Technosnips Archive 2006
A collection of extracts from the technical press. Thank you to everyone who has suggested or sent snips for inclusion.
School uses hands-on biometrics
A US-British team of scientists has successfully tested a cloak of invisibility
Pathe News is now online
Girls’ day out
Ban on MP3 transmitters is lifted
Insurer opens up pay-per-drive
BT announces details of £10bn IP network
Energy Star labelling will require significant improvements in PC efficiency
Big impact of Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment regulations
Tesco takes on might of Microsoft with cheap own-brand software
Argonne National Lab helps biorefineries to compete with oil refineries
ENV fuel cell powered motorcycle
Power to burn – a hybridised fuel truck
School uses hands-on biometrics
A Scottish primary school has installed a biometric system that uses the unique position of the veins in the palm of the hand to allow children to buy their school meals. The system, installed at Todholm Primary School in Paisley, maps the pupil’s vein patterns using a near-infrared beam to confirm their identity. The technology is being used by all children that have school dinners, providing anonymity to those entitled to state-subsidised meals and removing the associated social stigma. The biometric reader automatically deducts money from children’s accounts, which are topped up each month by parents or from subsidy funds. Palm-vein biometric scanning was selected because it bypasses the data protection issues of using the children’s fingerprints, says Todholm Primary School headteacher Sandra Gibson. ‘This system gets around difficulties inherent in the use of fingerprint scanners, and the children really like it,’ she said. ‘We could eventually link it to an online payment system so that parents could regulate the children’s use of money at school completely.’
The system has been developed by Fujitsu Europe and Scottish technology company Yarg Biometrics. Gibson says the installation process has been simple, quick and effective.
(Computing, 19th November 2006)
www.computing.co.uk/2167745/
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A US–British team of scientists has successfully tested a cloak of invisibility in the laboratory
The device mostly hid a small copper cylinder from microwaves in tests at Duke University, North Carolina. It works by deflecting the microwaves around the object and restoring them on the other side, as if they had passed through empty space. But making an object vanish before a person’s eyes is still the stuff of science fiction – for now.
The cloak consists of 10 fibreglass rings covered with copper elements and is classed as a ‘metamaterial’ – an artificial composite that can be engineered to produce a desired change in the direction of electromagnetic waves. Like visible light waves, microwaves bounce off objects, making them apparent and creating a shadow. But at microwave frequencies the detection has to be made by instruments rather than the naked eye.
Water behaves differently. When water in a river flows around a smooth rock, the water closes up on the opposite side. Someone looking at the water downstream would never guess it had passed around an obstacle. The metamaterial cloak channelled the microwaves around the object like water flows around the rock.
In principle, the same theoretical blueprint could be used to cloak objects from visible light. But this would require much more intricate and tiny metamaterial structures, which scientists have yet to devise. ‘As an application, it’s not clear that you’re going to get the invisibility that everyone thinks about – as in Harry Potter’s cloak, or the Star Trek cloaking device,’ said Professor David R Smith of Duke. Professor John Pendry commented: ‘There’s a rule about the internal structure of the metamaterial: it has to be smaller than the wavelength of radiation. So for radar waves that’s 3cm. You can easily engineer something a few millimetres across. ‘You go up to optical radiation – visible light – and the wavelength is less than a micron. So your microstructure has to be a few tens of nanometres across. and we’re only just learning how to do nanotechnology... maybe in five or ten years’ time you could do this, but not today.’
The researchers say that if an object can be hidden from microwaves, it can be hidden from radar – a possibility that will ensure interest from the military. Professor Pendry said a metamaterial cloak could be manufactured to wrap around a fighter plane or tank. But, he said: ‘You mustn’t demand that the cloak be too thin. Despite the hype around Harry Potter, this isn’t anything that flaps around in the breeze; it’s more like a shed.
(BBC News 19th October 2006)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6064620.stm
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Pathe News online
Until 1970, cinemas all over Britain showed Pathe newsreels. Now you can view the entire collection, over 3500 hours, online at: http://www.britishpathe.com
It is necessary to register, but whilst there is a charge for high-resolution copies of the films, you can view low-resolution versions free of charge. Almost all are in black and white, and the very earliest footage is silent.
The earliest films date from 1896! Pathe display a Top Twenty on their site – the most popular when we checked was a film of the Titanic, but an early favourite of ours is the funeral of Queen Victoria in 1901.
(‘Lost Cousins’ October News)
Link to Lost Cousins
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Girls’ day out
They were once referred to as ‘boys’ toys’, but recent research has shown that gadgets today are just as likely to be used – and coveted – by women, to the extent that many electronics manufacturers now design products specifically for female users. A good example is the Buddy satnav system from Intempo Digital. Featuring a 3.5in screen and a metallic pink outer case that no man would be seen dead with, the device uses spoken commands and 2D or 3D maps to guide drivers to their destinations.
(BusinessInfo magazine issue 78)
www.businessinfo.co.uk or www.intempodigital.com
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Ban on MP3 transmitters is lifted
Ofcom is legalising the use of FM transmitters that allow iPods and other MP3 players to play through car radios. The use of devices, such as Griffin’s ‘iTrip’, was banned in the UK as their transmissions can interfere with broadcasts by legal radio stations. However, the device and other similar accessories for MP3 players have been made widely available online. Now certain FM transmitters, which can be tuned to spare frequencies, will be legal from 8 December 2006. Ofcom will also remove the need for a licence to use citizens’ band radio. The regulator’s move follows a public consultation exercise.
Stamp of approval
The devices fell foul of the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1949, which forbids the use of radio equipment without a licence or an exemption. But strong consumer demand for the devices led Ofcom to rethink the legislation. Liberal Democrat MPs were also prominent in asking for iTrips and similar devices to be legalised. The new Wireless Telegraphy (Exemption) (Amendment) Regulations 2006 mean that certain low-power transmitters will now be legal. However, many devices currently on the market will remain illegal as they do not meet the legally required technical specifications and could interfere with radio broadcasts. The new amendments will also reflect a European standard on the low-power transmitters. All approved transmitters will carry a CE mark indicating approval for sale in the European Union.
(BBC News 23 November 2006)
www.bbc.co.uk
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Insurer opens up pay-per-drive
Norwich Union has implemented a 100TB data warehouse to support the launch of the UK’s first pay-as-you-drive insurance policy. The new scheme uses an in-car GPS satellite tracking device to collect data that allows the insurer to send customers itemised monthly bills with premiums for each journey based on road use. The technology allows Norwich Union to offer a completely different type of insurance, says Rowland. The new policy will also help motorists control the cost of insurance by making choices based on the time of day, type of road and mileage. ‘It allows customers to control costs by changing their behaviour if they want to save money,’ said Rowland. Norwich Union has been piloting the project since 2004, with 5,000 customers recording data on 100 million miles from more than 10 million trips. The insurer now expects data collection rates to increase 15-fold in the first year. ‘We tested young drivers because they have an issue with high insurance charges so we wanted to find ways to help them,’ said Rowland. ‘On average, they saved 30 per cent on their premium.’
(Computing 12 October 2006)
www.computing.co.uk/2166166/
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BT announces details of £10bn IP network
BT released more details of the rollout plan for its 21st century network (21CN) project. The £10bn programme to migrate BT’s national network to IP, which begins in Cardiff at the end of this year, will be followed by mass migration of customer lines in every region of the UK from January 2008.
The first areas to be migrated include Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Brighton, Bristol, Canterbury, Darlington, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, Manchester and Nottingham.
BT says work should be substantially complete by the end of the decade.
Rollout of ADSL2+ technology begins in the second half of 2007, allowing 24Mbit/s broadband services to 50 per cent of the UK from early 2008. ‘We are building the core infrastructure to carry a massive bandwidth suitable for video and content rather than just music and data,’ said Ian Stirrat, 21CN general manager.
‘We will start across the UK uniformly so no region is at the back of the queue. ‘BT will learn lessons from Cardiff, where some 350,000 lines will be migrated onto the new IP network between November and summer 2007. ‘We will have six months of learning from Cardiff to fine tune what we need before tackling the rest of the UK,’ said Stirrat.
‘We will migrate 150,000 customers to the new platform each week for the next five years.’
(Computing 12 October 2006)
www.computing.co.uk/2166151/
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Energy Star labelling will require significant improvements in PC efficiency
Energy Star is a joint European Union (EU) and US initiative to identify and promote energy-efficient office equipment. It is a voluntary scheme and, in the EU, will initially cover personal computers, monitors, fax machines, scanners, photocopiers and printers. Energy Star specifications for computers are being revised. At the moment, to qualify for an Energy Star label, desktop PCs can consume between 15 and 30 watts in sleep mode. From next summer this will fall to 4 watts. There are also plans for new standards for energy consumption when a PC is switched on, when it is on standby and for the efficiency of the power supply unit. According to the Department of Trade and Industry, PCs use 6.8 TW/h of energy, a figure that will rise to 10.6 TW/h by 2020 if there are no changes to the hardware’s power demand efficiency. The new Energy Star standards will bring the level down to 5 TW/h.
(Computing 12 October 2006)
www.computing.co.uk/2166176/
www.energystar.gov
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Big impact of Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations are due to come into force on 1 January 2007 in the UK, some two years later than expected, and will have an impact on all IT users disposing of old equipment. The main obligations on producers and distributors of electrical materials come into force from 1 April 2007, and full producer responsibility for the costs of WEEE will start on 1 July 2007.
‘Electrical and electronic equipment is the fastest-growing category of waste across the European Union, with an estimated 17kg to 20kg per person produced every year. The UK alone generated about one million tonnes of waste equipment last year,’ said energy minister Malcolm Wicks.
Companies with operations in continental Europe are leading the way on implementing the WEEE directive, while the UK is behind in its legislation. Gartner principal analyst Meike Escherich says companies in Europe are generally more advanced in WEEE compliance than those in the UK. ‘Several of the continental countries had a head start in terms of already having national legislation. They already have all the necessary associations, clearing houses and certified recyclers in place. They are also more aware of green issues generally than we are in the UK,’ she said.
The DTI puts the cost of implementing the WEEE directive for businesses and suppliers at between £108m and £124m in 2008. But this will have less impact on businesses because the law requires that manufacturers and sellers provide take-back facilities, allowing businesses to easily dispose of computers and other electronics that have come to the end of their lives. A recent report by HP says that if manufacturers and users all work together, implementing WEEE could cost as little as one pence per machine.
(Computing 19 October 2006)
www.computing.co.uk/2166747/
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Tesco takes on might of Microsoft with cheap own-brand software
First Wal-Mart. Now Microsoft. There is, it seems, no global giant that Tesco is not prepared to take on. While a new division of the UK’s biggest grocer is currently working on a £250m plan to open 150 supermarkets in the mighty Wal-Mart’s US backyard, the supermarket chain is also about to launch a range of own-brand software that will compete head on with the company whose products are loaded into 95% of the world’s computers. Tesco is aiming to substantially undercut Microsoft, offering software titles for less than £20.
It claims to be the first retailer to offer a range of own-label software, taking the same approach to the world of technology as grocers have traditionally taken to baked beans and soap powder. The initial range includes an office suite, two security/anti-virus products, a personal finance tool, CD/DVD burners, and a photo editing product. Microsoft Office sells for up to £300.
The Tesco software will be available in more than 100 Tesco stores from this month, with plans to roll out the range across the UK over the coming year. It will complement Tesco’s entry into the computer hardware market earlier this year. Tesco is also offering a full support package via a special website, TescoSoftware.com, where the products will also be sold. Tesco buyer Daniel Cook said the new range of software ‘is bringing choice and value to a market which has offered little of either for too long’.
This week Tesco is expected to announce half-year profits of more than £1bn for the first time – only four years since it first made £1bn in a full year. The chain, which now has 31.5% of the UK grocery market, plans to increase its UK shopfloor space by a quarter this year and will double its presence overseas. It has operations in 12 countries outside the UK, from Ireland to South Korea, and will open in the US next year, in California and Nevada, under the name Fresh & Easy.
The software has been developed by a company called Formjet, based in Cambridge. Formjet’s products, largely centred around a system called Ability Office, are regarded as good attempts to clone Microsoft’s dominant suite of Office programs, and are compatible with the Seattle-based giant’s systems. But while Tesco is hoping to appeal to mainstream customers, most home users will already have the equivalent Microsoft products installed on their computers. However, it is internet security where the supermarket chain may feel it is able to make the strongest challenge to existing players. With greater public awareness about viruses, hacking and internet crime, computer security is becoming an increasingly valuable industry, worth up to £8bn worldwide this year, according to research.
Microsoft, which recently launched its own OneCare Live product, will be one of several challenged by the announcement, but other vendors – including Symantec, Kaspersky Lab and McAfee – will also be in Tesco’s sights. The arrival of supermarket brands into software is the latest mark in a rising tide of companies attempting to challenge Microsoft’s dominance. While alternatives to Microsoft’s programs and services have been available throughout its decade-long grip on the PC world, it is only in recent years that viable challengers have emerged.
The Firefox web browser is now used by around 12% of people around the world, while search giant Google appears to be building its own suite of free-to-use products. Microsoft has spent years battling regulators in Washington and Brussels. The software giant has also been slow to recognise new trends. It came late into the video games market, where its Xbox still trails the Sony PlayStation. It lost out to Google in the lucrative online search market and is playing catch-up to Apple’s iPod in digital music.
(Guardian 2 October 2006)
http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1885420,00.html
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Argonne National Lab helps biorefineries to compete with oil refineries
Argonne National Laboratory in the US is partnering with industry and other national laboratories to develop biorefineries that compete economically with oil refineries. ‘Making ethanol is already half as cheap as making gasoline,’ explained Seth Snyder, a biochemical engineer in Argonne’s Energy Systems Division. ‘Researchers at Argonne and around the nation are investigating ways to create new bioproducts that can compete with petrochemicals on cost and performance.’ Argonne is one of five US Department of Energy (DOE) laboratories working to replace 30 percent of today’s motor fuel with alternative biofuels by 2030.
Called the National Bioenergy Center, the team includes Idaho, Oak Ridge and Pacific Northwest national laboratories and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. ‘Researchers and industry see developing alternative processes to replace the country’s reliance on foreign oil as filling a national need,’ Snyder said. ‘It is not just the price of gas (petrol) we are concerned about, but the overall costs of petroleum products. As oil prices rise, so do all petroleum-based products, including paint, plastic and carpets.’
Argonne is working with Archer Daniels Midland Company to optimize a separative bioreactor that converts sugar from corn into chemicals. The Argonne-ADM effort currently focuses on demonstrating the fermentation of gluconic acid on a commercial scale. ‘Gluconic acid is one of many bioproducts from biomass,’ Snyder said. ‘We have to work through the processes one by one to build up an inventory to compete with petrochemical processing.’
In a related project, Argonne is partnering with BP Chemicals to produce acetic acid by fermentation of biomass. The US currently uses about 5 billion pounds per year of acetic acid, to make everything from plastics used in water bottles to paints. In research supported by DOE’s Industrial Technologies Program and BP, Argonne is developing technology to produce acetic acid from a kind of biogas. The current technology requires expensive natural gas.
(US DOE Pulse magazine 27 November 2006)
http://www.ornl.gov/info/news/pulse/
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ENV fuel cell powered motorcycle
As if motorcycles are not fuel efficient to start with ... They have smaller engines than cars and therefore use much less fuel than their four-wheeled cousins. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement, and a British firm has unveiled the world’s first ‘purpose-built’, fuel cell powered motorcycle. That’s right.
The emissions neutral vehicle (ENV) bike is the creation of British firm Intelligent Energy which has produced a complete, pre-production working prototype. The ENV has been engineered from the ground up around Intelligent Energy’s CORE fuel cell, demonstrating the real, everyday application of fuel cell technology.
The fuel cell generates electricity from a combination of hydrogen with oxygen it draws from the air, with good old water as a by-product. Hydrogen is stored in two high pressure, carbon composite gas cylinders. The cell is detachable from the bike and capable of powering anything from a boat to a small domestic property. Until now, other manufacturers, with the exception of Honda’s fuel-cell scooter, have adapted motorcycles to fuel cell use.
However, Intelligent Energy says the ENV offers an imaginative glimpse of the future. ‘In the none-to-distant future people will be able to use a bike like ENV to leave work in an urban environment, drive to the countryside, detach the CORE and attach it to another vehicle, such as a motorboat, before going on to power a log cabin with the very same fuel cell, which could then be recharged from a mini hydrogen creator the size of a shoebox’, said Intelligent Energy boss Harry Bradbury.
Weighing in at just 80kg, including the fuel cell, ENV is lightweight, streamlined and aerodynamic. It has a performance that outstrips any existing electrical bike, with a top speed of 80 km/h and range of 160 km. ENV is virtually silent (with noise emissions equivalent to a home computer) and emissions are almost completely clean.
It can be used by riders of any skill level with simple controls, via a throttle linked directly to the applied power. ENV has no gears and, although strictly defined as a motorcycle, it is described by riders as more like a very quick and responsive mountain bike. The bike’s primary frame and swinging arm are made from hollow-cast aircraft grade aluminium.
At its heart is a fully integrated 1kW fuel cell generator providing power on demand directly to the drive-train. To enhance performance when accelerating, the fuel cell is hybridised with a battery pack to provide a 6kW peak load to the motor. The result is a balanced hybrid concept that combines the main advantages of Intelligent Energy’s CORE fuel cell, hydrogen storage and battery technology.
Water produced as a by-product can be evaporated, drained or drunk, as it was, for example, by the Apollo astronauts. NASA was the first real user of fuel cell technology in the 1950s and 1960s.
(Australian Carsguide)
http://www.carsguide.com.au
(Sent by post from Derrick Woodhouse in Aussie)
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Power to burn – a hybrid fuel truck
Governments and, indeed, the private sector could do worse than encourage the broad adoption of hybrid-powered diesel/electric trucks. Diesel emissions from truck exhausts is a major environmental problem but our society needs trucks to function. Hino just might have the answer, or at least part of it, in the Hybrid Dutro. Available in Japan for some time, the Hybrid Dutro is negotiating the intricacies of local regulations before making a possible appearance later this year. Diesel fuel with less than 50 parts a million of sulphur also needs to be locally available. While we are mucking around, a new generation Hybrid Dutro comes on to the market in Japan by the end of the year. Japan is already well ahead of us in the adoption of this technology. The new Hybrid Dutro, due by the end of the year, is even better than the one here for evaluation. 
And how good is this new technology, borrowed in essence from the Toyota Prius? How does a 30 per cent reduction in running costs sound? It will probably cost more than a straight turbo diesel but the lower running costs counter this. The Hybrid Dutro currently at Hino Australia’s head office’ runs on a 4.0-litre, overhead valve, turbo diesel engine with a specially designed, hoop-shaped inverter type electric motor attached behind between the engine and clutch. Power generated by the diesel and regenerative power from other sources is stored in a battery pack under the chassis. Both engines are always running with the electric unit assisting more when extra power is needed such as when accelerating or when carrying a heavy load. Though technically advanced, it’s a beautifully simple, logical system unlike others coming onto the market later. The engine shuts down when the truck is stationary and instantaneously fires up when the clutch is disengaged. A clever brake-hold system prevents the Hybrid Dutro from rolling. Driving the 4495GVM Hybrid Dutro is pretty much the same as driving the 4.6-litre turbo diesel model – same transmission, cabin, load capacity, suspension, chassis, body. There is no difference in performance except for a slight surge in power when the electric motor reaches maximum output. The Hybrid Dutro is under evaluation by government departments and also TNT. Other outfits have shown plenty of interest.
(Australian Carsguide)
http://www.carsguide.com.au
(Sent by post from Derrick Woodhouse in Aussie)
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Barry Jerome
