Science & Technology Today

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3

Rewarding Independent Security Researchers
2007-06-14 13:47:00
Everybody seems to be upset with Tipping Point- a the leading provider of network based intrusion prevention systems for awarding $ 10,000 price to Dino Dai Zovi as a top prize in a hacking contest they conducted recently. The so called a - MacBook Pro hijack exposed vulnerability in input handling in Safari, Apple Inc.'s web browser and this has started a wide debate over the “responsible disclosure” of vulnerabilities. Most of the security experts and vendors seem to up against the Tipping Point for this act, as it seems to be against the Organization of Internet Safety (OIS) guidelines. Whatever these guidelines may stipulate, I do not see any problem in rewarding efforts of independent security researches. In fact, the two security vendors Tipping point and VeriSign who are engaging independent security researches accounted for 25 % of total vulnerabilities reported for Windows, Linux/Unix and Macintosh. I would suggest that other security vendors may be better of to ta...
More About: Security , Independent , Reward , Epen , Dependent

Nokia N-92-World's first DVB-H Phone
2007-06-11 03:59:00
Nokia has launched a new N-series multimedia device — Nokia N92 — the world's first DVB-H enabled device that will support live broadcast mobile TV from DVB-H service providers.It should a great news for Modeo and India's public broadcaster Doordarshan which has recently launched DVB-H mobile TV services in Delhi. The TV picture is displayed full screen and the quality of the picture is excellent, and channel changing is near instantaneous. It is difficult to get across how good it looks without seeing it for yourself, but between the high resolution screen and the DVB-H technology, the N92 offers an unsurpassed mobile television experience.The N92 is a chunky handset and given what is packed inside it is not surprising that it tips the scale at a relatively heavy 191g, but size-wise at 107 x 58 x 25 mm it is not a total pocket buster. With the XpressMusic brand attached, the N92 is also a capable music phone. Music can be copied directly to the phone thanks to the USB Mass St...
More About: Phone , Nokia

WiMax Cellphones
2007-06-06 15:27:00
In continuation to my earlier post on the of launch of the mobile WiMax network, let us see how the WiMax handset market is shaping up. Samsung was first to unveil World's Mobile WiMAX Handset, the Samsung M8000 in early 2006.M8000 is a Windows Mobile handset with a built-in sliding QWERTY keyboard and is compatible with high speed broadband connectivity offered by WiBro (Koren broadband operator).Since then they have launched new Mobile WiMAX devices, the SPH-P9000 and the M8100 . The SPH-P9000 is a true Mobile WiMAX convergence device, which enables wireless broadband access and voice communications, while the M8100 is the first commercially available Mobile WiMAX PDA device.The SPH-P9000 is an UMPC-like convergence device capable of providing voice and multimedia data communications through Mobile WiMAX technology. Hailed by early reviewers as the "ultimate convergence machine", it combines Windows XP, a large 30GB hard disk, 256MB RAM, a 1GHz CPU, WiMAX, CDMA EV-DO, and a 1.3me...
More About: Cellphones , Wimax , IMAX

Apple's Fairplay-Not So Fair
2007-06-03 15:02:00
When Apple announced that they would be selling DRM-free music on the iTune store, everyone thought that this would herald a new thinking on DRM. It turns out that their proprietary anti-piracy measures are even worse. Apple uses a technology known as Fair play to limit what people can do with downloads. Fairplay can be circumvented by burning tracks to a CD and then converting them to another format. It was found that Fairplay is embedded within them the full name and account information, including e-mail address, of who bought them. It is only a matter of time before a utility program was produced which could strip out the identifying information. Apple needed to explain why the data was present.

All about Commwarrior-- Mobile Phone Virus
2007-06-01 13:42:00
All the devices running the Symbian Series 60 platform operating system could be infected by Commwarrior virus that invades a phone either through Bluetooth or Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and then sends infected SIS files to other phones, which means all Nokia phone could be potential victims. In addition to spreading over Bluetooth, the Commwarrior will also read the user's local address book for phone numbers and start sending MMS messages containing the Commwarrior SIS file. Whether by Bluetooth or MMS, the person receiving a virus would have to choose to install the virus, either by selecting that option from the Bluetooth notification or choosing to download and run the embedded file from the MMS message they receive. The virus cannot be spread to the receiving device unless the user of the device chooses to run the application.So keep on the watch out for text messages with an unknown or unusual subject line. Example of affected messages include: SymbianOS updateOS ser...
More About: Virus , Mobile , Phone , Mobile Phone , Bile

Sprint's Mobile WiMAX Network
2007-05-29 15:28:00
Sprint ( Sprint Nextel Corporation is the third largest cellular operator in USA, with 53.7 million subscribers) is engaged in design and deployment of Mobile WiMAX broadband network in full-swing. The Chicago and Washington D.C. areas have been chosen as initial WiMAX service areas with additional markets to be identified based on market-readiness estimates.The first market may be launched by the end of the year and they plan to reach at least 100 million people by year-end 2008.Sprint's WiMax network is based on the IEEE 802.16e-2005 standard,operates in the 2.5GHz band and is also termed as 4G network.The core 802.16e s contains three different air interfaces: single carrier, OFDM ( Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing)and OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Domain Multiple Access). Single carrier systems are targeted at the 10-66 GHz band, point-to-point for backhaul. OFDM (more commonly referred to as 802.16d) is the first WiMAX standard, intended for fixed broadband wireless ac...
More About: Network , Wimax , IMAX , Bile

Sony Ericsson-S500 Slim Slider
2007-05-23 14:11:00
Sony Ericsson will be launching the S500 very soon. The iPhone effect is prompting ever handset vendor and every other carrier expect AT&T to get something out as quickly as possible to stop the tide that everyone is expecting with the iPhone launch in June.The sleek slider features a compact design at 3.9 by 1.9 by 0.6 inches and is rather lightweight at 3.3 ounces. The S500 will be shipping in two colors, "Mysterious Green" and "Spring Yellow," which, according to Sony Ericsson, were selected to reflect nature. However, the more notable style feature is the handset's lights that automatically glow to indicate different times of the day or the changing seasons. The S500 will also feature various menus that will constantly change as the day moves into night. The S500 does include some substance with its style, and offers up EDGE connectivity, Bluetooth 2.0, USB support and a 2-inch QVGA display. The handset also has a robust multimedia feature set with a 2-megapixel camera and a mu...
More About: Sony Ericsson , Sony , Slim , Slider

Nanotechnology in Electronics
2007-05-21 15:35:00
You may have heard of nanotechnology ( Nanotech nology is the engineering of functional systems at the molecular scale-- typically smaller than 1 micrometer) finding it way in personal care products and some health products but soon it may be replacing the Silicon the element that heralded the electronic revolution.The two contenders to dethrone Silicon may be Graphene and carbon Nanotubes.Graphene is a flat single layer of carbon atoms bonded together in a hexagonal pattern of graphite.Graphene has some extraordinary electronic properties like a zero effective mass and like elementary particle obeys Einstein's relativity instead of Newtonian mechanics. Graphene is much easier to work with and scientists has been able to use standard electronic techniques to make Graphene transistors. Carbon Nanotubes are extremely thin , hollow cylinders made of carbon atoms and have similar properties as Graphene but are much harder to build into complex devices.Recent research in Nanotube technol...
More About: Electronics , Ology

Email, Web, and Malware Threat Trends
2007-05-19 02:10:00
Here is a report by Secure Computing Research to provide a view of the Internet threat landscape based on R&D on last weeks dataMail/Spam VolumeMalicious messages made up 84.0% of all email last week, continuing the downward slope of the last few weeksMalware An average of 100 total and 0 new viruses were seen daily last week. Trojans are now the most popular type of malware, comprising over 60% of all new malware samplesZombiesAn average of 363,491 new zombies were detected daily last week, a 8.6% increase from prior week, yet it is still dramaticaly down from the 500,000+ daily average seen on a regular basis since last DecemberWeb Threat sAn average of 17478 total new malicious websites were detected last week, an 8.74% decrease from the prior week
More About: Email , Trends

Wi-Fi for Enterprise
2007-05-17 14:17:00
The latest sibling of the Wi-Fi standards 802.11n is expected to be fully delivered by end of 2008. With over-the air (OTA) estimates up to 200+ Mbps and Media Access Control Layer, Service Access Point (MAC SAP) Estimates up to 100 Mbps it should be fully capable of serving the Enterprise requirements.802.11n uses technology like multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), smart antenna technique for transmitting multiple data streams through multiple antennas and advance signal processing to achieve such throughput. Most of the 801.11n products are backward compatible with previous-generation 802.11a/b/g wireless technologies can connect seamlessly to 802.11n-based networks and vice-verse. 802.11b and 802.11g -- as well as 802.11n when using the 2.4 GHz band -- divide the 2.4 GHz spectrum into 14 overlapping, staggered channels whose center frequencies are 5 megahertz (MHz) apart.

iUnit- Personal Mobility
2007-05-15 14:43:00
While everybody is talking about iPhone, let talk a bit about iUnit a “personal mobility” vehicle recently exhibited by Toyota in Japan.Operating on the battery it addresses, the two most pressing problems of our time--gas prices and global warming.With its lightweight and ultra compact size it moves fast and it reclines to go even faster. It is also fitted with a autopilot, so no driving tensions. The above picture shows Japanese Minister Akira Amari taking joy rides on a iUnit.More info at http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/news/04/1203_1 e.html
More About: Personal , Persona , Mobility , Sona

Content-Centric Security-CCS a new approach
2007-05-14 14:34:00
A new approach to security is evolving with the development of what is called as Content -Centric Security -CCS. CCS is a self-authenticating content utilized, proprietary means to embed data and logical content within content that securely binds files with embedded crypto elements. Thus CCS is a new way to solve most of the problems associated with conventional network-centric security.As we know all networks face the difficult problem of authenticating participants, trust levels, devices, applications, and content. Existing state-of-art authentication procedures are based on centralized authorities and are very poorly suited to end-node and cross domain exchange. CCS substantially simplifies existing authentication methodologies through a novel solution to cope with growing privacy concerns, amounts and types of digital content, the number of people and assigned trust levels of those participating, and the variety of devices required to support “Security to the Edge” strategies,...
More About: Roach , Tent

Malware Attack Plan
2007-05-12 16:29:00
Now here is confirmation of what I said about Malware in my previous post. Google found that one out of 10 web pages scrutinized by them, contained malicious code that could infect a user's PC . This was based on the survey of billions of sites and in-depth analysis 4.5 million web pages. Theses so called phantom sites are empty shell, booby-trapped websites that download and automatically install Malware, to infect a computer or steal sensitive information in what is called “Drive-by” downloads.The vast majority exploit vulnerabilities in Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser to install themselves. Google also found that the code was often contained in those parts of the website not designed or controlled by the website owner, such as banner adverts and widgets.Widgets are small programs that may, for example, display a calendar on a web page or a web traffic counter. These are often downloaded from third-party sites.The rise of web 2.0 and user-generated content gave crimina...
More About: Plan , Attack , Atta

Satellite Radio---XM,SIRIUS & WorldSpace
2007-05-10 13:48:00
I was introduced to the satellite radio few months back when I had chance to drive Ford Edge with the built-in Sirius .And in a matter of days ,the depth and breath of it programming and the superb static -free digital sound quality hooked me up .Satellite radio started with entry of XM in 2001 and they have target themselves specifically to the soft automobile market.Out of the three operators, XM and Sirius are beaming to continental America and WorldSpace is available in Asia, Europe and Africa with all of having more then 100 channels.Now let us look at its working with Sirius as our example.Sirius radio has three geostationary satellites in a highly inclined,elliptical orbits, with a "look angle"greater than 60 degrees and spends some 16 hours over continental America and two of them are always broadcasting.Besides the this they have about 100 high power terrestrial repeaters in major cities to boost the signal level and transmit power is in the range of 400 to 2000 watts.The do...
More About: Radio , Satellite Radio , Adio

Taking Care of Customer
2007-05-08 14:13:00
Customer Care is the latest marketing tool, which nobody can ignore in today's market place and using customer relationship management -CRM software is a essential part of it.Use of customer relationship management products for large and medium business for sales, services,marketing and contact-center operations is very common and we have some big names like Oracle and Siebel in this business.So far small business have not been using these solutions even if they know the importance of CRM for growth and sustenance for their business.We have some of the affordable customer relationship management packages are available now that small business can take advantage of . For example AIMpromote CRM package is available with no setup fees and a $33 per user licence fee and their software package is feature rich and takes care of all aspects of CRM.Please Note:-This is a sponsored and paid post for AIMpromote
More About: Customer , Custom , Taking

Hacking Wi-Fi Access Points
2007-05-07 14:57:00
You will be surprised to know, how easily one can hack and eavesdrop a Wi-Fi hotspot, both secured and unsecured. A rouge Wi- Fi connection can be set up on a laptop with some simple programming and a special USB thump drive that acts as a access point. These rouge Wi-Fi hotspot have a new name "evil twin".The hackers computer can be configured to pass the victim (of his misdeeds) through to the legitimate access point, while stealing/ decoding his data packets.This type of access point is hard to trace, because they can be shut off and on at will.While you still protected if you are working over a VPN, without VPN you are certainly at risk from a "evil twin". So next time you are sipping your coffee at Starbucks, make you sure to be on a VPN.
More About: Access , Points

Bid to Win
2007-05-03 15:21:00
As mentioned in my previous post, bidding seems to be the new way of doing business and here we have another example of this . At bid4prizes you can bid for the latest catchy items from Plasma TV to iPhone. The lowest unique bid for every prize starts out at one penny - but if more than one persons bids a penny, then that penny is no longer the lowest unique bid and 2 cents is. If more than one person bids 2 cents then 3 cents is the next lowest unique bid. And so on and so on.The biding is done by enter your cell number and your bid in cents for the selected item and then bid4prizes will send you a text message telling you whether or not you have the lowest unique bid.If you win,you do not have to pay a dime for the actual prize, which is only to determine the prize of the product.So if you like text messaging and surfing, this is great way to combine the two and win some prizes.

skate shimmers
2007-05-03 01:12:00
Look at the underside of a skate shimmers taken off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean Sea. Related to rays, skates look similar but don’t have the ray’s barbed tail and are harmless to humans.Isn't it breathtaking?PhotographerANGEL M. FITORKaleidoscopic CousinFrom Visions of Earth, National Geographic, May 2007
More About: Skate

Online Directories
2007-05-02 01:37:00
Online vendors, it is time to dump the print and published version like Yellow Pages and get listed in online directories. Online directory publishers have come up with creative and ingenious ways for pricing, the listing in these directories. I have found that Big Web Links has created a directory, were links are sorted by the bid amount.So go ahead bid for placement and see online shoppers swarming your website. Looks like pricing by biding is a new way of get the market price for goods and services.
More About: Online , Directories , Director , Dire , Rect