Future of Computing

Malicious code rise driven by web

In the first quarter of 2007, security firm Sophos identified 23,864 threats, up from 9,450 on this time last year. In the same period the firm said it was identifying 5,000 web pages per day infected with so-called malware. The report was released during InfoSec, Europe’s largest conference on online security issues, in London.

“With computer users becoming increasingly aware of how to protect against email-aware viruses and malware, hackers have turned to the web as their preferred vector of attack,” said the report.

The Invisible Web (aka Deep Web) is that humongous slice of the Internet’s web pages that traditional search engines either have not indexed or cannot index. Often, if they cannot index a page, it’s because the page is database-driven and requires a human trigger before it is rendered in your web browser.

For example, you may have to ask a question, such as “show me all the job listings for project manager,”

The Observer of London is reporting that Google might be working with HTC and mobile/telecom giant Orange to build a Google Mobile Phone, which could possibly have Google software inside the device, and would be able to do many of the web tasks smartly. The device, article speculates, could go on sale in 2008. (Of course, we would all have forgotten by then… if it doesn’t happen.)

If popular culture has taught us anything, it is that someday mankind must face and destroy the growing robot menace.

In print and on the big screen we have been deluged with scenarios of robot malfunction, misuse, and outright rebellion. Robots have descended on us from outer space, escaped from top-secret laboratories, and even travelled back in time to destroy us.

With just a normal web cam and special “Podtech” software, you can turn any monitor into a gesture reading, touch-less display. Continue reading to watch a demonstration.

“Using topological depth technology, it figures out what’s the static background, and differentiates it between the changing foreground. By pinching areas within the camera’s view you section off ovals which you can use to rotate and move around the display, and the researcher said more gestures are being worked on”

Scientists have written a message into the DNA of a living organism, a breakthrough they believe could lead to a new era of organic computers capable of healing themselves if damaged. The researchers encoded Einstein’s most famous equation and most prolific year into the genome of one the hardiest strains of bacteria in the world, Bacillus subtilis. The characters “E=MC^2 1905!” were then read from the bacterium at a later date by analysing its genetic sequence.

A 75 year old woman from Karlstad in central Sweden has been thrust into the IT history books - with the world’s fastest internet connection. Sigbritt Löthberg’s home has been supplied with a blistering 40Gbps connection, many thousands of times faster than the average residential link, and the first time ever that a home user has experienced such a high speed.