Motorola Google Android Phone

Motorola has officially announced its first mobile phone with Google Android. It will be known as Motorola Cliq. Co-CEO of Motorola, Mr. Sanjay Jha announced this new mobile in San Francisco at Mobilize 09 conference. Motorola Cliq will be available with T-Mobile by the end of next month. Initially it will be launched by T-Mobiles in titanium and winter white colors. Motorola planned to sell it throughout the world from 2010 as “The Motorola Dext”.
Price:
The price of Motorola Cliq has not been revealed till now, but it is rumored that it will be a budget phone. Motorola is also going to announce its second Android Phone soon as said by officials.
Specifications:
Measurements of Cliq mobile by Motorola are 4.49 inches tall, 2.28 inches wide and 0.62 inches thick. It weighs 5.6 ounces that is around 158 grams. It features a 3.1 inch HVGA touch screen with 320×480 pixel resolution. It has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and a soft keyboard as well. It also has a 3.5 mm headphone jack.
Operating System and Features:
Motorola Cliq will run Android 1.5 cupcake and you can access to various services by Google which includes Google Maps with street view, voice search by Google, Picasa and Google Talk. This mobile phone supports various e-mail clients such as Windows Live, Yahoo and many other POP3 and IMAP services. You can also use Quick Office suite to view documents.
Cliq is a 3-G phone which offers full HTML Google browser, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS facilities. With its 5-megapizxel camera you can capture images or can record videos. It is also equipped with built-in music and video player.
It will come preloaded with Amazon MP3 store, You Tube App, Shazam, Last.fm and Immem. Talk time is 6 hours while standby time is upto 13.5 days.
Motoblur User Interface:
Motorola Cliq will be equipped with Motoblur user interface which will differentiate it from other smartphones available these days. Motoblur interface will sync information from sources such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Gmail accounts. This will save your time in opening and closing these applications.

The Smallest Laser in the World

The latest invention of American researchers is the laser that claims to be the smallest in the world. They managed to develop the laser by squeezing light into a space that is even tinier than a protein molecule. Their latest invention could be a significant breakthrough in the field of optical technology, making one step closer to nanolasers, which can be used to investigate an manipulate DNA. In addition, the laser can lead to the creation of super-fast computers and dimproved telecommunications.
The team of researchers was led by Professor Xiang Zhang. He mentioned that the plasmon laser constricts light into a gap that is only 5nm wide. An important step was the ability to detain light in a small space for a specific period of time required for light to stabilize into a "coherent" laser state, having all of its waves synchronized.
It is worth mentioning that plasmons are in fact wave-like movements of excited electrons on the surfaces of different metals. By connecting light to these oscillations, scientists managed to compress it further than usually, reports The Telegraph. More information on lasers and latest inventions you can find here at please check the links at the bottom of the story.
Professor Zhang, from the University of California at Berkeley said: "Plasmon lasers represent an exciting class of coherent light sources capable of extremely small confinement. This work can bridge the worlds of electronics and optics at truly molecular length scales." Their latest invention was described in the online version of the journal Nature. The scientist who co-authored the research, Dr Thomas Zentgraf, from the University's Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centre, stated: "The advantages of optics over electronics are multifold. For example, devices will be more power efficient at the same time they offer increased speed or bandwidth."

Computer Software Programmer

DescriptionAlong with the invention and advancement of computer technology came computer languages used for programming computers. HTML and Java are two common program languages that currently exist. If you can understand and communicate in Java, you're ready to start your career as a computer programmer. Java, along with Pascal, Visual Basic, and C++, to name a few, are computer languages used by programmers who create, modify, and test the forms, scripts and codes that tell computers what to do. They use the languages to teach the computer how to respond to users and different programs.Most computers or networks will function with one or two languages. Using that language, software programmers develop software. Software is a general term for the various programs used to operated computers. Software programmers combine and adapt existing programs. They may also write new programs in computer code, for daily use and for problem solving. Programmers sometimes test and debug pre-written computer programs or software packages. In order to know what kind of programs are required, they speak with the people who will be using them. They must be good at communicating not only in computer languages, but with real people, as well. They not only develop the programs, but write up descriptions about them, prepare manuals, help screens, or explain the new software to users. They might have to adapt the programs once they're in use, to make them more suitable to the users.Computers are inescapable. They are everywhere. Children use them to research for school projects, adults use them to file their taxes and pay the bills. Computers and their programs connect us in many ways, and nearly all industries require the expertise of a software programmer in order to keep up with the changing world.

Average Earnings
Entry Level Salary:$35,080
Average Salary:$60,290
Maximum Salary:$96,860

Interests and Skills
Programmers must have lots of experience with hardware, software, and computer systems and processes. They need to know about programming languages and techniques. They should have a genuine interest in computers and computer capabilities. They should be methodical, logical, patient, careful, and accurate. Programmers should be adaptable to new things, and work well under pressure. They also need to be good communicators, and be able to work well with others, as well as independently.

Typical Tasks
-Discuss the user's requirements
-Plan how the programs will be developed
-Write programs
-Write manuals or explain program's function
-Run tests to ensure programs and computer systems are working properly
-Find faults in programs
-Prepare reports on programs
-Maintain and upgrade programs
-Solve software problems for users
-The typical day for a software programmer will involve working with computers, analyzing, developing, and implementing programs. They will spend some of each day with others, answering questions, explaining how the programs work, and troubleshooting problems with existing programs. The job doesn't allow for much travel, as most of the work can be done from home or a head office, unless they need to examine computers at locations all over their community.

Workplaces, Employers and Industries
:-Programmers can find work just about anywhere that computers are in use. Software development and consulting companies, government agencies, electronics companies, hospitals, universities, banks and law enforcement agencies are some of the places they could find work. They can also work independently, and contract out their business to different clients.
:-They work regular hours in offices, or set their own hours and work from home, depending on the nature of their employer. They work alone, or in a small team of other programmers and computer staff.

Long Term Career Potential
Programmers can specialize, and become programmer analysts, systems programmers, or software programmers, to name a few. There are also jobs in administration, PC support, and web design and maintenance. Programmers can open their own businesses, or write a column or book about computers for the general public. There is also IT instruction, at colleges and universities.

Educational Paths
In order to become a programmer individuals should complete either a bachelor's degree in computer science or in another discipline with a significant programming component, such as mathematics, engineering, or a college program in computer science. There are a number of three-year and four-year degree programs, two-year diploma programs and one-year certificate programs in this field offered by universities, colleges, technical institutes, and private vocational schools.You may also look to becoming a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer. This will prepare you to design and develop business solutions with various Microsoft tools and technologies. The exams are available through Microsoft, so it's a good idea to check their websites for information about the certification process.

Computer

Computer

A computer is a programmable machine that receives input, stores and manipulates data, and provides output in a useful format.
Although mechanical examples of computers have existed through much of recorded human history, the first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century. These were the size of a large room, consuming as much power as several hundred modern personal computers.

Modern computers based on integrated circuits are millions to billions of times more capable than the early machines, and occupy a fraction of the space.Simple computers are small enough to fit into small pocket devices, and can be powered by a small battery. Personal computers in their various forms are icons of the Information Age and are what most people think of as "computers". However, the embedded computers found in many devices from MP3 players to fighter aircraft and from toys to industrial robots are the most numerous.
The ability to store and execute lists of instructions called programs makes computers extremely versatile, distinguishing them from calculators. The Church–Turing thesis is a mathematical statement of this versatility: any computer with a certain minimum capability is, in principle, capable of performing the same tasks that any other computer can perform. Therefore computers ranging from a netbook to a supercomputer are all able to perform the same computational tasks, given enough time and storage capacity.

Computer History

The first use of the word "computer" was recorded in 1613, referring to a person who carried out calculations, or computations, and the word continued to be used in that sense until the middle of the 20th century. From the end of the 19th century onwards though, the word began to take on its more familiar meaning, describing a machine that carries out computations.The history of the modern computer begins with two separate technologies—automated calculation and programmability—but no single device can be identified as the earliest computer, partly because of the inconsistent application of that term. Examples of early mechanical calculating devices include the abacus, the slide rule and arguably the astrolabe and the Antikythera mechanism. Hero of Alexandria built a mechanical theater which performed a play lasting 10 minutes and was operated by a complex system of ropes and drums that might be considered to be a means of deciding which parts of the mechanism performed which actions and when.This is the essence of programmability.
The "castle clock", an astronomical clock invented by Al-Jazari in 1206, is considered to be the earliest programmable analog computer.It displayed the zodiac, the solar and lunar orbits, a crescent moon-shaped pointer travelling across a gateway causing automatic doors to open every hour, and five robotic musicians who played music when struck by levers operated by a camshaft attached to a water wheel. The length of day and night could be re-programmed to compensate for the changing lengths of day and night throughout the year
The Renaissance saw a re-invigoration of European mathematics and engineering. Wilhelm Schickard's 1623 device was the first of a number of mechanical calculators constructed by European engineers, but none fit the modern definition of a computer, because they could not be programmed.
In 1801, Joseph Marie Jacquard made an improvement to the textile loom by introducing a series of punched paper cards as a template which allowed his loom to weave intricate patterns automatically. The resulting Jacquard loom was an important step in the development of computers because the use of punched cards to define woven patterns can be viewed as an early, albeit limited, form of programmability.
It was the fusion of automatic calculation with programmability that produced the first recognizable computers. In 1837, Charles Babbage was the first to conceptualize and design a fully programmable mechanical computer, his analytical engine. Limited finances and Babbage's inability to resist tinkering with the design meant that the device was never completed.
In the late 1880s, Herman Hollerith invented the recording of data on a machine readable medium. Prior uses of machine readable media, above, had been for control, not data. "After some initial trials with paper tape, he settled on punched cards ..."To process these punched cards he invented the tabulator, and the keypunch machines. These three inventions were the foundation of the modern information processing industry. Large-scale automated data processing of punched cards was performed for the 1890 United States Census by Hollerith's company, which later became the core of IBM. By the end of the 19th century a number of technologies that would later prove useful in the realization of practical computers had begun to appear: the punched card, Boolean algebra, the vacuum tube (thermionic valve) and the teleprinter.
During the first half of the 20th century, many scientific computing needs were met by increasingly sophisticated analog computers, which used a direct mechanical or electrical model of the problem as a basis for computation. However, these were not programmable and generally lacked the versatility and accuracy of modern digital computers.
Alan Turing is widely regarded to be the father of modern computer science. In 1936 Turing provided an influential formalisation of the concept of the algorithm and computation with the Turing machine. Of his role in the modern computer, Time magazine in naming Turing one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, states: "The fact remains that everyone who taps at a keyboard, opening a spreadsheet or a word-processing program, is working on an incarnation of a Turing machine".
The inventor of the program-controlled computer was Konrad Zuse, who built the first working computer in 1941 and later in 1955 the first computer based on magnetic storage.
George Stibitz is internationally recognized as a father of the modern digital computer. While working at Bell Labs in November 1937, Stibitz invented and built a relay-based calculator he dubbed the "Model K" which was the first to use binary circuits to perform an arithmetic operation. Later models added greater sophistication including complex arithmetic and programmability.

Security requirements engineering framework for software product lines

Context
The correct analysis and understanding of security requirements are important because they assist in the discovery of any security or requirement defects or mistakes during the early stages of development. Security requirements engineering is therefore both a central task and a critical success factor in product line development owing to the complexity and extensive nature of software product lines (SPL). However, most of the current SPL practices in requirements engineering do not adequately address security requirements engineering.

Objective
The aim of this approach is to describe a holistic security requirements engineering framework with which to facilitate the development of secure SPLs and their derived products. It will conform with the most relevant security standards with regard to the management of security requirements, such as ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 15408.

Results
This framework is composed of: a security requirements engineering process for SPL

driven by security standards; a Security Reference Meta Model to manage the variability of those SPL artefacts related to security requirements; and a tool

which implements the meta-model and supports the process.

Method
A complete explanation of the framework will be provided. The process will be formally specified with SPEM 2.0 and the repository will be formally specified with an XML grammar. The application of SREPPLine and SREPPLineTool will be illustrated through a description of a simple example as a preliminary validation.

Conclusion
Although there have been several attempts to fill the gap between requirements engineering and SPL requirements engineering, no systematic approach with which to define security quality requirements and to manage their variability and their related security artefacts in SPL models is, as yet, available. The contribution of this work is that of providing a systematic approach for the management of the security requirements and their variability from the early stages of product line development in order to facilitate the conformance of SPL products with the most relevant security standards.

Keywords

Security requirements engineering; Security software engineering; Product lines; Requirements engineering; Security requirement; ISO 27001

Information Technology: Its New Meaning for Art

Participating artists: Vito Acconci, David Antin, Architecture Group Machine M.I.T., John Baldessari, Robert Barry, Linda Berris, Donald Burgy, Paul Conly, Agnes Denes, Robert Duncan Enzmann, Carl Fernbach-Flarsheim, John Godyear, Hans Haacke, Douglas Huebler, Joseph Kosuth, Nam June Paik, Alex Razdow, Sonia Sheridan, Evander D. Schley, Theodosius Victoria, Laurence Weiner. As a follow-up to The Machine at the End of the Mechanical Age (1968), an exhibition presented at the Museum of Modern Art and organized by Pontus Hulten, Software took place in the interval between the decline of the industrial machine and the emergence of information technologies. To explore this epistemological rupture, curator Jack Burnham presented the results of scientific experiments, conducted by research teams and scientists, alongside projects born out of the conceptual art movement. The exhibition’s title is related to the true sense of the word software, designating the flexibility of certain logical procedures and not exclusively the interaction of data with the machine to produce commands for executing specific functions. By shifting the concept of program toward an artistic field, Burnham tried to draw parallels between projects relying on devices for transmitting information, and those that used language as material without resorting to technology. Fostering collaboration and dialogue between scientists and artists, this exhibition was also the product of an early exchange between the art museum and industry. The publication of the catalogue followed the presentation of the exhibition at the Jewish Museum. In "Notes on Art and Information Processing," Burnham defines the theoretical premises underlying his exhibition. By evoking the discipline of cybernetics, he first underlines the consequences of integrating technology into daily life, which resulted in aligning the worker with industrial machinery without bringing about the desired process of adaptation between man and his new media environment. Burnham goes on to distinguish the concept of program from hardware. He says software can also embrace other phenomenon such as social conditioning, systems for self-regulating the human body, and the management of public transit. Burnham then shifts this notion toward an artistic context so as to define the project modes of conceptual works. Detached from the heightened optimism toward media at the time, he criticizes Marshall McLuhan’s theories and says that man-machine interaction encourages invention and creativity while also alienating the worker. Software therefore does not praise technological art at the dawn of a new decade but comments on the emergence of a media environment overdetermining henceforth all areas of knowledge, including the field of art. More focused on the testing of concepts, computer scientist Ted Nelson, in The Crafting of Media, distinguishes the notion of the computer as a black box from the universal machine. He conceives of using technology in such a way that varied functions can co-exist and operate on the same platform. His tool for reading the catalogue through computerized files is a good example of semantic flexibility. Titled Labyrinth, this multiform device, a precursor of hypertext, allowed users to consult artist files and other computerized documents while sidestepping the linear path imposed by the pagination of the book. This unique trail was then stored in the computer’s memory and printed out at the user’s request to reveal his or her journey through the files. Following conceptual art’s way, the print catalogue spotlights artist projects through short written statements. The content of the project files varies depending on the strategies employed by the artist. Often these files are instructions to be carried out either by the artist or the viewer. Other files describe technological trials merging artistic procedures and scientific experimentation. The projects by engineers and computer scientists centre on the functions of technological components (the Bolean Image-Conceptual Typewriter by Carl Fernbach-Flarsheim, a device producing early digital images, as well as the project Seek by the Architecture Media Group M.I.T., a sort of ecosystem disrupted by the actions of a robotic arm). Finally, other projects invite viewers to interact with displays and thereby criticize the museum’s so-called neutrality. The catalogue pages devoted to the project files feature a section that includes statements in bold resembling newspaper headlines and proposing an interpretation of the works based on stereotypes about technology and art conveyed by the mass media "Artist Exposes Himself. Finally, images are not relegated to the background by the artist statements. Indeed, several photographs reproduced in the catalogue present projects at different stages of their completion. Also contained are shots taken during the mounting of the exhibition and at the opening.

Microsoft's Newest Suite

Everyone is still reeling from the recession, and cash is tight--not, perhaps, the best time for Microsoft to launch a new version of its ubiquitous Office productivity suite. Nevertheless, with Office 2010, Microsoft continues to refine the dramatic overhaul that it began with the 2007 editions, while adding a few nifty new features with marquee appeal--all at prices much lower than we saw for similar Office 2007 packages.

The most immediately visible innovation in the new suite is a set of Web-based applications--online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote--slated to appear on Windows Live when the desktop editions ship in June. For businesses that wish to host their own Office Web Apps privately, Microsoft will also offer SharePoint versions of the online suite.

But while Office Web Apps enable at least minimal collaboration--and while they shine at maintaining document formatting that competing, third-party Web-based apps tend to mangle--they're unlikely to bowl over anyone who has enjoyed the rich features in Google Docs, Zoho Office, and various other Web-based productivity tools (see "Microsoft's Web Apps: Easy Access and Limited Functionality"). In fact, they're not intended to: Microsoft has clearly stated that it created Office Web Apps as companions to, rather than replacements for, their desktop counterparts.

Still, we probably can thank the online competition for the significant declines in Office suite prices: Three years ago, the Standard Edition, containing Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, debuted with a suggested retail price of $399; the price for Office 2010 Home and Business, which includes those four apps plus the note-taking program OneNote, now costs as little as $199 (see "Suite Deals: Skip the CD, Get a Discount"). OneNote is now present in all editions of Office, and Microsoft has tightened that program's integration with the other apps to make transferring material to OneNote easier.

EA SPORTS Game Changers Program Mission Statement

The Game Changer Award recognizes exceptional community leaders from around the world who use their knowledge of EA SPORTS games to improve the experience and overall growth of the EA SPORTS Community.

Game Changers are independent community members who are offered a close connection with people at EA SPORTS. To acknowledge Game Changers' leadership and provide a platform to help support their efforts, EA SPORTS often gives Game Changers early access to EA SPORTS games, as well as the opportunity to pass on their highly targeted feedback and recommendations about product design, development, and support.

Touchsmart Pc Core I3 And Core I50

The latest trend of HP products look brilliant. The highlight products are the transformed TouchSMart PC's, the TouchSmart 300 and the TouchSmart 600, now built with the Core i3 and Core i5. Also included is a "Beats Audio" program, and a range of pre-loaded software.

The Core i3 and the Core i5 are priced at $799 and $1,099, respectively. Also, HP have revealed their new All-In-One 200-5020 machine, priced at $699, exhibiting a 21.5 inch 1080p touch screen, WIndows 7 bundled, WiFi enabled, optional mouse / keyboard, DVD burner, integral webcam and MediaSmart software package.Thirdly, there's the HP Compaq Pro Ultra Slim.

Measuring in at 10 inches high and 2.6 inches wide, it includes ATI's Raedon 4200 GPU and will retail at $599.All of these new HP product releases should be available for purchase by the end of this month.

New yellow blub you suck !

InfoNIAC Presents" is a monthly article in which you will find brief information on the latest inventions described on infoNIAC each month. In this article you will find the top 10 latest inventions described on InfoNIAC in October. You are also free to vote for one of the inventions if you consider it to be the most.

1. Software Automatically Spots Virus Attack and Generates Repair Patches
Martin Rinar, a professor of computer science at MIT, developed a program dubbed ClearView that can spot an attack of malware and generate patches aimed to repair the affected system.

2. System that Produces Electricity From Asphalt
Novotech teamed up with scientists from two Massachusetts universities to create a system able to turn the heat from asphalt into usable power.

3. Fingernail-size Chip Able to Store Up to 1TB of Data
Scientists from North Carolina State University created a finger-nail size chip with one terabyte storage capacity.

4. Handy Fuel-cell that Recharges Devices on the Move
Engineers from Toshiba created a portable fuel cell that can recharge gadgets by injecting methanol in the cell. The injection generates electricity by making use of a chemical reaction with oxygen. The recharging process is possible with a USB cable.

5. Smart Robotic Hand Gives Amputees the Feeling of Touch
Engineers from the Lund University in Sweden and Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Italy named their invention the Smart Hand. It represents a new generation of prosthesis hands that provide a sense of touch.

6. Robot That Tests Visual Implants for Sightless People
Engineers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) created a remote-controlled robot that emulates the vision of an unsighted person with a visual prosthesis implanted in the eye.

7. System That Informs Whether Doctors' Hands are Washed
Researchers from the University of Florida developed a system that makes sure doctors and nurses have their hands clean before starting a surgical procedure. The system is dubbed HyGreen and its main feature is a sensor that identifies the soap and waterless cleaners used by doctors. The system displays green light when the hands of the hospital staff entering a patient's room are clean.

8. Spider Pill That Examines the Body for Severe Conditions
Italian scientists developed a spider pill, which, when swallowed, scans for severe conditions such as colon cancer. It crawls though the body using small moving legs and features a small built-in camera.

9. Tiny Nuclear Battery
Scientists from the University of Missouri are currently developing a small, light radioisotope battery that would provide nuclear energy to power micro/nanoelectromechanical systems.

10. Ion Engine to Allow Rockets Reach Mars in 39 Days
Researchers from Ad Astra Rocket Company of Webster, Texas, are developing a Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket, which would be a small-scale prototype of a rocket that would feature an engine that makes use of charged particles. The invention could help build rockets able to reach red planet much faster.

Internet invention

The Internet is something which many of us now take for granted, but the invention of the Internet, is still recent. The Internet is essentially a network connecting thousands of smaller networks into a single global network. The Internet model and the Transmission Control Protocols used to implement the idea were developed in 1973 by Vinton Cerf, an American computer scientist. His project was backed by the United States Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, directed by Robert Khan, an American engineer.

The Internet initially was used to connect University networks and research labs within the United States. The World Wide Web, as we now know it, was developed in 1989 by Timothy Berners-Lee, an English scientist, for the European Organization for Nuclear Research."The design of the Internet was done in 1973 and published in 1974. There ensued about 10 years of hard work, resulting in the roll out of Internet in 1983. Prior to that, a number of demonstrations were made of the technology - such as the first three-network interconnection demonstrated in November 1977 linking SATNET, PRNET and ARPANET in a path leading from Menlo Park, CA to University College London and back to USC/ISI in Marina del Rey, CA." - Vinton Cerf

The Internet is better described as an interconnection of various computer networks which enable each connected machine to communicate directly. Smaller Internets exist, called Intranets, which are typically used within a single organisation.The Internet grew to phenomenal levels over a short period of time. In 1996, more than 25 million computers had been connected to the Internet across 180 different countries. The Internet makes use of gateways to connect separate networks to a single network. Gateway interconnections are established across telephone lines, optical fibres and radio links. New networks can be added by welcoming new gateways into the network. Data sent from one machine is tagged, using a unique address which identifies that particular machine, and to ensure the information is sent to the correct destination.

Addressing is crucial to the success of the Internet and commonly uses the dotted decimal approach, for example 168.124.1.0. This address is often associated with a web address, with the numeric address and the URL paired up in an addressing table, to eradicate the need to remember number strings. Once data is sent from one machine, the data travels from gateway to gateway until it reaches the network belonging to the destination machine. The Internet has no central repository, and therefore is unique in its methodology.The Internet Protocol is a key element to a successful Internet. The Internet Protocol determines how a gateway receives a request and what to do with that request once received. The Transmission Control Protocol then verifies that the information has been sent and received successfully, allowing the data to be re-sent if an error occurs during transmission.The Internet has changed our world bringing a wealth of information to our fingertips. The sharing of information has accelerated with the introduction of the Internet, with new, fresh content accessible second after second. More applications are being introduced to the Internet, and with the rising popularity of Internet enabled phones, the Internet will only continue to grow at a tremendous rate opening up thousands more opportunities to all of us. The invention of the Internet is indeed, one of the most recent revolutionary inventions which have been a major success and welcome addition to our world.

Cool Gadgets ? Try this one !

In the area of software and gadget reviews, there are tens of thousands of websites out there, but many offer regurgitated content from a select few sources. One of these sources is Gadget Advisor.

Even though it's called, "Gadget" Advisor, it doesn't just specialize in the gadget area. Of course, there are some gadget reviews, but this blog contains a healthy mix of both gadget reviews, and software reviews. This website also has reviews of some of the best Windows software, such as a Blaze Media Pro review, which is a very good piece of software, and well worth the price, as the article says. If one is searching for unique content on either gadgets or software, one doesn't have to look any further than Gadget Advisor. Gadget Advisor is a very professional looking blog, with a great, aesthetically pleasing layout, and barely any ads compared to many of these other blogs out there. Apart from the looks, the content is just great. It is unique, and can't be found anywhere else on the internet unlike many other blogs' content. The logo, and even tagline are also pretty cool, and very original. The readability of the content is also very refreshing. With content that has obviously been carefully crafted, and is easily readable, you can't go wrong reading the reviews at Gadget Advisor.

Also, if you are looking for some of the best extensions for Firefox, Gadget Advisor is where it's at. Gadget Advisor houses a comprehensive article covering many types of extensions from ad blockers, to AdSense trackers, to weather alerts. If you are addicted to customizing your Firefox, you can find many quality resources that can help you do just that at Gadget Advisor. When talking about gadgets, especially in terms of blogs and websites in the theme of Gadget Advisor, the word gets put into a smaller scope, and "gadgets" then turns into handheld electronic devices. Gadget Advisor is refreshing in that it keeps the broad scope of the term, "gadgets". The term "gadgets" on Gadget Advisor can refer to any piece of technology, such as a motherboard, or an SSD, or even a personal computer case. With this, Gadget Advisor strays from the norm even more, in order to bring you fresh, amazing content, seen nowhere else on the internet. Of course, they do also cover some of the more popular handheld gadgets, but they don't cover every single one that comes out, and give it hype like it will change humanity or something. When looking at the layout of Gadget Advisor, it seems to fit the overall feel of the content fairly well. The professional feel of the writing coincides with the professional look, and of course, vice versa. It's also important to note the lack of ads. There are only three ads on every page, and all of them are nonintrusive, and on the sidebar.

This means that the author actually cares about the content, and consequently you as a reader. This is refreshing, because most sites that start doing well progressively get more and more ads on them, because the authors of such sites only care about milking their readers for money, and don't really care about their content anymore. Gadget Advisor shows no signs of ever becoming that way, which is a really good sign. On the software review side of things, Gadget Advisor also excels. They have some news and reviews that no one else seems to have, and they also don't review the same stuff that everyone else is, either. Of course, they covered the release of Google Chrome, but since other blogs did more in-depth reviews, Gadget Advisor just offered a brief opinion and a link to where to download it. Other than that, the software reviewed on Gadget Advisor isn't reviewed anywhere else on the World Wide Web, which says a whole lot about the attention, and time put into the content. For unique fresh, unique reviews about both gadgets and software that can't be found anywhere else on the web, without a ton of ads, and a good professional approach, I'd look no further that Gadget Advisor.

Apple's profit 90%

Boosted by an increase in iPhone and Mac shipments, Apple reported a 90% increase in quarterly profits Tuesday. The company reported net profit of $3.07 billion for the quarter ended on March 27, which compares to profits of $1.62 billion from the same quarter a year ago. The company reported earnings per share of $3.33, which beat expectations of $2.45 from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue was $13.5 billion, a growth of 49% from the year-ago quarter. Revenue beat analysts' expectations of $12.03 billion. Worldwide iPhone shipments totaled 8.75 million during the quarter, an increase of 131% compared to the year-ago quarter. Mac computer unit shipments worldwide totaled 2.94 million, an increase of 33% compared to the year-ago quarter. iPod shipments totaled 10.89 million, a 1% drop.

The company estimated its third-quarter revenue to be in the range of $13 billion to $13.4 billion, with earnings per share of about $2.28 to $2.39. The third quarter has started with a bang for Apple. The company on April 3 announced the iPad tablet computer, and sold close to 300,000 units on the first day.

"We've launched our revolutionary new iPad and users are loving it, and we have several more extraordinary products in the pipeline for this year," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement.
Anticipation for Apple's next-generation iPhone has also heated up after a prototype was said to be found in a California bar recently.

Tories pledge openness and transparency

Over the past six months, the Conservative Party has laid out its plans and approach to information technology; our aim is to return the UK to the first rank of technology-driven economies, where both entrepreneurs as well as larger companies thrive and bring creativity and innovative services to the benefit of society. However, alongside we are committed to reducing government interference in private affairs and addressing the complexity and waste endemic to so many of the current government's IT systems, many of which have run massively over-budget and behind deadlines, writes Francis Maud, Conservative shadow minister for the Cabinet Office.

Over the past 13 years of a Labour government has time and again tried to use IT as part of their big government approach to micromanage delivery and hold vast quantities of information about private individuals. This Labour philosophy requires enormous projects and databases.
It has inevitably led to many very large IT system failures: NPfIT in the NHS, C-Nomis in Justice, identity cards in the Home Office. Many of these systems have been built by an oligopoly of large suppliers, using bespoke, hugely expensive systems - to provide for the huge complexity involved - instead of buying commercial off-the-shelf systems and sharing systems within and across departments.
The Labour government desire to tell individuals what to do has been accompanied by an insatiable appetite for more and more private information in huge databases that create too much risk of data loss and loss of privacy. The Conservatives really do believe that citizens must be the fundamental owners of their own data, and should in most cases determine how the government can use that data.

Principles
Openness and transparency are important principles in the Conservative approach. So, we plan to make government data and IT spending information freely available. This will have two benefits: first, it will boost British jobs, businesses and social entrepreneurs who will build new applications and services using previously locked-up government data. According to research by Dr Rufus Pollock of Cambridge University, the lead author of the HM Treasury report on the economic value of open data, this will also create an estimated £6bn in additional value for the UK. Second, it will ensure that the government becomes accountable to hard-working tax payers for delivering IT that is valuable and value for money.
An important set of initiatives will ensure citizens' right to government data but as a first step we will publish online data on government spending (both central and local), civil service salaries, draft Bills, tender documents and contracts with government to allow third parties to interrogate and analyse them independently.

Procurement
A Conservative government would procure technology for itself in a manner to encourage small and medium enterprises, as well as reduce the prohibitive costs of bidding for and supplying government business. These measures would include an ambition to design smaller projects and a level-playing field for users of open-source software.

Project management
A Conservative government is not looking for incremental solutions and cost reductions. In order to radically reduce spending without impacting outcomes, technology must be regarded much more as a tool than an end in itself - the huge cost savings in government will only occur when departments and councils conduct their businesses in fundamentally simpler and smarter ways.
Part of the reason IT projects continue to fail is that the underlying processes they support are obscenely convoluted and impossible to manage. No IT system can fix a bad underlying process.
Much of the Conservative ICT agenda is centred on improving the management of the existing ICT estate, not buying more of it. Hence we will start our time in government with a moratorium on all ICT procurements, in order to satisfy our requirements for value for money, rigour with suppliers and avoidance of embedding bad practice through IT.
This country has an impressive and long history of game-changing technology innovation and invention. The Conservatives will create the conditions to reinvent that tradition for the 21st century and beyond.

IEEE Computer Society News

Visit the IEEE CS Booth at Interop
At Booth #2351, the Computer Society will offer half-year memberships for the special price of $50, as well as subscriptions to IT Professional, IEEE Security & Privacy, IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems, and IEEE Transactions on Services Computing.

The booth hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, 27 April, and Wednesday, 28 April, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, 29 April. Visitors to the booth can sign up for a Computer Society newsletter and spin a prize wheel to win t-shirt, jump drive, light-up pen, notebook, free subscription.

Information will also be available on IEEE Computer Society Jobs, a new job site featured targeted jobs for academic and private-industry computing professionals; and on the Computer Society’s software development certifications.

The Society offers the Certified Software Development Associate (CSDA) credential for entry-level developers and the recently refreshed Certified Software Development Professional credential. Interop, which will feature more than 300 exhibitors, drives the adoption of technology, providing knowledge and insight to help IT and corporate decision-makers achieve business success. Part of UBM TechWeb's family of global brands, Interop offers in-depth educational programs, workshops, real-world demonstrations, and live technology implementations in its unique InteropNet program.

About the Computer Society
With nearly 85,000 members, the IEEE Computer Society is the world’s leading organization of computing professionals. Founded in 1946, and the largest of the 39 societies of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Computer Society is dedicated to advancing the theory and application of computer and information-processing technology, and is known globally for its computing standards activities.

The Computer Society serves the information and career-development needs of today’s computing researchers and practitioners with technical journals, magazines, conferences, books, conference publications, and online courses. Its Certified Software Development Professional (CSDP) program for mid-career professionals and Certified Software Development Associate (CSDA) credential for recent college graduates confirm the skill and knowledge of those working in the field. The CS Digital Library (CSDL) is an excellent research tool, containing more than 250,000 articles from 1,600 conference proceedings and 26 CS periodicals going back to 1988.


Sorel Reisman to Deliver Keynote at GIDS
IEEE Computer Society President-Elect Sorel Reisman will deliver a keynote speech at the Great Indian Developer Summit in Bangalore on “Working Together to Improve Our Profession.”

Reisman, who will serve as Computer Society President in 2011, will deliver the presentation on 21 April during the GIDS.Web component of the conference, which will be held at the Indian Institute of Science from 20-23 April. He will also participate in the ceremony for the Great Indian Developer Awards 2010 on 21 April.

Reisman will discuss the memoranda of understanding that the Computer Society of India, the IEEE, and the IEEE Computer Society executed last year to foster the organizations’ mutual goals. The architects of the multi-year MOUs recognize the pace at which technology changes, and have adopted agile processes for announcing and releasing new projects and programs that can benefit the societies' members as well as the IT profession, overall.

Some of these include new membership discount programs, software engineering certification programs, joint society publication programs, and an India-wide IT curriculum assessment project. Reisman’s presentation will offer an overview of these and other new projects, and describe opportunities for GIDS registrants to partake in these offerings and activities.

Reisman directs the international, higher education consortium, Merlot, and is a professor of information systems at California State University, Fullerton. He has held management positions at IBM, Toshiba, and EMI. He is an IEEE Senior Member and former Vice President of the Computer Society’s Publications and Electronic Products and Services boards.

The 2010 edition of GIDS will feature focused sessions, case studies, workshops, and power panels. The conference is geared to providing attendees with ammunition to bolster productivity and harness new opportunities. India's largest independent summit for the software developer ecosystem, GIDS 2010 will feature three co-located conferences: GIDS.NET, GIDS.Web, GIDS.Java, and GIDS.Workshops, an exclusive day of in-depth tutorials. It is being produced by Saltmarch Media.

About the IEEE Computer Society
With nearly 85,000 members, the IEEE Computer Society is the world’s leading organization of computing professionals. Founded in 1946, and the largest of the 39 societies of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Computer Society is dedicated to advancing the theory and application of computer and information-processing technology, and is known globally for its computing standards activities.

The Computer Society serves the information and career-development needs of today’s computing researchers and practitioners with technical journals, magazines, conferences, books, conference publications, and online courses. Its Certified Software Development Professional (CSDP) program for mid-career professionals and Certified Software Development Associate (CSDA) credential for recent college graduates confirm the skill and knowledge of those working in the field. The CS Digital Library (CSDL) is an excellent research tool, containing more than 250,000 articles from 1,600 conference proceedings and 26 CS periodicals going back to 1988.

Editing User Accounts in Windows

In this article, we will tackle how to setup the Windows User Accounts. This will allow you to add new accounts or close old accounts. You can even change passwords or upgrade accounts from “standard user” to “administrator.” First we will cover how to use the windows XP interface, then we will see how to use the windows vista and windows 7 interface.

Part One: Windows XP interface.

To edit user accounts in windows xp:

1. Press the start menu key in the bottom left area of the screen.

2. Click on Control Panel.

3. Find the “User Accounts” button and double click it.

Your first three options will be: change an account, create a new account and change the way users log on or off. Clicking change an account will allow you to manage existing accounts. From there, you will be able to:

1. Change my name. This allows you to change the name of the selected account.

2. Change my password. Click this to EDIT your current password.

3. Remove my password. This removes the password associated with the account. Anyone will be able to access this account.

4. Change my picture. Edit your account profile picture. This is the image you see at the top of the open start menu and the login screen.

5. Change my account type. This option allows you to change from standard user to admistrative user.

The second option, create a new account, is a very straightforward manner of creating a new windows user account. After selecting the name of the new account and choosing whether to make it an administrative account or a standard account, you will be able to manage it with the step one instructions.

Finally, the third option, change the way users log on or off, allows you to choose between two options. The first option allows you to display the welcome screen as users attempt to login. This will list all of the accounts on the computer. If this is disabled, then a prompt will appear instead where the user needs to type the account name and password to log in. The second option determines whether a user account “shuts down” when the log off button is clicked. This will allow your programs and documents to remain open while someone else uses the computer and then you will be able to log back on to your account and find all your work intact.

Part Two: Windows Vista and Windows 7 Interface.

To edit the users in the later versions of windows:

1. Click on the start menu key in the bottom left area of the screen.

2. Click on Control Panel on the right side.

3. Click on User Accounts and Family Safety.

4. Click on User Accounts.

The screen that appears will allow you to perform all of the same functions as the old windows XP interface except that you will be able to do so in less clicks.

For example, the options on the main screen are:

1. Create a password for your account/Edit your password.

2. Change your picture.

3. Change your account name.

4. Change your account type.

5. Manage another account.

6. Change User Account Control Settings.

The main difference between XP and Vista/Windows 7 is the addition of the 6th option to control UAC or User Account Control. This is the additional screen that appears when making changes to your computer system to confirm that you want to proceed. After clicking on this option, you will be able to choose what sensitivity to set the UAC settings to, if any. Slide the bar all the way to the bottom to turn off UAC.

Discovers Laws of Physics by computer program

In just over a day, a powerful computer program accomplished a feat that took physicists centuries to complete: extrapolating the laws of motion from a pendulum’s swings.
Developed by Cornell researchers, the program deduced the natural laws without a shred of knowledge about physics or geometry.
The research is being heralded as a potential breakthrough for science in the Petabyte Age, where computers try to find regularities in massive datasets that are too big and complex for the human mind and its standard computational tools.
"One of the biggest problems in science today is moving forward and finding the underlying principles in areas where there is lots and lots of data, but there’s a theoretical gap. We don’t know how things work," said Hod Lipson, the Cornell University computational researcher who co-wrote the program. "I think this is going to be an important tool."
Condensing rules from raw data has long been considered the province of human intuition, not machine intelligence. It could foreshadow an age in which scientists and programs work as equals to decipher datasets too complex for human analysis.
Lipson’s program, co-designed with Cornell computational biologist Michael Schmidt and described in a paper published Thursday in Science, may represent a breakthrough in the old, unfulfilled quest to use artificial intelligence to discover mathematical theorems and scientific laws:
Half a century ago, IBM’s Herbert Gelernter authored a program that purportedly rediscovered Euclid’s geometry theorems, but critics said it relied too much on programmer-supplied rules.
In the 1970s, Douglas Lenat’s Automated Mathematician automatically generated mathematical theorems, but they proved largely useless.
Stanford University’s Dendral project, was started in 1965 and used for two decades to extrapolate possible structures for organic molecules from chemical measurements gathered by NASA spacecraft. But it was ultimately unable to assess the likelihood of the various answers that it generated.
The $100,000 Leibniz Prize, established in the 1980s, was promised to the first program to discover a theorem that "profoundly affects" math. It was never claimed.
But now artificial intelligence experts say Lipson and Schmidt may have fulfilled the field’s elusive promise.
Unlike the Automated Mathematician and its heirs, their program is primed only with a set of simple, basic mathematical functions and the data it’s asked to analyze. Unlike Dendral and its counterparts, it can winnow possible explanations into a likely few. And it comes at an opportune moment — scientists have vastly more data than theories to describe it.
Lipson and Schmidt designed their program to identify linked factors within a dataset fed to the program, then generate equations to describe their relationship. The dataset described the movements of simple mechanical systems like spring-loaded oscillators, single pendulums and double pendulums — mechanisms used by professors to illustrate physical laws.
The program started with near-random combinations of basic mathematical processes — addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and a few algebraic operators.
Initially, the equations generated by the program failed to explain the data, but some failures were slightly less wrong than others. Using a genetic algorithm, the program modified the most promising failures, tested them again, chose the best, and repeated the process until a set of equations evolved to describe the systems. Turns out, some of these equations were very familiar: the law of conservation of momentum, and Newton’s second law of motion.
"It’s a powerful approach," said University of Michigan computer scientist Martha Pollack, with "the potential to apply to any type of dynamical system." As possible fields of application, Pollack named environmental systems, weather patterns, population genetics, cosmology and oceanography. "Just about any natural science has the type of structure that would be amenable," she said.
Compared to laws likely to govern the brain or genome, the laws of motion discovered by the program are extremely simple. But the principles of Lipson and Schmidt’s program should work at higher scales.
The researchers have already applied the program to recordings of individuals’ physiological states and their levels of metabolites, the cellular proteins that collectively run our bodies but remain, molecule by molecule, largely uncharacterized — a perfect example of data lacking a theory.
Their results are still unpublished, but "we’ve found some interesting laws already, some laws that are not known," said Lipson. "What we’re working on now is the next step — ways in which we can try to explain these equations, correlate them with existing knowledge, try to break these things down into components for which we have clues."
Lipson likened the quest to a "detective story" — a hint of the changing role of researchers in hybridized computer-human science. Programs produce sets of equations — describing the role of rainfall on a desert plateau, or air pollution in triggering asthma, or multitasking on cognitive function. Researchers test the equations, determine whether they’re still incomplete or based on flawed data, use them to identify new questions, and apply them to messy reality.
The Human Genome Project, for example, produced a dataset largely impervious to traditional analysis. The function of nearly every gene depends on the function of other genes, which depend on still more genes, which change with time and place. The same level of complexity confronts researchers studying the body’s myriad proteins, the human brain and even ecosystems.
"The rules are mathematical formulae that capture regularities in the system," said Pollack, "but the scientist needs to interpret those regularities. They need, for example, to explain" why an animal population is affected by changes in rainfall, and what might be done to protect it.
Michael Atherton, a cognitive scientist who recently predicted that computer intelligence would not soon supplant human artistic and scientific insight, said that the program "could be a great tool, in the same way visualization software is: It helps to generate perspectives that might not be intuitive."
However, said Atherton, "the creativity, expertise, and the recognition of importance is still dependent on human judgment. The main problem remains the same: how to codify a complex frame of reference."
"In the end, we still need a scientist to look at this and say, this is interesting," said Lipson.
Humans are, in other words, still important.

Rugged Camera, Six Tough

Manufacturers are outdoing themselves in the quest to build a nearly indestructible camera and the prices are reasonable, too. They're promising that you can freeze, drop, or submerge these models, without a worry.

Fire in court about google books settlement

The disparate and dissenting constituencies that showed up to federal court here on Thursday to comment on Google's plan to create a digital library illustrated just how polarizing and far reaching the effort has become.
The gallery at the federal court house here filled not one but two rooms. Foreign dignitaries squeezed onto benches with cane-wielding advocates for the blind, college professors, literary agents, authors of children's books, and, of course, lots and lots of lawyers.
The one thing that most in attendance shared was a passionate view of Google's proposed library--both for and against. Google wishes to create a vast and unprecedented digital library and has reached an agreement with groups representing book publishers and authors that would allow the search engine to display digital snippets of out-of-print books still covered by copyright. Their representatives appeared before U.S. District Judge Denny Chin to seek approval for the deal.
Perhaps best known for presiding over the Bernie Madoff securities-fraud case, Chin is now tasked with determining whether the controversial settlement is fair to authors, publishers, Google's competitors, and the public. One main issue is that Google would have the right to exploit titles belonging to authors who have not given their approval.
Chin told the court early in the hearing that he would not issue a ruling Thursday. First, he wanted to allow a long list of stakeholders, which included the U.S. Department of Justice, to comment on the proposal.
Supporters of the settlement told Chin that Google was preparing to usher in an era of free-flowing information like the world has never seen. Google could help span the digital divide and hand the public better access to information if it were allowed to create a digital archive, said Lateef Mtima, a law professor at Howard University and director of the school's Institute for Intellectual Property and Social Justice.

"Copyright was intended to be an engine of cultural development, not a brake," Mtima told Chin.
Several other educators spoke in support of the settlement, including Paul Courant, a professor at the University of Michigan who oversees the school's libraries. He said that digitizing books frees knowledge from the restrictions of geographical location. Courant noted that today, to read any of the university's books, a person must physically be in Ann Arbor, Mich., where the school is located.
"Broad social progress depends on being able to find, use, and re-use the scholarly record," Courant told the court. Google's plan to scan books is "one solution," he said.
Still, among those who addressed the court, opponents to the settlement outnumbered supporters 3 to 1. Chin heard from critics about what they claimed were serious weaknesses in the proposal.
Detractors claimed Google's plan poses an unprecedented threat to the privacy of book readers. Several authors argued that the agreement would desolate copyright law. Competitors, such as Microsoft and Amazon, said the settlement is an attempt by Google to set itself up as the all-powerful emperor of digital information.
Nothing drew more fire than the settlement's plans to force authors to "opt out" in order to prevent Google from scanning snippets of their books. Critics say that Google has everything backward here. They ask why is it that authors must go out of their way to opt out in order to prevent Google from exploiting their work?
Doesn't copyright law already require that they give their permission first before someone can license their work?
William Cavanaugh, an assistant U.S. attorney general told Chin that the publishers and the Authors Guild do not have a right to enable a third party such as Google to use an author's work without their permission. "This (settlement) has the effect of rewriting contracts," said Cavanaugh, who also told the judge that the government continues to investigate whether the agreement violates antitrust laws.
One of the other major concerns for some in the courtroom was privacy. As Irene Pakuscher, speaking on behalf of the German government, testified before Chin that the settlement would negatively impact German authors and publishers, one of her countrymen whispered to a reporter that many Germans just don't trust Google.
Mathias Schneider, who was covering the hearing for ARD German Radio, said many Germans were skeptical of Google's data collection ambitions. "In my country, many people still remember the damage that can be done from gathering too much information about individuals," Schneider said, cautioning that he spoke only for himself and not ARD. "There was the Nazis and then it happened with the former German Democratic Republic, or East Germany."
Both the Nazi and GDR governments were known for widespread spying on citizens.
Representatives from the Electronic Frontier Foundation and The Center for Democracy & Technology described worrisome scenarios whereby information about people's reading habits could be tracked with Google's proposed service. For example, Google would possess records of a person who read a sexually explicit book or some other controversial title. In addition, Google would have the ability to log even the pages the person read.
At the conclusion of the hearing, attorneys for Google and the book publishers and authors told Chin that the settlement isn't perfect but is fair. Google's attorney told the court that the company is indeed interested in getting its hands on rights to so-called "orphan works," the term used to describe titles where the author isn't known or can't be found.
The question of properly paying someone who is entitled to compensation under Google's plan but may not be aware of it has been a hot issue. Google said that the money earned from orphan works is what will make the digital library a feasible business. Google's attorney said that others, such as Microsoft, who attempted to digitize books in the past couldn't monetize their efforts this way and that's why they failed.