SAN DIEGO - Tracing its roots to a founder's anger at a no-show home remodeling crew, the makers of Shoot & Proof software aim to erase any doubts that digital photos are faked or manipulated.
The software maker, CodaSystem France SA in Paris, unveiled the fruits of its founder's frustrations Tuesday at the DEMOfall 2007 technology show, a two-day rapid-fire procession of new gadgets and gizmos.
DEMO, now in its in its 17th year, has served as a launch pad for such industry standouts as TiVo Inc., Palm Inc.'s Pilot and the Danger HipTop handheld. Each of the 69 presenters gets six minutes to impress a crowd of journalists and venture capitalists as well as technology companies looking for startups to buy.
Shoot & Proof is intended for use on cell phones, said Frederic Vanholder, managing director, and it is running on about 600 handsets, thanks partly to $5 million in venture capital raised last year.
The angry CodaSystem founder, who has since left the company, figured that if he photographed the part of his home that needed the work that wasn't done — and he convinced authorities the image was authentic — then he would be able to get back what he paid for the work.
Shoot & Proof shows where a photo was shot (if the phone is equipped with global positioning software), as well as when and on whose device.
A retailer client of CodaSystem uses Shoot & Proof to ensure manufacturers that their wares are being displayed as promised. A security company uses it to record break-ins and reassure insurance companies they aren't being bilked.
Near the opposite end of the spectrum, another participant in DEMOfall, MotionDSP Inc., introduced a Web site, http://www.fixmymovie.com, where consumers can sharpen pictures and videos taken on cell phones, images that are typically jumpy and heavily pixelated.
MotionDSP, based in San Mateo, Calif., got its start by licensing software from the University of California at Santa Cruz and targeting military and intelligence agencies. In-Q-Tel, an investment firm launched by the CIA in 1990 to support U.S. intelligence work, announced in July that it was an investor.
The company won't discuss its government work in detail but says its software also can be used to sharpen images taken with security cameras, which, like cell phones, are known for delivering poor quality. Though vastly improved, the images still fall short of footage shot with a digital camcorder, however.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Software takes aim at altered photos
Euro gamers get hands on Halo 3
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Gamers across Europe got their hands on Halo 3 at midnight on Tuesday, one of the most anticipated and heavily marketed titles in history.
Thousands of gamers queued on Monday at stores in the US, Australia and New Zealand to be the first to play it.
The Xbox 360 title is Microsoft's key weapon in the console wars with Sony and Nintendo.
Microsoft hopes day one sales will top £70m ($140m), more than the opening takings of any movie in history.
However, sceptics point out that video games cost upwards of £40 ($80), while cinema tickets are much less.
More than 1,000 shops opened across the UK on Tuesday for the launch.
In New York, about 500 people turned out for the midnight launch.
Gamer Alex Escobar, who was one of the first in the queue, told Reuters news agency: "It is worth it. It is time to finish this fight," echoing the tagline for the science fiction game.
Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, said the hoped for success of Halo 3 was an essential element in the competitive console market.
He said: "Halo 3 is the biggest franchise for Xbox. The game is going to drive a lot of Xbox 360 sales and Xbox Live subscriptions this Christmas."
Boost sales
Microsoft needs Halo 3 to boost sales of the Xbox 360; despite investing billions of dollars into the Xbox project it has yet to see any meaningful profitable return
"It's far too early to say what the financial return will be for our investment," Mr Kim told the BBC News website.
Microsoft hopes to make a profit on its Xbox in this financial year.
"If we can't make a profit in the year Halo 3 comes out, then when will we?" said Mr Kim.
More than a million people pre-ordered the game, which is the concluding part of a science fiction trilogy that tells the story of a super soldier, called Master Chief, who is leading the fight to save humanity from an alien collective, called the Covenant.
The game has become a major entertainment franchise in recent years - with spin-off games, clothing, novels and action figures all available.
The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson is working with Halo's makers, Bungie studios, on a series of Halo-related interactive episodes.
He has also agreed to produce a movie based on the Halo series, which is currently on hold following financial wrangles over the cost of the film.
"It's not necessarily going to move a lot of new systems like the first Halo did," said Dan Hsu, editor-in-chief of US games magazine EGM.
"At the same time, with all the marketing blitz and hype, consumers will be out there," he said, "and if they are thinking video games, they are thinking one of two things: Halo or the Wii."
Web reviews of the game have begun to emerge with most posting very high scores.
Game site Eurogamer wrote: "Hype machine aside... what we find in Halo 3 is quite simply this - the best game yet in one of the best FPS (first person shooter) franchises of the era."
All three of the leading games consoles rely on exclusive franchises to drive sales. PlayStation 3 has titles such as Metal Gear Solid 4 and Killzone 2, while Nintendo has Metroid Prime 3 and Zelda.
Microsoft has spent a reported $10m (£5m) on promoting the game, with a series of costly TV adverts, as well as signing deals with food and drink firms in the US.
Most pressure
For Bungie, the game's release is the culmination of three years work.
Brian Jarrard, Bungie's director of franchise and community affairs, said the company had not felt under pressure from Microsoft, which owns the studio.
"We feel the most pressure ourselves. It's always been about driving ourselves to do great work. For the most part we don't feel the pressure from Microsoft executives breathing down our necks.
"The fan's expectations are incredibly high. We gave them a bitter sweet ending at the end of Halo 2 and we're pretty confident they will be happy with Halo 3 and that it was worth the wait."
'24' star arrested on drunken driving charges
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Kiefer Sutherland was arrested early Tuesday on misdemeanor drunken driving charges after failing a field sobriety test, police officials said.
Kiefer Sutherland attends a Fox casino party Monday in Los Angeles, California.
The actor was pulled over at about 1:10 a.m. in West Los Angeles after officers spotted him making an illegal U-turn, said Officer Kevin Maiberger.
Sutherland, 40, tested over the state's legal blood alcohol limit of .08 percent, and was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence, Officer Karen Smith said.
He was released around 4 a.m. after posting $25,000 bail, according to Sheriff's Department records.
Maiberger said Sutherland was scheduled to appear in court October 16.
Sutherland won a best actor Emmy award last year for his performance on the Fox TV series "24." The series is set to return to the air in January.Scientists: Rising seas will flood historic sites
(AP) -- Ultimately, rising seas will likely swamp the first American settlement in Jamestown, Virginia, as well as the Florida launch pad that sent the first American into orbit, many climate scientists are predicting.
Rising waters will flood the first American settlement of Jamestown within a century, scientists predict.
In about a century, some of the places that make America what it is may be slowly erased.
Global warming -- through a combination of melting glaciers, disappearing ice sheets and warmer waters expanding -- is expected to cause oceans to rise by one meter, or about 39 inches. It will happen regardless of any future actions to curb greenhouse gases, several leading scientists say. And it will reshape the nation.
Rising waters will lap at the foundations of old money Wall Street and the new money towers of Silicon Valley. They will swamp the locations of big city airports and major interstate highways.
Storm surges worsened by sea level rise will flood the waterfront getaways of rich politicians -- the Bushes' Kennebunkport and John Edwards' place on the Outer Banks. And gone will be many of the beaches in Texas and Florida favored by budget-conscious students on Spring Break.
That's the troubling outlook projected by coastal maps reviewed by The Associated Press. The maps, created by scientists at the University of Arizona, are based on data from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Few of the more than two dozen climate experts interviewed disagree with the one-meter projection. Some believe it could happen in 50 years, others say 100, and still others say 150.
Sea level rise is "the thing that I'm most concerned about as a scientist," says Benjamin Santer, a climate physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.
"We're going to get a meter and there's nothing we can do about it," said University of Victoria climatologist Andrew Weaver, a lead author of the February report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in Paris. "It's going to happen no matter what -- the question is when."
Sea level rise "has consequences about where people live and what they care about," said Donald Boesch, a University of Maryland scientist who has studied the issue. "We're going to be into this big national debate about what we protect and at what cost."
This week, beginning with a meeting at the United Nations on Monday, world leaders will convene to talk about fighting global warming. At week's end, leaders will gather in Washington with President Bush.
October 23-24 at 9 p.m. ET on CNN
Experts say that protecting America's coastlines would run well into the billions and not all spots could be saved.
And it's not just a rising ocean that is the problem. With it comes an even greater danger of storm surge, from hurricanes, winter storms and regular coastal storms, Boesch said. Sea level rise means higher and more frequent flooding from these extreme events, he said.
All told, one meter of sea level rise in just the lower 48 states would put about 25,000 square miles under water, according to Jonathan Overpeck, director of the Institute for the Study of Planet Earth at the University of Arizona. That's an area the size of West Virginia.
The amount of lost land is even greater when Hawaii and Alaska are included, Overpeck said.
The Environmental Protection Agency's calculation projects a land loss of about 22,000 square miles. The EPA, which studied only the Eastern and Gulf coasts, found that Louisiana, Florida, North Carolina, Texas and South Carolina would lose the most land. But even inland areas like Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia also have slivers of at-risk land, according to the EPA.
This past summer's flooding of subways in New York could become far more regular, even an everyday occurrence, with the projected sea rise, other scientists said. And New Orleans' Katrina experience and the daily loss of Louisiana wetlands -- which serve as a barrier that weakens hurricanes -- are previews of what's to come there.
Florida faces a serious public health risk from rising salt water tainting drinking water wells, said Joel Scheraga, the EPA's director of global change research. And the farm-rich San Joaquin Delta in California faces serious salt water flooding problems, other experts said.
"Sea level rise is going to have more general impact to the population and the infrastructure than almost anything else that I can think of," said S. Jeffress Williams, a U.S. Geological Survey coastal geologist in Woods Hole, Mass.
Even John Christy at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, a scientist often quoted by global warming skeptics, said he figures the seas will rise at least 16 inches by the end of the century. But he tells people to prepare for a rise of about three feet just in case.
Williams says it's "not unreasonable at all" to expect that much in 100 years. "We've had a third of a meter in the last century."
The change will be a gradual process, one that is so slow it will be easy to ignore for a while.
"It's like sticking your finger in a pot of water on a burner and you turn the heat on, Williams said. "You kind of get used to it."Needles 'are best for back pain'
 Acupuncture is said to release the body's vital energy |
A German team found almost half the patients treated with acupuncture felt pain relief.
But the Archives of Internal Medicine study also suggests fake acupuncture works nearly as well as the real thing.
In contrast, only about a quarter who received drugs and other Western therapies felt better.
Ruhr University Bochum
The researchers, from the Ruhr University Bochum, say their findings suggest that the body may react positively to any thin needle prick - or that acupuncture may simply trigger a placebo effect.
One theory is that pain messages to the brain can be blocked by competing stimuli.
Researcher Dr Heinz Endres said: "Acupuncture represents a highly promising and effective treatment option for chronic back pain.
"Patients experienced not only reduced pain intensity, but also reported improvements in the disability that often results from back pain and therefore in their quality of life."
Needles not manipulated
More than 1,100 patients took part in the study. They were given either conventional therapy, acupuncture or a sham version.
Although needles were used in the sham therapy, they were not inserted as deeply as in standard acupuncture. Neither were they inserted at points thought key to producing a therapeutic effect, or manipulated and rotated once in position.
After six months 47% of patients in the acupuncture group reported a significant improvement in pain symptoms, compared to 44% in the sham group, and just 27% in the group who received conventional therapy.
Dr James Young, of Chicago's Rush University, said: "We don't understand the mechanisms of these so-called alternative treatments, but that doesn't mean they don't work."
Acupuncture is based on the ancient Chinese theory that needles can be used to release the body's vital energy, or qi.
Conventional therapies tested in the study included painkillers, injections, heat therapy and massage.
It is estimated that as many as 85% of the population experiences back pain at some point, and the problem costs the NHS around £500m a year.
The study echoes the findings of two studies published last year in the British Medical Journal, which found a short course of acupuncture could benefit patients with low back pain.
Mike O'Farrell, of the British Acupuncture Council, said: "Through these controlled research findings demonstrating the effectiveness of acupuncture, we believe that both the medical health profession and members of the public will see the benefits of acupuncture as part of an integrated healthcare service."
Monday, September 24, 2007
Unlikely: UK Attempting to Ban Power-Hungry TVs
Americans aren't the only ones who love oversized gadgets: Plasma TVs are all the rage in Britain, but doting officials are deeply worried that the power-hungry TV sets will collapse the nation's electrical grid and ruin the environment to boot. The response: A proposal to ban them (and other electronics). Or more accurately: Products for sale in various categories (including DVD players and freezers) would be given a threshold of power consumption which they couldn't legally exceed if you want to sell them in the UK.
Other rules would outlaw "standby" lights and similar low-power modes on electronics, but it is specifically plasma TVs which are targeted in the proposal. The report was scheduled to be unveiled today to an official UK environmental protection department.
Ultimately, attempts to outright ban products like this tend to fail, for a wide variety of reasons. The big one is that technology moves at a much faster pace than government: Limits on one type of product that exists today are obsolete by the time they go into effect, which is typically not for three to five years after a bill is signed. The industry discontinues one technology in favor of a successor, or the technology evolves into something else. Loopholes invariably abound, taking the teeth out of the legislation.
A better response: Taxation. If you want to curb electrical use, why not tax the sale of electronics on a per-watt basis, and use the proceeds to fund research into alternative energy and lower-power alternatives? By making lower-cost products more financially attractive, you encourage overall better consumer behavior rather than simply slapping the consumer with a "you can't have this" stick. Plus, what government doesn't like free money?
The Top Ten Greenest Cities
May 18, 2007
It's not easy being green -- for a city, that is. It's tough enough to simply keep up with the endless trash, traffic and pollution generated by urban life. To actually get the better of it with good public transportation, smart recycling programs and the kind of well-kept streets, parks and playgrounds that make cities fun and healthful places to live, that's the true challenge. So who measures up?
We've picked 10 places -- in no particular order -- that we think are doing a great job at putting residents first. That means they're obsessed with clean air and clean water, renewable energy, reliable city buses, trams, streetcars and subways, a growing number of parks and greenbelts, farmer's markets and, very important, opportunities for community involvement.
Portland, Oregon
Affordable and accessible, this city straddling the banks of the Willamette River has long made sustainable living a priority. More than 30 years ago, with other cities in a freeway-building frenzy, Portland broke ranks and tore down a six-lane expressway to make room for a waterfront park. Since then the city has set an urban growth boundary to protect 25 million acres of forest and farmland, started a solid-waste program that recycles more than half of the city's trash and erected more than 50 public buildings that meet tough standards set by the United States Green Building Council. One of the most bike-friendly cities in the U.S., Portland's public transportation systems boasts a high rate of ridership. Add in one of the nation's largest city parks -- the aptly named Forest Park has 74 miles of running, biking and hiking trails -- and Portland's rep as the nation's greenest city makes sense.
Austin, Texas
Home to the first Whole Foods Market and more than 300 days of sunshine a year (and you thought this city was all about the music) Austin spreads out among 205 parks, 14 nature preserves, and 25 greenbelts. Talk about green. The city plans to meet 20 percent of its energy needs with renewable energy and energy efficiency by 2020. Factor in county laws protecting the region's natural watershed from development, a recycling center that dates back to 1970, a dozen outdoor farmer's markets, city buses that offer free rides on 'high ozone' days and an innovative "pay-as-you-throw" trash collection program that rewards residents for being less wasteful and Austin easily earns a spot on the Green List.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Named one of the top business districts in the nation for by the Environmental Protection Agency, Minneapolis is a commuter's paradise where more than 60 percent of downtown workers use public or alternative transportation to get to the office. Free parking for registered van and car pools, an extensive bike path and bike lane system and employer-sponsored showers and locker rooms not only add endorphins but make a significant dent into auto-based air pollution. On the way to work, commuters thread their way among scores of lakes and parks and ponds and greenbelts and more than 200,000 trees. With great drinking water, active community organizations and the Minnesota State Department of Commerce nudging businesses and residents to hook solar systems up to the city's grid, it doesn't take Mary Tyler Moore tossing her beret into the air to let you know this is a great place to live.
Boulder, Colorado
Being green has been a way of life in this small Rocky Mountain city ever since prescient city planners started preserving parkland in 1898. Today, with more than 42,000 acres of pristine land cushioning the city from urban sprawl, Boulder is a place where hiking trails, rock-climbing areas, picnic spots and fishing holes are within reach of every resident. But there's more to this city than just a pretty face. It's a place where more than 90 percent of residents recycle, where new water meters are not allowed above certain elevation, thus protecting ridgelines and peaks, and where, when recent federal tax cuts gutted city budgets, residents voted themselves a third sales-tax hike to raise $51 million to buy and protect even more open land.
Burlington, Vermont
In this small city on Lake Champlain, community pride and responsibility drive the urge to be green. More than one-third of all energy used in the city comes from renewable resources, an impressive statistic in chilly New England. Burlington laws don't allow the use of pesticides on public parks, land or waterways. Challenged by their local leaders to come up with environmental priorities and solutions to existing problems, residents formed an extensive network of citizen-based groups that take on everything from environmental programs to clean up toxic sites to watchdog groups to monitor pollution in Lake Champlain. With local agriculture a mainstay of the region, schools are switching to locally- and organically-grown foods. The idea of sustainability is becoming part of the school curriculum so, as Burlington's children grow and take their places in the community -- any community -- they can take a greener way of thinking along with them.
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison was the first city in the United States to offer curbside recycling (and one of the few with a university course on ice cream making), and its 15,000 acres of lakes and 6,000 acres of parkland give it great appeal. Drawn by the natural beauty, residents seem determined to help preserve it. The recycling program gets a whopping 97 percent participation, with 265 tons of material -- everything from broken washers to empty beer cans to grass clippings -- collected each week. A year-round farmer's market (held indoors in the frigid winter months) draws vendors and buyers from throughout the fertile region. As a result, organic and local-grown foods are a priority. This bike-friendly city with more than 100 miles of bike paths ranks high in air quality, no surprise in a place where there are three bikes for every car.
New York, New York
Surprise! Thanks to its storied (and widely used) public transportation, energy-efficient housing and good water quality, New York rates a place among the nation's green cities. Central Park makes it even greener. Considered a folly of epic proportions when its 843 swampy, muddy acres were set aside in the 1850s, Central Park is a wilderness within the urban core. More than 80 percent of NYC residents use public transportation, something that earns the city bragging rights. In fact, New Yorkers burn gasoline at the rate the U.S. did in the 1920s. The key to the city's low use of fossil fuels, pesticides and other energy sources is population density. Calculated by square foot, New York uses as much energy and produces as much solid waste as any city. Calculate by population, however, and the numbers shift. Per capita, New Yorkers use fewer resources and put less pressure on their surroundings than any other city of its size. So welcome to the Big Green Apple.
San Francisco, California
To the superlatives the City by the Bay has acquired over the decades -- steepest, foggiest, most expensive -- add greenest. With bus, subway and ferry services that reach throughout the Bay Area, avid bikers and devoted car poolers, San Francisco has a good track record for getting people out of their cars. In fact, more than half the city's residents use public or alternative transportation to get to work. With Golden Gate Park, the newly-decommissioned Presidio, beaches, extensive bike paths and access to the Pacific and the Bay, the city has an abundance of recreational options. Prevailing winds from the water help keep pollution at bay. The city is also a leader in green building, with more than 20 building projects registered for official green certification. And city residents are willing to tax themselves. Voters said yes to allowing the city to sell $100 million in revenue bonds to support renewable energy.
Santa Monica, California
Just 12 years ago, the environmental future of this seaside city looked unimpressive. Thanks to an active city council, which wrote and enacted the Sustainable City Plan, Santa Monica has turned green. Three of every four of the city's public works vehicles run on alternative fuel, making it among the largest such fleets in the country. All public buildings use renewable energy. In the last 15 years, the city has cut greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 10 percent, a feat in car-crazy Southern California. City officials and residents have made the ongoing cleanup of the Santa Monica Bay a priority -- an urban runoff facility catches 3.5 million gallons of water each week that would otherwise flow into the bay. Add in the miles of beaches, extensive curbside recycling, farmer's markets, community gardens, the city's nimble bus system and Santa Monica is clearly more than just another bathing beauty.
Chicago, Illinois
With open space, public transportation and a commitment to renewable and sustainable energy, Chicago has earned a spot on numerous 'greenest city' lists. The city has 42 green-certified building projects, with more to come. All of the city's nine museums and the Art Institute of Chicago have been converted to run partially on solar power. Close to one-third of all residents use public transportation to get to work. Among the city's energy goals, likely to be met, is buying 20 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources this year. City officials have voted to give tax incentives to homeowners who invest in Chicago's many historic homes and retrofit them with energy efficient heating and cooling systems, as well as water-saving plumbing. Water quality on the city's lakefront is rated as excellent by the Natural Resources Defense Council, a happy detail for all the swimmers, boaters and sun bathers along the shore in the summer. And you thought it was all about Oprah.