The PC Informant » Vic Laurie

A computer smarter than a cat?

Vic Laurie — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:10:25 +0000

Ars Technica has a post entitled “IBM makes supercomputer significantly smarter than cat”. However, this is one of those misleading titles designed to catch readers. There isn’t really any evidence that this computer could outwit any half-way intelligent cat. What the computer does is run a brain simulation that is described:

IBM has announced a software simulation of a mammalian cerebral cortex that’s significantly more complex than the cortex of a cat. And, just like the actual brain that it simulates, they still have to figure out how it works.

At least that last phrase is honest. Simulating neurons and synapses with computer components doesn’t mean you know how a brain works. As the post goes on to say:

In a nutshell, when a simulation of a complex phenomenon (brains, weather systems) reaches a certain level of fidelity, it becomes just as difficult to figure out what’s actually going on in the model—how it’s organized, or how it will respond to a set of inputs—as it is to answer the same questions about a live version of the phenomenon that the simulation is modeling. So building a highly accurate simulation of a complex, nondeterministic system doesn’t mean that you’ll immediately understand how that system works—it just means that instead of having one thing you don’t understand (at whatever level of abstraction), you now have two things you don’t understand: the real system, and a simulation of the system that has all of the complexities of the original plus an additional layer of complexity associated with the models implementation in hardware and software.

Not really related but gleaned from one of the comments to the post is a link to software designed to catproof your computer:

When cats walk or climb on your keyboard, they can enter random commands and data, damage your files, and even crash your computer. This can happen whether you are near the computer or have suddenly been called away from it.

PawSense is a software utility that helps protect your computer from cats. It quickly detects and blocks cat typing, and also helps train your cat to stay off the computer keyboard.

I wonder if it works for three-year-old humans?

Programmable quantum computer

Vic Laurie — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:45:11 +0000

In Monday’s link collection was a ScienceDaily post about an advance in quantum computing made at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). This is an important development and a number of posts about this advance have been appearing on the Internet. I think the NIST work is significant enough to say something more about it. Ars Technica describes the work and why it is important:

Scientists have developed a number of quantum computing systems that use ions or electrons as bits of data; mathematical “operations” can be performed on them with beams of light or electrical pulses. Until recently, however, these systems could only perform the specific tasks they were designed to do. But a group of NIST scientists have published a description of a quantum processor that can receive virtually any set of instructions and perform them on a set of inputs—in short, they’ve made the first programmable quantum processor.

The Chrome operating system is no Windows rival- yet

Vic Laurie — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:46:36 +0000

Ever since Google announced that it was creating a new operating system called Chrome, there has been speculation that this would be a problem for Windows. Very little was actually known about the potential OS until yesterday, when Google revealed some details. The OS will not be available for another year and seems to be strictly a Web appliance operating system. There are several interesting features. For example, the Official Google Blog says:

First, it’s all about the web. All apps are web apps. The entire experience takes place within the browser and there are no conventional desktop applications. This means users do not have to deal with installing, managing and updating programs.

Second, because all apps live within the browser, there are significant benefits to security. Unlike traditional operating systems, Chrome OS doesn’t trust the applications you run. Each app is contained within a security sandbox making it harder for malware and viruses to infect your computer.

Some other information about Chrome is at MaximumPC. Google has a kindergarten explanation of Chrome in the video clip below:

The Chrome OS is not anything like Windows or any other general PC operating system. It is for the Web and small devices only. However, a Web appliance is just what millions of people need and it will be very interesting to see if this type of system someday replaces the PC in many households

More Facebook scams

Vic Laurie — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:03:03 +0000

Some new Facebook scams are circulating. gHacks reports:

According to several reports on websites like Computerworld a new phishing scam is currently in the wild that is trying to get the Facebook login data of Facebook users. Pandalabs, who uncovered the phishing scam, did not release lots of details about the attack other than it mimicked the Facebook login page and displayed an error message after the user entered the Facebook login information. They also mentioned that the fraudulent url would most likely be spread by email but also Blackhat SEO techniques which could mean that the attackers have placed their website in prominent positions in some search engines making users believe that they visit the right Facebook website when in fact they visit the manipulated website.

Pandalabs did release in depth details about a Facebook hacking scam as well. They discovered a website which claimed to hack any Facebook account for $100 payable through Western Union. A user who wants a Facebook account hacked has to register at the website. The Facebook Id of the account that the user wants hacked needs to be entered into the form on the website. A script will then pull the username from that account and mimic a hacking attempt.

Future Windows

Vic Laurie — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:46:58 +0000

Microsoft just held its annual Professional Developers Conference. As usual some hints about future developments in Windows were given.

You may not yet be using Windows 7 but there is already talk about Windows 8. As I mentioned last month, there is even a site about Windows 8. (It’s not an official Microsoft site, however.) Microsoft has now released a roadmap that has been interpreted to indicate 2012 as the year for the release of Windows 8.

Much more concrete information is available about the next version of Internet Explorer, IE9. A Microsoft blog talks about improvements in performance and scripting. A very interesting addition may be graphics hardware acceleration. It is not clear exactly how this is to be implemented or how generally applicable it will be but using hardware acceleration could be quite an advance for IE. Note that it requires Windows features that Windows XP doesn’t have.

Sumatra, a very fast PDF reader

Vic Laurie — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:58:12 +0000

For various reasons, including security, I prefer not to use Adobe Reader for opening PDF files. I have been using Foxit but the open source application called Sumatra is getting good reviews. I mentioned Sumatra before but it has a new release. Lifehacker as well as gHacks like Sumatra. It has a small footprint and is very fast. However, you cannot copy and paste from a document opened in Sumatra. This feature is available in Foxit.

Windows Start-up & Shutdown Sounds from Windows 3.1 on up

Vic Laurie — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:41:49 +0000

It seems that people will collect almost anything. Vince Bognot has put together Windows Start-up and Shutdown Sounds from Windows 3.1 to Windows 7. I am not sure who cares but here is his collection:

Via the Windows Club

Free Microsoft programs

Vic Laurie — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:21:57 +0000

Microsoft may charge a lot for Windows but it also has quite a lot of free software. At TechRadar Aditya Chandrasekhar has put together a list of 24 applications from Microsoft that he thinks are the best. (Actually, not all the applications on the list are from Microsoft.)

To take a look at what’s available from Microsoft in general, go the Microsoft Download Center.

How to read a lot of magazines

Vic Laurie — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:17:24 +0000

Personally, I already have more to read than I can manage, but if you are looking for some extra reading materials, Maggwire offers selections from 650 magazines. At the moment, the selections are free but premium material seems likely in the future.

MakeUseOf reviews the site:

Maggwire (beta) is an online destination for those who are interested in free online magazines. You may subscribe to a few, but it’s impossible that you can read them all. Maggwire brings to you popular content from 650 magazines around the world. Articles from these many magazines are arranged according to the categories they represent and it is across the board. From world news to bridal stories you will find it all.

Maggwire doesn’t ask you to register; you can start browsing the free online magazine list from the homepage itself. But a simple user account gives you some control features over the articles you read.

Laptops have a high failure rate

Vic Laurie — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:00:59 +0000

A survey says that one-third of laptops fail completely within three years of purchase:

SquareTrade analyzed failure rates for over 30,000 new laptop computers covered by SquareTrade Laptop Warranty plans and found that one-third of all laptops will fail within 3 years. SquareTrade also found that netbooks are 20% more unreliable than other laptops, and that Asus and Toshiba are the most reliable laptop brands.

The report is from a company that sells extended warranties so you might worry about possible bias. However, PC World says that its annual survey of PC owners shows a similar failure rate.

One thing to note is that HP brings up the rear in reliability. A report on reliability last March from Rescuecom also showed HP to be the most unreliable major brand. As in this recent report, Asus was at the top.

My own experience with HP laptops is mixed. I’ve had a high-end 17” model for several years and have had no problems. On the other hand, a family member had a low-end machine that was an absolute lemon. It went back and forth to HP until the company finally gave up and replaced it.