Big drop in global server sales

Sales of servers worldwide fell almost 25% in the first three months of 2009, against the same period a year earlier, according to market research firm IDC.

Global sales were $9.9 bn (£6.14 bn), IDC said, the lowest figure since the firm started monitoring the computer server market 12 years ago.

Dell was the vendor hardest hit, with server revenue falling 31.2%.

IDC said they expected the situation to continue, although they predicted some recovery by 2010.

"Market conditions worsened in all geographic regions during the first quarter as customers of all types pulled back on both new strategic IT projects and ongoing infrastructure refresh initiatives," said Matt Eastwood, IDC's group vice president.

All three server sectors - volume, midrange, and high-end systems - registered a decline in sales. This is the first time this has happened since 2002.

The five big server vendors - HP, IBM, Dell, Sun Microsystems and Fujitsu/Fujitsu Siemens - all suffered a double digit percentage drop in revenue.

Revenue decline

Server operating system revenue also declined, IDC said.

Revenues for Unix servers fell 17.5% compared with the same period a year earlier.

Revenues for IBM's System z servers, running the z/OS operating system, fell 18.9%. Microsoft Windows server revenues fell 28.9% to $3.7bn and Linux server revenues fell 24.8% year-over-year to $1.4 billion, its lowest in five years.

Mr Eastwood said companies had suspended buying new equipment and were focusing on extending the lifespan of existing products.

"While these strategies are effective in the near term, server demand will begin to improve in the second half of the year as customers begin to rebuild their IT capabilities in advance of a meaningful economic recovery in 2010," he said.

Facebook sells stake in business

Facebook has sold a 1.96% stake for $200m (£126m) to a Russian internet firm, a move that values the social networking website at $10bn.

Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg said he had been impressed by Digital Sky Technology's (DST) "impressive growth and financial achievements".

DST has investments in a number of internet firms across Russia and Eastern Europe.

US-based Facebook has more than 200 million global members.

'Ongoing success'

Facebook said DST would not be represented on its board or hold special observer rights.

"This investment demonstrates Facebook's ongoing success at creating a global network for people to share and connect," added Mr Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive.

"A number of firms approached us, but DST stood out because of the global perspective they bring."

DST's internet businesses account for more than 70% of all page views on Russian language websites.

It has investments in sites including Mail.ru, Forticom and vKontakte.

The deal comes two years after Facebook sold a 1.6% stake to Microsoft for $240m.

Credit card code to combat fraud

A credit card with a built-in display is being tested by Visa with the aim of reducing online fraud.
The Emue Card generates and displays a unique code each time it is used.
Developers say that the new technology would make it very hard for fraudsters, as any transaction would require the pin to generate the code.
The card is currently being trialled by 500 employees of Deloitte with the aim of assessing the technology by the end of the year.
The new technology comes against a growing backdrop of fraud. While chip and pin technology has helped reduce crime at the tills, when it comes to phone, internet, and mail order fraud - known in the industry as card-not-present or CNP fraud - the figures are growing every year and now make up more than 50% of all credit card fraud.
These transactions ask for the 16-digit code on the front of the card, and expiry date and some also ask for the three digit security card on the back. All of these details are available to a criminal who has a stolen card.

According to figures from the Association for Payment Clearing Services (Apacs) - the trade forum for banks, building societies, and credit card firms - CNP fraud accounted for more than £328.4 million in 2008, a rise of 13% from the previous year.
Michelle Whiteman, a spokesperson for Apacs, said there were a number of problems in tackling CNP fraud.
"Firstly, you aren't able to check the card's physical security measures, such as the hologram or signature.
"Then, at present, there is no form of chip and pin security.
"And finally, because of the anonymous nature of internet transactions, there fraudsters have a much lower chance of getting caught, which probably encourages some people who might otherwise not commit a crime," she said.
Visa say the new Emue system could help combat this by adding an additional layer of security. While the three-figure security code would remain, an additional four figure code - generated by the card - would also be required before a transaction could go through.
Backwards compatible
Sandra Alzetta, head of innovation at Visa, said that the card was bringing the principles of chip and pin technology to the online world.
"The card needs to be globally compatible: that means embossed characters for mechanical swipes, a magnetic strip for systems that require a signature, the fixed three digit security code and now the unique four figure code.
"You have to remember that our cards work across the world and not every country or retailer has access to the level of technology we might be used to," she said. Ms Alzetta said she hoped field trials would be completed by the end of the year.
Once certified by Visa it is then down to the banks and credit card companies to decide if they take up the new technology, but Ms Alzetta said she was confident they would.
"I see this as a very consumer focused product and any Visa bank could add it to their commercial cards and make it available, assuming it passes muster."
One of the problems facing developers was how to make sure the card could be handled like any other card without accidently pressing buttons or breaking the display.
"We've made the buttons in such a way that you need to 'pinch' them, rather than just press, for them to work.
"One of the things we're testing is how long the battery lasts - the plan is for it to work for more than three years, which means your card should expire before it runs out of power."

Google unveils 'smarter search'

Web giant Google has unveiled new products that it says will push search in a new direction. Google is using so-called semantic web technology to leverage the underlying data on websites to enhance results.

"The race in search is far from over and innovation and continued improvement is absolutely pivotal," said Google's Marissa Mayer.
Google said it could not afford to rest on its laurels in the quest to build the perfect search engine.
Google has over 63% of the US market compared with rival Yahoo, on 20%.
"I've said this many times but search is still in its infancy. Our engineers are worried about what is the next big thing in search and how are they going to find it," said Ms Mayer, who is the vice-president of search products and user experience.
She said that last year Google had released more than 360 products and in the first quarter of this year it had been 120. Ms Mayer added that this was proof that "Google gets better all the time".
Google has in the past said that despite its lead in the marketplace, users were "one click away" from switching to other alternatives.
Vanessa Fox of SearchEngineLand told that Google's ability to constantly innovate gave them a leading edge.
"Google is saying: 'We have to provide for all searchers and do things at scale.' It means they have to launch all sorts of features while some companies can concentrate on just one thing. The key thing behind why they are still ahead is because they are able to innovate at such a pace," said Ms Fox.

Rich snippets

During the Searchology event at Google's Mountain View headquarters, Ms Mayer and her team showcased four new products that she said would give users a "different way to look at the web". Rich Snippets are search results that return more information in every listing.
For example, users looking for reviews of a new restaurant might get a "rich snippet" of average review scores, number of reviews and the restaurant's price range.
"This is a step toward making the whole internet smarter," said Google product manager Kavi Goel.
Rich snippets use the metadata from web pages, such as address information, calendar information and semantic web mark-up specifications, called Resource Description Frameworks.
The use of these so-called microformats allows the search engine to better understand the meaning of data and to employ it more intelligently.

Google can understand the relationship between different sets of data, and so can pull the correct address listing of a shop without that information having to be specifically tied together.

Google Squared

One of the more experimental products was called Google Squared, which will go public in the next month or so. It takes information from the web and displays it in a spreadsheet in "split seconds", something Ms Mayer said would normally take someone half a day to do.

During the demonstration, a query for "small dog" was typed into the search box. Seconds later a table popped up showing photographs of various dogs, their origin, weight and height in a clear and simple layout.

While Ms Mayer described this product as "transformative", she would only hint at the specific techniques that Google uses to drive this feature.
"I think we can open the kimono a little bit without talking about the computer science behind it.
"What they are basically doing is looking for structures on the web that seem to imply facts. Like something 'is' something.
"Different tables, different structures, and then corroborating the evidence around whether or not something is a fact by looking at whether that fact occurs across pages.

"This is all in the secret sauce of what we are doing and it takes an incredible amount of compute power to create those squares," said Ms Mayer.

'Refine, filter and view'

Google Search Options is a tool that is aimed at letting users "slice and dice" results so they can manipulate the information and get what they want faster.

They come into play after a normal web search and allow users to drill down into the results by offering an option for different genres like product reviews, forum posts or videos. Other choices include recently added blogs, images, timelines and so on.
Ms Mayer said this new feature should help people who struggled with the "vexing" problem of exactly what query they should type into the search box.

It is meant to give users the opportunity to "refine, filter and view results in a different way".

'Skymap'

A final feature had Ms Mayer "reaching for the stars" with an app for mobile phones using the Android operating system.

"For a long time here at Google we joked could we actually find physical things like keys and now with the power and technology of Android, coupled with search, you can see we are starting to find some physical things like stars," said Ms Mayer.

Skymap displays the constellations. By using the smart phone's GPS capability, it offers the user a dynamic star map that knows where they are standing and which way they are pointing
The feature came about as a result of Google's 20% time, which allows engineers to spend one-fifth of their time working on pet projects.
The app is now available on the Android app market.
"Clearly Google is still pushing the envelope with all these new additions," said Rob Hof, Silicon Valley editor of Business Week.
"They are certainly continuing to improve daily. Whether it makes a difference and will stave off the competition, I don't know. But they are not standing still."
Ms Mayer said keeping the user happy was at the heart of everything they did.
"There is a shoe company called Stuart Weitzman and their slogan is 'a little obsessed with shoes'.
"Google is a little more than obsessed with search," confessed Ms Mayer.

Bill could mean jail for Internet flamers

A cyberbullying bill introduced last month has the potential to put half the Internet behind bars.

The Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act is Congress’ response to the 2006 suicide of a 13-year-old girl who was harassed on MySpace. The bill makes electronic communication a felony if “the intent is to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person.”

Congressmen probably aren’t the most Web-savvy bunch, but anyone familiar with trolling, flaming, and various other forms of online bullying could see a problem with this bill.

Network World examines the bill and explains this new breed of Internet criminal:
Given the freewheeling exchanges that characterize everything from SMS text messages and instant messaging to blogs and Web site comments, the broadly written bill potentially could turn a lot of flamers and bloggers into felons.

Amid growing online criticism bill sponsor Rep. Linda Sanchez defended the Cyberbullying Prevention Act in a Huffington Post Article this month:
Congress has no interest in censoring speech and it will not do so if it passes this bill. Put simply, this legislation would be used as a tool for a judge and jury to determine whether there is significant evidence to prove that a person “cyberbullied” another… So — bloggers, emailers, texters, spiteful exes, and those who have blogged against this bill have no fear — your words are still protected under the same American values.

While Rep. Sanchez’s assurances may be comforting, judges tend to follow the wording of a law rather than its sponsor’s intent. So before you text your cheating ex, slam those Apple forum fanboys, or call me a ‘moron’ in the comments, consider the possible consequences of this new bill, or at least put your lawyer’s number on speed dial.

Article from http://scitech.blogs.cnn.com/

Code-cracking and computers

Bletchley Park is best known for the work done on cracking the German codes and helping to bring World War II to a close far sooner than might have happened without those code breakers. But many believe Bletchley should be celebrated not just for what it ended but also for what it started - namely the computer age. The pioneering machines at Bletchley were created to help codebreakers cope with the enormous volume of enciphered material the Allies managed to intercept. The machine that arguably had the greatest influence in those early days of computing was Colossus - a re-built version of which now resides in the National Museum of Computing which is also on the Bletchley site.

Men and machine

The Enigma machines were used by the field units of the German Army, Navy and Airforce. But the communications between Hitler and his generals were protected by different machines: The Lorenz SZ40 and SZ42.

The German High Command used the Lorenz machine because it was so much faster than the Enigma, making it much easier to send large amounts of text.

"For about 500 words Enigma was reasonable but for a whole report it was hopeless," said Jack Copeland, professor of philosophy at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, director of the Turing Archive and a man with a passionate interest in the Bletchley Park computers.
Allies first picked up the stream of enciphered traffic, dubbed Tunny, in 1940. The importance of the material it contained soon became apparent.

Like Enigma, the Lorenz machines enciphered text by mixing it with characters generated by a series of pinwheels.

"We broke wheel patterns for a whole year before Colossus came in," said Captain Jerry Roberts, one of the codebreakers who deciphered Tunny traffic at Bletchley.

"Because of the rapid expansion in the use of Tunny, our efforts were no longer enough and we had to have the machines in to do a better job."

The man who made Colossus was Post Office engineer Tommy Flowers, who had instantly impressed Alan Turing when asked by the maverick mathematician to design a machine to help him in his war work.

But, said Capt Roberts, Flowers could not have built his machine without the astonishing work of Cambridge mathematician Bill Tutte.

"I remember seeing him staring into the middle distance and twiddling his pencil and I wondered if he was earning his corn," said Capt Roberts.

But it soon became apparent that he was.

"He figured out how the Lorenz machine worked without ever having seen one and he worked out the algorithm that broke the traffic on a day-to-day basis," said Capt Roberts.

"If there had not been Bill Tutte, there would not have been any need for Tommy Flowers," he said. "The computer would have happened later. Much later."

Valve trouble

Prof Copeland said Tommy Flowers faced scepticism from Bletchley Park staff and others that his idea for a high-speed computer employing thousands of valves would ever work.

"Flowers was very much swimming against the current as valves were only being used in small units," he said. "But the idea of using large numbers of valves reliably was Tommy Flowers' big thing. He'd experimented and knew how to control the parameters."

And work it did.

The close co-operation between the human translators and the machines meant that the Allies got a close look at the intimate thoughts of the German High Command.

Information gleaned from Tunny was passed to the Russians and was instrumental in helping it defeat the Germans at Kursk - widely seen as one of the turning points of WWII.

The greater legacy is the influence of Colossus on the origins of the computer age.

"Tommy Flowers was the key figure for everything that happened subsequently in British computers," said Prof Copeland.

After the war Bletchley veterans Alan Turing and Max Newman separately did more work on computers using the basic designs and plans seen in Colossus.

Turing worked on the Automatic Computing Engine for the British government and Newman helped to bring to life the Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine - widely acknowledged as the first stored program computer.

The work that went into Colossus also shaped the thinking of others such as Maurice Wilkes, Freddie Williams, Tom Kilburn and many others - essentially the whole cast of characters from whom early British computing arose.

And the rest, as they say, is history.