BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Space shield to block radiation

The plasma-filled shield would offer protection from harmful particles

British scientists are planning to see whether a Star Trek-style deflector shield could be built to protect astronauts from radiation.

They argue that magnetic shields could be deployed around spacecraft and on the surfaces of planets to deflect harmful energetic particles.

Several countries' space agencies have announced their intentions to resume human exploration of the Solar System.

Scientists hope to mimic the magnetic field which protects the Earth.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6567709.stm

BBC NEWS | Business | US video games sales hit record

Halo 3 helped boost sales of Microsoft's Xbox console

Blockbuster titles and the success of Nintendo's new console helped make 2007 a record year for US video game sales, according to a research group.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7195511.stm

BBC NEWS | Technology | State of Play: Violence and video games

Puzzle Quest is a hypnotic 'violent' game

The debate around video games and violence rears its head every few months. But are the right questions being asked?

Like most of the electrified world, I am currently hypnotised by Puzzle Quest.

A variation on the classic task of matching three gems, it integrates role playing game elements into a simple puzzle game, producing something that has all the short-order appeal of Tetris, and all the long-term pull of Final Fantasy.

And hypnotised isn't a word I use lightly. The gentle clatter of gems and the steady whirl of primary colours soon become all-consuming.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6943835.stm

The hi-tech election

This election has relied on technology like never before to campaign, to get the vote out, to raise money, to harness volunteers and hopefully to return results as quickly as possible.

But it also seems that voters themselves are using technology as a way to ensure their vote is counted and their voices are heard. Yes even eight years on from the hanging chad debacle in Florida that left the 2000 election on a knife edge, people refuse to place their trust in the system.

The two services that are really being put to the test are the video sharing site YouTube and the microblogging service Twitter.

Already Twitter, which has had its share of problems with downed service times, seems to be performing well ahead of d-day on election.twitter.com. A stream of comments and observations from users are flooding in so fast there isn't time to read them properly. Think ticker tape on speed.

"Just received my fourth call from the Obama campaign. Yes we can," tweets one user while another notes; "John McCain doesn't run for history. He is history." And yet another tweet says: "Lonely McCain supporters getting shouted down in Times Square," to "Gotta go walk my dog. Be uncool but American Vote McCain."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/

BBC NEWS | Technology | What exactly is a next generation game?

The Outsider is due for release at Christmas 2009

The term next-generation is used a lot in the video games industry but what does it actually mean? How are developers taking advantage of new gaming hardware and what are the challenges and next steps for the industry?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6937058.stm

BBC NEWS | Technology | The golden age of videogames

Bioshock is one of the most celebrated games of the year

Edge magazine is notoriously parsimonious when it comes to handing out 10 out of 10 review scores for video games but in the past three issues there have been three of them.

Halo 3, The Orange Box and Super Mario Galaxy have all been awarded one of the highest accolades in gaming - a perfect score from Edge. And plenty of other games have been given near perfect scores also - from Bioshock to Crysis, Drake's Fortune and Call of Duty 4.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7107144.stm

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Magnetic shield for spacefarers

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Lab tests show how to produce a protective 'hole' in the plasma

Future astronauts could benefit from a magnetic "umbrella" that deflects harmful space radiation around their crew capsule, scientists say.

The super-fast charged particles that stream away from the Sun pose a significant threat to any long-duration mission, such as to the Moon or Mars.

But the research team says a spaceship equipped with a magnetic field generator could protect its occupants.

Lab tests are reported in the journal Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7706844.stm

BBC NEWS | Technology | State of Play: Killzone 2 hands on

Killzone is set in a futuristic dystopian world

Killzone 2 has always been about delivering on a promise. When the first trailer for the game emerged two years ago the sounds of jaws dropping to the floor reverberated around the industry.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6929484.stm

BBC NEWS | Technology | Games 'to outsell' music, video<

Hugely popular titles such as GTAIV have boosted sales figures

UK sales of games will outstrip music and video for the first time in 2008, says a report from Verdict Research.

A huge shift in consumer attitudes has turned video games into the UK's most popular form of entertainment, say the retail analysts.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7709298.stm

Police stalking cyber fraudsters

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DC Kevin Ives talks about a raid on a house in the hunt for a suspect

It was a dawn raid with a difference.

No flak jackets, no helmets and no-one was carrying a "key" - the metal pipe used by police to break down locked doors.

Instead, fraud officers from the City of London Police, accompanied by two computer experts from the Serious Organised Crime Agency, knocked on the innocuous front door of the home in north London and told the residents they were coming in.

They found their 19-year-old target immediately.

He was made to sit on a chair and be cautioned as his computers, laptops, mobile phones and PDAs were seized and his bewildered parents, brothers and sisters looked on.

The man under arrest is accused of being a member of Darkmarket - the secret internet forum for criminals where fake IDs, credit card details, PIN codes and personal data are traded and everything is available - for a price.

Electronic trail

The FBI infiltrated the site two years ago and has spent this long gathering evidence against the members.

How well do you know PC security?

Many people still fall victim to e-mailed viruses
Is your PC well protected or is it the plaything of malicious hackers the world over?

To find out if you are security savvy or simply a sucker, answer the questions in our quiz and find out how much you know about staying safe when using the web.

How well do you know PC security?

Tackling the hackers face-to-face

Increasingly hackers use their skills to steal money
I'm lurking on IRC - Internet Relay Chat - the place where lots of net users go to talk via typed text on any and every conceivable topic.

But instead of talking about games, last night's big match or MP3s, I'm on channels with names like cc-visa, ccfull, ccpower and trade-cc.

I'm in bandit country.

The "cc" stands for "credit cards" and these are the virtual markets where thousands of stolen numbers are bought and sold all day, every day.

Tackling the hackers face-to-face

Tracking down hi-tech crime

How the trap was sprung



If every hour a burglar turned up at your house and rattled the locks on the doors and windows to see if he could get in, you might consider moving to a safer neighbourhood.

And while that may not be happening to your home, it probably is happening to any PC you connect to the net.

An investigation by the BBC News website has established the scale of the dangers facing the average net user.

Using a computer acting as a so-called "honeypot" the BBC has been regularly logging how many potential net-borne attacks hit the average Windows PC every day.

Tracking down hi-tech crime

Anatomy of a spam e-mail

A daily chore of modern life for many is the morning trawl through a full inbox deleting spam email. But just where does it all come from and why do spammers use bizarre text, names and images in their emails?

To the expert eye a typical spam is laden with clues to its origin. Click on the links below to find out more.

Tugas Java Script

Form validation with JavaScript

(nama)





(nim)







(Blog anda)







E-Mail Address

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HP's plan to fix ailing planet

Scientists at HP have been working in nanotech for the last 13 years
Hewlett Packard is up to two years away from starting to build a "central nervous system for the Earth", known as CeNSE.

The man leading this ambitious project is Dr Stan Williams, who runs HP's Information and Quantum Systems Laboratory.

"The motivation for this work is realising and understanding the planet is sick and the disease is us," he told BBC News.

"As information technology people, we are not going to be the ones who prescribe and administer the cure but we should be the people who provide the information required to do proper diagnosis and treatment."

HP's plan to fix ailing planet

Trapping hackers in the honeypot

The honeypot logged attacks on a typical Windows machine

In this second part of our investigation using the BBC honeypot we recount what happened when we let the machine get infected rather than just log attacks.

It is rare that you would willingly let vandals and burglars into your home but a controlled environment like a honeypot computer lets you do the technological equivalent in relative safety.

The idea of letting the PC get infected was to see exactly what nasty programs hit our machine and how easy it was to recover from infection.

Firstly, we visited a few of the websites mentioned in the many fake security warnings that pop-up unprompted thanks to loopholes in Windows Messenger.

Trapping hackers in the honeypot

Much of the software available via these bogus warnings turned out to be a nuisance rather than downright malicious.

BBC NEWS | Technology | New MP3 logo gets online support

Seven of Britain's largest music download sites have got together to promote a new "MP3 compatible" logo.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7708268.stm

BBC NEWS | UK | Music fans 'risk losing hearing'

Listening to music through earphones at high volumes can damage hearing

One in 10 people with personal MP3 or CD players could suffer permanent hearing loss because their music is too loud, according to an EU study.

Scientists say those who listen at high volume for more than one hour per day over five years risk permanent harm.

They say up to 10 million people across Europe, including many children and adolescents, could be affected.

The European Commission will now look into whether technical improvements could minimise hearing damage.

Between 50 and 100 million people are estimated to use personal music players on a daily basis.

The Commission asked the independent committee to conduct the study because of concerns over widespread use of music players among young people.

EU safety standards restrict the noise level of personal music players to 100 decibels but there is increasing concern about excessive exposure to music at high volumes.

Many listeners turn up the volume above harmful levels of over 89 decibels to block out noise from traffic or public transport.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7585861.stm

BBC NEWS | Technology | MPs want UK jail time for hacker

Supporters of Mr McKinnon have held protests in his name

UK MPs are calling for hacker Gary McKinnon to serve any sentence he receives in a British jail.
Supporters of Mr McKinnon have held protests in his name

UK MPs are calling for hacker Gary McKinnon to serve any sentence he receives in a British jail.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7707778.stm

Intel sees quarterly profits rise

Intel said the outlook ahead for sales was mixed

Intel, the world's biggest computer chipmaker, has reported a 12% rise in its quarterly earnings.

Profits for the three months to 27 September were $2bn (£1.1bn) compared with $1.7bn for the same period last year, said the company.

But Intel warned that the financial crisis made it hard to predict its earnings for the rest of the year.

The announcement came after US markets closed - but Intel shares rose 4.5% in after-hours trading.

Intel sees quarterly profits rise

Firms demand aid on hi-tech crime

Many businesses feel they are virtually under siege

UK businesses have little faith that the government is doing enough to tackle hi-tech crime, says a report.

Of those questioned 57% said any malicious hi-tech crime in the workplace would not be dealt with properly by the police.

Only 4% of respondents said they bothered to report every incident of hi-tech crime, it revealed.

The results come at a time when businesses report that they are almost under siege by cyber criminals.

Firms demand aid on hi-tech crime

Laptop delivers all-day computing

Surely you'll give up before this does
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Hewlett-Packard (HP), the world's largest computer company, has developed a new generation of laptops with a 24-hour battery life.

Its new HP EliteBook 6930p can be configured with an ultra-capacity battery to deliver "all-day computing".

The firm says the 24-hour battery means travellers can take more than 10 trips on the Eurostar between London and Paris before recharging their laptop.

HP said it was an "unprecedented milestone in mobile computing".

Laptop delivers all-day computing

Cybercrime wave sweeping Britain

Cybercriminals use sophisticated and professional techniques

Cybercrime in the UK rose by more than 9% in 2007, according to a new report.

Online identity firm Garlik's cybercrime report claims that more than 3.5 million online crimes were committed in the UK last year.

The majority of crimes related to fraud and abusive or threatening e-mails. There was an 8% drop in online identity theft and sexual offences fell 2%.

Tom Ilube, of Garlick, said he expected to see a growth in online financial fraud due to the credit crunch.

Cybercrime wave sweeping Britain

Digital Clock powered by lemons

Here’s a clock for those who have no clock and a spare lemon tree in the backyard. The tree will come in handy since this clock is powered by the energy of a lemon, which will power it for a week or longer. The design is intended to remind us that nature is still our direct energy source.

When life hands you lemons and a lemon powered clock, most people would just make lemonade and get the time from the microwave. But some of us will put lemons on our clock, and through the sour sucking power of citrus, attract fruit flies until we give up this novelty clock design.

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