July 22, 2008, 8:07 PM CT

Security flaws in online banking sites

More than 75 percent of the bank Web sites surveyed in a University of Michigan study had at least one design flaw that could make customers vulnerable to cyber thieves after their money or even their identity.

Atul Prakash, a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and doctoral students Laura Falk and Kevin Borders examined the Web sites of 214 financial institutions in 2006. They will present the findings for the first time at the Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security meeting at Carnegie Mellon University July 25.

These design flaws aren't bugs that can be fixed with a patch. They stem from the flow and the layout of these Web sites, as per the study. The flaws include placing log-in boxes and contact information on insecure web pages as well as failing to keep users on the site they initially visited. Prakash said some banks may have taken steps to resolve these problems since this data was gathered, but overall he still sees much need for improvement.

"To our surprise, design flaws that could compromise security were widespread and included some of the largest banks in the country," Prakash said. "Our focus was on users who try to be careful, but unfortunately some bank sites make it hard for customers to make the right security decisions when doing online banking"......... Posted by: Ethan      Read more         Source

July 15, 2008, 10:02 PM CT

Custom interfaces make computer clicking faster, easier

Insert your key in the ignition of a luxury car and the seat and steering wheel will automatically adjust to preprogrammed body proportions. Stroll through the rooms of Bill Gates' mansion and each room will adjust its lighting, temperature and music to accommodate your personal preference. But open any computer program and you're largely subject to a design team's ideas about button sizes, fonts and layouts.

Off-the-shelf designs are especially frustrating for the disabled, the elderly and anybody who has trouble controlling a mouse. A new approach to design, developed at the University of Washington, would put each person through a brief skills test and then generate a mathematically-based version of the user interface optimized for his or her vision and motor abilities. A paper describing the system, which for the first time offers an instantly customizable approach to user interfaces, was presented today in Chicago at a meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence.

"Assistive technologies are built on the assumption that it's the people who have to adapt to the technology. We tried to reverse this assumption, and make the software adapt to people," said lead author Krzysztof Gajos, a UW doctoral student in computer science and engineering. Co-authors are Dan Weld, a UW professor of computer science and engineering, and Jacob Wobbrock, an assistant professor in the UW's Information School. ........ Posted by: Ethan      Read more         Source

July 8, 2008, 9:04 PM CT

Finer Lines For Microchips

MIT scientists have achieved a significant advance in nanoscale lithographic technology, used in the manufacture of computer chips and other electronic devices, to make finer patterns of lines over larger areas than have been possible with other methods.

Their new technique could pave the way for next-generation computer memory and integrated-circuit chips, as well as advanced solar cells and other devices.

The team has created lines about 25 nanometers (billionths of a meter) wide separated by 25 nm spaces. For comparison, the most advanced commercially available computer chips today have a minimum feature size of 65 nm. Intel recently announced that it will start manufacturing at the 32 nm minimum line-width scale in 2009, and the industry roadmap calls for 25 nm features in the 2013-2015 time frame.

The MIT technique could also be economically attractive because it works without the chemically amplified resists, immersion lithography techniques and expensive lithography tools that are widely considered essential to work at this scale with optical lithography. Periodic patterns at the nanoscale, while having a number of important scientific and commercial applications, are notoriously difficult to produce with low cost and high yield. The new method could make possible the commercialization of a number of new nanotechnology inventions that have languished in laboratories due to the lack of a viable manufacturing method......... Posted by: Ethan      Read more         Source

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:07:11 GMT

Free Adobe Photoshop Tutorials

As complex as Adobe's Photoshop is it can always get a bit more complicated with the addition of 3rd party plugins and add-ons.

But that's part of the fun, especially for amateurs who want to experiment with different ways of presenting their digital images.

As a frustrated artist I enjoy manipulating images without the expense, mess, and bother of artist's paints and canvas, which I'll leave to those who have the talent to make something worthwhile.

But, I'm no expert with Photoshop and I rely on other people who have the expertise to figure out how to use the features of this sophisticated program to bring about the effects I want to emulate.

So, I look for tutorials and then pass the best of them on to you.

Here's how to use Photoshop for a haunted, grungy look.

This tutorial shows you how to use Photoshop blending modes and opacities for stand out effects.

Source:www.photoshopsupport.com Posted by: jim      Read more     Source

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:20:17 GMT

Pubmedfight

You definitely know Googlefight where you can compare the number of search results returned by Google for two terms or expressions (Wikipedia).

What about a similar tool in health science? Here is Pubmedfight, a French tool, with which you can compare authors by their number of publications in Pubmed.

It’s more than funny… Posted by: Bertalan      Read more     Source

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:17:26 GMT

Opera Mobile 9.5 beta available on July 15

Opera has announced that its new mobile browser would soon be available for download. The new Opera 9.5 mobile would be based on the same engine as the Opera 9.5 Desktop browser. It will offer a better user experience and support many latest and popular web standards and technologies.

It is currently in release testing phase and the beta version of would be available for download on Opera's website on July 15. Jump over to Opera's website to check what users have to say about the release. Posted by: Umair Khalid      Read more     Source

June 30, 2008, 6:51 PM CT

Electronic Ear To Judge And Coach Vibrato Technique

the pulsating change of pitch in a singer's voice -- is an important aspect of a singer's expression, used extensively by both classical opera singers and pop stars like Shakira. Usually, the quality of a vibrato can only be judged subjectively by voice experts.

Until now, that is. A research group from Tel Aviv University has successfully managed to train a computer to rate vibrato quality, and has created an application based on biofeedback to help singers improve their technique. Your computer can now be a singing coach.

The invention was recently showcased at an international competition in Istanbul, where it won first prize at the International Cultural and Academic Meeting of Engineering Students. Researcher Noam Amir, a senior lecturer from the Department of Communication Disorders at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, says the tool might not help record producers find the next great pop music sensation. But it could teach singers how to mimic Shakira's signature vibrato.

Good Singing Is Not Subjective

Vibrato is a musical effect than can be used when a musician sings or plays an instrument. It adds expression to a song and is created by a steady pulsating change of pitch, characterized by the amount of variation and the speed at which the pitch is varied. TAU's application can teach singers how to mimic the vibrato qualities most attractive to the human ear......... Posted by: Ethan      Read more         Source

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:10:05 GMT

Bill Gates Looks Back

Microsoft''s Bill Gates gave Fortune magazine access to some rare photos from the Microsoft archives - and shared his memories about them.

(via Doobybrain) Posted by: Gerard      Read more     Source

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:05:28 GMT

Firefox 3 World Record

Last week, the all new Firefox 3 browser was downloaded more than 8 million times in 24 hours. That''s more Firefox downloads than ever had in a single day. At the moment, the people of Guinness review this World Record attempt.

If you downloaded Firefox 3, try this. Type about:robots in the address bar to see this Easter Egg. Posted by: Gerard      Read more     Source

June 23, 2008, 6:58 PM CT

Discovery could enable development of faster computers

Physicists at UC Riverside have made an accidental discovery in the lab that has potential to change how information in computers can be transported or stored. Dependent on the "spin" of electrons, a property electrons possess that makes them behave like tiny magnets, the discovery could help in the development of spin-based semiconductor technology such as ultrahigh-speed computers.

The scientists were experimenting with ferromagnet/semiconductor (FM/SC) structures, which are key building blocks for semiconductor spintronic devices (microelectronic devices that perform logic operations using the spin of electrons). The FM/SC structure is sandwich-like in appearance, with the ferromagnet and semiconductor serving as microscopically thin slices between which lies a thinner still insulator made of a few atomic layers of magnesium oxide (MgO).

The scientists observed that by simply altering the thickness of the MgO interface they were able to control which kinds of electrons, identified by spin, traveled from the semiconductor, through the interface, to the ferromagnet.

Study results appear in the June 13 issue of Physical Review Letters

Experimental results:

The spin of an electron is represented by a vector, pointing up for an Earth-like west-to-east spin; and down for an east-to-west spin......... Posted by: Ethan      Read more         Source