slowed and costs will rise.

MICROSOFT PREPARES TO COMPLY WITH DEADLINE

By K.C.Bishoppe

After losing an appeal in federal court, Microsoft is hurrying to comply with a January 11th deadline that requires it stop selling patent-infringing copies of its Word software.

The company is barred from using XML technology in Office 2007 and Word 2007. While not obligated to strip technology from installed software, Microsoft is obligated to remove the technology found to infringe i4i's patent from new unsold programs.

The original injunction was issued by the District Court in August 2009 and upheld during appeal.

Copies of 2010 Word and Office do not incorporate the technology which is under dispute, according to Microsoft.

CONFICKER INFECTIONS RAMPANT ON CHINESE ISP

By D.E.Levine

Shadowserver, a volunteer-run organization, announced that China Telecom's Chinanet had more than 1 million systems infected with the Conicker worm within its 94 million IP address network.

The figure of 94 million amounts to over 1% of the company's network.

While Chinanet has the most total infections (about 14% of all known copies of the worm), it doesn't have the highest percentage of infections. Smaller ISPs show up with infection rates as high as 25%.

ASUSTEK PLANS EDUCATIONAL ROBOT

By K.C.Bishoppe

Asustek Computers announced plans to develop an educational robot for children called EeeBot. Software and services will be offered with the EeeBot as part of several educational projects sponsored by the Taiwan government.

Asustek, one of Taiwan's biggest computer makers pioneered the netbook with their Eee PC. It's anticipated that other firms worldwide may follow Asustek's lead and also develop educational robots.

The goal of the robot project is to produce an affordable robot that interacts with children. Asustek will work on both hardware and software technologies including human robot interaction. positioning, navigation, and voice and visual technologies.