Published: December 18, 2008 09:44 pm      

TECHNOLOGY: TechBits package 12/18/2008

By The Associated Press



ATLANTA (AP) — As brightly colored fish dart in and out of the rocks scattered in a small aquarium, a bewildering melody follows each of their movements.

The eerie symphony comes from an "audio aquarium," a contraption dreamed up by Georgia Tech scientists as a way to let blind people experience sea life. The researchers say they wanted to help people with disabilities do something more fun than functional.

"Many of the things we do help them solve basic problems — shopping, working, brushing their teeth," says Bruce Walker, an associate professor who works with the school's Center for Music Technology. "There are very few assistive technologies that help them do the fun stuff."

Consider the aquarium firmly in the latter category.

It works through a camera that uses recognition software that tracks objects based on their shape and color. The software then links each movement to different instruments that change in pitch and tempo as the fish patrol the tank. Fish that move toward the surface have a higher pitch. The faster they move, the faster the tempo.

Anisio Correia, who is blind, enjoyed an early test of the audio aquarium. Correia said that when he takes his 12-year-old daughter to the aquarium, "the only enjoyment I get is from her reactions."

"Anytime you try to make an experience like that more accessible, it's a wonderful thing," said Correia, a vice president with the Atlanta-based Center for the Visually Impaired.

Walker and his colleagues hope to install their invention in aquariums and zoos across the nation. He has started talking with the Tennessee Aquarium, and he hopes to strike a deal with the world's largest fish tank, the Georgia Aquarium, which sits just down the street.

The music can be pretty mesmerizing, even psychedelic. And scientists can rig it to extend well beyond aquariums. Walker has used the same technology to track ants, animals — even kids playing in a soccer game.

He pulls up a screen on his PC that shows a trio of ants marching to a crazy tune. One makes a high-hat drum pop as it wanders a tiny cell. Another controls a plucky guitar. Even Walker can't help but shrug as he watches the insects create a jazzy harmony.

"This is trippy," he says.

—Greg Bluestein, Associated Press Writer.

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On the Net:

http://gtcmt.coa.gatech.edu

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Cable companies to delay confusing digital switch

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Cable TV operators say they'll voluntarily stop moving analog channels to more expensive digital tiers of service between Dec. 31 and March 1, to avoid confusing customers as the nation switches to digital broadcast transmissions in February.

In letters to Congress this week, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association said cable TV companies don't want to add a "layer of complexity" as U.S. broadcasters begin to transmit all-digital signals after Feb. 17.

Cable companies are facing regulatory scrutiny over their practice of switching analog channels to digital — leaving analog consumers with fewer channels to watch unless they use adapters, rent a digital set-top box or upgrade to digital. Cable operators say they are trying to accommodate customers by offering promotions such as free adapters.

Cable TV operators' decision to move analog channels to digital frees them to use their network bandwidth for more high-definition content and other services. It is not related to the national switch to digital broadcasting. Regulators are investigating whether providers are misleading customers into thinking the two events are linked, which could prompt more people to opt for digital video services.

Once cable operators resume moving analog channels to digital, from March 2 to June 30, the companies will give analog households at least one piece of equipment free for one year to let them continue watching in analog. Certain fees also will be waived temporarily. The industry promised to notify customers and franchising officials at least 30 days in advance of the switch.

Consumers Union, which had criticized cable's channel-switching tactics, hailed the move as a "welcome first step to help consumers navigate a costly maze of confusion surrounding the (digital TV) transition."

But the group also said that while the voluntary quiet period provides short-term relief to consumers, it doesn't resolve problems with "high prices and discriminatory practices."

—Deborah Yao, AP Business Writer.

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Personalized spam rising sharply, study finds

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Yes, guys, those spam e-mails for Viagra or baldness cream just might be directed to you personally. So, too, are many of the other crafty come-ons clogging inboxes, trying to lure us to fake Web sites so criminals can steal our personal information.

A new study by Cisco Systems Inc. found an alarming increase in the amount of personalized spam, which online identity thieves create using stolen lists of e-mail addresses or other poached data about their victims, such as where they went to school or which bank they use.

Unlike traditional spam, most of which is blocked by e-mail filters, personalized spam, known as "spear phishing" messages, often sail through unmolested. They're sent in smaller chunks, and often come from accounts the criminals have set up at reputable Web-based e-mail services. Some of the messages are expertly crafted, linking to beautifully designed Web sites that are bogus or immediately install malicious programs.

Cisco's annual security study found that spam is growing quickly — nearly 200 billion spam messages are now sent each day, double the volume in 2007 — and that targeted attacks are also rising sharply.

More than 0.4 percent of all spam sent in September were targeted attacks, Cisco found. That might sound low, but since 90 percent of all e-mails sent worldwide are spam, this means 800 million messages a day are attempts are spear phishing. A year ago, targeted attacks with personalized messages were less than 0.1 percent of all spam.

The latest attacks include text-message spam, e-mails trying to trick business owners into coughing up credentials for their Google advertising accounts, or personalized "whaling" e-mails to executives claiming that their businesses are under investigation by the FBI or that there's a problem with their personal bank account.

As the world's largest maker of networking gear, Cisco is in a unique position to study the traffic flowing through its customers' networks, which include the biggest Internet providers and corporations. The latest study was based in part on the company's ability to monitor 30 percent of all Web and e-mail traffic through its hardware and software and a network of companies that contribute data.

—Jordan Robertson, AP Technology Writer.



Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.