Sunday, August 12, 2012

The Nexus 7 Review: Google's First Tablet Gets Benchmarked


Fault Lines : Controlling the web

In January 2012, two controversial pieces of legislation were making their way through the US Congress. SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act, and PIPA, the Protect Intellectual Property Act, were meant to crack down on the illegal sharing of digital media. The bills were drafted on request of the content industry, Hollywood studios and major record labels. The online community rose up against the US government to speak out against SOPA, and the anti-online piracy bill was effectively killed off after the largest online protest in US history. But it was only one win in a long battle between US authorities and online users over internet regulation. SOPA and PIPA were just the latest in a long line of anti-piracy legislation US politicians have passed since the 1990s. "One of the things we are seeing which is a by-product of the digital age is, frankly, it's much easier to steal and to profit from the hard work of others," says Michael O'Leary, the executive vice-president for global policy at the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). The US government says it must be able to fight against piracy and cyber attacks. And that means imposing more restrictions online. But proposed legislation could seriously curb freedom of speech and privacy, threatening the internet as we know it. Can and should the internet be controlled? Who gets that power? How far will the US government go to gain power over the web? And will this mean the end of a free and global internet? Fault Lines looks at the fight for control of the web, life in the digital age and the threat to cyber freedom, asking if US authorities are increasingly trying to regulate user freedoms in the name of national and economic security.

Researchers Develop Algorithm to Trace Source of Computer Virus, Epidemics, More

Want to trace the source of virus that has infected your computer? Researchers at a Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland have the answer. The scientists have devised software capable of tracing computer viruses back to their source. Beyond computer viruses, the software can also trace terror suspects, rumor-mongers and even infectious diseases back to their source. Pedro Pinto, one of the researchers, explained that the algorithm works by going through information in a reverse direction back to the original source. He said, “Using our method, we can find the source of all kinds of things circulating in a network just by 'listening' to a limited number of members of that network.” notes Sky News. The team behind the algorithm published their research in the scientific journal Physical Review Letters and tested their software on a known data maze to check if their research actually pinpoints the individuals behind the 9/11 attacks. "By reconstructing the message exchange inside the 9/11 terrorist network extracted from publicly released news, our system spit out the names of three potential suspects -- one of whom was found to be the mastermind of the attacks, according to the official inquiry," he said. The same algorithm can be applied to a list of contacts on Facebook and check who among those was the person who started a particular rumor. Similar principles can be applied to identify the source of spam emails, computer virus. The team also applied the algorithm to water and transport networks in South Africa and traced the source of a cholera outbreak as well. Pinto said, “By modeling the network of water circulation, rivers and human transports, we were able to pinpoint the place where the first cases appeared”. Update [12/08/2012 9:34 AM UTC] In a phone interview with IBTimes, Pinto explained that the triangulation method used for a cell phone user has been applied and to networks with nodes under this algorithm. Considering the system to be monitored as an interconnection of lot of nodes, around 15 to 20 percent nodes are to be monitored said Pinto. According to him the best connected nodes can be the point of observation and monitoring to achieve the best required results.

Edward A. Villarreal. Powered by Blogger.

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