SyndicatePig.com - Internet & Computer News

HP in talks to buy EDS for up to $13 billion  (Mon, 12 May 2008 20:37:38 GMT)
Hewlett-Packard has confirmed it is in talks to acquire IT services company Electronic Data Systems in a deal that would give it more competitive muscle against worldwide services market leader IBM.The price tag for EDS could be around $13 billion, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal published on Monday.EDS declined to comment at this time.The deal would strengthen HP's competitive position against IBM, whose Global Technology Services division has long been a strong profit generator for the company."I see it as an attempt by HP to really go head to head with IBM in a much more meaningful way, especially in technology services and IT outsourcing," said Dana Stiffler, research director with AMR Research.Even after the merger, however, the combined companies' global services revenue would fall about $10 billion short of that of IBM, based on their figures reported for 2007, she said.The market at stake was worth $672.3 billion worldwide in 2006, a 6.4 percent increase from 2005 according to a Gartner study released about a year ago. While IBM led the market with about $48 billion in revenue compared to second-place EDS with about $21 billion, EDS' 7.6 percent growth outpaced IBM's 1.8 percent growth. HP took in about $16 billion in services revenue and grew 2.1 percent between 2005 and 2006.The deal would strengthen HP's services capability in some areas but not others. EDS would give HP a boost in custom application services and infrastructure management services, but less so in managing packaged applications from the likes or Oracle and SAP, Stiffler said."Another thing it wouldn't give HP is a strong business consulting presence, a go-to-market capability where you address operational executives and line of business people as much as the CIO," she said.EDS may well be open to an acquisition though, according to Stiffler. "I think aligning themselves to HP makes them potentially a more future-focused and viable competitor than they are as a stand-alone company," she said.There is a challenge for both companies. "Both HP and EDS grew up in a traditional world prior to India emerging as a global delivery center," Stiffler said, noting that Indian companies such as Wipro are focused on providing low-cost application development services.It's a fairly bold move by HP, said Kathryn Hale, research vice president at Gartner. ""That is just amazing. It sounds like more than just speculation."Only HP, which earns $17 billion in revenue in 2007, has the wherewithal to acquire EDS, which is second in outsourcing revenue at $22 billion, Hale said. That would make it the second-largest services company in the world, bringing it closer to IBM, which earned $54 billion in services last year.HP's services focus mainly on product support, and the EDS acquisition could give HP the professional services revenue it would need to be considered a serious threat to IBM, Hale said. HP will also be able to use EDS' global network to expand its services presence, Hale said.EDS has been struggling recently, and the HP acquisition would make a difference to both companies, Hale said. In its most recent earnings conference call, EDS talked about layoffs.

Cisco's TelePresence gets personal  (Mon, 12 May 2008 20:12:32 GMT)
Cisco Systems will take its TelePresence virtual meeting systems into home offices later this year, bringing telecommuters nearer to their corporate colleagues and society one step closer to science fiction.TelePresence uses high-definition video, large flat-screen monitors, and advanced audio systems to make electronic meetings more lifelike, with a full-size view of participants at each site. It was introduced in late 2006 in configurations for six and for two meeting participants, but executives have said they are aiming eventually to expand the technology to the consumer market. The prospect of life-size interactive TVs in living rooms may someday foster closer relationships among widely dispersed families, but also conjures up images of the Telescreen two-way televisions in George Orwell's book "1984."Unlike the Telescreen, the 37-inch Cisco TelePresence System 500 can be turned off by the home user. It's designed to let a telecommuter or an employee of a medium-sized business participate in TelePresence sessions with coworkers, partners, customers, and others without traveling. It's a step down from the three 65-inch displays used in the flagship TelePresence System 3000, but it includes speakers, camera, a lighting setup, and a built-in microphone array in the screen to deliver similar quality, according to Cisco. It can be mounted on a desk, pedestal, or office wall, with the screen doing double duty as a second PC monitor or a digital sign between meetings. Users can participate in one-on-one meetings and companywide TelePresence sessions with coworkers who have the larger systems.The System 500 is not the consumer device Cisco envisions, which former Chief Development Officer Charlie Giancarlo last year predicted could be sold within two to three years for about $1,000. The System 500, coming in the third quarter, will have a list price of $33,900. But it does represent a less expensive entry price for medium-sized businesses. The six-seat System 3000 costs about $299,000 per room and the one-screen, two-seat System 1000 is priced at $79,000 per room.A complete room analysis and system configuration service is included in the price of the existing products but will be optional for the System 500 because it generally won't be necessary, spokeswoman Jacqueline Pigliucci said.Also in the third quarter, Cisco will expand the TelePresence line upward with the System 3200 for 12 or 18 participants. It will have a second row behind the existing six-person configuration, with similar specially designed desks with built-in microphones, which place a speaker's voice correctly for participants at the other site. The back row doesn't have to be raised above the front, Cisco said. While participants in the front watch a display below the main screens for data sharing, those in the back row can see that content on additional screens above. The System 3200 will have a list price of $340,000, and there will be a $90,000 upgrade kit for System 3000 customers.Along with the System 3200 comes an update that will also be available in the other platforms: Data-sharing will run at 30 frames per second; until now it has been 5 frames per second.TelePresence has been a high-end, high-profile hit for Cisco, which said last week that revenue for the platforms rose 1,000 percent in the quarter ended April 26 from a year earlier. More than 500 units had been ordered since the technology was introduced in October 2006, the company said.

Developers' role shifting from apps to platforms  (Mon, 12 May 2008 20:00:00 GMT)
A word to professional developers: Your job is being taken over by untrained neophytes, but you still will have plenty to do to keep yourself busy and employed.This was the message for developers during a presentation by Sun engineer Todd Fast at the JavaOne conference last Friday in San Francisco. Fast argued that with applications having a shorter lifespan and non-professionals getting into the application development space, career software developers will increasingly become platform builders rather than application builders. He focused on the burgeoning Web development space.During the presentation, entitled "Applications for the Masses by the Masses: Why Engineers Are an Endangered Species," Fast presented these three primary propositions:* Software engineers will be an endangered species. * High-school and college students will take over the jobs of software engineers. * These engineers will not mind, because there still will be plenty of work.The fact that students will take the reins of software development is "kind of scary," Fast said. But taking a lighthearted approach to his presentation, Fast said developers are not like other people and that has an impact. Developers have above average intelligence, do not dress well, and like weird things like Monty Python."We're at the edges of the population curve as software engineers," Fast said.He cited the impact of social networking applications and Web 2.0 and how these trends are drawing more non-trained persons into software development. Social network applications are becoming the dominant way in which certain age groups interact.Casual developers, those who do not identify themselves as engineers, can use templates in PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) and play around in MySpace, blogs, and RSS feeds."This is just kind of normal thing for them," Fast said. But these casual developers now are entering the workforce and also are building out the next-generation Web.Meanwhile, applications are being built out of existing applications, and the need for software developers cannot keep up with the increasing demand."There aren't enough of us to actually produce the cool stuff that people want," said Fast.The traditional perspective of an application is a program that solves other people's use cases and is big, difficult to write, and takes time. Only highly skilled experts can create them. Java, for its part, is rich platform geared toward solving difficult problems, but it also is very complex, Fast said.But today, Web applications are being built to solve short-lived needs. There has been an explosive growth in non-traditional Web applications, such as widgets, social applications, mashups, and situational applications."The definition of applications is changing, the common perception of applications is changing," said Fast.A sea change is occurring in how applications are being built. Facebook and social platforms are major drivers of application development, and these applications are not necessarily done using Enterprise JavaBeans, IDEs, and version control. Instead, developers can write PHP scripts in notepad, said Fast.Professional developers, meanwhile, will build foundational platforms. "We'll be building the platforms that enable anyone to build applications on top, to increase the richness of the Web," said Fast. Engineers will work lower in the software development stacks.In the new application development realm, situational, disposable applications are becoming prominent. The concept of Development 2.0 is emerging with higher levels of developer abstraction, such as Yahoo Pipes."As we see abstractions go up, we see more people able to participate, able to create applications," Fast said. Tools are being developed for casual developers.Attendees at Fast's presentation tended to agree with Fast's premise that the role of the professional developer is shifting."It's a very interesting concept. I don't think it's coming as fast as he is pointing out, but it's probably coming," said Ceco Ivanov, software engineer at Genova Diagnostics, a medical lab. The shift will happen in the next 10 to 15 years, not two years, Ivanov said. But the trend is good in that it enables people to collaborate, he said.Agility requires empowerment of end-users, another developer said."Essentially, writing code is very complex, and even in the corporate world, you need to empower the end-users to piece together their own applications because you need to be agile," said Tim Martel, a developer at Pegasystems, which develops Web-based business process management systems.Fast also said the metric for applications is becoming how many people use an application as opposed to how time it took to build. The Zombies game application in Facebook, for example, was used by 250,000 people every day last October, said Fast. This application was written by one programmer who did it for fun, Fast said.The Slide widget application, meanwhile, has 5 million users. "Nothing I built ever had 5 million users," Fast said.?

Report: HP to acquire EDS  (Mon, 12 May 2008 19:50:00 GMT)
Hewlett-Packard is close to acquiring IT services company Electronic Data Systems for around $13 billion, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal published on Monday.The deal could be announced as early as Tuesday, according to the news report, which cited sources close to the matter.The acquisition could boost HP's services business.A spokeswoman from HP declined comment.

Phishers scamming IRS rebates  (Mon, 12 May 2008 19:17:24 GMT)
Scammers want your IRS refund checks and have devised at least one phishing scheme to get it, according to the FBI.The e-mail, which purports to be from the IRS advises recipients that the best way to get their economic stimulus rebate money is by direct deposit. It then directs them to a Web site that asks them to enter bank account information and other personal data.To encourage recipients to respond, the e-mail warns that not filling out the form will mean a delay in receiving the check.The actual purpose is to steal personal information, the FBI says.This is not the only news-related scam going around. Phony fund raisers for victims of the Myanmar cyclone may use similar tactics, according to the Federal Trade Commission."Various forms of online fraud continue to proliferate on the Internet and people should take the appropriate precautions to protect themselves," said Special Agent Richard J. Kolko, of the FBI national press office.Text of a sample IRS phishing scam was released by the FBI:"Over 130 million Americans will receive refunds as part of President Bush's program to jumpstart the economy. Our records indicate that you are qualified to receive the 2008 Economic Stimulus Refund. The fastest and easiest way to receive your refund is by direct deposit to your checking/savings account.Please follow the link and fill out the form and submit before May 10th, 2008 to ensure that your refund will be processed as soon as possible.Submitting your form on May 10, 2008 or later means that your refund will be delayed due to the volume of requests we anticipate for the Economic Stimulus Refund.To access Economic Stimulus refund, please click here."

iPhone out of stock 'company wide,' say Apple sales reps  (Mon, 12 May 2008 16:31:11 GMT)
The iPhone is out of stock "company wide," Apple sales representatives said Sunday. The outage has fueled rumors that the next-generation 3G model will be released shortly.Neither Apple's U.S. or U.K. online stores have iPhones available for sale, according to their Web sites. At both, the message "Currently Unavailable" appears beside "Ships," which last week was noting a delay of five to seven business days. The company's German and French e-stores, however, still show 8GB and 16GB iPhones available.[ The heat is on Apple to produce a 3G iPhone; see related story: "RIM's BlackBerry Bold beats Apple to the 3G punch." ]Sales representatives at four major Apple retail stores contacted by Computerworld today said that the iPhone is unavailable, not only at their own stores but across Apple. Most had no explanation why the smartphone is out of stock."The iPhone is sold out, company-wide," said a salesman who answered the phone at the Apple store in Braintree, Mass., just south of Boston."It's out of stock, Apple-wide," said a saleswoman from the Apple store in downtown Portland, Ore. "No, I don't know why," she said when asked why the iPhone was unavailable online and at retail. "All we've been told is that it's Apple-wide."Sales representatives at the New York City store on Fifth Avenue and the San Francisco store on Stockton Street also confirmed that there were no iPhones to be had. "We're sold out," said the salesman at the New York store. "I heard that it was some kind of shipping issue."Some of the Apple sales reps said that AT&T retail stores in the area might have iPhones in stock.The iPhone's vanishing act has boosted talk that the 3G-enabled iPhone -- many analysts have predicted it would be announced and released next month -- is right around the corner.Saturday, Apple-specific Web sites and blogs reported on the sold-out notices posted on Apple's U.S. and U.K. online stores. "With all the buzz surrounding the 3G model, the international rollout, and the SDK, this is just one more sign that the release of a new device is right around the corner," speculated the Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) in a post filed Saturday afternoon.In a conference call with Wall Street analysts two weeks ago, Apple's chief operating officer, Tim Cook, acknowledged iPhone shortages, but blamed sales to buyers who planned to unlock the device. "Our U.S. stores have experienced more stock outs, or relatively more, and we believe the reason is that there are more phones being bought there with the intention of unlocking," he said at the time.Apple officials were unavailable for comment.Most analysts and pundits have pegged June 9, the opening day of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) as the likely introduction of the 3G iPhone. Apple CEO Steve Jobs is expected to open the conference with his usual keynote address and could unveil a new iPhone then.The iPhone's first sales anniversary, June 29, has been touted by others as a possible on-sale date for the 3G model.Within the last week, several additional mobile service providers, including U.K.-based Vodafone, Telecomm Italia and Mexico-based Telefonica have announced that they had struck deals with Apple to sell the iPhone in a slew of new markets, including India, Italy, and Latin America.Computerworld is an InfoWorld affiliate.

Update: Google steps into data portability dance with Friend Connect  (Mon, 12 May 2008 16:13:15 GMT)
Google plans to release on Monday a preview version of Friend Connect, a service designed to let Web publishers add social networking features to their sites, the company said.Friend Connect, which will be available on the Web at some point on Monday, lets publishers add social networking applications by inserting "a snippet of code" in their sites, Google said."We're seeing social capabilities get baked into the infrastructure of the Web. [They're] increasingly not tied to any one site, to any one source of friends, or any one type of application. We see the Web moving towards an end state where people can use any apps on any Web sites with any of their friends," said David Glazer, director of engineering at Google, during a press conference to discuss Friend Connect.Thus, sites will be able to add features like user registration, friends invitation and message posting, as well as allow visitors to interact with existing friends in social networking sites like Facebook, Google's Orkut, Plaxo and Hi5, according to Google."Google Friend Connect is like giving Webmasters a saltshaker full of 'social' that they can sprinkle on their sites to add social capabilities," Glazer said.Google's move is yet another in a recent string of data-portability efforts at tearing down the walls in social networking sites and letting users export the data and content they have stored in those sites. MySpace and Facebook took steps in that direction with announcements last week.As the popularity of social networks keeps rising and people set up multiple profiles in such sites, they are demanding the ability to carry their data, content and connections from one site to another, so that they don't have to reenter all that information again.At the same time, Web publishers of all sizes are eager to latch on to the craze by adding social networking features to their sites, now that a critical mass of Internet users have embraced the interaction and sharing that social applications provide.Friend Connect makes use of open standards for authentication and authorization like OpenID and OAuth, and de facto makes any Web site a potential "container" of social applications built with Google's OpenSocial APIs, Glazer said."The entire Web has become a container for OpenSocial apps," he said.Monday night, Web publishers will be able to sign up to a waiting list to get access to the Friend Connect service, but Google expects to make the service available to anyone within a matter of months, officials said.This story was updated on May 12, 2008

Microsoft faults OEMs for some XP SP3 endless reboots  (Mon, 12 May 2008 15:15:25 GMT)
Microsoft blames computer makers for some of the problems users have encountered after updating to Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3), according to a company support document.The document also showed that the "endless reboot" problem some users have reported after installing XP SP3 was neither unanticipated or new; Microsoft updated the document the same day it released the service pack, and indicated that the same thing happened nearly four years ago when it rolled out Windows XP SP2.Knowledge Base document 888372, last updated May 6, spelled out an error message that stops a PC's boot process -- and, depending on the machine's settings, may make it repeatedly reboot -- after installing SP3. The fault, said the Microsoft document, is in the Windows XP image originally installed on the PC by the computer manufacturer, or OEM."The problem may occur if the original Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) Sysprep image is created on an Intel-processor-based computer and if the Sysprep image is then deployed on a non-Intel-processor-based computer," said Microsoft."Under this configuration, after the computer is upgraded to Windows XP SP2 or SP3, the Intel processor driver (Intelppm.sys) may try to load because an orphaned registry key remains from the original Sysprep image," the document continued. "This issue may also occur if the original Windows XP SP2 or Windows XP SP3 Sysprep image is created on an Intel-processor-based computer and if it is then deployed onto a non-Intel-processor-based computer. Again, the Intel processor driver (Intelppm.sys) may try to load because an orphaned registry key remains from the original Sysprep image."A day after Microsoft added XP SP3 to Windows Update, users began reporting that their machines processors from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) were rebooting endlessly. Many of them said that the crippled systems were from Hewlett-Packard."I too have an HP Pavilion with an AMD Athelon [sic] processor," said a user identified as "jrednasnh" in a message posted Saturday to a Microsoft support forum. "I find it discouraging that HP may be partially at fault and did not attempt to notify us AMD customers, nor attempt to fix the issue."Jesper Johansson, a former program manager for security policy at Microsoft and currently an MVP (Microsoft Most Valuable Professional), worked with others to identify some of the reboot issues as involving PCs running AMD CPUs. Johansson, who said one of his HP PCs repeatedly rebooted after installing XP SP3, traded accounts with several other users on the newsgroup and summarized the results on his blog."The problem is that HP, and possibly other OEMs, deploy the same image to Intel-based desktops that they do to AMD-based desktops," Johansson said. "Microsoft points out in a Knowledge Base article that installing both drivers on the same computer is an unsupported configuration, putting the blame on the OEM that deploys the image. The article in question was written when the same problem occurred after installing Service Pack 2 for Windows XP." Microsoft unveiled XP SP2 in August 2004.According to Johansson, only HP desktop models are affected. "It also appears that this is unique to their desktop image, and any HP AMD-based laptops are unaffected by the problem," he said.As Johansson mentioned, Microsoft has dubbed the practice "unsupported" in KB888372. "We do not support using Sysprep to install an operating system from an image if the image was created by using a computer that has a different processor," said Microsoft. "For example, you cannot create a Sysprep image on a computer that has an Intel processor and deploy the image to a computer that has an AMD processor."KB888372 instructed users how to modify the Windows registry to disable the errant Intel driver, assuming users could regain control of their PCs long enough to boot into Safe mode.The company has also listed several other scenarios that OEMs should avoid in another support document.Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard did not immediately respond to questions Sunday.Computerworld is an InfoWorld affiliate.

Hackers create their own social network  (Mon, 12 May 2008 15:04:52 GMT)
Hackers now have their own social network, backed by GnuCitizen, a high-profile "ethical hacking" group.The network, called House of Hackers, has signed up more than 1,000 members since its launch earlier this week, according to the site.GnuCitizen set up the network in order to promote collaboration among security researchers. The site's founders said they use "hacker" in the complementary sense.The term "should all express admiration for the work of the most skilled, creative, clever, unique, provocative, intelligent, intense, intriguing and interesting people among the human society," said GnuCitizen in a message on the House of Hackers website."From our perspective, a hacker is a person people express admiration for his/her work, skills, creative edge, cleverness, uniqueness, intelligence, etc," said GnuCitizen founder Petko D. Petkov in a blog post."We do not promote criminal activities. The network is designed to enable its members to exchange ideas with each other, communicate, form groups, elite circles and tiger/red teams, conglomerate around projects and participate in a hacker recruitment market."Petkov said the ability to create groups on the network could be useful for setting up ad-hoc penetration testing teams. He suggested organizers could use the site's events features to test the water for planned events.GnuCitizen is encouraging businesses to use the site to seek out security researchers for jobs or particular projects.The network is built on Ning, a site allowing the creation of ad-hoc social networks, and programmers can create customized add-ons using the Google-backed Open Social API, meaning the add-ons are reusable on other sites.GnuCitizen was founded in 2005 and has been credited with some high-profile security research of late, including vulnerabilities involving SNMP and BT Home Hub Wi-Fi routers.Techworld is an InfoWorld affiliate.

Ex-Orange CEO pushes developing world broadband  (Mon, 12 May 2008 14:46:23 GMT)
Sanjiv Ahuja left his role as CEO of Orange, the mobile phone and Internet access subsidiary of France Télécom, last year in order to seek a new challenge. With his new company Augere, he is now focused on rolling out broadband Internet access in parts of the world where penetration today is almost nonexistent -- and sees a need for desktop, not laptop, computers in developing countries."Our objective is very simple. I think there is a significant part of the world's population that is still not getting connected to the Internet. More than 90 percent of the world's countries have a broadband penetration of less than 2 percent," said Ahuja, who on Monday visited Cairo to speak at the ITU Telecom Africa 2008 conference.In Egypt itself, only 1.5 percent of the population have broadband connections, while the figure is less than 2 percent in Russia, and only 0.3 percent in India, all countries that have moved up the development scale, according to Ahuja."As we go around world the penetration on a household level is still very, very low, so somebody needs to step up, and solve this on a global scale," said Ahuja.He still doesn't want to talk in detail about what his new company Augere plans to do to change this, but believes that broadband access is directly linked to improving national prosperity, education, health and stability.Going from a large operator to a small startup has its advantages."Not having a legacy of the business in your hands give you an extreme sense of freedom, agility, and focus in a small organization," he said.Wireless is Ahuja's technology of choice for rolling out broadband."The advantages are speed and cost of rolling out your service. Rolling out using fixed technology is cost-prohibitive, or it would have already been done, and it hasn't," he said.Broadband also has to be affordable for the masses."Ideally, you should be able to offer a basic desktop for under $300 that connects you to the Internet at a monthly rate of $10," said Ahuja.That Ahuja favors desktop computers may come as a surprise: talk of computers for the developing world has been dominated by discussion of the One Laptop Per Child Project and its goal of building a $100 laptop. But Ahuja is convinced that users in the developing world aren't as mobile as many think, and don't want to carry an expensive product like a laptop with them all the time.Reaching the goal needed for mass adoption may not be possible today, but he is confident for the future."I am very optimistic individual. The needs are very clear, and there is a latent demand," said Ahuja.

Vertica moves BI database to Amazon's EC2 cloud  (Mon, 12 May 2008 13:51:27 GMT)
Database maker Vertica Systems is moving its technology to Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud infrastructure (EC2), hoping to score customers who want a hosted, pay-as-you-go model for data warehousing and BI (business intelligence), the company announced Monday.Vertica's database organizes data by columns, as opposed to rows. The company and others that make columnar databases, such as Sybase and ParAccel, contend the approach is faster and better for BI-related queries because only the desired columns -- such as a customer's name or location -- can be read without having to parse through an entire table, saving bandwidth.The company also sells the database for on-premises use and in appliance form.It sees a market for the on-demand offering due to a number of scenarios. For example, a company might want to conduct a BI project that will only last a fixed period of time, such as revising its pricing based on competitive and market data, said Andy Ellicott, senior director of marketing.Hedge funds, which test their trading algorithms against large sets of historical stock market data, are another potential use case, because while such entities manage vast amounts of money, they seek to maintain the lowest possible overhead, which a cloud-based approach can provide, he said.It is also hoping to sell to SaaS (software as a service) companies that focus on analytics.One such vendor, Sonian, has been beta-testing the on-demand version."Everything is working out really well," said Sonian's chief technology officer, Greg Arnette. "We don't want to be in the plumbing business any more, managing pipes and [storage area networks]. We don't have to become experts on the Vertica database," he added.The Dedham, Mass., company started out as a hosted e-mail archiving provider, but is working on a service that will provide analysis of a company's stored content.Sonian is still handling the task of loading data into Vertica, "but they're providing the expertise on configuring the database, optimizing it, that kind of stuff," he said.Vertica's move is "very interesting" and positions it "as one of the front-runners in the race to bring data warehousing into the cloud," said Forrester analyst James Kobielus in an e-mail message on Friday.Amazon's architecture also sets up Vertica "both for the midmarket (which generally doesn't use the most scalable premises-based [data warehousing] platforms) and for the surge requirements of the most demanding, high-end enterprise DW, predictive analytics and data mining jobs," Kobielus added.Cloud-hosted database management systems (DMBS) hold "little value" to "the end-user type IT and department-levelorganizations," Gartner analyst Donald Feinberg said via e-mail.However, there is potential in the model for small third-party software companies, which could cheaply use the service to run proof-of-concept exercises, he noted."Another, although related to the software vendor, is when a BI app vendor puts their app on top of Vertica and sells to their clients as a package," Feinberg wrote. "They could now sell just to the end-user (bypassing IT and red tape) and install it fast with the correct resources for the end-users on EC2, assist the end-user loading data and the users are off and running.""So it appears that Vertica may be on to something for the short term, until cloud DBMS (DaaS -- DBMS as a Service) catches on more broadly (maybe or at least two to five years out)," he added.The on-demand offering is priced on a usage basis, beginning at $2,000 per month for managing 500 gigabytes of data. This compares to about $150,000 for a typical on-premises installation, according to the company.

MSI's upcoming Wind laptop priced from $560  (Mon, 12 May 2008 13:26:27 GMT)
Taiwanese hardware maker Micro-Star International's upcoming Wind laptop can be preordered starting from $560.The Wind, which is expected to use Intel's upcoming 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor, is just one of an expected flood of low-cost systems based on the new chip that will be on show at the Computex exhibition in Taipei during June.While the Atom processor  has yet to be released by Intel, online retailer Expansys has begun accepting orders for the U.K. version of the Wind running either Windows XP Home for $604 or Linux for $560. The laptops are available in three colors: white, black and pink.The same laptops are priced at £350 ($684) and £320, respectively, on Expansys' U.K. Web site.The Wind systems available for preorder on Expansys have a 10-inch screen with a resolution of 1,024 pixels by 768 pixels and an LED (light-emitting diode) backlight, which helps lower power consumption. The system, which weighs roughly 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds), also ships with 1GB of memory, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a 1.3-megapixel camera, and an 80GB hard drive.Expansys did not list pricing for a planned version of the Wind that has an 8.9-inch screen.

You don't know tech: The InfoWorld news quiz  (Mon, 12 May 2008 13:00:00 GMT)
We started the week with Microsoft calling off the Yahoo deal (or maybe not). Then Grand Theft Auto stole the spotlight with its record-breaking sales. Along the way, we have the Webby Awards, big settlements for movie piracy, and candidates seeking to save us from the evils of Second Life. We cover it all in this week's quiz. Give yourself 10 points for each correct answer. Ready to test your news know-how? Then begin.1. Microsoft decided it would rather switch than fight Yahoo for control of, well, Yahoo. Which of the following is NOT one of the reasons it gave for dropping its bid?a. Yahoo's decision to outsource search ads to Google b. Yahoo's take-it-or-leave-it price of $37 a share c. The engineering brain drain that would follow a hostile takeover d. Absorbing Yahoo would cause bureaucratic and logistical nightmaresTake the InfoWorld news quiz

FBI worried as DoD sold counterfeit Cisco gear  (Mon, 12 May 2008 12:25:05 GMT)
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is taking the issue of counterfeit Cisco equipment very seriously, according to a leaked FBI presentation that underscores problems in the Cisco supply chain.The presentation gives an overview of the FBI Cyber Division's effort to crack down on counterfeit network hardware, the FBI said Friday in a statement. "It was never intended for broad distribution across the Internet."In late February the FBI broke up a counterfeit distribution network, seizing an estimated $3.5 million worth of components manufactured in China. This two-year FBI effort, called Operation Cisco Raider, involved 15 investigations run out of nine FBI field offices.According to the FBI presentation, the fake Cisco routers, switches, and cards were sold to the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps., the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, and even the FBI itself.One slide refers to the problem as a "critical infrastructure threat."The U.S. Department of Defense is taking the issue seriously. Since 2007, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has funded a program called Trust in IC, which does research in this area.Last month, researcher Samuel King demonstrated how it was possible to alter a computer chip to give attackers virtually undetectable back-door access to a computer system.King, an assistant professor in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's computer science department, has argued that by tampering with equipment, spies could open up a backdoor to sensitive military systems.In an interview on Friday, he said the slides show that this is clearly something that has the FBI worried.The Department of Defense is concerned, too. In 2005 its Science Board cited concerns over just such an attack in a report.Cisco believes the counterfeiting is being done to make money. The company investigates and tests counterfeit equipment it finds and has never found a "back door" in any counterfeit hardware or software, said spokesman John Noh. "Cisco is working with law enforcement agencies around the world on this issue."The company monitors its channel partners and will take action, including termination of a contract, if it finds a partner selling counterfeit equipment, he said. "Cisco Brand Protection coordinates and collaborates with our sales organizations, including government sales, across the world, and it's a very tight integration."The best way for channel partners and customers to avoid counterfeit products is to buy only from authorized channel partners and distributors, Noh said. They have the right to demand written proof that a seller is authorized.The FBI doesn't seem satisfied with this advice, however. According to the presentation, Cisco's gold and silver partners have purchased counterfeit equipment and sold it to the government and defense contractors.Security researcher King believes that the government is better off focusing on detection rather than trying to secure the IT supply chain, because there are strong economic incentives to keep it open and flexible -- even if this means there may be security problems. "There are so many good reasons for this global supply chain; I just think there's no way we can secure it."

Powerset unveils test version of Google-killer  (Mon, 12 May 2008 11:25:29 GMT)
The public will get its first chance Monday to test a search engine from start-up Powerset that eschews conventional keyword technology and instead is designed to understand the meaning of Web pages.As such, Powerset's search engine holds the promise of fundamentally changing people's expectations for search engines by, in theory, offering a smarter, more efficient experience.However, Powerset's beta version, while delivering impressive results, has a limited scope and index, leaving unanswered questions about its ability to work its magic at the massive scale of Google's keyword-based search engine.[ See related video of Eric Knorr's visit to startup Powerset and a demo of its search engine. ]"We're changing the way information is searched by doing a much deeper analysis of the pages we index," said Scott Prevost, Powerset's product director.Keyword engines treat pages as word bags, indexing their content without grasping its meaning, he said. Meanwhile, Powerset's engine, applying technology developed in-house as well as licensed from Xerox's PARC subsidiary, creates a semantic representation by parsing each sentence and extracting its meaning. "Meaning is what we index," he said.In an interview in October with IDG News Service, Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president of Search Products & User Experience, acknowledged that the company's search engine should -- and will -- overcome its keyword dependence in time."People should be able to ask questions and we should understand their meaning, or they should be able to talk about things at a conceptual level. We see a lot of concept-based questions -- not about what words will appear on the page but more like 'what is this about?' A lot of people will turn to things like the semantic Web as a possible answer to that," she said.But she added that Google's search engine acts smart thanks to the humongous amount of data it crunches. "With a lot of data, you ultimately see things that seem intelligent even though they're done through brute force," she said. As examples, she cited a query like "GM," which the engine interprets as "General Motors" but if the query is "GM foods," it delivers results for "genetically modified foods." "Because we're processing so much data, we have a lot of context around things like acronyms. Suddenly, the search engine seems smart, like it achieved that semantic understanding, but it hasn't really," she said.For now, Powerset's index is very limited, consisting only of millions of pages from Wikipedia and Metaweb Technologies' Freebase, a Web-based structured database of information. However, Prevost vows that the index will begin growing within a month after its launch and eventually rival in size those of Google, Yahoo and others. "Our technology fully scales," he said.Still, it's impressive to see Powerset's search engine in action and the promise it holds. Instead of returning the proverbial 10 blue links for search results, Powerset can do more, such as assembling a collection of facts related to the query, as well as summarize the found information. It can also provide direct answers to factual questions.Because the content from Wikipedia and Freebase can be re-published, Powerset can remain relevant after a user clicks on over to a search result, by providing an outline to navigate through the page and a summary of facts. This, of course, isn't something that Powerset could do with copyrighted content, but the company will seek partnerships with publishers to obtain permission, Prevost said. "We think it'll be a situation where publishers will want their content to be served up in this way," he said.Industry analyst Greg Sterling of Sterling Market Intelligence calls Powerset's capabilities "impressive" and particularly likes its search results interface. "What they've created is both a better search engine for Wikipedia and a massive 'proof of concept' for their algorithm and technology," he said in an e-mail interview.Now Powerset has to prove that its search engine can scale and deliver against an index of billions upon billions of Web pages and serving millions of concurrent end users. "There's certainly potential there to build a better mousetrap, it would appear. But bringing what Powerset has done for Wikipedia to the entire Internet seems an enormous challenge that will take both time and lots of additional resources," Sterling said.Prevost acknowledges that to do this type of deep processing takes a lot of computational power, although once indexed, retrieving pages' information doesn't pose any special challenge.Powerset also faces the challenges of a start-up technology company, such as generating revenue and going through growing pains. The company has already had some management upheaval, announcing in November the departure of co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Steve Newcomb and its search for a CEO, as co-founder Barney Pell gave up that post to become chief technology officer. "The CEO search is still in process, but we have a strong internal management structure and board of directors," he said.Prevost said the company's investors are committed to the company and to seeing that it has the resources necessary to scale up the search engine to the level of those with indexes of 20 billion pages.Powerset's business model is based on advertising, although the search engine will not serve up ads from the beginning. "There's a lot of cool stuff we can do in the ad space by matching the meaning of queries to the relevance of ads, but that's much more longer term," he said.The search engine will be limited to Web search at first, although Powerset has contemplated adding specialty engines for things like images and video later, as well as targeting verticals such as health, product reviews and travel, he said."We've only shown the tip of the iceberg in language analysis," he said.

First Space Lawyer Graduates
PHPNerd writes "Over at space.com is an interesting article about the first space lawyer. He graduated from the University of Mississippi. 'Any future space lawyer might have to deal with issues ranging from the fallout over satellite shoot-downs to legal disputes between astronauts onboard the International Space Station. The expanding privatization of the space sector may also pose new legal challenges [...] "We are particularly proud to be offering these space law certificates for the first time, since ours is the only program of its kind in the U.S. and only one of two in North America," said Samuel Davis, law dean at the University of Mississippi.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Screen With 180 Degree Field of View
emj writes to tell us project jDome has started actively soliciting consumer feedback and, of course, donations. They are currently promising to deliver their "180 degree FOV monitor" this year for a pricepoint of around $200. The videos and talk have been circulating for the last couple of weeks or so, but they have added a video of the supposed tech in action. Buyer beware, but I would love to see a couple of reviewers get ahold of this and let us know what the story is.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

FTC to Scrutinize Contactless Payment Technology
coondoggie writes to tell us that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will be taking a look at contactless payment systems and the consumer protection issue surrounding them. "RFID technology provides obvious benefits, the FTC said. For example, the ability of producers using RFID to track exactly where in the supply chain their products are and by which retailer they were ultimately sold to a consumer has the potential to make product recalls more effective. However, there also may be costs regarding consumers' individual privacy rights associated with it."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Canada Considering A Three Strikes And You're Off The Internet Policy?
Techdirt is reporting that Canada may be considering a "three strikes" policy which could see users internet access privileges revoked for file sharing violations. "Given how secretive the industry and the government have been about new copyright laws, perhaps this isn't too surprising. We do know that the industry was pushing for greater ISP liability as part of copyright law changes a few months back, so it wouldn't be surprising if ISPs were negotiating a "three strikes" type rule to avoid the liability issues. Of course, they probably want to keep it secret, as publicity (and resulting anger) about these types of laws in Europe has at least some politicians moving away from them. However, as the entertainment industry does keep succeeding in getting these types of laws to move forward, how long will it be before similar laws are proposed in the US, with "everyone else is doing it" as part of the reasoning?"Read more of this story at Slashdot.

80 Gbps Deep Packet Inspection Hardware Announced
An anonymous reader writes to tell us that Procera Networks is launching a new weapon on the deep packet inspection (DPI) front. At $800,000 these 80 Gbps tanks aren't going to be sitting in everyone's closet, but it could mean that more traffic shaping is on the way. "The PL10000 can handle up to 5 million subscribers and can track 48 million real-time data flows. That's certainly a potent piece of hardware, but larger ISPs will need more. That's why Procera designed the new machines with full support for synchronizing traffic flows where return traffic might be routed to a different PacketLogic machine. The machine receiving the return traffic can make the machine monitoring the outbound traffic aware that it sees the other half of a TCP/IP conversation, for example, giving the devices more accuracy than those which might only have access to one side."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

To Curb Truancy, Dallas Tries Electronic Monitoring
The New York Times is reporting that a school district in Texas is trying a new angle in combating truancy. Instead of punishing students with detention they are tagging them with electronic monitoring devices. "But the future of the Dallas program is uncertain. Mr. Pottinger's company, the Center for Criminal Justice Solutions, is seeking $365,000 from the county to expand the program beyond Bryan Adams. But the effort has met with political opposition after a state senator complained that ankle cuffs used in an earlier version were reminiscent of slave chains. Dave Leis, a spokesman for NovaTracker, which makes the system used in Dallas, said electronic monitoring did not have to be punitive. 'You can paint this thing as either Big Brother, or this is a device that connects you to a buddy who wants to keep you safe and help you graduate.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot.

USAF Considers Creation of Military Botnet
sowjetarschbajazzo writes "Air Force Col. Charles W. Williamson III believes that the United States military should maintain its own botnet, both as a deterrent towards those who would attempt to DDoS government networks, and an offensive weapon to be used against the networks of unfriendly nations, criminal groups, or terrorist organizations. "Some people would fear the possibility of botnet attacks on innocent parties. If the botnet is used in a strictly offensive manner, civilian computers may be attacked, but only if the enemy compels us. The U.S. will perform the same target preparation as for traditional targets and respect the law of armed conflict as Defense Department policy requires by analyzing necessity, proportionality and distinction among military, dual-use or civilian targets. But neither the law of armed conflict nor common sense would allow belligerents to hide behind the skirts of its civilians. If the enemy is using civilian computers in his country so as to cause us harm, then we may attack them." What does Slashdot think of this proposal?"Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An Inside Look at the Great Firewall of China
alphadogg writes "An interview with James Fallows, national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, who has experienced "The Great Firewall of China" firsthand, an experience people from around the world will share this summer when the Olympics comes to that country. Based in Beijing, Fallows has researched the underlying technology that the Chinese use for Internet censorship. One good thing to know: With VPNs and proxies, you can get around it pretty easily." Will these Olympics lead to a more free China, or is it just corporate pandering?Read more of this story at Slashdot.

SMS 4x More Expensive Than Data From Hubble
paradoxSpirit writes "Physorg has a paper comparing the cost of text messaging versus the cost of getting data from Hubble Space Telescope. From the article: 'The maximum size for a text message is 160 characters, which takes 140 bytes because there are only 7 bits per character in the text messaging system, and we assume the average price for a text message is 5p. There are 1,048,576 bytes in a megabyte, so that's 1 million/140 = 7490 text messages to transmit one megabyte. At 5p each, that's £374.49 [$732.95] per MB — or about 4.4 times more expensive than the 'most pessimistic' estimate for Hubble Space Telescope transmission costs." "Hubble is by no means a cheap mission — but the mobile phone text costs were pretty astronomical!""Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Microsoft 'Shared Source' Attempts to Hijack FOSS
aacc1313 writes "An article that details how Open Source is being hijacked by Microsoft and the sort via 'Shared Source' licenses and how Open Source licenses have become so much more confusing. From the article, "The confusion stems from the fact that Microsoft's 'shared source' program includes three proprietary licenses as well, whose names are similar in some ways to the open-source licenses. Thus, while the Microsoft Reciprocal License has been approved by OSI, the Microsoft Limited Reciprocal License (Ms-LRL) is not, because it allows users to modify and redistribute the software only on the Windows platform" and "The 'shared source' program was and is Microsoft's way of fighting the open source world, allowing customers to inspect Microsoft source code without giving those customers the right to modify or redistribute the code. In other words, "shared source" is not open source, and shouldn't be confused with it.""Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Where Are The Space Advocates?
QuantumG writes "Greg Zsidisin appeared on The Space Show today to ask Where Are The Space Advocates?. For the first time in decades Space is once again a political issue with all four major presidential candidates having something to say about space policy and yet nothing is being heard from space advocates. As we enter a new "Space Nexus" like we did after Apollo, now is a critical time to let your representatives know how you feel about space exploration, and yet no-one has anything to say." The show itself is a podcast if you want to give it a listen. Personally I'm hoping that this election puts space exploration back in the public consciousness- Apollo inspired a generation to learn math and science. I want my kid to be inspired by something bigger than that. And as some readers have noted- there are 3 candidates left (and really only two) so the submitter is probably high.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

DVD Porn Viruses Ravage US Soldiers' Computers
stevegee58 writes "Tom Ricks' Inbox in the Sunday Washington Post reported that bootleg DVDs purchased in Iraqi markets ("souks") are frequently infected with viruses. Iraqi soldiers were affected as well; electronic interaction between Iraqi and US soldiers frequently resulted in a corresponding exchange of viruses from these infected DVDs."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Sailing Robots To Attempt Atlantic Crossing
Roland Piquepaille writes "The Times of London reports that seven robotic craft will compete in a race across the Atlantic Ocean in October 2008. One of them, 'Pinta the robot sailing boat,' has been designed at Aberystwyth University in Wales. Pinta is expected to sail for three months at a maximum speed of four knots (about 7.4 kph). Its designers hope the Pinta will become the first robot to cross an ocean using only wind power. This 150-kilogram sailing robot costs only $4,900. The transatlantic race will start between September 29 and October 5, 2008 from Portugal. The winner will be the first boat to reach a finishing line between the northern tip of St. Lucia and the southern tip of Martinique in the Caribbean. Here are additional details and links."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Dealing With Dialup
An anonymous reader writes "It looks like my parents may end up stuck having to use dialup to access the Internet from their cottage inside the Cape Cod National Seashore. Neither Comcast nor Verizon want to bother upgrading the hardware required to get them faster service. They could put a satellite dish on their roof, but it's a 300-year-old house and they feel a dish would be as prohibitively ugly as running dedicated lines would be prohibitively expensive. I've suggested they get familiar with a text-only email client; I also suggested they talk with their senators and local political reps. , Are there other ways they can increase the functionality despite the pitiful bandwidth? Any other good ideas? Any success stories you can share where people have finally got the bandwidth they crave?"Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Government Efficiency and Network Theory
Science News reports on a study relating (in a loose way) the efficiency of a national government with the size of its cabinet. Researchers in Vienna found that the development level of countries, as a proxy for the efficiency of their governments, is in general lower for countries with more members in the national cabinets. They then went on to model cabinet members as nodes in a network and found support for the observed correlation. There was even specific evidence for the decades-old observation of English historian Cyril Northcote Parkinson that decision-making is severely impaired in committees of more than 20 people. The US is getting close to Parkinson's cutoff, at 17.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Researchers Create First Genetically Modified Human Embryo  (Mon, 12 May 2008 18:30:00 GMT)
Researchers at Cornell University genetically modified a human embryo in a "proof of concept" experiment in 2007, a British paper is reporting. The experiment prompts questions about what sorts of genetic modifications scientists can ethically undertake.

Air Force Colonel Wants to Build a Military Botnet  (Mon, 12 May 2008 17:30:00 GMT)
The U.S. military ponders creating its own zombie army to flood enemies with junk packets. Can Air Force phishing attacks and 4-19 scams be far behind?

Wired.com's WiiWare Launch Guide  (Mon, 12 May 2008 17:00:00 GMT)
Wondering what WiiWare to buy? Read Wired.com's full impressions of all the titles that launched with Nintendo's new games-on-demand service.

Bot Bartenders Sling Drinks at Roboexotica USA  (Mon, 12 May 2008 17:00:00 GMT)
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comSAN FRANCISCO -- Aficionados of alcohol and androids alike celebrated the first stateside gathering of cocktail-serving robots this weekend at Roboexotica. Patrons delighted in drink-making droids that ranged from a fire-spewing drink warmer, a fully automated mind-reading mixologist and a shot-pouring conveyor belt built entirely from Legos. "You have liquor, fire and robots," said Johannes Grentfurthner, Roboexotica organizer and member of art collective monochrom in Austria. "How could we go wrong?" The annual gathering of booze-pouring robots is usually held in Vienna, Austria. To celebrate its approaching 10-year anniversary, organizers threw a San Francisco satellite event. Though the U.S. event was slightly smaller than its Viennese counterpart, the barbots landed with a booze-fueled bang. Left: Artists, engineers and automatons gathered in downtown San Francisco on Saturday night for a high-tech brand of mixology. Crafted for fun as much as function, barbots kept serving at the booze-fueled bash as long as partygoers could ask for another: Roboexotica's bartenders don't have a clock-out time. : Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comRobogames founder David Calkins eyes his homespun creation, a bartending bot named Chapek as he whips up a martini. Designed to prepare and serve four different cocktails, Chapek is equally famous for delivering cheeky one-liners and having a drinking problem. During one demonstration, instead of serving a bar patron a freshly mixed cocktail, Chapek malfunctioned and downed it himself. "He's a greedy bastard," Calkins said. : Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comFor partygoers who've overindulged, the Breathalyzer Genie was on hand to dole out handy advice like "Switch to fancy water," and "Did you bring your skates?" Kinetic artist Chris Palmer let us in on a little secret: The bot is a Breathalyzer in name only. "It doesn't actually measure blood-alcohol count," he revealed. Tipsy patrons rest their drink in the genie's hand, blow into the machine's nose, triggering the machine to dispense a fortune. Palmer elected to forgo practicality in favor of fun: "There were too many sanitation issues," he said. : Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comOnce you have your drink in hand, it's time to make a toast. That's where Daniel Fabry's "cheersing" machine comes it. Fabry, a monochrom member and media teacher in Austria, spliced together 20 clips of actors toasting from well-known films like The Shining and Once Upon a Time in America. The computer is outfitted with a special theremin, so as guests lift their glass toward the screen, the activity sets the looped footage in motion, and the actors onscreen lift their glasses. : Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comSimon Davalos brought El Espanol Borracho to serve Spanish coffee, a potent mixture of Kahlua, coffee and high-proof alcohol like Bacardi 151 Proof Rum. After pumping the liquors into a mug, the machine ignites a high-pressure stream of fuel, engulfing the cup in fire for several seconds. "It packs a bit of a punch," Davalos said as the contraption blazed a steady stream of fire. Her contraption warmed the cocktail before serving. : Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comBay Area-based videogame designer Anthony Fudd displays his Shot Bot, a fully automated system that serves shots of sake and vodka. Select your spirit and the machine pumps out the liquor into a Dixie cup before sending it down a conveyor belt. Made entirely from Legos and operated using the geeky toy company's Mindstorm software, the Shot Bot can also sling any two-ingredient drink. Though Fudd was having problems getting the conveyor belt to function properly, the crowd didn't seem to mind: The automated shot-pouring feature worked without a hitch. : Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comNot all of the bots at Roboexotica serve booze -- some, like the Alcotron, just facilitate the drinking process. A modified version of Russian roulette, partygoers pick a color to bet on, and set the electronic wheel in motion. Depending on where the spinner lands, patrons either get their drinks free, half-priced or at an inflated rate. : Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comCan't decide what you'd like to drink? The Mind-Reading Martini Maker will do the work for you. The neurofeedback machine collects EEG brain scans and mixes drinks based on the output. The more Alpha brainwaves the machine reads, the drier the martini. And the drinks are neither shaken nor stirred: The contraption filters gin through a sieve of ice to cool the booze. Roboexotica organizer and Shifz member Magnus Wurzer operates the setup while Melissa Steele sits in as a test subject.: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comChassis, an automated keg on wheels, zoomed around the show, serving thirsty patrons beer throughout the night. Controlled by a wireless remote, Chassis also cracked jokes, insulted and flirted with guests -- thanks to a mic setup. Monochron member Daniel Fabry gets a fresh refill of Sierra Nevada from Chassis, as the bot's sculptor, Al Honig, looks on.

Source: Apple, HBO Content Deal Imminent  (Mon, 12 May 2008 15:30:00 GMT)
News from Portfolio.com Also on Portfolio The Confessions of Barry Diller Facebook's Growing Pains What Are the Dolans Up To? Subscribe to Portfolio magazine Apple is close to announcing it has signed a deal to sell HBO programs and movies on the iTunes website, according to HBO employees involved in executing the agreement. The deal marks the first time that Apple has agreed to a separate price structure for a content provider, one of the employees said. The HBO insiders said that the new service would be launched and announced simultaneously, most likely in a week or two. Details of the agreement are not yet known, but it is clear that HBO was able to secure better terms from Apple than other content providers, they said. One possibility is that HBO programming will have a higher retail price than the flat $1.99 fee Apple currently charges for video content; another is that HBO will receive a larger cut of the same flat rate than other iTunes content providers receive. Apple and HBO spokespeople did not return calls for comment on the deal. NBC pulled its programming from iTunes last summer after Apple refused to charge more than $1.99 for that network's shows. In May, NBC struck a deal with Microsoft to sell its shows on the Zune website. The HBO-Apple agreement is a strategic coup for both companies. Apple is trying to increase sales and awareness of its new Apple TV, a device that allows viewers to rent movies and buy content from your television. HBO wants to profit from its archive by letting fans buy old episodes of shows like Deadwood and The Larry Sanders Show. The terms of this new deal could open a Pandora's box for iTunes. With the advent of pricing variation, movie studios and musicians will want to charge more for their big hits. Apple could be pressured to accept variable pricing for other content, a change it has resisted in the past. HBO started an online download service earlier this year. It lets HBO subscribers watch 400 hours of programming a month and stream HBO's main channel. The service, called HBO on Broadband, is currently being tested in Wisconsin and will soon spread to other markets. The deal with Apple is a more dramatic move for HBO, since the broadband service only allows current HBO subscribers to access the content. Selling through iTunes would let HBO tap everyone else. In the past, HBO has been notoriously slow to offer content through new media, and the deal with Apple is a result of pressure from HBO's parent company, Time Warner, according to HBO employees. Jeff Bewkes took over as Time Warner C.E.O. from Dick Parsons late last year. "We should have done this a long time ago," said an HBO insider.

They That Go Down to Sea ... on a Permanent Basis  (Mon, 12 May 2008 14:35:00 GMT)
An underwater cemetery off Key Biscayne, Florida is touted as the perfect final resting place for lovers of the sea. It's also turning into a pretty popular dive spot.

Track A Solar Aircraft's Virtual Flight Live  (Mon, 12 May 2008 13:50:00 GMT)
Its actual maiden flight won't be until next year, but HB-SIA solar aircraft is taking a virtual flight right now -- and you can watch the test live at www.solarimpulsevirtualflight.com

Second Gen iPhone To Toggle 3G/EDGE for Battery Life?  (Mon, 12 May 2008 13:22:00 GMT)
We know you've been agonizing over what your 2nd Gen iPhone battery life will be when you start Tweeting at 3G speeds. Fear not: it looks like the new models will let you turn on the 3G afterburners only when you truly have a need for speed.

First Look: Hands On with the BlackBerry Bold  (Mon, 12 May 2008 13:03:00 GMT)
The Blackberry Bold, which is unveiled today, is, well, kinda awesome. It has a silver rim, syncs with iTunes ... Hey!

Cablevision Buys Newsday for $650 Million  (Mon, 12 May 2008 12:27:00 GMT)
Cablevision says it is buying Newsday from Tribune for $650 million. Word of the deal came after Rupert Murdoch withdrew a bid of $580 million bid on Saturday.

Free Music Studio Means No More Excuses  (Mon, 12 May 2008 04:03:00 GMT)
Hobnox is offering a deep audio tool that really ought to get you off Guitar Hero and turn you into a Guitar Hero. It's a little bit techie, and it's written in Java, but there really isn't anything out there like it. So, now that the recording studio price is zero dollars, will that get you off the couch?

Gallery: How to Make Super-Strong, Super-Flexible Metals  (Mon, 12 May 2008 03:00:00 GMT)
: Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comPASADENA, California -- Researchers at Caltech are pioneering new ways to make superstrong metals that are twice as tough as titanium, and twice as elastic. These "metallic glass" composites are so strong a 3mm rod can support a 2-ton truck and they bend instead of snapping like most other metals of their kind, which are called "glass metals." The new metals can potentially be used in industries from aerospace to automotive, as well as in consumer electronics. Because the alloy is so strong, less metal is needed, so spacecraft and cars would be lighter. Glass metals have been around since the '50s. They get their exceptional strength from their disordered atomic structure (hence the "glass" name), whereas most metals have a weaker, crystalline atomic structure that follows a pattern. The downside of the glass structure is that it makes the metal brittle when it's put under too much pressure. The new composites have dendrites of normal crystalline metal structures running through the glass component, which greatly increases the pressure threshold of the alloys. Left: Making metal composites starts with a special arc welder that completely melts a sample, breaking its crystalline structure and uniformly mixing its atoms. Here, an arc of plasma springs from an electrode to a sample of titanium alloy, melting it instantly. The sample now has the structure of a regular glass metal. Forming the crystalline dendrites comes later in the process. : Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comThe plasma arc melter can be used to melt nearly any metal except beryllium. When beryllium is melted, it produces vapor that mixes with air and oxidizes forming beryllium-oxide, a dangerous carcinogen. The samples that contain beryllium (even a tiny amount) must be melted inside a similar plasma arc melter inside a room that has negative pressure to prevent the beryllium-oxide from escaping.: Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comA piece of extremely dark welding glass prevents the brilliant white light from blinding the experimenter while the sample melts. When the shield is removed, an incredibly bright beam of light shines on the wall, lighting up the room in the process.: Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comAn ingot of metallic glass glows bright orange after it's heated to more than 3,000 Kelvin with an arc of plasma. The copper base is flooded internally with cold water to prevent the copper from vaporizing when the sample is melted.: Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comNow that the sample alloy has been melted into a homogenous glass, it's time to form the dendrites inside. Ph.D. candidate Douglas Hofmann must first make sure that water is flowing through the copper tray where the sample rests or the tray will rupture from the heat. Next, the glass vacuum tube that holds the sample and the tray must be emptied of air and replaced with a noble gas such as Argon (held in the blue tanks). This prevents the sample from oxidizing. Finally, Hofmann cranks the dial on the radio frequency inductor to heat the metal sample on the tray to 800-1,000 degrees Celsius. : Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comThe radio frequency inductor coils heat an alloy sample to between 800 and 1,000 degrees Celsius in a matter of seconds. The goal here is to heat the sample below its melting point to allow only a specified portion of the atoms to form in a crystalline structure. This is the groundbreaking technique that creates the fortifying dendrites within the glass structure. About 200 volts at 50 amps of radio-frequency energy is pumped through the coil, which heats the sample using induction. The coil itself doesn't get hot, but the sample obviously does. The radio frequency induction provides more control during heating than the arc melter -- control that allows scientists to tweak the composition of the alloy to their specifications. : Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comA sample of metallic glass composite cools on the melting trough.: Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comThis copper tray failed instantly and ruptured when a student forgot to turn on the cooling pump during the experiment. The copper has a much lower melting point than the various metals that melt atop it, but thanks to its high level of thermal conductivity, it transfers the heat into the water -- as long as the water is moving.: Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comSeveral ingots of metallic glass composite are ready to be machined and mechanically tested. : Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.com This scanning electron microscope takes detailed photos of the surface structure of materials, including the metallic glass composite that Hofmann is creating. : Image courtesy Douglas C. Hofmann/Nature 451 A microscope image shows how the crystalline dendrites affect the way the metals handle pressure. On the left is a composite with a smaller percentage of dendrites, in the middle is a sample with a higher percentage, and on the right is a pure glass metal with no dendrites.: Image courtesy Douglas C. Hofmann/Nature 451This electron micrograph shows a sample with both crystalline dendrites (labeled "bcc" for body-centered cubic) and glass structures. Compare the ordered geometric matrix of the atoms on the left to the random placement of the molecules on the right (glass).

May 12, 1941: Fog of War Shrouds Computer Advance  (Mon, 12 May 2008 01:00:00 GMT)
1941: German engineer Konrad Zuse unveils the Z3, now generally recognized as the first fully functional, programmable computer. Because Zuse designed and built his computer inside Nazi Germany, which was already at war, his achievement went unnoticed outside Germany until after the Third Reich's collapse. In the meantime, the Harvard Mark 1, a computer produced by an American team, appeared in 1944 and is still occasionally cited as the first of its kind. Complicating Zuse's claim of priority, an air raid destroyed his computer, as well as all accompanying photographs and documentation. Zuse rebuilt the Z3 15 years after the war ended, to demonstrate its capabilities and to establish his claim to the patents associated with the machine. The Z3, Zuse's third computer in a series of four, used the simple binary system for performing complicated mathematical computations -- its outstanding feature. Zuse is also remembered for devising Plankalkül (calculation plan), an early programming language designed, although never implemented, for engineering purposes. Additionally, he's credited with founding the world's first computer startup company, Zuse-Ingenieurbüro Hopferau, or Zuse Engineering Office of Hopferau (Bavaria), in 1946. Zuse's achievement, according to his son, was even more remarkable considering he worked independently, even in isolation, and remained unaware of contemporary developments in computer science. And unlike computer pioneers in the Allied countries, Zuse received precious little support from his government. The Nazis saw little military value in his computers and provided only very minimal funding. Years later, Zuse was generously funded by Siemens and some other German companies when he rebuilt his Z1 computer as part of a retro computing project. A replica of the Z3 (and the Z4) is on display at the Deutsches Museum in Munich. (Source: Various)

Hydrogen Cars Won't Make a Difference for 40 Years  (Mon, 12 May 2008 01:00:00 GMT)
President Bush, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the big automakers agree on this much: They love hydrogen-powered fuel cell technology and its promise of a zero-emission, petroleum-free future. Unfortunately, experts say it will be 40 years or more before hydrogen has any meaningful impact on gasoline consumption or global warming, and we can't afford to wait that long. In the meantime, fuel cells are diverting resources from more immediate solutions. "As a climate strategy, it's not very good," said Dr. Joseph Romm, executive director of the Center for Energy and Climate Solutions and author of The Hype About Hydrogen: Fact and Fiction in the Race to Save the Climate. "We don't have the time." Climate experts and alternative-fuel researchers, including some hydrogen proponents, agree that hydrogen is at best a long-term solution. In the short and medium term, however, other technologies offer far greater benefit at far less cost: Cleaner internal combustion engines, hybrids and plug-in hybrids. Some worry that these near-term solutions are being short-changed. But hydrogen advocates counter that the answer isn't cutting hydrogen funding, but increasing funding for research into a wide variety of alternatives to oil. "The few million we're spending to change our energy policy is like sending one platoon to Normandy," said Paul Williamson, director of the Hydrogen and Alternative Energy Research and Development program at the University of Montana. "It's just not going to happen." To some extent, politicians and policymakers recognize that hydrogen remains a long way off, which is one reason the California Air Resources Board has told automakers to build 58,000 plug-in hybrids by 2014. And automakers are building cleaner gasoline and diesel engines while developing hybrids. But the emphasis remains squarely on hydrogen. Congress appropriated $283.5 million for the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative this year, bringing its investment to $1.16 billion since 2004. California's "Hydrogen Highway" may be floundering, but the Air Resources Board is handing out $7.7 million to build hydrogen stations even though the last three agencies to receive state funding gave it back. Many hurdles remain to be cleared before hydrogen is a viable source of energy -- not the least of which are making, storing and distributing it on a large scale. Meeting these challenges will require, in the words of several hydrogen proponents, a "Manhattan Project"-level of research and funding. And we're a long way from the hydrogen economy President Bush envisioned in his 2003 State of the Union. The transition has begun though, and California is leading the way even as it keeps relaxing the rule dictating how many electric and hydrogen vehicles automakers must build. There are 175 fuel cell vehicles in California and more coming. Honda will begin leasing its hydrogen-powered Clarity FCX this summer and General Motors will put its Equinox fuel cell vehicles in 100 driveways this year. Hyundai plans to begin mass-producing fuel cells cars in 2012, and GM -- which has invested more than $1 billion in hydrogen -- says it will have 1,000 vehicles on the road in California by 2014. But few people expect to see fuel cell vehicles in showrooms before 2020, and we won't see any large-scale benefit from them until 30 years after that. "2050 is when hydrogen might -- might -- have a significant impact," said John Heywood, director of the Sloan Automotive Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The timeline has more to do with economics than science. There are roughly 240 million vehicles in America and about 16 million new vehicles sold each year. That means it takes about 15 years to turn over the fleet. But it takes even longer for new technologies to penetrate the market. Heywood cites hybrids as an example. They may seem ubiquitous, but after 10 years, hybrids accounted for just 2.2 percent of domestic auto sales last year. Run the numbers and Heywood estimates fuel cell vehicles will need 25 years to make up 35 percent of new vehicle sales and 20 years beyond that to get to 35 percent of the U.S. fleet. We can't wait that long. Scientists increasingly agree that industrialized nations must cut greenhouse gas emissions as much as 80 percent by 2050 if we are to curb global warming. The Environmental Protection Agency says fuel economy may have to rise to 75 mpg within 30 years to hit that target. California law requires easing emissions even further than that by 2050. Hitting these targets will require putting 379,000 zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2020 and 7.6 million by 2050, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. Hydrogen critics argue that plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles are the answer. But electricity brings its own challenges. Plug-in technology can cut fuel consumption by up to 62 percent, but it adds $8,000 to $11,000 to the cost of the car, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (.pdf). EVs like the Subaru R1e and Mitsubishi's MiEV have a range of no more than 100 miles. The Tesla Roadster gets 220 miles and charges in about 3½ hours, but it costs $98,000 and its lithium-ion battery pack which weighs 1,000 pounds. "The reality is, as much as everyone in the industry has hoped for affordable, high energy batteries, they don't exist yet," said Ron Cogan, editor of GreenCar.com and Green Car Journal. "We're not there yet with battery electric vehicles or hydrogen. We're on a path to both." And we'll need both if we're to address global warming and our dependence on oil, climate experts say. Even critics like Romm aren't suggesting we scrap hydrogen entirely. For all its challenges, hydrogen still presents the opportunity, however distant, for a sustainable source of energy that can displace petroleum. For now, the issue isn't electrics or hydrogen but electrics and hydrogen. "Given that timeline and the number of vehicles we're talking about, we have to keep working on battery electric vehicle and fuel cell vehicles at the same time," said Spencer Quong of the Union of Concerned Scientists. "Both of them have huge challenges, and if we don't work on both of them, we won't meet our objectives."

Carly Fiorina: McCain Different Than Bush on the Environment. Really  (Sun, 11 May 2008 22:30:00 GMT)
McCain is set to lay out specifics of his position on global climate change Monday. His chief surrogate and economic advisor Carly Fiorina (remember her?) tries to distance her candidate from the Bush administration when it comes to the environment, talking up the differences on a weekend TV show.

Meet the Pulverizers: New Munitions Tear Up Rock and Concrete Quick  (Sun, 11 May 2008 17:00:00 GMT)
New munitions called Pam, Barnie and Bam Bam tear apart rock and concrete easily -- and that's hard to do with traditional explosives. The new blasters use a two-step process: A "shaped charge" drills a hole, then explosives are fired into the hole, and -- ka-boom.

Families to Plead Case for Vaccine Link to Autism  (Sun, 11 May 2008 04:30:00 GMT)
Claiming that Thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative in vaccines, triggers autism, attorneys for two Oregon boys take on mainstream medicine in a federal court Monday.

Tricky Exposes His Roots, Crowdsources Remixes  (Sun, 11 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT)
Adrian Thaws, better known as Tricky, has come a long way from his days in Massive Attack with a successful solo career and film career. His next CD, Knowle West Boy, explores his roots in a "white ghetto" with a post-punk, Two-Tone, dancehall sound. Fans can remix the single "Council Estate."

China to Make Its Own Jumbo Jets  (Sun, 11 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT)
State media reports Sunday that the Chinese central government and the Shanghai government are major shareholders in a homegrown company that will make passenger jumbo jets. The idea is that China Commercial Aircraft will make the country less dependent on Boeing and Airbus.

Indie Musician's Tumblelog Packs Music, Photos  (Sun, 11 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT)
Singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur uses his tumblelog, "Bag Is Hot," to build his next two EPs and a full-length CD, due for release in 2008. Sample the goods on the photo and music journal posted by the indie musician discovered and signed by Peter Gabriel.

Nintendo Taps U.S. Indie Talent in Search of WiiWare Hits  (Sat, 10 May 2008 22:00:00 GMT)
Japanese gaming visionary Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo says the most unique videogames come from America. Nintendo's games-on-demand download service launches Monday, and the company shifts its focus from Japanese studios to U.S. garage developers to find the next brilliant game.

News Corp. Pulls Bid for Newsday  (Sat, 10 May 2008 20:00:00 GMT)
Despite Rupert Murdoch's boast lthat he was about to close a deal for the Long Island newspaper, a News Corp. rep says the company has withdrawn its $580 million bid to purchase Newsday. News Corp. already owns two New York papers, WSJ and New York Post.

Data Recovered From Melted Columbia Disk Drives  (Sat, 10 May 2008 19:00:00 GMT)
Jon Edwards recovers data from computers wrecked in floods and fires. He has retrieved info from a melted disk drive that fell from the sky when space shuttle Columbia disintegrated in 2003. The drive held scientific data -- some was radioed to Earth during the voyage and Edwards recovered the remainder from "two hunks of burned metal."

Craft Brewers Reformulate Beer to Cope With Hop Shortage  (Sat, 10 May 2008 17:00:00 GMT)
OAKLAND, California -- At Pacific Coast Brewing here, brewer Donald Gortemiller is reworking his recipes and altering his brewing styles like never before. Gortemiller isn't acting on a spurt of creativity. He's coping with a worldwide shortage of hops -- the spice of beer. The dry cones of a particular flowering vine, hops are what give your favorite brew its flavor and aroma. Prices of the commodity are skyrocketing as hop supplies have plummeted, forcing smaller brewmasters around the United States to begin quietly tweaking their recipes, in ways that are easily discerned by serious imbibers. The shortage -- caused by a dwindling number of hop growers worldwide, and exacerbated by a Yakima, Washington, warehouse fire -- has forced Gortemiller to use fewer and different hops than before, changing the flavor of his beer. He's also resorted to beer hacks, like "dry hopping," in which the hops are added late to the mix, consuming fewer hops and yielding a more consistent flavor. "When hops were $2 a pound, compared to $20 or $30 a pound now, it didn't matter. We'd throw them into the boil at various times," Gortemiller says. "That was an inaccurate way of doing things. We're modifying recipes and using about 20 percent less hops." Brewer Chuey Munkanta at the 21st Amendment Brewery pulls the grain out of the wash tub.Photo Jim Merithew, Wired.com The beer-brewing situation demonstrates how the global-commodity shortage is spilling over to affect diverse industries in unexpected ways. The hop shortage lives on the outer edges of a food crisis that's prompted riots across the planet, and last month led U.N. Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon to implore the world's governments to increase food production to stave off a 40 percent jump in the cost of staples. While nobody in the craft-beer industry is going hungry, they are being forced to adapt. There's no replacement for hops in beer -- they give the brew its flavor. But other key ingredients are in short supply, as well. Malt, which comes from sprouted barley, produces the alcohol and body of beer -- its prices have doubled along with hops. The price of rice, used by industrial brewers, has charted a similar course. The larger commercial brewers are better off. Most have long-term contracts for hops, barley and rice, and are doing whatever is necessary not to tinker with their brand names. "Coors Banquet has been tweaked very little since it was introduced in the 1800s," says Molson Coors spokeswoman Jenny Volanakis. "We don't play around with our beers." But even the big brewers aren't immune from the shortage, says industry analyst Jack Russo of Edward Jones in St. Louis. "Most everybody has raised prices in the 2-to-3-percent range," says Russo. The small, craft brewers are taking the brunt of the beer crisis, though. "When I called my hop supplier," Gortemiller says, "they told me you're 250th on the list." At the 21st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco, brewer Shaun O'Sullivan says he just increased the price of a pint 25 cents, to $5.50. Like Gortemiller, he's reducing the amount of hops used in some recipes. "We've backed off," O'Sullivan says. "We had to get smart. We could have easily limped along." O'Sullivan is lucky. One of his most popular beers is Watermelon Wheat, which "has virtually no hops in it," he says. Jesse Houck is head brewer at the 21st Amendment Brewery. Photo Jim Merithew, Wired.com Ken Grossman, the head brewer at Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, California, says he's not tinkering with his brand-name recipes, such as his Pale Ale. He has long-term contracts in place to purchase his hops of choice. He's paying more for barley, though -- the price has jumped because of a drought in Australia, flooding in Europe and a trend that has farmers worldwide switching to corn to produce biofuels. "A lot of brewers got caught short on hops," says Grossman. Still, that hasn't stopped him from brewing a new, hop-laden beer called Torpedo Ale, produced with New Zealand hops. "We have been in a fortunate position," Grossman says. But not everybody in the business is as beer savvy as is Grossman, one of the first to commercialize microbrewing. Ian Ward, president of Brewers Supply Group in Shakopee, Minnesota -- the nation's largest craft brew supplier -- says things are only going to get worse. "That's the crisis that brewers are finding themselves in," Ward says. "They're having to review their recipes. The crisis really hasn't hit hard yet." The hop shortage became noticeable around July, when a market glut and hop reserves stored in extract began dwindling. The bulk of U.S.-grown hops are produced in the Yakima, Washington, area. Farmers weren't getting a profitable return and got out of the market, switched crops or went bankrupt. The same was happening in Germany, the world's No. 1 hop-growing country. In the United States alone, there were an estimated 515 hop growers in 1950; 75 in 2000 and just 45 today, Ward says. In 2006, about 2 million pounds of hops were destroyed in an S.S. Steiner warehouse in Yakima, equaling about 4 percent of the U.S. hop crop. All the while, beer sales are increasing worldwide by about 1 to 2 percent annually. The craft brewing industry is growing yearly by 12 percent. That economic reality is pushing hop growers back into the fields. 21st Amendment's Jesse Houck adds hops to the brew.Photo Jim Merithew, Wired.com About 8,500 acres of hops were just planted in Yakima alone, and about 2,500 thousand acres in Germany, Ward says. "The cure for high prices is high prices," he says. But that isn't sitting well with Omar Ansari, the owner and brewer of Surly Brewing in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, who just signed a long-term hop deal. "My jaw hit the floor when I saw the price," Ansari says. And next year, he'll have to reformulate his brown ale Bender beer, a blend he described as a "flagship" flavor requiring the "Willamette" hop from the Pacific Northwest. "We were informed by our supplier that next year we can't get that hop. It's just gone," Ansari said. "We're going to have to make changes." "Everybody," he says, "is crossing their fingers there is going to be good hop crop."

Mom's Day Gifts for Gamer Mums  (Sat, 10 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT)
Whether your mom likes adventure, nostalgia or "cute" we can recommend games for her. The only question is, how well do you know your mom?

With Motorcycles, Eco-Friendly and Badass Can Mix  (Sat, 10 May 2008 01:00:00 GMT)
: Electric and alternative-fuel bikes are the future of individual transportation not because of their fuel efficiency but because they are extremely cool. That's right. Creators of eco-friendly motorcycles are pushing the limits of their designs to make them desirable to a biking community that sees little difference between their (relatively) efficient gas engines and the new-fuel wave of alternatives. Riding bikes is all about the cool factor, so the crazier and more technologically advanced they get, the more people will want to ride them, clean fuel or not. Gaze upon the alt-fuel bikes most likely to break the mold of motorcycle design in the near future. Left: The ENV Fuel Cell Bike Intelligent Energy's ENV Bike is on track to become the first available hydrogen-powered motorcycle when it's released next year. The zero-cylinder ENV runs on a removable fuel cell (stored where a conventional gas tank would be) and runs peacefully quiet. The fuel cell uses a proton-exchange membrane that pushes a full 6 kilowatts of peak-load power, resulting in a nice high torque. And one hydrogen tank will last about four hours without a charge, or about 100 miles. The ENV is also supposed to offer a fairly gentle ride, since power is distributed evenly through a single gear, avoiding the regular gear-induced kickback of a gas bike. But the best part is that instead of CO2, the bike emits water. Not so pure that you could bend backwards for a little midride drink, but better than adding to the global carbon load. : Technically, a tesseract is a four-dimensional analogue of a cube. To us, it's a bike design that looks just a like a Praying Mantis Predacon Transformer come to life. Yamaha's Tesseract is a four-wheeled motorcycle powered with a liquid-cooled V-twin engine and an electric motor. It's designed with a dual-scythe suspension for slick turns, allowing the wheels to adapt individually to uneven, rocky terrain independently of one another. Similarly to other new-wave, multiwheeled green bikes, the body is built up instead of out, so that the body width is more equivalent to regular-size bikes. That leads to above-average handling and stability. Add the thin-but-durable body frame and expect to ride this one fast. Just don't wait up for it -- it won't come out until after 2010. : This is a superhero's bike. Suzuki's slick Crosscage prototype uses a fuel-cell block developed by Intelligent Energy, which creates power from hydrogen gas. According to IE, its fuel designs are based on thin metallic bipolar plates and make the fuel block small, compact and cheaper to produce. To the lay reader, this means that it's more likely to come out sooner rather than later. With blue neon V-shaped flares on its rims -- and a look that the Silver Surfer would envy -- PEM fuel cells and lithium-ion batteries are just icing on the cake. : If you drain your wallet every week at the pump, the relief promised by Yamaha's FC-Dii fuel-cell prototype bike will be as refreshing as the water it runs on. Well, partially. The FC-Dii, available for ogling at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, runs on a methanol-fuel-and-water build, with a new type of cell stack that promises the "highest levels of power density in the 1-kilowatt class." It also features a detachable lithium-ion battery for recharging, and a model 30 percent efficiency standard for a direct-methanol-fuel-cell system. Plus, you can look into the insides of the bike's cellblock, and that's just too future-cool for us. : The design of the Enertia electric motorcycle from Brammo smartly resembles the classic lines of the 1961 Triumph TR6 Trophy Bird from the movie The Great Escape. And what's more fantastic than the thrill of Steve McQueen racing away from the Nazis? Nothing. The Enertia uses lithium-ion phosphate batteries with power settings that let the user trade off performance for range. At 12 to 25 horsepower (19 kilowatts) in its "performance" mode, it's on the same power level as the Kawasaki Ninja 250 gas bike (though its speed tops out at 50 mph). Better still, the carbon-fiber chassis enables lightweight maneuverability, and its six lithium-phosphate batteries reduce its emissions footprint to close to zero. If you live in a small city, you won't find a more viable commuting vehicle. McQueen would have plugged it in himself. : The Killacycle is the fastest electric drag bike in the world. Unfortunately, its name almost became a self-fulfilling prophecy at Wired's NextFest conference last September. During the conference, owner Bill Dube crashed into a minivan while attempting a burnout on a narrow sidewalk. The inventor had barely ridden the beast before but knew the massive stats: 0-to-60 in 0.97 seconds, 400 horsepower, and a top speed of 158 mph. The bike's 619 pounds (100 pounds more than regular bikes) make it difficult for a rookie rider to maneuver safely. Dube ended up in the hospital with a few body nicks. Afterwards, he came out with his head high and -- believe it -- promised to push his machine to even greater speeds. Currently, his team is working on a 1,000-horsepower drag bike that will attempt to break the land speed record on salt. : The VentureOne looks like a car and is legally classified as a three-wheel motorcycle, but -- copy Blue Leader! It looks just like a Tron Light Cycle come to life. Carver Europe's VentureOne superbike features an automatic balancing system that stabilizes the body and allows it to tilt into a turn like a motorcycle without fear of wipeout. The bike is scheduled to come out in hybrid build (with a 350-mile range) and two all-electric propulsion models (up to 125 miles). It'll cost between $20,000 and $30,000 and will include GPS navigation and an entertainment system to provide as much distraction as possible. We think this car-bike mashup could push out its identity crisis and make a name for itself, and we can't wait to (legally) race our Venture Ones out on the grid. : The Piaggio Vespa scooter is as intrinsically connected to the Italian experience as cannoli from Mozzicato's. Now, the Vespas are growing with the times by introducing the lithium-ion-battery-powered Vespa M3 Hybrid. With a 125-cc engine, the M3 will ride just like any other Vespa but will latch on tighter to the pavement with the addition of the third wheel. The added rubber won't extend the width of the scooter -- in fact, the wheelbase at the front is still narrow enough to maneuver tightly, just like the classic. The M3 has four different performance modes at the flip of a switch: all-electric, low-charge hybrid, high-charge hybrid and standard hybrid. In its all-electric mode, the hybrid turns off the combustion and becomes beautifully silent. But this is sadly lame: At electric-only power, it's supposed to last only 12 miles. The other options push the scooter to a more city-friendly range of 25 to 50 miles on a full charge. : A hybrid motorcycle can't promise the same raw power and performance as a V-Twin Harley, can it? That would be like the Hell Angels going green and Al Gore becoming cool. Well, it's about to happen. The Gen-Ryu Hybrid bike is the future eco-friendly Harley, with a lightweight 600-cc engine and a high-output, high-efficiency electric motor. And it has awesome features you will not find in a regular hog: noise-canceling system to reduce wind noise, voice-navigation function and hands-free music player and cellphone. Plus, it'll have our favorite feature from recent smart cars -- the rear-view monitoring camera to make sure you can fit in those ridiculously tight urban parking spots. The prototype includes a cornering light system that makes it easy to see around curves at night. The balance will prevent you from popping a wheelie in the street, but the wide-ish tires will give you a comfortable, smooth ride -- perfect for the trip from the dusty fields into the nanotech-laced asphalt of the future San Angeles. : The Silence PT2 is another car-bike tweener. The electric-powered PT2 has a range of 125 to 250 miles and a high speed of 125 mph due to its smallish size at only 13 feet long, 6 feet wide and 900 pounds. That's about one-third of the 2008 Mini Cooper Clubman S, and 400 pounds lighter than the minimum weight of an F1. As the wild child from the unholy union of a Go Kart-making company and another that built high-speed three-wheelers, there's a childlike sense of fun in this design. With a wide-open top frame, large front wheels sticking close to the ground, and an aerodynamic front screen to cut the wind, you could easily place it on the track next to Racer X, and it would feel at home. Just wear a helmet. The Silence PT2 is scheduled to be available in early 2009 for close to $50,000. : Industrial designer Sam Jilbert hit upon a great concept while creating his final-year project at Britain's Northumbria University: Take a past success, tweak it for the present, and fill it with technology from the near future. Voilà! A new design for us to drool over. The Honda Cub Concept updates the 50-year-old (and 50 million-selling) Honda Super Cub by adding a hydrogen-fuel-cell case. The resulting design resembles a giant LifeSaver mixed with a collapsible bike. Though Honda hasn't endorsed it, its concept has sparked many consumers' imaginations, which could eventually land it on city streets. Like other fuel cell-based bikes, expect to sacrifice a high torque for a slim riding range -- probably close to 50 miles at first. : The Vectrix is the first commercially available electric bike on the market designed like a mullet in reverse: all business in the back and party on the front. The nickel-metal hydrate, battery-charged engine sits in the back of the bike for controlled, efficient acceleration, and the front resembles the angular shape of a ravenous one-eyed wasp. That's hot. It's expensive at $13,000, but it'll save you money on the back end: It takes three hours to charge the bike fully (at about 1 cent per mile), and has a 40-to-50-mile range at 25 mph. There's also no clutch and no transmission, forcing down the maintenance fees. But it's the ingenious regenerative breaking system that rounds it out: Twist the throttle in a radial backwards motion and the bike will slow down, while cooling and charging the engine at the same time.

NSA Attacks West Point! Relax, It's a Cyberwar Game  (Sat, 10 May 2008 01:00:00 GMT)
Five hours into their assault on West Point, the hackers got serious. The SQL [structured query language] inserts that came earlier were just pablum intended to lull the Army cadets into a false sense of security. But then the bad guys unleashed a stealthy kernel-level rootkit that burrowed into one workstation, started scraping data and "calling home." It was a highly sophisticated attack, but this time the bad guys were really good guys in wolves' clothing. For four days in late April, the National Security Agency -- the nation's most secretive repository of spooks, snoops and electronic eavesdroppers -- directed coordinated assaults on custom-built networks at seven of the nation's military academies, including West Point, the Army university 50 miles north of New York City. It was all part of the seventh annual Cyber Defense Exercise, a training event for future military IT specialists. The exercise offered a rare window into the NSA's toolkit for infiltrating, corrupting or destroying computer networks. The 34 Army cadets comprising the West Point IT team operated in a different kind of battlefield, but their combat skills and instincts need to be every bit as sharp. Like George Washington said: "There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet the enemy." The SQL injections, targeting their Fedora Core 8 Web server, were a piece of cake for these IT combatants. Each injection tried to smuggle malicious code inside the seemingly harmless language used by the network's MySQL software. The cadets handily defended with open source Apache web server modules, plus some manual tweaking of the SQL database to "avoid any surprises," in the words of Lt Col. Joe Adams, a West Point instructor who helped coach the team. But the kernel-level rootkit was much more dangerous. This stealthy operating-system hijacker can open unseen "back doors" into even highly protected networks. When they detected the rootkit's "calls home" the cadets launched Sysinternal's security software to find the hijacker, then they manually scoured the workstation to find the unwelcome executable file. Then they terminated it. With extreme prejudice. "This was probably the most challenging part of the exercise, since it required them to use some advanced techniques to find the rootkit," Adams says. And rooting it out helped boost the West Point team to the top of the pile when, in the aftermath of the exercise, the referees rated all the universities' network defenses. For the second year in a row, the Army placed first over the Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and others, winning geek bragging rights and the privilege of holding onto a gaudy, 60-pound brass trophy festooned with bald eagles and American flags. Adams credits the team's thorough preparation and their excellent teamwork despite the round-the-clock schedule. At the network control room on the second floor of West Point's 200-year-old engineering building (which once was an indoor horse corral and still smells like it in some remote corners, according to one instructor), the IT team set up cots and, just for the hell of it, camouflaged netting. They worked in shifts, with one team member always monitoring incoming and outgoing traffic. He or she would alert other cadets -- "router guys" -- to block any suspicious addresses. Meanwhile, off-shift cadets would make food and coffee runs to keep everyone fueled up and alert. Together, the team was "faster than anyone else," Adams says. But the way the cadets designed their network was a big factor in their victory, too. The NSA dictated some terms: All networks had to be capable of e-mail, chat and other services and had to be up and running at all times despite any attacks or defensive measures. Beyond that, the teams were free to come up with their own designs. West Point's took three weeks to build. The cadets settled on a fairly standard Linux and FreeBSD-based network with advanced routing techniques for steering incoming traffic in directions of the IT team's choosing. The choices in software tools for responding to any attack really boiled down to "automatic" versus "custom," says Eric Dean, a civilian programmer and instructor. He adds that while automatic tools that do most of their own work are certainly easier, custom tools that allow more manual tweaking are more effective. "I expect one of the 'lessons learned' will be the use of custom tools instead of automatics." Even with a solid network design and passable software choices, there was an element of intuitiveness required to defend against the NSA, especially once it became clear the agency was using minor, and perhaps somewhat obvious, attacks to screen for sneakier, more serious ones. "One of the challenges was when they see a scan, deciding if this is it, or if it's a cover," says Dean. Spotting "cover" attacks meant thinking like the NSA -- something Dean says the cadets did quite well. "I was surprised at their creativity." Legal limitations were a surprising obstacle to a realistic exercise. Ideally, the teams would be allowed to attack other schools' networks while also defending their own. But only the NSA, with its arsenal of waivers, loopholes, special authorizations (and heaven knows what else) is allowed to take down a U.S. network. And despite the relative sophistication of the NSA's assaults, the agency told Wired.com that it had tailored its attacks to be just "a little too hard for the strongest undergraduate team to deal with, so that we could distinguish the strongest teams from the weaker ones." In other words, grasshopper, nice work -- but the NSA is capable of much craftier network take-downs.

The Car of the Future Will Know You Can't Drive  (Fri, 09 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT)
A Stanford University professor wants to make cars that know what you're up to. The technology will make it easier for your car to protect you -- and for insurers and advertisers to hassle you.

Über-Investor: Gas Will Reach $10 a Gallon and Make U.S. Greener  (Fri, 09 May 2008 22:40:00 GMT)
Billionaire investor Steve Novogratz doesn't see the price of gas coming down any time soon, but that might not be a bad thing as rising energy prices help drive investment in greener technologies that the world needs.

Q&A: NASA Scientist Answers Your Questions About Lying in Bed for 90 Days  (Fri, 09 May 2008 22:00:00 GMT)
A senior NASA research scientist answers your questions about the agency's Bed Rest Study, in which participants are paid $17,000 to lie in bed for 90 straight days.