Posts
http://digitizor.com/2011/06/15/google-search-by-image/
http://www.google.com/insidesearch/searchbyimage.html
Here is a video that Google has released introducing Search by Image:
http://youtu.be/t99BfDnBZcI
Suppose you have an image you want to search about. There are three ways for you to use Search by Image to search for the image:
* You can upload the image.
* You can also drag and drop the image into the search box.
* If the image is online, you can paste the URL of the image into the search box.
* You can also use extensions for Chrome and Firefox that Google will release.
After the image has been analyzed by the servers at Google, Google will attempt to identify the image and bring up search results related to it. The technology used for Search by Image is similar to that used by Google Goggles for smartphones.
The service is not live yet and Google will roll out the feature in the coming few days. You will know that Search by Image has been activated for you when you see a camera icon at the right of the search box.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
10 physical gestures that have been patented
http://io9.com/5808604/10-physical-gestures-that-have-been-patented
Avatar for Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz —10 physical gestures that have been patented If you're making a flicking gesture with a pen near your computer, watch out. Microsoft may own the rights to the gesture you're making. And if you like to draw letters of the alphabet using one penstroke per letter, you may one day find yourself paying a licensing fee to Xerox.
It sounds crazy, but tech companies have been patenting physical gestures for almost two decades now. In a world ruled by touchscreens, Kinect, and Guitar Hero, these businesses don't want people making certain gestures without paying for it. Find out which gestures you're making that may be infringing somebody's patents.
People have been claiming exclusive ownership of physical moves for a while. Famous choreographer Martha Graham's company copyrighted many of her iconic dances, and even sued a man who said the work was actually his. A few years ago, the guy who copyrighted the Electric Slide dance asked YouTube to remove a video of people dancing his copyrighted moves (YouTube complied, but after some legal negotiation the choreographer made his dance available under a more open Creative Commons license.)
Here are ten patents that limit your ability to use certain physical gestures because somebody owns them.
1. Slide to unlock
Of course this is owned by Apple, as any iPhone user can tell you. Apple owns a design patent on the "ornamental" design of the lock screen that asks you to "slide to unlock" by tracing your finger in a straight line across the screen. So they haven't exactly patented the gesture itself, but instead the design that draws you into making the gesture. So you'd better not create any designs that invite people to "slide to unlock" anything. This patent may be one reason why the unlock screens for Android phones don't allow you to pick an unlock gesture that's one, single slide across the screen.
10 physical gestures that have been patented 2. Multi-touch gestures for touchscreen or trackpad
One critic called Apple's latest patent application, filed this year, "bonkers" because it includes several multi-touch gestures that look more like the dance steps to the Time Warp than actual things your fingers could do on an iPhone. You can see them here - basically, Apple is trying to claim ownership of everything from an infinity gesture on your phone, to some sort of weird thing where you stick three fingers on the screen and wiggle the middle one in a circle. This wouldn't be the first time Apple patented a weird gesture that we now take for granted on many devices: The company owns the patent on the "pinch to zoom" gesture which lets you expand or shrink images on many touchscreen devices.
10 physical gestures that have been patented 3. Drawing each letter of the alphabet using a single stroke of your pen
Did you know that if you draw a letter using one stroke, without ever lifting your pen from the page, you could be infringing a patent owned by Xerox? That's what the company Palm found out a decade ago, when they launched their Palm Pilot. You could input text to the device using the "graffiti" alphabet, created by drawing letters with simplified strokes of a pointer device. This led to Xerox filing a giant lawsuit against Palm. The issue? Xerox thought the gestures to make the Palm graffiti alphabet were too similar to those required to make Xerox's patented "unistroke" alphabet. Palm now owns a patent on a "multiple stroke" alphabet.
4. Making hand gestures to move icons around on your phone
Samsung sneakily patented the use of gestures to move icons around on your phone, but they didn't specify which gestures. At some point, I bet they'll sue somebody who makes an app that lets you give the bird to a Samsung phone in order to send pre-installed Facebook apps to the trash.
Full size
5. Any set of personalized gestures you use to operate your Kinect
Microsoft owns a patent on what it calls "gesture profiles" for use with the Kinect. These are custom profiles that users can create to make favorite gestures into commands. So, for instance, you could create a custom profile where doing the Vulcan greeting gesture opens your favorite game. And Microsoft would own your ability to do that. They could prevent other companies from allowing you to create similar gesture profiles for competing products.
6. Flicking your pen at something
Strangely, Microsoft also owns the patent on "a system and method for determining whether a flick gesture has occurred." Specifically, Microsoft owns the patent on making said flick gesture with a pointing device, and then causing an animated movement on a screen as a result. Basically what they seem to be getting at is that they own the gesture where you flick your pen at a tablet, and it causes something like an arrow or window to move across the screen. Still, is the idea of flicking your pen at something really an innovation worth patenting?
7. Shaking your mobile device
Ever get pissed off at your phone and shake it up and down until it reboots? You could be benefitting from a patent infringement! Intellectual Ventures owns a very broad patent on moving your mobile device around (basically, shaking your phone). If any company dares to create a product which relies on somebody shaking a mobile device to reboot, they'd better cough up some cash to license this gesture from Intellectual Ventures.
8. Moving 3D objects in a virtual environment
You know how researchers in scifi movies sometimes say, "Check out my molecule," and a molecule hologram appears that they move around to give us our infodump about whatever the molecule does? Well, let's just hope that whatever high tech system they're using to do all that has paid licensing fees. Lucent owns a patent on manipulating 3D objects in virtual environments. That's right - you need to pay up if you intend to make any gestures that allow you to enter the world of Tron.
Full size
9. Two-handed motions
Here's a seriously weird one. A company called GestureTek owns several patents on optical systems for sensing gestures, but the most bizarre is their insanely broad patent on a device that tracks two-handed motions. If you want to make a device that detects two-handed movement (charmingly called "bimanual movements" in the patent), you should be paying a licensing fee to GestureTek every time you do jazz hands.
10. Texting without lifting your fingers off the keyboard
You may have heard of Swype, which allows you to text by just sliding your fingers over the keyboard of your phone instead of poking each key. You didn't think Swype was letting you do that out of the goodness of their hearts did you? The company Swype owns a patent on "system and a method for continuous stroke word-based text input," which sounds incredibly smutty but just means that you'd better keep texting the old-fashioned way by poking those tiny keys with your fingernails.
An interesting note: You're probably wondering about the Nintendo Wii, which is one of the most obviously gesture-controlled pieces of technology on the market right now. Interestingly, Nintendo did not patent any gestures at all in the creation of the Wii controller, instead focusing entirely on patenting facets of the device. Their patent covers a controller that contains an accelerometer, but not the gestures used to operate it.
Thanks to Wendy Seltzer for legal help and suggestions.
Top photograph of Martha Graham dance company via Newnotizie
Avatar for Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz —10 physical gestures that have been patented If you're making a flicking gesture with a pen near your computer, watch out. Microsoft may own the rights to the gesture you're making. And if you like to draw letters of the alphabet using one penstroke per letter, you may one day find yourself paying a licensing fee to Xerox.
It sounds crazy, but tech companies have been patenting physical gestures for almost two decades now. In a world ruled by touchscreens, Kinect, and Guitar Hero, these businesses don't want people making certain gestures without paying for it. Find out which gestures you're making that may be infringing somebody's patents.
People have been claiming exclusive ownership of physical moves for a while. Famous choreographer Martha Graham's company copyrighted many of her iconic dances, and even sued a man who said the work was actually his. A few years ago, the guy who copyrighted the Electric Slide dance asked YouTube to remove a video of people dancing his copyrighted moves (YouTube complied, but after some legal negotiation the choreographer made his dance available under a more open Creative Commons license.)
Here are ten patents that limit your ability to use certain physical gestures because somebody owns them.
1. Slide to unlock
Of course this is owned by Apple, as any iPhone user can tell you. Apple owns a design patent on the "ornamental" design of the lock screen that asks you to "slide to unlock" by tracing your finger in a straight line across the screen. So they haven't exactly patented the gesture itself, but instead the design that draws you into making the gesture. So you'd better not create any designs that invite people to "slide to unlock" anything. This patent may be one reason why the unlock screens for Android phones don't allow you to pick an unlock gesture that's one, single slide across the screen.
10 physical gestures that have been patented 2. Multi-touch gestures for touchscreen or trackpad
One critic called Apple's latest patent application, filed this year, "bonkers" because it includes several multi-touch gestures that look more like the dance steps to the Time Warp than actual things your fingers could do on an iPhone. You can see them here - basically, Apple is trying to claim ownership of everything from an infinity gesture on your phone, to some sort of weird thing where you stick three fingers on the screen and wiggle the middle one in a circle. This wouldn't be the first time Apple patented a weird gesture that we now take for granted on many devices: The company owns the patent on the "pinch to zoom" gesture which lets you expand or shrink images on many touchscreen devices.
10 physical gestures that have been patented 3. Drawing each letter of the alphabet using a single stroke of your pen
Did you know that if you draw a letter using one stroke, without ever lifting your pen from the page, you could be infringing a patent owned by Xerox? That's what the company Palm found out a decade ago, when they launched their Palm Pilot. You could input text to the device using the "graffiti" alphabet, created by drawing letters with simplified strokes of a pointer device. This led to Xerox filing a giant lawsuit against Palm. The issue? Xerox thought the gestures to make the Palm graffiti alphabet were too similar to those required to make Xerox's patented "unistroke" alphabet. Palm now owns a patent on a "multiple stroke" alphabet.
4. Making hand gestures to move icons around on your phone
Samsung sneakily patented the use of gestures to move icons around on your phone, but they didn't specify which gestures. At some point, I bet they'll sue somebody who makes an app that lets you give the bird to a Samsung phone in order to send pre-installed Facebook apps to the trash.
Full size
5. Any set of personalized gestures you use to operate your Kinect
Microsoft owns a patent on what it calls "gesture profiles" for use with the Kinect. These are custom profiles that users can create to make favorite gestures into commands. So, for instance, you could create a custom profile where doing the Vulcan greeting gesture opens your favorite game. And Microsoft would own your ability to do that. They could prevent other companies from allowing you to create similar gesture profiles for competing products.
6. Flicking your pen at something
Strangely, Microsoft also owns the patent on "a system and method for determining whether a flick gesture has occurred." Specifically, Microsoft owns the patent on making said flick gesture with a pointing device, and then causing an animated movement on a screen as a result. Basically what they seem to be getting at is that they own the gesture where you flick your pen at a tablet, and it causes something like an arrow or window to move across the screen. Still, is the idea of flicking your pen at something really an innovation worth patenting?
7. Shaking your mobile device
Ever get pissed off at your phone and shake it up and down until it reboots? You could be benefitting from a patent infringement! Intellectual Ventures owns a very broad patent on moving your mobile device around (basically, shaking your phone). If any company dares to create a product which relies on somebody shaking a mobile device to reboot, they'd better cough up some cash to license this gesture from Intellectual Ventures.
8. Moving 3D objects in a virtual environment
You know how researchers in scifi movies sometimes say, "Check out my molecule," and a molecule hologram appears that they move around to give us our infodump about whatever the molecule does? Well, let's just hope that whatever high tech system they're using to do all that has paid licensing fees. Lucent owns a patent on manipulating 3D objects in virtual environments. That's right - you need to pay up if you intend to make any gestures that allow you to enter the world of Tron.
Full size
9. Two-handed motions
Here's a seriously weird one. A company called GestureTek owns several patents on optical systems for sensing gestures, but the most bizarre is their insanely broad patent on a device that tracks two-handed motions. If you want to make a device that detects two-handed movement (charmingly called "bimanual movements" in the patent), you should be paying a licensing fee to GestureTek every time you do jazz hands.
10. Texting without lifting your fingers off the keyboard
You may have heard of Swype, which allows you to text by just sliding your fingers over the keyboard of your phone instead of poking each key. You didn't think Swype was letting you do that out of the goodness of their hearts did you? The company Swype owns a patent on "system and a method for continuous stroke word-based text input," which sounds incredibly smutty but just means that you'd better keep texting the old-fashioned way by poking those tiny keys with your fingernails.
An interesting note: You're probably wondering about the Nintendo Wii, which is one of the most obviously gesture-controlled pieces of technology on the market right now. Interestingly, Nintendo did not patent any gestures at all in the creation of the Wii controller, instead focusing entirely on patenting facets of the device. Their patent covers a controller that contains an accelerometer, but not the gestures used to operate it.
Thanks to Wendy Seltzer for legal help and suggestions.
Top photograph of Martha Graham dance company via Newnotizie
Monday, June 6, 2011
English Teenager Invents a Better Doorbell
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1394448/Doorbell-tricks-burglars-thinking-youre-home-invented-schoolboy-Laurence-Rook-13.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
The doorbell that tricks burglars into thinking you're home - and the boy, 13, who invented it
By Lee Cain
Smart boy: Schoolboy Lawrence Rook, 13, invented Smart Bell, which calls your mobile when it is rung
A schoolboy is on course for a £250,000 windfall after inventing a doorbell that fools burglars into believing somebody is home at an empty property.
Smart Bell, designed by 13-year-old Laurence Rook, dials the homeowner's mobile phone when pressed, allowing them to talk to whoever is outside their front door.
The device even produces a small amount of white noise to give any unexpected guest the impression they are speaking to someone inside the house on an intercom system.
The invention, which uses an inbuilt SIM card and existing mobile-phone technology, would also allow homeowners to give instructions to drivers making deliveries at their property.
Laurence has already sold 20,000 units to telecoms giant Commtel Innovate and is finalising a deal with an unnamed second company for a further 25,000 units.
When the deal is signed, he will be £250,000 richer.
The teenager, from Whyteleafe, Surrey, said: 'At first I designed the idea because my mum was fed up going to the Post Office to collect deliveries made when we were not at home.
'When I started to develop the Smart Bell, I realised it could also be a great burglar-deterrent.
'Most opportunist burglars ring the doorbell first to see if anyone is at home, but Smart Bell has the perfect way to counteract this.
'If you are out and a burglar comes up to your door and rings the doorbell, after ten seconds Smart Bell will ring through to your mobile phone and you will be able to answer.
'There is a small amount of white noise so it will sound like an intercom and the burglar will never know that you're not actually inside the house.'
Inspiration: Lawrence initially came up with the idea for a Dragon's Den style contest at his school - but wasn't allowed to enter without a prototype
Inspiration: Lawrence initially came up with the idea for a Dragon's Den style contest at his school - but wasn't allowed to enter without a prototype
Laurence had the idea for the Smart Bell after his school challenged pupils to come up with an invention for a Dragons' Den-style competition.
Laurence, who won a scholarship to attend private Trinity School in Croydon, South London, was initially unable to enter the contest because he didn't have a working prototype.
But his parents, James and Margaret Rook, then showed his plans to family friend Paula Ward, who was crowned the world's top female inventor in 2004 for designing a web chatroom safety system.
Laurence said: 'Paula thought it was brilliant and sent off the designs to China for it to be made into the actual product.
'I was gobsmacked that she thought it was so good.'
Less than 12 months after the prototype was developed, Commtel Innovate is preparing for the wholesale release of the product and High Street giants B&Q, PC World, Currys and Comet are now set to stock the Smart Bell, which will cost £40.
Riches: Lawrence is expected to earn around £250,000 from his invention which expected to cost £40 from High Street giants including B&Q, PC World, Currys and Comet
Riches: Lawrence is expected to earn around £250,000 from his invention which expected to cost £40 from High Street giants including B&Q, PC World and Currys
Laurence is trying to decide what to do with his windfall.
'When I found out I was going to make a quarter of a million pounds, I thought, "Wow, that's a lot of computer games",' he said.
'It's amazing having that amount of money, but I haven't told any of my school friends yet. I don't know what they'll think.
'I'm going to save most of the money – I want to go to university, so I'll need it for that.'
Mrs Rook, 39, an administrator who has two other sons, Matthew, 11, and Oliver, eight, added: 'It's extra¬ordinary but I'm just trying to keep Laurence grounded at the moment.'
Richard Drewnicki, chief executive of Commtel UK, said: 'There is certainly a market for this kind of product. We hope it will prove popular.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1394448/Doorbell-tricks-burglars-thinking-youre-home-invented-schoolboy-Laurence-Rook-13.html#ixzz1OVBtEWRU
The doorbell that tricks burglars into thinking you're home - and the boy, 13, who invented it
By Lee Cain
Smart boy: Schoolboy Lawrence Rook, 13, invented Smart Bell, which calls your mobile when it is rung
A schoolboy is on course for a £250,000 windfall after inventing a doorbell that fools burglars into believing somebody is home at an empty property.
Smart Bell, designed by 13-year-old Laurence Rook, dials the homeowner's mobile phone when pressed, allowing them to talk to whoever is outside their front door.
The device even produces a small amount of white noise to give any unexpected guest the impression they are speaking to someone inside the house on an intercom system.
The invention, which uses an inbuilt SIM card and existing mobile-phone technology, would also allow homeowners to give instructions to drivers making deliveries at their property.
Laurence has already sold 20,000 units to telecoms giant Commtel Innovate and is finalising a deal with an unnamed second company for a further 25,000 units.
When the deal is signed, he will be £250,000 richer.
The teenager, from Whyteleafe, Surrey, said: 'At first I designed the idea because my mum was fed up going to the Post Office to collect deliveries made when we were not at home.
'When I started to develop the Smart Bell, I realised it could also be a great burglar-deterrent.
'Most opportunist burglars ring the doorbell first to see if anyone is at home, but Smart Bell has the perfect way to counteract this.
'If you are out and a burglar comes up to your door and rings the doorbell, after ten seconds Smart Bell will ring through to your mobile phone and you will be able to answer.
'There is a small amount of white noise so it will sound like an intercom and the burglar will never know that you're not actually inside the house.'
Inspiration: Lawrence initially came up with the idea for a Dragon's Den style contest at his school - but wasn't allowed to enter without a prototype
Inspiration: Lawrence initially came up with the idea for a Dragon's Den style contest at his school - but wasn't allowed to enter without a prototype
Laurence had the idea for the Smart Bell after his school challenged pupils to come up with an invention for a Dragons' Den-style competition.
Laurence, who won a scholarship to attend private Trinity School in Croydon, South London, was initially unable to enter the contest because he didn't have a working prototype.
But his parents, James and Margaret Rook, then showed his plans to family friend Paula Ward, who was crowned the world's top female inventor in 2004 for designing a web chatroom safety system.
Laurence said: 'Paula thought it was brilliant and sent off the designs to China for it to be made into the actual product.
'I was gobsmacked that she thought it was so good.'
Less than 12 months after the prototype was developed, Commtel Innovate is preparing for the wholesale release of the product and High Street giants B&Q, PC World, Currys and Comet are now set to stock the Smart Bell, which will cost £40.
Riches: Lawrence is expected to earn around £250,000 from his invention which expected to cost £40 from High Street giants including B&Q, PC World, Currys and Comet
Riches: Lawrence is expected to earn around £250,000 from his invention which expected to cost £40 from High Street giants including B&Q, PC World and Currys
Laurence is trying to decide what to do with his windfall.
'When I found out I was going to make a quarter of a million pounds, I thought, "Wow, that's a lot of computer games",' he said.
'It's amazing having that amount of money, but I haven't told any of my school friends yet. I don't know what they'll think.
'I'm going to save most of the money – I want to go to university, so I'll need it for that.'
Mrs Rook, 39, an administrator who has two other sons, Matthew, 11, and Oliver, eight, added: 'It's extra¬ordinary but I'm just trying to keep Laurence grounded at the moment.'
Richard Drewnicki, chief executive of Commtel UK, said: 'There is certainly a market for this kind of product. We hope it will prove popular.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1394448/Doorbell-tricks-burglars-thinking-youre-home-invented-schoolboy-Laurence-Rook-13.html#ixzz1OVBtEWRU
Thursday, June 2, 2011
DNA computer 'calculates square roots'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13626583
By Jason Palmer Science and technology reporter, BBC News
DNA and digital information artwork DNA computing is just one of several "biological computing" approaches
Researchers have shown off a "DNA computer" of unprecedented complexity, which can calculate square roots.
DNA computing uses chemical reactions to solve problems in which a number of DNA strands act as "bits".
The work, reported in Science, required 130 strands of DNA to work in a cascade of programmed chemical changes.
The approach is not designed to rival traditional electronics, but rather to allow computing to occur in biological contexts, perhaps even in the body.
DNA computing was first proposed by Leonard Adelman in 1994, to solve what is known as the "travelling salesman problem" - determining the shortest path that joins a number of geographically separated locations.
Since then, a wide array of approaches has aimed to make use of the properties that make DNA attractive for computing: it can be made to order and its interactions with itself are well-studied and reliable.
In 2006, Erik Winfree of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and his colleagues published an article in Science a framework making use of one of these approaches, known as strand displacement.
Stretches of DNA made of just one strand (rather than the two joined strands that form the well-known double helix) were used as anchor points for other single strands.
By carefully "programming" the movement of these strands, the researchers were able to recreate a number of elements familiar from conventional computing, including logic gates, amplification, and feedback.
"Those circuits were smaller [than those of the current work], but more importantly, they were built using more complex DNA molecules that made systems more difficult to debug and had other problems," Professor Winfree told BBC News.
Stranded
Now, Professor Winfree and his collaborator Lulu Qian have employed a scheme using what they call "seesaw gates", which accomplish the shuffling and exchange of DNA strands using simpler machinery.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
We'd like to make chemical systems that can probe their molecular environments, process chemical signals, make decisions, and take actions at the chemical level”
End Quote Erik Winfree California Institute of Technology
The work showed that seesaw gates could again be used to create logic gates - the basis of electronic computing's manipulation of information - and represented a five-fold leap in the number of DNA sections ever implemented in such a DNA computer.
The approach can be scaled up in complexity far further, the authors suggest - but the process is slow.
For example, it was used to calculate the square root of a four-bit number, but the process took between six and 10 hours.
However, Professor Winfree said that contrary to conventional electronics, the goal is not just high speeds.
"We are no longer pursuing the goal targeted by Len Adleman's original DNA computing experiment: to compete with silicon by using the massive parallelism of chemistry to solve combinatorial problems in mathematics," he explained.
"Instead, our goal is now - and has been for many years - to enrich chemistry itself so that molecular behaviours can be programmed.
"We'd like to make chemical systems that can probe their molecular environments, process chemical signals, make decisions, and take actions at the chemical level."
Binyamin Gil, a member of the research group that in 2009 published on a DNA computer that could "answer" logical conundrums, told BBC News that the DNA computer of the new work exhibited more "digital behaviour" than other molecular computing approaches and thus that "it may be more robust, reliable and scalable".
"The complexity of the presented work - together with the potential of scalability and of interfacing it with other molecular computers - make this paper important and interesting," he said.
By Jason Palmer Science and technology reporter, BBC News
DNA and digital information artwork DNA computing is just one of several "biological computing" approaches
Researchers have shown off a "DNA computer" of unprecedented complexity, which can calculate square roots.
DNA computing uses chemical reactions to solve problems in which a number of DNA strands act as "bits".
The work, reported in Science, required 130 strands of DNA to work in a cascade of programmed chemical changes.
The approach is not designed to rival traditional electronics, but rather to allow computing to occur in biological contexts, perhaps even in the body.
DNA computing was first proposed by Leonard Adelman in 1994, to solve what is known as the "travelling salesman problem" - determining the shortest path that joins a number of geographically separated locations.
Since then, a wide array of approaches has aimed to make use of the properties that make DNA attractive for computing: it can be made to order and its interactions with itself are well-studied and reliable.
In 2006, Erik Winfree of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and his colleagues published an article in Science a framework making use of one of these approaches, known as strand displacement.
Stretches of DNA made of just one strand (rather than the two joined strands that form the well-known double helix) were used as anchor points for other single strands.
By carefully "programming" the movement of these strands, the researchers were able to recreate a number of elements familiar from conventional computing, including logic gates, amplification, and feedback.
"Those circuits were smaller [than those of the current work], but more importantly, they were built using more complex DNA molecules that made systems more difficult to debug and had other problems," Professor Winfree told BBC News.
Stranded
Now, Professor Winfree and his collaborator Lulu Qian have employed a scheme using what they call "seesaw gates", which accomplish the shuffling and exchange of DNA strands using simpler machinery.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
We'd like to make chemical systems that can probe their molecular environments, process chemical signals, make decisions, and take actions at the chemical level”
End Quote Erik Winfree California Institute of Technology
The work showed that seesaw gates could again be used to create logic gates - the basis of electronic computing's manipulation of information - and represented a five-fold leap in the number of DNA sections ever implemented in such a DNA computer.
The approach can be scaled up in complexity far further, the authors suggest - but the process is slow.
For example, it was used to calculate the square root of a four-bit number, but the process took between six and 10 hours.
However, Professor Winfree said that contrary to conventional electronics, the goal is not just high speeds.
"We are no longer pursuing the goal targeted by Len Adleman's original DNA computing experiment: to compete with silicon by using the massive parallelism of chemistry to solve combinatorial problems in mathematics," he explained.
"Instead, our goal is now - and has been for many years - to enrich chemistry itself so that molecular behaviours can be programmed.
"We'd like to make chemical systems that can probe their molecular environments, process chemical signals, make decisions, and take actions at the chemical level."
Binyamin Gil, a member of the research group that in 2009 published on a DNA computer that could "answer" logical conundrums, told BBC News that the DNA computer of the new work exhibited more "digital behaviour" than other molecular computing approaches and thus that "it may be more robust, reliable and scalable".
"The complexity of the presented work - together with the potential of scalability and of interfacing it with other molecular computers - make this paper important and interesting," he said.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
North Korea training cyberwarriors at foreign colleges
http://www.itworld.com/security/170219/north-korea-training-cyberwarriors-foreign-colleges
North Korea training cyberwarriors at foreign colleges
Defector claims unit expanded from 500 to 3,000 people
By John E Dunn, Techworld | Security Add a new comment
June 01, 2011, 1:12 PM — North Korea is trying to boost its cyberwar capability by its best sending programmers abroad for training in the latest hacking techniques, a defector from the country has told a security conference in Seoul.
According to Kim Heung-kwang, who left the bizarre and secretive Communist state in 2003, North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau cyberwarfare unit has increased in size for 500 personnel to as many as 3,000, Reuters has reported him as saying.
"These prodigies are provided with the best environment, and if they graduate with top grades, their parents in the provinces are given the opportunity to live in Pyongyang," Kim told delegates, speaking as the head of a defector network, North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity.
"After studying at local universities, these students are given the special privilege of continuing their studies abroad," he said.
Given the country's unstable behaviour, including an incident in which it shelled a South Korean fishing village last November, its cyberwarfare capability is being watched closely.
Only two weeks ago, details emerged of a North Korean college at which up to 120 students a year are allegedly trained to conduct cyberwarfare operations.
Working out what this means in practical terms is not easy - many countries around the world are actively bolstering their cryberwar teams, including the UK.
It doesn't help that South Korea tends to point the finger at North Korea for cyber-attacks even when the evidence is far from clear. Earlier this month, North Korea the blame for a computer crash at a South Korean bank was pinned on its northern neighbour.
Last summer, North Korea was widely blamed for a large series of cyber-attacks against US and South Korean websites which later turned out not to have been connected to the country.
North Korea training cyberwarriors at foreign colleges
Defector claims unit expanded from 500 to 3,000 people
By John E Dunn, Techworld | Security Add a new comment
June 01, 2011, 1:12 PM — North Korea is trying to boost its cyberwar capability by its best sending programmers abroad for training in the latest hacking techniques, a defector from the country has told a security conference in Seoul.
According to Kim Heung-kwang, who left the bizarre and secretive Communist state in 2003, North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau cyberwarfare unit has increased in size for 500 personnel to as many as 3,000, Reuters has reported him as saying.
"These prodigies are provided with the best environment, and if they graduate with top grades, their parents in the provinces are given the opportunity to live in Pyongyang," Kim told delegates, speaking as the head of a defector network, North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity.
"After studying at local universities, these students are given the special privilege of continuing their studies abroad," he said.
Given the country's unstable behaviour, including an incident in which it shelled a South Korean fishing village last November, its cyberwarfare capability is being watched closely.
Only two weeks ago, details emerged of a North Korean college at which up to 120 students a year are allegedly trained to conduct cyberwarfare operations.
Working out what this means in practical terms is not easy - many countries around the world are actively bolstering their cryberwar teams, including the UK.
It doesn't help that South Korea tends to point the finger at North Korea for cyber-attacks even when the evidence is far from clear. Earlier this month, North Korea the blame for a computer crash at a South Korean bank was pinned on its northern neighbour.
Last summer, North Korea was widely blamed for a large series of cyber-attacks against US and South Korean websites which later turned out not to have been connected to the country.
Google e-mail accounts compromised by 'Chinese hackers'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13623378
Google's logo Google said its own security defences were not compromised but that individual users were tricked
Hackers in China have compromised personal e-mail accounts of hundreds of top US officials, military personnel and journalists, Google has said.
The US company said a campaign to obtain passwords originated in Jinan and was aimed at monitoring e-mail.
Google said its security was not breached but indicated individuals' passwords were obtained through fraud.
Chinese political activists and officials in other Asian countries were also targeted, Google said.
"Google detected and has disrupted this campaign to take users' passwords and monitor their emails," the company said on Wednesday.
"We have notified victims and secured their accounts. In addition, we have notified relevant government authorities."
In Washington, the White House said it was investigating the reports but did not believe official US government e-mail accounts had been breached.
The e-mail scam uses a practice known as "spear phishing" in which specific e-mail users are tricked into divulging their login credentials to a web page that resembles Google's Gmail web service (or which appears related to the target's work) but is in fact run by hackers, according to a technical report released by Google.
Having obtained the user's e-mail login and password, the hackers then tell Gmail's service to forward incoming e-mail to another account set up by the hacker.
In Washington, the BBC's Adam Brookes says it is extremely difficult for analysts to determine whether governments or individuals are responsible for such attacks.
But the fact that the victims were people with access to sensitive, even secret information, raises the possibility that this was cyber espionage, not cyber crime, our correspondent says.
Google's logo Google said its own security defences were not compromised but that individual users were tricked
Hackers in China have compromised personal e-mail accounts of hundreds of top US officials, military personnel and journalists, Google has said.
The US company said a campaign to obtain passwords originated in Jinan and was aimed at monitoring e-mail.
Google said its security was not breached but indicated individuals' passwords were obtained through fraud.
Chinese political activists and officials in other Asian countries were also targeted, Google said.
"Google detected and has disrupted this campaign to take users' passwords and monitor their emails," the company said on Wednesday.
"We have notified victims and secured their accounts. In addition, we have notified relevant government authorities."
In Washington, the White House said it was investigating the reports but did not believe official US government e-mail accounts had been breached.
The e-mail scam uses a practice known as "spear phishing" in which specific e-mail users are tricked into divulging their login credentials to a web page that resembles Google's Gmail web service (or which appears related to the target's work) but is in fact run by hackers, according to a technical report released by Google.
Having obtained the user's e-mail login and password, the hackers then tell Gmail's service to forward incoming e-mail to another account set up by the hacker.
In Washington, the BBC's Adam Brookes says it is extremely difficult for analysts to determine whether governments or individuals are responsible for such attacks.
But the fact that the victims were people with access to sensitive, even secret information, raises the possibility that this was cyber espionage, not cyber crime, our correspondent says.
WHO: Cell phone use can increase possible cancer risk
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/05/31/who.cell.phones/index.html
(CNN) -- Radiation from cell phones can possibly cause cancer, according to the World Health Organization. The agency now lists mobile phone use in the same "carcinogenic hazard" category as lead, engine exhaust and chloroform.
Before its announcement Tuesday, WHO had assured consumers that no adverse health effects had been established.
A team of 31 scientists from 14 countries, including the United States, made the decision after reviewing peer-reviewed studies on cell phone safety. The team found enough evidence to categorize personal exposure as "possibly carcinogenic to humans."
What that means is they found some evidence of increase in glioma and acoustic neuroma brain cancer for mobile phone users, but have not been able to draw conclusions for other types of cancers
"The biggest problem we have is that we know most environmental factors take several decades of exposure before we really see the consequences," said Dr. Keith Black, chairman of neurology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
The type of radiation coming out of a cell phone is called non-ionizing. It is not like an X-ray, but more like a very low-powered microwave oven.
"What microwave radiation does in most simplistic terms is similar to what happens to food in microwaves, essentially cooking the brain," Black said. "So in addition to leading to a development of cancer and tumors, there could be a whole host of other effects like cognitive memory function, since the memory temporal lobes are where we hold our cell phones."
Wireless industry responded to Tuesday's announcement saying it "does not mean cell phones cause cancer." CTIA-The Wireless Association added that WHO researchers "did not conduct any new research, but rather reviewed published studies."
The European Environmental Agency has pushed for more studies, saying cell phones could be as big a public health risk as smoking, asbestos and leaded gasoline. The head of a prominent cancer-research institute at the University of Pittsburgh sent a memo to all employees urging them to limit cell phone use because of a possible risk of cancer.
"When you look at cancer development -- particularly brain cancer -- it takes a long time to develop. I think it is a good idea to give the public some sort of warning that long-term exposure to radiation from your cell phone could possibly cause cancer," said Dr. Henry Lai, research professor in bioengineering at University of Washington who has studied radiation for more than 30 years.
Results from the largest international study on cell phones and cancer was released in 2010. It showed participants in the study who used a cell phone for 10 years or more had doubled the rate of brain glioma, a type of tumor. To date, there have been no long-term studies on the effects of cell phone usage among children.
"Children's skulls and scalps are thinner. So the radiation can penetrate deeper into the brain of children and young adults. Their cells are at a dividing faster rate, so the impact of radiation can be much larger." said Black of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
In February, a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health, revealed radiation emitted after just 50 minutes on a mobile phone increases the activity in brain cells. The effects of brain activity being artificially stimulated are still unknown.
Neurosurgeon and CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta says Tuesday's announcement, "dealt a blow to those who have long said, 'There is no possible mechanism for cell phones to cause cancer.' By classifying cell phones as a possible carcinogen, they also seem to be tacitly admitting a mechanism could exist."
Manufacturers of many popular cell phones already warn consumers to keep their device away from their body and medical experts say there other ways to minimize cell phone radiation.
The Apple iPhone 4 safety manual says users' radiation exposure should not exceed FCC guidelines: "When using iPhone near your body for voice calls or for wireless data transmission over a cellular network, keep iPhone at least 15 millimeters (5/8 inch) away from the body."
BlackBerry Bold advises users to "keep the BlackBerry device at least 0.98 inch (25 millimeters) from your body when the BlackBerry device is transmitting."
The logic behind such recommendations is that the further the phone is from the body, the less radiation is absorbed. Users can also use the speakerphone function or a wired earpiece to gain some distance.
Users can text instead of talk if they want to keep the phone away from their faces.
Finally, cell phones emit the most radiation when they are attempting to connect to cellular towers. A moving phone, or a phone in an area with a weak signal, has to work harder, giving of more radiation. So users can avoid using their cell phones in elevators, buildings and rural areas if they want to reduce their exposure, experts say.
(CNN) -- Radiation from cell phones can possibly cause cancer, according to the World Health Organization. The agency now lists mobile phone use in the same "carcinogenic hazard" category as lead, engine exhaust and chloroform.
Before its announcement Tuesday, WHO had assured consumers that no adverse health effects had been established.
A team of 31 scientists from 14 countries, including the United States, made the decision after reviewing peer-reviewed studies on cell phone safety. The team found enough evidence to categorize personal exposure as "possibly carcinogenic to humans."
What that means is they found some evidence of increase in glioma and acoustic neuroma brain cancer for mobile phone users, but have not been able to draw conclusions for other types of cancers
"The biggest problem we have is that we know most environmental factors take several decades of exposure before we really see the consequences," said Dr. Keith Black, chairman of neurology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
The type of radiation coming out of a cell phone is called non-ionizing. It is not like an X-ray, but more like a very low-powered microwave oven.
"What microwave radiation does in most simplistic terms is similar to what happens to food in microwaves, essentially cooking the brain," Black said. "So in addition to leading to a development of cancer and tumors, there could be a whole host of other effects like cognitive memory function, since the memory temporal lobes are where we hold our cell phones."
Wireless industry responded to Tuesday's announcement saying it "does not mean cell phones cause cancer." CTIA-The Wireless Association added that WHO researchers "did not conduct any new research, but rather reviewed published studies."
The European Environmental Agency has pushed for more studies, saying cell phones could be as big a public health risk as smoking, asbestos and leaded gasoline. The head of a prominent cancer-research institute at the University of Pittsburgh sent a memo to all employees urging them to limit cell phone use because of a possible risk of cancer.
"When you look at cancer development -- particularly brain cancer -- it takes a long time to develop. I think it is a good idea to give the public some sort of warning that long-term exposure to radiation from your cell phone could possibly cause cancer," said Dr. Henry Lai, research professor in bioengineering at University of Washington who has studied radiation for more than 30 years.
Results from the largest international study on cell phones and cancer was released in 2010. It showed participants in the study who used a cell phone for 10 years or more had doubled the rate of brain glioma, a type of tumor. To date, there have been no long-term studies on the effects of cell phone usage among children.
"Children's skulls and scalps are thinner. So the radiation can penetrate deeper into the brain of children and young adults. Their cells are at a dividing faster rate, so the impact of radiation can be much larger." said Black of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
In February, a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health, revealed radiation emitted after just 50 minutes on a mobile phone increases the activity in brain cells. The effects of brain activity being artificially stimulated are still unknown.
Neurosurgeon and CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta says Tuesday's announcement, "dealt a blow to those who have long said, 'There is no possible mechanism for cell phones to cause cancer.' By classifying cell phones as a possible carcinogen, they also seem to be tacitly admitting a mechanism could exist."
Manufacturers of many popular cell phones already warn consumers to keep their device away from their body and medical experts say there other ways to minimize cell phone radiation.
The Apple iPhone 4 safety manual says users' radiation exposure should not exceed FCC guidelines: "When using iPhone near your body for voice calls or for wireless data transmission over a cellular network, keep iPhone at least 15 millimeters (5/8 inch) away from the body."
BlackBerry Bold advises users to "keep the BlackBerry device at least 0.98 inch (25 millimeters) from your body when the BlackBerry device is transmitting."
The logic behind such recommendations is that the further the phone is from the body, the less radiation is absorbed. Users can also use the speakerphone function or a wired earpiece to gain some distance.
Users can text instead of talk if they want to keep the phone away from their faces.
Finally, cell phones emit the most radiation when they are attempting to connect to cellular towers. A moving phone, or a phone in an area with a weak signal, has to work harder, giving of more radiation. So users can avoid using their cell phones in elevators, buildings and rural areas if they want to reduce their exposure, experts say.
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