TECHNOLOGY

14 JUNE>2012>Wansolwara

AMAZON’S Kindle Read-er can be bought from the University of the South Pa-cifi c’s Book Centre.

The device, which is spe-cifi cally made for reading, is ideal for students who do not like to carry heavy books around.

Unlike smart tablets, which use LCD screens, the Kindle uses Electronic Ink Technology and it is this that reportedly makes gives Kindle its “book-like” quality.

The technology prevents strain on the eyes, main-tains an even ratio of con-trast and sharpness of the image and prevents glare while reading in the sun.

It weighs about 250 rams and is as thin as a pencil. Aside from its portability, its long battery life is what makes it such a gem. It can last up to two months after a full charge. This means you don’t have the trouble of charging your Kindle all the time.

It is also PDF compat-ible.

The Kindle is equipped with wireless and 3G fea-tures. This allows down-loads anytime, anywhere.

There are numerous op-tions of newspapers, maga-zines, audio books, games, and documents available on the Kindle store.

The Kindle is sold at $499 at the USP BookCentre.

It comes with a leather case.

Tech bytes: interesting technology news & UPDATES

THE cyber espionage super bug Flame compromised a key Micro-soft security system, the company has now revealed, prompting Mi-crosoft to issue an emergency patch to its millions of custom-ers because of fears of what one expert called potential “collateral damage” from the U.S. and Israel’s cyber war against Iran.

In an alert issued late Sunday, Microsoft told customers that the authors of Flame - a highly sophis-ticated surveillance computer vi-rus discovered on networks in the

Middle East and Iran - had fi gured out how to use Microsoft’s own security system to forge digital security certifi cates, which then allowed the malicious code to spread undetected by anti-virus programs.

Digital certifi cates are in part designed to authenticate inter-actions online and help protect computer networks from being accessed by unauthorised us-ers. Microsoft fi xed the security breach, but was also forced to add the compromised certifi cates to its own growing list of “untrusted” certifi cates.

CITING unnamed sources that have spoken with Facebook ex-ecutives, The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the so-cial networking giant is building mechanisms that would connect children’s accounts to their par-

ents’, letting parents decide who their kids can ‘friend’ and what ap-plications they can use. Facebook executives couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on the story. Though Facebook cur-rently boasts about 900 million users across the planet, it does not grant accounts to anyone under the age of 13. However, the company has no way to verify whether someone is lying about their age. Facebook earns a huge portion of its revenue from the games that companies like Zynga build atop its platform. Expanding its user base to younger children would widen that potential market.

Not everyone likes that idea.“What Facebook is proposing

is similar to the strategies used by Big Tobacco in appealing to young people – try to hook kids early, build your brand, and you

have a customer for life,” said a statement from James Steyer, the CEO of Common Sense Media, an organisation known for taking a protective view of children on the Internet.

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consuming and organising pod-casts as simple as possible, it offers a host of user-friendly features, including the ability to add and delete podcasts from your sub-scriptions list, download podcasts for offl ine listening, a built-in web browser for show notes, iCloud sync, an optimized podcast player with 2x playback, bi-directional skipping, and AirPlay support, and optimization for multitasking and Retina Displays.

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CYBER SUPER BUG

‘Book-like’ Kindle retails at USP storeby PRATISH RAJ

Smart and handyTHERE’S

literally an ‘app’

for everything. By this I mean applications for smart devices.

Smart devices are defi nitely becoming a handy tool in our daily lives. I recently downloaded an app on my iPod to learn French, and I have to say it has made conversing with my friend from New Caledonia more fun. Entertainment aside, smart devices have also changed the way we take notes in school. Gone are the days of carrying heavy text-books and printed notes. Now, with a few clicks, you can have a variety of ‘text books’ in your hands.

To make things even more con-venient, these e-books are much cheaper than their hard copies. My iPod contains the Twilight collec-tion. I paid about $50 for the entire collection, which would normally be the price of one paperback.

The fact that these gadgets can ac-cess and relay information almost instantly is a huge reason for their popularity.

If you are lost in any subject or need to fi nd the meaning of a word, just open the ‘app’ in your device and voila, you have the answer.

‘App’ stores are fi lled with ap-plications on every fi eld of study. My 547-page journalism handbook is on my iPod. This makes it ac-cessible anytime, anywhere. For instance, you can be conveniently reading your notes in the bus on your way to school.

These devices are not only for

students. They are a major benefi t to people in the workforce.

Medical radiographer Shamain Melinda said, “I always refer to my iPhone to get information on any unique case that I get to work on.”

“It’s a good way to quickly get in-formation and it saves time, which means less waiting time for pa-tients.”

Information Technology pro-

grammer Shree Swamy said such applications were also available on laptops and computers. The prob-lem with these machines is that it takes a long time to power up.

“Even if we use laptops, we can’t use it everywhere as it is hard to carry it around,” he said.

Swamy believes its longer bat-tery life is also a huge factor for its popularity.

He said at work he uses an ‘app’ on his smart pad that enables him to access his work computers re-motely on a secure network.

“This means, I don’t have to go to work whenever there’s a problem and can get my work done from anywhere and it also does not af-fect my family time when I’m on call,” he said.

USP Exchange student Matthew Olsen surfs the Internet on his ipad. Picture: MASEIKULA NIUMATAIWALU

‘Apps’ enhance our learning experience

by PRATISH RAJ

UNIVERSITY students have been caught using a sophisticated computer software that allows them to use more than their $F80 Internet quota.

USP’s Manager Infor-mation Technology ser-vices Peni Sigabalavu has warned that any students caught using Ultrasurf would be dealt with by the disciplinary committee.

He said the Ultrasurf pro-gram was initially devel-oped for Internet users in China, where the Internet is heavily censored.

Sigabalavu said a fi rewall has been installed to pick up Ultrasurf’s unique sig-nature.

A regular virus scan is also run to detect any breaches.

IT sectionclamps down onUltrasurfby WALTER GERARD

Source: abcnews.com

Source: unwired.com

Source: foxnews