Energy Israeli conquered by the sun. In the Negev desert rose huge electronic sunflowers. They absorb sunlight, which will give energy desert and nearby Kibbutz Samar.

Solar Flower

Use the sunlight, this gift of heaven, in Israel have learned a long time. Solar energy heats water in homes, bus stops and covers petrol, gives energy small businesses. But what happened here today, at Kibbutz Samar, many called a revolution. Solar Energy Israel stepped from the solar hot water heater to high technology.

The complex, opened in the heart of the Negev desert – is indeed small, but full-fledged operating power from the sun. It will be warm and illuminate the nearby Kibbutz Samar and irrigate the land of the Negev. Sun has made this area a lifeless desert, the sun also breathe new life here.

Pinchas Doron, head of the project:
- Our station operates by converting the energy of sunlight. In cloudy days it can run on gas condensate, or biofuel. She is committed environmentally friendly. We do not burn fuel, we do not pollute the unique nature reserve – and note our station takes up very little space.

Solar Power Field

On a platform the size of a football field, you can build a 6 such solar power plants, and in the center of each will rise 30-meter mast-svetoulovitel, like a fantastic golden tulip.

Gil Ran, developer of mirror systems:
- See how we put our heliostat – our mirrors. They hung on hinges, they are mobile and vertically and horizontally, reflect a ray of sunshine just in svetoulovitel, and rotate with the sun, like sunflowers.

Solar Receiver

Giant ray of sunlight, so bright that you can not look at him without dark glasses, a compressed gas heats up to 1000 degrees, which, in turn, rotates the blades specifically designed for this turbine.

Boaz, Yaron, System Engineer:
- I am the manager of one of our solar station because it is very easy to use. Moreover, from the same center can monitor the work of a dozen such systems, when they will be built.

For Israel, the solar energy – a matter of survival. Buried in the Promised Land does not have oil and gas.Valuable fuel into the country through the territory of the Arab neighbors, with which Israel does not happen to communal war. The only resource that can be called redundant in Israel – it is sunlight. 300 days a year over this terrain completely cloudless sky. And in these conditions in the coming years, Israel could be the flagship of alternative solar energy, especially since, according to experts, the price per kilowatt, obtained at a power plant, already comparable to the price of electricity produced by conventional thermal power station.

The content taken from TV Center.

“Bot” is short for robot—but this isn’t your run-of-the-mill mechanical droid that speaks in bleeps and fixes everything. Quite the contrary. Bots are virtual, which is a problem from the get-go. You can’t beat a bot with heavy artillery or smart bombs. You have to beat them with brainpower–in the form of clever code designed by good people to protect PCs from the wrath of the bots.

Bots are everywhere, doing lots of things—most of them bad, and most of them on unsuspecting PCs. They’re deceptive little code critters created by cybercriminals to do their bidding. The cybercriminal sends one of these malevolent bots on a mission of malice: infiltrate someone else’s computer, server or Web site, and seize control. Once enough bots are deployed, and once enough computers are made into “zombies,” a “botnet” is formed.

And that’s where the real trouble begins. Botnets are virtual geysers of malfeasance, where personal and private information is no longer safe, money is extorted, and passwords, credit card numbers, even entire identities, are stolen on a regular basis.

Of course the bots aren’t the actual source of all the trouble. No, that dingy distinction is reserved for the criminals who program the bots. And they can be anywhere on the face of the planet, so long as there is Internet access (which is pretty much anywhere on the face of the planet).

The irony is that the criminals live in the real world (as far as we know), and yet they’re supremely hard to track down. It’s much, much easier to track a bot on an unprotected PC than it is to find the person who made the bot and sent it out onto the Internet to do his or her bidding in the first place.

And that bidding, as previously mentioned, is usually devious, counterproductive, and illegal. With a potentially limitless number of bots running roughshod over the Internet, stealing data, stopping service, sending spam, and creating fraudulent emails and Web sites—just to name a few of bots’ favorite hobbies—a mere human would have a very hard time tracking down all the bots in cyberspace. So the best option is to protect your own PC: stop the bots from getting into your machine in the first place. One way to help is Norton Internet Security. Another way to help is vigilance.

Bots are a big problem, and in order to beat them, we need your help. Have you come across any of these bots?

Denial of Service Bot, aka “DoS Bot”

A thug among thugs, DoS Bot wreaks his own distinct breed of havoc by launching denial-of-service attacks against target Web sites. Once an attack is launched and service is halted, sites conducting e-commerce can lose substantial amounts of business—thus the several instances in which unethical companies have hired DoS Bot to take down a competitor’s site. He’s known to carry a large shield and has often been seen playing goalie in both hockey and soccer.

Extortion Bot, aka “Bling Bot”

Bling Bot operates in much the same way as DoS Bot, with one key difference: he lets victims know about an impending denial-of-service attack before it happens. The cybercriminal controlling Bling Bot makes it clear when the attack will happen and how much it will cost the company in lost e-commerce. The rest is pure extortion: in order to avoid or stop the attack, the victim must pay an amount demanded by Bling Bot. He’s known to wear lots of bling, and is fond of fedoras.

Identity Theft Bot, aka “Bot Simpson”

Bot Simpson is a thief with a particular niche: your identity. A shape-shifter, a trickster, a master of disguise, Bot Simpson is never who you think he—or she, or it—is until it’s too late. After he breaks into an unsuspecting PC, he steals personal and private information—social security and credit card numbers, names, addresses, images, passwords—that will all be used to forge his next, new identity. Which could be yours. There is still no visual record of Bot Simpson.

Spambot, aka “Spam-a-bot,” “Canned Spam”

The juvenile delinquent of bots, Canned Spam exists solely to send spam. And though it might not seem like a major threat, Canned Spam’s dirty work can lead to serious system slow-downs, loss of memory, and total user irritation. He’s been spotted impersonating a high-speed copier and carrying a bottomless mailbag.

Fraud Bot, aka “Phishing Bot,” “Bot Water”

Phishers rely heavily on bots to enable fraud. Phishing Bot identifies potential victims, then sends fraudulent emails that appear to come from a legitimate organization—like the victim’s bank. Phishing Bot also hosts phony Web sites, which are used to steal people’s personal information. Phishing Bot is known to carry a tackle box, and has rarely been seen without a rod and reel.

It’s a war on Bots—are you ready to enlist? If you’ve encountered any of these bots, or know of anyone who has, please contact the network administrator.

More Information: http://www.symantec.com/norton/botnets

Related Links:

• FBI Press Release—Operation Bot
• Cybercrime Information

When it comes to staying safe in a connected world, experts agree that an ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure. But since 95% of the world’s population is on the metric system, it’s important to otherwise enumerate those preventative measures, and how you can embark on your online journey with confidence.

Here’s how it adds up:

Pack intelligently

Choosing the right gear for your destination and the time of year means you stay dry, and stay comfortable, no matter what. For some trips that means flannel pajamas and a Mexican wrestling mask. For others, it’s plenty of SPF 45 and your favorite Smurf’s beach blanket. For the Web, select an Internet security solution that combines antivirus, firewall, intrusion detection, and vulnerability management for maximum protection against malicious code and other threats.

Keep your documentation current

Online, there are no border patrol agents to bribe, and no “favors” to grant local officials when things get sticky, so you will want to ensure that security patches are up-to-date and that they are applied to all vulnerable applications in a timely manner, on a regular basis.

By the same token, you are going to want to keep virus definitions updated regularly. Deploying the latest virus definitions is as logical as packing antibiotics and insect repellent during typhoon season: you protect yourself against the latest bugs known to be spreading.

Put up a decent fight

Out in the world, anti-theft tools like hotels safes and money belts work, provided that you use them. Same goes for your online passwords—they are only as strong as you choose to make them. So avoid dictionary words and combinations including your name or personal data. For an eight-letter password using both upper and lower case letters, there are 53 trillion possible combinations. Substitute a number for one of the letters, and it quadruples. Imagine a thief having to guess in which of your 200 trillion pants pockets you’ve stashed your wallet!1

Develop cross-cultural literacy

Most friendly locals are just that—genuinely good folks looking to share their culture and their filling, ”acquired taste” cuisine with newcomers. A few, however, are a bit more predatory. Just like travelers must learn to “read” people and their intentions, computer users need to know how to recognize computer hoaxes and phishing scams.

Hoaxes, like pyramid schemes, typically include an email that exhorts the recipient to “send this to everyone you know” or improper technical jargon intended to frighten or mislead users. Phishing scams appear to come from a legitimate organization but entice users to enter credit card or other confidential information into forms on a Web site designed to look like that of the legitimate organization.

Just as you should never let a random stranger at the airport “carry” your bags for you “just out to the curb,” you should never disclose confidential information without confirming that the request is legitimate. And just as you would never accept lavish gifts or offers from a total stranger, never view, open, or execute any email attachment unless the attachment is expected and the purpose of the attachment is known.

Both spyware and adware can be automatically installed on a computer along with file-sharing programs, free downloads, and freeware and shareware versions of software, or by clicking on links and/or attachments in email messages, or via instant messaging clients. Therefore, you should be informed and selective about what you install on your computer.

Beware of programs that flash ads in the user interface. Legitimate software programs, like truly benevolent acquaintances, would never abruptly interrupt an otherwise pleasant conversation to offer you a product or service at random. Many spyware programs track how users respond to these ads, and their presence is a red flag. When you see ads in a program’s user interface, you may be looking at a piece of spyware. Don’t click on ads that appear unexpectedly in your browser window. Instead, close the window immediately.

Learn to say “no, thank you!” in several languages

Generous offers of hospitality are hard to pass up, especially when one is far from home. And even though all sumptuous twelve-course meals enjoyed in the homes of prosperous local merchants may look the same, it is difficult to be certain whether at the end of the meal one will be expected to marry the host’s eldest daughter.

In much the same way, End-User Licensing Agreements (EULAs) are not created equally. Some spyware and adware applications can be installed after you accept the EULA, or as a consequence of that acceptance. The agreement should clearly explain what the product is doing and provide a way to uninstall it.

Don’t just click those “Yes, I accept” buttons on EULAs. Some spyware and adware applications can be installed after you accept the EULA, or as a consequence of that acceptance. Read EULAs carefully to examine what they mean in terms of privacy. The agreement should clearly explain what the product is doing and provide a way to uninstall it.

And of course, never agree to marry anyone you haven’t actually met in person. At least not without a watertight pre-nup.

Look to the real experts for advice

Not only is your PC or Macintosh ® system vulnerable to threats: your peace of mind, as well, can succumb to the well-intentioned, but often misinformed (and occasionally paranoiac) counsel of well-meaning friends and colleagues.

1

The original article is found on the NortonToday.

The digital data explosion shows no signs of slowing down — according to analyst firm IDC, the amount of digital data is growing at a mind-boggling 60 percent each year, giving businesses access to incredible new streams of information. But without the ability to monitor, analyze and react to this information in real-time, the majority of its value may be lost. Until the data is captured and analyzed, decisions or actions may be delayed. Cognitive computing offers the promise of systems that can integrate and analyze vast amounts of data from many sources in the blink of an eye, allowing businesses or individuals to make rapid decisions in time to have a significant impact.

For example, bankers must make split-second decisions based on constantly changing data that flows at an ever-dizzying rate. And in the business of monitoring the world’s water supply, a network of sensors and actuators constantly records and reports metrics such as temperature, pressure, wave height, acoustics and ocean tide. In either case, making sense of all that input would be a Herculean task for one person, or even for 100. A cognitive computer, acting as a “global brain,” could quickly and accurately put together the disparate pieces of this complex puzzle and help people make good decisions rapidly.

By seeking inspiration from the structure, dynamics, function, and behavior of the brain, the IBM-led cognitive computing research team aims to break the conventional programmable machine paradigm. Ultimately, the team hopes to rival the brain’s low power consumption and small size by using nanoscale devices for synapses and neurons. This technology stands to bring about entirely new computing architectures and programming paradigms. The end goal: ubiquitously deployed
computers imbued with a new intelligence that can integrate information from a variety of sensors and sources, deal with ambiguity, respond in a context-dependent way, learn over time and carry out pattern recognition to solve difficult problems based on perception, action and cognition in complex, real-world environments.

IBM and its collaborators have been awarded $4.9 million in funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the first phase of DARPA’s Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) initiative. IBM’s proposal, “Cognitive Computing via Synaptronics and Supercomputing (C2S2),” outlines groundbreaking research over the next nine months in areas including synaptronics, material science, neuromorphic circuitry, supercomputing simulations and virtual environments. Initial research will focus on demonstrating nanoscale, low power synapse-like devices and on uncovering the functional microcircuits of the brain. The long-term mission of C2S2 is to demonstrate low-power, compact cognitive computers that approach mammalian-scale intelligence.

“Exploratory research is in the fabric of IBM’s DNA,” said Josephine Cheng, IBM Fellow and vice president of IBM’s Almaden Research Center in San Jose. “We believe that our cognitive computing initiative will help shape the future of computing in a significant way, bringing to bear new technologies that we haven’t even begun to imagine. The initiative underscores IBM’s capabilities in bold, exploratory research and interest in powerful collaborations to understand the way the world works.”

IBM has assembled a multi-dimensional, integrated world-class team of researchers and collaborators led by Dr. Dharmendra Modha, manager of IBM’s cognitive computing initiative, to take on the challenge including Stanford University (Professors Kwabena Boahen, H.-S. Philip Wong, Brian Wandell), University of Wisconsin-Madison (Professor Gulio Tononi), Cornell University (Professor Rajit Manohar), Columbia University Medical Center (Professor Stefano Fusi) and University of California- Merced (Professor Christopher Kello). IBM Researchers include Dr. Stuart Parkin, Dr. Chung Lam, Dr. Bulent Kurdi, Dr. J. Campbell Scott, Dr. Paul Maglio, Dr. Simone Raoux, Dr. Rajagopal Ananthanarayanan, Dr. Raghav Singh, and Dr. Bipin Rajendran.

Recently, the IBM cognitive computing team demonstrated the near-real-time simulation at a scale of a small mammal brain using cognitive computing algorithms with the power of IBM’s BlueGene supercomputer. With this simulation capability, the researchers are experimenting with various mathematical hypotheses of brain function and structure as they work toward discovering the brain’s core computational micro and macro circuits.

In the past, the field of artificial intelligence research has focused on individual aspects of engineering intelligent machines. Cognitive computing, on the cutting edge of this line of research, seeks to engineer holistic intelligent machines that neatly tie together all of the pieces. IBM’s cognitive computing initiative was born out its 2006 Almaden Institute, which annually brings together top minds to address fundamental challenges at the very edge of science and technology. IBM has a rich history in the area of artificial intelligence research going all the way back to 1956 when IBM performed the world’s first large-scale (512 neuron) cortical simulation.

The original article can be Found on the IBM Press Release.

For more information about IBM Research, please visit www.ibm.com/research or the IBM Research blog at: http://ibmresearchnews.blogspot.com/.

The extra Details can be found on the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science web site.

This is an excerpt of the main article Collaboration Focuses on Fracture Putty for Bone Injuries.

Attacks are becoming more sophisticated and targeted as we move through the global recession. Thanks to increased collaboration, however, the rise of cybercrime may taper off as new security policies make it more difficult for attacks to infiltrate and spread, and also help bring criminals to justice.

Report Highlights

• Criminals are exploiting traditional vulnerabilities because they believe security experts and individual users are paying little attention to these types of threats.
• Compromising legitimate websites for the purpose of propagating malware remains a highly effective technique for criminals.
• Web 2.0 applications, prized for their ease of use and flexibility, have become lures for criminals.
• Criminals are now targeting online banking customers using well-designed, localized text message scams that leave virtually no trail in their wake.
• The Obama administration has made strengthening U.S. cybersecurity a high priority, and plans to meet threats by using technological innovations and partnering with the private sector. Other countries are similarly increasing efforts to enhance cybersecurity and prevent cybercrime.
• Compared to 2008, the number of vulnerabilities and discrete threats has not risen as quickly. According to research by Cisco, this is a clear sign that the security community is succeeding in making it more difficult for attacks to take root and grow.

Read the Cisco 2009 Midyear Security Report.  (PDF – 5.7 MB)

Read the Cisco 2008 Annual Security Report (PDF – 4.3MB)

The above excerpt is a part of the Cisco Security Newsletter-Aug ’09 .

Cisco TV Broadcast by Fred Kost & Patrick Peterson

Warm waters fuel hurricanes and cold water kills them, so Bill Gates and some of his buddies have come up with a novel idea to kill these storms by cooling sea water. The patent-pending idea proposes hundreds or even thousands of barges placed in the path of a hurricane. Each barge would divert warm surface water down a group of pipes to depths approaching 700 ft, forcing cold water up through other pipes. Watch and learn.

It’s an excerpt from the GlobalSpec e-Newsletter on August 14, 2009