Elliptical Curve Cryptography

Elliptical curve cryptography (ECC) is a public key encryption technique based on elliptic curve theory that can be used to create faster, smaller, and more efficient cryptographic keys. ECC generates keys through the properties of the elliptic curve equation instead of the traditional method of generation as the product of very large prime numbers. The technology can be used in conjunction with most public key encryption methods, such as RSA, and Diffie-Hellman. ECC can yield a level of security with a 164-bit key that other systems require a 1,024-bit key to achieve. Because ECC helps to establish equivalent security with lower computing power and battery resource usage, it is becoming widely used for mobile applications. ECC was developed by Certicom, a mobile e-business security provider, and was recently licensed by Hifn, a manufacturer of integrated circuitry and network security products. Many manufacturers, including 3COM, Cylink, Motorola, Pitney Bowes, Siemens, TRW, and VeriFone have included support for ECC in their products.

Earth Simulator

Earth Simulator is the fastest supercomputer in the world. NEC had first built this Japanese machine. Earth simulator uses Parallel Vector Architecture to achieve a peak performance of 40 F Flops. This system configured in 640 nodes of 8 vector processors each connected together by crossbar switch. Each node has a shared memory of 16 GB (total 10 TB). This Japanese machine was built to analyze climate change, including global warming, as well as weather and earthquake patterns. Earth simulator has the power to create a “virtual planet earth” using its large processing capability. The vector processor used in this is fabricated in a single chip with 0.15-micron CMOS technology.



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Extensible Firmware Interface

A BIOS Alternative There has been rapid evolution of the personal computer platform since the 1980s. But there is one element of the PC that has not changed for the past years, namely the BIOS (basic input/output system). Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) is the name for a system developed by Intel that is designed to replace the aging BIOS system used by personal computers. It is responsible for the power-on self-test (POST) process, bootstrapping the operating system, and providing an interface between the operating system and the physical hardware. The Intel Platform Innovation Framework for the Extensible Firmware Interface (referred to as \"the Framework\") is Intel\'s recommended implementation of the EFI Specification for platforms based on all members of the Intel® Architecture (IA) family. It offers an opportunity to provide an alternative to BIOS that will allow for faster booting, manageability, and additional features.

Electronic money

Electronic money (also known as e-money, electronic cash, electronic currency, digital money, digital cash or digital currency) refers to money or scrip which is exchanged only electronically. Typically, this involves use of computer networks, the internet and digital stored value systems. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and direct deposit are examples of electronic money. Also, it is a collective term for financial cryptography and technologies enabling it.

While electronic money has been an interesting problem for cryptography (see for example the work of David Chaum and Markus Jakobsson), to date, use of digital cash has been relatively low-scale. One rare success has been Hong Kong's Octopus card system, which started as a transit payment system and has grown into a widely used electronic cash system. Singapore also has an electronic money implementation for its public transportation system (commuter trains, bus, etc), which is very similar to Hong Kong's Octopus card and based on the same type of card (FeliCa). There is also one implementation in the Netherlands, known as Chipknip.