Homeland Security to hire up to 1K cyber experts

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration has given a green light to the Homeland Security Department to be more competitive and choosey as it hires up to 1,000 new cyber experts over the next three years, the first major personnel move to fulfill its vow to bolster security of the nation's computer networks.
The announcement follows a wave of cyber attacks on federal agencies, including a July assault that knocked government Web sites off the Internet and earlier intrusions into the country's electrical grid.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who made the announcement on Thursday, said the hiring plan reflects the Obama administration's commitment to improving cyber security. The move gives DHS officials far greater flexibility to hire whom they want, outside of more stringent federal guidelines. And it will also allow more latitude in pay.
As a result, Napolitano told an audience of cyber industry professionals, the new rules "will allow us to be competitive with you all" in luring quality applicants.
Much of the funding already has been budgeted, but DHS also is working with Congress for more money. Officials refused to say how much money the program would represent.
The hiring push also underscores the administration's ongoing struggle to better organize and manage the country's vulnerable digital defense. President Barack Obama vowed in February to tackle cyber issues, but still has not named a cyber coordinator, a job that experts say will be difficult to fill.
Napolitano said her department does not anticipate filling all 1,000 positions, which will include cyber analysts, developers and engineers who can detect, investigate and deter cyber attacks.
The secretary's announcement marked the start of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, which reflects the White House goal to draw more public attention to the need for everyday computer users to exercise more diligence in protecting their online security.
In other comments, Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn said the Pentagon expects to make decisions in the coming weeks on whether to relax restrictions on the use of external computer flash drives and social media Web sites by members of the military and department employees.
The Pentagon banned the use of flash drives last November because of a virus threat officials detected on Defense Department networks.

Therapists join World of Warcraft to treat 'addicted' players

If Dr. Richard Graham has his way, massively popular online game World of Warcraft will soon get an unofficial new character class: the therapist.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the London psychiatrist is spearheading a movement that would let mental health workers join online game worlds as avatars in order to better treat players suffering from game addiction.
Dr. Graham believes the key is reaching at-risk players on their own turf.
"Those affected don't exhibit the same outward warning signs as most teenage anti-social behaviour issues do because they're in their bedrooms most of the time, seemingly out of trouble," he told the Telegraph. "Because of this we can't get through to them in the traditional educational environment or intrude on their actual bedrooms -- we need to turn to the Internet itself to tackle these problems."
The issue of game addiction itself is still quite thorny. The American Medical Association still doesn't consider game addiction to be a legitimate disorder, while other reports -- including a Swedish study claiming that Warcraft is "more addictive than crack cocaine" -- say otherwise.
Graham hopes to launch the project "by the end of the year," and has called on Warcraft maker Blizzard to possibly give therapists free access to the game. He also notes that since most therapists probably aren't Warcraft experts, the project could potentially recruit gamers to act as "peer mentors" and help identify troubled players.

Apple to unveil tablet computer: reports

WASHINGTON (AFP) - – What's next from Apple? According to various reports, the California-based company plans to come out later this year with a portable tablet-sized computer that can surf the Web and may also serve as an electronic book reader.

London's Financial Times was the latest publication on Monday to report on the long-rumored device from the company behind the iconic Macintosh computer, the iPod and the iPhone.
The FT story follows reports in Silicon Valley technology blogs that Apple was developing a new touch-screen computer described by some as a large-screen iPod Touch.
Apple was hoping to offer the tablet computer in time for the Christmas shopping season, according to the newspaper, which said the device would have a screen that may measure up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) diagonally.
It would be able to connect to the Internet like the iPod Touch, allowing access to Apple's online stores, but probably would not have phone capability.
"It's going to be fabulous for watching movies," an unidentified entertainment executive told the FT.
The newspaper said book publishers have also been in talks with Apple about offering books on the new device, which could emerge as a potential rival to Amazon's popular Kindle electronic reader.
Apple, the FT said, is simultaneously working with the four largest record labels -- EMI, Sony Music, Warner Music and Universal Music Group -- on a project codenamed "Cocktail" aimed at stimulating digital sales of albums.
Album sales have fallen sharply as consumers opt for purchases of individual songs from online stores like Apple's iTunes.
"Cocktail" would offer interactive features, such as lyric sheets, photos and videos with music album downloads.
"It's all about re-creating the heyday of the album when you would sit around with your friends looking at the artwork, while you listened to the music," an unidentified executive told the newspaper.
The FT did not reveal any details about the price of the planned tablet computer.
Apple is traditionally highly secretive about projects under development, revealing them only at launch and guarding zealously against leaks.

PS2 to drop under $100 on April 1

Sony confirmed in the early hours Tuesday that it will be dropping its price by $30 for the Playstation 2 to $99.99. The price drop was previously leaked by an insider at retailer Kmart, who spotted a price change in his system and tipped off gaming blog Joystiq about the news.
Price cuts are always welcome, but it's not quite what hardcore gamers were hoping to hear. Consumers and industry analysts have been calling for a price cut on Sony's flagship Playstation 3 system for months now: the PS3 is the most expensive games machine on the market by a hefty margin. But Sony put a stop to that speculation in a statement today, saying "We do not have plans for a PS3 price drop, and any rumors to that effect are false and are the result of speculation."
So, is the nine-year-old PS2 a good deal at less than $100? Assuming you don't already have one, there's no question about it. Sure, it's no match for current-gen consoles like the Xbox 360 or PS3 (or even, more arguably, the Wii) but it has a software selection that's absolutely superb. If you're looking for a way to play great games on the cheap, and you're prepared to be a little behind the tech state-of-the-art, you can't do much better.

Mobile Phones Aim to be a 'Doctor in Your Pocket'

BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) - - Not content with offering calls, texts and Internet access, the mobile phone industry is convinced it can help save lives and offer health services to millions worldwide.

The idea of a phone serving as a "doctor in your pocket" has gained traction at the industry's biggest trade show, the Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona.

Among a slew of possible applications in poor countries, insiders stressed the potential for the mobile phone to remind people to get vaccinations, take medicine, or undergo HIV tests.
Doctors and nurses working at distance from hospitals or clinics can also use mobile connections to relay information on local patients or report disease outbreaks.

"When you consider that there are 2.2 billion mobile phones in the developing world, 305 million computers but only 11 million hospital beds you can instantly see how mobiles can creat effective solutions to address healthcare challenges," said Terry Kramer, strategy director at British operator Vodafone.

The Rockefeller Foundation, the UN Foundation and The Vodafone Foundation announced the Mobile Health (mHealth) Alliance this week, a partnership to advance the use of mobile technology in healthcare.

The UN and Vodafone also released a study, "mHealth for Development: The Opportunity of Mobile Technology for Healthcare in the Developing World," detailing 51 programmes in 26 countries.

The biggest adopters are India with 11 projects and South Africa and Uganda with six each.
"Innovative technology could reduce the pressure on public healthcare systems," Daniel Carucci, vice-president of health at the UN Foundation, told delagates here.

In Uganda, for example, a multiple choice quiz about HIV/AIDS was sent to 15,000 subscribers on the Celtel network in a rural region, inviting them to answer questions and seek tests.
Users who completed the quiz were given free airtime and each time they answered a question wrong they received a message informing them of the correct response.

At the end of the quiz, a final SMS was sent to motivate participants to go for voluntary testing and counseling at a local health centre.

Slightly less than one in five responded and the number of people who went for testing at the centre increased from 1,000 to 1,400 during a six-week period, the report said.

In another example given in the report, health workers in the Amazonas state of Brazil began filling in surveys last October on their mobile phones on incidences of the mosquito-borne dengue fever.

"The devices are providing us with precision (and) the information we need to develop (effective responses) in the areas where the infection levels are high," Luzia de Melo Mustafa, an Amazonas health agent is quoted as saying.

In Mexico, a medical hotline called MedicallHome was launched in 1998 to provide for people without access to a doctor. They can ring or send an SMS to ask for advice.

"Sixty percent of the time, you can replace the doctor," Pedro Yrigoyen, co-founder of MedicallHome told delegates here, highlighting the fact that mobile phones outnumber fixed lines in Mexico by five-to-one.

"Public healthcare is overwhelmed... people wait for hours just to see the doctor."
Elizabeth Boehm, an analyst at research group Forrester, sees the potential for mobile phones to help in public health information campaigns, but also points out limitations.

"One of the main challenges, in mobile health, is that people who are most in need of healthcare are usually more aged, so they don't use the mobile or they're not comfortable with it," she told AFP.

In the developed world, researchers are also looking for ways to harness mobile technology.
In several countries, diabetes sufferers can measure their blood sugar level with a device connected to a mobile phone which sends the data to doctors to verify.

Other applications are seen for monitoring people with heart problems or Alzheimer's disease.
In the United States, a service called "Foodphone" enables a user to take a photo of his or her food before a meal and send it to an expert who replies with information about the nutritional value.

Why Wii Dominates

Better, brighter, faster games--and perhaps more profits--are in Nintendo's future
Hardcore gamers may still scoff at Nintendo's Wii for catering to casual gamers. But hidden behind its Clark Kent facade are some impressive financial muscles.

Nintendo rocked the gaming world when it brought out the Wii gaming console three years ago by turning an entirely new demographic of users on to gaming. Middle-aged and senior citizens stood in line to buy Wiis on the strength of games like Wii Fit, which audiences found more fun than workout DVDs.

To date, Nintendo has sold nearly 35 million Wiis, including 12.6 million in the U.S., Nintendo's biggest market. That's lower than Sony's PlayStation 2, which has sold 43 million units since 2000. But it's still pretty high for a console that, at launch, was technologically a generation behind its chief competitors, Sony's PlayStation 3, with 13 million units in users' living rooms, and Microsoft's Xbox 360, with 23 million units. This year, the Wii is expected to sell more than the best-selling PS2 sold in its best year, 2003.

Just as interesting as how Nintendo has changed the gaming world, however, has been its business approach. Nintendo sells games along the time-honored razor-razor blade model, namely pushing out the console and then enticing users to buy more games.

"More casual players aren't as likely to be attracted by hardware features, so it's all about delivering a fun, easy-to-use and addicting game experience," says Anita Frazier, toy and video game analyst at NPD Group.

Another factor in enticing those casual users is keeping its console cheap. "The key thing about Nintendo is they want their things to be at price points that anyone can respond to," says Hiroshi Kamide, director of research at KBC Securities Japan. Nintendo's strategy is to buy inexpensive components instead of making them in-house, allowing the Wii to sell for $260 while the PS3 costs $300.

But here's the winning point: Unlike its competitors, Nintendo has figured out how to make money from its console sales. Sony loses money on each Playstation sold. Microsoft might just break even. But every Wii brings in $6 of operating profit for Nintendo, says David Gibson, an analyst at Macquarie Securities.

Nintendo also sells 60% of Wii games itself, compared with 30% for Microsoft and 15% for Sony. Wii users are expected to buy the most games this year, 220 million, compared with 120 million PS3 games and 125 million for the Xbox 360.

The top three Wii games--"Wii Play," "Super Smash Brothers Brawl" and "Super Mario Galaxy"--are all Nintendo's own titles, but the top three for PS3--"Grand Theft Auto IV," "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" and "Assassin's Creed"--are all from outside developers, not from Sony.

By making most of its games itself, Nintendo risks sacrificing the chance to earn licensing fees from as many third-party developers as its competitors. It also prices games cheaper--at $50 versus $60 for the other two consoles. But so far the gambit has paid off: Wii locks in fans because many of its most popular games appear exclusively on the Wii. And Nintendo has a higher gross margin on game software than the others at 65%, compared with between 50% and 60%.

Those only-available-here games sell better than games that have been ported to other consoles because the Wii's unique features--the motion-sensor remote, for instance--make it hard to translate into other systems. PS3 and Xbox 360 games can be ported between those two systems fairly easily, but developers that want to make a game for all three consoles need a dedicated Wii team to write the Nintendo version.

Ubisoft's new "Shaun White Snowboarding" game, which shipped in late November, uses the Wii Fit motion board to simulate full-motion snowboarding; its Xbox and PS versions push online virtual snowboarding with friends.

Technology Never Stops

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