Products

• Technology news: Mobiles more distracting for drivers than chatty passengers

  
  01 December 2008
  
  MOBILE phone calls distract drivers far more than even the chattiest passenger, and can be as bad as drink driving.

  US researchers found that using a hands-free device does not make things better. They theorised that passengers act as a second set of eyes, shutting up or sometimes even helping when they see the driver needs to make a move.

  The research, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, adds to a growing body of evidence that mobile phones can make driving dangerous.

  Dave Strayer of the University of Utah and colleagues found that hands-free mobile phones are just as distracting as handheld models in a series of experiments using driving simulators.

  They demonstrated that chatting on a mobile phone can slow the reaction times of young adult drivers to levels seen among senior citizens, and showed that drivers using mobile telephones are as impaired as drivers who are legally drunk.

  For the latest study, also using a simulator, Mr Strayer's team showed that drivers using a hands-free device drifted out of their lanes and missed exits more frequently than drivers talking to a passenger. They tested 96 adults aged 18 to 49.

  "The passenger adds a second set of eyes, and helps the driver navigate and reminds them where to go," Mr Strayer said in a statement.

  "When you take a look at the data, it turns out that a driver conversing with a passenger is not as impaired a driver talking on a cell phone," he added.

  Passengers also simplify conversation when driving conditions change, the researchers wrote.

  "The difference between a (mobile) phone conversation and passenger conversation is due to the fact that the passenger is in the vehicle and knows what the traffic conditions are like, and they help the driver by reminding them of where to take an exit and pointing out hazards," Mr Strayer said.

   

  (news.com.au)

   

• Technology news: USB albums could stick it to CDs with new DDA format launched today

  
  01 December 2008
  

  

  (Stick it ... albums on USB sticks (L) could replace the humble CD / Supplied, File)
   

  CD collections may soon be a pile of USB sticks in a box if fans take up an Australian digital format launched today.

  DDA albums were created to include online extras with a physical music product.

  Each album is shipped on a rubber stylised DDA USB stick, identified with a swing tag.

  As well as music, each DDA album provides access to online content such as photos, news, music videos, updates from the band and social networking.

  It also lets fans access their content from the MyDDA service using any internet-connected computer or mobile phone.

  Each USB stick contains a DDA music player and track list builder, which must be activated with a code the first time it is used.

  The software displays album art and song lyrics as each song is played.

  Tracks will be provided in MP3 or WAV formats to avoid compatibility issues.

  The DDA software can transfer albums to iTunes or burn them to a CD without licensing problems.

  HMV, Virgin and Sanity will stock the DDA sticks.

  Artists and record companies can set the price of each individual DDA but they are likely to be the same as a CD album.

  Sneaky Sound System is one of the first bands to release music on the new digital format .

   

  (news.com.au)

   

• Technology news: How your data can get loose

  
  01 December 2008
  
  LOCKING up personal data is like putting a lock on your front door: It may deter some people, but professionals will break a window.

  If they really want to get in, they'll resort to more violent entries such as tunneling through the floor, smashing the walls or chopping a hole in the ceiling.

  Nothing's different in cyberspace — except that the chances of getting caught are lower than in the physical world. In some countries, cyber-attacks aren't even illegal. And to make matters worse, it can be done remotely and hit many more victims with a single blow.

  It's an odd bit of protection for the criminals: If a hacker is based in country that doesn't make data snatching illegal, then he or she can't be prosecuted even if they prey on people elsewhere, notes John Stewart, chief security officer at Cisco Systems.

  "Even if (an attack) violates the victim's law, it may not be illegal where it was done," he said.

  That means protecting yourself — your identity, your company's data, even your health — becomes an imperative.

  Unusual locations

  As more devices rely on software, malicious code has crept into surprising places.

  Buyers of Insignia electronic picture frames, for instance, got more than they bargained for last Christmas: the frames came pre-infected with a virus. Retailer Best Buy recalled the frames, but the damage was done. The good news is, it could have been worse.

  "The number of attack vectors and techniques continue to multiply," says Josh Corman, principal security strategist at IBM.

  "No matter how good your perimeter defenses are, as soon as someone uploads pictures of their kids and their grandkids you could have a hardware-based Trojan in a USB."

  New hacks

  Significantly more dangerous is the possibility of infecting medical devices. MIT has been researching a piece of malicious code embedded into pacemakers.

  "Imagine what would happen if you suddenly shut down all the pacemakers at the G8 Summit," Mr Corman said.

  "There is a whole market for certified, pre-owned technology that comes pre-infected. It's a very attractive, bottoms-up infection method."

  Conspiracy-minded technology developers have long sounded the alarm about technology backdoors — ways into data stored on devices that buyers never knew existed.

  Apple confirmed last summer that there is a backdoor for the iPhone that allows Apple to remove illegally downloaded programs whenever it chooses.

  That measure helps Apple protect intellectual property, but given the complex global supply chain of parts that go into most products, unknown backdoors created by companies with unknown backgrounds and connections may pockmark final systems.

   

  (news.com.au)