A relatively new approach to data centre cooling known as a heat wheel is gaining momentum, and likely to gain a higher profile from an upcoming demonstration of the technology. The heat wheel — also known as a rotary heat exchanger or Kyoto Cooling — is a refinement of existing approaches that take advantage of outside air to improve cooling efficiency and reduce data centre power bills
Duke University has joined the growing list of schools balking at following Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony BMG’s RIAA sue ’em all instructions. Put up or shut up, Duke University for VP for student affairs Larry Moneta (right) has told Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony BMG’s RIAA, in effect. And the same goes for Hollywood’s MPAA
Obviously, there were no satellites to snap pictures of Rome two millennia ago. But that hasn’t stopped experts from giving Web surfers a bird’s eye view of the ancient city. Google Earth has added to its software a 3-D simulation that painstakingly reconstructs nearly 7,000 buildings of ancient Rome, including the Colosseum, the Forum and the Circus Maximus. The program, which gives users access to maps and global satellite imagery, now hosts a new layer that allows surfers to see how Rome might have looked in AD 320, a bustling city of about 1 million people under Emperor Constantine
Plastic Logic, a spin-off company from the Cambridge University’s Cavendish Laboratory, has recently released its design of a future electronic newspaper reader. This lightweight plastic screen copies the appearance, but not the feel, of a printed newspaper. This electronic paper technology was pioneered by the E-Ink Corporation and is used in the current generation Sony eReader and Amazon.com’s Kindle. Plastic Logic’s device, yet to be named, has a highly legible black-and-white display and a screen more than twice as large compared to current versions available on the market
The State of Washington has filed suit [PDF] against a Redmond-based search engine optimization and Web services outfit that has done business under the names Visible.net, Captures.com and WebMarketingSource.com. In essence, the state attorney general contends that these entities have ripped off their mostly mom-and-pop clientele through a pattern of unfulfilled performance promises and financial shenanigans. While the clients may be on the smaller end of the spectrum, they have been forking over real money, with initial startup charges ranging from $3,750 to $9,750, plus a monthly fee of $40 to $100
This underground data centre has greenhouses, waterfalls, German submarine engines, simulated daylight and can withstand a hit from a hydrogen bomb. It looks like the secret HQ of a James Bond villain. And it is real. It is a newly opened high-security data centre run by one of Sweden’s largest ISPs, located in an old nuclear bunker deep below the bedrock of Stockholm city, sealed off from the world by entrance doors 40cm thick
Thanks to a new technique, DNA strands can be easily converted into tiny fibre optic cables that guide light along their length. Optical fibres made this way could be important in optical computers, which use light rather than electricity to perform calculations, or in artificial photosynthesis systems that may replace today’s solar panels
Stanford artificial intelligence researchers have developed software that makes it easy to reach inside an existing video and place a photo on the wall so realistically that it looks like it was there from the beginning. The photo is not pasted on top of the existing video, but embedded in it. It works for videos as well — you can play a video on a wall inside your video. The technology can cheaply do some of the tricks normally performed by expensive commercial editing systems
Internet search engine company Google has launched a new online tool to help track the spread of influenza in the United States. The company has found that Americans falling ill search for advice about flu online using its web facilities before they seek help from a doctor. Search patterns are analysed and mapped to where flu is spreading
Recently St Lucie County in Florida announced that it has teamed up with Geoplasma to develop the United States’ first plasma gasification plant. The plant will use super-hot 10,000 degree fahrenheit plasma to effectively vapourise 1,500 tons of garbage each day, which in turn spins turbines to generate 60MW of electricity — enough to power 50,000 homes. Cutting down on landfill waste while generating energy is a pretty win-win proposition, and the plant will also be able to melt down inorganic materials to be reused for other applications, such as in roadbed and heavy construction
IBM is throwing its considerable weight behind an idea that seemed to have faded: broadband Internet access delivered over ordinary power lines. The technology has been around for decades, but most efforts to implement the idea on a broad scale have failed to live up to expectations. Now, with somewhat scaled-back goals, improved technology, and a dose of low-interest federal loans, IBM is partnering with a small newcomer called International Broadband Electric Communications Inc. to try to make the idea work in rural communities that don’t have other broadband options
A US based Web hosting firm that security experts say was responsible for facilitating more than 75 percent of the junk e-mail blasted out each day globally has been knocked offline following reports from Security Fix on evidence gathered about suspicious activity emanating from the network
Cyber attackers bent on shutting down large Web sites are arming themselves with what are effectively vast digital fire hoses capable of overwhelming even the world’s largest network
Every person has a unique body odour, like their fingerprints, that could be used as an odourprint
to identify them, a new study has found. Scientists revealed an individual’s odour signature remains detectable even when their diet is changed to include strong smelling foods such as garlic and spices
Michael Malone, managing director iiNet, said he would sign up to be involved in the ridiculous
trials, which are scheduled to commence by 24 December this year. Optus and Telstra both said they were reviewing the Government’s documentation and would then decide whether to take part. But Malone’s main purpose was to provide the Government with hard numbers
demonstrating how stupid it is
— specifically that the filtering system would not work, would be patently simple to bypass, would not filter peer-to-peer traffic and would significantly degrade network speeds. They’re not listening to the experts, they’re not listening to the industry, they’re not listening to consumers, so perhaps some hard numbers will actually help, he said. Every time a kid manages to get through this filter, we’ll be publicising it and every time it blocks legitimate content, we’ll be publicising it.
Malone concluded: This is the worst Communications Minister we’ve had in the 15 years since the [internet] industry has existed
The United States abandoned a nuclear weapon beneath the ice in northern Greenland following a crash in 1968, a BBC investigation has found
Google added a voice and video chat feature to its Gmail email service on Tuesday, launching a free Web-based service that competes with the likes of eBay’s Skype. Gmail and Google App subscribers can now choose to speak with friends on a video screen and simultaneously instant message them in a Google Chat box
Microsoft has denied paying a Nigerian contractor US$400,000 in a bid to battle Linux’s movement into the government sector. Media reports alleged that Microsoft had proposed paying the sum to a government contractor under a joint marketing agreement last year in order to persuade the contractor to replace Linux OS with Windows OS on thousands of school laptops
The promise of medical lasers goes beyond clean incisions and eye surgery: Many believe that lasers should be used not just to create wounds but to mend them too. Abraham Katzir, a physicist at Tel Aviv University, has a system that may just do the trick and is proving successful in its first human trials
Spammers are turning a profit despite only getting one response for every 12.5m e-mails they send, finds a study. By hijacking a working spam network, US researchers have uncovered some of the economics of being a junk mailer. The analysis suggests that such a tiny response rate means a big spam operation can turn over millions of pounds in profit every year. It also suggests that spammers may be susceptible to attacks that make it more costly to send junk mail
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