A Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist is enlisting the unwitting help of thousands, if not millions, of Web users each day to eliminate a technical bottleneck that has slowed efforts to transform books, newspapers and other printed materials into digitized text that is computer searchable.

Luis von Ahn, an assistant professor of computer science and recipient of a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant," says the project will also improve Web security systems used to reduce spam and make it possible for individuals to safeguard their own email addresses from spammers.

Events in Estonia highlight that pro-active security needs the support of Incident Response (IR) capabilities in the moments of crisis. Cyber attacks against Estonia, mainly in the form of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, primarily targeted the Estonian Government and police sites. Private sector banking and on-line media were also heavily targeted and the attacks affected the functioning of the rest of the network infrastructure in Estonia. As a result, the targeted sites were inaccessible outside of Estonia for extended periods in order to subdue the attacks and to maintain services within the country.

IBM has launched the fastest microprocessor ever built and an new computer server that leverages the chip's many breakthroughs in energy conservation and virtualization technology. At 4.7 GHz, the dual-core POWER6 processor doubles the speed of the previous generation POWER5 while using nearly the same amount of electricity to run and cool it.

DDR3 1066MHz memory modules, from Kingston® Technology Company, Inc., have been validated on Intel reference platforms (PMO). Expected to be twice as fast as today's highest speed DDR2 memory, DDR3's greater bandwidth is a perfect match for systems using dual and quad core processors. The lower voltage of DDR3 (moving to 1.5v versus 1.8v with DDR2) provides a more efficient memory solution for both mobile and server platforms.

STMicroelectronics, Intel and Francisco Partners have entered into a definitive agreement to create a new independent semiconductor company from the key assets of businesses which last year generated approximately $3.6 billion in combined annual revenue. The new company's strategic focus will be on supplying flash memory solutions for a variety of consumer and industrial devices, including cellular phones, MP3 players, digital cameras, computers and other high-tech equipment.

Apple's iPhone has passed the FCC's functionality tests, adding credence to Apple's continued assertions that the device will be ready to go by the promised late-June ship date. An FCC clearance doesn't necessarily mean the phone is finished, but cellular functionality was the only technology in the iPhone in which Apple has relatively little experience and may have been one of its more challenging hurdles.

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new method to bond materials that don't normally stick together. The team's adhesive, which is based on self-assembling nanoscale chains, could impact everything from next-generation computer chip manufacturing to energy production. Less than a nanometer or one billionth of a meter thick, the nanoglue is inexpensive to make and can withstand temperatures far higher than what was previously envisioned. In fact, the adhesive's molecular bonds strengthen when exposed to heat.

Hynix Semiconductor, Inc. has received validation on its DDR3 memory components and modules from Intel.
The newly-validated DDR3 products are 1Gigabit DDR3 SDRAM component manufactured on 80nm process technology, 1Gigabyte and 2Gigabyte DDR3 Unbuffered-DIMMs. These devices have operating speeds of 800MHz and 1066MHz at 1.5V power supply. These speeds are offered in latency combinations of 5-5-5 and 6-6-6 for 800MHz, and 7-7-7 for 1066MHz, to suit the needs of a wide range of PCs, workstations and other applications.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. has developed an 8Gigabyte (GB) microSD (Secure Digital) memory card, a size optimal for today's multimedia mobile phones. The new fingernail-sized card is capable of storing 2,000 MP3 music files, 4,000 digital photos, or approximately 5 DVD-quality movies.

For his part, One Laptop Per Child founder Nicholas Negroponte wasn't touting Windows itself as much as user choice. He stressed the educational theories behind his project's original interface, which is open source so as to let children tinker with it. Government ministers had not really been asking him about Windows on the machines, citing Egypt as a rare exception, he added.