The Bacteria

Now, we have, the human race have a great history playing with the fire. Now we are playing with several fires at the same time right now, one is the fire of Viruses, which are visible in the form of Biological weapons. Of course then there are chemical weapons as well as Nuclear weapons, then there are some non-military technologies which we do not understand but do use, for example particle accelerators which we use to find the 'god element'. Now there are also certain elements in society which we could define as fires. Of course we also know that there were some pretty nasty things which we do not understand in the past of this nice friendly planet. Now the Antarctic is often used to check back on the past because it has been around for so long and the ice has only added such a small amount every year. Now today we have apparently found something great in fact its so great that we could not stop to do anything but to revive that what we found. This something might be something good, neutral or bad however we revived it without actually really know what 'it' is. We know that 'it' is a bacteria however as to its purpose or powers however it is something that was in the ice and we did revive it.
All we know about those bacterias is that we have no understanding as to what they we know that when we attempted to find progenitors that we found few matches and that those were remote ones at that. Leading us up to one thing that we do not know what they will do.

Related articles:Ancient microbes 'revived' in lab (BBC)

THE BUG AH!!!

Now, first of all AH is the online abbreviation for Auction House.
The Bug Auction house is online, it is an Auction house which allows people who find bugs in software to sell their findings to the highest bidder through this Auction House and this could create an entirely new form off software production and Quality assurance. Since this would mean any company can check this auction house and buy up information relating to bugs that peak their interest. This then is intended to allow for a higher standard in the realm of software quality and security.

Related article:
Online auction for security bugs (BBC)

Interesting turn of events

Apple now had to admit that their Macbooks and Macbook Pros have seen some battery problems for which they offer a software patch and a free of charge battery exchange.
It would almost seem that since apple began to sell great numbers Ipods and Computer systems that the quality has declined to some degree since the production had to be increased to meet the new demand. These new sales records have bolstered Apple's stock and financial reserves, yet at the same time Apple suddenly seems to be haunted by legal problems and technical problems. Ipods suddenly seem less sturdy then their predecessors did and the computers seem to show the occasional issue as well.

Relevant Article:
Apple admits laptop battery issue (BBC)

International Cooperation in space...a dream?

The Russian space agency offered NASA to work together on the goal of creating a station on the moon. But while the Russians show a great interest and willingness in cooperation NASA does not. In fact NASA has denied the offer and does not seem to be interested in contemplating this issue any further. This is another event in a series of events which once more strain the relations between the US and Russia. The Anti-missile system was one of the major issue causing conflicts which by the Russian leadership was condemned as an expansionist strategy which would only insure MAD. Russia also threatened to stop supporting the agreement between Russia and the EU concerning the build down of conventional weaponry. The EU and NATO responded to that threat with great concern and strongly emphasized the gravity of the situation.
The US leadership responded only by saying that the anti-missile system was intended to protect allied countries against the Iranian threat. Further that these missiles would not pose any threat the security of Russia since they would be deployed in small number to only cover against the Iranian missiles and not against the hundreds of Russian Missiles which in great number could simply penetrate the Anti-missile shield.
Scientists turned to Star Trek for answers concerning certain issues of space travel since the health risk of traveling in space is tremendous the only solution is to insure that most or all of the radiation can not enter the spacecraft. For this the Deflector which serves in Star Trek that and some other purposes offered itself, and now scientists now look at ways in which the Deflector could be implemented.
At the same time scientists suddenly fear the miss-use and even in-humane use of the Robots that are being designed now and want to establish rights, laws and other protective measures for the Robots and humans involved before the Technology surpasses the legal framework once more.

Terflop...

The teraflop chip is there, this chip is not yet ready for commercial use but it does have 80 cores. The problem now is how to use those, since the PS3 already had problems with dealing with 7 different cores at the same time. Now programming 80 parallel cores is a task that is far greater. And might require significant changes in how our computer systems operate. Yet, this technology is still under development.

Teraflop chip hints at the future (BBC)

TB YAY

The terabyte has now finally taken over from the Gigabyte or rather is beginning to do so. With the help of a new writing technology the first internal hard drive has now reached the 1 TB mark. A mark that until now was only reached/broken by some very expensive external HDs 1 terabyte consists of 1000 Gigabytes. Computer systems on the average currently move in the realm of 0.3-0.6 TB of total available HD space the TB internal HD is likely to reduce the Dollar to GB ratio further and now introduce the Dollar to TB ratio which is likely to increase the space on HDs available to computer users during the next few years rapidly.

Storage growth sets a fast pace (BBC)

Apple vs. Cisco

Cisco Systems sued Apple over the iPhone, since Cisco has owned the trademark of the iPhone since 2000. Cisco Systems is one of the bigger companies owning a great deal of the internet, further several companies produce VOIP telephones under the trademark of the iPhone. Apple's response by stating that this lawsuit was 'silly' and 'tenuous at best'. Previous legal battles involving Apple focused around the legal implication of the iTunes Music store. Both companies have agreed on extending their talks concerning this issue.

iPhone court battle put on hold

Ray-Gun?

The ray-gun is essentially nothing but a upgraded microwave emitter that can be adjusted. This weapon is currently defined as a 'Non-Lethal' Weapon and is to be used in crowd control. This of course is curious since the Microwave emitter could have many side-effect, which are not known at this point but nonetheless this weapon is now facing fielding. The problem is that if this emitter is upgraded a bit it easily can become an offensive and very lethal weapon.
Here is some more background information...
1 360-degree operation for maximum effect
Antenna, linked to transmitter unit, can be mounted on vehicle
Automatic target tracking
2 Antenna sealed against dust and can withstand bullet fire
3 Invisible beam of millimeter-wave energy can travel over 500m
4 Heat energy up to 54C (130F) penetrates less than 0.5mm of skin
Manufacturers say this avoids injury, although long-term effects are not known

Relating article.
How hot is the heat-ray gun? (BBC)

Safer? Never!

The internet is not overly safe, this is more true then ever today now that Hackers have built up a share information further the law still has not caught up with this problem and this allows for a the hackers to rampage. Also today's hackers usually focus on the internet because that allows for more money then it does attacking a single system. Those thieves do not have to fear anyone but each other and trust does not go along way among them, but that in the worst case scenario means a loss of several thousand a month. But since the hackers still make more then enough money that does not matter to them, of course that annoys them to lose that kind of money. Yet, since the governments can not do anything, such as suing or imprisoning hackers.
The problem is a) tracing is not easy almost impossible and b) even if hackers are located that does not guarantee that the hacker has to face legal actions since the problem is the lack of evidence most often accompanied with these crimes.

How can normal home-user protect themselves against those attacks?
Well first the user should keep the computer updated, using a current browser is the first step into that direction, those would currently be Firefox 2.0 or Internet Explorer7 while I would suggest using Firefox, IE7 is a good browser too.
Further using good Anti-Spyware programs and keep them updated, of these one can use more then one I for one use all of the ones listed here (they are also free of charge), Spybot Search&Destroy, Windows Defender (I only started using this recently but must say it has worked reliably until now), Adaware Personal edition.
Now after these programs comes the Anti-Virus which has a wide variety I offer three different ones here that have good names but there are many more, Avast Home edition(this one is free), Norton 2007, NOD32, the latter two both charge money.
Next would be a software firewall, (the integrated one for XP is not good), Zonealarm, Comodo and Norton Firewall(This one costs money).
All of these are good software programs, and further all of the different kinds should be used, Anti-Spyware, Anti-Virus, Firewall and New Browser all of these should also be kept up to date. Since otherwise they are not effective, if you use a high speed connection you should scan at least every 5-7 days with slower connections it is still suggested but not as important since the slower systems are more likely to be left alone.

One Interesting bit of information many of the new hackers come from Romania, and they are accepted to be the best or among the best in the world.

Relevant article:
Tackling the hackers face-to-face (BBC)
Cyber criminals move focus to web (BBC)

100$?

The 100$ laptop is now finally entering its final development phase, the Development of this Laptop is leading the advance of an ambitious project which is aimed at making computer Technology and the Internet available to anyone anywhere. For people in Western nations which...can afford it can also take part in the buy 2 get 1 project with which the project employees want to support the ones that can not afford to spend a hundred dollars on a Laptop to educate their children. This means that someone who can afford it buys one Laptop but pays for two, the second Laptop is then made available to someone who otherwise would not be able to provide this educational tool for their child.
100$ Laptop program is a program that aims at providing education on computers and the internet to everyone. Thus allowing the children that otherwise would not have a future one. The only hope for many would be any education to be able to work in certain environments. This program is one of the more ambitious programs against poverty and for self-help.

Relating article:
$100 laptop could sell to public (BBC)

Halo?

Many have argued that warfare in Games and in the Movie world supports violance in real-life. But I know in this context no-one wants to hear that or rather you want to watch most likely the Halo3 and Halo Wars Trailer. Halo3 is the net sequel to the Halo series while Halo Wars is a strategy game based on Halo.

Halo WARS


Halo3


These are the Advent Presents for this Week...enjoy n_n

Wii mania

Nintendo shipped Globally four million Wiis of which in Europe nearly none are left int the stores, North America and many other areas suffer under the same problem. Four million Wiis gone almost instantly people left wanting more because the market was not covered sufficiently. Nintendo expects that all Wiis should be absorbed by the market by today, and states with some luck (for the consumers) Wiis will suffice until Sunday.
This extreme boom does make the Wii a rapid starter and is likely to put it into direct competition with the current sales leader the XBOX 360.
Yet there is still some ground to cover since the XBOX 360's sales are close to 20 million units sold Globally.

Here are some related articles
Wii shortages frustrating gamers (BBC)

A Mars with flowing water?

The National Space Agency or NASA has been looking for flowing water on Mars because that would make the Colonizing or creation of an outpost easier. In the past years it was understood that there was water on the Mars but that this water was in a frozen state due to the low temperatures on the Mars. The NASA has continued to monitor Mars to gather general information concerning the planet. Recent pictures of a crater on Mars show a surprising picture which shows a crater with a small amount of frozen water there, water which had not been there in 1999. This brings an old question once more, which is there life on Mars since if there is a flow of water it is likely that there would be some sort of life form on the Mars. Further flowing water would make colonization and/or an outpost a great deal easier.
Colonization and an outpost differ in the following ways a colony is a collection of civilians living in a new territory claimed by a certain group while and outpost is a military and/or scientific installation which usually is rotated with other crews in a certain cycle which means that they a) do not live there and b)are being payed to sit there or make certain experiments but not produce anything.

Relevant articles to this issue
'Flowing water' found on Mars (Al Jazeera)
The first Space colony? (Paladin101)

And here is a link to Google Mars (Google)

The first Space colony?

NASA now officially declared that, the plan to land on the moon and establish a base will reach its critical phase with the first landing and the establishment of an outpost. This of course sounds more like something out of an Sci-Fi novel or movie then reality. The benefits that NASA envisions from creating a base on the moon are several. First they want to use this base to increase the knowledge about the universe and the creation of the planet and hope to answer some more questions relating to where live comes from. Further this expedition is likely to increase international cooperation since this is a multi-national effort. Further it can increase our 'economical sphere' or simply put we can use the moon for resources. Further the moon project would allow for a Sandbox which relatively close for manned missions to Mars. Further it could then be used as a launch platform for manned missions to the Mars and eventually to other planets.
Is all that just a nice dream? It is unlikely since NASA and other Space Agencies seem to be very motivated to complete this mission and succeed in creating this colony. All this sounds as id our Sci-Fi fantasies are coming true, or at least some of them are. Of course one has to remember that this would be true for many technologies we use today such as the car, the Internet or simply the Computer and most other technologies we use today. Were considered 'Sci-Fi' or impossible to achieve this is a very ambitious project which is likely to consume a great deal of resources, yet this gamble might well pay off.

Here are links that offer some information concerning this issue.
Why the moon? Poster (NASA)
Moon, Mars and beyond (NASA article)

Gamers to buy their own world

Gamers are aspiring to buy the source code to a online based, game and, the gamers already managed to collect more then 60.000 euros.
This is a very interesting new development in the area of gaming, the Gamers want to begin to distribute the source for free. This if successful could show a great shift in the gamer to company relationships. This is shows that some Gamers do not wish to be subjugated by the companies.

Here is the full story
Gamers aspire to take over world (BBC)

New Form of war

The US has warned that banking websites and and the stock market could be attacked by the Al-Quaeda. This is the beginning of a new form of warfare, orienting itself on economics instead of of the military or the civilian population this would aim directly at the economic base of the enemy. Making even an army of 50 a very dangerous one which could circumvent the entire American military, and yet still cripple it if successful.
Of course this makes it sound very easy, but the websites are protected by firewalls and heavy encryptions, further those sites are monitored by administrators, that are supposed to stop hackers. This and the fact that the hackers would have a limited amount of time to hack successfully and evade tracking, or be gone from the point at which they would be hacking. The hacking itself is one not easy secondly it would require people with a working knowledge of the programs employed, and of course of the programming language employed. Further the hacker would have to have a working knowledge of security protocols used, all this is not easy, then again it is cheaper then fighting a shooting war. This is a most interesting development.

Here are related articles
US issues cyber attack warning (Al Jazeera)
US warns of al-Qaeda cyber threat (BBC)

Vista released

Yes, I know I did never say anything about writing an article on the Forum which is why I will post it here too.

Yes, it has happened Microsoft released Vista, the follow up to XP, now this release is only to corporate customers, which means that you can not go into a store and purchase a copy of any Vista version until 30th January 2007. Further it is likely that Vista will be the last OS in other words Microsoft may go ahead and make future updates modular, and some of those payed for...-_-...yes Vista will look a lot like Mac OS and further the updating system might work the same way...-_-.

I would really love to be able to stick with XP personally, but eventually even I will have to switch since things such as DirectX 10 will be Vista only products and support will probably be terminated soon too-_-...

Now the only way in which Vista will win is if the users buy it of course if Vista doesn't sell Microsoft would go down, since Windows makes up nearly 50% of Microsoft income. And of course there are still some issues to be worked out such as compatibility with soft and hardware and of course the question if hackers will manage to hack into the 'secure' Vista.
So lets see what happens.
Any thought you want to add...?

Post on the Forum and links to articles that relate to this issue
Vista (Paladin101 Forum)
Vista specs (Microsoft)
HDVP and Vista (Paladin101)
Microsoft Vista released for sale (BBC)

A very odd Search engine...

I was made aware of a Search engine that searches in a very innovative way, or rather the response the searching engine gives the user is...rather unexpected. The search engine is called Ms. Dewey, it is represented with the help of a young female avatar, which to every search gives a response. Those responses are most of the time on the more humorous side, the avatar can give such as 'Toys' the response could be something like this 'As a child my parents gave me gender neutral dolls to play with, really...ok not really.' After the response of the Avatar has been completed the search results will appear, I must admit this search engine is most interesting and very entertaining.

Ms. Dewey

Consoles fighting

The PS3 has been, released and was received relatively warmly by the PS fans in North America many of which camped in front of stores that would be retailing PS3s.
The price of the PS3 sadly surpasses the prizing of both competing consoles, the Xbox 360 is close by but still cheaper, Wii being like it predecessor the cheapest console on the market, tries to offer good entertainment for family and teenager.
The PS3 has a Blu-Ray drive and impressive computing power on its side, while the con currently include, a glitch with the backwards compatibility, the prize, and of course the limited number of titles which are exclusive for the PS3, further Fans have criticized that the new controllers for the PS3 do not have the rumble function anymore. Also the limited number of 400.000 consoles for the North American market.
One oddity occurred at the release of the PS3 which is that there were more consoles sold then games for the console.
Playstation 3 sold more units than games
The Xbox 360 has a battle hardened online system, the prizes have already been reduced, a good number of unique game titles is available for the Xbox and the it is mostly backwards compatible by now. The con is that to watch a next generation DVD it is necessary to buy a new HD-DVD drive for the Xbox 360, further its computing power does not reach the potential of the PS3, then again it is almost a year old.
The Wii being released tomorrow offers an impressive array of games, which ranges from the NES, SNES era (those can be downloaded from a server), it is also backwards compatible with Gamecube games, and thus allowing the player to enjoy a wide variety of games. Further it has a more direct new controller system which if it works as promised will be most interesting. The Wii is also the physically smallest of the consoles again just like it predecessor it is designed to offer game fun and fit in with the rest of the living room.

Wii homepage
PS3 Portal
Xbox Homepage

Nanotechnology nat all that new?

Nanotechnology is the newest answer to the need for strong materials that are light. The theory of the Space-lift which would lead to a Space station can only be realized with the help of Nanotechnology. Now Nanotechnology is considered as high-end technology it was produced for the first time 1991 (very small amount by accident), the interesting thing is that a different technology that is thought to be lost. The Damaszener steel which was known for its strong properties,it was more durable, sharper and more resilient any other steel, even compared to the alloys known to us today. Those two technologies do not seem to be connected, one being todays high-end technology while the other was lost three hundred years ago.
Damaszener steel is created wit the help of an very complicated process which nobody managed to produce Damaszener since. The scientists are not quite certain how it was produced. Recently a group scientists analyzed a Damaszener knife, while the group was analyzing the knife they noticed something very shocking, which was that the knife was reinforced with Nanotubes which make the knife very stable and sharp. Those Nanotubes actually have the same diameter as the Nanotubes have today, which 0.34 Nanometer. The last Damaszener knifes and swords were produced about three hundred years ago.

Die Nanotechnik aus dem Orient