October 2007 Archives

This will be the last post to this blog for several weeks. A team of movers will come tomorrow to pack up all of our possessions and ship them from The Netherlands to the United States. As of November, I will be working as Adelphi University's Information Security Officer.

Your next laptop could have a continuous power battery that lasts for 30 years without a single recharge thanks to work being funded by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. The breakthrough betavoltaic power cells are constructed from semiconductors and use radioisotopes as the energy source. As the radioactive material decays it emits beta particles that transform into electric power capable of fueling an electrical device like a laptop for years.

Although betavoltaic batteries sound Nuclear they're not, they're neither use fission/fusion or chemical processes to produce energy and so (do not produce any radioactive or hazardous waste).

[...]

The best part about these cells are when they eventually run out of power they are totally inert and non-toxic, so environmentalists need not fear these high tech scientific wonder batteries. If all goes well plans are for these cells to reach store shelves in about 2 to 3 years.

Source: Next Energy News, Oct 1, 2007

Forget about dilithium chrystals; if this betavoltaic battery does indeed hit the market in a few years time, it it comes affordable for mainstream consumer a few years after its introduction, that is awesome news that could revolutionize the household electronics landscape, as well as IT infrastructures.

Find out more about betavoltaic batteries using this Google search

In an MS NBC article:

the FBI remains vulnerable to espionage from within, the parent Justice Department said in a report Monday.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21085241/

My first reaction to this headline was "well, duh!" Most people who work in information security repeat the adagio "protect against insider threats" at least once a day.