The gentleman hacker's 1903 lulz

A century ago, one of the world’s first hackers used Morse code insults to disrupt a public demo of Marconi's wireless telegraph

LATE one June afternoon in 1903 a hush fell across an expectant audience in the Royal Institution's celebrated lecture theatre in London. Before the crowd, the physicist John Ambrose Fleming was adjusting arcane apparatus as he prepared to demonstrate an emerging technological wonder: a long-range wireless communication system developed by his boss, the Italian radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi. The aim was to showcase publicly for the first time that Morse code messages could be sent wirelessly over long distances. Around 300 miles away, Marconi was preparing to send a signal to London from a clifftop station in Poldhu, Cornwall, UK.

Yet before the demonstration could begin, the apparatus in the lecture theatre began to tap out a message. At first, it spelled out just one word repeated over and over. Then it changed into a facetious poem accusing Marconi of "diddling the public". Their demonstration had been hacked - and this was more than 100 years before the mischief playing out on the internet today. Who was the Royal Institution hacker? How did the cheeky messages get there? And why?

It had all started in 1887 when Heinrich Hertz proved the existence of the electromagnetic waves predicted by James Clerk Maxwell in 1865. Discharging a capacitor into two separated electrodes, Hertz ionised the air in the gap between them, creating a spark. Miraculously, another spark zipped between two electrodes a few metres away: an electromagnetic wave from the first spark had induced a current between the second electrode pair. It meant long and short bursts of energy - "Hertzian waves" - could be broadcast to represent the dots and dashes of Morse code. Wireless telegraphy was born, and Marconi and his company were at the vanguard. Marconi claimed that his wireless messages could be sent privately over great distances. "I can tune my instruments so that no other instrument that is not similarly tuned can tap my messages," Marconi boasted to London's St James Gazette in February 1903.

That things would not go smoothly for Marconi and Fleming at the Royal Institution that day in June was soon apparent. Minutes before Fleming was due to receive Marconi's Morse messages from Cornwall, the hush was broken by a rhythmic ticking noise sputtering from the theatre's brass projection lantern, used to display the lecturer's slides. To the untrained ear, it sounded like a projector on the blink. But Arthur Blok, Fleming's assistant, quickly recognised the tippity-tap of a human hand keying a message in Morse. Someone, Blok reasoned, was beaming powerful wireless pulses into the theatre and they were strong enough to interfere with the projector's electric arc discharge lamp.

Mentally decoding the missive, Blok realised it was spelling one facetious word, over and over: "Rats". A glance at the output of the nearby Morse printer confirmed this. The incoming Morse then got more personal, mocking Marconi: "There was a young fellow of Italy, who diddled the public quite prettily," it trilled. Further rude epithets - apposite lines from Shakespeare - followed.

The stream of invective ceased moments before Marconi's signals from Poldhu arrived. The demo continued, but the damage was done: if somebody could intrude on the wireless frequency in such a way, it was clearly nowhere near as secure as Marconi claimed. And it was likely that they could eavesdrop on supposedly private messages too.

Marconi would have been peeved, to say the least, but he did not respond directly to the insults in public. He had no truck with sceptics and naysayers: "I will not demonstrate to any man who throws doubt upon the system," he said at the time. Fleming, however, fired off a fuming letter to The Times of London. He dubbed the hack "scientific hooliganism", and "an outrage against the traditions of the Royal Institution". He asked the newspaper's readers to help him find the culprit.

He didn't have to wait long. Four days later a gleeful letter confessing to the hack was printed by The Times. The writer justified his actions on the grounds of the security holes it revealed for the public good. Its author was Nevil Maskelyne, a mustachioed 39-year-old British music hall magician. Maskelyne came from an inventive family - his father came up with the coin-activated "spend-a-penny" locks in pay toilets. Maskelyne, however, was more interested in wireless technology, so taught himself the principles. He would use Morse code in "mind-reading" magic tricks to secretly communicate with a stooge. He worked out how to use a spark-gap transmitter to remotely ignite gunpowder. And in 1900, Maskelyne sent wireless messages between a ground station and a balloon 10 miles away. But, as author Sungook Hong relates in the book Wireless, his ambitions were frustrated by Marconi's broad patents, leaving him embittered towards the Italian. Maskelyne would soon find a way to vent his spleen.

SMART Vantage Available in January for Insight into Classroom ICT Use Application

Simply by logging in to the web-based interface, educational and IT administrators can access data on SMART Board interactive whiteboard and projector use in individual classrooms, throughout schools and across entire districts or regions. This comprehensive information provides valuable insight into technology use, enabling administrators to reduce operating and maintenance costs, decrease hardware downtime and make more informed decisions about professional development opportunities.

SMART Vantage software has two modules. The Manage and Report module, which manages SMART Board interactive whiteboards and SMART projectors, will be available globally in English in January 2012. The second module Report and Integrate – manages SMART products and third-party projectors and will be released globally in Q2, 2012. SMART Vantage is the first software product from SMART to enable technology administrators to inventory and proactively manage their SMART Board interactive whiteboards and projectors.

Projector lamp life can be monitored, greatly reducing the chance that a projector will fail and disrupt lesson delivery. Using the intuitive user interface, administrators can see how many times an individual SMART Board interactive whiteboard has been touched, which applications have been used and which subject areas and grade levels are making the most effective use of the interactive whiteboard. Information on usage can then assist in ICT planning, including determining training and professional development opportunities and enabling administrators to gain the highest return on investment from their SMART purchases.

As more and more schools around the world continue to adopt ICT solutions into classrooms, administrators require tools to manage those solutions efficiently, within their budgets and also to have a comprehensive understanding of their return on investment,” says Linda Thomas, VicePresident, Products, SMART Technologies. “With the release of SMART Vantage software, educators will get instant insight into how, when and in what subject areas SMART Board interactive whiteboards are being used, helping them to make informed decisions that will support teaching and learning at all levels.”

Features Inventory Use the Manage and Report module to identify and manage SMART Board interactive whiteboards and SMART projectors. Use the Manage, Report and Integrate module to identify SMART Board interactive whiteboards that are used in conjunction with third-party projectors, and then set up automatic monitoring for these third-party projectors. Profile configuration – Assign personnel to defined administrator or report roles Power management and scheduling – Create system power schedules to automatically start systems and activate sleep mode to reduce energy consumption while not in use Projector bulb warning – Proactively manage overall projector bulb health through an e-mail notification that indicates when the projector bulb has decreased to a designated level Customized reports – Issue reports on a daily, monthly or yearly basis with the customized options that provide insight into SMART Board interactive whiteboard usage Pricing and availability The Manage and Report module will be available globally in English beginning January 2012. The Manage, Report and Integrate module will be available globally in Q2, 2012. Prices vary by country.

Which Is Better To Buy A LCD Or A Plasma TV Confused..

Keep some ziplock baggies handy to keep your pocket electronics dry if you have to go out in the rain or get caught in a rain band when you thought the sun had come out and it was safe. I keep a little towel in there so I can dry something and then seal it up to keep it that way. best iPad to Mac transfer Plasma, Television has vivid hues, quick refresh and wonderful contrast? Plasma TVs would be the TVs that largely most likely catch your eye when you stroll down the aisle within your nearby very best purchase. Plasma TVs have exceptionally vivid, unique and lively hues. But just like most excellent issues in lifestyle there exists a downside to contemplate. Plasma TVs have substantial electrical power usage as well as a fairly brief lifespan.

But on the other hand you could properly be acquiring a more recent kind of larger technological innovation Television nevertheless once again later on. Soon after all getting the newest Television engineering happens to be an important standing image in lots of if not most center course American residences. Should you only needed a Television you may of properly gone to Wal-Mart or Costco and bought an extremely acceptable photo older CRT Television really inexpensively. Some assessments have revealed which the capacity to get a plasma exhibit to demonstrate genuine black decreases by 13% around the primary 4 weeks. Above a period of time of the number of many years this might present blacks as mild grays inside your picture. The large energy usage might not bother you in the event you will not thoughts paying out somewhat far more for ones electrical bill, however the true concern just like in notebook personal computers may be the quantity warmth created and also the hurt carried out to those digital products as well as the display screen of your respective new and really high-priced plasma Television by that warmth. .

The warmth arises from the million small fluorescent tubes on the large glass substrate that generates the picture. This design and style is additionally component with the longevity problem. The large warmth created in a very little region uses up out the phosphors earlier than the phosphor on the classic CRT. And, in tying every thing collectively, this will also end result in picture burn-in specially on channels that exhibit their brand constantly while in the decrease appropriate corner. LCD TVs are considerably cheaper than plasma, but additionally are inclined to not have photographs which might be as sharp or vibrant. One other downside to LCD shows is the pixels are fairly sluggish to vary state. Quick heading objects including a hockey puck or baseball bat get blurred exactly where they could display much more crisply with a plasma or high quality CRT.

Projection TVs are one more choice. Projection Television technological innovation now makes considerably sharper, much more vivid photos that in earlier decades with deeper blacks that rival the CRT, and conquer the majority of the plasma and LCD shows. This can be the strategy to go for show dimensions of fifty inches or increased. The principle downside for just about any in the projection systems will be the lamp utilised since the mild supply. The standard metal halide projector lamp only lasts one thousand to 2000 hrs and may value a number of hundred bucks to exchange. Extended lifestyle span lamps referred to as ultra substantial efficiency (UHP) have just lately arrive within the marketplace that use mercury vapor as an alternative of argon and also have lifespan ranging from three,000 to ten,000 hrs. Most shoppers use their TVs on an common foundation of one,000 hrs a yr. Which means that in case the bulb is within the assortment of £ 300 - £ five hundred pounds the price of �running the projection Television?at a tough manual of one,000 hrs of use for each bulb is a number of hundred bucks a yr.

The projections of bulb longevity in many cases are completed in very best circumstance not situations not the normal set up exactly where the house owner could even impair the air flow of warmth unintentionally by Television and home furniture placement decided on because of the spouse for look fairly than digital longevity. Not so conceptually the projection Television bulbs look for being extremely proprietary bulbs offered through the projection Television producer. Bulbs for Sony projection TVs are created and dispersed only by Sony. You could discover a cheaper bulb say a Hitachi. Nonetheless it's a judgment phone. The Sony bulbs though far more high-priced are a lot far more well-liked and simple to seek out on eBay ?even utilised bulbs. But projection Television bulbs are extremely fragile and might not endure shipment by mail. Just like LCD show, producers are relocating toward large intensity LED technological innovation to exchange lamps and have lifespan measured in decades.

Naturally, that technological innovation is just not inexpensive, but costs really should arrive down because they turn out to be much more accessible within the subsequent a number of many years. About the horizon we will search ahead tothe subsequent tound on new large tech kind of TVs- SEDs. What exactly is SED? SED is Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Exhibit. These ought to be coming around the marketplace in about 2008/2009. Japan will most likely begin viewing them through the stop of 2007. These are a flat panel show, considerably such as the LCD shows now, but have traits resembling that in the CRT for contrast and picture good quality. This arises from foundation with the design and style: each and every pixel is essentially a little CRT.

It employs much less vitality than plasma given that it really is simpler to create an electron beam (as being a CRT does) than it really is to excite photons inside a fuel (because the plasma exhibit does). There's no creation screen of SED TVs nevertheless offered. Also there's no info nevertheless for other functionality or dependability aspects. Within the stop appreciate your buy. You might nicely obtain a plasma Television now, pay out it off, confess you actually loved the plasma Television and nevertheless buy nevertheless yet again the more recent SED Television to your residence for its greater, much more state-of-the-art photograph and like a standing image to your property. It in no way stops.

Panasonic 3D AE7000 projector

Shiny blue, red and purple confetti fell down before me, while the lights of hundreds of thousands of clicking cameras glinted in the night.

It was the opening of the Beijing Olympics in a huge stadium. For a moment,  it seemed like I was there.

In fact, I was watching the Olympics through Panasonic's 3D home projector technology, that it claims is a world-first.

The company demonstrated its AE7000 projector this week at Auckland's Bridgeway Cinema.

It was impressive. We also watched a clip from James Cameron's movie Avatar and I felt like I was close to the action.

But I also felt motion sickness and my eyes are still sore, several hours after viewing.

Doubts are emerging about 3D technology and how it will be picked up by the mass home consumer market.

The Sydney Morning Herald said Sony has been one of the main backers of new 3D technology but its Australian managing director concedes 3D was rushed to market and had failed to live up to expectations.

Rena Yotsu, from Panasonic Japan, demonstrated the projector and deftly took us through its technical features, such as its minimal "cross-talk", newly engineered lamp, and new colour filters.

Yotsu, who launched the product in Los Angeles recently, said Panasonic consulted with Hollywood producers to try to achieve a "true image" that reflects a theatre experience, she said.

But even she conceded the jury was out among some film directors about the technology.

"Directors want to tell a story, and may use 3D technology in order to do that or something else. The movie producers want to make money from the movies, but the directors don't necessarily want to use the 3D technology, so there is an internal conflict."

Panasonic product sales manager of display systems Taran Wiseman said the New Zealand public may be surprised at how many people have home theatre screens set up in their houses. "It's another option from the big screen TVs."

The projector, which will be released on the market soon, will retail for $5699 and comes with two pairs of 3D glasses.

From the MIT Media Lab

Natan Linder, a researcher at MIT's Media Lab, asked a question most of us have never thought to ask: what if the lamp on your desktop could be transformed into a computer display?

Instead of screwing a lightbulb into a spring-armed desk lamp, Linder designed a device that combines a camera, digital projector, and wireless node. LuminAR (the AR stands for "augmented reality") works on the same 110 volts that would have powered the lightbulb. The result is one of the coolest demos I've seen in a long time: a personal projector that can turn any flat surface into a rough approximation of an iPad.

"People work with objects all day long, like the stuff on our desk — not just things in the digital world," Linder says. "So we think that objects and surfaces should also become interactive, offering you relevant information." The goal of the LuminAR project, he says, was "to build a new form factor for a computer that wasn't screen-centric or keyboard-based."

Imagine having a second screen on your desk that could let you scroll through last month's invoices as you sought the answer to a customer's question, or a "sales assistant" at an electronics store that could identify the mobile phone you've placed on the counter, and show you information about its features.

LuminAR communicates wirelessly to a computer tucked away beneath the desk. The camera and built-in depth sensor allow it to see hand gestures and objects, and the display splashes a full-color image onto any surface. Linder has built robotic versions of Luminar that can rotate and "zoom in" on their own, making the projected image larger, as well as versions that you move manually.

"You might want to do a Skype videoconference on the table, without worrying about booting up your computer or finding a headset," Linder says. "That's the way computation should be — more like using the microwave in your kitchen, and less like using a computer."

So far, Linder has built six LuminAR prototypes using a pico projector from Microvision; one was shown at the National Retail Federation Convention earlier this year, as part of Intel's "Connected Store" concept display. "We showed a way to bring the online shopping experience to the counter of a store like Best Buy," Linder says. "You might want to videoconference with an expert to ask questions about a particular product, or see the batteries and SIM cards and printers that are compatible with the product you're looking at."

Linder, who previously worked in R&D at Samsung and was an entrepreneur-in-residence at Jerusalem Venture Partners, says he doesn't have any immediate plans to try to commercialize LuminAR. (He's focused on finishing his thesis.) But there has been a lot of interest from big companies, he says. "Banks are very interested, as a way to show their customers what the teller is doing on that screen behind the glass," Linder says.

Linder believes that after the mobile and tablet computing waves, we'll see more interfaces built into our environments. As he puts it, "the world is next."