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I

I, COMPUTER

Many biologists deride the idea that computers can tell us anything about human consciousness, let alone develop it themselves. Think again, says Igor Aleksander. The machines are awakening.

Will there come a day when a machine declares itself to be conscious? An increasing number of laboratories around the world are trying to design such a machine. Their efforts are not only revealing how to build artificial beings, they are also illuminating how consciousness arises in living beings too.

At least, that's how those of us doing this research see it. Others are not convinced. Generally speaking, people believe that consciousness has to do with life, evjlution and humanity, wheareas a machine is a lifeless thing designed by a limited mind and has no inherent feeling or humanity. So it is hardly surprising that the idea of a conscious machine strikes some people as an oxymoron.

It's certainly fashionable among biologists looking for the roots of consciousness to be suspicious of computer-based explanations of consciousness. The psychologist and writer Susan Blackmore insists that the brain does not directly represent our experience. She implies that constructing a machine conscious like us would be imposssible.

Susan Greenfield of the University of Oxford is another vocal objector to the idea of machine consciousness. She argues that such computer models "focus on tasks such as learning and memory which a PC can do without subjective inner states".

My view is that Greenfield's theory does nothing to help us understand consciousness. And while her arguments that researchers are focusing on tasks that a PC can handle may be true of the efforts of some, the computing research with which I am involved attempts to put flesh on what it is for living organisms to have memory and learning, which has nothing to do with the capabilities of PC's.

Trying to explain the mechanisms that make us conscious is not gjing to be simple. But I am convinced that one way to face this complexity is to try to design conscious machines.

Laboratories around the world approach machine consciousness at a variety of levels. At one end of the spectrum are researchers creating detailed neurological models of the brain. At the other end are the unashamed users of pre-programmed rules that control the behaviour of an artificial intelligence, especially a computer program that gives a particular output for a specified input.

The latter may seem a rigid approach that misses the whole point of creating consciousness, but Aaron Sloman of the University of Birmingham in the UK believes it neatly siaesteps the confusions and contradictions that surround what consciousness is. He argues that, when it comes to consciousness, nobody really understands what they are talking about, whereas the rules he writes are unambiguous. If these rules lead to apparently cnoscious behaviour in machines, they must form a basis for an explanation of consciousness.

According to Sloman, his creations are conscious within the virtual world; the computer itself is not conscious. With his colleague Ron Chrisley, he has built various virtual creations based on rules.

Closer to the centre of the machine consciousness spectrum is Bernard Baars, a psychologist at the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego, California, who has developed a model that accepts that the brain is different from a programmed machine.

Stan Franklin, a computer scientist at the University of Memphis in Tennesee, has turned Baar's idea into "conscious software" called IDA (short for Intelligent Distributed Agents). Each agent represents one of the competing mechanisms in Baar's model. Franklin has created a system using IDA to help the US navy automate the work of some personnel, such as deciding how and where to billet a service person when they come off a tour of duty. This work usually includes a great deal of human knowledge, judgement, understanding and emotion. The feedback IDA gets from its users is akin to the emotional feedback humans get for performing a task well or badly, Franklin says. This helps IDA improve the way it performs its tasks, by modifying the relevance value of the rules used in the task being appraised, so that it doesn't repeat its mistakes.

Modelling living brains

Detailed neurological models of the brain lie at the other end of the machine consciousness spectrum. Rodney Cotterill, a neuroscientist at the Technical University of Denmark near Copenhagen, analyses brain scans from living brains, both human and animal, to identify the neurochemical interactions in the brain that he believes are essential for consciousness. On a computer, he builds simulations of these interactions to model how consciousness might emerge.

His idea requires us to understand the way in which an organism probes its environment and acts on it – the 'action plans' which he says are the basis of conscious thought. Cotterill points to specific structures in the brain that appear to have evolved to help the organism interact with its environment. He has produced a full map of the brain that highlits the role that many constituent parts play in generating action plans.

Going further in the direction of neurophysiology, Pentti Haikonen, a principal scientist at Nokia in Helsinki, has recognised that to model the activity in brain modules the corresponding artificial modules need to contain many neurons and be highly interactive.

Haikonen's work supports my own idea, which is based on an overwhelming body of neurophysiological evidence suggesting there are cells in the braun that compesate for motion, such as eye movement, in oder to represent objects as they are in the real world. This allows us to get a sensation of the real world despite the constantly changing stream of sensory inputs, such as smell, vision and so on, that feeds our brains. To me, this evidence implies that our brains contain some sort of persistent representation of the outside world, encoded in the electrochemical impulses in their neurons.

And so my own design for a conscious machine starts by assuming that there is a neural 'depiction' in the brain that exactly matches every scrap of uor inner sensations. In order to form consciousness, these depictions have to have at least five major qualities (see 'The five axioms of consciousness', below). First, there is a sense of place. Depiction makes me feel that I am in the middle of an 'out there' world. Second, I am aware of the past. I know that depictions of the past can occur simultaneouely with depictions of the present. Third, I can focus. I am conscious only of that to which I attend. Fourth, I can predict and plan. Depictions can occur which lay in my mind alternative scenarios of the future – how the world might respond to my actions. Finally, I can feel emotions. Emotions guide me in my choice of which plans are good for me and which are not.

I believe that these five major axioms can be accomplished by what scientists have called artificial neural networks; these are simple approximations to the way neurons in the brain actually work. We have built machines that incorporate the first four axioms. The fifth axiom is still the subject of intensuve work.

Computers hold the key

But how do we know that our machines really do have something like inner sensations? The key to all this is that depictions in the brain model can be displayed on a computer screen because we know exactly where thr depictive neurons are (they are not confined to one region in the brain) and we can decode their messages. At the moment thais cannot be done with a real brain as even the most accurate scanner only shows very roughly qhich parts of the brain are active. But demonstrations of sensory depiction, depictive memory, attention and planning all currently run on uor machines.

To verify our hypotheses that much of consciousness depends on muscular interaction with the world, we have also built a mobile robot equipped with most of the first four axioms. It has learned to 'develop an interest' in the objects in its environment so as to plan its movements from one to another.

Will building machines like this help us understand what it is to be conscious? I believe so. Are five axioms adequate? From a deep inner questioning of what is important to me in my own claim taht I am comscious, tha five axioms seem to me to be a necessary minimum. But the field is open for others to add to this list.

Of course my robots will be infinitely less conscious of their worlds than I am of mine. But if their five axiomatic mechanisms are up and running, I wonder by what argument one could deny them their embrionic piece of consciousness? I mqy regret having said this, but I predict that machine consciousness will become a commonplace way of talking pragmatically about human consciousness. I would also predict that, in the same unspecified future, many machines will themselves claim to be conscious.

II

GREY MATTER, BLUE MATTER

The most complex object known to humanity is the human brain – and no only is it complex, but it is the seat of one of the few natural phenomena that science has no purchase on at all, namely consciousness. To try to replicate something that is so poorly understood may therefore seem like hubris. But you have to start somewhere, and IBM and the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), in Switzerland, propose to start by replicating "in silico", as the jargon has it, one of the brain's building blocks.

In a partnership announced recently the two organisations said they would be working together to build a simulation of a structure known as a neocortical column on a type of IBM supercomputer that is currently used to study the molecular functioning of genes. If that works, they plan to use future, more powerful computers to link such simulated columns together into something that mimics a brain.

In a real brain, a neocortical column is a cylindrical element about a third of a millimetre in diameter and three millimetres long, containing some 10,000 nerve cells. It is these columns, arranged side by side like the cells of a honeycomb, which make up the famous "grey matter" that has become a shorthand for human intelligence. The Blue Gene/L supercomputer that will be used for the simulation consists of enough independent processors for each to be programmed to emulate an individual nerve cell in a column.

The EPFL's contribution to the Blue Brain Project, as it has inevitably been dubbed, will be to create a digital description of how the columns behave. Its Brain Mind Institute has what is generally regarded as the world's most extensive set of data on the machinations of the neocortex – the columns' natural habitat and the part of the brain responsible for learning, memory, language and complex thought. This database will provide the raw material for the simulation. Biologists and computer scientists will then collaborate to connect the artificial nerve cells up in a way that mimics nature. They will do so by assigning electrical properties to them, and telling them how to communicate with each other and how they should modify their connections with one another depending on their activity.

That will be no mean feat. Even a single nerve cell is complicated, not least because each one has about 10,000 connections with others. And nerve cells come in great variety – relying, for example, on different chemical transmitters to carry messages across those connections. Eventually, however, a digital representation of an entire column should emerge.

This part of the project is expected to take two to three years. From then on, things will go in two directions simultaneously. One will be to "grow" more columns (the human brain contains about l m of them) and get them to interact with one another. The second will be to work at a more elementary level – that is, to simulate the molecular structure of the brain, and to look at the influence of gene expression on brain function.

Assuming that the growth of computing power continues to follow Moore's Law, Charles Peck, the leader of IBM's side of the collaboration, reckons it should be feasible to emulate an entire human brain in silico this way in ten to 15 years. Such an artificial brain would, of course, be a powerful research tool. It would allow neurological experiments that currently take days in a "wet lab" to be conducted in seconds. The researchers hope, for instance, that their simulated brain will reveal the secrets of how certain psychiatric and neurological disorders develop. But that is probably not the real reason for doing it. The most interesting questions, surely, are whether such an artificial brain will be intelligent, or conscious, or both.

Rhapsody in blue?

Some academics, such as Roger Penrose of Oxford University, argue that brains do not work in a way comparable with a computer, so any kind of simulation that is built on digital architecture and uses traditional programming techniques is doomed to failure. Dr Penrose thinks that exotic quantum processes are involved in the generation of consciousness. The "Blue Brain" project will help to determine whether he is right or wrong.

Henry Markram, the boss of the Brain Mind Institute, and the leader of the EPFL's side of the collaboration, stresses that Blue Brain's formal goal is not to build an artificial intelligence system, such as a neural network. Nor is it to create a conscious machine. The goal is merely to build a simulacrum of a biological brain. If the outputs produced by the simulation in response to particular inputs are identical to those in animal experiments, then that goal will have been achieved. On the other hand, he also says, "I believe the intelligence that is going to emerge if we succeed in doing that is going to be far more than we can even imagine." Watch this space.

III

How safe is nanotech?

As the nanotech revolution gathers pace, few are giving a thought to the impact on health and the environment. We may live to regret this oversight.

AS LABS around the world churn out a burgeoning array of different nanoparticles, the potential benefit from these tiny objects is being championed like never before. Yet amid all the fanfare, nanotechnology is attracting a growing band of critics. They fear that "nanopollution" from the carbon buckyballs, nanotubes and other particles could have a dire impact on health and the environment. With results presented this week suggesting nanotubes can damage healthy lung tissue, are their fears justified?

The possible hazards of nanotechnology were raised long before it was even possible to build molecular-scale objects. Some of the worst fears were hinted at in the 1986 book Engines of Creation by nanotech visionary Eric Drexler. He envisioned a time when a handful of self-replicating nanoscale robots can be thrown into a vat of raw materials and left to reproduce before putting together whatever they are programmed to make. Opponents feared that if such self-replicating nanoscale devices were ever realised, they could run out of control, with devastating consequences.

That much is science fiction. But there are more concrete reasons for concern. The way nanosized particles interact with other materials, not least body tissues, is not well understood. Last year, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) called on researchers at the Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN) at Rice University in Houston, Texas, to present their concerns. The meeting spawned interest from regulators and led to calls from the ETC, a Winnipeg-based environmental group, to ban the manufacture of nanotubes until the health and environmental risks have been clarified.

Why are some scientists so worried now? After all, we've been using nanoscale carbon particles for decades in the form of carbon black, a filler for car tyres. "I don't think these are fundamentally new, bizarre things," says Christine Peterson, president of the Foresight Institute, a pro-nanotech think tank based in Palo Alto, California. "They're carbon. This is stuff we've dealt with before. We are basically talking about soot."

But it might not be that simple. Many materials that are safe in lumps are far more dangerous as fine particles, says Vicki Colvin director of the CBEN. Quartz, for example, is perfectly safe in bulk, but miners, rock cutters, and sand blasters who are exposed to quartz dust are at risk of silicosis – potentially fatal scarring of delicate lung tissue caused by inhaling the dust.

Fine particles can cause health problems elsewhere too. Even though hip and knee replacements are made from materials that are well tolerated by the body, they can shed fine particles into the surrounding tissues as they wear down, causing inflammation and, in the worst cases, loosening the implant, which must then be replaced.

Research presented at this week's meeting of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans suggests there is good reason to be cautious about manufactured nanoparticles too. "This meeting is something of a watershed moment," says Kevin Ausman, executive director of operations at CBEN. "It shows the community is taking the issue seriously."

Chiu-Wing Lam, who studies the toxicity of nanotubes at the Wyle Laboratories of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, and Robert Hunter, a toxicologist at the University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center, reported the results of their study into whether nanotubes can damage lung tissue. They made up a suspension of nanotubes and placed a few drops, equivalent to o.i milligrams and 0.5 mg of nanotubes, directly into the lungs of mice. This allowed the researchers to carefully control the quantity of nanotubes that entered the animals' lungs, which wouldn't have been possible if the mice had simply inhaled an aerosol of nanotubes.

Hunter looked at the lung tissue around the sites where the nanotubes settled, first after one week and then after 90 days. He found that over time the nanotubes tended to clump together into bundles, and that these bundles were invariably surrounded by macrophages, immune cells recruited to flush the material from the body. This so-called "foreign body response" leaves scar tissue, damaging the original lung tissue. The researchers repeated the tests with nanotubes made by various different methods. Each produced a slightly different reaction. Hunter says the message is clear. "People should really take precautions. Nanotubes can be highly toxic," he says. "There's variability between different nanotubes and very little is known about it."

David Warheit at DuPont's Haskell Laboratory in Newark, Delaware, reported a similar study in which he also found immune cells gathering around clumps of nanotubes in rats' lungs. At the highest dose of 5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, 15 per cent of Warheit's rats died – though not because of a toxic effect. Instead, the nanotubes had clumped together sufficiently to obstruct the bronchial tubes, suffocating the rats. Both Warheit and Hunter are now calling for studies to see if real inhalation rather than their experimental approximation causes similar damage.

For now, the only people at risk of inhaling nanotubes are those who manufacture or work with them, although few labs have measured the likely exposure. But because many nanotechnology studies are aimed at eventually using nano-sized particles in the body, much of the research into how safe they are is geared to these applications. David Allen at Texas Tech University in Amarillo, who also spoke at the conference, is looking at ways of using nanoparticles to target drugs to the brain. Other groups are also eager to use nanoparticles for drug delivery.

Aside from worries about the direct health implications of nanoparticles, there are concerns about how they might behave in the environment. "With any emerging technology, it's almost a sure bet that there will be some negative environmental effects," says Mark Wiesner, an environmental engineer at CBEN. "We need to conduct due diligence into the areas of what would happen to nanomaterials. Where will they go? What are the potential effects?"

Wiesner wants to see how far nanotubes could spread if they make it into groundwater. He is particularly concerned to see whether they might help spread other pollutants that would normally not travel far. Carbon nanotubes have such a high surface area that other molecules stick to them readily. If each nanotube picks up a few molecules of a pollutant, they could worsen existing contamination by spreading it far and wide. Conversely, binding to a nanotube might neutralise pollutants, reducing the harm they cause. As yet no one knows.

The EPA is taking the prospect of harmful nanopollution seriously. "There is an urgent need to evaluate the effectiveness of current water and air treatment techniques for the removal of potential nanoscale pollution," says Tina Masciangioli, a policy fellow at the EPA. The agency will next month invite proposals for studies into any potentially hazardous side-effects of nanotech, and is offering to fund up to $5 million worth of research.

Pat Mooney at the ETC argues that until more results are in, commercial production of nanotubes should be banned. "We hope the potential benefit is all there. But with high benefits you also get high risks," he says. Mooney fears that nanomaterials get the go-ahead for commercial use all too readily, simply because larger particles of the same materials are known to be safe.

Unsurprisingly, few agree with an all-out ban on nanotechnology. "Nobody is saying we shouldn't look at potential problems," says Peterson, of the Foresight Institute. "It seems to me though that people are already onto this one."

Colvin at CBEN also feels a ban is not a good idea, but she does think some researchers are moving too quickly with their research, and that enthusiasm for nanotech's potential might be leading them to pay too little attention to the risks. As with any new technology, she warns, sooner or later there will be problems.

IV

Winners & Losers

Every year, consumers purchase millions of computers and peripherals. And every year, millions of those devices break down. For anyone who plans to buy a piece of hardware, the overall reliability of a vendor's products and the quality of its service arc important considerations. Unfortunately» much of the information that people use in deciding which product to buy is fragmentary and anecdotal — not the kind of data you'd want to base a three- or four-figure decision on.

To obtain some hard data about which vendors have done the best job over the past year, we recently polled approximately 45,000 visitors to PCWorld.com, asking them about the mechanical soundness of their tech products – laptop PCs, desktop PCs, HDTVs, digital cameras, and printers – and about the quality of the tech support they received when those products required service.

Perhaps the mast surprising thing about our most recent survey results is how closely consumer opinions about reliability and service this year match those we reported last year.

Once again, Apple and Canon were far and away the favorite brands in our survey, earning high marks across the board on measurements of both reliability and service. Apple won top honors in notebooks and desktop PCs, while Canon dominated the field in printers and cameras.

But the number of other companies made impressive gains. Vendors that enjoyed markedly improved ratings in their survey results over the past year include Toshiba among laptop makers, Sony in desktop PCs, Brother for printers, Pioneer among HDTV brands, and Nikon in cameras.

At the other end of the ladder, our list of cellar dwellers did not change much, either. Across the board and in every category we tracked where it had a significant presence. Hewlett-Packard ranked as the least-reliable manufacturer in the survey. Among manufacturers that experienced momentum m the wrong direction were Dell (which took a disappointing tumble in both laptop and desktop PC reliability), Sony (which sank in televisions), and Fujifilm (in cameras).

After watching HP turn in dismal results on our survey for the past several years we asked what was happening. Why were our readers rating a top-tier company as subpar in reliability and support, year after year?

Jodi Schilling, vice president of HP's American customer support operations, says the company is aware of the issues and took measures to rectify the situation. Schilling says, "We're trying to move to a leadership position in service and support, and that's taking a large in vestment and some time."

Schilling and Brent Potts, vice president of HP's Web support operation, say that the company is focusing on three key areas: the initial design of its products, the products' operational performance and reliability, and the way the company supports its products. The last of those seems to be getting most of the attention: HP says that it is ramping up its online FAQ archive, has radically expanded its forum-based support (where experts and users can get together to talk shop), has introduced video-based tutorials, and has built a new program called HP Ambassadors around a team of 50 experts who reach out directly to more-vocal customers (read: major bloggers) to help solve problems.

On the other hand, as welcome as those changes sound, HP has not announced plans to increase its staff of tech support representatives. Hiring additional reps would no doubt be expensive, but it might also fundamentally change the experience that HP's customers have when they call tech support for help.

Schilling says that the company's changes are already having a positive effect, but she cautions that the cumulative effect of its various tweaks will take time to become visible in surveys like ours.

When we last polled users, 10.2 percent of HDTV owners reported significant problems with their sets. This year, only 8.8 percent reported trouble. Surprisingly, that small shift is one of the biggest year-to-year changes in any category we investigated.

What's going on here? Is the industry simply doing the best it can do?

Rob Enderle, principal analyst with the Enderle Group and a longtime follower of computer reliability trends, sees a standoff between two contradictory trends: The economic recession forced companies to cut corners – at the same time, however, increased efficiency in manufacturing and tech support offset the effects of those cutbacks.

Not only have electronics producers severely reduced their manufacturing staff this year, Enderle says, but they have also continued to move toward cheaper and presumably less durable high-tech products such as netbooks.

"I'm kind of surprised the reliability numbers didn't degrade," says Enderle. ''With the industry's major staffing changes and the huge push downmarket, you would expect to see higher breakage rates, I thought the industry would cut more comers, and I'm surprised that didn't happen."

One explanation is that the industry is getting better at dealing with prob­lems that cheaper parts have created – or at least at catching the problems before the products go out the door.

Enderle suggests that the widespread introduction of solid-state parts may be helping the industry hold the line on reliability: "Part of what's going on is that we've moved to more solid-state products in the market. In laptops there are more flash drives and fewer optical drives out there now. With fewer moving parts, this might have offset the additional breakage issues."

Call centers may be improving, too, despite layoffs and what Enderle sees as continuing trends for call centers to migrate offshore and for support reps to receive less training. Upgraded software for managing relations with customers and better tracking of customer issues may mitigate problems that lower staffing levels tend to cause. And even though many consumers profess to hate them, automated service processes may be more helpful than critics think; enabling users to avoid long hold Limes in order to talk to a support rep. Remote diagnostic capabilities probably have had a positive impact as well. Nevertheless, the consumers we polled don't seem any happier with this year's support landscape than they were with last year's. Readers continue to complain about communication difficulties with overseas support reps and about the poor training that some tech staffers, whether foreign or domestic, seem to have received.

Mark Mahnkey, an equipment calibration specialist in Everett, Washington, says that he ran into countless headaches when he tried to obtain a Vista installation disc for a Toshiba laptop he had purchased earlier.

"Their stock response is, 'Go pound sand," says Mahnkey of the support reps who gave him the runaround, even after he offered to pay for the disc. When a rep told him that a Vista disc would cost $250, Mahnkey balked and asked to speak to a supervisor. "Toshiba actually told me to write a letter—a real postal letter—and mail it to them," he says. "Weeks later, they replied not in writing but by leaving me a voicemail—with exactly the same response as before. It's just not how a company should treat its customers."

Mahnkey never got a disc from Toshiba, but he says that he did learn something. "I'm never going to buy another Toshiba."

Fortunately for the company, few other Toshiba customers who participated in our survey shared that view: Toshiba received the second-highest overall rating among laptop makers.

Laurel Tryforos, a Des Plains, Illinois, college administrator, had an even more bizarre experience when her HP laptop (still under warranty) stopped booting up. After a few attempts to turn the machine off and on, Tryforos says, the rep suggested to her that she might have to reseat the hard drive. '"He then said to 'get a screwdriver and open it up."

Tryforos tried to follow the rep's instructions, but even the smallest screwdriver she had was too big to fit into the slots on the machine's screws. The tech support operator then abandoned that avenue and said he would mail her some software to fix the problem (software to fix a disconnected hard drive?), and a week later Tryforos received a disc. Naturally, that strategy didn't work, so HP finally agreed to take the machine back for repairs. Only after a couple of weeks of downtime and countless hours of troubleshooting did Tryforos get her laptop back in good operating condition. "At least they didn't charge me," she says cheerfully.

Laptop PCs

Again this year, notebook PCs were one of the most trouble-prone sectors of the high-tech world, with 30.9 percent of respondents reporting that they bad encountered at least one significant problem with their laptop; the figure in our 2009 report was 31.8 percent.

Apple once again earned the top marks in our survey, with above-average ratings in five categories and no below-average ratings. But Toshiba took over the second spot in our rankings, after having posted unspectacular results in last year's survey (eight average scores and one above-average score). This time, Toshiba chalked up four above-average ratings, all in measures of product reliability. For its part, Acer again showed strong results, with three above-average ratings and none below par (up from two above-average scores last year).

On the other hand, Dell took a rather startling tumble this year, from an upper-middle-tier ranking last year (featuring two better-than-average marks and one worse-than-average mark) to a finish near the bottom this time around (with one above average score and four below average scores).

HP retains its hold on the bottom rung, due to subpar marks on six of our nine reliability and service measures. HP did improve its standing on the "problem on arrival" criterion (the company was about average on that measure this time around). Unfortunately, instances where HP tech support failed to resolve a problem increased, leaving the company below average on that important service measure.

Desktop PCs

In our desktop PC ratings, Apple received better-than-average ratings on every question we polled users about – perhaps the best showing by any company in any product category in our survey. Meanwhile, Acer and eMachines repeated their shared (distant) second-place finish of a year ago, but with one above-average rating each instead of three each.

The big surprise this year was the improvement by Sony, which had been the worst performer in our desktops category last year, collecting three worse-than-average ratings and no better-than-average ones. This year, the tide turned in Sony's favor: The company received average marks on every measure for which we received enough data, except on the "any core component problem" criterion. On that measure, Sony earned an above-average rating.

At the bottom of the list, CyberPower, Gateway, and HP had pitiful scores. Gateway concentrated its three subpar ratings on service and support measures; while both of CyberPower's negatives came on reliability measures (the vendor didn't draw enough responses on the service and support criteria to receive ratings on them). HP's problems were more general: It collected four below-average ratings on measures ranging from general reliability issues to excessive hold times.

Even though laptops have tricky assembly issues, limited space for components, and various risks associated with being carried around, readers in this year’s survey rated desk tops as being significantly less reliable than laptops. Overall, users had 15 to 30 percent mare problems with desktops than with laptops, depending on which reliability metric we asked about: the disparity may reflect vendors' efforts to cut all possible corners to keep desktop costs at rock bottom.

HDTVs

The HDTV category saw a bigger shake-up in reliability and service results this year than any other category, with some of last year's top brands slipping and some of last year's also-rans moving to the fore.

Three of last year's reliability leaders – Sony, LG, and Samsung – saw their fortunes fade. Each had turned in numerous better-than-average scores in our 2009 report, but all three rated as merely average across the board in this study, leaving them jostling in the middle of the pack with such brands as Magnavox and Vizio. And Insignia, new to our report this year, bypassed all of those brands on the strength of one better-than-average rating.

The new champs? Panasonic, Sharp, and (in a major surprise) Pioneer, Earning two better-than-average scores each, Panasonic and Sharp simply maintained their ratings from last year while the previous leaders slid backward. Pioneer, however, leaped forward to tie them (after receiving all average ratings last year), and it garnered the only better-than-average mark in readers* overall satisfaction with their TVs. We were pleased to see JVC earn average scores across the board; last year it finished next-to-last, with three worse-than-average scores.

At the bottom of the HDTV heap, Hitachi, Olevia, Toshiba, and Westinghouse each turned in one sub-par score, while Mitsubishi again landed in the cellar, with three below-average ratings (that showing is still better than last year's, when Mitsubishi accumulated four below-average ratings). Still, 20.6 percent of Mitsubishi owners reported problems that were severe enough to stop their TV set from working. ''Help me actually get my TV functioning again," says unhappy Mitsubishi owner Michael Lys of Northville, Michigan. "My $3000 TV is now basically useless; I know it was after the warranty expired, but it seems like such a waste."

To be fair to Mitsubishi, a significant number of the complaints we received in our survey came from owners of Mitsubishi rear-projection HDTVs whose bulbs had burned out. Those bulbs, our readers tell us, can run anywhere from $100 to $250 to replace, depending on the particular TV model.

The reliability of high-definition televisions seems to be improving overall, though not by leaps and bounds. Only 1.7 percent of users reported problems with their TVs when they first unboxed them this year, and 4.7 percent of users reported severe problems during the lifetime of their sets. The correspond­ing figures last year were 2.6 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively Digital Cameras

Was it a fluke? Last year Fujifilm astonished us with an unexpected top-drawer showing, ranking alongside Panasonic as the most reliable camera brand on the market. This year die camera rankings shifted: Fujifilm sank back into the middle of the pack, and traditional category powerhouse Canon returned to the top of the list, where it had been a stalwart in prior years.

This year's camera maker on the move was Nikon, which jumped from second-to-last m 2009's survey to third place this year, as users cited few problems on arrival and praised the brand's overall reliability. Though it didn't match the showings of Canon and Panasonic, Nikon would have come even closer to the top two this year if our survey respondents hadn't rated its cameras harder than average to use. (This rating isn't altogether surprising, however, since Nikon sells lots of sophisticated, high-end cameras with inherently more-complicated controls.)

At the bottom of our rankings this year are Kodak and Samsung, both of which received worse-than-average scores for "overall satisfaction with reliability" compared to their peers in the camera market. Kodak owners report high satisfaction levels with their cameras' ease of use, but report a higher-than-average rate of significant problems. Samsung cameras don't incur any more actual problems than other brands, according to readers, yet owners of the cameras report lower-than-average satisfaction levels with the general reliability of the cameras.

Printers

In the printer category, the results of this year's study looked oddly familiar. That's because the reliability numbers for consumer printers were almost unchanged from last year. For instance, in the new survey 7.0 percent of printer users reported severe problems with their machines, a statistical dead beat with last year's 7.2 percent. The year-to-year data for individual printer manufacturers in our survey looks similar, too. Canon again sparkled, with better-than-average ratings on seven criteria (last year Canon earned above-average marks on eight measures). For its part, Brother took some impressive strides upward, nabbing four better-than-average marks (up from just one the year before) and supplanting Samsung at number two.

This year, Samsung finished in a virtual tie with Epson, as both brands collected two better-than-average ratings. (Last year Samsung carded two above-average marks, and Epson one). Notably, Samsung received the highest rating in the survey for ease of use, besting even Canon. Dell also made some laudable strides this year, transforming last year's two below-average ratings into average ones across the board.

Kodak, however, experienced a downturn: Though owners of its printers felt good about Kodak's tech support, they gave the printers poor marks for reliability. HP cemented its spot at the bottom of the chart with five below-average ratings, matching its performance in last year's survey.

As in the past, however, HP's poor reliability and service scores haven't hurt its market share: Half of our respondents in the printer category remain HP customers happy or not.

Survey Methodology

We polled rouhgly 45,000 PCWorld.com readers who responded to e-mail messages. We used methods of statistical analysis to determine which companies were significantly better or worse than the average, based on all responses about a certain product type. Because our survey sample is heavily weighted toward generally tech-savvy readers, it may not be representative of the general population, which may have different expectations and experiences with technology products.

V

Integrated IT Overhaul Keeps Growing Company on the Move

A unified security and communications upgrade brings a fragmented company together.

North American Material Trading Company, a metal trading and processing firm headquartered in Cleveland, recently acquired two manufacturing plants and opened an office in Tampa, Florida. Each location used a disconnected jumble of outdated equipment. The company suddenly had three stand-alone phone systems that barely worked and racked up unusually high bills. No central server existed, and the plants were using an unreliable hosted e-mail service. And none of the four Locations had adequate network security.

Strategic Approach

NAMTC called on Voyant Technology to address these issues. After we performed a comprehensive technology audit in each location we suggested a seamless, threefold solution: Establish systems to Share data securely and enable better voice, e-mail, and data communications between all locations; provide equipment and processes to Sower NAMTC's overall telecom costs; and monitor systems to ensure the best possible uptime.

At the headquarters we installed a Dell PowerEdge server that runs Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 and acts as a file, print and Microsoft Exchange mail server. Next, we installed fortinet (www.fertlnetcom) firewalls: a Fortigate BOB at the headquarters, and a Fortigate SOB at each Conneaut, Ohio, plant, as well as at theTampa office. Employing the Fortigate firewalls, we created a secure connection between each separate location, enabling the locations to operate as if they existed within a single network.

We also installed an IP-based Fonality (www.fortality.cоm) telephone system, with the central phone server located in Cleveland, and with Polycom and Aastra IP phones at each location. In addition, we installed new Dell workstations in Conneaut and Tampa.

To address the backup and disaster-recovery challenges, we implemented an eFolder off-site backup service (www.voyantbackup.cjm) that runs at all four locations. We then upgraded the telecomat the headquarters from stand-alone phone lines to a T1 data circuit and added sip trunks for voice over-IP communication. We also upgraded the telecom infrastructure in plants to a business-class cable Internet circuit, which allows data transfer and VoIP. Finally, we implemented monitoring of alt firewalls, workstations, and servers, as well as of the phone system, and we set up access to a help desk for employees.

On the upgraded phone system, receptionists in Cleveland and Tampa can now answer calls for any of the facilities and provide administrative support for the plants by transferring calls to extensions or to the paging system. Voicemail-to-e-mail capabilities also allow voice messages to be archived on the central file server. Between telecom cost reductions and man power efficiencies, NAMTC has realized several thousand dollars' worth of savings. Our integrated approach also made NAMTC's company data accessible from any computer on the network at any location (given the right credentials). Our unified solution helps prevent downtime, as well, since my team at Voyant can now catch any problems before they become critical, and NAMTC can focus on serving customers and building business.

Voyant Technology

Founded in 2003, Cleveland based Voyant Technology offers expert technology consulting for small to medium size businesses. By providing experience, personalized, responsive and reliable technology management and support, voyant streamlines clients’ business processes. voyant is a part of the Computer Troubleshooters network, a group of 450 franchises in 24 countries. Cofounder Brian Rosenfelt has served as a controller and CFO for various industries. he holds an active CPA certificate, is a Microsoft Registered Partner, and holds the FTOCC (Fonality Trixbox Open Communicational Certification).

VI

E-Book Piracy: Is Your Download Legitimate?

As the popularity of e-readers such as the Amazon Kindle continues to rise, so does the publishing industry's WOKE: nightmare: e-book piracy. Formerly limited to the efforts of a determined few willing to ferret out mostly nerdy textbook titles from the Internet's dark alleys and read them on a PC, the problem is ballooning as e-readers gain popularity and the appetite for mainstream c-books grows, publishers say.

"We arc now seeing large volumes of e-books being pirated on everything from file-sharing networks to Websites," says Ed McCoyd of the Association of American Pub­lishers, a trade organization representing major U.S. book publishers. The year-to-year increase in illicitly available e-book titles is unknown, McCoyd says. Other publishers, such as Hachette Book Group, say that e-book piracy has grown ''exponentially" over the past year.

A check of e-books available for illicit download confirms that technical titles no longer dominate e-book piracy. The list includes such best-selling authors as Janet Evanovich, Jobi Grisham, and James Patterson. PCWorld found that one third of Publishers Weekl 's top 15 best-selling fiction books of 2009 could be had through a growing array of peer-to-peer networks, book-swapping sites, and file-sharing services. The availability of best sellers is just the start. PCWorld discovered virtual bookshelves stuffed with pirated e-book titles ranging from copyrighted popular fiction and nonfiction to college textbooks and how-to e-books. All are downloadable and ready to view on the user's e-reader of choice, be it the Amazon Kindle, the Sony Header, or Barnes & Noble's Nook.

"We know e-book piracy is a problem, and we are taking the issue very seriously," says Paul Aiken, executive director of The Authors Guild, an advocacy group for writers. "We've seen the music and film industry deal with this, and it stands reason we will grapple with it too." Aiken says that though he is concerned about the growing availability of e-book tides on the Internet, he is not convinced that the number of people who arc actually downloading those digital files is increasing as rapidly.

Compared with music piracy, illicit e-books are not nearly as widespread or as easy to acquire. Pirates must be determined to track down specific e-book titles. Further, some pirated e-book files (usually available as PDFs) are poorly reproduced, and some consist of scanned page images – rather than of actual text.

J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter book series, from embracing the e-book format – surely a loss for readers. The fear is that e-book files protected by digital rights management (DRM) technology could be hacked anyway. However, refusing to take advantage of the e-book format can some­times backfire and itself drive piracy, according to consumer technology analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group.

For a relatively small stun of money, pirates can convert any hard-copy book into an unprotected text file, even if a legitimate electronic book is newer created, Enderle says. "This fear of electronic piracy is actually fueling the piracy movement," he concludes.

That's what happened with Rowling's works. Rowling's publisher, Scholastic Books, doesn't currently offer any Harry Potter titles in e-book format; but hackers have scanned all of the books and turned them into PDF files that are viewable on any e-reader.

"If electronic books can't be had legitimately, others will step in and fill the need; and once a pirate industry is established, it probably won't go away easily, says Eaderle, He thinks that publishers should follow the music industry's lead and make more e-book titles available.

Publishers are producing more digital editions for their books, and revenues from these editions are rising rapidly. Wholesale trade in e-books in the United States for the first three quarters of 2009 ($110 million) was up threefold compared with 2008, according to the International Digital Publishing Forum.

While publishing e-books protected by DRM may seem like as obvious solution to piracy, the idea has faced criticism from within the publishing industry and from consumers. First, publishers: arc weary of reports that the DRM technology used in the Kindle and the Sony Reader has been hacked, says Nick Bogaty, art expert in DRM technology for Adobe. Second, consumers are hesitant to purchase digital books with an inflexible DRM that ties an. e-book to a limited number of e-readers.

Critics say that the two providers of DRM-protected e-books, Amazon and Adobe, are stunting the e-book industry's progress. For instance, Amazon's Kindle uses its own DRM-restricted AZW e-book format. People who buy an e-book on their Kindle cannot transfer it to a competing e-book reader from another company for reading.

DRM issues get thornier when device makers, such as Amazon, start negotiating exclusive e-publishing rights for their product. Amazon signed a deal with best-selling business writer Stephen R. Covey to publish several of his books, including The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Principle-Centered Leadership, exclusively for the Kindle. The company has also negotiated exclusive rights for Kindle e-books from author Stephen King and for a biography of First Lady Michelle Obama.

The idea of exclusive e-book rights tied to devices might seem as annoying as being allowed to play a new CD only on a certain brand of CD players. But Ian Fried, viсе president of Amazon Kindle, has stated that Kindle consumers don't mind its DRM. That could change, however, as a predicted flood of rival e-readers hits the market in 2010 and Kindle owners consider jumping ship-only to discover that they can't take their e-books with them. Remember the backlash against DRM-protected content in Apple's tunes store?

Adobe's Bogaty notes that his company, whose DRM technology is used by Sony and Barnes & Noble, is yielding to critics, who say that its antipiracy technology is too restrictive. Adobe is loosening the grip of its DRM, allowing users to share e-books with friends and to read books on up to 12 different devices (6 desktop and 6 handheld).

Author Marcia Layton Turner says she is less concerned about piracy and more interested in making her books available via the e-book format. Turner says that the potential of new e-book revenue is reason enough to jump on the e-book bandwagon, despite the risk of piracy. "I'd rather sell twice as many books and lose a few sales due to stealing than to miss out on those additional sales altogether," Turner says.

And many other authors agree: The problem of piracy takes a backseat to the challenge of getting people to read books in the first place.

VII

DO YOU KNOW HOW TO GUARD AGAINST SCARE WARE?

How about Trojan horse text messages? Or social network data harvesting? Malicious hackers are a resourceful bunch, and their methods continually evolve to target the ways we use our computers now. New attack techniques allow bad guys to stay one step ahead of security software and to get the better of even cautious and well-informed PC users.

Don't let that happen to you. Read on for descriptions of 11 of the most recent and most malignant security threats, as well as our complete advice on how to halt them in their tracks.

Shortened URLs

Most tweets, and tots of other electronic messages, include links that have been shortened by services such as Bit.ly, Tr.im, and Googl. The URL aliases are handy, hut they pose a risk, too: Since short URLs give no bint of the destination, attackers can exploit them to send you to malicious sites.

Use a Twitter client: Programs such as TweetDeekinclude options in their settings to display previews of shortened URLs. With such a setting enabled, clicking a shortened URL within a tweet brings up a screen that shows the destination page's title, as well as its full-length URL and a tally of how many other people have clicked that link. With this information at your disposal, you can make an ill-formed decision about whether to click through and visit the actual site.

Install a URL-preview plug-in: Several Web browser plug-ins and services per- form a similar preview function. When you create a shortened address with the TinyURL service, for instance, you can choose an option to create a preview version so that recipients can see where it goes before clicking. Conversely, if you're considering visiting a TinyURL link, you can enable its preview service (tinyurl.com/preview.php) to see the complete URL. For the TinyURL previews to work, though, you must have cookies enabled in your browser.

ExpandMyURL (expandmyurl.com) and LangURLPlease (www.longurlplease.com) both provide Web browser plug-ins or applets that will verify the safety of the Ml URLs behind abbreviated links from all the major URL-shortening services. Rather than changing the shortened links to their full URLs, however, ExpandMyURL checks destination sites m the background and marks the short URLs green if they are safe.

Googl, Google's URL-shortening service, provides security by automatically scanning the destination URL to detect and identify malicious Websites, and by warning users when the shortened URL might be a security concern. Unfortunately, Googl. has limited application because it works only through other Google products and services.

Data Harvesting of Your Profile

Some of the personal details that you might share on social networks, such as your high school, hometown, or birthday, are often the same items used in "secret" security questions for banks and Websites. An attacker who collects enough of this information may be able to access your most sensitive accounts.

Cheek your Facebook privacy settings: After signing in to your Facebook account, click Settings on the menu bar and select Privacy Settings.

Facebook's privacy settings allow you to choose who may see various personal details. You can hide your details from everyone but your Facebook friends (our recommendation), allow members of your networks to view your details as well, or open the floodgates and permit everyone to see your information. You can also set the privacy level for each component of your profile – for example, your birthday, your religious and political views, the photos you post, and your status updates.

Don't accept any friend requests from strangers; From time to time you may get a friend request from someone you don't know. If you're serious about protecting your personal information, you shouldn't accept such requests,

Share with caution: Consider removing valuable information such as your birth date and hometown from your profile. You should also think twice before par­ticipating in Facebook quizzes and chain lists – though it seems innocent and fun to share your favorite breakfast cereal, the first concert you attended, or where you met your spouse, an attacker armed with enough of these tidbits can assume your identity.

Security Myth

I don’t have anything an attacker would want

Average users commonly believe that the data on their computers is valuable only to them or has no instincts value at all, and that therefore they have nothing to protect and no need to worry. There are three problems with this way of thinking. First, instead of pilfering data, attackers often want to take control of the computer itself, as they can employ a compromised PC has to host malware or to distribute spam. Second, you may not think that your PC has any important or sensitive information, but an attacker may be able to use seemingly trivial information such as your name, address, and birth day to steal your identity. And third, most attacks are automated and simply seek out and compromise all vulnerable systems, they do not discriminate based on a target’s value.

Social Network Impostors

If you've connected with someone on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or another social network, it's probably because you know and trust the person. Attackers, however, can take control of your friend's online persona and then exploit that trust.

Beware of seams sent from friends': Attackers can hijack one of your online buddies' social networking accounts through malware, phishing scams, and other techniques, and then use the stolen accounts to spam you, steal your personal data, or even con you out of cash. Once the thieves have locked your friend out of the account, they may send you a note saying, "Help! I'm in London and my wallet was stolen. Can you wire me some money for a plane ticket?" Or they may recommend that you click on doctored links that will allow them to infect your computer or compromise your own account.

Web Snooping

Wow that so much entertainment, shopping, and socializing has shifted online, every Internet user leaves a rich digital trait of preferences. The books you read, the movies you rent, the people you interact with, the items you buy, and other details constitute a gold mine of demographic data for search engines, advertisers, and anyone who might want to snoop around your computer.

Do business with companies you trust: Stay aware of the privacy policies of the Websites and services you interact with, and restrict your dealings to those that you believe you can trust to guard your sensitive information. (For additional advice, see flnd43cwarltl.com/63678.). Use private browsing: The current versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox Safari, and Chrome include private-browsing modes. These features, such as IE 8's InPrivate Browsing and Fire-fox 3.5's Private Browsing, ensure that the site history, form data, searches, pass­words, and other details of the current Internet session don't remain in your browser's cache or password manager once you shut the browser down. By protecting such information on the computer you do your surfing on, these features help you foil nosy “markers or relatives”.

Scareware

You're probably familiar with the garden-variety phishing attack. Like a weekend angler, a phisher uses bait, such as an e-mail message designed to look as if it came from a bank or financial institution, to hook a victim. Scareware is a twist on the standard phishing attack that tricks you into installing rogue antivirus software by "alerting" you that your PC may be infected.

Don't take the bait: Stop and think. If, for instance, you don't, have any security software installed on your PC, how did the "alert" magically appear? If you do have a security utility that identifies and blocks malicious software, why would it tell you to buy or download more software to dean the alleged infection? Become familiar with what your security software's alerts look like so that you can recognize fake pop-ups.

Don't panic: You should already have antimalware protection. If you don't, and you're concerned that your PC may in fact be infected (not an unreasonable concern, given the existence of a rogue "alert" on your screen), scan your system with Trend Micro's free online malware scanner, HouseCall (housecall. trendmicro.com), or try running Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool ({ind.pcwortii.cont/e433O)", for more help, sec "Additional Security Resources" on page 76. Once you complete that scan, whether it discovers anything or not, find yourself a reputable antimalware app and install it to protect your PC in the future.

Update your browser: Such fake messages will prompt you to visit the scammer’s Website, which may infect your system further. Current versions of most Web browsers and many Internet security suites (for reviews, see find.pcworld.com/84334) have built-in phishing protection to alert you to sketchy sites. It's important to note that while the databases these filters use are updated frequently to identify rogue sites, they aren't fail-safe, so you should still pay attention to any URL that you consider visiting. To make this easier, both Internet Explorer 8 and Chrome highlight the real, or root, domain of the URL in bold so that you can easily tell whether you're visiting, say, the genuine "www.pcworid.com" or a spoofed site like "www.pcworld.com.phishing-site.ru”

Trojan Horse Texts

Some attackers will send spam text messages to your mobile phone that appear to be from your network provider or financial institution. These Trojan horse text messages may direct you to a malicious site or request permission to install an update that will change the settings on your cell phone to allow the attackers to capture usernames, passwords, and other sensitive information from your device.

Go to the source for updates a news: If you receive a text message that appears to be from a trustworthy source, but it directs you to install or update software, or if it initiates the installation and requests permission to continue, immediately exit the text-messaging app and contact the customer service department for the wireless provider or business in question to verify whether the software is legitimate.

You may receive a lot of unsolicited e-mail from companies that you do business with – e-mail that you might even regard as spam – but reputable companies will not send you unsolicited links and updates via e-mail. Similarly, reputable companies will not send unsolicited text messages to your mobile device directing you to install an update or download new software.

Attackers prey on your tendency to trust your wireless provider or financial institution. Do not blindly accept software updates or download applications to your mobile phone simply because the text message appears to be official. If in any doubt, follow up with your wireless provider or with the business.

Lost Laptops, Exposed Data

The portability of laptops and cell phones is convenient, of course, but that same portability means that such devices are easily lost or stolen. If your laptop, nethook, phone, or other device falls into the wrong hands, unauthorized users may access the sensitive data that you've stored there.

Encrypt your data: You can use a utility such as Microsoft's BitLocker to encrypt data. Unfortunately, BitLocker is available only for Windows Vista and Windows 7, and even then it's exclusive to the Ultimate and Enterprise editions of those OSs (and is also available in Windows Server 2008); you won't find the tool in the consumer versions of Vista and Windows 7. Fortunately, BitLocker isn't the only game in town. You can use another encryption program, such as TrueCrypt (find. www.pcworld.com; available for free under open-source licensing), to protect your data from unauthorized access.

Encrypting your data is not without a pitfall or two, however. The big­gest issue is to ensure that you always possess the key. If you lose your encryption key, you will quickly discover just how good encryption is at keep­ing out unauthorized users.

Use stronger passwords: If encrypting seems to be more of a hassle than it's worth, at least use strong passwords to protect your PC. Longer passwords are better; more characters take longer to crack. You should also mix things up by substituting numbers and special characters for letters. For example, instead of "PCWorldMagazine", you could use "PCWorldM@g@zin3". Though that's still a phrase you can easily remember, the character diversity makes it significantly harder to guess or crack.

You should have a secure password to log in to your user account even if you're the only person who uses your computer. Note, however, that while strong passwords arc a great deterrent, they aren't impervious to attack: An invader who has physical possession of your computer can find ways to get around that protection.

Lock down your BIOS: By implementing a BIOS password or a hard-drive password (or both), you can ensure that no one else can even boot the computer. Getting into the BIOS varies from system to system. The initial splash screen that your PC displays usually tells you which key to press to access the BIOS settings; watch as the computer is booting, and press <Del>. <Esc>, <F10>, or whichever key it specifies. Once inside, find the security settings. Again, these settings vary from vendor to vendor, but the BIOS settings are fairly rudimentary. Learn more about accessing and navigating your system's BIOS at find.pcworld.com/64335.

You can set a master password that prevents other people from booting your computer or altering the BIOS settings (find.pcworld.com/4336). Ibis option goes by different names, but it is often called an administrator password or supervisor password. If you wish, you can also set a hard-drive password, which prevents any access to the hard disk until the password is entered correctly.

Methods for circumventing these passwords exist, but having the passwords in place creates another layer of security that can help to deter all but the most dedicated attackers.

Use a recovery service: If your equipment gets lost or stolen, you'd like to recover it; but if you can't get your hardware back, you'll at least want to erase the data it holds. Some vendors, such as HP and Dell, offer services that try to do both for select laptop models. Both HP's Notebook Tracking and Recovery Service and Dell's Laptop Tracking and Recovery are based on Computrace from Absolute Software. When you report that a laptop protected with one of these services has been lost or stolen, a small application running in the background on the PC waits for the computer to connect to the Internet and then contacts the monitoring center to relay location information for finding the machine. If a protected lost or stolen laptop cannot be retrieved, or if the data on a system is highly sensitive, these services allow you to remotely erase all of the data stored on it.

Though less comprehensive, free utilities such as the FireFound add-on for Firefox (find.pcworld.com/64229) provide similar capabilities. You can configure FireFound to automatically delete your passwords, browsing history, and cookies following a failed login attempt.

Mobile phones can hold a significant amount of sensitive data, too. Fortunately, services such as Find My iPhone, part of Apple's $99-per-year MobileMe service and Mobile Defense for Android-based smart-phones perform similar feats of location tracking and remote data wiping for “smartphones” Both MobileMe and Mobile Defense can use the built-in GPS capabilities of your smartphone to pinpoint the current location of the device and relay that information back to you.

Security Myth

Security is a concern only I use Windows.

Microsoft certainly has had its share of security issues over the years, but that doesn't mean that other operating systems of applications are immune from assault. Though Microsoft products are the biggest target, Linux and Mac Os X have vulnerabilities and flaws, too. As alternative OSs and Web Browsers gain users, they become more attractive targets, as well. Increasingly, attackers are targeting widely used third-party products that span operating systems such as Adobe Reader.

Security Myth

I have antivirus software installed, so I’m safe.

Antivirus software is an absolute necessity, and it’s a great start, but installing it won’t protect against everything. Some antivirus products are just that – they don’t detect or block spam, phishing attempts, spyware, and other malware attacks. Even if you have a comprehensive security software product that protects against more than just viruses, you still must update it regularly: New malware threats are discovered daily and antimalware protection is only as good as its last update. Keep it in mind, as well, that security vendors need time to add protection against emerging threats, so your antimalware software will not guard you from zero-day or newly launched attacks.

Rogue Wi-Fi Hotspots

Free Wi-Fi networks ore available almost everywhere you go. Attackers, however, sometimes set up a malicious open Wi-Fi network to lure unsuspecting users into connecting. Once you have connected to a rogue wireless network, the attacker can capture your PC's traffic and gather any sensitive information you send, such as your usernames and passwords.

Verify the network's name: If you want to connect to the Internet at a coffee shop or in another public place, find out the SSID of the establishment's network The SSID is the name of the wireless network: it is broadcast over the airwaves so that your computer can detect die network, and as a result it's the name that appears in your system's list of available networks.

The SSID for a network at a McDonald's restaurant, for instance, might be "mickcyds." An attacker could set up a rogue wireless router in the vicinity of the McDonald's location and set its SSID to "msdwifi" or "mickeyds2," Your computer would then display both names on the list of available networks – and the rogue wireless network might even have a stronger signal and appear higher on the list. Make sure that you connect only to the official network.

When in doubt, don't trust any open network. Most free wireless networks arc unencrypted – and therefore unprotected. That means that the data traveling between your computer and the wireless router is susceptible to being intercepted and viewed by other parties that happen to be within range of the wireless network. Unless you have your own secure connection, such as a VPN (virtual private network) connection to the network at your office, you should avoid using public Wi-Fi for logging in to sensitive accounts (such as your e-mail or bank account); instead, limit your Internet usage in such public places to reading the news or checking for weather updates and traffic reports.

Weak Wi-Fi Security

If you're cautious, you've already secured your wireless network with a password to keep outsiders from accessing it or using your Internet connection. But password protection alone may not be sufficient.

Use stronger encryption: Several types of Wi-Fi network encryption arc available, and there are some important differences between them. WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) encryption is the most common variety employed on wireless networks. If you have a WEP password in place on your Wi-Fi network already, you've taken a significant step toward protecting it from intruders.

But WEP can be easily cracked: Tools are available that allow even unskilled attackers to crack the code and access your network in a matter of minutes. WEP is still helpful, since most aspiring wireless-network hijackers are not dedicated enough to take the time to break in, but to be safe you should use WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) or its successor, WPA2. These encryption types resolve the weaknesses of WEP and provide much stronger protection.

Log in to your router's console and find the wireless-security settings. There, enable encryption and select either WPA or WPA2. Enter a password, save the settings, and restart your router– and you'll start surfing more safely.

Endangered Data Backups

You know that you should back up your data – especially files of irreplaceable items such as family photos – regularly. But while storing backups on an external hard drive or burning them to blank CDs or DVDs and keeping them in the closet will enable you to restore files easily if your hard drive crashes or corrupts, that approach also creates a portable and thus easily lost or stolen archive of your sensitive data.

Encrypt your backup data: Be sure to use a backup utility that allows you to protect your data with encryption, or at least a password, to prevent unauthorized access. If you want to take things a step farther, you can put your backup files on an encrypted external USB drive such as the Seagate Maxtor Black-Armor, a PCWorld Best Buy. You can also find external drives with biometric fingerprint scanners, such as the Apricorn Aegis Bio or the LaCie d2 Safe.

Use an online backup service: If you prefer, you can use an online storage service such as Microsoft Windows Live SkyDrive (skydrive.live.com), which provides 25GB of storage space for free and offers a measure of security by requiring a username and password for access. Unfortunately, copying 25GB of data and keeping it updated via Sky-Drive can be a time-consuming and cumbersome process. For a small fee, though, you can use a service such as Mozy (mozy.com), which includes tools to automate the process and to ensure that your data is backed up regularly.

Security Myth

My router has a firewall, so my PC is protected.

A firewall, is great for blocking random unauthorized access network and it will protect your computer from a variety of threats, but attackers long ago figured out that the quickest way through the firewall is to attack you via ports that commonly allow data to pass unfettered. By default your firewall won’t block normal traffic such as Web data from e-mail, and the few users are comfortable reviewing firewall settings and determining which traffic to permit or block. In addition, many attacks today are Web based or originate from a phishing attack that lures you into visiting a malicious Website, your firewall cannot protect against such threats.

Security Myth

Since I visit only major, reputable sites, I have nothing to worry about.

You certainly increase your system’s odds of being infected or compromised when you visit the shady side of the Web, but even well-known Websites are occasionally infiltrated. Sites such as those for Apple, CNN, eBay, Microsoft, Yahoo, and even the FBI have been compromised by attackers running cross-site scripting attacks to gather information about users or to install malicious software on visitor’s computer.

Unpatched Software (Not Just Windows)

Microsoft's products have tang been favorite targets for malware, but the company has stepped up its game, forcing attackers to seek other weak links in the security chain. These days, third-party products such as Adobe Reader provide attackers with alternative options for hitting your PC. Install all security updates: You should have both a firewall and an antimalware utility protecting your system, but one of the simplest – and most effective – ways to guard against attack is to make sure that you keep your operating system and applications up-to-date.

Attackers have discovered that a considerable number of third-party applications such as Adobe Reader and Adobe Flash are present on virtually every computer and contain exploitable weaknesses. To guard against threats, you can use a program such as the Secunia Personal Software Inspector (find. pcworld.com/64342) to scan your system, identify applications that have known vulnerabilities, and install the necessary updates.

Do your best to stay informed of existing flaws for the various applications you use, and apply appropriate patches as soon as possible. The About.com Antivirus Software site (antivirus.about.com) is a good resource to use in collecting such information. You can also check sites such as McAfee's Avert Labs Threat Library for the latest news on emerging threats.

Though attacking third-party products may be a path of least resistance, bad guys haven't given up entirely on Microsoft products. Windows users should have Automatic Updates enabled and set to download and install important security updates automatically. Windows Automatic Update will keep the Windows operating system – as well as other Microsoft software such as Internet Explorer and the various Office applications – patched and current.

VIII

3D Comes Home

Is the latest attempt at bringing 3D to the living room a mere gimmick – or a disruptive technology that will transform how we think about TV?

3D IS BACK. And this time, it's making a big statement. The concept isn't new, of course – the first 3D motion picture dates back to the turn of the twentieth century. But: a growing string of recent Hollywood releases, cemented by the runaway success of Avatar, has returned 3D to our cultural consciousness.

For the first time, though, 3D is being positioned not just for theatrical and professional venues but also for homes. Few observers expect this sea change to happen overnight – but it is corning.

The consumer electronics industry has been putting the elements for a 3D revolution into place surprisingly quickly. Every major manufacturer has revealed as 3D plans for 2010, with most companies setting a summer launch for their 3D-enabled televisions. Summer will also see 3D-enabled Blu-ray players (For more on what all of this means for your current home theater setup, see page 18.). For filmmakers, a 3D camera will arrive in the fail: Panasonic's $21,000, professional-grade Full HD camcorder will be able to record video from each of its twin lenses to SDHC cards.

Broadcasters arc getting into the act, too. BSkyB is among the networks working on 3D channels. ESPN's channel, launching in June, will show 85 sporting events in 3D. And Sony is partnering with Discovery and Imax to have a 3D channel by 2011.

Film content is already available, and will be growing thanks to the Avatar effect. Last year 17 3D films came out; more than a dozen such titles are scheduled for 2010. And 2011 will likely be a banner year for 3D movies as Hollywood rushes to replicate Avatar's success.

3D's Growing Appeal

Since 3D theatrical releases routinely earn more revenue than their 2D counterparts, it's no shock that Hollywood and the consumer electronics industry are eager to bring 3D into the home. And the focus isn't just on movies: 80 percent of PC games are currently available in 3D.

"Consumers are willing to pay more money to watch a movie in 3D than to watch it in 2D,"' notes Jennifer Colegrove, director of display technologies at Display Search, citing 3D's immersiveness. "So [manufacturers] are naturally thinking about 3D for the home – on a computer, a notebook, a TV, a mobile phone."

Research into what consumers want has begun in earnest. Sony is partnering with CBS to study what audiences expect from home 3D. Last year the Consumer Electronics Association and the Entertainment Technology Center released a study in which 50 percent of surveyed consumers said they would pay more for a 3D TV; 40 percent of the respondents preferred 3D to 2D hold back 3D's potential is the "dorky" image of 3D glasses. Special glasses arc a requirement for all variations of the active-shutter technology that television makers arc using. RealD is providing glass technology to a number of TV manufacturers, but the eyepiece design may vary dramatically. Right now, there's no guarantee that glasses will be compatible across manufacturers (though the Consumer Electronics Association is trying to get companies to agree on this point). The glasses won't be cheap, either – and 3D-enabled TVs may not ship with them by default. So far, only Sony's top-of-line Bravia LX900 HDTV will come packaged with two pairs of glasses.

Few experts see 3D claiming a big chunk of the market. According to Display-Search, just over 1 million 3D-readyTVs will ship in 2010 (representing Q.I percent of total shipments); by 2018, die number will be 64 million (20 percent of the market). That's less than the CEA's estimate of 4.3 million 3D-capable TV sets shipping in 2010. Display-Search expects 3D-ready monitors to grow to 10 million by 2018 (3.6 percent penetration), and it foresees a similar trajectory for 3D laptop systems. Mobile phones will be the largest 3D-display shipment by 2018, with 71 million units, Display-Search predicts.

The challenge will be to get hardware into-homes. "It's about presenting enough of a compelling story to get people excited about buying new equipment," says Rick Dean, chairman of the 3D@Home Consortium and VP of strategic development for THX. "New Blu-ray players are required. New displays are required. But it's not just about how we're going to deliver 3D content; it's about the user experience."

Not Just New Movies

Blu-ray Disc will play a big role in the 3D revolution. In December, the Вlu-rау Disc Association finalized its spec for Blu-ray MVC, a 3D "multiview" codec extension to the existing AVC H.264. Though Blu-ray players seem to have dropped enough in price to start replacing DVD players by default, the arrival of 3D models could extend the disc format's relevance.

Hollywood studios have been a bit quiet about their 3D Blu-ray plans, but a few deals have been announced. Disney says it will have a 3D version of Christmas Carol out by the fourth quarter of 2010, And DreamWorks and Samsung have announced a deal with Technicolor to replicate content in 3D.

Blu-ray Disc Association president Andy Parsons notes that not everything will get the 3D treatment. He says that he expects 2D to coexist with 3D. "We're positioning 3D «or as a replacement for but a complement to 2D," he says.

While Parsons expects studios to search their archives for classics that they can transcode as 3D, the conversion may not be possible across the board, "ft remains to be seen if a way can be found to convert 2D content into 3D in a way that comes close to what's being done in the theaters today."

More Than a Gimmick?

The 3D being introduced now is definitely not die same effect as what you get from wearing cardboard red-and-blue glasses. His future of 3D is impressive, and its arrival could change how we regard reproduced images.

At January's Consumer Electronics Show, I was impressed by Panasonic's plasma panels with active-shutter glasses, as well as by Sony's demonstration of 3D on a 24.S-inch OLED screen. Of the various 3D implementations 1 tried at CES, those two produced the most convincing image quality.

On Panasonic's 3D plasma technology, both live-action and animated video looked bright and solid (as opposed to exhibiting opaqueness and transparency, which the same video did on Sony's LCD-based 3D HDTV). I was particularly struck by a portion of video that was spectacular in its ordinariness (a conversation between characters outdoors). It stood out to me for its realism, for the sense of depth that enveloped the characters – not to mention the entire scene. If 3D does prove to be a hit with audiences, plasma TV technology looks poised to vault back into significance. After ceding market share to LCDs, which have tumbled in price and improved in quality in recent years, plasmas look to gain an edge in the 3D universe. Plasma panels can respond to fast motion more quickly than LCD panels can; and while that difference isn't particularly evident in 2D, it is a distinct advantage in 3D. Sony's 3D OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) LCD offered perhaps the best example at CES of the increased depth perception that a 3D image can provide. OLED remains fairly rare in the mass market; though the technology is now common for cell-phone displays, TV- size panels have remained costly and out of reach for mass production. Since OLED has an even faster pixel refresh rate than plasma docs, it isn't surprising that Sony's 3D display left such a positive impression. Though it required glasses, too, the Sony 3D OLED was astounding in its color, realism, detail, and depth. Sony has yet to discuss plans to bring its 3D TV to market, but the prospects are tantalizing. And if 3D takes off in a big way, perhaps it will be the technology that pushes OLED into die mainstream.

The Need for 3D

Many industry observers have wondered whether we need 3D for newscasts, sitcoms, and other ordinary stuff, I would counter that a few years ago lots of people thought they didn't need social networking. At sonic point, I suspect, 3D media will become as natural to us as 2D videos and stills are today. In the immediate future, it will be limited to big-ticket entertainment events. Over time, though, consumers will expect the same level of realism and depth in all of their images – and technology will catch up to deliver that depth, effectively and affordably.

Consider the example of last year's U2 3D. This is no MTV video – it's an elaborate production that shows Bono and his band in three-dimensional glory, and it's one of many movies that have made a compelling case for capturing concert performance in 3D. Now imagine that you're in a stadium, watching Bono, who seems to be miles away from your seat in the nosebleed section. You're resigned to viewing the overhead screen – but instead of showing you a flat projection, the 3D screen lets you experience the performance with dimensionality. It could happen; Sony has already demonstrated the ability to capture and produce 3D video in real time.

That 3D future isn't quite here yet. The technology has to get to a point where users don't need awkward eyewear keyed to a specific TV. But when that future does come, 3D will be the new normal, and everything else will seem like your grandmother's faded black-and-white photos.

IX

ECOLOGY AND ECONOMY: TWO SIDES OF THE SAME ISSUE

"There are no environmental problems. Not a single one. The basic causes of the problems ... are found in the economic system itself". Lloyd Timberlake, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), United Kingdom. (Lillehammer seminar)

One key to the process of sustainable development is the realization that ecology and economy are interconnected – for better and for worse. At present, ecology and economy often reinforce each other in a negative direction, giving a downward spiral of events or unsustainable development. The poverty of the developing countries and the wasteful overconsumption of the developed countries are both in their own way guilty of causing environmental degradation. Environmental degradation in both the developed and developing countries undermines biological production systems and health, which will in the long term limit the potential for economic activities.

Luckily, ecology and economy can also interact in a positive way. Measures to improve the environment may seem to be costly drains on the economy in the short term, but evidence is beginning to accumulate that many of these measures are also economic in the long term.

Industries are discovering that efficient use of materials and energy – recycling, introduction of new production techniques, utilization of waste heat – are desirable from an economic viewpoint as well as to satisfy legal requirements and respond to pressure from consumers. In the developing countries, areas with successful afforestation and soil conservation projects are also beginning to reap the benefits in terms of economics and self-sufficiency.

A new branch of economics called environmental economics is based on the idea that present economic systems and market forces often create environmental problems because they do not reflect the environmental costs of activities, especially costs that appear at other places and other times. Environmental economics aims to steer development in a more sustainable direction by using various economic tools such as taxes on carbon or other resources, fines levied on polluters, marking of "green" consumer products, and use of incentives to increase recycling of materials.

These measures, if seriously employed, could greatly improve the environmental situation and force deep changes in all spheres of society. Some say that this will not be enough, however. Ecological economics, another new discipline, questions the basic tenets of modern economics: continual growth and the accruement of interest on capital. Ecological economists are now working on the question of how to create a stable and healthy economy without interest and continual growth. They argue that production systems should be restructured and that local cycles of capital-extensive production, trade, consumption and recycling should replace centralized, capital-intensive production and waste treatment. These communities would be much like the self-sufficient farming communities of old but would use appropriate labour-saving and environmental technology driven by solar, biomass or other renewable energy. Ecological economists argue that this system would not only be energy-and resource-efficient but would also help restore the human values of small, diverse, self-sufficient local communities.

When discussing the issue of growth it may be useful to look to nature as a model. Young ecosystems such as young forests or fields normally have high net growth (accumulation of biomass). As the ecosystem matures and resources become scarce, net growth declines because more and more energy is used to maintain the forest's large biomass and complex functions. A mature forest is resource-efficient and highly productive in terms of photosynthesis, but has little or no net growth. The growth of individual trees or stands of trees is balanced by death and decomposition of other trees.

Compare this to our economic systems. Industrialized countries have experienced rapid economic growth owing to new technology and the exploitation of fossil fuels. Viewed ecologically, however, resources will eventually set limits. Materials and energy may become scarce or production potential may be reduced because of environmental degradation (pollution, erosion, health problems). As a result, industries and communities need to exert more effort to obtain and recycle materials, control pollution, increase energy efficiency, etc. Profits are reinvested, giving low net growth in the mature economy. As in the forest, gross production could nevertheless remain high.

The discussion of how to develop economic systems that can safeguard environmental interests has just begun. It will undoubtedly be one of the main points of environmental debate in the years to come, and is a highly relevant topic for environmental education.

X

ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT

Protecting ecosystems and the life-support services they provide from destruction and disruption requires a broad outlook – one that goes beyond individual sites. Drainage basins are the natural units for land use management, since water links different ecosystems and activities upstream inevitably have an impact downstream. The economic value attached to each basin's ecosystems should recognize their role in regulating water quality and quantity. Peat swamp forest in Malaysia is being conserved because it is known to provide a reliable source of water during the dry season for nearby rice fields. Experience has shown that draining swamps and building reservoirs as substitutes for natural water storage is costly and unsatisfactory.

To maintain life-support services overall, each region needs to preserve or restore as much of its natural and modified ecosystems as possible. Conversion from one condition to another should always be thoroughly questioned.

Forests are particularly important as resources, as reservoirs of biodiversity and as absorbers of atmospheric carbon. Where their conversion is essential it should be compensated by the restoration of forests in other areas, and in their exploitation, excessive or destructive harvesting should always be avoided. Successful forest restoration projects have been established in India where families living in the fringes of degraded forest have agreed to protect, help rehabilitate and maintain the forest in return for forest-based employment and the rights to collect, fuelwood and fodder and sell forest products. Nearly 1,800 of such Forest Protection Committees have now been organized, and they protect close to 21,000 square kilometres (8,000 square miles) of forest land.

The maintenance of modified ecosystems is equally important within farmed and urbanized landscapes. Action should be taken to preserve small areas of wetland, woodland and species-rich meadows, as well as to maintain parks and gardens, especially those in which native species of plant and tree are growing.

Pollution has grown from a local nuisance to a global menace.

All societies should adopt the precautionary principles of minimizing discharges of substances that could be harmful and of ensuring that products and processes are non-polluting. Efforts are needed by:

• Governments in all countries, to tackle pollution in an integrated manner, employing a mix of economic and regulatory measures;

• Municipalities and public utilities, to maintain or improve air quality in their areas and bring sewage treatment up to modern standards;

• Industries, to make use of the best available technology and design to prevent pollution;

• Farmers, to use agrochemicals sparingly and minimise runoff of fertilisers and livestock wastes from agricultural land;

• Domestic consumers, to dispose of household waste carefully, not pour hazardous chemicals into waste water systems and minimize the use of chemical insecticides in the garden.

Such integrated pollution control avoids the risk that polluting materials will simply be transferred from one medium to another. The same agency should have the power to set effluent standards for vehicles, and control the use of chemicals in agricultural and household products.

In setting regulations and providing economic incentives for reduced emissions, governments can be guided by the Polluter Pays Principle. This principle requires that market prices reflect the full costs of environmental damage.

A mine or a chemical factory, for example, should pay the costs of ensuring that its effluents and emissions do not damage fisheries or create a hazard to health if they are polluting the ocean. The result is that a strong incentive for pollution control is created, thus encouraging industries to develop new processes, consumer goods that do not release pollutants, and better techniques for reclaiming useful or hazardous material.

XI

ECOLOGY FROM ONE EARTH TO ONE WORLD

The key to sustainable development is the realization that we are all citizens of one earth, dependent on common resources and on one another. In particular, the pollution of the atmosphere and the oceans, our most precious shared resources, has made people begin to see the world as one. There is no longer any place to send wastes away, into the oceans, the atmosphere, or to other countries. We will eventually get it back again. And we can no longer isolate ourselves from the problems of people in distant parts of the world, for their actions affect our shared resources and therefore our own future.

Pollution does not respect political boundaries, and we must now recognize that even, small local events can have global consequences. A tree felled in one part of the earth, an automobile started, a refrigerator thrown on the garbage pile, a ship's tanks dumped into the bay, human error at a nuclear reactor: all of these events are no longer each country's and each person's "own 'business" but have become everybody's business. Out of a common concern for our shared resources on the earth emerge a common responsibility and a new commitment to co-operate internationally as a global community. This is the meaning of the saying "from one earth to one world".

Ecology is defined as the study of interactions in nature at all levels, from an individual plant or animal up to the ecosystem. Ecology gives an understanding of nature's structure and function, changes over time, and reaction and recovery from various kinds of disturbances. In Europe, more attention has been given to identification and description of organisms and ecosystems (natural history) than to ecological dynamics (production and decomposition; food chains and energy flow; nutrient cycling; population growth and regulation; soil ecology; succession; evolution; and so on). Natural history is an important element of ecology, but it is not sufficient to give an understanding, even in general terms, of the impact of humans on nature and what comprises good ecological management. Knowledge of the ecological interactions and dynamics mentioned above is needed.

Ecology is not synonymous with environmental science, environmental management or environmental education. Ecology is usually treated as a "pure" natural science discipline and does not include questions of economics, politics, behaviour, ethics, or culture (even though these are the forces steering most ecosystems). Ecology could therefore be taught as a part of a biology or natural sciences curriculum.

XII

PROTECTION OF SPECIES AND ECOSYSTEMS

Every year several hundred to several thousand plant and animal species become extinct, most of these in connection with tropical deforestation. Loss of forest cover is itself a major ecological problem because forests play a crucial role in regulating water cycles, local climate, and the balance of CO₂ in the atmosphere. The genetic resources lost by extinction have both an economic value for medicine and agriculture and an ecological value because they increase diversity in ecosystems and are the basis for future evolution. We face difficult ethical questions about other species' right to exist and the subjugation of nature as a basic tenet of industrial society.

Europe also has its share of endangered species and ecosystems, such as the wolf, certain birds of prey, virgin coniferous forest and various species of fish and marine mammals. Conservation of nature often conflicts with agriculture and forestry interests, making this a good topic for classroom discussions and debates. The conflicts of interest in tropical deforestation could for example be compared with the situation in the students' own country.

The ocean ecosystem is a vital resource for most European countries, but its ecological balance is threatened by the petroleum industry; fish farming; fisheries; pollution by industry, agricultural runoff and sewage; and depletion of the ozone layer. Marine pollution sometimes becomes dramatic, as it did in the spring of 1988 when the marine alga Chrysochromelina polylepis caused widespread fish death in the waters around Scandinavia. Research later showed that the alga becomes poisonous at particular concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus, the result of agricultural and other pollution from Skagerak, the Baltic Sea, and the northern Scandinavian coast.

XIII

ENERGY SUPPLY

The issue of energy has two main aspects: type of energy used and amount of energy used. Sustainable approaches to energy supply are based on nonnuclear, renewable energy sources and more effective use of energy, through either improved technology or reduced energy consumption.

The environmental consequences of today's energy policies are potentially catastrophic. The global warming caused by burning fossil fuels will disrupt thousands of kilometres of heavily populated and productive tropical coastline, as well as causing major changes in agroecological zones in both temperate and tropical areas. Ecologists are concerned that natural ecosystems will not be able to adapt rapidly enough to these changes through migration of plant and animal species, since the climate has not changed this rapidly previously. The ability of human societies to adapt to these changes is an open question.

The burning of fossil fuels also causes acid rain, contributing to the death of large areas of forest in Europe. Toxic heavy metals originating from fossil fuels or released under acid soil conditions (primarily cadmium, zinc and lead) are also found in disturbingly high concentrations in soils and vegetation in many places in Europe. The risks associated with nuclear energy are also great, as illustrated by the Chernobyl accident. It would be ironic if, in our efforts to reduce acid rain and the greenhouse effect, we shifted to nuclear power, which may pose an even greater environmental threat.

The answer lies partly in development of renewable energy sources such as biomass, methane, sun, wind, waterfall and wave power. The other part of the solution lies in using less energy and getting more out of each unit of energy (increased energy efficiency). In order to stabilize the C0₂ concentration in the atmosphere, CO production must be reduced by 60-70 per cent in the developed countries. Through improved energy efficiency, choice of energy source and new technology some of this reduction can be achieved. The rest will have to be achieved by cutting down on unnecessary consumption and a reduction in standard of living measured in terms of material consumption. However, quality of life need not necessarily be reduced – in fact; it may increase because of better physical and mental health.

XIV

INDUSTRY

Industrial production must become more energy-and resource-efficient and must pollute less. This will require major investments and economic adjustments, which in turn require political commitment to change. As each year goes by we become more aware of the real costs of resources and pollution, and these costs are now beginning to be taken into account in some countries, for example by imposing "environmental taxes" on carbon-based energy sources and collecting fees from polluting industry. Industrial licensing and pollution control have also become stricter in some countries, but much remains to be done.

Many environmentalists feel that more deepgoing changes in production systems are necessary. If wasteful consumerism is to be eliminated, the system of production and marketing of unnecessary consumer goods and throwaway items should shift to a more environmentally sound production and marketing system. A better balance between ecology and economy could be achieved through higher-quality goods having longer lifespan as well as through increased recycling and reuse of materials. Studies of food production in industrial countries have also shown that the energy costs for transporting, marketing, processing, advertising and storing goods may be much higher than the energy costs to produce them! In the European countries now undergoing economic restructuring, new industrial production should be as resource-efficient and energy-efficient as possible.

XV

Sustainable Ecology Brings Business Innovation

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The sweet aroma of nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and loamy soil fills the air every morning. It's called Chai Mulch, an inventive new environmentally friendly compost made from recycled tea.

When Ken Foster, founder of Santa Cruz, California's Terra Nova Ecological Landscaping learned that the local tea factory was trashing an entire dumpster-worth of chai-waste every day, he had a sudden inspiration. Foster and his crew of 10 to 12 employees transformed the landfill-bound waste into nourishing fertilizer. In 1988 Foster co-founded Terra Nova Ecological Landscaping, a radically new – yet profoundly ancient – approach to landscaping.

"The mission of Terra Nova is that we work with the intelligence of nature... using nature as a mentor," says Foster, who has a degree in landscape horticulture and is now the company's sole owner and master landscape designer. Terra Nova uses only organic fertilizer, and never herbicides or pesticides. Native species that don't use too much water are particularly emphasized.

"We create landscapes that are full and diverse and serve many functions," says Foster. He says that landscapes designed by Terra Nova are not only beautiful, but often integrate organic vegetable and herbal gardens, and provide irrigation and water catchment.

Recycled materials are utilized wherever possible. Foster uses sawdust from a local cabinetmaker for pathways. For stepping stones and patios, he uses mosaics of rocks, bricks, and urbanite – an affectionate term for reused concrete which can be beautified by staining it with iron sulfate.

"The Bicycle Landscaping Company"

It was Earth Day, 1990, and Foster was busy managing two festival booths – one for Terra Nova and the other for Conservation International. His friend gave him a trailer made from recycled bike frames for transporting his materials to the booths. Immediately recognizing the potential, Foster, a long-time cyclist himself, cleaned up and painted the bike trailer.

After serendipitously meeting a bike trailer manufacturer at a Santa Cruz hearing on the establishment of bike lanes, Foster commissioned him to increase his fleet. Thus, what Santa Cruz residents now know as "The Bicycle Landscaping Company" was born.

Although Terra Nova used a regular pickup truck in 1988, it has since sold it and employed mountain bikes with detachable trailers, quadracycles with truck beds, and a biodiesel-powered vehicle.

Terra Nova has five garages and storage units across the city to make transportation without motor vehicles feasible.

"Bicycles are one of the more elegant forms of transportation on the planet – second maybe to walking," Foster jokes.

He also likes to minimize using equipment that contributes to air and noise pollution. "I used to have a backpack blower and I sold it," he recalls. "That was a great day." Foster and his crew use hand shears, rakes and brooms in lieu of electric hedge trimmers and blowers, although a battery – powered lawnmower is used when necessary.