Digital Big Bang — 161 Exabytes In 2006 176
An anonymous reader tips us to an AP story on a recent study of how much data we are producing. IDC estimates that in 2006 we created, captured, and replicated 161 exabytes of digital information. The last time anyone tried to estimate global information volume, in 2003, researchers at UC Berkeley came up with 5 exabytes. (The current study tries to account for duplicating data — on the same assumptions as the 2003 study it would have come out at 40 exabytes.) By 2010, according to IDC, we will be producing far more data than we will have room to store, closing in on a zettabyte.
Submission + - National ID cards - UK Beta Test?
An anonymous reader writes: National ID cards have been discussed here on Slashdot before. Now people have to register with personal information and a photograph(reg now closed) just to attend the Glastonbury Festival in the UK. It's like applying for a passport. 100,000 people registered online on the first day. Is this an ID card beta test?
From an opinion piece by Tom Reed at MSN:
"The reason is trust, or a lack of trust, in this case. The Glastonbury situation shows that people don't mind handing over information and photographs if they know the reason for it and they know what that information is going to be used for. Where the Government and national ID cards are concerned, people are worried what information will be held and how such information might be used". Also FTA "The Glastonbury Festival epitomises liberalism. People go there and exist for the festival's duration with a freedom that knows almost no limits. So the fact that thousands of them are willing to comply with a photo ID scheme which goes against what the festival stands for, suggests that the tide is turning".
Is this the thin edge of the wedge? What makes this all the more sinister is that there is no privacy policy to be found anywhere on the registration pages. A search of the web and on the official forums shows little to no objection. The festival organisers make no promise at all that they will keep your personal details and photo private (AFAICT). Ironically, national ID cards and the associated privacy issues are discussed on their forums.
"The reason is trust, or a lack of trust, in this case. The Glastonbury situation shows that people don't mind handing over information and photographs if they know the reason for it and they know what that information is going to be used for. Where the Government and national ID cards are concerned, people are worried what information will be held and how such information might be used". Also FTA "The Glastonbury Festival epitomises liberalism. People go there and exist for the festival's duration with a freedom that knows almost no limits. So the fact that thousands of them are willing to comply with a photo ID scheme which goes against what the festival stands for, suggests that the tide is turning".
Is this the thin edge of the wedge? What makes this all the more sinister is that there is no privacy policy to be found anywhere on the registration pages. A search of the web and on the official forums shows little to no objection. The festival organisers make no promise at all that they will keep your personal details and photo private (AFAICT). Ironically, national ID cards and the associated privacy issues are discussed on their forums.
The Blackest Material 299
QuantumCrypto writes "Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have created 'the world's first material that reflects virtually no light.' This anti-reflection technology is based on nanomaterial and could lead to the development of more efficient solar cells, brighter LEDs, and 'smarter' light sources. In theory, if a room were to be coated with this material, switching on the lights would only illuminate the items in the room and not the walls, giving a sense of floating free in infinite space."
