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News Briefs
News Brief Archive
New Solar Cells Promise more than 40% Efficiency
 One fact, often overlooked,
in discussions about Photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, which convert sunlight
directly into electricity, is that most of them are between 10 and 20 percent
efficient. Basically this means that most panels are unlikely to ever recoup
the energy used in their manufacture, let alone make any sort of contribution
as a zero emission source of energy.
Now two teams at Boeing
Spectrolab and Lawrence Berkley National Laboratories have announced panels
with more than 40 percent efficiency, 45 percent in the case of Lawrence
Berkley, which has developed a new zinc-manganese-tellurium semiconductor
material. This means the cost of solar panels could potentially fall, from the
present level of £4 ($8) per watt to less than £1.50 ($3.00) per watt, and
tantalisingly close to the 50 pence ($1) per watt target, at which point solar
cells become a viable and cost effective energy source. All that remains now is
to perfect an economical manufacturing process for the new panels (hopefully
before the energy needed to make them runs out) and the planet will be saved…
0812
Worm
Infects MySpace Videos
 A new worm
that adds ‘phishing’ links to user’s pages has been discovered on the hugely
popular MySpace website. The worm hides
inside QuickTime video files, laced with malicious JavaScript code and it
spreads to anyone visiting the page. According to Websense
Security Labs, who first raised the alarm, the worm exploits a known
vulnerability in the site’s security, called a ‘cross-site scripting flaw’. It
uses the HREF track in a QuickTime movie, which normally carries text data and
web addresses. Users who find their sites infected need to clear out their
profile and check with friends who visit their site to make sure that they
haven’t been infected as well.
0612
Wheely Unusual PC
 No, R2D2 hasn’t been
getting jiggy with a Dyson vacuum cleaner; this is the 914-PC-Bot from White Box Robotics. Basically it’s
a PC on wheels, based on standard components. It does all the usual stuff a
Windows XP PC will do, but it can also trundle around under its own steam,
following preset routes of wander around ‘exploring’ its environment, using its
built-in web cam to see, and show you where it is going. There’s plenty of
scope for customising and development and potential applications include
keeping watch on your home and office and carrying out simple tasks. Start
saving, if you want to be the first kid on the block with one of these
perambulating PC’s it will set you back a cool $5000
0411
New Windows Genuine Advantage Soon
 The controversial Windows Genuine Advantage Notification tool has been
the subject of a major overhaul following a lot of criticism in the way that it
works. WGA, which is automatically downloaded onto XP computers during updates
is supposed to help Microsoft combat piracy but it has rubbed a lot of users up
the wrong way and in particular the way it ‘phones home’ every time you boot up
your PC. Microsoft has made a number of changes, including making the
installation procedure more transparent, better explanations of what it does
and why it is doing it, and MS has changed the wording on the display that
appears on PCs WGA decides are running pirate copies of Windows, with an offer
to help them obtain a legitimate licence.
0112
Macs Targeted by Adware
 Mac owners can be unbearably smug when it comes to the viruses and
malware infections that plague Windows PCs, and with good reason. So far the
combination of tough security and low numbers have kept Mac owners relatively
safe but now there’s reports of an adware threat for OS X users.
According to F-Secure
they’ve seen a sample of an adware program, dubbed ‘iAdware’ that could be
silently installed on Macs and potentially do the sort of things to web browsers
that Windows users have been suffering from for years. Whether or not this will
turn out to be a real threat remains to be seen but it’s a small comfort for PC
users to know that no one is perfect…
2911
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Here’s something to think about, if everyone who owned a
PC remembered to switch it off when they finished using it, it would save more
than 30 billion kilowatt-hours of energy. We all want to do our part to reduce
carbon emissions and although an individual PC doesn’t use a lot of energy,
multiply it by the several hundred million that are in daily use and it starts
to become very significant. 
