May 2001 Technology Updates
1. MIT puts it all online
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on April 4, 2001, announced that it would offer all of its course materials for free via the Internet within the next ten years. Materials such as syllabi, lecture notes, and assignments will be made available. MIT hopes to facilitate a greater exchange of educational materials and ideas among the higher education community. MIT officials point out that people who access and use the free material will not be granted college credit.
MIT has started a new Web site, called MIT OpenCourseWare. The university expects to have a few courses on this site ready for fall 2001. The plan is to expand to about 500 courses by 2003 and over 2000 within ten years.
For more information, click on these links:
2. PC Tips — PowerPoint narration
Using Microsoft's PowerPoint you can develop a self-running presentation complete with narration. This month's tip will explain how to record a narration.
Before you begin, be sure your microphone is properly connected to your computer (see the owner's manual for your computer if you are unsure about this).
- Open a PowerPoint presentation for which you want narration.
- Go to the first slide for which you want narration.
- On the menu bar, click on Slide Show and then Record Narration.
The Record Narration dialog box will appear:
- Click on Set Microphone Level.
- Speak the requested sentence into the microphone in your normal voice. The microphone check wizard will automatically adjust the microphone level. When you are done, click on OK
- Click on OK in the Record Narration dialog box.
- Begin your narration(use a mouse click or the space bar to advance the presentation).
- To pause the narration, right-click and then click on Pause Narration.
- To end the narration, right-click and then click on End Show. Click on Yes to save the timings along with the narration.
- To test your narration, go to the first slide that contains narration and press F5.
3. Sex.com
In November 2000 Judge James Ware of the U.S. District Court ordered Stephen Cohen to return the sex.com domain name to Gary Kremen. Judge Ware ruled that Cohen had illegally obtained the name by forging Kremen's signature. However, the court battle was not over, as Kremen sought damages for the loss of use of the name for over five years.
On April 4, 2001, Judge Ware ordered Cohen (and the off-shore companies he controls) to pay Kremen $65 million. The judge valued the loss at $40 million and assessed an additional $25 million in punitive damages. However, it is doubtful that Kremen will see any of the money. Cohen has allegedly secreted his money into banks around the world. He has consistently applied his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination when asked about the money under oath. In addition, he failed to comply with a court order that he place a $25 million bond with the court during deliberations. Cohen did not appear in the damages trial as he was under house arrest in Mexico.
For more information, click on these links:
4. No webcast of execution
U.S. District Court Judge John Tinder ruled on April 18, 2001, that the Entertainment Network may not broadcast the execution of Timothy McVeigh over the World Wide Web. McVeigh is scheduled to die by lethal injection on May 16, 2001, for the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City. The blast killed 168 people.
While federal law allows media access to executions, it does not allow for sound or video recording. However, due to the distance between the execution site (in Terre Haute, IN) and Oklahoma City, families of the victims will be allowed to view the execution via closed circuit television. The Entertainment Network plans to appeal the ruling.
Click on these links for more information:
5. Polish hackers win security contest
Argus Systems Group has become well known for its security products and its contests that challenge hackers to break them (see February 2001 Technology Updates). However, in April 2001 Argus lost its fifth contest to a hacking group from Poland called "Last Stage of Delirium." The group won about $48,000 by breaking into a server protected by Argus' Pit Bull software.
The company quickly pointed out that the hackers did not break Pit Bull but rather used a well-known vulnerability in the Solaris 7 operating system running on Intel's X86 microprocessors. Since the problem is with the operating system, there is no known way to protect the system, other than changing operating systems. Argus pointed out that this problem highlights the need for secure operating systems.
For more information, click on these links:
6. Making faster chips
A consortium of computer-chip makers and national laboratories announced a new process for making faster chips on April 11, 2001. The consortium, Extreme Ultraviolet LLC, includes leading chip makers Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, as well as Sandia and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories. The new process, called extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV), uses an extreme ultraviolet light laser to create circuit patterns on silicon.
Current chip-making technology, called deep ultraviolet lithography, can create circuits no smaller than about 100 nanometers. The first generation of EUV equipment will be able to create circuits with a minimum size of about 70 nanometers (approximately 1000 times smaller than the width of a human hair). Future EUV generations would extend circuits down to about 30 nanometers. The chips created with the new process should run at 10Ghz or more (currently the fastest chips run at 1Ghz).
For more information, click on the link:
7. Linux on PS2
As part of the development for the PlayStation 2 (PS2), Sony developed a PS2 simulator that works on the Linux operating system. Linux is a freely available version of the Unix operating system. Sony created the simulator to allow for game development before the actual PS2 hardware was available.
Over the past few months a number of Linux enthusiasts have been circulating an online petition requesting that Sony release its PS2-based version of Linux. On April 27, 2001, Sony announced that a beta (final test) PS2 Linux kit will be released in June. The kit will contain the operating system, a 40GB hard drive, a keyboard, and mouse. It is expected to retail for about $200.
For more information, click on these links:
8. Cell phone lawsuit
On April 19, 2001, class action lawsuits were filed in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey against the makers of cellular phones. The suits were filed by Peter Angelos, a well-known lawyer who has successfully sued the tobacco and asbestos industries. The suits claim that cellular phone makers have known about health risks to users. The plaintiffs want the cellular industry to provide users with headsets that they claim will prevent health problems. They are also seeking punitive damages.
The cellular companies named in the suits include AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, Motorola, and Ericsson. The companies claim that there are no health risks involved in using cellular phones. They cite two studies published last year that show no increased risk of brain cancer associated with cellular phone use.
For more information, click on these links:
9. A mouse that can help people see
Computing has become a multimedia experience. The World Wide Web is full of images. However, this experience is limited for people who are visually impaired. Now, an Israeli company, VirTouch Ltd., has developed a computer mouse that can help these people "see" Web graphics.
The mouse contains three tactile pads on which the user places his or her fingers. Each pad contains 32 pins, which move up when the mouse cursor is over a black area and down when it is over a white area. The pins "display" shades of gray by remaining in the middle. In addition to graphics, the pads can be used to read a Web page in Braille. The mouse retails for about $5,000.
For more information, click on these links:
10. Teaching a computer to talk
A Netherlands-based company called Artificial Intelligence (AI) claims to have created a computer program that can learn language like a human infant. The program, called HAL (from the computer in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey), currently has a 50-60 word vocabulary. This gives HAL the language ability of an 18-month-old human. HAL's creators hope that it will have the language skills of an adult by 2005.
The program runs on a typical personal computer using Windows 2000. However, unlike past attempts to create a computer that can talk, HAL has not been programmed to understand the basic rules of language. Instead HAL relies on a branch of artificial intelligence called Bayesian statistical analysis. Using this approach a child psychologist "talks" to HAL, correcting its mistakes and praising the correct use of words.
For more information, click on these links:
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