But what are these new features? Well, surely we’ll find out about at least a few of the tentpole features during the preview, but it’s always fun to take a guess. The following are but a series of guesses, many of which will probably not come true, and I’ll have to delete this article in shame. But there’s time for that, so here goes.

There’s been a lot of speculation as to whether Lion will be a touchscreen based OS. Not a full blown touch OS like on the iOS devices, but something in between. Not happening. Lion may support touch based devices like a hybrid MacBook Air-iPad, just as OS X’s underpinnings have supported iOS devices all these years, but that touchscreen Mac will be a device on its own, not part of an operating system you can pick up off the shelves. Moreover, I cannot imagine Steve Jobs telling everyone about this wonderful new operating system, that will ship next year, and will run on brand new unannounced hardware to function.

Lion is going to bring a lot of iOS back to the Mac. We’re going to see revamped user interfaces for Mail, iCal, borrowing from those icon metaphors and UI styles. Everything is going to look much cleaner than before, much like QuickTime X did with its previous version (though I hope not at the cost of power and functionality). But where iOS segregates its functionality into ‘apps’, the Mac will feature a more integrated workflow of its different services. Imagine the Mail app featuring the Address Book and iCal interfaces in one single glorified window. The same addressbook showing up in iChat, ready for FaceTime.

The thought of running iOS apps on a mouse/keyboard environment is sour at best, and Apple would never go for it. Those are touch based user interfaces, depending on a lot of functionality inherent on those devices, that would not work on any Mac as we know it. They just wouldn’t work. But what if Apple introduces a new way of writing Mac specific applications that are kind of like iOS apps? I’m not a developer, but I hear it’s easier to develop iOS apps than Mac apps, so maybe Xcode could be put to the task of integrating those easy to use APIs. Maybe that’s going to be the de facto way to write applications on 10.7. Another ‘application platform’ that hasn’t been discussed, is web applications. Safari 4 beta featured a site-specific-app generator, where you could have a website run in its own window. Apple could bring back this feature in a much more developer-centric way, so people can publish high performance webkit-based cocoa apps without much effort. Facebook would be the first to jump to the opportunity. This would also make it viable to have a ‘Mac App Store’, possibly right inside Finder.

Yes, the Finder. I haven’t had a problem with the Finder, but it needs a revamp. I can’t see Apple doing tabs, or dual panes, or a tree structure in the left sidebar. Those are user interfaces that are best kept on Windows. What we could have, is more data centric approach to organising files, probably powered by the much talked about ZFS. Finder will be like the iTunes of files. Imagine if your documents in a library instead of just in a documents folder. Or your pictures were viewable as events and projects right inside the Finder, with access to all that metadata. I’m sure there would be generic folders for all your other junk, but a database works much better in this world of syncing and cloud computing. These databases could then tie into cloud services like iDisk and iWork.com, gaining worry free file management on all iOS devices. This database structure could also be extensible, so that non-Apple apps can manipulate them and even create databases of their own. The benefits of this are endless. This would allow the iPad to live outside of the iTunes ecosystem, as many have been clamouring for. Or perhaps integrate iDisk and Time Machine in a single user interface. People say Apple needs to buy Dropbox. But there’s no reason Apple couldn’t build a killer solution on their own. Lion has at least another year before it hits the market. Their massive data center thingy would be ready by then. All of this will make iOS devices truly integrate with the Mac, and with each other, without having to go through iTunes every time.

This could also be the OS that makes MobileMe a free service, with paid upgrades for additional space and bandwidth. The marginal cost of maintaining an ad-free service would be supplemented by the huge value add for the entire ecosystem, where consumers would be compelled to have devices from all of Apple’s platforms, which would even include the cheap little AppleTV they just introduced.

The one aspect of OS X that hasn’t received much attention, is the Dashboard. Those webkit based widgets are always out of reach, and though I regularly use some of them, there’s no reason for them to be so isolated from the rest of the system. The Dashboard is probably going to be removed in favour of those ‘apps’ I talked about, or perhaps there’s a way to have them intermingle with the windows on the desktop without cluttering up the workspace.

The researchers, Wei-Po Lee, Tsung-Hsien Yang and Bingchiang Jeng of National Sun Yat-sen University, have now turned to neural networks to help them break the cycle of repetitive behavior in robot toys and to endow them with almost emotional responses to interactions.

“We have developed a user-centric interactive framework that employs a neural network-based approach to construct behavior primitives and behavior arbitrators for robots,” the team explains in the current issue of the International Journal of Modeling, Identification and Control. Their evaluation of the approach should allow them to construct an emotion-based pet robot much more quickly than current design and manufacturing prototyping allows.

Building fully autonomous artificial creatures with intelligence akin to humans is a very long-term goal of robot design and computer science. On the way to such machines, home entertainment and utility devices such as “Tamagotchi” digital pets and domestic toy robots such as Aibo, the robotic dog and even the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner, have been developed. At the same time, popular science fiction culture has raised consumer expectations.

“With current technologies in computing and electronics and knowledge in ethology, neuroscience and cognition, it is now possible to create embodied prototypes of artificial living toys acting in the physical world,” Wei-Po Lee and colleagues at the National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, explain.

There are three major issues to considered in robot design, the team explains. The first is to construct an appropriate control architecture by which the robot can behave coherently. The second is to develop natural ways for the robot to interact with a person. The third is to embed emotional responses and behavior into the robot’s computer.

The researchers hope to address all three issues by adopting an approach to behavior-based architecture — using a neural network — that could allow the owner of a robot pet to reconfigure the device to “learn,” or evolve new behavior and at the same time ensure that the robot pet functions properly in real time.

The team has evaluated their framework by building robot controllers to achieve various tasks successfully. They, and countless other research teams across the globe, are currently working on vision modules for robots. The technique is not yet fully mature, but ultimately they hope to be able to build a robot pet that could recognize its owner’s facial expressions and perhaps respond accordingly. Such a development has major implications for interactive devices, computers and functional robots of the future.

Since that rumble last year, the Mac security front has been relatively quiet. This begs the question that has been on many people’s minds and one I get asked on a daily basis: “Why don’t Macs get viruses?”

Of course, we know the question isn’t valid. Macs can be attacked as evidenced earlier. Even Apple suggests running some kind of antivirus software on your Mac and included one with a .Mac subscription. Additionally, numerous security flaws are found and Apple releases regular security updates to patch them up. So, a better question might be “Why don’t Mac users have to worry about malware like Windows users do?” I suspect a relatively small number of readers have active antivirus software running on their Mac, despite Apple’s recommendation. For purposes of simplicity, we’ll lump viruses, worms, spyware, malware, and trojans under the common term of “viruses.” Here are the common responses given and my take on them.

Macs Aren’t Popular

Why do people rob banks? That’s where the money is! (Sutton’s Law). Because Windows-based computers represent around 90 percent of the market, virus writers get more bang for their buck. Not only does a Windows virus spread farther and faster due to its numbers, but the people writing viruses are more likely to have Windows machines upon which to code. And the banks are running Windows as well, so Windows is where the money is.

Of course, when Apple introduced Intel-based computers, some were concerned that Macs would get PC viruses because they were running the same chips. The chip switch was a legitimate concern, but for a different reason. If cheap PCs could be turned into Macs, the enemy could use that to their advantage and begin diversifying. Hacking the Mac OS to run on a PC would provide an easy way for malware writers to explore the MacOS.

However, as the Mac’s popularity has increased, we haven’t seen a rise in viruses for the Mac. Popularity is a weak rationale.

Macs Don’t Maintain Backward Compatibility

Since 1984, Apple has made multiple shifts in its operating system strategy. First there was the shift from 68K processors to PowerPC, and then the shift from Classic to OS X, and then finally the shift from PowerPC to Intel based processors. That old copy of MacWrite or NetTrek won’t run on your new MacBook without major emulation and other trickery. On the other hand, WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS runs great on a Windows 7 PC with just a minor tweak.

Microsoft, in order to maintain compatibility with older products, has never fully excised old code and flaws in its operating system. Apple has been willing on at least three occasions to completely abandon old software and start from scratch. Because Apple controls the hardware and the software and has a much smaller installed base, it is better positioned to make these drastic moves.

Ironically, Macs used to get tons of viruses in the System 7 days. I fondly remember “Disinfectant,” and countless viruses spread via floppy disk. As the Classic OS evolved, less and less viruses worked until finally OS X rewrote the OS book. Which leads to the final reason for the dearth of Mac nasties.

Macs Were Designed with Security in Mind

Since Apple knew about Mac viruses, it was able to redesign the operating system with safeguards in place to prevent malware outbreaks. The proper use of the Administrator account and password was the most important key in preventing the spread of any Mac viruses. For those unfamiliar, on a Windows XP PC, programs can install automatically without an administrator name and password. While Vista and Windows 7 ask permission sometimes, you can still easily install programs (and therefore viruses) without intervention from a user.

Alternatively, Mac programs requires someone with Administrator privileges in order to install most software. In my day job as a computer repair tech, countless Mac clients can’t even remember their own password, so they are extremely unlikely to accidentally install some software. Windows PCs are usually infected by clicking on some kind of link followed by Windows automatically installing a virus in the background without user consent or intervention. This idea is as foreign to Mac users as a .dll file.

Because Apple has a quicker schedule in updating and patching its operating system, any flaw that is found and acknowledged by Apple can easily be patched via an update or the next operating system. Getting Apple to acknowledge some of these flaws is a different story, though Snow Leopard provided protection against the trojans discovered last year.

Should You Run Mac Antivirus Software?

Good question. Apple said at one time it recommended antivirus software (though later it recanted), yet most Mac users don’t. The risks of a virus on your Mac are slim and protection software is perceived as slowing down computers and being generally buggy. Unlike most other software, virus protection requires a yearly fee to keep protection active. If you stay away from the red light district on the Internet, you are much less likely to get a virus. Make sure your system password is a good one and hard to guess. Be wary of any software you download and check the source. That’s why you get the warning now whenever you download a program from the Internet. Common sense is your first line of defense.

Given the variety of companies that have used social media to effect, it would be fair to say that it is not the product that ensures success but rather the company’s execution and commitment to social media.

Employing various social media platforms into your marketing campaign can potentially reduce costs involved in market research, logistics and advertising as well as providing a channel that can deliver news and information instantly.

If you decide to employ social media as part of your marketing campaign be warned; social media can just as easily invite criticism and bad press if not handled correctly and could be disastrous if left to the mercy of viral vultures.

The following tips should help you to get started:

1. Be consistent. Don’t just start Tweeting because everyone else is doing it. Establish what it is you want to say and to whom and decide on the best platform to do this. Also fix on an online personality in keeping with your company’s offline personality and ethics in order to present a coherent company image. Social media isn’t a stand alone tool; it should seamlessly connect with other marketing endeavors so that people receive the same brand experience both online and offline.

2. Be logical. Following the four Cs framework should help you to devise a suitable social media plan and will increase the significance of you endeavors. By focusing on Content, Conversation, Connection and Collaboration, your company’s social media strategy will provide increased customer value as well as a consistent structure.

3. Be engaging. There is little point in having accounts full of consumers if you are not going to engage with them. More online followers does not equal success. Engaging content will provide more value to the customer and aid retention and loyalty to the brand. Consumers can be very promiscuous and switch to the competition at the click of a mouse. If people don’t have a good reason to follow your company online then they won’t.

4. Be transparent. Social media channels provide companies with the opportunity to present a human side to the faceless corporate image and enable real interactions and open dialogue. Making connections with people builds opportunities for the business and allows for valuable discussions that can be as effective as employing market research. Never manipulate dialogue or attempt to control what people view. This contradicts what social media is about and consumers will see straight through the facade.

5. Be prepared. Social media invites open conversation and people are free to write whatever they want, within reason. Be prepared to deal with negative feedback or unwanted comments. Monitoring and listening to conversations means that this can be dealt with promptly before it incurs negative results. Responses should be considerate of customers’ remarks and demonstrate that the company is listening. Ignoring comments or responding in an unprofessional way could spell disaster, especially if the content is picked up by other channels or the mass media.

6. Be aware. Don’t just concentrate on what you do or the channels that you use. Chances are conversations about your company or brand are happening elsewhere and could be doing more damage to the business than you think. Be aware of what’s going on in the online world as not all publicity is good publicity. On the other hand, contributing to positive online input elsewhere will increase your public profile.

7. Be original. Creating entertaining, original and creative content can be useful for increasing sales but also brand awareness. Particularly entertaining content can create a buzz and potentially become viral if picked up by bloggers or social media sites like Digg. Creating memorable and original content that also provides value to the customer is priceless. However, be careful not to sacrifice the brand identity or customer worth in return for a clever gimmick.

8. Be organized. Having a specific person or team working alongside the main marketing team will help to keep social media efforts up-to-date and input coherent. Constantly monitoring, listening to and contributing to conversations and adding new content will keep the channels fresh and avoid accounts becoming stagnant and ineffective.

9. Be dedicated. If you decide to use social media as part of your marketing campaign, you should be one hundred percent committed to the cause. A half hearted attempt could do more damage than not having any social media presence at all.

10. Be cool. Don’t use social media to simply push sales or talk about products and services. Similarly don’t just talk about rubbish or office gossip. Think about what might interest your customers or try to incorporate recent trends or events into your posts. Keep input at a consistent level; consumers don’t want to be continually bombarded with updates or posts. There can be too much of a good thing.

Wanting some way to express sarcasm in text-based communication is not a new idea – while probably not limited to my professional community, it’s something for which many of us who work with computers and code seem to find ample need. We are, apparently, a pretty sardonic bunch. In fact, someone out in the Twitterverse proposed, with an unknown level of tongue-in-cheekedness, that the W3C (the international community responsible for developing Web standards) include a tag as part of the specification for the latest HTML standard. The W3C tweeted back with good humor, while basically informing this person they probably shouldn’t hold their breath.
Sarcasm is a form of indirect speech, a sophisticated construct where the real message gets conveyed implicitly through a combination of verbal and non-verbal cues. It often involves saying the opposite of what you really mean, and is usually easiest to recognize in face-to-face verbal dialogue. It’s a fairly ambiguous form of communication, but is, curiously, quite common in the nuance-poor online world. Comments on blog posts, customer reviews of products and other opinionated, user-generated content are often written with an acerbic tongue. But text is a tricky platform for implicit speech. It can be hard enough for humans to recognize sarcasm in text form, let alone computers, which is why it’s notable that an Israeli research team has actually developed a machine algorithm that can recognize sarcasm.
This novel sardonic bloodhound is called SASI, a Semi-supervised Algorithm for Sarcasm Identification. SASI can recognize sarcasm in online customer reviews with 77 percent accuracy. In developing the algorithm, the research team of Oren Tsur, Dmitry Davidov and Ari Rappoport looked at 66,000 product reviews on Amazon.com for 120 products including books, music players, digital cameras, camcorders, GPS devices, e-readers, game consoles, and mobile phones*. They had three people tag sentences for sarcasm to create a small seed of 80 sentences of annotated data. The team identified sarcastic patterns in the reviews, ranked the sentences by level of sarcasm and created a classification algorithm. They applied the algorithm against the seed set, which helped it learn words and patterns that distinguish sarcastic remarks. The algorithm achieved 81% recognition in the pattern acquisition phase.

Having put SASI through basic training, the team introduced it into an evaluation set of reviews containing completely new sarcastic sentences. Each sentence in this new set had again been classified for sarcasm by those three human annotators. Using what it had learned in the pattern acquisition phase, SASI achieved 77 percent precision for sniffing out sarcasm in the new data, and just over 81 percent pattern evaluation efficiency. Not perfect, but it’s easily better than some of my more literal friends.

So, does this matter? Do we care about a computer being able to recognize sarcasm? It’s actually pretty interesting from a commercial point of view — user preference studies suggest some users dislike sarcastic product reviews, finding them biased, while others actually prefer them. Therefore, the ability to identify sarcasm in reviews could improve the personalization of content ranking and recommendation systems. Review summarization and opinion-mining systems that attempt to aggregate public sentiment could also benefit if sarcasm could be identified and not included in the average scores, where its often opposite meaning would skew the results inappropriately.

Using a simple definition, a proxy is basically a server that sits between a user and the destination server that the user is accessing. It is an intermediary or go-between that requests resources from the destination server on the user’s behalf.

On of the most common uses of a proxy server is for anonymous web surfing. When a user is connected through a proxy server, the IP address of the web proxy is used to communicate with the destination server and thus the IP address of the user is hidden. This can be used to allow a user access to systems where their access might normally be blocked, or because an IP address identifies a user’s geographic location, it can be used to disguise the country where a user is located.

There are thousands of free proxy servers set up in countries around the world, and lists of these servers can easily be found on the web. When a user visits one of these sites, they enter the web address of the site they wish to visit. From that point on, the true IP address of the user is protected and the destination server only sees the IP address of the proxy server.

Students use web proxies to allow them to access web sites whose IP addresses are blocked by their school’s server. For example, if a school has blocked all the known IP addresses for porn sites, students might still be able to access these sites through a proxy. Because of uses intended to circumvent normal security, lists of the IP addresses of known proxy servers are available, which can also be blocked by a company or school network.

If you are concerned about protecting your identity while on the web, a proxy server can help with anonymity. But be aware that these servers can have a malicious intent and can be used to cache information that passes through them, which means that you never want to use one of these intermediaries to log into your bank account or any web site where exposing user IDs and passwords can be detrimental. This can be a path to identity theft.

There are other malicious uses for these servers. Many e-commerce sites capture the IP addresses of customers who purchase products. They are used to identify the geographic location of a customer to help prevent fraud. If a customer’s street address is in Boston, but their IP address identifies their geographic location as Nigeria or China, the chances are more than good that a stolen credit card is being used. Many sophisticated online thieves use domestic drop points or freight forwarding companies where products are shipped and later forwarded to the thief. They have also learned to use web proxy servers to hide their location, or make it appear that they are located in a country not known for credit card fraud.
There are many legitimate uses for proxy servers. AOL has traditionally cached commonly visited web pages and altered JPG images by compressing them to speed up web access for their users. They can also be used by schools and companies to filter content, and by ISPs that restrict access to family friendly content.

If you are going to use a proxy server, try to identify those that are legitimate. Many are, but some are not. As a general rule, never access sensitive sites that require a user ID and password. This includes your e-mail accounts.

A hardware firewall in a typical broadband router employs a technique called packet filtering, which examines the header of a packet to determine its source and destination addresses. This information is compared to a set of predefined and/or user-created rules that determine whether the packet is to be forwarded or dropped. A more advanced technique called Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI), looks at additional characteristics such as a packet’s actual origin (i.e. did it come from the Internet or from the local network) and whether incoming traffic is a response to existing outgoing connections, like a request for a Web page. Most hardware residential firewalls have an Achilles’ heel in that they typically treat any kind of traffic traveling from the local network out to the Internet as safe, which can sometimes be a problem.

Consider this scenario: What would happen if you received an e-mail message or visited a website that contained a concealed program? Let’s say this program was designed to install itself on your machine and then surreptitiously communicate with someone via the Internet — a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack zombie or a keystroke logger, for example? Trust me; this is by no means an unlikely scenario.

To most broadband hardware firewalls, the traffic generated by such programs would appear legitimate since it originated inside your network and would most likely be let through. This malevolent traffic might be blocked if the hardware firewall was configured to block outgoing traffic on the specific Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) port(s) that the program was using, but given that there are over 65,000 possible ports and there’s no way to know which ports a program of this nature might use, the odds of the right ones being blocked are slim.

Moreover, blocking too many ports would almost certainly adversely affect your ability to use some programs (many games, for instance). Also, some broadband router firewalls don’t even provide the ability to restrict outgoing traffic, only incoming traffic.

Advantages of Software Firewalls:

Now consider what a software firewall might do in the aforementioned scenario. When you first set up a software firewall, you can specify which applications are allowed to communicate over the Internet from that PC. Programs that aren’t explicitly allowed to do so are either blocked or else the user is prompted for confirmation before the traffic is allowed to pass. Therefore, it would likely intercept this kind of traffic before it left your computer.

Another potential scenario where a software firewall would be useful is in the case of an e-mail worm with its own e-mail sever, like the recent “SoBig” worm. Its built-in mail server could attempt to send mail on the valid Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) port (25), which would probably pass through the router because of its trusted origin.

On the other hand, a software firewall could be configured to only allow Microsoft Outlook to use port 25 (assuming Outlook is your e-mail client). Any attempt by another application to use the port would be dropped, or blocked pending user confirmation. For that matter, the application’s attempt to use any port would be blocked if the firewall was configured that way.

By comparison, a hardware firewall that had the ability to filter outgoing traffic might allow you to block most kinds of traffic from a particular PC, but it wouldn’t be able to flag you and alert you to repeated attempts to infiltrate your computer.

One obvious downside to software firewalls is that they can only protect the machine they’re installed on, so if you have multiple computers (which many small offices do), you need to buy, install, and configure a software firewall separately on each machine. This can get expensive and can be difficult to manage if you have a lot of computers.

But the fact of the matter is that software firewalls generally offer the best measure of protection against certain types of situations like Trojan programs or e-mail worms. Speaking of which, a firewall isn’t the only protection method available to you. Whether you end up using a software firewall or a hardware firewall, you should always supplement it with anti-virus software.

A good anti-virus package is just as important as a firewall, and I would seriously suggest that you invest in a good one (I’m partial to both Norton and McAfee myself). However, keeping your virus definitions updated is far more important than which program you use. I cannot stress the importance of this enough. Making sure your definitions are current is absolutely critical to maintaining your protection. Many Anti-virus programs today can be configured to automatically update themselves, so you have no excuse for not maintaining them.

The bottom line is that with any home-office broadband connection, a hardware firewall should be considered a bare minimum, and supplementing it with a software firewall on one or more computers (and don’t forget anti-virus software) is almost always a good idea.

In 2003, the Wi-Fi Alliance released a security standard called Wi-Fi Protected Access. Although the first version (WPA), which uses TKIP/RC4 encryption, has gotten beaten up a bit, is not totally cracked, and can still be very secure.

The second version (WPA2), released in mid-2004, does provide complete security, however, because it fully implements the IEEE 802.11i security standard with CCMP/AES encryption.

In this article, we’ll discover the two very different modes of Wi-Fi Protected Access. We’ll see how and why you’d want to move from the easy-to-use Personal mode to the Enterprise mode.

Two Modes of WPA/WPA2: Personal (PSK) versus Enterprise

Both versions of Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA/WPA2) can be implemented in either of two modes:

* Personal or Pre-Shared Key (PSK) Mode: This mode is appropriate for most home networks—but not business networks. You define an encryption passphrase on the wireless router and any other access points (APs). Then the passphrase must be entered by users when connecting to the Wi-Fi network.

Though this mode seems very easy to implement, it actually makes properly securing a business network nearly impossible. Unlike with the Enterprise mode, wireless access can’t be individually or centrally managed. One passphrase applies to all users. If the global passphrase should need to be changed, it must be manually changed on all the APs and computers. This would be a big headache when you need to change it; for instance, when an employee leaves the company or when any computers are stolen or compromised.

Unlike with the Enterprise mode, the encryption passphrase is stored on the computers. Therefore, anyone on the computer—whether it be employees or thieves—can connect to the network and also recover the encryption passphrase.
* Enterprise (EAP/RADIUS) Mode: This mode provides the security needed for wireless networks in business environments. Though more complicated to set up, it offers individualized and centralized control over access to your Wi-Fi network. Users are assigned login credentials they must present when connecting to the network, which can be modified or revoked by administrators at anytime.

Users never deal with the actual encryption keys. They are securely created and assigned per user session in the background after a user presents their login credentials. This prevents people from recovering the network key from computers.

Why water?

Liquid cooling is by nature a much more effective cooling method, as the heat capacity of water is over 4,000 times that of air. Also, once the heat is transferred to the water, it can be handled more efficiently. In IBM/ETH’s model, the server-heated water could even go on to provide heat for the local community.

But why HOT water?

Chilled water has been used to cool mainframes, and it certainly does the job, but there’s a catch – chilling that water requires a lot of electricity. The Swiss process uses water that’s at 60-70C (140-158F), which is still cool enough to keep the servers’ chips below their “red line” of 85C.

How it works

Computers and many other electrical devices dissipate heat using something called a heat sink. Heat sinks look like a row of closley-spaced upright rectangular metal blades, and they work by dramatically increasing the device’s surface area – not unlike an elephant uses its giant ears to increase its own cooling surface area. IBM/ETH’s process uses what they call a microfluidic heat sink. It contains a network of tiny channels which the water is pumped through, absorbing heat from the metal along the way.

A working model

To demonstrate their technology, IBM and ETH are creating a supercomputer called Aquasar, which should be completed this year. Aquasar will be housed on the ETH campus, and will provide heat to its buildings. It will operate as a closed system, so the same water will cool the servers, release their heat into the buildings, then return to the computer to cool it again. It is anticipated that the new system will cut the campus’ computer-cooling carbon footprint by over 85%, and save up to 30 tons of CO2 per year.

Verizon Wireless is currently testing a CDMA version of the iPhone 4G and Verizon confirms they are making network changes to bring the iphone to their network. The new iPhone 4g is going to be loaded with awesome new features like video chat, multi-tasking and extreme downloading. (List of possible features below). Just when you think there is nothing else to come up with, more and more and more technology comes out. And it is on the rise, and not just at Apple, Inc!

Woo hoo! This iPhone 4g could also have dual core processors and higher and powerful graphic chips that can deliver higher video resolutions and better “still” images when taking pictures.

There are a few networks working on building a 4G network. T-mobile would be a likely carrier since they are GSM already. Sprint has a 4G network already… AT&T and Verizon Wireless are in the beginning stages. There are talks of Verizon Wireless getting iPhone sometime in 2010 since the exclusive contract with AT&T expires, but it could be renewed until 2012.

Whether or not it will be 4G will be up to them!… can they build in time? Regardless, there is much anticipation on how many people will leave AT&T for Verizon Wireless because of AT&T’s lagging on app restrictions like Slingplayer and Google Voice and Skype (on #g network, not Wi-Fi).

AT&T’s restrictions have caused the percentage of people that are JailBreaking their iPhones to rise since Jail Breaking usually comes with Cydia which is the app store for jail broken phones. Most of the applications, ringtones, and even iphone themes!…are free with Cydia. Winterboard is part of the download, and it very easily add’s the changes to your phone so you dont have to figure how to do it on your own…it is VERY automated.

The Palm Pre on Sprint (Sprint now offering a 4G network) has made an attempt at being competitive with iPhone and Blackberry…but it’s not looking good. Maybe their recent Android phone will help.

iPhone 4G looks promising in terms of being sleek, packed with new hardware and multi-tasking software. Very exciting.

A few features of iPhone 4G:

• A new, sleeker body design.
• OLED screen.
• Multi-Tasking. (use multiple functions at once without going in and out of apps)
• iChat camera (on the front so you can have video chat!!!)
• 32G (basic) and 64G of memory. Your sure to never run out.
• Removable Battery.
• Hi Definition Camera.
• Hi Definition Camcorder.
• Hi Definition audio.
• Messaging light.
• True GPS built in.