VoIP & IP TELEPHONY ZONE

EVERYONE FINALLY GETTING A GRIP ON VoIP

VoIP -- short for Voice over Internet Protocol -- is a 20-year-old technology that seems poised to become a fixture in the lives of millions of Americans.

http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=0310036CQT6T&nl=2

CYBERZONE

TECH-SAVVY KIDS? NEW TESTS SHOWS SHORTCOMING IN CYBER LITERACY Sure, today's students can download songs to their iPods, text message their friends and update their MySpace pages in a flash.

But can they use a search engine to find reliable information to help them choose a new car? Can they determine if health information on a Web site is bogus or legit? Can they compose a decent e-mail?

As technology becomes an integral part of everyday life, schools and businesses have started looking for a way to assess the tech savviness of their students and applicants. The Princeton-based Educational Testing Service -- author of the SAT and AP exams -- has developed a test designed to grade students' knowledge of the cyber world.

http://www.nj.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news-11/1171258777234190.xml&coll=1

LYRICS PARSED FROM CED ALBUMS

In a smart new take on voice recognition, a Kyoto University research team has developed a software application which parses and extract song lyrics in CD music tracks and display them on a PC monitor. This interesting application can be used as a type of on-the-fly Karaoke lyrics display, or to just simply allow listeners to see what is being sung. The developers say that the software will allow the user to cue in on specific lyrics without having to play the entire track.

http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/AC/TNKS/Nni20070207D07JSN05.htm

SHARP SHIPS HD RECORDER WITH 1TB OF STORAGE http://cwflyris.computerworld.com/t/1266627/255221/51377/2/

CHINA AND RUSSIA TOP LIST OF WORST COPYRIGHT VIOLATORS China and Russia are the two worst foreign infringers of U.S. software and music copyrights and they should remain on the U.S. government's priority watch list, a group representing the software, music, books, and movie industries said.

http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=1636157:ECCF9AA50A17C8DCC7544C647537143CEFF29049075316B4

MOVIE EXECUTIVES CRITICISE DRM SYSTEMS

More people would buy digital music if hi-tech locks were removed, say music executives.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/technology/6362069.stm

SCIENTISTS IDENTIFY COMPUTER WORMS BY SPEED

Penn State University scientists said they've devised new anti-worm technology that can identify and contain worms milliseconds after an attack by analyzing data packets' rate or frequency of connections, and their diversity of connections to other networks. That allows the technology they term "proactive worm containment" to react more quickly to security threats, university researchers said.

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/55775.html

SKILLS SET FOR "DIGITAL PLUMBERS"

A training scheme to help people turn their homes into digital playgrounds has been created.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/technology/6343189.stm

FLU PANDEMIC COULD CHOKE INTERNET, REQUIRING USUAGE RESTRICTIONS

http://cwflyris.computerworld.com/t/1261277/255221/50967/2/

SCIENCE ZONE

PANDEMIC FLU MAY BE ONLY TWO MUTATIONS AWAY

A new study investigating the difference between the 1918 pandemic flu virus - which killed at least 50 million people -- and a virus which kills but does not spread turned out to be two small mutations on the virus' surface. Just two amino acids need to change on the virus's surface in order to allow it to spread easily between people, the...

http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=6361&m=9698

X-RAY VISION

Brown University researchers are creating a technology that will allow doctors and scientists to see inside living humans and animals, and watch their bones move in 3D as they run, fly, jump, swim, and slither. This high-resolution, high-speed imaging system will contribute to better treatments for knee, shoulder, wrist, and back injuries, and help scientists understand the evolution of complex movements.

Dubbed CTX, the system will combine the 3D capability of CT scanners and the real-time movement tracking of cinefluoroscopy. The technology is expected to deliver images with exceptional precision and detail. Researchers will be able to track 3D skeletal movements with 0.1 millimeter accuracy and see the equivalent of 1,000 CT images per second.

http://link.abpi.net/l.php?20070215A2

"DOOMSDAY" VAULT DESIGN UNVEILED

The final design for an Arctic "doomsday" seed vault, which will house all known varieties of crops, is unveiled.

www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18925343.700

THE DREAM OF THE PERSONAL TURBINE

Imagine a millimeter-size personal turbine engine that could meet all your personal electrical needs. That's the vision of MIT researchers, who plan to have an operational prototype by mid-2007. First uses (3-5 years): 10-50 watts for high end laptops and military gadgets.

http://www.kurzweilai.net/meme/frame.html?main=/articles/art069.html

Article has a fascinating history of the turbine engine.

ASIA PACIFIC ZONE

WHY IS A BARREN CHINESE MOUNTAIN BEING PAINTED GREEN?

Villagers in southwestern China are puzzled by a county government's decision to paint an entire barren mountainside green.  Workers who began spraying Laoshou mountain in August told villagers that they were doing so on orders of the county government but were not told why, media reports said Wednesday.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/14/news/green.php

It cost US$56,000. to paint, more than it would take to plant trees.

CHINA SUFFERS SEVERE BRAIN DRAIN

China suffers from the world's most severe brain drain, state media says.  About two-thirds of Chinese who have studied abroad since the 1980s have chosen not to go back home, the China Daily said.  This ratio, in a new report compiled by the Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, is reportedly the highest in the world.  China is now "in dire need of people of expertise", Li Xiaoli, the co-author of the report, told the newspaper.  "It has been a great loss for China... to see well-educated professionals leave after the country has invested a lot in them," Li Xiaoli said.  Since 2002, more than 100,000 students have gone abroad to study each year, but the number of returnees has been only 20,000 to 30,000, the report estimates.

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6356101.stm

ASIAN COUNTRIES MAKING THE SWITCH TO OPEN SOURCE

Asian countries have started switching from proprietary software such as Microsoft's to open source software, it was reported Tuesday at the eighth annual Asia Open Source Software Symposium in Denpasar, Indonesia. IT practitioners from Bangladesh, China, India, Japan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and ASEAN member countries are attending the conference.

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/55751.html

WIRELESS INTERNET ARRIVES IN CHINA

Only about 3% of the Chinese people are online Wireless internet equipment which can be shared by a building's occupants will soon bring millions of Chinese people online, according to the official Xinhua news agency.  Users in the Shandong Region in East China will be kitted out with a card which will give them wireless broadband access to the internet.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2115271.stm

WIRELESS ZONE

COSTS DOWN, QUALITY UP: A HOSPITAL GOES WIRELESS

http://cwflyris.computerworld.com/t/1266627/255221/51378/2/

"UP TO" MAY GET THE KABOSH, SAYS THE FTC

The Federal Trade Commission is looking into how to enforce how broadband speeds are advertised: The San Francisco Chronicle says that a two-day workshop by the FTC will look into the "up to" rates and pricing that broadband firms promote. While the price is fixed, the minimum speed isn't typically stated, and no speed at all is promised. The reporter tries to track down whether any regulators track the "up to" rate and complaints, and finds that the California Public Utilities Commission lacks jurisdiction (broadband is nationally regulated), and the FCC said it doesn't regulate ISPs. So the ball is in the FTC's court, probably in terms of advertising and

deliver.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/02/11/BUGG3O194T1.DTL

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/81608

SITE CITE

TERRACOTTA ARMY MADE IN TWO BATCHES

The horses and warriors of China's terracotta army were made in different places, according to analysis of pollen found on the clay figures.

http://abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1841166.htm?ancient