Phoenix Mars Lander’s mission site hacked

With the world’s eyes on the latest multimedia streaming straight from Mars, during the weekend the Phoenix Mars Mission’s site got hit twice, first by an Ukrainian web site defacer who posted a message at the site’s blog, and hours later, the Turkish “sql loverz crew 2008″ redirected the official mission’s site, as well as the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory site to a third-part location serving the defaced page. The Phoenix Mars Lander mission’s security staff are aware of the issue, and seem to have fixed it already, right before making an announcement - Hacker changes Phoenix Mars Lander Web site

A spokeswoman for the Phoenix Mars Lander mission says a hacker took over the mission’s public Web site during the night and changed its lead news story. Spokeswoman Sara Hammond says a mission update posted Friday was replaced with a hacker’s signature and a link redirecting visitors to an overseas Web site. Hammond says the site hosted by the University of Arizona has been taken off line while computer experts work to correct the problem.

Meet the latest group of script kiddies empowered by publicly obtainable remote SQL injection scanners, that each and every site that’s been affected in the past could have downloaded, and self-audited itself. The perspective that if you don’t take care of your site’s web application vulnerabilities, someone else would, fully applies here. No malware, or false information was distributed despite that the defacer linked to what looks like his homepage and therefore could have embedded malicious links or directly pointed the surfer to them.

And while this doesn’t seem to be what them wanted to achieve, in three of the most recent web site defacement incidents, we have defacers fully abusing the access they have. Last month for instance, Russian nuclear power websites were attacked and nuclear accident rumors spread using them, the Pro-Serbian hacktivists attacking Albanian web sites to spread propaganda messages, as well as a fake rumor for upcoming earthquake spread on the site of a Chinese seismological bureau.

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Super Antennas, Made From 'Invisible' Stuff

Metamaterials might be used to create a real-life invisibility cloak, or even a cloak of silence -- some day. The Pentagon is seeking short-term gains by using metamaterials for revolutionary new antennas with obvious commercial spin-offs.

In fact, this is back where metamaterials started, when Prof. Sir John Pendry found that bundles of carbon fiber did not reflect radar in the usual way. Metamaterials gain their special properties because of the way they are structured, rather than their composition. This entails having a structure on the same scale as the wavelengths involved, so a metamaterial to influence light is going to require nano-technology, whereas radio waves and microwaves work on a scale of centimeters so metamaterials to influence them are far more practical in the short term.

Which is why the Air Force has put out a call for "Applied Metamaterials for Antennas." The goal is to demonstrate materials could improve antennas by:

" Beam shaping and steering / lobe control; enhanced center frequency tuning range; enhanced bandwidth; reduction in antenna size/weight/thickness; and enablers for conformal, flexible antenna designs. The overall technical objective of this research is to develop improved metamaterials with low electrical losses and simultaneous control over permittivity and permeability in the 20MHz to 10GHz frequency range. "

What does that mean, in English? Better antennas which give an improved performance for the same size. In particular, this is about conformal antennas which are integrated into a surface -- rather than sticking out from it. These are useful for aircraft and UAVs; metamaterial antennas could provide 'em with better radar and communications.

There is plenty of commercial potential for this technology, too. A metamaterial antenna does not just mean improved radio reception from a smaller aerial. It also means mobile phones which can work from a fainter signal and which less power. The same goes for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and other wireless devices.The future urban landscape might benefit when all TV aerials, satellite dishes and mobile phone masts are replaced with conformal antennas.

The Air Force's call for proposals on metamaterial development is for a three-year program which will also investigate optical metamaterials. No invisibility cloaks, alas. But they are considering "optical / IR beam steering, compact optical systems, mirrors, optical circuitry, interconnects, filters and limiter applications."

This kind of technology could lead to a drastic increase in the amount of data you can fit optical media like DVDs ; a flat metamaterial 'lens' can beat the diffraction limit which restricts the ultimate magnifying power of telescopes and other optical devices.

This is a fast-moving field and nobody knows how much further it will advance in the next three years. But the results will certainly be worth watching.



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Virus writers charged with copyright violation

Japan has arrested its first suspected virus writers, but in a strange twist the three suspected creators and distributors of a strain of P2P malware have been charged with copyright violation, in an arrest that recalls Al Capone's prosecution for tax evasion.

The trio were cuffed by cops in Kyoto on suspicion of involvement in a plot to infect users of the Winny P2P file-sharing network with a Trojan horse that displayed images of popular animé characters while wiping MP3 and movie files. The malware, called Harada is Japanese reports, is reckoned to be related to the Pirlames Trojan horse (http://www.sophos.com/pressoffice/news/articles/2007/02/pirlames.html) intercepting by net security firm Sophos in Japan last year.

According to local reports, the three men have confessed to their roles in unleashing the malware. One is said to have created the malware, while the other duo are reckoned to have offered the malware up to prospective marks on Winny. A lack of relevant computer crime law in Japan means that the group have been charged with copyright offences.

"It isn't illegal to write viruses in Japan, so the author of the Trojan horse has been arrested for breaching copyright because he used cartoon graphics without permission in his malware," explained Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "Because this is the first arrest in Japan of a virus writer, it's likely to generate a lot of attention and there may be calls for cybercrime laws to be made tighter."

Due to the lack of applicable cybercrime laws, the authors of the malware face much the same fate as the coder who developed Winny. Isamu Kaneko, Winny's author, was fined by a Japanese court in December 2006 for copyright offences. ®


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Arduino

Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It's intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments. Arduino can sense the environment by receiving input from a variety of sensors and can affect its surroundings by controlling lights, motors, and other actuators. The microcontroller on the board is programmed using the Arduino programming language (based on Wiring) and the Arduino development environment (based on Processing). Arduino projects can be stand-alone or they can communicate with software on running on a computer (e.g. Flash, Processing, MaxMSP). The boards can be assembled by hand or purchased preassembled; the software can be downloaded for free. The hardware reference designs (CAD files) are available under an open-source license, you are free to adapt them to your needs. Arduino received an Honory Mention in the Digital Communities section of the 2006 Ars Electronica Prix. Credits

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Double jeopardy ..

In India, protection against double jeopardy is a Fundamental Right guaranteed under Article 20 of the Constitution of India. Accordingly no person can be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once. Right to Freedom in the Constitution of India. The provision enshrines the principle that a person cannot be tried twice for the same offense by any equally competent court. Thus a person cannot be tried for an offense for which he has been tried and convicted. Double Jeopardy involves the concept of Autrefois Acquit or Autrfois Convict. Autrfois acquit means again acquit and autrefois convict means again convict. The Constitution of India under article 20(3) only provides for autrefois convict. Thus in India if a person is acquitted once he can be tried twice. But if a person is prosecuted and punished then he can't be prosecuted again.

Broadband to go free in 2 years ....

NEW DELHI: The government proposes to offer all citizens of India free, high-speed broadband connectivity by 2009, through the state-owned telecom service providers BSNL and MTNL. While consumers would cheer, the move holds the potential to kill the telecom business as we know it. You have heard of free municipal broadband — many cities in the US have drenched themselves in wireless broadband connectivity which is freely accessible to residents. The idea is to boost economic activity in general.

The government of India plans to achieve free broadband connectivity at a speed of 2 MB per second across the country, with a similar goal. Senior government officials expect to be able to achieve this goal spending only a portion of the corpus of the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF). All telecom operators contribute 5% of their revenues every year to USOF. It is estimated that the unutilised sum from the USOF has touched Rs 9,194.12 crore by March, 2007-end.

The current technological trend is for voice calls also to shift to the internet, using voice over internet protocol (VOIP). The quality of VOIP calls, patchy to start off with, has been improving steadily over the years and by 2009, is likely to be as good as current analogue calls that establish a circuit between the calling and called parties. When that happens, revenue streams from calls would dry up and telecom companies would need to develop value-added applications to make money from the connectivity they provide for free or virtually free. The department of telecom (DoT) will be taking a series of steps to make its plans for free broadband a reality. These include, using the USOF to set an extensive optic cable network across the country, opening up the long-distance sectors to further competition, allowing free and fair access to cable landing stations, permitting the resale of bandwidth, setting up web hosting facilities within the country and asking all internet service providers to connect to the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI). With international bandwidth rates in India being between two-to-five times higher than the global standards, the DoT will also go all out to break the monopoly of existing national and international distance players in a bid to induce cut throat competition in this sector. “India has only a handful of NLD/ILD operators while small countries such as Singapore and Taiwan have over 30 and 60 long distance operators respectively.

With limited players, they control the bandwidth gateways and form a cartel and this ensures that tariffs remain high. The entry of new players such as AT&T, British Telecom amongst others has started creating an impact,” the government source added. Importantly, the ground work for this project is already being laid. This comes as telecom regulator Trai had recently proposed that access to submarine cables be made cost-based and independent companies be given free and fair access to cable landing stations. (Cable landing stations connect submarine telecom cables with data and voice networks in the country.) Additionally, Trai had also recommended that bandwidth resale be permitted in India.

Industry analysts estimate that these two steps by Trai alone will lead to a 30% reduction in bandwidth costs, when implemented. In a related move, the DoT will also issue norms which mandate Indian companies, including state-owned BSNL and MTNL to begin large scale web hosting services. “This is because, most of the internet traffic generated in India is currently routed out of the country and re-routed back, resulting in the increased use of international bandwidth,” the government source said. Additionally, the plan also includes asking all internet service providers to connect their networks to NIXI. This will also ensure that internet traffic, originating and destined for India, is routed within India resulting in optimum domestic bandwidth utilisation. Currently, the very purpose of establishment of NIXI has not been served as only 27 ISPs out of 135 operational ISPs have joined it, the source explained.

Supreme Court sets a price for ragging ..

17 May, 2007 NEW DELHI : -

Ragging could well become a crime of the past. In the strictest measures yet to curb the menace, the Supreme Court on Wednesday warned senior students that if they harass freshers physically or mentally, they would be booked by the police, expelled from college and denied future admissions. Among a slew of directions issued by the court to stamp out ragging, many were aimed at making educational institutions directly responsible for acting against the culprits. These included mandatory registration of FIRs by the institutions whenever a ragging incident comes to light. The punishment "should be exemplary and justifiably harsh to stop recurrence of the ugly incidents", said a Bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and S H Kapadia. More anti-ragging measures would be considered in September, the court said. Its interim directions were based on the recommendations of a committee headed by former CBI director R K Raghavan, who was tasked with finding ways and means to stop ragging in educational institutions. First and foremost, the court took into account the general tendency among institutions to sweep ragging incidents under the carpet in the fear that it would damage its reputation, an act which often emboldens the perpetrators to hunt for fresh prey among freshers. Directing all institutions to set up anti-ragging squads, the Bench said though the victim and his parents were free to approach police to lodge a report against the erring seniors, it was obligatory on the part of the educational institutions to lodge FIRs on ragging incidents without delay. "Failure or delay on the part of the college authorities or management to report the ragging incident to police would make them liable for culpable negligence," the Bench said, indicating that they could also be prosecuted for negligence to bring the guilty to book. Non-reporting of ragging incidents to police could also make an institution liable for reduction in government grants, it said. The court made it clear that the police should make prompt investigations and chargesheet the accused while the courts should fast-track the trial in ragging cases, thus plugging the loophole in the justice delivery system which many exploit to delay trials.

DNA computing

DNA computing is a form of computing which uses DNA and molecular biology, instead of the traditional silicon-based computer technologies.
This field was initially developed by Leonard Adleman of the University of Southern California. In 1994, Adleman demonstrated a proof-of-concept use of DNA as a form of computation which was used to solve the seven-point Hamiltonian path problem. Since the initial Adleman experiments, advances have been made, and various Turing machines have been proven to be constructable.
There are works over one dimensional lengths, bidimensional tiles, and even three dimensional DNA graphs processing.
On April 28, 2004, Ehud Shapiro, Yaakov Benenson, Binyamin Gil, Uri Ben-Dor, and Rivka Adar at the Weizmann Institute announced in the journal Nature that they had constructed a DNA computer. This was coupled with an input and output module and is capable of diagnosing cancerous activity within a cell, and then releasing an anti-cancer drug upon diagnosis.
DNA computing is fundamentally similar to parallel computing in that it takes advantage of the many different molecules of DNA to try many different possibilities at once.
For certain specialized problems, DNA computers are faster and smaller than any other computer built so far. But DNA computing does not provide any new capabilities from the standpoint of computational complexity theory, the study of which computational problems are difficult. For example, problems which grow exponentially with the size of the problem (EXPSPACE problems) on von Neumann machines still grow exponentially with the size of the problem on DNA machines. For very large EXPSPACE problems, the amount of DNA required is too large to be practical. (Quantum computing, on the other hand, does provide some interesting new capabilities).

Section 49-O of the Constitution

Did you know that there is a system in ourconstitution, as per the 1969 act, in section "49-O"that a person can go to the polling booth, confirm hisidentity, get his finger marked and convey thepresiding election officer that he doesn't want tovote anyone!
Yes such a feature is available, but obviously theseseemingly notorious,leaders have never disclosed it.This is called "49-O".
Why should you go and say "I VOTE NOBODY"... because,in a ward, if a candidate wins, say by 123 votes, andthat particular ward has received "49-O" votes morethan 123, then that polling will be cancelled and willhave to be re-polled. Not only that, but thecandidature of the contestants will be removed andthey cannot contest the re-polling, since people hadalready expressed their decision on them. This wouldbring fear into parties and hence look for genuinecandidates for their parties for election. This wouldchange the way, of our whole political system... it isseemingly surprising why the election commission hasnot revealed such a feature to the public....
Please spread this news to as many as you know...Seems to be a wonderful weapon against corrupt partiesin India... show your power, expressing your desirenot to vote for anybody, is even more! powerful thanvoting... so don't miss your chance. So either vote,or vote not to vote (vote 49-O) and pass this infoon...

FACTS TO MAKE EVERY Indian PROUD

Q. Who is the GM of Hewlett Packard (hp) ?
A. Rajiv Gupta
Q. Who is the creator of Pentium chip (needs no introduction as 90% of the today's computers run on it)?
A. Vinod Dahm
Q. Who is the founder and creator of Hotmail (Hotmail is world's No.1 web based email program)?A. Sabeer Bhatia
Q. Who is the president of AT & T-Bell Labs (AT & T-Bell Labs is the creator of program languages such as C, C++, Unix to name a few)?
A. Arun Netravalli
Q. Who is the new MTD (Microsoft Testing Director) of Windows 2000, responsible to iron out all initial problems?
A. Sanjay Tejwrika
Q. Who are the Chief Executives of CitiBank, Mckensey & Stanchart?
A. Victor Menezes, Rajat Gupta, and Rana Talwar.

We Indians are the wealthiest among all ethnic groups in America, even faring better than the whites and the natives.There are 3.22 millions of Indians in USA (15% of population) . YET,38% of doctors in USA are Indians.12% scientists in USA are Indians.36% of NASA scientists are Indians.34% of Microsoft employees are Indians.28% of IBM employees are Indians.17% of INTEL scientists are Indians.13% of XEROX employees are! Indians.

Some of the following facts may be known to you.
These facts were recently published in a German magazine, which deals with...

WORLD HISTORY FACTS ABOUT INDIA.

1. India never invaded any country in her last 1000 years of history.
2. India invented the Number system. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.
3. The world's first University was established in Takshila in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4 th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
4. According to the Forbes magazine, Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software.
5. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans.
6. Although western media portray modern images of India as poverty striken and underdeveloped through political corruption, India was once the richest empire on earth.
7. The art of navigation was born in the river Sindh 5000 years ago. The very word "Navigation" is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH.
8. The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is now known as the Pythagorean Theorem. British scholars have last year (1999) officially published that Budhayan's works dates to the 6 th Century which is long before the European mathematicians.
9. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India . Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11 th Century; the largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Indians used numbers as big as 10 53
10. According to the Gemmological Institute of America, up until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds to the world.
11. USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century-old suspicion amongst academics that the pioneer of wireless communication was Professor Jagdeesh Bose and not Marconi.
12. The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.
13. Chess was invented in India....
14. Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted surgeries like cesareans, cataract, fractures and urinary stones. Usage of anaesthesia was well known in ancient India .
15. When many cultures in the world were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley ( Indus Valley India in 100 BC.)

Quotes about India

We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.
-Albert Einstein.

India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend and the great grand mother of tradition.
-Mark Twain.

If there is one place on the face of earth where all dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India.
-French scholar Romain Rolland.

India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border.
-Hu Shih(former Chinese ambassador to USA )

ALL OF THE ABOVE IS JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG, THE LIST COULD BE ENDLESS.
BUT, if we don’t see even a glimpse of that great India in the India that we see today, it clearly means that we are not working up to our potential; and that if we do, we could once again be an ever shining and inspiring country setting a bright path for rest of the world to follow...