Science & Technology Today

Here are some precautions that would significantly mitigates security risks associated with mobile wireless access. 1. Install a firewall 2. Enter passwords only into websites that include an SSL key on the bottom right. If the hotspot is not working properly, assume your password has been compromised, report to hotspot service provider and change your password at the next immediate opportunity 3. Disable/remove the wireless card if you are not actively using the hotspot 4. Ensure that your laptop is updated with the latest security patches 5. Avoid hotspots where it is difficult to tell who's connected(hotels, airport clubs, conferences) 6. Use hotspots only for internet surfing 7. Read all pop-up windows in their entirety 8. Do not use insecure applications such as non-encrypted email or instant messaging while at hotspots 9. Explicitly disable municipal WiFi access from within the enterprise

This 1987 cell phone ad from radio shack proudly advertises the breakthrough in Mobile phones at $1499. It started in 1984, at $3,000, and weighed about 3 pounds. Fast forward 25 years and we have iPhone at $399 and weight 135 Grams (4.8 Ounces).

According to a statement on Greenpeace's Web site,"An independent scientific laboratory tested 18 internal and external components of the iPhone and confirmed the presence of brominated compounds in half the samples, including in the phone's antenna, in which they made up 10% of the total weight of the flexible circuit board.A mixture of toxic phthalates was found to make up 1.5% of the plastic (PVC) coating of the headphone cables.” As per Greenpeace Research Laboratories, two of the phthalate plasticisers are classed in Europe as “toxic to reproduction, Category 2” because they can interfere with sexual reproduction in mammals.They have called on Apple to eliminate the use of these chemicals in its products. And also the Greenpeace testers found that phone’s battery was glued and soldered in place. “This hinders battery replacement and makes separation for recycling, or appropriate disposal, more difficult, and therefore adds to the burden of electronic waste.” Now is...

The 2007 Nobel Prize in physics has been awarded to Albert Fert and Peter Grunberg for simultaneously and independently discovering Giant magneto resistance. This property has allowed the explosion of disk-space growth and is cited as being one of the first nano-technology breakthroughs. Magnetoresistance is the property of a material to change the value of its electrical resistance when an external magnetic field is applied to it. The effect was first discovered by William Thomson in 1856. The magnetoresistance of conventional materials is quite small; but materials with large magnetoresistance have been synthesized now. Depending on the magnitude, it is called either as Giant magnetoresistance(GMR) or Colossal magnetoresistance(CMR). Magnetoresistance has aroused great interest recently because of possible application in devices such as read/write heads in computer discs and in sensors. Colossal Magnetoresistance has been predominantly discovered in manganese-based perovskite oxides....

In order to use Bluetooth wireless technology, a device must be able to interpret certain Bluetooth profiles. The profiles define the possible applications. Bluetooth profiles are general behaviors through which Bluetooth enabled devices communicate with other devices. Bluetooth technology defines a wide range of profiles that describe many different types of use cases. A2DP,AVCTP,AVDTP and AVRCP are Bluetooth protocol stack used by the profile. Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) ;A2DP describes how stereo quality audio can be streamed from a media source to a sink. The profile defines two roles of an audio source and sink. A typical usage scenario can be considered as the “walkman” class of media player. The audio source would be the music player and the audio sink is the wireless headset. A2DP defines the protocols and procedures that realize distribution of audio content of high-quality in mono or stereo on ACL channels. The term “advanced audio”, therefore, should be distin...

A new feature set has been announced by The ZigBee ® Alliance called ZigBee PRO to maximizes all the capabilities of ZigBee and facilitates ease-of-use and advanced support for larger networks.The newly released Feature Sets are designed to inter-operate with each other, ensuring long-term use and stability. Highlights of the expanded ZigBee PRO Feature Set include: Network Scalability – Improved support for larger networks offering more management, flexibility, performance choices Fragmentation – New ability to divide longer messages and enable interaction with other protocols and systems Frequency Agility – Networks dynamically change channels should interference occur Automated Device Address Management – Optimized for large networks with added network management and configuration tools Group Addressing – Offers additional traffic optimization needed for large networks Wireless Commissioning – Enhanced with secure wireless commissioning capabilities Centralized Data Collection ...

WAP defines how the wireless application protocol suite can run over a Bluetooth wireless technology link. A typical configuration is a mobile phone connecting to a public kiosk over a Bluetooth technology link and using WAP to browse for information. WAP works across a variety of WAN technologies bringing the Internet to mobile devices. Bluetooth technology can be used to provide a bearer for transporting data between the WAP client and an adjacent WAP server. The ad hoc networking capabilities offered by Bluetooth technology gives a WAP client unique possibilities regarding mobility compared with other WAP bearers. The traditional form of WAP communications involves a client device that communicates with a server/proxy device using the WAP protocols. WAP technology supports server push. Used over Bluetooth technology, this protocol offers many possibilities for distributing information to handheld devices on location basis.