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Viewing 61 to 75 of 313 articles

• A green revolution sweeps into the bathroom
  www.newscientist.com, 11 March
  An environmentally-friendly "NoMix" toilet could help to reduce pollution and save water.
  Discussion starters:
  • Efficient use of resources
• New Zealand's internet filter goes live
  computerworld.co.nz, 11 March
  The Department of Internal Affairs' (DIA) internet filter is now operational and is being used by ISPs Maxnet and Watchdog.
  Thomas Beagle, spokesperson for online freedom lobby Tech Liberty says he's "very disappointed that the filter is now running, it's a sad day for the New Zealand internet”.
• 'Slim rail' – is it the solution to Auckland's transport problems?
  Massey University <em>Online News</em>, 11 March
  A driverless, electric-powered light rail system designed to whisk commuters more efficiently around central Auckland and across the harbour bridge could appeal to people who snub existing public transport, says its creator, Industrial designer Oliver Neuland, from the Massey University's Auckland School of Design.
  Discussion starters:
  • Innovation in transportation technology
  • Socio-cultural influences on design
• Wellywood sign could breach trademark
  www.nzherald.co.nz, 11 March
  Wellington could be breaching trademark laws if a Wellywood sign is erected at Miramar, Hollywood executives say.
  The sign, which has been given resource consent by Wellington City Council, has been designed to copy the iconic Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, right down to the staggered lettering.
• Botnets &ndash; going the the way of smallpox?
  www.newscientist.com, 11 March
  Compulsory vaccination programmes have rid the world of scourges like smallpox and controlled the spread of diseases such as polio. So could similar strategies be applied to the internet to help stop the spread of cybercrime?
  Discussion starters:
  • Socio-cultural influences - Regulatory control
• Huge botnet amputated, but cybercrooks reconnect
  www.nzherald.co.nz, 12 March
  SAN JOSE, California - The sudden takedown of an internet provider thought to be helping spread one of the most promiscuous pieces of malicious software out there appeared to have cut off criminals from potentially millions of personal computers under their control.
• USB stick blamed for DHB's virus shut-down
  www.nzherald.co.nz, 12 March
  A USB stick inserted in a carpark booth computer at Waikato Hospital has been blamed for bringing down the district health board's computer network in December last year.
• Facebook under pressure to add 'panic button'
  www.nzherald.co.nz, 12 March
  LONDON - British officials say they're pressuring Facebook to make a "panic button" available on its web pages following the death of a teenager at the hands of a man she met on the popular social networking site.
• Internet providers hit out at website blocker
  www.nzherald.co.nz, 14 March
  A controversial internet filter which blocks access to hundreds of websites on a secret Internal Affairs blacklist has gone live.
  The "child exploitation" system was introduced last month in a bid to stop online paedophile activity.
  But it has come under fire from internet service providers for being ineffectual and giving hackers an easy target.
• Fingerprints not clear enough? Try bacteria to nail your criminal
  www.nzherald.co.nz, 17 March
  Police may soon be able to add another forensic tool to their armoury following a study showing that it is possible to identify a person from the bacteria they leave behind after touching an inanimate object such as a computer keyboard or telephone.
• Fast broadband becoming essential for farmers
  www.nzherald.co.nz, 18 March
  So why exactly do farmers need fast broadband?
  It's pretty simple, says Hamilton dairy farmer John Bluett - time and money.
  Bluett has two farms milking about 920 cows, with one using broadband and the other on dial up.
  Discussion starters:
  • Equitable access to available technology
• The hidden cost of dodgy downloads
  www.nzherald.co.nz, 18 March
  Europeans downloaded NZ$19.2bn worth of pirated music, film, television shows and software from the web in 2008, according to an entertainment industry study.
  Discussion starters:
  • Intellectual property issues
• Device to help the blind see with their tongue
  www.nzherald.co.nz video, 19 March
  A soldier, wounded in Iraq, tries out an invention that could spell hope for sightless people the world over.
  Discussion starters:
  • Prototype development
• Think Small
  idealog.co.nz, March/April
  What's so great about being small? At the nanoscale, the focus isn't on a piece of something as much as on an atom of something—and when matter gets down to that size, things behave differently than they do at human scale.
  Discussion starters:
  • Material properties
  • Nanotechnology
• Making a dirtsurfer (PDF)
  <em>The Shed</em> magazine, April issue
  This article on building a dirtsurfer is to inform parents about what is happening in secondary schools with students studying the relatively recent subject of Technology.