Heritage Day Ceremonies
PHILADELPHIA, June 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- DuPont Senior Vice
President and Chief Science & Technology Officer Thomas M. Connelly, Jr. was
presented the 2005 "Award for Executive Excellence" as part of the Chemical
Heritage Foundation "Heritage Day 2005" ceremonies yesterday.
The award is given annually to an individual who has made an outstanding
contribution in the field of commercial development and marketing in the
chemical and allied industries. The Award for Executive Excellence is
sponsored by the Commercial Development and Marketing Association (CDMA).
Chairman of the CDMA Awards Committee Dr. Larry Drum said, "With extensive
experience at every level of technology innovation, in Europe, the Pacific
Rim, and the United States, Dr. Connelly has consistently demonstrated
strategic thinking, innovation and superior technology management vital to
DuPont as well as to the chemical industry. For this important role, CDMA is
proud to present the award."
During the ceremony, Connelly was recognized for being instrumental in
leading the company toward products based on renewable resources. Under his
guidance, DuPont has built on its resident core strengths in polymer science,
chemistry, math, physics and engineering, while broadening its technology
scope by adding world-class capabilities in biology and information science.
This shift from the traditional petrochemical-based businesses is exemplified
by DuPont's collaborative development of the biological process for 1,3
propanediol which forms the basis for a family of new polymers, including
DuPont(TM) Sorona(R). Integration from crop science to final nutritional
products that consumers now know as Solae(R), through a joint venture between
DuPont and Bunge, is another example of how DuPont has been able to capitalize
on technology throughout the value chain.
"I am honored to receive the Award for Executive Excellence," Dr. Connelly
said. "It is a further demonstration that my peers and colleagues recognize
DuPont's efforts to create and deliver new innovations to the global
marketplace."
A chemical engineer and an economist, Dr. Connelly became senior vice
president and chief science and technology officer on Sept. 1, 2000, after
serving as vice president and general manager of DuPont Fluoroproducts. His
leadership has taken him across the company and around the world in positions
that included responsibility for products such as DuPont(TM) Kevlar(R) to
Delrin(R), and Geneva to Hong Kong.
Dr. Connelly graduated with highest honors from Princeton University with
degrees in chemical engineering and economics. As a Winston Churchill
Scholar, he received his doctorate in chemical engineering from the University
of Cambridge in 1977, and subsequently joined DuPont as a research engineer in
the Elastomer Chemicals Department based in Wilmington, Del.
Previous recipients of the Award for Executive Excellence include:
Madeleine Jacobs - CEO, American Chemical Society; Carl Jennings - BASF;
Raj Gupta - Rohm & Haas; Vince Calarco - Crompton Corp.; Hap Wagner -
Air Products & Chemicals, Inc.; Donald Rumsfeld - Searle; Hal Sorgenti - Arco;
and Al Giacco - Hercules.
For further information on the Award for Executive Excellence ceremony and
to find out more about the Commercial Development and Marketing Association,
go to: http://www.cdmaonline.org. To request a photo, or additional content
for publication, please email: Info@cdmaonline.org or call 215-564-3484.
DuPont (NYSE: DD) is a science company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts
science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a better,
safer, healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than
70 countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services
for markets including agriculture, nutrition, electronics, communications,
safety and protection, home and construction, transportation and apparel.
The DuPont Oval, DuPont(TM), The miracles of science(TM), and Sorona(R),
Kevlar(R) and Delrin(R), are registered trademarks or trademarks of DuPont or
its affiliates.
Solae(R) is a registered trademark of Solae, LLC.
Friday, June 10, 2005
Insuring Strategic Development and Adequate ROI in Information Technology at the Fitech
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 10, 2005--marcus evans' 3rd annual Fitech Summit will be held from September 18-20, 2005 in New York City. The program is designed to meet the critical information technology needs of the finance industry and will provide a vital insight into effectively tackling the challenges of Maximizing Systems Utility, Cost Cutting, Operational Risk, Security Management, and Regulatory Compliance.
Since most companies' financial reporting and operations depend heavily on information technology, the Fitech Summit program delivers a great diversity of knowledge exchange opportunities geared to ensure each delegate is able to tailor a program most directly suited to their individual needs.
Key topics "Utilizing Information Technology to Sustain Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance," "Examining the Relationship Between Risk and Information Security" and "Can IP Telephony Systems Meet the Challenges of Corporate America?" will be addressed by industry pundits such as Jon Farrar, VP, Predictive Modeling Department, Union Bank of California; Lillibett Machado, VP, Corporate Business Continuity Manager of Amegy Bank of Texas and Sam DeKay, AVP, Information Security for Bank of New York.
The speaker line-up includes:
-- Joe Bernik, Head of Technology Risk Management, ABN Amro
-- Jim Nelms, Chief Information Security officer, The World Bank
-- James McGovern, Chief Architect, Hartford Financial Services
-- Kenneth Belva, Information Security Officer, Credit Industrial et Commercial
-- Scott Mc Gluan, CIO, Synovus Financial Corp.
-- Christopher Keegan, SVP, Information Risk Group Lead of Marsh Inc.
-- Sean Robinson, Business Continuity Officer, The World Bank
-- Roseann Mc Sorley, Director Business Continuity Mgmt Americas, Deutsche Bank
About marcus evans
marcus evans, one of the world's leading business information companies, is dedicated to the provision of global business intelligence and information to assist in strategic and effective decision-making. Established in 1983, the company's international network of offices creates major sector-focused events for business learning and networking opportunities across a variety of industries and professions.
Every year marcus evans produces more than 150 of the world's leading business and economic summits for senior-level decision makers. Held at locations around the world, these events provide attendees with a unique opportunity to individually tailor their schedules of keynote presentations, think tanks, seminars and one-on-one business meetings to provide an effective, highly focused interactive event.
For more information, please visit our web site at http://www.fitechsummit.com/ or http://www.marcusevans.com/
Contacts
marcus evans Modou Diagne, 246-431-5329Fax: 888-844-4901
financeevents@marcusevansbb.com
http://www.fitechsummit.com/
Since most companies' financial reporting and operations depend heavily on information technology, the Fitech Summit program delivers a great diversity of knowledge exchange opportunities geared to ensure each delegate is able to tailor a program most directly suited to their individual needs.
Key topics "Utilizing Information Technology to Sustain Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance," "Examining the Relationship Between Risk and Information Security" and "Can IP Telephony Systems Meet the Challenges of Corporate America?" will be addressed by industry pundits such as Jon Farrar, VP, Predictive Modeling Department, Union Bank of California; Lillibett Machado, VP, Corporate Business Continuity Manager of Amegy Bank of Texas and Sam DeKay, AVP, Information Security for Bank of New York.
The speaker line-up includes:
-- Joe Bernik, Head of Technology Risk Management, ABN Amro
-- Jim Nelms, Chief Information Security officer, The World Bank
-- James McGovern, Chief Architect, Hartford Financial Services
-- Kenneth Belva, Information Security Officer, Credit Industrial et Commercial
-- Scott Mc Gluan, CIO, Synovus Financial Corp.
-- Christopher Keegan, SVP, Information Risk Group Lead of Marsh Inc.
-- Sean Robinson, Business Continuity Officer, The World Bank
-- Roseann Mc Sorley, Director Business Continuity Mgmt Americas, Deutsche Bank
About marcus evans
marcus evans, one of the world's leading business information companies, is dedicated to the provision of global business intelligence and information to assist in strategic and effective decision-making. Established in 1983, the company's international network of offices creates major sector-focused events for business learning and networking opportunities across a variety of industries and professions.
Every year marcus evans produces more than 150 of the world's leading business and economic summits for senior-level decision makers. Held at locations around the world, these events provide attendees with a unique opportunity to individually tailor their schedules of keynote presentations, think tanks, seminars and one-on-one business meetings to provide an effective, highly focused interactive event.
For more information, please visit our web site at http://www.fitechsummit.com/ or http://www.marcusevans.com/
Contacts
marcus evans Modou Diagne, 246-431-5329Fax: 888-844-4901
financeevents@marcusevansbb.com
http://www.fitechsummit.com/
Bank to Spend Sh600m On Technology Upgrade
Equity Bank is to spend up to Sh600 million to upgrade its computer technology.
It has contracted three technology firms to provide solutions for its branch network, automated teller machine (ATM) rollouts and product diversification.
Infosys will provide the universal banking solution known as Finacle.
Hewlett Packard will offer data centre expertise and Oracle the database solutions.
To run the core banking software, Hewlett Packard will install what Equity calls a state-of-the-art data centre with enterprise systems capable of handling over 10,000 transactions a second.
This will include a comprehensive disaster recovery site focused on ensuring the integrity and availability of customer data.
"These installations will make us the first Kenyan Bank to install hard partition risk- based servers and blade server farms by embracing server consolidation and virtualisation principles," said Ken Mbwaya of Hewlett Packard East Africa. Oracle, for its part, will strengthen Equity's data security systems.
Infosys, a global software solutions and business consulting company, is listed on the technology-heavy stock market known in the US as Nasdaq, but based in Bangalore, India.
Providing details of the bank's technology project at the Serena Hotel yesterday, managing director James Mwangi said: "Our customers will enjoy, among other services, Internet banking, point-of-sale deposits, ATM services, true secure mobile banking, SMS alerts and greater customer- profiled products," said Mr Mwangi.
Relevant Links
East Africa ICT and Telecom Banking and Insurance Company News Kenya
"We are excited at this opportunity to provide a Kenyan bank with new generation technology to support its aggressive expansion plans," said Infosys' vice-president and head of global sales and marketing, Mr Merwin Fernandes.
Mr Mwangi added that Equity would continue to invest in new technologies to help drive its customer-based micro-finance sector.
It has contracted three technology firms to provide solutions for its branch network, automated teller machine (ATM) rollouts and product diversification.
Infosys will provide the universal banking solution known as Finacle.
Hewlett Packard will offer data centre expertise and Oracle the database solutions.
To run the core banking software, Hewlett Packard will install what Equity calls a state-of-the-art data centre with enterprise systems capable of handling over 10,000 transactions a second.
This will include a comprehensive disaster recovery site focused on ensuring the integrity and availability of customer data.
"These installations will make us the first Kenyan Bank to install hard partition risk- based servers and blade server farms by embracing server consolidation and virtualisation principles," said Ken Mbwaya of Hewlett Packard East Africa. Oracle, for its part, will strengthen Equity's data security systems.
Infosys, a global software solutions and business consulting company, is listed on the technology-heavy stock market known in the US as Nasdaq, but based in Bangalore, India.
Providing details of the bank's technology project at the Serena Hotel yesterday, managing director James Mwangi said: "Our customers will enjoy, among other services, Internet banking, point-of-sale deposits, ATM services, true secure mobile banking, SMS alerts and greater customer- profiled products," said Mr Mwangi.
Relevant Links
East Africa ICT and Telecom Banking and Insurance Company News Kenya
"We are excited at this opportunity to provide a Kenyan bank with new generation technology to support its aggressive expansion plans," said Infosys' vice-president and head of global sales and marketing, Mr Merwin Fernandes.
Mr Mwangi added that Equity would continue to invest in new technologies to help drive its customer-based micro-finance sector.
Macronix unveals 2-bit per cell NOR Flash technology
by Derek Sooman on Fri 10 Jun 2005, 11:38 AM
Macronix have developed a new technology which will allow a NOR Flash memory device to store twice the amount of data, and still keep the die within the dimensions of the product sizes we are used to. The 2-bit per cell approach employed makes use of a new nitride-based multiple bits per cell technology, which will help to keep costs down. Typically, silicon-based floating gate NOR Flash memory products can physically store only one bit of information in each cell. The firm's "NBit" technology, however, physically stores two bits of information in each cell: The nitride-based cell "traps" the charge on one side of the cell and the charge does not flow to the other side of the cell unlike floating gate cells. As a result, another charge can be stored physically on the other side of the cell providing two bits per cell. Programming of each bit is performed by hot electron injection, erase is performed by band to band tunneling, and read by the reverse read mechanism.
Macronix have developed a new technology which will allow a NOR Flash memory device to store twice the amount of data, and still keep the die within the dimensions of the product sizes we are used to. The 2-bit per cell approach employed makes use of a new nitride-based multiple bits per cell technology, which will help to keep costs down. Typically, silicon-based floating gate NOR Flash memory products can physically store only one bit of information in each cell. The firm's "NBit" technology, however, physically stores two bits of information in each cell: The nitride-based cell "traps" the charge on one side of the cell and the charge does not flow to the other side of the cell unlike floating gate cells. As a result, another charge can be stored physically on the other side of the cell providing two bits per cell. Programming of each bit is performed by hot electron injection, erase is performed by band to band tunneling, and read by the reverse read mechanism.
IBM expands open source hardware group
While Apple's departure leaves eyes distinctly dry
By Manek Dubash, Techworld
Power.org, a sui-disant open source organisation based around IBM's Power instruction set, has just expanded. It shows, said IBM, the health of the open source movement, this time in hardware not just software.
Eleven new members joined the 17-strong organisation which describes itself as "dedicated to accelerating collaborative innovation on the Power microprocessor technology". Among the innovations on show at the Barcelona conference where the new members were announced was a parallel processor architecture from small, 15-person start-up Rapport.
Rapport aims to harness large numbers of simple, parallel processors -- somewhat similar to the original 8088 PC chip, according to marketing VP Debby Hinds. Applications for such chips, dubbed Kilocore, include replacing large single or dual-core CPUs while generating much less heat because they run at a much lower clock speed. The kinds of tasks to which they might be put, said Hinds, include compute-intensive jobs for which massively parallel embedded processing is inherently suited, such as pattern recognition, VoIP and encryption.
Other companies present at the conference included Thales, which announced a new Power-based avionics system designed specifically for use in cutting-edge avionics development and military embedded applications.
Apple departure leaves dry eyes behindAmong the delegates Techworld spoke to, few seemed fazed by the departure, announced just 24 hours before, of one of the Power chip's most prominent - if not necessarily the most profitable - users: Apple. If anything, the attitude was that it made little difference, given that Apple's volumes are low, with just two percent of the PC market.
The stock market agreed, and IBM's shares barely shifted on the news. Big Blue makes chips for a range of other customers as well as its own servers. And with other customers such as Sony and Microsoft having selected IBM chips for the latest generation of Xbox, analysts do not expect too many tears to be shed when Apple finally folds its tent. Instead the tears, if any, look likely to be shed mainly by the Mac faithful who will end up funding Apple's third change of fundamental platform.
By Manek Dubash, Techworld
Power.org, a sui-disant open source organisation based around IBM's Power instruction set, has just expanded. It shows, said IBM, the health of the open source movement, this time in hardware not just software.
Eleven new members joined the 17-strong organisation which describes itself as "dedicated to accelerating collaborative innovation on the Power microprocessor technology". Among the innovations on show at the Barcelona conference where the new members were announced was a parallel processor architecture from small, 15-person start-up Rapport.
Rapport aims to harness large numbers of simple, parallel processors -- somewhat similar to the original 8088 PC chip, according to marketing VP Debby Hinds. Applications for such chips, dubbed Kilocore, include replacing large single or dual-core CPUs while generating much less heat because they run at a much lower clock speed. The kinds of tasks to which they might be put, said Hinds, include compute-intensive jobs for which massively parallel embedded processing is inherently suited, such as pattern recognition, VoIP and encryption.
Other companies present at the conference included Thales, which announced a new Power-based avionics system designed specifically for use in cutting-edge avionics development and military embedded applications.
Apple departure leaves dry eyes behindAmong the delegates Techworld spoke to, few seemed fazed by the departure, announced just 24 hours before, of one of the Power chip's most prominent - if not necessarily the most profitable - users: Apple. If anything, the attitude was that it made little difference, given that Apple's volumes are low, with just two percent of the PC market.
The stock market agreed, and IBM's shares barely shifted on the news. Big Blue makes chips for a range of other customers as well as its own servers. And with other customers such as Sony and Microsoft having selected IBM chips for the latest generation of Xbox, analysts do not expect too many tears to be shed when Apple finally folds its tent. Instead the tears, if any, look likely to be shed mainly by the Mac faithful who will end up funding Apple's third change of fundamental platform.
IBM's New Services WinsIBM reminds everyone that the best margins are in services; On Demand message absent
by Demir Barlas
IBM has signed three new services deals, with Danish telecommunications company TDC, Australian financial data and services provider Fiserv, and aluminum building product manufacturer YKK of Japan.
The Fiserv contract is worth $38 million. The value of the other deals was not disclosed, although it's a fair bet that, given the market's increasing distaste for high dollar, high risk deals, they are not massively different in scale than the Fiserv deal. One proof point, in the TDC instance, lies in the circumscribed nature of the deal and TDC's use of other service providers. "While TDC is using IBM to manage its ERP applications, it's keeping the management of its OSS/BSS applications internal, through the use of TDC Services. This is where Capgemini comes in, providing inexpensive labor to TDC Services," noted analyst Dominique Raviart of Ovum Senior Analyst at Ovum.
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But the monetary value of the deals isn't of sole importance here. More to the point, the deals serve as a reminder that, during a time in which IBM is getting squeezed in certain segments of middleware and hardware, the expertise and breadth of the company's services remains an irreplaceable and highly profitable (contrasted to, say, the personal computer business) part of the Big Blue mystique.
Previously, the services message was tied very closely to IBM's On Demand message but, in a fascinating omission given the amount of money and energy IBM has put into messaging, the phrase "on demand" did not seem to appear in any of IBM's press material surrounding the new deals.
IBM has signed three new services deals, with Danish telecommunications company TDC, Australian financial data and services provider Fiserv, and aluminum building product manufacturer YKK of Japan.
The Fiserv contract is worth $38 million. The value of the other deals was not disclosed, although it's a fair bet that, given the market's increasing distaste for high dollar, high risk deals, they are not massively different in scale than the Fiserv deal. One proof point, in the TDC instance, lies in the circumscribed nature of the deal and TDC's use of other service providers. "While TDC is using IBM to manage its ERP applications, it's keeping the management of its OSS/BSS applications internal, through the use of TDC Services. This is where Capgemini comes in, providing inexpensive labor to TDC Services," noted analyst Dominique Raviart of Ovum Senior Analyst at Ovum.
if ((!document.images && navigator.userAgent.indexOf('Mozilla/2.') >= 0) navigator.userAgent.indexOf("WebTV")>= 0)
{
document.write('');
document.write('')
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But the monetary value of the deals isn't of sole importance here. More to the point, the deals serve as a reminder that, during a time in which IBM is getting squeezed in certain segments of middleware and hardware, the expertise and breadth of the company's services remains an irreplaceable and highly profitable (contrasted to, say, the personal computer business) part of the Big Blue mystique.
Previously, the services message was tied very closely to IBM's On Demand message but, in a fascinating omission given the amount of money and energy IBM has put into messaging, the phrase "on demand" did not seem to appear in any of IBM's press material surrounding the new deals.
IBM fights back after losing chip customer
New York's IBM is moving quickly to ensure strong sales of its Power processor in the wake of long-time customer Apple Computer's switch to Intel chips.
The California company's decision to switch from IBM to Intel chips was a blow to Big Blue, but the venerable computer giant responded with new specifications and software to make it easier to build computers using the forthcoming Power-based Cell processor that IBM, Toshiba and Sony developed.
IBM also announced it has new customers in medical imaging and in defense, said Nigel Beck, chairman of the Power.org consortium.
The company also went on the public relations offensive, arguing in a new section of its Web site that most growth in the processor market is taking place with servers, game consoles and mobile devices -- markets where Power is used -- not PCs.
Apple has been an IBM chip customer for more than 10 years.(UPI)
The California company's decision to switch from IBM to Intel chips was a blow to Big Blue, but the venerable computer giant responded with new specifications and software to make it easier to build computers using the forthcoming Power-based Cell processor that IBM, Toshiba and Sony developed.
IBM also announced it has new customers in medical imaging and in defense, said Nigel Beck, chairman of the Power.org consortium.
The company also went on the public relations offensive, arguing in a new section of its Web site that most growth in the processor market is taking place with servers, game consoles and mobile devices -- markets where Power is used -- not PCs.
Apple has been an IBM chip customer for more than 10 years.(UPI)
IBM debuts new top-end Intel server
Stephen Shankland, CNET News.com,
IBM on Wednesday announced a new top end to its xSeries server family, a machine that accommodates as many as 32 of Intel's latest Xeon processors.
The x460 is built using IBM's x3 chipset, which permits four-processor modules with interconnecting cables to be stacked together into a larger system. That technique means customers buying a system they might want to expand later don't have to pay for a large chassis with just a few processors.
The machines use Intel's newest Xeon MP processor, code-named Potomac, which is geared for multiprocessor servers. It's the first such model that includes 64-bit features to easily accommodate more than 4GB of memory, and servers built for it will be able to accept a successor scheduled to arrive in early 2006 that has dual-processing engines called cores.
First versions of the x460, with either four or eight processors, will be generally available June 17, said Jay Bretzmann, a director in IBM's xSeries high-performance division. A machine with eight 3.33GHz Xeon MP processors will have a price of $72,182. In July, customers will be able to link more of the 5.25-inch-tall cabinets together to make machines with as many as 32 processors.
IBM's approach to the Intel server market changed in 1998, when Big Blue began work on in-house chipsets--the supporting chips that link processors to one another and to other computer subsystems. The x460 uses IBM's third-generation chipset for Intel servers, called the x3.
Big Blue's strategy mirrors that of competitor Sun Microsystems, which is designing high-end servers that use a rival x86 processor: Advanced Micro Devices' Opteron. The two leaders of the x86 server market, Hewlett-Packard and Dell, both have backed away from plans for higher-end x86 servers and sell only models with four processor sockets.
But IBM believes Intel, not AMD, is the best way to go for high-end servers.
"We continue to evaluate whether that makes sense," Bretzmann said of IBM's Opteron evaluation. "But in the commercial space, all we would really do is confuse the sales force and maybe suboptimize our investment. We think we've made the right bet with the Intel architecture. It's the most validated, the most reliable, and customers accept it."
Opteron has put Intel on the defensive, though. "Intel's 64-bit Xeon processors hoed a fairly tough row in a market where AMD's first-to-market Opteron processors set the pace," Pund-IT analyst Charles King said in a report on Wednesday. Opteron chips introduced 64-bit support to the x86 market in 2003, and dual-core models are available today.
IBM sells dual-processor Opteron servers for high-performance computing tasks. An Opteron blade server, the LS20, is scheduled to become available later this month.
The x460 is a big brother to the four-processor x366 introduced in February.
The last top-end model, called the x445, packed processors more densely--as many as eight in a 7-inch-high cabinet. The newer model takes up more space, with four processors in a 5.25-inch high cabinet, because IBM had to accommodate the heat thrown off by the dual-core Xeon processors to come, Bretzmann said.
IBM initially said the x445 would work in 32-processor configurations, but the company only advised its use with 16 processors because of the 64GB memory limit, Bretzmann said. With the 64-bit Xeon chips, the x460 can handle as much as 512GB of memory.
The x460 works with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3, Suse Linux Enterprise Server 9, and server versions of Microsoft Windows. Support for the newer RHEL 4 is scheduled for the third quarter of the year.
IBM on Wednesday announced a new top end to its xSeries server family, a machine that accommodates as many as 32 of Intel's latest Xeon processors.
The x460 is built using IBM's x3 chipset, which permits four-processor modules with interconnecting cables to be stacked together into a larger system. That technique means customers buying a system they might want to expand later don't have to pay for a large chassis with just a few processors.
The machines use Intel's newest Xeon MP processor, code-named Potomac, which is geared for multiprocessor servers. It's the first such model that includes 64-bit features to easily accommodate more than 4GB of memory, and servers built for it will be able to accept a successor scheduled to arrive in early 2006 that has dual-processing engines called cores.
First versions of the x460, with either four or eight processors, will be generally available June 17, said Jay Bretzmann, a director in IBM's xSeries high-performance division. A machine with eight 3.33GHz Xeon MP processors will have a price of $72,182. In July, customers will be able to link more of the 5.25-inch-tall cabinets together to make machines with as many as 32 processors.
IBM's approach to the Intel server market changed in 1998, when Big Blue began work on in-house chipsets--the supporting chips that link processors to one another and to other computer subsystems. The x460 uses IBM's third-generation chipset for Intel servers, called the x3.
Big Blue's strategy mirrors that of competitor Sun Microsystems, which is designing high-end servers that use a rival x86 processor: Advanced Micro Devices' Opteron. The two leaders of the x86 server market, Hewlett-Packard and Dell, both have backed away from plans for higher-end x86 servers and sell only models with four processor sockets.
But IBM believes Intel, not AMD, is the best way to go for high-end servers.
"We continue to evaluate whether that makes sense," Bretzmann said of IBM's Opteron evaluation. "But in the commercial space, all we would really do is confuse the sales force and maybe suboptimize our investment. We think we've made the right bet with the Intel architecture. It's the most validated, the most reliable, and customers accept it."
Opteron has put Intel on the defensive, though. "Intel's 64-bit Xeon processors hoed a fairly tough row in a market where AMD's first-to-market Opteron processors set the pace," Pund-IT analyst Charles King said in a report on Wednesday. Opteron chips introduced 64-bit support to the x86 market in 2003, and dual-core models are available today.
IBM sells dual-processor Opteron servers for high-performance computing tasks. An Opteron blade server, the LS20, is scheduled to become available later this month.
The x460 is a big brother to the four-processor x366 introduced in February.
The last top-end model, called the x445, packed processors more densely--as many as eight in a 7-inch-high cabinet. The newer model takes up more space, with four processors in a 5.25-inch high cabinet, because IBM had to accommodate the heat thrown off by the dual-core Xeon processors to come, Bretzmann said.
IBM initially said the x445 would work in 32-processor configurations, but the company only advised its use with 16 processors because of the 64GB memory limit, Bretzmann said. With the 64-bit Xeon chips, the x460 can handle as much as 512GB of memory.
The x460 works with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3, Suse Linux Enterprise Server 9, and server versions of Microsoft Windows. Support for the newer RHEL 4 is scheduled for the third quarter of the year.
Tivoli Database Delivers IBM Middleware
VARs will soon have less to wrestle with when trying to bring IBM's Tivoli, Rational, WebSphere and DB2 middleware in concert with one another.By Dan Neel CRN
VARs will soon have less to wrestle with when trying to bring IBM's Tivoli, Rational, WebSphere and DB2 middleware in concert with one another.
Scheduled for availability later this year, IBM's Tivoli Change and Configuration Management Database (CCMDB) will advance IBM's efforts toward autonomic computing by offering tighter integration among Tivoli, Rational, WebSphere and DB2, said Bob Madey, vice president of strategic marketing management at Tivoli, an IBM business unit based in Austin, Texas. Wizardike "tool mentors" within CCMDB will also help VARs consult on and implement customer deployments along IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) best practices, he said.
One significant improvement is that task-level automation has been taken up a notch, providing a way to automatically communicate an application change across all related databases. By doing so, CCMDB will better orchestrate large IT networks through increased awareness of application changes, said Madey.
"CCMDB is a very strong piece of the autonomic computing puzzle," said Madey. "It integrates the separate silos of IT expertise by alerting everyone involved in an application of a change."
Without CCMDB, Michael Roy, president of Blue World Information Technology, a security-centric IBM VAR in Seattle, said he has been having to "build WebSphere Business Integration hooks into Tivoli software" on his own. With CCMDB, Roy said he expects to save time and reduce complexity, with very little risk, adding "[CCMDB is] all based on proven elements, not a new gamble."
"In the past, the framework that was the basis for much of the monitoring software in Tivoli was tough to implement, but that's being replaced as well. That's another excellent improvement," said Roy.
From the customer perspective, CCMDB will improve interdepartmental communication, increase organizational productivity, extend application life spans and help keep organizations within their compliance guidelines, said Madey.
To help stage a CCMDB deployment, IBM will roll out platform implementation tools called Tivoli Process Managers, said Madey. These systems will offer modeling environments that resellers can use in consultation with customers to determine the most efficient way to structure and outfit a CCMDB setup.
"If you are going to execute a certain process, like release management, [Process Managers] say, 'Here is the process, and here are the point products you need,' " said Madey. "Then once the modeling is done, it exports the plan out of the modeler into the process choreographer in the CCMDB."
The Process Managers can act as templates for ITIL deployments, but what's more important is how much time they can save a VAR in deploying an efficient Tivoli framework, said Blue World's Roy. "IBM is unique in that they are leveraging other leading WebSphere tools, including the WebSphere Business Integration elements and Rational ClearCase, as a repository for models. The overall approach is quick to set up," he said.
"We are looking at it this way: We build solutions based on elements of several of the IBM middleware pillars: Tivoli, WebSphere, Rational, etc. If existing processes can at least be defined and then optimized, that's an excellent starting point. It's a simpler migration into the platform that Tivoli is preparing," he said.
Pricing for CCMDB will be announced when the product nears availability later this year, said Madey.
VARs will soon have less to wrestle with when trying to bring IBM's Tivoli, Rational, WebSphere and DB2 middleware in concert with one another.
Scheduled for availability later this year, IBM's Tivoli Change and Configuration Management Database (CCMDB) will advance IBM's efforts toward autonomic computing by offering tighter integration among Tivoli, Rational, WebSphere and DB2, said Bob Madey, vice president of strategic marketing management at Tivoli, an IBM business unit based in Austin, Texas. Wizardike "tool mentors" within CCMDB will also help VARs consult on and implement customer deployments along IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) best practices, he said.
One significant improvement is that task-level automation has been taken up a notch, providing a way to automatically communicate an application change across all related databases. By doing so, CCMDB will better orchestrate large IT networks through increased awareness of application changes, said Madey.
"CCMDB is a very strong piece of the autonomic computing puzzle," said Madey. "It integrates the separate silos of IT expertise by alerting everyone involved in an application of a change."
Without CCMDB, Michael Roy, president of Blue World Information Technology, a security-centric IBM VAR in Seattle, said he has been having to "build WebSphere Business Integration hooks into Tivoli software" on his own. With CCMDB, Roy said he expects to save time and reduce complexity, with very little risk, adding "[CCMDB is] all based on proven elements, not a new gamble."
"In the past, the framework that was the basis for much of the monitoring software in Tivoli was tough to implement, but that's being replaced as well. That's another excellent improvement," said Roy.
From the customer perspective, CCMDB will improve interdepartmental communication, increase organizational productivity, extend application life spans and help keep organizations within their compliance guidelines, said Madey.
To help stage a CCMDB deployment, IBM will roll out platform implementation tools called Tivoli Process Managers, said Madey. These systems will offer modeling environments that resellers can use in consultation with customers to determine the most efficient way to structure and outfit a CCMDB setup.
"If you are going to execute a certain process, like release management, [Process Managers] say, 'Here is the process, and here are the point products you need,' " said Madey. "Then once the modeling is done, it exports the plan out of the modeler into the process choreographer in the CCMDB."
The Process Managers can act as templates for ITIL deployments, but what's more important is how much time they can save a VAR in deploying an efficient Tivoli framework, said Blue World's Roy. "IBM is unique in that they are leveraging other leading WebSphere tools, including the WebSphere Business Integration elements and Rational ClearCase, as a repository for models. The overall approach is quick to set up," he said.
"We are looking at it this way: We build solutions based on elements of several of the IBM middleware pillars: Tivoli, WebSphere, Rational, etc. If existing processes can at least be defined and then optimized, that's an excellent starting point. It's a simpler migration into the platform that Tivoli is preparing," he said.
Pricing for CCMDB will be announced when the product nears availability later this year, said Madey.
IBM To Add Blade Servers To Deal Registration Plan
IBM is preparing to add xSeries blade servers to its deal registration program, but some partners worry that the strategy may not be well-suited to the volatile blade market.
Adding blades to what IBM calls its "bid certification" program may protect solution providers' margins, but the process can take too long, said Joe Vaught, COO of PCPC, an IBM business partner in Houston.
"Is bid certification good for blades? Yes, it is, and no, it's not," Vaught said. He said certification could eliminate last-minute swooping of deals by large national product resellers. But he said it can take several days to certify a deal, which works for pSeries deals, but may not work as well in the fast-moving industry standard server market.
"Several days is forever [with] the xSeries," he said. "If you're slow [at closing the deal], it gets all over the world [to competitors]."
Nevertheless, IBM is moving to extend its bid certification beyond pSeries, iSeries and high-end xSeries servers to blades.
"We are looking at expanding bid certification for blades," confirmed Towney Kennard, vice president of IBM Business Partners, Americas. "Where our partners are going after incremental blade business against Unix boxes, that's a little heavier lifting. What they tell us is that they don't want to go in and do the heavy lifting and not be protected for their efforts."
Bid certification is designed to preserve margins for the partners that develop business opportunities by locking out aggressive 11th hour bids from other IBM solution providers. Under the program, a partner first registers an opportunity, then submits documentation proving that his or her company actually generated demand for the IBM solution. The certified partner then is the only one that receives the full discount for the product, effectively locking out low-margin bids from other solution providers.
But IBM business partners point out that a blade deal in an account could take months to develop. And once the initial Blade Centers are installed, the customer populates the chassis with individual blade servers over time as needed. Because of this, while the initial deal would be protected under the current bid certification plan, the back-end blade server business still would be vulnerable to commodity competitors.
"This is a major issue for us," said Bill Larsen, CEO of Computech Resources, an IBM partner in Green Bay, Wis. "In trying to convert customers into an enterprise-level [blade] deal, sometimes that's a year or two effort, and after that, it's a commodity and the customer just orders it from CDW."
Larsen said he would like to see some time extension attached to blade deals that would protect him beyond the initial sale. Rollout for a large deal could take six months or a year, he said. "If it's [bid certification] on every little deal, it creates an administrative nightmare for us."
Kennard, meanwhile, said IBM is sensitive to the add-on issue in blade server projects and is looking fora solution before extending bid certification to blades. "Once you're certified and win one of these [deals], for a set of upgrades and additions, you'll be protected for a period of time," he said. "We haven't decided whether it will be 60, 90 or 180 days, but it will be something like that."
Business partners said adding time to the blade certification will help but won't solve all problems. "If I close the deal, there are going to be some add-ons and growth,[so] I think it's fair to give me 90 days or some kind of lock on my costs," Vaught said.
Figuring out how to protect business partner margins in the blade market is a critical issue for IBM because of the explosive growth in blade servers. IDC reported the worldwide blade server shipments grew more than 68 percent in the first quarter of 2005 compared with the first quarter of 2004.
Adding blades to what IBM calls its "bid certification" program may protect solution providers' margins, but the process can take too long, said Joe Vaught, COO of PCPC, an IBM business partner in Houston.
"Is bid certification good for blades? Yes, it is, and no, it's not," Vaught said. He said certification could eliminate last-minute swooping of deals by large national product resellers. But he said it can take several days to certify a deal, which works for pSeries deals, but may not work as well in the fast-moving industry standard server market.
"Several days is forever [with] the xSeries," he said. "If you're slow [at closing the deal], it gets all over the world [to competitors]."
Nevertheless, IBM is moving to extend its bid certification beyond pSeries, iSeries and high-end xSeries servers to blades.
"We are looking at expanding bid certification for blades," confirmed Towney Kennard, vice president of IBM Business Partners, Americas. "Where our partners are going after incremental blade business against Unix boxes, that's a little heavier lifting. What they tell us is that they don't want to go in and do the heavy lifting and not be protected for their efforts."
Bid certification is designed to preserve margins for the partners that develop business opportunities by locking out aggressive 11th hour bids from other IBM solution providers. Under the program, a partner first registers an opportunity, then submits documentation proving that his or her company actually generated demand for the IBM solution. The certified partner then is the only one that receives the full discount for the product, effectively locking out low-margin bids from other solution providers.
But IBM business partners point out that a blade deal in an account could take months to develop. And once the initial Blade Centers are installed, the customer populates the chassis with individual blade servers over time as needed. Because of this, while the initial deal would be protected under the current bid certification plan, the back-end blade server business still would be vulnerable to commodity competitors.
"This is a major issue for us," said Bill Larsen, CEO of Computech Resources, an IBM partner in Green Bay, Wis. "In trying to convert customers into an enterprise-level [blade] deal, sometimes that's a year or two effort, and after that, it's a commodity and the customer just orders it from CDW."
Larsen said he would like to see some time extension attached to blade deals that would protect him beyond the initial sale. Rollout for a large deal could take six months or a year, he said. "If it's [bid certification] on every little deal, it creates an administrative nightmare for us."
Kennard, meanwhile, said IBM is sensitive to the add-on issue in blade server projects and is looking fora solution before extending bid certification to blades. "Once you're certified and win one of these [deals], for a set of upgrades and additions, you'll be protected for a period of time," he said. "We haven't decided whether it will be 60, 90 or 180 days, but it will be something like that."
Business partners said adding time to the blade certification will help but won't solve all problems. "If I close the deal, there are going to be some add-ons and growth,[so] I think it's fair to give me 90 days or some kind of lock on my costs," Vaught said.
Figuring out how to protect business partner margins in the blade market is a critical issue for IBM because of the explosive growth in blade servers. IDC reported the worldwide blade server shipments grew more than 68 percent in the first quarter of 2005 compared with the first quarter of 2004.
IBM's Chip Shift Will Blunt Apple Effect
IBM's Chip Shift Will Blunt Apple EffectJune 10, 2005 10:52AM "Despite the potential customer loss, IBM's ramp of video game business over the next year will likely far exceed the loss of Apple business," Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore said. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Don't be surprised if you achieve your business goals sooner. Introducing PlanView Enterprise. You can now align IT with your business strategies, elevate your company's IT performance and increase enterprise-wide visibility. For details, visit www.planview.com/enterprise --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Apple Computer Inc.'s decision to use PC chips made by Intel Corp. may not have as great an impact on current chip supplier IBM as some investors might suppose at first glance. That's because IBM has been shifting its emphasis in recent years away from PC chips to those used to power other types of devices, especially video game players, several analysts wrote Monday. IBM is supplying the microprocessors that will act as the brains for the next generation of best-selling video game consoles, including Microsoft's Xbox 360 , Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Revolution. Even though the average selling prices of those chips are estimated to be lower than those sold to Apple, the volume of shipments should more than exceed the loss of business to Apple, according to reports from both Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank Securities. "Despite the potential customer loss, IBM's ramp of video game business over the next year will likely far exceed the loss of Apple business," Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore said. Deutsche Bank estimates IBM will sell its gaming chips for about US$100 on average. It sells its chip to Apple for roughly $150 on average. The news that Apple is dumping IBM as its PC-chip supplier after more than a decade comes just six months after IBM sold its own PC unit, which struggled to make a profit, to Chinese rival Lenovo. To be sure, sales at IBM's semiconductor unit won't be helped by comments from Apple CEO Steve Jobs that his company judged the performance of Intel's chips as superior to IBM's. IBM's chip unit was expected to generate $300 million in sales, or 13 percent of its revenue, from sales of Apple chips, up from $248 million, or 12 percent of chip sales, in 2004. Still, its chip sales to Apple contribute less than 1 percent of IBM's total revenue of $99 billion, suggesting the financial impact of Apple's decision will be minimal. "The headline risk is greater than the actual risk," wrote Goldman Sachs analyst Laura Conigliaro, who left her profit estimates for IBM this year unchanged. © 2005 AFX News Ltd. All rights reserved.© 2005 NewsFactor Network.
What's Really Behind the Apple-Intel Alliance
Tony Avelar/Reuters
Apple's chief, Steven P. Jobs, announcing his company's move to Intel processors and the end of a 14-year relationship with I.B.M. The switch could help Apple in the market for digital entertainment equipment.
By JOHN MARKOFF
Published: June 11, 2005
SAN FRANCISCO, June 10 - Nearly a quarter-century ago, Apple Computer ran a snarky ad after its onetime rival encroached on its territory: "Welcome, I.B.M. Seriously." This week, however, Steven P. Jobs had a different message for Big Blue, which had since become a chief ally: "Goodbye. Seriously."
Mr. Jobs, 50, a co-founder of Apple, is famously brash and mercurial. Even so, the Apple faithful - not to mention I.B.M. itself - were caught by surprise by Apple's decision to end its 14-year relationship with I.B.M. and team with Intel for its computer chip needs.
The buzz that began Monday among developers, bloggers, analysts and Apple followers trying to guess Mr. Jobs' true designs has not let up. After all, Mr. Jobs is a legend in no small part because he defied the monster combination that is Wintel - as the digerati call the Windows and Intel alliance - and lived to talk about it.
Apple's decision in the 1980's to use a different chip from the one put in most personal computers "fit in with the idea of Think Different," Stephen G. Wozniak, who founded Apple with Mr. Jobs in 1976, said in an e-mail exchange. "So it's hard for some people to accept this switch."
So what could a Macintel possibly hope to accomplish?
Potentially, quite a lot. In striking the deal, Mr. Jobs, Apple's chief executive, has opened a range of tantalizing new options for his quirky company.
Many people in the industry believe that Mr. Jobs is racing quietly toward a direct challenge to Microsoft and Sony in the market for digital entertainment gear for the living room. Indeed, Sony's top executives had tried to persuade Mr. Jobs to adopt a chip that I.B.M. has been developing for the next-generation Sony PlayStation.
An Intel processor inside a Macintosh could put the vast library of Windows-based games and software programs within the reach of Mac users - at least those who are willing to run a second operating system on their computers.
Moreover, having Intel Inside might solve an important perception problem that has long plagued Apple in its effort to convert consumers who are attracted to the company's industrial design, but who have stayed away because the computers do not run Windows programs.
There is an immediate risk in the tie-up with Intel, however: Mr. Jobs could soon find himself trapped if his best customers stop buying I.B.M.-based Macintoshes while they wait for more powerful Intel-based systems, which are likely to begin arriving in January 2006.
"There is going to be a long wait," said Mark D. Stahlman, a Wall Street analyst at Caris & Company. The power-conserving 64-bit Intel chips that Apple is counting on to rejuvenate its laptop products will not be available until early 2007, he pointed out.
In an interview, Mr. Jobs rejected the notion that Apple might suffer from what is known as the "Osborne Effect," a term that describes the fate of the computer pioneer Adam Osborne whose firm went bankrupt when he announced a successor to his pioneering portable computer before it was available.
At Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, Mr. Jobs talked of a transition that would appear almost seamless to customers. "As we look ahead we can envision some amazing products we want to build for you and we don't know how to build them with the future PowerPC road map," he said.
Nothing was seamless about how the deal with Intel came together.
Several executives close to the last-minute dealings between Apple and I.B.M. said that Mr. Jobs waited until the last moment - 3 p.m. on Friday, June 4 - to inform Big Blue. Those executives said that I.B.M. had learned about Apple's negotiations with Intel from news reports and that Apple had not returned phone calls in recent weeks.
Each side disputes what led to the breakup. People close to I.B.M. said pricing was a central issue, while Mr. Jobs insisted on stage Monday that I.B.M. had failed to meet promised performance measures.
On stage, Mr. Jobs noted that he had promised both a 3-gigahertz Macintosh as well as a more powerful PowerPC-based portable computer, promises that he had not been able to deliver.
In the end, Mr. Jobs was given no choice but to move his business to Intel, when I.B.M. executives said that without additional Apple investment they were unwilling to pursue the faster and lower-power chips he badly needs for his laptop business.
"Technical issues were secondary to the business issues," said an executive close to the I.B.M. side of the negotiations. Because the business was not profitable, I.B.M. "decided not to continue to go ahead with the product road map."
Apple's chief, Steven P. Jobs, announcing his company's move to Intel processors and the end of a 14-year relationship with I.B.M. The switch could help Apple in the market for digital entertainment equipment.
By JOHN MARKOFF
Published: June 11, 2005
SAN FRANCISCO, June 10 - Nearly a quarter-century ago, Apple Computer ran a snarky ad after its onetime rival encroached on its territory: "Welcome, I.B.M. Seriously." This week, however, Steven P. Jobs had a different message for Big Blue, which had since become a chief ally: "Goodbye. Seriously."
Mr. Jobs, 50, a co-founder of Apple, is famously brash and mercurial. Even so, the Apple faithful - not to mention I.B.M. itself - were caught by surprise by Apple's decision to end its 14-year relationship with I.B.M. and team with Intel for its computer chip needs.
The buzz that began Monday among developers, bloggers, analysts and Apple followers trying to guess Mr. Jobs' true designs has not let up. After all, Mr. Jobs is a legend in no small part because he defied the monster combination that is Wintel - as the digerati call the Windows and Intel alliance - and lived to talk about it.
Apple's decision in the 1980's to use a different chip from the one put in most personal computers "fit in with the idea of Think Different," Stephen G. Wozniak, who founded Apple with Mr. Jobs in 1976, said in an e-mail exchange. "So it's hard for some people to accept this switch."
So what could a Macintel possibly hope to accomplish?
Potentially, quite a lot. In striking the deal, Mr. Jobs, Apple's chief executive, has opened a range of tantalizing new options for his quirky company.
Many people in the industry believe that Mr. Jobs is racing quietly toward a direct challenge to Microsoft and Sony in the market for digital entertainment gear for the living room. Indeed, Sony's top executives had tried to persuade Mr. Jobs to adopt a chip that I.B.M. has been developing for the next-generation Sony PlayStation.
An Intel processor inside a Macintosh could put the vast library of Windows-based games and software programs within the reach of Mac users - at least those who are willing to run a second operating system on their computers.
Moreover, having Intel Inside might solve an important perception problem that has long plagued Apple in its effort to convert consumers who are attracted to the company's industrial design, but who have stayed away because the computers do not run Windows programs.
There is an immediate risk in the tie-up with Intel, however: Mr. Jobs could soon find himself trapped if his best customers stop buying I.B.M.-based Macintoshes while they wait for more powerful Intel-based systems, which are likely to begin arriving in January 2006.
"There is going to be a long wait," said Mark D. Stahlman, a Wall Street analyst at Caris & Company. The power-conserving 64-bit Intel chips that Apple is counting on to rejuvenate its laptop products will not be available until early 2007, he pointed out.
In an interview, Mr. Jobs rejected the notion that Apple might suffer from what is known as the "Osborne Effect," a term that describes the fate of the computer pioneer Adam Osborne whose firm went bankrupt when he announced a successor to his pioneering portable computer before it was available.
At Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, Mr. Jobs talked of a transition that would appear almost seamless to customers. "As we look ahead we can envision some amazing products we want to build for you and we don't know how to build them with the future PowerPC road map," he said.
Nothing was seamless about how the deal with Intel came together.
Several executives close to the last-minute dealings between Apple and I.B.M. said that Mr. Jobs waited until the last moment - 3 p.m. on Friday, June 4 - to inform Big Blue. Those executives said that I.B.M. had learned about Apple's negotiations with Intel from news reports and that Apple had not returned phone calls in recent weeks.
Each side disputes what led to the breakup. People close to I.B.M. said pricing was a central issue, while Mr. Jobs insisted on stage Monday that I.B.M. had failed to meet promised performance measures.
On stage, Mr. Jobs noted that he had promised both a 3-gigahertz Macintosh as well as a more powerful PowerPC-based portable computer, promises that he had not been able to deliver.
In the end, Mr. Jobs was given no choice but to move his business to Intel, when I.B.M. executives said that without additional Apple investment they were unwilling to pursue the faster and lower-power chips he badly needs for his laptop business.
"Technical issues were secondary to the business issues," said an executive close to the I.B.M. side of the negotiations. Because the business was not profitable, I.B.M. "decided not to continue to go ahead with the product road map."
Nasa's shot at comet's secrets
By David Adam, Science correspondent
(Guardian News Service)
NASA scientists are preparing the ultimate Independence Day firework - a copper missile shot into the heart of a giant comet.
After a voyage of more than six months and 268m miles, the Deep Impact spacecraft will intercept the 2.5-mile wide (4km) Tempel-1 comet travelling at 23,000mph and fire a one-metre copper projectile into it.
Astronomers hope the explosive encounter on July 4 will smash a hole in the comet's icy exterior and show what lies inside.
Michael A'Hearn, chief scientist on the project, said: ``The last 24 hours of the impactor's life should provide the most spectacular data in the history of cometary science. We know so little about the structure of cometary nuclei that almost every moment we expect to learn something.''
Scientists think the core of comets are made of primordial material left over during the formation of the solar system more than 4bn years ago.
Cameras on the projectile and the Deep Impact mothership will record the collision and sensors will analyse material dug out of the comet's interior and beam the data to Earth.
``We will be capturing the whole thing on the most powerful camera to fly in deep space,'' said Dr A'Hearn.
Nobody knows how hard the comet's outer layers are, or the size of the resulting impact crater. It could produce anything from a small dent to a cavern big enough to house the Roman Colosseum.
Tempel-1 is hurtling through space at about 6.3 miles per second. Two hours before impact, the impactor will be instructed to steer itself into the comet's path using automatic navigation. The project manager, Rick Grammier, said: ``The autonav is like we have a little astronaut on board.
It has to navigate and fire thrusters three times to steer the wine cask-sized impactor into the mountain-sized comet nucleus closing at 23,000mph. We are threading the needle with this one.''
The mission is named after the 1998 Hollywood film when astronauts try to stop a massive comet on a collision course with Earth. But Nasa insists its act of celestial vandalism will do nothing to deflect Tempel-1 from its five-year orbit around the sun. ``This is the equivalent of a 767 airliner running into a mosquito," said Don Yeomans, a scientist on the project.
Another craft went through the coma (head) of another comet, Wild-2, in January, and will bring samples back to Earth in 2006. Another craft, Rosetta, was launched this year to land on a comet in 2014.
But Deep Impact will be the first to send back data from such a meeting. Comets delivered water for the Earth's oceans, and they carry complex organic molecules that may have played a role in triggering life on Earth.
(Guardian News Service)
NASA scientists are preparing the ultimate Independence Day firework - a copper missile shot into the heart of a giant comet.
After a voyage of more than six months and 268m miles, the Deep Impact spacecraft will intercept the 2.5-mile wide (4km) Tempel-1 comet travelling at 23,000mph and fire a one-metre copper projectile into it.
Astronomers hope the explosive encounter on July 4 will smash a hole in the comet's icy exterior and show what lies inside.
Michael A'Hearn, chief scientist on the project, said: ``The last 24 hours of the impactor's life should provide the most spectacular data in the history of cometary science. We know so little about the structure of cometary nuclei that almost every moment we expect to learn something.''
Scientists think the core of comets are made of primordial material left over during the formation of the solar system more than 4bn years ago.
Cameras on the projectile and the Deep Impact mothership will record the collision and sensors will analyse material dug out of the comet's interior and beam the data to Earth.
``We will be capturing the whole thing on the most powerful camera to fly in deep space,'' said Dr A'Hearn.
Nobody knows how hard the comet's outer layers are, or the size of the resulting impact crater. It could produce anything from a small dent to a cavern big enough to house the Roman Colosseum.
Tempel-1 is hurtling through space at about 6.3 miles per second. Two hours before impact, the impactor will be instructed to steer itself into the comet's path using automatic navigation. The project manager, Rick Grammier, said: ``The autonav is like we have a little astronaut on board.
It has to navigate and fire thrusters three times to steer the wine cask-sized impactor into the mountain-sized comet nucleus closing at 23,000mph. We are threading the needle with this one.''
The mission is named after the 1998 Hollywood film when astronauts try to stop a massive comet on a collision course with Earth. But Nasa insists its act of celestial vandalism will do nothing to deflect Tempel-1 from its five-year orbit around the sun. ``This is the equivalent of a 767 airliner running into a mosquito," said Don Yeomans, a scientist on the project.
Another craft went through the coma (head) of another comet, Wild-2, in January, and will bring samples back to Earth in 2006. Another craft, Rosetta, was launched this year to land on a comet in 2014.
But Deep Impact will be the first to send back data from such a meeting. Comets delivered water for the Earth's oceans, and they carry complex organic molecules that may have played a role in triggering life on Earth.
Beware Of The Jackson Suicide Virus
Europe Daylight Time A word to the wise: be warned that you could receive the now infamous Jackson suicide virus in your email...
A word to the wise: be warned that you could receive the now infamous Jackson suicide virus in your email. And, no, despite what you might think, the Michael Jackson suicide virus doesn't encourage you to click on a link where it plays Jackson's last CD — causing you to commit suicide. Sophos reports it does this: Experts at SophosLabsâ„¢, Sophos's global network of virus and spam analysis centers, have warned of a spam campaign that claims that Michael Jackson has attempted suicide in an attempt to lure innocent computer users into being infected by a Trojan horse. The message, if you are dumb enough mistakenly open it is this: Subject: Re: Suicidal aattempt Message text: Last night, while in his Neverland Ranch, Michael Jackson has made a suicidal attempt. They suggest this attempt follows the last claim was made against the king of pop. 46 years old Michael has left pre-suicid note which describes and interpretes some of his sins.
A word to the wise: be warned that you could receive the now infamous Jackson suicide virus in your email. And, no, despite what you might think, the Michael Jackson suicide virus doesn't encourage you to click on a link where it plays Jackson's last CD — causing you to commit suicide. Sophos reports it does this: Experts at SophosLabsâ„¢, Sophos's global network of virus and spam analysis centers, have warned of a spam campaign that claims that Michael Jackson has attempted suicide in an attempt to lure innocent computer users into being infected by a Trojan horse. The message, if you are dumb enough mistakenly open it is this: Subject: Re: Suicidal aattempt Message text: Last night, while in his Neverland Ranch, Michael Jackson has made a suicidal attempt. They suggest this attempt follows the last claim was made against the king of pop. 46 years old Michael has left pre-suicid note which describes and interpretes some of his sins.
Microsoft to release a bunch of security patches coming Tuesday
Microsoft to release a bunch of security patches coming Tuesday
The second Tuesday of the month is coming and as usual, we would see Microsoft releasing their latest updates to the various applications from their stables. The company announced on Thursday that some crucial fixes are coming up this coming Tuesday and users are advised to download them to keep their online working environment safe.
The company would be releasing as many as 10 security bulletins to fix flaws in their applications as it covers a range of software releases. Some critical patches are for the Operating System Windows XP itself, which is the most used Operating System in the world today. However, they will not be releasing any high-priority updates that do not cover security issues through its Microsoft Update, Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services, or Software Update Services.
Some of the applications to be fixed by these updates are Windows Services for Unix, Microsoft Exchange, Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) server and Small Business Server (SBS). The company would also be webcasting details about these security vulnerabilities and their fixes on Wednesday. Also due is an update to their beta Anti-Spyware application.
The second Tuesday of the month is coming and as usual, we would see Microsoft releasing their latest updates to the various applications from their stables. The company announced on Thursday that some crucial fixes are coming up this coming Tuesday and users are advised to download them to keep their online working environment safe.
The company would be releasing as many as 10 security bulletins to fix flaws in their applications as it covers a range of software releases. Some critical patches are for the Operating System Windows XP itself, which is the most used Operating System in the world today. However, they will not be releasing any high-priority updates that do not cover security issues through its Microsoft Update, Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services, or Software Update Services.
Some of the applications to be fixed by these updates are Windows Services for Unix, Microsoft Exchange, Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) server and Small Business Server (SBS). The company would also be webcasting details about these security vulnerabilities and their fixes on Wednesday. Also due is an update to their beta Anti-Spyware application.
Nokia & Intel collaborate to improve WIMAX technology (Kenya)
Leading mobile phone manufacturer, Nokia, and leading computer chip maker, Intel, have announced a collaboration in an effort to speed-up the development, adoption and deployment of WiMAX technology.
This announcement was made on Friday morning brings the best of both worlds together as both companies are industy leaders.
Hitherto, Intel has been pushing for the WiMax technology, after the wide acceptance of the now popular Wi-Fi technology. It's backing by Nokia is indeed a big boost.
WiMAX, an acronym that stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a certification mark for products that pass conformity and interoperability tests for the IEEE 802.16 standards. IEEE 802.16 is working group number 16 of IEEE 802, specialising in point-to-multipoint broadband wireless access.
The WiMAX protocol is a way of networking computers together; for example to provide internet access, in a similar way to Wi-Fi.
WiMAX is both faster and has a longer range than Wi-Fi. However, WiMAX does not necessarily conflict with Wi-Fi, but may indeed complement it, and it is designed to interwork.
- MobileAfrica.net
This announcement was made on Friday morning brings the best of both worlds together as both companies are industy leaders.
Hitherto, Intel has been pushing for the WiMax technology, after the wide acceptance of the now popular Wi-Fi technology. It's backing by Nokia is indeed a big boost.
WiMAX, an acronym that stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a certification mark for products that pass conformity and interoperability tests for the IEEE 802.16 standards. IEEE 802.16 is working group number 16 of IEEE 802, specialising in point-to-multipoint broadband wireless access.
The WiMAX protocol is a way of networking computers together; for example to provide internet access, in a similar way to Wi-Fi.
WiMAX is both faster and has a longer range than Wi-Fi. However, WiMAX does not necessarily conflict with Wi-Fi, but may indeed complement it, and it is designed to interwork.
- MobileAfrica.net
DVD Wars: Revenge of Blu-RayCategory:
It looks like the war of DVD formats is far from over. Even though, earlier this week, Toshiba's HD-DVD seemed to have a slight advantage over Blu-Ray, things are constantly changing, and fast, for that matter. Toshiba’s main point against the rivals from Sony was the relatively low manufacturing cost for HD-DVD discs, which can be produced using the currently installed technological lines. Today, however,
Pioneer and Mitsubishi have made an announcement that shatters this Toshiba's advantage. Thus, the two manufacturers have managed to reduce the manufacturing costs for the BD-R (Blue-Ray Recordable) discs to 11% of the initial value, by using the spin coating technology, already employed on a large scale in the production of DVD-R. Taking into consideration Pioneer's statements, according to which the changes to the current technological lines, in order to manufacture Blu-Rays, can be done with minimum expenses, and also seeing that the prototype released today will have a capacity of 25 GB, it looks like Sony's got the advantage now. This could be the first nail in the HD-DVD coffin, considering that its only great advantage has just been blown up, and as we pointed out in our previous articles, the Blu-Ray discs were already backed by most of the PC manufacturers. And seeing that the Blu-Ray technology will also be implemented in the Sony Playstation 3, the future of Toshiba’s format seems very gloomy right now.
Pioneer and Mitsubishi have made an announcement that shatters this Toshiba's advantage. Thus, the two manufacturers have managed to reduce the manufacturing costs for the BD-R (Blue-Ray Recordable) discs to 11% of the initial value, by using the spin coating technology, already employed on a large scale in the production of DVD-R. Taking into consideration Pioneer's statements, according to which the changes to the current technological lines, in order to manufacture Blu-Rays, can be done with minimum expenses, and also seeing that the prototype released today will have a capacity of 25 GB, it looks like Sony's got the advantage now. This could be the first nail in the HD-DVD coffin, considering that its only great advantage has just been blown up, and as we pointed out in our previous articles, the Blu-Ray discs were already backed by most of the PC manufacturers. And seeing that the Blu-Ray technology will also be implemented in the Sony Playstation 3, the future of Toshiba’s format seems very gloomy right now.
NASA chief to oust 20 officials in shakeup-report
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - NASA Administrator Michael Griffin plans to oust about 20 space agency officials by mid-August, including two leaders of the program making final preparations for the space shuttle's first trip in more than two years, the Washington Post reported in Saturday's edition.
Griffin wants to build a less political and more scientifically oriented team to implement President Bush's plan to return humans to the moon by 2020 and eventually send them to Mars, the paper said, quoting unnamed NASA officials, congressional and aerospace industry sources.
These sources said the targeted officials will be notified on Monday. Griffin took over as administrator of the space agency about two months ago.
Griffin's spokesman told the newspaper the process "is not unusual. When a new leader comes in, he wants to shape his team."
Griffin wants to build a less political and more scientifically oriented team to implement President Bush's plan to return humans to the moon by 2020 and eventually send them to Mars, the paper said, quoting unnamed NASA officials, congressional and aerospace industry sources.
These sources said the targeted officials will be notified on Monday. Griffin took over as administrator of the space agency about two months ago.
Griffin's spokesman told the newspaper the process "is not unusual. When a new leader comes in, he wants to shape his team."
Nuclear sites identified NUCLEAR SITES
By Fiona Harvey,Environment Correspondent Published: June 11 2005 03:00 Last updated: June 11 2005 03:00
A list of sites earmarked for the disposal of nuclear waste in the 1980s was published yesterday under the Freedom of Information Act.
//
Nirex, the nuclear waste agency, emphasised yesterday that the sites were no longer under consideration for nuclear waste disposal and that the proposed programme of waste burial was abandoned in 1997.
The 537 sites, later shortlisted to 12, were kept secret by the government for fear of disrupting the areas involved before final decisions were made. Several sites already housed nuclear facilities.
Nirex, an independent company as of April this year, said a new list of sites would be selected from 2007, after the publication of a report from the committee appointed by the government to choose between various waste disposal options.
The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management will decide in 2006 from a shortlist of four options for disposal, including deep and shallow burial. Nirex's preference would be to bury the waste with the option to retrieve it at a later date.
At present, waste is stored on the surface in 34 places around the country. But this is a temporary storage solution described by nuclear experts as unsatisfactory. The sites are listed on the website, www.nirex.co.uk.
A Nirex spokesman said: "The lesson that has to be learned in this is that the discussion of which sites to choose should take place in the open."
Any selection of new sites would have to take into account factors such as increased knowledge of the UK's geology, which had been thought too complex to hold waste underground in many areas, and climate change, which could cause sea level rises of between 5 metres and 10 metres in the next few hundred years.
Environmental groups seized on the plans to push their opposition to the construction of nuclear power plants, which the government is considering as a way of providing for the UK's energy needs without emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels. Tony Blair, prime minister, has targeted climate change as one of the world's biggest problems.
Jean McSorley, Greenpeace's nuclear campaigner, said: "The public has a right to know where dangerous radioactive wastes are going to be dumped. If the industry gets its way and new nuclear reactors are built, Britain's radioactive waste problem will get even worse. The government already has a big problem on its hands in trying to find sites to dispose of the waste we've already produced."
*Bradwell, Essex
*Potton Island, Essex
*Dounreay, Caithness, Scotland
*Altnabreac, Caithness
*Fuday, Western Isles, Scotland
*Sandray, Western Isles
*Killingholme, South Humberside
*Offshore - East (serviced by Redcar Port)
*Offshore - West (serviced by Hunterston Port)
*Sellafield, Cumbria
*Stanford, Norfolk
A list of sites earmarked for the disposal of nuclear waste in the 1980s was published yesterday under the Freedom of Information Act.
//
Nirex, the nuclear waste agency, emphasised yesterday that the sites were no longer under consideration for nuclear waste disposal and that the proposed programme of waste burial was abandoned in 1997.
The 537 sites, later shortlisted to 12, were kept secret by the government for fear of disrupting the areas involved before final decisions were made. Several sites already housed nuclear facilities.
Nirex, an independent company as of April this year, said a new list of sites would be selected from 2007, after the publication of a report from the committee appointed by the government to choose between various waste disposal options.
The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management will decide in 2006 from a shortlist of four options for disposal, including deep and shallow burial. Nirex's preference would be to bury the waste with the option to retrieve it at a later date.
At present, waste is stored on the surface in 34 places around the country. But this is a temporary storage solution described by nuclear experts as unsatisfactory. The sites are listed on the website, www.nirex.co.uk.
A Nirex spokesman said: "The lesson that has to be learned in this is that the discussion of which sites to choose should take place in the open."
Any selection of new sites would have to take into account factors such as increased knowledge of the UK's geology, which had been thought too complex to hold waste underground in many areas, and climate change, which could cause sea level rises of between 5 metres and 10 metres in the next few hundred years.
Environmental groups seized on the plans to push their opposition to the construction of nuclear power plants, which the government is considering as a way of providing for the UK's energy needs without emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels. Tony Blair, prime minister, has targeted climate change as one of the world's biggest problems.
Jean McSorley, Greenpeace's nuclear campaigner, said: "The public has a right to know where dangerous radioactive wastes are going to be dumped. If the industry gets its way and new nuclear reactors are built, Britain's radioactive waste problem will get even worse. The government already has a big problem on its hands in trying to find sites to dispose of the waste we've already produced."
*Bradwell, Essex
*Potton Island, Essex
*Dounreay, Caithness, Scotland
*Altnabreac, Caithness
*Fuday, Western Isles, Scotland
*Sandray, Western Isles
*Killingholme, South Humberside
*Offshore - East (serviced by Redcar Port)
*Offshore - West (serviced by Hunterston Port)
*Sellafield, Cumbria
*Stanford, Norfolk
ICANN gives the nod to VeriSign as the manager of the .net top level domain
The Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the group responsible for managing and coordinating the Net's Domain Name System (DNS), this week gave the nod to VeriSign as the manager of the .net top level domain.
VeriSign beat out four other bidders for the six-year contract; VeriSign has been administering the .net top level domain, the Internet's third-largest top level domain, as well as the top dog,.com, since 2001.
ICANN had hired an independent evaluator, Telcordia, to produce recommendations on which company -- VeriSign, Afilias, Denic, Sentan Registry Services, and CORE++ -- received the .net responsibilities.
In April, Telcordia said that all five bidders could handle the job, but gave the edge to the incumbent, VeriSign. In May, Telcordia returned with an additional evaluation based on further comments from the five.
VeriSign plans changes to .net, including a reduction in the fees it charges registrars, from $6 per name to $4.25.
Although the award to VeriSign was expected, ICANN and the Mountain View security and Internet services company have long been at odds. In 2003, ICANN forced VeriSign to stop its Site Finder service, which directed users to mistyped or invalid domain names. That year, VeriSign brought lawsuits against ICANN, saying that it had interfered with new services VeriSign wanted to offer; the suit was dismissed. In 2004, VeriSign tried again, this time with a suit claiming that ICANN violated the terms of the 2001 deals to manage .net and .com. That case is still pending.
When VeriSign submitted its proposal for renewing the .net management, an executive said ""We hope the decision on .net will be based on merit."
VeriSign beat out four other bidders for the six-year contract; VeriSign has been administering the .net top level domain, the Internet's third-largest top level domain, as well as the top dog,.com, since 2001.
ICANN had hired an independent evaluator, Telcordia, to produce recommendations on which company -- VeriSign, Afilias, Denic, Sentan Registry Services, and CORE++ -- received the .net responsibilities.
In April, Telcordia said that all five bidders could handle the job, but gave the edge to the incumbent, VeriSign. In May, Telcordia returned with an additional evaluation based on further comments from the five.
VeriSign plans changes to .net, including a reduction in the fees it charges registrars, from $6 per name to $4.25.
Although the award to VeriSign was expected, ICANN and the Mountain View security and Internet services company have long been at odds. In 2003, ICANN forced VeriSign to stop its Site Finder service, which directed users to mistyped or invalid domain names. That year, VeriSign brought lawsuits against ICANN, saying that it had interfered with new services VeriSign wanted to offer; the suit was dismissed. In 2004, VeriSign tried again, this time with a suit claiming that ICANN violated the terms of the 2001 deals to manage .net and .com. That case is still pending.
When VeriSign submitted its proposal for renewing the .net management, an executive said ""We hope the decision on .net will be based on merit."
Researchers at Hewlett Packard utilize coding theory and propose a future design for nanotech circuits.
The process could bring forth a low cost, high yield process to make circuits in the future with HP's "crossbar" technology. Details on the process appear in the June 6 issue of Nanotechnology.
"We have invented a completely new way of designing an electronic interconnect for nano-scale circuits using coding theory, which is commonly used in today's digital cell phone systems and in deep-space probes," said Stan Williams, HP Senior Fellow and director, Quantum Science Research at HP Labs. Dr. Williams said he believes future chips will have to rely, at least in part, on the crossbar architecture, in which a set of parallel nanoscale wires are laid atop another set of parallel wires at approximately a 90 degree angle, sandwiching a layer of electrically switchable material in between. Where the material becomes trapped between the crossing wires, they can form a switch that represents a "1" or "0," the basic building blocks of computer code. But the disadvantage of crossbars is that they require more space on the silicon substrate. "We think the tradeoff of space versus manufacturing ease will become more an issue in the near future," said Dr. Williams.
"We have invented a completely new way of designing an electronic interconnect for nano-scale circuits using coding theory, which is commonly used in today's digital cell phone systems and in deep-space probes," said Stan Williams, HP Senior Fellow and director, Quantum Science Research at HP Labs. Dr. Williams said he believes future chips will have to rely, at least in part, on the crossbar architecture, in which a set of parallel nanoscale wires are laid atop another set of parallel wires at approximately a 90 degree angle, sandwiching a layer of electrically switchable material in between. Where the material becomes trapped between the crossing wires, they can form a switch that represents a "1" or "0," the basic building blocks of computer code. But the disadvantage of crossbars is that they require more space on the silicon substrate. "We think the tradeoff of space versus manufacturing ease will become more an issue in the near future," said Dr. Williams.
Gadgets of the week: Writing lives in ThinkPad
The New York Times.- ThinkPad aficionados may have wondered if the handwriting was on the wall for the sturdy laptop line when IBM sold its notebook computer division to the Chinese company Lenovo, but at least some of the writing was on the screen - with a stylus.
The ThinkPad X41 Tablet, which goes on sale early next week, is the first computer in the ThinkPad family to incorporate a version of Windows XP that is customized for many pen-based tablet functions, including handwriting recognition.
Weighing in at a mere three and a half pounds, or 1.6 kilograms, the ThinkPad X41 Tablet converts to a standard notebook computer by flipping up the screen and swiveling it around to expose a full-size keyboard. It has a 12.1-inch, or 30.7 centimenter, screen and a built-in fingerprint reader for password-free security, and comes with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connectivity.
The computer uses the Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 operating system. Battery life between charges is estimated at 2.6 hours with a standard four-cell battery, but an optional eight-cell battery offers 8.5 hours of operation.
Prices start at $1,899, and the ThinkPad X41 Tablet can be ordered in advance at lenovo.com/think. Like all ThinkPads, the X41 has a motion-detection system that senses when the computer is plummeting to the floor and takes action to prevent a hard-drive crash and loss of data. - J.D. Biersdorfer (NYT)
Cassettes make the leap back to the future
As cassette tape decks faded from the standard lineup of home audio equipment, it appeared that a generation's mix-tape memories might be headed the way of the vinyl disk and eight-track. But a new product from the Korean company BTO promises to help cassette fans resurrect their '80s glory days.
The $150 PlusDeck2, available from online gadget stores listed at plusdeck.com, is a cassette deck the size of an internal CD-ROM drive that pops into any desktop PC's 5.25-inch drive bay. It can turn your beloved tapes into MP3s - or, for true retro music fans, record MP3s onto blank cassettes (which, by the way, remain cheap, light, slim and droppable).
The deck includes installation and music software on CD-ROM, as well as cables and a connection card. You can use simple manual buttons on the device's face, or operate it with the software, which mimics the look of a tape player.
The deck also allows you to play tapes through your computer. But its most important feature may be validation: Pack rats who saved hundreds of tapes, to the annoyance of their significant others, will suddenly seem to be masters of foresight. - Adam Baer (NYT)
ThinkPad aficionados may have wondered if the handwriting was on the wall for the sturdy laptop line when IBM sold its notebook computer division to the Chinese company Lenovo, but at least some of the writing was on the screen - with a stylus.
The ThinkPad X41 Tablet, which goes on sale early next week, is the first computer in the ThinkPad family to incorporate a version of Windows XP that is customized for many pen-based tablet functions, including handwriting recognition.
Weighing in at a mere three and a half pounds, or 1.6 kilograms, the ThinkPad X41 Tablet converts to a standard notebook computer by flipping up the screen and swiveling it around to expose a full-size keyboard. It has a 12.1-inch, or 30.7 centimenter, screen and a built-in fingerprint reader for password-free security, and comes with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connectivity.
The computer uses the Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 operating system. Battery life between charges is estimated at 2.6 hours with a standard four-cell battery, but an optional eight-cell battery offers 8.5 hours of operation.
Prices start at $1,899, and the ThinkPad X41 Tablet can be ordered in advance at lenovo.com/think. Like all ThinkPads, the X41 has a motion-detection system that senses when the computer is plummeting to the floor and takes action to prevent a hard-drive crash and loss of data. - J.D. Biersdorfer (NYT)
Cassettes make the leap back to the future
As cassette tape decks faded from the standard lineup of home audio equipment, it appeared that a generation's mix-tape memories might be headed the way of the vinyl disk and eight-track. But a new product from the Korean company BTO promises to help cassette fans resurrect their '80s glory days.
The $150 PlusDeck2, available from online gadget stores listed at plusdeck.com, is a cassette deck the size of an internal CD-ROM drive that pops into any desktop PC's 5.25-inch drive bay. It can turn your beloved tapes into MP3s - or, for true retro music fans, record MP3s onto blank cassettes (which, by the way, remain cheap, light, slim and droppable).
The deck includes installation and music software on CD-ROM, as well as cables and a connection card. You can use simple manual buttons on the device's face, or operate it with the software, which mimics the look of a tape player.
The deck also allows you to play tapes through your computer. But its most important feature may be validation: Pack rats who saved hundreds of tapes, to the annoyance of their significant others, will suddenly seem to be masters of foresight. - Adam Baer (NYT)
ThinkPad aficionados may have wondered if the handwriting was on the wall for the sturdy laptop line when IBM sold its notebook computer division to the Chinese company Lenovo, but at least some of the writing was on the screen - with a stylus.
The ThinkPad X41 Tablet, which goes on sale early next week, is the first computer in the ThinkPad family to incorporate a version of Windows XP that is customized for many pen-based tablet functions, including handwriting recognition.
Weighing in at a mere three and a half pounds, or 1.6 kilograms, the ThinkPad X41 Tablet converts to a standard notebook computer by flipping up the screen and swiveling it around to expose a full-size keyboard. It has a 12.1-inch, or 30.7 centimenter, screen and a built-in fingerprint reader for password-free security, and comes with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connectivity.
The computer uses the Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 operating system. Battery life between charges is estimated at 2.6 hours with a standard four-cell battery, but an optional eight-cell battery offers 8.5 hours of operation.
Prices start at $1,899, and the ThinkPad X41 Tablet can be ordered in advance at lenovo.com/think. Like all ThinkPads, the X41 has a motion-detection system that senses when the computer is plummeting to the floor and takes action to prevent a hard-drive crash and loss of data. - J.D. Biersdorfer (NYT)
Cassettes make the leap back to the future
As cassette tape decks faded from the standard lineup of home audio equipment, it appeared that a generation's mix-tape memories might be headed the way of the vinyl disk and eight-track. But a new product from the Korean company BTO promises to help cassette fans resurrect their '80s glory days.
The $150 PlusDeck2, available from online gadget stores listed at plusdeck.com, is a cassette deck the size of an internal CD-ROM drive that pops into any desktop PC's 5.25-inch drive bay. It can turn your beloved tapes into MP3s - or, for true retro music fans, record MP3s onto blank cassettes (which, by the way, remain cheap, light, slim and droppable).
The deck includes installation and music software on CD-ROM, as well as cables and a connection card. You can use simple manual buttons on the device's face, or operate it with the software, which mimics the look of a tape player.
The deck also allows you to play tapes through your computer. But its most important feature may be validation: Pack rats who saved hundreds of tapes, to the annoyance of their significant others, will suddenly seem to be masters of foresight. - Adam Baer (NYT)
ThinkPad aficionados may have wondered if the handwriting was on the wall for the sturdy laptop line when IBM sold its notebook computer division to the Chinese company Lenovo, but at least some of the writing was on the screen - with a stylus.
The ThinkPad X41 Tablet, which goes on sale early next week, is the first computer in the ThinkPad family to incorporate a version of Windows XP that is customized for many pen-based tablet functions, including handwriting recognition.
Weighing in at a mere three and a half pounds, or 1.6 kilograms, the ThinkPad X41 Tablet converts to a standard notebook computer by flipping up the screen and swiveling it around to expose a full-size keyboard. It has a 12.1-inch, or 30.7 centimenter, screen and a built-in fingerprint reader for password-free security, and comes with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connectivity.
The computer uses the Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 operating system. Battery life between charges is estimated at 2.6 hours with a standard four-cell battery, but an optional eight-cell battery offers 8.5 hours of operation.
Prices start at $1,899, and the ThinkPad X41 Tablet can be ordered in advance at lenovo.com/think. Like all ThinkPads, the X41 has a motion-detection system that senses when the computer is plummeting to the floor and takes action to prevent a hard-drive crash and loss of data. - J.D. Biersdorfer (NYT)
Cassettes make the leap back to the future
As cassette tape decks faded from the standard lineup of home audio equipment, it appeared that a generation's mix-tape memories might be headed the way of the vinyl disk and eight-track. But a new product from the Korean company BTO promises to help cassette fans resurrect their '80s glory days.
The $150 PlusDeck2, available from online gadget stores listed at plusdeck.com, is a cassette deck the size of an internal CD-ROM drive that pops into any desktop PC's 5.25-inch drive bay. It can turn your beloved tapes into MP3s - or, for true retro music fans, record MP3s onto blank cassettes (which, by the way, remain cheap, light, slim and droppable).
The deck includes installation and music software on CD-ROM, as well as cables and a connection card. You can use simple manual buttons on the device's face, or operate it with the software, which mimics the look of a tape player.
The deck also allows you to play tapes through your computer. But its most important feature may be validation: Pack rats who saved hundreds of tapes, to the annoyance of their significant others, will suddenly seem to be masters of foresight. - Adam Baer (NYT)
The ThinkPad X41 Tablet, which goes on sale early next week, is the first computer in the ThinkPad family to incorporate a version of Windows XP that is customized for many pen-based tablet functions, including handwriting recognition.
Weighing in at a mere three and a half pounds, or 1.6 kilograms, the ThinkPad X41 Tablet converts to a standard notebook computer by flipping up the screen and swiveling it around to expose a full-size keyboard. It has a 12.1-inch, or 30.7 centimenter, screen and a built-in fingerprint reader for password-free security, and comes with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connectivity.
The computer uses the Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 operating system. Battery life between charges is estimated at 2.6 hours with a standard four-cell battery, but an optional eight-cell battery offers 8.5 hours of operation.
Prices start at $1,899, and the ThinkPad X41 Tablet can be ordered in advance at lenovo.com/think. Like all ThinkPads, the X41 has a motion-detection system that senses when the computer is plummeting to the floor and takes action to prevent a hard-drive crash and loss of data. - J.D. Biersdorfer (NYT)
Cassettes make the leap back to the future
As cassette tape decks faded from the standard lineup of home audio equipment, it appeared that a generation's mix-tape memories might be headed the way of the vinyl disk and eight-track. But a new product from the Korean company BTO promises to help cassette fans resurrect their '80s glory days.
The $150 PlusDeck2, available from online gadget stores listed at plusdeck.com, is a cassette deck the size of an internal CD-ROM drive that pops into any desktop PC's 5.25-inch drive bay. It can turn your beloved tapes into MP3s - or, for true retro music fans, record MP3s onto blank cassettes (which, by the way, remain cheap, light, slim and droppable).
The deck includes installation and music software on CD-ROM, as well as cables and a connection card. You can use simple manual buttons on the device's face, or operate it with the software, which mimics the look of a tape player.
The deck also allows you to play tapes through your computer. But its most important feature may be validation: Pack rats who saved hundreds of tapes, to the annoyance of their significant others, will suddenly seem to be masters of foresight. - Adam Baer (NYT)
ThinkPad aficionados may have wondered if the handwriting was on the wall for the sturdy laptop line when IBM sold its notebook computer division to the Chinese company Lenovo, but at least some of the writing was on the screen - with a stylus.
The ThinkPad X41 Tablet, which goes on sale early next week, is the first computer in the ThinkPad family to incorporate a version of Windows XP that is customized for many pen-based tablet functions, including handwriting recognition.
Weighing in at a mere three and a half pounds, or 1.6 kilograms, the ThinkPad X41 Tablet converts to a standard notebook computer by flipping up the screen and swiveling it around to expose a full-size keyboard. It has a 12.1-inch, or 30.7 centimenter, screen and a built-in fingerprint reader for password-free security, and comes with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connectivity.
The computer uses the Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 operating system. Battery life between charges is estimated at 2.6 hours with a standard four-cell battery, but an optional eight-cell battery offers 8.5 hours of operation.
Prices start at $1,899, and the ThinkPad X41 Tablet can be ordered in advance at lenovo.com/think. Like all ThinkPads, the X41 has a motion-detection system that senses when the computer is plummeting to the floor and takes action to prevent a hard-drive crash and loss of data. - J.D. Biersdorfer (NYT)
Cassettes make the leap back to the future
As cassette tape decks faded from the standard lineup of home audio equipment, it appeared that a generation's mix-tape memories might be headed the way of the vinyl disk and eight-track. But a new product from the Korean company BTO promises to help cassette fans resurrect their '80s glory days.
The $150 PlusDeck2, available from online gadget stores listed at plusdeck.com, is a cassette deck the size of an internal CD-ROM drive that pops into any desktop PC's 5.25-inch drive bay. It can turn your beloved tapes into MP3s - or, for true retro music fans, record MP3s onto blank cassettes (which, by the way, remain cheap, light, slim and droppable).
The deck includes installation and music software on CD-ROM, as well as cables and a connection card. You can use simple manual buttons on the device's face, or operate it with the software, which mimics the look of a tape player.
The deck also allows you to play tapes through your computer. But its most important feature may be validation: Pack rats who saved hundreds of tapes, to the annoyance of their significant others, will suddenly seem to be masters of foresight. - Adam Baer (NYT)
ThinkPad aficionados may have wondered if the handwriting was on the wall for the sturdy laptop line when IBM sold its notebook computer division to the Chinese company Lenovo, but at least some of the writing was on the screen - with a stylus.
The ThinkPad X41 Tablet, which goes on sale early next week, is the first computer in the ThinkPad family to incorporate a version of Windows XP that is customized for many pen-based tablet functions, including handwriting recognition.
Weighing in at a mere three and a half pounds, or 1.6 kilograms, the ThinkPad X41 Tablet converts to a standard notebook computer by flipping up the screen and swiveling it around to expose a full-size keyboard. It has a 12.1-inch, or 30.7 centimenter, screen and a built-in fingerprint reader for password-free security, and comes with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connectivity.
The computer uses the Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 operating system. Battery life between charges is estimated at 2.6 hours with a standard four-cell battery, but an optional eight-cell battery offers 8.5 hours of operation.
Prices start at $1,899, and the ThinkPad X41 Tablet can be ordered in advance at lenovo.com/think. Like all ThinkPads, the X41 has a motion-detection system that senses when the computer is plummeting to the floor and takes action to prevent a hard-drive crash and loss of data. - J.D. Biersdorfer (NYT)
Cassettes make the leap back to the future
As cassette tape decks faded from the standard lineup of home audio equipment, it appeared that a generation's mix-tape memories might be headed the way of the vinyl disk and eight-track. But a new product from the Korean company BTO promises to help cassette fans resurrect their '80s glory days.
The $150 PlusDeck2, available from online gadget stores listed at plusdeck.com, is a cassette deck the size of an internal CD-ROM drive that pops into any desktop PC's 5.25-inch drive bay. It can turn your beloved tapes into MP3s - or, for true retro music fans, record MP3s onto blank cassettes (which, by the way, remain cheap, light, slim and droppable).
The deck includes installation and music software on CD-ROM, as well as cables and a connection card. You can use simple manual buttons on the device's face, or operate it with the software, which mimics the look of a tape player.
The deck also allows you to play tapes through your computer. But its most important feature may be validation: Pack rats who saved hundreds of tapes, to the annoyance of their significant others, will suddenly seem to be masters of foresight. - Adam Baer (NYT)
ThinkPad aficionados may have wondered if the handwriting was on the wall for the sturdy laptop line when IBM sold its notebook computer division to the Chinese company Lenovo, but at least some of the writing was on the screen - with a stylus.
The ThinkPad X41 Tablet, which goes on sale early next week, is the first computer in the ThinkPad family to incorporate a version of Windows XP that is customized for many pen-based tablet functions, including handwriting recognition.
Weighing in at a mere three and a half pounds, or 1.6 kilograms, the ThinkPad X41 Tablet converts to a standard notebook computer by flipping up the screen and swiveling it around to expose a full-size keyboard. It has a 12.1-inch, or 30.7 centimenter, screen and a built-in fingerprint reader for password-free security, and comes with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connectivity.
The computer uses the Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 operating system. Battery life between charges is estimated at 2.6 hours with a standard four-cell battery, but an optional eight-cell battery offers 8.5 hours of operation.
Prices start at $1,899, and the ThinkPad X41 Tablet can be ordered in advance at lenovo.com/think. Like all ThinkPads, the X41 has a motion-detection system that senses when the computer is plummeting to the floor and takes action to prevent a hard-drive crash and loss of data. - J.D. Biersdorfer (NYT)
Cassettes make the leap back to the future
As cassette tape decks faded from the standard lineup of home audio equipment, it appeared that a generation's mix-tape memories might be headed the way of the vinyl disk and eight-track. But a new product from the Korean company BTO promises to help cassette fans resurrect their '80s glory days.
The $150 PlusDeck2, available from online gadget stores listed at plusdeck.com, is a cassette deck the size of an internal CD-ROM drive that pops into any desktop PC's 5.25-inch drive bay. It can turn your beloved tapes into MP3s - or, for true retro music fans, record MP3s onto blank cassettes (which, by the way, remain cheap, light, slim and droppable).
The deck includes installation and music software on CD-ROM, as well as cables and a connection card. You can use simple manual buttons on the device's face, or operate it with the software, which mimics the look of a tape player.
The deck also allows you to play tapes through your computer. But its most important feature may be validation: Pack rats who saved hundreds of tapes, to the annoyance of their significant others, will suddenly seem to be masters of foresight. - Adam Baer (NYT)
The additional security provided by a "low-rights" mode in Internet Explorer 7 will be for Longhorn only
The additional security provided by a "low-rights" mode in Internet Explorer 7 will be for Longhorn only, a Microsoft executive said Thursday.
"While most IE7 security features will be available in IE7 for Windows XP SP2, 'Low-rights IE' will only be available in Longhorn because it's based on new Longhorn security features," wrote IE lead program manager Rob Franco on Microsoft's official IE blog.
Longhorn will include a "least privilege" feature that allows users to run Windows and its applications without Administrator privileges. Users logged in as Administrators run greater risk from malicious code, because if a worm or virus does penetrate defenses, it can then give the attacker full access to the PC.
Franco's comments were made to clear up confusion over statements made earlier this week by a Microsoft executive at the Tech Ed conference in Orlando. There, Gordon Mangione, corporate vice president of Microsoft's security group, said that IE 7 had been revamped to defend against browser-based exploits and that it would ship with least privilege mode enabled by default. IE 7 for Windows XP SP2 is set to ship in beta form this summer.
"We are using the same Longhorn security infrastructure to limit IE to just enough privileges to browse the web, but not enough to modify user files or settings by default," said Franco in the blog. "As a result, even if a malicious site attacks a vulnerability in IE, the site's code won't have enough privileges to install software, copy files to the Startup folder, or hijack the settings for the browser's homepage or search."
Franco also rebutted Mangione's statement that IE 7 would somehow "fix" vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer. "Low-rights IE doesn't fix' vulnerabilities, but it can limit the damage a vulnerability can do," Franco said. That makes it similar to the Local Machine Zone Lockdown feature in XP SP2.
"The primary goal of Low Rights IE is to restrict the impact of a security vulnerability while maintaining compatibility," Franco said.
"While most IE7 security features will be available in IE7 for Windows XP SP2, 'Low-rights IE' will only be available in Longhorn because it's based on new Longhorn security features," wrote IE lead program manager Rob Franco on Microsoft's official IE blog.
Longhorn will include a "least privilege" feature that allows users to run Windows and its applications without Administrator privileges. Users logged in as Administrators run greater risk from malicious code, because if a worm or virus does penetrate defenses, it can then give the attacker full access to the PC.
Franco's comments were made to clear up confusion over statements made earlier this week by a Microsoft executive at the Tech Ed conference in Orlando. There, Gordon Mangione, corporate vice president of Microsoft's security group, said that IE 7 had been revamped to defend against browser-based exploits and that it would ship with least privilege mode enabled by default. IE 7 for Windows XP SP2 is set to ship in beta form this summer.
"We are using the same Longhorn security infrastructure to limit IE to just enough privileges to browse the web, but not enough to modify user files or settings by default," said Franco in the blog. "As a result, even if a malicious site attacks a vulnerability in IE, the site's code won't have enough privileges to install software, copy files to the Startup folder, or hijack the settings for the browser's homepage or search."
Franco also rebutted Mangione's statement that IE 7 would somehow "fix" vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer. "Low-rights IE doesn't fix' vulnerabilities, but it can limit the damage a vulnerability can do," Franco said. That makes it similar to the Local Machine Zone Lockdown feature in XP SP2.
"The primary goal of Low Rights IE is to restrict the impact of a security vulnerability while maintaining compatibility," Franco said.
Gartner Releases Report of Overhyped Security Threats
Gartner has released a report today which discusses security threats relating to developing technologies today, such as VoIP, which says that most of the threats have been over-hyped and are unnecessarily delaying their adoption by the mass market. According to the report, VoIP attacks are rare if not nearly non-existent, and the technology is secure and safe. Other technologies discussed in the report included mobile security, malware for mobile devices, internet worms and wireless hotspots.
According to Gartner, preventative measures must be taken in all of the discussed environments, such as using VPN systems to access corporate networks for remote access, especially from a wireless hotspot.
VoIP technology is also said to be safe from hacking, except for the occasional situation where the attacker is physically inside the network and can sniff the packets, which is a far-fetched situation.
"Every organization should consider using internet VPNs, and most should adopt them in some way," said Lawrence Orans, principal analyst for Gartner. "Today's internet offers a low-cost, good-enough or better option to the data networks of traditional global carriers."
For hotspots, he offered the following advice:"Mobile users in hot spots should utilize their corporate VPN connection to protect traffic as it travels through the internet. Mobile users in hotspots should use personal firewalls and turn off file/print sharing to protect their endpoints from data theft."
According to Gartner, preventative measures must be taken in all of the discussed environments, such as using VPN systems to access corporate networks for remote access, especially from a wireless hotspot.
VoIP technology is also said to be safe from hacking, except for the occasional situation where the attacker is physically inside the network and can sniff the packets, which is a far-fetched situation.
"Every organization should consider using internet VPNs, and most should adopt them in some way," said Lawrence Orans, principal analyst for Gartner. "Today's internet offers a low-cost, good-enough or better option to the data networks of traditional global carriers."
For hotspots, he offered the following advice:"Mobile users in hot spots should utilize their corporate VPN connection to protect traffic as it travels through the internet. Mobile users in hotspots should use personal firewalls and turn off file/print sharing to protect their endpoints from data theft."
Fly me to the moon Fly me to the moon
One man's childhood interest in space exploration took him all the way to Saturn
Story by HEAMAKARN SRICHARATCHANYA
To John C. Zarnecki, professor of space science at the UK's Open University, January 14 was one of the most memorable days of his life. It was the day that science fiction finally became science fact.That was the date when the Huygens probe successfully landed on the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Titan is the most distant landing ever achieved _ in a straight line, it's about 1.5 billion kilometres from Earth.As the mission's principal investigator, the professor built one of the scientific instruments to measure the physical properties of the moon. Installed in the probe, his instrument was the first part to touch this new world.``It's a dream come true,'' said the 55-year-old professor who was invited to Thailand last month to join the 100th Anniversary Year of Physics, an event co-organised by the National Science Museum, Ministry of Science and Technology and the British Council, Thailand. ``I didn't dare to think it was possible 15 years ago.''Back in 1990, he was selected to join the Cassini-Huygens space exploration mission, a joint endeavour by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), the European Space Agency (Esa) and the Agenzia Spazio Italiana (Asi). Named after two celebrated scientists, the mission was designed to shed light on many of the unsolved mysteries of Saturn and Titan.``This is a long, long mission,'' said the scientist who got his doctorate in X-ray astronomy from University College, London. ``So long that two of the scientists sadly died in the meantime.''The reason why this ambitious mission took such a long time was because of the enormous distance involved. It took over seven years for the Cassini orbiter to reach the moon of this ringed planet.The professor explained that the spacecraft could not travel in a straight line because of the limited fuel it could carry. So the solution was to have it fly close to planets to gain energy from their gravitational fields, much in the same way as a slingshot, a technique that has been used for over two decades of space exploration.For its journey, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft had to fly past Venus twice, then back to Earth and then to Jupiter in order to reach its final destination. Because of this convoluted route, the distance the spacecraft actually travelled was 3.5 billion kilometres.As the Cassini spacecraft reached the orbit of Saturn, the Huygens probe was released, parachuting through the atmosphere of Titan and eventually landing on its surface. It took about two and a half hours for the probe to descend, taking measurements along the way. It survived for just 70 minutes on the surface.``That's it ... 15 years of my life is finished in just three hours,'' said the scientist. His instrument, called the ``surface-science package'', comprised nine sensors to measure a range of surface and atmospheric conditions including temperature, density, refractive index and electrical properties.With the successful landing, what lies beneath the moon's covering of orange fog is beginning to be revealed. And the professor is excited _ since for him Titan is the most fascinating moon in the solar system.``Of over 30 moons of Saturn, Titan is one of the strangest _ not only is it Saturn's largest moon, but it is also the only moon in the solar system that has a [significant] atmosphere.''But a moon with an atmosphere need not support life.``There is no living creature on Titan because of its very low temperature,'' he explained. ``It's minus 190 Celsius out there.''Even so, he said, this mission is scientifically very important.``We think that the atmosphere on Titan is like the atmosphere here on Earth billions of years ago,'' he said. ``So, scientifically, by going to Titan, in some aspects, it's like studying our own history.''The professor then proudly produced a picture of the surface of Titan acquired from the mission. At first glance it looks as if the photo could have been taken on a coastline on Earth, as the scene is full of what looks like sand and rocks.``It might look very boring having waited for over 15 years for this,'' he said. ``But for us, this is a miracle.''He explained that the shots taken while the Huygens probe was descending by parachute were at first sight like pictures of Earth _ there were what looked like rivers, coastline, seas and lakes. But because of the relatively low temperature, what looked like stones were actually ``ice pebbles''. And the lakes are not water but probably liquid methane. Methane is normally in a gaseous state on Earth, but in the low temperature of Titan it becomes a liquid.Most of the scientific data, such as temperature measurements and the amounts of different gasses in the atmosphere, is under study, and Zarnecki said it will take the team several years to go through the data and make sense of it.But how will it benefit our world?``That's always a difficult question to answer,'' he admitted. ``In the absolutely direct sense _ will it save lives directly, will it cure cancer, will it make some fantastic device? The answer is no.''But then again, these are by no means the reason why the mission started, he said.``The exploration [of Titan] will lead us to understand our solar system and our universe better. We want to know about where we live, what's in our neighbourhood, what's over the next hill, what's on the next planet,'' he said. ``It's our little contribution to understanding our planet and it's adding to the body of knowledge in science.''``It'll also lead to developments in technology,'' he said. ``Can you imagine making something to go into space, to travel for seven years and then to work in a place where the temperature is minus 190?''The technology that needs to be developed has to be very reliable, very small and consume very little power, he said.Unlike equipment directly controlled by people, the probe was uncontrollable from Earth _ it was a robot under software control.``So the space programme in general drives us to make certain products better, which in a small, perceptible way makes our life, we hope, better,'' he said.Science has been an important part of Zarnecki's life since he was at school. Stories of Sputnik 1, the first man-made object to orbit Earth, are still vivid in his memory. But his clearest memory of early space exploration was the time when he saw cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space.``School was closed the day he came to London and we went to see him as he was probably the most famous person [in the world] at the time,'' he started. ``The guy was very small because he had to fit in the capsule. He was in a big military uniform and I was standing a few metres from him. I remember thinking that this guy went around the earth once and that it was such a big deal to me.``And that inspired me,'' he continued. ``I thought I'd love to be involved in space.''Since then, space has become his passion.Now that the mission to Titan is over, he is on an Esa committee planning a mission to Europa, one of Jupiter's moons. It is thought that there is an ocean of water below Europa's icy surface and the Esa and Nasa are discussing the possibility of sending a probe there.But because the work is so long-term, he is not sure whether he will live long enough to see its success. ``I may be able to help lay the foundation of the project and contribute to the development of it but it'll be up to the next generation of younger scientists to do what I've done on this mission, to see it through to the end,'' he said.And he would love to see scientists from Thailand involved in such projects.``Some may think that it's such a long way for the Thais to be involved in such a mission but I don't think it's impossible. If you look at this mission [Cassini-Huygens], it's incredibly international,'' he said. ``Even a small country like Ireland is involved.''He said that Ireland is a very small country and although it is considered ``developed'', it is not very rich, but it was still part of the mission.The professor suggests that the Thai government play a role in turning what seems to be an impossible dream into reality.``The government should make some regional ties and give Thai scientists opportunities to work with space agencies since it's very difficult for individuals to go to European space agencies by themselves,'' he said. ``I know there are talented scientists in this country and they should be given opportunities to work internationally.''
Story by HEAMAKARN SRICHARATCHANYA
To John C. Zarnecki, professor of space science at the UK's Open University, January 14 was one of the most memorable days of his life. It was the day that science fiction finally became science fact.That was the date when the Huygens probe successfully landed on the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Titan is the most distant landing ever achieved _ in a straight line, it's about 1.5 billion kilometres from Earth.As the mission's principal investigator, the professor built one of the scientific instruments to measure the physical properties of the moon. Installed in the probe, his instrument was the first part to touch this new world.``It's a dream come true,'' said the 55-year-old professor who was invited to Thailand last month to join the 100th Anniversary Year of Physics, an event co-organised by the National Science Museum, Ministry of Science and Technology and the British Council, Thailand. ``I didn't dare to think it was possible 15 years ago.''Back in 1990, he was selected to join the Cassini-Huygens space exploration mission, a joint endeavour by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), the European Space Agency (Esa) and the Agenzia Spazio Italiana (Asi). Named after two celebrated scientists, the mission was designed to shed light on many of the unsolved mysteries of Saturn and Titan.``This is a long, long mission,'' said the scientist who got his doctorate in X-ray astronomy from University College, London. ``So long that two of the scientists sadly died in the meantime.''The reason why this ambitious mission took such a long time was because of the enormous distance involved. It took over seven years for the Cassini orbiter to reach the moon of this ringed planet.The professor explained that the spacecraft could not travel in a straight line because of the limited fuel it could carry. So the solution was to have it fly close to planets to gain energy from their gravitational fields, much in the same way as a slingshot, a technique that has been used for over two decades of space exploration.For its journey, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft had to fly past Venus twice, then back to Earth and then to Jupiter in order to reach its final destination. Because of this convoluted route, the distance the spacecraft actually travelled was 3.5 billion kilometres.As the Cassini spacecraft reached the orbit of Saturn, the Huygens probe was released, parachuting through the atmosphere of Titan and eventually landing on its surface. It took about two and a half hours for the probe to descend, taking measurements along the way. It survived for just 70 minutes on the surface.``That's it ... 15 years of my life is finished in just three hours,'' said the scientist. His instrument, called the ``surface-science package'', comprised nine sensors to measure a range of surface and atmospheric conditions including temperature, density, refractive index and electrical properties.With the successful landing, what lies beneath the moon's covering of orange fog is beginning to be revealed. And the professor is excited _ since for him Titan is the most fascinating moon in the solar system.``Of over 30 moons of Saturn, Titan is one of the strangest _ not only is it Saturn's largest moon, but it is also the only moon in the solar system that has a [significant] atmosphere.''But a moon with an atmosphere need not support life.``There is no living creature on Titan because of its very low temperature,'' he explained. ``It's minus 190 Celsius out there.''Even so, he said, this mission is scientifically very important.``We think that the atmosphere on Titan is like the atmosphere here on Earth billions of years ago,'' he said. ``So, scientifically, by going to Titan, in some aspects, it's like studying our own history.''The professor then proudly produced a picture of the surface of Titan acquired from the mission. At first glance it looks as if the photo could have been taken on a coastline on Earth, as the scene is full of what looks like sand and rocks.``It might look very boring having waited for over 15 years for this,'' he said. ``But for us, this is a miracle.''He explained that the shots taken while the Huygens probe was descending by parachute were at first sight like pictures of Earth _ there were what looked like rivers, coastline, seas and lakes. But because of the relatively low temperature, what looked like stones were actually ``ice pebbles''. And the lakes are not water but probably liquid methane. Methane is normally in a gaseous state on Earth, but in the low temperature of Titan it becomes a liquid.Most of the scientific data, such as temperature measurements and the amounts of different gasses in the atmosphere, is under study, and Zarnecki said it will take the team several years to go through the data and make sense of it.But how will it benefit our world?``That's always a difficult question to answer,'' he admitted. ``In the absolutely direct sense _ will it save lives directly, will it cure cancer, will it make some fantastic device? The answer is no.''But then again, these are by no means the reason why the mission started, he said.``The exploration [of Titan] will lead us to understand our solar system and our universe better. We want to know about where we live, what's in our neighbourhood, what's over the next hill, what's on the next planet,'' he said. ``It's our little contribution to understanding our planet and it's adding to the body of knowledge in science.''``It'll also lead to developments in technology,'' he said. ``Can you imagine making something to go into space, to travel for seven years and then to work in a place where the temperature is minus 190?''The technology that needs to be developed has to be very reliable, very small and consume very little power, he said.Unlike equipment directly controlled by people, the probe was uncontrollable from Earth _ it was a robot under software control.``So the space programme in general drives us to make certain products better, which in a small, perceptible way makes our life, we hope, better,'' he said.Science has been an important part of Zarnecki's life since he was at school. Stories of Sputnik 1, the first man-made object to orbit Earth, are still vivid in his memory. But his clearest memory of early space exploration was the time when he saw cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space.``School was closed the day he came to London and we went to see him as he was probably the most famous person [in the world] at the time,'' he started. ``The guy was very small because he had to fit in the capsule. He was in a big military uniform and I was standing a few metres from him. I remember thinking that this guy went around the earth once and that it was such a big deal to me.``And that inspired me,'' he continued. ``I thought I'd love to be involved in space.''Since then, space has become his passion.Now that the mission to Titan is over, he is on an Esa committee planning a mission to Europa, one of Jupiter's moons. It is thought that there is an ocean of water below Europa's icy surface and the Esa and Nasa are discussing the possibility of sending a probe there.But because the work is so long-term, he is not sure whether he will live long enough to see its success. ``I may be able to help lay the foundation of the project and contribute to the development of it but it'll be up to the next generation of younger scientists to do what I've done on this mission, to see it through to the end,'' he said.And he would love to see scientists from Thailand involved in such projects.``Some may think that it's such a long way for the Thais to be involved in such a mission but I don't think it's impossible. If you look at this mission [Cassini-Huygens], it's incredibly international,'' he said. ``Even a small country like Ireland is involved.''He said that Ireland is a very small country and although it is considered ``developed'', it is not very rich, but it was still part of the mission.The professor suggests that the Thai government play a role in turning what seems to be an impossible dream into reality.``The government should make some regional ties and give Thai scientists opportunities to work with space agencies since it's very difficult for individuals to go to European space agencies by themselves,'' he said. ``I know there are talented scientists in this country and they should be given opportunities to work internationally.''
NASA: Shuttle flights still risky
Griffin says launch decision near
BY CHRIS KRIDLER FLORIDA TODAY
Rollout delayed
Space shuttle Discovery's roll to the launch pad has slipped to early Tuesday morning, in part because managers want to move its cargo to the launch pad ahead of time -- Monday -- and partly because Discovery was mated to its new fuel tank later than expected.Another fuel tank scheduled to leave the Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana on Thursday was held up because of Tropical Storm Arlene. It was supposed to travel by sea and arrive at the Cape early next week.
WEB EXTRAS
RELATED STORIES: NASA fires culture change consultant
CAPE CANAVERAL - NASA said Thursday it had made progress in returning the shuttles to flight, though the orbiters still are vulnerable to disastrous hits by debris, a risk the agency accepts.
In an introduction to an update of the agency's return to flight plan, new Administrator Mike Griffin said NASA would not rush to flight, though it was close to making an "informed decision" about launching shuttle Discovery in July.
"Human space exploration is not and will never be without risk," he wrote. "However, I am convinced that this Nation and this Agency can execute the bold exploration agenda set forth by the President as safely as humanly possible."
The 288-page report summarizes how NASA has attempted to address the recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.
Among other topics, the report goes into detail on efforts to make the shuttles more resistant to debris hits and heat. There will be more protection for vulnerable wing panels, the landing gear area, selected panels and side windows.
The report also sums up NASA's evaluation of the danger posed by foam and ice as they are shed by the external fuel tank. Foam from Columbia's tank hit the orbiter during launch, leading to a breach that became fatal when the ship tried to reenter the atmosphere.
Heat-shield tiles are easily damaged, but even when they take a hit, they stand up to heat well, the report concluded. On the other hand, reinforced carbon-carbon, like that on the wings' leading edge, is tougher but is open to disaster even if slightly damaged.
The wing leading edge is still vulnerable to ice and impacts of foam from the liquid oxygen flange area near the middle of the fuel tank, the report concludes. The orbiter's nose cap and chin panel would be vulnerable to the same foam impacts.
This "worst-case environment is very unlikely to occur," the report said.
When the shuttle returns to flight, "there will still be the potential for foam to cause damage to tile that exceeds safe entry limits . . . but this potential has been significantly reduced."
NASA has accepted this risk for the shuttles' return to flight, the report said. It admits that improved testing on the ground still "will not allow us to verify the precise condition of foam and RCC."
NASA is concluding its debris analysis before the flight readiness review at the end of June.
Discovery will carry only limited tile repair capability.
Contact Kridler at 242-3633 or ckridler@flatoday.net
BY CHRIS KRIDLER FLORIDA TODAY
Rollout delayed
Space shuttle Discovery's roll to the launch pad has slipped to early Tuesday morning, in part because managers want to move its cargo to the launch pad ahead of time -- Monday -- and partly because Discovery was mated to its new fuel tank later than expected.Another fuel tank scheduled to leave the Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana on Thursday was held up because of Tropical Storm Arlene. It was supposed to travel by sea and arrive at the Cape early next week.
WEB EXTRAS
RELATED STORIES: NASA fires culture change consultant
CAPE CANAVERAL - NASA said Thursday it had made progress in returning the shuttles to flight, though the orbiters still are vulnerable to disastrous hits by debris, a risk the agency accepts.
In an introduction to an update of the agency's return to flight plan, new Administrator Mike Griffin said NASA would not rush to flight, though it was close to making an "informed decision" about launching shuttle Discovery in July.
"Human space exploration is not and will never be without risk," he wrote. "However, I am convinced that this Nation and this Agency can execute the bold exploration agenda set forth by the President as safely as humanly possible."
The 288-page report summarizes how NASA has attempted to address the recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.
Among other topics, the report goes into detail on efforts to make the shuttles more resistant to debris hits and heat. There will be more protection for vulnerable wing panels, the landing gear area, selected panels and side windows.
The report also sums up NASA's evaluation of the danger posed by foam and ice as they are shed by the external fuel tank. Foam from Columbia's tank hit the orbiter during launch, leading to a breach that became fatal when the ship tried to reenter the atmosphere.
Heat-shield tiles are easily damaged, but even when they take a hit, they stand up to heat well, the report concluded. On the other hand, reinforced carbon-carbon, like that on the wings' leading edge, is tougher but is open to disaster even if slightly damaged.
The wing leading edge is still vulnerable to ice and impacts of foam from the liquid oxygen flange area near the middle of the fuel tank, the report concludes. The orbiter's nose cap and chin panel would be vulnerable to the same foam impacts.
This "worst-case environment is very unlikely to occur," the report said.
When the shuttle returns to flight, "there will still be the potential for foam to cause damage to tile that exceeds safe entry limits . . . but this potential has been significantly reduced."
NASA has accepted this risk for the shuttles' return to flight, the report said. It admits that improved testing on the ground still "will not allow us to verify the precise condition of foam and RCC."
NASA is concluding its debris analysis before the flight readiness review at the end of June.
Discovery will carry only limited tile repair capability.
Contact Kridler at 242-3633 or ckridler@flatoday.net
Lose the Election? Looks May Be to Blame
Split second judgments about a politician's competence can predict an election's outcome better than chance alone, a new study reveals. The results indicate that superficial inferences can contribute to voting choices, a process hoped to be rational and deliberative.
Alexander Todorov and his colleagues at Princeton University showed more than 800 people pictures of two candidates who competed against each other in races for either the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives. The researchers asked subjects to rate the politicians on characteristics such as age, trustworthiness, charisma and competence, based on a glance that lasted less than a second. Analysis of the data showed that the rankings of competence correlated with election outcomes: nearly 70 percent of the time the candidate thought to appear more competent was the race's winner. "Although the study doesn't tell us exactly what competence is---there are many kinds, including physical strength, social dominance and intellectual shrewdness--babyfaced people are perceived to be lacking in all these qualities," explains Leslie A. Zebrowitz of Brandeis University, who penned a commentary that accompanied the study in today's issue of the journal Science.
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Judging a nuanced character trait such as competence solely on facial features uses a decision-making method known as System 1 processes. As a rule, these choices are fast, unreflective and effortless. A second kind of evaluation that has been implicated in voting choices uses System 2 processes, which are slow, deliberate and require more effort. Conclude Zebrowitz and co-author Joann M. Montepare of Emerson College: "Understanding the nature and origins of appearance biases has real world value, not the least of which may be identifying electoral reforms that could increase the likelihood of electing the most qualified leaders rather than those who simply look the part." --Sarah Graham
Alexander Todorov and his colleagues at Princeton University showed more than 800 people pictures of two candidates who competed against each other in races for either the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives. The researchers asked subjects to rate the politicians on characteristics such as age, trustworthiness, charisma and competence, based on a glance that lasted less than a second. Analysis of the data showed that the rankings of competence correlated with election outcomes: nearly 70 percent of the time the candidate thought to appear more competent was the race's winner. "Although the study doesn't tell us exactly what competence is---there are many kinds, including physical strength, social dominance and intellectual shrewdness--babyfaced people are perceived to be lacking in all these qualities," explains Leslie A. Zebrowitz of Brandeis University, who penned a commentary that accompanied the study in today's issue of the journal Science.
ADVERTISEMENT (article continues below)
Judging a nuanced character trait such as competence solely on facial features uses a decision-making method known as System 1 processes. As a rule, these choices are fast, unreflective and effortless. A second kind of evaluation that has been implicated in voting choices uses System 2 processes, which are slow, deliberate and require more effort. Conclude Zebrowitz and co-author Joann M. Montepare of Emerson College: "Understanding the nature and origins of appearance biases has real world value, not the least of which may be identifying electoral reforms that could increase the likelihood of electing the most qualified leaders rather than those who simply look the part." --Sarah Graham
US National Academies fights evolution controversy
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The National Academies, the flagship of U.S. science, said on Friday it had set up a Web site to battle attempts to portray evolution as mere speculation about how life developed on Earth.
The Web site, http:/nationalacademies.org/evolution/, carries links to various reports on evolution, which some U.S. religious groups want to be taught in schools only if their own views of a divine creator get equal credence.
"The theory of evolution is one of science's most robust theories, and the National Academies have long supported the position that evolution be taught as a central element in any science education program," the Academies said in a statement.
"Over the past several years, however, there has been a growing movement around the country to include non-scientifically based 'alternatives' in science courses," it added.
"Currently there are challenges to the teaching of evolution in some 40 states or local school districts."
Some of these are detailed by the National Center for Science Education, a non-profit organization dedicated to keeping evolution in public school education, at its Web site, http:/ncseweb.org.
The National Academies is an independent organization that routinely provides guidance on scientific, medical and engineering questions to the federal government and other groups that may ask them.
The Web site, http:/nationalacademies.org/evolution/, carries links to various reports on evolution, which some U.S. religious groups want to be taught in schools only if their own views of a divine creator get equal credence.
"The theory of evolution is one of science's most robust theories, and the National Academies have long supported the position that evolution be taught as a central element in any science education program," the Academies said in a statement.
"Over the past several years, however, there has been a growing movement around the country to include non-scientifically based 'alternatives' in science courses," it added.
"Currently there are challenges to the teaching of evolution in some 40 states or local school districts."
Some of these are detailed by the National Center for Science Education, a non-profit organization dedicated to keeping evolution in public school education, at its Web site, http:/ncseweb.org.
The National Academies is an independent organization that routinely provides guidance on scientific, medical and engineering questions to the federal government and other groups that may ask them.
Microsoft Betas 'Acrylic'
By Susan Kuchinskas
Microsoft (Quote, Chart) previewed what is likely to be the next version of a professional graphics tool, with a free downloadable beta release.
"Acrylic" is a professional, vector-based illustration tool for designers. "It's a specialty product that's more a complement to Adobe (Quote, Chart) Illustrator," said Forest Key, Microsoft (Quote, Chart) developer product manager.
The Acrylic beta is based on Creature House Expression, a product Microsoft acquired in 2003. Expression has been available as a free download since May 2004.
Noting that designers typically use multiple software tools, he explained that Acrylic's forte is creating paint-like effects, such as might be achieved using acrylic paints, chalk or watercolors.
"Expression was renowned for its vector-based organic media capabilities," Key said. Vector-based graphics using splines allowed designers to make changes while maintaining the look of the artwork. While that's Acrylic's core capability, he said, Microsoft has added the ability to lay down pixels. Key said Microsoft hadn't decided whether it would continue to maintain Expression.
"The pixel capability can also let you do natural looking effects that users requested," Key said, "such as such as drop shadows or color correction. These fit together in a unified work space, where you can mix and match pixel objects and vector objects."
The Acrylic moniker is a code name for a future product, for which Microsoft hasn't set a release data; the beta expires on October 15 2005. Neither is the company talking about whether the product will remain free. Key said his team plans to gather feedback on the beta for several months.
Technical recommendations are a Pentium 4 processor, 512 MB of RAM and a 1024x768 monitor resolution with 24-bit color.
Unsurprisingly, Acrylic is Windows XP-only, although Expression is available in both PC and Macintosh versions.
Microsoft (Quote, Chart) previewed what is likely to be the next version of a professional graphics tool, with a free downloadable beta release.
"Acrylic" is a professional, vector-based illustration tool for designers. "It's a specialty product that's more a complement to Adobe (Quote, Chart) Illustrator," said Forest Key, Microsoft (Quote, Chart) developer product manager.
The Acrylic beta is based on Creature House Expression, a product Microsoft acquired in 2003. Expression has been available as a free download since May 2004.
Noting that designers typically use multiple software tools, he explained that Acrylic's forte is creating paint-like effects, such as might be achieved using acrylic paints, chalk or watercolors.
"Expression was renowned for its vector-based organic media capabilities," Key said. Vector-based graphics using splines allowed designers to make changes while maintaining the look of the artwork. While that's Acrylic's core capability, he said, Microsoft has added the ability to lay down pixels. Key said Microsoft hadn't decided whether it would continue to maintain Expression.
"The pixel capability can also let you do natural looking effects that users requested," Key said, "such as such as drop shadows or color correction. These fit together in a unified work space, where you can mix and match pixel objects and vector objects."
The Acrylic moniker is a code name for a future product, for which Microsoft hasn't set a release data; the beta expires on October 15 2005. Neither is the company talking about whether the product will remain free. Key said his team plans to gather feedback on the beta for several months.
Technical recommendations are a Pentium 4 processor, 512 MB of RAM and a 1024x768 monitor resolution with 24-bit color.
Unsurprisingly, Acrylic is Windows XP-only, although Expression is available in both PC and Macintosh versions.
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