The Best Computer Interfaces: Past, Present, and Future

Say goodbye to the mouse and hello to augmented reality, voice recognition, and geospatial tracking.

By Duncan Graham-Rowe

Monday, April 06, 2009

E-mail Audio » Listen - Flash Listen - MP3 Subscribe to podcast What is this? Powered by Print Favorite Share » Digg this Add to del.icio.us Add to Reddit Add to Facebook Slashdot It! Stumble It! Add to Mixx Add to Newsvine Add to Connotea Add to CiteUlike Add to Furl Googlize this Add to Rojo Add to MyWeb

Computer scientists from around the world will gather in Boston this week at Computer-Human Interaction 2009 to discuss the latest developments in computer interfaces. To coincide with the event, we present a roundup of the coolest computer interfaces past, present, and future.

Multitouch screen: Microsoft’s Surface is an example of a multitouch screen. Credit: Microsoft

Multimedia A Look at the Best Computer Interfaces

The Command Line
The granddaddy of all computer interfaces is the command line, which surfaced as a more effective way to control computers in the 1950s. Previously, commands had to be fed into a computer in batches, usually via a punch card or paper tape. Teletype machines, which were normally used for telegraph transmissions, were adapted as a way for users to change commands partway through a process, and receive feedback from a computer in near real time.

Video display units allowed command line information to be displayed more rapidly. The VT100, a video terminal released by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in 1978, is still emulated by some modern operating systems as a way to display the command line.

Graphical user interfaces, which emerged commercially in the 1980s, made computers much easier for most people to use, but the command line still offers substantial power and flexibility for expert users.

The Mouse
Nowadays, it's hard to imagine a desktop computer without its iconic sidekick: the mouse.

Developed 41 years ago by Douglas Engelbart at the Stanford Research Institute, in California, the mouse is inextricably linked to the development of the modern computer and also played a crucial role in the rise of the graphic user interface. Engelbart demonstrated the mouse, along with several other key innovations, including hypertext and shared-screen collaboration, at an event in San Francisco in 1968.

Early computer mouses came in a variety of shapes and forms, many of which would be almost unrecognizable today. However, by the time mouses became commercially available in the 1980s, the mold was set. Three decades on and despite a few modifications (including the loss of its tail), the mouse remains relatively unchanged. That's not to say that companies haven't tried adding all manner of enhancements, including a mini joystick and an air ventilator to keep your hand sweat-free and cool.

Logitech alone has now sold more than a billion of these devices, but some believe that the mouse is on its last legs. The rise of other, more intuitive interfaces may finally loosen the mouse's grip on us.

The Touchpad
Despite stiff competition from track balls and button joysticks, the touchpad has emerged as the most popular interface for laptop computers.

With most touchpads, a user's finger is sensed by detecting disruptions to an electric field caused by the finger's natural capacitance. It's a principle that was employed as far back as 1953 by Canadian pioneer of electronic music Hugh Le Caine, to control the timbre of the sounds produced by his early synthesizer, dubbed the Sackbut.

The touchpad is also important as a precursor to the touch-screen interface. And many touchpads now feature multitouch capabilities, expanding the range of possible uses. The first multitouch touchpad for a computer was demonstrated back in 1984, by Bill Buxton, then a professor of computer design and interaction at the University of Toronto and now also principle researcher at Microsoft.

The Multitouch Screen
Mention touch screen computers, and most people will think of Apple's iPhone or Microsoft's Surface. In truth, the technology is already a quarter of a century old, having debuted in the HP-150 computer in 1983. Long before desktop computers became common, basic touch screens were used in ATMs to allow customers, who were largely computer illiterate, to use computers without much training.

source:technologyreview.com/computing/22393/page1/

Sunday, August 30, 2009

s4ve.as - The easiest 24-hr file host with no size caps there is

Have a large file you need to share with others for a limited time? Like say, 24 hours? Don't have time to mess with complications and bells and whistles? Then try s4ve.as. With bit.ly integrated, you can upload your file of any size, grab your bit.ly link, tell your comrades, and they can grab the file for 24 hours. What could be simpler than that?

Go to s4ve.as

Follow me on Twitter. Barry's Best Computer Tips is updated often; the easiest way to get your regular dose is by subscribing to our news feed. Stay on top of all our updates by subscribing now via RSS or Email.













source:barrysbestblog.com/

Thursday, September 03, 2009

id.this - When you need someone to tell you what the hell you're looking at

We've all found ourselves looking at something and scratching our heads trying to figure out what it is, or who it is. Now you can snap a photo, upload it to this nifty website, and get help identifying it, or him/her.

Go to id.this

Follow me on Twitter. Barry's Best Computer Tips is updated often; the easiest way to get your regular dose is by subscribing to our news feed. Stay on top of all our updates by




source:.barrysbestblog.com/

What Should I Do To Secure My Home Computer?

Securing your home computer is not a trivial task. There are many topics to consider and many steps to follow. They take time to learn and do. If you can, read this entire document before you begin to secure your computer. You’ll have a better understanding of the effort and all its facets. This ought to help you when you begin to tackle the tasks described here.

In the next part of this document, we describe two types of activities. Some you can do using the programs that came with your computer: working with passwords and email attachments, running programs, and backing up your work. For other activities, you might need to obtain some specialized programs: applying patches, and running anti-virus, firewall, and file encryption programs. Though some vendors’ products provide these features, we’ll assume your computer doesn’t have any of them so you’ll need to add all of them.

Here then is the list of tasks you need to do to secure your home computer. Their order is based on how intruders attack computers, beginning with the most-often used attack methods. By starting with the lower numbered tasks, you address the biggest problems you face in securing your home computer. Remember that most sections end with a reference to a web site that you can use to find an example of how to do the task on a Microsoft Windows 2000 computer.

Task 1 - Install and Use Anti-Virus Programs

If someone rang your doorbell and wanted to come into your living space to sell you something or to use your telephone, you’d need to make a decision whether or not to let them in. If they were a neighbor or someone you knew, you’d probably let them in. If you didn’t know them but believed their story and found them to be otherwise acceptable, say they were neat and clean and not threatening, you’d probably also let them in, but you’d watch them closely while they were in your space.

What are you doing here? You are profiling this person and then deciding what to do based on that profile. It’s your responsibility to be concerned about who enters your living space. Further, if you have children, you’ve probably also taught them how to deal with strangers who come to your door.

Anti-virus programs work much the same way. These programs look at the contents of each file, searching for specific patterns that match a profile – called a virus signature – of something known to be harmful. For each file that matches a signature, the anti-virus program typically provides several options on how to respond, such as removing the offending patterns or destroying the file.

To understand how anti-virus programs work, think about scam artists – people who visit your home to try to get you to buy a phony product or service, or to let them in. Once inside, they may try to steal your valuables or try to harm you in some way.

There are a variety of ways you might find out about a specific scam artist lurking in your neighborhood. Perhaps you see a television report or read a newspaper article about them. They might include pictures and excerpts of the story the scam artist uses to scam their victims. The news report gives you a profile of someone you need to be on the lookout for. You watch for that person until either the story fades away or you hear that they’ve been caught.

Anti-virus programs work much the same way. When the anti-virus program vendors learn about a new virus, they provide an updated set of virus signatures that include that new one. Through features provided by the updated anti-virus program, your home computer also automatically learns of this new virus and begins checking each file for it, along with checking for all the older viruses. However, unlike scam artists, viruses never completely fade away. Their signatures remain part of the master version of all virus signatures.

Suppose a scam artist was at your front door. What would you do? Perhaps you’d not encourage them to come in nor buy their product but, at the same time, you’d try not to upset them. You’d politely listen to their story and then send them on their way. After you closed the door, you may call the police or the telephone number given in the report that initially brought them to your attention.

With viruses, you often have the chance to react to them when they’ve been discovered on your home computer. Depending upon the specific characteristics of the virus, you might be able to clean the infected file. Or you might be forced to destroy the file and load a new copy from your backups or original distribution media. Your options depend upon your choice of anti-virus program and the virus that’s been detected.

In your living space, you look at those who come to your door and you look at what you receive in the mail. These are two of the ways that items can get into your living space, so you examine them, sometimes closely, sometimes not.

Viruses can reach your computer in many ways, through floppy disks, CD-ROMs, email, web sites, and downloaded files. All need to be checked for viruses each time you use them. In other words, when you insert a floppy disk into the drive, check it for viruses. When you receive email, check it for viruses (remember to use the KRESV tests described in Task 3 - Use Care When Reading Email with Attachments). When you download a file from the Internet, check it for viruses before using it. Your anti-virus program may let you specify all of these as places to check for viruses each time you operate on them. Your anti-virus program may also do this automatically. All you need to do is to open or run the file to cause it to be checked.

Just as you walk around your living space to see if everything is OK, you also need to “walk” around your home computer to see if there are any viruses lurking about. Most anti-virus programs let you schedule periodic exams of all files on your home computer on a regular basis, daily for example. If you leave your computer turned on over night, think about scheduling a full-system review during that time.

Some anti-virus programs have more advanced features that extend their recognition capabilities beyond virus signatures. Sometimes a file won’t match any of the known signatures, but it may have some of the characteristics of a virus. This is comparable to getting that “there’s something not quite right here, so I’m not going to let them in” feeling as you greet someone at your door. These heuristic tests, as they’re called, help you to keep up with new viruses that aren’t yet defined in your list of virus signatures.

An anti-virus program is frequently an add-on to your home computer, though your newly purchased computer might include a trial version. At some point, say after 60 days, you must purchase it to continue using it. To decide whether to make that purchase or to look elsewhere, use these steps for evaluating anti-virus programs:

1. The Demand test: Can you check a file on demand, for example, when you want to send an attachment as part of the KRESV tests?
2. The Update test: Can you update the virus signatures automatically? Daily is best.
3. The Respond test: What are all the ways that you can respond to an infected file? Can the virus checker clean a file?
4. The Check test: Can you check every file that gets to your home computer, no matter how it gets there, and can those checks be automated?
5. The Heuristics test: Does the virus checker do heuristics tests? How are these defined?

These tests – the DURCH tests – help you compare anti-virus programs. Once you’ve made your selection, install it and use all of its capabilities all of the time.

Intruders are the most successful in attacking all computers – not just home computers – when they use viruses and worms. Installing an anti-virus program and keeping it up to date is among the best defenses for your home computer. If your financial resources are limited, they are better spent purchasing a commercial anti-virus program than anything else.

source:cert.org/homeusers/HomeComputerSecurity/#1

Featured Research

Help Desk Staffing Ratios August, 2009 Because the help desk (or service desk) comprises a sizable portion of the IT staff, it is often a target for cost reduction, outsourcing, and efficiency gains. As such, determining appropriate help desk personnel levels for an organization is critical. This study provides benchmarks for help desk staffing. Key metrics include number of users and number of PCs per help desk staff member. We provide both metrics for the composite sample and by organization size. We also examine help desk staff as a percentage of the IT staff, the trend in help desk personnel over time, and impact of outsourcing on help desk employee headcount. We conclude with recommendations on optimizing help desk staffing levels. (9 pp, 8 figs.) [Executive Summary] Technology Trends and IT Management Best Practices 2009/2010 August, 2009 This study is designed to assist organizations in planning for use of new technologies in light of the adoption and economic experiences of those that have already implemented them. It also gives the IT executive insight into how widely IT management best practices are put to use by other organizations. Technologies covered include ERP, CRM, Business Intelligence, SOA, server virtualization, storage virtualization, desktop virtualization, SaaS, cloud computing, VoIP, unified communications, social networking, and green IT, along with 10 IT management best practices. Read the full report description for more information. (71 pp., 54 figs.) [Full Report Description] Green IT Taking Root Despite Uncertain Payback August, 2009 The term green IT most frequently refers to initiatives to reduce IT energy consumption but can also entail recycling, proper disposal of toxic materials, and even telecommuting. Although the adoption of green IT is on a sharp upward curve, the economic rationale for these investments is unclear. This study first looks at adoption trends, which provide insight into how many organizations have green IT initiatives, how many are in the process of implementation, and how quickly such environmentally-friendly investments are likely to increase over the next year. We then examine the economic experience of those that already have made such investments by examining the percentage of organizations that report positive and break-even ROI within a two-year period and the percentage that exceed budgets for total cost of ownership. (9 pp., 7 figs.) [Executive Summary] Staffing Ratios for IT Quality Assurance and Testing July, 2009 The skills of a capable IT quality assurance group are essential to improving IT processes in general and application development processes in particular. Yet, the appropriate level of QA staffing is often difficult to determine. This study provides benchmarks for staffing the QA function within the IT organization. We provide the ratio of QA staff to total IT for the composite sample and by organization size. We also examine the ratio of application developers to QA staff, the four-year trend in QA staffing, and the influence of outsourcing on QA staffing. (14 pp., 8 figs.) [Executive Summary] Service Desk Software Prime Focus for IT Investment July, 2009 Tools for automating the IT service desk (help desk) are part of a mature market. Still, as IT budgets are tightened, demand for help-desk services continues to escalate and the bottom-line benefits of automated, efficiency-enhancing tools have become increasingly attractive. In this study, we examine adoption trends and current investment activity for service desk software by organization size and industry sector. We also discuss types of service desk software and provide our assessment on key factors IT organizations should consider when investing in service desk automation tools. (9 pp., 5 figs.) [Executive Summary] IT Spending and Staffing Benchmarks 2009/2010: Full Study June, 2009 Our 2009/2010 IT Spending and Staffing Benchmarks study provides a comprehensive view of the current state of IT budgeting and staffing levels for business and governmental organizations in North America. This article allows purchase of all 21 chapters at a significant discount off the individual chapter price. (1,053 pp., 576 figs.) [Full Study Description and Chapter Pricing] Use of IT Security Outsourcing Low but Rising as Threats Grow June, 2009 Outsourcing at least a portion of IT security operations makes increasing sense in today's online business environment. In this study, we examine data on the percentage of organizations outsourcing security for the composite sample, by organization size, and by sector. We also look at the level of satisfaction with IT security service providers, the amount of security work outsourced by organizations, and the trend in terms of the percentage of organizations changing their level of security outsourcing. Our analysis also discusses the types of outsourcing services, changes in the industry, and the cost and benefits of security outsourcing. We conclude with reasons security outsourcing should continue to grow and mature. (13 pp., 8 figs.) [Executive Summary] Measuring Help-Desk Efficiency May, 2009 As a labor-intensive function, the IT help desk (or service desk) is generally high on management’s list of areas targeted for productivity gains. But, as it is often said, if you cannot measure something you cannot improve it. To meet the needs of managers seeking to better handle this critical function, this study examines the most common metrics used for tracking help-desk efficiency, costs, and productivity. It also assesses the role of technology, service-level agreements, outsourcing, and IT service management best practices in improving the return on investment for the service desk. (14 pp., 6 figs.) [Executive Summary] IT Staffing Ratios, 2009: Benchmarking Metrics and Analysis for 14 Key IT Functions May, 2009 This special publication bundles the entire collection of our reports on IT staffing ratios. The IT functions covered include IT management, project management, documentation and training, help desk, desktop support, business analysts, server support, network administration, applications development, ERP support, database administration, IT quality assurance, IT security, and web/e-commerce. This special collection is a valuable source of information for IT executives interested in benchmarking their staffing levels with those of similar organizations. (197 pp., 108 figs.) [Full Report Description and Free Sample] Insider Misuse of Computing Resources March, 2009 This special report, based on our survey of IT security professionals and executives worldwide, analyzes the threat of insider misuse of computing resources--that is, any violation of an organization's policies regarding acceptable use. Examples include unauthorized file copying; downloading of software, music, or other media; P2P file-sharing; rogue remote access programs, modems, and wireless access points; misuse of business or personal email; instant messaging; blogging and posting to message boards; and personal web surfing. For each of these types of insider misuse, we present data concerning the perceived seriousness of the threat, typical organizational policies or lack thereof, frequency of violations against company policy, analysis of preventive and detective actions taken by organizations to deter the misuse, and typical levels of enforcement. (77 pp., 75 figs.) [Extended Description] [Executive Summary] 2009 IT Salary Report February, 2009 The Computer Economics 2009 IT Salary Report provides current salary ranges for 70 specific IT job positions in 73 U.S. metropolitan areas. Salary ranges are further broken down by organizational size for each job position within each metropolitan area. (Small organizations are those with annual revenues less than $350 million and fewer than 50 IT staff members. Midsize/large are those with least $350 million in revenue and 50 IT staff members). To provide typical salary ranges, all salary data is provided at the 25th percentile, median, and 75th percentile. source:computereconomics.com