2007
Year of the Pig
Islamic calendar 1427-28

World population reaches 7,000 million
Mean world temperature increased by 1.0oC since 1990
Cyberterror increasing worldwide
More Internet connections than phone subscribers

Customs seize more illegal personal identifiers in Heathrow swoop
Aids vaccine wins WHO approval - Ethics Committee fears precedent
Increasing demand for new recognition and tracing devices
Win2003-compatible FixEye software offers natural eye contact in videotelephony
IBM builds world's largest virtual market, sweeps ITF Awards
Rumours of Nokia's new VT Communicator - full-sized PC from pocket micro

International Customs Digest 8.1.2007

Customs seize more illegal personal identifiers in Heathrow swoop

British customs and excise officers have again intercepted a consignment of digital cameras equipped with outlawed personal identifiers. The cameras were found, apparently after a tip-off, in a container at London's Heathrow Terminal Five.

The cameras were fitted with photo-ID archives that covered all Greek passport holders. The material for the digital archives was almost certainly taken from the database stolen last year from the datafiles of the Passport Unit of the Greek Department of the Interior, located in Athens. The special feature of the cameras is that they are capable of recognizing the person shown in the viewfinder and can then search out background information on this individual from the data networks.

Recognition technology of this type was originally developed for the needs of private security firms. Cameras were programmed with full-face photographs of the client company's staff and customers, and these were linked to pass systems on the company's premises in order to replace staff passcards and keys. Since that time, however, memory capacity has increased several hundred times over, and now it is possible for a largish pocket-sized camera to store images of several million people.

This kind of photo gallery is, however, totally illegal, as it clearly represents a register of individuals for the collection, storage, and maintenance of which the necessary permits must be sought under the UN Edict on Privacy Protection Rights. This was obviously not the case in this instance, and to make matters worse, the photo archives were also stolen property.

The computer break-in in Athens was certainly not the first of its kind, or the only example. In recent years there have been burglaries and attempted burglaries on databases in several EU countries that conform to the same systems standards as used by the Greek Passport Unit. Finnish police officials, for example, had a nasty scare when it was thought that organized crime rings from Southern Europe had stolen the passport photos of the entire female population of the country, but the break-in was traced to a group of students at the Helsinki University of Technology.

The fifty cameras seized at Heathrow were apparently assembled in England, where the photo archives were also installed. The pattern recognition technology and the photo memory was produced at the Intel plants in the United States, and the camera optics, with their hidden optical fibre rods, are made by Canon. According to the customs declaration, the cameras were bound for a Tallinn-based company specializing in burglar alarms and real estate protection systems. A representative of the company said that they were quite unaware of the photo archives contained in the equipment, and that they intended to install their own already-prepared photo archives in the cameras for sale to waiting industrial and household customers in Estonia.

British customs investigators were reluctant to release details of their ongoing enquiries into the case, but hinted that the person picking up the container in Tallinn would hardly have been planning to deliver the cameras to the company concerned. Interpol has reported that similar camera systems have been used elsewhere in Europe, for example to recognize immigrants who have entered a country illegally, in order to extort money from them in return for silence.

Lancet Web Quarterly 2007/1

Aids vaccine wins WHO approval - Ethics Committee fears precedent

The World Health Organization has given its approval to the LT vaccine. The WHO decision was only reached after intense discussions and on a split vote.

The LT-vaccine is a compound of numerous ingredients, all of which resemble vaccines in their own right. A part of the ingredients are gene-manipulated viroids, with the task of penetrating the HIV-virus and preventing its operation in the body. Viroids are microbes, smaller and simpler in structure than viruses, but larger than prions. First discovered in the 1970s, they consist of a single strand of nucelic acid without a protein coating. In the natural world, they can cause stunting and certain common diseases in plants. The remainder of the vaccine is a compound of varied items - vaccines and antibiotics - designed to promote the patient's general condition and immune responses.

The argument within the WHO on the use of the LT-vaccine has arisen for two main reasons. The treatment has been shown to be relatively successful in animal trials over a two-year period and in human clinical trials during the last 12 months. In spite of the relatively short trial period, the WHO would like to see the drug placed on the market, since it regards the possible drawback and complications that may emerge are far less significant than the benefits that can be reaped. One faction within the organization argued that the ratification was justified simply on the grounds that there are now more than 60 million HIV-positive cases worldwide, more than twice the total ten years ago.

The Ethics Committee, however, has opposed rapid approval of the drug on the grounds that it will open the doors to pharmaceuticals manufacturers demanding speedy approval for all new drugs targeting dangerous diseases, because the LT-vaccine will set a tempting precedent.

A second source of friction within the international body has been the fears of several eminent research scientists that all too little is known as yet about viroids, and particularly about the prediction of their behaviour after genetic engineering. Some biochemists, for example, have expressed concerns that the viroids might alter the genome of the cell into which they penetrate for their own purposes. In this way, it is argued that in certain cases a viroid might actually strengthen the virus and expand its properties, giving rise to an even more difficult disease and a worse epidemic than we face today.

Medical Excelsoir, the company responsible for developing the vaccine, has promised in an extensive PR campaign that it will not be grabbing vast profits from the drug, but will keep prices within reasonable limits. According to the company's press releases, the manufacturing costs of a single dosage of the vaccine are somewhere around USD 2,000.

According to a toughly-worded statement issued by the Ugandan Ministry of Health, the UN and the WHO must provide financial assistance to third-world countries to ensure the supply of the LT-vaccine, or it will simply become the property of the developed countries, and the epidemic will continue to spread.

Wired 21.2.2007

Increasing demand for new recognition and tracing devices

New generation of human tracing and identification equipment rapidly capturing markets.

The most common recognition and ID devices are still the conventional physical key and the audio key. Alongside these familiar tools, fingerprint recognition and retinal identification, based on the structure of the holder's eye, are both gathering ground rapidly.

Retinal ID is becoming particularly common in the accessing of data systems. This has become possible with the leap-frogging development in resolution from digital cameras, which now allow the system to scan would-be users in this fashion. A London-based bank introduced retinal identification already in 1997 in some of its ATM outlets. The latest recognition system to be introduced is the smelltector, which recognizes its target on the basis of olfactory molecules.

The great majority of detection and recognition devices are installed to monitor property such as real estate, vehicles, or information. According to police reports collected nationwide, the use of such equipment has clearly reduced the level of physical crime and facilitated the task of tracking down criminals, since these days all detection and anti-theft devices can be installed and hidden in such a way that anyone using or attempting to use the guarded item illegally will inevitably leave a trace.

Police departments now recommend that all vehicles regardless of age be fitted with radio positioning devices equipped with mini-cameras. In order to defeat early attempts at radio jamming, American and European police laboratories have worked together to develop a new system, in which such radio beacons use rapidly changing frequencies. Interference on a larger scale can also be intercepted using satellites in geostationary orbit.

In the case of private homes and for some vehicles, police advise a combination of micro-cameras and fingerprint recognition. In remote locations and areas with a high incidence of crime, police are also encouraging the installation of smelltectors. This branch of the security industry is currently investing heavily in the development of olfactory identification and tracking methods.

Alternative uses have been noted for the tracking devices that are being sold alongside detection equipment. The bulk of these devices are today being sold to households, but some of the newer uses show an impressive leap of the imagination. A compass that operates using advanced olfatronics is a useful tool for tracing a missing spouse, for picking wild mushrooms, and for numerous other tasks that have previously required trained dogs. Fingerprint recognition and smelltecting have already been tried out in experiments to optimize the operation of elevators in large apartment blocks and offices, and in other applications where there are obvious advantages to be had from knowing the typical routes and behaviour patterns of users in advance.

"I've been very pleased with my new olfacompass. In spite of the hundreds of brands on the shelves, my compass helps me to find exactly the sort of lubricating oil I need for my car", commented former British rock guitarist Mick Taylor, also known as a vintage car enthusiast. Ivor Beak, the sales manager of OdorSeek Ltd., one of the trailblazing British companies working in olfatronics, put forward the theory that burglars have attempted to combat the threat to their livelihood by washing more regularly. The sad truth, however, is that no amount of washing can hinder the recognition process. The latest generation of devices are able to ignore deodorants and after-shaves, soaps, shampoos and other similar scent sources, and the individual's personal smellprint is almost always identifiable.

PictureTel (sales brochure) - 9/2007

Win2003-compatible FixEye software offers natural eye contact in videotelephony

Dear Customer,

Do you want to look your conversation partner in the eye - and mean it?

Our new FixEye software adjusts the direction of your eyes in videocalls, and hence the all-important eye contact in videotelephony becomes almost totally natural.

Looking into a person's eyes is one of the key confidence-builders in discussions and business negotiations with customers or colleagues. Until now, however, videophone technology has been so primitive that natural eye contact has been practically impossible.

We have been taught to look directly into the camera, because then our conversation partner has the sensation that we are looking into his or her eyes. But if we concentrate all our energy on that camera, then it is impossible to attend to the gestures and expressions of the other party. And if on the other hand we follow the eye movements of the person on the screen, then our own eyes appear to be straying here, there and everywhere. The result is inevitably that we don't look convincing - and an important sale might be lost as a result.

Sustained staring at an external camera - or even at one of the new breed of screen-mounted mini-cams - is also extremely tiring, and impossible for many.

FixEye is the answer to these problems!

FixEye uses sophisticated image-shaping technology to profile the camera image sent to your videophone partner in such a way that your gaze is directed where it counts - right between the eyes.

FixEye lets you forget the camera and concentrate on your partner's eyes and expressions! Instantly and effortlessly you become a more persuasive videophone user. I am quite sure there are situations where you could recoup your investment and more with a single successful call - if you have the eye for it.

Give yourself a new, more effective, more convincing vidi-face today! You deserve nothing but the best!

Download our detailed video brochure from our website now!

FixEye is the only application of its kind in the world. The operating principle is basically simple - the two videophone devices exchange data on the position and direction of the eyes. FixEye is based on a patented innovation from the Helsinki Telephone Company and Pixair's revolutionary Image Manager software. The all-inclusive program costs just EUR 80, and you can download it immediately from our secure server. The software is fully compatible with all Win2003-based or later videophone systems to ITU standards. Please note that FixEye operation requires both parties to a vidiphone conversation are using equipment with Microsoft WINK ocular control.

SatWeb 15.10.2007

IBM builds world's largest virtual forum, sweeps ITF Awards

IBM has built the world's largest-ever virtual forum. The computer giant's efforts were rewarded with a clutch of prizes at the annual IT Olympics, arranged by the Internet Task Force (ITF).

Nearly 1000 people arrived at the IBM forum before the system reached its design ceiling and the managers were obliged to restrict access. With this emphatic win, Big Blue proved to doubters that the company still has what it takes, and can still lead the way in large areas of the IT branch.

The virtual forum is a meeting place in cyberspace, in which each participant appears as a three-dimensional animated character or avatar, in such a way that the video image of the individual's face is "glued" to this particular cartoon character. In other words, the actual face and facial gestures are visible.

Visitors to the virtual forum can discuss with one another, but the limitations of current audio technology and the sophisticated behaviour of the human ear have restricted the number of participants. In order for the conversation to be natural, each individual should be able to hear the other parties' voices clearly. Naturally, those in the immediate vicinity should be more easily audible than those further away. The human ear is also selective: the hearing centre in the brain always amplifies the sounds we find most interesting.

IBM has developed a special chip which calculates and sums the various voices, based in part on analog technology. The company notes, however, that computers are still not sufficiently fast to handle the calculations that traditional transistor technology and active amplifiers can manage with ease. The chemical and gas transistors currently under development will nevertheless probably increase dramatically the performance of the special chips.

The method used at the recent ITF gathering involves separating the virtual forum into 10,000 screens. The system, comprising rather more than a hundred of the chips, is capable of dealing with the checksum calculations on the sounds present in this volume of screens. ITF Chairman Brian W. Rosenberg regards the solution as a very significant development along the road to natural human intercourse on the data networks.

"The natural audio landscape is the critical factor as we develop authentic virtual spaces. The human ear is capable of discerning and filtering a great deal of information from sounds. In the virtual space the influence of the auditive senses grows markedly as and when the effects of distance and mobility can be brought under control."

Rosenberg expects that the IBM chip will be released onto the market before very long, and that product development and competition will push down prices rapidly thereafter. "It may well be that in five years or so, the idea of a 1000-strong virtual forum will be a commonplace for the hundreds of millions of Internet users", Rosenberg forecasts.

Rosenberg also has high hopes for the development of virtual walls, now still in its infancy, since he considers that the experience of the virtual forum will only become truly realistic when the individual humans are viewed in their natural size.

One of the guest speakers at a seminar held in connection with the IT Olympics was Orwell Castell, Vice-President, R & D of the Denver-based Unirobotics Corporation. Castell stressed the way in which human hearing does not always select out the loudest sounds, but the most interesting. The entire concept of intangibles such as interest triumphing over concrete considerations like volume nevertheless contains such a vast amount of information that modelling for large groups has not yet been feasible. Factors bearing on the issue include such things as movement, echoes and delays, and the vertical location of the listener. All these parameters can be realised in the lab for individual sound sources or listeners, but the capacity of the present generation of computers is inadequate for large groups, let alone crowds of several hundred.

SatWeb 14.12.2007

Rumours of Nokia's new VT Communicator -full-sized PC from pocket micro?

According to so far anonymous sources within the industry, the Finnish mobile phone and IT giant Nokia may have perfected a radically new palm-micro.

A beta-tester, who wished to remain unnamed, reports that despite its apparent miniature size, Nokia's new Communicator model in fact contains a full-sized videophone and PC. Nokia has thus far refused to confirm or deny the rumours.

According to our source, the new device is relatively bulky for a pocket computer, but can still be squeezed into a breast pocket. What is truly revolutionary is that the equipment has no keyboard or display whatsoever - at least not in the conventional sense. These have both been replaced by the camera and projectors used in the videophone. In use, a thin-film plastic sheet spreads out in front of the device, onto which is projected a full-sized keyboard. Correspondingly, a second projector creates a colour display on another sheet of film behind the main unit. The traditional mouse control has been replaced by ocular control, apparently based on earlier Microsoft technology, and the Communicator is also programmed to respond to audio prompts for certain basic commands. Apparently, Nokia engineers are already engaged on trials of a version in which the thin-film plastic sheets are replaced by a microthin nitrogen jet film.

Not surprisingly, representatives of Ericsson and Motorola were reluctant to comment on the possible new breakthrough in Finland. However, both companies reported that their own research was centred on the use of hologram technology in similar applications.

Amur Schein, Chief Technical Officer at the EU's Test Laboratory in Montpellier, had grave doubts that a device like the new Nokia model would find a market in its present form, since users are too attached to the traditional feel of the keyboard. He suggested that it might at some stage be possible to replicate that "touch" by adding a sense of feel to the keyboard interface through infrasound, but that this was still some way off.

The rumours have in any event boosted Nokia share prices, as the company's stock rose sharply in early trading in Beijing and Tokyo.

Hannula I. & Linturi R. 1998: 100 Phenomena.
Yritysmikrot Oy, Helsinki 1998. Copyright notices ISBN 952-9508-18-2