noosphere

infoneer-pulse:

Having contributed in large part to the Internet’s very existence, DARPA is now setting out to make its secure networks more secure. But rather than relying upon the conventional notion of a password—a complex string of letters and numerals that an individual must remember—the agency is looking to create a “cognitive fingerprint” for individuals that constantly authenticates that person for the duration of the time he or she has access to a network.

DARPA’s approach relies on biometrics, but not the usual brand of biometrics we’re used to seeing, like iris or fingerprint scans. DARPA wants to employ what it calls software-based biometrics—biometrics that don’t require any extra equipment and can be deployed on any computer via a software package—to recognize individual humans.

That means identifying humans not by a physical characteristic, but via a blend of mental or behavioral traits that are inherent in the way the person interacts with the terminal and the network. These things could include analysis of patterns in a person’s keystrokes, use of a computer’s built-in camera to track eye-movement patterns, semantic analysis that evaluates how a user searches and selects information (how you structure search queries, for instance, or what verbs and predicates you tend to use), the structure and syntax of a user’s sentences, the speed with which an individual tends to read content—the list goes on.

» via Popular Science

“Technology” dogs discovered umpteen thousands of years ago. =)

infoneer-pulse:

The battle over public access to federally funded research is heating up again, and university presses have been drawn into it. In the past week, several scholarly publishers, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s press, have parted company with a major publishing association over a bill in Congress that would curb public-access mandates.

U.S. Reps. Darrell E. Issa, Republican of California, and Carolyn B. Maloney, Democrat of New York, introduced the bill, known as the Research Works Act (HR 3699), last month. The bill would forbid federal agencies to do anything that would result in the sharing of privately published research—even if that research is done with the help of taxpayer dollars—unless the publisher of the work agrees first.

If passed, the bill would undo policies such as the National Institutes of Health’s public-access mandate, which requires that the results of federally financed research be made publicly available within 12 months of publication.

» via The Chronicle of Higher Education (Subscription may be required for some content)

usagov:

From the U.S. Department of State:

After first learning about human trafficking, many people want to help in some way but do not know how. Here are just a few ideas for your consideration.

1. Learn human trafficking red flags and ask follow up questions so that you can detect a…

thenewrepublic:

Will Occupy Wall Street have enough money to regroup this Spring?

usnews:

The group’s bank balance has dwindled to just $170,000 according to the Journal, down from the nearly $700,000 it raised last fall. Very few donations are coming in, volunteers said, a harsh reality following the money that poured in from around the nation during the group’s highly publicized two-month stint in a Lower Manhattan park.

Yes, but only if they innovate, redefine what it means to protest.  But that’s conversation for another day…