As one of the building blocks of the human genome, DNA has become an important agent in medicine and forensic crime fighting. Now DNA may be used to tag merchandise with codes that counterfeiters cannot crack. A trace of synthetic human DNA embedded with a hidden code and then applied to a designer dress, a CD or a DVD, or mixed into brand-name perfume, for example, could be used to authenticate a product — and enable someone with the key to the code to detect counterfeits
An ADSL bug that has baffled Telstra for seven months is continuing to outwit the telco giant, with the fix date for some disabled peer-to-peer files sharing services now pushed back for the third time this yea
Vipul’s Razor is a distributed, collaborative, spam detection and filtering network. Razor establishes a distributed and constantly updating catalogue of spam in propagation. This catalogue is used by clients to filter out known spam
The Open Relay Database is a non-profit organisation which stores a list of machines which are open SMTP relays. These relays are, or are likely to be, used as conduits for sending unsolicited bulk e-mail. By accessing this list, system administrators are allowed to choose to accept or deny e-mail exchange with these servers
Ireland last week approved a €640 million plan to build the world’s largest offshore wind farm, capable of generating 520 megawatts of electricity
Pakistan has banned internet access in certain areas including border belt with neighbouring India as a security measure in the wake of war threats emanating from India
The Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Royal Hospital admitted it mistakenly sent letters to 30 patients, including six elderly men, telling them they were pregnant. They were sent by a computer system that automatically generates letters telling patients their operations have been postponed
Crocodile hunter Steve Irwin will sing and dance on The Wiggles’ next CD and video in one of Australia’s dumbest show-business mergers
The US government now claims that Congress has the power not only to extend existing copyrights, but also to restore the copyright of work that has entered the public domain and that copyright is totally immune from First Amendment scrutiny
The IRS has lost or misplaced 2332 laptop computers, desktop computers and servers over three years, according to a recent report by Treasury Department auditors. They concluded it’s a persistent problem: The IRS has reported a material weakness in inventory controls every year since 1983
Antivirus companies have received a copy of the first virus capable of infecting files based on Microsoft’s .Net Intermediate Language, or MSIL
The two groups striving to make their respective formats the standard for rewritable DVDs used this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas as an opportunity to demonstrate their progress
Computer programmer Daniel Bernstein says he just wants to make the Internet more secure. But he says the US government is still standing in his way
Britain will be the world’s first country to use the Internet for voting as part of radical changes to the political system, according to Robin Cook, the leader of the Commons
Living bandages tailored to individuals could help cure the incurable. Early studies suggest the dressings, which are coated with the patient’s own cells, can mend wounds that otherwise refuse to heal
A pedal that works as both an accelerator and a brake will save lives if car makers adopt the design, according to Swedish inventor Sven Gustafsson. The idea sounds bizarre, but officials at the Swedish National Road Administration have already done extensive road tests and approved the device for use
Development of Sharp’s Twin LCD dual-sided display was completed in December and mass production will start in May. The company expects to see high demand for the panel from the makers of mobile devices such as mobile phones and PDAs
About a month away from scheduled meetings with mobile telecommunications industry representatives, NSW Police has said it would like to see carriers become more co-operative in the fight against mobile phone theft
Web sites that use animation software to create flashing graphics have become the latest target of virus writers. The Flash virus is thought to be the first of its kind
In December, Java was more popular than .Net for building Web services, according to an online poll, but weeks later the position had dramatically reversed; investigation revealed just what lengths Microsoft will go to to promote its product
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