OZ Optical SETI Program

Technology already exists that can produce extremely short laser pulses of petaWatts (1015 Watts). If one couples this to a large optical telescope like the 10-meter Keck, which is used like a searchlight mirror, there is an efficient system of directing nanosecond laser pulses at other interstellar civilizations. Laser light produced like this and directed toward the solar system would easily outshine the light from the star from which the light originated. According to Bhathal, the nanosecond laser pulse would appear about 5,000-7,000 times brighter than the background light from the ETI star. This fact is independent of distance, since both the laser light and the light from the ETI star will diminish at about the same rate with distance.
http://www.cosmiverse.com/space03010201.html

Slashdot Thread on 40 Years of Video Games

...This month marks the 40th anniversary of Spacewars, the very first video game ever created! Its very interesting to consider how quickly the popularity of video games grew, because, essentially, Spacewars was spontaneously generated. I guess there is something about blinking lights, flashing colors, and tinny sound effects that just appeals to the soul.
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/02/28/136217&mode=thread&tid=127

Another El Nino On The Way

Nations worldwide are bracing for climatic havoc again in 2002 just five years after a devastating El Nino weather pattern engulfed the globe, killing more than 20,000 people and wreaking some $34 billion in damage.In recent weeks, the worlds top metereological centers have said that the odds are shortening for a recurrence of El Nino, where unusual warming of Pacific waters off South America triggers far-flung drought, ice storms, floods and fires.Forecasters at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) kicked off the new year saying El Nino would likely return in spring though its intensity was unclear.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/020228/5/ka0n.html

Hacker says he saw Social Security numbers inside New York Times network

The New York Times is investigating a hackers claim that he found security lapses in the newspapers computer network that exposed contributors Social Security numbers and other sensitive files.Adrian Lamo, 21, a part-time Internet security consultant from San Francisco, said Tuesday he hacked the newspapers Web site and snooped around numerous times about 10 days earlier.He said he found at least seven misconfigured servers that would allow hackers to enter the newspapers private network through its public Web site. He said he browsed through names and Social Security numbers of the papers employees, home delivery customers orders and contact information used by writers and editors on the Metro and Business desks.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/020228/6/k8uv.html

Contacting Pioneer 10 After 30 Years

Launched March 2, 1972, Pioneer 10, built by TRW Inc., Redondo Beach, Calif., is now 7.4 billion miles from Earth. Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to pass through the asteroid belt and the first to make direct observations and obtain close-up images of Jupiter. During the passage by Jupiter, Pioneer 10 also charted Jupiters intense radiation belts, located the planets magnetic field, and established that Jupiter is predominantly a liquid planet.In 1983, it became the first man-made object to leave the solar system when it passed the orbit of Pluto, the most distant planet. The spacecraft continued to make valuable scientific investigations in the outer regions of the solar system until its science mission ended March 31, 1997. Pioneer 10s weak signal continues to be tracked by DSN as part of an advanced concept study of communications technology. Pioneer 10 is headed toward the constellation Taurus, where it will pass the nearest star in the constellation in about two million years.
http://www.cosmiverse.com/space02280201.html

Hack a PC, Get Life in Jail

"If we are to protect American consumers, businesses and government, federal laws against cyber-crime must be strengthened," said Robert Cresanti, vice president of the Business Software Alliance. "The Cyber Security Enhancement Act will provide law enforcement with needed digital age tools and impose tougher sentencing on those who would threaten our security."
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50708,00.html

The Developers Dilemma

By the end of the year, two platforms--J2EE and .Net--will essentially control the programming languages market. J2EE already commands large market share, while Microsoft has moved all of its languages over to .Net. However, unlike five years ago, the differences between platforms is no longer that they are language-specific, as .Net and J2EE each represent more than one language. Interestingly enough, most people think that being language-specific is at issue. This is because Microsoft introduced the concept of the CLR, or common language runtime. What that means is two of the languages offered by Microsoft, VB.Net and C#, both share the same runtime.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107-842922.html