August 27, 2010

Digital Overload: Your Brain On Gadgets

"Just as food nourishes us and we need it for life, so too — in the 21st century and the modern age — we need technology. You cannot survive without the communication tools; the productivity tools are essential. And yet, food has pros and cons to it. We know that some food is Twinkies and some food is Brussels sprouts. And we know that if we overeat, it causes problems. Similarly, after 20 years of glorifying technology as if all computers were good and all use of it was good, science is beginning to embrace the idea that some technology is Twinkies and some technology is Brussels sprouts." —Matt Richtel

August 25, 2010

Pentagon computers attacked with flash drive

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon says a foreign spy agency pulled off the most serious breach of Defense Department computer networks ever by inserting a flash drive into a U.S. military laptop.

The previously classified incident took place in 2008 in the Middle East and was disclosed in a magazine article by Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn and released by the Pentagon Wednesday. The Pentagon did not say what nation's spy agency was involved.

He said a "malicious code" on the flash drive spread undetected on both classified and unclassified Pentagon systems, "establishing what amounted to a digital beachhead," for stealing military secrets

He did not say what, if any, information was taken.


Washington Post

August 23, 2010

Worst traffic jam ever? Gridlock spans 60 miles

A traffic jam stretching more than 60 miles in China has entered its ninth day with no end in sight, state media reported.

Cars and trucks have been slowed to a crawl since August 14 on the National Expressway 110, which is also known as the G110, the major route from Beijing to Zhangjiakou, Xinhua News reported.

Officials expect the congestion to continue until workers complete construction projects on September 13, the report said.

State media reported that Chinese drivers have become accustomed to the severe delays, noting a similar jam in July that slowed traffic for close to a month.

Britain's Sky News reported that the snarls have been commonplace since May as a result of a spike in the number of trucks using the roads, with the daily peak reaching about 17,000.

"Insufficient traffic capacity on the National Expressway 110 caused by maintenance construction since August 19 is the major cause of the congestion," a Beijing Traffic Management Bureau spokesman told the Global Times.

Chinese national radio reported Sunday that minor traffic accidents and broken-down vehicles have complicated the traffic mess, Xinhua reported.

Approximately 400 police officers are patrolling the road 24 hours a day in an effort to keep the situation calm, Sky News said.

Concerts?
Motorists have taken to card games or chess to pass the time, Sky News reported. Others joked that "concerts should be held at each congested area every weekend, to alleviate drivers' homesickness," the report said.

Residents from communities alongside the expressway have seen opportunity in the traffic slowdown, setting up food and drink kiosks for the drivers.

Some drivers have complained of price gouging. One truck driver, identified by his last name Huang, told the Global Times that "instant noodles are sold at four times the original price while I wait in the congestion.

"Not only the congestion annoys me, but also those vendors," he added.

MSNBC

Alien hunters 'should look for artificial intelligence'

A senior astronomer has said that the hunt for alien life should take into account alien "sentient machines".

Seti, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, has until now sought radio signals from worlds like Earth.

But Seti astronomer Seth Shostak argues that the time between aliens developing radio technology and artificial intelligence (AI) would be short.

Writing in Acta Astronautica, he says that the odds favour detecting such alien AI rather than "biological" life.

Many involved in Seti have long argued that nature may have solved the problem of life using different designs or chemicals, suggesting extraterrestrials would not only not look like us, but that they would not at a biological level even work like us.

BBC News