Maths provides answer to airport security puzzle
High flyers will enjoy faster and safer travel in the future, thanks to mathematicians at The University of Manchester and airport security specialists Rapiscan Systems.
The two parties are joining forces for a £750,000 research project to provide fast, accurate 3D x-ray images of suitcases and baggage.
Source: University of Manchester, October 11, 2006
For months, big-name companies including Wells Fargo Bank, Toyota and Coca-Cola have been putting down roots in the virtual world “Second Life” as a way to reach hundreds of thousands of tech-savvy early adopters.
On Tuesday, Sun Microsystems used the opening of its own “Second Life” space to announce its “Project Darkstar,” which is designed to help developers of online games with server-side technology.
Source: Daniel Terdiman, CNET News.com, October 11, 2006
Talk to me, e-mail: Messages that can be heard
A new online service, while it does not cut down on incoming e-mail, does promise to make it easier on the eyes. The service combines text-to-speech software with podcast technology so that e-mail can be converted to sound and downloaded onto a portable media player. That way, you can take your e-mail with you and listen to it as you travel to work, eat lunch, jog or organize files.
Source: Chris Nicholson, International Herald Tribune, October 11, 2006
Monster jellyfish? Mapping the global internet
By developing novel methods to map and model the internet, even visualising it as a jellyfish, the EVERGROW project is challenging conventional thinking and offering new insights into how best to route future network traffic.
Source: IST Results, October 13, 2006
Many tools now exist for capturing and sharing data collected on mobile devices. Will they turn us into globe-trotting personal publishers — or glorified file clerks?
Source: Wade Roush, Technology Review, October 13, 2006
Air passengers ‘could be tagged’
Electronically tagging passengers at airports could help the fight against terrorism, scientists have said. The prototype technology is to be tested at an airport in Hungary, and could, if successful, become a reality “in two years”.
Source: Rebecca Morelle, BBC News, October 12, 2006
Utube.com deluged with YouTube seekers
Utube.com, a Web site owned by a supplier of used tubes and pipes, has been swamped this week with visitors confusing it with online video service YouTube. The site has been barely operational since Google said Monday that it will buy YouTube for $1.65 billion.
Source: Reuters, via CNET News.com, October 13, 2006
Your employer probably hasn’t bugged your apartment to determine if your television viewing is up to par. But that doesn’t mean that your life outside of work can’t affect your hiring, firing or promotions.
[Note: here is an example where a company is going way too far -- in my opinion.] Weyco Inc., an employee benefits firm in Okemos, Mich., expanded its nicotine testing policy “to spouses of its 175 employees. If the spouses test positive for nicotine in monthly tests, the employee must pay an $80 monthly fee until the spouse takes a smoking cessation class and tests nicotine-free.”
Source: Amy Joyce, The Washington Post, October 15, 2006 (Free registration)
Comments
@ 08:30
My life’s been pretty dull lately, but I guess it doesn’t bother me. I haven’t been up to anything recently. Maybe tomorrow. I’ve pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning. I haven’t gotten much done these days. Pretty much nothing seems worth thinking about.