Category: technology

Microsoft’s warning on Vista update

Warning?! Seems like there’s a rough road ahead for windows vista users.

windows vista updateMicrosoft needs a Vista success. As Service Packs are among the biggest updates Microsoft issues for its various operating systems, the software giant will be releasing the SP1 update for Windows Vista, for success in mid-March, although business customers are availing it in February. The software firm said SP1 makes Vista more secure and reliable and introduces some new features. But this needed success will be a concern for vista users.

Microsoft is warning Windows Vista users that a forthcoming service pack for the operating system may stop some twelve (12) third-party programs working.

And it happens that the list of programs that may be broken by the SP1 update for Vista are security programs that prevent Windows users falling prey to viruses, Trojans and booby-trapped WebPages six of which block viruses or keep an eye on the places someone visits online. PROGRAMS HIT BY SP1 which some will be blocked by the update, some will not run and others will lose some of their functions are:

  • BitDefender AV
  • Fujitsu Shock Sensor
  • Jiangmin KV Antivirus 10
  • Jiangmin KV Antivirus 2008
  • Trend Micro Internet Security
  • Zone Alarm Security Suite
  • Iron Speed Designer
  • Xheo Licensing
  • Free Allegiance
  • NYT Reader
  • Rising Personal Firewall
  • Novell ZCM Agent

Microsoft warned that its list was not “comprehensive” and asked people to get in touch with the maker of any affected software to fix problems, BBC said. So my security program is not gonna work? That’s a headache.

$500,000 award for quicker airport security check

Airport security prize announced

Verified Identity Pass, of New York, US – a firm that already offers quicker checkpoint services at airports for a fee, has announced on 13 February that an award of $500,000 for any solution that will make airport security checks quicker and simpler for passengers. The cash prize will go to any individual, company or institution that can get customers through airport security 15% faster, at a cost of less than 25 cents per passenger, using technology or processes that will be approved by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Passengers must not need to remove their clothes or shoes, something that slows down processing significantly. Company spokesman Jason Slibeck said that over 150 individuals, start-ups, defence contractors and universities have shown an interest in the prize. One promising procedure is mass spectroscopy, which involves analysing the mass-charge ratio of ions on a swab sample taken from a passenger’s clothing or air collected from around them. The method can quickly spot traces of substances including explosives or drugs. The Pre-Registration Package Information Sheet is available online.”

Challenges facing humanity

Do I see the Tower of Babel here?

These are the enumerated challenges facing humanity today:

    tower of Babel

  • Make solar energy affordable
  • Provide energy from fusion
  • Develop carbon sequestration
  • Manage the nitrogen cycle
  • Provide access to clean water
  • Reverse engineer the brain
  • Prevent nuclear terror
  • Secure cyberspace
  • Enhance virtual reality
  • Improve urban infrastructure
  • Advance health informatics
  • Engineer better medicines
  • Advance personalised learning
  • Explore natural frontiers

Double amputee walks again due to Bluetooth

Last month while I was in India I watch a documentary about a European family man who had been blind since before the war. That was more than half a century long. Till he was brought to the USA for a kind of experiment to make him see again. The moment the bondages were removed he saw a miracle. He was able to see again with the aid of a very small object planted in his eye. What do you think did he say after being able to see again, the world, his family whom he had not seen ever since and the American doctor? “America is great!” Okay. And so he has great people who lost lives and arms and legs in order to defend its greatness. Ok.

Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Bleill lost both his legs above the knees when a bomb exploded under his Humvee while on patrol in Iraq on October 15, 2006. He has 32 pins in his hip and a 6-inch screw holding his pelvis together. Now he’s starting to walk again with the help of prosthetic legs outfitted with Bluetooth technology more commonly associated with hands-free cell phones. These groundbreaking artificial legs are the latest and greatest. Computer chips in each leg send signals to motors in the artificial joints so the knees and ankles move in a coordinated fashion. The former was able to see again, this man can walk again. It is just great! More of the story here.

Civilian airplanes’ anti-missile system

Hubby is a frequent traveler, and every time he travels, of course there is that extra concern for his and the whole aircraft’s boarders’ safety. But it seems we will have less worries soon, for up to three American Airlines jets will be outfitted this spring with laser technology being developed to protect planes from missiles fired by terrorists. The anti-missile technology was developed for military planes, and U.K.-based BAE Systems PLC said Friday it won a $29 million contract from the Department of Homeland Security to test it on passenger planes, but not on regular flights. The technology is intended to stop a missile attack by detecting heat from the rocket, then responding in a fraction of a second by firing a laser beam that jams the missile’s guidance system.

A Laptop that docks without wires

R400The R400 is the first Laptop that can connect to any peripheral – printer, monitor, speakers, anything with a USB plug – wirelessly. Just plug them into the docking station. It communicates with the laptop through a new wireless technology called ultra-wideband, which carries video, sound and data faster than Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Signals can travel short distances with nearly the same quality as they would have over cables.

Cell Station at Mt. Everest

Sometimes when our cellphones don’t pick up signal, we would try to climb up to higher elevation just to be able to text or call. But now, it seems people would not need to climb to their roof anymore for there is going to be cell station at Mt. Everest! They want to be on top and do not see hurdles. China’s largest cell phone service provider successfully tested a transmission station on Mount Everest on Tuesday, making it possible for people in the area for next year’s Olympic torch relay to make calls, a state news agency reported. China Mobile had to hire yaks and porters to transport equipment up to the station at an altitude of 21,325 feet, the Xinhua News Agency said. Aside from the physical challenge of climbing the mountain, which straddles the border of Nepal and Chinese-controlled Tibet, the torch had to be designed to burn in bad weather, low pressure and high altitude.