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25 February 2012
24 February 2012
No More Virtual Pickpocketing of Credit Cards, Thanks to New Tap and Pay Technology Developed at the University of Pittsburgh University of Pittsburgh
News (02/16/12) B. Rose Huber
University of Pittsburgh researchers have devised a method to thwart credit card thieves and fraudsters with a new card design that lets a card be turned on and off. Pittsburgh professor Marlin Mickle points to the danger of enabling radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and near-field communication (NFC) credit cards to operate any time they are placed in an electromagnetic field, as thieves can use inexpensive portable readers that they can pass near an NFC card to charge purchases to it or steal cash from a bank account. "Our new design integrates an antenna and other electrical circuitry that can be interrupted by a simple switch, like turning off the lights in the home or office," Mickle says. "The RFID or NFC credit card is disabled if left in a pocket or lying on a surface and unreadable by thieves using portable scanners." The technology would let cardholders hold their NFC or RFID card in a specified area, such as on an emblem, when making a transaction. The card is activated as long as the switch is held, but the discontinuation of tactile contact causes the card to automatically deactivate. "This solution is simple and very inexpensive to integrate into the RFID and NFC credit card manufacturing process,"
Mickle notes. http://www.news.pitt.edu/creditcards
University of Pittsburgh researchers have devised a method to thwart credit card thieves and fraudsters with a new card design that lets a card be turned on and off. Pittsburgh professor Marlin Mickle points to the danger of enabling radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and near-field communication (NFC) credit cards to operate any time they are placed in an electromagnetic field, as thieves can use inexpensive portable readers that they can pass near an NFC card to charge purchases to it or steal cash from a bank account. "Our new design integrates an antenna and other electrical circuitry that can be interrupted by a simple switch, like turning off the lights in the home or office," Mickle says. "The RFID or NFC credit card is disabled if left in a pocket or lying on a surface and unreadable by thieves using portable scanners." The technology would let cardholders hold their NFC or RFID card in a specified area, such as on an emblem, when making a transaction. The card is activated as long as the switch is held, but the discontinuation of tactile contact causes the card to automatically deactivate. "This solution is simple and very inexpensive to integrate into the RFID and NFC credit card manufacturing process,"
Mickle notes. http://www.news.pitt.edu/creditcards
Google to Sell Heads-Up Display Glasses by Year's End
New York Times (02/21/12) Nick Bilton
Google is developing experimental glasses that will stream information to the wearer's eyes in real time, and the technology should be available to the public by the end of the year. The glasses will be Android-based, will have a 3G or 4G data connection, and include sensors for motion and global positioning systems. The glasses also will have a unique navigation system. "The navigation system currently used is a head tilting to scroll and click," says Google blogger Seth Weintraub. "It is very quick to learn and once the user is adept at navigation, it becomes second nature and almost indistinguishable to outside users." The glasses also will have a low-resolution built-in camera that will be able to monitor events in real time and overlay information about locations, surrounding buildings, and nearby friends. The project is being developed by Google X, a secretive laboratory that works on futuristic projects. The glasses will utilize several Google programs, including Google Latitude, Google Goggles, and Google Maps, according to a company employee. "You will be able to check into locations with your friends through the glasses," according to a Google employee.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/
Google is developing experimental glasses that will stream information to the wearer's eyes in real time, and the technology should be available to the public by the end of the year. The glasses will be Android-based, will have a 3G or 4G data connection, and include sensors for motion and global positioning systems. The glasses also will have a unique navigation system. "The navigation system currently used is a head tilting to scroll and click," says Google blogger Seth Weintraub. "It is very quick to learn and once the user is adept at navigation, it becomes second nature and almost indistinguishable to outside users." The glasses also will have a low-resolution built-in camera that will be able to monitor events in real time and overlay information about locations, surrounding buildings, and nearby friends. The project is being developed by Google X, a secretive laboratory that works on futuristic projects. The glasses will utilize several Google programs, including Google Latitude, Google Goggles, and Google Maps, according to a company employee. "You will be able to check into locations with your friends through the glasses," according to a Google employee.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/
15 February 2012
What is Symfony?
Symfony is a full-stack framework, a library of cohesive classes written in PHP.
It provides an architecture, components and tools for developers to build complex web applications faster. Choosing symfony allows you to release your applications earlier, host and scale them without problem, and maintain them over time with no surprise.
Symfony is based on experience. It does not reinvent the wheel: it uses most of the best practices of web development and integrates some great third-party libraries.
Thousands of developers already trust symfony for their applications!
New users join the community every day, and that makes of symfony the most popular PHP framework around. A large community means easy-to-find support, user-contributed documentation, plugins, and free applications
05 February 2012
Quantum Mechanics Enables Perfectly Secure Cloud Computing
University of Vienna (01/19/12)
University of Vienna researchers say that secure cloud computing can be achieved using the principles of quantum mechanics and quantum computing. The researchers envision a future in which quantum computing capabilities only exist in a few specialized facilities around the world, and users would then interact with those facilities to outsource their quantum computations. However, the researchers say that global cloud computing needs to become safer to ensure that users' data remains private. Quantum computing "can preserve data privacy when users interact with remote computing centers," says Vienna researcher Stefanie Barz. She says that quantum computing enables the delegation of a quantum computation from a user who does not hold any quantum computational power to a quantum server, while guaranteeing that the user's data remains private, a process known as blind quantum computing. Blind quantum computing involves the user preparing multiple qubits in a secret state and sending those qubits to the quantum computer, which entangles the qubits according to a standard scheme. The user tailors measurement instructions to the specific state of each qubit and sends them to the quantum server. The results of the computation are then sent back to the user who can interpret and use the results of the computation.
http://www.physorg.com/news/
University of Vienna researchers say that secure cloud computing can be achieved using the principles of quantum mechanics and quantum computing. The researchers envision a future in which quantum computing capabilities only exist in a few specialized facilities around the world, and users would then interact with those facilities to outsource their quantum computations. However, the researchers say that global cloud computing needs to become safer to ensure that users' data remains private. Quantum computing "can preserve data privacy when users interact with remote computing centers," says Vienna researcher Stefanie Barz. She says that quantum computing enables the delegation of a quantum computation from a user who does not hold any quantum computational power to a quantum server, while guaranteeing that the user's data remains private, a process known as blind quantum computing. Blind quantum computing involves the user preparing multiple qubits in a secret state and sending those qubits to the quantum computer, which entangles the qubits according to a standard scheme. The user tailors measurement instructions to the specific state of each qubit and sends them to the quantum server. The results of the computation are then sent back to the user who can interpret and use the results of the computation.
http://www.physorg.com/news/
01 February 2012
FBI Seeks Data-Mining App for Social Media
InformationWeek (01/26/12) Elizabeth Montalbano
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wants to develop a data-mining application that will enable the agency to monitor social media network activity for intelligence purposes, according to a request for information (RFI) posted on FedBizOpps.gov. The agency is interested in a "geospatial alert and analysis mapping application" that will allow its Strategic Information and Operations Center to "quickly vet, identify, and geo-locate breaking events, incidents, and emerging threats," the RFI says. The tool would be in the form of a "secure, lightweight Web application portal, using mashup technology" with unlimited flexibility to adapt to changing threats, and have the ability to automatically search and scrape social networking and open source news Web sites for information about breaking world events. The FBI plans to use the tool to share information with intelligence partners to coordinate and synchronize awareness of events. Users of the tool must have access to a common operating dashboard for viewing both unclassified open source information feeds and tools to analyze social media during a developing crisis. The tool also would enable users to conduct relevant keyword searches on popular information sites on the Internet.
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The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wants to develop a data-mining application that will enable the agency to monitor social media network activity for intelligence purposes, according to a request for information (RFI) posted on FedBizOpps.gov. The agency is interested in a "geospatial alert and analysis mapping application" that will allow its Strategic Information and Operations Center to "quickly vet, identify, and geo-locate breaking events, incidents, and emerging threats," the RFI says. The tool would be in the form of a "secure, lightweight Web application portal, using mashup technology" with unlimited flexibility to adapt to changing threats, and have the ability to automatically search and scrape social networking and open source news Web sites for information about breaking world events. The FBI plans to use the tool to share information with intelligence partners to coordinate and synchronize awareness of events. Users of the tool must have access to a common operating dashboard for viewing both unclassified open source information feeds and tools to analyze social media during a developing crisis. The tool also would enable users to conduct relevant keyword searches on popular information sites on the Internet.
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