Clipmarks | kelvin273's 'technology' clips

Big Brother is watching you take online school tests

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 23:36:18 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273
clipper's remarks: Normally, I'd be worried about privacy implications here; but since it's a one-time piece of technology for a specific purpose, it seems like a good idea.

Clip Source: enews.earthlink.net

New technology will place cameras inside students' homes to ensure that those taking exams online don't cheat.

This fall, Troy University in Alabama will begin rolling out the cameras for many of its approximately 11,000 online students, about a third of whom are at U.S. military installations around the world.

The device, made by Cambridge, Mass.-based Software Secure, is similar in many respects to other test-taking software. It locks down a computer while the test is being taken, preventing students from searching files or the Internet. The latest version also includes fingerprint authentication, to help ensure the person taking the test isn't a ringer.

But the new development is a small Web cam and microphone that is set up where a student takes the exam. The camera points into a reflective ball, which allows it to capture a full 360-degree image. (The first prototype was made with a Christmas ornament.)

Tags: education, tech, testing

Analysis of Windows Vista content protection

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 05:48:47 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273
clipper's remarks: So they're going to make your computer run slower in order to keep you from making backup copies of music and movies. I think I'm going to get a new computer while XP is still out.

Clip Source: badvista.fsf.org

In a controversial technical analysis Peter Gutmann goes into fantastic detail about the recently released Vista operating system and its content protection scheme. One thing became clear to me after reading this analysis. Vista is being marketed to content producers, not consumers. If Windows XP was Microsoft’s attempt to embed a browser into the operating system then Vista is the attempt to embed DRM. Digital Rights Management technology has been applied to literally every ring of the OS architecture.

Vista's target market is content producers and the underlying philosophy of the user experience will be far different then what many consumers expect it will be. Microsoft has attempted to plug the infamous “analog hole” as much as is possible by forcing all data through encryption algorithms. For those unaware of the “costs” of encryption it is sufficiently high. Pushing HD audio and video content through encryption/decryption routines is a tremendous strain on any system currently available and in the near future. Even with the application of Moore's Law a conservative estimate could place affordable and usable systems within this new content system 5 years away. It will be interesting to see how these restrictions will be spun by the large marketing and PR teams since none of these innovations will benefit consumers in any way. The job that has been handed to these PR and marketing teams is to dress up a product designed with every restriction a producer has asked for and make a consumer want to buy it. One of the most quotable lines from the Gutmann analysis sums this up perfectly as, “breaking the legs of Olympic athletes and then rating them based on how fast they can hobble on crutches.”

Tags: technology, computers, microsoft, windows, vista, drm

Cell phones kill birds

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 03:22:38 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

Cell, TV towers pose risk for birds

The conflict between technology and nature hasn't gone well for migratory birds. The light from cellphone and TV towers has lured millions of them to their deaths.

By Jim Puzzanghera, Times Staff Writer
November 27, 2006

WASHINGTON — Is the pursuit of fewer dropped calls leading to more dropping birds?

The lights atop communications towers that warn pilots to stay away can have a come-hither effect on birds — killing millions of migrating warblers, thrushes and other species every year.

During bad weather, birds can mistake tower lights for the stars they use to navigate. They will circle a tower as if in a trance, often until they crash into the structure, its guy wires or other birds. Sometimes disoriented birds simply plummet to the ground from exhaustion.

The fatally hypnotic effect of warning beacons on birds is not a new phenomenon; early lighthouses attracted swarms of birds. But as towers proliferate to accommodate an ever-growing number of mobile phones and other devices, conservationists say bird deaths are climbing.

"We're talking about estimates of millions of birds dying because of these towers," said Paul Schmidt, assistant director for the migratory bird program at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has pegged the annual deaths at 4 million to 50 million.

It's another example of the conflict between technology and nature — a battle that has not gone well for migratory birds. Not only are their habitats being lost to development, their flyways are increasingly mined with deadly windmills, power lines and confusing reflective-glass skyscrapers.

Lacking definitive studies on birds and towers, the communications industry questions the wisdom of adding costly new regulations at a time when more towers are needed for expanding cellular phone service and high-definition TV and radio broadcasts.

That debate has begun in Washington.

Tags: technology, environment, conservation