'Petaflop' supercomputer shuts down

1 April 2013 Last updated at 05:50 ET

A US supercomputer called Roadrunner has been switched off by the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

The machine was the first to operate at "petaflop pace" - the equivalent of 1,000 trillion calculations per second - when it launched in 2008.

It has been used to model viruses and distant parts of the universe, as well as in nuclear weapons research.

It remains one of the fastest supercomputers in the world, but has been replaced by something even faster.

"Roadrunner got everyone thinking in new ways about how to build and use a supercomputer,'' said Gary Grider, from the Los Alamos National Laboratory high performance computing division, in a statement.

"Specialised processors are being included in new ways on new systems and being used in novel ways. Our demonstration with Roadrunner caused everyone to pay attention.''

Its replacement, the Cielo, has been used by the weapons research lab since 2010. While Roadrunner cost $121m (£79m) to develop, Cielo cost $54m (£35m) and is a faster operator, according to the lab.

Roadrunner was developed by computer giant IBM.

The huge machine includes 12,000 modified versions of the processor originally designed for the Sony Playstation 3, and 92km (57 miles) of fibre optic cable, housed in 288 refrigerator-sized cases.

It was shut down on Sunday 31 March and will be dismantled this month after some experiments are carried out on its operating system, said the laboratory.

"Even in death, we are trying to learn from Roadrunner," said Mr Grider.

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Cat Video Festival returns to US

1 April 2013 Last updated at 07:51 ET

A second festival dedicated to celebrating internet videos of cats is due to take place in Minnesota in August 2013.

Some 10,000 people gathered at the inaugural event last summer, hosted by the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

This year's attendees are once again invited to nominate their favourite feline-themed viral videos to be played on a big screen at the event.

The festival will also now come to Brooklyn, New York, later in the year.

The video judged the best at last year's festival featured a cat called Henri, described on his own website as "the world's first and foremost feline philosopher".

Director Will Bradon described the award as "a great honour" and is planning to unveil new material at the 2013 event.

Short videos of "cute" animal behaviour are often popular on video websites such as YouTube and Vimeo, but cats seem to be a perennial favourite.

A one minute film of a cat "hugging" its kitten uploaded in May 2011 has been seen more than 50 million times on YouTube since it went viral after being posted on social news website Reddit.

"I think [cats] are easier to anthropomorphise and harder to herd," said Plymouth University Professor Susan Blackmore, author of The Meme Machine, in an interview with website knowyourmeme.com on the reason why cats are such an internet hit.

"There's something secretive about them. When I was a child I used to imagine that all our local cats met up every night after dark to plot schemes against the grown-ups... One would never imagine this of dogs."

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Apple apologises to China customers

2 April 2013 Last updated at 02:28 ET

Apple boss Tim Cook has apologised to Chinese consumers after state media accused the firm of arrogance, greed and of "throwing its weight around".

A two-week long Chinese media campaign had focused on Apple's repair policies.

A statement on Apple's China website said "misunderstandings" may have led to the perception "Apple's attitude was arrogant" towards Chinese customers.

Mr Cook promised to improve the repair policy on the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, and to improve warranty information.

"We are aware that a lack of communications... led to the perception Apple's attitude was arrogant and that we do not care and attach importance to consumer feedback," Mr Cook wrote. "We express our sincere apologies for any concerns or misunderstandings this gave consumers."

Apple said it would enhance communication with Chinese consumers and strengthen oversight of authorised resellers.

Earlier this year, Mr Cook said he expected China to replace North America as Apple's largest source of revenue.

China is currently Apple's second-largest market, with more than 17,000 outlets selling its products.

The company says it has eight stores in mainland China, with another three in Greater China, which includes Hong Kong.

'Incomparable arrogance'

State broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) first criticised Apple on 15 March on a show about consumer rights and safety.

The program accused Apple of failing to offer new replacement iPhones if major repairs are needed during a one-year warranty.

Continue reading the main story

Here we have the Western person's sense of superiority making mischief"

End Quote People's Daily

Following on from that, the state's flagship newspaper, People's Daily, portrayed Apple as the latest Western company to exploit Chinese citizens.

Last week the paper ran an editorial headlined: "Strike down Apple's incomparable arrogance".

"Here we have the Western person's sense of superiority making mischief,'' the paper wrote. "If there's no risk in offending the Chinese consumer, and it also makes for lower overheads, then why not?''

However, some observers in China called it hypocrisy that the paper often does not feature incidents where Chinese companies have been named as part of food safety scares, environmental violations or corruption scandals.

Apple will now offer full replacements of iPhone 4 and 4S models, and a one-year warranty will start from the date of replacement.

It will also allow customers to offer feedback directly, Mr Cook said.

Apple is not the first foreign company to come under pressure from Chinese media.

Last year, CCTV featured McDonald's and Carrefour for food safety violations. The companies later apologised.

Most recently, the parent company behind KFC, Yum, apologised after reports that chicken from some of its suppliers had excess amounts of hormones and drugs.

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Court rules against digital reseller

2 April 2013 Last updated at 07:51 ET

A company which allowed customers to resell their digital music "second hand" breached copyright, a US judge has ruled.

ReDigi billed itself as the first legal way to resell music bought online - but soon provoked the ire of record labels.

It was sued by Capitol Records in January 2012, and on Monday a New York judge said ReDigi was making unauthorised copies of music.

The ruling could have broad implications for digital reselling.

Unlike physical music CDs, Judge Richard Sullivan ruled that the "first sale doctrine" did not apply.

The doctrine is a long-established rule which allows the reselling of goods to a new owner. In other words, selling a CD once you no longer want it.

But in the digital world, where duplication is much easier, the first sale doctrine was not appropriate, the judge said.

"It is simply impossible that the same 'material object' can be transferred over the internet," he wrote in his ruling.

"ReDigi facilitates and profits from the sale of copyrighted commercial recordings, transferred in their entirety, with a likely detrimental impact on the primary market for these goods."

ReDigi argues that their system means the original download is removed from the seller's computer.

The company asks users to download proprietary software, which verifies if a file was bought legally. If the song checks out, it is then erased from the seller's hard drive and uploaded to ReDigi's computer servers.

ReDigi's software is designed to prevent sellers from reinstalling a sold song to their computer, and offers users the chance to check their libraries for illegal music.

But the judge said: "It is beside the point that the original phonorecord no longer exists. It matters only that a new phonorecord has been created."

Wider impact

The notion of being able to sell on your unwanted digital goods is a concept that has caught the eyes of, among others, Amazon and Apple.

Both companies have been granted patents relating to the selling or transferring of digital goods - but while both offer cloud storage services for music, neither has yet set up a reselling function.

"Both Amazon and Apple have been working on patents, which are insurance policies for both of them in my view," said Joe Wikert from O'Reilly Media, speaking to Reuters.

"They have been sitting on the sidelines watching the ReDigi case."

Mr Wickert added that the ruling was "not a good first step" for the digital reselling industry.

Capitol Records, whose catalogue includes Frank Sinatra's Come Fly With Me and The Beatles' Yellow Submarine, sought $150,000 (£99,000) for each infringement.

The judge did not set an amount for damages, instead inviting both firms to submit statements regarding the next steps in the case.

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Google faces European privacy probe

2 April 2013 Last updated at 10:06 ET

Six European data protection agencies are contemplating legal action over Google's privacy policy.

The threat comes as a four-month deadline to change the policy expires with Google making "no change" to the policy.

Google's perceived failure to act is being looked in to by data watchdogs in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK.

In a statement, Google said its privacy policy "respects European law".

'Full engagement'

In late October 2012, a European Commission working party reported that Google's privacy policy did not meet Commission standards on data protection.

The report said Google should do more to let users see what information was held about them, provide tools to manage this data and take more care to ensure it did not store too much data about users.

The investigation was kicked off by Google's decision to update its privacy policy so it had one set of guidelines for every service it ran.

Google was given four months to comply with the working party's recommendations to bring the policy into line with European law.

"After this period has expired, Google has not implemented any significant compliance measures," said French data watchdog CNIL in a statement. CNIL headed the probe into the privacy policy.

In addition, said CNIL, Google was warned about the potential for action on 19 March in a meeting with officials from six data watchdogs. "No change," was seen following this meeting, said CNIL.

As a consequence, all six data protection bodies were now opening new investigations into Google and how it handled privacy. The UK's Information Commissioner confirmed it was looking at whether the policy complied but said it could not add further comment because the investigation was ongoing.

A Google spokesman said: "Our privacy policy respects European law and allows us to create simpler, more effective services."

"We have engaged fully with the DPAs involved throughout this process, and we'll continue to do so going forward," added the spokesman.

News of the action comes as Google's privacy director, Alma Whitten, steps down from her job. Ms Whitten was appointed as the search giant's first privacy director in 2010, following a series of mistakes by Google that had led to user data being exposed.

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Student's fish-eye camera success

3 April 2013 Last updated at 03:40 ET

A student who built his own digital fish-eye camera to save money has taken orders for almost 300 of them from around the world.

Greg Dash, 25, from Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, created the device from old camera parts and soon found it in demand from other photography fans.

The 12 megapixel camera is around 4cm (1.5in) long and 2cm (0.8in) high with no LCD screen but shoots HD video.

He is selling the cameras for £65 and has taken an order for 50 from Taiwan.

Mr Dash, who did his degree in Swansea and was a postgraduate in Cardiff, said he was driven to create the camera because he could not afford to buy a fish-eye lens for his film camera.

He said: "I've always been a fan of photography from a young age, but only ever used film cameras.

"A friend bought me an SLR [single lens reflex] camera a few years ago, and I wanted to get a fish eye lens for it.

"However, as they cost hundreds of pounds and me being a student I had virtually given up on the idea.

"But then I thought instead to make my own using old camera parts."

Unlike most digital cameras, his creation has no viewfinder or screen to view photos.

Mr Dash, currently studying for a doctorate in renewable energy and eco-tourism at Aberystwyth University, said this element reminds him of the way people work with film cameras.

"One of the things I first loved about it is that it doesn't have an LCD screen to preview images - so you have that element of surprise when you come to look at the photos you have taken for the first time.

"That's something I love about using film cameras, but being a hard-up student I couldn't always afford to develop rolls.

"So that's where the idea about making it digital came in."

Extreme sports

Mr Dash began fundraising in February via a business support website to put the camera into production run of 500.

He said he has had a lot of interest from aeroplane enthusiasts and extreme sports fans keen to put the device to work.

"Since taking pre-orders a month ago, 290 people have put their money down.

"I've even taken one order of a batch of 50 from Taiwan, which is amazing considering the camera has only been promoted via word of mouth."

He said the income from the orders had almost cleared his seven-year student debts.

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Mobile phone hits 40th birthday

3 April 2013 Last updated at 05:58 ET

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Marty Cooper recalls making the first mobile phone call

The first mobile phone call was made 40 years ago today, on 3 April 1973.

Martin Cooper, a senior engineer at Motorola, called a rival colleague at another telecoms company and announced he was speaking from "a 'real' cellular telephone".

In 2012 a report carried out by the International Telecommunication Union found that there were six billion mobile phone subscriptions worldwide.

At the time the global population was seven billion.

"In 40 years we've moved rapidly from the mobile phone as a businessman's tool, through consumerisation and internet access to everything being connected," Dr Mike Short CBE, former president of the Institute of Engineering and Technology and Vice President of Telefonica Europe, told the BBC.

"In the future we will see a much wider range of devices - many of which will be wearable," he added.

"We will work more fully with all the senses. The move to glasses has begun - how can we use eye control to change and look at pages?

"Wearables, in terms of (smartphone) watches, are coming. We'll also see health measurement body vests that can communicate with your phone and then your doctor," said Dr Short.

Phone father

Martin Cooper, now aged 85, is renowned as the "father" of the mobile phone.

In a previous interview with the BBC he admitted he thought the initial cost of the devices (in 1983 the first models cost $3,500, or £2,300) might be prohibitive to the mobile phone becoming a mass-market product, but he did recognise that the hefty handsets would probably shrink.

"We did envision that some day the phone would be so small that you could hang it on your ear or even have it embedded under your skin," he said.

Mr Cooper said his vision for a mobile phone was first conceived in the late 1960s when the car telephone was invented by AT&T.

He wanted to create "something that would represent an individual so you could assign a number not to a place, not to a desk, not to a home but to a person," he said.

"It pleases me no end to have had some small impact on people's lives because these phones do make people's lives better. They promote productivity, they make people more comfortable, they make them feel safe and all of those things," Mr Cooper added.

He was also pleased to have been one step ahead of the competition.

"When you are a competitive entity like we were, it's one of the great satisfactions in life," he said.

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Prime minister's tech adviser quits

3 April 2013 Last updated at 07:28 ET

The man responsible for setting up the government's Tech City initiative supporting start-ups in east London is to step down.

Rohan Silva, a senior advisor to David Cameron, will leave his role in June to pursue other business interests.

The BBC understands he is to work with venture capital firm Index Ventures, before moving into the educational technology industry.

Number 10 said it planned to hire a replacement in due course.

A source at Downing Street said: "Rohan is committed to entrepreneurship and has always said he wants to start his own business at some point."

During Mr Silva's time as adviser, he has overseen initiatives focused on expanding London's burgeoning start-up scene.

In a statement, the Tech City Investment Organisation praised the 32-year-old's contribution.

"When you have a passion for entrepreneurship like Rohan and spend as much time working with start-ups as he has in building Tech City, moving from championing those businesses to creating one is a natural next step.

"We will continue to work closely with Rohan until his departure in June and we wish him a world of success."

'Big coup'

Mr Silva had become known as a cheerleader for progressive policies for technology start-ups, including the Entrepreneur Visa.

He was said to be directly involved in the hiring of Joanna Shields, formerly of Facebook, to run Tech City - an appointment described as a "big coup" at the time.

However, Tech City's many critics have said the visa has been ineffective in helping to hire talent from outside the EU, while other initiatives - such as a revamped Old Street Roundabout - have been dismissed as a waste of money.

Last summer, a think tank published a stinging attack on Tech City, saying developers whom it was seeking to help were left "frustrated", and some policies were counterproductive.

Speaking to Tech City News, a news site based in east London, Mr Silva said: "Anyone that knows me knows I've been straining at the leash to have a go at my own business for a number of years now."

He insisted his decision was not a statement on the leadership of David Cameron and George Osborne.

"It's been a hard decision, I've loved that I've been able to make a difference."

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Ticket machine card fraud rise in EU

3 April 2013 Last updated at 10:45 ET

Five out of 23 European countries reported an increase in card-skimming devices attached to transport ticket machines, according to new research.

A report published by the European ATM Security Team (East) in March also found a rise in skimmers found on parking ticket meters in two countries.

Card skimmers, which steal bank card data, are more commonly attached to cash machines by criminals.

Unstaffed pay-at-pump petrol stations were also targeted in six countries.

The report did not identify individual countries but France, Germany, Russia and the UK were among those which supplied information about card fraud activity to East.

British Transport Police told the BBC that while it is was aware of the issue on rail ticket machines it was "not a major problem" in the UK.

According to the UK Cards Association, fraud losses on cards in the UK alone totalled £185m in the first six months of last year.

Once the card data has been copied, fraudsters can then get a cloned card made containing the information of the original account holder.

Chip-and-pin

While many European countries have adopted EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) card security - known as chip-and-pin - America has not.

Cash machines in the US still read data from the magnetic stripe on the back of an inserted card, so even those with a chip-and-pin have a stripe as well.

"Because chip-and-pin is not yet widely supported in the United States, skimmer scammers who steal card data from European ATM users tend to ship the stolen card data to buyers or co-conspirators in the United States, where the data is encoded onto fabricated cards and used to pull cash out of US ATMs," security expert Brian Krebbs wrote in a blog post.

"The latest report from East continues to emphasise that most card fraud, stemming from skimming incidents in Europe, is in fact perpetrated outside of Europe."

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'China's Google' making smart specs

3 April 2013 Last updated at 12:24 ET

Baidu, China's largest search engine, is working on its own smart glasses technology - similar to Google's Glass project.

A spokesman for the Chinese firm said the glasses would be able to search by using facial recognition.

Kaiser Kuo told Reuters that Baidu had not yet decided whether the glasses would be made commercially available.

"We experiment with every kind of technology that is related to search," Mr Kuo said.

Like Google Glass, the Baidu glasses - reportedly known internally as Baidu Eye - consist of a small LCD screen attached to a slim headset.

A leaked image taken at Baidu's offices show a person wearing a headset matching the description - but Baidu would not confirm if it was Baidu Eye.

Some early reports had suggested that news of the technology was in fact an April Fool's joke - but while some reports on 1 April were embellished, there was truth behind the rumours.

Alarm

Mr Kuo said that the technology makes the most of Baidu's considerable expertise in facial recognition.

"What you are doing with your camera, for example, taking a picture of a celebrity and then checking on our database to see if we have a facial image match, you could do the same thing with a wearable visual device."

Such words are likely to alarm those worried about the capabilities of this type of technology.

Campaign group "Stop the Cyborgs" has called for limits on when the headsets can be used.

"We want people to actively set social and physical bounds around the use of technologies and not just fatalistically accept the direction technology is heading in," a campaigner told the BBC last month.

Meanwhile, in San Francisco - home of Google - a cafe has said it will ban customers from using Google Glass on its premises.

In response to worries, Google has said: "We are putting a lot of thought into how we design Glass because new technology always raises important new issues for society."

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