computers

THE TECH
To calculate their position, most mice use a red LED or a laser to light up a surface, take thousands of pictures per second of the shadows cast by the surface’s microscopic bumps, and then analyze the differences between shots. But that doesn’t work if there are no bumps, as on glossy tables, or if a jagged surface, like carpet, traps narrow light beams between fibers. So Microsoft’s Explorer moves the camera sensor forward to capture the light reflected by any surface.

THE TECH
To calculate their position, most mice use a red LED or a laser to light up a surface, take thousands of pictures per second of the shadows cast by the surface’s microscopic bumps, and then analyze the differences between shots. But that doesn’t work if there are no bumps, as on glossy tables, or if a jagged surface, like carpet, traps narrow light beams between fibers. So Microsoft’s Explorer moves the camera sensor forward to capture the light reflected by any surface.

In the worst of times, don't expect the best in everyone. Scammers are reveling in the financial turmoil by taking advantage of consumers' fears, especially those who are customers of banks most affected by the Wall Street crisis. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which issued a warning this week, cautioned that people should watch out for e-mails or pop-ups, even if from their own banks, asking for any sensitive personal or financial information. People should double-check their bank and credit card statements for fraudulent activity, the report added.

I like to think I'm protective of my sensitive personal info. I rip bills and credit card offers into confetti before throwing them out, I never give out my Social Security number, and I can spot a phishing scheme with the best of them. But I've recently come to realize that the safeguarding of my most intimate personal details is completely out of my hands.

Talk about moving mountains. Many of today's most sophisticated shooters trumpet destructible environments that let you splinter walls or pulverize pillars into powder with a well-placed salvo. But none offer the freedom or flexibility to reshape the world around you like LucasArts' new futuristic blaster Fracture ($60, PS3/Xbox 360). You must morph terrain in real-time to tunnel a way forward or stop bullets from dinging your bionic rear-end.

What Facebook is to the original AOL Instant Messenger, Huddle is to football players analyzing game footage in the video room. Developed by a team of Nebraska Cornhuskers, and praised by the likes of Bill Gates, Huddle is a web-based scouting, coaching, and social tool for football teams.

Since the invention of the transistor, silicon semiconductors have been king. But now silicon-based transistors are nearing the limit of their potential. Excess heat and manufacturing hurdles are impeding the development of ever-faster and -smaller processors. Advances in materials and chip design to resist extreme heat and move huge amounts of data, quickly, will be crucial. Experts are exploring three technologies to overcome these challenges: spintronics, graphene and memristors.

This week everyone's at the Web 2.0 Expo at New York City's Javits Center. Abby reported on a technology that makes your computer talk to you; I met a couple of brothers who were at the show to promote their invention, wherein you talk to your computer.

Last Wednesday, after years of construction and months of planning, the Large Hadron Collider, which you just might have heard about, turned on its proton beam for the first time. At the same time, a team of Greek hackers was planning to break through the security of the world’s largest experiments. First reported by the British newspaper the Telegraph, the attack targeted a project website, defacing the website with a long message in Greek.

Just how often were McEnroe's tirades justified? A detailed analysis of two years of challenged calls in tennis using the Hawk-Eye replay system shows players got it right about 40 percent of the time. Published this summer in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the study suggests both players and linemen have an impressive accuracy of just over 1.5 inches. In 94 percent of the challenges, the ball was within three inches of the line.

In earthquake-prone California, where geologists say that the “Big One” is virtually certain to strike before 2040, a few seconds of warning could save lives. Allowing more time to duck and cover is one of the major goals of the new Quake-Catcher Network (QCN), an affordable, citizen-based earthquake-detection system that turns idle laptop computers into seismic sensors.

Being a tech consumer is a treacherous endeavor these days. Installing software, upgrading a piece of hardware or even just plugging in a new peripheral is a pursuit wrought with danger. That’s because, as a man named Murphy has us conditioned to believe, something will inevitably go wrong. And when things do go haywire—when Part A won’t play nice with Part B—you’re left trying to figure out just what’s to blame. Is it your operating system? Is it the USB port on your computer? Is it your thingamajig’s firmware?

I recently saw the ThinkPad W700, and, well, it’s almost scary. Packing a brilliant 17-inch screen, the beast spreads across a desk like a beached whale. But amazingly, it weighs just 8.4 pounds—about 4 pounds lighter than I would have expected.

The game of Go has long been a bastion of human brilliance. While computers have gotten steadily better at playing chess and poker, they've had a harder time wrapping their silicon minds around the elegant Japanese strategy game. That's why it's a big deal that a computer Go player known as MoGo beat a top-ranked human, Myungwan Kim, yesterday.

Psychology researchers from Princeton University have created a computer program that provides better analysis of facial expressions and helps scientists determine what makes a face seem trustworthy or threatening.

Earlier research has found that people make snap judgments—within a tenth of a second—whether or not a person can be trusted solely on the appearance of the person’s face. Based that finding, Princeton researchers tried to quantify and define which characteristics a face must have to for people to reach a conclusion about that person.