Paul Raven @ 31-07-2008
It’s long been assumed that the complex and mysterious Antikythera mechanism was some sort of device for modelling astronomical movements. [image from Wikimedia Commons]
However, it was always thought to be a tool for the astronomers themselves. Now, new translations of the inscriptions on the device show localised names for months that may well locate the device’s origins in the Sicily region, suggesting that the Antikythera machine was used to demonstrate the ’science’ of astronomy to people unfamiliar with its language.
Given the prevalence of computers in the classrooms of our own time, it’s a piquant thought to imagine the earliest computer yet known being used for educational purposes as well.
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Tom Marcinko @ 26-06-2008
The Mars candy company, the U.S. Agricultural Research Service, and the world’s second-fastest supercomputer, IBM’s Blue Gene, are working to sequence the genome of the cocoa tree. The project will identify cocoa plants that are better able to withstand the effects of global warming, including fungal strains and insects. The same tools might be applied to other food staples. There’s no genomic cure for political unrest, which also threatens the world’s cocoa supply.
[Story tip: fark.com. Chocolate portrait inspired by Roy Lichtenstein by emilywjones]
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Paul Raven @ 24-04-2008
They may be off the news radar at the moment, but botnets are still a serious bugbear for computer security professionals - it’s hard work trying to defeat something that fights back, after all. [image by Rodrigo Senna]
So here’s a new idea from the University of Washington - why not fight fire with fire, and build a white hat botnet to defend against the DDoS attacks af the black hat botnets?
“Their system, called Phalanx, uses its own large network of computers to shield the protected server. Instead of the server being accessed directly, all information must pass through the swarm of “mailbox” computers.
The many mailboxes do not simply relay information to the server like a funnel – they only pass on information when the server requests it. That allows the server to work at its own pace, without being swamped.”
Sounds like a good plan. It’s beyond my knowledge levels, but the guys at Techdirt seem to think it’s a creative approach.
As a recent convert to Linux, this is the part where I smugly remind everyone that if certain commercially ubiquitous operating systems weren’t so riddled with security flaws, botnets wouldn’t be a problem anyway …
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Paul Raven @ 03-03-2008
Slashdot notes a story that quotes a big wheel at Sony as being worried about the potential mainstream appeal of the Asus Eee and its ilk:
“”If (the Eee PC from) Asus starts to do well, we are all in trouble. That’s just a race to the bottom,” said Mike Abary.”
The Slashdot poster observes:
“Presumably by ‘we’ he means all the hardware manufacturers who sell over-priced, full-fat laptops. [...] Looks like what’s bad for Sony may be good for the consumer.”
In the short run, certainly, he may be right - but what about the long game? A drop in hardware prices for us consumers would be nice, sure, but there’s bound to be more consequences than that. [image by Scrambled Egg]
This is an issue that Charles Stross broached late last year (right after purchasing his own Eee, naturally). You should read all of Charlie’s thoughts about the inevitable (and long-overdue) commoditization of computing technology, because they add weight to his final blow:
“… how deep will be the recession that follows once the personal computing industry deflates to its natural value (i.e. peanuts)?”
Ouch.
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Jeremy Eades @ 27-02-2008
I don’t know about you, but I’ve adapted well to the standard keyboard/mouse computer interface. I started as a child with DOS and Win 3.1. Touch-typing on various-languages’ keyboards are no problem and my twitch response works well in Team Fortress 2.
Unfortunately, this ability honed over decades may soon be obsolete, what with some new technologies on demonstration at the Game Developer’s Conference recently. Specifically, eye-tracking hardware from EyeTech that is currently available (for several thousand dollars) allows the disabled to simply look at a place on the screen and the cursor goes there. It’s a rather expensive way to reduce repetitive stress injury, but according to the journalist trying it out, it makes games almost too easy.
We’ve written before about touchless interfaces, and there’s a promising brainwave-powered interface on the horizon too. The future’s bright for new ways to handle digital interactions. Check out the rest of the Ars Technica piece for some other interesting ways to interface reality and digital gaming.
(photo from flickr user F1RSTBORN)
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Edward Willett @ 08-11-2007
Okay, technically your typing fingers are already brain-machine interfaces, but they’re rather clumsy ones, especially if you’re not a great typist. Wouldn’t it be easier to just think at your computer to get it to do what you want it to do? (Via ScienceDaily.)
Well, as this fascinating overview of the state of the art makes clear, it’s coming. The lede:
Neuroscientists have significantly advanced brain-machine interface (BMI) technology to the point where severely handicapped people who cannot contract even one leg or arm muscle now can independently compose and send e-mails and operate a TV in their homes. They are using only their thoughts to execute these actions.
Read, as they say, the whole thing. (Photo from Wikipedia.)
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Paul Raven @ 25-10-2007
OK, I might be stretching the point with "semi-sentient", but it still has all the hallmarks of a bad AI thriller movie plot. The infamous and still-growing botnet created by the Storm worm virus is able to detect when its command and control structure is being probed by computer security types, and launch denial-of-service attacks at them in retaliation. While some experts believe that Storm has pretty much run its course, others estimate that it may be sitting on a power-base of more than 15 million infected machines, waiting to be hired out to the highest bidder. It’s a long step from the golden era of the Christmas Tree and Friday The Thirteenth viruses. [Via BoingBoing] [Image by RileyRoxx]
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Jeremy Eades @ 07-10-2007
It seems like the time is ripe for new technology in the way we view media and interact with computers. First we saw wearable monitors, and now Microsoft’s come out with a tabletop touch screen with a range of applications. The Microsoft Surface will be available only to companies at first, so it’s got applications for ordering food, a map function to help you find your way in a mall or hotel, and a jukebox function compatible with the Microsoft Zune ("subject to DRM restrictions, of course"). Possible home functions include Paint, a photo application, and a sort of jigsaw puzzle where each piece displays part of a movie and you must arrange them in the proper order.
At a launch price of $5,000-$10,000, it’s just as well your average Joe won’t be able to buy it. But Microsoft hopes the price will come down as demand grows and technology gets cheaper. And when it gets cheap enough, I’ll be there ready to play at being John Anderton (without the cops chasing me, of course).
(image from kjd)
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Paul Raven @ 05-09-2007
As someone who started using computers back in the good old days when you had to bash every instruction into the keyboard at the command prompt, I still feel kind of grateful for the revolutionary interface change that the now-standard mouse brought with it. But after a few hours trawling the web, my right hand starts telling me that there has to be a better way. And there is, thanks to a bunch of boffins from Stanford University who’ve developed a system that allows you to replicate the functions of a mouse interface using a few keyboard hotkeys and the motion of your eyeballs.
What a great cover-up for hangovers in the workplace that will be - “Your eyes are bloodshot - heavy night out?” “Nah, stayed at home and read a Doctorow novel.” [Image by babygoldfish]
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Paul Raven @ 30-08-2007
I’m still waiting for my flying car, my personal robot assistant and my complete meals in pill form, but a little bit of the science fictional future looks to have just finally arrived - the first affordable non-vaporware 3D computer monitor is on sale right now. Whether it’s actually any good, I have no idea - but it’s a start.
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Jeremy Lyon @ 06-08-2007
The Wikipedia haters out there love to say you can’t trust what an article says because you don’t know who wrote it. “For Christ’s sake,” they cry, “ANYONE can edit a Wikipedia article.” Well, to you haters I say check out this work being done at my alma mater: Wikipedia entries color coded phrase by phrase to represent the reputation of the contributor. [boingboing]
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Jeremy Lyon @ 03-08-2007
On Virgin America’s new planes you can build a private playlist from the 3,000 on-board MP3s, play Doom, watch satellite TV, chat with other passengers or order lunch, all from the seat back in front of you. The computers that make this possible run Linux, booted over the network from one of the three servers at the back of the plane. Artur Bergman of O’Reilly Radar has a more detailed description of the experience, and a Flickr photoset with a bunch of cool pics.
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Jeremy Lyon @ 22-07-2007
Despite the snide tone of my title, BBC’s article on the present and future of self-driving cars is an interesting overview of developments since the last running of the Grand Challenge, and a hint at what the world might look like after these cars go mainstream. I wonder if any of the contestants are using evolutionary computing techniques?
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Jeremy Lyon @ 15-07-2007
If you’ve ever read William Gibson’s novel “Virtual Light” you know what augmented reality is. (If you haven’t read it, you should stop looking at this and go buy it right now.) Layering virtual objects on top of the real world is the name of the game, and now you can play it at home with the help of ARTag.net. Try not to be discouraged by the Bob the Builder aesthetic. [mefi]
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Jeremy Lyon @ 12-07-2007
Two Ph.D. candidates at MIT have invented The Sound of Touch, a digital instrument that texturizes sound. It works like this: you use a microphone built in to the wand-like instrument to record a sound, then you brush the tip of the wand across a surface. A processor translates the shape of that surface into an effect applied to the sound. Sandpaper would gives your sample a gritty sound, silk a satiny smoothness.
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