The Rants and Raves of Technology Slaves

Yanks issue New Camo for Afghanistan

2010-02-27T07:03:00.000-08:00

The secretary of the Army has announced that the Army will provide combat uniforms in the MultiCam pattern to all soldiers deploying to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, starting this summer.

This decision follows a rigorous four-month evaluation and reflects the Army's commitment to giving soldiers in Afghanistan the most effective concealment possible.

Soldiers deploying to Afghanistan this summer will receive fire resistant Army combat uniforms in MultiCam, along with associated equipment including body armor, rucksacks, and helmet covers.

The Army's selection of MultiCam for soldiers in Afghanistan culminates phase III of a four-phase plan to thoroughly and deliberately evaluate camouflage alternatives.

The Army took action in fall 2009 to provide two battalion-size elements in Afghanistan with uniforms and associated gear in patterns other than the standard-issue universal camouflage pattern (UCP). One unit received uniforms and gear in MultiCam, and the other in a variant of UCP known as UCP - Delta.

In addition, the Army deployed a team of experts to Afghanistan in October to gather extensive data and photos on the diverse environments of Afghanistan, where soldiers often travel through multiple environments in a single mission, from snow to woodland to desert.

The Army incorporated the information gathered into a photo simulation study it then administered to nearly 750 soldiers who had deployed to Afghanistan. The study asked them to compare six patterns against eight different environments. The results, along with surveys of soldiers in the two battalions who received alternate camouflage, formed the basis for the Army's decision on MultiCam.

The Army will now implement phase IV of its plan for camouflage, which is to evaluate long-term Army combat uniform camouflage options for all soldiers.

Camouflage alternatives represent one facet of the Army's ongoing efforts to improve the Army combat uniform. The Army has made more than 26 improvements to the ACU since it was first fielded in June 2004.

Boeing Completes Key Tests Of Self-Protection System

2009-11-15T05:46:00.000-08:00

Boeing has announced that it has successfully completed tests of the Counter Measures Dispenser System (CMDS) for Project Wedgetail, Australia's Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW and C) system. The tests were conducted in September and October off the Washington coast and over Puget Sound, Wash.

Completion of CMDS testing is a key step toward verification of the Wedgetail AEW and C aircraft's overall Electronic Warfare Self-Protection (EWSP) capability. EWSP is designed to warn aircrews about and protect against missiles targeting the aircraft.

The CMDS responds to threats by releasing chaff and flares to decoy incoming missiles away from the aircraft. Boeing and its industry supplier, BAE Systems, developed and integrated the CMDS system.

Testing included 19 flights that dispensed more than 500 units of chaff and flares. The AEW and C team collected data via five high-speed video cameras mounted on the Wedgetail aircraft and an additional video camera attached to a T-33 chase plane.

"The testing program verified that the Boeing-installed self-protection system will effectively counter its intended threats reliably and safely," said Kermit Hollinger, Electronic Warfare manager for Boeing AEW and C Programs.

"This milestone is the latest example of Boeing's ability to integrate military systems onto commercial aircraft and provide our customers with low-risk, cost-effective solutions to their operational requirements."

Project Wedgetail includes six 737 AEW and C aircraft plus ground support segments for mission crew training, mission support and system maintenance.

The 737 AEW and C aircraft, based on the Boeing Next-Generation 737-700 commercial airplane, is designed to provide airborne battle-management capability with an advanced multirole electronically scanned radar and 10 state-of-the-art mission crew consoles.

Able to track airborne and maritime targets simultaneously, the mission crew can direct offensive and defensive forces while maintaining continuous surveillance of the operational area.

A Lightweight Display Brings Instant Army Intelligence to Your Wrist

2009-09-04T08:44:00.001-07:00

A special-ops soldier carries a slew of gadgets into battle. There's the GPS unit to pinpoint his squad's location, and a laptop for pulling up blueprints of terrorist compounds or infrared readings of buildings scoped out by robotic surveillance drones. With a radio and its five-pound battery, it's too much gear. But in a couple years, troops could lighten their load with a rugged, flexible, wrist-mounted display that's in development by the U.S. Army and HP Labs.
The solar-powered, bendable computer screen will allow for instant data and radio transmission, all in a half-pound unit, says David Morton, the program manager for flexible electronics at the Army Research Laboratory. The display's thin layer of transistors sends electric signals to an e-ink screen, which converts those signals into grayscale images, similar to the way the Amazon Kindle does. Unlike the Kindle, the two-by-three-inch display can bend to fit around the user's wrist because HP stamps the electronics and optical components onto pliable plastic. The process eliminates the need for the fragile glass backing used in the Kindle and other displays, says Carl Taussig, the director of information surfaces at HP. "You can strike these things with a mallet, and they just keep on working."

While the Army works on a color screen, troops will test the black-and-white device and provide feedback for the final version, which should be ready for military use by 2011.

Darpa's First Robotic Ornithopter Hovers, Flies Like a Hummingbird

2009-08-23T09:05:00.000-07:00

A few years from now, bird-watchers may be in for a double take: that flapping creature in the distance? Nope, not a bird. Mutant dragon fly? Nope--it's Darpa's latest unmanned aerial robo-sentinel, inspired by the flight mechanics of birds.

The tech company Aerovironment recently won a $2.1 million contract to further their work on the Nano Air Vehicle (NAV). One of many progressive projects from Darpa (the Pentagon's advanced-research unit), the NAV is the first-ever "controlled hovering flight of an air vehicle system with two flapping wings that carries its own energy source and uses only the flapping wings for propulsion and control," says Aerovironment.

In the future, Darpa plans to use the teeny NAV for secret indoor and outdoor government missions, like dropping off listening devices and other cargo, and transmiting sound and video to locations as far as a kilometer away.

The above tasks are, presumably, ones that any small air vehicle could take on--which raises a question: cool factor aside, how is the ornithopter better than any run-of-the-mill tiny helicopter? According to Darpa, the advantages lie in something called the Reynolds number, a measurement of airborne efficiency that is lower (and technologically better) for flying creatures (like hummingbirds) compared to regular aircraft.

Aerovironment plans to make the next batch of birds smaller (10 grams and 7.5 cm), faster (22 mph), quieter, and more wind-resistant.

Australia has launched a multi-million dollar competition to build a new generation of military robots.

2009-07-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

The winning design must help soldiers fight by remote control in urban combat zones, defence officials say.

The aim is to reduce casualties in urban areas where fighting is unpredictable and treacherous.

The competition is being run by Australia's Defence Science and Technology Organisation in partnership with the US military.

'Dirty work'

The government wants to develop an "intelligent and fully autonomous system" capable of carrying out dangerous surveillance missions.

Senior officials in Canberra have said they hope that unarmed robotic vehicles will do some of the army's "dirty work" in such hazardous theatres.

The ultimate plan is for groups of these sophisticated machines to be sent into battle to help neutralise the enemy.

Research grants of $1.6m (£984,000) have been offered in this joint Australian and American competition. Five shortlisted applicants will be invited to present their ideas at a Land Warfare Conference in Brisbane in November next year.

Before they get to that stage they will have to prove that their prototypes can do the job at a defence base in South Australia, where they will be judged by an international panel of military experts.

Radio-controlled bullets leave no place to hide

2009-06-15T12:32:00.000-07:00

A RIFLE capable of firing explosive bullets that can detonate within a metre of a target could let soldiers fire on snipers hiding in trenches, behind walls or inside buildings.

The US army has developed the XM25 rifle to give its troops an alternative to calling in artillery fire or air strikes when an enemy has taken cover and can't be targeted by direct fire. "This is the first leap-ahead technology for troops that we've been able to develop and deploy," says Douglas Tamilio, the army's project manager for new weapons for soldiers. "This gives them another tool in their kitbag."

The rifle's gunsight uses a laser rangefinder to calculate the exact distance to the obstruction. The soldier can then add or subtract up to 3 metres from that distance to enable the bullets to clear the barrier and explode above or beside the target (see diagram).

As the 25-millimetre round is fired, the gunsight sends a radio signal to a chip inside the bullet, telling it the precise distance to the target. A spiral groove inside the barrel makes the bullet rotate as it travels, and as it also contains a magnetic transducer, this rotation through the Earth's magnetic field generates an alternating current. A patent granted to the bullet's maker, Alliant Techsystems, reveals that the chip uses fluctuations in this current to count each revolution and, as it knows the distance covered in one spin, it can calculate how far it has travelled.

The rifle would allow a soldier faced with a sniper firing from a window to take a distance measurement to the window, add a metre, fire through the window, and have the round detonate 1 metre inside the room. The same method could be used to fire behind a wall or over a trench.

As it stands, Tamilio says, soldiers faced with enemies behind cover have the option of using grenade launchers, which have limited range and accuracy, or asking for artillery fire or air strikes. However, both of those options cover a large area and so have a higher risk of killing civilians, especially in urban areas. They are also expensive. "You could shoot a Javelin missile, and it would cost $70,000. These rounds will end up costing $25 apiece. They're relatively cheap," Tamilio says.

"This airburst shell gives the close-combat capability of a grenade launcher, combined with the ability of indirect fire weapons to hit stuff on the other side of the wall," says John Pike, a defence analyst with Washington DC think tank GlobalSecurity.org.

Pike says it is just one example of "smart" munitions now possible because of microchip advances.

Although the rifle will initially use high-explosive rounds, it might later use versions with smaller explosive charges that aim to stun rather than kill.

The US army plans to field-test prototypes of the rifle soon, possibly in Iraq or Afghanistan, and hopes to begin using it by 2012.

How to fit 300 DVDs on one disc

2009-05-22T01:35:00.000-07:00

A new optical recording method could pave the way for data discs with 300 times the storage capacity of standard DVDs, Nature journal reports.

The researchers say this could see a whopping 1.6 terabytes of information fit on a DVD-sized disc.

They describe their method as "five-dimensional" optical recording and say it could be commercialised.

The technique employs nanometre-scale particles of gold as a recording medium.

Researchers at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia have exploited the particular properties of these gold "nano-rods" by manipulating the light pointed at them.

The team members described what they did as adding three "dimensions" to the two spatial dimensions that DVD and CD discs already have.

They say they were able to introduce a spectral - or colour - dimension and a polarisation dimension, as well as recording information in 10 layers of the nano-rod films, adding a third spatial dimension.

The scientists used the nanoparticles to record information in a range of different colour wavelengths on the same physical disc location. This is a major improvement over traditional DVDs, which are recorded in a single colour wavelength with a laser.

Also, the amount of incoming laser light absorbed by the nanoparticles depends on its polarisation. This allowed the researchers to record different layers of information at different angles.

The researchers thus refer to the approach as 5-D recording. Previous research has demonstrated recording techniques based on colour or polarisation, but this is the first work that shows the integration of both.

As a result, the scientists say they have achieved unprecedented data density.

Their approach used 10-layer stacks composed of thin glass plates as the recording medium. If scaled up to a DVD-sized disk, the team would be able to record 1.6 terabytes - that is, 1,600 gigabytes - or over 300 times the quantity stored on a standard DVD.

Significant improvements could be made by thinning the spacer layers and using more than two polarisation angles - pushing the limits to 10 terabytes per disc and beyond, the researchers say.

Bit by bit

Recent efforts based on holography have shown that up to 500 Gb could potentially be stored on standard DVD-sized disks.

Holographic methods take all of the information to be recorded and encode it in the form of a graph showing how often certain frequencies arise in it.

That means that the recording process is a complex, all-at-once, all-or-nothing approach that would be difficult to implement on an industrial scale.

By contrast, 5-D recording is "bit-by-bit", like current CD and DVD writing processes in that each piece of information is read sequentially.

That is likely to mean that recording and read speeds would be comparatively slow, but the approach would be easier to integrate with existing technology.

"The optical system to record and read 5-D is very similar to the current DVD system," says James Chon, a co-author on the research.

"Therefore, industrial scale production of the compact system is possible."

Now that the method has been demonstrated in custom-made multi-layer stacks, the team is working in conjunction with Samsung to develop a drive that can record and read onto a DVD-sized disc.

Dr Chon says that the material cost of a disc would be less than $0.05 (£0.03), but there are a number of advantages in moving to silver nano-rods that would bring that cost down by a factor of 100.

For optical data storage expert Tom Milster, at the University of Arizona, the beauty of the approach is in its simplicity.

"It's not just elegant - there are a lot of experiments that are elegant - it's relatively straightforward," he told BBC News.

For the moment, Dr Milster says, the equipment needed to write the data would make a commercial system expensive. However, that has not stopped the development of optical storage solutions in the past.

"For example, a Blu-ray player is not an easy system to realise; they've got some wonderful optics in there," Dr Milster said. "People thought that would be pretty difficult to do, but others managed to do it."

Proposed Cyber Security Legislation

2009-04-05T03:33:00.000-07:00

Amid calls for a comprehensive national strategy on cyber security, as well as stronger government leadership to ensure that security initiatives are implemented effectively, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV and Sen. Olympia Snowe proposed a sweeping piece of legislation to address this significant and growing threat to the United States. This legislation comes in the wake of attacks on the Pentagon late last year and in the shadow of recent news of massive cyber espionage efforts spanning over 100 countries.

The following represent the major provisions of the proposed legislation at this time. Everyone should expect changes to be made as it works its way through the legislative process.

Legislation proposed by Senator John D. Rockefeller IV and Senator Olympia Snowe calls for the establishment of an Office of the National Cyber Security Advisor that would take the lead on Internet security matters and coordinate with the Defense Department, intelligence community and the private sector.
The proposed legislation calls for the creation of a Cyber Security Advisory Panel that is composed of outside experts from industry, academia, and nonprofit groups that would advise the president on related matters.
The proposed legislation calls for the creation of a public/private clearinghouse for cyber threats and vulnerability information sharing, establishment of measurable and auditable cyber security standards from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
The proposed legislation would also require that cyber security professionals be licensed and certified.
Provision: The proposed legislation would also require that the Cyber Security Adviser conduct a review of the U.S. cyber security program every four years and require officials to complete a number of reviews and reports.
The proposed legislation calls for the creation of state and regional cyber security centers to help small and midsize businesses adopt security measures.
The proposed legislation would establish a Secure Products and Services Acquisitions Board that would to review and approve the security and integrity of products purchased by the federal government.
The proposed legislation would require government and private sector networks that control the critical infrastructure to comply with a set of cyber security standards established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

This legislation is past due! Report after report has highlighted the increased complexity and frequency of cyber attacks on business, government and our critical infrastructure. Delays in pushing this legislation through could have serious consequences. So time is of the essence in preparing for the passage and enactment of this legislation.

I offer the following recommendation for consideration in order to strengthen the proposed legislation. The legislation as it stands does not address mandatory reporting requirements of cyber security breaches, data and information theft and other cyber security related issues. If we are to track our progress, learn from these events and rapidly identify new cyber threats, mandatory reporting within 24 hours of discovery is critical. Another area of concern is training. While the proposed legislation touches on training, it does not specifically address continuing education. Cyber attack techniques and criminal scams are highly dynamic and rapidly evolving.

These factors combine to make continuing education necessary to stay aware of the latest developments in cyber security. A third concern rests in the area of testing, validation and verification of hardware and software. While this is not specifically addressed, it may be bundled into support and funding for research and development of new validation and verification capabilities that are needed to mitigate this threat. The visibility of this issue has risen significantly after Alex Allan, Chairman of the British Joint Intelligence Committee, expressed his growing concern because government departments, the intelligence services and the military were all exposed to threats from computer and network hardware that came from foreign (citing the new BT Telecom network).
Finally, I was disappointed the legislation did not address an appointee to coordinate and push for an international accord that establishes open cooperation during investigations of cyber attacks and crime and also to stem the development of strategic cyber weapons.

While the devil is in the details, I think the proposed legislation modified to include the four areas identified above is a huge step in securing our nation against cyber threats. And while the proposed legislation is mainly reactive, proactive measures can go a long way to reducing risks.

By Kevin Coleman

New Battery Technology Charges in Seconds

2009-03-21T11:31:00.000-07:00

For the successful takeover of alternative energy over conventional sources of energy we need a good battery technology too for power storage. The devices we want to keep on using need to be recharged. And we all know that recharge takes hours whether it’s our mobiles or laptops. If the researchers from MIT has implemented the know-how of these lithium-ion batteries, successfully then our waiting hours for recharge will be over.

This development can transform the power storage technology and can help hybrid cars or electric cars and give the necessary push to renewable energy. This expertise can reduce the weight and size of the batteries and our devices can be charged within few seconds.

The researchers, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have already made a small prototype cell that charges fully in 10 to 20 seconds, compared with six minutes for cells made in the standard way. The researchers are of the view that this technology will be available commercially within two to three years, because they are not using some new material. They have also nicknamed this technology as the “beltway battery”, after the orbital motorway in Washington DC. His lithium-ion battery utilizes a bypass system that allows the lithium-ions to enter and leave the battery speedily. The scientists discovered that by coating particles of lithium iron phosphate in a glassy material called lithium pyrophosphate, ions behave differently. These ions can bypass the channels and move more quickly. As we are acquainted with the fact that rechargeable batteries store up and discharge energy as charged atoms, known as ions, from between two electrodes called the anode and the cathode. Their charge and discharge rate are restricted by the speed with which these ions move.

If MIT scientists successfully complete this project for commercial use, we can charge electric car batteries in less than one hour. Till now recharging is one of the greatest hurdles for mass production of electric cars. Solar and wind energy generation can also be benefited with this breakthrough. This lithium-ion battery can be utilized for storage of excess energy.

Fresh start for lost file formats

2009-02-15T05:37:00.000-08:00

Long lost file formats could soon be resurrected by pan-European research.

The 4.02m euro (£3.58m) project aims to create a universal emulator that can open and play obsolete file formats.

Using the emulator, researchers hope to ensure that digital materials such as games, websites and multimedia documents are not lost for good.

The emulator will also be regularly updated to ensure that formats that fall out of favour remain supported in the near and far future.

Called Keeping Emulation Environments Portable (Keep), the project aims to create software that can recognise, play and open all types of computer file from the 1970s onwards.

As well as basic text documents it will also let people load up and play old computer games that technology has left behind.

"People don't think twice about saving files digitally - from snapshots taken on a camera phone to national or regional archives," said Dr Janet Delve, a computer historian from the University of Portsmouth and one of the research partners on Keep.

"But every digital file risks being either lost by degrading or by the technology used to 'read' it disappearing altogether," she said.

Without work to preserve ways to access the formats that are common today, 21st century citizens risk leaving a "blank spot" in history, said Dr Delve.

Already the number of unreadable documents in archives is beginning to mount up.

Britain's National Archive estimates that it holds enough information to fill about 580,000 encyclopaedias in formats that are no longer widely available.

Research by the British Library estimates that the delay caused by accessing and preserving old digital files costs European businesses about £2.7bn a year.

"We are facing a massive threat of the loss of digital information. It's a very real and worrying problem," said Dr David Anderson, who will work with Dr Delve on the UK end of the project.

"Things that were created in the 1970s, 80s and 90s are vanishing fast and every year new technologies mean we face greater risk of losing material," he said.

Dr Anderson said emulation was more workable in the long term than the usual method of preserving old files which involves migrating information on to new formats with its attendant risks of data degradation and corruption.

Face-blurring technology raises privacy questions

2009-02-01T08:35:00.000-08:00

Interesting Article but if you've got nothing to hide why the hell would you worry.

31 January 2009 by Paul Marks

SHOULD we modify our conception of privacy thanks to the seemingly unstoppable spread of CCTV surveillance networks? Jack Brassil thinks so. He's a computer scientist at Hewlett-Packard's laboratory in Princeton, New Jersey, who is testing a technology called Cloak that aims to limit the extent of privacy invasions. "Rather than prohibit surveillance, our system seeks to discourage surveillers distributing video without the authorization of the surveilled," he says.

Cloak has two key requirements. First, CCTV users, such as municipal councils and businesses, would have to sign up to a system that electronically obscures the faces of people who do not want their pictures to be published in video footage that is passed to others. The list of such people would be akin to the national "do-not-dial" lists designed to prevent cold-calling, Brassil says.

Second, the person opting in to Cloak needs to carry a "privacy enabling device" - most conveniently a phone with GPS capability. This wirelessly beams the user's position and velocity to a central server which forwards the data to the CCTV's control centre. Image processing software then uses the subject's trajectory to identify and obscure their face in the CCTV footage if it is to be distributed. In Hewlett-Packard's simulations, the technology is workable, even in dense crowds.

The idea raises broad societal and legal questions, however. "I don't think its objectives are right at all," says privacy analyst Ian Brown of the Oxford Internet Institute in the UK. "People shouldn't have to opt in to get privacy protection. And this system actively invades your privacy because it tells the service where you are at all times."

Brassil concedes that his proposed solution may not suit everyone, but says the important point is the discussion of privacy. Brown also notes that there are transatlantic legal differences to contend with. In Europe, data protection laws prevent surveillance videos being passed on while only a few states in the US have such legislation. He says another way forward is to encourage engineers to design privacy into technologies from the start.

Brown will have his work cut out, says Brassil, who is to publish his work as part of a book on video surveillance later this year. "Technology is advancing far faster than our ability to understand its privacy implications," he says.

Broadband on Rails A compact lens could make high-speed Internet access commonplace on trains.

2009-01-24T03:38:00.000-08:00

Internet access can make a train trip far more productive and enjoyable. But train-mounted satellite dishes that send and receive data can't be used on a lot of routes, as the standard hardware is too big to fit in some tunnels. Now researchers at the University of York, in England, have developed an alternative: a dome-shaped plastic lens that's less than half as high as a typical satellite dish. The system, which was developed with funding from the European Space Agency, is also designed to track multiple satellites at once, making it more reliable than a dish.

"Here in the U.K., a lot of our railway infrastructure is very old," says John Thornton, a research fellow in the Department of Electronics at the University of York, who led the lens research. Low bridges and tunnels offer minimal headroom for satellite dishes, which Thornton says are about 62 centimeters high. Thornton's lens, in contrast, is only 30 centimeters high--short enough to meet the needs of the train industry.

The York project is based on an existing design, called a Luneburg lens. "The traditional approach would be to make [the lens] out of novel materials with certain properties," says Thornton. "I thought, 'What materials are practical and could work?'" Ultimately, the team decided on the plastics polyethylene and polystyrene, which are less expensive than the materials traditionally used to make Luneburg lenses but achieve the necessary performance. Thornton says that recent laboratory tests confirmed that the lens was able to receive digital video broadcasts, meaning that it could handle at least four megabits of data per second.

The York system also offers increased reliability. With a traditional satellite system, a separate dish is required for each satellite, and the whole dish has to move to track the signal. Moving an entire dish is fine if it's mounted on a stable structure, such as the roof of a house, but not if it's affixed to the side of a train that's running through tunnels and under bridges. A lot of room is required around the device at all times, to ensure that it doesn't hit something while tracking a signal.

With Thornton's device, incoming radiation bounces off the surface on which the lens is mounted. The lens concentrates the reflected radiation to a single point on its surface, where it's collected by a motorized antenna called a feed. To track the signal, only the feed needs to move, as opposed to the entire dish in a conventional system. Moreover, several feeds can roam around the surface of the lens at once, collecting signals from satellites in different locations.

Having extra feeds increases the redundancy of the system, Thornton says. "If one of the possible feeds isn't working, then you've got a spare." Different beams could also be enlisted for different services, he says, noting that one could be used to provide live television while another is used for Internet access.

Ratul Mahajan, a researcher with Microsoft's networking group who has been working on wireless Internet connections for cars, questions why Thornton chose to use satellite Internet instead of 3G, a telecommunications standard that's becoming common in cellular-telephone networks. "Why use satellite at all?" Mahajan asks.

Thornton says that 3G currently doesn't have the kind of geographic coverage required for continuous Internet access along train routes. Upgrades to the cell network, he says, tend to be concentrated in towns. "Each base station can only offer the highest data rates to users typically one or two kilometers away, so a truly vast number would be needed to cover all the railway routes in a country the size of the USA, or even France," Thornton says.

Thornton is currently trying to find a commercial partner for his system but admits that it's not ready to hit the rails just yet. In fact, it has yet to be tested on a moving vehicle. The team still needs to develop a control system and protocols for handling multiple satellite feeds.

By Rachel Kremen

Charging gadgets using a magnet

2009-01-10T01:30:00.001-08:00

Magnetic induction could soon spell the end of tangled cables and a frustrating hunt for the gadget's charger.

Two firms at CES showed off ways to use the phenomenon to re-charge batteries inside gadgets when they are laid on a special mat.

Sensing systems allow devices with very different voltages to be charged at the same time.

The technology can also be used to power household objects such as flat screen TVs or kitchen appliances.

Israeli company Powermat uses RFID tags to identify what is being laid down to charge. The RFID tags are held in a case made to fit around popular gadgets such as iPods, laptops, and mobile phones.

When a gadget is laid down on a Powermat, it reads the RFID tag to ensure that each device only gets the charge it needs.

"It can charge a 100-watt gadget side by side with an iPod Nano that is very low power," said Ron Ferber, president of Powermat. "It knows what's on the mat."

A series of Powermats, including travel versions, should be on sale in the US by Autumn 2009, said Mr Ferber.

Also at CES, Leggett and Platt showed off a line of devices called eCoupled, made by Fulton Innovation, which uses a different method of identifying gadgets.

Leroy Johnson, senior director of emerging technologies at Leggett and Platt, said its system embeded a signal in the induction coil fitted to a gadget that helps charge it up.

"Inside each device is a coil that sends an identification signal that says 'I'm a flashlight with a three-volt Li-on battery'," he explained.

"It's almost like plugging it in, but instead you just set it down," he added. The first products fitted with the eCoupled technology should appear by late 2009, said Mr Johnson.

He said the technology was safer too, because it almost removed the need to plug devices into a wall socket.

The charging plates produced by both Powermat and Leggett can be embedded in walls, counter tops, or furniture to turn them into power stations for recharging or powering any gadget or item placed upon them.

In late December 2008, five companies joined together in a bid to create universal standards for wireless power systems. Initially, they want to develop a five-watt standard and address more power hungry gadgets.

Nanotech could mean sharper snaps

2009-01-05T10:32:00.000-08:00

Researchers in Scotland have been given nearly half a million pounds to try to improve digital camera images.

The team, lead by scientists at the University of Glasgow, are developing small nanostructures that would be used on light detecting image sensors.

These new hi-tech chips would be used in camera equipment to produce sharper and more colourful images.

The project is being funded by a £489,234 grant from the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council.

The researchers are using a phenomenon called surface plasmon resonance, which is an effect exhibited by certain metals when light waves fall onto their surfaces.

In digital cameras, this is the metal film used on microchip image sensors - known as a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) - that detect light waves and convert them into digital signals.

When light shines on the metal film, electrons on the surface absorb the energy of the light waves and begin oscillating, or shaking, in groups. The resultant combined waves are called plasmons, and they modify the way light is distributed around the metal. The CMOS then measures the light and assigns it a digital value which is then used to build up the bigger image.

The Scottish scientists hope to find a way of creating patterns or small nanostructures in the metal film on the CMOS. This should increase the sensitivity of the sensor and result in higher quality images.

"We'll be using nanotechnology to manipulate particles, so as to take advantage of the properties of electrons to create a new optical effect," Professor David Cumming of Glasgow University who is leading the research team.

"Digital imaging has come a long way in recent years and this project aims to further improve the ability of digital devices to produce high-quality pictures," he added.

Researchers also want to try and "tune" resonating plasmons into the same frequency as light, which could improve colour discrimination.

The project is expected to last until the middle of 2012.

New Security Technology: projecting a silent microwave scream inside your head

2008-12-24T08:17:00.000-08:00

The US military has bankrolled early development of a non-lethal microwave weapon that can cause sound inside the target's head. The Mob Excess Deterrent Using Silent Audio ("MEDUSA") is based on a well-known phenomenon, but the link to potential military use has only recently been made. When active, the MEDUSA's microwave beam causes shockwaves inside its targets' skulls which can be detected by the ears. A series of microwave pulses can also be created to produce recognisable sounds. The MEDUSA's advantage lies in that the generated sound originates from within the skull, and cannot be blocked out by conventional means such as earplugs. Depending on the intensity of the beam, the effect can range from annoyance to incapacitation. Conversely, personnel situated outside the MEDUSA's beam will be completely unaffected. In addition to potential applications on the battlefield and in crowd control, the technology behind the MEDUSA may also be of assistance to people with outer ear problems that impair their normal hearing.

MEDUSA involves a microwave auditory effect "loud" enough to cause discomfort or even incapacitation. Sadovnik says that normal audio safety limits do not apply since the sound does not enter through the eardrums.

"The repel effect is a combination of loudness and the irritation factor," he says. "You can't block it out."

Sadovnik says the device will work thanks to a new reconfigurable antenna developed by colleague Vladimir Manasson. It steers the beam electronically, making it possible to flip from a broad to a narrow beam, or aim at multiple targets simultaneously.

Sadovnik says the technology could have non-military applications. Birds seem to be highly sensitive to microwave audio, he says, so it might be used to scare away unwanted flocks.

Sadovnik has also experimented with transmitting microwave audio to people with outer ear problems that impair their normal hearing.

Back on to Viewing Network CCTV Systems...(Legally or illegally).

2008-12-10T08:41:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wanted to see what was going on in a bakery on the other side of the world? How about seeing into top secret labs? Or maybe even a police car's dash camera. With the following information you can not only see through the eyes of "Big Brother", but you can zoom, pan, tilt, capture & save images, and even reset the directions the security cameras face!

Steps

Open up your web browser. Browsers that support tabbing (such as Firefox, and newer versions of Internet Explorer) are better, because you can have quick access to many open webpages, instead of having to always open a new instance of the web browser.
Using the browser, go to a search engine of your choice, and input any of the following search queries:
inurl:"CgiStart?page="
inurl:/view.shtml
intitle:”Live View / - AXIS
inurl:view/view.shtml
inurl:ViewerFrame?Mode=
inurl:ViewerFrame?Mode=Refresh
inurl:axis-cgi/jpg
inurl:axis-cgi/mjpg (motion-JPEG) (disconnected)
inurl:view/indexFrame.shtml
inurl:view/index.shtml
inurl:view/view.shtml
liveapplet
intitle:”live view” intitle:axis
intitle:liveapplet
allintitle:”Network Camera NetworkCamera” (disconnected)
intitle:axis intitle:”video server”
intitle:liveapplet inurl:LvAppl
intitle:”EvoCam” inurl:”webcam.html”
intitle:”Live NetSnap Cam-Server feed”
intitle:”Live View / - AXIS”
intitle:”Live View / - AXIS 206M”
intitle:”Live View / - AXIS 206W”
intitle:”Live View / - AXIS 210″
inurl:indexFrame.shtml Axis
inurl:”MultiCameraFrame?Mode=Motion” (disconnected)
intitle:start inurl:cgistart
intitle:”WJ-NT104 Main Page”
intitle:snc-z20 inurl:home/
intitle:snc-cs3 inurl:home/
intitle:snc-rz30 inurl:home/
intitle:”sony network camera snc-p1″
intitle:”sony network camera snc-m1″
site:.viewnetcam.com -www.viewnetcam.com
intitle:”Toshiba Network Camera” user login
intitle:”netcam live image” (disconnected)
intitle:”i-Catcher Console - Web Monitor”
After you Google one of these queries, you will see some search results, click on any one of them.
Then you will either see a whole bunch of images of a security camera ,or the screen of a single camera.
Depending on the type of camera that you have access too, you may be able to zoom, pan, and tilt the camera to see what you want to.
If you want, you can use a screen capture program to take images and store them to your computer (or you can do this by pressing 'print screen' ('print sc') and opening 'Paint', then pasting it (ctrl+v), cropping the image (highlight the section that you want to delete, using the tool on the side and press' delete' or ctrl+x) and saving the image), or using a screen recording program do record the video stream. Some camera control panels will have image exporting options built in.
After you get tired of one camera go back and try another, there are thousands.
Have fun

Tips

If you wanted to look through a certain camera you need to find the link for that camera and it needs to be a CCTV(Closed Circit Television) camera. CCTV cameras are cameras that are connected to the web and can be veiwed by goin to the link on the inside of the packaging when the camera is purchased. If you are not sure of the link of a camera other than your's there is really no way of veiwing it unless you have the Serial number were you can then contact the manufacter for the link. So, unless it is a well-Known camera (ex. Mnt. Rushmore) then it maybe difficult to veiw.
Only works on security cameras that are connected to the net.
If you cannot pan the camera, check the top of the control panel. If it displays "Locked" the motion controls for the camera have been disables by the devices administrator.
If any of the links do not work, don't delete them just add "disconnected" next to them, in parentheses, thank you!
Using anonymous proxies can help protect your ip address from monitoring.
The most interesting cameras are usually the ones that do not list a domain name, just an IP address
For more Camera links of different Kinds go to http://www.livewebcams.org.uk

Warnings

Even though this is not illegal do not try this with out using a browser you could get in some trouble with the individual owner of the camera.
Do not do this at school, most schools will have monitoring software in place so that they can see what you are doing. It is best to read your school's guidelines for computer use.
Do not repeatedly maintain long or continuous connections to the feedChange your IP Address (Windows), however, this may or may not protect you depending on both your network set-up and the tracking policies of your internet Service Provider. (30 minutes is a good limit). Access logs for the devices can be created, and may be monitored by administrators. Many administrators will disregard brief attempts to access low importance devices when no harmful use is found. However, long periods of monitoring will likely attract suspicion and may cause the accessing IP address to be reported to authorities. You can always
I have researched CCTV viewing and it is not illegal to view, it is only illegal if you break through an existing login system for the camera. In the UK however you will soon need a license to own a CCTV camera.

How Safe is Your Network CCTV Video?

2008-12-02T12:10:00.000-08:00

Over the last few years we have seen many New products enter the Physical Security markets to bring convergence. In many cases the same manufacturers that made analogue systems are now either via acquisition or hire churning out product to connect to your existing network. OK, so we all understand the digital is the way to go. However, what many don't understand is that they are leaving their systems wide open to hackers and potential thieves.
In the last few weeks we have been working with a first rate company in the UK who showed us some really wild stuff. In many cases the manufacturers of these network attached devices don't take into consideration the actually network security features of their products. It's not intentional they just don't realize the capability of the hacker and the many tool that are freely available on the Internet to assist them in hacking IP cameras, DVR's, NVR's etc.
The security of hardware and embedded systems is often taken for granted. New technologies have exposed the previously closed hardware layers and directed attacks towards the embedded firmware that exists in physical network security devices. The company we met with provides a specialist service in two areas. They provide device testing and they can also as sit with code reviews. OK so what did I learn...
Two type so testing are available. Black Box Testing and Grey Box Testing.
Black Box Testing is Really about identifying in the vulnerabilities of the device that can be exploited in an operational environment.
Grey Box Testing includes the above plus testing with additional application information sources (such as source code and internal design documentation).

Now device testing can covers these areas.

Physical Attacks
Side Channel Attacks
Extraction and Reverse Engineering of Software
Device Modification through firmware and device update/boot loader functionality
Bypass or removal of device protection
Identification and exploitation of buffer overflows
Admin Interface Hacking
Data Extraction
Data Tampering
Protocol fuzzing

So did they scare us. No not really. What scared us was when we went to Google and typed in "Hacking of Network CCTV Systems" we ended up trawling site after site with instruction on how to log into restricted sites. One site even listed five cameras within the BBC but the link had obviously now been closed. We looked at an Airport in Canada, Several cameras in a City centre system in Scotland. The list is endless. If you are a manufacturer of anything in the physical security space that is going to get hooked up any network you really need to get your equipment checked out by a team of professionals. If anyone wants details of these guys please let me know. They impressed me not only with their capability but also with their understanding.
Drop me a mail or comment and I will send you the contact details directly. I don't want to post them here for obvious reasons.

I-Ball..... I am loving it......360 View Grenade Launched CCTV

2008-12-01T00:41:00.001-08:00

Whilst reading Soldier magazine this month came by this very nice little device that may get you tech heads thinking...

A grenade-style wireless camera called the I-Ball is being designed by a Scotland-based firm to give troops a better view of what lies ahead of them.

Through the Ministry of Defence’s 2007 Competition of Ideas, the new technology developed by Dreampact could be a life-saving tool for soldiers.

The I-Ball is a portable, wireless, projectile camera that allows soldiers to view an area before they move in using real-time video with 360-degree view. It can be thrown into a room, or sent flying using a grenade launcher - offering images during flight and after it lands.

The I-Ball will be able to operate in temperatures below minus 32 degrees Celsius and over 44 degrees Celsius, making it versatile enough to be used on tanks or micro unmanned air vehicles (UAVs.)

“We have overcome some significant technological challenges in developing the I-Ball technology,” said Paul Thompson of Dreampact. “Although it is in its early stages, we are very excited about the technology's potential to help our troops to be better prepared for battle.”

Welcome to Our Blog

2008-11-30T11:10:00.000-08:00

This is our first blog posting and lets not hope it's our last!. We hope to bring you the latest information on new products, standards, ideas and anything else that is of interest to the security sector.
We intend to cover both physical and network security issues. However they will relate directly to the Security Solutions markets. We want to hear from you with comments about CCTV, Access Control, Intruder Alarms, IP Telephony, Central Stations, Fire Systems you name it we want to talk about it. You can send us and email to get your product a mention on our blog.
Our real skill lies in taking new products into new markets. Our sales method is based on a clearly defined strategy that combines both our reputation and your product stability, flexibility and in some cases scalability. We have a global contact database of around 10,000 of the right people in various market sectors.
Please keep posted for our thoughts.