All Shows

Show of 6-23-2012

Email and Forum Questions

  • Email from June: Dear Dr. Shurtz, I am going on a road trip with my sister. I wanted to get a mobile hotspot for secure WiFi on the road. I have an iPhone and looked at Verizon. I want it secure and an article I just read, states in the table that Verizon does not do WEP. What should I look for in a hotspot and what gives the best security. Also, right now I do not want to sign up for a contract using this device. Thank, June
  • Tech Talk Responds: Mobile hot spots are the latest way that the carriers are trying to sell data. Hotspots are available from carriers for around $100, but you have sign a two year contract with a month from $40 to $80. The Wi-Fi connection is encrypted using the usual standards form WEP to WPA2. These are not a bad option if you have deep pockets. In your care, however, I would make your iPhone a hotspot with Tethering. That will cost around $20 per month. You can turn it on for your trip and then turn it off when you return.
  • Email from Ken: I didn’t mean for my Facebook note about the cable assembly for an external drive to be a criticism; I meant it to be a contribution — additional information for the caller and anybody else who may have the same problem. I just wanted to add additional information and to share my discovery. I’m sorry that my email message sounded like criticism.
  • For me your show is a free non-credit course and is one of my primary sources of knowledge about technology. I always set an alarm on Saturday morning so I don’t sleep through it. I wish it were hours longer.
  • I have listened every week for about ten years, except when you switched stations. When you changed stations I could not find the show for months, maybe years. That was before you had a Web site where I could find out what station the show was on. Thanks, Ken
  • Tech Talk Responds: Ken, I loved your email. I really didn’t take it as criticism. I was just being a little light hearted. Emails with additional information or corrections are always welcome. And thanks for being such a loyal listener.
  • Email from Jonathan: Dear Tech Talk, I am trying to set up my printer for the home network. I have a Wi-Fi router and am using three computers. What is your suggestion? Love the show. Thanks, Jonathan.
  • Tech Talk Responds: If you have an older printer with not network or Wi-Fi connectivity, you can connect to one of the computers and enable print sharing. All computers will be able to print to this computer after setup. The host computer will always have to one. If you computer has an Internet connection, you can plug it into your router as a network printer. The best option is a printer with Wi-Fi connectivity. Just attach to the network, by providing the password, and then all printers will have access after set up. If you have apple device, you can use AirPrint for this option. By the way, you can also get printer applications for your SmartPhone to print via Wi-Fi.
  • Email from John: Dear Tech Talk, how much does a computer programmer earn? I plan on going on into a career into computer programmer and would like to know the minimum and maximum salary considering that you have a university degree. Thank, John
  • Tech Talk Responds: It is a very wide range that depends on experience and capability. Salaries in one country will be dramatically different from salaries in another. Salaries may be close to minimum in some places. Salaries may be exorbitantly high in another place. As a point of comparison, our typical starting salary for software engineers fresh out of school is 55K. If they are any good, they move to 100K fairly quickly. These are mostly students from India who are highly motivated to succeed in America.
  • To be more specific, you need to narrow down you area of interest. I would suggest surveying the field and a few companies that appear interesting to you. You might also check the want ads. And most importantly, start programming and developing a portfolio of projects.
  • Email from Stratford student: Dear Tech Talk, I heard something about a study abroad program at Stratford. Is it real? How to I find out about it? I am a culinary student going to school in Baltimore. Thank, a Stratford student
  • Tech Talk Responds: Actually we just launched our Study Abroad Program in Ireland. It will conducted at a 100-acre estate in Virginia, Ireland at a hunting lodge built in 1750. We are quite excited about the program. The program was just put on the Stratford website yesterday. You can go to www.stratford.edu/isp.

Profiles in IT: Alan Mathison Turing

  • Alan Mathison Turing was an English mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst and computer scientist. Turing is considered to be the father of computer science and AI.
  • Alan Mathison Turing was born June 23, 1912 in London and raised in Hastings.
  • His attended St Michael’s Day at the age of six and Sherborne School at age 13.
  • Received a BS in Mathematics from King’s College, Cambridge, in 1934.
  • In 1935, at the young age of 22, he was elected a fellow at King’s on the strength of a dissertation in which he proved the central limit theorem.
  • In his 1936 landmark paper, Turing proposed a simple arithmetic-based formal language, which became known as the Turing Machine, and proved that such a machine would be capable of performing any conceivable mathematical algorithm.
  • From September 1936 to July 1938 he spent most of his time at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey. In addition to his purely mathematical work, he studied cryptology and also built an electro-mechanical binary multiplier.
  • In June 1938 he received his PhD in Princeton, where he proposed a system of logic which allowed the study of problems that could not be solved by a Turing machine.
  • During World War II, Turing worked for the Government Code and Cypher School (GCCS) at Bletchley Park, Britain’s code breaking centre.
  • He devised techniques for breaking German ciphers, including the bombe, an electromechanical machine that could find settings for the Enigma machine.
  • This was first of five crypto-analytical advances that Turing made during the war.
  • In 1945, Turing was awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) for his wartime services, but his work remained secret for many years.
  • After the war he worked at the National Physical Laboratory, he created one of the first designs for a stored-program computer, the ACE.
  • Turing travelled to the United States in November 1942 and worked with U.S. Navy cryptanalysts on Naval Enigma and bombe construction in Washington.
  • During this trip, he assisted at Bell Labs with development of secure speech devices.
  • In 1948 Turing joined Max Newman’s Computing Laboratory at Manchester University, where he assisted in the development of the Manchester computers and became interested in mathematical biology.
  • Turing worked from 1952 until his death in 1954 on mathematical biology, specifically morphogenesis.
  • Turing’s homosexuality resulted in a criminal prosecution in 1952, when homosexual acts were still illegal in the United Kingdom. He accepted treatment with female hormones (chemical castration) as an alternative to prison.
  • He died in 1954, just over two weeks before his 42nd birthday, after taking a bite from an apple injected with cyanide poisoning.
  • On 10 September 2009, following an Internet campaign, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made an official public apology on behalf of the British government for the way in which Turing was treated after the war.

Google’s Alan Turing doodle

  • In honor of Alan Turing’s 100th birthday, Google a puzzle that is difficult to crack.
  • In includes a series of 1s and 0s and arrows pointing to left and right.
  • There is a green start button.
  • The aim of this work of is to spell out the word Google in binary.
  • This puzzle commemorates the Turing Machine.
  • Link to solution: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84pbZSt_a9k

Apple iOS6 Update

  • Apple announced that iOS 6 would be available this Fall. Here’s what we can expect.
  • Siri
    • In iOS 6, Siri will be able to answer questions about sporting events and stats thanks to partnerships with MLB, the NFL, and the NBA. Yelp and Rotten tomatoes integration will make it easy to look for restaurants and movies.
    • You’ll be able to make reservations through Siri as well.
    • Siri will now be able to launch apps.
    • Siri will now also be able to send Tweets and update your Facebook information. More on this later.
    • Apple has reached out to auto manufacturers to bring a “Siri button” into vehicles. BMW, GM, Mercedes, Land Rover, Jaguar, Audi, Toyota, Chrysler, and Honda were named as partners.
    • Siri will also work on the iPad, and begin working with a slew of new languages and in many new locations around the world.
  • Facebook Integration
    • Like Twitter, Facebook will be baked right into iOS 6. This allows for easy sharing of things like photos and locations right from their respective apps.
    • Calendar will also be linked to Facebook, so joining an event on Facebook will automatically add it to your calendar.
    • Facebook contacts will also be synched with your contacts. Thus, when your pal Randy updates his phone number or email, it gets pushed right to your phone.
    • In addition to all of this, Apple is providing a iOS Facebook API. This will give developers an easy, integrated way to bring Facebook activity to their apps.
    • Facebook integration will also be coming to Mac OS 10.8 as well.
  • Passbook
    • A completely new app from Apple, Passbook will be the single location for storing electronic tickets, loyalty cards, and coupons.
    • Prepaid cards will display the amount remaining in the account and will be scannable by retailers.
    • Passbook is location and time aware, so if you book tickets for a particular theater it will remind you to get there and pull up the tickets when you arrive.
  • Maps
    • The long awaited Apple-made successor to the Google Maps app which launched with the iPhone back in 2007.
    • The app finally brings turn-by-turn directions to a native iPhone app. Ask Siri where to get a burger, and it will give you directions.
    • All new map information designed by Apple. In general, it looks more Apple-like and fits better with the overall aesthetic of the phone.
    • Info cards for businesses are now updated with Yelp information.
    • Using anonymous data gathered from iPhone users, Apple can push traffic information to their map app.
    • The new map app will also feature fully rendered 3D views of cities in addition to overhead satellite photos.
  • Everything Else
    • Some 200 new features are said to be coming to iOS 6. These are just a few of them.
    • A new “lost” mode will allow you to send a phone number to your lost iPhone. If someone finds it, they can click the number and the phone will call you.
  • Expect the battle between Google and Apple to continue. Apple is retaliating against Google because of the Android OS.

Udacity to Launch Massive Online Course

  • Sebastian Thrun has launched Udacity, a new venture that offers MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses.
  • Thrun helped invent the self-driving car at Google and taught artificial intelligence at Stanford, before launching Udacity.
  • This weekend, Thrun kicked off an effort to “break the student record for the largest online class ever taught” with his new class, Introduction to Statistics: Making Decisions Based on Data.
  • It starts June 25 and is entirely free and open to students everywhere.
  • Students will receive dynamic feedback along the way, and diligent students will get a certificate of completion at the end.
  • Other courses starting on June 25 include:
    • Intro to Physics: Landmarks in Physics
    • Algorithms: Crunching Social Networks
    • Logic & Discrete Mathematics: Foundations of Computing
    • Software Testing: How to Make Software Fail
  • Web link: www.udacity.com

Local Teen May Change Cancer Treatment

  • His name is Jack Andraka, Crownsville, MD, has developed a sensitive test for the detection of virus or antigen cells.
  • He won the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in May taking home a $75K prise.
  • This is the Olympics of youth science, with more than 1,500 entries from 70 countries competing, each of which already won their national competitions.
  • He has presented results on TED.
  • He has developed a paper test strip that uses minute changes in conductivity to detect targeted viruses or antigens faster, cheaper and more accurately than today’s standard diagnostics.
  • Andraka’s breakthrough is a piece of filter paper, dipped in a solution of carbon nanotubes, coated with a specific antibody designed to bind with the target virus.
  • Andraka’s key insight is that there are noticeable changes in the electrical conductivity of the nanotubes when the distances between them changes.
  • When the antibodies on the surface of the nanotubes come in contact with a target protein, the proteins bind to the tubes and spread them apart a tiny bit.
  • That shift in the spaces between tubes can be detected by an electrical meter.
  • Andraka used a $50 meter from the Home Depot  detect the change.
  • His sensor is 100 times more selective than existing diagnostic tests, which means no false positives or false negatives.
  • Andraka is in the process of patenting his invention and will soon be submitting his work for publication through the American Association for Cancer Research.
  • He entered his first international science competition in the sixth grade and won a silver medal and then won gold medals in the 7th, 8th and 9th grades.

Microsoft Surface

  • Microsoft is finally getting back its Mojo.
  • This week the company announced its new Surface line of tablets.
  • Surface, in and of itself, looks quite impressive and is the type of move that Microsoft has needed to make to compete with Apple.
  • It is manufacturing its own, premium line of Windows-running hardware.
  • The Surface has a tablet form factor, but the power of a PC.
  • In the lower-end version, with the ARM processor and running Windows RT, is going to be a niche item at best.
  • The Pro version, which will run a full Windows 8 installation, is going to be more in line with what users are looking to buy.
  • You could say that it’s a direct competitor to the iPad, and you’d be right.
  • But you’d also be right to say that it’s a competitor to the MacBook Air.
  • The detachable keyboard cover is very nice and a great addition.
  • There isn’t a single Windows OEM partner that makes hardware this nice.
  • So if the device is nice, and has huge potential in the market
  • Where did Microsoft go wrong? There is no available for final pricing.
  • The only thing we know is that it will be available in conjunction with the release of Windows 8.
  • The name is terrible. Surface has been around for a while for an interactive table.
  • They need to follow Apple’s lead on product launch. I wish them the best. Apple needs some competition in this space.

More Malware Security Leaks

  • The Washington Post reports that the US and Israel cooperated to create the Flame malware — a computer espionage worm infecting thousands of systems throughout the Middle East — in order to attack Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
  • The confirmation, from anonymous Western officials, links Flame to the Stuxnet cyberweapon that the US and Israel used to target Iranian nuclear facilities in 2009.
  • The Post reports that the effort involved the NSA, CIA, and Israeli military, and that it was developed at least five years ago under the classified code-name “Olympic Games.”
  • The connection to the US and Israel had been previously speculated, as researchers recently discovered a “missing link” of code between Flame and Stuxnet that suggested the malware was developed by the same author.
  • Codenamed “Worm.Win32.Flame,” the malware has been described as “one of the most complex threats ever discovered,” and is believed to have infected thousands of computers, primarily in Iran and Israel.