Diagnosing ADHD Symptoms in Children
Signs of disturbance in fact have ADHD can be detected since the pre-school children. Lack of attention, hyperactivity and compulsive are signs that can capture any direct interference with the child, for example, children do not like or lost interest in playing, running here and there, can not control his desire to touch surrounding objects. When parents catch these symptoms should immediately take his son to the pediatrician or psychologist. Early handler will contribute to a better behavior when the child enters the next stage of development.
Hyperactive-compulsive disorders may be seen directly on the child's behavior, but not the type of attention disorder, the child seemed to be working with people around, so this type are sometimes ignored visible.
ADHD Information
The term ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is also known by the acronym ADD (attention deficit disorder) or hyperkinetic disorder. It is estimated that these types of disorders have been around for a long time, even this disturbance characteristics much like the once described by Hippocrates (460-370 BC).
The term Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) was first introduced in the 1980s in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) III the third edition of the psychiatric manual. In 1994 the term was changed into a division with ADHD are three types of disturbances; hyperactive-impulsive type, the type of attention disorder, and a combination of both.
ADHD Symptoms
Diagnosis when symptoms 6 or more permanent symptoms for at least 6 months or more influential on the level of mental development;
1) the type of attention disorder symptoms
a) It is hard to concentrate, organize tasks, or prepare equipment for the task
b) Easily influenced or lose concentration when there is interference or the sound factor
c) Not able to concentrate on the things or follow the instructions detailed
d) often make mistakes on the task at school or a particular activity
e) Failure to complete the important tasks at school
f) Easy to forget
g) Just do not listen to the conversation, looked lethargic or less passionate and often daydream
2) symptoms of hyperactivity disorder-compulsive type
a) Always look on, wanted to do something
b) Restless, always folded his arms or legs when sitting
c) It can not be silent, always wanted to move
d) The relatively small children like to run, jump and climb to constantly
e) Talking all the time
f) Direct questions to answer before the proposed completion
g) No patient in waiting for their turn
h) Like others blurted out talks
3) Type a combination of attention and hyperactivity disorders, compulsive
Every child suspected of ADHD disorder should be cautious in diagnostic conclusions, because there are symptoms that may resemble ADHD-like interference but the fact the child could have in a particular medical condition, or in stressful situations that can affect behavior disorders like ADHD. Therefore, these conditions must be diagnosed by professional staffs who are experienced in their fields.
In making the diagnosis, professionals (and even some areas of experts involved in it such as psychiatrists, psychologists, pediatricians, neurological, social workers) will conduct a clinical assessment by looking at the academic and social situation of children, emotional function and ability in development.
Diagnosing ADHD
To diagnose properly, professionals typically will collect data in full to decide whether the child is diagnosed disorder ADHD or not, the data form;
- The child's family background
- The possibility of hearing loss
- Inability to learn
- Anxiety and depression
- The influence of previous drugs that allow for brain disorders
- The physical condition as the condition of the frontal lobe
- Test psychology (social adaptation, mental health, intelligence test, and test performance)
- These situations trigger stress in children
Several other tests can be given by the therapist of reading ability tests, solving math, or some board games. Sometimes professionals also need to do observe directly in the child's life. When found in the ADHD disorder for sure, experts will discuss this issue to the teacher at the school, teachers will also be involved in diagnosing these disorders, usually the teacher will be given an evaluation form (behavior rating scales) the child's behavior to be filled by the teacher concerned.
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Dangerous Cyber Babe Jessica Biel
Jessica Biel is the most "dangerous celebrity" on the internet.
According to security technology company McAfee Inc, online searches for the 27-year-old actress - who is dating Justin Timberlake - are more likely to spread computer viruses than any other star.
The company - who last year found Brad Pitt to be the most "dangerous" online celebrity - said there was a one-in-five chance that looking for information, wallpapers, images and videos of the 'Easy Virtue' star would lead users to a website designed to cause damage.
Pop star Beyonce Knowles, 'Marley and Me' star Jennifer Aniston, American football player Tom Brady - who is married to supermodel Gisele Bundchen - and singer-and-actress Jessica Simpson also pose a high risk to web users.
Jeff Green, senior vice president of McAfee's product development, said: "Cybercriminals are star watchers, too. They latch onto popular celebrities to encourage the download of malicious software in disguise.
"Searching for the latest celebrity news and downloads can cause serious damage to one's personal computer.
"Every day, cybercriminals use celebrities' names and images, like Rihanna, to lure surfers searching for the latest stories, screensavers and ringtones to sites offering free downloads laden with malware."
McAfee's most dangerous celebrity to search in cyberspace:
1. Jessica Biel
2. Beyonce Knowles
3. Jennifer Aniston
4. Tom Brady
5. Jessica Simpson
6. Gisele Bundchen
7. Miley Cyrus
8 = Megan Fox
8 = Angelina Jolie
9. Ashley Tisdale
10. Brad Pitt
11. Reese Witherspoon
12. Britney Spears
13. Rihanna
14. Lindsay Lohan
15. Kim Kardashian
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£200,000 and 51 operations turn a mother of three into Queen Nefertiti
Her transformation began more than 20 years ago after she decided that in a past life she had lived as Queen Nefertiti.
The mother of three has had 51 cosmetic surgery operations - including eight nose jobs, three chin implants, one eyebrow lift, three facelifts, six mini facelifts, two lip surgeries, five eye surgeries and 20 minor tweaks - in her efforts to recreate herself in the image of the 'Beauty of the Nile'.
Miss Namita, a 49-year-old artist from Brighton, says her quest for perfection isn't over yet and plans further surgery, describing her face as a 'work in progress'.
She began her transformation in 1987 after deciding that in a past life she had lived as Nefertiti.
She said: 'Throughout my childhood and teen years I had constant vivid dreams of this ancient queen.
'They were visions of incredible intensity - I could see where she lived, her servants, her rooms, even the food she ate - and although at first I found the dreams frightening, I began to research what they meant.
'Aged 23 I underwent psychoanalysis with a counsellor. Slowly I began to realise that I was having these dreams because I am a reincarnation of Nefertiti
'A few weeks later I saw a picture of Nefertiti for the first time and I was struck by how familiar it was.
'I know some people will find it hard to understand why I have put myself through so much surgery, but by then the visions had become even more powerful, I decided to remodel my face so I looked like a modern version of Nefertiti.
'It was a way of allowing that part of my personality to show itself.'
Miss Namita, who single but has been married and divorced twice, began by remodelling her nose.
Since then she says she has spent all her spare money on her face.She said: 'I am fortunate in that I have good genes. I don't have any cellulite and have never had to diet but because I didn't want to look unnatural with an older body and a younger face, I do eat very healthily.
'No one believes I am almost 50 years old and have had three children because my body and face look as through I am only 25.
'Now when I go out, I gain attention from men much younger than me - often they are in their twenties - because I look so youthful.
'I am sure some people will disapprove of me having so many operations but I believe my look is ageless and timeless. Seeing myself looking so much younger makes me feel young and energetic.'
Miss Namita, who has yet to visit Egypt but is writing a book about her life as a modern Nefertiti, says her three children aged 30, 25 and 15 approve of her appearance.
'My youngest daughter, who still lives with me, is very proud to have such a youthful looking mother,' she said.
Miss Namita is now planning her next operations.
'I would like my lips to be made a little finer and plan to have some more surgery on my nose to even out my nostrils,' she said.
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Super-safe Web Browsing
As a security analyst and researcher, I often find myself exploring some of the darker corners of the Internet. In the course of staying current on security issues, I frequently must browse the sorts of Web sites no average person should go anywhere near; I'm also far more likely to be targeted in an attack. That's forced me to develop a somewhat extreme approach to safer surfing.
Understand the risks
Web browser attacks fall into two general categories. The first type target your browser. They include:
* Cross-site scripting (XSS), in which an attacker illicitly inserts malicious code--which your browser automatically runs--into a Web page you trust;
* Cross-site request forgery (CSRF), in which the attacker inserts code in one Web page that allows him to send commands in your name, using your browser, to another (your bank, for example);
* Click-jacking, in which malicious programmers overlay hidden buttons on a Web site, which you may then inadvertently click.
Browser attacks use deceptive Web pages or links to redirect you to undesired locations, to hijack browsing sessions, to download software to your computer, or to perform transactions (such as forwarding your Web mail to the attacker).
The second type of Web attacks target your entire system. Such systemic attacks exploit security flaws in your browser or its plug-ins (such as QuickTime or Flash) to compromise your computer. These attacks take advantage of buffer overflows and vulnerabilities that have long enabled viruses, worms, and remote attacks.
To protect myself from both kinds of attacks and to isolate the damage if I do get hacked, I use a multilevel strategy. That starts with generating and storing passwords with 1Password. (For more password tips, see Top Password Tips.) But I also use a layered system of multiple browsers and even operating systems to keep myself as safe as possible. Even if you don't visit the kinds of sites I do, some of these precautions could be useful to you, too.
Multiple browsers
My first line of defense is to use different Web browsers for different activities. That way, even if an attacker compromises a Web forum that I log in to, he or she can't cross over from there to attack my online banking, because I use a separate browser for that. Or, because I use a dedicated browser for Facebook, the latest XSS Facebook worm can't escape from there to gain access to my Amazon or Web mail accounts.
My primary browser is Firefox 3.5 configured with the NoScript and Adblock Plus plug-ins.
By default, NoScript disables Java, JavaScript, Flash, and other dynamic content that's often used in attacks. It gives me fine-grained control, so I can permanently or temporarily enable scripts for specific sites or pages. Because it's nearly impossible to attack a browser that doesn't run scripts or plug-ins, NoScript is extremely effective as long as I don't accidentally authorize anything malicious.
Adblock Plus uses blacklists of known advertising and spyware sites to automatically block content from them. I use it as a backup to NoScript in case I do slip up and authorize a script I shouldn't have. Bad guys are increasingly using ad banners and trackers to distribute their mischief; Adblock Plus gives me a little extra insurance.
In addition to those two plug-ins, I also tell Firefox not to store my passwords (Preferences -> Security); I use 1Password for that.
I use Firefox for general browsing and commerce sites such as Amazon, but I don't use it for sites where I'll have to enter extremely sensitive personal information (such as banks) or sites that I know to be extremely risky. For those, I use some of the more stringent measures outlined below.
Because Safari is harder to lock down than Firefox, I use it for sites that are neither sensitive nor risky, such as Wikipedia, Pandora, and Apple. These are sites I visit frequently, where I don't want to deal with managing NoScript exemptions, or which tend to work better in Safari than in Firefox. Under Preferences -> General, I disable Open Safe Files After Downloading. Under Preferences -> Autofill, I disable User Names And Passwords.
By default, both Firefox and Safari will try to identify known fraudulent sites using public blacklists. (In Firefox, go to Preferences -> Security -> Block Reported Attack Sites; in Safari, go to Preferences -> Security -> Warn When Visiting A Fraudulent Website.) I leave these settings activated.
I use NetNewsWire as my RSS feed reader. In its Preferences -> Browsing -> Web Pages pane, I disable all plug-ins, to prevent malicious code from being sent via an RSS feed (such as a video file containing a buffer overflow).
Dedicated browsers
Although Firefox and Safari are good for general browsing, when I need more protection, I use either a dedicated browser or a site-specific browser (SSB).
By "dedicated browser," I mean a regular Web browser that I use only for one site. In my case, I use OmniWeb to manage my company Web site and blog.
I've implemented rules in OmniWeb to keep it from accessing any site outside my corporate domain: in Preferences -> Ad Blocking, I clicked Edit The Blocked URLs List. In the top window listing blocked sites, I added a rule for /* to block every Web site. In the bottom, trusted-sites window (which overrides the blocked-sites list), I added securosis\.com to allow anything from my site. Those windows support complex regular expressions, so you can create some pretty sophisticated rules.
For sites that I don't trust at all, I use an SSB. For example, as I mentioned above, I'm wary of Facebook; I access it through an SSB.
An SSB is essentially a stripped-down Web browser that you can create yourself in a few clicks. I created one with the Prism add-on for Firefox. (Go to Tools -> Add-ons -> Get Add-ons, search for Prism, and then install it.) With Prism installed, browse to that site and select Tools -> Convert Web Site To Application.
Unlike a dedicated browser, an SSB lets me browse to other Web sites. But because an SSB is a completely separate process, I can restrict its Web access using the Little Snitch outbound firewall. If someone attacks the SSB, they can't touch my other browsers or steal my browsing history, except for the SSB's.
Multiple operating systems
For extremely risky or sensitive sites, I use virtual machines (VMs), using VMware Fusion or Parallels, to isolate Web activity even more.
For example, I do all of my banking in a dedicated VM using Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 running on the latest release candidate of Windows 7. IE8 on Windows 7 is very secure--especially because I don't use it to visit any Web sites other than my banks, nor do I use the VM for e-mail or other Internet activity. This eliminates all possible browser attacks (unless my bank itself is compromised), and an attacker would need to completely take over my Mac to get my banking information.
For maximum browsing security, I use the Incognito Linux live CD in a VM. A live CD contains a bootable operating system; it runs the OS from the optical drive, without installing anything on the hard drive. I like Incognito because it includes other privacy-enhancement features, but any live CD with a Web browser will work.
Because the CDs are read-only, the VM runs everything in memory without touching the local file system (except for virtual memory). An attacker could completely compromise and control that VM, but he or she couldn't touch anything else on my system. Because the state of the VM is never saved to disk, all I have to do is shut it down and reboot to return to a pristine, clean image.
Granted, my chosen profession requires a tad more paranoia than is mentally healthy for the average user. Still, these techniques are relevant for anyone concerned about security. At a minimum, I recommend dedicated password management, a dedicated Web browser or SSB for banking, and perhaps a VM for those occasional trips to the darker edges of the Internet.
Rich Mogull has worked in the security world for 17 years. He writes for TidBits and works as a security analyst through Securosis.com.
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Britney's bikini of the day
Britney Spears just can't help showing off her figure - and extensive wardrobe.
Revealing her third bikini in as many days, the pop star flaunted her toned abs again for another dip in the pool with her sons.
The singer played doting mother to Sean Preston, three, and Jayden James, two, showing off the enviable body she recently acquired through intense training for her current tour.
Britney opted for a mauve polka-dotted two-piece for day three of her LA holiday - displaying her rainbow selection of swimwear as she played with the boys at the Ritz Carlton hotel yesterday.
'I have had to work hard at getting my body back to where it used to be,' she told Glamour earlier this year.
'I used to be obsessed with working out ... But I can't get motivated right now because I'm so focused on my music.'
Saturday saw the pretty in pink blonde sporting a fuchsia bikini - and on Sunday, Britney slipped into an aquamarine number.
Clearly, the star is sticking to the unwritten Hollywood code of wearing a different swimsuit for every day.
The 27-year-old singer is currently enjoying a well-earned month off after her gruelling 'The Circus... Starring Britney Spears' world tour.
Despite the relaxing holiday, Britney cut a glum figure by the pool. Perhaps she was missing her notably absent boyfriend Jason Trawick.She was wearing the ring all weekend - but took it off when she spent time in the pool.
Heidi Montag's Playboy Breasts
femalefirst.co.uk
Heidi Montag looked through Playboy magazines to find the perfect breasts.
The 'Hills' star - who graces the cover of Playboy's September issue - turned to the adult publication for inspiration when she had her breasts surgically enhanced in 2007.
She told Playboy magazine: "When I was shopping for my boobs, I wanted the best, so I sat down and flipped through a bunch of Playboys.
"The women are so hot - Pamela Anderson, Carmen Electra, Marilyn Monroe, all the Playmates. So iconic.
"When the magazine asked me to pose I understood what an honour it was. Once you're on the cover of Playboy you're officially a s*x symbol."
Heidi, who married her 'The Hills' co-star Spencer Pratt in April, has also revealed she is planning to have more cosmetic surgery to ensure she remains sexy for her new husband.
"When I was shopping for my boobs, I wanted the best, so I sat down and flipped through a bunch of Playboys. "
The 22-year-old blonde said: "I plan to get a few more upgrades... I'm sure as I get older I'll need some touch-ups.
"I think I want to go bigger on my boobs for Spencer. He loves my new additions. I just want to be the foxiest wife."
Heidi insists she doesn't care if people criticise her appearance on US reality TV show 'The Hills', claiming her detractors are simply envious of her success and good looks.
She explained: "If they aren't hating on you, then you're not doing anything right. If women aren't jealous of you, talking about you and cutting you down, then you're a nerd, and I would never want to be that.
ardi etchujima
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Nokia Partnership Pushes Microsoft's Cloud Plans
John Fontana, Network World
Microsoft is using its newly formed alliance with Nokia not to bolster its mobile efforts but to help fuel expansion of its cloud, collaboration, real-time communications and management strategies.
The alliance is a setup for tools Microsoft will be releasing next year and beyond in its Office family and System Center portfolio of products.
The company's ongoing strategy has been to create a single management platform for Windows, non-Windows platforms and devices on the back of its System Center tools. Microsoft has been working in the past few years to widen its management capabilities to include mobile devices, Linux and virtual machines.
And Microsoft is positioning Office 2010 as the version of its productivity tools and back-end servers best suited to work across PCs, devices and the browsers, according to Stephan Elop, president of Microsoft's business division.
Those Office back-end services will include both on-premises and hosted cloud offerings.
The alliance with Nokia announced Wednesday fosters those cloud, collaboration and management efforts.
For example, Nokia's Eseries smartphones will be the first non-Windows mobile device that System Center can manage. The focus will be on security management, device management and security-enhanced access.
In addition, Nokia next year will begin shipping the Office Communicator Mobile client on its smartphones. The release is likely to align with the release of Office 2010, set to ship in the first half of the year, although the pair would only say Communicator Mobile would come in 2010.
But the real work on Office will come in adapting mobile-optimized versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote to the Nokia platform and its Symbian operating system. Those applications will help support collaborative applications built on the Office back-end servers. And those servers can be run internally or hosted by a cloud-based service.
The next version of Office Mobile for the Windows Mobile platform is expected next year. Nokia and Microsoft would only say that the Office applications and related software and services for the Nokia platform would come "in the future."
"This is just a first step," Elop said during a joint press conference with Nokia. "This will also extend to … interaction and collaboration around SharePoint."
Microsoft plans to support mobile access to intranet and extranet portals running on SharePoint, which is becoming a corporate hub for data integration and business intelligence tools integrated using Excel Services and other tools.
In addition, the strategy will extend to Office Communications Server (OCS), the back end for Communicator Mobile. Both those back-end Office servers can be run in-house or acquired via a service through Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Services.
Where Nokia fits in on the System Center side also is loosely defined but initially focused on System Center Mobile Device Manager.
"The plan is to design System Center so customers will be able to provision applications to the Nokia mobile device, and update the applications, so customers have secure and productive mobile computing experience," according to a Microsoft spokesperson. The company did not provide details on when a version of Mobile Device Manager would be released to support Nokia.
The current Mobile Device Manager only works with Windows Mobile 6.1 devices so the software will have to be ported or developed from the ground up to work on Nokia's Symbian.
The rest of the integration with System Center is unclear but development efforts hint at tucking Nokia into Microsoft's broad management infrastructure.
Microsoft currently has a churn of System Center development going on. A new version of Configuration Manager is on track to ship in 2010. System Center Operations Manager should be updated within that same time frame.
The big picture is to integrate those two and other System Center tools into a logical whole that can analyze and aggregate data from the "infrastructure fabric" that houses hardware/devices, operating systems and applications as separate entities.
The ability to create that logical whole is missing because Microsoft has yet to ship Service Manager, unveiled in 2006. The software is designed to pull all management data together and act on the results based on policies and workflow rules.
Service Manager is slated to ship next year.
Microsoft also plans to extend its management platform to include cloud and service providers, so companies can centrally manage both internal systems and cloud-based services, such as those that could be offered to support the Office applications being added to the Nokia platform.
ardi etchujima
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Beyonce Hit By Tokyo Earthquake
femalefirst.co.uk
Beyonce Knowles rang her mother in a panic after she was caught in a massive earthquake which hit Japan on Tuesday morning.
The Crazy In Love hitmaker and her sister Solange were in Tokyo on Monday to promote Japanese clothing brand Samantha Thavasa. The siblings stayed overnight in the city - and Beyonce was abruptly woken up by the tremors, which measured a staggering 6.6 on the Richter scale
She called her mom Tina for reassurance - but her sister slept through the disaster.In a series of posts on her Twitter.com page, Solange writes, "How did I sleep through a serious earthquake. Again. Japan. wtf (what the f**k)?
"Wtf! wtf! wtf! My sister said she was scared out of her mind and calling my mom and I was snoring. 6.6? omg (oh my god)! omg! omg! tsunami watch???
"Praying for everyone affected by this."
The earthquake struck southwest of Tokyo. There were no known deaths as WENN went to press.
ardi etchujima
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Facebook Buys FriendFeed: What Does It Mean?
JR Raphael
Aug 11, 2009
Facebook is acquiring content-sharing service FriendFeed, the two companies have confirmed. The entire FriendFeed team of 12 will transition to Facebook, with the four founders taking on senior engineering roles. The value of the deal has not been disclosed.
Inside FriendFeed
Despite strong buzz in the blogosphere, FriendFeed was never able to gain much in the way of mainstream appeal -- in fact, your average social network user probably hasn't even heard of it. It has developed somewhat of a cult following, though, with many tech insiders adopting it and singing its praises. And the team behind FriendFeed has quite the impressive collective résumé.
FriendFeed was founded in 2007 by four former Googlers: Bret Taylor, Jim Norris, Paul Buchheit, and Sanjeev Singh. Before leaving Google, the guys helped design and launch several well-known products, including Gmail, Google Maps, and Google Groups.
FriendFeed was their vision for a centralized sharing service -- kind of like Facebook, only without all the extra stuff. It's basically a content aggregator: You set up an account and connect it to all of your different online services. Then, anytime you post a new update on Twitter, vote up a story on Digg, or write a new blog, it automatically goes through to your FriendFeed stream. People who subscribe to your stream see the updates roll in in real-time and can comment on and discuss them.
The FriendFeed-Facebook Friendship
Over the past months, Facebook has little by little begun to emulate many of FriendFeed's key functions. The ability to "like" items, for example, was a signature FriendFeed feature. Facebook's introduction of a real-time news stream was also largely viewed as a response to FriendFeed's own real-time stream.
Inside the Acquisition
So with the two services merging together, what will change? That part isn't yet fully clear, but a few hints are being dropped. FriendFeed's Taylor suggests that more FriendFeed features will eventually come to the Facebook platform, saying his team will "have the opportunity to bring many of the innovations [it's] developed at FriendFeed to Facebook's 250 million users around the world." The FriendFeed service itself will remain independent and intact -- for now.
"FriendFeed.com will continue to operate normally for the time being," Taylor explains in a blog posted Monday afternoon. "We're still figuring out our longer-term plans for the product with the Facebook team."
Robert Scoble, a blogger and Internet developer widely regarded as FriendFeed's most vocal cheerleader, conducted a phone interview with FriendFeed's Buchheit (published, fittingly, to his FriendFeed stream). In the interview, Buchheit says the deal was completed only this morning. He calls it a "tremendous opportunity" that FriendFeed recognized might not come along again.
"We had no reason to sell the company," he tells Scoble. "We could have continued for quite a number of years."
Buchheit reiterates that no long-term plans have been finalized. He does, however, imply that FriendFeed's current incarnation may not vanish entirely.
"We're completely committed to supporting the users of FriendFeed. We obviously don't want to leave them stranded," he states. "In the long term, we'll have to figure out some plan that makes sense."
Scoble himself calls the deal a "huge win for both companies." His own FriendFeed page is already peppered with more than 200 comments discussing the acquisition.
Facebook Confirms DoS Attack
Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service
Popular social-networking site Facebook was hit with a DoS (denial-of-service) attack Thursday, but the attack did not appear to be as severe as one that crippled Twitter the same day.
Facebook reported on its own Facebook profile Thursday that users may have had trouble accessing the site or its services because of the attack, but that the situation seemed well in hand by late morning in California, where the company is located.
"We have restored full access for most people," the company reported. "We'll keep monitoring the situation to make sure you have the reliable experience you expect from us."
Users reported that Facebook was not loading properly or could not be accessed early Thursday, but the site seemed to be working properly by late morning.
Facebook did not provide specifics about the attack or how it was handled, only providing a link to a Wikipedia entry with information about DoS attacks in its posting.
It's unknown if the attacks on Twitter and Facebook are linked. However, a source with knowledge of the situation said that the company is working with Google and Twitter to investigate the matter further. The source said there were reports Google's Blogspot site also had been hit with a DoS attack, although Google did not immediately respond to an inquiry about whether this was indeed the case.
A DoS attack is an attempt to make a Web site or service unavailable to intended users by flooding the service or site with incoming data requests, such as e-mails. Motives for DoS attacks vary, but perpetrators mostly target companies with high-profile, highly trafficked Web sites. Hackers often have a financial or political motivation for such attacks.
ardi etchujima
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EXIT Signs
In fact many EXIT SIGNS in the world, except in countries such as the United States, Singapore, and Australia are of pictogram type. Singapore and Australia have made modification to their each life safety codes in the direction of pictogram use. In the United States, New York City has supported a new code requiring high rises to have luminous in the dark exit signs with a pictogram.
New style exit signs in the United States can be viewed over every path to an exit in commercial and large residential buildings that follow with fire code. Typical specifics, such as the year a building was built, may leave it exempt from some of these codes. However, in most situations, the owner of the building complies regarding EXIT SIGNS. This is especially true in older buildings that serve as multiple residences, such as mall, apartments, hotels, and campus dormitories. Modern fixtures are usually in a rugged plastic or metal housing safely bolted to the wall or ceiling.
Due to impression the signs have the word EXIT, or a picture representing exit, on both sides. Single-sided signs are also available for wall-mount installations. The signs often have metal or vinyl plastic knock-outs which can be removed so that an arrow is also lit pointing left or right. Modern exit signs are combined with other safety devices, such as emergency floodlighting, as shown above. Exit Sign draw a relatively small amount of power (5 watts maximum), and can generally be added onto any existing electrical circuit without adverse effects.
Recent exit signs are also, to some degree, fireproof. In the United States exit signs can be either red or green. This is due to states or cities enacting building codes which assign the sign color. In Maryland, for example, green is required. New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago require that exit signs have red legend.
In the Senate Chamber of New Parliament House in Australia the exit signs are red with white writing. This is to match the color scheme, and is legal because of a special law passed for that purpose.
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Ear-tugger gets experts thinking
By JANET McCONNAUGHEY
The Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) If you pull on my ear, will I follow you anywhere? Yes, say researchers at University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo. And along complex paths. Even when the pulls are directed from a distance.
Their ear-tugging navigator looks like a bug-shaped hat and may be the oddest gizmo among nearly three dozen in the "Emerging Technologies" area of SIGGRAPH '09, the 36th international conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques.The conference this Monday through Friday includes an animation festival, game design and animation workshops and contests, a studio, an art show, and other showcases and exhibits.
The 33 Emerging Technologies exhibits include a click-and-drag graphical editor to tell robots how to perform complex tasks such as folding clothes; an umbrella that moves as if you were fending off a downpour of rain, spaghetti or toy snakes; and a virtual reality floor that designers say can feel like walking on snow.
The ear navigator, called Pull-Navi, has six helmet-mounted motors to pull the wearer's ears forward, backward, left, right, up and down. The designers say people follow its lead almost instinctively — pull left and they turn that way; pulling both ears forward or backward at the same time makes them speed up or slow down; and tugging up or down heads them up or down stairs.
It goes into the who'da-thunk-it category of exhibits.
"Every year there's just some submissions that are just so completely wacky it's not really on anyone's radar," said Mk (pronounced M-K) Haley, one of the jurors for Emerging Technologies since 1998. "They get everybody thinking and discussing."
This one, she said, got her thinking, "Wow. Human beings can really be physically manipulated so easily. And what other applications may there be for that?"
Past exhibits heralding applications now commonplace have included Electric Postcards in 1995 and, in 1991, Michigan State University's informational kiosk, called Click On MSU.
MIT Media Lab researcher Judith S. Donath, who studies online social interaction, was startled by the popularity of the Internet postcard site she created to learn a computer language and showed off at SIGGRAPH '95.
"People didn't realize the social possibilities of the Internet. You could put news there, buy things, maybe. But it wasn't particularly social," she said.
She thought a few of her friends might send each other cards from the site, which opened in December 1994. But it went viral — a phrase not then coined. "We eventually had millions and millions of cards sent through it," she said.
American Greetings Corp. began offering e-cards in 1996 and Hallmark Cards Inc. in late 1998, spokesmen said. American Greetings now has 3.9 million e-card subscribers, according to Frank Cirillo.
Hallmark estimates that, industrywide, about one e-card is sent for every 20 paper cards bought, Sarah Gronberg Kolell wrote in an e-mail.
The MSU kiosk was put into use in 1990. Although Macintosh had introduced its point-and-click interface six years earlier, most desktop computers still used text and menus. MSU's designers called their icons "click ons" to be sure people would know what to do.
"On the top of every page, it would say, 'Click on a click on,' " said Carrie Heeter, now creative director for MSU's Virtual University Design and Technology group and a professor of serious game design in the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media.
Now elementary school Web sites have linked pages, and toddlers know how to click computer mice.
Virtual reality, on the other hand, exists in a very different form from the head-mounted screens "all the rage" in 1993 and '94 SIGGRAPH exhibits, Haley said.
"A lot of people think it went away. But companies do use a lot of virtual reality in design and production. . . . Ford has a huge VR lab." It's also used in designing new drugs and new buildings, Haley said.
But immersive VR is still in the works. At McGill University in Montreal, researchers are making footsteps part of the illusion. They say that by vibrating tiles from side to side, they can mimic the crunch of snow underfoot, or the cracking of ice on a puddle.
The "multimodal floor" isn't just for entertainment, they say. It could be used for rehabilitation, such as a step toward walking outdoors for people recovering from a stroke.
Jeremy Cooperstock, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and supervisor of the project, said he didn't think the technique would work. "But all the tests we've done show people do get the feeling of sinking. There's so much play in how we perceive texture that if we get the right vibration . . . your mind sort of fills in the rest of the illusion."
Haley said the robot instruction language is impressive, but the little robot that carries it out is still so slow that the jury insisted the designers bring a sped-up video. However, she said, "This is going to be revolutionary. . . . It is a little hairy around the edges now because it's brand-new. But we owe it to our people to show them what's coming."
Another Japanese team, at Osaka University, designed the "Funbrella" — a standard umbrella equipped with a speaker and microphone that make the handle move as if it were being held in the rain. The ¥3,000 device can show how heavy a 250-mm-per-hour rain really is, and transmit the feel of rainfall in one town to a Funbrella in another, researcher Ai Yoshida said.
ardi etchujima
Will Japan space briefs pass smell test?
Pair worn by Wakata due for re-entry after monthlong trial
Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009
CAPE CANAVERAL,, Fla. (AP) In what might embarrass less-adventurous souls, astronaut Koichi Wakata is returning to Earth with the underwear he wore for a solid month during his space station stay, and scientists will check them out.
They're experimental high-tech undies designed in Japan to be odor free.
The Japanese spaceman described his underwear test Thursday as the shuttle Endeavour and its crew aimed for a touchdown the next morning. The astronauts released some minisatellites, their final job before Friday's re-entry, and said it was time to come home after more than two weeks aloft.
Wakata has been off the planet for 4 1/2 months.
"I haven't talked about this underwear to my crew members," Wakata said in an interview, drawing a big laugh from his six shuttle colleagues. "But I wore them for about a month, and my station crew members never complained for about a month, so I think the experiment went fine."
The Japanese underwear, called J-Wear, is a new type of antibacterial, water-absorbent, odor-eliminating clothing designed for space travel. The line includes shirts, pants and socks as well. Wakata tested all of them during his mission; he had four pairs of the silver-coated underwear, a cross between briefs and boxers.
"We'll see the results after landing," Wakata said.
J-Wear is billed as being antistatic and flame retardant, which is especially important for spaceship wear. The cotton and polyester clothes are also seamless, making them lighter and more comfortable, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The goal is "comfortable everyday clothes for life in a spaceship."
Another Japanese astronaut wore some J-Wear items during a shuttle flight last year, but had only 16 days in orbit to try them out.
NASA's space station program manager, Mike Suffredini, stressed the importance of testing new products, especially those aimed at improving astronauts' quality of life. There's no way to wash clothes in space. Station residents simply ditch dirty outfits, along with other garbage, in no longer needed cargo ships that are sent plunging in flames through the atmosphere.
"Eventually, we're going to do exploration. We're going to go to the moon. We're going to go beyond the moon someday, and little things like this will seem like really, really big things when you're far away from Mother Earth," Suffredini told reporters.
Good weather was forecast for Friday's late morning landing, with the rain expected to hold off until afternoon at NASA's spaceport.
On Thursday afternoon, NASA cleared Endeavour to come home, after analyzing wing and nose images beamed down by the crew Wednesday in one final sweep for micrometeorite damage.
"I'm ready to get back . . . I think I have a landing in me, so don't want to get anybody on the ground worried about that," commander Mark Polansky told AP.
In one of NASA's longer shuttle flights, Polansky and his crew put a new addition onto the international space station — a porch for Japan's massive $1 billion lab — and freshened up the place with batteries, experiments and spare parts. They rocketed into space July 15.
Thursday marked Day 15 in space for Polansky and all but one of his crew. For Wakata, Thursday marked Day 137. He flew to the ISS in March, becoming the first person from Japan to live at the orbiting outpost.
Wakata said he's longing for sushi.
"That's the first thing that I'd like to have, and also a hot spring in Japan sometime in the near future," Wakata said.
Earlier in the day, the shuttle astronauts released a small canister containing a navigation and rendezvous experiment. Five hours later, the crew launched an atmospheric density experiment so scientists can better understand how orbiting objects move and eventually come down.
Over at the space station, meanwhile, the major air-purifying system on the U.S. side failed again, and the crew spent the day trying to fix the equipment. Engineers suspect a heating element is causing a short.
A carbon dioxide-removal system on the Russian side is still operating properly, and the six astronauts have backup methods for cleansing the cabin atmosphere. But the American system is critical for long-term space station operations. It overheated over the weekend and shut down, but flight controllers managed to work around the problem, at least for a few days.
As for NASA's next station visit, officials are targeting an Aug. 25 launch for Discovery, provided that a few remaining tests of the fuel tank shows the insulating foam is attached properly.
An unusually large amount of foam broke off Endeavour's fuel tank during liftoff. Deputy shuttle program manager LeRoy Cain said dust or other debris may have gotten on the tank and not been cleaned off prior to the foam application. Some of the workers may not have been familiar enough with the job, he noted.
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