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The "Computer Navy" is here.

Google may take its battle for global domination to the high seas with the launch of its own “computer navy”.

The company is considering deploying the supercomputers necessary to operate its Internet search engines on barges anchored up to seven miles (11km) offshore.

The “water-based data centers” would use wave energy to power and cool their computers, reducing Google’s costs. Their offshore status would also mean the company would no longer have to pay property taxes on its data centers, which are sited across the world, including in Britain.

In the patent application seen by The Times, Google writes: “Computing centers are located on a ship or ships, anchored in a water body from which energy from natural motion of the water may be captured, and turned into electricity and/or pumping power for cooling pumps to carry heat away.”

The increasing number of data centers necessary to cope with the massive information flows generated on popular websites has prompted companies to look at radical ideas to reduce their running costs.

The supercomputers housed in the data centers, which can be the size of football pitches, use massive amounts of electricity to ensure they do not overheat. As a result the Internet is not very green.

Read more @ timesonline.co.uk

From the Times Magazine UK.

Zune owners now have free wireless access in 9800 McDonalds in the US.

Microsoft today posted the new Zune 3.0 software, providing new features for all Zune models, including the original first-generation Zune. The software wireless music downloads and purchases from the Zune Marketplace, the ability to tag and purchase songs played on the built-in FM radio, the new Zune Channels, etc. Microsoft also revealed new Zune colors and announced that Zune owners will have free wireless access in 9800 McDonalds restaurants across the country.

Zune 3.0 zoomes to Zune owners as a 30 MB download, which installs a new version of the Zune media jukebox application on a PC and updates the firmware on Zune players. The two separate installs work in tandem to enable new features like the ability to wirelessly stream and download music from the Zune Marketplace store on the go and “Buy from FM” feature that enables Zune users to tag and purchase songs from the built in FM radio, directly on the device. Microsoft also included free Wi-Fi access in 9800 McDonald’s fast food restaurants through ISP Wayport, mirroring a similar deal Apple has in place with Starbucks.

Other new features include Zune Channels, a podcasts and playlists mashup that allows users to subscribe to channels such as Billboard, The Fader, radio station channels and celebrity channels. New music is pushed to subscribers’ collections each week. Zune 3.0 also comes with two games, highlighting Microsoft’s first careful steps to enable gaming on its Zune players.
All Zune devices can take advantage of these new software features, including the original Zune model. Users simply download and install the new Zune 3.0 software, connect the media player to their computer and let the Zune jukebox software automatically update device firmware. The Zune 3.0 software is a free download and requires a free Zune account to enable access to the Zune Marketplace content. Users who have registered for a Windows Live ID account before can use this account as their Zune account.

Read more @ tgdaily.com

Slates free developer tools for November, hopes other vendors write more secure code

Microsoft Corp. said today it will export some of its expertise in writing secure code to developers outside the company with several new initiatives, including a pair of free tools it plans to unveil in November.

The company has distilled some of the experience gained during the past five years through its Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) process and philosophy into the Threat Modeling Tool 3.0 and the Optimization Model. It will make both available for free download in two months.

"We’re put a lot of emphasis on tool developments to build more secure software," said Steve Lipner, senior director of security engineering strategy in Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing group and the co-author of The Security Development Lifecycle. "But as we’ve moved SDL more and more into the culture of our company, we’ve been watching what’s happening on the outside."

And Microsoft isn’t liking what it sees.

Microsoft, claimed Lipner, has nearly halved its share of the total disclosed vulnerabilities from the first six months of 2007 to the same period this year, from 4.2% to 2.5%. Credit, he said, goes to SDL and Microsoft’s increased emphasis on writing more secure code.

It wants to share that knowledge, he added, and for a selfish reason. "We want to move toward a more secure Internet, and it’s important that there is secure development not only for our software, but also for other software that our customers use," Lipner said, explaining why Microsoft is proselytizing SDL to outside developers.

Read more @ computerworld.com

The US space agency (Nasa) has approved its next orbiter mission to Mars.

The Maven spacecraft will arrive at the Red Planet in late 2014, to study the atmosphere and climate history of Earth’s near neighbour.

The satellite will be equipped with eight scientific instruments and will fly low enough on occasions to sample the upper layers of Martian "air".

It could also provide a communications link to Earth for surface robots, such as Europe’s ExoMars rover.

The cost of the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (Maven) mission has been put at $485m.

Atmosphere loss

It is what Nasa terms a "Scout mission" - a moderate-cost venture that is designed to supplement other more expensive and higher-spec missions.

It was chosen from a list of 20 proposals submitted to Nasa management in 2006; and beat a similar mission suggestion known as Great Escape in the final round of selection.

"This [Maven] mission will provide the first direct measurements ever taken to address key scientific questions about Mars’ evolution," said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars exploration programme at Nasa Headquarters in Washington DC.

The planet seen today is very different from the one scientists know existed billions of years ago.

Mars once had a denser atmosphere that supported the presence of liquid water on the surface. As part of a dramatic change in climate, most of this atmosphere has been lost.

Read more @ bbc.co.uk

The launch of the new Google Android phone on T-Mobile USA’s network is fast approaching, but will the phone live up to its hype?

T-Mobile USA is expected to announce the new phone, called the Dream, on September 23. And it is expected to start selling the device, which is made by Taiwanese manufacturer HTC, sometime in October.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that sources close to the manufacturer say HTC is forecasting that it will ship 600,000 to 700,000 phones by the end of the year. This is much higher than the 300,000 to 500,000 phones analysts have predicted the company will sell.

Neither HTC nor T-Mobile would comment on the story, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The phone, which will be the first to use Google’s open-source Android operating system, has been hyped for months. Blogs and traditional news outlets have been reporting every rumor and leak about the device, which is expected to go head-to-head with Apple’s iPhone and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry smartphones.

The phone is expected to be packed full of bells and whistles that combine those found in the iPhone with some found in a BlackBerry. For example, it has a large touch screen like the iPhone. But it also has a swivel-out QWERTY keypad and trackball for navigation similar to the BlackBerry.

But I think the success of the Android-based Dream will be based on how well the software and applications work. Apple’s open API (application programming interface) for the iPhone and its App Store, where applications are easily sold and downloaded, have created a robust marketplace for new applications for the iPhone.

Full article @ news.cnet.com

Do you hate the new Facebook?

Well as of this week the option “return to old Facebook” has been disabled, and you are obliged to go to the new Facebook.

But for the old Facebook lovers, here’s a treat for you guys.

Follow these steps to make your old Facebook come back:

1) Go to http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2345053339

2) Click “Go to Application”

3) Add the application

4) Once done, go to http://apps.new.facebook.com/?fbnew_opt_out=1

And that is basically it.

So no need to disable your Facebook account after-all.

Brought to you by Zakeh Blog Staff,

Jimmy P. Semaan