Popular Science | Soldier of the Future

Popular Science | Soldier of the Future: "Blending in with brick walls

The perfect cloak of Frodo Baggins is still far off, if not impossible, but DARPA-funded researchers are working on a new kind of camouflage that would fall only a few steps short of elvish magic. According to Philip Moynihan, a NASA engineer who published a paper on the subject in 2000, so-called adaptive camouflage would visually merge soldiers with their surroundings--whether that's an urban backdrop or dense jungle brush. The basic principle is simple: Cameras would capture the scene behind the uniform while embedded displays would reproduce the image on its front.

With combat shifting increasingly to urban environments, the need for adaptive camouflage is stronger than ever. Today's uniforms can be a hazard: A soldier in desert fatigues would stand out like a bull's-eye against a red brick wall. But the next-generation suit would take on the appearance of the wall, allowing the soldier to blend into the background. In the same way that an enemy scanning jungle brush might miss a soldier in classic green-and-brown camouflage, the uniform's optical trickery might cause an urban foe to glance over the future soldier. "Sometimes it's fairly easy to confuse the human eye," Moynihan says, explaining that the real goal is not invisibility but simply buying a soldier extra time to react.





A reader inquires: Is the military developing uniforms that would make soldiers invisible?

The perfect cloak of Frodo Baggins is still far off, if not impossible, but DARPA-funded researchers are working on a new kind of camouflage that would fall only a few steps short of elvish magic. According to Philip Moynihan, a NASA engineer who published a paper on the subject in 2000, so-called adaptive camouflage would visually merge soldiers with their surroundings--whether that's an urban backdrop or dense jungle brush. The basic principle is simple: Cameras would capture the scene behind the uniform while embedded displays would reproduce the image on its front. "

SPIDER MAN OUTSOURCED!

SPIDER-MAN INDIA – SPIDER MAN OUTSOURCED!

Bangalore, India (June 14, 2004) — Marvel Comics & Gotham Entertainment Group – Indian publishing licensee of Marvel Comics and the leading publisher of international comic magazines in South Asia – announces the launch of Spider-Man India.

Spider-Man India interweaves the local customs, culture and mystery of modern India, with an eye to making Spider-Man’s mythology more relevant to this particular audience. Readers of this series will not see the familiar Peter Parker of Queens under the classic Spider-Man mask, but rather a new hero – a young, Indian boy named Pavitr Prabhakar. As Spider-Man, Pavitr leaps around rickshaws and scooters in Indian streets, while swinging from monuments such as the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal.
http://www.gothamcomics.com/spiderman_india/

Breaking codes: An impossible task?

Breaking codes: An impossible task?
BBC News Online

 

Recent reports that the United States had broken codes used by the Iranian
intelligence service have intrigued experts on cryptology because a modern
cipher should be unbreakable.
Four leading British experts told BBC News Online that the story, if true,
points to an operating failure by the Iranians or a backdoor way in by the
National Security Agency (NSA) - the American electronic intelligence
organization.

 

The reports, from Washington, suggested that the Iranians had been tipped
off by Ahmed Chalabi, an Iraqi political leader with links to Iran.

 

He is said to have learned about the code-breaking from an American official
who was drunk.

 

Simon Singh, author of "The Code Book", a history of codes, said: "Modern
codes are effectively unbreakable, very cheap and widely available. I could
send an email today and all the world's secret services using all the
computers in the world would not be able to break it. The code maker
definitely has a huge advantage over the code breaker."

 

The reason for this is that an encoded text is so complex that it can resist
all efforts to break it.

 

The key to codes

 

It is probable, though not certain of course, that Iran was using what's
called public-private key or asymmetric cryptography. In this system, the
message is encoded by someone using a freely distributed public key. This
can be decoded only by someone using a different private key.

 

Modern codes are effectively unbreakable, very cheap and widely available
Simon Singh
The public-private key method has largely taken over from the purely private
or symmetric system in which the sender and receiver use the same key to
encrypt and decrypt a message.

 

Some ciphers use a mixture. A private key encrypts and decrypts the message
because this way is less complicated and therefore quicker but the key
itself is sent by the public-private method.

 

Professor Alistair Fitt, head of the School of Mathematics at Southampton
University, said: "The private-private key is seen as obsolete. The
public-private key is better. It does away with the problem of transporting
the key between the two parties."

 

I asked Professor Fitt if he would feel confident of using it if he was an
intelligence chief. He replied "Yes."

 

Too hard to crack

 

Take a public key based on a huge number which is the result of two prime
numbers multiplied together (a prime number being one which can be divided
only by itself or by one). You use this number to encode your message but
you do not need to know the two original prime numbers. Only the person
decoding the message needs to know, because the text was encoded using an
equation and both numbers are needed to reverse that equation.

 

You design the numbers so that if you have more computers than there are in
the world and you run them for ever, they are not enough
Professor Alistair Fitt
The system is safe because it is a curious feature of mathematics that when
two prime numbers are multiplied, it is very difficult to factor, that is to
work out, the two original numbers. Mathematicians have been trying to find
a way to do this quickly for hundreds of years and have failed so far.
Since even computers take time to wade their way through all prime numbers
to find the correct ones, it has been estimated that, if the number is big
enough, the world could end before they succeed. A guess would have a better
chance.

 

A large key

 

The text to be enciphered is basically converted into numbers to which a
numerical key is applied in a mathematical formula. It is important that the
key has enough numbers to keep it safe but not enough to slow the whole
process down too much.

 

Professor Fitt commented: "If you are making a code, you design the numbers
so that if you have more computers than there are in the world and you run
them for ever, they are not enough."

 

The current assessment is that a key containing 128-bits (the binary units
used by computers) is safe.
In a web article "Encryption Basics", Jonathan Hassell of Soho Security said
that it was "extremely difficult and time-consuming" to determine the key
because the numbers were so big: "Mathematically, 128-bit numbers have
3,402,823,669,209,384,634,633,746,074,300,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 possible combinations for the
numerical sequence."

 

A decade ago, a key of 40 or 56-bits was thought to be secure from what is
called a brute attack by computers but no longer so.

 

Note that the increase in bits is exponential, because each bit doubles the
total. 128-bits is 309,485,009,821,345,068,724,781,056 times larger than 40.

 

Seeking another answer

 

You can see that the code breakers, or cryptanalysts, have to find some
other solution.

 

Ross Anderson of the Computer Laboratory at Cambridge University pointed to
some of them: "As the former chief scientist of the NSA once remarked at one
of our security workshops, almost all breaks of cipher systems are due to
implementation errors, operational failures, burglary, blackmail and
bribery.

 

There is a difference between breaking a code and breaking a system
Professor Fred Piper
"As for cryptanalysis, it happens, but very much less often than most people
think."
Professor Fred Piper of the Royal Holloway College made the same point
strongly: "There is a difference between breaking a code and breaking a
system.

 

"In general it is true that a system using a practically unbreakable cipher
might be broken though a management fault."

 

The three B's

 

Such faults might include lazy operating procedures or even leaving your key
around on a CD which someone else could read.

 

This is reminiscent of one of the ways the German Enigma codes were broken
during World War II. One German operator always used the name of his
girlfriend Cillie to send a test message. Thereafter the British
code-breakers called all such vulnerable messages "cillies."

 

The three "Bs" - burglary, blackmail and bribery - might have to be employed
if there is no other way of getting at the key. We are back to the world of
spies.

 

Perhaps the need to find keys was what lay behind the former British MI5
agent Peter Wright's revelation in his book "Spycatcher" that he "bugged and
burgled" his way across London.

 

Hidden software

 

Simon Singh says that sometimes there is a backdoor way in through
deliberately corrupted software: "There is always the chance of human error.
Encryption requires a key, and if I get hold of your key then I can read
your messages. Or if I plant some software in I get to see the message
before you encrypt it."

 

Software allowing decryption is known to have been implanted in some ciphers
in the past. In his book "Security Engineering", Ross Anderson tells the
story of how this happened in Sweden: "The Swedish government got upset when
they learned that the 'export version' of Lotus Notes which they used widely
in public service had its cryptography deliberately weakened to allow NSA
access."

 

In another case, intriguingly involving Iran, Ross Anderson reported: "A
salesman for the Swiss firm Crypto AG was arrested in Iran in 1992 and the
authorities accused him of selling them cipher machines which had been
tampered with so that the NSA could get at the plaintext. After he had spent
some time in prison, Crypto AG paid about a $1m to bail him but then fired
him once he got back to Switzerland."

 

Whether something similar happened in this case involving Iran is simply not
known.

 

The internet - is it secure?

 

All this has important implications, incidentally, for internet security.
When you enter a secure area on the internet, to buy something for example,
you are using an encryption system.

 

Professor Alistair Fitt says that the internet codes are safe: "I do not
understand why some people do not trust the internet yet they give their
credit card to some waiter who disappears with it into a back room."

 

You can also use 128-bit encryption for your e-mails. This used not to be
the case. It was only in 2000 that the United States lifted most export
controls on strong encryption programs.

 

Using such encryption, your e-mails should be safe. Unless what apparently
happened to the Iranians happens to you.

 

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/3804895.stm

 

Way 2 go

Way 2 go
Via Moloch.org"The possibility that a group or company has apparently used the vulnerabilities as a way to sneak unwanted advertising software, or adware, onto a user's computer could be grounds for criminal charges, said Stephen Toulouse, security program manager for Microsoft.

 

"We consider that any use of an exploit to run a program is a criminal use," he said. "We are going to work aggressively with law enforcement to prosecute individuals or companies that do so."
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-5229707.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1002_3-5229707.html

MooFi

Just Say MooFi

It’s a little strange, but cow-herding-by-wire (or by wireless) might become a way to manage long herds. A collar with an embedded GPS and Wi-Fi and the ability to make sounds or produce shocks could allow a farmer to wrassle cattle virtually, avoiding more expensive management techniques. The Wi-Fi is used to convey GPS coordinates. Solar-powered Wi-Fi hubs could handle relying information back to a central control.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995079

 

Vanguard Online Edition : Petrol: How much will Nigerians pay?

Vanguard Online Edition : Petrol: How much will Nigerians pay?: "Petrol: How much will Nigerians pay?

By Emma Ujah Abuja
Sunday, June 20, 2004
For Nigeria, a nation that prides herself as the world's number six producer of crude oil, increases in prices of crude oil at the international market have consistently disrupted the local economy as shocks are easily noticed in terms of resistance to products prices increase. The issue of fuel price increase has ever been volatile-even under military dictatorship.
The decision by President Olusegun Obasanjo to deregulate the downstream sector of the oil industry did not go down well with most Nigerians. The fears were and still are that marketers, like all capitalists, have little regard for the people. Therefore, the public apprehension over being left at the mercy of marketers is somewhat genuine.
Prices have more than doubled since Chief Obasanjo took over in May 1999. Only this year alone, we have witnessed price movements from N34 per litre in January to N42.80k and N43 in May and then the all-haul jump to N51 per litre. At the fuel stations pumps, Nigerians have never paid this much. And as such, Labour has a reason to complain.
"

And then There were 5....

And then there were 5..
Things are really starting to heat up on the island.The latest evictees are Stanley and Yewande :(.Stanley's had his a long time coming, the guy
is really a lazy bum!but Yewande well... too bad.its starting to
heat up more with more grueling and increasingly complex tasks taking the "mickey" out of every one.Well there can be only one, to grab the
prize of 3,000,000 naira!

Africanhiphop.com - Pan African hip hop: the motherland represents

Thoroughbreds Hip Hop scholars , Nigeria's finest






Elajoe Tha Funk Wizard


In the quest for mass appeal most Nigerian hiphop artistes have had to task their creative faculties for new sounds and styles with which to increase listenership amongst the music buying public and in turn move more units of their offerings. While some have resorted to mimicking popular American rap stars like Jay-Z, 50cent and Ja Rule, others have decided to go indigenous, creating a collage of rhythms and curious rhyme styles which they brand severally as afrohiphop, national hiphop or hip"naija"hop. The rest have, like their mainstream counterparts in the U.S, simply gone pop. In the midst of all these a group of young men have elected to to stay true to the game.

This five-man collective known as Da Thoroughbreds are determined to keep it real, keep it basic: phat beats and a message. Just as their name implies this Lagos based posse are pious hiphop apostles who are not only well versed in the tenets of real hiphop but are also very conversant with the dynamics of the industry both locally and internationally, all these in addition to being respectable professionals in the fields of banking, marketing communication and information technology. Infact to describe more aptly, if all the hiphop artists in Nigeria represent the regular infantry battalion of the music army, this group of four emcees and a supervising raptician are the equivalent of sandhurst trained special elite commandos.
From the foregoing it is apparent that the group comprising members IllBliss & Obiwon a.k.a Coal City's Finest, Elajoe tha funk wizard, B-Elect and MGB are refined gentlemen of considerable erudition. A visit by this writer to their Ojodu, Berger abode confirmed this assertion. In their spare time Da Breds immerse themselves in hiphop music, journals, books and related materials while also brainstorming on a wide range of burning issues ranging from world politics and the global economy to the need for social reengineering in Nigeria, all these in addition to treating yours truly to endless hours of stone cold rhyming. Their lyrics, mainly in English with a sufficient sprinkling of local lingo, is delivered in a diction clear enough for the average Nigerian hiphop music enthusiast to discern. The group has just released a 5-cut EP to showcase their skills behind the mic and boards and more importantly to test the waters of the Nigerian music industry.

Nigeria's new reality show.

Welcome to the Gulder Ultimate Search Online | The Show

Ultimate Search – The Concept

It started as a whisper in the wind. Catching on like wildfire, it blazed bigger and brighter. Yes! Nigeria can actually host it’s very own reality TV Show. This would be something different. Something so big and innovative it would shatter conventional TV programming in Nigeria forever!

It would be called the Ultimate Search! And who else to sponsor it than Nigeria’s Ultimate beer.

And so Gulder presents… the Ultimate Search, Nigeria’s First Ever Reality TV show, an adventure story featuring 10 men and women with guts of steel and razor sharp minds.

Painstakingly selected from all over the nation. They are marooned on a wild and remote Island. Where they face the ultimate test of their mental and physical ability, as they search for a priceless treasure.

To the man that goes the extra mile to find it, will come fame and fortune. Plus a handsome reward of 3 million Naira. The other nine contestants get a consolation reward of N250,000 each.

Welcome to the Ultimate Search. The biggest adventure to hit your TV Screen this year!

Kewl Nokia wave messaging

Re: Wired News
From the company that pioneered text messaging, picture messaging and multimedia messaging, comes new innovation - Wave Messaging, or Light Messaging, according to a Nokia press release
By waving the Nokia 3220 camera phone from side to side, the LED lights of the Nokia Xpress-on FunShell light up to "write" a message that appears to float in mid-air.

Related articles on airtexting-type technologies:

-- In March 2003, the WSJ reported from CeBIT about a phone called Kurv, made by Kyocera Wireless Corp which featured airtexting: "The company believes airtexting will be one of it's most popular features, especialy in night clubs. To airtext, you type in a text like 'call me' then wave it back and forth in the air. As the phone moves, a row of blinking red lights along the top of the phone leaves the phrase trailing behind it."

-- A company called Wildseed actually tested airtexting with teenagers.

-- And an article from Wap.com (no longer online) several years ago, featured a California company called Neoku.com which developed a platform called haikuhaiku. The article described a form of mobile graffiti, using a cell phone as a paint spraycan, "by waving it into the air to form a word, the text would appear onto the screen of a person passing by". How cool is that?