Sci-Tech Today

Brocade Execs Offer Look Under OpenScript Engine's Hood

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:27:17 -0500

Can customers predict the future? Brocade is suggesting the notion as it launches its latest switch innovations.

This week, Brocade rolled out software advancements to its Brocade ServerIron ADX Series of cloud-optimized delivery switches. Brocade's stated goal is to help customers gain greater application control and service scalability.

The latest iteration of Brocade's ServerIron ADX comes equipped with a new OpenScript engine, an open platform that sets the stage for innovation. That is where the "predicting the future" comes in. The OpenScript engine can intelligently predict the effect of a script on a network before the script is deployed into production.

"Basically, we ported the Perl programming language to the ADX application processor so that you can use APIs to control application delivery with a script," said Greg Hankins, a global solutions architect at Brocade. "This means you get all the Perl goodness that you know and love for writing custom scripts to read or write layer three to seven headers based on your particular application needs."

Customizing Services

Keith Stewart, director of product management at Brocade, stressed that OpenScript allows network operators to bring new services to market faster, and tailor them to the specific needs of their customers and business models.

"Unlike other closed and proprietary systems, Brocade OpenScript provides the scalability that network operators need, built on top of an open, standards-based Perl platform," Stewart said. "Brocade OpenScript gives operators the flexibility they need without locking them into a proprietary implementation."

Brocade OpenScript and Brocade ADX are key elements of Brocade's strategy for next-generation data centers, according to Stewart. He pointed out that Brocade is an active supporter of the Open Networking Foundation, and is building the enabling platforms for a world where applications and data can reside anywhere in the cloud.

IPv6 Improvements

IPv6 increases the pool of global IP addresses and simplifies...

Smartphones Overtake Computers and Tablets

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:58:03 -0500

Move over, computers and tablets. For the first time, annual worldwide shipments of smartphones are larger than PCs and tablets.

According to figures released Friday by industry research firm Canalys, there were more than 158 million smartphones shipped in the fourth quarter of last year, a whopping 57 percent increase over the same quarter in 2010. For the entire year, smartphones were up 63 percent, to 487.7 million units.

'Significant Milestone'

By contrast, the global client PC market grew 15 percent last year, to 414.6 million units. This includes a huge, 274 percent growth in tablets, which are now the fast-growing segment in the client PC category.

Chris Jones, Canalys vice president and principal analyst, said in a statement that this is a "significant milestone." Jones said that, within a few years, smartphones "have grown from being a niche product segment at the high end of the mobile phone market to becoming a truly mass-market proposition."

The milestone comes as a previous report from Canalys, released earlier this week, showed that tablets are now 22 percent of all PC shipments. Coupled with Friday's report on the growth of smartphones, it's clear that the center of mobile computing is now in smartphones and tablets.

The Canalys report said that, while decreasing price points have been a key driver of the smartphone growth, there also has been an "increasing consumer appetite" for using smartphones for Net browsing, content consumption and apps.

However, the era of smart phones being more popular than computers or tablets may be short-lived. Canalys said it expects smartphone growth to slow this year, as vendors begin to emphasize cost control and profitability.

As an example, the company noted that some vendors who have focused on the low end, such as Huawei, ZTE and LG, are now turning their attention to higher-level, pricier models that cost more,...

AMD Makes Risky Move Toward 'Ambidextrous' Strategy

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:20:01 -0500

While not leaping into the arms of ARM, AMD is hinting it's less wedded to the traditional x86 architecture that is its history.

AMD calls its strategy "ambidextrous" and says it builds on the company's current strengths in x86 and graphics products while embracing other technology and intellectual property the company hopes will differentiate its products in a competitive market.

The Intel rival sees its future in HSA, or heterogeneous system architecture. AMD outlined its strategy at its Financial Analyst Day this week.

"AMD's strategy capitalizes on the convergence of technologies and devices that will define the next era of the industry," said Rory Read, president and CEO of AMD. "The trends around consumerization, the cloud and convergence will only grow stronger in the coming years."

Repositioning AMD

As Read sees it, AMD has a unique opportunity to take advantage of a key industry inflection point as executives continue the work they started last year to reposition the company. Read says the new strategy will "help AMD embrace the shifts occurring in the industry, marrying market needs with innovative technologies, and become a consistent growth engine."

A major part of the plan includes HSA, which promises software developers a way to program APUs by combining scalar processing on the CPU with parallel processing on the graphics processing unit -- all while offering high-bandwidth access to memory at low power. AMD is working to make HSA an open industry standard for the developer community.

"The battle plan that Read is articulating isn't to go head-to-head with Intel. He's suggesting going around Intel," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at Enderle Group, who attended AMD's Financial Analyst Day. "Read was talking about going where the market was going, using whatever technologies they have access to in order to get there, including both x86 and ARM. You had to read between...

Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 Reportedly Will Share Code

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:14:00 -0500

With Windows 8 moving toward release later this year, providing an integrated operating system for laptops, desktops and tablets, new details are beginning to emerge about Microsoft's plans for its next phone OS. Recent reports point to the ways in which Windows Phone 8, code-named Apollo, will advance the company's mobile platform and tie in with the tablet and computer OS.

The online reports began appearing this week. They build on a leaked video of a Microsoft phone executive, Joe Belfiore, which reportedly had been intended only for the eyes of Nokia executives, as well as various postings and hints by Microsoft.

Web Browsing, NFC, BitLocker

According to the reports, the Apollo OS will provide support for multi-core processors, four different screen resolutions, removable microSD cards, wireless e-commerce, and near-field communication, which allows tap-to-share functionality that will work with other phones, computers and tablets.

From the perspective of user interface and application development, the interfaces between Windows 8 and Apollo are expected to be similar, and Phone 8 is expected to reuse the kernel, network stacks, security and multimedia coding of Windows 8. As a result, applications developed for Windows 8 could potentially run, with relatively little modification, on Apollo phones.

To speed up Web browsing, Apollo will also reportedly use proxy servers that compress and deliver pages to the Internet Explorer 10 browser on the phone, a la the Opera browser. The reports also indicate that a revised Skype, now owned by Microsoft, will be integrated with Apollo, there will be automatic Wi-Fi connectivity, and Microsoft's 128-bit BitLocker will be used for full disk encryption, which is expected to appeal to businesses. Support for SkyDrive will allow data to be shared among Windows 8/Phone 8 devices.

Apollo's release schedule has not yet been announced, but it is expected to occur sometime after the coming...

Google's Bouncer Searches for Misbehaving Android Apps

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:01:42 -0500

Looking to bolster confidence in the security of its fast-growing market for mobile applications, Google is posting a bouncer at the door.

The service analyzes new applications in the Android Market as well as those already posted, and even developer accounts, looking for known malware, spyware and trojans.

Google's Bouncer also looks for "behaviors that indicate an application might be misbehaving," according to a post on Google's mobile blog Thursday announcing the service.

The service develops a baseline of previously analyzed apps and compares it with new ones for signs of trouble.

"We actually run every application on Google's cloud infrastructure and simulate how it will run on an Android device to look for hidden, malicious behavior," writes Hiroshi Lockheimer, vice president of engineering for Google's Android division.

And Stay Out!

Bouncer will also scrutinize new developer accounts to make sure those who are tossed as repeat offenders do not come back.

Bouncer works in addition to existing Android tools such as sandboxing, which builds virtual walls between applications and other software on the device so malware can't access data; permissions, which scrutinizes the capabilities of apps to help users make decisions; and malware removal tools that can remotely scrub intruders from a phone or tablet.

Still, the Android Market's growth -- it topped 11 billion downloads -- has made it a top source of malware. Juniper Networks in November announced that its Global Threat Center believes the easy process for posting apps led to a 472 percent increase in malware samples since the previous July.

"These days, it seems all you need is a developer account, that is relatively easy to anonymize, pay $25 and you can post your applications," wrote Juniper on its threat center blog. Lack of sufficient screening means poorly defined, unscreened apps will only be removed if malware is reported or detected by...

Feds: Mid-Atlantic Wind Farms Take Step Forward

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:04:42 -0500

The view off the mid-Atlantic shore in the next decade could include giant wind turbines generating electricity for homes in several states if federal efforts to speed approval for the projects shave years off the process as officials intend.

It usually takes at least five years from the time contractors say they want to lease a site to the turbines being installed, an offshore wind developer official said. But still, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Thursday that the future of the renewable energy source took a big step forward with the completion of a review that showed no major environmental damage was expected from the installation along the coasts of Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and New Jersey.

Salazar said that clears the way for auctions and leases later this year and his department was also streamlining the process for issuing renewable energy leases. The federal decision means a lengthier environmental impact assessment for offshore power along the mid-Atlantic won't have to be conducted, although reviews for individual projects will still have to be done.

Jim Lanard, president of the OffShore Wind Development Coalition, said that decision could shave two years off the review process.

The announcement will speed the building of offshore turbines by a year or more, said Michele Siekerka, the Assistant Commissioner of Economic Growth and Green Energy in New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection.

Eleven developers have submitted proposals totaling 12,000 megawatts and are expected to be able to bid later this year for leases. The companies will still have to do environmental studies of their own areas, but could be producing power by 2016 or 2017, she said.

"The key is the federal government is not doing another one," Siekerka said.

The mid-Atlantic lease proposal follows the Cape Wind project in Massachusetts that was given the go-ahead in 2010 after years of federal review....

NASA Says Russian Space Woes No Worry

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:05:25 -0500

NASA says it still has confidence in the quality of Russia's manned rockets, despite an embarrassing series of glitches and failures in the Russian space program.

A leak developed recently during a test of the next Soyuz capsule scheduled to launch astronauts to the International Space Station, so Russian space officials have decided not to use it. That delays upcoming launches.

NASA relies solely on Russia to take crews to the space station.

NASA space station manager Michael Suffredini said he still considers the Soyuz rocket the world's most reliable space system.

"I have confidence in the focus and abilities of the managers who build the systems and fly those systems," Suffredini said Thursday during a NASA teleconference.

The Soyuz leak means that the six crew members at the space station now will spend a few extra weeks in space. American Dan Burbank, who is the station commander, and Russians Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin will stay in orbit until the end of April. American Don Petit, Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers and Russian Oleg Konenko, will stay in space through the end of June for about 193 days in space, pushing close to the limit of 200 days that NASA likes.

The latest problem comes after a series of failures in unmanned Russian rockets that raised questions about quality control in the nation that launched the first satellite and human into space. Last month, a spacecraft that was supposed to have gone to a Mars moon crashed back to Earth after a launch failure. And in the past six months, a Russian communications satellite and a cargo ship to the space station have crashed.

"They've had a pretty challenging year, that's true," Suffredini said. But he said that really has nothing to do with the workhorse manned Soyuz capsule.

A private U.S. rocket -- the Dragon, built and...

Malaria Death Toll Possibly Twice as High

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:04:53 -0500

Malaria may be killing around twice as many people as experts previously thought, and it could also be hitting older children and adults -- long considered the least susceptible -- a new study suggests.

Malaria cases and deaths have been dropping since 2004, due largely to big campaigns to distribute bednets, spray homes with insecticide and make better drugs available. In December, the World Health Organization reported about 655,000 had died from the disease in 2010.

But researchers using newly available data and modeling tools put the 2010 figure at about 1.2 million, about 90 percent of which are in Africa.

The findings also challenge the belief that children who grow up in areas with malaria develop immunity to the disease as they get older. Doctors have long thought children under 5 years old and pregnant women were the most susceptible to the mosquito-borne disease.

"That assumption appears to be wrong," said Stephen Lim of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, one of the study authors.

"We need to shift our strategies to try protecting everyone, not just children under 5 and pregnant women," he said.

Lim and colleagues analyzed data on malaria deaths from 1980 to 2010, including information not used in prior studies. They made statistical adjustments for deaths that may have been misclassified, including those in adults. They also developed several models to predict how many people likely died of malaria. The study was paid for by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and was published Friday in the journal, Lancet.

Other experts weren't so convinced by the new figures.

"I wouldn't worry unduly about what the (malaria) numbers are," said David Schellenberg, a professor of malaria and international health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

He said most people killed by the disease aren't hospitalized, making...

Ancient Crocodile Dubbed 'Shieldcroc'

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:05:05 -0500

U.S. researchers say they've identified a new species of prehistoric crocodile and dubbed it "Shieldcroc" due to a thick-skinned shield on its head.

"Aegisuchus witmeri or 'Shieldcroc' is the earliest ancestor of our modern crocodiles to be found in Africa," Casey Holliday, co-researcher and assistant professor of anatomy at the University of Missouri, said. "Along with other discoveries, we are finding that crocodile ancestors are far more diverse than scientists previously realized."

Shieldcroc dates to the Late Cretaceous period, approximately 95 million years ago, part of the Cretaceous Era often called the "Age of the Dinosaurs."

But a number of recent discoveries have led to some scientists calling the era the "Age of the Crocs," Holliday said in a UM release Thursday.

The shield structure on the croc's head was likely used as a display structure to attract mates and intimidate enemies, and possibly as a thermo-regulator to control the temperature of the animal's head, he said.

The new species had a flatter skull and longer, thinner jaws than other known species.

"We believe Shieldcroc may have used its long face as a fish trap," study co-author Nick Gardner at Marshall University said. "It is possible that it lay in wait until an unsuspecting fish swam in front of it. Then, if it was close enough, Shieldcroc simply opened its mouth and ate the fish without a struggle, eliminating the need for strong jaws."

New Planet Best Bet Yet for Water, Life

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:05:15 -0500

A newly discovered planet orbiting in the habitable zone around a distant star is the best candidate yet observed for supporting life, U.S. astronomers say.

Scientists say the planet orbiting the star GJ 667C is the best candidate yet for harboring water, and possibly even life, on its surface, because it sits in the circumstellar region neither too hot nor too cold for liquid water to exist on the planet's surface.

"It's the Holy Grail of exoplanet research to find a planet around a star orbiting at the right distance so it's not too close where it would lose all its water and boil away, and not too far where it would all freeze," Steven Vogt, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz, told SPACE.com. "It's right smack in the habitable zone -- there's no question or discussion about it. It's not on the edge, it's right in there."

The planet, dubbed GJ 667Cc, is at least 4.5 times as massive as Earth, which makes it a so-called super-Earth, researchers said.

Its host star is a member of a system of three stars, they said.

"The planet is around one star in a triple-star system," Vogt said. "The other stars are pretty far away, but they would look pretty nice in the sky."

The discovery could mean potentially habitable alien worlds could exist in more environments than previously thought possible, researchers said.

"Statistics tell us we shouldn't have found something this quickly this soon unless there's a lot of them out there," Vogt said. "This tells us there must be an awful lot of these planets out there. It was almost too easy to find, and it happened too quickly."