Faster than a speeding bullet (50 times faster than a rifle bullet to be precise), more powerful than a locomotive... It's a bird, it's a plane, no it's Z!!! Should have called this Zod after Superman's arch villain in Superman 2. Z fires objects faster than Earth moves through space. The technique helps compute Jupiter/Saturn mass, improve peacetime fusion, capsule design, and more.
Sure they say it's for all that, but we all know they're trying to figure out how Superman was able to spin the Earth's rotation backwards and travel back in time.
Rumor has it that the Democrats pushed to fund this government-sponsored project so they can go back in time and replay the 2004 Presidential election.
ARE YOU GOOD FOR ANOTHER 15 KM/SEC? — Sandia researcher Marcus Knudson considers his favorite apparatus: the Z insert that sends flyer plates hurling at phenomenal speeds. (Photo by Randy Montoya)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Labs has accelerated a small plate from zero to 76,000 mph in less than a second.
The speed of the thrust was a new record for Sandia’s Z Machine — sometimes referred to as the fastest gun in the West. Actually the fastest in the world, it is now able to propel small plates at 34 kilometers a second, faster than the 30 km/sec that Earth travels through space in its orbit about the sun, 50 times faster than a rifle bullet, and three times the velocity needed to escape Earth’s gravitational field.
Sandia is a National Nuclear Security Administration lab.
The immediate purpose of these very rapid flights is to help understand the extreme conditions found within the interiors of the giant planets Saturn and Jupiter, hasten the achievement of virtually unlimited energy through peacetime atomic fusion, and provide more information about the condition of the U.S. nuclear stockpile without having to explode a nuclear weapon.
“This is one of the few ways on earth to get hard information on problems at the outer reaches of science, rather than having to rely on complex speculations that may or may not be correct,” says Marcus Knudson, lead scientist on the effort.
Schematic of the experimental configuration used to launch flyer plates on Z. Part A is the section view of the coaxial short circuit. The height of the cathode — the vertical dark line — is approximately 2 inches. Part B details the flyer plate and its targets; the height of the panel is 1.5 inches.
Z’s hurled plates strike a target after traveling only five millimeters. The impact generates a shock wave — in some cases, reaching 15 million times atmospheric pressure — that passes through the target material. The waves are so powerful that they turn solids into liquids, liquids into gases, and gases into plasmas in the same way that heat melts ice to water or boils water into steam.
The difference is that the process takes place at far higher temperatures and in much shorter times than the kitchen stove could ever approach. The pressures produce states of materials rarely seen or measured in the laboratory. Says Yogi Gupta, a professor known for his work in shock physics at the Washington State University in Pullman, “If you had asked me a few years ago if we could send something this fast, I would have said you were joking. But mankind is always trying to create conditions in the laboratory that imitate extreme conditions [found elsewhere].”
When shock waves penetrate a capsule containing deuterium (an isotope of hydrogen), researchers learn more about how hydrogen behaves under extreme conditions, providing more information for humanity’s effort to eventually achieve controlled nuclear fusion, the process that drives the sun. Harnessed in a power plant, this potentially low-environmental-impact method could achieve virtually unlimited energy from sea water.
By creating states of matter extremely difficult to achieve on Earth, the flyer plates also provide hard data to astrophysicists speculating on the structure and even the formation of planets like Jupiter and Saturn. Says Didier Saumon, an astrophysicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, “The internal structures of Jupiter and Saturn are composed mostly of hydrogen, so knowing its equation of state [how hydrogen and its isotopes behave at pressures from one to 50 million atmospheres] is highly relevant to how we infer the interior properties of these planets. Z gave us hard data.”
A paper on the flyer plate results, first presented in a technical talk to the American Physical Society, has been submitted to the Journal of Applied Physics.
More technical information
The plates are small — only 30 mm by 15 mm in cross-section, and 850 microns thick. The trick in accelerating the fragile aluminum plates at 10-to-the-10th Gs (force of Earth’s gravity) without vaporizing them lies in the finer control now achievable of the magnetic field pulse driving the flight.
The arrival of energy at the target is staggered over three hundred nanoseconds, so that the amperage arrives less like a brick wall that would vaporize the plate and more in controllable increments.
This requirement was better achieved by a recent upgrade that removed a single laser formerly used to trigger current in Z’s thirty-six cables simultaneously. In its place, 36 laser switches were installed — one for each cable. This change permits researchers to shape the electrical pulse that arrives at the target, with a corresponding modulation in the magnetic field driving the plate.
An upgrade of Z planned for next year is expected to achieve plate velocities of 45 to 50 km/sec, says Marcus, driving targeted materials further into their plasma regime.
Z’s former record in propelling plates was 21 km/sec, set two years ago.
Recently in Technology and Science Category
USB FOBs that you stick on your keychain are a lot more useful than you think. Sure you can use USB memory FOBs for storing files, pictures, music, applications, etc. But did you know you can not only store an applications installer, but you can actually run the application off of the USB drive? Sure you could copy the entire installer (.ZIP, .RAR, or bunch of uncompressed files) and install the application on the PC, but if it's not your PC you have to go and uninstall your "legally" licensed software. After all, you're not supposed to have the software installed on multiple PCs without the proper license.
The nice thing about USB memory FOBs is that they are portable - you stick them on your keychain and take them wherever you go. So say you are at a tradeshow and you want to use a shared PC to make some Skype calls. Simply stick in your USB FOB and you can actually run Skype off of the USB drive WITHOUT installing it. Further you can run other applications such as McAfee anti-virus, ZoneAlarm, and Firefox, just to name a few.
I should point out that these applications have to be specially written to run off the USB drive - you can't simply copy an application's files (.exe, .dll's, other files) to a USB drive and expect it to work. For instance, the application has to work without various keys installed into the Registry.
According to Everything USB, "Each U3 drive will come U3 Launchpad from which these 45 applications can be launched on Windows 2000/XP. These programs also have the advantages of saving time for separate installations, utilizing the two-factor hardware authentication on U3 hardware, and protecting user's privacy by leaving no trace of user's data on the host PC." In fact, go check out Everything USB since the site lists the 45 U3 applications listed by category.
U3 is the company making this happen. In fact, U3, creator of the U3 smart drive computing platform for USB smart drives, kicks off its first annual U3 Global Developer Summit in just minutes. The U3 Developer Summit, an invitation-only event that runs today and tomorrow in downtown San Jose, unites leading USB drive manufacturers and software developers. Keynote speakers at the Developer Summit include U3 Chief Executive Officer Kate Purmal, SanDisk Chief Executive Officer Dr. Eli Harari, M-Systems Chief Executive Officer Dov Moran, Gartner Analyst Joe Unsworth, and Jeff Hawkins, founder of Palm Computing and Handspring, and inventor of the Palm Pilot.
Developers at the Summit represent a variety of industries including entertainment, productivity, medical, synchronization, mobility, finance, security and back-up. Thirty-one companies are showcasing more than 45 U3 compatible applications – called ‘U3 smart’ applications, which could be available this fall for U3 powered USB smart drives.
My only question is "Why the name U3? Is that like the next version of USB 2.0?" 
Here's a summary of the AOL breaking news this morning followed by two AOL news releases:
* America Online, Inc. today announced the official launch of AIM® Mail, its free, Web-based e-mail service that offers industry leading spam and virus protection, two gigbytes of storage and seamless integration with the AIM service via the AIM.com domain.
*AOL also announced the general availability of the updated AIM 5.9 software, which offers one-click access to AIM Mail, an expanded Buddy List feature that can accommodate up to 400 buddies and store more contact information on each one, as well as twice as much writing space for more creative Away Messages.
* A system-wide auto-upgrade will begin rolling out across the AIM network during which each of the 22 million active AIM users will be presented with the opportunity to activate their AIM Mail account and enroll in a special sweepstakes promotion with prizes that include Sony PSPs, T-Mobile Sidekicks, iPod Shuffles and a 2005 MINI Copper S.
* In a separate press release, AOL announced that it will increase the e-mail storage that it provides to AOL members to an unlimited capacity. AOL is the first online service to offer unlimited e-mail storage.
* In the coming weeks, AOL members using nearly 80 million AOL® Mail accounts will be able to save and store an unlimited number of e-mails, attachments and folders on AOL's servers.
* As a part of this change, AOL introduced the Multiple Simultaneous Log-Ins feature for members on dial-up. This feature enables up to seven AOL® Screen Names on a single account to sign into the AOL service at the same time and from multiple locations.
AIM® MAIL NOW AVAILABLE
Free Web-Based E-mail Service Offers Two Gigabytes of Storage, Spam and Virus Protections Plus Integration with the AOL® Instant Messenger(TM) (AIM®) Service
Nationwide Advertising Campaign and Consumer Sweepstakes Kick Off Today; Prizes Include Sony® PSPs, Apple® iPod® Shuffles, a 2005 MINI® Cooper and More
DULLES, VA June 6, 2005 America Online, Inc. today announced the official launch and marketing debut of AIM® Mail, its free, Web-based e-mail service found at www.aim.com. AIM Mail, which offers industry leading spam and virus protection as well as two gigabytes of storage, lets users use their AIM® Screen Name as their e-mail address. It provides seamless integration with the AOL® Instant Messenger(TM) (AIM®) service and introduces the AIM.com e-mail domain, leveraging one of the most popular brands on the Web.
The new AIM Mail service is being made available to AIM users today via an updated version of the AIM 5.9 software. Other improvements to the current AIM service include one-click access to AIM Mail, an expanded Buddy List® feature that can now accommodate up to 400 buddies and store more contact information on each one, as well as twice as much writing space for more creative Away Messages.
To promote the free AIM Mail service, America Online today launched an online advertising campaign and nationwide consumer sweepstakes. AIM users who activate their AIM Mail account can register to become eligible to win daily prizes, including Starbucks® gift cards, T-Mobile® Sidekicks(TM), Apple® iPod® Shuffles and Sony® PlayStation® Portables (PSPs). One lucky grand prize winner will even drive away with a 2005 MINI Copper S.
"We are very excited to invite AIM users to activate their AIM Mail accounts, which are ready and available today," added Chamath Palihapitiya, vice president and general manager for AIM and ICQ, America Online, Inc. "We are also thanking our users for making their AIM Screen Name a core part of their identity by giving them the chance to win really cool prizes simply by activating their AIM Mail."
A system-wide auto-upgrade will begin rolling out across the AIM® network this week, during which each of the 22 million AIM users will be given the opportunity to activate their AIM Mail account, enroll in the sweepstakes promotion and extend the sweepstakes offer to their friends.
AIM Mail's sleek interface and industry leading, client-like feature set is based on technology from Mailblocks, Inc., a consumer Web-based e-mail service acquired by America Online in July 2004. Both current AIM users and Internet users at large can access AIM Mail by visiting AIM.com and/or by downloading the updated AIM 5.9 software.
Editor's Note: A complete list of AIM Mail features is available on request.
AMERICA ONLINE ANNOUNCES UNLIMITED E-MAIL STORAGE FOR AOL® MEMBERS
Also Introduces Multiple Simultaneous Log-Ins Feature for AOL® Accounts
DULLES, VA June 6, 2005 America Online announced today that it will increase the e-mail storage that it provides to members of the AOL® service to an unlimited capacity. AOL is the first online service to offer unlimited e-mail storage.
In addition to the state-of-the-art e-mail services AOL already offers its members, including industry-leading spam and virus protection, in the coming weeks, AOL members using nearly 80 million AOL® Mail accounts will be able to save and store an unlimited number of e-mails, attachments and folders on AOL's servers.
"With unprecedented e-mail storage capacity, our members will be able to keep every single message and attachment they ever receive, if they wish," said Mark Greatrex, executive vice president, Access Marketing, America Online, Inc. "Unlimited storage resources will enable members to save and access to all of their e-mail content, attachments and folders, anytime, anywhere, and easily share them with friends and family."
Unlimited e-mail storage capacity is part of the comprehensive package of features AOL provides as part of AOL® membership. Other valuable features available to members at no additional charge include:
** McAfee® VirusScan® Online, a leading virus-protection program that automatically updates when the user is online, protecting the whole computer from known viruses, trojans, and worms. AOL is the only online service to offer world-class virus protection to both its high-speed and dial-up members at no extra charge.
** AOL® Spyware Protection with the added SpyZapper(TM) feature that automatically targets the most disruptive forms of spyware and other programs that may interfere with members' online experience.
** Simplified Spam Control tools and SpIM (instant message spam) protection to make it even easier for members to keep their e-mail box and instant messages free of spam.
** Award-winning, comprehensive Parental Controls to help protect members' families as they use the Internet, with an array of features, including Teens Search and an IM Safety List feature that lets parents approve who can contact their kids via instant messages.
In addition, AOL also introduced today the Multiple Simultaneous Log-Ins feature to members on dial-up connections, which enables up to seven AOL® Screen Names on a single account to sign into the AOL service at the same time and from multiple locations. Previously, this feature was only available to members accessing AOL over a high-speed Internet connection.
Now, dial-up users with home networking equipment will be able to have one Screen Name connected via a dial-up connection while the up to six remaining Screen Names may log on using a high-speed connection. Like unlimited e-mail storage, the Multiple Simultaneous Log-Ins feature is available at no additional charge.
Email distraction lowers IQ according to a recent British study. A study determined that distractions caused by email found that people who do frequent email or SMS suffer a 10-point IQ drop - more than twice the IQ drop caused by marijuana (4 pts). The study found the IQ of those who tried to juggle messages and work fell by 10 points -- the equivalent to missing a whole night's sleep
According to CNN, workers distracted by phone calls, e-mails and text messages suffer a greater loss of IQ than a person smoking marijuana. The constant interruptions reduce productivity and leave people feeling tired and lethargic, according to a survey carried out by TNS Research and commissioned by Hewlett Packard. You can read the full story here, but please, please do not forward the link to your friends.
A Wired article titled Watch for Roadcasting Rage reads: "Stuck in traffic and sick of Howard Stern, you may soon be able to tune in to the music collection of the person in the car in front of you. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are developing an ad hoc networking system for cars that would allow any driver to broadcast music to any other vehicle within a 30-mile radius."
By the way, I already use an iPod FM Transmitter which broadcasts my iPod's tunes (mp3, podcast, etc.) but only to a ~25 foot radius. I always wondered if anyone driving along side me might pick up my iPod tunes...
Anyway, this article reminded me of an idea I talked about a long time ago. My idea was that cars with GPS could aid in traffic monitoring to help avoid congested roads by transmitting their speed and location to other cars in say a 30-50 mile radius. Specifically, I wrote in my I Hate Traffic, GPS to the Rescue entry:
have vehicle tracking, such as OnStar which is installed on probably thousands of vehicles that could be used to calculate the average speed on any given road
Now, I know privacy advocates would probably scream bloody murder at the idea of letting someone "track" their vehicle, but there are ways around the privacy issue. What if the owners of GPS-enabled cars "opted in" to allowing a third-party traffic monitoring company track their vehicle anonymously to determine traffic patterns real-time? As an incentive, the GPS service provider (OnStar) could offer a discount if you opt-in to letting them track the speed/location of your vehicle. Service providers can "sell" the traffic data to radio stations for accurate traffic reports, or even back to the people they have "opted in".
Perhaps some sort of anonymous P2P GPS system could be put in play so that even though you are transmitting your location & speed, no one knows it's your car. This would aid immensely in avoiding traffic jams. Please, someone invent this! I BEG YOU!Given the choice of "roadcasting" (listening to other people's music or transmitting your own music) or "GPScasting" (receiving and/or sending your GPS location/speed), which would you choose? Post a comment - and as already stated, I'd rather see GPScasting.
Are you addicted to email? Let me rephrase. R U addicted to email? True email addicts use shortcuts both in IM and email to reach maximum efficiency when typing emails. The faster you can type your emails, the faster you can receive more emails and the cycle repeats! I was emailed an interesting survey from AOL that talks about email addiction that I thought I'd share. Another sign of email addiction not listed in the email below is when your Blackberry fails and you wait exactly 22 seconds before calling your IT Department to check the Blackberry server. (Yes, Rich that was directed at you! )
We have completed a nationwide survey of email behavior and found that people are beyond addicted -- they can't live without their 2.8 (average) email accounts and check their mail constantly.
Please see the national press release below. We also have an information resource and a little quiz to help users find out how addicted they are on www.AIM.com that will appear later this morning.
Please let me know if you would also like:
1.) A summary of the most relevant national findings organized by theme.
2.) Tips for how to get control that you are welcome to share.
3.) Highlights from the top ten "addicted" cities.
4.) Infographics on topline findings if you need artwork (Jpeg or EPS).
Please let me know if you have any questions.
P R E S S R E L E A S E
For Immediate Release
MIGHT AS WELL FACE IT... WE'RE ADDICTED TO E-MAIL
AOL Survey Reveals the Average E-mail User Checks E-mail Nearly Five Times a Day Morning, Noon and Night, Even While Driving
Miami, San Francisco and Philadelphia Top the List of Cities That Can't Live Without E-Mail
DULLES, VA - May 26, 2005 Are we a nation obsessed with e-mail? Do we check it first thing in the morning and all day long? Does it keep us up at night? Can we go more than three days without it? America Online, Inc., the world's leading interactive services company, today announced the results of its E-mail Addiction survey, which takes a look at the new behaviors and routines that have formed among millions of Americans for whom e-mail is an essential part everyday life.
The survey asked Americans about their e-mail habits, including everything from how often they check personal e-mail at work to whether or not they've ever checked e-mail while in church. The survey found that e-mail users today rely on e-mail as much as the phone for communication, spend about an hour a day on e-mail, and that 77% of e-mail users have more than one e-mail account all pointing to the fact that e-mail has forever changed the way we communicate.
America Online, in partnership with Opinion Research Corporation, conducted online surveys with 4,012 respondents 18 and older in the top 20 cities around the country to measure e-mail usage.
Signs that we're hooked on e-mail:
We wake up and check it. Forty one percent check e-mail first thing in the morning, 18% check it right after dinner, 14% say they check e-mail right when they get home from work, and 14% do so right before they go to bed.
We can't make it through the night. Forty percent of e-mail users have checked their e-mail in the middle of the night.
We can't live without it! More than one in four (26%) say they haven't gone more than two to three days without checking their e-mail.
We have multiple accounts. Most e-mail users have two or three e-mail accounts (56%). The average user has 2.8 accounts.
We check it anytime, anywhere. E-mail users have checked their e-mail in a variety of locations, including:
In bed in their pajamas (23%)
In class (12%)
In a business meeting (8%)
At a Wi-Fi hotspot, like Starbuck's or McDonald's (6%)
At the beach or pool (6%)
In the bathroom (4%)
While driving (4%)
In church (1%)
E-mail me, please... When meeting someone new, e-mail users are about as likely to give the other person their e-mail address (32%) as their home phone number (37%) or cell phone number (28%).
We check personal e-mail on the job
The survey found that 61% of e-mail users who are employed outside the home check their personal e-mail at work, with three times a day the average.
About half of those who check personal e-mail at work (47%) check it sporadically throughout the day, while about one in four (25%) check it first thing when they arrive, 18% check it at lunchtime, 8% during an afternoon break and 2% right before they head home.
Women are more likely than men to check their personal e-mail at work throughout the day (50% vs. 44%), while men are more likely than women to check their personal e-mail first thing when they arrive in the morning (28% vs. 21%).
Those who check personal e-mail at work are slightly more likely to say they do so to take care of personal errands (26%) rather than to correspond with friends and family (20%).
20% feel guilty about checking personal e-mail at work, and women are twice as likely as men to feel guilty about sending personal e-mails from the office (27% vs. 13%).
About one in ten of those who check personal e-mail at work (9%) have been busted by the boss for doing so.
And on vacation
Six in ten of all e-mail users (60%) check their e-mail while on vacation, mostly for pleasure (47%) rather than business (13%).
Of those who access e-mail while on vacation, 57% say it's very (21%) or somewhat important (36%) that they have access to e-mail.
Other findings from the survey:
Share it with loved ones. One in four e-mail users (26%) shares an e-mail address, with a spouse (21%), their children (7%), a friend (6%), a parent (3%) or a roommate (1%).
Take it back. E-mail users are most interested in being able to un-send a message which hasn't been read yet (45%) and a similar number are interested in being able to track where an e-mail has been forwarded (43%). Others are interested in the ability to put a lock on e-mail so it can't be forwarded (27%), a pop-up that asks the user to double-check who they are sending the e-mail to (27%) and un-sending a message which has already been read (14%).
Top 10 Cities Addicted to E-Mail
According to the survey, the top ten markets that can't live without their e-mail are:
1. Miami-Ft. Lauderdale
2. San Francisco
3. Philadelphia
4. New York
5. Houston
6. Washington, DC
7. Boston
8. Dallas-Ft. Worth
9. Chicago
10. Los Angeles
This index was based on several factors including: number of e-mail accounts; average times e-mail checked per day; average times personal e-mail checked at work; whether e-mail is checked on vacation for pleasure; average hours spent e-mailing per day; and percentage of those concerned they may be addicted to e-mail.
For more information and to see if you're addicted, please visit www.aim.com.
Survey Methodology
These results are based on online surveys conducted by Opinion Research Corporation with 200 residents per city in the top twenty cities nationwide; respondents were 18 years of age and older.
The makers of BitTorrent have developed a trackerless version of the popular P2P software coinciding with the release of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. So now you can download Star Wars using BitTorrent much more easily! ; ) Think that can't happen? Think again - Already a clip of Star Wars is available for download. Check out the Reuters article on the peer-to-peer illegal downloading of the latest installment of Star Wars. According to Web site Waxy.org, one print was leaked on Wednesday before the film was even released in theaters. The movie was time-stamped, suggesting it may have come from within the industry rather than from someone who videotaped an advance screening
According to this article, currently if you want to publish a BitTorrent file you have to create a tracker on your webserver so that downloaders can find each other.
This is a bit tricky and beyond the ability of most users. Now, according to the BitTorrent site, here, a new version contains an optional 'trackerless'method of publication.
This means that anyone with a website and an Internet connection can host a BitTorrent download. According to the site, it shifts the tracking function of BitTorrent off the server and onto the client.
There are some downsides - dedicated trackers allows you to collect statistics about downloads and gives you a measure of control over the reliability of downloads. The new BitTorrent software is still in beta, but you can download it here or here.
Star Wars "digital" is a viewing experience like no other. George Lucas set the standard in 100% digital movie making with Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menance. It was my first digital movie experience where I didn't see any splices (black spots in upper right corner) along with the often corresponding "pop" sound nor did I see any dust particles on the film causing graininess or any other analog film artifacts caused by wear and tear on the celluloid. (Analog film splices and wear & tear affects the overall video quality and the sound quality.) When a movie is digital, it's digital all the way up to the point that the film is projected onto the screen.
Now, with the impending launch of Star Wars III - Revenge of the Sith, it is interesting to examine the technology used to transmit a digital film to a digital movie projector which is then projected onto the movie screen. Did you know they actually send the theaters a hard disk drive with the movie on it in encrypted format? Did you know that each frame has its own encryption key so if you unencrpyt one frame, you still have many more frames to go?
I had a friend that worked at a movie theater, so I got "back stage" access to where the projectors are located. I remember the worse thing that could happen is called a "brain wrap" A brain wrap is where the film gathers like a tossed salad on the platters and which essentially brings the movie going experience to a screeching halt. You're probably thinking there is nothing worse than being in the audience when this happens, right? Well, try being the guy who has to detangle this mess and resplice any broken splices quickly before the movie audience storms out or comes looking for you with pitchforks and torches! With digital projection no more worries about brain wraps since there is no film to get tangled. Digital is where it's at!
Check this out this timely article about Star Wars, digital projection and movie encryption from Publish:
When a digital film is sent and received in an encrypted fashion, there have to be methods of delivering and utilizing decryption keys to unlock the content.
A part of the key exchange is DRM (digital rights management), which establishes the rules for using the content. All of today's key management systems use some form of DRM to control access and use of the encrypted content. A DRM system allows the owners to distribute their films in a controlled way.
The owner specifies in which ways and under which conditions each cinematic asset may be accessed (digital rights, licensing), and the DRM system will try to ensure that each asset can only be accessed as specified by the owner.
The same DRM system can also be used to distribute films over the Internet. For example, a film studio may specify that each film may be shown in a licensed cinema for a given period starting at a given time.
"It's a difficult issue," said Walt Ordway, chief technology officer for the Digital Cinema Initiatives, a limited liability company that was established in March 2002 and whose members include Disney, 20th Century Fox, MGM, Paramount, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal and Warner Bros.
DCI just completed its final draft of standards in March of this year. This document establishes and documents specifications for an open architecture for digital cinema components that ensures a uniform and high level of technical performance, reliability and quality control, as well as addressing security concerns for this digital medium.
"This biggest issues now are over fingerprinting and watermarking, and we need to be careful. How do we set those standards without telling the bad guy how to do it?" Ordway added.
Fingerprints are used to enforce content copyright by enabling the copyright owner to trace back the source of a piracy act. An example would be that all users are given different copies of the content, such as now via a hard drive sent to the theater, where each copy contains a fingerprint—a user-specific watermark. If an unauthorized client redistributes the fingerprinted content, its uniqueness is used to trace back to the offending exhibitor.
Ordway declined to talk specifics about what is in the proposed standards but, according to other sources, the main topics around security that will be addressed are:
- • Having security managers at the theaters
• Forensic features to help trace illegal use of content
• Requirements for distribution—link encryption
• Requirements for equipment implementation
• Encryption keys that work on a permission basis with time/date stamps and the management of all those encryption, decryption keys.
Right now, AES-128, the same encryption that banks use for online transfer of information, is what distributors use to secure the digital movie, according to Brian Claypool, senior product manager of cinema for Christi Digital Systems, maker of digital projectors used in about two-thirds of digital cinemas in the United States today.
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), a Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS), is an approved cryptographic algorithm that can be used to protect electronic data. The AES algorithm is a block cipher that can encrypt and decrypt digital information. The AES algorithm is capable of using cryptographic keys of 128, 192 and 256 bits.
What makes this encryption more impressive for films is that each frame is encrypted, according to Claypool. "Every frame is encrypted, so if somebody were to get lucky even once on the encryption, they'd only get one frame of the movie," Claypool said. "At the theaters, all they have is an encryption key that allows them to tell the hard drive it's OK to play the movie via the projector. It's just impossible to steal a movie."
Technicolor Digital Cinema, the company responsible for the distribution of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, is handling all content preparation for the movie, including the encryption.
The film is shipped to a theater on a hard drive, according to Technicolor Digital Cinema President Ahmad Ouri. Once it's been confirmed that the theater has received the encrypted film and loaded it onto a server, the encryption key is then delivered separately. "The film is useless without the key, and the key just tells the projector it's OK to show the film." In other words, it does not allow the movie to be copied in any way off the server." more...
Wow! Microsoft going after the hosting market which has been dominated by UNIX/Linux.. According to the release, they are going to enable remote hosting of blogs, photo galleries, forums, etc. and leveraging hosted apps. They mention DotNetNuke but I assume it will also support .NET applications and other Microsoft web applications as well.
The hosting community is solidly entrenched with Linux servers, so it will be interesting to see if service providers and ISPs embrace this product (especially considering the licensing costs of Microsoft vs. Linux). Apparently, GoDaddy is embracing Microsoft according to this quote: “With DotNetNuke and Telligent Community Server, both part of the Web Site Starters for Windows partner applications, we are able to offer our customers a number of new compelling applications and services,” said Warren Adelman, chief operating officer at GoDaddy. “For example, our customers can take advantage of portal builders, forums, blogs and photo galleries. These commonly requested applications will help us attract more customers to our Windows-based offers.”
Here's the email + news:
Below are the highlights of the announcement as well as the full text of the press release:
• Microsoft Solution for Windows-based Hosting Version 3.5 offers key enhancements for shared Web hosting and support for Microsoft's latest product releases.
• Microsoft's commitment to the Web hosting market helps drive market demand and adoption, enabling hosters to accelerate customer acquisition and build market share.
Microsoft Launches Solution for Windows-Based Hosting Version 3.5
Solution offers key enhancements for shared Web hosting and support for Microsoft’s latest product releases.
REDMOND, Wash. — May 17, 2005 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the Microsoft® Solution for Windows®-based Hosting Version 3.5, which incorporates new tools and best practices designed to help hosting service providers significantly lower operational costs through improved site density and better management capabilities. Targeted primarily at service providers that offer shared Web hosting or discount dedicated server hosting, the latest version of the Microsoft Solution for Windows-based Hosting also introduces Web Site Starters for Windows, a set of development partner and community applications including integrated Web-site building, Web logging (blogging), forums and photo-sharing applications optimized to run in a Windows-based hosted environment.
“The Microsoft Solution for Windows-based Hosting has been extremely popular; in the past year alone, we estimate that hundreds of hosting providers have deployed components of the solution,” said Pascal Martin, general manager for Hosting Solutions at Microsoft. “The latest version of the solution should further empower service providers to reduce costs while increasing revenue per user. Hosting providers now have new tools and resources to help them improve Web-site performance and scalability and reduce customer support costs through more effective monitoring and problem resolution. In addition, Version 3.5 offers a rich set of new applications that hosters can add to their Windows-based offerings.”
Version 3.5 provides support for several recently released Microsoft products. Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005 offers easier customization of reports and a new at-a-glance operations console. Windows Server™ Update Services (WSUS), the next generation of Microsoft’s Update Services, offers improved targeting of updates for download and deployment as well as enhanced reporting of server status and compliance. Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 offers enhanced security by locking down a number of operating system capabilities, helping further protect service providers from the threat of potential viruses and malicious code. With the updated version of Microsoft Provisioning System (MPS), hosters can now standardize their automation platform entirely on Windows Server 2003.
“Microsoft has been extremely proactive in addressing key service provider issues such as ease of use and deployment,” said Melanie Posey, research director at IDC. “Microsoft’s proven commitment to the hosting provider community has greatly contributed to the growing demand for Windows-based hosting.”
“With DotNetNuke and Telligent Community Server, both part of the Web Site Starters for Windows partner applications, we are able to offer our customers a number of new compelling applications and services,” said Warren Adelman, chief operating officer at GoDaddy. “For example, our customers can take advantage of portal builders, forums, blogs and photo galleries. These commonly requested applications will help us attract more customers to our Windows-based offers.”
Microsoft Commitment to Hosting
Microsoft is committed to providing hosting service providers with the knowledge and resources they need to help lower operational costs while increasing revenue through the deployment of enhanced managed services. Microsoft offers a number of programs and tools to help service providers succeed with Windows-based hosting:
• Service Provider Licensing Agreement. A licensing program that enables service providers to license Microsoft products on a monthly basis to provide services and hosted applications to their end customers
• Windows Web Hoster Program. A free program that provides hosters of all sizes with free access to technical resources such as webcasts, live training seminars and an online information library
• ASP.NET Hosting Advantage. An initiative that helps service providers deploy, launch and successfully market ASP.NET offerings, including promotion in the ASP.NET Hoster Directory
• Windows Hosting Forums. Community forums that offer service providers fast, free and anonymous technical assistance from Windows-based hosting experts
• SI and ISV Partners. A growing network of system integrators and independent software vendors that extend the value of the Windows-based hosting solution
The Microsoft Solution for Windows-based Hosting uses a centralized and automated management infrastructure to help service providers increase operational efficiencies. Using key products from Microsoft Windows Server System™, the solution offers hosting providers the best practices, tools, scripts and code samples to help them efficiently deploy and operate their hosted offerings on the Windows platform.
Shared Web Hosting Seminar
From May 19 through June 30, service providers and shared Web hosters are invited to attend Microsoft’s Shared Web Hosting Seminar. More details are available at https://www.ustechsregister.com/microsofthostingseminars/CitySelect.asp.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential
I was just reading MSNBC.com and read about an intriguing new technology that harnesses nuclear reactions to generate electricity Ok, I know what you're thinking - nuclear plants do that already - big whoop. But imagine if you could have a nuclear-powered battery the size of a pacemaker that just keeps going and going for years - even decades! No more Energizer or Duracell batteries filling our landfills. A nuclear battery opens up some interesting possibilities, which if made powerful enough could perhaps be used in automobiles to reduce our dependence on foeign oil.
That's what this technology promises to do - in fact, pacemakers are one of the possible applications the artcle mentions. Now you're probably wondering about the radiation - there is no danger - it uses Tritium, the radioactive form of Hydrogen which is easily shielded - even a thin shield of paper can block the low energy radiation.
Tritium emits only low-energy particles "that can be shielded by very thin materials, such as a sheet of paper," said Gadeken of BetaBatt. "The hermetically-sealed, metallic BetaBattery cases will encapsulate the entire radioactive energy source, just like a normal battery contains its chemical source so it cannot escape."
Also, according to the article,
the radiation is extremely low-level. "It is safe and can be implanted in the body," Fauchet said. "The energetic particles emitted by tritium do not penetrate inside the skin. "The device is detailed in Friday's issue of Advanced Materials.