The Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a real-time magnetic imaging system that enables criminal investigators to “see” signs of tampering in audiotapes—erasing, overdubbing and other alterations—while listening to the tapes. The new system,which permits faster screening and more accurate audiotape analysis than currently possible, recently was delivered to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and will be evaluated for its poss
Toll-free telephone numbers benefit everyone. It costs callers nothing to use them and organisations paying for the lines attract more callers. Recent trials in Europe suggest this same win-win concept could be successfully used with the mobile Internet.
Surfing the Internet is easy with a third-generation (2.5/3G) mobile phone. But these miracles of wireless technology are nowhere near as popular as expected. Perhaps because their users pay for every byte of data they receive,
Surfing the Web could become a much more effective experience thanks to new approaches endorsed at this year’s ACM (Association of Computing Machinery) Hypertext Conference.
In its current state, the commonly used link in a Web page allows people to search the Web and to use hyperlinks to jump from one page to another. The down side is that when people click links, pages load on top of one another and unless they can recall the route taken, it is easy to lose much of the conten
Physical browsing is a new method for providing direct access to services without the use of complicated menus or inputting long addresses; all the user needs to do is touch an object with a mobile terminal (such as a mobile phone) or point the terminal at the object. A child can call ‘Granny’ by pointing a mobile phone at the grandmother’s photo; a teenager can order a new ringing tone by placing the phone on the tone in a newspaper advertisement; a door can be opened by touching it with a mobil
The passage of ships in and out of ports could be safer if only pilots and masters had online access to vessel traffic service (VTS) information. The IPPA system fulfils this need and received a warm approval from ships’ pilots and harbourmasters alike.
The objective of the IST programme-funded IPPA project was to tap into the VTS information and make it available to pilots and ships’ masters in a user-friendly graphical format.
On trial at three ports
The number of people who succumb to identity thieves’ “phishing” e-mails could go way up if immediate action isn’t taken to preempt the next generation of attacks, according to Markus Jakobsson, an Indiana University School of Informatics researcher.
A report by cybersecurity expert Jakobsson describing worst-case phishing scenarios was recently cited by Howard Schmidt, chief information security officer for eBay Inc., during his testimony before a U.S. Congressional subcomm
FOKUS’ spinoff iptelorg GmbH attracts international attention. Iptelorg, BridgePort Networks, and Telio provide interoperability for next generation SIP based solutions.
iptelorg, the leading provider of SIP based server solutions for large service providers, announced it has been named to the “Pulver 100” along with its customer BridgePort Networks and partner Telio. The “pulver 100” features private companies in the communications sector that have substantial real-world
A 500-member forum of industry, government and academic technical experts, led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has released a new draft set of cyber security requirements for industrial control systems.* These security requirements, developed by the Process Control Security Requirements Forum (PCSRF), are intended to be used in procurement documents for new industrial control systems or components. The implementation of these requirements will help protect the nation&
Researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) are putting a 21st century spin on a 19th century technology to make the nation’s ports and coastal waters safer. Airships — known today mainly for advertising flyovers at football games — are the core of a new coastal surveillance system in development for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) of the U.S. Department of Defense. But the new models will bear little resemblance to their predecessors. These High Altitude Stratospheric Air
A Finnish company has launched a product that can be used to prevent children and young people from visiting adult pages on the Internet.
In addition to pages in Finnish, the Block! software of the company Hitback.fi Oy also identifies offensive European pages. ”The problem with other than Finnish software is that it blocks access to, e.g., the pages of the Finnish municipality Pornainen or the OKO Bank of Pornainen,” states Mr Kimmo Junttila, the company’s managing director.
Smart watch system could help busy, forgetful people keep track of necessities
In the not-so-distant future, your wristwatch could stop you if you try to run out the door without the necessities you need for the day, like your keys, wallet or cell phone. At work, it could prompt you for important items needed for a meeting or a business lunch. In an academic setting, it could remind students which books to take as they hurry out the door for class. Think of it as a technologica
Within three years one of the most advanced data encryption systems developed to date could go into commercial use thanks to the work of OCCULT, and its gigantic strides forward in laser-based chaotic carriers to transmit data through fibre-optics.
The cutting-edge technique, which employs synchronised laser emitters and receivers to encrypt information at the hardware level, represents an important qualitative upgrade to existing security systems for protecting the transmission o
Many accidents, especially at night, are caused by motorists having to take their eye off the road as they look down to see the car instruments. Head-up displays would be a solution, were they not so expensive and bulky. OEDIBUS has an innovative solution.
Driving at night is dangerous. Research shows that, although less than one third of all driving is done at night, over 50 per cent of the fatalities occur during this period. For pedestrians, 60 per cent of fatalities occur during the hours
Research carried out by scientists at the University of Surrey could lead to a significant decrease in the number of pedestrians and cyclists killed each year on Europe’s roads. In-car systems have significantly improved safety for drivers and passengers, and the introduction of soft bumpers and pop-up bonnets has lowered the risk of injury to pedestrians and cyclists, but a system of new sensors currently being developed, could potentially lower the fatality rate even further.
Over 6
Penn State researchers have developed a computer program that mimics the results when a human appraises a task as threatening and feels worried before starting.
Dr. Frank Ritter, associate professor in the School of Information Sciences and Technology (IST), says, “In this study, we used our program to mimic the results achieved by people who can be seen as having a type of math anxiety. However, the program could also be used to study the effects of feeling threatened or worried be
Seismologists, Ecuadorian officials, area residents could benefit from improved data
A rumbling South American volcano has gone wireless: Computer scientists at Harvard University have teamed up with seismologists at the University of New Hampshire and University of North Carolina to fit an Ecuadorian peak with a wireless array to monitor volcanic activity. The sensors should help researchers, officials, and local residents understand and plan for eruptions of Tungarahua, one of Ec
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