Norbert's blog

AntiVirus Software: avast! 1, NAV Nil

nobody@vox.com(Norbert) — Fri, 09 May 2008 09:53:55 -0400

I have been a loyal customer of Norton AntiVirus (NAV) software for many years, largely due to factors other than the primary function. More due to luck than skill, I have experienced very few virus issues. When asked for recommendations, I typically would suggest NAV as a 'safe bet'.

A few years ago, I began to run into an increasing number of issues, ranging from incompatibility with other security software (specifically ZoneAlarm), performance impacts, LiveUpdate failures, difficulty upgrading NAV to current levels, and, the last straw, NAV failures that would block Internet access. Often, recovering from these problems was time-consuming because NAV would end up in a state where it could neither be uninstalled nor repaired. In the end, I had enough and looked for alternatives.

I settled on avast! based on high marks from antivirus rating services, user reports, reasonable pricing (free is always nice) and Vista support. Installation and configuration was painless, guided by the tutorial How to Install, Configure, and Use Avast Antivirus. A minor incompatibility with ZoneAlarm Pro was easily resolved. A Pro version of avast! is available at a reasonable cost, providing a few additional features like scheduled scans.

I recently had an opportunity to compare avast! and NAV in terms of function. A few months ago, I was asked to diagnose a PC with intermittent performance issues. NAV 360 had recently been installed on the PC and a full scan did not show any problems. Based on other reports of NAV 360 performance issues, I removed NAV 360 - the performance issues disappeared. During the install, avast! reported and quarantined three files flagged as adware or trojans. Last week, I helped clean up a PC that had been infected with a variety of trojans. Again, NAV neither blocked them nor found them during a full scan. On the other hand, avast! found and quarantined 16 files as malware.

A very selective sample and Your Mileage May Vary, but I think you can guess how I will respond if anyone asks for a recommendation on antivirus software.

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Hybrid Human and Machine Computing

nobody@vox.com(Norbert) — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:05:45 -0400

Starting with SETI@home in 1999, numerous distributed computing applications using spare cycles of PCs and other computing devices have been able to inexpensively tap massive computing resources. According to Wikipedia, SETI@home can tap 424 TeraFLOPS (Trillion FLoating point Operations Per Second), compared to a sustained rate of 478 TeraFLOPS for IBM's Blue Gene, one of the world's fastest supercomputer. Folding@home hit 1000 TeraFLOPS in 2007 by tapping into the power of PlayStation 3 clients and Graphics Processing Units of video cards.

Technology Review's Biologists Enlist Online Gamers discusses the Rosetta@home project that attempts to predict the three-dimensional structure of proteins. Although genome analysis has helped identify the molecular sequence of proteins, how the amino acid sequences in proteins are folded significantly affects protein function. Even simply proteins have many possible structures - finding "best one is regarded as one of the hardest problems in biology today".

Rosetta@home displays the 3D protein structure on a screensaver - some users reported that they could see opportunities to improve on the 'fit' of the structure. This led David Baker to work with Zoran Popović (a game designer at the University of Washington) to develop Foldit, which "attempts to predict the structure of a protein by taking advantage of humans' puzzle-solving intuitions and having people play competitively to fold the best proteins." It combines the ability of computers to sift through many alternative structures and visually represent form and function with the human ability to recognizing patterns.

As a game, the design is challenging since neither the goal nor the path is well understood, and in fact is developed by the users as they use Foldit. Analysis of player interaction with Foldit may reveal strategies that can then be incorporated into Rosetta@home, an interesting form of co-operative competition between silicon and biology.

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A Tale of Rechargeable Batteries: Updated

nobody@vox.com(Norbert) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:30:01 -0400

Since posting A Tale of Rechargeable Batteries, the PowerEx charger has earned its keep. Not only does it restore NiMH batteries that were no longer taking an adequate charge from a regular 'quick charger', it also allow me to accurately determine the capacity of NiMH batteries so that they can be matched into sets such that one battery does not become 'the weak link'.

The PowerEx charger also appears to be useful in diagnosing the 'charge lifetime' of batteries. I used 6 AA NiMH batteries of matched capacity in a label printer that gets intermittent usage. When the printer stopped working, I did a normal recharge cycle. Since the 6 batteries were in series, they should all have discharged by the same amount. However, the PowerEX reported varying recharge amounts from 500 mAh to 2000 mAh. Given that all the batteries started with the same capacity, my suspicion is that some were 'self-discharging' at a rate higher than normal. All NiMH batteries will lose their charge over time - quality issues during manufacturing or breakdown of the internal battery components can accelerate this process such that the batteries quickly discharge even if not used.

In this case, I may have matched the 6 batteries in terms of initial capacity, but clearly not in terms of their ability to hold a charge. Of the 6 batteries, the PowerEx charger results suggested that four should either be relegated to recycling or only used in high-draw devices where self-charge is less of an issue.

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REGREEN: Green Guidelines for Home Remodeling

nobody@vox.com(Norbert) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 23:17:38 -0400

REGREEN is an initiative by the American Society of Interior Designers' Foundation a d the U.S. Green Building Council to develop:

"best practice guidelines and targeted educational resources for sustainable residential improvement projects. This program will increase understanding of sustainable renovation project practices and benefits among homeowners, residents, design professionals, product suppliers and service providers to build both demand and industry capacity."

Characteristics include:

a whole-house, systems-thinking approach, focusing on "how systems or the whole building work together to reduce environment impacts" through "cross-listing of strategies by project and environmental category"
integration of all building professions, by combining "content, resources and case studies that tie together best-practice design and construction"
recognition that a green project must first be a quality project, and that "the beauty of a building or project ... is the starting point for durability"
recognising the importance of designing for the specific climate and site
emphasising the importance of decisions made at the very beginning of each project

The REGREEN Guidelines document covers ten project types, from kitchen remodeling to outdoor living, with many case studies. It includes an extensive Strategy Library comprising 198 design strategies, including potential issues, related strategies and references/resources.

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The Impacts of "Virtual Water"

nobody@vox.com(Norbert) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 22:58:40 -0400

Link: Scientist who invented "virtual water" wins prize

The Stockholm International Water Institute awarded Professor John Anthony Allan (University of London, Britain) the 2008 Stockholm Water Prize for introducing the concept of "virtual water", a calculation method that takes into account the water embodied in foods and industrial products throughout their lifecycle. For example, the 140 litres of water consumed to grow, process, package and ship the coffee beans required for a cup of water far outweighs the water that goes into the coffee maker.

Wikipedia has a synopsis of the "virtual water" concept and lists the embodied water in a range of agricultural, household and industrial products. For example:

1 kilogram of beef: 15,000 litres of water
1 kilogram of jeans: 10,850 litres of water
a 1,100 kilogram car: 400,000 litres of water

Wikipedia lists three components that the calculations take into account:

green water: rainwater evaporation
blue water: surface or ground water evaporation
grey water: water the becomes polluted during the process

At present, "virtual water" does not take into account whether water resources are being used in a sustainable manner or the degree of environmental impact.

Although "virtual water" can be used as a way of assessing the impact of different products on water resources, Allan's developed the concept to explain why water scarcity in regions such as the Middle East had not led to 'water wars (Watersheds and Problemsheds: Explaining the Absence of Armed Conflict Over Water in the Middle East). Imports of products, particularly agricultural produce with a high embodied water content can represent a significant import of "virtual water", reducing the stress on local water supplies. According to Virtual Water, 15% of the world's water usage is for export, with USA, Canada and Thailand the leading exporters and Sri Lanka, Japan and Netherlands the leading importers. Allan argues "virtual water" should guide policy decisions, such as allocating water to products that "bring a sound return to water as well as sound returns to the economy" and increasing productive efficiency.

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Ontario Ministry of the Environment: Environmental Assessment

nobody@vox.com(Norbert) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:41:47 -0400

Ontario's Environmental Registry does not list all environment projects, such as those involving provincial infrastructure (including roads, power structures and landfill sites). These are handled by the Environmental Assessment (EA) process which has its own set of standards and guidelines.

No common registry or search engine is available or planned - Environmental Assessment has its own search engine. I was able to find a wealth of information about the Durham waste-to-energy proposal that generated considerable local interest, since one of the proposed sites was nearby.

Note: this is a public post.

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Not a Watt to Be Wasted

nobody@vox.com(Norbert) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:26:27 -0400

Link: Not a Watt to Be Wasted

The March 17/2008 TIME Magazine explored scavenging 'free energy', from sources such as:

the leg brace invented by Max Donelan and Arthur Kuo
vibration of bridges, dance floors and even the human heart
energy from raindrops or motion of fabrics
waste heat from power plants, internal combustion engines and other sources.

With the exception of scavenging heat, most of these techniques deliver only small amounts of energy, from microwatts up to five watts for the leg brace, enough energy to power a high-efficiency LED cluster that produces roughly as much light as a 40W halogen bulb. In comparison, model aircraft engines weighing 9 ounces (250 grams) can deliver more than 800 watts of power at maximum speed.

Scavenging thermal energy can deliver more power, but only from high quality waste heat. The amount of work that can be done depends on the temperature difference between the heat source and the surrounding environment. The high temperature exhaust of internal combustion engines is a good example and can be tapped using processes such as the BMW turbosteamer concept or converted directly to electricity using the thermoelectric effect. On the other hand, thermocouples are still relatively expensive - another approach may be to redesign the underlying processes to be more efficient and generate less waste heat.

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Promote Green Buildings for Biggest, Easiest Cuts in North American CO2 Emissions

nobody@vox.com(Norbert) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:26:46 -0400

Link: Promote Green Buildings for Biggest, Easiest Cuts in North American CO2 Emissions

A report announced in Vancouver by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation states that "Promoting the green design, construction, renovation and operation of buildings could cut North American greenhouse gas emissions that are fuelling climate change more deeply, quickly and cheaply than any other available measure."

Currently, North American buildings directly or indirectly result in the release of 2.2B tons of CO2. Rapid implementation of green building technologies could result in savings of 1.7B tons by 2030, roughly equal to the US transportation sector in 2000. A review by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development quotes John Westeinde, a partner in the Windmill Development Group in Ottawa and chairman of an advisory group that guided the report.

"The investments made for climate change benefit in buildings have direct payback, generally from the point of view of reduced energy costs and water costs as well the indoor health environment and increased productivity of the inhabitants of those buildings."

Barriers to rapid adoption include:

limited application of lifecycle costing, often because capital and operating budgets are separately managed
green building technologies often do not benefit the developer who pays for them
higher perceived or actual costs
higher perceived risk
lack of expertise
inconsistent government policies
lack of investment in research

The includes a number of specific recommendations in the areas of developing a vision, setting targets and implementing strategies for change.

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UCS: Call to Action on Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions

nobody@vox.com(Norbert) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:04:02 -0400

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is running a campaign to influence the debate in Congress on global warming legislation. They are looking for scientists, economists and the public to make their voices heard before March 28th.

"This is a call to action to our nation's leaders and will be delivered to all members of congress, state policy makers, presidential candidates, and the media. This call to action provides sound scientific and economic guidance to our elected officials as they wrestle with the urgent need to reduce global warming pollution. And it demonstrates that strong action today can save consumers and industry money and create jobs all while improving air quality, energy security, and public health.
You can help our efforts today by adding your name to this urgent call to action. If you are a Ph.D. or doctoral candidate professional with expertise relevant to our understanding of the scientific and economic dimensions of climate change, its impacts, and solutions—please sign the Scientists and Economists' Call for Action.
If you’re not a scientist or economist—we also need your help! Click here to add your name to our global warming call to action."

UCS is a valuable source of well-balanced and thoughtful information on a broad range of topics, and also provides an opportunity to get our voices heard over the lobbyists.

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Ideas: How to Think About Science (CBC Radio 1)

nobody@vox.com(Norbert) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 16:43:26 -0400

Link: Ideas: How to Think About Science (CBC Radio 1)

CBC Radio 1 is doing a series exploring " fundamental questions about how the institution of science is structured and how it knows what it knows." The link above includes abstracts of each interview and a recording RealPlayer streaming audio. Downloadable MP3 files can also be found on the CBC Podcasting site. Episode 13 is David Cayley's interview of Dean Bavington, an environmental philosopher who has studied the Atlantic fishery, particularly involving the northern cod. Although I thought that scientific management of the cod fishery began after the first decline in cod stocks in the 1960s, Bavington argues that scientific management predated this event, and was a major cause of the decline.

In-shore fishery for cod used baited hooks, which limited the fishing season to the times when cod were biting. Cod fishing was an inherently unpredictable affair, depending on when capelin ran and also which bays the cod entered. This unpredictability was not consistent with making fisheries a major driver of the Newfoundland economy. The Department of Fisheries was formed to bring greater consistency and allow establishment of an industrial fishery that supported a range of stakeholders from processing plants to investors. A key element was the development of population models and the concept of carrying capacity, which was used to establish how much cod could be harvested in a sustainable manner.

At the same time, the technology of fishing cod evolved, from 'jiggers' that would catch cod even if they were not biting to trawlers that would scoop up the cod from the bottom (these new fishing practices were condemned by many fisherman). An offshore fishery industry was established, again to support a more predictable fishery. However, the scientific models did not capture all of the complexity of the cod lifecycle. Key assumptions about the timing of spawning, whether cod stocks represented a single or multiple populations, and the breeding patterns of cod proved to be incorrect. For example, the models assumed that it was safe to catch any cod that had bred at least once - later research showed that the older male and female cod were the most prolific breeders. Netting of fish over a certain size even appears to have pushed back the age and size at which cod started to reproduce, further impacting breeding.

In spite of early warning signs reported by the in-shore fisherman (ignored by the scientific community as 'anecdotal'), offshore fisheries resumed after a short pause and appeared to be healthy. However, Atlantic cod stocks crashed again in the early 1990s. In spite of a moratorium in 1992, the cod stocks have not recovered to this day. Bavington argues that the more we learn about cod, the less we are able to determine what level of harvesting is sustainable. In this case, the original practice of 'fish lightly when you can, adapt when you cannot' appears to be the best way.

The other interviews in the series look equally intriguing. Once again, I am amazed at the quality of CBC programming. CBC is also diligent at archiving and making programming available, definitely a step above what the BBC has done in the past.

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