Toffoli

Lauren Schenkman for Inside Science News Service reports that physicists Lev Levitin and Tommaso Toffoli at Boston University have declared a speed limit on computing, no matter how small components get.

Levitan

In the early 1980s, Levitin singled out a quantum elementary operation, the most basic task a quantum computer could carry out. In a paper published today in the journal Physical Review Letters, Levitin and Toffoli present an equation for the minimum sliver of time it takes for this elementary operation to occur. This establishes the speed limit for all possible computers.

“From a theorist’s perspective, it’s good to know that fundamental limits are there, sort of an absolute ceiling. You may say it’s disappointing that we can’t build infinitely fast computers, but as a picture of the world, if you have a theory of physics allows for infinitely fast computation, there could be a problem with that theory.” – Scott Aaronson, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Researchers have demonstrated a penny-sized “nuclear battery” that produces energy from the decay of radioisotopes.

Nuclear Battery

As radioactive substances decay, they release charged particles that when properly harvested can create an electrical current.

Nuclear batteries have been in use for military and aerospace applications, but are typically far larger.

The University of Missouri team says that the batteries hold a million times as much charge as standard batteries.

They have developed it in an attempt to scale down power sources for the tiny devices that fall under the category of micro- and nano-electromechanical systems (Mems and Nems).

Read more at  BBC NEWS | Technology | Tiny ‘nuclear batteries’ unveiled.

A couple days ago this came out over at TheInquirer.net:

Windows 7 is enough to kill Linux on the desktop

FOR THE PAST three years I have been a Linux fan-boy using Ubuntu most of the time and Windows XP when I needed to play games or run CS desktop lay out stuff.

In a bid to focus my bile on something other than Apple for a bit I decided to play with the new Windows 7 beta. I was disappointed. It was pretty good and, if I am right, could result in the move away from Voleware to Linux and OSX being stopped in in its tracks….

And then that was addressed on a ZDNet.com blog:

7 reasons why Windows 7 will not wreck Ubuntu

One of our competitors has a review of the Windows 7 beta which claims that desktop Linux is doomed — doomed!

Not exactly. Not even approximately.

First let’s understand what 7’s target is. It’s not so much desktop Linux as a particular Linux distro — Ubuntu — that targets the desktop…

The smart money is on those who understand that this really only applies to the class of PC users who actually give a damn about which OS is running on their system.  Sadly, at present, thats a tiny fraction of users.  People use what they are given or what they used in school or at the office.  Those of us who shuttle back and forth between multiple OS’s or even multiple incarnations of the same OS will continue to do what we always have and select the best tool for the job.

If I want to use Dreamweaver, I load a Windows XP virtual machine on my Ubuntu Desktop and use it since, in my opinion, XP is the best platform for using Dreamweaver for me – personally.  If I could run OSX in a VM and use Dreamweaver there, my opinion could change.

If I was constrained through my employer to only use Windows as my primary desktop, I would stll have Ubuntu running in a virtual machine for those times when I need a robust shell like bash to do what needs to be done.

With current PC’s shipping with lots of RAM and big hard drives there is no longer any good reason to limit yourself to a single operating system.

One of the big things that I think will help modern Linux users is the default Ext4 behavior for allocation of space on the file system.

Most file systems create files by filling the requested space with zeros.  As anyone who has used BitTorrent to download an ISO knows, this can be time consuming as the system creates a 700mb file full of zero’s that will only be overwritten as the real file is downloaded into that space.

Ext4 handles preallocation more efficiently.  Using BitTorrent to download that ISO onto a volume formatted with Ext4 results in the file system simply “Reserving” the of 700mb contiguous (if possible) space but doesn’t actually write anything to the drive until you start using the file.

As more people use iTunes to download TV shows and movies or as people do more video editing the size of the files they work with get bigger and bigger.  Ext4 addresses this problem and keeps Linux ahead of the curve for users who need to work with lots and lots of data.

OK, OK… so how will the end user benefit from this EXT4 filesystem? Well, first of all, the whole system will be much faster and more reliable compared to one with EXT3 (I guess that some of you still remember the Firefox/Ext3 issue), it will boot faster (the current article proves that) and it’s able to handle files with sizes of up to 16 TB (terabytes). But these are just a few of the features brought by the fourth extended filesystem, for more details you can check the Wikipedia entry for EXT4.

via Ubuntu 9.04 Boots in 21.4 Seconds – With EXT4 as the default filesystem. – Softpedia.

Sadly, this April’s  9.04 release of Ubuntu will only support Ext4 installs via the Alternative/Text based installer.  It won’t be until October’s 9.10 release that Ext4 will become the default file system format for the main Ubuntu installer.

To be honest, it can be kind of amusing watching people talk about Internet technologies when they don’t really understand it. There are entire websites dedicated to the kinds of things I used to hear regularly when I managed the tech support department for a regional Internet Service Provider.

Part of my job there was processing subpoena’s for local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. I can’t count the number of times I needed to not only produce data to comply with court orders but also provide a crash course in what the data actually means. This includes pointing out to people that really did not understand that someone could be on a Comcast cable internet connection at home and still send mail from their user@xyzcompany.com address. The Internet is both more simple and more complex than many people realize.

I learned quickly that people of all ages are scattered throughout our criminal justice system. These people are being asked to address computer related crime or complaints from citizens where some or all of the potential crime takes place via the Internet. When the police or a prosecutor tries to tackle these matter — with the best of intentions — they can end up creating a lot more problems for victims, suspects, and wastes a lot of time and resources.

In this week’s Forum On Risks To The Public In Computers And Related Systems mailing (subscribe here) at ) there is a story that really illustrates why changing technology is such a challenge for law enforcement folks that are not prepared to properly investigate complaints that involve technology.

Mark Hamblett, Mistaken Identity in Civil Rights Lawsuit
Bronx [NYC] resident William Hallowell filed suit in the Southern District yesterday claiming police and prosecutors blundered by wrongfully arresting him for an e-mail he never sent.

Mr. Hallowell was working part time at the Riverdale Country School Library in April 2007, and exchanging e-mails about the return of a library key with his supervisor, Robin Berson, when Ms. Berson inadvertently typed the wrong e-mail address – to a Ben Hallowell.

She received in return an unsigned e-mail saying the recipient had sold the key for “hookers,” a “handful” of drugs and a gun. The writer also professed his desire for Ms. Berson and proposed a sexual liaison in the library.

The lawsuit alleges that, on a complaint from Ms. Berson, New York City police, “Despite the obvious lack of evidence against him,” arrested William Hallowell and held him for more than 30 hours.

The complaint, charging false arrest and malicious prosecution, states, “Determined to make an arrest, any arrest, defendants bluntly violated Mr. Hallowell’s rights by turning a blind eye to the overwhelming evidence of his innocence,” and blames prosecutors for waiting for four months to dismiss the case. The Bronx County District Attorney’s Office declined comment.

This, I realize, is an extreme example, but it could have all been avoided with a quick perusal of the e-mail messages with intact mail headers would have quickly clarified the situation and avoided this huge mess.

The New York Times reported on this July 10th in an article titled Suit Says Man Was Arrested for Nasty E-Mail Message He Didn’t Write.

In the suit, which names New York City and several police officers as defendants, Mr. Hallowell, 24, says that the officers “deliberately and maliciously ignored a mountain of evidence” that proved that he did not send the offending message.

In an interview, he added that the officers did not even seem to understand how e-mail addresses work.

“I said it to them literally, ‘I don’t know,’ countless times. ‘That’s not my name.’ ‘That’s not my e-mail.’ ‘I did not send that.’ “

The harassment charge was dropped last August, the lawsuit said, because of a lack of evidence, but only after Mr. Hallowell made three court appearances over four months.

With any luck, cases like this will result in prosecutor offices and other law enforcement agencies either hiring on-staff technologists or making use of experts as contractors. So much other stuff has been outsourced by local, state, and federal agencies that it shouldn’t be hard to put a contract for an on-call geek out for bids.

Mr. Hallowell clearly had his civil rights violated, his personal reputation dragged through the mud, and his life interrupted by multiple court appearances and over twenty-four hours behind bars on top of the injustice of being arrested for a crime he knew nothing about. This is not an “oops” – this is an American life seriously harmed by a lack of technical competence on the part of New York City law enforcement personnel.

Justice should be blind, but not computer illiterate.

In my work as an IT professional I have been seeing this for some time.  Microsoft is not the ubiquitous presence it used to be.  Windows operating systems have their place and will be around for a long time, however, more and more IT departments, faced with tight budgets, are looking at more open source and free software solutions.  When I started in my current position we had seven Windows 2000 servers handling newsletters and other mailings.  I was able to convert two of them to Ubuntu Linux servers online with Postfix.   Those two servers now do the work of the seven and they do it better and faster. 

That was just one example of a free software solution replacing a proprietary Microsoft solution.  There are more alternatives every month.  When Microsoft embraces the idea of "forced obsolescence" the way it has with Vista they are bound to take a hit in people’s opinions.  There is a reason places like Tiger Direct are doing a brisk trade in older models of PC’s and refurbished units that run Windows XP Home or Pro.

The company where I work has purchased fifteen desktop computers with Windows XP Professional since December of 2007.   

When the alternative either something like this: Intel Pentium 4 2.80GHz, 512MB RAM, 40GB HDD, DVDRW, 10/100 LAN, Windows XP Professional for $249.99 or a Vista Business machine that will provide the same work experience for easily twice the price its easy to see why Microsoft is not making anyone jump for joy. 

I know I write about Linux a lot, and some people know that if Linux were not an option I would be a Mac user.  But I also try not to sound like a knee jerk MS/Windows basher.    As you can see from my Yahoo! Answers history, I spend a lot of time helping Windows users and I realize that Windows is the best solution for many people and many businesses.  There are things I like about Microsoft products, but most of the them have existed since Windows XP was released over half a decade ago and the rest came with Office 2003 five years ago.  Unless Microsoft starts getting more creative and comes up with new and innovative features that people can’t find in Linux or OSX, their decline is sure to continue.

From Study sees Microsoft brand in sharp decline

According to the CoreBrand Power 100 2007 study, which polled about 12,000 U.S. business decision-makers, Microsoft dropped from number 12 in the ranking of the most powerful U.S. company brands in 2004 to number 59 last year. In 1996, the company ranked number 1 in brand power among 1,200 top companies in about 50 industries, said James Gregory, CEO of CoreBrand.

CoreBrand measures brand power using four criteria. It first rates the familiarity of a company’s brand. Once a company has a certain level of familiarity, they are ranked according to three "attributes of favorability": overall reputation, perception of management and investment potential, Gregory said. While Microsoft’s brand is still eminently recognizable, the company is declining in all three favorable attributes, he said.

Gregory said that a decline in and of itself is not indicative that a company is losing its mindshare or reputation among customers. However, what’s significant in Microsoft’s case is that the decline has been consistent over a number of years, and has plunged dramatically in a brief time.

“Changing the Way America Reads”

Could the price of books possibly have gotten any more expensive? During any given week, the average bestseller lists for more than $20. Read three of these in a month and you’re spending over $60! What you’re paying for is the right to own the book… but is ownership what you really want?

Yes!  Ownership is what I really want – sometimes.  And I think its a bit arrogant to think that book addicts like me can’t  navigate out the ins and outs of book shopping.

Changing the Way America Reads?   I don’t think so.  I think it’s a daring and well meaning endeavor; I just can’t imagine it being an attractive solution for people who read as much as I do.

I first heard about this service when it was still under development almost a year ago. I signed up for their mailing list so I would be notified when the service went online.  At the time I didn’t think the service would be good for me since I get very possessive about books that I like.  I read a lot of non-fiction and while I have an excellent memory for the printed word, I often want to go back to a book to pull out a specific quote or stat for a blog posting or just to use as a tag line somewhere.

This service will do nothing to compete with book stores.  It may, however, draw patrons away from already struggling public libraries.

My first thought, upon reading about the Bookswim service, was that it was basically a for-profit lending library.  I live in Philadelphia, the home of the United State’s first free library system.

 Despite the free library system’s roots here, Philadelphia libraries have gone downhill in the last few years.  There have been a lot of cutbacks due to budgetary issues.  My local branch, the only one within walking distance of my house (shown above), is no longer open on Saturdays.  They close at 5:00pm most days.  They are open until 8:00pm on Mondays and Wednesdays, the two days I’m most likely to work late.  When we first moved to Philadelphia I used the library fairly frequently.  It was a great place to get books I knew I wouldn’t want to keep.  The selection at my local branch did not compare favorably with a full size Barnes and Noble store I pass going to and from the office.  And that BN store doesn’t compare to what is available via Amazon.com.

I think we are spoiled in terms of the availability of the written word.  I can go to a flea market and buy the $20-$30 books that Bookswim decries as overpriced for only a few dollars each.  I can shop Half.com and find a selection more like a full size bookstore at prices more like the flea market. I also make a point of checking out the sales and clearance section at QPB (Quality Paperback Books).  I agree with the folks at Bookswim that the price of new books has gotten fairly insane, however, my solution has been to just not buy new books.  I like the idea of the service, but I think  it would be best suited for people without any kind of library system nearby, or for shut-ins without Internet access.  But, for me,  it really comes down to my need to keep books.  I have more books than I have shelf space for at the moment.  I also have about thirty volumes lent out at any given time. 

Yesterday I looked at some beautiful hand crafted oak bookcases made by some of the Amish folks out in the York – Lancaster area.  The shelves I liked most ran about $225.00.  A years membership with Bookswim, at it’s lowest rate, runs $239.88 ($19.99 x 12).  I think I’ll have that money and put it into a new bookcase every year and keep shopping for gently used books on Half.com, QPB.com, and the local flea markets.

Does anyone think this service would fit their needs, and if so, what is it about the service that you find appealing?