Category: Technology

It has been announced that by June this year, scientists will be adding one second to the clock. This seems to be a very minimal change but for the world of computers and the internet, this could create great chaos.

Looking Back

Last 2012, a leap second was added. This does not seem a big deal for people not into technology. But websites such as the Gawker, Reddit, Yelp and LinkedIn were affected by this sudden interruption. The sites were down for a couple of hours. It was bad for business for these websites. The problem was also felt by Amadeus Alta, an online airline reservation system. Flights were rescheduled, bookings were cancelled and moved. Passengers were stranded, meetings were cancelled. It created a rippled effect.

Why does this problem occur? According to the New York Daily Times, computing systems are not able to recognize “two same seconds in a row”.

What is the proposed solution?

Every problem has always a solution. Google is already ready when this occurs. It will employ the so called “leap smear” technique. In leap smear, milliseconds are progressively added. This technique is employed so that the change is spread on several seconds rather that impacting on one moment.

Why add another second?

Why go through the hassle of adding another second to the clock? Scientists actually have a very important reason why another second is being added. This is to account for the planet’s slow rotation according to the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service.

Effect of Earth’s Slow Rotation

Planet earth is not rotating at a constant speed. It slows down and then speeds up and then slows down again. There are several factors attributing to this change in speed. In a research by scholars, earthquakes happening in earth speeds up the rotation of earth. These events shorten days. Natural alteration of the elevation of various places on earth would cause the planet to rotate slowly. If the clock were not adjusted, you will experience sunset at 8 o’clock in the morning. Since 1972, scientists have added seconds to our clock 25 times so as to combat this problem one will experience with time.

Would that be even possible? Yes indeed! This new advanced mobile app called Lolok replaces that traditional Android phone lock. With its “synchronized whiteboard”, it is now possible for people to do the following:

• Share Photos
• Leave Notes
• Drawing on one’s lock screen

And the good thing about that is you don’t need to navigate further on your phone, it right there on your own lock screen.

Loklok works like any other messaging app. After downloading you can choose a group of friends that you prefer to use this app with. And from there, you can now enjoy communicating with your friends in a unique, funny and creative way. A simple reminder, just like the other messaging apps, messages in Loklok are also “ephemeral”, this means that only the last conversation or image will be kept on their servers. Once the screen are all cleared, items will no longer be recovered.

Kwamecorp promotes this app by saying that this is their first version release and they’ve already had users over 10,000 that have been trying it out. They have been getting an outstanding amount of feedback. And from feedbacks that they have gotten from their Beta testers, they have been putting more focus on the app’s usability and privacy, hoping to make it more stable for everyone to use.

Loklok is free to download through the Google Play store. It is available for all Android users. For now the use of this app is restricted in Apple for some obvious reasons; however, Loklok CEO Guillermo Landin wants to address this concern in order for this app to reach a wider audience. He openly expressed this possibility in a statement. He said he is planning to branch this app out to iOS, but most likely in a different manner. He also confirmed that iOS version is now being worked on, but did not guarantee any dates for its launching as they want to assure an equally good version as that of the android. It is safe assume that the exclusivity of this app will soon be over.

This is yet another great innovation for people to enjoy!

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is used for secure communication over the internet. Currently, only 33% of websites use the more secure HTTPS in their websites. Google developers have warned people of the risks they face every time they visit websites that do not use HTTPS. The proposal to mark non-HTTPS connections was done through a message posted to the development website of Chrome by Google engineers working on the browser.

What will be the implications of marking non-HTTPS connections?

Once the changes are implemented a pop-up will appear when a user visits a website that does not use HTTP as notification that the connection has no data security. This will solve the issues of browsers that did nothing to protect their users from unsecure connections. This will limit the threat from cyber thieves who are abusing the vulnerabilities of unsecure connections to steal data and sensitive information. So much data have already been compromised from ecommerce sites that make use of credit card payments. HTTPS makes use of well established cryptographic systems that can scramble data while it travels from a user’s computer to a website and back again. HTTPS provides authentication for the website as well as the server it is communicating with that there is no one eavesdropping or tampering with contents of communication.

The impact to non-HTTPS websites

According to statistics that have been gathered through Trustworthy Internet Movement, only about 33% of website uses HTTPS for secure browsing. The warning from Google will force website owners to migrate to encrypted HTTPS data security. It may cost money and time to be able to adapt to the technology but it will benefit the site in the long run. Many of the large websites that people are familiar with like Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo and Gmail use HTTPS by default. Google has also prioritized sites using HTTPS in their ranking. HTTPS will provide authenticity in protecting pages of different types of websites to ensure secure accounts and user communications that will make web browsing more private. HTTPS is very important over unencrypted networks like Wi-Fi since anyone using the same local network connection can easily discover sensitive information.

Many online stores or e-commerce websites don’t have this option available. This does not mean these sites cannot be trusted, but rather needs more vigilance from the consumer’s side, especially when making online payments.

One of the most serious challenges faced by the internet is hackers but scientists have introduced a device that releases a single precisely shaped photon of light that can pave the way for the quantum internet that will reduce the vulnerability of the internet to hackers. Quantum computers are overwhelmingly powerful and impenetrable and a future network of quantum computers can solve the problems that are beyond the capabilities of current machines.

What is a Quantum Computer?

In the development of the quantum computer, information is encoded on a single photon of light that can be produced on demand. This information is provided by Prof. Andrea Fiore of Eindhoven University of Technology and her colleagues who have developed the nanoscale device that can sculpt the shape of individual photons. The nanoscale device is important to produce the photon when necessary. The shape of the photon depends upon how smooth the energy it contains is released since most of the energy will be released at the start of the process with the remaining energy trailing towards the end. The emission takes place in just one billionth of a second but it gives a photon its lopsided shape.

Importance of a Quantum Network

The importance of quantum networks cannot be overestimated particularly for governments so that communication between computers can be impenetrable to hackers. If it is found out that someone has read data during transmission, it is automatically changed so that hacking can be easily detected. Quantum computers are theoretically possible but none have been successfully built. When nanostructures re integrated into devices and chips, it will pave the way for the efficient exchange of photons between quantum chips which will be used in the future quantum network.

In order to make the most of quantum computers, it is important to have a quantum internet. However, the possibility of the quantum network is not going to happen next week because the UK government still has to fund the development of this technology with £120 million. Once this radical technology becomes successful, it will make certain computation like forecasting the weather a lot easier to perform. It will also help pharmaceutical companies in their development of new drugs since the interrogations of large databases will be speeded up.