Wireless technology that eliminates the need for wires and cables, and facilitates access to information in the easiest manner possible, is here to stay. It is being used in mobile phones, video games, home networks. Every personal computer operating system and game console supports Wi-Fi.

With so many advantages that it affords, it is no surprise that people overlook any drawbacks it may have, such as the security issues. Wi-Fi networks that are unencrypted or open can be easily monitored by others and used to view all the personal information transmitted over the network, unless some sort of security, such as a VPN or a secure web page is used.

In order to protect people’s interests and make them aware of the security aspect of Wi-Fi networks, the FBI has recently issued a warning that the Wi-Fi hotspots or the wireless internet networks are easy prey to hackers.

These wireless internet networks are found at airports, book stores, malls, supermarkets, school campuses, coffee shops and several such places. These networks are installed for the use of residents of different localities; however, security at these places is very low, with no registration or passwords required to use the service. Even emails and instant messages are not encrypted.

This sort of a setting is like a full-fledged feast to a hacker, who can access and steal this private information from anywhere in the world. (more…)

Wireless technology has changed the face of communication and with the creation of Bluetooth; people felt they have seen it all.

However, the quintessential mobile has just become more endearing and turned our savior. From now on, it will also call the doctor in case of an emergency and its owner is unwell.

Latest research shows that the mobile technology has been given the capability to call the doctor when the owner of the phone is in danger. This works for patients with chronic health problems, such as people who are at risk for a diabetic collapse or a heart attack. With sensors implanted inside the bodies of such people, doctors will be able to monitor them remotely.

If the “in-body network” of sensors recorded that the person had suddenly collapsed, then an alert would be automatically sent to a surgery or a hospital nearby. These network sensors monitor the patients’ moves and pick up health signs that can prove to be dangerous, such as high blood sugar levels or an attack of asthma, and send an alert via a portable monitor or a home hub.

This research is being carried out at Portsmouth as well as many universities in the UK.

They say that these networks may use a spectrum that is allotted to be used by these sensor networks. The main belief behind this technology is that radio spectrum can be used in many ways to help people. (more…)

Applying the advances in science, researchers are making sure that we have more mouths to feed. We are not talking about cloning here.

Scientists have always been fascinated about building an electronic tongue or a robotic tasting device for use in the improvement of food safety and improving food quality. But before robots can learn to taste food, they will have to chew it first.

French scientist, Gaelle Arvisenet and his team have developed an artificial mouth that can chew apples just like you and me. In fact, most people these days, due to increasing dental problems caused by consumption of processed foods, may not be able to chew properly, but the artificial mouth has firm and strong teeth and it can chew hard foods with ease.

Researches in Nantes, France, have created an artificial mouth that according to them, “Mimics all the first vital steps of human digestion, which are chewing, releasing saliva and breaking down food.”

Researchers say that this could be used as a robotic taste tester to perhaps improve the flavor of food.

Previously, there had been artificial mouths designed, but they were only capable of testing soft foods or for testing the teeth of a robot. However, this is the first time anyone has done anything that relates to hard foods and human digestion. (more…)

Rumor has it that Google has briefed the press that it may very soon launch its internal database, BigTable, as a web service.

For those that are not aware of what BigTable is, it has been described as a distributed storage system for structured data. It is a database system designed to handle huge amounts of date (petabytes) across thousands of community servers.

The BigTable has been built on Google File System (GFS) and more than sixty of Google’s projects store date in it, including Google Earth, Google Finance, Google Maps, Google Analytics, Blogger, Orkut, YouTube and web indexing. We can understand the vastness and capability of this system, if we can for a moment imagine the amount of data these projects could be playing with.

The original intention behind Google creating its own database is to save on the heavy costs and avail of the benefits of better access and total control over its data. BigTable has proved to be most reliable and successfully provided high applicability, high performance and scalability over the past few years. It has turned out to be a great high-end solution for the above Google projects, handling huge amounts of data, taking care of bulk processing in the backend and real-time data serving. (more…)

If Web 2.0 jargon wasn’t enough to make you groan, you should really meet Web 3.0. The beauty of Web 3.0 is that most people, even the ones involved, are still a bit unclear as to what it is, exactly. But it is definitely an improvement over 2.0 and requires the standard amount of updates to Wikipedia and forum discussion. Web 3.0 is still in development, but any marketer worth his salt at least knows enough about it to throw the term around in conversation.

Web 2.0
Web 2.0 has become the universally accepted term for the socially modified internet. Websites that are “Web 2.0” integrate user feedback and commentary and work to connect users with each other and other applications and visitors from around the world. Bookmarking, wikis, blogs, and commentary are all heavy aspects of Web 2.0. But just as you are getting comfortable with the new social internet, Industry heavy hitters have gone and introduced Web 3.0.

Web 3.0
It is believed that Web 3.0 will be an early form of the semantic web. Currently, under Web 2.0, users can find all kinds of information on websites and share that information with others. Under 3.0, that same information will be assembled, organized and shared with other computers. Pages and content that can currently only be read by humans will be easily read by machines and bots. The data will then be used for any number of things. (more…)

Microsoft has taken a very Web 2.0 approach to Halo. Not only is the popular game back for a third installment, it now records and can upload every game for instant replays and sharing. Heavily anticipated by the fans of the first two Halo games, this installment certainly did not disappoint. In fact, sales of the game topped $300 million in the first week.

Halo 3 Reviews
The reviews for the new game have been universally positive. Of course, it is a natural extension from the first and second Halo, but the basic first person shooting game hasn’t lost any of its bloody and action packed charm in this latest edition. The game was well hyped, and most feel that it lived up to its hype and then some.

The graphics in the first two were terrific, and the third installment on the XBox 360 gives the graphics another boost. The game is very heavy on the action, and as you move through the game you are submerged in heavily detailed environments and plotlines. Fortunately, these environments and storylines all are linear and make perfect sense. The story began in the first Halo, continued in the second and now finally has reached a conclusion in the third. Spin-offs are heavily anticipated, but nothing can replace the original action game. (more…)

There is growing concern among industry watchdogs that the traffic on various traffic monitors is not completely legitimate. These groups claim that the various ways of measuring traffic not only conflict with each other, but can be flat out wrong.

The high end measurements of traffic patterns and usage are taken the same way as television statistics – through samples. And those samples just aren’t doing a very good job. When you watch television, there are only so many things and channels you can watch. With the internet, the opportunities and activities online are endless.

Traffic monitors such as Netratings and comScore rely on their own versions of sample data to determine traffic patterns and rankings. The websites monitored, often high end sites, often notice that the supposed traffic coming to the site, which determines rankings, does not match their own server records. In many cases the numbers are very different. (more…)

Traffic is the lifeblood of the internet. A site can be beautiful and packed with desirable content, but without visitors, it languishes. For this reason, webmasters monitor their website traffic very carefully. The search patterns and uses of the internet have become more difficult to track, however, so traffic monitoring is beginning to take a different approach.

What is Traffic Monitoring?
The owners of websites want to know who is coming to their websites. Companies monitor the visitors to sites through various methods and pull information from the computers of their visitors. With the right tracking tools, a webmaster can see:

• How a visitor found his site
• How long the visitor stayed on the site
• What pages of the site he viewed
• How long he stayed on the website total
• Where his computer is located
• How many times he’s been to the site. (more…)

Sometimes a little background music can make work fly by. Internet radio is wonderful for this very reason. Many of the stations or feeds available through the internet have few or no annoying commercials (even about the channel itself) and the quality is better than that found on most commercial stations due to the digital aspects.

Personalized Radio

With so many internet radio channels to choose from, it’s no wonder more people are tuning in every day. Not only can you experience music hard to find on the traditional radio, but in many cases, you can customize your radio channel for your own listening experience.

While it may not be as exactly customized as your iPod play lists, there is still a bit of mystery with internet radio. You never know if you might find a new favorite song or get an unexpected treat when the station plays an old favorite you haven’t heard in years. (more…)