Tek-Vista

Google's Smart Contact Lenses

2014-01-31T06:25:00.000-08:00

Google has announced that it is testing a prototype for a contact lens that would help people with diabetes manage their disease.

A recent report from Credit Suisse Research Institute which estimates that “close to 400 million people worldwide are affected by type II diabetes alone – a number that is quickly rising” and the “associated costs for the global healthcare system are estimated at a staggering $376 billion every year, representing over 10 percent of all healthcare costs.” By 2020 this could be a disease that impacts 500 million people and the costs “could rise to a whopping $700 billion,” the study said.Google’s “smart contact lens project,” which allows the lenses to measure blood sugar levels, for a very brief instant is just exciting. It seemed like that finally we are getting to a place where needles, blood-soaked alcohol swabs and cotton balls are going to be history.

Google announced Thursday that it's been working on this secret project at its Google[x] research lab. Not only has it developed prototypes of these smart contact lenses, but it's also done multiple clinical research studies, met with the US Food and Drug Administration, and is looking for potential partners to bring the product to market.

Diabetes is said to be one of the fastest growing diseases in the world. According to Google, it affects one in 19 people around the globe. In order to keep blood sugar levels in check, diabetics must give themselves finger prick blood tests throughout the day.

The contact lenses were developed during the past 18 months in the clandestine Google X lab that also came up with a driverless car, Google's Web-surfing eyeglasses and Project Loon, a network of large balloons designed to beam the Internet to unwired places.

The contact lenses will monitor glucose with a tiny sensor once per second, and then transmit the data through a wireless transmitter.“Smart” blood sugar monitoring has been in the works for many years, but no one has revealed a reliable fix for the problem. Some academic institutions have also been working on glucose-monitoring contacts.

“We hope a tiny, super sensitive glucose sensor embedded in a contact lens could be the first step in showing how to measure glucose through tears, which in the past has only been theoretically possible.”The chip and sensor would be embedded between two layers of soft contact lens material, while a pinhole in the lens would allow fluid from the surface of the eye to seep into the sensor.

While excited about their prototype, Google warned that there is still a lot more work that needs to be done before it could be turned into a useable product.We’ll certainly be watching to see what happens – and what other technology might soon be packed into the tiny technology of a contact lens.

CES 2014 - A LOOK AROUND

2014-01-20T08:27:00.001-08:00

Though CES 2014 had many gadgets that can change the future of the mankind, Here is the list of some amazing and cool gadgets that were showcased at the CES 2014.

1.LG's Curved 4k TV:

LG's 77-inch flexible 4K OLED TV is one very exciting TV as it lets you control the curvature of its Ultra HD display using the TV remote.The range of curve takes the screen size and viewing distance into account to give you the best viewing experience and even though you won't be able to get your hands on one for a while, it marks the future of curved TVs.

2. Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro:

This massive 12.2” tablet is Samsung’s answer to both the iPad Air and the Surface 2. Samsung has taken Android and placed what they call the Magazine UX on top of it. While I’m not so certain the new homescreen interface is necessarily the best for “professionals”, it takes the best parts of Windows 8’s live tiles and is a big improvement over most of Samsung’s typical TouchWiz Android skins.

3. Intel Edison:

Intel showcased a SD-sized computer at CES called the Edison that will be released to developers and designers in summer 2014. It features a processor, memory and flash storage and wants to be help make everyday objects "smart" and internet connected. The Edison can be programmed to manage I/Os and other baseline functions according to the company and it will have Linux and Android support.

4.Sony Xperia Z1 Compact:

The Sony Xperia Z1 Compact brings a new standard to the "mini" flagship market featuring a downgrade in size but certainly not specs, and therefore rightly deserves to be on this list.It features a smaller 4.3-inch display but with the same Snapdragon 800 processor, 20.7-megapixel rear camera and waterproof advantage of its bigger brother. Plus, we really liked it in the flesh and thought it was much easy to manage than the 5-inch Xperia Z1.

5. Sony PlayStation Now:

Sony's cloud gaming revolution kicks off with this new Gaikai-based service, which will let you stream PS3 games to your PS4, your Vita – or even your Bravia telly. Yes, that's right, you'll be able to play God of War without a console. Truly, we are living in the future.

6. The Pebble Steel

We’ve already talked about the Pebble, the smartwatch that just works, and now they’ve decided to launch a new version that does all the same amazing things, but looks great at the same time. You can still get your notifications from either iPhone or Android, you can customize the watch face to look like anything you want, and you can look good doing it.

7.Oculus Rift Crystal Cove:

The Oculus Rift is one of those prototypes that just keeps getting better and better each time we see it. This year, Oculus showed off their new prototype, the Crystal Cove. This new hardware takes care of nearly all of the problems I noticed with the original—most notably the motion blurring, the resolution, and the lack of head tracking. Now armed with a camera that tracks the movement of your head in space (think Kinect here), the Oculus Rift’s experience is now that much more immersive.

8.Sony 4K Ultra Short Throw Projector:

Sony announced the 4K Ultra Short Throw Projector at CES 2014, featuring the ability to throw out a 4K image between 66-inches and 147-inches from only 20-inches away. It is a furniture like unit measuring 43.3 x 10.4 x 21.1-inches and it sits on the floor alongside the wall you are projecting onto. We had a look first hand and the image it produces is stunning, plus it looks good turned off too.

9. Mophie Space Pack:

The Mophie Space Pack has extra storage for your iPhone along with your extended battery. While it can’t directly extend your built-in iOS storage, Mophie has an app that you can use to access videos, files, and pictures, and you can plug it directly into your computer to load it up with files.We can only assume that in the very near future, everybody will be making cases combined with storage space and the market will be flooded with knock-offs.

10.Panasonic Lumix TZ60:

The Panasonic Lumix TZ60 camera seems to have it all, taking many of the core elements that made the Lumix TZ40 so popular and adding to them.You'll find a 18.1-megapixel sensor, along with raw shooting capability, GPS, Wi-Fi and 1080p video capture at 60fps. Plus, it adds a built-in electronic viewfinder to the range for the first time, as well as offering 30x optical zoom with physical lens control ring.

Still there were many more gadgets displayed at the CES 2014...

Intel’s 3-D Camera

2014-01-10T05:41:00.000-08:00

Looks like Intel has big plans for the future of computers, and gaming plays an important role in them. The company believes that computer games have the capacity to be one of the most instinctive forms of entertainment, and to that end, want to make use of highly accurate 3D cameras to track user input for the games of tomorrow.At CES 2014, Intel's main presentation discussed the future of computing and spanned everything from productivity to education. Gaming was only one facet of the new face of computing.

Intel in recent years has used its press conferences at the Consumer Electronics Show to highlight new chips and Ultrabooks, this year the company focused on new technology that will allow users to interact more naturally with their computing devices through voice and gesture controls.

To that end, the chip maker introduced the Intel Real Sense 3-D camera, which the company said will boast a facial recognition feature and finger-level motion controls. The higlight is Intel’s RealSense 3D camera. As its name implies, the camera has the ability to see in three dimensions, making it possible to perceive distance as well as capture an image. In other words, the camera works more like the human eye.

Few days ago, Mooly Eden, general manager of Intel's Perceptual Computing unit, stressed on computing needs to take on a more ‘natural’ approach and following that Intel introduced the chip 3D camera, with an index finger sized hardware. This creation is the first offering of the chipmaker’s new "Real Sense" brand of perceptual computing products. Elaborating the ‘perceptual technology’ Eden said " the company wants to develop products that will utilize gestures, facial recognition, and voice recognition to bring in a more natural and intuitive feel while using it " .

INTEL'S 3D CAMERA IN LAPTOPS AND TABS :

A combined 2-D and 3-D camera from Intel will be built into laptops and tablets. The camera allows a device to be controlled with arm, hand, and finger gestures, and is also intended to allow software to capture and understand the world around it, including people’s facial expressions.

Intel showed seven different laptops and tablets from Dell, Lenovo, and Asus with the integrated depth camera. Such devices are slated to hit the market in the second half of 2014. In addition to PCs, Intel will be using the RealSense technology for 3-D printing; the company announced a technology alliance with 3-D printing pioneer 3D Systems, which will make 3D Systems' scanning, editing and printing applications available for Intel RealSense-powered devices and systems.

Finally the introduction of the latest 3D cameras by intel we can say goodbye to the processors and Ultrabooks and Hello to 3-D cameras and voice controls.

iWatch-Apple's New Creation

2013-08-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

Wearable technology, may be a dream in the past but now it is the next big thing to happen- and if anyone can make a truly desirable wearable device, it's Apple.

Apple is rumored to be developing an iWatch, which would most likely sync up with your iPhone 5 or iPad to give you updates on you’re wrist, allow you to control other devices and pull data from the cloud.

The iWatch project:

Apple has a team of around 100 designers working on "a wristwatch-like device that may perform some of the tasks now handled by the iPhone and iPad". That's based on conversations with "two people familiar with the company's plans".The team includes people from all parts of Apple: not just iPad and iPhone engineers but software developers, managers and marketers too - plus what seems to be a bio metric A-Team that will endow the iWatch with sleep analysis, fingerprint scanners and other health-related sensors.

Apple iWatch features

A further two informers claiming to be acquainted with Apple’s various super-plans say it is experimenting with a ‘wristwatch-like device made of curved glass’,operating on iOS. The NYT notes Corning has developed bendable glass last year called Willow Glass which could be used to wrap around something wrist, and cites Forrester’s claim that “Apple’s certainly made a lot of hiring in that area”.

There are also claims Apple is in discussions with Chinese manufacturer Foxconn, which makes a large number of iPhone and iPad parts, about producing an iWatch. Foxconn are apparently working to make more power-efficient displays and stripping down chips, aimed at multiple Foxconn customers. This Wall Street Journal report also claims Apple has hired employees with backgrounds in sensors and related tecehnologies.

In terms of size, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that there has been no official word from Apple, but that hasn't stopped the web from starting some lovely rumours. The result of such rumours seems to be that we, the internet, are expecting a 1.5-inch touchscreen watch face, that is waterproof and shock proof.

Apple iWatch battery

There are reams of speculation on precisely what tech the device would have under the hood, which at this point may seem like a rumour bridge too far – but certainly one thing that would seem obvious is some form of better battery performance, since you wouldn't want to take a watch off and charge it twice a day like can be required for a smartphone. On this point, some have highlighted a patent Apple owns for wireless charging.

Competition for Apple's iWatch

The wearable watch market could be the next big tech battleground as perennial Apple nemesis Samsung has already confirmed that it has a smart watch in the works.The name of Samsung's watch may have been revealed as well, through a recent trademark filing. If the trademark is to be believed then the Samsung watch will be called Samsung Gear.

Other tech heavyweights are rumoured to be getting in on the timekeeping game too; the Apple watch may have to fight off competition from Google, which filed a smart watch patent last year and was 'confirmed' to be working on a timepiece by the good folk over at the Financial Times.

Also leaping aboard the largely-imaginary bandwagon is LG. Despite launching a disappointing phone-watch thing back in 2009, LG isn't being deterred and finally has an Apple watch baiting rumour of its own thanks to the Korea Times.
And, of course, anything Samsung and LG can do, Sony can do too - the Japanese tech giant has an experimental project called Open Smart watch in the works, putting the onus on developers to create jazzy new firmware for its existing Smart watch device.
On June 25, Sony unveiled its newest smart watch: the Sony Smart Watch 2, which is a water-resistant, NFC-toting Android phone companion.

The unique thing about apple is that

"Apple, when you look back, is never actually the first. They let a few others, sometimes many others, experiment first. Then, they bring out the killer product that revolutionize the latest technology trends".Another point to be noted is "Apple is always Apple" none can beat them .

Source: techradar ,t3

PROJECT LOON : Powered Internet Project by Google

2013-06-25T06:19:00.001-07:00

Google is preparing to conquer a new dimension: the stratosphere. The Internet giant is releasing 30 high-tech balloons in a trial of technology designed to bring the Internet to places where people are not yet connected.

The balloons are being sent up into the sky from New Zealand's South Island this month in the first trial of a pioneering system dubbed Project Loon.

According to Google, "Project Loon is a network of balloons traveling on the edge of space, designed to connect people in rural and remote areas, help fill coverage gaps, and bring people back online after disasters."

Google estimates that two-thirds of the global population is without fast, affordable Internet access. So while it sounds like something from the realms of science fiction, if successful, the project could make a difference to many people around the world.

Google Balloon

What are Google Balloons?

Google is experimenting with helium-filled balloons that beam the internet from the sky. Developed over a period of 18 months, these jellyfish-shaped balloons are part of Project Loon that Google has commissioned them in New Zealand.

These are the helium-filled balloons that are made from a thin polyethylene film and are 15 meters (49 feet) in diameter when fully inflated.

How does these Google Balloons work?

The balloons would sail on the stratosphere's winds in a continuous circuit around the globe. The balloons come equipped with flight computers, and Google would control the balloons' altitude from the ground, keeping them moving along a desired channel by using different winds at different heights.

Once released, the balloons will float in the stratosphere above 60,000 feet (18,300 meters), twice as high as airplanes and the weather, Google says. Their altitude will be controlled from "Loon Mission Control" using special software to allow them to pick up layers of wind traveling in the right direction and form a balloon network.

If all goes to plan, about 60 people who've had a special antenna fixed on their homes for the trial should be able to connect to the balloon network. The signal will bounce from balloon to balloon, then to the Internet back on Earth. Hundreds of people will be able to connect to one balloon at a time.

Project Loon Grid

People behind Project Loon:

Rich Devaul, Chief Technical Architect for Project Loon, explained that the system will “communicate with specialized internet antennas on the ground. [An] antenna points up at the sky and talks to [a] balloon and each one of these balloons talks to their neighboring balloons and then back down to the ground station which is connected to the local internet provider.”

Devaul also stated that the team has “designed our radios and antennas specifically to receive signals from Project Loon only… If we didn't filter out the other signals the technology just wouldn't work.”

By early 2012, the experiment had gained status of a genuine Google X project. It also had a new leader. DeVaul, preferring to work on tech rather than management, helped hire a project leader, Mike Cassidy, a top search engineer who had started multiple companies before joining Google. Cassidy built up the team with network engineers, mapping specialists, energy experts, and ex-military operatives who were stunningly good at recovering downed payloads in wilderness terrain. (When balloons would go down, the payload would separate and glide earthward by parachute. Civilians stumbling on the scary-looking package would see a non-branded message reading HARMLESS SCIENCE EXPERIMENT, and a promise of a reward for those who called a number to return it.) When it became clear that Google needed many more balloons that its small team was able to hand-craft, Cassidy began a fruitful collaboration with Raven Aerostar, the company that makes weather balloons for NASA and created the monster bubble that took Felix Baumgartner into near space for his record leap earthward.

Advantages:

Google says the balloons have the potential to provide internet access far more cheaply, quickly and widely than traditional underground fiber cables.

One downside is that computer users on the ground would need to install a receiver to get the signal.

Challenges Google Balloons face

Managing the flight of just one balloon in our complex and ever-changing atmosphere is a huge challenge. Trying to harmonize an entire fleet of thousands of them will be mind-boggling.

One issue that Google has had to deal with is how to keep the balloons floating roughly in the same area to maintain an Internet connection on Earth. Cassidy said the team members believe they've figured it out. "All we had to do was figure out how to control their path through the sky," he noted. "We've now found a way to do that, using just wind and solar power: We can move the balloons up or down to catch the winds we want them to travel in. That solution then led us to a new problem: How to manage a fleet of balloons sailing around the world so that each balloon is in the area you want it right when you need it. We're solving this with some complex algorithms and lots of computing power."

Google's vision:

Google's vision is to build a ring of balloons, flying around the globe on stratospheric winds about 12.4 miles high, that provide Internet access to remote and undeserved areas. The balloons communicate with specially designed antennas on the ground, which in turn, connect to ground stations that connect to the local Internet service provider, the company said.

But if all works according to the company’s grand vision, hundreds, even thousands, of high-pressure balloons circling the earth could provide Internet to a significant chunk of the world’s 5 billion unconnected souls, enriching their lives with vital news, precious educational materials, lifesaving health information and many more.

Green Computing-The next wave in Computing

2013-06-10T01:51:00.000-07:00

A Chinese proverb, often used by environmentalists, states

"One generation plants a tree; the next sits in its shade."

Computers impact the environment in a number of ways. Making computers requires non-renewable resources and creates manufacturing waste and pollution. Using computers requires electricity and generates heat, which is also a form of pollution. Disposing of computers creates even more trash and is potentially hazardous because of the materials in the computer. The goal of green computing is to reduce the environmental impact of computers for both the user and the manufacturer by making computers as energy efficient as possible, reducing the amount of hazardous and non-recyclable materials, and properly disposing of old machines.

Origin:

Every one of us are aware of the energy-star logo on printers computers etc. In 1992, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched Energy Star, a voluntary labeling program that is designed to promote and recognize energy-efficiency in monitors, climate control equipment, and other technologies. This resulted in the widespread adoption of sleep mode among consumer electronics. Concurrently, the Swedish organization TCO Development launched the TCO Certification program to promote low magnetic and electrical emissions from CRT-based computer displays; this program was later expanded to include criteria on energy consumption, ergonomics, and the use of hazardous materials in construction.

Advantages are as below:

Cloud Computing

It is an innovative technology to help save significant energy usage. Cloud computing includes replacement of regular services with virtual servers. The distinct areas where this technology finds it use are for software application, operating systems, networking and data storage.

Recycling

With recycling, one can save great amount of energy, money and time spent in creating these electronic stuffs. The resources utilized and the money disbursed in creating these electronic stuffs from scratch is anytime an excellent option. Only a negligible percentage of used or discarded electronic items can be recycled.

Shutting down your Computers

Shutting down your computers during the night assists to save a substantial amount of electrical energy. The projected amount of the energy used up in a year due to continued computer usage is $115-$160. Using your PC for just eight hours in a day will help to save around 810 kWh of energy in a year.

Enhancing Algorithmic Efficiency

Green computing is also useful for enhancing algorithmic efficacy of the computers. Well-organized algorithm utilizes minimum resources thus, increasing the productivity. Therefore, without enhancing algorithmic efficiency, you cannot expect substantial energy conservation through cloud computing.

How can technology be a boon to Environment:

While some of the impact of computers and the Internet has unfortunately been negative, much of it has also been positive. Here's just a few of the ways that technology is helping to improve the environment:

It helps us develop and produce new materials and technologies that are sustainable and do not harm the environment, so we can eventually stop using ones that do harm it

It allow us to monitor and study our environment to better understand how it works and the impact of our actions on it

It helps us create smarter technologies that respond to how we use them and adjust themselves to reduce their environmental impact, such as lights that can sense when no one is in the room and automatically turn off

It allows us to have a worldwide virtual laboratory, so that experts from all fields can share their research, experience and ideas to come up with better, smarter solutions. Not only does this allow people far away from each other to work together, but it also reduces the environmental impact people would normally cause from traveling to meet with each other

It allows for paperless communication like email and online bill paying toreduce the amount of trees cut down

It allows companies to reduce shipping and manufacturing impact and to reach a broader audience

Everyone talks about doing something about the mother earth but no one finds the answer to the most basic questions 1. How? and 2 where? well every one has to think upon this and try to find the answer.

Green computing is all about using computers but in a smarter and Eco-friendly way.

Galaxy S4 Korea, US versions:Difference?

2013-05-13T02:29:00.003-07:00

Samsung Electronics is offering two different versions of its Galaxy S4 smartphone for its South Korean and U.S. markets. These two versions look the same on the outside but they key components inside are a different story. According to a teardown conducted by IHSiSuppli Teardown Analysis Service, the permutations of the versions in their apps processor, wireless sub-system, and user interface results in significant differences in the capabilities and pricing of the Korean and U.S. S4 versions.

The U.S. version of the Galaxy S4 with 16GB of NAND flash memory carries a bill of materials (BOM) of Rs.12,445.65 ($229), which rises to Rs.12,880.43 ($237) when the manufacturing cost is added. The Korean edition with the same memory configuration has a BOM of Rs.13,260.87 ($244) and a combined manufacturing and component cost of Rs.13,695.65 ($252).

"With at least four different known incarnations of the Galaxy S4, Samsung is demonstrating its strategy of offering a mobile product that has appealing features and pricing—and then adapting the device to suit the tastes of varying markets or regions," said Vincent Leung, senior analyst, teardown services, for IHS. "This approach is in stark contrast to the one-size-fits-all philosophy used by Apple Inc., Samsung's primary competitor in the wireless space. While the Korean and U.S. versions of the S4 look pretty much the same and have in terms of their core electronics many same core features—such as the enclosure, display, camera and battery—the products are as different from each other as kimchee and coleslaw."

Processor permutations
One of the biggest differences between the two versions of the Galaxy S4 is the apps processor.

The U.S. version offered by AT&T employs the Qualcomm Inc. Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor, costing $20.00. The Korean variation—as well as some other international versions—integrates Samsung's own Octacore Exynos 5 processor, an eight-core device that costs Rs.434.78 ($8) more at Rs.1,521.74 ($28).

The Octacore Exynos 5 enables some unique, processor-intensive applications that are not possible with the Snapdragon processor. These include eye-movement recognition, which allows a user to pause a video simply by looking away from the S4 display.

Samsung's S4 supremacy
One thing that all versions of the Galaxy S4 share is their extensive use of Samsung-made componentry.

"No other company in the world has an internal supply chain like Samsung's," Leung said. "The display, memory, apps processor, base band, RF transceiver, cameras, power amplifier and a range of other parts—all these make Samsung unique in its capability to supply key parts and capture so much value in a mobile device."

An IHS virtual teardown of the 16GB of the U.S. version of the Galaxy S4 smartphone initially estimated its BOM at Rs.12,663.04 ($233), rising to Rs.13,097.83 ($241) when the manufacturing cost is added. The physical teardown mostly confirmed the pricing and design predictions made in the virtual teardown, with some minor exceptions.

ZTE Open -- world's first Firefox OS smartphone

2013-03-16T23:08:00.000-07:00

ZTE Open -- the world's first smartphone to run on Mozilla's Firefox OS -- is launched. The phone will be first launched in Spain, Venezuela and Colombia in mid-2013.

The ZTE Open is an entry-level smartphone featuring a 3.5-inch, HVGA TFT touchscreen display and has 256MB RAM and 512MB ROM combined with a 3.2MP camera. It supports Bluetooth 2.1, WIFI 802.11b/g/n and AGPS and has a 1200mAH battery.

Mozilla's Firefox OS is HTML5-based and completely open source so ZTE Open users will be able to run Web apps and view their favourite websites without losing any of the features they love. Mozilla's Firefox OS is free from restrictions. It provides an open standards platform for developers looking to create HTML5-based websites and apps. Developers will be able to distribute their apps through the Firefox Marketplace.

Mobile displays that change shape!

2013-03-16T22:49:00.000-07:00

The European Union has awarded Rs.17.77 crore (€2.47 million) for a three-year project, known asGHOST "Generic and Highly Organic, Shape-changing inTerfaces" that aims at extending the next generation computer and mobile display surfaces beyond the rigid, flat surfaces which people are familiar with and allow users to physically push, pull, bend, fold or flex the display.

GHOSTs are display surfaces made of malleable materials that can change into and retain arbitrary shapes so as to display output from the system or allow new actions. At the same time, GHOSTs enable users to deform, touch, or otherwise manipulate the shape of their display surface to provide input to the system.

The collaborative European research project includes Sriram Subramanian, Professor of Human-Computer Interaction in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Bristol, and will bring together a range of partners from across Europe to design, develop and evaluate prototypes to define the current and future challenges of making organic user experiences.

The Bristol researchers will be creating interactive visual surfaces with shape changes at the sub-centimetre scale and with rapid (sub-second) actuation to change forms. The initial prototypes will help understand the technical and scientific challenges of using smart materials to create shape changinginput and output technologies.

The Bristol team will be led by Professor Subramanian with co-investigators, David Coyle, Department of Computer Science and Jonathan Rossiter, Department of Engineering Mathematics and research associate, Anne Roudaut, Department of Computer Science.

Professor Sriram Subramanian in the Bristol Interaction and Graphics group, said: "Display technology developments mean the next generation of visual output devices will extend beyond the rigid, flat surfaces with which we are familiar and allow users to physically push, pull, bend, fold or flex the display. This will better represent on-screen content or support new modes of interaction. Such interfaces will also provide many benefits over current user interfaces by enabling people to express and communicate through touch and manipulation of physical objects."

GHOST, is a collaborative project funded by the EU under the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET)-Open programme. The project involves various universities across Europe including the University of Bristol, University of Copenhagen, Lancaster University and Eindhoven University of Technology.

ROBOTS AND ANDROIDS

2013-01-31T06:07:00.000-08:00

For hundreds of years people have had a dream that they could create mechanical helpers for man.

Robots have come a long way since the day the first robot was built in 1927. Nowadays, these machines are used as surgery robots, service robots, and military robots. It is startling to learn that scientists are now trying to make robots human-like by infusing emotions and expressions onto them. However, eyebrows are raised about their misuse too. An android is a robotor synthetic organism designed to look and act like a human, especially one with a body having a flesh-like resemblance. Until recently, androids have largely remained within the domain of science fiction, frequently seen in film and television. However, advancements in robotic technology have allowed the design of functional and realistic humanoid robots. It is hardly surprising that man should create robots 'in his own image'

What is a Robot?

What is a robot? It has become increasingly difficult to define exactly what a robot is given the rapid developments that are occurring in the science and business of robotics. Even Joseph Engelberger, often credited as the “Father of Robotics,” was said to have once remarked, "I can't define a robot, but I know one when I see one.”Various encyclopedias describe robots as anything from a “mechanism guided by human controls” to “a machine that looks like a human being and can perform various complex acts of a human being”. More technically, the Robot Institute of America (1979) defines a robot as “a reprogrammable, multifunctional manipulator designed to move material, parts, tools, or specialized devices through various programmed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks."

What is an Android?

Androids, on the other hand, are humanoid robots built to realistically look and act like humans. This has unsurprisingly caused some controversies, especially in the case of fembots or gynoids (from the Greek word "gyn" meaning woman), whose aesthetic attributes and functions may be considered insulting to real women, while at the same time providing the prospect of human-like company to men. It has been argued that humanoid robots are not attempts to recreate humans, but are instead designed to work with them as well as for them through interactions in typical, everyday environments. Once this goal is fully achieved, then we can look forward to adding another definition for the word “robot.” So, a humanoid robot is a robot that can work with people.

An human looking Android

So what, anyway, is the difference between a robot and an android?

Well, although the terms are often interchanged or confused, a robot can be described as a machine which is capable of doing a job which would normally have been done by a human. An ordinary filter coffee machine would be too simple to fall into that category, but one with a timer which wakes you up to a fresh cup in the morning has the beginnings of a robot to it. More to the point, machines which can act autonomously, or semi-autonomously, can definitely be called robots. Whereas an android, or anthropomorphic droid, is a robot which looks humanoid and can operate in a human environment.

Future of Robots

Today we have semi-autonomous robots—surgery robots, service robots, and military robots that are used in various industries viz. automotive, electronic petrochemical and military operations. Android robots are the future. Scientists are trying to make them look realistic. Also, there are initiatives. Underway to give them natural effects and human expressions. Though practically, robots cannot have emotions, scientists now want to create an illusion that they are thinking machines. There are many benefits of using robots and I will touch upon a few of them.

Robots are also fast becoming the companions to children and old people. These machines can talk and work as reminders. There are robots with screens with which parents can watch and guide their children. With advances in technology, it is expected that in the next 10-15 years robots will replace human beings in childcare. This can be serious because, then there will be more social exclusion and such a child might become a total social misfit. But we must always remember that their misuse can cause human life an enormous damage, to such an extent that we cannot even imagine.

Finally I would like to conclude by saying "In the future, our lives will be full of robots"

Apple has plans to launch cheap IPhones

2013-01-11T19:28:00.000-08:00

Here comes a news cost-conscious customers have been waiting for! According to several media reports,Apple is planning "cheapo" version of iPhone for price-sensitive markets like India and China.

Trying hard to compete with its arch smartphone rivalSamsung, Apple may launch a smaller and cheaper version of its flagship device 'iPhone' this year.

"The cheaper phone could resemble the standard iPhone, with a different, less-expensive body," a Wall Street Journal report said.

According to BloombergBusinessweek, Apple had been working on a more affordable smartphone since at least February 2011 and is weighing retail prices of Rs.5,265.96 ($99) to Rs.7,925.53 ($149) for a device that would debut in late 2013, at the earliest, according to the person, who asked not to be named because the negotiations are private. Apple has even spoken to at least one of the top U.S. wireless carriers about its plans.

However, WSJ reports that Apple could still decide to scrap the plan. But, if the reports turn out to be true then it could be a "big strategy shift" for Apple. Apple products were never intended for "mass-market" and the company always tried to woo upper-class customers.

Is iPhone on the way of becoming another Blackberry?

Android-powered 'iPhone' on sale?

2012-12-25T05:58:00.002-08:00

Hang on….before you reach to any conclusion after reading the headline, I would like to clarify that it's not Apple's iPhone. A Brazilian company IGB Eletronica SA is selling Android-based iphones in Brazil. Interestingly, IGB owns the rights to the word 'iphone' in Brazil.

The first model, called 'iphone Neo One', is a low-powered dual-SIM smartphone running Android 2.3 Gingerbread and features a single core 700MHz processor, a 3.7-inch display, and a 5 megapixel camera.

IGB was formed this year after the restructuring of Gradiente Eletronica SA, which had applied for rights in Brazil to register its products under the name IPHONE in 2000, while Apple came up with its first smartphone under the iPhone brand in 2007. Also, in 2008 the company secured rights to the name from a local regulator of patents.

So, are you happy to see this interesting merger of iPhone and Android???

Intel, Qualcomm may invest in Sharp

2012-11-14T21:44:00.000-08:00

US-based chipmakers Intel and Qualcomm are reportedly in talks to jointly invest about Rs.2,000 crore (30 billion yen ($378 million)) in Japanese electronics manufacturer Sharp Corp.
"Sharp is expected to reach an agreement as early as the end of this month with Qualcomm, while talks with Intel are less concrete amid the chipmaker's unclear financial picture," Reuters quoted an unidentified source as saying. However, another report from The Asahi Shimbun suggests that Intel and Sharp have already entered into alliance talks over joint development of components for smartphones and other electronics products. Negotiations between the two companies are on whether Intel can develop a CPU specifically for Sharp's new IGZO technology—a new liquid crystal display that offers higher resolutions and low power consumption in touchscreens displays.

Last week, Fitch Ratings downgraded Sharp's credit to junk on Nov. 2 saying, "Fitch does not foresee any meaningful operational turnaround in the company's core business over the short- to medium-term."

New tech may double smartphone battery life

2012-11-07T23:17:00.002-08:00

A team of engineers is working towards extending the battery life of smartphones – one of the biggest concerns smartphone users have today.
Massachusetts-based Eta Devices, a company co-founded by two MIT electrical engineering professors Joel Dawson and David Perreault, have come up with an alternative amplifier technology that can extend smartphone battery life, reports Phys.org.

The engineers call their approach "asymmetric multi-level outphasing (AMO)." It is able to "intelligently" select, among voltages that can be sent across the transistor, the one that minimises power consumption. In 2009, Dawson and Perreault, along with SungWon Chung, Philip Godoy, Taylor Barton, and Everest Huang, wrote a paper to describe AMO, calling it a new outphasing transmitter architecture in which "the supply voltage for each power amplifier can switch among multiple levels."The AMO modulation technique was found to increase overall efficiency over a much wider output power range than the standard LINC system while maintaining high linearity. "This architecture results in significant efficiency improvement over previous methods." Smartphone battery life, however, is not first in line for Eta Devices, which has been working on their concept, reaching various "milestones" along the way of their R&D. The company will attempt to prove itself next year in applications for Long Term Evolution (LTE) base stations.They hope to reduce base station energy usage by impressive amounts. In large base stations, the power amplifier takes as much as 67 per cent of the power, with another 11 per cent for air-conditioning.

"The new amplifier would reduce overall power consumption by half," said Eta Devices CEO Mattias Astrom. The company is expected to launch its product in February at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Next will come a chip-scale version of the technology, which is still in development, to increase the battery life of smartphones. The engineers hope for a smartphone chip that can lead to a single-power amplifier to handle the different modes and frequencies used by global standards, including CDMA, GSM, and 4G/LTE.

2012-10-24T01:10:00.000-07:00

2nd Green Revolution vital to achieve self-sufficiency in food: PM of INDIA

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the country has achieved a record foodgrain production of 241 million tones (MT) in 2010-11 crop year but stressed on ushering in a second Green Revolution to meet the mounting future domestic food grain demands.

"Production of major crops has been at record levels in the year just over. An estimated total production of 241 million tones in 2010-11 was achieved because of record production of wheat, maize and pulses.

"Oilseed production also set a new record," the PM said, while delivering speech at an ICAR function here.

The estimated 241 MT foodgrain production is higher by 5 MT as announced by the Agriculture Ministry in its third estimate. It is also higher by 23 MT as compared to previous crop year 2009-10.

Crop year runs from July to June.

He said the record foodgrain production has been achieved because of hard work of the farmers and scientists.

But, Singh emphasised that the country needs a second green revolution to further accelerate agri growth and achieve self-sufficiency in food.

He said the total demand for foodgrain of the country is projected to touch 281 MT by 2020-21.

"Meeting this demand will necessitate a growth rate of nearly 2 per cent per annum in foodgrain production," the PM said.

Stating that the country was spending about 0.6 per cent of its agriculture GDP on agricultural research and development at present, he said this needs to be enhanced by 2-3 times by 2020.

"India needs a second green revolution that is broad-based, inclusive and sustainable," Singh said.

Referring to mounting future domestic foodgrain demands, Singh exhorted the scientists to gear up for the task.

"The enormity of the task ahead is indicated by the fact that during the 10 year period 1997-98 to 2006-07, our foodgrain production grew at an average annual rate of only 1 per cent," he said.

"Although foodgrain production has since regained the requisite momentum and the agriculture sector as a whole is set to grow at 3 per cent per annum during the 11th plan, we can not be complacent," the PM added.

HACKING

2012-10-01T00:58:00.001-07:00

Hacking definition

Before going to see what is hacking we should now about history Hacking. I mean when does its start's in which it has been implemented at first and who was the founder of hacking.
Hacking is not limited to computers. The real meaning of hacking is to expand the components of any electronic device; to use them beyond the original intentions of the manufacture.
Hacker is a term used by some "a clever programmer" and by others, especially those in popular media, to mean "someone who tries break into computer systems."

What does ethical hacking means?

After entering 21st century we came across a very useful technical term Internet and that was also open for public use but not in the mass while in comparison of past 10 years we are watching everyone hanging around the sites and even some of them became popular for the term hacking being a hacker to make others web pages hack and get unethical access over all the system and information without owner’s interest.

And now we are also talking about Ethical Hacking, so what the term is this? And why we should all bother about it during handling a website or managing other’s property online being a part time or full time employee or the consultant.

If you are interested to get the exact definition of Ethical Hacking that would really not be different than all the following as below and already out there at the Internet

1). Ethical hacking can be defined as a legal access of an Internet geek in any organization and their online property after their own permission to make it all clear that how secure they are or not.

Or you can say the organization takes a test of their security status online or offline by hiring some expert or an individual.

2). Ethical Hackers are the white hat peoples who use their knowledge for the sake of their countrymen and their security basically online. They also work for cyber crime department under the security departments.

3). Ethical hacking can also be called the term when we get’s access in our own or others account after the recommendations to get that all back what was previously stolen by a hacker.

History of Hacking

Hacking is not limited to computers. The real meaning of hacking is to expand the capabilities of any electronic device; to use them beyond the original intentions of the manufacturer. As a matter of fact, the first hackers appeared in the 1960's at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and their first victims were electric trains. They wanted them to perform faster and more efficiently. So, is hacking always bad? Not really. It only depends on how to use it. But it wasn't until a group of these hackers decided to exert their knowledge in the computer mainframes of the MIT.

Bruce Sterling traces part of the roots of the computer underground to the Yippies, a 1960s counterculture movement which published the Technological Assistance Program (TAP) newsletter.TAP was a phone phreaking newsletter that taught the techniques necessary for the unauthorized exploration of the phone network. Many people from the phreaking community are also active in the hacking community even today, and vice versa.

Hacking Types

1) Inside Jobs - Most security breeches originate inside the network that is under attack. Inside jobs include stealing passwords (which hackers then use or sell), performing industrial espionage, causing harm (as disgruntled employees), or committing simple misuse. Sound policy enforcement and observant employees who guard their passwords and PCs can thwart many of these security breaches.

2) Rogue Access Points - Rogue access points (APs) are unsecured wireless access points that outsiders can easily breech. (Local hackers often advertise rogue APs to each other.) Rogue APs are most often connected by well-meaning but ignorant employees.

3) Back Doors - Hackers can gain access to a network by exploiting back doors administrative shortcuts, configuration errors, easily deciphered passwords, and unsecured dial-ups. With the aid of computerized searchers (bots), hackers can probably find any weakness in your network.

4) Viruses and Worms - Viruses and worms are self-replicating programs or code fragments that attach themselves to other programs (viruses) or machines (worms). Both viruses and worms attempt to shut down networks by flooding them with massive amounts of bogus traffic, usually through e-mail.

5) Trojan Horses - Trojan horses, which are attached to other programs, are the leading cause of all break-ins. When a user downloads and activates a Trojan horse, the hacked software (SW) kicks off a virus, password gobbler, or remote-control SW that gives the hacker control of the PC.

6) Denial of Service - DoS attacks give hackers a way to bring down a network without gaining internal access. DoS attacks work by flooding the access routers with bogus traffic (which can be e-mail or Transmission Control Protocol, TCP, packets).

Classifications

Several subgroups of the computer underground with different attitudes use different terms to demarcate themselves from each other, or try to exclude some specific group with which they do not agree. Eric S. Raymond advocates that members of the computer underground should be called crackers. According to (Clifford R.D. 2006) a cracker or cracking is to "gain unauthorized access to a computer in order to commit another crime such as destroying information contained in that system”. These subgroups may also be defined by the legal status of their activities.

White hat

A white hat hacker breaks security for non-malicious reasons, perhaps to test their own security system or while working for a security company which makes security software. The term "white hat" in Internet slang refers to an ethical hacker. This classification also includes individuals who perform penetration tests and vulnerability assessments within a contractual agreement. The EC-Council, also known as the International Council of Electronic Commerce Consultants has developed certifications, courseware, classes, and online training covering the diverse arena of Ethical Hacking.
Black hat
A "black hat" hacker is a hacker who "violates computer security for little reason beyond maliciousness or for personal gain" Black hat hackers form the stereotypical, illegal hacking groups often portrayed in popular culture, and are "the epitome of all that the public fears in a computer criminal”. Black hat hackers break into secure networks to destroy data or make the network unusable for those who are authorized to use the network. They choose their targets using a two-pronged process known as the "pre-hacking stage".

Differences Between White Hat And A Black Hat Hacker

The difference between black hat and white hat hackers is that white hat hacker uses their skills and knowledge as a way to defend someone from attackers. That means that white hat hackers offer their services to corporations, public organizations and educational institutions.
These services include a complete revision of their computer network security, implementation of new security systems (they may be hardware or software), user training and future recommendations. All these measures will be able to combat unauthorized hacking; black hat hackers, however, will continue trying.

What is Hacktivism?

Hacktivism is the act of hacking, or breaking into a computer system, for a politically or socially motivated purpose. The individual who performs an act of hacktivism is said to be a hacktivist.

Hacktivism is the use of computers and computer networks as a means of protest to promote political ends. The term was first coined in 1996 by a member of the Cult of the Dead Cow hacker collective named Omega. hacking as "illegally breaking into computers" is assumed, and then hacktivism could be defined as "the use of legal and/or illegal digital tools in pursuit of political ends". These tools include web site defacements, redirects, denial-of-service attacks, information theft, web site parodies, virtual sit-ins, typo squatting and virtual sabotage. If hacking as "clever computer usage/programming" is assumed, and then hacktivism could be understood as the writing of code to promote political ideology: promoting expressive politics, free speech, human rights, and information ethics through software development.

A hacktivist uses the same tools and techniques as a hacker, but does so in order to disrupt services and bring attention to a political or social cause. For example, one might leave a highly visible message on the home page of a Web site that gets a lot of traffic or which embodies a point-of-view that is being opposed. Or one might launch a denial-of-service attack to disrupt traffic to a particular site.

How To Prevent Hacker Attacks

Hackers are always looking for a way to get into computers of other persons. It can be something as simple as phising confidential information (like credit card or bank account numbers) to complex hacking routines that use your computer as a repository for illegal content (like music or movies with copyright).

Unfortunately there is no magical software to prevent hackers; and it will never exist. It doesn't matter how much money or resources you invest in designing the perfect system, someone will find the way to crack it. Even the biggest government agencies like NASA, CIA and NSA have been victims of hackers.

Computer hacking and the laws

Computer hacking is illegal and carries a possible sanction of imprisonment. Computer hacking has been thrown into the public eye recently with increasing allegations that certain newspapers hired private investigators to hack into people’s phones and computers in order to obtain stories that would sell.

An increasing concern to all governments around the world is the role of what is known as cyber attacks. Cyber attacks occur when an individual or group of individuals hack into the computer system of a company, association or even government department and attempts to paralyze the system.
The motivation for carrying out a cyber attack can be vast; groups can range from those seeking information to sell on, to interest groups looking to bring down whole companies, and even terrorist groups looking to paralyze government departments.
It is on account of the vast increases in cyber attacks in recent years that government spending has increased dramatically in a bid to protect national security information. Enforcement is taking place, but we have to wonder if computer hacking laws are really having any effect against cyber hacking. This article will show what is being done against cyber crime.

Effectiveness of Computer Hacking Laws

Like any other law, the effectiveness must be determined by its deterrence. While there will always be those that want to see if they can do it, and get away with it (any crime), there are always the many more who may not do something if they are aware of its unlawfulness - and possible imprisonment.

Telecommunication

2012-09-18T00:53:00.001-07:00

We are behind the curve in keeping up with the global telecommunications revolution,”

Telecommunication is the transmission of information.

Telecommunications has been an important part of our culture since the invention of the telegraph in the 1800s. It started as a form of long distance communication. The telegraph provided a way to send messages to people far away, that was faster than sending mail. Over the course of the last century, telecommunications has taken on a whole new purpose and plays a much bigger role in our everyday lives.

In modern times, telecommunications involves the use of electrical devices such as the telegraph, telephone, and teleprompter, as well as the use of radio and microwave communications, as well as fiber optics and their associated electronics, plus the use of the orbiting satellites and the Internet.
A revolution in wireless telecommunications began in the 1900s (decade) with pioneering developments in wireless radio communications by Nikola Tesla and Guglielmo Marconi. Marconi won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1909 for his efforts. Other highly notable pioneering inventors and developers in the field of electrical and electronic telecommunications include Charles Wheatstone and Samuel Morse (telegraph), Alexander Graham Bell (telephone), Edwin Armstrong, and Lee de Forest (radio), as well as John Logie Baird and Philo Farnsworth (television).

Telecommunication systems work by transferring signals from different nodes until they reach their destinations.

History

Ancient systems

Greek hydraulic semaphore systems were used as early as the 4th century BC. The hydraulic semaphores, which worked with water filled vessels and visual signals, functioned as optical telegraphs. However, they could only utilize a very limited range of pre-determined messages, and as with all such optical telegraphs could only be deployed during good visibility conditions.

Systems since the Middle

In 1792, Claude Chappe, a French engineer, built the first fixed visual telegraphy system (or semaphore line) between Lille and Paris. However semaphore systems suffered from the need for skilled operators and the expensive towers at intervals of 10–30 kilometers (6–20 mi). As a result of competition from the electrical telegraph,

Types of Telecommunication Mediums

Radio

According to WCBN, Guglielmo Marconi built his first radio equipment in 1894, and established the world's first radio link in 1899 between England and France. Radio was the first form of telecommunication that served multiple purposes. It provided radio plays and music for entertainment, and newscasts with up-to-date news and information from around the world.

Telephone

telephone-past present

Since the invention of the telephone, devices have dramatically evolved from relatively primitive tools of communication to state-of-the-art mobile multi-communications sources. Gardiner Hubbard formed the first telephone company, the Bell Telephone Company, in 1877. Today the telephone as evolved into the cell phone and is a one-stop hub for all of our communication needs. Cell phones allow you to connect with people on the phone while you stay on the go.

Television

television-past present

According to The History of Television, a German man named Paul Gottlieb Nipkow developed one of the earliest forms of television. As it continued to evolve, there were two different versions being developed: a mechanical version and an electrical version. The mechanical version would eventually be phased out by the electrical. The electrical version was perfected by a 21-year-old inventor named Philo T. Farnsworth in 1927. Over the years, television has become a giant media empire. Today Television has become such an integral part in every human’s life. Television has totally changed our world.

Internet

The most modern means of communication in today’s world. In 1966, a man named Lawrence G. Roberts began developing the idea for an interconnected computer network. According to the Internet Society, it was in October of 1995 that the Federal Networking Council passed a resolution that defined the Internet as "a global information system that is logically linked together by a globally unique address based on the Internet Protocol." The Internet provides you with the opportunity to fulfill all of your communication needs. You can visit sites and listen to the radio, watch your favorite television shows and movies chat with people in a live video chat and stay connected with relatives via email. With the Internet, people in the world are more connected than ever. Internet is a boon to man if used in a proper way.

Types of Telecommunications used today

There are two primary types of telecommunication networks used today. A LAN, local area network, which is privately owned and which is used for short distances. A LAN is usually used on college campuses or in business settings. The other type is a WAN, wide area network. WANS generally connect many different LANs and cover a very large area. Telecommunication networks can be owned, shared or leased from other companies. It is very expensive for one entity to supply all of the necessary mediums, such as fiber optics; therefore many networks share or lease lines with each other.

Components of Telecommunication

Components are the most essential parts of any communication systems. A telecommunication system has three main components. The first component is a transmitter which is used to send information. The information is sent in the form of electrical signals through some type of medium which makes up the second vital component. The third component is the receiver. This component receives the transmitted data and converts it into a form that is readable and understood. Computers, fiber optics and telecommunication's software consist of these components.

Digital technology

Telecommunications is being increasingly dominated by digital technology. A digital transmission carries information in the form of discrete packages of ones and zeros. A computer of some sort will then convert this kind of signal into complex digital information. Previous telecommunications technology, such as the radio, used a continuous analog signal that conveyed information by variations, such as its strength. This type of communication was more subject to distortion and noise interference from other sources.

Telecom Software

As the world of telecom is fast moving from proprietary systems to open standard based systems, a lot of intelligence of networks has shifted to software. The phrase "telecom software", that till very recently, meant applications run by telecom service providers on their computing platforms. Telecom software today broadly means anything from embedded software to content.

Broadly, the telecom software can be classified into three areas, not always mutually exclusive. They are—embedded software, system software, and application software that is used by service providers.
One can classify the nature of development of telecom software work into four categories—development of software for technology systems; the service provider onsite practices including development and integration; product development and services centered around products. But among the four categories the emerging areas seem to be service management, software broadband aggregation platforms.
Almost non-existent a couple of years back, a new breed of telecom software product companies are now targeting the emerging application areas like IP QoS, broadband aggregation, wireless-IP integration, etc.
Telecom towers radiation

With growing concerns over the impact of mobile radiation on human health, telecom towers have to reduce electromagnetic radiation.

Dangers of cell towers have been well-documented over the last decade. Cell tower radiation is indeed hazardous, and more and more people are concerned about it.

Although the telecom industry and federal governments maintain there’s no conclusive evidence of health risks of cell tower radiation, literally dozens of studies world-wide consistently warn us about the dangers.

What will it take to Alert People to the Dangers of Cell Towers?

With so much evidence about cell tower radiation health risks, how is it that governments allow cell phone companies to continue to erect more and more cell towers and antennas? One factor, of course, is that although ever-growing numbers of people are voicing concerns about possible health risks of cells towers, most people want good reception on their phones, wherever they happen to be. And competing cell phone companies are very accommodating; they strive to put up as many cell towers and antennas as they can to keep their far-roaming customers satisfied

Approaches to Minimize the Risks of Radiation

There are several approaches you can take to minimize the risks of living near cell towers:

1. Avoid or minimize your exposure. If you find your home is surrounded by cell towers and moving isn’t an option, you can find some help from specially-formulated EMF protection paint, shielding fabric or shielding glass or tinting for windows.

2. Use EMF protection devices, such as pendants, chips or other protective devices. Good products will ground you into the earth’s electro-magnetic field to strengthen your biofield. This helps to restore cellular function and strengthen your immune system.

3. Reverse the damage that EMFs have already done. Do this through nutritional support, such as with anti-oxidant supplementation, which can counteract the effects of free radicals caused by EMF exposure.

4. The minimum distance of a tower (with two antennas) should be 35 meter from a residential building.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of telecommunication?

Advantages:
Quick and accessible communication
Lack of travel time
Saves time
Saves gasoline (do not have to drive distance)
More than two people can communicate to one another at the same time
Next "best thing" to being there
Easy to exchange ideas and information via phone and/or fax
World Wide access
Disadvantages:
Remote areas do not have access
Remote areas may not be able to afford necessary equipment
Cannot see whom you are speaking with
Cannot see facial expressions, therefore leads to misunderstandings
Cultural barriers
Poor connections or downed power lines during/after storms

Hazardous effects on public health by telecom towers

Communication in the Future

Communication has grown significantly over the past decades. The world was once unable to carry on conversation using voice telephones. Just as people once rode horses instead of driving vehicles, communications have improved drastically over the years.

The inceptions of the cellular telephone, wireless internet and other technologies have given people the ability to contact and communicate with others from virtually anywhere in the world and at any time

Communication is a major topic in society. With the many steps that have been taken to bring the world the communication devices of today, it stands to reason that as more and more researchers and scientists work to develop newer devices, the technology of the future could be quite substantial.
Conclusion

Telecommunications have changed the world. The increasing globalization that has spread to almost all parts of daily life is very much a result of the improvement in telecommunications technology. Understanding the basics of telecommunication will help you to better understand the way that the modern world is being changed every day by this technology. People around the world have been brought closer to each other through telecommunications as the planet becomes a "global village." Let’s take this analogy one step further and deduce the future of telecommunications. If computing is embedded in everything and connectivity becomes everywhere, then we can imagine a world in which communication devices are less visible and information flows less intrusively.

If we look at telecommunication, the primary intent has been to communicate across a distance.

CLOUD COMPUTING

2012-09-12T00:55:00.002-07:00

Every few years a new technology comes along, drives new efficiencies and reduces costs. While this is welcomed by user organizations, there is a flip side to the happy story. One among them is cloud computing………

Cloud computing is the use of computing resources (hardware and software) that are delivered as a service over a network (typically the Internet). The name comes from the use of a cloud-shaped symbol as an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it contains in system diagrams. Cloud computing entrusts remote services with a user's data, software and computation.

There are many types of public cloud computing

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)
Platform as a service (PaaS)
Software as a service (SaaS)
Storage as a service (STaaS)
Security as a service (SECaaS)
Data as a service (DaaS)
Test environment as a service (TEaaS)
Desktop as a service (DaaS)
API as a service (APIaaS)

Cloud computing relies on sharing of resources to achieve coherence and economies of scale similar to a utility (like the electricity grid) over a network. At the foundation of cloud computing is the broader concept of converged infrastructure and shared services.

History

The origin of the term cloud computing is obscure, but it appears to derive from the practice of using drawings of stylized clouds to denote networks in diagrams of computing and communications systems. The word cloud is used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on the standardized use of a cloud-like shape to denote a network on telephony schematics and later to depict the Internet in computer network diagrams as an abstraction of the underlying infrastructure it represents. The cloud symbol was used to represent the Internet as early as 1994.

In the 1990s, telecommunications companies who previously offered primarily dedicated point-to-point data circuits began offering virtual private network (VPN) services with comparable quality of service but at a much lower cost. By switching traffic to balance utilization as they saw fit, they were able to utilize their overall network bandwidth more effectively. The cloud symbol was used to denote the demarcation point between that which was the responsibility of the provider and that which was the responsibility of the users. Cloud computing extends this boundary to cover servers as well as the network infrastructure.

In early 2008, Eucalyptus became the first open-source, AWS API-compatible platform for deploying private clouds. In early 2008, OpenNebula, enhanced in the RESERVOIR European Commission-funded project, became the first open-source software for deploying private and hybrid clouds, and for the federation of clouds. In the same year, efforts were focused on providing quality of service guarantees (as required by real-time interactive applications) to cloud-based infrastructures, in the framework of the IRMOS European Commission-funded project, resulting to a real-time cloud environment.

On March 1, 2011, IBM announced the Smarter Computing framework to support Smarter Planet. Among the various components of the Smarter Computing foundation, cloud computing is a critical piece.

In 2012, Dr. Biju John and Dr. Souheil Khaddaj describe the cloud as a virtualized, semantic source of information: "Cloud computing is a universal collection of data which extends over the internet in the form of resources (such as information hardware, various platforms, services etc.) and forms individual units within the virtualization environment.

What Is Cloud Computing?

Personal cloud computing means having every piece of data you need for every aspect of your life at your fingertips and ready for use. Data must be mobile, transferable, and instantly accessible. The key to enabling the portable and interactive you is the ability to synch up your data among your devices, as well as access to shared data. Shared data is the data we access online in any number of places, such as social networks, banks, blogs, newsrooms, paid communities, etc.

Ultimately, your personal cloud—which includes everything from your address book and music collection to your reports and documents for work—will connect to the public cloud and other personal clouds. Everything connects. That means every place on the Internet you interact with, as well as every person you interact with can be connected.

USES OF CLOUD COMPUTING

Some of the user benefits of cloud computing are:

1. Users only pay for the services that they consume.

2. Since several people will be using a single computing resource, software licensing will be simplified.

3. Users need not worry about upgrading and maintaining the software. This will be handled by the cloud service provider.

4. Users need not purchase expensive PCs with huge, monolithic operating systems. They will only need to implement a simple PC – perhaps just a “net-book” PC running the new Google OS – to access the powerful applications running in the cloud. These simple inexpensive PCs are known as “thin clients.”

5. Extremely low power thin clients may be used to access cloud resources, thus saving on power consumption.

6. Thin clients need not have advanced software, so there will be fewer dead PCs in our landfills.

7. Users may enjoy ubiquitous access to their applications, whether they’re in a hotel bar or sitting at home in front of the TV.

TYPES OF CLOUD COMPUTING

Public cloud

Public cloud applications, storage, and other resources are made available to the general public by a service provider. These services are free or offered on a pay-per-use model. Generally, public cloud service providers like Amazon AWS, Microsoft and Google own and operate the infrastructure and offer access only via Internet (direct connectivity is not offered).

Community cloud

Community cloud shares infrastructure between several organizations from a specific community with common concerns (security, compliance, jurisdiction, etc.), whether managed internally or by a third-party and hosted internally or externally. The costs are spread over fewer users than a public cloud (but more than a private cloud), so only some of the cost savings potential of cloud computing are realized.
hybrid cloud
Hybrid cloud is a composition of two or more clouds (private, community or public) that remain unique entities but are bound together, offering the benefits of multiple deployment models.
By utilizing "hybrid cloud" architecture, companies and individuals are able to obtain degrees of fault tolerance combined with locally immediate usability without dependency on internet connectivity. Hybrid cloud architecture requires both on-premises resources and off-site (remote) server-based cloud infrastructure.
Hybrid clouds lack the flexibility, security and certainty of in-house applications. Hybrid cloud provides the flexibility of in house applications with the fault tolerance and scalability of cloud based services.

Private cloud

Private cloud is cloud infrastructure operated solely for a single organization, whether managed internally or by a third-party and hosted internally or externally. Undertaking a private cloud project requires a significant level and degree of engagement to virtualize the business environment, and it will require the organization to reevaluate decisions about existing resources. When it is done right, it can have a positive impact on a business, but every one of the steps in the project raises security issues that must be addressed in order to avoid serious vulnerabilities.
They have attracted criticism because users "still have to buy, build, and manage them" and thus do not benefit from less hands-on management, essentially "[lacking] the economic model that makes cloud computing such an intriguing concept".
CLOUD ENGINEERING-SAVE HUMANITY!!!
Experiments should be carried out into creating artificial clouds to fight global warming, scientists have argued. Clouds generated by special ships at sea would reflect solar heat back into space, so serving to cool the planet. In fact that's exactly what is happening, so - assuming for the moment that global warming is a real and terrible menace

In essence the idea would be to exploit the already-known phenomenon of "ship clouds", where vessels underway at sea find a long trail of cloud forming behind them. At the moment this is generally a case of water droplets coalescing around particulates emitted from the ship's exhaust funnel, but this would be impractical and polluting on a scale that could affect the global climate.

Rather, the idea being touted here is to use special vessels which would spout huge amounts of sea salt particles - generated from the ocean - into the air as they went along. Water droplets should then form around the particles, creating long-lived clouds that wouldn't have any polluting qualities

CLOUD COMPUTING SECURITY

As cloud computing is achieving increased popularity, concerns are being voiced about the security issues introduced through adoption of this new model. The effectiveness and efficiency of traditional protection mechanisms are being reconsidered as the characteristics of this innovative deployment model can differ widely from those of traditional architectures. An alternative perspective on the topic of cloud security is that this is but another, although quite broad, case of "applied security" and that similar security principles that apply in shared multi-user mainframe security models apply with cloud security.
The relative security of cloud computing services is a contentious issue that may be delaying its adoption. Physical control of the Private Cloud equipment is more secure than having the equipment off site and under someone else’s control. Physical control and the ability to visually inspect the data links and access ports is required in order to ensure data links are not compromised. Issues barring the adoption of cloud computing are due in large part to the private and public sectors' unease surrounding the external management of security-based services. It is the very nature of cloud computing-based services, private or public, that promote external management of provided services.

Cloud Computing Architecture

· The Cloud Computing Architecture of a cloud solution is the structure of the system, which comprises of on-premise and cloud resources, services, middleware, and software components, their geo-location, their externally visible properties and the relationships between them.

Cloud architecture typically involves multiple cloud components communicating with each other over a loose coupling mechanism such as a messaging queue. Elastic provisioning implies intelligence in the use of tight or loose coupling of cloud resources, services, middleware, and software components.

In the area of cloud computing, protection depends on having the right architecture for the right application. Organizations must understand the individual requirements of their applications, and if already using a cloud platform, understand the corresponding cloud architecture.

A cloud computing architecture consists of a front end and a back end. They connect to each other through a network, usually the Internet. The front end is the side the computer user, or client, sees. The back end is the “cloud” section of the system.
Advantages of Cloud computing Architecture:

reduced administration effort
contract flexibility (pay as you go)
availability and elasticity

Cloud computing's the future

In an era of rapid technological obsolescence, no computing device's future is assured. With cloud computing offering unparalleled convenience and portability to the user, the same could be said for the future of the personal computer. Cloud computing means that people can have access to their digital files and software on the go, with little more needed to access them than simple input and output devices as well as an internet connection. Amazon has launched two new products, Cloud Drive and Cloud Player, which allow users to tap cloud computing and store all their music and video files on a network of remote storage facilities. While such bold new products ensure ease and affordability for current users, they also herald a future where not only the denizens of New York and London but also the poor from India to Africa, can take advantage of the opportunities provided by computers.
The view of cloud computing remains mixed as the technology brings benefits and risks in equal measures

COMPUTER SCIENCE & HUMANITIES

2012-09-07T03:09:00.001-07:00

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“Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes, biology about microscopes, or chemistry about beakers and test tubes. Science is not about tools. It is about how we use them, and what we find out when we do.”
                                                     -Michael Fellows and Ian Parberry

There is no discipline today that has not been affected by computing. From the fine arts to the natural sciences, computers are used to enable creativity, enhance skills, and explore new horizons.

WHAT IS MEANT BY Humanities?

The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences.

The humanities include ancient and modern languages, literature, history, philosophy, religion, and visual and performing arts such as music and theatre. The humanities that are also regarded as social sciences include history, anthropology, area studies, communication studies, cultural studies, folklore, law and linguistics

Origin of the term

The word "humanities" is derived from the Renaissance Latin expression studia humanitatis, or "study of humanitas" (a classical Latin word meaning -- in addition to "humanity" -- "culture, refinement, education" and, specifically, an "education befitting a cultivated man"). In its usage in the early 15th century, the studia humanitatis was a course of studies that consisted of grammar, poetry, rhetoric, history, and moral philosophy, primarily derived from the study of Latin and Greek classics. The word humanitas also gave rise to the Renaissance Italian neologism umanisti, whence "humanist"

Truth, meaning, and the humanities

The divide between humanistic study and natural sciences informs arguments of meaning in humanities as well. What distinguishes the humanities from the natural sciences is not a certain subject matter, but rather the mode of approach to any question. Humanities focuses on understanding meaning, purpose, and goals and furthers the appreciation of singular historical and social phenomena—an interpretive method of finding “truth”—rather than explaining the causality of events or uncovering the truth of the natural world. Apart from its societal application, narrative imagination is an important tool in the (re)production of understood meaning in history, culture and literature.

HUMANTIES IN DIGITAL AGE

Researchers in the humanities have developed numerous large- and small-scale digital corpora, such as digitized collections of historical texts, along with the digital tools and methods to analyze them. Their aim is both to uncover new knowledge about corpora and to visualize research data in new and revealing ways. The field in which much of this activity occurs is called the Digital Humanities

Digital humanities

Digital Humanities in the Computer Science

Computer Science has played a critical role in many areas of inquiry, but nowhere are the potential implications greater than in the Humanities. We are transforming the ways in which we can relate to the past and understand the relationship of that past to the world in which we live. We need a new generation of researchers who can develop new methods from the computational sciences to advance the intellectual life of humanity. Computer Science now provides unique opportunities for emerging researchers with an interest in the Digital Humanities to develop those interests. Computer Science provides a framework in which students with a strong background in some area of the Humanities can develop research and teaching agendas that bridge the gap between Computer Science and areas within the Humanities.

Why are the humanities important?

Insights into Everything

Through exploration of the humanities we learn how to think creatively and critically, to reason, and to ask questions. Because these skills allow us to gain new insights into everything from poetry and paintings to business models and politics, humanistic subjects have been at the heart of a liberal arts education since the ancient Greeks first used to them to educate their citizens.

Understanding Our World

Research into the human experience adds to our knowledge about our world. Through the work of humanities scholars, we learn about the values of different cultures, about what goes into making a work of art, about how history is made. Their efforts preserve the great accomplishments of the past, help us understand the world we live in, and give us tools to imagine the future.

Bringing Clarity to the Future

Today, humanistic knowledge continues to provide the ideal foundation for exploring and understanding the human experience. Investigating a branch of philosophy might get you thinking about ethical questions. Learning another language might help you gain an appreciation for the similarities in different cultures. Contemplating a sculpture might make you think about how artist's life affected her creative decisions. Reading a book from another region of the world might help you think about the meaning of democracy. Listening to history course might help you to have a better understanding of the past, while at the same time giving you a clearer picture of what the future holds.

Why is it important for this generation to have a humanistic education?

A humanistic education trains students in critical thinking and writing, and it develops their abilities not only to reason, but to appreciate the non-rational aspects of our lives and cultures. We are bombarded every day by images and expressions of beauty, of genius, of imagination, and even—perhaps too often—of aggression and violence. A humanistic education trains students to analyze and appreciate that which extends beyond the bounds of logic. I think that is necessary to understand humanity. More and more employers today are seeking individuals with this kind of training. If students can get better jobs because of their humanistic education, that’s great, but the most valuable gift they’ll receive from that education is that they will gain a broader perspective on the world and their contributions within it.

It is true that humanities study, unlike technical training in, say, carpentry or bookkeeping, prepares students not for any specific occupation, but for an unpredictable variety of occupations. But as many before us have rightly pointed out, in an unpredictable marketplace this kind of versatility is actually an advantage. "The usefulness of the humanities" paradoxically "derives precisely from their detachment from any immediate or particular utility.

How is humanities research reshaping our future?

Humanities research often involves an individual professor researching in a library in order to write a book. The books that result from this study are part of an ongoing dialogue about the meaning and possibilities of human existence that reaches back to ancient times and looks forward to our common future. A hallmark of humanistic study is that research is approached differently than in the natural and social sciences, where data and hard evidence are required to draw conclusions. Because the human experience cannot be adequately captured by facts and figures alone, humanities research employs methods that are historical, interpretive and analytical in nature.

Conclusion

Humanities computing can contribute substantially to the growing interest in putting the cultural heritage on the Internet, not only for academic users, but also for lifelong learners and the general public. Tools and techniques developed in humanities computing will facilitate the study of this material and, as the Perseus Project is showing, the incorporation of computational linguistics techniques can add a new dimension. Our tools and techniques can also assist research in facilitating the digitization and encoding processes, where we need to find ways of reducing the costs of data creation without loss of scholarly value or of functionality.

Through the Internet, humanities computing is reaching a much wider audience, and students graduating from the new programs being offered will be in a position to work not only in academia, but also in electronic publishing, educational technologies, and multimedia development. Throughout its history, humanities computing has shown a healthy appetite for imagination and innovation while continuing to maintain high scholarly standards. Now that the Internet is such a dominant feature of everyday life, the opportunity exists for humanities computing to reach out much further than has hitherto been possible.

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

2012-09-03T02:32:00.003-07:00

An embedded system is a computer system designed for specific control functions within a larger system, often with real-time computing constraints. It is embedded as part of a complete device often including hardware and mechanical parts. By contrast, a general-purpose computer, such as a personal computer (PC), is designed to be flexible and to meet a wide range of end-user needs. Embedded systems control many devices in common use today
Embedded systems contain processing cores that are typically either microcontrollers or digital signal processors (DSP)The key characteristic, however, is being dedicated to handle a particular task. Since the embedded system is dedicated to specific tasks, design engineers can optimize it to reduce the size and cost of the product and increase the reliability and performance. Some embedded systems are mass-produced, benefiting from economies of scale.
Physically, embedded systems range from portable devices such as digital watches and MP3 players, to large stationary installations like traffic lights, factory controllers, or the systems controlling nuclear power plants.

Telecommunications systems employ numerous embedded systems from telephone switches for the network to mobile phones at the end-user. Computer networking uses dedicated routers and network bridges to route data.

HISTORY

Since these early applications in the 1960s, embedded systems have come down in price and there has been a dramatic rise in processing power and functionality. The first microprocessor for example, the Intel 4004, was designed for calculators and other small systems but still required many external memory and support chips. In 1978 National Engineering Manufacturers Association released a "standard" for programmable microcontrollers, including almost any computer-based controllers, such as single board computers, numerical, and event-based controllers

The integration of microcontrollers has further increased the applications for which embedded systems are used into areas where traditionally a computer would not have been considered. A general purpose and comparatively low-cost microcontroller may often be programmed to fulfill the same role as a large number of separate components. Although in this context an embedded system is usually more complex than a traditional solution, most of the complexity is contained within the microcontroller itself

APPLICATIONS

Embedded System Applications describes the latest techniques for embedded system design in a variety of applications. This includes some of the latest software tools for embedded system design. Applications of embedded system design in avionics, satellites, radio astronomy, space and control systems are illustrated in separate chapters. Finally, the book contains chapters related to industrial best-practice in embedded system design.
Embedded System Applications will be of interest to researchers and designers working in the design of embedded systems for industrial applications.

Embedded Systems has witnessed tremendous growth in the last one decade. Almost all the fast developing sectors like automobile, aeronautics, space, rail, mobile communications, and electronic payment solutions have witnessed increased use of Embedded technologies and their applications. Greater value to mobility is one of the prominent reasons for the rise and development of Embedded technologies.

Initially, Embedded Systems were used for large, safety-critical and business-critical applications that included

Rocket & satellite control
Energy production control
Telephone switches
Air Traffic Control

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS

If ever there is an industry that has reaped the benefits to Embedded Technology, for sure, it is only Telecommunications. The Telecom industry utilizes numerous embedded systems from telephone switches for the network to mobile phones at the end-user. The Telecom computer network also uses dedicated routers and network bridges to route data.

Embedded engineers help in ensuring high-speed networking. This is the most critical part of embedded applications. The Ethernet switches and network interfaces are designed to provide the necessary bandwidth. These will allow in rapidly incorporating Ethernet connections into advanced Embedded applications.Embedded application types range from high availability telecom and networking applications to rugged industrial and military environments.

Consumer Electronics

Consumer electronics has also benefited a lot from Embedded technologies. Consumer electronics includes

Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)
MP3 players
Mobile phones
Videogame consoles
Digital cameras
DVD players
GPS receivers
Printers

Even the household appliances, that include microwave ovens, washing machines and dishwashers, are including embedded systems to provide flexibility, efficiency and features. The latest in Embedded applications are seen as advanced HVAC systems that uses networked thermostats to more accurately and efficiently control temperature.

In the present times, home automation solutions are being increasingly built on Embedded technologies. Home automation includes wired and wireless-networking to control lights, climate, security, audio/visual, surveillance, etc., all of which use embedded devices for sensing and controlling.

User interface

Embedded systems range from no user interface at all — dedicated only to one task — to complex grafical user interface that resemble modern computer desktop operating systems. Simple embedded devices use buttons, LEDs, graphic or character LCD (for example popular HD44780 LCD) with a simple menu system.

More sophisticated devices which use a graphical screen with touch sensing or screen-edge buttons provide flexibility while minimizing space used: the meaning of the buttons can change with the screen, and selection involves the natural behavior of pointing at what's desired

Debugging

Embedded debugging may be performed at different levels, depending on the facilities available. From simplest to most sophisticated they can be roughly grouped into the following areas:

Interactive resident debugging, using the simple shell provided by the embedded operating system (e.g. Forth and Basic)
External debugging using logging or serial port output to trace operation using either a monitor in flash or using a debug server like the Remedy Debugger which even works for heterogeneous multicore systems.
An in-circuit debugger (ICD), a hardware device that connects to the microprocessor via a JTAG or Nexus interface. This allows the operation of the microprocessor to be controlled externally, but is typically restricted to specific debugging capabilities in the processor.
An in-circuit emulator (ICE) replaces the microprocessor with a simulated equivalent, providing full control over all aspects of the microprocessor.

Reliability

Embedded systems often reside in machines that are expected to run continuously for years without errors, and in some cases recover by themselves if an error occurs. Therefore the software is usually developed and tested more carefully than that for personal computers, and unreliable mechanical moving parts such as disk drives, switches or buttons are avoided.

Specific reliability issues may include:

The system cannot safely be shut down for repair, or it is too inaccessible to repair. Examples include space systems, undersea cables, navigational beacons, bore-hole systems, and automobiles.
The system must be kept running for safety reasons. "Limp modes" are less tolerable. Often backups are selected by an operator. Examples include aircraft navigation, reactor control systems, safety-critical chemical factory controls, train signals.
The system will lose large amounts of money when shut down: Telephone switches, factory controls, bridge and elevator controls, funds transfer and market making, automated sales and service

EMBEDDED SOFTWARE

Embedded software is computer software that plays an integral role in the electronics it is supplied with.
Embedded software's principal role is not information technology (i.e. it is not about information and the technologies related to providing information services), but rather the interaction with the physical world. It's written for machines that are not, first and foremost, computers. Manufacturers 'build in' embedded software in the electronics in cars, telephones, audio equipment, robots, appliances, toys, security systems, pacemakers, televisions and digital watches, for example. This software can become very sophisticated in applications such as airplanes, missiles, and process control systems

COMPONENTS OF EMBEDDED SOFTWARE:

(1) Control Software: Control Software (also known as firmware) is responsible for managing (and synchronizing) different modules of the system.
(2) Computation Extensive Software : Computational Software is responsible for performing Mathematical and Logical Operations on the Input Data. The output of this processing can either be sent back (to another system), or stored (in systems memory) for later use, or can be used by the control software to take certain decisions (and do further processing based on these decisions).
(3) Device Drivers: Device Drivers are Software Modules which control System's Peripheral. (j) User Interface: This software is responsible for collecting user inputs (from input devices like keypad or touch screen) and providing “ User Menu ” or “System Status ” to the User (through Display Devices)
(4) Operating System (optional) : Operating System is a software which manages the different resources (CPU, Memory, Peripherals) of a system and provides a abstration of the underlying hardware to the Users. Application developers can develop their applications (to be run on the Operating System) without having to learn much about the underlying Hardware. Operating System is optional in Embedded Systems (unlike Desktop environment where it is the most essential software).

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS IN PRESENT WORLD

Modern embedded systems, however, are increasingly taking on characteristics of general-purpose systems. Their functionality is growing, and so is the amount and complexity of their software.Yet some of the old differences to general-purpose systems remain. Embedded devices are still real-time systems (or at least part of the software is real-time).At the same time, embedded systems, already ubiquitous, are becoming more and more part of everyday life, to the degree that it is becoming hard to imagine living without them. They are increasingly used in mission- and life-critical scenarios. Correspondingly, there are high and increasing requirements on safety, reliability and security.

Human Computer Interface

2012-08-29T00:42:00.002-07:00

Human–computer Interaction (HCI) involves the study, planning, and design of the interaction between people (users) and computers. It is often regarded as the intersection of computer science, behavioral sciences, design and several other fields of studyInteraction between users and computers occurs at the user

Interface (or simply interface), which includes both software and hardware; for example, characters or objects displayed by software on a personal computer's monitor, input received from users via hardware peripherals such as keyboards and mouses, and other user interactions with large-scale computerized systems such as aircraft and power plants. The Association for Computing Machinery defines human-computer interaction as "a discipline concerned with the design, evaluation and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use and with the study of major phenomena surrounding them."An often-sought facet of HCI is the securing of user satisfaction (see Computer user satisfaction), although user satisfaction is not the same thing as user performance by most meaningful metrics.

Because human–computer interaction studies a human and a machine in conjunction, it draws from supporting knowledge on both the machine and the human side. On the machine side, techniques in computer graphics, operating systems, programming languages, and development environments are relevant. On the human side, communication theory, graphic and industrial design disciplines, linguistics, social sciences, cognitive psychology, and human factors such as computer user satisfaction are relevant. Engineering and design methods are also relevant. Due to the multidisciplinary nature of HCI, people with different backgrounds contribute to its success. HCI is also sometimes referred to as man–machine interaction (MMI) or computer–human interaction (CHI).

What is Human–computer interface?

The human–computer interface can be described as the point of communication between the human user and the computer. The flow of information between the human and computer is defined as the loop of interaction. The loop of interaction has several aspects to it including:

· Task environment: The conditions and goals set upon the user.

· Machine environment: The environment that the computer is connected to, e.g. a laptop in a college student's dorm room.

· Areas of the interface: Non-overlapping areas involve processes of the human and computer not pertaining to their interaction. Meanwhile, the overlapping areas only concern themselves with the processes pertaining to their interaction.

· Input flow: The flow of information that begins in the task environment, when the user has some task that requires using their computer.

· Output: The flow of information that originates in the machine environment.

· Feedback: Loops through the interface that evaluate, moderate, and confirm processes as they pass from the human through the interface to the computer and back

Goals of HCI

· A basic goal of HCI is to improve the interactions between users and computers by making computers more usable and receptive to the user's needs. Specifically, HCI is concerned with:

· methodologies and processes for designing interfaces (i.e., given a task and a class of users, design the best possible interface within given constraints, optimizing for a desired property such as learnability or efficiency of use)

· methods for implementing interfaces (e.g. software toolkits and libraries; efficient algorithms)

· techniques for evaluating and comparing interfaces

· developing new interfaces and interaction techniques

· developing descriptive and predictive models and theories of interaction

A long term goal of HCI is to design systems that minimize the barrier between the human's cognitive model of what they want to accomplish and the computer's understanding of the user's task.

Future of HCI

The future for HCI, based on current promising research, is expected to include the following characteristics:

· Ubiquitous communication. Computers are expected to communicate through high speed local networks, nationally over wide-area networks, and portably via infrared, ultrasonic, cellular, and other technologies. Data and computational services will be portably accessible from many if not most locations to which a user travels.

· High-functionality systems. Systems can have large numbers of functions associated with them. There are so many systems that most users, technical or non-technical, do not have time to learn them in the traditional way (e.g., through thick manuals).

· Mass availability of computer graphics. Computer graphics capabilities such as image processing, graphics transformations, rendering, and interactive animation are becoming widespread as inexpensive chips become available for inclusion in general workstations and mobile devices.

· Mixed media. Commercial systems can handle images, voice, sounds, video, text, formatted data. These are exchangeable over communication links among users. The separate worlds of consumer electronics (e.g., stereo sets, VCRs, televisions) and computers are partially merging. Computer and print worlds are expected to cross-assimilate each other.

· High-bandwidth interaction. The rate at which humans and machines interact is expected to increase substantially due to the changes in speed, computer graphics, new media, and new input/output devices. This can lead to some qualitatively different interfaces, such as virtual reality or computational video.

· Large and thin displays. New display technologies are finally maturing, enabling very large displays and displays that are thin, lightweight, and low in power consumption. This is having large effects on portability and will likely enable the development of paper-like, pen-based computer interaction systems very different in feel from desktop workstations of the present.

· Information utilities. Public information utilities (such as home banking and shopping) and specialized industry services (e.g., weather for pilots) are expected to proliferate. The rate of proliferation can accelerate with the introduction of high-bandwidth interaction and the improvement in quality of interfaces.

Factors of change

Human–computer interaction is affected by the forces shaping the nature of future computing. These forces include:

· Decreasing hardware costs leading to larger memory and faster systems

· Miniaturization of hardware leading to portability

· Reduction in power requirements leading to portability

· New display technologies leading to the packaging of computational devices in new forms

· Specialized hardware leading to new functions

· Increased development of network communication and distributed computing

· Increasingly widespread use of computers, especially by people who are outside of the computing profession

· Increasing innovation in input techniques (e.g., voice, gesture, pen), combined with lowering cost, leading to rapid computerization by people previously left out of the "computer revolution."

· Wider social concerns leading to improved access to computers by currently disadvantaged groups

BIOINFORMATICS

2012-08-16T04:38:00.004-07:00

Bioinformatics is a branch of biological science which deals with the study of methods for storing, retrieving and analyzing biological data, such as nucleic acid (DNA/RNA) and protein sequence, structure, function, pathways and genetic interactions. It generates new knowledge that is useful in such fields as drug design and development of new software tools to create that knowledge. Bioinformatics also deals with algorithms, databases and information systems, web technologies, artificial intelligence and soft computing, information and computation theory, structural biology, software engineering, data mining, image processing, modeling and simulation, discrete mathematics, control and system theory, circuit theory, and statistics.
Commonly used software tools and technologies in this field include Java, XML, Perl, C, C++, Python, R, MySQL, SQL, CUDA, MATLAB, and Microsoft Excel.

Building on the recognition of the importance of information transmission, accumulation and processing in biological systems, in 1978 Paulien Hogeweg, coined the termed "Bioinformatics" to refer to the study of information processes in biotic systems . This definition placed bioinformatics as field parallel to biophysics and biochemistry. Examples of relevant biological information processes studied in the early days of bioinformatics are the formation of complex social interaction structures by simple behavioral rules, and the information accumulation and maintenance in models of prebiotic evolution.

At the beginning of the "genomic revolution", the term bioinformatics was re-discovered to refer to the creation and maintenance of a database to store biological information such as nucleotide sequences and amino acid sequences. Development of this type of database involved not only design issues but the development of complex interfaces whereby researchers could access existing data as well as submit new or revised data.

In order to study how normal cellular activities are altered in different disease states, the biological data must be combined to form a comprehensive picture of these activities. Therefore, the field of bioinformatics has evolved such that the most pressing task now involves the analysis and interpretation of various types of data. This includes nucleotide and amino acid sequences, protein domains, and protein structures. The actual process of analyzing and interpreting data is referred to as computational biology. Important sub-disciplines within bioinformatics and computational biology include:

the development and implementation of tools that enable efficient access to, and use and management of, various types of information.
the development of new algorithms (mathematical formulas) and statistics with which to assess relationships among members of large data sets. For example, methods to locate a gene within a sequence, predict protein structure and/or function, and cluster protein sequences into families of related sequences.

The primary goal of bioinformatics is to increase the understanding of biological processes. What sets it apart from other approaches, however, is its focus on developing and applying computationally intensive techniques to achieve this goal. Examples include: pattern recognition, data mining, machine learning algorithms, and visualization. Major research efforts in the field include sequence alignment, gene finding, genome assembly, drug design, drug discovery, protein structure alignment, protein structure prediction, prediction of gene expression and protein–protein interactions, genome-wide association studies and the modeling of evolution.

Interestingly, the term bioinformatics was coined before the "genomic revolution". Paulien Hogeweg and Ben Hesper defined the term in 1978 to refer to "the study of information processes in biotic systems". This definition placed bioinformatics as a field parallel to biophysics or biochemistry (biochemistry is the study of chemical processes in biological systems). However, its primary use since at least the late 1980s has been to describe the application of computer science and information sciences to the analysis of biological data, particularly in those areas of genomics involving large-scale DNA sequencing.

Bioinformatics now entails the creation and advancement of databases, algorithms, computational and statistical techniques and theory to solve formal and practical problems arising from the management and analysis of biological data.

Over the past few decades rapid developments in genomic and other molecular research technologies and developments in information technologies have combined to produce a tremendous amount of information related to molecular biology. Bioinformatics is the name given to these mathematical and computing approaches used to glean understanding of biological processes.
Common activities in bioinformatics include mapping and analyzing DNA and protein sequences, aligning different DNA and protein sequences to compare them, and creating and viewing 3-D models of protein structures.

There are two fundamental ways of modelling a Biological system (e.g., living cell) both coming under Bioinformatic approaches.

Static
- Sequences – Proteins, Nucleic acids and Peptides
- Structures – Proteins, Nucleic acids, Ligands (including metabolites and drugs) and Peptides
- Interaction data among the above entities including microarray data and Networks of proteins, metabolites
Dynamic
- Systems Biology comes under this category including reaction fluxes and variable concentrations of metabolites
- Multi-Agent Based modelling approaches capturing cellular events such as signalling, transcription and reaction dynamics

A broad sub-category under bioinformatics is structural bioinformatics.

Brainwaves into Speech

2012-08-16T00:51:00.000-07:00

Attempt To Convert Prof Hawking’s Brainwaves Into Speech

An American scientist is to unveil details of work on the brain patterns of Prof Stephen Hawking which he says could help safeguard the physicist’s ability to communicate.

Prof Philip Low said he eventually hoped to allow Prof Hawking to “write” words with his brain as an alternative to his current speech system which interprets cheek muscle movements.

Prof Low said the innovation would avert the risk of locked-in syndrome.

Intel is working on an alternative.

Prof Hawking was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 1963. In the 1980s he was able to use slight thumb movements to move a computer cursor to write sentences.
His condition later worsened and he had to switch to a system which detects movements in his right cheek through an infrared sensor attached to his glasses which measures changes in light.

Because the nerves in his face continue to deteriorate his rate of speech has slowed to about one word a minute prompting him to look for an alternative.

The fear is that Prof Hawking could ultimately lose the ability to communicate by body movement, leaving his brain effectively “locked in” his body.

In 2011, he allowed Prof Low to scan his brain using the iBrain device developed by the Silicon Valley-based start-up Neurovigil.

Prof Hawking will not attend the consciousness conference in his home town of Cambridge where Prof Low intends to discuss his findings, but a spokesman told the BBC: “Professor Hawking is always interested in supporting research into new technologies to help him communicate.”

Decoding brainwaves

The iBrain is a headset that records brain waves through EEG (electroencephalograph) readings – electrical activity recorded from the user’s scalp.

Prof Low said he had designed computer software which could analyse the data and detect high frequency signals that had previously been thought lost because of the skull.”

An analogy would be that as you walk away from a concert hall where there’s music from a range of instruments,” he told the BBC.”As you go further away you will stop hearing high frequency elements like the violin and viola, but still hear the trombone and the cello. Well, the further you are away from the brain the more you lose the high frequency patterns.

The iBrain device collects EEG data which it transfers to a computer

“What we have done is found them and teased them back using the algorithm so they can be used.”
Prof Low said that when Prof Hawking had thought about moving his limbs this had produced a signal which could be detected once his algorithm had been applied to the EEG data.
He said this could act as an “on-off switch” and produce speech if a bridge was built to a similar system already used by the cheek detection system.

Prof Low said further work needed to be done to see if his equipment could distinguish different types of thoughts – such as imagining moving a left hand and a right leg.
If it turns out that this is the case he said Prof Hawking could use different combinations to create different types of virtual gestures, speeding up the rate he could select words at.
To establish whether this is the case, Prof Low plans trials with other patients in the US.

Intel’s effort

The US chipmaker Intel announced, in January, that it had also started work to create a new communication system for Prof Hawking after he had asked the firm’s co-founder, Gordon Moore, if it could help him.

It is attempting to develop new 3D facial gesture recognition software to speed up the rate at which Prof Hawking can write.

“These gestures will control a new user interface that takes advantage of the multi-gesture vocabulary and advances in word prediction technologies,” a spokeswoman told the BBC.

“We are working closely with Professor Hawking to understand his needs and design the system accordingly.”

Intel began working with Prof Hawking after he wrote a letter to its co-founder Gordon Moore in 2011

Source : techpark.net