Brain Coprocessors The need for operating systems to help brains and machines work together.

The last few decades have seen a surge of invention of technologies that enable the observation or perturbation of information in the brain. Functional MRI, which measures blood flow changes associated with brain activity, is being explored for purposes as diverse as lie detection, prediction of human decision making, and assessment of language recovery after stroke. Implanted electrical stimulators, which enable control of neural circuit activity, are borne by hundreds of thousands of people to treat conditions such as deafness, Parkinson's disease, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. And new methods, such as the use of light to activate or silence specific neurons in the brain, are being widely utilized by researchers to reveal insights into how to control neural circuits to achieve therapeutically useful changes in brain dynamics. We are entering a neurotechnology renaissance, in which the toolbox for understanding the brain and engineering its functions is expanding in both scope and power at an unprecedented rate.

This toolbox has grown to the point where the strategic utilization of multiple neurotechnologies in conjunction with one another, as a system, may yield fundamental new capabilities, both scientific and clinical, beyond what they can offer alone. For example, consider a system that reads out activity from a brain circuit, computes a strategy for controlling the circuit so it enters a desired state or performs a specific computation, and then delivers information into the brain to achieve this control strategy. Such a system would enable brain computations to be guided by predefined goals set by the patient or clinician, or adaptively steered in response to the circumstances of the patient's environment or the instantaneous state of the patient's brain.

Some examples of this kind of "brain coprocessor" technology are under active development, such as systems that perturb the epileptic brain when a seizure is electrically observed, and prosthetics for amputees that record nerves to control artificial limbs and stimulate nerves to provide sensory feedback. Looking down the line, such system architectures might be capable of very advanced functions--providing just-in-time information to the brain of a patient with dementia to augment cognition, or sculpting the risk-taking profile of an addiction patient in the presence of stimuli that prompt cravings.

Acer's latest gaming Computer.

Though people were already aware of Acer’s Predator AG7750 gaming desktop somewhere in the wild but nobody was aware of its exact launch date. Finally, it is here. Acer has launched its much awaited Predator AG7750 desktop along with the AG5900 gaming desktop making it a double treat for game lovers. When it comes to original gaming experience then desktops are the real machines to go for and Acer knows this fact better than many.
“We’re now offering two killer Predator models with the goal of satisfying a wider range of gamers,” said Steve Smith, senior business manager of consumer desktops for Acer America. “Not everyone needs the most extreme gaming rig, so we designed the AG5900, a more mainstream alternative to our premium AG7750. The AG5900 boasts excellent core features, such as a high- speed processor, excellent graphics and tons of memory to hobble the competition at an affordable price.”
The Acer AG7750 will cost you $1999 which can actually be way above budget for many gamers. This is when Acer has to rescue such people with the launch of AG5900 which will cost you $1350. With 8 gigs of RAM we are sure that even the AG5900 won’t prove anything below the expected configuration.
Read more: Predator AG7750 and AG5900 gaming desktops by Acer launched | GadgetLite - Latest gadgets and technology news

Maker of BlackBerry Introduces Tablet

OTTAWA — Research In Motion, the Canadian maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, introduced its first tablet computer on Monday at a developers’ conference in San Francisco. But in a return to its roots, the company said that the new device, the BlackBerry PlayBook, would be aimed mainly at business users.Michael Lazaridis called his company's PlayBook “the world's first professional tablet.”
After popularizing wireless e-mail, R.I.M. has ceded much of its leadership in the smartphone market to Apple and phones based on Googl’s Android operating system.
The introduction of a tablet computer will not end criticism from some analysts that R.I.M. is now playing catch-up with Apple. But in a bid to distinguish the PlayBook from Apple’s iPad, Micael Lazaridis, R.I.M.’s co-chief executive, said that the new tablet contained several features requested by corporate information technology departments.
In an address to conference attendees, Mr. Lazaridis called the PlayBook “the world’s first professional tablet” and repeatedly emphasized that it was fully compatible with the special servers that corporations and governments now used to control and monitor employees’ BlackBerry devices.
While the company offered some specifics about the new device, it left many questions unanswered, most notably the tablet’s price. The company was also vague about its release date, indicating only that it would be available early next year.
Among the PlayBook’s novel features are outlets that allow it to display material on computer monitors or television sets, but Mr. Lazaridis made no effort to use them during his presentation. As animations showing the device’s features appeared above him on a giant screen, he did little more with the PlayBook in his hand than switch it on.
It’s a very real product,” said Charles S. Golvin, principal analyst with Forrester Research. “But obviously it’s very much a work in progress.”
Perhaps respondig to criticisms that the operating system for R.I.M.’s hone is outdated, the PlayBook will use a new operating system developed by QNX Software Systems, a company R.I.M. acquired from Harman International earlier this year.The new device can also display Web pages created using Adobe’s Flash software, a capability not found on the iPad. To underscore that point, Shantanu Narayen, the president and chief executive of Adobe, appeared on stage with Mr. Lazaridis.
While R.I.M.’s phones and tablet will have incompatible operating systems, Mr. Golvin expects that outside software application developers will work around that issue by using Flash, as well as standard Web page protocols.
R.I.M. has lagged well behind Apple in terms of the number of applications available for its hand-held devices. But immediately after the PlayBook announcement, Amazon said that it would introduce a Kindle e-book application for the PlayBook.
Unlike the most expensie iPads, the PlayBook cannot connect directly to cellulr networks. Users will be able, however, to connect to the Internet through a wireless Bluetooth connection to their BlackBerrys or by using Wi-Fi networks.

Windows Phone 7 release dates leaked.

Smartphones running Microsoft's new operating system are expected to launch in the United States and Europe this fall.The Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system, which has been the subject of anticipation in tech circles, will go on sale in the U.S. on November 8, according to Windows-focused blogger Paul Thurrott, who says he was clued into the announcement by a "very reliable source."

According to other rumors circulating tech blogs, phones running the new mobile operating system from Microsoft Corp. could go on sale worldwide as early as October, possibly on the 21st, according to Neowin, a blog that also cites anonymous sources.

Microsoft has not confirmed those dates.The phones will be available in several models from various handset makers. The common thread is the Windows Phone 7 operating system, which touts itself as a more efficient way for people to find information quickly.Microsoft announced that it was working on the new mobile operating system at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, Spain, in February Whatever the exact date of the operating system's launch, buzz about the phones is spreading online.In two recent ads for the devices, Microsoft tries to paint other smartphones as time-sucking devices that pull people away from real-world interactions with loved ones.Windows Phone 7, by contrast, is pitched as sleek and easy, with home screens that show phone calls, texts, Facebook status updates, photos and more, all from a single screen. In one ad, a voice-over says the phones provide "less stop and stare; more glance and go."The phones will integrate Video with Xbox Live, Microsoft's internet-connected gaming service, and with the Zune, the company's MP3 player.

Windows' mobile operating system will face stiff competition from the BlackBerry, which is the leading smartphone in the U.S., as well as the more-consumer-focused iOS from Apple, which is used on iPhones, and Google's Android platform, the fastest-growing of the bunch.Windows phones have received some good reviews, but other tech writers have doubts that Microsoft, which is seen by some as less innovative than Apple and Google, will be able to make a big splash on the smartphone scene.The blog Engadget, which posted a thorough review of the new Microsoft mobile operating system, says Windows Phone 7 will have to be "nearly flawless" to compete.

Stuxnet: Malware more complex, targeted and dangerous than ever

Stuxnet is viewed as potentially the most dangerous piece of computer malware discovered. It's been developed on an unprecedented scale and has the ability to target and control specified industrial machinery.Trying to explain how this works is a bit like trying to trace the origin of this nasty little piece of work. It's a bit all over the place so bear with me on this one.It's an attack that goes straight after the PLC (programmable logic control) software of an industrial machine, which is effectively the brain of the unit. It uses four zero-day exploits in one package, with a zero-day exploit being an undiscovered flaw in a piece of software; it's the time between the hackers finding a hole in the system and when the developers patch it. And in this case there are four of these exploits, meaning that they've already exponentially increased the chances of finding a way into the system in case any of the holes happened to already be plugged. Once the malware infects the system it can spread to other computers on the local intranet. It is not an internet-based piece of malware; it can spread through indirect internet usage, but that's not how it sets about its business.Its main course of action is to look for a specific type of machinery, then report back to a central control server located hundreds of miles away, from where the commands will again be relayed off into the maze of servers set up to make tracing near impossible.And it is through the trail of servers around the world that the data generated by the PLC software is manipulated and the changes in the running of the machines are made. So theoretically, a group of people located on one side of the planet could control a machine in a nuclear power plant on the other. Scary stuff. When I spoke to Liam O'Murchu, manager of security response operations for Symantec North America, he didn't want to speculate about what kind of physical results we could expect from the malware in an industrial setting. He commented that Symantec's people are more concerned with the technical side of the bug and concentrate on their analysis on it. This doesn't mean that others won't speculate, and one website that's caught a lot of attention is that of a German IACS security researcher, Ralph Langner, where he says the target may be Iran's Bushehr nuclear facility, which is in a region where a large number of the infected computers are found. He suggests the facility could be infected through the USB drive of a Russian contractor using an "abandoned" drive. O'Murchu agreed that it is not unheard of for abandoned drives to carry harmful code on them, but he wouldn't go as far as to agree that such was the case in this instance.He did say, however, that the majority of the infections have occurred in Iran. Symantec has estimated that 60 percent of the infected computers are located in Iran. That claim is refuted in an extract from the Iranian Student News Agency that states, "Deputy minister of industries and mines denies the 60 percent contamination of Iran's computers by the spy worm Stuxnet." Despite that denial, O'Murchu stands by Symantec's numbers and explained that the figures came straight from the logged traffic on one of the Stuxnet control servers that Symantec took control of. Symantec said it managed to find that the two control servers are located in Malaysia and Denmark, but when asked who the hosting company is, the company did not comment. The big question remains as to who made this malware, O'Murchu suggested that it would have to be "a well-funded private group or a government. It would need to be someone who has an interest in what they're targeting." O'Murchu went on to say, "We've not seen something on this scale before" and offered a conservative estimate that it would take five to 10 people about six months to put together this piece of malware. It is the level of preparation that really impressed O'Murchu. He hypothesized that the team would needed inside men, test runs, and even their own piece of machinery to develop the code on. The level of coding is like nothing he's seen before, with everything incredibly well-written and in different languages. The only mistake O'Murchu could identify is that we're talking about it now. When Symantec's researchers tested the malware on a USB key, they discovered that it deleted itself after three infections"These are the kind of guys that are not happy with their exposure," he said. He went on to say that this is the kind of operation in which the developers would have hoped to get the infection planted, let the malware do its work and never hear from it again. O'Murchu says that there is a "very slim chance of finding them. They're untraceable and covered their steps." More than that, he doubts that this group of people was put in place for just one project. Now that this group has shown what is possible, he expects others to imitate it, resulting in a growth in this area of malware. Fortunately, this code won't have a major effect on home computers and if some do become infected, it is likely that Symantec will get in touch with the owners. But O'Murchu warned that a multi-layered approach to defense is the best bet to stay clear from the nasty things out there.But now more than ever, you need to be careful about what USB drives you put in your computer, especially if you work with industrial machinery.

Oracle Profit Rises 20%, Higher Than Forecast.

Resh off a radical overhaul of its executive suite, Oracle told investors on Thursday that its house remained in order.


Lawrence J. Ellison, Oracle's chief executive, has been expanding the company into hardware.

Oracle posted better-than-expected results for its first quarter on the back of strong sales of new software products and higher maintenance and support revenue. Wall Street analysts praised the company for turning in such results for a quarter that closed at the end of August, traditionally one of the slowest selling periods. Oracle’s performance also provided a bright spot for the business computing sector, which has produced a mixed bag of results in recent weeks.

“Obviously, we are extremely pleased with our first-quarter results,” said Safra A. Catz, a president of Oracle, speaking to analysts.

Oracle reported net income of $1.4 billion, or 27 cents a share, up 20 percent from net income of $1.12 billion, or 22 cents a share, reported a year earlier. Excluding charges, Oracle earned 42 cents a share, 5 cents above the 37 cents forecast by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue for Oracle, a maker of database software, rose 48 percent, to $7.5 billion for the quarter, up from $5.05 billion from a year earlier. Analysts had predicted revenue of $7.27 billion.

Ms. Catz predicted that Oracle’s revenue for the second quarter would rise 42 to 47 percent over the period last year, when the company posted sales of $5.9 billion.

Early this month, Oracle hired Hewlett-Packard’s former chief executive, Mark V. Hurd, as a president to work alongside Ms. Catz. Just as Mr. Hurd arrived, Charles E. Phillips Jr. resigned as a director and a president.

The hiring of Mr. Hurd, who resigned from H.P. last month, has complicated the relationship between Oracle and H.P., its longtime partner.

H.P. has filed a lawsuit against Mr. Hurd, saying he will be unable to perform his job at Oracle without disclosing privileged information about H.P.

Mr. Hurd spoke to analysts for the first time since joining Oracle, complimenting the company’s performance.

“I don’t believe there is any other company in the industry better positioned than Oracle,” Mr. Hurd said.

The legal squabble underscores the changing relationships taking place as the world’s largest technology companies begin to step on each other’s toes.

Historically, Oracle stuck to selling database and business software that would run on hardware from its various partners, including H.P. and Dell. But when Oracle completed its acquisition of Sun Microsystems early this year, the company marched into the hardware market, selling computer servers and storage systems that compete directly with H.P., Dell, I.B.M. and others.

Similarly, Cisco Systems, a networking specialist, has started selling computer servers and virtualization software, while H.P. has built up a large networking business to compete with Cisco.

Never one to back down from a confrontation, Lawrence J. Ellison, Oracle’s chief executive, threatened that H.P.’s lawsuit against Mr. Hurd could wreck the companies’ relationship. Meanwhile, H.P. remains a major sponsor for Oracle’s customer conference in San Francisco next week and one of its top executives is scheduled to speak at the event.

Outside of this turmoil, Oracle continues to follow a multiyear strategy of acquiring business software makers large and small. The company hopes to become a one-stop shop of sorts, offering basic products needed to run a businesses as well as products tailored for specific markets like financial services, retailing and manufacturing.

Oracle tends to purchase companies with loyal customers who pay regular maintenance fees for upgrades and other services. In so doing, it has built a fairly predictable revenue stream.

The pace at which Oracle has acquired once independent software makers has alarmed some customers who fear the company is gaining too much control over their data centers and operations.

During its first quarter, Oracle reported that new licenses to its products rose 25 percent, to $1.29 billion. Its maintenance and support revenue rose 12 percent, to $3.45 billion. Oracle posted about $1 billion in hardware sales as well.

Mr. Ellison vowed to unveil a host of new products at Oracle’s event next week, including systems that create tight links between hardware and software.

“We think that will make customers’ lives much easier,” he said.

Shares of Oracle fell 1.5 percent during Thursday’s trading, to $25.36. After the release of its financial report, Oracle’s shares rose 4.3 percent, to $26.45, in after-hours trading.