Details of an entirely new kind of electronic device, which could make chips smaller and far more efficient, have been outlined by scientists. The new components, described by scientists at Hewlett-Packard, are known as MEMRISTORS.

The devices were proposed 40 years ago but have only recently been fabricated. They have already been used to build novel transistors - tiny switches that are the building blocks of all chips. "Now we have this type of device we have a broader palette with which to paint our circuits," Professor Stan Williams.

Memristors were first proposed in 1971 by Professor Leon Chua, a scientist at the University of California, Berkeley. They are the fourth basic building block of circuits, after capacitors, resistors and inductors.

Future computing

"I never thought I'd live long enough to see this happen," professor Chua told the AP. "I'm thrilled because it's almost like vindication. Something I did is not just in my imagination, it's fundamental." The memristors are so called because they have the ability to remember the amount of charge that has flowed through them after the power has been switched off. This could allow researchers to build new kinds of computer memory that would not require powering up.

Today, most PCs use dynamic random access memory (DRAM) which loses data when the power is turned off. But a computer built with memristors could allow PCs that start up instantly, laptops that retain sessions after the battery dies, or mobile phones that can last for weeks without needing a charge.

"If you turn on your computer it will come up instantly where it was when you turned it off,î Professor Williams told. "That is a very interesting potential application, and one that is very realistic."

Professor Williams and his team have already shown that by putting two memristors together - a configuration called a crossbar latch - it could do the job of a transistor. The team has built hybrid circuits using memristors and transistors. "A crossbar latch has the type of functionality you want from a transistor but it's working with very different physics," he explained. Intriguingly, these devices can also be made much smaller than a conventional transistor. And as they get smaller they get better.

Sharp has developed a prototype direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) that can output more power for its size than others developed to date. Methanol is a type of alcohol that can be used as an alternative fuel or as a gasoline additive. It is less volatile than gasoline; when blended with gasoline it lowers the carbon monoxide emissions but increases hydrocarbon emissions. Used as pure fuel, its emissions are less ozone-forming than those from gasoline.

This is the first time Sharp has disclosed it is working on DMFCs, so the announcement not only adds Sharp to the growing list of companies chasing the technology, but catapults it past some competitors.

DMFCs produce electricity from a reaction between methanol, water and air. The only by-products of the reaction are a small amount of water vapor and carbon dioxide, so the fuel cells are typically seen as a much greener form of energy than traditional batteries. A big advantage of DMFCs is that they can be replenished with a new cartridge of methanol in seconds so thereís no waiting for a recharge.

Companies like Sharp are keen to use the cells in portable electronics products like music players, laptop computers and cell phones but there remains a fair amount of development work to be done before the cells replace Lithium-ion batteries as the power source of choice in such products.

The prototype Sharp cell has a power density of 0.3W/cc, which means that itís capable of producing 0.3 Watts of power per cubic centimeter of the power generation part of the cell. Sharp didn't disclose the size of the cell.

The companyís goal is the development of fuel cells that offer a longer life than Lithium-ion batteries for the same volume, but itís not clear when they will be available: Work remains to be done and they wonít be commercialized soon, a spokeswoman said. Many other companies are also developing DMFCs.

Toshiba said last week that it plans to begin commercialization of its devices some time this financial year. The company has been promising them 'next year' for the last several years but now they are closer at hand, its president has told. Competitors including NEC and Sony are also working on the same technology.

Sharp already has a foot in the clean-energy camp as a leading manufacturer of solar energy systems. -IDG News Service

Wikipedia, a Teaching Tool

VANCOUVER, Canada: Wikipedia, the upstart Internet encyclopedia that most universities forbid students to use, has suddenly become a teaching tool for professors.

Recently, university teachers have swapped student term papers for assignments to write entries for the free online encyclopedia. Wikipedia is an open-source website, which means that entries can be started or edited by anyone in the world with an Internet connection.

Typically, thousands or millions of people visit a Wikipedia enties, and each visitor is able to edit entries, or even flag an article considered unworthy to have it removed.

Wikipedia itself invites professors to use Wikipedia in your class to demonstrate how an open content website works (or doesn't).

But the experiment has had controversies, including student work that was instantly deleted as not 'notable.'

So, visit and take advantage: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page -AFP

Hacker splashes data from six million Chileans

SANTIAGO: A hacker broke into Chile's government sites mining data from six million people which he then posted on the Internet on two popular servers for several hours.

The personal data included names, street and email addresses, telephone numbers, social and educational background, and was taken from Education Ministry, Electoral Service and state-run telephone companies' websites.

Stolen laptop itself leads victim to alleged thieves

A tech-savvy White Plains woman whose apartment was burglarized solved the crime herself after she was able to log on to her stolen laptop. The thieves were picked up at their homes night after the victim turned the pictures over to police.

"The victim did a phenomenal job," said Lt. Eric Fischer, commander of the Detective Division. "She knew her computer, and she let us know as soon as she obtained the information. We rolled on it immediately, and the result is the arrest of two burglary suspects and the recovery of most of the stolen property."

The burglary was reported April 27, when three roommates returned to their apartment about 10 p.m. to discover that it had been ransacked. Among the items taken were two laptops, two flat-screen televisions, two iPods, gaming consoles, DVDs and computer games. Police found no sign of force.

One of the victims, who works at The Apple Store in a mall, received a call from a friend asking her if she was online. The victim said no, and was told by the friend that his computer showed her as being logged onto the Internet.

At that point, police said, the victim signed onto another computer and used the 'Back to My Mac' program to determine that her stolen Macintosh laptop indeed was signed onto the Web and that someone was using it to shop online. She then activated the stolen computer's camera, allowing her to 'see' what was in front of the laptop.

At first, police said, she saw only an empty chair. But a short time later, they said, she was able to photograph a man, sitting in front of her stolen laptop. The victim then was able to find photos of the person using the computer after it had been stolen.

Fischer said the victim did not know either man but showed the photos to one of her roommates, who recognized them as having attended a get-together at the apartment a few weeks before the burglary. Police both the men apparently are friends of a friend of the victims.

For those who never heard of iTunes it's important to introduce it to them in brief. iTunes is a digital media player application, introduced by Apple on during 2001 at Macworld Expo in San Francisco, for playing and organizing digital music and video files. The program is also an interface to manage the contents on Apple's popular iPod digital media players. So, it's a software application.

If you've got a Mac with multiple CD/DVD burners ó a Mac Pro with two installed drives, or any other Mac with a combination of internal and external drives ó you can burn two (or more, perhaps) CDs at a time in iTunes. This assumes, of course, that iTunes sees both of your drives as units with burning capabilities. You can check this by going to the Burning tab in the Advanced section of iTunes' preferences ó if you have more than one usable burner, the CD Burner entry will show a pop-up menu that allows you to choose between the units.

Unfortunately, there's no way to specify which burner you want to use when burning a given playlist, so it's not exactly intuitive how you might burn two at one time. The answer is straightforward, if not obvious. First set up the two playlists you'd like to burn. Insert two blank CD-Rs, and then start your first burn in iTunes.

Now open iTunes Preferences, and return to the Burning tab in the Advanced pane. Click the pop-up next to the CD Burner entry and select your second burner. Close the Preferences screen, and start your second CD burning.

I've tested this with two CDs at once, and both burned just fine. I'm not sure if it will work with more than two units, though I don't see why it wouldn't. -Macworld.com

HyperConnections

The survey, conducted by market research firm IDC and sponsored by Nortel Networks Corp, found that while more than 38 percent of the 2,367 people polled for their mobile phones, less than 30 percent chose their wallets first.

Through the survey, Nortel - North America's biggest maker of telephone gear - was looking to find out how many workers around the world can be defined as HYPERCONNECTED or as those who have fully embraced multiple devices like cellphones and laptops, as well as applications like e-mail or social networking sites like Facebook.

The survey predicts the number of the HYPERCONNECTED will likely rise to 40 percent in five years.

The group of hard-core communications users is followed by a larger subset - 36 percent of respondents - designated as "increasingly connected," the study states. These workers use a minimum of four devices and six applications.

The company predicts revenue growth for the year will be in the low single digits. It also announced 2,100 new job cuts in February, on top of the thousands it has slashed since 2001.

It estimates it could be years before some of the newer technologies it has designed will find big markets. Meantime, competition is fierce as low-cost Asian vendors like Huawei Technologies muscle in for market share. -Reuters

JokeCorner

• While my brother-in-law was tapping away on his home computer, his ten-year-old daughter sneaked up behind him. Then she turned and ran into the kitchen, squealing to the rest of the family, "I know Daddy's password! I know Daddy's password!" "What is it?" her sisters asked eagerly. Proudly she replied, "Asterisk, asterisk, asterisk, asterisk, asterisk!"

Headstrong Corporation is a global consultancy, specializing in a unique combination of business-critical expertise, management consulting savvy and deep technical experience. This scribe got a share of knowledge on Entrepreneurship by a man who epitomizes the very spirit of entrepreneurial, Mr. Arjun Malhotra, the CEO and Chairman of Headstrong's Board of Directors. He prior to leading Headstrong, was Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of TechSpan (global Internet Consulting Company), which merged with Headstrong in October 2003.

He is regarded as true pioneer of the Indian IT industry, founded TechSpan in 1998 with funding from Goldman Sachs and Walden International. The merger of TechSpan with Headstrong has built an end-to-end services organization. He led the seamless integration across businesses and cultures, resulting in Headstrong's recognition as one of the fastest-growing IT-based Financial Services companies.

He broadly spoke and laid great stress on going out and making the most of an opportunity. He gave useful insights into the difference between working hard and working smart that: "Real life is all about competing with those who are smarter than you. You need to survive, differentiate and perform. But today's youth lack education/knowledge, awareness and information. An access to opportunity could lead them to better future and no doubt we will see entrepreneurship flourish in sub-continent." This was one trait which he felt that today's youth lacked. Mr. Malhotra felt that people of sub-continent make good entrepreneurs predominantly because of their inherent nature to tolerate frustration, ambiguity and are highly innovative but suppressed. This is coupled with a need for job security and lack of self-confidence. Further he said, "I believe that if we focus on infrastructure, education and healthcare, we would automatically start solving a lot of the problems of poverty and the fact that large chunks of our people have not felt the positive impact of the digital economy. I believe with focus and dedication this can happen. The reason is that people seem to want to do something for their country. I think this energy if harnessed appropriately and channeled in to the right direction will take country (both India and Pakistan) forward."

Talking about who had benefited most from information technology (IT) outsourcing in India he said, "IT has impacted about 10-15 million people. But other services and facilities associated with it like infrastructure, leisure (included hotel, entertainment), media etc has had a chief impact. In India, significant impact of IT success is that it has got back National Pride that's why now Indians are no longer looked down upon around the globe. No doubt our programmer has gathered such respect that in past our politicians, intellectuals etc could never get for us. Other countries benefited from outsourcing waves included Ireland and Philippines. Key reasons behind, especially in Ireland, are: lower cost combination, proximity to the markets, availability of educated and English language people and political stability. Pakistan has potential and attraction, but stability level needed to make customers fell comfortable to locate their backend there."

About current IT scenario he replied, "This is a wide question but summing up by letting me say that within 10 years we should have Nearly Free Pervasive Infinite Bandwidth and will impact lot of industries too. That then we could be able to talk to each other nearly free on full motion video instead on dropping e-mails to each other. It will pose impact on travel industry too. In number of ways the changes we can witness that the Internet has got till today are probably in some ways like a tip of the iceberg and lots more are about to emerge on horizon." He highlighted the direction that the e-business solutions industry is going to take over the next few years he said, "How this will move is rely on availability of knowledgeable workers. Need is to gear up the education system to avoid any shortage in this respective area. No doubt, if knowledge holding workers persist would become tomorrow's elite."

About non-profit global network of entrepreneurs and professionals that how beneficial for budding entrepreneurship, he replied, "Network of professionals no doubt very much committed in supporting budding entrepreneurs, letting them know they are not alone in taking risks. Besides, lighting up the force of entrepreneurship in many people, they are mentoring budding entrepreneurs through a process and connecting them to other enthusiast. Success stories are visible in Silicon Valley and India."

Highlighting the largest growth in the software and services sector in the future he said, "Growth lies in two areas. First is Remote Infrastructure Management, where companies let you manage their servers and network from a remote location (a critical part of keep running the company and will only go to companies located in what are considered stable locations). Second is Value Added Services, outsourced till now is mainly the 'commodity' variety of services. Alike US, economies are challenged, and now services that needed some domain knowledge which had not been in the past seen as 'outsource-able' now getting outsourced. Some this has been happening but the pace of this will get stepped up."

Today's young Indian has a respected technical and professional image in the world. His mind is not conditioned by limitations but he sees the world as his market. In a way he has the confidence to take on the world and we are starting to see this happen. I am impressed after meeting energetic Pakistani students and budding entrepreneurs, no doubt are more capable to produce best to this world.

About plans for further growth and investment in Pakistan, he replied, "At Headstrong, we have focus on building good reputation for doing Value Added Services outsourcing in the Capital Markets. We are making possible efforts to grow this and looking at acquisition that will permit us to do RIM services for our clients. Due to political crises and existing violence we are reluctant to invest in Pakistan but have plan to recruit talent from Pakistan in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (project in pipeline) for our outsourcing work. The visa policy is not much hard and easy for Pakistani to get visas. To get permission for setting up a recruiting and training set up in Pakistan is an existing problem. Note worthy is due to restrictive environment entrepreneurs now moving over to other countries in search of favorable environment, like Malaysia, where they think there business could flourish. Unfortunately, Pakistan also has been experiencing this phase that local entrepreneur due to unfavorable situation heading towards favorable environment."