The Internet - The first Worldwide Tool of Unification ("The End of History")

" ... Now I give you something that few think about: What do you think the Internet is all about, historically? Citizens of all the countries on Earth can talk to one another without electronic borders. The young people of those nations can all see each other, talk to each other, and express opinions. No matter what the country does to suppress it, they're doing it anyway. They are putting together a network of consciousness, of oneness, a multicultural consciousness. It's here to stay. It's part of the new energy. The young people know it and are leading the way.... "

" ... I gave you a prophecy more than 10 years ago. I told you there would come a day when everyone could talk to everyone and, therefore, there could be no conspiracy. For conspiracy depends on separation and secrecy - something hiding in the dark that only a few know about. Seen the news lately? What is happening? Could it be that there is a new paradigm happening that seems to go against history?... " Read More …. "The End of History"- Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)

"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…5 - Integrity That May Surprise…

Have you seen innovation and invention in the past decade that required thinking out of the box of an old reality? Indeed, you have. I can't tell you what's coming, because you haven't thought of it yet! But the potentials of it are looming large. Let me give you an example, Let us say that 20 years ago, you predicted that there would be something called the Internet on a device you don't really have yet using technology that you can't imagine. You will have full libraries, buildings filled with books, in your hand - a worldwide encyclopedia of everything knowable, with the ability to look it up instantly! Not only that, but that look-up service isn't going to cost a penny! You can call friends and see them on a video screen, and it won't cost a penny! No matter how long you use this service and to what depth you use it, the service itself will be free.

Now, anyone listening to you back then would perhaps have said, "Even if we can believe the technological part, which we think is impossible, everything costs something. There has to be a charge for it! Otherwise, how would they stay in business?" The answer is this: With new invention comes new paradigms of business. You don't know what you don't know, so don't decide in advance what you think is coming based on an old energy world. ..."
(Subjects: Who/What is Kryon ?, Egypt Uprising, Iran/Persia Uprising, Peace in Middle East without Israel actively involved, Muhammad, "Conceptual" Youth Revolution, "Conceptual" Managed Business, Internet, Social Media, News Media, Google, Bankers, Global Unity,..... etc.)


German anti-hate speech group counters Facebook trolls

German anti-hate speech group counters Facebook trolls
Logo No Hate Speech Movement

Bundestag passes law to fine social media companies for not deleting hate speech

Honouring computing’s 1843 visionary, Lady Ada Lovelace. (Design of doodle by Kevin Laughlin)

Friday, March 29, 2013

Neelie Kroes: 'Be creative and fearless'

DutchNews.nl, Thursday 28 March 2013 

Europe has the potential to become another Silicon Valley, writes Neelie Kroes. 

Nothing combats frustration about the European economic deadlock like meeting creative, ambitious internet entrepreneurs.

Last Thursday I met with nine, among them the founders of Skype, Rovio, Spotify, Tuenti, Seedcamp and The Next Web. These are all young men and women who, in the last five to ten years, developed their original ideas into companies reaching millions of people.

It wasn’t easy. They had to find finance, and struggled with administrative obstacles, difficult labour legislation and a lack of qualified staff. But they didn’t give up.

Maybe wanting something and going for it is what makes an entrepreneur an entrepreneur. They are looking at ways to improve the climate for new start-ups in Europe. How can we make them stay in Europe, introduce innovative concepts and inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs to do the same?

Fearless

Their message to other European entrepreneurs is clear: ‘be creative and fearless’. Look upon the obstacles as so many challenges. Failing is not a problem, not trying is. More action is needed to get this message across and that is also the responsibility of successful entrepreneurs in their interaction with start-ups.

They also have some good advice to governments. Tax systems, education and bankruptcy rules should be geared towards stimulating entrepreneurship, not discouraging it. Government leaders should go to successful entrepreneurs for advice more often.

European cities, too, can do much more to become exciting places for businesses to settle. In their efforts to attract tourism, some cities are running the risk of turning into museums. The (local) authorities must also show what they are made of. Why not introduce a 1% rule for start-ups the way we did for the arts?

Angry Birds

When you say dotcom company, people will think of Silicon Valley rather than Stockholm, London, Berlin, Flanders or Amsterdam. But things are changing. In the space of a few years, some of the European IT start-ups have risen to the top.

Their creative products have found a place in the daily lives of millions of people, including mine. At the end of a working day I turn to Skype for a chat with my grandchildren in the States. Spotify provides me and 20 million others in 24 countries with ‘music for every moment’. And if I need to release some pent up energy I download a higher level of Angry Birds, just like 250 million other users do every month. Rovio, the makers of Angry Birds, attracts an even bigger number of users than Twitter.

Europe can innovate on a scale previously only associated with Silicon Valley. We have the talent. Europe is full of creative entrepreneurs. What we need is governments who give them the opportunities to bloom. The start-ups are our European stars.

Neelie Kroes is the euro commissioner in charge of the Digital Agenda

Thursday, March 28, 2013

The World’s Languages in Your Pocket (No Internet Required)

Google Translate Blog, Wednesday, March 27, 2013

 Have you ever found yourself in a foreign country, wishing you knew how to say "I'm lost!" or "I'm allergic to peanuts”? The Internet and services like Google Translate can help—but what if you don't have a connection?

 Today we're launching offline language packages for Google Translate on Android (2.3 and above) with support for fifty languages, from French and Spanish to Chinese and Arabic.

You can select [Offline Languages] in the app menu to see all the offline language packages available for download. To enable offline translation between any two languages, you just need to select them in the offline languages menu. Once the packages are downloaded, you're good to go.


While the offline models are less comprehensive than their online equivalents, they are perfect for translating in a pinch when you are traveling abroad with poor reception or without mobile data access.


So go out and explore another language or another culture without worrying about Internet access. There’s a whole world offline out there.

Posted by Minqi Jiang, Associate Product Manager, on behalf of the Google Translate Team

Monday, March 25, 2013

Saudi Arabia threatens to ban WhatsApp, Viber and Skype: sources

The Daily Star, March 25, 2013

Skype Logo.
                             
RIYADH: Internet messenger applications such as Skype, Viber and WhatsApp face being banned in Saudi Arabia if operators fail to allow authorities in the kingdom to censor them, industry sources said on Monday.

Local telecommunication providers have been told to ask the operators of the services to furnish means of control, an official at the kingdom's Communications and Information Technology Commission said, requesting anonymity.

Another source at telecom operator Saudi Telecommunications Co. (STC) said the commission gave service providers one week ending on Saturday to respond, warning it would "take measures to ban them" if they failed to comply.

An industry source said telecom operators were behind the move, accusing the STC, along with Mobily and Zain, of asking the commission to impose censorship due to the "damage" caused by the free-of-charge applications.

In neighbouring UAE, most Skype applications and Viber are blocked but WhatsApp messenger remains accessible.

The two countries in 2010 threatened to ban BlackBerry instant messaging and demanded installing local servers to censor the service. The services remain uninterrupted but it was not clear how far the RIM Canadian maker did comply.

Yahoo! buys app from British teen

Google – AFP, 25 March 2013 

Yahoo! did not disclose the terms of the deal it struck with 17-year-old Nick
D'Aloisio (Getty Images/AFP/File, Justin Sullivan)

SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo! announced plans Monday to buy mobile news reader app Summly from the London teenager who invented it, likely transforming him into one of the world's youngest self-made multimillionaires.

The company did not disclose the terms of the deal it struck with 17-year-old Nick D'Aloisio, but the London Evening Standard said Yahoo! would pay between £20 million and £40 million ($30 to $60 million).

"We're excited to share that we're acquiring Summly, a mobile product company founded with a vision to simplify the way we get information, making it faster, easier and more concise," Yahoo! said in a statement.

"At the age of 15, Nick D'Aloisio created the Summly app at his home in London. It started with an insight -- that we live in a world of constant information and need new ways to simplify how we find the stories that are important to us, at a glance."

Yahoo! said most articles and web pages were formatted for browsing with mouse clicks and that "the ability to skim them on a phone or a tablet can be a real challenge -- we want easier ways to identify what's important to us."

The California firm said that "Nick and the Summly team are joining Yahoo! in the coming weeks."

D'Aloisio said in a tweet: "@Summly has signed an agreement to be acquired by Yahoo!! Excited for the next chapter of Summly! Thanks to all who have supported me."

The Evening Standard said the Wimbledon youth, who would become one of the world's youngest technology millionaires, claims to have created the app as a hobby.

"I didn't realize it was possible to make money out of it," he was quoted as saying.

About the new inflow of cash, the youth said: "I like shoes, I will buy a new pair of Nike trainers and I'll probably get a new computer, but at the moment I just want to save and bank it. I don't have many living expenses."

Former Google executive Marissa Mayer took over at Yahoo! in July 2012 as part of efforts by the struggling Internet search pioneer to reinvent itself.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Indonesian Government to Regulate Online Shopping

Jakarta Globe, ID/Farid Firdaus, March 23, 2013

The Ministry of Communication and Information will require all e-commerce websites
 in Indonesia to use Indonesian domain names by the end of the year. (JG Photo/
Afriadi Hikmal)  
       
Related articles

The Indonesian government has announced it will implement new regulations on e-commerce systems in the country to minimize fraud and build people’s trust in online shopping.

Director of e-business at the Ministry of Communication and Information Azhar Hasyim said that the ministry was mulling over new rules on electronic system registration, which will include e-commerce.

“One of the registration requirements is that electronic system providers must use Indonesian domain names,” Azhar said after a discussion on Friday, adding that the new rules will be implemented sometime this year.

Azhar said that the regulations will not curb the growth of the e-commerce industry in Indonesia, and would instead protect the industry.

“There are many frauds in the websites with dot-com domain names,” Azhar said. “We received many complaints concerning this. Under dot-com domain names, we will have difficulties finding the perpetrators because the websites are not registered with the government. We will force [e-commerce businesses] to use Indonesian domains this year.”

Based on the data of the ministry, the value of e-commerce transactions in Indonesia in 2012 was around Rp 120 trillion ($12.3 billion), a significant increase from the previous year’s total of Rp 63 trillion.

The ministry also said that of all online shopping transactions in the country in 2012, 55 percent came from home computers, 43 percent came from mobile web browsers and 2 percent were from mobile applications.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Liquid cooling to cut Internet energy use

Deutsche Welle, 19 March 2013


Researchers in the UK believe the energy needed to cool global data centers run by giants like Facebook and Google could be cut by more than 90 percent by replacing air cooling with non-conductive liquids.

The energy needed to run the Internet and other cloud computing storage systems is estimated to represent around two percent of the world's total energy consumption.

More than half of that is spent on running fans to cool down electronics in servers, which run hot, just like in personal computers.

Now a small British startup-company, Iceotope, is proposing their liquid-based cooling technology could dramatically cut the energy needed for cooling, while re-using the heat taken out of the computers. 

"If we just look at the data centers - those factories of cats doing strange things on YouTube - the latest research suggests that this year alone those will consume 43 gigawatts of energy. It's the equivalent to around 90 medium-sized nuclear power stations," Iceotope's Richard Barrington told DW.

"More than half of that energy globally is used just to cool the computers," says Barrington. "So half of it is productive, the other half in one sense is unproductive. And then all the heat that is actually generated at the moment is just thrown away."

Barrington believes using liquid rather than air cooling could be more than 1,000 times more energy efficient, saving data storage companies money and reducing their carbon footprint.
It would represent a reduction in energy used for cooling of between 80 and 97 percent.

Immersing electronics

Anyone who has used a laptop will know how hot even a small computer can get.

 Iceotope's Jon Summers (right) and Richard Barrington (left)

Although using fans to cool electronics down is not particularly efficient, it is the solution used in most of the world's computers.

Iceotope teamed up with researchers at the University of Leeds in the North of England to investigate how to immerse the heat-generating electronics in a liquid, which would not damage them.

"We use a liquid which has a high dielectric strength - it doesn't conduct electricity," explained Dr Jon Summers at the school of mechanical engineering at the University of Leeds.

To demonstrate, he filled a beaker with the liquid and sank a mobile telephone into it.

"It's a fully operational mobile phone. And one of the things we can do to test that it is still alive is to ring it while it's inside the liquid," explained Dr Summers. The mobile telephone did indeed still work, and appeared entirely undamaged when taken back out of the liquid.

Closed, recyclable system

Large data centers can house hundreds, sometimes thousands of computer server racks.
A typical server rack is the size of a wardrobe and houses around 40 individual servers - large computers that are far more powerful than your household variety.

In the Iceotope system each server is completely enclosed and the liquid is contained within - just like a laptop computer filled with liquid rather than air.

The servers' liquid cooling system links up when they are plugged in, and it only takes an 80 watt pump to circulate the liquid around all of the servers in one rack.

"The system is a totally encapsulated solution, so the liquid is always there - it doesn't evaporate," says Summers.

Other liquid cooling systems submerge servers in big, open tanks of liquid, which are prone to evaporation and are also incompatible with existing data centers.

Servers heating buildings

But slashing electricity usage for cooling is only one half of the solution the Leeds researchers and Iceotope are looking at.

The heat generating by the machines still has to go somewhere.

While fans just blow hot air out of a building, this new system uses heat exchangers which pass the heat picked up by the non-conductive cooling liquid over to a separate loop, which uses ordinary water.

 Iceotope's liquid cooling is being used to cool two servers
systems - but it could soon be more

"It is low grade heat, but we find ways to use it," says Dr Nikil Kapur, who is responsible for the project's heat recycling research. "It would be ideal for space heating or underfloor heating for residential apartments. Other uses for low grade heat includes things like greenhouses, tomato growing is one that we often see."

The Iceotope server installed at the University of Leeds heats up two conventional radiators.

Arctic air

Data giants like Google and Facebook are already looking at ways of slashing the enormous costs of cooling their giant data centers. Google recently unveiled plans for new data centers in the Arctic north, making use of the cooler air there.

Richard Barrington from Iceotope welcomes the development, but believes Google's solution too is unsustainable in the long run.

"We can't put all the data centers in the far north," Barrington says.

"There isn't sufficient capacity of people, power and floor space to do that. And we still need data centers in the Middle East, in high temperature environments. Emerging economies where they want to develop their own infrastructure, they're not going to want to ship it out to Norway or Iceland."   

So far Iceotope has only installed two fully working liquid cooled server systems. One at the University of Leeds and one at a university in Poland. It is not exactly making a dent in the world's enormous computer energy consumption - yet.

But if this technology can be proven to work on a large scale, and giants like Google and Facebook come knocking, the future of global computing could be looking far cheaper and greener than it is today.


Related Articles:


“… New ideas are things you never thought of. These ideas will be given to you so you will have answers to the most profound questions that your societies have had since you were born. Inventions will bring clean water to every Human on the planet, cheaply and everywhere. Inventions will give you power, cheaply and everywhere. These ideas will wipe out all of the reasons you now have for pollution, and when you look back on it, you'll go, "This solution was always there. Why didn't we think of that? Why didn't we do this sooner?" Because it wasn't time and you were not ready. You hadn't planted the seeds and you were still battling the old energy, deciding whether you were going to terminate yourselves before 2012. Now you didn't…. and now you didn't.

It's funny, what you ponder about, and what your sociologists consider the "great current problems of mankind", for your new ideas will simply eliminate the very concepts of the questions just as they did in the past. Do you remember? Two hundred years ago, the predictions of sociologists said that you would run out of food, since there wasn't enough land to sustain a greater population. Then you discovered crop rotation and fertilizer. Suddenly, each plot of land could produce many times what it could before. Do you remember the predictions that you would run out of wood to heat your homes? Probably not. That was before electricity. It goes on and on.

So today's puzzles are just as quaint, as you will see. (1)How do you strengthen the power grids of your great nations so that they are not vulnerable to failure or don't require massive infrastructure improvement expenditures? Because cold is coming, and you are going to need more power. (2) What can you do about pollution? (3) What about world overpopulation? Some experts will tell you that a pandemic will be the answer; nature [Gaia] will kill off about one-third of the earth's population. The best minds of the century ponder these puzzles and tell you that you are headed for real problems. You have heard these things all your life.

Let me ask you this. (1) What if you could eliminate the power grid altogether? You can and will. (2) What if pollution-creating sources simply go away, due to new ideas and invention, and the environment starts to self-correct? (3) Overpopulation? You assume that humanity will continue to have children at an exponential rate since they are stupid and can't help themselves. This, dear ones, is a consciousness and education issue, and that is going to change. Imagine a zero growth attribute of many countries - something that will be common. Did you notice that some of your children today are actually starting to ponder if they should have any children at all? What a concept! ….”


Monday, March 18, 2013

Japan’s Fujitsu says smartphones can take your pulse

Technology Inquirer, AFP, March 18th, 2013

A Fujitsu engineer demonstrates new technology, a the real-time pulse monitor
 system with facial imaging technology, that ustilises a web-camera in PCs or
 smartphones, at the company’s headquarters in Tokyo on March 18, 2013.
AFP / YOSHIKAZU TSUNO

TOKYO — A smartphone that can take the pulse of a user just by looking at his or her face was unveiled in Japan on Monday.

Technology giant Fujitsu plans to put the invention to practical use within a year, enabling people at work or at home to track their health and collect data for analysis without wearing special devices.

The smartphone works by measuring variations in the brightness of a person’s face caused by the flow of blood.

Researchers say countless tiny blood vessels run through the face, enabling monitoring of haemoglobin which absorbs green light. Haemoglobin is a protein found in red blood cells that contains iron and transports oxygen.

Simply pointing a camera at a person’s face for as little as five seconds will enable pulse-taking, while the technology automatically filters out the effect of head movements or changes caused by standing up quickly.

“Even at a busy workplace, or any time a person is sitting in front of a PC, whether for teleconferencing or writing e-mails, their pulse can be measured during brief moments of quiet,” the company said in a press release.

“At home, a camera built into a TV can measure the pulse of people relaxing in front of it, or a mirror, for when people are getting ready in the morning,” it said.

“Pulse detectors built into gates at event sites or control points at airports could be a possible security application by detecting people in ill health and people acting suspiciously.”

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Google chairman Eric Schmidt to visit Myanmar

Phys Org, AFP,  March 16, 2013

US Internet giant Google executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, pictured during
a visit to Paris, on October 29, 2012.

Google chairman Eric Schmidt will visit Myanmar next week, highlighting increasing Internet freedom in the former pariah state just weeks after a controversial trip to communist North Korea.

Schmidt will speak in Yangon on March 22 as part of an Asian tour, the Internet giant said, aiming to boost web access in the country, ruled for decades by a repressive military junta.

Under the military regime the Internet was strictly controlled, with access to anti-government sites and sites such as YouTube blocked.

As major economic and political reforms roll back decades of repressive rule, increasing numbers of people are going online to air their views.

But Internet penetration remains poor in Myanmar, long cut-off from the rest of the world by sanctions, and those with web access have to put up with painfully slow connections.

Schmidt's visit aims "to connect with local partners and Googlers who are working to improve the lives of many millions of people across the region by helping them get online and access the world's information for the first time," the company said in a statement.

He will give an hour-long speech at the Myanmar Information and Communication Technology Park, according to Thaung Su Nyein, secretary of the Myanmar Computer Professionals Association, with hundreds expected to attend.

"Computer professionals, businessmen and youth leaders will come. Google is one of the biggest IT companies in the world.... We are very proud and glad that their executive chairman would come and visit us."

Myanmar is one of Asia's last untapped markets, with overseas technology companies desperate to sell products such as mobile phones and laptops to its people as they attempt catch up with their neighbours.

Schmidt made a private visit to North Korea in January, warning after his trip that the nation, which last week threatened a nuclear strike against the United States, will not develop unless it embraces Internet freedom.

Related Article:


Friday, March 15, 2013

Iran blocks use of tool to get around online filter

Deutsche Welle, 15 March 2013


Iranian authorities have blocked the use of most virtual private networks (VPNs), a tool that is often used to get around a widespread Iranian internet filter.

Tehran often blocks foreign websites, including social networks, on the grounds that they are "immoral" or "counterrevolutionary."

It uses a filter to prevent people from accessing many sites on the official grounds that they are offensive or criminal.

The regime has been trying to build up a "Halal Internet" for some time now in order to stop activists and bloggers from using illegal means to access the Internet and disseminate information.

 Iran has been listed as an "enemy
 of the Internet" by Reporters Without
Borders
VPN software provides encrypted links directly to private networks based abroad and can allow a computer to behave as if it is based in another country.

Highly-sensitive information linked to trade and industry is often transmitted by VPNs.
But many bloggers and activists use VPNs to criticize the regime as they allow the user to remain anonymous.

Before, it was quite easy to get hold of the software in Iran, but now, users will have to register their information with Internet providers if they want to use VPNs.

Closed doors

"Imagine a castle whose doors were open for everybody until now. In future, only the 'legal' doors, those which are monitored by the state, will be open," explained Mahmoud Tadjallimehr, an Iranian technology expert who lives in Germany, to DW.

The regime in Tehran has confirmed this information. "Within the last few days, illegal VPN ports in the country have been blocked," said Ramezanali Sobhani-Fard, the head of the parliament's information and communications technology committee, the country's Mehr news agency reported. "Only legal and registered VPNs can be used from now on."

Deutsche Welle's Farsi department has registered fewer clicks since the announcement, but there has been an increase in interest in Psiphon, an anti-filter technology DW provides to users on its website.

 Young opponents of the regime often
resort to online protest actions
The Persian department at the BBC has witnessed a similar development.

'Only a matter of time'

Mahmoud Tadjallimehr says it is "only a matter of time" until hackers, bloggers and activists find a new way to get around the censorship.

Ehsan Norouzi, a technical expert who also works at DW, agrees that the "possibilities of the Internet are endless" and thinks users will find an alternative sooner or later. But he is pessimistic about the coming weeks and months.

"Users won't have a lot of legroom ahead of the impending presidential elections [June 2013]," he said.

After the contested elections of 2009, young people organized their protests via the Internet and social networks. The regime is trying to prevent a repetition of this at all costs.

The regime wants to prevent a repeat
 of the protests in 2009
Activists hope that a project that the US State Department is currently working on to help dissidents get around censorship - the "Internet in a suitcase" - will also help their cause.

In a report published this week, Reporters Without Borders includes Iran in its list of "enemies of the Internet," saying it is prone to abuses of surveillance. The media rights organization cites a growing body of evidence that has linked these countries to crackdowns on journalists and activists with the aid of sophisticated spy gear.

Samsung Unveils New Champion in Smartphone War

Jakarta Globe, Sophie Estienne, March 15, 2013

A visitor checks out Samsung's new Galaxy S4 during its unveiling in
New York, on March 14, 2013 
       
Related articles

Samsung unveiled a slim, feature-rich Galaxy S4 as its new champion to take on Apple in the fiercely competitive smartphone arena.

The South Korean consumer electronics giant introduced the Galaxy S4 on the stage of New York City's Radio City Music Hall on Thursday and said the smartphones would roll out in 155 countries in late April. Pricing was not disclosed.

"For each of us, life is a journey," said Samsung mobile communications division head, JK Shin.

"What we want is a device that can join us on that journey; a companion that helps us experience life in the fullest."

S4 features include a high-definition, five-inch (12.7-centimeter) screen, enhanced picture-taking capabilities and the capacity to translate to and from nine languages.

"It is now clearly Samsung's flagship device; jam-packed with technology," said Gartner analyst Michael Gartenberg.

"The question is how many of these features will resonate with consumers."

Samsung played up its online hub for music, books, and video and the ease with which the S4 can share video with televisions made by the company.

"At this point, smartphones are all about software and ecosystems; showing up with compelling hardware is the expected starting point," Gartenberg said.

"This is about a Samsung ecosystem that happens to be built on Android."

Samsung is the biggest and most successful maker of smartphones powered by Android software that Google makes available for free.

Samsung has become the top smartphone maker worldwide with a 29 percent market share, according to IDC, while in the US market Apple remains the king and sells more than one of every three mobile phones.

The Galaxy S3 has sold more than 40 million worldwide since its launch last May and has some analysts debating which of the two firms is ahead in innovation.

"We are always listening to learn from people around the world about what kind of progress they really want," Shin said.

Samsung stressed innovation as it continues to defend itself against charges made by Apple in public and in lawsuits that the South Korean rival has copied the California company's creations.

The S4 is thinner than its predecessor and weighs just 130 grams despite having a bigger screen and battery.

The smartphone also boasts a "dual camera" function that lets the front and rear-facing cameras be used simultaneously for pictures or videos that combine images of subjects with that of the photographer.

A Group Play function lets S4 handsets close to one another share music, photos, documents or games, or even work in unison as a sound system for a song.

An S Translator feature lets people speak or enter text in one tongue and have it instantly converted to another.

Sensors in the S4 detect when a person looks away from a video and then pauses play until the distraction has passed and eyes are once again directed at the screen.

S4 sensors combined with S Health software enable handsets to be used to track exercise, eating, heart rate and other fitness factors.

The handsets were also designed to measure temperature and humidity to help people "understand what is going on around them."

Samsung also took aim at the trend of people using their own smartphones for work with the addition of new Knox software that builds a secure wall between personal and business data on handsets.

"The Samsung Galaxy S4 is very good, but looks like an evolution to the S3, not a revolution," said technology analyst Jeff Kagan.

Apple, which is known for keeping its plans private, is believed to be working on its own upgrades, including a new version of the iconic iPhone. But Apple shares have slumped some 40 percent from highs hit last year.

Agence France-Presse
Related Article:


Reuters' Matthew Keys accused of Anonymous conspiracy

BBC News, 14 March 2013

Related Stories

Anonymous supporters appear in public
wearing Guy Fawkes masks
A Reuters social media editor has been charged in the US with conspiring with hacker group Anonymous to break into a website of a former employer, the Tribune Company.

The indictment says Matthew Keys gave members of Anonymous a login and password to the company server.

At least one hacker managed to change the web version of a Los Angeles Times news feature, the indictment says.

The alleged incident occurred before Mr Keys' employment with Reuters.

Neither Mr Keys - a deputy social media editor - nor Reuters have so far commented.

Court date set

The US Justice Department said Mr Keys had been charged in California with one count each of conspiracy to transmit information to damage a protected computer; transmitting information to damage a protected computer and attempted transmission of information to damage a protected computer.

Mr Keys worked for Sacramento-based TV station KTXL FOX 40 - owned by Tribune - as its web producer but his job was terminated in late October 2010, the indictment adds.

He is alleged to have identified himself on an internet chat forum as a former Tribune Company employee and then provided members of Anonymous with the login and password to the Tribune Company server.

The indictment alleges that Mr Keys had a conversation with the hacker who claimed credit for the defacement of the Los Angeles Times website.

The hacker allegedly told him that Tribune Company system administrators had locked him out.

Mr Keys allegedly tried to regain access for the hacker, and when he learned that the hacker had made changes to a page, Mr Keys is said to have responded: "Nice."

If convicted, Mr Keys faces up to 10 years in jail, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 for each count.

He is scheduled to appear in the Sacramento federal court on 14 April.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Worms detected by converted iPhone microscope

BBC News, 13 March 2013

Related Stories

Slides were stuck to the lens with
 double sided tape and lit with a cheap
torch
Scientists used an iPhone 4S to diagnose intestinal worm infections in schoolchildren in rural Tanzania.

They attached an $8 (£5) ball lens to the handset camera lens, and used a cheap torch and double-sided tape to create an improvised microscope.

Pictures were then taken of stool samples placed on lab slides, wrapped in cellophane and taped to the phone.

They were studied for the presence of eggs, the main sign of the presence of the parasites.

When the results were double-checked with a laboratory light microscope, the device had managed to pick up 70% of the samples with infections present - and 90% of the heavier infections.

The study has been published this week in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Researcher Dr Isaac Bogoch, who specialises in internal medicine and infectious diseases at Toronto General Hospital, told the BBC he had read about smartphone microscopes being trialled in a laboratory and decided to "recreate it in a real world setting".

"Ultimately we'd like something like this to be a useful diagnostic test. We want to put it in the hands of someone who might be able to use it," he said.

"70% (accuracy) isn't really good enough, we want to be above 80% and we're not quite there yet," he added.

"The technology is out there. We want to use materials that are affordable and easy to procure."

Camera key

Dr Bogoch and his team, which included experts from Massachusetts General Hospital and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, said the only reason he used an Apple iPhone was because it was his own handset.

"You need the ball lens to help with the magnification - but any mobile phone with a decent camera and a zoom function will be sufficient," he explained.

The smallest eggs visible using the smartphone were 40-60 micrometres in diameter.

"From an egg standpoint that is not tiny but it's not enormous either," said Dr Bogoch.

"The microscope was very good at diagnosing children with heavier infection intensities as there are more eggs, so they are easier to see."

Intestinal worms are estimated to affect up to two billion people around the world, mainly in poor areas.

"These parasitic infections cause malnutrition, stunted growth, and stunted mental development," added Dr Bogoch.

"It's a big deal, a big problem."