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Denmark, Sweden ahead of U.S. in new global IT report
Denmark and Sweden are better than the United States in their ability to exploit information and communications technology; this good news for the United States: it climbed one spot from No. 4 in 2007 to No. 3, and the report says the United States was well placed for a technology-driven recovery as it has the top scientific research institutions in the world and best collaboration between universities and industries
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Fingerprint sensor suit heats up
For a year now, two fingerprint technology rivals, AuthenTec and Atrua Technologies, have been locked in a legal battle over patents; last week, and for the second time since the suits were filed, the judge in the case has ruled in favor of AuthenTec
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Sonavation shows world's thinnest fingerprint sensor
Florida-based Sonavation shows innovative — and very small — fingerprint sensor: 35 mm in length by 14.5 mm wide with a thickness of only 0.25 mm; the sensing element alone is only 3 mm in length by 14 mm wide by 0.1 mm thick
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PharmAthene in $5.5 million public equity offering
Developer of countermeasures against biological and chemical attacks raises $5.5 million in public offering
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Total RFID revenue to exceed $5.6 billion in 2009
ABI Research says that “The recession has had an undeniable effect on deployment plans… but despite some project deferrals and terminations, there will be market growth, albeit fragmented”
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Hi-G-Tek, Trojan Defense work on global nuclear threat early detection
Hi-G-Tek and Trojan Defense collaborate on developing a global nuclear threat early detection and warning system; the wireless sensor is designed for rapid reporting of WMD in global shipments
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Sagem Sécurité, Hitachi combine fingerprint and vein recognition technologies
Two leaders in biometric technologies combine their respective technologies — finger prints and vein architecture — in a multimode biometric recognition module
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Video on beyond line-of-sight high-bandwidth connection possible
Boeing demonstrates that transmitting video on beyond line-of-sight high-bandwidth connection is possible
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U.K. Home Office lists early ID vendors
nCipher will be paid about £1.3 million for a contract to provide “public key infrastructure and security related work”; 3M SP&SL will receive about £700,000 plus a fee for each card
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Economic slowdown notwithstanding, new startups are optimistic
Recession or no, Wayne Crosby of Mixin Capital says it is a good time to launch a startup; “I think if you’re an entrepreneur,” he said, “you’re always an entrepreneur, regardless of what the economy is doing”
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Questions raised about private inspections of food companies
What the mortgage meltdown did to the financial services sector, the recent salmonella outbreak has done to to food industry: critics charge that both cases exposed the inherent weaknesses of industries regulating and inspecting themselves
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Aussie students develop new way to visualize fingerprints left on paper
Two University of Technology, Sydney students develop a method which relies on the application of heat to the sample, with the fingerprint development accomplished in a matter of seconds
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Large defense contractors look for cyber-security business
Cyber attacks on U.S. government networks and private companies have grown exponentially; the result is a vast increase in the attention paid to, and money spent on, cyber security; the biggest U.S. military contractors are counting on winning billions of dollars in work to protect the U.S. federal government against cyber attacks
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Air France begins trial of biometric boarding cards
Air France begins trials with biometric cards as a replacement for boarding passes; the RFID-equipped cards store the passenger’s fingerprints and may be re-used up to 500 times
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Critic: U.K. fraud strategy "more worthy of Uzbekistan"
Business fraud costs Britain £14 billion a year; the U.K. government today launched its National Fraud Strategy, but a Cambridge professor harshly criticizes the initiative
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The long view
Need for National Information Clearinghouse for Cybercrime Data, Categorization of Cybercrimes: Report
There is an acute need for the U.S. to address its lack of overall governance and coordination of cybercrime statistics. A new report recommends that relevant federal agencies create or designate a national information clearinghouse to draw information from multiple sources of cybercrime data and establish connections to assist in criminal investigations.
Trying to “Bring Back” Manufacturing Jobs Is a Fool’s Errand
Advocates of recent populist policies like to focus on the supposed demise of manufacturing that occurred after the 1970s, but that focus is misleading. The populists’ bleak economic narrative ignores the truth that the service sector has always been a major driver of America’s success, for decades, even more so than manufacturing. Trying to “bring back” manufacturing jobs, through harmful tariffs or other industrial policies, is destined to end badly for Americans. It makes about as much sense as trying to “bring back” all those farm jobs we had before the 1870s.
The Potential Impact of Seabed Mining on Critical Mineral Supply Chains and Global Geopolitics
The potential emergence of a seabed mining industry has important ramifications for the diversification of critical mineral supply chains, revenues for developing nations with substantial terrestrial mining sectors, and global geopolitics.
Are We Ready for a ‘DeepSeek for Bioweapons’?
Anthropic’s Claude 4 is a warning sign: AI that can help build bioweapons is coming, and could be widely available soon. Steven Adler writes that we need to be prepared for the consequences: “like a freely downloadable ‘DeepSeek for bioweapons,’ available across the internet, loadable to the computer of any amateur scientist who wishes to cause mass harm. With Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 having finally triggered this level of safety risk, the clock is now ticking.”