Dr. Dobb's Journal May 2002
The Peek-A-Booty project is a peer-to-peer network designed — not to swap MP3s — but to defeat state-sponsored Internet censorship. According to lead developer Paul Baranowski, 21 countries (most notably, China) deploy nationwide firewalls designed to prevent users within the country from accessing certain sites. Essentially, Peek-A-Booty attempts to defeat such firewalls by creating an anonymous, Crowds-style network in which firewalled nodes can request forbidden material from distant, nonfirewalled nodes.
Peek-A-Booty uses HTTPS for all its connections, in the hope that its exchanges will be indistinguishable from e-commerce transactions. "If the evil guys...want to block Peek-A-Booty, they have to block SSL, which means they're going to have to block all of e-commerce," says Baranowski. The design of Peek-A-Booty is also layered in such a way that other channels of communication could be employed in the future.
To prevent a government from obtaining all the IP addresses of Peek-A-Booty nodes, the system attempts to enforce a minimal discovery rule. In contrast to most distributed systems, which want all nodes to be found, Peek-A-Booty allows each node to discover only enough other nodes to break through a firewall. Packets are not given a time to live (TTL); all propagation and response is based on probabilities. The number of discovery requests served is kept lower than the rate at which new nodes enter the network, and multiple discovery requests within a certain time period are not honored. For more information, see http://www.peek-a-booty.org/.
Researchers at IBM have invented a prototype 9-ounce portable computing device for pervasive computing applications. Codenamed "Meta Pad," the device is about the size of a 3/4-inch stack of 3x5-inch index cards. To make Meta Pad — which has an 800-MHz processor, 128-MB SDRAM, 10-GB hard disk, and 3D-graphics chip — so small, researchers made accessories out of power supply, display, and I/O connectors from computer core — leaving processor, memory, data, and applications. Without rebooting, users can then plug the core into a handheld, desktop, laptop, tablet, wearable, or similar system.
Lawrence Livermore National Lab researchers have developed a prototype miniature power source that should be able to extend consumer electronic batteries up to 300 percent longer compared to present rechargeable batteries. The talk time of a typical cellular phone battery, for instance, could be extended from two to six days. The technology incorporates a thin-film fuel cell and microfluidic fuel processing components integrated into a common package. Lab scientists predict that the micro-electrical-mechanical systems (MEMS) fuel cell power source will replace rechargeable batteries, such as lithium-ion and lithium-ion polymer, in handheld computers, laptops, and the like. The MEMS fuel cell is designed to be 50 percent of the cost with 30 percent of the weight, size, or volume of existing rechargeable portable power sources.
A team of chemists and engineers at the University of California, Los Angeles has developed a transparent plastic capable of mending itself when broken. All you have to do is repeatedly heat "Automend," as the plastic is called, to 240-250 degrees Fahrenheit. After healing, the original fracture is invisible, and it retains 60 percent of the plastic's original strength. No other catalyst or chemicals are required.
Like their counterparts in Nebraska and South Carolina, legislators in California want to mandate recycling for computer monitors that contain hazardous materials that are finding their way into landfills — up to 6000 per day in California alone. According to the California plan, manufacturers would either have to develop a free program allowing consumers to return unwanted equipment to the company, or pay a fee for setting up recovery programs. Nebraska and South Carolina already add a $5 fee to new equipment that has a cathode ray tube. Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Dell currently sponsor computer recycling programs that require consumers to pay for computer removal. Laws already in place in California prohibit disposal of computers because they contain four to eight pounds of lead and other toxic materials.