[H]ardNews - Blair Tech Ed.

Mystery Net Traffic:

Mysterious packets of internet traffic that have puzzled experts for weeks may originate from one of three different computer attack tools. Network administrators first spotted the peculiar packets arriving at internet-connected computers around the world in mid-May. The packets are all a characteristic 55,808 bits long. Many security experts suspected that a malicious program installed on innocent machines was spewing out the packets, but could not determine their purpose.

Bugs In Your Cookies:

Privacy advocates say a shift by Microsoft could effectively marginalise a particularly intrusive use of web bugs, the tracking and profiling devices used by online marketers and spammers. Last month Microsoft retooled its Hotmail service, adding a feature that allows users to block web bugs placed inside email messages. A similar option exists in the most recent version of Microsoft's widely used Outlook Express email program, and the company says the next release of its other email program, Outlook, will block the tracking mechanisms by default.

Windows For Robots:

Basically, ROCI is a project to create a distributed framework for multi-robot perception and control. For the past year, the project has been focusing on small robotic systems that are intended to work individually and cooperatively to solve various sensing and surveillance problems. The current state-of-the-art in control software allows for supervised autonomy, a paradigm in which a human user can command and control one robot using teleoperation and close supervisory control.

Incremental Synthesis:

A U.K. based company is preparing to enter the EDA market with "interconnect specific incremental synthesis" (Isis), a technology that allows IC process migration and leakage current reduction. The company, In2Fab Technology, promises to eliminate the need for re-synthesis in order to accomplish these goals.