Step toward 1TB per square inch data density

Fujitsu's scheme to produce hard drives that can hold a terabyte of data in each square inch of recording surface has taken a step closer to realisation. It has made a 2.5in disk made of its proposed 'patterned medium' and verified the disc's read/write capability.

During years of severe drought, tropical rainforest fires can double emissions from tropical forests, according to scientists. Now, an international team of forest and climate researchers has found that halving deforestation rates by mid-century would account for 12 percent of total emissions reductions needed to keep concentrations of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere at safe levels. This work is profiled in a recent issue of Science.

The folks over at Daniweb have submitted their story about the online visa application system in India. Approximately a year ago, someone who was using the system ran into a problem, where all the work he had done in filling out the application seemed to disappear, and the back button wasn't work. So he tried making small changes to the URL... which gave him access to someone else's visa application. There are plenty of online systems that do this, but you would expect something a little more secure when it comes to government documents that include all sorts of personal info. The guy notified those responsible, and his alert was promptly ignored. It was only after they were contacted a second time, by the person writing the article about it, that they took it seriously enough to finally plug the hole. With governments leaking data all the time, is it any wonder that people don't feel particularly safe when the government wants even more data from us, while promising that there's no way it would ever be leaked?