The infection of this so-called Trojan Conficker.B worm has been spreading with dramatic speed all over the globe and infected public, private and commercial systems more seriously than first believed.

The French military is struggling with this problem and is a contributing cause to the grounding of the Dassault Rafale fighters on January 15th and 16th this year.

The fighters were not assaulted directly by the worm, but support systems were heavily infected and restrictive security measures were initiated to stop the spreading of this infection on their computer systems.

Some of the systems that the fighters needs was targeted and the fighters had to take into operation alternative systems for downloading of flight data.

The first infection in the military systems was detected on January 12th this year according to the newspaper Libération. The problem was described in a letter leaked to the security internet site called Intelligence Online.

On of the methods the ordinary user can use in order to stop the flow of data worms is to continuously update the operating system on the computer. One update came in September 2008 that closes the window of opportunity for this worm to spread through. A more effective update from Microsoft has been launched that makes it even more difficult for the worm to spread itself on a system.

This case, once again set the question of secure computer systems used in critical public and commercial operations around the world.

If the worm and virus builders can put fighters on the ground because they can infect military systems, then one has to ask oneself, how close are we from the real cyber war?

How secure can we make a system and still be able to use it? A paradox any computer security person has to ask himself every day. We know as long as a system is designed to have human interaction with it, it is prone to attacks through these interaction points in the software. Any input or output through a computer system is prone to attacks and software requires input and output on their system in order to interact with humans.

We have all seen Hollywood make movies with plots where entry of computer systems makes global effect, making life miserable for individuals, companies or even countries. The intellect and resources within the criminal organizations recruiting technologists enables them to create forceful weapons to attack computer systems on vital community systems as well as commercial and national security systems all over the world. <br><br>

As been discussed in the community long time, is the use of the poverty in Eastern Europe to recruit state of the art intellects within computer science to criminal organizations to create systems from economic scams to illegal computer system entry software. <br><br>

We therefore need to ask ourselves, what responsibility and measures the society has to ensure that intellect is used in legal areas, and not illegal ones. We might fuel a cyber attack with ramifications not believed possible if nothing is done soon. We might have seen some pre cursors now, and the latest one is the grounding of the fighters aircrafts of the French military.

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Tai-Chi uses tiny piezoelectric sensors to sense surface vibrations. The sensors are connected to a desktop computer and track up to two objects at once by sensing vibrations. Original story – www.newscientisttech.com Project homepage www.taichi.cf.ac.uk

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Could people please fill in my online survey on Human Computer Interaction?
I’m doing a survey as part of some initial gathering of information in the building of an interactive machine in a 3d environment. I would appreciate it if people could answer my survey at http://www.questionpro.com/akira/TakeSurvey?id=1227492 – 13 multi choice and short answer questions – it will take about 5 minutes to complete.

Thanks in advance.

About Author

He has a background as civil engineer and geoscientist. He has worked mainly within the oil and gas industry from the mid 1980s. He has written a few fictional novels as well as being the author of some professional litterature within oil and gas sector, he is now an editor of some web sites.

One of the essential needs of mankind (other than food, clothing, and shelter) is entertainment. We have had many forms of entertainment since the dawn of the human race such as dancing, singing, chanting, and acting. Many of these forms of entertainment have become traditions to many cultures from across the globe. No matter what taste a society may have, they have their own form of entertainment.

People have been playing games for many reasons; some of them are to relieve them of boredom, others to escape the harsh realities of life, and some to simply relax. Regardless of what reasons they have, games have been played by everyone. The evolution of video games has come hand in hand with technological advances that may or may not be directly involved with them. We have come a long way since the days of Pac Man and Space Invader. One discipline that has helped the development of video games has been computer Networking.

Computer Networking

This is the act of connecting computers or a network of them together. This can be the connection of computers and other devices. We see this through connecting devices such as modems, webcams, fax machines, and printers to our computers.

LAN

A local area network connects computers within a room, house, or building. Gamers have experienced the advantages of playing video games that utilize computer networking. Multiplayer games such as first person shooters, real-time strategy games, and racing games have been popular amongst gamers. They have been able to play on computers that are connected, and are able to interact with each other within the game. This has made video games an increasingly social activity, unlike before when people would just play by themselves, or with just one other player at a time. With a local area network, 10-20 players are able to engage in a game at the same time.

Online games

It’s quite obvious that the Interne has forever changed the way we interact with each other. So much information can be found on the Internet, and an endless number of activities are available online as well. A lot of games nowadays are “playable” online. For this reason, gamers are able to interact with other players from all across the globe. You could be living in Ohio and be playing a shooting game with someone from Barcelona. This also spawned a new game genre called massively multiplayer online role-playing games.

More popularly known as MMORPGs, massively multiplayer online role-playing games have become really popular amongst kids, teens, and adults of all ages. It allows players to go around in a virtual world and develop a particular character. The great thing about it is that thousands of players from around the world could be playing in the same game with you at the same time. You would be able to interact with these players by trading items, dueling, teaming-up, or simply just chatting.

Computer Networking has been developing at a rapid rate, and more advancement in gaming are sure to come. All you have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride.

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Science Fiction movies have always been a medium for speculation about the future of technology. The most visible part of technology often is its interaction design, which therefore appears prominently in these movies. This video presents a survey of human-computer interaction designs in SciFi movies during the past decades and it relates the techniques shown there to existing technologies and prototypes in research. Different types of interaction are categorized according to their …

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This article was brought to you by Mighty Gadget Blog and Comm Store Networking Hardware

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Gaming Through Computer Networking

With the advent of electricity we humans got our first taste of pushing a button and making something happen. It was the kind of magic power that our forefathers could only dream of having. Now we take it for granted and so we have arrived at a point where we expect everything to be immediately accessible. To me this progress demonstrates evolution.

Think about it. What has been the evolutionary goal of humanity’s progress so far? Hasn’t it been to make things easier? And what does making things easier really mean? It means we have less need to deal with physical reality. We are progressing then from a state of body to a state of spirit.

In the spirit world, every intention is instantaneously accomplished because we are living in a world of thought. Thought is clean. There are no messes to mop up afterwards. There are no physical components which need to be rearranged, only energy. Of course food is unnecessary on this level because we don’t have bodies to feed but if we did need to eat, we would think of what we were in the mood for, and then it would be dished up to us. We could even think we have eaten already and then we wouldn’t even have to conjure up a thought of food at all. Compare the ease of this scenario to the original effort required to kill an animal or forage for a plant, prepare either one, and then clean up the mess. I heartily endorse option one and I think that would be true of anyone.

The reason we would choose something easier is because we are by nature somewhat lazy and we welcome any opportunity to get out of exerting ourselves on a physical plane. Where do you suppose this laziness is coming from? I believe it is coming from our innate desire to metamorphose from a hulking mindless body to streamlined bodiless mind. Now that is what I call evolution.

Enter the computer. For people who like to live in their minds and not have to go through all the work of living bodily, it is a perfect solution and also a major stride toward our pre-programmed destiny. It may take thousands and thousands of years to get there but gradually we are making our way back to the world of thought which is in fact the spirit world. How we got bumped into the caveman state is a matter of speculation and is the foremost reason for coming up with a religion. The important news though, is the fact that gradually we are returning back to pure energy. We are returning to our original condition and we are going home.

Think about how computer interactions propel us toward the spirit state. We can look for jobs, have relationships, travel, shop, see a doctor, mail a letter, attend church, do research, (remember the days of the card catalogue?) without having to drag our bodies around. Think about how wisdom teeth are becoming obsolete because we don’t have to gnaw on things so viciously to make them digestible. Well, the same goes for any of these other activities. We can fully respond, learn, obtain, relate, communicate, socialize, worship and even make a living on the computer. We can digest all the necessary essentials of a fulfilled life experience but we just don’t have to chew so hard.

The less we exert our flesh in order to live a satisfying life, the more we approach a world of pure energy. Computer living is like flying because we defy gravity. To me, that is always a good thing.

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PAN India Solutions Community on You Tube To idea behind the PAN India Solutions Community is to promote Solutions Thinking amongst software developers in India. The community organizes regular boot camps , solutions challenge contests and provides a platform for networking, sharing and learning amongst the community members. You are invited to share original content (Videos) around design thinking , creativity and IT solutions . Linkedin – www.linkedin.com is

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Olga Moe lives on an island in the Puget Sound.
She is known mostly for her fiction contributions to literary e-zines which can be found at zelda2530.tripod.com
She has recently begun writing non fiction pieces.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Computers and Human Evolution

Are Personal Computers Becoming Too Personal?
from shopndrop.com

Has the PC replaced the dog as man’s best friend?

The rapid development of successive generations of high-speed computer chips has brought with it a bounty of personal amenities and business aids ranging from efficient interactive multimedia games to instantaneous online banking and trading to speedy access of CD data. But this high-tech blessing has come with a high-priced curse — a humanization of and attachment to a machine, hitherto unparalleled in the annals of human history. If the personal computer hasn’t yet replaced the dog as man’s best friend, it’s only because nobody has yet figured out a way to get it to lick your face.

Probably the most compelling factor in the humanization of the PC is its ability to hook up with the Internet. The notion that you can “meet” people for a “chat” while being alone in a room, catapults sociability to a new level – many age-old social mores fall by the wayside.

Gone are the days when you had to get dressed up to make an impression. On the net, you can dress down, slouch in your seat and have a hair-day that makes a thorn bush look divine in comparison, but as long as you know your gigabytes from your zip drives, you’re a mega-hit.

“Quick fingers” no longer has the connotation of a guy getting fresh with his date. On the world wide web, “quick fingers” is the biggest compliment you can pay a guy. A compliment for a woman would be, “The way you think, reminds me of my motherboard.”

One drawback of the online social arena, however, is that you can chat with someone for hours and not even be sure what gender they are. Sort of a throwback to the hippie days.

Although, “My car broke down,” no longer cuts it as an excuse for tardiness, the high-tech counterpart, “My modem broke down,” is even better. Due to a “modem breakdown,” you can not only be late for a meeting or a chat, but also “leave” (disconnect) early. What’s more, you can even leave right in middle of a boring babble – which is the rough equivalent of throwing a boring passenger out of a moving car in middle of the highway. Although, in a car, this may be considered rude behavior, on the net, it could be seen as a social improvement or “cultural upgrade.”

To the delight of many (cheap) guys, a “date” on the world wide web doesn’t cost more than a local phone call. Unless, of course, you want the company of a real human being and decide to actually meet the person you’ve been chatting with. But that sort of defeats the great achievements of modern technology.

What’s more, with your social sphere on the net encompassing literally the entire planet, you may now have to confront problems hitherto unencountered. It used to be bad enough to meet someone who was “wrong” for you. Now you have to contend with meeting someone who is “right” for you, but on the “wrong” side of the globe. How do you deal with this? Do you travel half way around the world just to meet someone?

And what if you fly down to Sidney, Australia, for a date and it turns out you don’t like the person? Do you say, “I have a headache, I’m going back to the airport to lie down?”

Some people take Internet sociability even a step farther — they get married on the net. Such nuptials are rife with nebulous legalities, and should be undertaken only by those who are fully aware of their ramifications.

In an Internet marriage, crashing your mate’s system on a regular basis may be considered spousal abuse. Uploading every time your spouse wants to download can be interpreted as “irreconcilable differences.” If your wife finds you in a chat room with another woman, it could be grounds for divorce, if she can prove you spoke about anything but fiber optic connections and backup utilities.

Then, there are divorce issues that are not yet clearly defined. Upon divorce, does your spouse get half your disk space. If your spouse was granted the websites you created together, do you have visiting rights? If you were promised the floppies in a prenuptial agreement, how easy is it for your spouse to do a flip-flop on the floppies?

These and other such vexing questions should be researched before getting involved in an Internet marriage. You’d be well-advised to consult a high-powered attorney, one who can recite at least fifty-six thousand loopholes per second.

In addition to changing some social customs, the PC has itself become such a powerful object of fixation that some people see it virtually as a member of the family.

One case in point is Bob (this is not his real Internet “handle” – to ensure his privacy, I’m using his real name). Bob went so far as giving his Pentium 3.5 GHz computer a name — Chippy. And for good reason. He says it does more tricks than Poochy. No, Poochy is not his dog. Poochy is his Pentium 2. His dog’s name is Commodore-128, named after an old computer that didn’t do much of anything. By some strange coincidence, his dog knows of 128 places to hide when he hears an intruder.

When Chippy came down with a virus, Bob rushed him to “Lee’s Emergency Room” (a computer shop where many a warranty has expired while waiting for a technician). Being told to take two floppies and call back in the morning, Bob stayed up with Chippy all night, running an anti-virus program called “Chicken Soup.” By the next day, Chippy was doing so well that his built-in tax program was able to demonstrate how you can legally become a Native American and claim your house as a casino.

Unfortunately, another friend of mine, Patricia, didn’t fare so well. Her computer, Meggy, of blessed memory and storage capacity, may her chips rest in peace, met with an untimely demise, many upgrades before its time. One day Meggy was as healthy as a mainframe with six redundant backup systems (the computer equivalent of an ox), the next day her life was zapped out of her by a hideous power surge. It was horrible. I wouldn’t wish it on a VCR.

Losing Meggy after twelve months was particularly painful for Patricia, who had been looking forward to nurturing Meggy through obsolescence. In search of closure, Patricia sued the power company for sixty-four million dollars – one million for every meg of memory she was deprived of. After several years of legal wrangling, she settled out of court for a year’s supply of environment-friendly, natural pulp, glossy inkjet paper. Manufactured, I believe, by Kodak and Pepperidge Farm.

In the final analysis, the key to computer usage is moderation and common sense. Don’t get so attached to your computer that you get emotionally distressed every time your AOL browser says “Goodbye.” Get up for a break once in while – if you look out the window and see the sun expanding into a supernova, you’ve been at your keyboard way too long. Don’t “chat” with anyone whose handle requires periodontal surgery to pronounce. And last, but not least, as soon as tech-support puts you on hold, put your house lights on a timer that turns them on and off every hour or so, so burglars know you’re home.

by Josh Greenberger
from shopndrop.com

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Coursework for Human Computer Interaction, Heriot Watt, HCI

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Question 2
There are very few systems whose designers are typical of the user population. Users differ because of:
1. age and gender only.
2. level of expertise only.
3. nationality or culture only.
4. disability only.
5. age, expertise level, nationality/culture and the impact of disabilities.
Question 3
Many people think an oven will heat faster if the thermostat is turned all the way to the maximum
setting. This is an example of:
1. a design error.
2. an incorrect design model.
3. an incorrect mental model.
4. naive physics.
5. a lack of intelligence.
Question 4
The ‘computer’ in human-computer interaction is defined as including:
1. A general desktop computer.
2. A large-scale computer.
3. An embedded computing device.
4. A process control system.
5. All of the above.
Question 5
A serious danger in interface design is:
1. to design in such a way that the interface supports the requirements of different kinds of users.
2. for the designer to consider himself/herself to be a ‘typical user’.
3. to produce an interface that provides for use of both the keyboard and the mouse.
4. to recognise the distinction between the designer’s view and the client’s model.
5. None of the above.

Question 6
Which of the following statements and guidelines are accurate?
A. As a designer, you should not view yourself as a typical user.
B. Sophisticated interaction mechanisms will prevent errors and frustration.
C. A well-designed interface will support novices in the process of becoming experts.
D. As users, we should trust designers’ intuition.
E. The gulf of evaluation is bridged if the user can determine whether or not he/she has
achieved the desired result.
Options:
1. All of the above
2. A, B, C and D
3. A, C and E
4. A, B and D
5. B, C, D and E.
Question 7
Which of the following statements are accurate?
A. The UNIX operating system was developed for expert users.
B. Interaction via chords means simultaneously using menus and mice.
C. Interface designers should collaborate with marketing experts in order to understand
characteristics of their target users.
D. If an interface is poorly designed, users tend to stop using it.
E. Designers should design a user interface as if they, themselves, are typical users.
Options:
1. A, C and E only
2. A, D and E only
3. A, B and E only
4. B and D only
5. A, C and D only.
Question 8
The end-user’s mental model is influenced by:
A. word processing and printers.
B. their goals and intentions.
C. the underlying algorithms and devices.
D. their daily tasks.
E. the objects and operation in the users’ tasks.

Options:
1. All of the above
2. A, B, D and E only
3. A, B and E only
4. B, D and E only
5. None of the above.
Question 9
HCI is a multidisciplinary field of study, incorporating:
A. technology
B. ergonomics
C. physiology
D. perception
E. cognition.
Options:
1. All of the above
2. A, B and E
3. A, B, D and E
4. A, B and D
5. None of the above.
Question 10
Consider the statements below. Only one is false. Which one is false?
1. Preece’s (1994) model of HCI has four components, namely people, work, technology
and the environment.
2. Dix et al (1998) define HCI as the study of people, computer technology and the ways in
which they influence each other.
3. The aim of INF1208 is not only to introduce HCI, but also to address the general issue of
user-centred design.
4. HCI is about people, computers and the environment, specifically the workplace
environment.
5. HCI is a multidisciplinary subject. Designing and developing an interactive artefact is
done better by a design team than by an individual.

Question 11
One of the most important principles of design is visibility, the property by which the visible structure
of well-designed objects gives clues to their operation. These clues are given by:
1. stereotypes, mappings and affordances.
2. affordances, constraints and mappings.
3. conceptual models.
4. mental models.
5. causality and stereotypes.
Question 12
Perception is influenced by:
A. maximum and minimum detectable levels.
B. interaction with physical objects.
C. background noise.
D. biological rhythms.
Options:
1. A, B and C
2. A, C and D
3. A and B
4. A and C
5. A, B, C and D.
Question 13
Which of the following constitute the psychology of how people interact with things?
1. The importance of visibility, appropriate clues and feedback on one’s actions.
2. The study of people and the study of computers.
3. The study of objects that people use.
4.

About Author

Josh Greenberger: A computer consultant for over two decades, the author has developed software for such organizations as NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies, AT&T, Charles Schwab, Bell Laboratories and Chase Manhattan Bank. Since 1984, the author’s literary works have appeared in such periodicals as The New York Post, The Daily News, The Village Voice, The Jewish Press, and others. His articles have ranged from humor to scientific to topical events. Visit his site: shopndrop.com

A great way to combine electrical engineering and computer science is by looking into a career in computer engineering. Receiving training in the areas of software design and hardware-software integration toward a computer engineering degree lets you focus on power electronics and physics, possibly more than your electrical engineering counterparts. In high demand today with a great outlook for the future, computer engineers can enjoy long-term career stability and financial independence.

Generally, computer engineer students gain a thorough understanding and adeptness with the following prior to becoming computer engineers:

• Algorithms
• Computer architecture & networking
• Circuits and signals
• Databases
• Digital logic & signal processing
• Electronics
• Embedded, operating, and distributed systems
• Human-computer interaction; social & professional issues
• Programming
• Software engineering
• VLSI design and fabrication

As a field, computer engineering technology attracts individuals with an interest, education or expertise in the following:

• ASIC design, FPGA development, firmware development, software development, hardware integration, circuit design, and system-level design and integration.
• Mathematics and the sciences.
• Technology solutions requiring intense, logical, thought-provoking alternatives and “out of the box” thinking.

If you feel computer engineering is the field for you and you, you should consider which technical institution offers you an in-depth study, as your full breadth of knowledge will be used in the design and application of computers before and after graduation.

ITT Technical Institute not only has in-depth computer engineering technology programs that combine education with real-world applications, the institute also offers the option of completing your computer engineering degree in state-of-the-art classrooms, as well as online. ITT Tech is committed to helping you work through the delicate balance between your education toward becoming a computer engineer with your work and personal life. This makes the transition from the classroom to the real world much easier. 

Whether you choose to get your entire training toward becoming a computer engineer in the classroom or through online courses, you may be on your way to a career that’s stable and financially rewarding. Maybe your electrical engineering and computer science knowledge will lead to the next big breakthrough in computer engineering?

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Part 1 of our Human Computer Interaction coursework by Kristy Adair, Lynette Earle and Sara Whelan – Feb 2008 Starring: Kristy Adair as Narrater Craig Campbell as Emma Alex Gligorijevic as Mum

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Daniel’s professional writing career includes award winning, published works of non-fiction and fiction. The author holds a Bachelor’s degree with honors from Northern Arizona University.