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Target. Home Depot. Adobe. Sony. Athena. You’ve likely read the headlines about the significant data breaches at these big-brand companies and others, which have the potential to impact millions of people. What you likely haven’t heard about are the small data breaches that have a real, destructive impact on individuals.
Although the large breaches affecting millions of people’s data make the headlines, the media exposure doesn’t necessarily correspond to the level of destruction created at the personal level, according to a Wall Street Journal report, particularly in the health care industry. While a lot of data is exposed, very little is exploited.
On the other hand, small breaches almost always inflict the most harm—each one ruining one or more people’s reputation, wellbeing and/or financial stability. And small breaches are rampant in the health care industry.
Consider these examples:
- A hospital worker in Indiana snooped into the medical records of a former friend and posted on Facebook that the person was HPV positive. The message included her full name and date of birth.
- A medical records clerk in California sneaked into the medical records of her husband’s ex-wife. The victim stated that HIPAA did nothing to help her. (What are rules without enforcement?) As a result, her trust in the medical profession has been crushed.
- In Indianapolis, someone stole a boy’s Social Security number and medical identification numbers, and used them to pay for surgery. The boy’s mother received the bills.
Lackluster Breach Enforcement
Despite privacy laws created to protect individuals, victims of small breaches have little recourse in today’s lackluster enforcement environment. In fact, OCR has been criticized by several industry organizations for its poor enforcement of HIPAA regulations.
According to the author of the WSJ article, Stephanie Armour: “Even when small privacy violations have real consequences, the federal Office for Civil Rights rarely punishes health care providers for them. Instead, it typically settles for pledges to fix any problems and issues reminders of what HIPAA requires. It doesn’t even tell the public which health providers have reported small breaches—or how many.”
Tighten Up Security with Robust Cybersecurity Program
The problem of small-scale data privacy breaches is exacerbated when medical organizations lack a robust information risk management or cybersecurity program. Here are three considerations to help you prevent both large and small personal data breaches:
- Consider employing a more comprehensive and effective cybersecurity framework. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) cybersecurity framework is one of the most robust sets of guidelines available to help you in creating a more effective and more secure IRM program.
- Make sure you are conducting an effective risk analysis. The majority of health care organizations fail an OCR audit/investigation due to an improper risk analysis. Are you confident in yours? Contact us for a free review of your HIPAA compliance program.
- Strengthen your staff risk management training. Clearwater offers organizations a wide range of educational opportunities, including free webinars, white papers, educational tracks, a HIPAA Compliance and Cybersecurity Program BootCamp™, and an (ISC)²® HCISPP℠ CBK® Training Seminar.
Take action now to improve your organization’s cybersecurity efforts and avoid the devastating impact of legal liabilities and reputational damage to your organization not to mention the damage that a small breach could create for your patients.
We have assisted more than 400 customers to operationalize and mature their information privacy, security, compliance and information risk management programs. And in the process, we are raising the bar for safeguarding PHI, protecting millions of Americans and driving real value for the organizations we support and the healthcare industry at large. | <urn:uuid:8af976e2-e72c-456c-8dd5-8a969fdf612a> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://clearwatercompliance.com/blog/beyond-big-brand-breaches-small-privacy-violations-huge-consequences/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280364.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00336-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926158 | 778 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Cache sizing is arguably the most important factor affecting the overall performance of eDirectory. The greater the number of items (blocks and entries) that can be cached, the better the overall performance is. The percentage of times that the blocks or entries are found in the cache is called the hit ratio. A higher ratio results in better performance. iMonitor can be used to view the hit ratio.
The block cache is most useful for update operations. The entry cache is most useful for operations that performs a base-scoped search for an entry. However, both one-level and sub-tree scoped searches use the entry cache as well as the block cache. The block cache is used to retrieve indexes. Create the right type of indexes as necessary, for more information see Choosing Indexes.
A fault in the block cache can result in a disk read operation. Disk reads are always expensive, but they can be avoided if a block is retrieved from the filesystem cache.
The amount of memory required to cache the complete database in the block cache is nearly the size of the database on the disk, and the amount of memory required to cache the complete database in the entry cache is nearly two to four times the database size on the disk. When you have less memory on a system, try a smaller entry cache and a much larger block or filesystem cache.
If reads are localized to a set of entries in the directory, you should increase the entry cache as long as it results in an improved entry cache hit ratio.
If the read pattern is completely random and the DIB is much larger than the available RAM, you should have a larger block cache or a filesystem cache than the entry cache.
Any method you use to tune eDirectory for an improved performance needs empirical testing. A good ratio of entry to block cache for search-intensive environments is 2:1 ratio. Ensure that sufficient memory is left for other processes. Avoid page swapping even if it means reducing the FLAIM cache sizes.
Because FLAIM provides preallocated caching, memory allocated to the eDirectory cache is never fragmented by the native operating system memory manager.
Indexes are meant to improve the one-level or sub-tree scoped search performance. Dynamic groups also use one-level or sub-tree scoped searches. Indexes are not used for base-scoped searches.
Because a Presence index does not differentiate between present and not present (deleted) values, it is mainly used for internal purpose. If applications run a Presence type search query, this index is never used, so applications should not have Presence indexes created for them.
Applications can create a Value index for an attribute, which is sufficient for most of the searches. FLAIM can use a Value index for performing both Presence as well as Substring searches on the attributes.
A Substring index can significantly decelerate the updates performed on an attribute. The number of index blocks required to support a Substring index is quite large compared to the Value index. This means more block cache is required to cache them. Create a Substring index only when necessary. A Value index should suffice for most searches. However, if Substring searches do not yield acceptable performance with a Value index, you can create a Substring index on those attributes.
If a search operation takes a long time to complete despite the chosen index, you might introduce a newer value index on one of the attributes of the search filter. Pick the attribute that yields best results when indexed.
The block cache is most useful for update operations. Indexes also reside in the block cache. Although indexes help in faster searches, having too many indexes keeps the server busy maintaining them. Indexes are modified if attribute values are modified, added, or deleted. During large upload operations, indexes can be disabled for faster upload.
Having the RFL directory on a different disk than the DIB directory improves performance.
An acceptable limit for response time for an update operation can be controlled by using the maxdirtycache. For example, if an acceptable limit for the server response is 5 seconds and random disk write speed is 20 MB per second, then the maxdirtycache should be set as 20x5 = 100 MB. Ensure that the block cache can hold these dirty blocks in memory. See Section 5.2.2, Modifying FLAIM Cache Settings through _ndsdb.ini for more information. | <urn:uuid:4fd2a878-c2eb-4992-992f-54e8b52a185c> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.netiq.com/documentation/edir88/edir88tuning/data/bs12zoq.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280364.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00336-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.897033 | 896 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Temperature monitoring used to battle harmful heat in telecom industry
Wednesday, Aug 21st 2013
Telecommunications equipment is an integral part for many organizations, especially ones that rely on the hardware as a main means of connecting with customers. Just as in data centers, telecom hardware requires a certain environment in order to remain functional and keep business flowing.
Telecom equipment is sensitive to the surrounding temperature, making environmental control systems an important part in maintenance. Heat and moisture can affect the hardware's reliability and damage the systems, according to Robert Weir of Hartford Steam Boiler. Because the electronics naturally generate heat, steps need to be taken in order to keep the equipment in the proper temperature range. Excess heat can increase chemical reactions within the devices, which can speed up the degradation of the equipment. Sufficient cooling processes must be observed in order for the electronics to have a long life of usability and reliability. A clean, cool and dry environment is typically the best condition for the technology.
"The real threat to high technology telecom equipment lies in the traditional building infrastructure equipment," Weir wrote "Since sensitive electronics will not tolerate high temperatures or humidity, the integrity of the building ventilation and air conditioning system is critical to the continued operation of computers and telecommunications equipment."
Keeping telecom cool
Over the years, the recommended temperature range for electronic equipment has increased to as much as 80 degrees Fahrenheit. However, telecom hardware traditionally should be between 64 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, according to UC San Diego. Positive pressure in the room can be maintained with one air exchange per hour, and can help to keep the telecom equipment fully functional. Humidity monitoring should also be used to watch the humidity percentage, which is also needed for optimal telecom performance. Relative humidity should be kept between 30 and 55 percent. Having too much moisture could cause water damage, however not enough could also be bad for the telecom's maintenance. The monitoring and environmental controls will help ensure that the telecom equipment remains in the proper conditions.
With a growing concern in energy and power usage, more facilities are turning away from cooling solutions that require large amounts of electricity. Chillers are still widely used, however, they take up a lot of power to operate, and more organizations are using the technology minimally, if at all, according to Data Center Knowledge contributor Colleen Miller. While there is still a notion that cooler centers are best, raising temperatures in a systematic manner can determine potential hot spots that need to be dealt with and can save money in expenses.
"In live settings, companies are seeing that improved monitoring and airflow management can allow data center managers to be more aggressive with higher temperatures," Miller wrote. "But nudging the thermostat higher may also allow less time to recover from a cooling failure, and is only appropriate for companies with a strong understanding of the cooling conditions in their facility."
Telecom equipment is reliable when in the appropriate conditions. Using temperature monitoring will help ensure that the hardware remains a viable source for business communications for a long time. | <urn:uuid:14a33be2-c7f8-430e-9d5f-03ed3fa59bdf> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.itwatchdogs.com/environmental-monitoring-news/telecom/temperature-monitoring-used-to-battle-harmful-heat-in-telecom-industry-494678 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280774.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00244-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946481 | 602 | 2.65625 | 3 |
A team of researchers from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is working to ameliorate electromagnetic incompatibility. The issue of unwanted interference is only set to worsen in step with the continued shrinking of electronic components. As componentry heads toward the nanoscale, problematic ‘noise’ arises from electromagnetic interference and susceptibility. As Xian-Ke Gao from the A*STAR Institute of High Performance Computing in Singapore points out, “this is a “critical problem for the electronics industry.”
“Engineers are keen to understand how the electronic circuits react,” notes Gao, “However, it is difficult to measure such effects experimentally, because disassembling the device would affect the physical testing.”
A group of A*STAR-affiliated researchers from the Institute of High Performance Computing, led by Gao, have devised a semi-analytical model that can compute electromagnetic interference on an electronic circuit board ten times faster than existing commercial software, which translates into shorter design times and boosts innovation.
Current commercial computer modeling tools for electromagnetic interference are cumbersome and compute-intensive, according to an A*STAR news item on the research. The model that Gao and his team have developed is much more efficient. It relies on mathematical “transmission line” equations to describe the electrical currents in a conducting wire, and these equations are easier to solve by a computer algorithm than the grid-based approach that is the current standard.
The research team adapted the physics-based approach to be suitable for the unique properties of circuit boards. In early tests, the new software package reliably solved a number of standard problems for electronic circuits. The software achieved very good agreement, especially for the main target of interest — frequencies below one gigahertz.
The A*STAR research brief notes that speed is the primary advantage of the new software. The commerical software currently available takes more than two hours of computing on a regular laptop, while the A*STAR software package needed less than ten minutes for the same task. Says Gao: “Our computational problem-solving kit can shorten electromagnetic interference trouble-shooting in the product design phase and therefore translates into time and cost savings for the industry.” | <urn:uuid:f697d0c0-6ee1-486e-bec3-9df146da40af> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.hpcwire.com/2014/05/06/tackling-electromagnetic-interference/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280086.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00272-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924807 | 463 | 3.171875 | 3 |
The most important challenge for organizations, is to ensure business risks are kept under control and business continuity can be ensured in the most (cost)-effective manner. This is by no means an easy task: integrated networks, fueled by the internet, have removed the historical barriers to productively sharing information, unleashing the capacity of technology to revolutionize our economic and personal lives. But as the benefits of digitization are increasing – so are its vulnerabilities and their exploitation by threat actors. Attackers have become highly organized and focus their attention on disrupting services, stealing or destroying data, and holding systems to ransom. In recent years, concepts like digital espionage, fraud, and data leakage have adopted a whole new meaning. The risk challenges have grown more complex—with regulatory fines, legal damages, loss of trust, and reputation damage being part of the equation.
Of course, as a society we are adapting to this. Actively defending against cyber attacks is the only way to get ahead of cyber criminals. Cyber security is evolving into a continuous process that is, at its core, risk management with the aim of ensuring business continuity. This involves the planning and preparation of a holistic cyber program to ensure that organizations are resilient to cyber threats and can continue to operate in case of serious incidents or are at least able to quickly recover to an operational state. Such defenses require operational processes to ensure the threat landscape and security posture are in line with overall risk acceptance. | <urn:uuid:f284ac2f-59ee-45d5-a091-cac75a2f092e> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.fox-it.com/en/our-view-on-security/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281069.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00574-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963512 | 288 | 2.671875 | 3 |
The Defense Department said ATK’s work in Corrine, Utah and L-3’s work in Orlando, Fla. is scheduled to finish by March 17, 2015.
NASA says sounding rockets are used to collect scientific data and conduct engineering tests for 30-minute sessions each.
After launch, a scientific payload separates from the rocket and conducts an experiment in space, then re-enters Earth’s atmosphere by parachute.
Experiments last between 5 and 20 minutes at altitudes of between 30 and 800 miles, the space agency says.
ATK recently provided composite and launch technologies for a National Reconnaissance Office rocket. | <urn:uuid:7ea1d999-77fb-490f-ab2f-30b241dbad88> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.govconwire.com/2012/08/atk-l3-each-win-125m-for-af-sounding-rocket-program/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281450.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00482-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914193 | 131 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Boy in the Browser – February 2011February 14, 2010
Imperva's lab, the Application Defense Center (ADC), has recently uncovered a rush of malware with a common underlying technique. This technique, dubbed the “Boy in the Browser” (BitB), devolved from traditional key loggers and browser session records. Yet, a dumbed-down version of the sophisticated as a “Man in the Browser” (MitB) attack. In parallel to the growing popularity of MitB, a surge of BitB attacks are showing that this technique remains on the rise due to several factors:
- Targets all sorts of online applications, not only banking applications
- Elusiveness making the Trojan difficult to detect
- Low-cost Trojan, as opposed to MitB. While a fully functional BitB is coded in a matter of hours, it takes months to create a new valuable MitB
- Effective for a quick one-shot sting operation
How it works
Once executed on the victim's machine the exploit code makes persistent changes to the way traffic from that machine is routed to the target applications (usually through tampering with the mapping of hostname to network address mechanism). The exploit code is then removed from victim's machine.
Imperva was able to obtain the source code of some of these Trojans and has screenshots of infected machines. We've also witnessed different fraud scams utilizing these Trojans and can describe what we saw and what we learnt.
Why is this technique effective
- BitB are very difficult to detect by consumers. The victim may have no feedback (whether visual, or as a flagged “suspicious” running process) that communication has been re-routed and is in effect under the control of malicious malware.
- BitB are very difficult to mitigate using AV software. Due to the simplicity of code, variants are produced in a fast pace that does not allow AV signatures to be created in a timely manner. By the time AV signatures are available, exploit code is no longer residing on the infected machine.
- Proxy Trojans are a rising trend of hackers, growing in sophistication. Although currently MitB appears in its most sophisticated form, we see that hackers are still using the dumbed-down versions in order to achieve the same effect.
- The lower cost involved in running BitB operations allows the attacker to use them for a wider variety of targets. Rather than focusing exclusively on the high end banking applications, attacker can now extend the list of potential targets to less lucrative ones (which in terms extend the lifespan of an attack campaign)
What companies should do
While avoiding infection by Proxy Trojans is presumably the responsibility of consumers, these attacks are quickly becoming a concern of online service providers. The actual rate of infection and the proliferation of the many types of this class of malware suggests that providers must be able to serve (and protect) customers who might be infected with one type of malware or another. Just as the evolution of vehicle safety drove manufacturers to include device such as ABS, Air Bags and ESP, rather than rely on us to drive carefully, so will online service providers need to invest in mechanisms that allow them to conduct business with allegedly infected consumers. Among the technologies that should be implemented to deal with this ongoing threat are strong device identification, client profiling, fast security code evolution, session flow tracking and site-to-client authentication.
The BitB malware, once downloaded, tampers with the victim's hosts file. The malware adds entries to this file. This has the effect of re-mapping specific addresses to an attacker-controlled server. The attacker-controlled server could be a phishing site or a proxy to the legitimate destination. At any rate, the attacker has complete control to intercept and/ or modify communication. The victim, on her part, cannot detect this as the browser continues to show the original requested URL address.
We describe here a couple of scams of interest:
- Latin American Banks
- Ad Fraud
Latin American Banks
Nine Latin American banks were targeted. This provides an additional supporting evidence that BitB is in fact a lucrative scheme. As hackers gain from this sort of attack, they continue to target numerous banks.
Ad fraudIn this case, the BitB re-maps search engine addresses of various regions, for example, www.google.ca and www.google.co.uk to an attacker controlled server hosted in the UK.
When the victim attempts to access the regional search engine site, the request is in fact sent to the malicious server in the UK, unknowingly to the victim. This server intercepts the request and responds with its own search page as shown in Figure (1). As a result, any time the victim provides a search query, the request is re-directed to another attacker-controlled server, hosted too in the UK. The attacker at this point may commit ad-fraud. The ad fraud is performed by stealing the victim's persistent cookies or attributing ad clicks to the attacker-controlled server.
Figure 1: The attacker-controlled server's Web-search page
The information within this advisory is subject to change without notice. Use of this information constitutes acceptance for use in an AS IS condition. Any use of this information is at the user’s own risk. There are no warranties, implied or expressed, with regard to this information. In no event shall the author be liable for any direct or indirect damages whatsoever arising out of or in connection with the use or spread of this information.
Redistribution of this alert electronically is allowed as long as it is not edited in any way. To reprint this alert, in whole or in part, in any medium other than electronic medium, email@example.com for permission. | <urn:uuid:bff56bfb-48ae-499d-b7b8-6e770fca08b4> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.imperva.com/DefenseCenter/ThreatAdvisories/Boy_in_the_Browser | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280825.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00510-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931655 | 1,181 | 2.671875 | 3 |
A group of researchers from the Institute of Telecommunications of the Warsaw University of Technology have devised a way to send and receive messages hidden in the data packets used to represent silences during a Skype call.
Wojciech Mazurczyk, Krysztof Szczypiorski and Maciej Kara?” have long been interested in steganography – the science of writing and transmitting secret messages within regular messages.
After learning that Skype transmits voice data in 130-byte packets and the silences in 70-byte packets, they came upon the idea of using the latter to conceal the sending and receiving of additional messages, Trusted Third Party reports (via Google Translate).
In order to do that, they created SkypeHide (or SkyDe), a piece of software that hijacks some of the “silence” packets and then embeds the encrypted messages into them. On the receiving computer, the same software extracts it and decrypts it.
The hidden messages can consist of text, audio or video, and can be transmitted at a rate of almost 1 kilobit per second. And, according to Mazurczyk, the secret data is indistinguishable from silence-period traffic.
More details about the software and how it works will be soon shared with the public, as the researchers are set to present the research at the 1st ACM Workshop on Information Hiding and Multimedia Security which is to be held in Montpellier, France, in June. | <urn:uuid:23dae5aa-7fd4-4fdd-a99c-a3517df73364> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2013/01/07/hiding-secret-messages-in-skype-silences/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281574.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00326-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901147 | 307 | 3.28125 | 3 |
Question 2) A+ Operating Systems Technologies
This post is outdated. For an updated guide see Jed Reisner’s A+ 220-801 and 220-802 guide.
SubObjective: Identify the names, locations, purposes, and contents of major system files
Single Answer Multiple Choice
Which file loads the Windows 98 graphical user interface (GUI)?
In Windows 98, the Win.com file loads the GUI.
In Windows 98, you can use the Autoexec.bat file to load applications automatically at startup, and you can use the Config.sys file to load real-mode drivers. In general, you should only load real-mode drivers for a device if a protected-mode driver is not available because using real-mode drivers can degrade system performance.
The System.1stfile is a backup of the Windows 98 Registry; this file is created when you complete a successful installation of Windows 98. You can use the System.1stfile to return Windows 98 to an operational state if the Registry ever becomes corrupted or is deleted.
A+ Training Guide, Chapter 22: Microsoft Windows Operating Systems, Major Operating System Components, Windows 9x/Me Structure, pp. 791-792.
These questions are derived from the Self Test Software Practice Test for CompTIA exam #220-302 – A+ Operating Systems Technologies, 2003 Objectives | <urn:uuid:8eabc05d-3451-41ef-a93a-412601db2f76> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://certmag.com/question-2-test-yourself-on-a-operating-systems-technologies-2003-objectives/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280504.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00446-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.762814 | 280 | 2.65625 | 3 |
The US Department of Energy has awarded a massive amount of its world-class supercomputing time to 57 research projects looking at everything from biofuels and climate change to nuclear power and lithium air batteries.
The DOE is awarding time on its Cray XT5 "Jaguar" at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the IBM Blue Gene/P "Intrepid" at Argonne National Laboratory. Jaguar's computational capacity is roughly equivalent to 109,000 laptops all working together to solve the same problem. Intrepid is roughly equivalent to 26,000 laptops, the DOE stated.
The DOE says the 1.7 billion processor hours on are its largest total award ever - and let researchers use powerful computer simulations to perform virtual experiments that in most cases would be impossible or impractical in the natural world. The wards also reflect the growing sophistication of the field of computer modeling and simulation and the rapid expansion of supercomputing capabilities at DOE National Laboratories, the agency stated.
The awards fall under the DOE's Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) program that focuses on renewable energy and environmental research. The DOE stated that the selected research projects were chosen for their potential to advance scientific discoveries, speed technological innovations, and strengthen industrial competitiveness and for their ability to make use of hundreds of thousands of processors to work in concert to do so. More than half of the projects are led by university researchers, with the remainder of the awards going to government and industry scientists and engineers, the agency stated.
Some of the 57 awards from the DOE were as follows (the full list is here):
Understanding the Ultimate Battery Chemistry: Rechargeable Lithium/Air: A research consortium will study and demonstrate a working prototype of a rechargeable Lithium/Air battery. The Lithium/Air battery can potentially store ten times the energy of a Lithium/Ion battery of the same weight. Realizing this enormous potential is a very challenging scientific problem. If successful, this will enable rechargeable batteries that compete directly with gasoline, making fully electric vehicles practical and widespread.
Hydrogen as Alternative Fuel - Simulation: Hydrogen is a clean fuel that, when consumed, emits only water and oxygen making it a potentially promising part of our clean energy future. Researchers will use the Jaguar supercomputer to better understand how hydrogen and hydrogen compounds could be used as a practical fuel for producing power and heat.
Modeling Nuclear Reactors for Electrical Power: Utilizing the power of the Jaguar supercomputer, the research team will study the power distribution in a boiling water reactor, a type of nuclear reactor used for the generation of electrical power. By using novel computational tools researchers will focus on improving performance of both current and next-generation reactors potentially saving millions of dollars, through increased power efficiency and a reduction in fuel failures.
Petascale Modeling of Nano-electronic Devices: With the advent of nanoscale fabrication, a new generation of nanoelectronic devices is expected to produce enormous advances not only in computing and information technologies, but also in other fields such as medicine. The new generation of device models is atomistic and needs to account for strain, surface roughness, disorder, and impurities that can affect properties and performance of nanoelectronic devices. Whereas classical physics was used to build very successful semiconductor device models in the past, nanoscale devices require a quantum mechanical description to correctly model properties of the device.
Climate-Science, The Climate End Station II: The Climate Science Computational End Station (CCES) will project future climate change. Climate change simulations and climate variability studies will directly inform national science policy, thereby contributing to the DOE, NSF and NASA science missions. Of particular importance are global high resolution simulations that will improve the scientific basis, accuracy, and fidelity of climate models. Continuing model development and extensive testing of the Community Earth System Model (CESM) to include recent new knowledge about ocean and land ecosystems is at the cutting edge of climate science research.
In Sept., the DOE spent $30.4 million on cybersecurity projects it says will go a long way towards addressing the nation's electric grid cybersecurity issues. These new projects are in addition to the $3.4 billion in stimulus grants to electric utilities got last year for over 100 Smart Grid modernization projects.
The idea with the projects funded this week - including two new cybersecurity collaborative groups -- is to research, develop, and commercialize a range of cybersecurity services to strengthen the US energy infrastructure against cyber intrusion and assist operators in complying with cybersecurity regulations.
Follow Michael Cooney on Twitter: nwwlayer8
Layer 8 Extra
Check out these other hot stories: | <urn:uuid:26703164-fbfd-4d53-85c2-c18fcb759535> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.networkworld.com/article/2227878/servers/us-delivers-record-1-7b-supercomputing-hours-to-boost-energy-research.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280835.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00354-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913043 | 946 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Definition: A connection between two vertices of a graph. In a weighted graph, each edge has an number, called a "weight." In a directed graph, an edge goes from one vertex, the source, to another, the target, and hence makes connection in only one direction.
Also known as arc.
Aggregate parent (I am a part of or used in ...)
directed graph, undirected graph, weighted graph.
See also hyperedge, in-degree, out-degree.
Note: That is, in a directed graph, an edge goes from the source to the target.
If you have suggestions, corrections, or comments, please get in touch with Paul Black.
Entry modified 19 April 2004.
HTML page formatted Mon Feb 2 13:10:39 2015.
Cite this as:
Paul E. Black, "edge", in Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures [online], Vreda Pieterse and Paul E. Black, eds. 19 April 2004. (accessed TODAY) Available from: http://www.nist.gov/dads/HTML/edge.html | <urn:uuid:527a080e-3e4b-48bb-a790-63be919675f7> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.darkridge.com/~jpr5/mirror/dads/HTML/edge.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280723.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00134-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920539 | 239 | 3.71875 | 4 |
IBM on Thursday unveiled an experimental microprocessor designed to emulate the human brain.
The chip attempts to recreate the behavior of neurons and synapses using advanced algorithms and silicon circuitry. These cognitive computing prototype chips could reduce the power consumption and space required for a microprocessor by orders of magnitude over today's technology, IBM said in a statement.
The chip might strike some as nothing more than science fiction, but Tim Ulmen, principal at Midwest IT solutions group, a Wichita, Kan.-based system builder, suggests a second glance. "We might think [the prototype] is far-fetched, but we've seen incredible things happen with technology before. When I was a kid we wouldn't have expected to be able to have phones in our pockets, but here we are," he said.
The IBM Research group has two working prototypes of the new chip, both fabricated using 45-nm, Silicon-on-Insulator/Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (SOI-CMOS) technology. The chips boast integrated memory, computation and communication modeled after biological synapses, neurons and axons, respectively. According to IBM, the prototypes successfully run simple applications including navigation, pattern recognition and classification.
Computing in the future will require a massive evolution in microprocessors, said Dharmendra Modha, project leader for IBM Research. "Future applications of computing will increasingly demand functionality that is not efficiently delivered by the traditional architecture," he said in a statement. "These chips are another significant step in the evolution of computers from calculators to learning systems.”
While IBM strives to change the basic building blocks of processor technology, Ulmen thinks software confines computing capability more than hardware. "There are very few software processes that utilize any real computing power," he said.
IBM worked software into the mix of the new processor by creating an on-chip network with a single integrated system of hardware and software. The end goal is microprocessor architecture with no set programming, integrated memory and parallel processing to mimic the human brain. One prototype contains 262,144 programmable synapses, while the other has 65,536 learning synapses, IBM said.
IBM received approximately $21 million in new funding from DARPA [the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency] for the second phase of its chip development project, known as the Sytems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) project. In conjunction with university research collaborators, IBM hopes to build upon the prototypes created in the first phase of the project to invent a small, low-power system that rewires itself based on experience.
“Imagine traffic lights that can integrate sights, sounds and smells and flag unsafe intersections before disaster happens," said Modha. "Or imagine cognitive co-processors that turn servers, laptops, tablets, and phones into machines that can interact better with their environments."
Researchers from IBM, Columbia University, Cornell University, University of California Merced and University of Wisonsin Madison are testing the cognitive computing prototype chips at IBM research labs in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. and San Jose, Calif. | <urn:uuid:4f424ec8-a10e-4277-b65e-728a89159dc5> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.crn.com/news/components-peripherals/231500322/ibm-research-lab-unveils-chip-design-modeled-after-human-brain.htm | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281331.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00528-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939989 | 642 | 3.375 | 3 |
Green - Reducing Travel
Taking Care of the Planet and Your Budget by Reducing Travel
Even small steps can make a big difference. See what companies like yours are doing to go green. (2:53 min)
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Easy IT Strategies that Save Money and Help the Environment
Smart information technology (IT) practices can reduce the environmental impact of conducting business, and help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) reduce expenses.
With employee awareness and participation, even the busiest SMB can adopt simple "green" strategies that require little to no additional equipment or labor expenditures. Consider these enviro-friendly IT strategies:
Turn It Off
Reducing electricity consumption can help your business save money and the environment. U.S. computers used nearly 64 billion kilowatt hours of energy in 2005, costing over $6 billion, according to GreenIT, a consultancy focused on sustainable solutions for IT systems. Some solutions:
- Activate the sleep settings on idle monitors and PCs. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates this action can save up to $75 per computer in annual power costs. From one management console, IT staff can use commercial software to control the power management features in networked computers.
- Replace power-hungry cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors and televisions with more efficient Light-Emitting Diode (LED) monitors.
- Converge multiple networks into a single infrastructure to reduce the number of devices (and power they consume), miles of wiring, and ultimately, amount of electric and electronic waste (WEEE, or e-waste); another benefit is more efficient centralized management.
- Deploy wireless networks to facilitate more flexible work environments and reduce cabling and power requirements.
- Choose Electronic Products Environmental Assessment (EPEAT)-registered products. The manufacturers declare, and EPEAT periodically verifies, that registered products conform to the IEEE 1680 environmental performance standard.
- Purchase IT products that perform several functions instead of one. They are easier to manage, cost less, and use less power than multiple single-purpose devices. For example, the functionality of seven separate devices--router, firewall, VPN, Power over Ethernet switch, WiFi access point, telephony gateway, and voice messaging—is available in one Cisco platform for small businesses.
Throttle Back Employee Transport
- Encourage secure telecommuting by implementing VPN-based solutions.
- Perform training, sales presentations, project collaboration, and other group activities by using telepresence technology, which reduce travel time and expenses as well as greenhouse gas emissions. By presenting a sales pitch with a customer as an online conference, one executive not flying from New York to London can save 2,690 pounds of carbon dioxide from jet fuel, according to WebEx, a Cisco subsidiary which offers SMBs a range of on-demand collaboration software. Use the WebEx CarbonCalculator to estimate the time, cost, and carbon dioxide incurred by employee car and air travel. To cut carbon, SMBs with a converged IP network can use telepresence applications that combine audio, video, and interactive elements; other SMBs can use WebEx subscription-based services.
Don't Throw It Away
E-waste is a sinister problem: it's loaded with toxic metals and organic chemicals that contaminate soil, water, and air. Europeans produce between 17 and 20 kilos of WEEE per capita each year, reports the EU Directorate-General for the Environment. Until recently, over 90% of it was buried in landfill sites, incinerated, or recovered without any treatment. In the United States, there are over 500 million obsolete computers, and only 10% of them are properly recycled, reports the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. Some solutions:
- Return end-of-life products in the EU to their producers. EU WEEE Directives require electronics vendors to take back their products for proper toxics disposal and component recycling; consumers may return their products free of charge. Some IT producers that do business in the EU plan to extend WEEE-type disposal and recycling programs to customers outside the EU.
- Dispose of other e-waste at government-certified facilities that are licensed for both hazardous waste disposal and recycling; some of them charge a fee. | <urn:uuid:621440b3-cc4f-42e8-b7f4-c5be3699f895> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.cisco.com/cisco/web/UK/solutions/small_business/resource_center/articles/do_business_better/go_green/index.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280730.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00556-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.897123 | 882 | 2.703125 | 3 |
"Fake news" - websites disseminating news stories that are false but are believed to be true - was a major feature of the U.S. election season. One study indicated that fake news sites were receiving more online engagement on the top 20 stories three months before the election than news from 19 major media sources, including the Washington Post and the New York Times.
Some observers believe that it determined the outcome of the election, although there is no way to definitively ascertain its effect on voting.
However, it is clear that there are multiple online sites dedicated to developing fake news, not just about U.S. politics but about a bevy of issues.
Some sites appear to have been developed simply as job opportunities pursued by computer-savvy people both in the U.S. and globally. They derive revenue from the dissemination of fake news and the ads that appear on it. Others are run by people attempting to influence public thinking on issues.
It isn't just that fake news is being created and disseminated, of course. It's that many people cannot distinguish between real news and fake news. In a survey of 3,000 people shown both real and fake news headlines, 75% believed that the fake news headlines were real.
Fake News Is Technology News
Fake news is news that affects the digital universe profoundly. Fake news grew because of the ease of creating and disseminating websites and stories that look and read as credible as real news sites (at least to many people). Old media traditionally has an editorial review process and ethics standards that work against the development of fake news in the first place, to say nothing of its dissemination. New media currently do not have either in place.
Fake news is disseminated on social media platforms just because dissemination of information without vetting has always been a feature of those platforms. This was designed to facilitate communication - no one removes a negative comment about a restaurant on Facebook. On the positive side, this means that everyone's opinion can be disseminated.
The awareness of fake news, though, reveals a downside - or perhaps a loophole - of the freedom to post.
And fake news may beget fake news. News and social media channels increasingly utilize algorithms to ascertain what stories are engaged with. The user is then fed more of those stories. A peruser of fake news may thus receive more and more of same.
The other Facebook is not the only media company to be an inadvertent host for fake news, but it is by far the largest, with roughly 2 billion users each month. Indeed, Facebook's role as a player in the fake news arena reveals one of the potential causes of fake news: the scale and reach of the platform, for both creators of fake news and its audience.
What the Future May Hold
Forbes indicates that the fallout from fake news during the election cycle may cause advertisers to pull back from Facebook, as it is less "brand safe" than formerly. If unchecked, fake news could impact the perceived credibility of online sites where fake news runs.
Since the election, Facebook has announced plans to refine and increase automated detection of fake news and to make reporting of suspected stories easier for Facebook users.
It has also indicated that the current ad system will be changed, to interfere with fake news sites receiving revenue from Facebook.
It is also possible that digital developers will create new algorithms to stop the augmented receipt of fake news stories to an interested populace. These are complicated, though, so any changes in this area may be further in the future than the changes Facebook announced.
In the meantime, the best way to guard against fake news is for the reader to think and use discernment before believing everything that read or hear. That may be too high a mountain to climb for a generation of people who would, in Albert Einstein's words, "rather die than think." | <urn:uuid:501ff530-af35-4d8c-bb22-499767f3061a> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.broadsoft.com/work-it/can-fake-news-impact-your-digital-workplace | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281353.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00372-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964973 | 778 | 3.078125 | 3 |
In the movie, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, Jeff Bridges plays Preston Tucker. As an entrepreneur, Tucker failed in 1947 to change the automotive industry. As a visionary, he succeeded in advancing automobile design, manufacturing and safety. In one scene, Tucker delivers an impassioned speech to investors. While serving rare steak, Tucker stresses his car’s state-of-the-art safety features. During his speech, horrific images of car accidents are projected on a screen. Tucker’s method, although unorthodox, succeeded in breaking a misperception. That is the assumption that automobiles and driving are safe activities.
Today, how many assume we operate in a safe environment at work?
Last week NBC news released a "secret" NSA map. It showed known Chinese government U.S. cyber attacks since 2010. According to the report, all sectors of the economy are impacted. With over 600 victims, the breaches include Fortune 100 companies, government agencies and the military. In stealing information, the Chinese government extracted data about America’s critical infrastructure. Particularly, energy, telecommunications, pharmaceutical drugs, hybrid cars, and air traffic control systems were targets.
The NBC report needed Preston Tucker.
Raise Awareness of Government Sponsored Cyber Attacks
Governments target U.S. agencies, corporations, and universities to gain an advantage. Intellectual property is prized. Personal data coveted. The information enables competitive advantage. Cherished intel includes formulas, blueprints, price lists, energy grids, and new products. This information helps cut costs, fix pricing, flood markets, and bypass regulations.
In most cases, breaches are preventable. A few security basics make it difficult to gain access and operate undetected. Like a safety belt, security awareness and identity management mitigate cyber attacks. Tried and proven, phishing remains the most common way organizations are targeted. For this reason, security awareness remains a critical first line of defense.
Organizations can inexpensively raise awareness and provide training to prevent phishing campaigns. These efforts raise business user awareness about information security and risks. Risks are dramatically reduced when users are security aware and engaged. Organizations can leverage news, like Chinese government cyber attacks, to educate users. The most secure organizations reduce risks by improving processes and communication.
Identity and Access Management Promotes Cyber Security
Enterprise password management forms a cornerstone for identity and access management. Automated password policy enforcement improves security. Self-service password reset tools reduce operational overhead. Once an enterprise password manager is deployed, you can automate user provisioning for new hires, transfers and terminations. Strong passwords and real time de-provisioning deter unauthorized access and cyber attacks.
When workstations, applications and network systems lack internal controls, organizations are vulnerable to exploits. An absence of identity management controls allows for easily guessed passwords, orphaned accounts and faulty processes. Similar to drivers needing seat belts, deficiency in this area is inexcusable.
Targeted companies and industries must make users aware of the risk they face. Typically, security professionals often focus too much on detection. Instead, they should promote a security culture reinforced by identity management controls. Organizations must eliminate behaviors that create vulnerabilities and expose security risks. Identity and access management tools establish processes designed to make breaches difficult and immediate remediation possible.
Begin your identity management initiative by following what corporate compliance experts recommend for the workflow automation of businesses processes, self-service administration and IT operations. | <urn:uuid:2b51e8ed-f941-4071-9576-0df79a759e89> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.avatier.com/blog/nsa-map-shows-chinese-government-cyber-attacks-on-usa-targets/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285244.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00032-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926619 | 699 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Software vulnerability could trigger buffer overflows.
A potentially dangerous flaw has been found in the two-decade old Lempel-Ziv-Oberhumer (LZO) data compression algorithm, created by Markus Oberhumer in 1994, and used in NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover.
Oberhumer noted that the software vulnerability could trigger buffer overflows, denial of service (DoS) and remote code execution (RCE), enabling hackers to design an element of compressed data to run malicious cipher when the software tries to decompress it.
With the flaw working only in limited circumstances, Oberhumer suggested that the ‘practical implications are limited’, while the omnipresent nature of the code signifies that fixing the bug globally would turn out to be great effort.
Oberhumer said that the latest LZO 2.08 fixes a potential integer overflow condition in the "safe" decompressor variants which could result in a possible buffer overrun when processing maliciously crafted compressed input data.
"Fortunately this issue only affects 32-bit systems and also can only happen if you use uncommonly huge buffer sizes where you have to decompress more than 16 MiB (> 2^24 bytes) untrusted compressed bytes within a single function call, so the practical implications are limited," Oberhumer added.
"Also I personally do not know about any client program that uses such a huge logical block size and actually is affected." | <urn:uuid:0ced2052-d671-4f50-9f22-03222041c937> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.cbronline.com/news/cybersecurity/data/nasas-curiosity-carries-two-decade-old-software-bug-to-mars-300614-4306415 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279933.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00429-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.873874 | 297 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Today, terrorists are making the best use of information technology to carry out their objectives. The NATO definition of cyber terrorism is “a cyber attack using or exploiting computer or communication networks to cause sufficient destruction to generate fear or to intimidate a society into an ideological goal” (Everard P, 2007 p 119). Cyber terrorism is achieved using most of the elements of cybercrime. Terrorist groups adopt technologies of two types of goals with reasonable risks. The first goal includes those that improve the organization’s ability to carry out activities relevant to its strategic objectives, such as recruiting and training. The second goal is those that improve the outcome of its attack operations (Bruce W et al, 2007 p 15). To date, there are not any known international code of ethics and law that govern the investigation of transnational and state-sponsored cyber terrorism. The playing field is better prepared for terrorist organizations and world security forces have been holding international conferences and workshops to develop best practices and policies that would enable them to be match fit for any future terrorist strikes. Sadly, little has been achieved. This paper critically examines different international guidelines for investigating transnational and state-sponsored cyber terrorism and the need for an International Code of Ethics and Law in combating these attacks.
Oorn and Tikk named the Cyber Crime Convention (ETS No. 185), which, with the Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism (CETS No. 196), as “the most important international instrument for fighting cyber terrorism and other terrorist use of the Internet”(Oorn R and Tikk E 2007, p 91). Unfortunately, many states are not in agreement with Oorn’s and Tikk’s assertions. Furthermore, at the 11th meeting of Committee of Experts on Terrorism (CODEXTER) Council of Europe, with regard to possible legal responses to terrorism and cyber terrorism, Professor Sieber outlined in particular the harmonisation of national substantive criminal law and of national procedural law; the improvement of international co-operation; and other important aspects, such as, inter alia, the duty to protect infrastructures/data security certifications and preventive monitoring of data. Having examined the previous conventions, none of the above adequately covers serious threats to commit terrorist acts and this shortcoming is not supported by the capabilities of other international organizations.
In 2001, the European Commission prepared a document entitled “Network and Information Security: Proposal for a European Policy Approach (Ozeren S, 2008). The first two conditions dealt with legislative provisions and training of law enforcement officers to deal with both domestic and transnational criminal activities.
Furthermore, the second condition was augmented at the Tenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Treatment of Offenders that was held in Vienna, Austria in 2000. It was stressed that the exchange of technical and forensic expertise between national law enforcement authorities was imperative for faster and more effective investigation of such crimes (Tenth United Nations Congress, 2000). From 27 April to 18 May 2007, Estonia came under heavy Distributed Denial of Service (Ddos) attacks. One person residing in Estonia was charged and legal cooperation was requested from Russia, however this request remained unanswered as Russia had not criminalized computer crimes (Oorn R and Tikk E, 2008). As such the mentioned recommendation from Tenth United Nations Congress tends can address issues such as best practices in terms of obtaining and preserving evidence, maintaining the chain of custody of that evidence across borders and may clear up any difference in language issues. This highlights that there is the urgent need for International Law and Code of Ethics in combating cyber terrorism.
Interpol, (International Criminal Police Organization), through the collaboration of experts from members of national computer crime units has developed the Computer Crime Manual, now called the Information Technology Crime Investigation Manual (ITCIM). It is considered a best practice guide for the experienced investigator, and includes numerous training courses in order to share its expertise with other members, a rapid information exchange system which essentially consists of two elements, and preparing training video/CD-ROM for international law enforcement (Interpol, 2003). These best practises were hammered out from the Interpol’s collaboration with five major working parties namely: a)European Working Party on Technology Crime, b) American Regional Working Party on Information Technology Crime, c) African Regional Working Party on Information Technology Crime, d) Asia Steering Committee for Information Technology Crime and e) Steering Committee for Information Technology Crime (Interpol, 2003). These working parties supplies representation from the majority of the continents and much use can be made from their experiences and strengths. As such, the ITCIM can be used as the foundation on which an International Code of Ethics for Cyber Crime and Cyber Terrorism can be built.
The majority of the Conventions have emphasized collaboration and cooperation from other states in combating cyber terrorism. Different world security forces have all put forth policies and key conditions for international law enforcement to exist. However, there is little mentioned on the barriers to achieving international law and the detection and prosecution of transnational and state-sponsored cyber terrorism. Some states are not cooperating.
Professor John Walker, at an international crime conference in London, has accused China of state-sponsored terrorism and has said that the Chinese government was responsible for the ‘Titan Rain’ attacks on the United States and United Kingdom. He further lamented, “No matter how much collaboration you have internationally, if you have a state-sponsored terrorist coming out of China or Russia you are not going to get them. If they are state-sponsored e-criminals they are doing it for a purpose. And you cannot extradite them”(Blincoe R, 2008). But if Russia and China are doing it, so must the West; either to develop counter strategies or to develop their own proactive capabilities. It has been said that the next world war will be fought with bits and bytes, not bullets and bombs (Gaur K 2006). Until such time as both/all nations agree to stop, there will be no stopping this escalation in International State Sponsored Terrorism. To make matters worse, leading internet company Google, has censored its search services in China in order to gain a greater market share and to satisfy the Beijing authorities. This resulted in censored information being disseminated to users. These acts, together with Professor Walker’s assertions justify the need for International Law and Code of Ethics to address state-sponsored and transnational cyber terrorism. To avoid territorial differences in terms of protection and to practical problems in the detection and prosecution of cyber terrorist activities any draft International Law and Code of Ethics must be ratified by all states. However, due to the existence of non-cooperative and communist states, these requirements are long coming.
In conclusion, it appears that only lip service has been paid to combating cyber terrorism. In the absence of an International Code of Ethics and law to combat cyber terrorism, security forces must become better informed of terrorists’ use of the internet and better able to monitor their activities. They must also explore measures to limit the usability of this medium by modern terrorists. Finally, security forces must adhere to individual or selected best practices and guidelines to ensure that the integrity of any evidence seized in the few cases detected is beyond reproach and that successful prosecution may eventually pursue.
Blincoe R (2008) China Blamed for Cyber-Terrorism Retrieved November 14 2009 from http://www.itservicesconnected.co.uk/News/July-2008/China-Blamed-for CyberTerrorism.aspx
Colarik A M (2006) Cyber Terrorism – Political and Economic Implications. IGI Publishing
Don B W, Frelinger D R, Gerwehr S, Landree E, Jackson B A (2007) Network Technologies for Networked Terrorists Assessing the Value of Information and Communication Technologies to Modern Terrorist Organizations, Prepared for the Department of Homeland Security. RAND Retrieved on October 11 2009 from: http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/2007/RAND_TR454.pdf
Gaur,K. (2006). Cyber warfare – malicious code warfare. Retrieved from http://my.opera.com/kalkigaur/blog/show.dml/450195
Google censors itself for China (2006) Retrieved November 14 2009 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4645596.stm
Ozeren S (2008) Cyberterrorism and International Cooperation: General Overview of the Available Mechanisms to Facilitate an Overwhelming Task (pp 78-82)
Sieber U, Brunst P (2009) Cyberterrorism and Harmonization of Criminal Prosecution
Retrieved November 3 2009 from:
Tikk E, Oorn R (2008) Legal and Policy Evaluation: Internation Coordination of Prosecution and Prevention of Cyber Terrorism Responses to Cyber Terrorism. . Amsterdam, IOS Press (pp 64-67)
Weimann G (2008) WWW.AL-Qaeda: The Reliance of al-Qaeda on the Internet, Responses to Cyber Terrorism. . Amsterdam, IOS Press (pp 64-67) | <urn:uuid:349fd0c5-5d76-483b-9db5-441f37564602> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://articles.forensicfocus.com/2012/09/28/the-need-for-transnational-and-state-sponsored-cyber-terrorism-laws-and-code-of-ethics/?like=1&_wpnonce=122935e828 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281426.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00061-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922288 | 1,863 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Recently, Congress gutted funding for intelligent transportation systems (ITS), choosing concrete over street smarts.
The problem is evident in nearly every American city, as motorists lose 2 billion hours in traffic congestion at an annual cost to the economy of $51 billion -- and the problem is getting worse. In 10 years, traffic is predicted to increase by as much as 50 percent, while overall highway mileage will barely increase. Besides hurting the economy, our love affair with the automobile damages the environment, reduces quality of life and is detrimental to safety.
The solution is not more concrete and blacktop. Most transportation experts and public policy-makers agree that the days of building new roads is over. What's needed, they say, is a better, safer and more efficient way to use the roads and highways that already exist. The way to do that is with ITS.
ITS controls the flow of traffic with computerized signals, speeds vehicles through highway and bridge tolls with electronic collection systems, helps travelers navigate around congestion and accidents, and warns drivers of impending collisions.
ITS took off in 1991 with passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA). During ISTEA's six-year run, the U.S. Department of Transportation was authorized to spend approximately $1.3 billion on a range of ITS research, development and testing programs.
ITS has proved itself and has delivered tangible benefits. For example, according to U.S. Department of Transportation figures, freeway management systems can reduce accidents by 17 percent while permitting highways to handle as much as 22-percent more traffic at greater speeds. Computerized traffic signals can decrease travel times by 14 percent, reduce delays by 37 percent and increase speeds by 22 percent. Incident management systems have reduced incident-related congestion and delays by as much as 60 percent. The list goes on.
Time to Act
With testing done and most systems demonstrating positive results, it's time for the country to deploy ITS nationally, urged federal, state and local transportation officials. As Richard Baum, member of the board of directors for the nonprofit ITS America, told Congress last January: "If the prime goals of ISTEA -- namely intermodalism and efficiency -- are to be realized, then ITS technologies need to be deployed in a systematic and interoperable manner across the nation."
What ITS also needs is funding that covers more than the capital cost of building complex information systems. As every state and local IT official knows, it takes lots of money to manage and maintain computer hardware, software and communications infrastructure. Information technology changes rapidly and, without adequate funds, it quickly becomes obsolete.
Unfortunately, Congress continues to prefer concrete to computers when it comes to improving surface transportation. When Congress drafted legislation for the recent ISTEA reauthorization bill, the Clinton administration -- with the backing of state and local governments -- proposed changing the definition of "operations and maintenance" as it applied to federal-aid highway dollars from the Highway Trust Fund. The change included ITS operations and maintenance as an eligible expense.
In other words, change the definition of what highway programs are eligible for ongoing support, and you increase the amount of federal money available for ITS operations and maintenance, in addition to capital costs.
While the Senate ISTEA reauthorization bill included this proposal, the House version did not. When the House/Senate conference committee met in April to reconcile the two ISTEA bills, it threw out the more flexible language in the Senate version.
Mark Johnson, legislative liaison for ITS America, called the action a significant defeat for expanding the funding eligibility of ITS operations. Without flexibility in the language, deploying ITS on a national scale will become more difficult.
In explaining their unwillingness to back the Senate's version, House committee staff members told Johnson that the reauthorization bill already contained sufficient language to support the funding of ITS operations and maintenance. What they didn't tell him and others is that the House, under pressure from the highway lobby, is unwilling to use highway funds for anything other than asphalt, concrete and bridges.
National deployment of ITS is backed by a broad spectrum of organizations, including representatives of state and local government. In 20 years, the ITS marketplace could reach a staggering $437 billion and create 590,000 jobs, in addition to reducing accidents, cutting commute time and improving the environment. But unless Congress stops viewing transportation through the rear-view mirror and starts looking up the road, we'll never find out.
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June Table of Contents | <urn:uuid:ab33e882-3f63-452c-886b-de049c929a7a> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.govtech.com/magazines/gt/100552614.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285289.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00455-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945438 | 959 | 2.625 | 3 |
USGS shakes up earthquake maps
- By Mark Rockwell
- Jul 25, 2014
Eastern and Midwestern states face greater earthquake damage potential that previously thought, according to new data added to the U.S. Geological Survey's seismic hazard maps.
The USGS recently updated the U.S. National Seismic Hazard Map to reflect the best understanding of where future earthquakes might occur across the lower 48 states. The agency provides the updates to help other agencies and the private sector with building planning and emergency contingencies through the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program, a congressionally established partnership of four federal agencies -- USGS, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Institute of Standards and Technology and National Science Foundation.
USGS said it typically updates the national seismic hazard models and maps every six years, in sync with building code updates. Updates include data on earthquake frequency and intensity, among other parameters.
The maps show that 42 states are at risk, with 16 facing high risk. While those 16 have historically experienced earthquakes with a magnitude six or greater, the eastern United States has the potential for larger and more damaging earthquakes than considered in previous assessments, the agency said.
The 2011 5.8 magnitude earthquake in central Virginia that shook Washington, D.C., and forced the closure of the Washington Monument was felt as far away as New York City. It was among the strongest along the east coast in 100 years, USGS said, and reminded residents that larger seismic events are possible in the region.
The update led the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program to include states and specific geographical areas in the new maps that haven't been considered risky, including Utah and Oklahoma.
Not surprisingly, USGS said the hazard is especially high along the west coast, in the intermountain west, and in several active regions of the central U.S., including near New Madrid, Mo., the location of an historically dangerous fault line. The 16 states at highest risk are Alaska, Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
"With an understanding of potential ground shaking levels, various risk analyses can be calculated by considering factors like population levels, building exposure and building construction practices," USGS said.
Mark Rockwell is a staff writer at FCW.
Before joining FCW, Rockwell was Washington correspondent for Government Security News, where he covered all aspects of homeland security from IT to detection dogs and border security. Over the last 25 years in Washington as a reporter, editor and correspondent, he has covered an increasingly wide array of high-tech issues for publications like Communications Week, Internet Week, Fiber Optics News, tele.com magazine and Wireless Week.
Rockwell received a Jesse H. Neal Award for his work covering telecommunications issues, and is a graduate of James Madison University.
Click here for previous articles by Rockwell.
Contact him at firstname.lastname@example.org or follow him on Twitter at @MRockwell4. | <urn:uuid:951c76cf-edc3-4c16-8459-dcae57989fc6> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://fcw.com/articles/2014/07/25/usgs-earthquake-map.aspx | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279189.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00365-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938765 | 619 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Military Transformers: 20 Innovative Defense TechnologiesDepartment of Defense technologies under development, from brainy microchips to battlefield transformer vehicles, promise to make the U.S. military more nimble. Here's a visual tour of 20 breakthrough ideas.
3 of 20
A "disposable aircraft," the CICADA Mark III is comprised simply of a printed circuit board, which minimizes wiring and makes it fast and inexpensive to assemble. (CICADA stands for Close-In Covert Autonomous Disposable Aircraft.) Resembling a toy airplane, it can accommodate light payloads, such as chemical, biological, and other signals intelligence sensors. Other electronic payloads can be incorporated by updating the circuit board and "re-winging" the aircraft.
Credit: U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
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3 of 20 | <urn:uuid:953b2418-2181-447a-a20b-c4afbd0e34dd> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.darkreading.com/risk-management/military-transformers-20-innovative-defense-technologies/d/d-id/1104353?page_number=3 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280086.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00273-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.811373 | 262 | 2.65625 | 3 |
A few years ago, while working with DJ Patil (now the Chief Data Scientist of the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy) on an article about data scientists, he related to me a general rule about big data that we had both observed in the field: “Big data equals small math.” My explanation for this phenomenon is that companies often have to spend so much time and effort getting big data into shape for analysis that they have little energy left for sophisticated analytics. The result is that, for many organizations, the most complex analysis they do with big data is the bar chart.
Unfortunately, the same situation is true for Internet of Things (IoT) analytics. This should not be surprising, since it’s a form of big data. The challenge with IoT data is often not the volume, but the variety of data. If you want to know what’s going on with a car, for example, there are a couple of hundred sensors creating data that require integration, much of it in manufacturers’ proprietary formats.
As a result, most of the “analytics of things” thus far have been descriptive analytics – bar (and Heaven forbid, pie) charts, means and medians, and alerts for out-of-bounds data. These “measures of central tendency” are useful for reducing the amount of data and getting some idea of what’s going on in it, but there are far more useful statistics that could be generated on IoT data.
So for the rest of this column, I’ll describe the analytics of things – both current and potential – in terms of the typology of analytics that I and others have employed widely: descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive.
Descriptive Analytics for the IoT
As I mentioned above, these have been the most common form of IoT analytics thus far. But there is still progress to be made in the descriptive analytics domain. Integrated descriptive analytics about a large entity like a person’s overall health, a car, a locomotive, or a city’s traffic network are required to make sense of the performance of these entities. The city-state of Singapore, for example, has developed a dashboard of IoT traffic data to understand the overall state and patterns of traffic. It’s not the be-all and end-all of IoT analytics, but it at least gets all the important descriptive analytics in one place.
Another useful form of descriptive IoT analytics is comparative analytics, which allow a user to compare an individual’s or an organization’s performance to that of others. Activity tracker manufacturers like Fitbit and fitness data managers like RunKeeper and MyFitnessPal allow comparison with friends’ activities. The comparative descriptive analytics provide motivation and accountability for fitness activities. Similarly, the Nest thermostat offers energy reports on how users compare to their neighbors in energy usage.
Diagnostic Analytics for the IoT
I have not often used the “diagnostic analytics” classification favored by Gartner because the explanatory statistical models it involves are usually just a stepping stone to predictive or prescriptive analytics. But diagnostic analytics have some standalone value in the IoT context, particularly for qualifying alerts. One big problem for the IoT is going to be the massive number of alerts that it generates. Alerts are generally intended to get humans to pay attention, but “alert fatigue” is going to set in fast if there are too many of them – as there are already today in health care with medical devices. Diagnostic analytics can determine whether alerts really need attention and what is causing them. My friends at the analytics software company Via Science, where I am an adviser, tell me that Bayesian networks are really good at distinguishing important alerts, and I take their word for it. I would imagine that logistic regression models could do it sometimes as well.
Predictive Analytics for the IoT
While there aren’t a lot of examples of predictive analytics with IoT data yet, there are some, and there need to be more. The most common example is probably predictive locational analysis, which happens every time I use my smartphone or car GPS to plan a route. Somewhat less but increasingly common is predictive maintenance on industrial machines, which tells companies like GE or Schindler Elevator that their equipment is about to break down, so it better be serviced.
Predictive health is another area with a lot of potential, but not much actual, value. Applications could take your daily steps, weight, and calorie consumption (that’s the toughest data point at the moment, since it relies on self-reporting), and predict things like your likelihood of getting Type 2 diabetes, or even your lifespan. More prosaic predictions could involve your likelihood of losing weight in time for your class reunion, or your beating your best time in an upcoming marathon.
Prescriptive Analytics for the IoT
Prescriptive analytics are those that provide specific recommendations based on predictions, experiments, or optimizations. It’s not hard to see how these could be valuable with the IoT. An airline pilot could be told, “Shut down engine number four now, before it overheats.” At GE, maintenance people are already told when to wash a jet engine with water, which apparently lowers the failure rate and lengthens the lifespan of the engines.
Prescriptive medical applications of the IoT could be very valuable as well. Medical device data could tell clinicians when to intervene with particular patients. Instead of annual medical checkups, which are both expensive and not terribly effective, patients could be advised by home health devices when to see a doctor. Philips already has a service offering called CareSage that uses wearable device data to alert clinicians that an elderly patient needs an intervention.
In some IoT environments, such as “smart cities,” analytics will need to provide automated prescriptive action. It’s useful to look at a dashboard and know which streets are congested in Singapore, for example, but the real value comes when a system can change traffic light durations and block off freeway entrances based on IoT data. Similar automated actions will need to be put in place for industrial environments with IoT sensors and data. In such settings, the amount of data and the need for rapid decision making will swamp human abilities to make decisions on it.
Given the young age and high complexity of the IoT data environment, it’s not surprising that the “analytics of things” isn’t very mature yet. But in order for us to get value from the IoT, we need to move beyond bar charts as quickly as possible.
Tom Davenport, the author of several best-selling management books on analytics and big data, is the President’s Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management at Babson College, a Fellow of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, co-founder of the International Institute for Analytics, and an independent senior adviser to Deloitte Analytics.
Subscribe to Data Informed for the latest information and news on big data and analytics for the enterprise. | <urn:uuid:83f0a836-4524-47b7-9619-0da34bfc8d32> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://data-informed.com/when-will-the-analytics-of-things-grow-up/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281450.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00483-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944635 | 1,462 | 2.59375 | 3 |
What will future supercomputers bring to the world? Personally, we hope that they will be used to finally design George Jetson’s flying car. But there are better experts out there making smarter predictions.
The future was, of course, a popular topic at SC12 in Salt Lake City last November. No flying cars, but increased energy efficiency, improved weather forecasting, a better understanding of the universe, and faster discovery of new drugs were all on the agenda.
IEEE has now put together a summary of supercomputing predictions and challenges made by a few of its members at SC12.
Rajeev Thakur, technical program chair of SC12 and deputy director of the Mathematics and Computer Science Division at Argonne National Laboratory, wins the prize for the most predictions. He foresees better batteries: materials science studies will enable people to create cheaper batteries with more capacity. Somebody has to replace the Energizer Bunny – and back up datacenters.
Thakur also believes cosmological simulations will answer questions about dark matter and dark energy, the geometry of the universe, and why the universe’s expansion rate is accelerating. (IBM’s next supercomputer will be named Einstein). Molecular simulations will create better drugs faster.
Energy was a popular theme. Bronis de Supinski, co-leader of the Advanced Simulation and Computing program’s Application Development Environment and Performance Team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, favors the ability to better predict electricity demand on the grid. That means less wasted energy – and, perhaps, the ability to keep your computer from crashing in a power outage.
There were a few people predicting nuclear fission to solve the world’s energy problems (and, presumably, put the oil companies out of business). It’s just a matter of convincing people who still remember Three Mile Island.
A few had to put a damper on the rosy future, noting that there are still hurdles ahead. While de Supinski envisions better power grids, he also warns that the need for cheaper power and less dissipation en route will continue to present problems. That exascale computer you’re designing may have to wait a few more years before you plug it in. Thakur agrees with that one.
De Supinski also believes memory bandwidth and capacity will continue to fall behind computational power until applications are severely limited by these bottlenecks. Thinking deep thoughts isn’t much good if you can’t remember them.
And funding will, of course, be a problem, says Thakur. Perhaps, with luck, the Sequester will be over within a few years.
And, perhaps, at SC13 one of the supercomputers will itself be making the predictions. | <urn:uuid:b65b0caa-d180-42f2-ae64-dbb0d1e2545f> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.hpcwire.com/2013/02/27/supercomputing_challenges_and_predictions/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281450.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00483-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929286 | 570 | 3.0625 | 3 |
What Will Google Do with NASA's Hangar One?
/ March 4, 2014
NASA's eight-acre Hangar One -- built in 1933 as a naval airship hangar for the USS Macon -- is a Silicon Valley icon. It has been designated as a Naval Historical Monument, listed in the Santa Clara County Heritage Resource Inventory and been accepted into the National Register of Historic Places.
And in the coming months, more than 80 years after its construction, it will be taken over by Planetary Ventures LLC, a subsidiary of Internet giant Google, as part of a lease agreement for the airfield where Hangar One sits.
In fact, back in September 2012, Google top execs Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt expressed interest in the hangar, according to Wikipedia; they proposed paying $33 million to revamp the hangar (the full cost to do so) in exchange for being able to use up to two-thirds of the floor space to shelter eight of their private jets.
As part of the lease agreement, Google will not only fix up Hangar One -- which was stripped of its outer covering back in 2012 because its walls and roof contained polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), asbestos and lead paint -- but also will rehabilitate two other Moffett Field hangars, build an on-site educational facility and upgrade NASA’s golf course, according to Wired. | <urn:uuid:45a2ded4-ffd3-49e7-bdaf-94dcb0a5cc8d> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.govtech.com/photos/Photo-of-the-Week-What-Will-Google-Do-with-NASAs-Hangar-One.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280133.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00117-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94817 | 284 | 2.53125 | 3 |
The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is an Internet communications protocol that lets client applications access directory information. It is based on the X.500 Directory Access Protocol (DAP) but is less complex than a traditional client and can be used with any other directory service that follows the X.500 standard.
LDAP is used most often as the simplest directory access protocol.
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) Services for NetIQ eDirectory is a server application that lets LDAP clients access information stored in eDirectory.
LDAP Services includes eDirectory features that are available through LDAP:
You can give different clients different levels of directory access, and you can access the directory over a secure connection. These security mechanisms let you make some types of directory information available to the public, other types available to your organization, and certain types available only to specified groups or individuals.
The directory features available to LDAP clients depend on the functionality built into the LDAP client and the LDAP server. For example, LDAP Services for eDirectory lets LDAP clients read and write data in the eDirectory database if the client has the necessary permissions. Some clients have the capability to read and write directory data, while others can only read it.
Some typical client features let clients do one or more of the following:
Look up information about a specific person, such as an e-mail address or phone number.
Look up information for all people with a given last name, or a last name that begins with a certain letter.
Look up information about any eDirectory object or entry.
Retrieve a name, e-mail address, business phone number, and home phone number.
Retrieve a company name and city name.
The following sections provide information about LDAP Services for eDirectory:
For more information on LDAP, see the following Web sites: | <urn:uuid:cb388cad-53de-461c-afa1-2bb202804228> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.netiq.com/documentation/edir88/edir88/data/a4wyf4a.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281151.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00419-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.843346 | 384 | 2.6875 | 3 |
De La Hera I.,Grupo de Anillamiento Cientilfico de Aves Txepetxa |
GoMez J.,Grupo de Anillamiento Cientilfico de Aves Txepetxa |
Andres T.,Grupo de Anillamiento Cientilfico de Aves Txepetxa |
Gonzalez-Ocio P.,Grupo de Anillamiento Cientilfico de Aves Txepetxa |
And 6 more authors.
Ardeola | Year: 2014
Understanding the spatiotemporal distribution of birds is crucial for effective manage-ment and conservation of their populations. However, we still have only limited knowledge not only of the wintering destinations of many Iberian breeding migrants but also of aspects as general as the mi-gratory behaviour of the populations of many common avian species that breed in the Iberian highlands. We used bird-ringing data to shed light on the migratory status (migratory, partially-migratory or seden-tary) of the breeding populations of 13 common species occurring year-round in a woodland located on an Iberian plateau (Garaio,Araba, Spain; 574 m.a.s.l.), where ringing activities have been carried out over the last 20 years. To assess the extent to which birds breeding on this site remain in the area during winter and/or are replaced by conspecifics coming from other areas, we analysed: (1) changes in relative abundance of birds between summer and winter, (2) the frequency of sedentary individuals (birds captured both in summer and winter period in the study area) in relation to the number of indi-viduals captured only in summer (summer visitors) or in winter (wintering birds), and (3) variation in wing length among summer, wintering and sedentary birds. Our results revealed great variation among species in the intensity of migratory behaviour, and a general arrival of foreign conspecifics during the winter for most of the species studied. Likewise, our study represents an illustrative example of how long-term ringing can be used to shed light on the migratory status of bird populations. Source | <urn:uuid:b1c477c7-8bf4-48ac-800a-b2d4a4f170f2> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.linknovate.com/affiliation/grupo-de-anillamiento-cientilfico-de-aves-txepetxa-394360/all/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280504.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00447-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.856794 | 481 | 2.75 | 3 |
As autonomous vehicles get closer to hitting the road, proponents of the technology say automakers may need new protections from legal liability.
Industry insiders are worried about lawsuits over product liability, negligence, foreseeable harm, patent encumbrance and design defects, according to C-Net, once self-driving vehicles officially are on public highways. Experts on autonomous vehicle technology gathered to debate legalities surrounding the topic at a robitics conference held last week in California. During the conference, which was hosted by Stanford University, papers were presented on the risks, factors and theories that could have an effect on autonomous driving.
“The longer it takes for this technology to reach the market, the more people die,” Josh Blackman, a law professor at the South Texas College of Law.
Some states like California and Nevada have led the nation in autonomous vehicle regulation laws. Nevada approved rules for driving self-driving cars in early 2012 and California gave the OK at the beginning of this year.
Photo courtesy of Google | <urn:uuid:bcae5776-5738-416d-8eda-457e7b65b0fb> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.govtech.com/technology/Are-Self-Driving-Cars-Modern-Day-Scofflaws.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560284270.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095124-00079-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965668 | 204 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Exhibit:What operating system tools can be used to collect capacity planning data? (Choose two.)
In order for pam_ldap to be capable of changing a user’s password in Active Directory, thepam_password parameter must be set to
OpenLDAP is capable of using the __________ framework to provide integrity and confidentialityprotections.
In capacity planning exercise, what tools assist in identifying processes of interest from otherprocesses? (Choose two.)
What type of object class is sambaSamAccount?
Which of the following resources would be measured for capacity planning? (Choose two.)
After finishing configuration of a UNIX client to authenticate with a Microsoft Active Directoryserver, login attempts are unsuccessful. Which of the following is most likely the cause?
Which configuration directive must be used in the example below to setup replication to a slave server?<code>Uri=ldaps//slave.example.com636binddn="cn=Replicator,dc=example,dc=com"bindmethod=simple credentials=secret</code>
Which of the following procedures will test the TLS configuration of your LDAP server?
All entries in an LDAP directory must have the ______________ attribute. | <urn:uuid:86dfcc63-f43c-47ef-abed-9c067073896d> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.aiotestking.com/linux/category/exam-117-301-lpi-level-3-exam-301-senior-level-linux-certification-core/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279410.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00475-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.80357 | 255 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Find the cameras that have the specified features.
camera_error_t camera_find_capable(camera_feature_t *features, int nfeatures, camera_unit_t prevunit, camera_unit_t *nextunit)
A pointer that lists the features to search for.
The number of features specified in the first argument.
The previous unit that was queried or CAMERA_UNIT_NONE if this is the first call to this function.
A pointer to a camera_unit_t value where the function returns the next unit which supports all requested features. A value of CAMERA_UNIT_NONE is returned when you reach the end of the list.
You can use this function find cameras with features required for your application. For example, you can use it to find cameras which have flash or only cameras that face the front. This function is used to iterate through a list of cameras and is returned in the nextunit argument.
For example, to start iterating through the cameras, you set the prevunit argument to CAMERA_UNIT_NONE. Doing so, returns nextunit found on this iteration. If you wanted to continue iterating through the list of cameras, you would pass the value returned by the nextunit argument as the prevunit argument in your next call of the this function. When the end of the list is reached, nextunit returns with a value of CAMERA_UNIT_NONE.
CAMERA_EOK when the function successfully completes, otherwise another camera_error_t value that provides the reason that the call failed. | <urn:uuid:cfca29d9-fa45-474c-b04d-8458349e5171> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://developer.blackberry.com/playbook/native/reference/com.qnx.doc.camera.lib_ref/topic/camera_find_capable.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279410.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00475-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.773091 | 335 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Google and other search engines face far more than just a new rival in Wikia—they face the prospect of hundreds, even thousands of new competitors.
The entire search engine project Wikia is working on will enter the open-source domain, drastically reducing the cost for just about anyone to make a search engine, said Gil Penchina, CEO of Wikia. Instead of paying millions of dollars to index the Web, create the software to build a search page, a filter for empty or spam pages, and an algorithm to calculate and rank findings, new search companies will find these items free online thanks to the open-source and free-software communities.
"In search, it still costs about [US]$5 million to $10 million to build a site," said Penchina during an interview in Taipei. "We want to make it possible for anyone to build a search site for $500. We don't view Google as the competition—we view cost as the competition."
The project, which was started by Wikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales, consists of four components: the indexing of the Web, developing a search engine application, an algorithm, and using people to help filter sites and rank results.
One of the most expensive components of a search engine is the effort needed to index the Web. Companies have to buy servers and software to crawl the Web looking at what's on every page, in order to create a comprehensive list of what's on the Web.
"Your average search startup will spend over $1 million buying servers and collecting data. That's bad for a couple of reasons. One is that everyone spends millions of dollars doing what is essentially the same work, which is like writing an encyclopedia all over again. Well, what if all of that data was available over the GNU Free Documentation License, which is the free content license? So our goal is to make a crawl of the Web publicly available," said Penchina.
The cost of indexing the Web is one of the main hurdles to starting a search engine, and for-profit companies have raised the bar year after year by indexing the Web more and more often. It used to be catalogued once a week, or once a day. Now it's once an hour, or even more often. The high cost of running these crawls has become a competitive weapon.
Wikia believes its crawl of the Web will cost nearly nothing, because it's asking Internet users to help out by downloading Web-crawling software from Grub, which will use their computers during idle time to crawl the Web, and send results back to Wikia for the index. So far about 1,000 people have downloaded the application, and Penchina is hoping for 100,000 or more. The goal is to post the entire index online, as well as regular updates, so anyone can use them.
Asking the Internet community for help this way is reminiscent of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project, which asks users to run a free application that downloads and analyzes radio telescope data and sends the results back to a computer operated by the SETI@home group.
Another essential search engine element is an application that provides a place to type in searches, a button to say "go" and the ability to view results. Right now, Wikia is looking at using Lucene, an open-source application. Wikia plans to either invest more into the Lucene project to make sure the software works well, or build its own software to serve the same purpose.
"That's sort of an ongoing fight right now, either building into Lucene or building our own application. We sort of have two projects going right now; we're sort of doing both," said Penchina.
Another key piece of search technology is an algorithm to determine search rankings, ensuring users find what they're looking for. Such algorithms are the secret recipes of search engine companies, never to be revealed for fear of abuse by hackers or other people. But at Wikia, the idea is to create an algorithm and post it on the Internet for free, so anyone can see how results are determined by the search engine. People who don't like the search results can offer Wikia tips, or create their own algorithms, download all of the free search engine material made available by Wikia and start their own search company, Penchina said.
The collaboration part of the whole project is having users sort through and filter webpages, as well as tweak search engine results by their own work. It adds a human touch to the search engine process, and Wikia's founders hope it will lead to better Internet searches.
Money may come from the Wikia search engine when it's finally done, but that's not the point of the project.
"We believe you can do good and make money. In search we haven't figured out how yet," said Penchina. But if you build something that millions of people use and find value in, somebody's going to pay you for something. I mean, maybe we'll get consulting fees, maybe we'll sell advertising, maybe we'll sell some premium software or something. I don't know. I don't care. And I'm not even really thinking about it because I've got to get a million people to use it first." | <urn:uuid:46ae25b9-7b5f-4c36-ac3f-329ec6c46094> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.cio.com/article/2438272/consumer-technology/google-faces-more-than-just-a-new-rival-in-wikia.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281263.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00107-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957175 | 1,089 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Following its eScience Workshop at the University of California, Berkeley last week, Microsoft made a couple of significant announcements to over 200 attendees about new toolsets available to aid in ecological and biological research.
At the heart of its two core news items is a new ecological research tool called MODISAzure coupled with the announcement of the Microsoft Biology Foundation, both of which are tied to Microsoft’s Azure cloud offering, which until relatively recently has not on the scientific cloud computing radar to quite the same degree as Amazon’s public cloud resource.
While the company’s Biology Foundation announcement is not as reliant on the cloud for processing power as much as it supplies a platform for collaboration and information-sharing, the ecological research tool provides a sound use case of scientific computing in the cloud. All of the elements for what is useful about the cloud for researchers is present: dynamic scalability, processing power equivalent or more powerful than local clusters, and the ability for researchers to shed some of the programming and cluster management challenges in favor of on-demand access.
MODISAzure and Flexible Ecological Research
Studies of ecosystems, even on the minute, local scale are incredibly complex undertakings due to the fact that any ecosystem is comprised of a large number of elements; from water, climate and plant cycles to external influences, including human interference, the list of constituent parts that factor into the broader examination of an ecosystem seems almost endless. Each element doubles onto itself, forming a series of sub-factors that must be considered — a task that requires supercomputer assistance, or at least used to.
Last week at its annual eScience Workshop, Microsoft Research teamed up with the University of California, Berkeley to announce a new research tool that simplifies complex data analysis that creators claim will focus on “the breathing of the biosphere.” Notice how the word “breathing” here implies that there will be a near real-time implication to the way data is collected and analyzed, meaning that researchers will be able to see the ecosystem as it exists in each moment — or as it “breathes” or exists in a particular moment.
In order to monitor the breathing of a biosphere, data from satellite images from the over 500 FLUXNET towers are analyzed in minute detail, often down to what the team describes as a single-kilometer-level, or, if needed, on a global scale. The FLUXNET towers themselves, which are akin to a network of sensor arrays that measure fluctuations in carbon dioxide and water vapor levels, can provide data that can then be scaled over time, meaning that researchers can either get a picture of the present via the satellite images or can take the data and look for patterns that stretch back over a ten-year period if needed.
It is in this flexibility of timelines that researchers have to draw from that the term “breathing” comes into play. According to Catharine van Ingen, a partner architect on the project from Microsoft Research, “You see more different things when you can look big and look small. The ability to have that kind of living, breathing dataset ready for science is exciting. You can learn more and different things at each scale.”
To be more specific, as Microsoft stated in its release, the system “combines state-of-the-art biophysical modeling with a rich cloud-based dataset of satellite imagery and ground-based sensor data to support carbon-climate science synthesis analysis on a global scale.”
This system is based on MODISAzure, which Microsoft describes as a “pipeline for downloading, processing and reducing diverse satellite imagery.” This satellite imagery, which is collected from the network of FLUXNET towers, employs the Windows Azure platform to gain the scalable boost it needs to deliver the results to researchers’ desktops.
What this means, in other words, is that in theory, scientists studying the complex interaction of forces in an ecosystem and would otherwise rely on supercomputing capacity to handle such tasks, are now granted a maintenance- and hassle-free research tool via the power of Microsoft’s cloud offering.
Like a range of HPC on-demand resources, virtualized or otherwise, this means that scientists are able to shed the responsibility and difficulty of managing their own cluster or other large resource and instead can tap into the power of the cloud to remove the complexity and secure access to scalable, on-demand resources.
As mentioned earlier, part of what makes ecosystem research such an intricate process is that it relies on sharing and collaboration across disciplines along with effective ways to synthesize and then analyze the data in a way that’s relevant for specific purposes. According to Microsoft, “this approach enables scientists from different disciplines to share data and algorithms, helping them better understand and visualize how ecosystems behave as climate change occurs.”
Bringing Scientific Cloud Use Cases to Bear
Microsoft has been steadily reaching out to the scientific community with its Technical Computing initiative and push to its Azure cloud offering. During its eScience Workshop at Berkeley last week, the company also announced the Microsoft Biology Foundation (MBF), which is being made available to scientists in the areas of bioinformatics and general biology. In essence, this is a toolkit to help scientists share and access vital resources, computational and otherwise.
According to Microsoft, “This programming-language-neutral bioinformatics toolkit was built as an extension to the .NET framework [and] serves as a library of commonly used bioinformatics functions. MBF implements a range of parsers for common bioinformatics file formats; a range of algorithms for manipulating DNA, RNA and protein sequences and a set of connectors to biological Web services as the National Center for Biotechnology Information BLAST.”
During the MBF announcement, Microsoft stated that several universities and enterprises were already using MBF as a foundation for a number of experimental initiatives that would better equip scientists and clinicians with what they needed to leap key technological barriers and come up with better ways of researching and developing biological data-driven initiatives.
Although the news does not emerge daily, or sometimes even weekly, there are some fully functional cloud computing experiments and full-fledged initiatives underway at a number of institutions and companies, particularly in the biosciences. UC Berkeley is a hotbed of scientific cloud experimentation and this particular project brings Microsoft with its Azure platform into play, which in the case of Berkeley, is not always as prevalent press-wise as their work with Amazon’s cloud.
While life sciences companies and bioinformatics are the areas that seem to garner the most attention, in part because some of the analytics applications are often ideal workloads to shuffle out to public cloud providers since they do not require snappy low-latency networking and are often “bursty” in nature (i.e., the need for such processing fluctuates wildly), it is no surprise that cloud providers are making big noise about their work in scientific computing — especially in the biological realm.
This latest branch out into the environmental and ecological end of the spectrum, both with its MBF and MODISAzure announcement, brings Microsoft a few steps closer to becoming a real contender for AWS on the scientific cloud front. While there are Azure use cases for science and research, since Microsoft’s offering is a bit younger than AWS, it hasn’t received quite the same level of glory. | <urn:uuid:39a92ca5-17fc-4a77-b6b9-4961b27d9f8c> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.hpcwire.com/2010/10/19/cloud-driven_tools_from_microsoft_research_target_earth_life_sciences/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280730.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00557-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939749 | 1,528 | 2.625 | 3 |
What is storage server?
Storage Severs are used to store the data and applications of an organisation. They serve as store houses for data and applications repositories. The storage servers may be in situ or ex situ, i.e. they may be located inside the network premises of the organisation or may be maintained virtually in a cloud network. Some organisations also outsource their storage server requirements to external vendors, to reduce capital expenditures. | <urn:uuid:187b9307-27bc-4d46-b014-c58230909e84> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.hcltech.com/technology-qa/what-is-storage-server | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281353.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00373-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919917 | 86 | 2.5625 | 3 |
The most widely used computer programming languages today were not designed as parallel programming languages. But retrofitting existing programming languages for parallel programming is underway. We can compare and contrast retrofits by looking at four key features, five key qualities, and the various implementation approaches.
In this article, I focus on the features and qualities, leaving the furious debates over best approaches (language vs. library vs. directives, and abstract and portable vs. low-level with lots of controls) for another day.
Four features we need
Features that any parallel programming solution, including retrofits, should include a defined memory model, synchronization, tasks, and data parallelism.
Defining how changes in shared data are observable by different tasks had been an under-appreciated problem. Hans-J. Boehm wrote a report in 2004, titled Threads Cannot Be Implemented As a Library, which explains these issues. Having a well-defined ordering among accesses to distinct variables, and enabling the independence of updates to distinct variables, is so important that they have been addressed in Java, C11 and C++11. Without these retrofits, every parallel program sits on a crumbling foundation.
The need for portable and efficient synchronization is substantial. Boost libraries, Intel’s Threading Building Blocks (TBB) and OpenMP offer solutions that are widely utilized. C++11 and C11 now offer support. Beyond these, the concept of transactions is a topic worth exploring in a future article. Synchronization retrofitting is helping portability. Substantial opportunities remain for helping efficiency.
Tasks, not threads
Programming should be an exercise in writing tasks that can run concurrently, without the programmer specifying the precise mapping of tasks onto hardware threads. An introduction to this challenge is The Problem with Threads by Edward A. Lee.
Mapping should be the job of tools, including run-time schedulers, not explicit programming. This philosophy is being well supported by retrofits like OpenMP, TBB, Cilk Plus, Microsoft’s Parallel Patterns Library (PPL) and Apple’s Grand Central Dispatch (GCD). The need to assert some control over task to thread mapping to maximize performance is still present when using such systems today, but not always supported.
Nevertheless, programming directly to native threads (e.g., pthreads) in applications is something that should be completely avoided. Retrofits are sufficient today to make tasks the method of choice.
Data parallel support
It should be reasonably straightforward to write a portable program that takes advantage of data parallel hardware. Ideally, data parallel support should be able to utilize vector and task parallel capabilities without a programmer having to explicitly code the division between the two.
Unfortunately, no such solution is in wide spread use today even for vectorization alone. Effective auto-parallelization is very dependent on highly optimizing compilers. Compiler intrinsics lock code into a particular vector width (MMX=64, SSE=128, AVX=256, etc.). Elemental functions in CUDA, OpenCL, and Cilk Plus offer a glimpse into possible retrofits. Intel proposes we adopt the vectorization benefits of Fortran 90 array notations into C and C++ as part of the Cilk Plus project.
Vector hardware is increasingly important in processors, GPUs and co-processors. OpenCL and OpenMP wrestle today with how to embrace data parallel hardware and how tightly tied programming will be to it. Microsoft C++ AMP has similar challenges when it comes to market with the next Microsoft Visual Studio. Standard, abstract, portable and effective solutions wanted!
Five qualities we should desire
Five key qualities that are desirable, for parallel programming, include composability, sequential reasoning, communication minimization, performance portability and safety.
All of these qualities are unobtainable, in an absolute sense, whether as retrofits in an old language or with a clean slate and a new language. That is why we cannot call them features. The more of these qualities we obtain the better off we are. That makes them very important to keep in mind.
Composability is a well-known concept in programming, offering rules for combining different things together (functions, objects, modules, etc.) so that it is easy to compose (think: combine in unanticipated ways). It is important to think of composability in terms of both correctness and performance.
OpenCL, largely because it is less abstract, has low composability on both accounts. OpenMP and OpenCL have very serious performance composability unless they are used very carefully. New and abstract retrofits (TBB, Cilk, PPL, GCD) are much more tolerant and able to deliver high composability.
Self-composability is an essential first step, but the ability to compose multiple retrofits together is essential in the long run as well. A welcome solution for tool vendors, Microsoft’s Concurrency Runtime has allowed retrofits from multiple vendors to coexist with increased composability. Parallel programming without the ability to mix and match freely, is undesirable and counterproductive.
Composability deserves more attention than it gets.
Sequential reasoning, the norm for reading a serial implementation, can apply with an appropriately expressed parallel program. OpenMP uses hints to create the use of parallelism instead of code changes. This allows the intent of a program to remain evident in the code. TBB and PPL emphasize relaxed sequential semantics to provide parallelism as an accelerator without making it mandatory for correctness. Writing a program in a sequentially consistent fashion is permitted and encouraged.
An explicit goal of Cilk Plus is to offer sequential semantics to set it apart from other retrofits. The serial elision (or C elision) of a Cilk program is touted in papers from MIT. Programming that preserves sequential semantics has received praise as easier to learn and use. The elemental functions in OpenCL, CUDA and Cilk Plus have similar objectives.
It is fair to say that programming in a manner that requires understanding parallel semantics, in order to understand intent, is both unpopular and out of vogue today. Such mandatory parallelism is harder to understand and to debug.
Sequential reasoning can be extended to debuggers too. A hot area to watch here is debuggers working to present a debugging experience more akin to sequential experiences, with features like Rogue Wave’s replay capabilities in the Totalview debugger.
Instead of sequential reasoning being a retrofit, it is more accurate to think of sequential reasoning as often being purposefully sought and preserved in a parallel world.
Performance tuning on parallel systems often focuses on ensuring data is local when you use it and minimizing the need to move it around. Data motion means communication of some sort, and communication is generally expensive. Decisions in the design and implementation of retrofits, as well as the application programming itself, often impact performance dramatically. The task stealing algorithms of TBB, Cilk, PPL and GCD all have cache reuse strongly in mind in their designs. Retrofits to help, with communication minimization, are a tricky business and could use more attention.
The goal here is that a tuned program on one piece of hardware performs reasonably well on another piece of hardware. It is desirable to be able to describe data and tasks in such a way that performance scales as parallelism increases (number of cores, or size of vectors, or cache size, etc.). Nothing is ever fully performance portable, but more abstract retrofits tend to hold up better.
Unfortunately, implementations of abstractions can struggle to offer peak performance. It took years for compilers to offer performance for MMX or SSE that was competitive with assembly language programming. Use of cache-agnostic algorithms generally increase performance portability. Today, competing on performance with carefully-crafted CUDA and OpenCL code can be challenging because the coding is low level enough to encourage, or even require, the program structure to match the hardware. The lack of performance portability of such code is frequently shown, but effective alternatives remain works-in-progress. Language design, algorithm choices and programming style can affect performance portability a great deal.
The freedom from deadlocks and race conditions, may be the most difficult to provide via a retrofit. No method to add complete safety to C or C++ has gained wide popularity. Safety has not been incorporated into non-managed languages easily, despite some valiant efforts to do so.
To make a language safe, pointers have to be removed or severely restricted. Meanwhile, tools are maturing to help us cope with safety despite lack of direct language support, and safer coding style and safer retrofits appear to help as well. Perhaps safety comes via a combination of “good enough” and “we can cope using tools.”
A journey ahead, together
There are at least four key programming problems that any parallel programming solution should address, and five key qualities that can make a programming model, retrofit or otherwise, more desirable. Evolution in hardware will help as well.
About the author
James Reinders has helped develop supercomputers, microprocessors and software tools for 25 years. He is a senior engineer for Intel in Hillsboro Oregon. | <urn:uuid:a4b79989-9be0-41da-88f6-2d4fed45155f> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.hpcwire.com/2012/02/23/retrofitting_programming_languages_for_a_parallel_world/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560284429.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095124-00189-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936193 | 1,880 | 2.875 | 3 |
Moore’s Law is the observation that the number of transistors capable of being built on an integrated circuit doubles every eighteen months.
The law, first discussed in 1965 by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, has proven able to consistently predict the pace of 20th and 21st century technological progress. Today, roughly every 18 months computers double in speed and power. At about the same pace, the number of pixels achievable by a digital camera doubles. This is true because Moore’s Law doesn’t just describe the pace of computers; it reveals the hidden exponential curve of innovation. The rule applies across industries and the data guides us to a more functional understanding of technology.
Theories explaining the intangible march of progress had been pondered and published long before Moore’s Law, but it wasn’t until Moore offered a statistical benchmark that these theories became valuable. This is because data has a way of revealing the truth that was always there and, in cases where misinformation is pervasive, speaking loudly and clearly for itself.
The cable industry sees Moore’s Law in action every day. Looking at broadband, we can see that peak available speeds have steadily and significantly increased, about 50 percent annually for the past several years. Many of these peak speed increases come along with middle tier speed bumps as well. What some customers now pay now for 50 Mbps is about what they paid for 20 Mbps 18 months ago.
Of course, Moore’s Law probably shouldn’t be called a law in the same way that we refer to Newton’s Laws of Motion. Newton described hard-and-fast rules of the universe. Moore’s Law is a compelling observation, but anything can happen. As any computer engineer, technologist, or science fiction writer will tell you, the future is remarkably difficult to predict. Still, for fifty years it’s proven to be a consistent barometer of technological progress.
The point is, without numbers, clear, concise data, and statistical benchmarks backing observations up, abstract arguments like “broadband speeds are getting faster ” tend to ring hollow. That’s why we take such pride in providing clear, accessible data about the cable industry. In an environment like Washington where ideas are a commodity and influence is as much a question of credibility as it is accuracy, numbers are invaluable. They tell their own story and they cut through the clutter.
Be sure to visit our Industry Data page to see more informative graphs and key stats that highlight today’s video and Internet marketplace. | <urn:uuid:8df896e9-e124-40d3-80cb-e16f344980db> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.ncta.com/platform/broadband-internet/the-curve-of-innovation-at-505-mbps/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560284429.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095124-00189-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947035 | 520 | 3.59375 | 4 |
Manufacturing Breakthrough Blog
Friday November 11, 2016
The Standard Cost System
Production managers and schedulers from all manufacturing firms face a series of questions that must be answered correctly if their companies are going to be successful. They must decide what products to schedule and what batch size to run. Controllers must decide things like the sales price of products and whether or not to purchase a new piece of equipment. When these type of decisions must be made, managers typically follow the guidelines of the Standard Cost System (SCS).
For at least the last fifty years, the SCS has been the driving force for these and other decisions because it provided the “rules” under which successful managers were promoted. Because it has worked for them in the past, most managers feel very comfortable using the SCS. The problem is, today’s manufacturing environment is much more competitive and complex. Because of today’s competitive and complex environment, there is a growing awareness that the SCS has a number of flaws that stand in the manager’s way in terms of making correct decisions. According to Srikanth and Umble , the standard cost approach is based on detailed procedures for calculating the cost impact of any proposed action. The authors tell us that there are two major problems with the standard cost approach as follows:
- The SCS is based on assumptions that are invalid in today’s environment.
- The SCS strives for local optimization. That is, it is local in scope and strives to reduce the cost of each process and each product in isolation. In attempting to achieve these local optimums, the cost approach actually encourages a system that suffers from sub-optimization at the global business level.
With these two problems in mind, let’s dive deeper into the Standard Cost System to better understand why these problems exist.
The Basics of the Standard Cost System
minimize the cost at each of the individual operations that they are responsible for. Because of this, the general approach to cost-based systems is to assign to each operation a cost or some sort of financial measure of its impact on the total system. According to Srikanth and Umble , there are four Standard Cost Principles associated with the Standard Cost System as follows:
- Standard Cost Principle 1: Total cost of the system = Sum of cost at each operation.
To fully understand the shortcomings of the traditional cost approach, one must first realize how costs are assigned to each operation, which is to allocate all of the overhead expenses to the mix of manufactured products. Most allocation procedures estimate the total dollars of overhead cost, divided by the estimated direct labor cost, and allocate overhead burden to the product’s cost as a percentage of direct labor dollars.
- Standard Cost Principle 2: The total cost at each operation is proportional to the cost of direct labor for that operation.
- Standard Cost Principle 3: The total cost for the system (excluding material cost) is proportional to the sum of the direct labor costs.
The point to be emphasized here with Principles 2 and 3 is set up to satisfy the basic accounting requirements expressed by Standard Cost Principle 1. Because of this, an overhead proportionality factor reflecting the historical overhead burden rate is then determined. Only then can a cost for each product, be assigned for each operation. But, this standard cost scheme is useless as a decision-making tool unless we make an additional assumption which is Standard Cost Principle 4.
- Standard Cost Principle 4: The standard cost procedure, which utilizes the calculated overhead/direct labor ratio, can be reversed to estimate the impact of any action on the total cost of the system.
The consequences of applying the assumption in Standard Cost Principle 4 are extremely serious. The entire structure of managing manufacturing operations by traditional cost systems hinges on this assumption. It suggests that if the direct labor cost of a given operation can be reduced, then the total cost allocated to that operation will be reduced by a proportionally larger amount. It also implies that the total cost for the whole system can be reduced by a similar amount.
If you accept this assumption, it suggests that the standard cost calculation can be used to accurately determine the financial impact of any “local action” on the entire system. Because of this, our attention becomes focused on the management of costs at each individual operation, within each separate department or functional are. In other words, each manager’s responsibilities now center around controlling and reducing the costs of the operations he/she is responsible for.
This same “freedom” also impacts engineering as they can now focus their attention on specific processes or products and use the standard cost calculations to construct their cost/benefit analyses. In the case of marketing and sales, they can focus on selling products with high margins and stay away from lower margin products. Everything seems to have fallen nicely into place for everyone. In fact, the new motto seems to be that the key to achieving global optimum is by achieving a series of local optimums. But is this really the case?
In my next post, we will demonstrate the limitations of the Standard Cost System and why it is not the best method to use. In addition, we will illustrate the problems the problems of the standard cost approach by way of a real example. As always, if you have any questions or comments about any of my posts, leave me a message and I will respond.
Until next time.
L. Srikanth and Michael Umble,Synchronous Management – Profit-Based Manufacturing for the 21st Century, Volume One – 1997, The Spectrum Publishing Company, Wallingford, CT | <urn:uuid:ebaf19cb-e654-4109-9004-048b6c963dea> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://manufacturing.ecisolutions.com/blog/posts/2016/november/problems-with-traditional-management-accounting-part-1.aspx | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280310.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00493-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94071 | 1,140 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Whether you’re simulating the extreme conditions inside an exploding star or designing an ergonomically innovative office chair, it’s a good bet that a high performance computing (HPC) system and some brain-bending programming will be involved.
The HPC system may be a supercomputer like the 1.6 petaflop Jaguar behemoth at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, or a cluster powered by off-the-shelf multicore components. Whatever the scale of the hardware and the scope of the application, developers will have to learn how to deal with the complexities of parallel programming to get the most out of their computational resources.
The need for parallel programming is being driven by advances in multicore architectures. This rapid and accelerating technology trend is creating an array of HPC systems that range from dual and quad core systems to supercomputers and clusters with tens, hundreds and thousands of cores. These platforms perform at teraflop and petaflop speeds on terabytes of data. Capable of tackling some of today’s most complex and pressing problems in engineering and science, these HPC systems are composed of a computational ecosystem that includes: scalable multicore architectures; fast, flexible, mammoth memories that can support many simultaneous threads; and high bandwidth I/O and communications.
Developers who have honed their parallel programming skills are ready to create applications that reach new levels of scalability, performance, safety and reliability. In particular, parallelism can be exploited in mechanical computer-aided engineering (MCAE) applications code for structural analysis and fluid dynamics, in computational chemistry and computational physics simulations and modeling, and industrial applications that run the gamut from oil and gas exploration to the design of high end golf equipment. For example, in the world of MCAE, Dale Layfield, engineer in Sun Microsystem’s ISV Engineering organization, points to the benefits realized by applying parallelization to NASTRAN, a venerable finite element analysis (FEA) program that has been around for about 40 years.
“NASTRAN is a highly compute and I/O intensive structural analysis program,” explains Layfield. “It lends itself well to being broken into smaller components and spreading those components across distributed computer clusters which substantially reduces throughput time. Distributed memory parallelism (DMP) helps eliminate the I/O bottleneck by dividing the analysis across a network of separate nodes. Multithreaded SMP (symmetric multiprocessing) allows you to make best use of the processing power within each node. SMP combined with DMP gives you the most bang for your buck.”
Like NASTRAN, many of the other complex applications designed to run on HPC systems rely on parallel programming methodologies to handle the increasing number of computationally intensive jobs involving massive amounts of data and memory.
As David Conover, Chief Technologist, Mechanical Products for ANSYS notes, “Among the major benefits of parallel programming are faster turnaround time and the ability to create higher fidelity simulations and modeling to solve engineering design challenges. Engineers applying finite element methods can create models with much higher spatial resolutions and more geometric detail. And they can build models that include entire assemblies, rather than just one small component. Then they can analyze the interactions between those components at a high level of detail. Because the users are able to perform more simultaneous tasks of increased complexity, the entire engineering process is far more productive. You just can’t achieve this level of functionality with applications that rely on sequential processes.”
By creating larger high fidelity models with greater geometric detail and subjecting them to detailed simulations of the physical forces that they will encounter in real life, engineers can reduce the need for expensive and time-consuming physical testing — the “build and break” approach. In addition, parallelization allows engineers to run more simulations in order to make design decisions earlier in the project lifecycle.
To achieve the speedup in applications performance, parallel programming uses threads that allow multiple operations to occur simultaneously. In an article in the May 20, 2009 HPCwire titled,“Parallel Programming: Some Fundamentals Concepts,” authors Shameen Akhter and Jason Roberts, both of Intel, commented, “The entire concept of parallel programming centers on the design, development and deployment of threads within an application and the coordination between threads and their respective operations.”
In short, parallel programming allows you to write scalable, flexible code that harnesses more HPC CPU resources and maximizes memory and I/O. It also allows users of the code — whether it’s you, a member of your organization’s engineering or scientific staff, or a customer – to solve problems that could not be solved using sequential programs, and solve them more quickly.
Parallel programming is not easy
However, as computer science professor Andrew S. Tanenbaum stated at the USENIX ’08 conference, “Sequential programming is really hard…the difficulty is that parallel programming is a step beyond that.”
Bronson Messer, a computational astrophysicist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), concurs. He points out that to do computing at the large scales he and his colleagues encounter daily, the application developer needs to understand the entire HPC ecosystem which includes multicore CPUs, high speed file and connective systems, and terabytes of memory that have to be swapped in and out at blinding speeds.
“Everything has to play together,” Messer says. “If there is a weak link at this scale, it will almost immediately be exposed. Your parallel code may run on a quad-core or eight-core system, but when you move up to thousands and tens of thousands of processors, your application may be dead in the water. Debugging code on this many processors is an unsolved problem.”
Messer also comments that building robustness and fault tolerance into the code is another major hurdle as the rate of data collection escalates. For example, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey telescope in Sun Spot, New Mexico is precisely mapping a swath of space some five billion light years in diameter, generating terabytes, even petabytes of data every night. And when CERN’s Large Hadron Collider finally comes on line, it will generate 700 megabytes of data every second.
These parallel programming speed bumps not only apply to code written for the huge supercomputers that are the workhorses of government labs and academia. Developers creating algorithms for the rapidly growing population of HPC grids, clusters and clouds that are infiltrating the enterprise are running into similar problems. And within industry the pressure is even more intense as companies seek to gain a competitive edge through the use of HPC.
When asked what he thought was the most difficult task facing developers working with this new programming paradigm, Scott J. Lasica, VP Technical Services Worldwide for HPC toolmaker Rogue Wave Software, was very clear. “Today’s developers need to learn to do multithreading, which, in my opinion, is one of the hardest — if not the hardest — task associated with software programming. Given the level of complexity we’re dealing with, it’s very easy to make mistakes and very hard to figure out where things went wrong.”
What’s a developer to do?
Lasica points out that fortunately there are a lot of tools available to help developers write multithreaded code in languages like C++ and Java — even Fortran. For example, a Java(TM) application can be dropped into an application server and the server will take care of the threading. Various new debugging tools also help ease the bumpy road to parallelization. But Lasica says that a thorough grounding in the intricacies of multithreading is essential for developers dealing with today’s complex distributed systems.
Reza Sadeghi, CTO of MSC Software agrees. And he also prescribes a major mind shift for today’s developers. “Developers tend to think serially, not in terms of what they can do with multiple CPUs,” he explains. “And even if they are thinking parallel, they are still in the realm of dual, quad or eight cores. But the new HPC systems are raising the bar to encompass hundreds and thousands of cores as well as multicore sub architectures. It’s a whole new way of building algorithms and solving complex loops. By adopting this different mindset, backed up by learning all you can about parallelism and multithreading, you can make optimum use of the many diagnostic tools that are now available and build successful HPC applications.”
Advanced programming models also help ease the developer’s path. Among the most popular are OpenMP for shared memory programming, and MPI (message passing interface) for distributed memory programming.
ORNL’s Messer adds that given the rapid pace of technology, it is important for developers to create algorithms that will scale far beyond their current systems. “If you know apriori that your algorithm won’t scale, you have an immediate problem,” he says. “With today’s multicore HPC systems, you are dealing with a deeper and more complicated memory hierarchy in addition to the problems inherent in multithreading. Despite advances in OS, compilers and programming models, you still may have to manage some of that hierarchy yourself. The results are worth it.”
Continuing education is key
Addison Snell, general manager of Tabor Research, comments that developers need to familiarize themselves with how to optimize software on multicore HPC systems. “I’m not sure the latest generation of software engineers has been trained to cope with advanced parallelism – there is a serious question of readiness in the software community,” he says.
It is certain that as the world of high performance computing heats up, and multicore, multithreaded systems move into the enterprise, those individuals who are familiar with parallel programming will command a favorable position in today’s rough and tumble job market. Application developers should be very familiar with the principles of parallel programming, including how to handle multithreading. They should also be acquainted with parallel tools, and be able to build thread-safe component interfaces. Also, both test engineers and field engineers should have parallel debugging skills and be familiar with parallel analysis and profiling tools.
In order to help developers and engineers meet the challenges posed by parallel programming, Sun Microsystems is offering a series of seminars called “An Introduction to Parallel Programming” discussing parallel programming as a fundamental of application development. Log on weekly to access each of these seven modules presented by mathematician and Sun senior staff engineer Ruud van der Pas. http://www.sun.com/solutions/hpc/development.jsp. | <urn:uuid:dd65f429-1889-41f6-8014-3518d28bdf6c> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.hpcwire.com/2009/06/23/parallel_programming_is_here_are_you_ready/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281421.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00217-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931911 | 2,240 | 2.984375 | 3 |
According to the National Sleep Foundation, without the recommended 9-11 hours of sleep, students are more likely to experience behavior problems, from rule breaking to depression and anxiety. Students who are well-rested are more creative, have more self-control and perform better in school.
The National Sleep Foundation and the National Science Teachers Association recently launched the Bright Schools Competition and are looking for bright ideas from grade 6-8 students to better understand the link among light, sleep, and student health and performance.
As part of the competition, U.S. and Canadian students will select a topic related to light and sleep and select one of three exploration options to create an original project. Students can develop a prototype, design an awareness campaign, or write a research proposal.
The deadline for project submission is Feb. 6, 2017, so students have a while to put together the best possible entry.
The contest website provides the judging rubric that will be used:
- Rationale: 15 points
Clearly identify the source of inspiration for the project. Ensure that the project idea is relevant to the identified community within the paper. Support the idea chosen with robust independent research.
- Project Description, Scientific Accuracy, and Content: 35 points
Overall scientific content and accuracy. How well the details of the project are communicated in the written project. Use of scientific thinking when providing an overview of the project and includes a description of the potential impact (both pros and cons) to the highlighted community. Incorporation of an innovative and/or creative approach within the project.
- Next Steps: 15 points
Propose potential next steps of the project if given more time and resources. Utilize evidence and critical thinking supported by factual evidence.
- Bibliography: 10 points
All sources used in researching the paper and video must be referenced in the Bibliography. Sources must be clearly labeled and should conform to MLA or APA citation standards. The Bibliography may be up to three pages in length and should include at least five sources, students should strive for variety.
- Video: 25 points
The video should be no longer than three minutes in length. The video should be comprised of a short summary that supports the written documentation of the project and explain the exploration process. Visual aids of the exploration chosen, diagrams, posters, etc., are strongly encouraged. Use of artifact evidence, innovation, and creativity is also evaluated in this section.
According to contest rules, all entrants must be U.S. or Canadian citizens or legal residents, living within the United States, U.S. Territories or Canada and enrolled full time in a public, private, charter, parochial, or home school. Students must be currently enrolled in either sixth, seventh, or eighth grade and under the age of 18. Each team must have a coach: a teacher or adult over the age of 21 that administers education of the light lessons, mentors the team, and is affiliated with the local school system. A parent may not be the teacher/coach of a team on which his or her child is a member. Teachers/coaches must attest that submissions consist of solely student work. | <urn:uuid:0cf9ceef-6ee6-4aac-8cb3-387ce405fa80> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.meritalk.com/articles/bright-schools-competition-now-open/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281421.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00217-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929305 | 641 | 3.765625 | 4 |
Google, NASA and Universities Space Research Association this week invested roughly $15 million in a 512-qubit quantum computer their researchers will use to develop myriad applications from machine learning, web search and speech recognition to searching for exoplanets.
The machine known as D-Wave Two and built by D-Wave Systems will be installed at the new Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab, a collaboration among NASA, Google and USRA.
[IN THE NEWS: Skylab: NASA's first space station marks 40 years]
Google's Hartmut Neven, Director of Engineering wrote in Google's research blog: "Machine learning is highly difficult. As an analogy, consider what it takes to architect a house. You're balancing lots of constraints -- budget, usage requirements, space limitations, etc. -- but still trying to create the most beautiful house you can. A creative architect will find a great solution.
Mathematically speaking the architect is solving an optimization problem and creativity can be thought of as the ability to come up with a good solution given an objective and constraints. Classical computers aren't well suited to these types of creative problems.
Solving such problems can be imagined as trying to find the lowest point on a surface covered in hills and valleys. Classical computing might use what's called "gradient descent": start at a random spot on the surface, look around for a lower spot to walk down to, and repeat until you can't walk downhill anymore. But all too often that gets you stuck in a "local minimum" -- a valley that isn't the very lowest point on the surface. That's where quantum computing comes in. It lets you cheat a little, giving you some chance to "tunnel" through a ridge to see if there's a lower valley hidden beyond it. This gives you a much better shot at finding the true lowest point -- the optimal solution."
The system will reside at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, and is expected to be available to researchers this Fall.
Check out these other hot stories: | <urn:uuid:292ad272-0658-43ae-bb6a-ffc63a48a770> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.networkworld.com/article/2224652/applications/google--nasa-step-into-quantum-computing.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285244.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00033-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938865 | 412 | 3.1875 | 3 |
It happens more often than you might think: the loss of consumers’ personally identifiable data due to lost hardware.
Due to headline-grabbing cyber breaches, we often forget about the very real problem of lost data on devices. Whether stolen or just missing in action, these types of data breaches are a regular occurrence—and a serious risk.
For example, in January, Modern Healthcare reported that the health insurance company Centene Corp. was hunting for six computer hard drives containing the health records of nearly one million patients.
The company said the hard drives were being used in a data project analyzing lab test results to improve members’ health outcomes. The PHI (personal health information) on the missing drives included individuals’ names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, member ID numbers and unspecified “health information.”
Centene is not the only company facing the problem of lost devices. Several studies have reported on the issue. For example, eSecurity Planet found the leading cause of data breaches has been the theft or loss of unencrypted laptops and USB drives. “If there’s a difference between a laptop theft today and 10 years ago, it’s that it’s probably got saleable data on it,” stated Stephen Cobb, ESET senior security researcher.
Lock Down Devices with Encryption
The Centene security incident is yet another reminder of the critical importance of applying cybersecurity measures to any device containing PII or PHI data. In this case, if the health insurance company had encrypted the data it would not have to be so worried about the data on missing devices getting into the wrong hands.
Encryption is basically a way of scrambling data so that the only way to unscramble it is with a password. It is an effective cybersecurity step at all three states of data: at rest, in use and in transit:
- Data at rest. Refers to inactive data stored physically in any digital form, such as hard drives and mobile devices.
- Data in use. Refers to active data stored in a non-persistent digital state, typically in computer RAM, CPU caches or CPU registers.
- Data in transit. Divided into two categories, it includes information that flows over the public or untrusted network such as the Internet, and also data that flows in the confines of a private network such as a corporate or enterprise LAN.
The Power of Encryption
The FBI’s recent attempt to force Apple to access encrypted files on a terrorist’s iPhone has raised many questions about the balance between security and accessibility. However, experts agree that encryption is vital to the optimal security of networks and data. In fact, it’s impossible to operate the commercial Internet or other widely deployed global communication networks securely without the use of encryption.
It’s so vital that last year 15 security specialists and university professors collaborated on a 34-page document published by MIT expressing their concern for the government’s repeated requests for “exceptional access” to encrypted data. Interestingly, this document was published almost six months before the FBI vs. Apple case.
In the report, they state their denouncement of exceptional access legislation. They emphasize that the stakes are much higher today than ever before, because “the scale and scope of systems dependent on strong encryption are far greater, and our society is far more reliant on far-flung digital networks that are under daily attack.”
While companies like iPhone, Facebook and Google are taking encryption seriously (to the point of pushing back on government agencies’ frequent data requests in the name of security), other companies are not. In fact, some of the biggest breaches in recent history were due to a lack of encryption, including the breaches at Target, Sony and the U.S. Office of Personal Management.
“Ninety-nine percent of organizations do not encrypt anything other than the occasional laptop,” stated Chris Gatford, director of penetration testing at Hacklabs, according to ZDNet. “Encrypted file systems, especially encrypting data at rest, it just doesn’t occur.”
Further, MIT Technology Review reported that: “Many technological security failures of today can be traced to failures of encryption. (For example,) In 2014 and 2015, unnamed hackers—probably the Chinese government—stole 21.5 million personal files of U.S. government employees and others. They wouldn’t have obtained this data if it had been encrypted.”
Add a Cybersecurity Framework
Not only should all organization take encryption seriously, but also they need to create an even stronger cyber defense to both ensure encryption is taking place as well as other security measures. They can achieve this by adopting a cybersecurity framework in their security strategy.
The combination of a solid cybersecurity framework and strong encryption creates the equivalent of a double-bolt lock that makes it harder than ever for malicious attackers to penetrate organizations’ security walls.
The most comprehensive cybersecurity framework was created by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). According to NIST, its cybersecurity framework “enables organizations to establish a roadmap for reducing cybersecurity risks that is well aligned with organizational and sector goals, considers legal/regulatory requirements and industry best practices, and reflects risk management priorities.”
The NIST Framework Core consists of five concurrent and continuous functions—identify, protect, detect, respond and recover. These functions provide a high-level, strategic view of the lifecycle of an organization’s management of cybersecurity risk. They lay out questions and guidelines for organizations to answer and execute including:
- Identify. What assets need protection?
- Protect. What safeguards are available?
- Detect. What techniques can identify incidents?
- Respond. What techniques can contain impacts of incidents?
- Recover. What techniques can restore capabilities?
This double-bolt approach of combining encryption with a cybersecurity framework will not only keep data on devices safer across the organization, but the entire network will be more secure—from both daily attacks by unrelenting aggressors and the ongoing, very real risk of losing devices.
Contact us today for more information about how we help organizations to identify, measure and respond to their information risks.
We have assisted more than 400 customers to operationalize and mature their information privacy, security, compliance and information risk management programs. And in the process, we are raising the bar for safeguarding PHI, protecting millions of Americans and driving real value for the organizations we support and the healthcare industry at large. | <urn:uuid:df0ee4be-4875-4aa8-afe8-6ac4e0bcd521> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://clearwatercompliance.com/blog/secure-physical-devices-double-bolt-lock-encryption-plus-cybersecurity-framework/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280364.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00338-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940438 | 1,340 | 2.84375 | 3 |
A group of U.S. scientists, with help from Sun Microsystems and U.S. government agencies, launched an online library containing more than 1 million research articles for Iraqi scientists and students.
The Iraqi Virtual Science Library (IVSL), started with US$362,000 in seed money from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Defense Threat Reduction Agency, was needed after more than 20 years of neglect during the Saddam Hussein regime and following the looting and destruction of many Iraqi libraries during the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, said organizers of the online library.
"The Iraqis began with nothing," said Barret Ripin, senior science diplomacy officer for the U.S. Department of State, at a press conference Tuesday. "A lot of the holdings that they did have were destroyed in the aftermath of the war. They’re starting from scratch."
The idea for the project started with a group of current and former science and technology policy fellows working at the DoD and the State Department through an American Association for the Advancement of Science program. The group wanted to give Iraqi scientists and students better access to "top-tier" research, said D.J. Patil, IVSL cofounder and research scientist at the University of Maryland.
With the first phase of IVSL complete, the online library includes access to more than 17,000 research journals, including titles from the American Chemical Society and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers as well as journals published by SpringerLink and Thomson Scientific. Some publishers donated access to journals, and others provided access at discounts of 95 percent or more, said Susan Cumberledge, IVSL co-founder and professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Massachusetts.
The library portal and articles are in English, a language commonly used in scientific research, but the library website could eventually include Arabic, organizers said.
Iraqi scientists and students can sign up for access through seven universities there, and more schools will be added, Cumberledge said. Through the IVSL site, users can search the full text of articles and find e-mail addresses of authors, Patil said.
"This is information that’s so up to date, you’re not going to be able to find it in a book," he added. Because of the support from journal publishers, the Iraqi online library will have more articles than many U.S. universities can pay for, organizers said.
Sun served as a technology consultant on the project, helping the IVSL team evaluate the Internet connectivity and infrastructure needed for the online library to work. In the next phase of the project, Sun will help Iraqi universities and government agencies create an open-source Web portal that can be managed by universities there, company officials said.
The library project is an "exciting public/private partnership," and Sun will use it as the foundation for other library projects in developing nations, said Robert Bredehoft, Sun’s vice president for global government industry.
-Grant Gross, IDG News Service | <urn:uuid:a3d47062-d2c3-4352-8fb4-e556696a38cc> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.cio.com/article/2446689/consumer-technology/sun-helps-build-online-science-library-for-iraqis.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281001.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00154-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952952 | 627 | 2.5625 | 3 |
The numbers speak for themselves: in 2005, junk mail accounted for nearly 60 percent of all emails, up from just 10 per cent in 2001. And this growth looks set to continue.
The problem is bad enough for people at home, with spam messages dropping regularly into personal email inboxes. At work, however, spam presents a much bigger problem, clogging up corporate servers and accounts and distracting employees from their work.
To address the issue, the vast majority of companies have implemented anti-spam technology, and many manage it internally. But spam is not constant – the goalposts are continually changing as spammers develop new and more innovative tricks to get past the filters. Organisations have to battle to stay one step ahead. Furthermore, the best technology in the world can only be as good as its users, and many businesses also have to battle to ensure end-users follow basic guidelines to minimise junk mail.
When spam first became a real problem it could, at that time, be categorised in one of two ways – it was generally either trying to sell you something, or con you out of something. Annoying though the notorious Nigerian 419 scams or the promises of low-priced medicines were, they essentially targeted human gullibility, rather than being serious security threats. More concerning, if less frequent, were the denial of service attacks large enterprises were subjected to, in which spammers tried to flood the company’s mail servers with junk, thereby making them crash.
But over the past year or so, it has become clear that the threat of spam is evolving to become much more of a problem. As people have learned how to avoid the initial scams and stopped falling for the “too good to be true’ offers, the spammers have evolved their techniques to incorporate areas such as social engineering to help them reach their ultimate target – the naive end-user.
To make things even worse, we have seen more and more spam that conceals even greater threats such as viruses, spyware and phishing. These blended attacks are taking the basic con tricks of previous years to the next level – and organisations must keep up.
An even clearer demonstration of how the threats are changing has been the recent attacks on mobile phones and similar devices. Spam and other email-borne threats are no longer confined to the PC. Messaging on mobile phones for example has replicated the development of email: from initially handling only plain text messages, they can now handle attachments, multi-media and even active content such as embedded scripts or Java code. For the spammers, this is a whole new temptation. It is an area where users don’t expect to be at risk from attacks, and many have a false sense of security and are happy to open any messages even if they don’t know the sender. It’s no wonder that spammers are beginning to target this type of technology.
This constant battle in which spammers develop new technology, that the anti-spam vendors then learn how to block, is continually repeated. The result is that almost as soon as spam filters are updated, they are out of date.
This means that to protect users effectively from spam, IT departments must constantly update their technology. The most common solutions come from vendors such as Symantec, MessageLabs and McAfee. These are all acknowledged leaders in their field, and constantly update their tools to try to stay ahead of the problem. They monitor spam on a global scale and use a number of different techniques to identify the latest messages, the mail boxes they are sent from, and the methods the spammers are using to try to get past the defences.
It is important that, when user organisations install these products, they don’t just forget about them. They must take full advantage of the service these vendors provide and make sure they benefit from the technical expertise and regular updates that are made available. These days, dealing with the problem of junk mail is less about the actual product selected and more about the levels and quality of support and service that accompanies it. Increasingly, IT departments have to justify the return on investment and total cost of ownership of the in-house security solutions they use, and they are expected to secure more by spending less. This often leads to them working with technology partners or systems integrators that can offer spam control on a managed basis, or even as part of a larger security solution.
When organisations do decide to outsource email security and spam filtering, they often see a number of distinct benefits. One is the ability to deal with threats on a 24×7 basis – spam is an international business and attacks can happen at any time. Resources need to be available so the software can be monitored, maintained and upgraded as soon as a patch is available, to prevent a threat that happens at midnight from infecting the whole company before 9am.
By working with technology partners in this fashion, organisations can focus resources on other essential areas, and feel reassured in the knowledge that they are secure. The other benefit that a managed security provider can offer is direct access to the developers at the vendor company. This means that they can influence a product’s development to ensure that it meets the needs of their clients, and often have more immediate access to details of the threats and upgrades, which they can quickly pass on to their customers.
Another reason for the trend towards working with providers who can manage the organisation’s security is the need for an increasingly sophisticated end-to-end approach that covers all aspects of security, from spam and viruses to wireless. As the nature of security threats change many companies are finding that point solutions just don’t meet their needs.
Finally, the right partner can help organisations meet industry regulations and ensure compliance. A number of countries and industries now require that companies archive their email, but in many cases these regulations are complex. A partner will bring a deeper understanding of both the legal requirements and the technological implications, and will be able to develop a more effective solution to help the company stay compliant, protecting them from increased costs, or even fines and jail sentences.
But even if a company has the best technology partners, the right anti-spam package and a fully integrated security solution, it still has to manage one area of weakness – its users. All too often, end users unwittingly bring about security breaches by opening virus-carrying emails, downloading infected files and failing to update anti-virus software – the list goes on and on. But when it comes to the battle to protect their inboxes from spam, users can also be a valuable asset. It is therefore essential that they are given training and that organisations have policies in place to help users manage spam correctly and, ultimately, reduce the amount of spam they receive.
Spam is a problem, but it is actually one that can be managed effectively. Organisations must make sure that their email management tools are part of a wider security solution – and many companies decide to outsource this management to another expert organisation. After all, it only takes one mail to get through, or one mistake from a user, for the damage to be done.
Ten tips for users to help reduce spam
1. Be very careful when giving out your email address: think before you subscribe to newsletters or give out your details on registration forms.
2. When you do have to give out your email address, always look for the option asking if you want to sign up for information from third parties – and say no.
3. Think about who you are giving your details to. You wouldn’t give out your home address or phone number to strangers so you must be equally careful with your email address.
4. Never reply to unsolicited mail, even if it is to unsubscribe. This validates your address and, as such, makes it much more valuable to companies that sell email lists. This also applies to the remove link that many spammers include. Ideally you should not even open mail that is unsolicited.
5. Help your anti-spam tool learn what is and isn’t junk. Identify false positives and inform it when it misses a piece of spam. This helps build up accurate black and white lists, and identifies the latest techniques spammers are using.
6. Never give out your corporate email address for anything that isn’t work related. Consumer services can be some of the most pernicious spammers around.
7. If you’re having significant problems with spam, talk to your IT department. They may be able to help with an alternative email address or set up rules that only allow emails from designated domains.
8. Don’t have email addresses on company websites so they can’t be harvested by spambots. Have an online form with a phone number instead.
9. Preventing spam requires a joint international effort, so report it by sending the message plus the full header of the email, to sites such as Spam Cop which can then add the sender to their black lists.
10. When using private email addresses, select an address that is difficult to guess, using a combination of letters and numbers. | <urn:uuid:13d4f86b-5833-4047-a9d3-14fcce1172ab> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2005/12/26/junking-the-junk-staying-ahead-of-spam-attacks/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285289.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00456-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960488 | 1,873 | 2.828125 | 3 |
“Water is tomorrow’s big problem. The water consumption (in data centers) is super embarrassing. It just doesn’t feel responsible. We need designs that stop using water.” Amazon’s James Hamilton, 2009
Three years after Hamilton’s critique, the largest data center operators have made significant strides in slashing their water use, and the industry has developed metrics and best practices to encourage broader participation in the effort.
The focus on data center water usage made headlines last week when Facebook released its initial data on water usage effectiveness (WUE) at its data center in Prineville, Oregon. The WUE metric was developed by The Green Grid as a way to extend its focus on efficiency beyond power, which has consumed much of the industry’s focus on best practices.
In publishing data from Prineville, a facility optimized to carefully manage water usage, Facebook believes it has established a good benchmark for other users running large facilities. Ther PRN1 data center’s WUE for the second quarter of 2012 was 0.22 liters per kilowatt hour of equipment energy used.
“We think that 0.22 L/kWh is a great result, but it should be noted that the WUE concept is fairly new and, to our knowledge, no one else has publicly reported WUE yet,” writes Facebook’s Daniel Lee. “We hope that other companies will soon start measuring and reporting WUE so we can begin setting benchmarks for the metric and working together to find new ways to improve.”
The Green Grid quickly threw down the gauntlet to the industry. “The bar has been set!” the group tweeted. “TGG member Facebook released its WUE figures today, the first data center to publicly do so. Who’s next?”
Why Water Usage Matters
The enormous volume of water required to cool high-density server farms is making water management a growing priority for data center operators. A 15-megawatt data center can use up to 360,000 gallons of water a day, according to one estimate.
Why do data centers use so much water? The move to cloud computing is concentrating enormous computing power in mega-data centers containing hundreds of thousands of servers. In many designs, all the heat from those servers is managed through cooling towers, where hot waste water from the data center is cooled, with the heat being removed through evaporation. Most of the water that remains is returned to the data center cooling system, while some is drained out of the system to remove any sediment, a process known as blowdown.
As the scale of these huge facilities has increased, data center operators have begun working with local municipalities, water utilities and sewage authorities to reduce their impact on local potable water supplies and sewer capacity. This was an issue for Facebook in Oregon, but it’s hardly alone in taking steps to address the issue.
Water Recycling by Microsoft, Google
In a move that will save millions of gallons of potable water for the local community, Microsoft teamed with the city of Quincy, Washington to retool the city’s water treatment infrastructure. As part of the partnership, a multi-million dollar water treatment plant built by Microsoft to support its data center will be leased to the city of Quincy for just $10 a year. The plant will be retrofitted and expanded to support the water reuse initiative, which will allow other nearby businesses and data centers to benefit. Microsoft’s existing water treatment plant infrastructure was built to reuse the water from the local farming community’s food processing plant. The plant would filter that water and use it to cool the Microsoft data center. Afterwards, they would filter the water again before returning it to the aquifer.
A Google data center near Atlanta is recycling waste water to cool the thousands of servers housed in the facility, and then purifying the excess water so it can be released into the Chattahoochee River. The project to use “grey water” in Atlanta is part of Google’s broader program to reduce the impact of its data centers on the environment and local community. The facility, which was built in 2008 (and described in a 2010 DCK article) is Google’s first water treatment plant in the United States. Google financed the building of a “sidestream” treatment plant for the Douglas County Water and Sewer Authority (WSA), which intercepts 30 percent of the water from the authority’s treatment plant.
With WUE, The Green Grid has created a metric that can allow data center users to track their internal progress on managing water usage. But as with the PUE standard for energy efficiency, there’s bound to be comparisons between different design approaches.
Facebook Refines Cooling Plan
Prineville 1′s design features a “penthouse” cooling system, which uses the upper floor of the building as a large cooling plenum with multiple chambers for cooling, filtering and directing the fresh air used to cool the data center. This approach uses outside air economization, with a direct evaporative cooling and humidification (ECH) misting system, with small nozzles attached to water pipes that sprayed a fine mist across the air pathway, cooling the air and adding humidity.
Facebook recently told DCK that it is updating its data center cooling system. In phase 2 of the Prineville project, Facebook has replaced the misters with an evaporative cooling system featuring adiabatic media made of fiberglass. Warm air enters through the media, which is dampened by a small flow of water that enters the top of the media. The air is cooled as it passes through the wet media.
“Our analysis of options focused on the amount of water usage,” said Jay Park, Director of Datacenter Engineering for Facebook. “The expectation was that the media would require a lot more water, but that turned out not to be true.”
Here’s a look at the cooling design for PRN1. You can click the image for a larger version. | <urn:uuid:32f17a3e-b2b5-44cd-9fff-7d02846c0332> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2012/08/14/data-center-water-use-moves-to-center-stage/?utm-source=feedburner&utm-medium=feed&utm-campaign=Feed%3A+DataCenterKnowledge+(Data+Center+Knowledge) | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279248.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00210-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943475 | 1,264 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Bandwidth is a critical, yet under-emphasized aspect of video surveillance. While some suggest bandwidth is free and unlimited, real world IP video systems deal with bandwidth constraints regularly. If you are going to deploy a solution that is reliable and provides high quality video, understanding and ensuring sufficient bandwidth is critical.
Inside the Pro section, we provide a 20 minute video that explains the fundamentals of bandwidth, providing multiple examples of bandwidth 'in action'.
The video screencast should help you answer the following 18 questions:
- How much bandwidth is needed for a given video feed?
- How much bandwidth do you have in a given scenario?
- How do you measure bandwidth?
- What acronyms are used in measuring bandwidth?
- What's the difference between bits and bytes?
- What problem arises when bits and bytes are confused?
- What IT specialists prefer to use the term bits?
- What IT specialists prefer to use the term bytes?
- What is the least and most bandwidth that is generally available?
- Why is the 'symmetry' of bandwidth important?
- In what situations, would you have 'asymmetric' bandwidth?
- How much bandwidth is generally available inside an office?
- How much bandwidth is generally available going to someone's home?
- What's the difference between full and half duplex connections?
- What network types use half rather than full duplex measurements?
- What are the key drivers of IP camera bandwidth consumption?
- How much can bandwidth consumption vary for IP cameras?
- How do you know if you do not have enough bandwidth available? | <urn:uuid:0bca708e-a852-4377-9388-c92c07b3bc9a> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://ipvm.com/reports/training-bandwidth-basics-for-video-surveillance | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281574.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00328-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929441 | 335 | 2.796875 | 3 |
When you read about computer security and malware, the terminology can be dizzying. You may feel that you've entered a world with some very strange words whose meanings you can only guess at. In order to help you understand malware, here's a look at the most common terms used to describe malicious software that can harm your computer and mobile device, and threaten your security and privacy.
Read on for a comprehensive look at malware terminology, including viruses, worms, spyware, and all the other dangers that threaten your Mac and your data.
Malware is the blanket term for all malicious software. It's a convenient word, because it can be used for any of the categories I discuss below. Sometimes, a specific piece of malware can be made up of more than one of these categories, so using the blanket term is economical, and makes things easy to understand. In addition, some of these terms describe the way malware is distributed, others the way they propagate, and others the type of actions they perform. Users don't always need to know exactly what type of malware has infected their device. Since certain terms used to name malware explain how the software is installed, this can be useful to understand how users can protect themselves. (See phishing, Trojan horse, etc.)
What is a Virus?
A virus is a specific type of malware that self-replicates, like the similarly-named infectious agents in humans and animals. Like a living virus, computer viruses attach themselves to hosts in order to move around and reproduce. The term virus indicates the means of replication, not the way the malware acts on a computer. Viruses used to travel on floppy disks and CD-ROMs; now they move around over the Internet, hiding inside files and applications, or spread via infected USB sticks. The term virus is often used as a blanket term, while the word malware is generally more appropriate. And, because historically viruses were the first type of malware that attacked personal computers, the security industry often uses the term "anti-virus" for software that detects and eradicates malware.
Example: A proof of concept virus, identified as Multi/Clapzok.A, targeted Windows, Linux and OS X 32-bit executables.
What is a Worm?
A worm is similar to a virus, in that it replicates itself. But unlike viruses, worms don't need to be attached to other files. They often replicate over networks, rendering them particularly dangerous.
Example: The "Oompa-Loompa" worm, discovered by Intego on February 16, 2006 and identified as OSX/Oomp.A, targeted OS X users via iChat instant messenger.
What is a Trojan horse?
A Trojan horse, or simply Trojan, is a type of malware that is disguised as a useful piece of software or data file. It may actually perform actions on a computer that are or seem legitimate, but will install malware or perform malicious actions. A Trojan horse may also be legitimate software that has been altered to install malware. The name comes from the wooden horse that the Greeks made to attack the city of Troy. Obviously, the people in that city didn't know that they shouldn't open unsolicited attachments.
Example: The Ventir Trojan, identified by Intego VirusBarrier as OSX/Ventir, used a dropper program (e.g. Trojan horse) to infect Macs.
What is Ransomware?
Ransomware is a type of malware that locks a computer or hijacks a user's files until a ransom is paid. It can be installed by a Trojan horse, or downloaded when visiting a malicious website. Ransomware is big business, with cyber-criminals making a lot of money from users who need to access their files. These people often have sophisticated fulfillment setups, with call centers and customer support to take payments. The best prevention against ransomware, other than using anti-malware software, is to regularly back up your files, so you always have a copy of them available.
Example: KeRanger, detected by Intego VirusBarrier as OSX/KeRanger, is the first major Mac ransomware.
What is a Botnet?
A botnet is a network of computers whose access has been compromised, and that are controlled remotely. These individual computers are often called bots or zombies. Botnets are generally used to send spam emails, or to launch denial of service attacks, where thousands of computers block a website or server by flooding that server with more requests than it can handle.
Example: iWorm, detected as OSX/iWorm, is a sophisticated botnet that used Reddit to communicate to infected Macs.
What is a Keylogger?
A keylogger is a type of malware that records all keystrokes that a user types on their computer. A keylogger can also be a hardware device, connected somewhere between a keyboard and a computer. Keyloggers can record all sorts of personal information, such as user names, passwords, credit card numbers, and personal documents such as emails and reports. Keyloggers can be useful to obtain information that can be later used to access a user's online accounts, or for espionage.
Example: Spyware called OSX/Dockster.A included a keylogger component that recorded an affected user's typing.
What is a Rootkit?
A rootkit is software that gives a malicious user "root access," or total control over a computer. It can be installed via a Trojan horse, through a phishing attack, or in other ways. A rootkit is a virtual backdoor, and when installed on a computer, malicious users can control the computer and access all its files. Rootkits often mask their presence, or the presence of other malware.
Example: A Trojan dropper threat, detected by Intego VirusBarrier as OSX/Crisis, would drop a rootkit to hide itself.
What is a Backdoor?
A backdoor is a way to access a computer or device without authentication. It may provide access to encrypted files without requiring a user's password or passcode, or it may offer a means of accessing all the files on a computer. In some cases, manufacturers or developers create intentional backdoors so they can restore access to users who are locked out of a system, or to reset a device to factory settings.
Example: Mac malware, identified as OSX/Eleanor, masqueraded as a file converter app and would open a backdoor on infected Macs to steal data, execute code, and more.
What is Spyware?
Spyware is malicious software that spies on a user, recording keystrokes (i.e. keylogger), such as user names and passwords, tracking user activity on the internet, or activating the microphone or camera on a computer to record physical activity.
Example: Spyware ported from Windows to OS X, identified as OSX/XSLCmd, included key logging and screen capturing capabilities.
What is Adware?
Adware is software that causes advertisements to be displayed on a computer's desktop or in a web browser, in order to generate income from these ads being shown. Some free software displays ads, and is technically not adware; the term is generally used for malicious software, which users cannot remove easily.
Example: A shady adware installer, detected as OSX/Okaz.A, was discovered embedded in fake software downloaded from Softonic.
Phishing vs. Spear Phishing
Phishing occurs when cyber-criminals send emails that look exactly like those from real companies—banks, PayPal, Amazon, Apple, and others—to trick you into logging into your account through poisoned links. These links take you to websites that look real, but that are designed simply to harvest your credentials: your user names, passwords, and credit card numbers. Phishing may also take you to a website designed to install malware on your computer, such as ransomware, spyware, adware, and so on.
Spear phishing is a kind of phishing that is generally targeted at a specific person, and isn't as random as phishing. It purports to come from someone you know: a business you work with, or a person in your contacts. Its goal is, like phishing, to obtain information about you, such as your user name and password to online accounts, or to your user account on your computer.
Example: Scammers found a way to generate a vast number of phishing websites all designed to steal Apple IDs and passwords.
Exploits vs. Vulnerabilities vs. Zero-Day Flaws
An exploit is what malicious users leverage to take advantage of vulnerabilities. It could be a piece of software or code injected into web pages that allows malicious users to gain access to a computer or to its files. Exploits often use vulnerabilities to install malware such as Trojan horses, ransomware, and more.
A vulnerability is a flaw or weakness in an operating system or application that allows malicious users to gain access to a computer, or to infect files. A vulnerability could be the result of a bug or of poor design. Vulnerabilities in web browsers and plug-ins, such as Adobe Flash, are often targeted, since this software is so widely used.
A zero-day vulnerability is one that has been recently discovered, but not yet corrected by a software developer. The term comes from the idea that the developer has zero days to correct the vulnerability before malicious users begin to exploit it. Software updates are required as soon as possible to protect against these vulnerabilities.
Malware vs. Vulnerabilities
The difference between malware and vulnerabilities is like the difference between something and the absence of something. Specifically, malware is something—you can see it, interact with it, and analyze it—whereas a vulnerability is a weakness in something, like software, in which something (like malware or a hacker) can go through. That may sound a bit esoteric, so let's break down the differences even further.
Take a look at the below infographic for a more detailed look at the differences between malware and vulnerabilities:
No matter how savvy a Mac user is, any piece of malware is one password or vulnerability away from taking over your machine. Security is about layers, and one layer failing shouldn't defeat all security; therefore, it's imperative to rely on multiple layers of protection with different properties. Regularly updating third-party software and passwords, scheduling routine backups, and running a trusted Mac security solution with real-time antivirus protection should be an essential part of your security strategy.
Mac Premium Bundle X9 is the most complete Mac security solution providing multiple layers of protection. It boasts real-time antivirus scanning and anti-phishing features, and a two-way firewall with anti-spyware measures to protect outgoing data sent from your Mac. It even includes a Mac Cleaner to optimize your Mac, and Intego Personal Backup for a layer of ransomware protection. Mac Premium Bundle fortifies your Mac with layers of protection against all different types of malware.
This story comes to you as part of our Think Security series helping students and parents prepare for back to school. Each week through September 18 we'll provide educational guides with Mac tips and tricks, and best of all, we'll give you some discounts along the way! | <urn:uuid:6625ba50-92a1-4a13-b3af-e05a020cac1a> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.intego.com/mac-security-blog/viruses-worms-and-spyware-yikes-a-look-at-malware-terminology/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281659.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00172-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935099 | 2,334 | 3.328125 | 3 |
Let's start with some simple instructions that tell nmake to write a message on our screen. Anything will do, so we'll be traditional and put
hello : echo "hello, world"
in a file named hello.mk. Get the positioning right when you type it in - hello starts in column 1 and echo is indented by a tab. Blank lines and extra tabs or spaces won't usually matter; you can even get rid of white space around the colon.
We need some common ground, mostly simple definitions and a few words about nmake, before we can go much farther. Don't worry, we'll keep it short so you'll hardly notice.
A file like hello.mk, with stuff in it that means something to nmake, is called a makefile. The name can be anything you want. Popular choices are Makefile, makefile, or a name that ends in .mk. Makefile and makefile are the defaults, so they'll save you a few keystrokes when you run nmake; more than one makefile in a directory is a good reason to use a suffix.
The two lines in hello.mk constitute an assertion. The components of the assertion in our example are shown below:
It's easy to parse assertions, even in complicated makefiles. The target list is a single line that starts in the first column and ends at a colon; prerequisites follow the colon, usually on the same line. Indented lines after the prerequisites are called the action block; the end of the makefile or the first line that's not indented (blank lines and comments don't count) ends the action block. Names that appear as targets or prerequisites are collectively called atoms.
All three components are optional. An empty prerequisite list, as in our example, or a missing action block, is not unusual. But an assertion with no target list isn't particularly useful, and if you find one you may be looking at a mistake. Don't be surprised to see the same target in several assertions: normally one assertion will have an action block and the others just add prerequisites to the target.
The assertions in a makefile usually describe the components of a software project. Targets often refer to programs or libraries, and have source files as prerequisites and shell commands that build the target from the source files as action blocks. Obviously our example is an exception: hello is the target, but it's not the name of a program, there aren't any prerequisites, and the action block doesn't build anything.
You'll often use words like "the target depends on the prerequisites," when you're describing an assertion. For example, if you were reading
prog : a.c b.c
you would probably say "prog depends on a.c and b.c."
Programs like make and nmake read makefiles and try to build targets as correctly and efficiently as possible. "Correctly" means they follow instructions, build everything that's needed, and stop if something goes wrong. "Efficiently" means they try to avoid unnecessary work, so both programs deal with prerequisites before targets, and in most cases only build a target, usually by handing an action block to the shell, when they find a prerequisite that's newer (i.e., younger) than the target.
But the two programs are very different, and their treatment of prerequisites is a prime example. They're usually files, but nmake gives you an easy way to include things, like compiler options, as prerequisites. It's important, but it means extra work for nmake. The information needs to be preserved between runs, but it's not necessarily in the makefile or directly available from a permanent resource, like the file system. But with make there's no easy way to associate abstract things, like compiler options, with programs or object files.
nmake also knows how to look through source files to find implicit prerequisites, such as header files in C programs. If a source file includes a header file and that header file changes, then most people would agree the source file should be recompiled. Header files often include other files, so dependencies can get complicated, but nmake figures them all out automatically.
make, on the other hand, only knows what it reads in your makefile, and that means dependencies encoded as #include directives in source files also need to appear as assertions in makefiles. The duplication can be a source of errors. Change a source file and you may also have to update a makefile; but header files are often shared, so it's not just a matter of one source file affecting one makefile.
Setting things up is easy - if nmake is in your PATH you're ready to go. nmake can be installed anywhere, so check with your system administrator if you can't find it. What's in your environment is also important, but right now there aren't any magic shell variables you'll need to define and export.
We want you to participate, so set your PATH up and follow along. You'll get the most out of the paper if you type the examples in, run nmake, experiment a bit, and make mistakes. As you read along, either here or in the manual, think about eliminating duplication. It's an important theme and keeping it in mind will help you appreciate this tool.
We can run our example by typing
nmake -f hello.mk hello
and we get:
+ echo hello, world hello, world
That's lots of work for a simple greeting and we ended up with more than we really wanted. We'll talk about the noise and how to get rid of it shortly, but first a few words about the command line.
We used the -f option to point at our makefile. The white space separating -f and hello.mk isn't needed but the option is. If we leave it out
make: a makefile must be specified when Makefile,makefile omitted
When you don't choose a makefile nmake looks for Makefile and then makefile, and complains if it can't find either file. By the way, you can get the same error message if you're using viewpathing, which is something we'll talk about later in the paper, and your VPATH shell variable is wrong or just not exported.
The hello argument tells nmake what target to build. Move it left
nmake hello -f hello.mk
or leave it out
nmake -f hello.mk
and nothing changes. nmake reads your makefile before it builds targets, and usually picks the first target in your makefile when you don't tell it what to do. The real story is more involved - we'll come back to it when we talk about .MAIN later in the paper.
We can quiet things down from the command line using the -s option
nmake -f hello.mk -s
or by sending standard error to /dev/null:
nmake -f hello.mk 2>/dev/null
Either way we get,
which is what we originally wanted. If you're familiar with make you may recognize the -s option, but redirecting standard error is new, because make's noise shows up on standard output.
We can also control the noise from a makefile. Putting silent in front of a simple shell command stops the noise, but only for that command. For example, we could put
hello : silent echo "hello, world"
in a file named silent.mk, type
nmake -f silent.mk
and end up with:
That's the right answer again, but this time we got it without doing anything special on the command line. We'll use silent in many of our examples, mostly to avoid cluttering command lines with -s options or file redirection.
We should also mention there's a related command named ignore, that tells nmake to keep going when a shell command fails. Learn to use silent and you'll know how to use ignore, and if you're familiar with make's @ and - special characters you'll probably already appreciate silent and ignore.
Let's add a second assertion to our example. We don't need to get fancy, so another simple message will do. If we put
goodbye : silent echo "goodbye, world" hello : silent echo "hello, world"
in a file named goodbye.mk, then we can type
nmake -f goodbye.mk goodbye
when we want to say goodbye. Name two different targets on the command line
nmake -f goodbye.mk hello goodbye
and we get two messages:
hello, world goodbye, world
Order makes a difference - rearrange the command line and see for yourself. Try more than one hello (or goodbye)
nmake -f goodbye.mk hello hello
and you may be surprised by what happens. nmake usually only builds a target once per invocation, but in this case that's not the real explanation. We'll give you the full story later when we talk about .ARGS.
Making mistakes is an important part of learning, particularly when you're trying to master a complicated subject like nmake. We've already talked about one mistake (forgetting the -f option); there are a few others that deserve a brief mention.
Point nmake at a makefile that doesn't exist
nmake -f missing.mk
and we get:
make: missing.mk: cannot read
If we create an empty file and try use it as a makefile
>empty.mk nmake -f empty.mk
make: empty.mk: a main target must be specified
because nmake usually complains, no matter what's in the makefile, if it doesn't find at least one assertion.
Try to build a target that's not in a makefile
nmake -f hello.mk goodbye
and nmake complains with:
make: don't know how to make goodbye
We can get the same kind of error message when there's a mistake in a makefile. For example, put
hello : greeting echo "hello, world"
in a file named mistake.mk and type
nmake -f mistake.mk hello
and we get:
make: don't know how to make hello : greeting
nmake builds prerequisites before targets, but there's nothing in mistake.mk that explains how to build greeting, and that's why nmake complained.
Try to understand the error message, because you'll see it again and again. The colon-separated list is how nmake tells you what went wrong, and it's not just a copy of the first line of the assertion. The list can get long, but it always describes how nmake got from the target it was trying to build (the first name) to the prerequisite that caused the problem (the last name)
Commands that return a non-zero exit status usually stop nmake. For example, put
failed : cat /xxx/yyy
in failed.mk and type
nmake -f failed.mk failed
and we get:
+ cat /xxx/yyy cat: cannot open /xxx/yyy: No such file or directory make: *** exit code 2 making failed
nmake quit because cat exited with a non-zero status. Use ignore when you don't care about errors or when you run commands, like grep, that can return a non-zero exit status when there aren't any errors.
We've talked a little about assertions; now it's time to introduce variables Put
AUDIENCE = world goodbye : silent echo "goodbye, $(AUDIENCE)" hello : silent echo "hello, $(AUDIENCE)"
in variable.mk, type
nmake -f variable.mk goodbye
and we get,
which is exactly what happened in the last makefile. That's good news, but there's lots to explain.
Names are usually made up of letters, digits, underscores, and periods. They can be as long as you want and all characters are significant Be careful with periods, particularly at the beginning or end of upper case names - nmake has claimed some of them. Variable and target names are completely independent, so confusing makefiles like
hello = world hello : echo hello $(hello)
are allowed, but overloading names is bad style. Instead, we recommend you pick a convention that visually separates the name spaces, say upper case variables and lower case targets, and stick with it as long as possible. But remember, targets can refer to programs or files that you don't control, so you won't always be able to follow strict rules.
A few words mean something special to nmake - at this point the important ones are:
break else eval include print rules continue end for let read set elif error if local return while
They're not officially reserved, but you'll have trouble using them as variable or target names. Double quotes around any of the special words, as in
"print" : echo "the target must be quoted"
is one solution. Forget the quotes and nmake usually complains, sometimes in a way that depends on the unquoted word, and other times in a way that depends on the context near the mistake. These errors are confusing, so get some experience. See what happens when you remove the quotes; then try substituting other special words, like error and include, for print.
nmake supports string and integer variables, and five different assignment operators. String variables and three assignment operators will get us through most of this paper.
The = and := operators assign a new value to a variable; the += operator appends a space and a value to whatever's currently stored in a variable. The := and += operators share an important property that we'll talk about when we get to the section on variable expansion. Until then, we'll stick with = when we want to assign a new value to a variable.
The strings picked up by assignment operators start right after the operator and go to the end of the line; a backslash at the end of the line means it's continued on the next line, though the newline itself is discarded. Assignment operators also remove leading and trailing white space from strings before they carry out an assignment, so there's no difference between
AUDIENCE = New Jersey
Either way we would find the string definition shown in the picture below if we could look through nmake's variable symbol table.
We could build the same string up in steps using the = and += operators. The two assignment statements
AUDIENCE = New AUDIENCE += Jersey
do the job, but only because = overwrites the existing definition and += adds a single space before appending Jersey. We could even do it in three steps
AUDIENCE = AUDIENCE += New AUDIENCE += Jersey
because nothing on the right side of = clears the definition, and that means we won't see the space separator from the first += assignment statement.
Be careful about bringing too much of your C or shell programming experience along when you talk to nmake. For example, quotes need to be balanced, but they're not string delimiters as they are in C, so
QUOTES = "New Jersey"
defines another string, but this one has a double quote at each end. Once again, if we could look through nmake's variable symbol table we would find the two definitions shown in the following picture:
Putting $( and ) around a variable name, as we did with $(AUDIENCE), is how we ask nmake for the value represented by the variable. The replacement process is officially called variable expansion, and when it really happens is an important and confusing topic. We will postpone our discussion for a few sections. Until then, just believe nmake expands the variables it finds in an action block right before it hands anything to the shell.
We'll often say "variable reference" when we're talking about expressions, like $(AUDIENCE), that will be expanded by nmake. If we want some variety we may call it a reference to a particular variable: in this case the words would be, "a reference to AUDIENCE." It's convenient terminology, but you won't find it defined in the manual's glossary or listed in the index, so it's not officially blessed.
References to undefined variables are quietly replaced by empty strings, so don't expect warning messages about typing mistakes. It means mistakes can linger until nmake tries to execute the offending code, and even then you may not notice.
Variables can be defined on the command line, so
nmake -f variable.mk AUDIENCE='New Jersey' hello
hello, New Jersey
How we arrange the command line doesn't make much difference. Move the assignment right
nmake -f variable.mk hello AUDIENCE='New Jersey'
nmake AUDIENCE='New Jersey' -f variable.mk hello
and nothing changes. Command line assignments are handled after nmake reads your makefile, and that makes it easy to override hard-coded definitions. There's nothing special about the = operator; you can use += or any other assignment operator on the command line. In fact, you can even do complicated things like define assertions on the command line, but don't get carried away because there aren't many good reasons to do so.
It's been a while, and what we're going to talk about next is very important, so here's variable.mk again:
AUDIENCE = world goodbye : silent echo "goodbye, $(AUDIENCE)" hello : silent echo "hello, $(AUDIENCE)"
Do you notice any duplication? If we change the name of a target, say from goodbye to farewell, we probably would also want to edit the action block and update the arguments of the echo command. Target names are mentioned in action blocks, and that duplication means extra work and more opportunity for mistakes. A mechanism that would let us talk about the components of an assertion (e.g., the target or prerequisites) in an action block without actually mentioning names would help.
There are about a dozen nmake variables, called automatic variables, that are designed to be used in action blocks. They're automatically assigned values by nmake and many are closely connected to the target that's being built. Automatic variables have cryptic names - only a few are easy to remember. The one we need is $(<), which happens to be one of the easy ones. $(<) stands for the name of the target we're building, so the last example can be written as:
AUDIENCE = world goodbye : echo "$(<), $(AUDIENCE)" hello : echo "$(<), $(AUDIENCE)"
That's a good start, but there's more. The two assertions now have identical action blocks, so we can combine them
AUDIENCE = world goodbye hello : silent echo "$(<), $(AUDIENCE)"
and eliminate the last bit of duplication, because each target mentioned in an assertion inherits its own copy of the prerequisites and the action block. Automatic variables are a valuable resource, so make sure you look for similar opportunities in your own makefiles. As simple as this example is, it's not quite right. We'll save it in a file named message.mk and fix it up later when we introduce .FORCE and .VIRTUAL.
We've already relied on variable expansion in several examples - now it's time for the details.
nmake expands a variable reference, like $(AUDIENCE), by copying the variable's current definition into a buffer. The process is repeated if nmake finds a variable reference while it's copying the definition, so expanding one variable can trigger the expansion of another variable, and so on. It's not hard to imagine problems:
AUDIENCE = you and $(AUDIENCE) hello : silent echo "hello, $(AUDIENCE)"
The definition of AUDIENCE includes a reference to AUDIENCE, so the process we just described looks like it might never end. Let's find out for sure - we can always hit interrupt if we get stuck. Save the example in a file named recursive.mk, type
nmake -f recursive.mk hello
and we get:
make: AUDIENCE: recursive variable definition
The error message is good news; nmake caught the problem and warned us. It's even easy to figure out when nmake noticed the mistake. Take the variable reference out of the action block
AUDIENCE = you and $(AUDIENCE) hello : silent echo "hello, world"
and the error message goes away, so nmake only complains about recursive variable definitions if it tries to use them.
The = and := operators replace existing definitions by new ones, but they behave differently when they find variable references. For example, start with
MAGIC = xyzzy EQUAL = the magic word is $(MAGIC) COLONEQUAL := the magic word is $(MAGIC)
and look through nmake's variable symbol table and we would find:
There's a variable reference left in EQUAL, but not in COLONEQUAL, because the := operator expands variable references, but = doesn't. Refer back to our description of the expansion process in the last section and you should appreciate the consequences: assign a new value to MAGIC and nmake gives back a different result when it expands $(EQUAL), but there's nothing left to expand in COLONEQUAL, so $(COLONEQUAL) doesn't change.
By the way, the += operator works just like := when it finds a variable reference, so we wouldn't see a difference if we typed
PLUSEQUAL += the magic word is $(MAGIC)
and then compared COLONEQUAL and PLUSEQUAL (assuming PLUSEQUAL started out undefined).
There are simple techniques that let you delay or trigger a variable expansion. Each extra dollar sign in front of a variable reference postpones the expansion one step, so after nmake reads
DELAYED := the magic word is $$(MAGIC)
we would find
in the variable symbol table. One dollar sign was removed by the := operator, but the expansion of $(MAGIC) has been delayed and we ended up with a string named DELAYED that looks exactly like EQUAL.
There's also an easy way to force variable expansion. We'll mention it here for completeness and never talk about it again, because it's a feature few users ever need. Surrounding one or more nmake statements with eval and end forces an additional variable expansion. eval and end can be important if you're doing complicated things, like writing your own assertion operators, but not many of you ever will, so we won't even include an example.
Variable references in an action block are expanded when nmake executes the action block. The implementation is straightforward: nmake copies the action block into a temporary buffer, expands variable references when it finds them, and then usually hands whatever's in the temporary buffer to the shell. Using an action block doesn't change nmake's copy, so variables are expanded each time the action block is used.
Variable references in a target list are expanded when nmake builds its internal representation of the assertion. Here's an easy example that we'll save in a file named targets.mk:
AUDIENCE = world TARGETS = goodbye hello $(TARGETS) : silent echo "$(<), $(AUDIENCE)"
We started with message.mk, added a variable named TARGETS, and referenced TARGETS in the assertion. When nmake reads targets.mk and gets to the assertion, it expands $(TARGETS), ends up with goodbye and hello, and from that point on behaves exactly like message.mk. If we could look through nmake's assertion symbol table we would find the two definitions shown in the following picture:
It usually won't matter which makefile we use, even when we make a mistake, but there is an important difference: TARGETS is a variable and it can be defined on the command line, so when we type
nmake -f targets.mk TARGETS=farewell farewell
This time nmake got farewell when it expanded $(TARGETS), so now when we look through the assertion symbol table we find,
but there's no trace of hello and goodbye. Change the command line assignment operator to += and we can build goodbye, hello, and farewell.
Variable references in a prerequisite list are expanded when nmake builds its internal representation of the assertion, just like targets. Here's an example. It's not unusual to keep track of source files using a variable
SOURCE = a.c b.c
and reference that variable in an assertion:
first : $(SOURCE)
When nmake reads the assertion it expands $(SOURCE) and ends up building an internal representation of an assertion that has first as the target, and a.c and b.c as prerequisites. Adding a dollar sign
second : $$(SOURCE)
delays the expansion, so we would find the following definitions
in the assertion symbol table after nmake finished reading the two assertions. They're clearly different, but they're also equivalent (as long as SOURCE isn't changed), because variable references left in the prerequisite list are expanded when nmake builds the target.
Real makefiles handle tough jobs and they can get complicated, so don't be misled by our examples. But we also want to make sure you don't underestimate what you've learned so far. We kept things simple, and that let us introduce fundamental concepts without getting lost in the details of the example.
silent ksh -c '...'silent to complicated commands, like if or case statements, that need to be interpreted by the shell. | <urn:uuid:0f13aa36-274e-4239-aae6-d11804a61c8d> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://nmake.alcatel-lucent.com/tutorial/s2.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281263.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00108-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923601 | 5,340 | 3.65625 | 4 |
A network proper running is an indispensable issue for the successful operations of that network. Today’s companies have become more and more reliant over the networking services. And the good performances of these services mean a business good quality management. In this regard, the network’s management fundamentals proffer you an easy to get outline of the network managing. That will not just cover the administration of a network itself but as well offer the coverage to those services running on that specific network.
Besides management institute and management communication guides, management protocols are also the important building blocks of the network management system.
Network configuration’s set of rules are designed for the management of the data networking device’s arrangement. In point of fact, the idea of its introduction was to cover up the SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) deficiencies as well as the insufficiencies of CLI (Command-Line Interface) protocol that were previously playing the important role in the network configurations. But with the Netconf protocol, CLI shortcoming is covered resourcefully and the better mechanisms for the installation, operation, and removal of the network devices configuration come into being.
This important building mass within an automated network configuration system can authorize a user to find out particular protocol extensions set which are maintained by means of a server. Such qualifications will also let the client to fiddle with its performance in order to take a device features benefits.
Netconf protocol with the assistance of XML (Extensible Markup Language) based encoded statistics perform the certain tasks like configuring data etc. Moreover, Netconf comes with the RPC, a remote procedure call model. So a client can set this remote procedure in XML. After that, throws it towards a server system with the help of a protected and connection-oriented get in touch with session. As a result, the server answers back with an XML encoded reply.
Moreover, IETF network’s management Netconf protocol was actually introduced in the month of December (2006) in the form of RFC 4741 but after making some changes in it that was republished in the June (2011) in the form of RFC 6241.
Network Configuration Protocol Composition
In addition to this, the under discussion protocol is alienated into 4 layers. And these conceptual partitions are known as:
- Content layer e.g. configuration data
- Operations layer
- RPC layer <rpc-reply> etc
- And Transport protocol e.g. Beep.
Furthermore, three transportation mappings are defined by Netconf as: First is Secure Shell and its implementation is compulsory. Second is SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) and third is BEEP (Blocks Extensible Exchange Protocol).
Central Operations of that protocol are included the following: <get>, <edit-config>, <delete-config>, <lock>, <close-session>, and <kill-session> etc.
Netconf protocol is extra safe as set in it the transport protocol. It is easier in use, and to build up new services successfully, as compared to CLI as well as SNMP. Actually, essential functionality of that protocol is comprehensive by the Netconf capabilities definition. But the capability to hold up donating to and getting asynchronous affair notices is available in the RFC 5277 and the capability to maintain half-done locking of the in succession configuration is clearly mentioned in the RFC 5717. | <urn:uuid:6f3dd4f3-afa7-47c8-8d95-e2b2719869d5> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://howdoesinternetwork.com/2012/netconf | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280888.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00044-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935906 | 685 | 2.671875 | 3 |
The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at the University of Texas has created a tool aimed at simplifying scientific computing. Staff at the center developed AGAVE (A Grid and Virtualization Environment), an API that assists researchers with Web-based science. A TACC article explains what drove the tool’s creation and how it has been utilized.
A primary reason for building the AGAVE API stemmed from scientists getting bogged down with software development. A University of Toronto study found that 84 percent of scientists considered development of scientific software as an important aspect of their research. However, researchers spent, on average, 30 percent of their time developing said software. If that amount of time were scaled back, those scientists would have more time to dedicate towards research.
TACC set out to create a tool that would simplify the process of developing scientific software. Similar to popular Web applications that provide file storage, online shopping and navigation services, the AGAVE API delivers science-as-a-service. Specifically, the API defines a number of rules and specifications that allow programs to communicate with one another. It gives researchers common tools including profile creation, software authorization and data migration. AGAVE also handles more complex tasks like job monitoring, metadata creation, and auditing.
The API is currently being used by the iPlant Collaborative, a group that develops cyber infrastructure and computational tools for research related to plant genetics. The collaborative uses AGAVE to receive compute capacity from the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC), the San Diego Supercomputing Center (SDSC), and TACC through the Extreme Science and Engineering Discover Environment (XSEDE). XSEDE is a cyber infrastructure program funded through a $121 million investment from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Through the API, scientists can access these resources for their own studies. At the University of South Dakota (USD), researchers created a program called BioExtract Server. The software leverages online informatics tools and databases, allowing users to create and share custom workflows for Web-based genomic analysis. The tool also handles search and analysis of online sequence data. While the software saved time, it had difficulties with more intense workloads.
“BioExtract Server couldn’t handle large datasets and it was really hard for our servers to execute analytic tools that are very CPU intensive,” said Dr. Carol Lushbough, computer science professor at the university. “We didn’t have the horsepower.”
iPlant on the other hand, excelled in these areas. This prompted Lushbough to implement AGAVE, which gave access to iPlant’s tools within BioExtract.
“When a service organization exposes its resources through APIs like iPlant’s Foundation API and our AGAVE platform, we can impact thousands of scientists, cutting across disciplines and demographics,” said Ryan Dooley, a research associate at TACC.
The example demonstrates the added capabilities AGAVE can offer, which may explain its popularity. The API has over 3,000 users as of July 2012. With 75 compatible applications, AGAVE has been used roughly 50,000 times per month.
TACC will be releasing the second major version of their API this summer. New features will focus on adding compatibility for public and private cloud infrastructures. | <urn:uuid:1bf77ab4-d4ff-432f-b061-b8f7c35cdc4e> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.hpcwire.com/2012/07/30/new_api_delivers_science_as_a_service/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280730.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00558-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938486 | 688 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Vincenzi S.,University of California at Santa Cruz |
Vincenzi S.,Polytechnic of Milan |
Vincenzi S.,University of Alaska Fairbanks |
Hatch S.,U.S. Geological Survey |
And 4 more authors.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences | Year: 2015
Supplementation of food to wild animals is extensively applied as a conservation tool to increase local production of young. However, in long-lived migratory animals, the carry-over effects of food supplementation early in life on the subsequent recruitment of individuals into natal populations and their lifetime reproductive success are largely unknown. We examine how experimental food supplementation early in life affects: (i) recruitment as breeders of kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla born in a colony on Middleton Island (Alaska) between 1996 and 2006 (n = 1629) that bred in the same colony through 2013 (n = 235); and (ii) breeding success of individuals that have completed their life cycle at the colony (n = 56). Birds were raised in nests that were either supplemented with food (Fed) or unsupplemented (Unfed). Fledging success was higher in Fed compared with Unfed nests. After accounting for hatching rank, growth and oceanic conditions at fledging, Fed fledglings had a lower probability of recruiting as breeders in the Middleton colony than Unfed birds. The per-nest contribution of breeders was still significantly higher for Fed nests because of their higher productivity. Lifetime reproductive success of a subset of kittiwakes that thus far had completed their life cycle was not affected by the food supplementation during development. Our results cast light on the carry-over effects of early food conditions on the vital rates of long-lived animals and support food supplementation as an effective conservation strategy for long-lived seabirds. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved. Source
Merkling T.,CNRS Biological Evolution and Diversity Laboratory |
Merkling T.,Australian National University |
Welcker J.,Norwegian Polar Institute |
Welcker J.,University of Alaska Fairbanks |
And 8 more authors.
Behavioral Ecology | Year: 2015
Sex allocation theory predicts that parents should bias offspring sex according to the costs and benefits associated with producing either sex in a given context. Accurately interpreting sex-ratio biases, therefore, requires a precise identification of these selective pressures. However, such information is generally lacking. This may partly explain the inconsistency in reported sex allocation patterns, especially in vertebrates. We present data from a long-term feeding experiment in black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) that allowed us to increase investment capacity for some breeding pairs. Previous findings showed that these pairs then overproduced sons compared with control parents. Here, our aim was to test the underlying assumptions of the 2 appropriate sex allocation models for our context: the "cost of reproduction hypothesis" and the "Trivers-Willard hypothesis." The former assumes a sex difference in rearing costs, whereas the latter assumes a difference in fitness returns. 1) Independent of feeding treatment, rearing sons was energetically more demanding for parents (as revealed by higher energy expenditure and higher baseline corticosterone levels) than rearing daughters, thereby corroborating the underlying assumption of the "cost of reproduction hypothesis." 2) Evidence supporting the assumptions of the "Trivers-Willard hypothesis" was less convincing. Overall, our results suggest that drivers of parental sex allocation decisions are probably more related to offspring sex-specific energetic costs than to their future reproductive success in our study species. Assessing the adaptive value of sex-ratio biases requires precise investigation of the assumptions underlying theoretical models, particularly as long as the mechanisms involved in sex-ratio manipulation remain largely unknown. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology. Source
Merkling T.,CNRS Biological Evolution and Diversity Laboratory |
Merkling T.,University Paul Sabatier |
Agdere L.,CNRS Biological Evolution and Diversity Laboratory |
Agdere L.,University Paul Sabatier |
And 10 more authors.
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology | Year: 2014
In unpredictable environments, any tactic that enables avian parents to adjust brood size and, thus, energy expenditure to environmental conditions should be favoured. Hatching asynchrony (HA), which occurs whenever incubation commences before clutch completion, may comprise such a tactic. For instance, the sibling rivalry hypothesis states that the hierarchy among chicks, concomitant to HA, should both facilitate the adjustment of brood size to environmental conditions and reduce several components of sibling competition as compared to synchronous hatching, at both brood and individual levels. We thus predicted that brood aggression, begging and feeding rates should decrease and that older chick superiority should increase with HA increasing, leading to higher growth and survival rates. Accordingly, we investigated the effects of an experimental upward and downward manipulation of HA magnitude on behaviour, growth and survival of black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla)chicks. In line with the sibling rivalry hypothesis, synchronous hatching increased aggression and tended to increase feeding rates by parents at the brood level. Begging rates, however, increased with HA contrary to our expectations. At the individual level, as HA magnitude increased, the younger chick was attacked and begged proportionally more often, experienced a slower growth and a higher mortality than its sibling. Overall, the occurrence of energetic costs triggered by synchronous hatching both for parents and chicks, together with the lower growth rate and increased mortality of the younger chick in highly asynchronous broods suggest that natural HA magnitude may be optimal. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013. Source
Schultner J.,Norwegian University of Science and Technology |
Schultner J.,University of Alaska Fairbanks |
Kitaysky A.S.,University of Alaska Fairbanks |
Gabrielsen G.W.,Norwegian Polar Institute |
And 3 more authors.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences | Year: 2013
Life-history strategies describe that 'slow'- in contrast to 'fast'-living species allocate resources cautiously towards reproduction to enhance survival. Recent evidence suggests that variation in strategies exists not only among species but also among populations of the same species. Here, we examined the effect of experimentally induced stress on resource allocation of breeding seabirds in two populations with contrasting life-history strategies: Slowliving Pacific and fast-living Atlantic black-legged kittiwakes. We tested the hypothesis that reproductive responses in kittiwakes under stress reflect their life-history strategies. We predicted that in response to stress, Pacific kittiwakes reduce investment in reproduction compared with Atlantic kittiwakes. We exposed chick-rearing kittiwakes to a short-term (3-day) period of increased exogenous corticosterone (CORT), a hormone that is released during food shortages. We examined changes in baseline CORT levels, parental care and effects on offspring. We found that kittiwakes from the two populations invested differently in offspring when facing stress. In response to elevated CORT, Pacific kittiwakes reduced nest attendance and deserted offspring more readily than Atlantic kittiwakes. We observed lower chick growth, a higher stress response in offspring and lower reproductive success in response to CORT implantation in Pacific kittiwakes, whereas the opposite occurred in the Atlantic. Our findings support the hypothesis that lifehistory strategies predict short-term responses of individuals to stress within a species. We conclude that behaviour and physiology under stress are consistent with trade-off priorities as predicted by life-history theory. We encourage future studies to consider the pivotal role of life-history strategies when interpreting inter-population differences of animal responses to stressful environmental events. © 2013 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. Source
Abbott C.L.,Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Center |
Millikin R.L.,Environment Canada |
Hipfner M.J.,Environment Canada |
Hatch S.,Institute for Seabird Research and Conservation |
And 3 more authors.
Marine Biology | Year: 2014
Data from eight microsatellite markers screened in 246 rhinoceros auklets (Cerorhinca monocerata) from across the North Pacific revealed multiple genetic groups. The east (North America) to west (Japan) split was clearly evident in all analyses. Within the eastern Pacific, a minimum of three genetic groups are present. Surprisingly, rhinoceros auklets from Triangle Island, British Columbia, were genetically isolated from other nearby populations, including the breeding colony on Pine Island (~100 km to the east). A fourth genetic cluster (Chowiet Is) was detected using principal coordinate's analysis; however, sample sizes were limited. Patterns of differentiation correspond to nonbreeding distributions with the eastern and western Pacific birds spending time off the west coast of North America and Japan, respectively, and may represent historical isolation in separate refugia during the Pleistocene glaciations. The patterns of genetic structure result from a combination of historical and contemporary factors influencing dispersal of rhinoceros auklets. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Source | <urn:uuid:e8e4b8d0-bed7-42a3-9848-aadc8051f2f3> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.linknovate.com/affiliation/institute-for-seabird-research-and-conservation-78718/all/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280900.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00310-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912435 | 1,934 | 2.890625 | 3 |
XML Databases allow data to be stored in XML format. XML databases are often linked to document-oriented databases. The data stored in an XML database can be queried, exported and serialized into any format needed. There are two different types of XML databases:
- XML-enabled: these databases can map XML to e.g. a relational database, accept XML input or render XML as output.
- Native XML: it uses XML documents as the fundamental unit of storage.
Exist-db is an open source native XML database. It supports many web 2.0 technology standards and it is therefore a suitable platform for web-based applications. It has an HTTP interface and features index-based XQuery processing. It requires Java to operate.
BaseX is a scalable XML database that is light-weight and offers high-performance. It uses a Graphical User Interface for the front end to give users insight into the stored XML documents. It supports very large XML documents and a real-time XQuery editor.
Qizx is an XQuery processor that has been open source since 2003. Is does not have a persistent storage and XML documents have to be analysed in memory before they can be used. It offers average sized XML documents a fast query. Another aspect of Qizx is that it is also an XML database that offers storage and indexing capabilities.
Sedna is a native XML database that offers a complete range of principal datastore services. It offers full-text search and persistent storage as well as flexible XML processing facilities. It is licensed under the Apache License and has external XQuery functionalities implemented in C.
Apache Xindice is a retired database that was designed from the ground up to store XML data. With Xindice data can be inserted and retrieved as XML. It works well with very complex XML structures that normally require a more structured database.
Liquibase is an open source database-independent library for tracking, managing and applying database changes. It has over 30 built-in database refactorings and users can make custom changes. | <urn:uuid:7500dc06-36c9-4fee-8802-b941e8e62142> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://datafloq.com/big-data-open-source-tools/os-xml-databases/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280774.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00247-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920559 | 427 | 2.78125 | 3 |
IBM’s Watson supercomputer went beyond bringing advances in HPC hardware to mainstream audiences, it ushered the concept of natural language processing (NLP) into the spotlight.
As a recent article that explores the importance of NLP in clinical settings revealed, researchers have always had a fascination with bringing sophisticated “humanlike” technology into the highly personal realm of medicine.
As Dr. Ronlinda Lacson noted, the desire to bring natural language processing into the clinical setting dates back well over 40 years before the infamous Jeopardy quiz show demonstrated the might of HPC and NLP. Natural language processing first caught public attention back in the mid-1960s in the form of automated psychologist called ELIZA. This keyword-driven machine-shrink could hold a basic question-driven conversation with a human patient, engaging in dialogue that might take place in a clinical office setting.
At this moment, the key role for Watson as he moves from the limelight into practical use is also in the medical field, doing the diagnostic work that was the distinct domain of highly trained human physicians.
According to Lacson, the growing sophistication of NLP is making the human/machine doctor concept seem much farther from science fiction than it might have seemed in the 1960s.
She notes, however, that there are many aspects to natural language processing that are worth keeping in mind when we see public examples such as IBM’s Watson.
Lacson explained that the components of NLP are as follows:
- Morphological knowledge—How words are constructed from basic units or morphemes. “The nodular is smaller,” with the two morphemes ‘small’ and ‘er’ (suffix), conveys a comparison of the root word ‘nodule.’
- Lexical knowledge—References the meaning of individual words, which software can delineate with the word sense or parts of speech.
- Syntax knowledge—The structuring of words within a sentence.
- Semantic knowledge—The way in which the meanings of individual words combine to form the meaning of a sentence.
- Discourse knowledge—Understanding text from adjacent sentences. This can include anaphora resolution, wherein a pronoun is known to refer to a previous sentence.
- Pragmatic knowledge—Apprehension of sentences in various contexts, where world knowledge is invoked, or a user’s goals and beliefs, to grasp abstract or non-literal meanings.
She says that the difficulty goes beyond understanding and implementing each of these elements and is now far more about integrating them into a whole. | <urn:uuid:b5ef5b6e-0953-4a1f-91db-aced423c6daa> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.hpcwire.com/2011/06/09/bringing_natural_language_processing_home/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285289.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00457-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941259 | 541 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Deutsche Telekom has developed a website where users can monitor cyberattacks. A map of the world is color-coded, designating the areas with the greatest activity levels. A real-time ticker offers the time and date of the attempted attack, the country of origin and the intended target.
As reported in TechNews Daily, Russia tops the list of attack-perpetrating countries, with 2.4 million attacks launched in Feb. 2013; No. 2 is Taiwan with 900,000; No. 3, Germany, has 780,000, and No. 4., Ukraine, amassed 566,000. The United States is in sixth place with 355,000 attacks.
The most common kind of attack tracked by the site is on the server message block (SMB) protocols of websites, with more than 27 million such attempts in the last month. Other widely discovered attacks are waged against operating systems and communication ports.
The data that populates the cyberattack map comes from "honeypots," described as digital tripwires installed on attackers' systems in order to monitor and identify hackers. Since only certain systems are monitored, the map does not provide a representative picture of cyberattacks occurring around the globe.
WhileTechNewsDaily's Marshall Honorof notes that to an everyday user, the usefulness of the information may be limited, he also says that being informed can help an organization protect itself.
"Knowing where cyberattacks come from and what systems they target are vital pieces of information for preventing such attacks," Honorof concludes.
Image courtesy of Sicherheitstacho.eu | <urn:uuid:5f5fc791-36b7-4376-bb66-8cf869f50343> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.govtech.com/security/A-Live-View-of-Global-Cyberattacks.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281069.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00577-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941268 | 325 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Redundant links are always welcome in switch topology as they are increasing the network’s availability and robustness. Redundant links if we look at them from layer 2 perspective can cause Layer 2 loops. This is simply because TTL (Time To Live) field of the packet is found in Layer 3 header. In networking technology this means that TTL number will be diminished only when the packet is passing through the router. There is no way to “kill” a packet that is stuck in layer 2 loop. This situation can result in broadcast storms. Fortunately, Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) can allow you to have redundant links while having a loop-free topology, thus preventing the potential for broadcast storms. | <urn:uuid:ce13cf99-23cd-4098-864d-c3fddfc32cd8> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://howdoesinternetwork.com/tag/stpattack | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280133.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00119-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926928 | 148 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Over the last few years, protection against external attacks has been the main focus of information security policies and purchases but this has caused the other aspects of data security to be overlooked. A number of surveys over the last two years have highlighted the fact that the majority of real data losses have been through internal attack or simple loss of removable storage media. This revelation has caused information security officers to look at the wider aspects of securing data at all stages of its lifecycle.
Added to this a spate of legislation that highlights the need for a complete security policy means that companies of all sizes are now looking at what they need to do to reduce the problems caused when data is lost. The flurry of high profile losses of sensitive data stored on backup tapes reported by large corporations has highlighted the damage that the loss of even one high capacity tape cartridge can bring.
One of the most recent cases to come to light was when Bank of America lost a number of backup tapes whilst in transit between offices. Even though there was no belief that the data had fallen into the hands of unauthorised people, the loss of confidential personal data has made many of their customers reassessed where they place their business. The US Senate as a result is considering bringing in legislation to ensure any personal data recorded on a backup or archive tape must be encrypted in some form.
It is clear that there is a real threat to data security if tapes are not encrypted, no matter how high the level of physical security used when transporting tapes to a “secure’ area away from the primary business location for disaster recovery plans. It is during the movement of tapes is where most of the losses in recent times have occurred. Many occasions they have been under the control of specialist companies who say they have a safe and secure storage. It has been found however, that when operators were asked how many times they have had the tapes from another company delivered to them in error, the answer is all too often that this is not a rare occurrence!
It seems to be overlooked by many analysts, but that there is also a major repercussion for the integrity of data restored from an unencrypted backup tape. What could the possible implications be of a restore being run from a set of backup tapes that have been modified? Contrary to the views of some so called specialists, it is not that difficult to modify clear data on a backup tape, and even easier to read and re-write the data so it appears to be the same unaltered tape as before. It needs only a few digits changed to have a major impact on a financial record!
The widening remit for data security is being addressed by various legislations such as Basel II, HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley and PHIPA. The fact that many companies are simply flouting these rules with the view that the fines they could face are less that the cost of implementing the solutions, means that only when the fines are increased and the number of prosecutions grows that legislation will have a real impact.
In Japan, where the number of disappearing data tapes is unusually high, the government has brought in legislation that requires a person in each company to be responsible for data security, and he or she will be fined and serve a prison sentence if they fail to comply with legislation. This apparent draconian measure may well be needed in other counties in order to bring companies in line. In Europe, a CEO is already liable for failing to implement an acceptable information security policy and he or she would be liable for a substantial fine or a custodial sentence in extreme cases.
In the past encrypting data has tended to use software running on the host systems, resulting in slow and inefficient data transfer which has led to reluctance to use encryption for security. Today dedicated hardware devices are available to offload the process to inline units designed for the task. Through the use of dedicated compression and encryption engines, encryption hardware is capable of running at the full speed of modern tape drives, with little or no latency and degradation.
It is interesting to note that some companies have used their investment in security devices as a sales tool to show they are taking the best care of their customers’ data, rather than just hoping it doesn’t get lost and compromised. As insurance companies who cover business losses see the advantage of securing data, including backup tapes, we can expect insurance premiums to reflect this. | <urn:uuid:bc867a19-3317-4a6c-a27e-5488dffc0a53> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2005/06/30/encryption---the-missing-defence-tool-in-many-companies-security-policy/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280133.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00119-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974328 | 881 | 2.734375 | 3 |
This summer Iowa State University took delivery of its most powerful supercomputer yet. “Cyence,” at a cost of $2.6 million, is capable of making 183.043 trillion calculations per second and has a total memory of 38.4 trillion bytes. To put that in perspective, one second of calculations by Cyence would take a single human five to six million years to complete, while the entire population of earth could perform the same calculation in 12 hours.
|“Cyence” installed at Iowa State University. Photo by Bob Elbert.|
Cyence has a rather unique configuration. The 4,768 core QDR InfiniBand cluster is comprised of 16-core SMPs and accelerated by GPUs and Phis. The bulk of the system employs 248 SuperMicro servers each with 16 cores, 128 GB of memory, Gigabit Ethernet and QDR (40Gb) InfiniBand interconnects. Two additional sets of 24 nodes are similarly outfitted, with the notable addition of NVIDIA K20 Kepler GPUs in one instance and Intel Phi Accelerator cards in the second. A large memory node contains 32 cores and 1 TB of main memory. The system runs Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.4 and uses TORQUE (PBS) for resource and job management.
Like other computers of this league, Cyence is being used to design and generate models to solve challenging problems. Operational since early July, the machine has already begun to produce data for 17 research projects from eight Iowa State departments in a broad range of disciplines, including bioscience, ecology, fluid dynamics, earth and atmospheric science, materials science, and energy systems.
“The larger amount of computing power gives you better performance and makes the models you are using more realistic,” said Jim Davis, Iowa State’s vice provost for information technology and chief information officer.
The more powerful machine also enables a faster pace of research. The parameters of a model can be changed with greater ease and multiple results can be generated quicker, plus it allows allows multiple research groups to run models on the computer at the same time instead of just one group.
“This is very important to the research enterprise to have [Cyence] to carry out large scale research models,” Davis said. “This really shortens the time to discovery.”
Cyence is a source of pride for the entire campus. Installed at Iowa State in June, the 183-teraflop (peak) system barely missed the TOP500 mark, but that fact does not detract from its value to its new users, the majority of whom are ISU researchers and graduate students.
“It will make an impact on science,” proclaimed Davis. “We are providing facilities that faculty can use to accelerate their research work.”
Arun Somani, associate dean for electrical and computer engineering, led the team that applied for the National Science Foundation (NSF) grant in 2011. Recognizing the benefits of their proposal, the NSF allocated more than $1.8 million for the HPC system and Iowa State came up with a matching grant of $800,000. On the university side, the investment was shared among the colleges of Engineering, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Agriculture and Life Sciences, and vice president of research and economic development office.
“This was a joint venture between the three colleges, which was very unique because you do not see this type of partnership at most universities,” said Somani, remarking on the project’s collaborative appeal.
Chief Information Officer Davis agreed: “The work leading up to the award has been a productive partnership of faculty from many disciplines working together and with university administration and information technology specialists.”
The university is already planning for its next HPC system, a so-called “condo cluster,” to be deployed next summer. The shared multi-departmental machine will further cement the collaborative element of HPC at Iowa State.
“The idea behind this is that faculty develop common requirements, pool their funds and buy a much larger system than they could individually,” Davis explained. “Costs are kept low by sharing support and infrastructure, and by pooling unused capacity from all stakeholders. Researchers can run jobs and simulations that are much larger than they would be able to otherwise.” | <urn:uuid:7ea63354-c46f-45c4-9979-77a23a57fe06> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.hpcwire.com/2013/09/06/iowa_state_accelerates_science_with_gpu-phi_supercomputer/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280221.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00541-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94782 | 901 | 2.640625 | 3 |
A quick guide to detections – what they are, how they work and how to read them.
What is a detection?
A detection (also known as a signature) is an identifier used by antivirus programs to identify a specific program – whether it's malicious, unwanted, riskware or just adware.
How are detections used?
Detections are used by antivirus programs to identify threats; when a user scans their PC or mobile device with an antivirus program, it compares all the files on the system against its own database of detections, If any of the files matches a detection in the database, it gets flagged for further attention.
Most antivirus programs use different types of detections to improve performance and effectiveness. These include generics, which identify families of malware that share the same broad file characteristics; and heuristics, which are much like to generics but also identify files that perform similar routines or actions.
Most antivirus companies use their own naming scheme to name their detections, which can be rather confusing. For example, the infamous worm that caused the 2008 epidemic is known to F-Secure as Worm:W32/Downadup, but it is also known as Kido and Conficker. Despite the different names, they all refer to the exact same worm.
What's in a detection name?
The detection name can tell you a lot about the kind of threat is identified. Let's take the following example:
|The kind of threat the program poses. You can read more about the various Types here.|| |
The operating system or application framework the program needs to run properly. You can read more about the various Platforms here.
|The unique name for this program, or group of programs.||If more than one program has the same characteristics, it is considered a variant of the family and listed in chronological order.| | <urn:uuid:4c102a44-955d-4e85-8093-88a55d2b05d9> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.f-secure.com/en/web/labs_global/detections | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281659.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00173-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937505 | 386 | 3.5625 | 4 |
A debate currently under way considers red-light cameras: Are they a common-sense use of technology to protect our safety or are they "scameras," devices designed to rip off unsuspecting motorists and fill local coffers?
The introduction of this technology at intersections around the country has generated both controversy and revenue. So far, the jury is out on which view will prevail. But judging by the growing number of municipalities that are using the cameras, it looks like photo enforcement is with us for a while.
The cameras catch red-light violators by automatically photographing the vehicle crossing an intersection after the light has turned red. The camera is connected to the traffic signal and sensors buried in the pavement at the crosswalk or stop line. The cameras snap a picture when a vehicle passes over the sensors a specified time after the signal has turned red.
Reducing the Risk on Red
Every year, over 800 deaths and 200,000 injuries result from red light violations, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Red light cameras are seen as a low-cost tool for reducing some of the carnage that takes place when drivers try to run a red light.
Local municipalities that have installed the cameras consider them to be a cheaper alternative to posting police officers at intersections. The cameras, which cost an average of $50,000 apiece and can operate 24 hours per day, seven days a week, have been shown to reduce red light violations and intersection crashes. A study in Oxnard, Calif., showed red light violations dropped 42 percent after the city installed cameras at nine intersections.
Most cities outsource the red-light camera system. Two leaders in the field are ACS and Lockheed Martin. At least 11 states and the District of Columbia have installed the cameras for red-light running and speeding and more than a dozen countries also use the technology.
One of the biggest camera implementations for red-light running and speeding is in Washington, D.C. The system, run by ACS, has issued more than 500,000 citations, including more than $43 million in fines, and collects over $69,000 per day, according to an article in The Washington Post. ACS was getting approximately 40 percent of each paid ticket.
Yet not all cities make money. Portland, Ore., installed red-light cameras and found drivers putting the brakes on in response. As a result, the number of tickets issued by the system have been far below projections, according to The Oregonian. The city initially projected issuing approximately 25,000 tickets with the photo enforcement system. But it's on pace to issue about 7,000 instead. However, the police have also noticed a significant drop in red-light violations, indicating drivers are much more careful than they were in the past.
Police in Washington, D.C., have reported that the cameras have cut red-light running in the city by as much as 64 percent. The speed cameras have led to a drop in overall speeding violations by 50 percent in the city.
But opponents of red-light cameras -- they call them scameras or gotcha law enforcement -- say municipalities, like Washington, D.C., are cooking the numbers when it comes to issuing violations. The Washington Post reported that because of irregularities, 45 percent of red-light violations caught on camera never result in tickets. Yet the figures are included because calculations are based on the number of violations photographed instead of the number of tickets issued.
Opponents, such as the National Motorists Association, point out that much of the research done on reductions in violations when cameras are installed isn't independent, but paid for by the firms that produce the systems. Critics also don't like the ticket revenue arrangement between cities and the vendors that supply the system. In Washington, D.C., ACS used to receive a 40 percent cut from every ticket issued. Critics argued the arrangement created an incentive for the vendor to issue as many tickets as possible. In reponse, the city changed the way it pays ACS, which now gets a flat fee each month.
Then there's the issue of privacy. Opponents claim the red-light cameras infringe on a person's privacy by taking a photo of them without permission. Proponents counter by saying driving is a regulated activity on public roads and drivers are required to abide by certain rules, such as stopping at red lights. The cameras are only turned on when a violation occurs and when a driver is endangering the lives of others by breaking the law.
One alternative pushed by red-light-camera opponents and under consideration by traffic safety groups involves yellow lights. Research has shown that the duration of the interval when the yellow light is on and before the red light appears can affect inadvertent red light running. By slightly modifying this time -- known as the change interval -- traffic engineers can reduce the risk of crashes. One study conducted in New York reported 8 percent fewer crashes involving injuries after yellow signals were retimed. The number of accidents involving pedestrians and bicyclists dropped even further.
But as long as drivers continue to run red lights -- no matter how long the change interval for yellow lasts -- there will be pressure to use the cameras to capture violators on film. And opponents will argue just as vociferously that the traffic cameras have nothing to do with improving safety and everything to do with increasing revenue. | <urn:uuid:27d971dc-cc75-4c0b-8fe2-ca574f471cf2> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.govtech.com/policy-management/Red-Eye.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280668.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00293-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96398 | 1,078 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Many security experts have talked about quarantining infected computers, but Microsoft has proposed a plan that each PC would be required to present a "health certificate" or else be considered too sick to connect to the Internet.Scott Charney, Microsoft’s vice president of trustworthy computing, presented his idea of "implementing a global collective defense of Internet health much like what we see in place today in the world of public health... Just as when an individual who is not vaccinated puts others’ health at risk, computers that are not protected or have been compromised with a bot put others at risk and pose a greater threat to society. In the physical world, international, national, and local health organizations identify, track and control the spread of disease which can include, where necessary, quarantining people to avoid the infection of others."
Charney gave his speech at the International Security Solutions Europe (ISSE) Conference in Berlin, Germany, and posted his "vision" on his blog. Other countries like Australia and the Netherlands are attempting similar security models; Charney uses examples like France’s Signal Spam or Japan’s Cyber Clean Center as cyber models to keep only healthy computers online.
Comparing the proposal to a global collective defense for health is not necessarily comforting. How many older computers would be digitally quarantined for false positives? Think back a year to the H1N1 hysteria in which unvaccinated persons were a threat to everyone's good health. If a computer cannot issue a "health certificate" and is cut off the Internet, wouldn't that be similar to not allowing a sick person transportation to a doctor's office? How does the sick computer get well without the tools or "medicine" available at Dr. Net?
Should ISPs like Comcast be responsible for cyber-patrolling and sending out bot-notifications to all its customers? Krebs on Security reported that the FCC may encourage ISPs to be more proactive in cleaning up bot infected computers. How does an entity go about it, by throwing scareware warnings on startup screens or simply no Net access? Does this lead to downloading software to monitor PC health? This could very well be a disaster, as it would be way too easy to abuse. An ISP could decide a computer was sick and couldn't connect to the Net if that computer uses too much bandwidth. I've seen domains be shutdown as hosts insisted they were under DDoS attacks . . . but the reality of the situation was Slashdotting or the Digg effect. That may be close, but the intent was not malicious.
Graham Cluely, of security firm Sophos, told BBC, "Microsoft doesn't have a faultless record when it comes to security. It has improved over the years, but every month they have to release a package of updates. There may be some who would say that Microsoft shouldn't be on the internet until they get their own house in order."
Whose software gets access to your data to scan your computer for good health? Who decides who gets to play doctor and peek under the sheet? Violating privacy and civil liberties by installing a possible backdoor? Microsoft Security Essentials is not a bad product, but hello? C'mon Microsoft! Harden your OS or ban Windows from the Net since that is where botnets, viruses, trojans and malware thrive.
Microsoft plans to advocate for legislation and policies to help advance the model in a way that "advances principles supporting user control and privacy." However, unless there is a giant collective NO to more privacy and freedom violations, online regulations and cyber-patrols may inevitably open users up to more surveillance by authorities.
Charney wrote, "Privacy concerns must be carefully considered in any effort to promote Internet security by focusing on device health. In that regard, examining health is not the same as examining content; communicating health is not the same as communicating identity; and consumers can be protected in privacy-centric ways that do not adversely impact freedom of expression and freedom of association."
What do you think of Microsoft's proposal that if a computer is not well enough to be issued a health certificate, then it's no Internet access for that PC? Is this the answer to clean up botnets or an invitation to Big Brother?
Like this? Check out these other posts:
- All of today's Microsoft news and blogs
- FBI Spied and Lied, Misled Justice Department on Improper Surveillance of Peace Groups
- EFF Warns of Untrustworthy SSL, Undetectable Surveillance
- Microsoft's Davis on Privacy: Your Digital Life Data is Bankable Currency
- ACLU Report: Spying on Free Speech Nearly At Cold War Level
- DHS to Launch SAR Database. In Suspicion and Surveillance We Trust?
- Facial recognition: Identifying faces in a crowd in real-time
- Microsoft's Live@edu email not encrypted on cloud servers
- Cyber-Warfare: U.S. Military Hackers and Spies Prepare to Knock the World Offline
Follow me on Twitter @PrivacyFanatic | <urn:uuid:e0baff07-10b5-4953-a3cb-af93672f6f4c> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.networkworld.com/article/2227388/microsoft-subnet/microsoft-proposes-each-pc-needs-a-health-certificate-or-no-net-access-allowed.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280668.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00293-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946389 | 1,031 | 2.640625 | 3 |
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This paper discusses the successful work and discoveries that Madame Marie Curie, a twentieth century scientist, has brought to our world. Marie Curie, borne November, 7, 1867, was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted new research on radioactivity. Ms. Curie was very committed to her work, which led her to a great discovery of two radioactive elements, polonium and radium as well as her fist Noble Prize in 1903. In addition, Ms. Curie was involved in using Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen's discovery of X-rays during World War 1. Ms. Curie used X-rays to help the injured soldiers and to prolong life. Today, thanks to the "Curie Therapy" and all of Ms. Curie's discoveries and achievements, the ability to cure several severe diseases such as cancer is now possible. With all this, the course of science and the world of Medicine has changed.
The Curies and Henri Becquerel Discovery
In 1896, Ms. Curie and her husband Pierre Curie, who was also a scientist, learned of Henri Becquerel's (Henri Becquerel was a famous French physician and the discoverer of radioactivity) research and decided to study the new phenomena of radioactivity. At that time Ms. Curie was looking for a subject for her PhD in Physics and as result she decided to investigate and experiment in Uranium salt (the kind that was used by Becquerel) and radiation level. After preforming experiments, she was satisfied with her results. While working she concluded that she could make a greater progress using pitchblende. After several experiments she was angry and frustrated at her inability to find out why there was a difference in radiation level between the two different elements. However, she came to a surprising conclusion that, the increase radioactivity was used due to trace amount of another unknown element inside the pitchblende ore that was far more radioactive than Uranium. In order to prove her bold theory, she and her husband were able to identify minuscule amount of a completely new radioactive element, they called it Polonium. In the same year, they found, within the same ore, an element even more radioactive then Polonium, they called it Radium. The Curies were able to solve a very important mystery of science- the sources and nature of radioactivity-. In order to honor their great discovery of radioactivity, the Curies along with Henri Becquerel. were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1903. The great achievement and discovery that Ms. Curie made led to "The Curie Therapy". " The Curie Therapy" was an idea of using radium and injecting it in tumor to shrink it. Although radium is a powerful radiation that can cause damages in cellular level, Ms. Curie was able to find a way to use it in order to kill cancer cells and get rid of tumor. This amazing phenomena helped cure thousands of people and took Medicine to an entire new level.
Ms.Curie and the X-ray discovery
Ms.Curie may have not discovered the X-ray however she was able to make an idea out of this discovery, which was made by a German physician Wilhelm Roentgen. He was able to discover an unknown ray that can travel through flesh or sold wood and provide photographs of living peoples bones. With such discovery, Ms.Curie decided to take her own way and contribute her knowledge and help out in World War 1. She realized that X-rays could save soldiers' lives, by helping doctors see bullets, shrapnel, and broken bones. She convinced the government to allow her to set up France's first military radiology centers.Which was named Director of the Red Cross Radiology Service. She convinced wealthy coworkers to donate money and cars. She convinced automobile body shops to transform the cars into vans, and begged manufacturers to donate equipment. By late October 1914, the first of 20 radiology vehicles she would supply, was ready. Ms.Curie used her portable X-ray cars, which were called "Petit Curie", in order to proceed with her work. "Petite Curie" were a very big advantage to the war because with the X-ray equipment they were able to examine the interior damages in the body of soldiers without having to cut them open. Furthermore, Ms.Curie had to learn how to drive in order to transport to different places, learn about the human anatomy as well as how to use the X-ray machines in a short amount of time. With such knowledge and skills that she had , Ms.Curie was able to save the lives of thousands of people. With the usage of X-rays she was able to help doctors identify the damages inside that body making surgery less necessary. She tired to use less painful ways to cure or heal the patient.
Ms.Curie and the connection to the Hippocratic school
To begin with, if women were allowed to be physicians at the time of the Hippocratic school, Ms. Curie would have been one of the most outstanding physician in the Hippocratic school. The Hippocratic school of medicine was predicted on the idea of compassion. Ms. Curie was a compassionate woman who dedicated her life to science. She understood the importance of her work, she was committed to her work and took a great role of responsibilities for examination, diagnosis, and treatments. The Hippocratic physicians were unable to identify the forces that caused the disease in the human body, however they developed a strategy for examining patients that is still used today. They are, observation, listening, touching and smelling. Ms. Curie have added a new phenomena to the list that took medicine to a whole new level. She made the idea of identification of interior diseases and causes possible, by presenting the X-ray during the war. Because the X-ray provide photographs of living peoples bones, she was able to help doctors identify what cause certain diseases by examining the interior body of patients which led them to find other less painful ways to cure the patients, trying to avoid surgery.This way, Ms.Curie respected the oath when it said "I will not use my knife...". However, certain damages needed surgery therefore they used it when it was absolutely necessary. Having and idea of what is happening inside the body by using the X-rays rather than cutting the body open to try and identify what cause certain sickness on the inside like the Hippocratic physicians did, surgery was much more easier and successful. In addition, one of the most important legacy of the Hippocratic school was "Cure vs Heal". Ms. Curie's discovery of the radium and "The Curie Therapy" which was an idea of using radium and injecting it in tumor to shrink it as well as using it to kill cancer cells was not just a way to heal people but it was to cure them from severe diseases. Ms. Curie was able to cure thousands of people with her outstanding achievements. The Hippocratic physicians were teachers who taught new physicians "the art" of medicine. Similarly, Ms. Curie was the first women to obtained a PhD in science. After the death of her husband she took over his role and became a professor at the Sorbonne university in order to pass on, her knowledge of science to her students. Although, Ms. Curie was not a Hippocratic physician she had fulfilled many of the Hippocratic School's qualities.
Finally, Ms. Curie has left her legacy and recorded her studies, achievements, and experiments in order to pass it on to the next generation so that they can learn of her researcher and improve. Her discoveries of the two radioactive elements, polonium and radium as well as her portable X-ray usage has marked history and significantly improved the world of science and medicine. Ms. Curie was a hardworking woman who was devoted to science because she enjoyed science and research. Her great interest in science led her to great achievements, because, when one enjoys his work he will make great and remarkable accomplishments.
Aczel,Amir D.Uranium Wars:The Scientific Rivalry That Created The Nuclear Age.New York:Palgrave Macmillan,2009.print
Zoellner,Tom.Uranium:War,Energy,And The Rock That Shaped The World.New York:the viking Penguin,2009.print
Rosenwald,Jean-Claude.Marie Curie's contribution to Medical Physics,Physical Medica,29.5,(2013):n.pag.Web.1 oct.2009
Curie had to learn how to drive in order to transport to different places, learn about the human anatomy as well as how to use the X-ray machines in a short amount of time. With such knowledge and skills that she had , Ms.Curie was able to save the lives of thousands of people. With the usage of X-rays she was able to help doctors identify the damages inside that body making surgery less necessary. She tired to use less painful ways to cure or heal the patient.
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What’s phishing? Phishing is a form of fraud in which the attacker tries to learn information, such as login credentials or account information, by pretending to be a reputable organization. Much of this activity is by email, but can be in person, IM, or by phone.
When phishing is by email, attachments or links in the message might install malware on the user’s device or direct them to a malicious website set up to trick them into divulging personal and financial information.
WHY IT'S A PROBLEM
Increasingly, major corporations and government agencies are experiencing phishing attacks; these are attempts to breach IT security in order to gain access to valuable information, trade secrets, financial data, install viruses or malware to cause network and server disruption, corrupt or delete information. (E.g., FBI alert due to 270% increase in business email compromise attacks from Q1-Q3, 2015.)
CAN'T TECHNOLOGY TAKE CARE OF IT?
Why don’t firewalls on email servers and computers, along with spam detection and anti-virus software, protect against these attacks? These systems are imperfect. Many are updated hourly, but they can’t detect simple requests for information and attackers are constantly inventing new methods to bypass security.
Because phishing is such a threat, we focus on the human factor, analyzing their strength to avoid attacks, and training to combat attempted security breaches.
We’ve developed PhishProof to help assess the susceptibility of users within a company to being phished. PhishProof allows our clients to send phishing simulations that mimic actual attacks with a variety of real-life emails, including mock social networking messages, form submissions, package delivery alerts, “System Administrator” alerts, travel check-in, attachments, and general calls to action.
PhishProof tracks results and provides metrics that can help our clients analyze the state of their preparedness and vulnerability. The system tracks and reports data based on the types of campaigns, number of clicks, attachments opened, successful phishing attempts, and users who did not click links or open the phishing email. This allows analysis by campaign, phishing type, individual user, plus trends over time and comparison across campaigns.
PhishProof as a Learning Opportunity: An on-the-spot training opportunity is provided for those who fail a phishing attempt by way of a highly customizable educational landing page. When a user fails the simulation, they’ll be taken to a website landing page, which has tips and information on identifying phishing attacks.
PhishProof can also be setup so that users who fail the phishing attempts are automatically enrolled in a course on the iLMS – such as S-161-AP PhishProof Training. Enrollment can be based on a phishing count threshold, the number of failed phishing attempts. E.g., all users who fail 3 attempts are enrolled.
Our goal is to help users become aware and change behavior: Be vigilant, improving security and data protection, saving time, money, and business. Training, along with the phishing simulations, gives users the information and real-life examples that challenge them to learn. PhishProof is not meant to trick or trap users to fail the attempt; rather it is to promote cyber security awareness on the front lines.
We’re all so connected: Technology plays a huge role in our lives. We also want to help our clients’ users understand that these best practices don’t just help them at work, but benefit them personally to protect their family’s financial information, combat identity theft, and avoid the costs of recovering data loss due to malware and viruses.
Our new PhishProof application includes a step-by-step wizard, and customizable templates that help setup and send simulated phishing campaigns quickly.
TERMINOLOGY AND RESOURCES
Spear phishing attacks are directed at specific individuals or companies. They are custom designed communications intended to fool the user by including some verifiable facts that gives the impression that the attacker is someone known or to be trusted.
Whaling attacks specifically target senior executives within an organization.
Our PhishProof Knowledge Base is located at http://support.inspiredelearning.com/customer/en/portal/topics/866899-phishproof/articles
For best practices and detailed instructions, please view:
- Phishproof Suggested Methodology and Best Practices
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Weightlifting is one of the most popular tags on Fitness and Nutrition Stack Exchange. We all know that weight training involves moving chunks of metal around, but beyond that it can get confusing. One reason for this is that information about training can be based in science or based in anecdotal evidence (personal experience). In this article, I will summarize basic, scientifically-established weight-training advice. That said, I’m not saying you shouldn’t try other things: sometimes athletes get ahead by taking a chance on an anecdotal technique, and it ends up giving them an edge. This usually piques interest in the scientific community, leading to studies which may provide more legitimate support for the technique.
The information in this article is based on the American College of Sports Medicine’s position statement on resistance training for healthy adults, unless otherwise stated. As such, this advice only applies to healthy adults (This questionnaire can help you assess if you’re ready for a typical exercise program). Different sources often recommend slightly different numbers, but the numbers I provide will give you a basic overview of different types of programs.
In order to see improvements in a weight training program, you have to push a muscle to its limit. This can be achieved by increasing resistance, repetitions, or speed, or decreasing rest periods. Your muscles will adapt to handle the specific type stress you put on them, and this means two things:
- As your muscle function improves you need to increase stress on it. This principle is known as progressive overload. Once you can do 1-2 repetitions more than the desired number (in good form!), you should increase your resistance by 2-10%. Be careful though, if you increase resistance too quickly, you’ll get injured.
- Your body doesn’t waste energy adapting to things you don’t subject it to. The muscles you train will only adapt to the extent that you challenge their strength, speed, range of motion, and endurance. For example, if you only do the top half a bicep curl, you will only gain strength within that range of motion. So if you’re wondering “Can I skip out on certain exercises?” it depends on what you want to be able to do with your muscles. This is known as the principle of specificity.
Because of specificity, resistance training can help achieve a number of goals, from “How can I get deltoids as big as my head?” as one of my clients asked me, or “How can I tone my muscles and not start to look like the hulk?” Different results can be attained by varying intensity (amount of weight you’re lifting), reps (the number of times in a row you perform an exercise), and sets (the number of times you do a given number of reps. For example, if you did ten reps, then took a 1 minute break, then did ten more reps, that would make two sets total). How many reps and sets should you do exactly? The table below summarizes the recommendations for different types of programs.
You may notice that intensity (how much weight you should be lifting) is missing from this table. As a rule of thumb, lift as much as you can (in good form), given the number of reps and sets you’re doing. The ASCM defines intensity in terms of %1RM (percentage of one-rep max: the amount of weight you can lift in one all out attempt), so if you’re interested, check out their position stand. However, the numbers end up being pretty much the same if you use the rule of thumb (ExRx).
|Goal||reps||rep speed||sets||rest between sets||sessions per week||
rest between workouts
|Muscular endurance||10-25||slow for lower reps; moderate to fast for higher reps||1-3 *||<1-2 min||2-6||48 hrs||moving, stationary||unilateral, bilateral multiple- and single-joint|
|Hypertrophy & strength**||8-12||
slow to moderate
|1-6||1-2 min||2-6||moving, stationary||Unilateral, bilateral, single- and multiple-joint (but focus on multi-joint)|
|Maximum strength & power (prerequisite: 6 months resistance training experience)||3-6||similar speed to activity you’re training for||3-6 high intensity lower speed; (along with 1-3 low intensity high speed to train power)||2-3 min||2-5||
*Advanced weightlifters may benefit from a periodized program (multiple stages) that combines the above recommendations for hypertrophy and maximum strength (see ACSM position statement for more details).
**American Council on Exercise (2003). ACE Personal Trainer Manual (3rd ed.). San Diego, CA: American Council on Exercise.
In resistance training terms, “bulking up” is referred to as hypertrophy, so if that is your goal, you should follow the second program. If you want to tone, without adding a lot of bulk you should follow the first or last program, depending on whether you want to increase muscle endurance or increase muscle strength and power (useful in many sports).
You may notice a discrepancy in the table above. How long should you rest your muscles between workouts? 48 hours. So how could you possibly do 6 workouts a week? If you’re training more than 3 times per week, you may need to split up your routine. For example, you could work your upper body muscles one day and your lower body muscles the next day so that you’d never work the same muscles on consecutive days. You can also split up your routine by muscle group, but to do this effectively, you have to have some understanding about which muscles groups generally work together.
Now it’s just a matter of choosing some exercises. Some muscle groups work directly opposite each other, and if you work one but not the other you end up with imbalances in your body. Here is a list of opposing muscles groups (source: ShapeFit); if you exercise one, make sure you exercise the other:
- Biceps & Triceps
- Deltoids & Latissimus Dorsi
- Pectoralis Major & Trapezius/Rhomboids
- Rectus Abdominis & Erector Spinae
- Iliopsoas & Gluteus Maximus
- Quadriceps & Hamstrings
- Hip Adductor & Gluteus Medius
- Tibialis Anterior & Gastrocnemius
If you hit all these muscle groups, you’ll have a pretty complete whole-body workout. If the the muscle names are all greek to you, ExRx is an amazing resource for information about muscles, exercises and stretches. This site can also give you more information about how to target specific muscles.
To sequence your exercises during your workout, some rules of thumb are to do large before small muscle group exercises, multiple-joint exercises before single-joint exercises, and higher-intensity before lower-intensity exercises. Also, exercise performed for a muscle group should be followed by an exercise for the opposing muscle group (although, this isn’t possible in some split routines).
Maintain good form, remember to breathe, and enjoy your workout!
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In my last post, we learned that the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a computer networking protocol used by hosts, identified as DHCP clients, to retrieve IP address assignments and other configuration information.
DHCP uses a client-server architecture. The client sends a broadcast request for configuration information. The DHCP server receives the request and responds with configuration information from its configuration database. In the absence of DHCP, all hosts on a network must be manually configured individually, which is a time-consuming and error-prone undertaking.
In this post, we will build on the previous explanation of the DHCP process and examine some of the special functions of DHCP servers, along with some of the security issues that must be addressed.
Normally, routers do not forward broadcasts. However, there are times when an exception to this rule would be useful. For instance, IP address assignment would be easier if you did not have to deploy a DHCP server on every network segment. If routers passed broadcasts, a central server could take care of remote locations.
The Cisco IOS allows routers to forward broadcasts through the ip helper-address command. When configured to do so, a router will forward broadcasts to predetermined remote locations using unique and predetermined UDP ports. A router configured to forward DHCP requests is called a DHCP relay. DHCP relays forward requests and set the gateway to the local router.
When first configured, the helper-address supports eight UDP ports. Broadcasts to these eight ports are forwarded to the remote address specified by the command. The ports are:
- NTP – UDP port 37
- TACACS – UDP port 49
- DNS – UDP port 53
- DHCP – UDP port 67 and 68
- TFTP – UDP port 69
- NetBIOS name service – UDP port 137
- NetBIOS datagram service – UDP port 138
Additional ports may be added using the command ip forward-protocol udp port.
As a word of caution, it must be noted that the DHCP process has a few security concerns that should always be addressed. A malicious user could cause a serious security breach by installing an unofficial or rogue DHCP server into your network.
The immediate problem would be a server passing out ip addresses and associated configurations that have already been statically assigned to another device. This causes the potential for two or more devices ending up with the same IP address. Here, the undesired result would be the possibility of intermittent operation of one device or the other.
Even more serious is the situation where a renegade DHCP server manages to get a client to accept its lease offering, and then feeds the client its own version of other booting parameters. One undesired scenario is when a client has been configured to load its operating system (OS) over the network via Trivial File Transport Protocol (TFTP). In this situation, the rogue DHCP server directs the client to a different file selected by the operator of the rogue server. In fact, the file could actually reside on a different server operated by the attacker.
In this scenario, the user would load a bogus OS that allows the perpetrator to take control of the client and provide back doors into the system and associated network. And, given that boot parameters are often used to control many different aspects of a computers’ operation and communication, many other highly undesirable scenarios are just as serious.
As a final thought, let’s return to the question originally posed, “Where Did That IP Address 169.254.0.1 Come From?” Many client operating systems use something called Automatic Private IP Addressing. This process assigns an IP address even in the absence of a DHCP server. If a DISCOVER message is not answered, the client picks a random 16-bit number and prepends it with 169.254.x.x. It performs a gratuitous ARP and assigns that address to itself.
The idea of Automatic Private IP Addressing is that two travelers could link their devices quickly and easily. For instance, two train commuters could play a game on the way to the city. They configure DHCP on their laptops and use Automatic Private IP Addressing on the train and then get a different IP in the office.
If you see a 169.254.x.x address, it means that the DHCP server is not reachable. The PC will not work because there is not a router to or from that PC. Troubleshoot this by finding out why the PC cannot see the DHCP server.
In my next blog, we shall revisit another old friend, the Domain Name System (DNS).
Author: David Stahl | <urn:uuid:d649e8bf-5572-4657-b774-b34fea279711> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://blog.globalknowledge.com/2010/03/22/where-did-that-169-254-x-x-ip-address-come-from/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281353.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00375-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924728 | 940 | 3.359375 | 3 |
Kaspersky Lab releases an article "Secure connections: how secure are they?"
16 Mar 2007
Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content management solutions, has released an article describing the pros and cons of secure network connections. Secure connections are designed to protect data sent between two computers via the Internet in order to protect confidential data, verify the identity of a correspondent or protect data from being read or changed. However, even secure connections can be attacked successfully.
Vitaly Denisov, a developer in Kaspersky R & D, describes secure connections as well as the potential for hacking them: “Standard security solutions protect computers against threats present in standard network connections, but aren’t able to counter threats present in secure connections. Verifying the contents of a secure connection is impossible by virtue of its nature. As a result, malicious data within secure channels can cause a significant amount of damage, and sometimes more than if it were to be transmitted via a standard, non-secure connection.” notes Vitaly.
Today, more and more people are using secure connections, making it especially important to understand the inherent dangers. Vitaly explains “Many servers on the Internet began to offer their services via SSL/ TLS: together with major banking sites, all the big-name email services and partner sites can now be accessed exclusively via secure connection. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that an attack on a computer can be carried out remotely – for example, by simply placing a malicious file on a server which can be reached only via a secure connection.”
Vitaly describes several attack scenarios and provides practical examples, such as attacks on a Gmail email account and the publication of malware on a web server unbeknownst to the owner. He also describes methods for preventing these attacks.
The complete version of Vitaly’s article is available on Viruslist.com. | <urn:uuid:bf93d95d-096d-498e-8d3c-1a9a3841ca9b> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.kaspersky.com/au/about/news/press/2007/Kaspersky_Lab_releases_an_article_Secure_connections_how_secure_are_they_ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279923.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00009-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934701 | 387 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Massive 'Logjam' Flaw DiscoveredReport: NSA Likely Exploited Flaw to Crack VPNs
Numerous websites, mail servers and other services - including virtual private networks as well as "all modern browsers" - that rely on Transport Layer Security have a 20-year-old flaw that could be exploited by an attacker "to read and modify any data passed over the connection."
That warning was first sounded May 19 by a cross-national team of computer scientists, who have dubbed the related vulnerability "Logjam." After two months of behind-the-scenes effort, they have prepped related fixes for the vulnerability, which involves implementations of the Diffie-Hellman algorithm. But their fix, The Wall Street Journal reports, could soon make more than 20,000 websites unreachable.
"Diffie-Hellman key exchange is a popular cryptographic algorithm that allows Internet protocols to agree on a shared key and negotiate a secure connection. It is fundamental to many protocols including HTTPS, SSH, IPsec, SMTPS, and protocols that rely on TLS," the researchers say via a dedicated Logjam attack website that they have created. "We have uncovered several weaknesses in how Diffie-Hellman key exchange has been deployed."
The flaws were discovered by a team of computer scientists at Inria Nancy-Grand Est and Inria Paris-Rocquencourt in France, Microsoft Research, Johns Hopkins University, University of Michigan, and the University of Pennsylvania. They have released extensive technical details in a research paper titled Imperfect Forward Secrecy: How Diffie-Hellman Fails in Practice.
The researchers warn that based on their scans of the Internet, 8 percent of the world's 1 million most popular websites that use HTTPS - represented by a green padlock in browsers - are vulnerable to Logjam, as are 9 percent of POP-using email servers, and 8 percent of IMAP-using mail servers.
Resembles 'Freak' Flaw
The Logjam researchers say that the flaw resembles the SSL vulnerability known as Freak, which could be used by an attacker to force crypto suites to downgrade from using a "strong" RSA cipher to a weaker, "export-grade" RSA cipher. The Freak flaw was present in Apple, Android and Microsoft browsers, and resulted from the way they implemented TLS (see 'Freak' Flaw Also Affects Windows).
Unlike Freak, however, Logjam involves a "flaw in the TLS protocol rather than an implementation vulnerability, and attacks a Diffie-Hellman key exchange rather than an RSA key exchange," the researchers note.
"Like Freak, the Logjam vulnerability takes advantage of legacy encryption standards imposed in the 90's by the U.S. government and tricks servers into using weaker 512-bit keys which can be decrypted easily," Ken Westin, a senior security analyst at security firm Tripwire, says in a blog post. "The vulnerability affects any server supporting DHE_EXPORT ciphers and all modern browsers."
How Nation States Eavesdrop?
The Logjam researchers warn that this flaw can be - and likely has been - exploited by "state-level adversaries," such as the U.S. National Security Agency, and that more than just 512-bit keys are at risk. "Millions of HTTPS, SSH and VPN servers all use the same prime numbers for Diffie-Hellman key exchange," they say. "Practitioners believed this was safe as long as new key exchange messages were generated for every connection. However, the first step in the number field sieve - the most efficient algorithm for breaking a Diffie-Hellman connection - is dependent only on this prime. After this first step, an attacker can quickly break individual connections."
Based on the researchers' tests, 80 percent of sites that now use the most common 512-bit prime for TLS can have their connections downgraded and intercepted. The researchers also believe that an "academic team" could break a 768-bit prime, and that a nation state could break a 1024-bit prime. They add that 18 percent of the world's most popular 1 million websites use the same 1024-bit prime, and thus would be most susceptible to "passive eavesdropping" attacks. Meanwhile, cracking the second most popular 1024-bit prime would allow for eavesdropping on 66 percent of the world's VPN servers and 26 percent of all SSH servers.
"A close reading of published NSA leaks shows that the agency's attacks on VPNs are consistent with having achieved such a break," the researchers say. "Moving to stronger key exchange methods should be a priority for the Internet community."
What to Do
In the short term, anyone who runs a Web or mail server "should disable support for export cipher suites and generate a unique 2048-bit Diffie-Hellman group," the researchers say, noting that they have published a Guide to Deploying Diffie-Hellman for TLS that includes step-by-step instructions. "If you use SSH, you should upgrade both your server and client installations to the most recent version of OpenSSH, which prefers Elliptic-Curve Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange."
All systems administrators and developers should "make sure any TLS libraries you use are up-to-date and that you reject Diffie-Hellman Groups smaller than 1024-bit," the researchers add.
Patches Still Arriving
Browser makers have also been working to address Logjam. Patches for supported versions of Microsoft's Internet Explorer were reportedly released last week, but updates for Google Chrome - including Android Browser, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari - do not yet appear to have been released, and may still take some time to arrive, penetration testing expert Dan Kaminsky, chief scientist of White Ops, says via Twitter.
@EllieAsksWhy it's an ugly one. We're gonna have to be a bit patient here.� Dan Kaminsky (@dakami) May 20, 2015
Regardless, security experts recommend users keep an eye out for all related updates. "For now, ensure you have the most recent version of your browser installed, and check for updates frequently," Brad Duncan, Rackspace security researcher and SANS Institute Internet Storm Center handler, says in a blog post.
New But 'Old' Bug
Security researchers report that Logjam has existed in TLS for 20 years, making it yet another "old bug" to have been newly found. It follows the discovery in January of the GHOST flaw, which has existed since 2000 (see Serious 'GHOST' Flaw Puts Linux at Risk). In 2014, meanwhile, three other serious, old bugs were discovered: Heartbleed in OpenSSL, the POODLE SSL flaw, and the Bash command-line flaw known as Shellshock.
But even after related fixes get released, numerous businesses and consumers do not apply them. Indeed, about 4,000 of the world's 1 million most popular websites remain vulnerable to Heartbleed, researchers at the University of Michigan tell The Wall Street Journal, despite related fixes having been released more than a year ago. | <urn:uuid:69964826-3aa6-4609-bfd7-afb731ee8042> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.bankinfosecurity.com/logjam-vulnerability-affects-20k-sites-a-8239/op-1 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279169.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00524-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938111 | 1,458 | 2.9375 | 3 |
The Internet of Things: A Primer for the Curious
Like it or not, Internet of Things (IoT) is upon us. There are a number of factors that will impact its adoption rate, and the inevitable privacy (or lack of) discussions will likely happen sooner than later. This is going to change the world as we know it, in many cases for the better. But we will need to keep an eye on the extent to which it invades our personal lives if it is going to be the positive force it has the potential to be.
If the second wave of the Internet was the introduction of ubiquitous mobile devices, the Internet of Things (IoT), or Internet of Everything, is the third. It introduces billions of new sensors and devices to an already crowded global network. According to a recent study by IDC, the worldwide IoT install base will see a compound annual growth rate of 17.5 percent from 2013 to 2020.
A technical discussion about the IoT is limited because there is a standards war afoot that would make an in-depth discussion too cumbersome at this time. Instead we will look at what the IoT is; some key vertical markets where it can affect the most short-term change; the impact on existing networks; and some business, cultural, and ethical considerations.
The Internet of Things Defined
Few people, even those in the information technology business, realize that we are quickly running out of Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4) addresses. The exact date when that happens is up for debate, but it is coming soon, with the number of Internet-connected devices exceeding the number of people on the planet.
Why do I bring this up in a white paper about the IoT? Because the IoT would not be possible without an almost limitless supply of addresses. It would be like a contractor building houses for which there are no more street addresses. Since IPv6 provides enough addresses (340 undecilion or 3.4X1038) to cover every square inch of the planet, including the ocean floor, we now have enough addresses to justify a discussion of the IoT.
Maybe you've heard of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) technology, which is the ability of machines to speak to each other and perform actions based on those conversations without human involvement. Think of your power utility monitoring your thermostat and adjusting the temperature based on its setting. If you can picture that concept, you have a good basis for a discussion of the IoT.
To give you an idea of how fast this technology is accelerating, in 2012, I had a discussion with an executive at the largest wireless provider in America. We discussed M2M at length, and a subsequent Internet search provided just a few results of companies involved in development projects. A year later, the CEO of a large networking manufacturer introduced the IoT to his channel partners at their annual summit. Today, just two years later, the number of companies involved in developing IoT applications has increased exponentially. And if discussion boards are the real indicator of activity in a particular industry, the IoT is ready to explode.
According to Wikipedia, "The Internet of Things (IoT) is the network of physical objects or 'things' embedded with electronics, software, sensors and connectivity to enable it to achieve greater value and service by exchanging data with the manufacturer, operator, and/or other connected devices." While that may seem broadly defined, it's accurate. The IoT will mean different things to different people. And once you accept this definition, you can see that there are almost limitless applications. Our homes, our businesses, our cars, our appliances, even our bodies themselves are potentially going to be connected to the Internet.
The purpose of this white paper is to provide a look at the present, a view into the future, and to consider the potential benefits and hazards of the IoT. If you come away with as many questions as answers, then this paper will have achieved its goals. Much of what is needed to make the IoT truly viable (e.g., technical standards) is still in development, and there is bound to be much contention before everything reaches a stable state where even early adopters are comfortable deploying a particular application into production. | <urn:uuid:8818581e-54a6-4107-9c86-17206d6e2d8f> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.globalknowledge.com/ca-en/resources/resource-library/white-paper/the-internet-of-things-a-primer-for-the-curious/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279933.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00432-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955978 | 859 | 2.75 | 3 |
What You'll Learn
- Discuss basic relational database concepts
- Use some of the OLAP features of DB2, such as GROUPing and RANKing functions
- Create tables, views and indexes
- Use referential integrity, check constraints and triggers
- Use outer joins, and join tables to themselves
- Use CASE expressions, and the CAST function
- Identify the impact of Summary Tables, Materialized Query Tables, and temporary tables
- Use complex subqueries
- Use a greater number of scalar SQL functions
- Use advanced SQL constructs, such as recursive SQL and table expressions
- Define User-Defined Distinct Types and User-Defined Functions
- Avoid several of the most common causes for poorly-performing SQL
You should have experience with:
- Coding and executing basic SQL statements.
These skills can be developed by attending
- SQL Workshop (CE120), or equivalent experience.
Who Needs To Attend
This intermediate course is for experienced SQL end users, application programmers, database administrators, and user support staff who need more advanced knowledge of SQL. | <urn:uuid:e7b4b350-f13c-434c-8edc-321710f5492c> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.globalknowledge.com/ca-en/course/117692/db2-sql-workshop-for-experienced-users/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281001.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00156-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.853775 | 227 | 2.703125 | 3 |
PowerVm Virtualization Essentials
PowerVM is the virtualization environment for AIX, Linux, and IBM i running on the IBM POWER hardware platform. This white paper provides an overview of PowerVM concepts, architecture, terminology, and capabilities.
Today, all major processing hardware platforms support the ability to create virtualized instances of a single server. IBM's proprietary POWER (Performance Optimized With Enhanced RISC) architecture is no exception; the complete virtualization package encompassing all necessary components is termed PowerVM.
While the basic concept of the virtual machine is generic, each specific implementation has its own architecture and associated terminology. In this paper we will present an overview of the PowerVM architecture indicating the relative place and function of each of the major components.
We will start with a big-picture look at the architecture and then introduce some of the functionality offered by this platform.
The Big Picture
The major architectural components and terms are illustrated in Figure 1. The key components are the Managed System, the Flexible Service Processor (FSP), Logical Partitions (LPARs), and the Hardware Management Console (HMC).
The Managed System
This is the major hardware component; what would perhaps more commonly be termed a server. This is the physical computer holding processors, memory and physical I/O devices. Managed systems can be broadly divided into three categories-small, midrange, and enterprise. They can also be classified based on the processor architecture. As of 2014, IBM is beginning to ship P8 systems (P8 designated POWER8, or the 8th generation of the POWER chip architecture released since its debut in 1990), however the majority of systems currently in production would be P7 and P6, and there are still more than a few P5 systems running.
Several general statements can be made about a managed system:
- All managed systems are complete servers, i.e. they have processors, memory, and I/O devices
- The number of processors varies depending on the system model. Small systems will typically have up to eight processors, midrange systems will scale up to sixty-four, and the enterprise P795 system (currently the largest) scales to 256 processors
- In any one managed system all processors will be the same architecture and speed, i.e. all 4.25 GHz P7 or all 4.2 GHz P8
- Like the number of processors, the number of memory slots also varies by model, as well as the capacity of the memory modules installed in those slots. Small servers might typically have a total of up to 64 GB memory, midrange servers up to 2 TB, and the P795 supports up to 16 TB of memory
- Midrange and enterprise class systems are designed to be scalable, hence a system can be ordered with a minimum amount of processors and memory and subsequently expanded by adding plug-in components up to the maximum capacity of the model of system; such expansion normally requires downtime to physically install the additional hardware
- In most cases systems have a fixed number of Peripheral Connect Interface (PCI) I/O device slots, the PCI version depending on the age of the server and which PCI variant was current at the time the server was introduced
- I/O capacity can be increased by adding I/O drawers containing either PCI slots, disk drive bays, or a combination of both slots and bays; these drawers are separately rack mounted from the server and connected using the Remote IO (RIO and RIO2) IBM proprietary loop bus architecture
- Most managed systems (the only exception being POWER blades, which are not very common) have a Flexible Service Processor (FSP), which is a key component in the virtualization architecture. | <urn:uuid:cc13146e-241f-43af-9818-175fd09b044c> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.globalknowledge.com/ca-en/resources/resource-library/white-paper/powervm-virtualization-essentials/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281426.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00064-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929765 | 761 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Encryption: The Next GenerationResearch Paves Way for Safer Way to Share Keys
While researchers have taken a significant step toward making quantum cryptography more cost-effective, much more research is necessary before organizations can secure their communications using this advanced technology for exchanging encryption keys, experts say.
In conventional cryptography, long strings of numbers generated by complex mathematical algorithms are exchanged over a network and used to encrypt and decrypt messages. In contrast, quantum key distribution relies on the principles of quantum physics to exchange those keys. The method of key generation is the same, but instead of transmitting them as 0s and 1s, QKD relies on particles of light known as photons.
Researchers from Toshiba's Cambridge Research Laboratory have identified a way to reduce the hardware requirements for each user added to a QKD network. They demonstrated how 64 users can share a single photon while exchanging encryption keys, according to a paper published in the September issue of Nature. Up until now, QKD required each sender and recipient to have their own specially prepared photon, making QKD-based systems far too expensive and complex for commercial use.
Cryptography is effective so long as the generated keys are strong enough that it isn't worth a hacker's time to try to crack it. However, recent advances in mathematics and engineering have shrunk the time it takes a hacker to figure out the correct string of numbers used to protect the message. "QKD revolutionizes the distribution of cryptographic keys," says Zhiliang Yuan, one of the principal researchers behind the Toshiba study. In theory, a message protected using QKD remains a secret because the key cannot be easily copied.
The threat of eavesdropping is very real. The National Security Agency, for example, has intercepted encryption keys to stealthily decrypt and eavesdrop on secure communications on the Internet, according to a news report from the New York Times and Pro Publica (see: Report: NSA Circumvented Encryption). While the NSA has devoted plenty of resources toward cracking encryption algorithms, most of its attempts focused on obtaining the keys being used to unlock the data and then view it without the involved parties being aware they were being monitored, according to the report.
[The NSA is] breaking into cryptographic systems not by breaking the math, but by bypassing the math," says Bruce Schneier, chief technology officer at the technology firm BT and a leading encryption expert. The mathematics isn't at risk here, but rather the way the keys are distributed.
While QKD itself doesn't result in crack-proof keys, due to fundamental principles of quantum physics, anyone attempting to retrieve any information from the photon would inevitably change it, explains Wolfgang Tittel, a professor specializing in quantum secured communications at the University of Calgary's Institute for Quantum Science and Technology. The resulting changes would immediately alert involved parties that someone else was attempting to access their communications. Then, the key could be discarded.
QKD-secured communication networks show promise for potential use in industry sectors, such as in banking, government and healthcare, where security is paramount. In the Toshiba study, researchers demonstrated the new technique to transfer 10 gigabytes of data, or protect about 100,000 e-mails, among eight users.
A Long Way to Go
While enterprises should keep an eye on advancements made in quantum computing, current research is "just one more evolutionary step" toward making QKD-based systems a reality, says Kevin Bocek, vice-president of product marketing at Venafi, a key management company.
Until then, enterprises need to focus on securing and protecting the keys and certificates used within their infrastructure. The NSA frequently obtained encryption keys simply by breaking into the servers, according to the news report, so it's likely these keys hadn't been secured properly and the organizations did not know they had been improperly accessed.
Security is a chain, notes Schneier, and the mathematics of cryptography is still the strongest link. "Making that link stronger, while the rest of security is so incredibly weak, makes no sense," he says.
While QKD offers intriguing possibilities for securing sensitive networks, there are still plenty of challenges ahead. For example, quantum networks currently cannot extend more than 200 kilometers, or a little more than 120 miles. This means it cannot be used to protect communications on the open Internet. Tittel's research is focused on extending the distances photons can be used over fiber optic networks so that QKD can have broader applications.
Also, QKD must be affordable before it can be put to wide use, says Michael Wiener, a leading cryptography expert. As long as costs remain high, only a small number of organizations with "unusually high security needs" will adopt the technology, Wiener says.
The Toshiba study demonstrated one step toward reducing costs, says Yuan, the member of the research team. The next step for the team is to demonstrate the technique can work outside of a laboratory and over a real fiber optic network.
"Commercial applications for quantum computing still aren't just around the corner," Venafi's Bocek says. | <urn:uuid:2c9017dc-54e5-41f4-a443-637d78108b42> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.bankinfosecurity.com/encryption-next-generation-a-6050/op-1 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281084.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00000-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94373 | 1,042 | 3.453125 | 3 |
Understanding the 20+ Lock FunctionsAuthor: Brian Rhodes, Published on Aug 26, 2013
Some suppose all locks are the same but standards existing defining a range of over 20 different lock functions. Understanding them is vital in ensuring the right unit is specified for a job, or else security vulnerabilities or dangers to life/safety can result. In this note we look at lock functions, the ANSI/BHMA Function codes, which types are most common, and the right functions to use when controlling access.
The 'function' or mechanical behavior of a lock, especially a mortise or cylindrical lever lock, should be specified for an opening. An easy example of different functions in everyday use can be seen when comparing 'restroom/bathroom/WC' locks and 'closet' locks.
Most bathroom locks include the provision to lock from the inside, preserving the privacy of occupants. However, this same feature is not common on closet doors, simply due to the potential of accidentally locking the door shut and preventing access from the outside.
These properties of locks are identified by codes, and there are over 20 different functions available. Codes are segregated according to lock type, meaning the a mortise and cylinder lock with the same function are coded differently. This simplifies specification writing and ordering, condensing complex interactions to a code.
Before codes were implemented, functions were defined via common labels like 'Passage Functions, or 'Privacy Locks'. However regional and manufacturer variations of those labels are common, and simply identifying these locks by common labels does not guarantee the exact function will be ordered. Because many of the 'old guard' still identifies locksets using these terms, they persist.
For accurate and precise descriptions, however, the ANSI/BHMA Function codes should be used:
These are 3 of the most common lock functions specified:
- Office Doors: Most office workers want to lock their doors after hours. The F82/F04 function lets an employee push a button on the back of the lock when they leave, pull the door shut to lock it, and ensure it can only be unlocked by key when unattended.
- Server Rooms: For higher security applications, the addition of a deadbolt is useful. The F88/F09 "Entrance" function allows for an additional deadbolt to be thrown by keyed locking from the outside of the door, when IT leaves a MDF/IDF. However, when personnel is inside the room, the lever functions like a "Privacy" lock allowing free egress.
- Break Room: The F75/F01 "Passage" function is ideal for areas using doors for environmental isolations (noise/HVAC) but do not necessarily want them lockable. Areas like Break Rooms are common access, and "Passage" locks assure they aren't inadvertently or maliciously locked from use.
Other applications certainly exist. For example, for a medical storage closet, F86 is a likely choice because the door is locked all the time and can only be opened by a key. The door automatically locks when the door is shut, which is ideal for securing a closet filled with valuable items. Code F86 also specifies a cylindrical lockset, although if the door was prepped for a mortise lockset, code F07 would provide the same features.
Also, look at Code F84/F05. This function is informally called 'Classroom Function', as they are designed to be installed in schools. These locks always allow occupants out of a classroom regardless if the door is locked or not. However, in order to lock the door, a key must be used on the outside of the room. This orientation has caused some concern in the wake of school shootings, because they potentially expose the teacher or class to danger in order to lock the door. This explains why some products marketed as 'classroom locks' do not specify F84/F05 code compliance, because they can be locked inside the class. While this potentially may be a safer function, it does not meet the formal 'Classroom Function' definition and it is not used.
Most commercial-grade hardware makes finding lock function easy - generally this is listed on cutsheets, and different product SKUs have different functions, even if the base hardware series is the same. Take this example from Yale:
Finding the right function is straightforward and many distributors will ask you for this information if you do not include it. Getting the right function ordered is important, because it is difficult or impossible to change this attribute in the field.
Most residential and light-grade commercial hardware does not specify any function code, and is simply sold as an 'office lock' or 'bathroom lock'. These products are configured in only the most common functions and may not be compliant with codes or specifications as a result.
Simply ordering a lockset because 'it uses a key' and fits within a door is not proper and may be illegal. Certain occupancies outlaw some functions - E2141/F16 "Double Keyed Deadbolt" cannot be used in most group occupancies, while others strictly define required use of others - F93/F15 only on Hotel/Motel doors.
Electronic Access Relevance
Failing to understand lock functions complicate electrified lock hardware selection. For example, if a lock includes a separate deadbolt, an accompanying electric strike may need to upsized to include more that one latch, or more than one strike may be required. Likewise, if a deadbolt is improperly included in a lock in an egress pathway, it could potentially kill or injure people trying to escape.
3 reports cite this report:
Most Recent Industry Reports
The world's leading video surveillance information source, IPVM provides the best reporting, testing and training for 10,000+ members globally. Dedicated to independent and objective information, we uniquely refuse any and all advertisements, sponsorship and consulting from manufacturers. | <urn:uuid:d56c9805-2a59-42a1-aee1-a4de41063004> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://ipvm.com/reports/lock-functions-explained | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281084.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00000-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911912 | 1,217 | 3.109375 | 3 |
As many of you know, Earth constantly is being pelted by rocks falling from space, so the meteor that struck in Russia's central Ural Mountains on Friday wasn't unusual. What was unusual was that people got hurt. Reports cite anywhere from 500 to 1,000 people injured, most suffering cuts caused by windows breaking after falling debris triggered explosions. Hopefully nobody was hurt seriously and there were no fatalities. The 11-ton meteor, which entered Earth's atmosphere at more than 30,000 miles per hour and reportedly landed in a lake, also caused damage to buildings in six cities in the Chelyabinsk region. Interestingly, the meteor landed just 3,000 miles west of the largest "impact event" ever, when in 1908 a meteor caused a 10-megaton explosion in Tunguska, Russia, that destroyed 830 square miles of trees (but miraculously hurt no one). There's some spectacular video below of Friday's meteor hurtling through Earth's atmosphere to impact, but first I wanted to share information from NASA about cases in which people have been hurt by falling meteors. As I said, it appears to be rare:
There are only a few documented cases on record [of people being injured or killed by meteorites]. A shower of stones fell upon Nakhla, near Alexandria, Egypt on 28 June 1911, one of which allegedly killed a dog. On 30 November 1954, Mrs. Hewlett Hodges of Sylacauga, Alabama was severely bruised by an 8 pound stony meteorite that crashed through her roof. This is the first known human injury.
If there are cases NASA is missing, let me know. While there has been speculation that the meteor is related to the asteroid fly-by of Earth today, USA Today notes that "the Russian meteor landed in the Northern hemisphere while Asteroid 2012 DA14 is approaching from the direction of the South Pole, arguing against a connection." Here are the videos, some of which were captured by people with smartphones/tablets/video cameras, others by security cameras. If the video below doesn't show up in your browser, here's a link to it.
Now read this: | <urn:uuid:a5867a37-2280-48d4-9b53-39dc541d2a37> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.itworld.com/article/2712280/hardware/great-videos-of-meteor-crashing-in-russia.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280485.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00028-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971654 | 438 | 2.734375 | 3 |
How to Improve Efficiency and Productivity with Visual Communication
Having the proper tools to communicate visually is integral for business productivity, not only when it comes to creating PowerPoint presentations but for other tasks such as planning, graphing, charting and organizing. The combined use of visual and verbal communication is said to be six times more effective than the use of text-based communication alone. Here, Knowledge Center contributor Paul Stannard explains how to use visual communication to improve efficiency and productivity in your company.
In today's fast-paced, multicultural business environment, companies are using visual communication techniques to overcome challenges such as operational inefficiencies and language barriers that can often exist between employees, customers and vendors. Visual communication techniques are being used to improve understanding of concepts, knowledge retention and long-term success.
"A picture is worth a thousand words" is a well-known saying that sums up the reasons for using visual communication in the workplace. But beyond traditional organizational charts and diagrams, the use of visual communication in the corporate environment has typically been reserved for the advertising department. For everyone else in the office, text-based communication has long been the primary means to convey information since the bygone era of the corporate typing pool.
Fortunately, a myriad of tools such as the modern word processor and e-mail emerged to make the creation of text-based messages easier and more efficient. But have these tools really improved the effectiveness of our business communication efforts? Has the mode in which we put words onto paper or screen actually enhanced our ability to understand the meaning or impact of the message?
Research has shown that visual aids are incredibly powerful tools for enhancing both the understanding of concepts and knowledge retention in a variety of settings beyond advertising. Studies have shown that people "only remember 10 percent of what they hear, 30 percent of what they read, but about 80 percent of what they see and do."
The Department of Labor also suggests using visual aids to achieve more effective communication. It cites studies which found that not only does approximately 83 percent of human learning occur visually, but also that "retention of information three days after a meeting or other event is six times greater when information is presented by visual and oral means than when the information is presented by the spoken word alone." | <urn:uuid:06c780ab-6324-4105-b102-c015d2b00881> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Enterprise-Applications/How-to-Improve-Efficiency-and-Productivity-with-Visual-Communication | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281151.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00422-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943392 | 455 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Internet Communities Organize to Take on Global Economic Crisis
Suppose the Internet existed in 1929. How might the Great Depression have been different? The Internet is a tool of global communication. If it had been available in the 1930s, the downturn and subsequent restructuring that became the Great Depression could have occurred faster and more efficiently, yielding less suffering.
Eighty years later, we are on the brink of such an economic turning point. How can we utilize the Internet to help prevent the suffering and hardships experienced in the 1930s?
This is the question being asked on communities all over the Internet, and it is the inspiration for a new Web site, EconomicTurningPoint.com. ETP is a nonpartisan global think tank dedicated to utilizing the resources available to us to address the economic crisis and avoid a decade of poverty and warfare — and they’re recruiting.
The theory behind the site — inspired by recent research by thinkers such as Malcom Gladwell, Clay Shirky, James Surowiecki and Ray Kurzweil — is that a large international community of intellectually curious individuals, utilizing modern communications technology and cooperating as a whole, can achieve great things.
Edward Thompson, one of the site’s administrators, said: “We are facing a dramatic restructuring of our economy. The traditional steps for this process involve massive layoffs, stock sell-offs, crumbling consumer confidence, reduced spending, and then — after many years — a new economy rises from the ashes.
What if we could sidestep most of that? What if we could avoid much of the hardship and the potential for war, both civil and global, and simply restructure from where we are now? How would you do it?”
Thompson emphasized the pragmatic nature of the Web site: “ETP welcomes people from all political persuasions; nonetheless, we will not tolerate stubborn ideology. All ideas are welcome on our Web site; partisan politicking and finger-pointing are not. We are, first and foremost, solution-oriented.” | <urn:uuid:169417fc-a7d7-4fc4-9163-c70e60e0dbbf> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://certmag.com/internet-communities-organize-to-take-on-global-economic-crisis/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281659.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00174-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930658 | 416 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Before disaster strikes, FEMA looks to predict severity of calamity
Will the bloated Mississippi River inundate scores of bridges and other infrastructure in the South as the flood crest snakes its way toward the delta region? The Federal Emergency Management Agency has summoned the expertise of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to help predict the potential for disaster, writes Nextgov’s Bob Brewin.
NGA is providing IT data and analysts to determine the effects of the swelling river on bridges, roads, railways, power plants, schools and other elements of the infrastructure, Brewin writes.
Using NGA’s imagery, FEMA can view details at a resolution as fine-grained as one foot, Brewin writes. NGA’s systems can show the effects of a disaster, such as last month’s tornado outbreak in Alabama, on a region in addition to predicting potential impending calamities. The data comes from the agency’s Homeland Security Infrastructure Program, which NGA created in 2001 to speed response times to U.S. disasters.
Connect with the FCW staff on Twitter @FCWnow. | <urn:uuid:058b317f-8304-4381-98a8-a6f6cbc580a3> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://fcw.com/articles/2011/05/18/agg-fema-nga-mississippi-river-flood-imagery.aspx | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280668.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00294-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923228 | 229 | 2.671875 | 3 |
A new bill could pave the way for autonomous vehicles in California. SB 1298, authored by Sen. Alex Padilla, was approved by the State Assembly on Aug. 28 with a vote of 66 to two. The bill, which will move to the Senate for a final concurrence vote, would establish safety standards and registration procedures for autonomous vehicles that would allow citizens to operate such vehicles on state roads and highways.
Thousands of Californians die in auto accidents each year, Padilla said in a statement, and autonomous vehicle technology has the potential to save lives. “I envision a future that includes self-driving cars. Establishing safety standards for these vehicles is an essential step in that process,” Padilla said. “Developing and deploying autonomous vehicles will not only save lives, it will create jobs. California is uniquely positioned to be a global leader in this field.”
If passed, the new bill will do three things: safety and performance standards for the safe operation of autonomous vehicles will be established and enforced in California; licensed drivers will be allowed to test autonomous vehicles on state roads and highways; and the Department of Motor Vehicles will be required to create an application and approval process for autonomous vehicles.
Nevada became the first state to approve autonomous vehicle testing on public roads this past March, and autonomous vehicles are marked with red license plates to indicate they are being tested. Once approved, an autonomous vehicle is marked with a green license plate, rather than the usual blue and yellow state plate. Other states, like Arizona, Hawaii, Florida and Oklahoma, are considering similar legislation for autonomous vehicles.
Early efforts in robotic autonomy were cutting-edge and relatively successful compared to some of today's vehicles, but autonomous vehicle technology is making its way into mainstream products. The U.S. Department of Defense promoted the development of autonomous vehicles through its Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Grand Challenges, three races held in 2004, 2005 and 2007 that awarded millions of dollars in prizes to the builders of cars that were able to complete the race.
Google's fleet of autonomous vehicles has logged hundreds of thousands of miles on public roads and as technology progresses, semi-automatic vehicle functions, such as blind-spot detection, adaptive cruise control, precollision braking and self-parking, become more common in commercial vehicles.
To some, these technologies point to a future where all road vehicles are driven autonomously, there are no collisions, and there is no traffic because a central computer manages vehicles using research inspired by insects. | <urn:uuid:f4ad5ac6-f4c8-45a6-abe5-f486fbc37573> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.govtech.com/technology/Autonomous-Vehicles-May-Soon-Drive-California-Roads.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560284352.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095124-00504-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953699 | 510 | 2.734375 | 3 |
A decade and more ago, cyber attacks were carried out by talented teenagers working on PCs in their bedrooms. Their objective was to gain notoriety. They were out to impress their peers, other hackers. The attack tool of choice by these teenagers, was worms that could self-replicate. The wider and faster their malware spread, the more notoriety the virus developer gained.
Times have moved on, and the malware landscape is very different today. With cyber attacks on the rise, and the cost of breaches to individuals and organisations increasing rapidly, it is useful to examine where the attacks are coming from and what their modus operandi is. This post identifies four distinct groups of cyber attackers (threat agents), each with their own objectives and preferred tools.
1. Criminal gangs
The objective of criminal gangs is to make as money as they can without getting caught. Cyber attacks are a mechanism of fraudulently generating large sums of cash with low risk of identification. Criminal gangs make their money through a number of methods such as identity theft, ransomware, and premium SMS fraud.
Criminal gangs operate through a network involving job specialisation – specific tasks such as the writing of the malware, development of exploits, growth and management of a botnet, mules to launder the money, are all carried out by different specialists.
The tools of choice of cybercriminals include drive-by downloads, trojans, botnets, phishing attacks, keystroke loggers, virus kits, exploit kits and ransomware. Physical theft of devices especially laptops, mobile smartphones and tablets, is also part of the modus operandi of many criminal gangs.
2. Enterprise attackers
The objective of those attacking enterprises is to gain competitive advantage through stealing proprietary information or assets, or by wilfully causing damage to enterprise assets. The threat could come from inside the enterprise, or from a competitor or disgruntled ex-employee wishing to steal or cause damage.
The tools in the enterprise attacker’s toolkit include ransomware, hacking, or spear phishing and keystroke logging in order to gain access into the corporate network. A disgruntled IT employee could also place a logic bomb in the code of vital enterprise software, timed to execute malicious code under pre-determined circumstances.
Hacktivists are politically motivated, their objective is exposure for a social cause. The most well-known group is Anonymous, a loosely structured group of individuals who collaborate on projects to achieve political/social aims. Hacktivists were most active during 2011, however their enthusiasm suffered due to a series of successful prosecutions in 2012 (particularly against members of LulzSec).
The tools in the hacktivist toolkit include hacking and keystroke logging in order to gain access, botnets, ransomware, Search Engine Poisoning (SEP), Distributed Denial of Service attacks (DDoS), and website defacement. Recently, hacktivists made an appeal to have DDoS declared a legal form of protest.
4. Cyber warfare groups
The objective of cyber warfare groups is to conduct sabotage and espionage to achieve political aims. Groups include nation states conducting cyber attacks against other nations, as well as smaller, politically-motivated groups conducting their own cyber commando raids. Cyber warfare raids typically target critical infrastructure in order to cause maximum disruption. A major difficulty in cyber warfare defence is accurately determining the identity of the perpetrator of offensive actions.
Tools of choice of cyber warfare groups include botnets, DDoS, spear phishing attacks, rogue certificates, hacking, and keystroke logging.
There is overlap between the various threat agents such as criminal gangs who target enterprises, and it is sometimes difficult to initially determine whether an attack is by hacktivists or a cyber warfare group. In order to deal more effectively with cyber attackers, it helps to have good understanding of the various threat agents and their traditional tools. | <urn:uuid:5b979ae0-e47c-4e13-848c-13c13781dd18> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://dwaterson.com/2013/01/24/the-four-prime-threat-agents/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280723.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00138-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957176 | 784 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Election data analyzed by Stanford University researchers offers a detailed breakdown of 2008 presidential election results. The Spatial Sciences Lab (SSSL) at Stanford announced on Oct. 29 the creation of a country-wide map outlining precinct-by-precinct election results from the contest between now President Barack Obama and Senator John McCain.
Where traditional voting maps simply show counties to be red or blue, the Stanford Election Atlas reveals the demographics of specific polling places and individual neighborhoods. Using Esri mapping technology, researchers created the map after years of collaborative research at Stanford and Harvard.
According to a press release from Stanford, neighborhood-level election analysis reveals more nuanced voting trends based on historical geographic distinctions, like former transportation routes and industrial areas.
"You can see blue veins running through primarily red states, tracing out early 20th-century railroads," said Jonathan Rodden, professor of political science and SSSL director. "And these are railroads that are long gone now."
The customizable, interactive map can be used to draw correlations between income, race and voting behavior. The Stanford Election Atlas can be found at atlas.esri.com/stanford. | <urn:uuid:f835b9fe-a3da-48b6-8000-8280a61a700f> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.govtech.com/Stanford-Election-Atlas-Reveals-Historical-Voting-Patterns.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281331.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00532-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921184 | 236 | 2.90625 | 3 |
A working definition of firewall is a device that selectively prevents (or denies) traffic forwarding. A router configured with an access list to filter packets is a "firewall." However, the TCP and UDP protocol unfortunately allows for certain types of packets to bypass an access list, so an access control list (ACL) is generally regarded as a poor firewall.
Modern firewalls use stateful inspection engines to ensure that bidirectional flows are matched to approved connections. That is, the firewall tracks all the IP packets in both directions and ensures that only packets from a valid session are passed through. That's the basic firewall definition. You don't need anything else to meet the minimum expectations of a firewall.
Let's consider how a load balancer works for simple load balancing flow: A TCP flow from the client to the server flows through the load balancer. The load balancer tracks the state of the session and selects which server out of a pool of servers should receive the TCP connection. Any return flows from the servers are modified back into the flow and returned to the user. Clearly, the load balancer has a stateful inspection engine.
What about filtering? It's not difficult for any network device to implement an access list. A load balancer is configured to listen for connections on particular ports, like port 80 and 443, and will ignore all other connections. Sounds a lot like a firewall. When you consider that most load balancer hardware uses merchant silicon from the usual places (such as Fulcrum and Broadcom), you realize that the filtering process is no different from any other router or switch.
Let's consider some of the other "security features" that a firewall implements:
Reverse Path Forwarding (RPF) ensures that IP packets are sourced from the correct interface and prevents spoofing attacks. This previously required specialist hardware to implement at high speed, but today the hardware is commoditized and all firewall software implements RPF. Load balancers perform the same function, just like a firewall.
Another common firewall claim feature is protocol validation. The firewall attempts to check that the TCP packets are formed according to standards. Thus, HTTP data is checked to be valid against IETF RFC 2616. Or DNS queries are compliant to a long list of clearly defined Internet standards. Even IP packets have a number of basic checks to ensure compliance to standards.
Such claims are common among security vendors as "key features," but what they fail to mention is that these features significantly affect firewall performance. The protocol validation is done in software and impairs performance--throughput is low, and significant latency is added to the flow. As a result, the vast majority of firewalls do not enable this feature by default, and most customers are not actually using it.
A load balancer is really just a proxy and often implements protocol validation by virtue of being an application proxy. Load balancers also do this at very high rates of performance.
If you take a look around, you will find that there are no standards that define the function of a firewall. There are some guidelines and recommendations from bodies such as NIST and Common Criteria that discuss the functions of a firewall. A couple of recognized industry bodies like ICSA will do some testing of basic firewall concepts, and the informational RFC 3511 Benchmarking Methodology for Firewall Performance defines some performance tests. However, there are no recognized standards that define firewall requirements.
Frankly, that's a damning statement about how the security industry regulates itself.
Since I need to measure the definition of firewall against industry practice, then it seems clear that a load balancer performs many, if not all, of the same functions as firewall. In my opinion, a load balancer has many more technical features than any firewall. | <urn:uuid:3affc608-1ccc-4216-bc0c-4b87952e2774> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.networkcomputing.com/networking/your-load-balancer-firewall/860567352 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280891.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00468-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934556 | 767 | 3.296875 | 3 |
This resource is no longer available
The UK government has plans to reduce their carbon footprint by the year 2020 by sustaining a 20% reduction in consumption, generating 20% of energy in the UK through a renewable source, and by mandating a roll out of smart meters in 90% of homes in the UK.
Smart meters will collect and generate information on how energy is used throughout the country and will distribute that data through shared service networks. Utilities companies will be faced with harnessing the collected data from these systems and turning it into value.
This video discusses just how some of the UK energy providers are utilising the smart meters and the information they provide to improve customer experience and profitability. | <urn:uuid:445bb713-3af1-44c8-81a8-f2fa83091959> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.bitpipe.com/detail/RES/1340828426_480.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280310.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00496-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941893 | 138 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Millan J.,Andres Bello University |
Proboste T.,Major University |
Fernandez de Mera I.G.,Health and Biotechnology SaBio |
Chirife A.D.,El Mirador del Rosario P5 |
And 3 more authors.
Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases | Year: 2016
Urbanization of natural areas is considered one of the causes of the current apparent emergence of infectious diseases. Carnivores are among the species that adapt well to urban and periurban environments, facilitating cross-species disease transmission with domestic dogs and cats, and potentially with their owners. The prevalence of vector-borne pathogens (VBP) of zoonotic and veterinary interest was studied in sympatric wild and domestic carnivores into Barcelona Metropolitan Area (NE Spain). Blood or spleen samples from 130 animals, including 34 common genets (Genetta genetta), 12 red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), 10 stone martens (Martes foina), three Eurasian badgers (Meles meles), 34 free-roaming domestic cats and 37 dogs with outdoor access, were collected either in protected or adjacent residential areas. A total of 309 ticks (chiefly Rhipicephalus turanicus) were collected on these animals. The samples were analyzed with a battery of PCR assays targeting the DNA of Rickettsia spp., Anaplasmataceae, Coxiella burnetii, Bartonella spp., and Piroplasmida, and the amplicons were sequenced. The fox showed the highest prevalence (58%) and diversity of VBP (four pathogens), whereas none of the dogs were infected. Bartonella spp. (including B. clarridgeiae, B. henselae, and B. rochalimae) was the most prevalent pathogen. Infection of wild carnivores with Ehrlichia canis, C. burnetii, Theileria annae and Babesia vogeli was also confirmed, with some cases of coinfection observed. The presence of DNA of T. annae and B. vogeli was also confirmed in tick pools from four species of wild carnivores, supporting their role in piroplasmid life-cycle. By the sequencing of several target genes, DNA of Rickettsia massiliae was confirmed in 17 pools of Rh. turanicus, Rh. sanguineous, and Rh. pusillus from five different species, and Rickettsia conorii in one pool of Rh. sanguineous from a dog. None of the hosts from which these ticks were collected was infected by Rickettsia. Although carnivores may not be reservoir hosts for zoonotic Rickettsia, they can have an important role as mechanical dispersers of infected ticks. © 2015 Elsevier GmbH. Source | <urn:uuid:1851480f-ac40-415b-903c-bff9916e3b90> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.linknovate.com/affiliation/a-and-a-biotechnology-611063/all/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280900.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00312-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928525 | 591 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Hard drives manufactured in recent years store more data per square inch of platter area than ever before. This increase in data density each device is more complex and sophisticated than their predecessors.
To function at these high levels, hard drives are individually calibrated in the factory after assembly. The unique calibration parameters are stored on the hard drive, on the platter, on the control board, or both.
This customization means that the old trick of swapping one control board with another seemingly identical control board in an attempt to read a dead drive no longer works due to the fact that the calibration parameters are specific to each individual hard drive. The video above has more explanation, and a demonstration of how a control board swap fails between two drives, even though they’re from the same manufacturer and of the same model. | <urn:uuid:e44a91bb-6d07-4c4b-9e6e-dd367a246c68> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.gillware.com/blog/data-recovery/classic-video-why-control-board-swaps-dont-work-on-most-hard-drives/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560282932.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095122-00128-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932891 | 162 | 3.15625 | 3 |
Data doesn't always have to be big data to have a huge effect on the way we live. Whether it's big data or small data, data management is increasingly a thorny issue.
For NASA, data management is at the heart of a key challenge: improving human-to-robot communication to make space exploration easier and safer.
"When you look at the way NASA and other agencies around the world have done work and exploration in space, often it's been divided between pure human exploration on the one side and on the other side is purely robotic exploration," says Terry Fong, director of the Intelligent Robotics Group at the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.
"We're interested in the middle ground of having humans and robots working together," Fong says. "How can you combine humans with robots?"
For the past three years, Fong and his team have been pursuing that question with the Human Exploration Telerobotics (HET) project. They want to pave the way for robots that can perform many of the routine, in-flight maintenance tasks that are time-consuming, highly repetitive and often dangerous for astronauts to perform manually.
The team is also investigating ways to improve the ability of astronauts to remotely control robots on a planetary surface. By doing so, the HET project aims to improve and hasten human space exploration missions to new destinations.
Two of the robots the project is working with—Robonaut 2 and SPHERES (short for Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient Experimental Satellites)—are aboard the International Space Station and controlled by operators on the ground.
Two others—the K10 planetary rover and ATHLETE (All-Terrain, Hex-Limbed Extra-Terrestrial Explorer robot)—operate at NASA field centers, controlled by astronauts on the International Space Station.
Android and Linux in the Final Frontier
The HET robots make extensive use of open source software and platforms. For instance, Android and Linux are used for most of their computing. The SPHERES robots, free-flying mobile sensor platforms about the size of a volleyball, use an Android "Nexus S" smartphone for data processing (it was the first commercial smartphone certified by NASA to fly on the space shuttle and cleared for use on the International Space Station).
Collecting data is the easy part. Aggregating and transmitting it are trickier. In space exploration, robots have to work remotely in extreme conditions, operated over highly constrained communication networks. After all, to work, data must move bidirectionally across a link that is fundamentally intermittent.
As a result, although some telerobots are now in use on Earth, they aren't well-suited for space operations. New, advanced designs and control modes are necessary. Despite variations in purpose, technology and design, all the HET robots must be equipped for both high-speed (local) and low-bandwidth, delayed (satellite) communications.
Dealing with that challenge requires a common, flexible, interoperable data communications interface that can readily integrate across each robot's disparate applications and operating systems.
"This is really what the Internet of Things is all about: machines that generate data and need to receive data in the form of commands telling them what to do," says Curt Schacker, chief commercial officer of Real-Time Innovations (RTI), a specialist in real-time software infrastructure that has worked closely with NASA on HET.
"If you look at a factory floor or hospital or aircraft engine, you're looking at potentially hundreds of thousands of discrete sources of data," Schacker says. "How do we move that data from its source to its destination in a coherent, managed way so that decisions can be made on that data?"
"The killer app that I hear the most about with the Internet of Things is predictive analytics," Schacker says. "There's an interesting characteristic of machines in that they will tell you that they're going to break. Vibrational patterns change, temperatures change, orientations change. We know this because when we do post-processing of machines that have broken, there was information available that, if we would have had that information, we would have known the problem would occur. The problem is how do you get that information and can you get in such a way that you can act on it?"
DDS Open Standard Helps NASA Create a 'Space Internet'
That's where a middleware technology called Data Distribution Service for Real-Time Systems (DDS) comes in. Developed by RTI in the U.S. and the Thales Group in France, DDS is an open standard intended to enable scalable, real-time, dependable, high performance and interoperable data exchanges between publishers and subscribers.
It is coming to play a large role in the Internet of Things, and is currently used on smartphone operating systems, transportation systems and vehicles, software-defined radio and so forth. It forms the core of NASA's Disruption Tolerant Networking software, which allows it to compensate for intermittent network connectivity and delays when sending data between computers on the ground and robots in space (or vice versa). NASA and other space agencies are using it to create what it calls a "Space Internet."
"Space is an incredibly rigorous production environment," says Stan Schneider, CEO and founder of RTI, which NASA turned to for its Connext DDS software. "As a direct result, the software needed to support mission-critical telerobotics communication applications must meet stringent requirements and become certified before use in this rugged environment. RTI Connext DDS solutions are tolerant to the time delay and loss of signal that can occur with signals bouncing between the space station, satellites and land-based devices."
"You've typically got very limited bandwidth," adds Schacker. "It's not like you're sitting on 100 Gigabit Ethernet. You've got delays on the links. And the links can be lossy. Sometimes you drop packets. DDS lends itself extremely well to that problem. The capabilities to deal with these issues are built into the middleware itself."
Fong says that the International Space Station is orbiting the earth about once every 90 minutes. Although satellites in geosynchronous orbit around the earth give NASA's control stations "pretty good coverage," data must generally travel from the space station to a satellite to a ground station and then to a control station through multiple hops.
"That's a lot of bounces," he says. "And there are times when we lose the signal for periods of minutes--up to 15, 20 or 30 minutes. The geometry is changing all the time. The communication link end-to-end is both intermittent as well as jittery in terms of time delay."
Thor Olavsrud covers IT Security, Big Data, Open Source, Microsoft Tools and Servers for CIO.com. Follow Thor on Twitter @ThorOlavsrud. Follow everything from CIO.com on Twitter @CIOonline, Facebook, Google + and LinkedIn. Email Thor at firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:cc352d3a-f147-467b-a845-24f53fa2b9f9> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.cio.com/article/2383689/data-management/nasa-turns-to-open-source-middleware-for-human-to-robot-communications.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280774.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00249-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940183 | 1,460 | 3.265625 | 3 |
Mobile Virology: Kaspersky Lab presents the first part of a new analytical report.
29 Sep 2006
Kaspersky Lab has published the first part of its latest analytical report, ‘Evolution of Mobile Malware: An Overview' by Alexander Gostev, a senior virus analyst.
Mobile malware has long ceased to be something found only in the malicious code collections held by antivirus companies. Nowadays your smartphone can be at risk when you are in any crowded place: on public transport, in the cinema, or at the airport.
Data shows that the number and scale of mobile worm outbreaks is rapidly increasing. Whereas two years ago the discovery of each new malicious program for mobile phones was a notable event, in 2006 Kaspersky Lab has added an average of 10 Trojans for Symbian OS to its antivirus databases every week.
The number of malicious programs for Symbian OS highlights the threat caused by mobile malware. Symbian OS remains a leading operating system for smartphones. This leadership is largely due to the fact that all smartphones produced by Nokia are Symbian-based, and the Nokia/Symbian combination is currently the smartphone standard. Alexander Gostev believes that it will take Windows Mobile a long time to win significant market share from Symbian.
As Alexander Gostev comments: ‘It may be that mobile worms are spreading so fast because an average mobile phone user is less security aware than an average Internet user. On the other hand, even long time mobile users treat mobile malware as a problem which hasn’t happened yet, or believe that it’s not an issue which really concerns them.”
Today’s mobile viruses can do very much the same things as computer viruses. However, it took computer viruses over twenty years to develop the range of behaviors they currently exhibit, whereas mobile malware only took two years to evolve to the same point. “Without doubt, mobile malware is the most quickly evolving type of malicious code, and clearly still has great potential for further evolution. ” writes Alexander Gostev.
Mobile malware has a range of functions, including spreading via Bluetooth or MMS, sending SMS messages, infecting files, providing remote access to smartphones, blocking memory cards, stealing data, and installing other malicious programs.
To read Alexander Gostev’s report in full, please see Mobile Virology: Part 1 of 2 | <urn:uuid:4bab9037-985d-483e-832b-757029eafd7b> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.kaspersky.com/au/about/news/virus/2006/Mobile_Virology_Kaspersky_Lab_presents_the_first_part_of_a_new_analytical_report_ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279189.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00369-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924768 | 491 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Ten years ago, one of the largest Linux worm outbreaks was underway. Known as Slapper, the worm infected Linux machines via an OpenSSL vulnerability. Infected Linux servers were organized into a P2P network which could then be used to launch DDoS attacks.
Although Slapper was not the first Linux worm (at least ADMworm and Ramen were found before it), it was the biggest case of its time. We spent quite a bit of time analyzing the case. In the end, we infiltrated the P2P network and worked with CERTs around the world to bring it down.
In 2002, Linux wasn't as popular as it is today. In 2012, most web servers are running on various Linux distributions. Linux versions are the most common OS in embedded and factory automation systems. And of course, it's the most common operating system in smartphones.
Nevertheless, malware was not really a problem for Linux users for years and years.
But in the end, it was Android that became the Linux distribution that brought the malware problem to Linux world in large scale. | <urn:uuid:1916b006-e104-4a5e-8c93-1c07e5a0288d> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00002426.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280086.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00277-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979421 | 220 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Wikipedia says “A hard disk drive (HDD)is a data storage device used for storing and retrieving digital information using rapidly rotating disks (platters) coated with magnetic material.” Basically, it’s the device upon which most computers store all those photos, music, and movies that we keep.
Many laptops now use a different form of storing data called SSDs, which store data on flash memory, without any rotating disks. This hard drive resource article only deals with disk drives, not SSDs.
Hard Drive History
The first hard drive was produced in 1956 by IBM. That disk drive was the size of a car, stored a mere 3.75 megabytes, and cost $300,000 in today’s dollars.
A typical hard drive today is about 2 cubic inches, stores 4 terabytes (4,194,304 megabytes) and costs about $150.
From it’s inception in 1956 the hard drive has decreased in size 57,000 times, increased storage 1 million times, and decreased cost 2,000 times. In other words, the cost per gigabyte has decreased by 2 billion times in about 60 years!
Hard Drive Reliability
Hard disk drives are incredible feats of engineering. Imagine a record spinning 10 times per second, with nothing but the width of a DNA-strand between the record and the needle, simultaneously playing music and writing new music to the record. Now consider all of that precision going on in the less than optimal conditions the real world presents. For example being tossed onto a table at a cafe, for years, without issue. Pretty impressive.
Having said that, hard drives do fail, and different drives fail at different rates. Hard drive companies use one of two reliability metrics:
Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF)
Annual Failure Rate (AFR)
Seagate has transitioned away from MTBF (previously reporting between 300,000 and 1,200,000 hours of operation) to AFR (which says, for example, that for one of their drives to expect 0.73% of them to fail annually.)
In practice, some drives are dead-on-arrival, while others last for many years.
Backblaze runs a cloud storage system with over 100,000,000 GB of customer data stored on over approximately 40,000 hard drives.
With 40,000 hard drives, Backblaze knows a lot about the reliability of hard drives and shares the statistics:
78% of drives survive more than 4 years.
The median hard drive survives 6 years.
Drives have 3 distinct failure modes that follow a bathtub curve:
Early “Infant Mortality” Failure
Constant (Random) Failure
Wear Out Failure
As long as the temperature is within spec, reliability is not affected by heat.
HGST drives are generally reliable; Seagate and Western Digital hard drives’ reliability vary by model.
While price per GB has decreased by 2 billion times, the amount of data we store has dramatically increased and we expect our hard drives to be cost efficient.
With over 40,000 hard drives Backblaze needs to track drive pricing carefully. Here is a graph of the cost per GB for hard drives from approximately 2008 - 2013.
The results of 'Hard Drive Farming' from store shelves.
Hard Drive Farming
In October 2011, Thailand had the worst flood in 50 years. What does that have to do with hard drives? Half of the world’s hard drives were manufactured in Thailand. Along with loss of life and property, the flood destroyed hard drive factories.
The result of this was that hard drive supplies dried up, making it incredibly difficult to buy hard drives, and the prices doubled and tripled. Many companies that were dependent on hard drives raised prices on customers to support the increased cost of drives.
In order to make it through this time without raising prices on customers, Backblaze started “hard drive farming”. The company needed about 1,000 “internal” hard drives per month to install in servers. However, since “internal” hard drives were unavailable, the company tried cracking open “external” hard drives that would normally be used by individuals to plug into their computers via USB. Finding the actual hard drives were the same, they started a process of trying to acquire 1,000 of these “external” hard drives by driving to every retail store in the area. With employees, family, friends, and customers involved, drive farming was in full effect. Read more about the craziness that this entailed: Farming hard drives: how Backblaze weathered the Thailand drive crisis
Hard Drive Backup
A single 4 TB hard drive can store 500 full length movies, 250,000 irreplaceable family photos, 250,000 curated songs, and still have enough space for over a million documents, spreadsheets, and other small files. That’s a lot of data to lose to a single drive crash.
There are various ways to backup a hard drive, but the two most common are:
Backup to another hard drive: this is reasonably easy to do once since you can just copy all the data over. However, it is hard to keep the backup hard drive up-to-date with changes. Also chances are you’re keeping both drives close together, which means they can both be destroyed by a single event.
Backup to the cloud: Cloud backup (or “online backup”) can automatically backup the data from the hard drive over the Internet to a remote location. This makes sure you don’t have to remember to do the backups and keeps the data safe from localized risks.
Backblaze is a leading cloud backup service that:
Automatically backs up all data from your hard drives
Keeps all the data securely encrypted
Provides you access via a web browser and iPhone & Android apps
Enables recovery via a FedEx’ed hard drive or flash drive
And costs just $5 per month per computer for unlimited data & unlimited hard drives
Backblaze makes it astonishingly simple to backup your computer.
Unlimited data. Just $5/month | <urn:uuid:15ed5aaf-cf3e-4437-93ce-5af9505325d4> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.backblaze.com/hard-drive.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285337.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00303-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948632 | 1,280 | 3.515625 | 4 |
The new disk, to which you clone your older one, should be inside the laptop during the operation
If you have decided to replace the hard disk of your laptop with a new one, you can use Acronis backup software to do the cloning.
(!) The important point to remember is that you need to put the new drive in the laptop first, and connect the old drive via USB. Only after this you may do the cloning. Otherwise you will not be able to boot from the new cloned drive. As such, hard disk bays cannot be used for target disks. For example, if you have a target hard disk (i.e. the new disk to which you clone, and from which you intend to boot the machine) in a bay, and not physically inside the laptop, the target hard disk will be unbootable after the cloning.
(!) Do not clone your system disk to a USB-drive, Windows cannot boot from a USB-drive.
(!) The cloning should be done from Acronis Bootable Media (created on CD/DVD or Flash). When cloning from Acronis Bootable Media, you do not need to have an operating system or an Acronis product installed on the new drive. You do not even need to have the new drive formatted to do the cloning. For information on Acronis Bootable Media see Acronis bootable media.
Even when you start cloning in Windows, the computer will reboot into the Linux environment the same as when booting from the rescue media. Because of this, it is better to clone under rescue media. For example, there may be a case when your hard disk drives are detected in Windows and not detected in Linux. If this is the case, the cloning operation will fail after reboot. When booting from the rescue media, you can make sure that Acronis True Image detects both the source and target disks before starting the cloning operation.
Assuming that you have your new drive installed in the laptop, and the old one connected via USB, here is a sample cloning scenario with Acronis True Image:
- Run Acronis True Image and select Tools & Utilities -> Clone Disk:
- Select the Automatic mode to have your old disk's partitions automatically and proportionally resized to fit the new disk:
- Select your old hard disk, which is connected via USB, as the source disk:
- Select the new hard disk, which is installed in the laptop, as the destination disk:
- Click OK to allow the product to erase all data from the destination disk (required to do the cloning):
- Review the operation on the Summary window, and click Proceed to start the cloning:
The product will then clone the disk.
Cloning of both desktop and laptop hard disks is supported. | <urn:uuid:f2a6b66e-6015-4eee-a84b-a6d5e6c52f44> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://kb.acronis.com/content/2931 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280133.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00121-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912239 | 575 | 2.640625 | 3 |
A couple of news items this week point to the rise of Asian aspirations for petaflop computing. The developments are taking place in Singapore and China, two regions that are trying to catch up to the US and Europe in supercomputing prowess and establish themselves as hubs for scientific R&D.
On Tuesday, Fujitsu and Singapore’s (A*STAR) Institute announced they are developing a range of scientific applications for petascale computing, including biomedical, engineering and computation science codes. A*STAR, which stands for the Agency for Science Technology and Research, runs the Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC), a national research institute aimed at advancing science and engineering via HPC technologies.
The application work is apparently in anticipation of a petaflop system built with Fujitsu PRIMERGY BX900 blade servers. Introduced in May of 2009, the BX900 blades are based on the latest Intel Xeon 5500 (Nehalem) processors, and not the SPARC64_VIIIfx processor (Venus) that Fujitsu developed for Japan’s next-generation multi-petaflops supercomputer.
The press release is a somewhat vague about the eventual power and size of the A*STAR system. The only deployment mentioned is that of a 35 teraflop machine, which is a long way from a petaflop:
[T]he team will harness the compute power of Fujitsu supercomputer system comprising a cluster of Fujitsu PRIMERGY BX900 blade servers with a peak performance of over 35 teraflops and 91.8% efficiency with LINPACK program. This is the first installation of a Fujitsu PRIMERGY BX900-based supercomputer outside of Japan. This system, housed at A*STAR’s Computational Resource Centre (A*CRC) at Fusionopolis, will be amongst the top tier of supercomputer sites in the world and the most powerful in Southeast Asia.
The second item comes from an article in Technology Review, which reports that the the Dawning 6000, a petaflop-capable supercomputer, will be based on China’s third-generation Loongson CPU. If you’ll remember, the 223 teraflop Dawning 5000a deployed in Shanghai was originally supposed to house Loongson chips, but switched to AMD Opterons when it became apparent the Chinese chips weren’t ready for prime-time.
The Loongson CPU is based on the MIPS architecture, although this latest generation processor slated for the Dawning 6000 will also include hardware translation for x86 instructions. (The most recent HPC machines based on the MIPS processor architecture were offered by SiCortex, the now-defunct cluster vendor that ran out of funding in 2009.) A quad-core version of the Loongson chip is already in production, but apparently the Dawning super will get a performance charge from four “GStera” coprocessors designed to accelerate floating point operations.
Supercomputer maven Jack Dongarra adds his two cents:
Dongarra cautions that it’s pointless to speculate about the performance of the forthcoming Dawning 6000 until benchmarks have been run, not least because the MIPS architecture is nonstandard in high-performance computing. “While I wish them well, I see a lot of challenges to making the whole system work, ” says Dongarra. These challenges include having to adapt the software that Dawning runs.
The system could be ready to go as early as the end of 2010. | <urn:uuid:eeae9f3d-b284-426f-ab42-c93322d183c7> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.hpcwire.com/2010/01/19/petascale_supers_poised_for_debut_in_asia/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280133.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00121-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923108 | 744 | 2.546875 | 3 |
HAZUS is a standardized methodology and software program developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that combines hazard layers with national databases, and applies standardized loss estimation and risk assessment methodology.
Upon deploying HAZUS, the South Carolina Emergency Management Division (SCEMD) experienced problems updating data within HAZUS and is now in the third phase of a project to implement a Web-based system that simplifies the process for inputting data into HAZUS.
HAZUS works with ArcGIS to allow state and local emergency managers model damage to a structure or group of structures caused by an earthquake, flood or hurricane. Those estimates can be used by elected officials to expedite requests for disaster recovery assistance and improve building codes. Emergency managers can use the estimates to preposition resources ahead of a disaster and get an estimate of the damage shortly thereafter.
One of the problems the SCEMD experienced with HAZUS is that it’s difficult to update the data on which estimates are based due to complex connections between the data within HAZUS. To make that easier, John Knight, a retired risk assessment coordinator with the SCEMD, in 2006 persuaded FEMA to fund the development of an application to automate the process. In 2007, South Carolina developed that application into a Web portal.
The Comprehensive Data Management System Web Portal is a data-management system that allows the state to request a county’s data, check it for accuracy and completeness and then provide it back to the county via a password-protected Web site. “It allows us to use the most accurate, up-to-date information that the counties will provide us,” said Melissa Berry, a risk assessment coordinator with the SCEMD. “The other benefit is that if a county is willing to upload their data set and a disaster happens and they can no longer run their analysis because they don’t have power at their [emergency operations center] — there’s a flood or they’re busy out in the field — I’ve got their data here and I can run their analysis using their data off site.”
Berry considers that one of the major selling points when she approaches counties about participating in the system.
The portal went live in October 2008, and a letter was sent to emergency managers in all 46 counties requesting an update to each county’s five essential facilities (police and fire stations, emergency operations centers, hospitals and schools) in the original HAZUS database by January 2009.
Half of the state’s counties provided updates at that time, which was more than the 15 the state expected would participate.
The SCEMD is about to start its next update of HAZUS data, and the division is considering ways to encourage increased participation. “This year it’s going to be tied to some of our initiatives here at EMD so that there’s more incentive for the counties to participate because of funding opportunities,” Berry said.
Though the comprehensive data management system on which South Carolina’s portal is built is available on FEMA’s Web site, Florida is the only other state that has piloted a similar Web portal.
[Photo courtesy of Marvin Nauman/FEMA.] | <urn:uuid:e512e2c8-d2a8-4e37-b46d-88a783c06423> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/Web-Based-System-Simplifies-HAZUS-Data.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280504.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00451-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942255 | 672 | 2.765625 | 3 |
US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper says that security agencies may use the Internet of Things (IoT) to carry out surveillance programmes in the future.
In a pre-prepared statement as part of the “Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community,” Clapper made it clear that IoT devices pose a significant threat to cyber-security
“Smart devices incorporated into the electric grid, vehicles—including autonomous vehicles—and household appliances are improving efficiency, energy conservation, and convenience,” he wrote.
“However, security industry analysts have demonstrated that many of these new systems can threaten data privacy, data integrity, or continuity of services. In the future, intelligence services might use the IoT for identification, surveillance, monitoring, location tracking, and targeting for recruitment, or to gain access to networks or user credentials.”
IoT, AI and VR
Clapper also identified artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) as other emerging technologies that are set to pose significant challenges to the intelligence community. In all three cases, however, the problem centred on the fact that new devices are being released with little testing and security requirements.
There have already been a number of instances of IoT devices being targeted by hackers to monitor victims or steal information. Early last year, Samsung was criticised after it was discovered that its Smart TVs were recording user activity and voice commands and uploading the data in an unencrypted form. Similarly, a Wi-Fi enabled Barbie doll has also been identified as a potential target for hackers, so whether it’s government authorised surveillance or criminal cyber-attacks, the IoT could certainly improve its security image.
Due to the sheer volume of data collected by the Internet of Things, privacy is often cited as a key issue. However, it is not just IoT manufacturers that must work hard to dispel these concerns. Governments have also been slow to react and will surely look to update compliance standards for connected devices in the not too distant future. | <urn:uuid:ebacda47-c387-410c-ba0f-26be7bfe04fc> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://internetofbusiness.com/intelligence-chief-admits-iot-could-be-used-for-government-spying/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281659.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00175-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961759 | 405 | 2.78125 | 3 |
From the roof of Reno's City Hall, you can see the snow-spotted peaks of the Sierra Nevada. But local officials didn't gather at the top of the 17-story building Wednesday, June 2, to admire the view. They came to see the future: two 1.5 kilowatt wind turbines designed with special hoops to reduce noise.
Reno became one of the first cities in the nation to install windmills on a city hall roof. Two years in the making, this project marks the latest stage in Reno's ongoing effort to plant small-scale turbines throughout the city to produce energy and save money, said Jason Geddes, the city's environmental services administrator.
Reno already has installed a turbine at the sewage plant and one at a park. In total, nine urban turbines are slated to go up, so city officials can test how they perform in various environments.
In the U.S., wind turbines produce enough electricity on a typical day to power the equivalent of more than 9.7 million homes, according to Tom Welch, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The DOE leads the nation's push for enhanced, affordable wind and water power technologies through its Wind and Water Power Program.
City officials are betting big money that renewable energy projects will pay off. The city, Geddes said, is investing $1 million for wind programs with a total of about $19 million for new energy technology. With wind, solar and energy-efficiency projects, he added, local officials expect to reduce energy use by 25 percent and save $1 million a year.
None of the investment money is coming out of the city's general fund. About $4.1 million comes from grants and utility rebates, the rest from stimulus bonds that the city plans to pay back with the money it saves on energy costs, Geddes said.
"It's a great thing to do to lower energy bills as much as you can," he said, "and hedge against future increases in fossil fuel energy."
Reno isn't the only city to put windmills on city buildings. In 2008, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino proposed putting a small-scale windmill on top of City Hall to convert sea breezes into clean energy. By the fall of 2008, the turbine was up and running.
"The wind power demonstration project on City Hall and the potential for turbines on school grounds will showcase the tremendous promise that renewable energy holds in Boston and beyond," James W. Hunt, Boston's chief of environment and energy, said in a 2008 release.
But, according to The Boston Channel, the windmill stirred controversy due to its limited power and the thousands of dollars it cost taxpayers.
Regardless, proponents see these small-scale turbines as a sign of a greener tomorrow. In Reno, officials plan to use the city's website to keep the public informed on how wind power works and why it might be a smart investment.
Starting this month, Geddes said, the website will offer real-time data on wind speed, turbine locations and electrical output. By plugging addresses into a 3-D regional map, citizens can gauge typical wind conditions and see how much energy a particular turbine on their property could produce.
"People will be able to look at where they will put a turbine in that region and get an estimate," Geddes said. "There's so much new technology in the market. A lot of these systems can work in the urban environment."
The plan to put wind turbines on the roof of Reno City Hall dates back to a yearlong energy audit in 2008. At that time, Geddes said, local officials analyzed ways to incorporate renewable wind and solar projects into the system.
"As we were developing that, the stimulus bill passed," he said. "That gave us the funding we needed to support this project."
With the city turbines scattered around Reno, officials and manufacturers hope citizens catch wind of the power-producing potential of urban turbines. In July, Windspire, a Reno-based, small-scale wind company, will install one of its propeller-free, vertical turbines on a city-owned parking garage.
"When you talk about wind power, most people think of big turbines in the middle of nowhere," said Amy Berry, Windspire's director of marketing. "We're big proponents of the city putting small wind turbines around because it will introduce more people to the idea of small wind." | <urn:uuid:10bfd722-8875-4d4a-ab7c-534dbd75736f> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.govtech.com/technology/Reno-Nev-Puts-Wind-Turbines-on.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560284270.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095124-00083-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947442 | 921 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Labs On-Site: The Internet Archive stores and protects petabytes of data.
Ten years in the making, the Internet Archivean ambitious project to store and archive all the Web pages on the Internet along with other forms of digital contenthouses more than 4 petabytes of data (1.6 petabytes of primary data) using standards-based modular hardware and open-source software.
The organizations strategies for storing and managing that data can serve as best practices for any company trying to get its arms around an ever-expanding data load.
Multiterabyte data centers are quite common these days, but petabyte-size data stores remain somewhat novel. To see firsthand how the Internet Archive is handling the storage of all its data, eWEEK Labs went on-site at the digital librarys San Francisco data center.
The Internet Archive had recently relocated its data center from offices in the Presidio of San Francisco. In fact, IT managers had just finished moving the last racks of servers into the new location two weeks prior to our visit in October.
Much of the Internet Archives success has to do with the way its IT managers approach the storage of large amounts of data, said Brewster Kahle, digital librarian and founder of the Internet Archive.
"We are a petabyte-oriented facility, and the question is, How do we work and store petabytes of information that are constantly accessible to the outside world?" said Kahle, during eWEEK Labs visit. "The answer is to have two practical considerationshow to store this massive amount of data and how to preserve it. Preservation and access are part of our mandate."
The Internet Archive is a nonprofit organization founded in 1996 with the purpose of building an online library made up of saved Web sites. The Internet Archive today includes all manner of digital formats, including text, audio and video, as well as archived Web pages. The collectionwhich can be accessed at www.archive.org
is continually growing.
Funding for the Internet Archive came originally from Kahle as a result of the sale of his company, WAIS (Wide Area Information Servers), to America Online. The Internet Archive is now funded by private foundations, government grants and in-kind donations from corporations.
In the beginning, the Internet Archive used Storage Technologys StorageTek TimberWolf 9710 tape library with Quantums DLT700 drives, the combination of which could store as much as 70GB of data. (Storage Technology was acquired by Sun Microsystems in 2005.) However, while the tape library was cost-efficient, the disadvantage was its relatively slow access speed.
To read a Q&A with Internet Archives Brewster Kahle, click here.
In 2000, Internet Archive IT managers decided to switch from the StorageTek tape library to desktop machines from Hewlett-Packard. The desktops, each of which had four 160GB disk drives, sat on standard bakers racks purchased from Costco Wholesale.
As the digital library grew, Internet Archive IT staffers began looking for cheaper ways to store data. In 2004, they developed a storage system called the PetaBox, which uses a combination of affordable standards-based parts and open-source software. The PetaBox also boasts low power consumption. The Internet Archive eventually spun off a company, Capricorn Technologies, to manufacture and sell the PetaBox technology.
Today, the Internet Archive has about 2,000 PetaBox systems in its data center. The PetaBoxes are used to crawl the Internet and to store Web pages and other digital content. Each of 50 racks houses 40 1U (1.75-inch) PetaBox servers, most of which are armed with dual-core Opteron processors from Advanced Micro Devices. (Older PetaBoxes use ultra-low-voltage processors from Via Technologies.)
Kahle said this approach helps keep costs down for the nonprofit organization. "We are built out of boxes just stacked up and used for different purposes," Kahle said. "As a nonprofit, one of the biggest [cost] issues for us is in the building of the data centerthe administration and the power. Were trying to keep all of these factors under control."
PetaBox systems currently being installed each have four 750GB perpendicular hard drives from Seagate Technology, providing up to 120TB of storage per rack. The Internet Archive adds about one new rack of PetaBoxes per month, according to John Berry, vice president of operations at the Internet Archive. Berry said he expects this trend to continue indefinitely.
Potential for Failure
With somewhere between 8,000 and 9,000 disks currently spinning in all these systems, disk failure is commonwith 2 to 3 percent of disks failing every year. There is no way to hot-swap the drives in the PetaBoxes, so servers with failed disks need to be pulled out of their respective racks. Kahle said this practice is tolerable at the Internet Archive because data isnt updated as quickly as it would need to be when dealing with mission-critical enterprise data.
The Internet Archive, which has the equivalent of three full-time system administrators, uses Nagios, an enterprise-class open-source network monitoring application. Nagios monitors the status of more than 16,000 checks that run on the 800 machines that make up the Internet Archives primary cluster.
Nagios isnt the only open-source application used at the Internet Archive. The PetaBoxes run Canonicals Ubuntu distribution of Linux.
The Internet Archive also makes use of two applications for the PetaBoxes: PetaBox Catalog manages thousands of tasks running across the cluster, balancing workloads and tracking job progress, and PetaBox Control Panel provides a Web interface for configuration and modification at the cluster, rock, node and partition levels.
To Protect and Serve
To protect data, the Internet Archives IT managers tried RAID 5. However, they found it unable to scale and opted instead to use a JBOD (just a bunch of disks) configuration. For its archive, the organization uses pairs of machines and has two copies of everything on separate machines. The Internet Archive also has copies of all its data stored in other locations, including a data center in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and the new Library of Alexandria, in Egypt.
"If theres one lesson we can take from the [destruction of the original] Library of Alexandria, its dont have just one copy," Kahle said. "We wanted to build the Internet Archive to ensure that we dont lose the great works of today. The only way we could do that is to have multiple copies and have multiple places in the world that we synchronize over the Internet."
The Internet Archive uses the Internet to keep its computing clusters in sync with one another. A protocol called OAI (Open Archives Initiative) is used for metadata harvesting. HTTP and FTP are also used to move batches of files.
Despite the massive amounts of data that the Internet Archive is storing, managing and preserving for posterity, Kahle said the secret to the organizations success is keeping it simple.
"We dont do anything that isnt immediately obvious to college students with Linux on their dorm-room desktop," Kahle said. "We are allergic to secret sauce. Everything we do is standardized and simple."
Senior Writer Anne Chen can be reached at email@example.com.
Check out eWEEK.coms for the latest news, views and analysis on servers, switches and networking protocols for the enterprise and small businesses. | <urn:uuid:38886688-6679-4b02-8edd-1c76262b4482> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Data-Storage/Making-Web-Memories-with-the-PetaBox | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560284352.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095124-00505-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931042 | 1,553 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Saving energy is one thing, but there has to be an economic payback, and money – some in the cable industry are calling that combination.
Rough estimates are that the cable industry is spending in excess of $1 billion a year on energy. Cable companies might be able to reduce their energy expenses by 10 percent, however, with only minimal effort. A cable company committed to far more than the minimum could cut its energy bill by more than 20 percent, by some accounts. How’s that for opex savings?
Carbon footprints take in more than just energy usage; the source of the energy, for example, can mean that two companies with the same energy consumption might have radically different carbon profiles. For example, hydroelectric has a lower overall carbon impact than coal power. The company buying hydro power would have a lower carbon imprint than the company buying coal power.
Reducing a company’s carbon imprint by more than 20 percent is well within the realm of possibility.
Exactly how, though? Answers are beginning to come. Companies like Cox Communications, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Rogers Communications are exploring several avenues and are sharing their results.
They’re being aided by the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers, which is not only encouraging green practices, but is also actively employing them, all in the interest of establishing guidelines, business cases and best practices the entire industry can benefit from.
The three biggest energy expenditures are the transmission network itself and critical facilities, and a distant third is facilities and offices. A big chunk of that third category is vehicles (see Carbon Impact Study).
Headends and central offices, and the networks themselves, suck a lot of power.
“In 2008, Virgin Media was one of the top carbon emitters that was not a utility in the U.K. Why? Because of the energy used in their network,” said Paul Shmotolokha, president of Coppervale, a company that consults with communications companies on energy use. Coppervale did the energy audit for Virgin Media. Since then, Virgin has been actively reducing its carbon footprint.
There are multiple factors in the green equation. Conservation remains one of the weightiest of them. Simply not wasting power can be fairly simple once a company identifies and commits to practices that reduce wasting energy, such as turning off lights where not needed or sealing off unused rooms with outside windows, which are likely to greenhouse when it’s hot and sunny and leak heat when it’s cold.
“There have been tremendous improvements in lighting in just the last three years,” Shmotolokha said. “And not just because of LEDs. It’s the control systems, the fluorescent tubes – everything. Lighting is the quickest and easiest payback – it’s a no-brainer.”
“We’ve got a list; it’s forty or fifty items,” said Jay Rolls, senior vice president of technology development at Cox. The list covers everything from office energy management to fleet management to looking for any energy savings possible in the construction of its new data center in Arizona. “What I’ve learned is that not only can you get payback, but with some things, you can get payback within a year. That’s a beautiful thing from a budget standpoint,” he said.
That’s all fairly straightforward, but the greening of the network itself is still in the initial stages.
Switching and routing equipment, including CMTSs, can consume a lot of energy (and generate a lot of heat), as can servers in data centers and server farms, including VOD libraries.
Energy consumption is being increased as companies move to switched digital video. Taking advantage of the channel-bonding capability can also increase energy consumption in D3 equipment because multiple tuners are now drawing power.
Don’t forget the set-tops. While the energy drawn gets charged against the accounts of subscribers, the vast majority of boxes are still owned by the service provider. Older-model HD DVRs can draw about 25 watts of power, while some newer models draw as little as 3W, Shmotolokha noted.
Shmotolokha said one European client insisted it would not buy set-tops that did not have a standby mode, “and the vendor community responded to that,” he said.
While companies like Cisco and Arris and Juniper are trying to figure out how to minimize power consumption and maximize energy efficiency in switching systems, the big struggle is figuring out how to draw off the tremendous amounts of heat these systems generate in headends and central offices.
Power generation is another major variable – employing photovoltaics (PV), wind energy or geothermal energy to offset what you might otherwise pull from the grid.
Here the SCTE is putting its money where its mouth is, or – as SCTE President and CEO Mark Dzuban puts it – “we’re eating our own dog food.” The organization is installing a 12 kW PV system to power its headquarters in Exton, Pa. The SCTE expects to have a ribbon-cutting ceremony later this month for the system, which will help power its IT systems, including its website.
“All the learning that comes out of that – how do you finance and build something like that – that will all go into a presentation,” Dzuban said.
The problem is that photovoltaic power is still very expensive and still not very efficient, despite years of gradual improvement.
The federal tax incentive is available nationwide. “But if you only have federal incentives, the best you can do is single green,” said John Hewitt, vice president of cable sales at Alpha Technologies. Double green is possible only in those six states that currently have additional incentives for PV projects.
That list includes Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Arizona, New Mexico and Oregon. The members on that list are likely to change from year to year.
“Does PV work? Yes,” Dzuban said, referring to some megawatt systems Cox Communications installed at some of its Arizona facilities last year. “Cox is running some big systems. Now how do you go from conceptual to the actual nuts and bolts of doing it?”
Rogers, he noted, is using geothermal energy – not for cooling, but for heating.
The SCTE will help compile and share information from Cox, and from Rogers, and from Comcast and Time Warner and others, which it plans to start publishing soon, with the expectation that the volume of what gets published will increase as the industry gains more experience. Dzuban promised a set of specifications and best practices in 2011.
As easy as it is to find double-green opportunities in offices, it’s hard to eke big improvements in power consumption or in power efficiency in critical facilities such as headends, central offices and hubs.
That said, there might be some areas to save in. Just as there are peak hours for energy usage, there are peak hours for network usage.
Communications service providers have large data centers with multiple servers. Maybe they can be managed so that they don’t all have to be up and running, suggested Derek DiGiacomo, director of information services at the SCTE.
“Can devices have sleep modes? Do all servers have to be on at all times? Can they be brought back on quickly? I’ve seen models that show you might get a 50 percent reduction in energy usage simply by using cycling software,” DiGiacomo said.
In general, the equipment draws what it draws. Manufacturers can diminish the sizes of their systems, but while power efficiency might be improved somewhat, the real progress and advantages tend to be in density.
Meanwhile, products from different manufacturers tend to be similar in terms of their energy demands. That said, there are some instances where the differences are actually quite stark.
As mentioned above, switching equipment can draw a lot of power. Alpha powers softswitches from both Nortel and Cedar Point Communications. “Nortel draws double the power,” Hewitt observed.
The outside plant is where other savings might be achieved.
For years, the typical amplifier in use by the cable industry was a 15-amp model. But in recent years, as network architectures evolved and nodes became smaller, the 15-amp product is simply much bigger than necessary.
On average, 80 percent of an HFC network operates at fewer than 10 amps, Hewitt said, yet operators out of habit tend to replace amplifiers with the traditional 15A model, typically operated at their “sweet spot” at about 12A – still more than necessary. They just end up generating heat, he said. “We’re starting to see 50 percent of the network not matching the size of the requirement.” Alpha is now making 3A, 6A, 10A and 15A models “so that when it comes time to replace an amp, you can size it appropriately.”
Is it worth it to swap one piece of equipment for another immediately, be it a switch, a set-top or an amp? Probably not. But if you’re buying new equipment, either for an initial deployment or to replace a system at the end of its normal lifecycle, in addition to looking at features, factoring in the relative power consumption of the competing products is clearly advisable.
Another option is to just eliminate the problem by eliminating components that draw power – go fiber deep, or put in a passive optical network (PON). While either option will save on power, no question, Shmotolokha said the expense of the deployment cannot be justified by the power savings alone.
The key is to start by picking specific goals. Time Warner Cable, for example, decided to start by concentrating on getting efficiencies in its fleet and by reducing its use of paper. (Reusing and recycling paper doesn’t affect energy consumption directly, but it does diminish one’s carbon footprint.)
Long term, Coppervale recommends a plan (and Coppervale can help companies develop such plans) that take into account:
• The network
• Critical facilities
• Carbon baselining (doing a carbon audit, which becomes a baseline for a comparison to measure improvement)
• Internal programs (getting employee buy-in)
“Do all five of those, and communicate that to your subscribers, and you can really improve your brand with your customers. And let’s face it,” Shmotolokha said, “some cable companies have a bad image in some markets. This is an opportunity to improve a bad image.”
In the future, even more variables could be introduced to the equation.
First and foremost, energy prices are only going to go up. Peak oil production is about 85 million barrels a day, and one of the factors that drove gas up to $4 a gallon a few years ago was that worldwide demand was at about 84 million barrels a day, Shmotolokha explained.
Now, in a recession that is still being felt the world over, demand is still about 80 million barrels a day. Once world economies perk up again, so will demand for oil (and other forms of energy), and that will only serve to drive costs up again.
“Say you’re a small, $100 million company, and energy prices go up and you end up spending another 5 percent or 10 percent on energy,” Shmotolokha said. “That’s $5 million to $10 million a year – that’s a pretty big line item increase.”
There’s growing interest in the notion of carbon taxes, an additional fee levied on companies that could go up or down based on their carbon footprints. And as noted above, given that communications networks are huge users of power, a carbon tax could be a big hit for communications service providers.
Utilities are also looking at their own version of tiered pricing, based on the nowfamiliar concept of peak usage. “You can see the grid change between 5:30 and 6:30 as electric ovens come on,” Hewitt observed.
It might take five or 10 years, but utilities are going to want to charge more for power consumed during peak periods, an inducement for people to change their behaviors, opting to draw power at other times when the option is available, or, as Hewitt put it, “so maybe you don’t bake a cake at 6:00.”
That’s residential. Business hours are business hours, and that’s unlikely to change. Under those circumstances, installing renewable energy becomes more salient. “A PV system can offset consumption at peak times,” Hewitt said.
This dovetails directly with the Smart Grid approach, but a convergence of communications and utilities interests just isn’t happening yet. “It makes sense for a power company to monitor usage, and MSOs have a high-bandwidth pipe into the house. A meter should just have an Ethernet cable in the back so you can send back the data. You could do it for practically free at this point,” Hewitt said. “I think Smart Grid is going to be an important part of the future.” | <urn:uuid:28f88cce-1dbe-44b5-a611-555aed1844a2> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.cedmagazine.com/article/2010/07/greening-cable?cmpid=related_content | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279489.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00323-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954828 | 2,809 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Federal flood maps are outdated, and climate change will only make them more so, leaving states and localities without the information they need to plan for and mitigate flood risks.
The Obama administration's solution? Lasers.
Specifically, the LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) System that uses a series of airborne lasers firing out 200,000 pulses of light per second that essentially function as radar. The result is a hyper-detailed 3-D map of the United States so precise it can detect the height of a median on a road.
The U.S. Geological Survey, which is spearheading the multiagency 3-D Elevation Program, says the map has the potential to avert billions in flood damage, overhaul infrastructure planning, revolutionize farming, and even make cars drive more efficiently.
"That level of resolution has never existed," said Kevin Gallagher, associate director of the USGS Core Science Systems. "When you talk about modeling what areas are going to flood, that can be the difference between a house being underwater or not."
The map has emerged as a surprise player in the White House climate action plan, getting $13.1 million this month for its potential to help states and localities prepare for extreme weather. With a more precise map, researchers could forecast, say, how heavy rains from an aggressive storm would generate floods or how rising sea water would spill into an estuary. The information can also be used to better study coastal erosion, water-resource planning, and landslide hazards.
The total benefits just from flood preparation are between $295 million and $502 million a year, according to a2012 USGS report.
But the survey agency says its own 3-D map can do far more than just prepare for heavy rains and rising seas. More accurate data on the elevation and slope of fields, for example, could lead to precision agriculture that maximizes the use of nutrients and reduces runoff of chemicals. Trucking companies have said they could use information on the slope and height of roads as they develop intelligent vehicles that can shift gears and accelerate to maximize fuel economy on hilly drives.
The data can even be used to identify fault lines—USGS used it to discover a surface rupture in Washington state along the Tacoma fault that led to the redesign of a $735 million suspension bridge. That data, USGS said, could provide guidance on where to avoid building major infrastructure or nuclear-power plants that would be at risk from earthquakes.
All told, USGS says that the 3-D Elevation Program could generate more than $1.2 billion a year in new benefits.
The $1 billion, eight-year project marks the first wholesale upgrade to the USGS topographic map in decades. For now, the map uses the best available data from each area—Gallagher calls it a "quilt"—that in some cases can be as much as 50 or 60 years old. Even with states like Alaska becoming early adopters of LIDAR, only 4 percent of the nation is currently covered with data as fine as 3DEP will be able to generate.
"In the beginning, we were literally walking around and using hand-held instruments to determine elevation," Gallagher said. "Now [with LIDAR] we can show you tree canopies and building structures. We're producing a set of data orders of magnitude greater … and that's going to meet a huge set of needs."
USGS will partner with other federal agencies, academics, states, and local partners for funding and technical assistance, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which stands to emerge a big winner. The agency is working to overhaul its flood maps that not only project flood risk, but help set rates for insurance premiums. This month FEMA announced the 20 members of its Technical Mapping Advisory Council that will develop recommendations for improvements to the flood maps.
Those maps are serious business: Sen. Mary Landrieu has particularly pushed for better flood mapping for her home state of Louisiana, where the unique coastal topography makes it a flood risk. The Democrat added $100 million to the Homeland Security spending bill for flood maps and at an Appropriations hearing last week hammered FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate to upgrade the "unacceptable" flood data, saying only 52 percent of maps were at the best available quality.
"Our work is far from over to build a better flood-insurance program that we can live with, grow with, and prosper with," said Landrieu. "This cannot—and will not—happen until we have accurate and reliable flood maps." | <urn:uuid:8782be98-6092-49e6-b7fa-ce84d688bf01> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.nextgov.com/big-data/2014/07/how-lasers-and-3-d-maps-can-help-us-prepare-climate-change/89840/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560284405.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095124-00349-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951799 | 931 | 3.484375 | 3 |
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Embed code for: GOV - Quality of Life Stage#1
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Angel Alfau Period 9
Throughout the years, certain schools in New York City have become notably worse than others. This a significant issue, specifically in the Bronx. Schools in the Bronx have been found to have some of the lowest graduation rates, and do not provide very good education. Compared to the rest of the schools in New York City, most of the schools in the Bronx are definitely the worst schools. It is difficult for these schools to improve, as they do not have the infrastructure required to solve their issues and therefore cannot improve their quality of education.
Education is extremely important and is a large aspect of the quality of life in a community. Without good education, the quality of life will decline, undoubtedly. This is because education is needed for every community that wishes to develop and advance. According to a study by the RAND Corporation, “The quality of their education may affect the larger community in which they work but not directly affect the community in which they were educated” (6). This quote is stating that the education being received in a community has a direct impact on the community in which they work. Undoubtedly, without a good education, it will be relatively difficult to find a good paying job, which has a domino effect on the quality of life; without a good paying job, it will be difficult to move out of the community, and then the quality of life suffers drastically.
The education in each community should meet a certain level so that they can develop and improve their quality of life. Bad education is a major issue, since it largely affects the quality of life in a community. Education can easily be considered the main infrastructure for a positive quality of life. Therefore, if we can manage to improve the education quality in the Bronx, then the quality of life in the Bronx will improve slowly but surely. It’s not fair that this community has the worst schools in all of New York City. As shown in figure 6 of the NYC Well Being Index, the education in the Bronx specifically was found to be one of the worst in all of New York City. This shows how significant this issue, and why this needs to be addressed.
There have been programs that have been developed to address the quality of life issue of education. According to the NYCT newsletter on grants, there have been multiple grants and programs that have been made to help support schools in Bronx, such as a $60,000, two-year grant made to the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts to aid in providing the arts to three Bronx schools. This helps to promote the learning environment throughout the schools. Grants, such as this one, can be a huge help to improve education. Even donations, or fundraising events, can add up and significantly improve education in a community.
There are a few government agencies that deal with the schools, specifically the school budget, on the local/district level. As stated by the School Budgets 101 article, “at the local/district level, budget discussions and work will involve school administrators, school boards, school employees and community members” (2). My issue is considered more of a local issue, than a state issue, because it is focusing on a specific community. These school officials are in charge of funding local schools, and if need be request more funding for their local schools. Therefore, if anyone can solve the issue of bad education in the Bronx, it would be the school administrators, school boards, school employees and community members who would be able to.
Surely to improve the education in a community, lots of funding is needed. As stated by the School Budgets 101 article, “School budget resources come from a combination of local, state and federal contributions” (3). Federal funds consist of “grants, competitive dollars, and those dollars outside of long-term funding commitments.” The article then goes on to state that the schools have to work on a limited budget and unless they receive extra grants or donations, they may not have the sufficient funding necessary to promote the learning environment. Therefore, the main reason as to why the issue of bad or insufficient education exists is due to the limited budget.
Clearly the main issue at hand is the limited school budget. As stated in the article by Dylan Scott, “
http://www.governing.com/news/politics/gov-biggest-problem-for-public-education-lack-of-funding-poll-says.htmlFunding was by far the most pegged problem with 35 percent of those polled saying it is the biggest obstacle for public schools in their community.” This statement further proves the fact that the school budget, or funding, is a major issue and a solution must be made to aid in improving the learning environment in schools. If a school does not have sufficient funding, it will not be able to compete with most of the other schools in New York City specifically. The reason why schools in the Bronx are incompetent compared to schools in the rest of New York City is because those schools do not have sufficient funding in order to compete.
There are already a few government agencies working to help solve this issue. The NYC Board of Education is aiming to further increase the school budget. According to the 2016-2017 School Budgets & Fair Student Funding, the NYC Board of Education is looking to increase ”equity in budget allocations by raising the Fair Student Funding floor from 82% to 87% for all schools, impacting over 650 schools” (5). This shows that they are looking to increase the fair student funding by a relatively decent amount. This indirectly increases the budget slightly for schools that need it, specifically schools in the Bronx, since they do not have sufficient funding for students.
Although certain organizations are looking to increase the school budgets, budget cuts are still occurring, and they may negatively impact the learning experience in schools. An article by NY Metro Parents states that “In addition to significant declines in arts budgets, the number of certified arts teachers in city schools is declining as well.” Art is an important class for schools to have, as it improves the creativity of the students and may improve the learning environment of the school itself. However, with these art class budget cuts, there are going to be less art classes, and along with less art classes comes a worse learning environment. Students should be encouraged to think outside of the box, and art class allows them to do so. These budget cuts should not be made to art classes.
Budget cuts are extremely bad for NYC schools, as their budgets should be increasing and not decreasing. Education is arguably the most major infrastructure required to maintain a good quality of life in a community, and it should have enough funding to maintain a good learning environment. According to Ben Chapman for NY Daily News, “Budgets at city schools have shrunk by nearly 14% since 2007.” If this continues to happen, most schools in New York City are going to decline, not just the schools in the Bronx. Budget increases need to happen in order to bring back Bronx schools in line with other schools within the city. Bronx schools should be competitive; they shouldn’t just be left to fall, as they are already in an extremely bad position currently. Figure 6 in the NYC Well-Being-Index shouldn’t have dark red spots; it should be mostly even throughout New York City. Therefore, budget cuts are the opposite of what NYC schools need.cation in the Bronx, it would be the school administrators, school boards, school employees and community members who would be able to.
Surely to improve the education in a community, lots of funding is needed. As stated by the School Budgets 101 article, “School budget resources come from a combination of local, state and federal contributions” (3). Federal funds consist of “grants, competitive dollars, and those dollars outside of long-term funding commitments.” The article then goes on to state that the schools have to work on a limited budget and unless they receive extra grants or donations, they may not have the suffi | <urn:uuid:2c777be5-9a90-45f8-a1e6-b654edde2b5f> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://docs.com/angel-alfau/8728/gov-quality-of-life-stage-1 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280730.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00561-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973218 | 1,738 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Ensure that your Oracle memory structures are adequately sized.
The Oracle database consists of an instance and data storage. The instance is a set of operating system processes and memory structures that interact with the storage. System Global Area (SGA) and Process Global Area (PGA) are two kinds of memory structures that Oracle uses.
Each Oracle instance uses SGA, which is a shared memory area, to store its data and control information for cached data blocks and shared SQL areas. The PGA, on the other hand, is a memory area that stores data and controls information for a single process and holds information about user sessions, session variables, sorts, bind variables, and so on.
As the workloads change, memory is redistributed to ensure optimal performance. How do you know if Oracle memory structures, such as the SGA and PGA, are adequately sized?
Applications Manager helps you in tracking SGA performance and the Oracle processes using PGA and the resource limit for processes. This gives you insight into how loaded your Oracle Database is and lets you determine how to distribute memory optimally among the components.
You can view historical information about:
Some of the metrics for memory structure management are as follows: | <urn:uuid:d4b42b52-f01c-4007-9bb0-464af0f8e800> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.manageengine.com/products/applications_manager/monitor-oracle-memory.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280730.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00561-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.897497 | 246 | 2.734375 | 3 |
IPv6: What You Need to Know
IPv6 is coming, and more's going to change than the total number of available IP addresses. First in our series on what you need to know about IP's newest incarnation.
IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6), the "next generation" Internet standard, has been under development now since the mid-1990s. Yet despite current testbed activity worldwide, and an emerging push from Asia and Europe, IPv4 (Internet Protocol Version 4) continues to hold sway. As new applications and infrastructure roll out over the next few years, though, more enterprise network managers in the US will face the challenges of IPv6 migration.
So why move to IPv6 anyway, and why the long delay? IPv6 was born out of concern that the demand for IP addresses would exceed the available supply. However, in the US, at least, this hasn't turned into much of a problem at this point.
Most large enterprises have managed to garner large chunks of contiguous IP addresses by nailing down Class A and Class B networks. Protocols such as NAT (Network Address Translation), CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing), and NAPT (Network Address Port Translation) have meanwhile been created, also helping to curb the need for IPv6's new addressing scheme.
Some countries in Asia and Europe, however, are already claiming an IP addressing pinch. "Asia, in particular, is encountering some real problems with address space depletion. IPv4 address space is largely tilted toward the US, because we're the ones who 'invented' the Internet," says Rob Batchelder, research director, Internet infrastructure, Gartner Group.
In fact, the governments of Japan and Korea have mandated national migration to IPv6 by 2005. "I would argue that, by requiring use of IPv6 in these countries, (Japan and Korea) also know they'll get the industry behind it. This will help drive consumption in other parts of the world," predicts John Longo, VP of data services for Global Crossing.
The biggest benefit of IPv6 is replacement of IPv4's 32-bit address scheme with a much longer, 128-bit address scheme. A 32-bit adress scheme allows for a total of 2^32 addresses, while IPv6 allows for 2^128 total addresses. "You'll now have addresses for every penny and every speck of dust," quips Frank Arundell, director of business development at Stealth Communications.
All kidding aside, IPv4 will certainly expand the universe of possible IP addresses for cell phones, PDAs, and consumer appliances, including refrigerators and TV sets, for instance. Some players in the airline industry are even eyeing IPv6 addressing as a possible means of tracking passengers and monitoring airline instrumentation.
IPv6 offers other technical advantages, too. For example, headers will be simplified to seven fields, instead of the 13 fields in IPv4, bringing less overhead than would otherwise be expected from headers for 128-bit addresses.
Header fields will include a "traffic class field," also known as a "priority field," capable of distinguishing between real time traffic such as video and lower priority transmissions that can be slowed down during peak congestion periods.
There are three types of IPv6 addresses: unicast; anycast; and multicast. The new anycast addresses enable a packet sent to a group of anycast addresses to be delivered to one member of the set. IPv6 does away with IPv4's broadcast addresses, rolling their functionality into multicast addressing.
On the security side, IPv6 adds two new extension headers. The "authentication header" provides built-in authentication and integrity (without confidentiality). The "encapsulating security header," on the other hand, supplies confidentiality and integrity..
Despite these and other efficiencies, though, migration to IPv6 is bound to be gradual in the United States. "If migrating to IPv6 was easy to do, it would have been done a long time ago. It's almost like saying that, starting tomorrow, everyone in the United Kingdom will have to start driving on the right hand side of the road. Overnight, you'd have to change all the exits and move all the traffic signs to the other side of the street," notes John O'Keefe, president and CEO of Fine Point Technologies.
Devices with IPv6 protocol stacks will be able to automatically obtain routable addresses. If companies change their ISPs and need to renumber, computers will automatically reconfigure themselves. Still, though, changes will need to be made to router settings, firewall rules, and hard-coded IPs. Global updates to DNS entries will continue to take days to weeks.
The infrastructure for IPv6 is now under way. The IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force), author of IPv6, has finalized the protocol, although approval is still awaited on a number of proposed specifications, including RIPng for IPv6; IPv6 over IPv4 clouds; and FDDI transmission.
Router manufacturers such as Cisco and Juniper Networks have already started to comply with the emerging standard. So, too, have OS like Sun Solaris, Microsoft Windows XP, and Linux.
IPv6 applications are expected to be the strongest driver, but these have yet to appear. Even in the US, however, companies have started to test interoperability and/or applications on testbed IPv6 networks.
For instance, Stealth Communications, a New York City-based ISP, also operates NY61X, an Internet exchange point with links to more than 50 different IPv4 networks and just as many IPv6 nets. The IPv6 interconnects include DEFENSENET; IIJ (Internet Initiative Japan); Sprintlink; UUNET; and Finland's TELIA, for instance.
6bone, on the other hand, is an experimental worldwide IPv6 network. Participants include more than 180 organizations from the US alone. AOL, BellSouth, IBM, Motorola, Microsoft, Xerox PARC, and DREN (Defense Research and Engineering Network) are just a few. | <urn:uuid:08dc1b5e-e27d-41f2-917a-11560ecc6409> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.enterprisenetworkingplanet.com/netsp/article.php/1347761/IPv6-What-You-Need-to-Know.htm | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280310.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00497-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943413 | 1,248 | 2.875 | 3 |
If what we know as advanced life exists anywhere other than Earth, then perhaps they are dirtying their atmosphere as much as we have and that we could use such pollution components to perhaps more easily spot such planets in the universe.
That’s the basics of new research put for this week by researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics that stated if we could spot the fingerprints of certain pollutants under ideal conditions, it would offer a new approach in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
+More on Network World: The weirdest, wackiest and coolest sci/tech stories of 2014 (so far!)+
The researchers pointed specifically to the future James Webb Space Telescope should be able to detect two kinds of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) -- ozone-destroying chemicals used in solvents and aerosols. They calculated that that the James Webb could tease out the signal of CFCs if atmospheric levels were 10 times those on Earth. A particularly advanced civilization might intentionally pollute the atmosphere to high levels and globally warm a planet that is otherwise too cold for life.
"We consider industrial pollution as a sign of intelligent life, but perhaps civilizations more advanced than us, with their own SETI programs, will consider pollution as a sign of unintelligent life since it's not smart to contaminate your own air," said Harvard student and lead author of the paper “Detecting industrial pollution in the atmospheres of Earth-like exoplanets” Henry Lin, in a statement.
From the paper: “Detecting biosignatures, such as molecular oxygen in combination with a reducing gas, in the atmospheres of transiting exoplanets has been a major focus in the search for alien life. We point out that in addition to these generic indicators, anthropogenic pollution could be used as a novel biosignature for intelligent life. To this end, we identify pollutants in the Earth's atmosphere that have significant absorption features in the spectral range covered by the James Webb Space Telescope. We focus on tetrafluoromethane CF4 and trichlorofluoromethane, which are the easiest to detect chlorofluorocarbons produced by anthropogenic activity.”
"People often refer to ETs as 'little green men,' but the ETs detectable by this method should not be labeled 'green' since they are environmentally unfriendly," stated Harvard co-author Avi Loeb.
According to Lin and Loeb, while searching for CFCs could ferret out an existing alien civilization, it also could detect the remnants of a civilization that annihilated itself. Some pollutants last for 50,000 years in Earth's atmosphere while others last only 10 years. Detecting molecules from the long-lived category but none in the short-lived category would show that the sources are gone, they stated.
The researchers note that there is a limitation to using the Webb telescope in that it can only detect pollutants on an Earth-like planet circling a white dwarf star, which is what remains when a star like our Sun dies. That scenario would maximize the atmospheric signal. Finding pollution on an Earth-like planet orbiting a Sun-like star would require an instrument beyond JWST -- a next-next-generation telescope, the researchers stated.
However the researchers note that a white dwarf star might be a better place to look for life than previously thought, since recent observations found planets in similar environments.
Another caveat may be the Webb telescope. The $6.5 billion Webb telescope is the successor to the highly successful Hubble space telescope and according to NASA will be the most sensitive infrared space telescope ever built.
It is designed to see the farthest galaxies in the universe and the light of the first stars; study young planetary systems; and look for conditions suitable for life on planets around other stars. The telescope features a large mirror, a little over 21-feet in diameter and a sunshield the size of a tennis court. The system would reside in an orbit about 1 million miles from the Earth.
The project has been plagued by design issues and funding problems and routinely gets Congressional scrutiny over costs. The Webb is slated to be launched in 2018.
Check out these other hot stories: | <urn:uuid:11ef81cc-889c-4778-a460-17ef21867a1b> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.networkworld.com/article/2456154/security0/finding-life-in-space-by-looking-for-extraterrestrial-pollution.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280310.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00497-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943652 | 869 | 3.234375 | 3 |
Brooks D.M.,MEPC |
Miller E.,Museum of Science and Industry |
Engineered Systems | Year: 2010
McGuire Engineers (MEPC), a staff and engineering consulting firm designed and built a new central plant that cools twice the space and brings in two times more ventilation than required. The design team added several innovative features to increase the overall efficiency of the cooling system. The plant was designed as a primary variable flow system, which means that the pumps slow down to meet the required building chilled water flow. Another innovative feature included was pressure-independent control valves, which maintain consistent flow over a wide range of pressures for a fixed valve position. The engineers also used a pressure independent control valve on the smaller chiller which trims the chilled water flow thereby loading the larger chillers which run more efficiently when they are fully loaded. MPEC used the initial investigative work to design the ductwork and piping system in a three dimensional CAD package to ensure all of the systems could fit in the given space. Source
Agency: NSF | Branch: Continuing grant | Program: | Phase: AISL | Award Amount: 531.12K | Year: 2015
Approximately 8.4 million children in the United States participate annually in out-of-school time (OST) programs with a science component. These programs have been shown to have a wide range of impacts on scientific literacy, school achievement, and career interest. Because such programs take place outside of home and school, they offer participants learning flexibility and a sense of agency that otherwise do not exist in traditional science learning contexts. However, current research on OST is largely limited to evaluation-level data that has not been synthesized, making it difficult to draw definite conclusions. As seen in other fields, a larger evidence base is needed for the OST field to grow or else non-evidence-based policies will be imposed upon the field by outside forces. The project team will conduct an experimental, longitudinal research project to address these issues. This Research-in-Service to Practice project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments.
The study uses a sophisticated design with a wide variety of measures to follow three cohorts of adolescent youth (~200) over a 4-year period to address the primary research question: How does participation of adolescent youth from traditionally underrepresented groups in a well-established, out-of-school time science program affect their career choices and attitudes towards science as they mature into early adulthood? While each measure is rooted in established literature and methodology, putting it all together using a comprehensive, complementary approach has not yet been done in the OST field. The research studies will be looking at a number of variables in order to measure program impact including: demographic and experiential background of program participants, STEM attitudes, career interest/choices, scientific engagement, and participation. Data will be collected via survey, observation, interviews, and document review. The program practitioners will contribute diary and field note data to the study.
This project will provide STEM education practitioners with the evidence-based information they need to develop better programs for underrepresented minority (URM) youth so program and policy decisions are not made in a vacuum. Operationally, findings will have an impact on OST and URM science education researchers by generating new research methodology and techniques. Tactically, it will benefit greater URM communities by investigating how OST programs can support science learning and scientific interest among their adolescent youth. Strategically, the study impacts the nation by providing evidence about the validity of OST programs as a critical partner to address the issue of URM involvement in the STEM workforce. Also, the corpus of raw data will be made public, providing a large and varied data set for others to explore. This research is being conducted by the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, and the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia.
Museum Of Science And Industry | Date: 1996-04-23
printed publications, namely, teacher guidebooks, parent guidebooks, and childrens books and posters all of which concern the exhibits, programs, and events of a science and industry museum.
Museum Of Science And Industry | Date: 2007-08-28
Museum Of Science And Industry | Date: 1998-07-13
Educational science videotapes. Jewelry, plastic and fine metal. Publications, namely, books, educational kits, teachers guides. Clothing, namely sweatshirts, t-shirts, ties, and hats. Toys, namely, plush toys, teddy bears and educational toys. | <urn:uuid:081d7348-2cd8-431e-845b-d49b32201912> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.linknovate.com/affiliation/museum-of-science-and-industry-1046516/all/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280364.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00342-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929032 | 962 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Determining the best server room temperature
Wednesday, Nov 27th 2013
Data centers across the globe are relied on for the storage and support of countless amounts of sensitive data and mission-critical applications. In order to fulfill client demands, servers must be constantly kept online. This equipment creates a significant amount of heat, however, which can have an adverse effect on its functionality if left unchecked. Therefore, data center operators must maintain the optimum server room temperature to ensure these systems are in top working order while keeping an eye on energy consumption.
When a server room becomes too hot, equipment can easily overheat, causing the data being stored or supported by the system to be lost. This could spell disaster for an organization that counts on this information to perform business functions and capabilities. Therefore, data centers employ cooling systems to cool the server room and prevent equipment from overheating.
However, these cooling arrangements require a substantial amount of power, drawing on the resources of the facility's local energy grid. In fact, many experts agree that while many believe servers and computing equipment are the leading electricity consumers of a data center, it is usually the cooling system that utilizes the most energy.
Therefore, data center operators must balance a need for energy efficiency with the requirement to keep technology cool. Many employ temperature monitoring systems as a means to fulfill these demands.
According to OpenXtra, server room temperatures should not dip below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and should not exceed 82 degrees Fahrenheit. The optimal temperature range is between 68 and 71 degrees Fahrenheit.
However, Google has stated that it keeps its data center temperatures as high as 80 degrees Fahrenheit as a means to reduce energy consumption.
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers told Data Center Knowledge that each data center is different in its unique cooling needs. Therefore, the organization recommends an upper limit of 77 to 81 degrees, depending on the facility.
Several factors should be taken into account when determining the best server room temperature, including the size of the room and the number of servers. This information can help operators decide on the best temperature for their needs. Overall, data center expert Don Beaty told Data Center Knowledge that most server room temperatures are kept between 73 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
Once the best temperature has been identified, data center operators should employ temperature monitoring systems, including high temperature alarms, to maintain optimal cooling and energy consumption. | <urn:uuid:d7a2301f-830b-4f5e-9991-e1e90c1f7c02> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.itwatchdogs.com/environmental-monitoring-news/data-center/determining-the-best-server-room-temperature-546783 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280774.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00250-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926041 | 485 | 2.71875 | 3 |
When I was a young programmer, there existed a group of people known as Operators.... They were responsible for keeping the OS updated, Monitoring the system for errors, printing
Many examples/tips to make programming on the IBM system i much more enjoyable. These tips written in RPGLE, SQLRPGLE, CLLE are free to use and modify as see fit.
The integrated file system is a part of OS/400© that lets you support stream input/output and storage management similar to personal computer and UNIX© operating systems
Various examples of using SQL on IBM system i - DB2 tables. This section includes both stand alone examples and embedded within SQLRPGLE & CLLE using QSHELL.
Data queues are a type of system object (type *DTAQ) that you can create and maintain using OS/400 commands and APIs. They provide a means of fast asynchronous
Subfiles are specified in DDS for a display file to allow you to handle multiple records, same type on the display. A subfile is a group of records read/written to a display.
Qshell is a command environment based on POSIX and X/Open standards made up of the shell interpreter (or qsh) and QSHELL utilities (or commands)
This section provides introductory, conceptual, and guidance information about how to use OS/400 application programming interfaces (APIs) with your application programs.
This program example runs in a loop looking for jobs in message wait.(*MSGW) when one is found the program loops
Simple example of a program displaying a window showing job information of the person locking the record the program is
A file information data structure (INFDS) can be defined for each file to make file exception/error and file feedback information
This example program is a very basic project tracking application. I think the most useful part of this example is
This program SQLRPGLE searches all tables in a library for a selected field. It writes these fields to a table
Pass a member name and a subfile will display *ALL copies of this source across the entire system.. (If authorized | <urn:uuid:b713ff79-bc00-40a6-b5c7-e30dda16dfab> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.code400.com/mylinks/codepage.php?id=6 | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285289.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00460-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.882905 | 433 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Kaspersky Lab’s experts recently analyzed Flashfake, a massive botnet that infected more than 600,000 computers worldwide, and concluded that more than 98% of the infected computers were most likely running a version of Mac OS X. To infect victims’ computers, the cyber criminals behind the Flashfake botnet were installing a Flashfake Trojan that gained entry into users’ computers without their knowledge by exploiting vulnerabilities in Java. To analyze the botnet, Kaspersky Lab’s experts reverse-engineered the Flashfake malware and registered several domain names which could be used by criminals as a C&C server for managing the botnet. This method enabled them to intercept and analyze the communications between infected computers and the other C&Cs.
The analysis showed that there were more than 600,000 infected machines, with the largest regions being the United States (300,917 infected computers), followed by Canada (94,625), the United Kingdom (47,109) and Australia (41,600). Using a heuristic “OS fingerprinting” method, Kaspersky Lab’s researchers were able to gauge which operating systems the infected computers were running, and found that 98% were most likely running Mac OS X. It is anticipated that the other 2% of machines running the Flashfake bot are very likely to be Macs as well.
Flashfake is a family of OS X malware that first appeared in September 2011. Previous variants of the malware relied on cyber criminals using social engineering techniques to trick users into downloading the malicious program and installing it in their systems. However, this latest version of Flashfake does not require any user-interaction and is installed via a “drive-by download,” which occurs when victims unwittingly visit infected websites, allowing the Trojan to be downloaded directly onto their computers through the Java vulnerabilities. After infection the Trojan uploads additional payload which hijacks victims’ search results inside their web browsers to conduct a “click-fraud” scam.
Although no other malicious activities have currently been detected by the Trojan, the risk is still significant because the malware functions as a downloader on users’ computers, which means the cyber criminals behind Flashfake can easily issue new, updated malware - capable of stealing confidential information such as passwords or credit card details - and install it onto infected machines.
Although Oracle issued a patch for this vulnerability three months ago, Apple delayed in sending a security update to its customer base until 2 April. Users who have not updated their systems with the latest security should install and update immediately to avoid infection.
“The three month delay in sending a security update was a bad decision on Apple’s part,” said Kaspersky Lab’s Chief Security Expert, Alexander Gostev. “There are a few reasons for this. First, Apple doesn't allow Oracle to patch Java for Mac. They do it themselves, usually several months later. This means the window of exposure for Mac users is much longer than PC users. This is especially bad news since Apple’s standard AV update is a rudimentary affair which only adds new signatures when a threat is deemed large enough. Apple knew about this Java vulnerability for three months, and yet neglected to push through an update in all that time! The problem is exacerbated because – up to now – Apple has enjoyed a mythical reputation for being ‘malware free’. Too many users are unaware that their computers have been infected, or that there is a real threat to Mac security.”
Mac OS X users are advised to install the latest security updates from Apple.
To learn more about the Flashfake botnet, please visit Securelist to read the latest analysis, written by Kaspersky Lab expert Igor Soumenkov. | <urn:uuid:32a4ce32-3c0d-47f3-9b83-3a9cabd8d02e> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.kaspersky.com/au/about/news/virus/2012/Kaspersky_Lab_Confirms_Flashfake_Flashback_Botnet_Infected_more_than_600_000_Mac_OS_X_Computers_Describes_Ramifications_and_Remedies | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280086.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00278-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955289 | 772 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Last 22-24 October 2013 hack.lu was celebrated in Luxemburgo. Hack.lu is an open a security convention where usually there is a CTF (capture the flag) competition.
This year the competitors need to get two passwords of a program called RoboAuth.exe which can be downloaded here:
The flag to pass the test is: password1_password2
Ok. Let's go to try to get the first one. To achieve this purpose, we are going to use OllyDbg. Just open the file with this program and click on the play button to run the program.
We can see a MS-DOS windows which requests us the first Password.
One of the first things I usually do in these cases is to look at "All referenced test strings" in order to find something which draws my attention.
In this case, we can see the string "You passed level1!". We can suppose that just before that, the assemble code will compare our password with the real one.
To go to this string in the assemble code, we right-click on this line and select "Follow in Disassembler".
Now we can see the string mentioned above in the assemble code. Two lines before that, we can see the function "TEST EAX, EAX" wich will make a comparison between our password and the real one. Depending on the result, the program will make a decision. If the password is correct, we will pass the test, if not, the program will be closed.
We can set a breaking point at this point in order to stop the program just when the program is comparing the passwords in order to see the good one in the Stack. To do that, just right click on the line which contains "TEST EAX, EAX", select Breakpoint and select for example, "Memory, on access".
The next step is to write a password and wait until the program stops in the breakpoint.
In the end, we just need to see the Stack window which shows the state of the stack in memory for the thread being debugged. This window is at the bottom right. In the picture below you can see our password "COMPARE..." followed by other string "r0b0RUlez!". It seems to be the password.
If we go to our program and type the password "r0b0RUlez!" on the program, you can check that "You passed level1!".
I've spent some time trying to resolve the second Password but it is more complicated than the previous one. When I have some spare time, I will try it again and I will write a post with the solution. | <urn:uuid:5717d2ab-6555-44e8-b675-8448088986e2> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.behindthefirewalls.com/2013/11/hacklu-capturing-flag-v10.html | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280425.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00186-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93435 | 555 | 2.828125 | 3 |
No Industry Escapes the Big Data Revolution
November 20, 2012
Those seeking objective and statistically produced facts know that big data is a major fuel source of such information. Every so often it is refreshing to take a peek at how big data influences many key fields of study and industry. The Guardian article “Big Data: Revolution by Numbers” outlines each of these areas and discusses the impact big data has had on each.
Everything from sports to medicine has been hugely revolutionized, or in the process of undergoing such changes, due to the utilization of big data. Powerful technologies and ideas have transformed daily operations and even yielded life-changing outcomes. For example, Cambridge researchers stopped an MRSA outbreak affecting 12 babies in the Rosie Hospital by rapidly sequencing the genome of the bacteria.
The article delves into some examples of data-intensive projects in scientific research:
The data recorded by each of the big experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at Cern in Geneva is enough to fill around 100,000 DVDs every year. Or take the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which is measuring 500 distinct attributes for each of 100m galaxies, 100m stars and 1m quasars. The result: three terabytes of data, where a terabyte is 1,000 gigabytes. Analysing that volume of data is beyond the capacity of humans, so it has to be done by computers.
Enterprise organizations used to deal with the same overwhelming amounts of data stored and managed using legacy software. Fortunately, the influx of even more data has prompted many innovative software vendors such as PolySpot to develop information delivery solutions.
Megan Feil, November 20, 2012 | <urn:uuid:f0a1a061-14fb-44e9-9dad-c405e5da9ebc> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2012/11/20/no-industry-escapes-the-big-data-revolution/ | null | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281084.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00002-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927467 | 341 | 2.609375 | 3 |
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