Kozminski Techblog

If you have ever dreamt about buying a big laptop that you could fit in your small backpack easily, Intel comes with a solution to your problem.

Intel presented a first foldable laptop at CES 2020, “Horseshoe Bend”, which has 17.3 inches OLED display. From outside it looks like a regular laptop. But when we open it – there is no keyboard, there is a screen. For now it is just a concept with an intention to show what Intel is capable of when it comes to Intel upcoming processors.

There are 3 ways to use this laptop, namely you can use as you would use a normal laptop, but in addition you can hold it folded like a book or prop it on its back side while having a really big screen in front of  you.

If you wish, you can get additional wireless keyboard, which can be placed in front of the 17.3 inch screen or on the lower part of screen.

The system is powered by Intel’s new generation mobile chip, Tiger Lake, which aims to speed up graphics and AI when it arrives later in 2020.

Folding displays were initiated by brands, such as Samsung, Huawei, Motorola. Now the time has come for laptops.

While building a concept, Intel faced a problem of mismatched lengths – the outer part was longer than the inside screen when it should be folded. Motorola faced the same problem as Intel, but with a Razr foldable phone. Intel came with a solution to implement a sliding design, when one half of the cover is fixed to the laptop back, while the other half slides.

For now it is hard to predict if such a laptop will be durable or not. It looks pretty good, but it is still a concept. Nevertheless, as technology is being advanced each day, such laptops could offer its users better tools for editing photos or more immersive movies. For sure Intel will be searching for more affordable solutions with PC makers. The question is if there will be a sufficient demand for such a portable light-weight laptop to make its production profitable….

References:

https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-foldable-laptop-ces-2020-pictures-video-2020-1?IR=T

https://www.cnet.com/news/intel-horseshoe-bend-foldable-pc-little-laptop-really-big-screen/

https://www.focus.pl/artykul/pal-v-moze-jezdzic-i-latac-supersamochod-wyjedzie-na-drogi-w-2021

Have you ever watched a futuristic movie with flying vehicles and wondered when will come the time you will see one in reality?

Apparently, it will be no longer than in one year time when such a car may be spotted. Pioneer Personal Air Landing Vehicle has been built for several years and finally it has been shown in USA on 3 December 2019.

The idea originated from Co-Founder John Bakker. He started flying in 1999 and each day he became frustrated that he couldn’t fly from the location that is convenient and land where he wanted. The team tested different aviation platform and chose the best option, which was a gyroscope. But there were challenges to build such a car. It had to have 3 wheels, as it helps in landing. The second thing was that the car had to have a high center of gravity so it could be stable in the air, but while driving it could lead the car to tip while cornering. The second challenge was the biggest problem for all flying car designers. In 2005 a Dutch company, Carver One, came with a solution of tilting system which could counter the high centre of gravity of an aircraft. First sketches were made and PAL-V was founded in 2008. In next years many prototypes were built and tested. And at the end of December 2019 they presented the final version.

The car has a futuristic design, with foldable propellers. Because of the fact that the car transforms into a gyroplane, it is not big inside and there is place for only two people.

https://motohigh.pl/2019/04/11/pierwsze-latajace-samochody-weszly-do-sprzedazy/flying-car-pal-v-liberty-pioneer-27/

The vehicle is said to have special technical possibilities. It has 3 wheels, in drive mode it can reach the maximum velocity of 160 km/h and needs less than 9 seconds to speed up to 100 km/h.

When it comes to the flight mode, the car transforms itself into gyroplane in about 10 minutes. It’s maximum speed is 180 km/h and can fly on maximum height of 3500m. It’s landing roll distance is 30 meters. To fly in the air it needs 165 meter tarmac, and only 30 meters to land.

For pleasure of driving or flying such a car a person must pay 599000$ (about 2,3 mln zl) and must have a driving and flying license. For now there are 70 orders and in 2021 cars will be delivered.

PAL-V has already planned a production of cheaper model (PAL-V Liberty Sport) which is estimated to cost 335000$ (about 1,3 mln zl)

Now the cars are really expensive, but maybe one day they will become affordable and then rarely will we see “normal” cars on the roads. As you see, the fiction is now becoming a reality.

Author: Karolina Rudko

References:

https://www.pal-v.com/en/explore-pal-v

https://www.pal-v.com/en/the-pal-v-story

https://www.focus.pl/artykul/pal-v-moze-jezdzic-i-latac-supersamochod-wyjedzie-na-drogi-w-2021

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0ODTVG-5a7u0df0E6lLy0A

Have you ever thought about being spied on? Nowadays, as technology is developing really fast, it is hard to say if the devices we use on a regular basis are some kind of data conveyor or not. Can we say that nobody sees us through cameras placed on the screen of our telephones or laptops? We can’t take our security for granted. Our devices may even have a tap to listen if we say certain words, for instance a bomb, terrorism, etc. But what about cameras, which could be placed on every street in your country? Would you have neutral feelings, like to your devices? Would you like the idea of somebody else knowing who you are, what are you doing outside, knowing if you committed a crime in the past?

George Orwell, the author of ,,Rok 1984’’ (“Nineteen Eighty-Four”), created his version of future. Like in the book, the eye of the big brother was everywhere, today it is present in certain places.

You may have heard that more and more countries introduce spying systems to invigilate citizens. Chinese scientists have implemented AI in the system of cameras, which is able to catch thousands of faces at once, in details. Then the system generates data which are attached to faces stored in cloud and immediately localising the person which is wanted.

The system of cameras was created in Shanghai. It is several times higher than the resolution of 120 million pixels of the human eye.

There is no doubt that everyone knows that China Is a country of universal surveillance. But the authorities of this country want to have even more control over Chinese citizens, so they are searching for new technology solutions. The already have a biometric identification of passengers in the beijing metro and intelligent glasses which are being used by the police.

There are even drones which look like birds. People can’t tell the difference between the real one and the drone, because the drones can do the same movements as the real birds.

Democratic countries are also interested in spying. China is spreading its technology to other countries for instance by Huawei. USA is selling artificial intelligence technologies for spying (with IBM as the main seller). At least 75 countries are introducing AI systems in citizens monitoring.

Although the police in China say that normal citizens do not have to worry about anything, as the their data will be used when they will be needed and if citizens ask for it, I myself wouldn’t like the idea of constantly being watched. What is your opinion on that?

Written by Karolina Rudko

References:

https://www.newsweek.pl/swiat/chinski-system-monitoringu-oko-wielkiego-brata-170-mln-kamer/hb6fmzm

https://mlodytechnik.pl/technika/29920-swiat-szpieguje

https://www.google.com/search?q=kamery+w+miastach&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjm7vr2n7jmAhWZcVAKHYkiCSwQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=kamery+w+miastach&gs_l=img.3..0i24l2.51338.83637..83842…0.0..0.89.1389.17……0….1..gws-wiz-img…..0..0j0i131j0i8i30.CB7bK_82Jqc&ei=13b2XaanEpnjwQKJxaTgAg&bih=663&biw=767&safe=active#imgrc=JQbwNEeSbBL_sM

https://www.haloursynow.pl/artykuly/ranking-uczelni-ktora-z-ursynowa-najlepsza,1737.htm

You may have heard about recent theft of students data from SGGW University. The data was kept on one of the employee’s laptop. According to Tvn24^[1], these data contained names, surname, PESEL, address, parents’ names, series and number of ID/passport, telephone number, which high school was certain student attending and its’ address and many other important information.

This concerns not only actual students of SGGW, but also these who applied there.

Students must now pay attention to suspicious operations on behalf of their names on their banking accounts, because with this type of data it is easy to take a loan.

https://echalliance.com/cybersecurity-is-forcing-a-rethink-of-strategic-authonomy/

Was the computer safe enough? What I mean is if any of the students data will be used illegally by a thief, it means that the laptop hadn’t had specific securities. All data should be protected, they should be encrypted, so that without the encryption one cannot break into the disc and read the data.

Each day technology gets more and more advanced, so why don’t we use it to our advantage? There are certain things we can do have our data safe – of course anything will give you 100% of security, but it is better to have some security systems than not at all. Although any computer system can be broken into in some way, it takes time and a person who is really into hacking things. And if you have blockages, it makes it hard for a hacker to get to you data.

First, most obvious, pay attention to your computer/laptop when you are away from home. It is for sure easy to steal something when nobody’s watching.

As your computer is stolen, there is nothing left for a thief to overcome – if your hard drive is not secured, they can easily put it in another computer and access all your data. That’s why you should encrypt your hard drive. The only way to access such drive is to know a key to unblock it. A key can be a PIN number, just password, but not an easy one (because these are easy to break), or a USB stick with a key in it. You can do it by using different web pages (of course secured, for instance: https…) , such as BitLocker^[2] .

What more can you do is attaching proximity alarms tracking the actual position of your laptop. Such programmes send you an alert when they detect that the laptop has moved away from you. There is a wide range of such devices. For instance i=you can order one from Sam Labs^[3] .

https://int.samlabs.com/products/proximity

But there are more ways to break into your computer without stealing it. Your data can be stolen when you are using public Wi-Fi, which is for instance on the airports or in the hotels. This is because there are passwords and emails passed over the same network. Hackers can easily steal your data by having free programs. So next time you are at the airport or on a vacation, think again about connecting to the free Wi-Fi, as all you need to be secure is a small router with a card.

As you see, there are many things you can do to protect your data.. And it is always better to have it secured than not, am I right?

Written by Karolina Rudko

References:

 ^[1] https://tvn24.pl/tvnwarszawa/najnowsze/warszawa-kradziez-komputera-z-danymi-studentow-sggw-2022240

^[2] https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/uspartner_ts2team/2010/03/17/what-is-bitlocker-what-does-it-do-what-does-it-not-do/

^[3] https://int.samlabs.com/products/proximity

https://www.computerweekly.com/tip/Laptop-encryption-tips-How-to-secure-a-laptop

 https://www.caranddriver.com/tesla/model-3

Have you ever seen a futuristic movie with advanced technologies? I bet you can name at least one. When I was thinking about hacking, the movie that came to my mind was obviously Matrix. What I intend to say is that there were people, hackers, who wanted to control the machines ruling the world. This futuristic vision can be found today, technology becomes more and more advanced each day, it becomes more sophisticated, there are more programmers trained to create devices based on artificial intelligence. What comes with that is that apart from programmers, there are also hackers.

Everyday we use smartphones, laptops or small domestic robots. Cars can be programmed to use artificial intelligence. A great example is a vehicle created by Tesla company, that has an impressive design with large on-board screen and the possibility of autodrive. But is it safe to drive a car, which is connected to our phones, can be remotely driven and has a wide range of other innovative informatic options? Can it be hacked so that you lose control over it? What then?

https://www.cybersecuritymastersdegree.org/2017/11/top-5-most-dangerous-hackers-of-all-time/

There have been many cases in which Tesla model 3 was hacked. Once somebody controlled the autowipers,  but more attention was paid to the car suddenly switching the lane. How did the hackers manage to do that? According to MIT Technology review ^[1]. The answer is simple when you read it – as these cars are specifically programmed, the hackers needed to place the stickers on the road to trick the programme.

Here are some specifics:

,, This an example of an “adversarial attack,” a way of manipulating a machine-learning model by feeding in a specially crafted input. Adversarial attacks could become more common as machine learning is used more widely, especially in areas like network security.^’’[1]

,, Tesla’s Autopilot is vulnerable because it recognizes lanes using computer vision. In other words, the system relies on camera data, analyzed by a neural network, to tell the vehicle how to keep centered within its lane.’’^[2]

Another accident, more serious, was when somebody had a crash with a truck – ,, The driver, Jeremy Banner, activated the autopilot feature on his Tesla Model 3 about 10 seconds before he crashed into a semi truck on March 1 in Delray Beach, Florida.’’^[2]

Although Tesla cars cannot be simply hacked by a thief opening a steering column and connecting special cables, it is possible with a computer.

,,Two researchers have found that they could plug their laptop into a network cable behind a Model S’ driver’s-side dashboard, start the car with a software command, and drive it. They also injected a remote-access Trojan on the Model S’ network while they had physical access, then later remotely cut its engine while someone else was driving.’’^[3]

After successful hacking attempts Tesla makes their cars more advanced and upgraded, so that the same way of hacking cannot be used again. In order to prevent new hacking attacks, according to Forbes, Tesla company created a special contest for those who are into programming, especially legal hacking. What I mean by legal hacking is that they want such hacker to hack their cars in a new way, so that he obtains a money prize and the company can make their cars more hacking-proof.

https://cdn.technologyreview.com/i/images/teslafactory.png?sw=1272&cx=0&cy=90&cw=1341&ch=754

To summarize, Tesla model 3 can be hacked, as well as other cars and devices that use advanced technology. We don’t know if we could ever create an ideal system, which hackers cannot break into. For now we have to be careful, like in Matrix, in order not to give the machines the control over us.

References:

^[1]https://www.technologyreview.com/f/613254/hackers-trick-teslas-autopilot-into-veering-towards-oncoming-traffic/

^[2]https://www.technologyreview.com/f/613549/teslas-model-3-autopilot-mode-was-activated-seconds-before-a-fatal-crash/

^[3] https://www.quora.com/Can-Tesla-cars-be-hacked-like-people-hack-computers

https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2019/01/14/900000-on-offer-for-anyone-who-can-hack-a-tesla-model-3/#7a81c1326da7

https://jalopnik.com/its-possible-for-a-tesla-to-be-hacked-and-heres-why-kno-1833745069