Posts tagged Olympics at Switched

Posts with tag olympics

Beware of Chinese Hackers at the Olympics

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jul 19th 2008 at 7:10PM

Remember that warning U.S. security agencies gave government officials and businesses? It appears that warning may be publicly extended to any and all travelers to Beijing. The danger to personal and sensitive data is hard to overstate in a country with such a long history of electronic espionage, but a public warning could damage political and business relationships with the economic powerhouse.

Copying data from unattended cell phones and laptops is just part of the problem. Data can also be "slurpped" over Bluetooth connections, Wi-Fi connections can be intercepted, and spyware can be installed. One security expert turned on a new Treo smart phone upon landing in Beijing, by the time he hit the hotel a handful of malicious applications had been installed on his phone.

To be safe if you're traveling to China for the Olympics take the following precaution

Use a disposable cell phone while in Beijing.
Store all data on an encrypted USB flash drive, never let it leave your sight.
Place anti-tamper stickers on screws and hard-drives.
Keep Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned off unless absolutely necessary.
Make sure anti-virus, firewall, and anti-spyware are installed and up to date.

[Source: Wall Street Journal]

"Smart Devices" to Monitor Cars During Beijing Olympics

by Peter Mychalcewycz, posted Jul 15th 2008 at 7:54AM

Chinese officials are taking steps to improve air quality and traffic gridlock in Beijing by cutting automobile travel via heavy traffic restrictions during the Olympic games. China's capital city is quickly becoming one the world's most-congested, with over 1,000 new cars being added to the city's streets each day. So how do they plan to do it?

It looks like they've gone with a high-tech route: Authorities have installed more than 10,000 "smart devices" on major roads and Olympic routes around the city. These devices include cameras and various scanners that can be used to identify individual automobiles. Starting July 20, cars will be banned on alternate days depending on the last number of their license plates. Regarding the system, a spokesman from the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau said, "They form a monitoring interface so that as soon as illegal cars hit the street, they will be discovered."

Offenders will be fined 100 yuan (approximately $15). Ouch. The Chinese government must really want to make sure that other countries think that it cares about air pollution. [Source: Reuters]

NBC Lays Out 2008 Beijing Olympics Coverage Plans

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 9th 2008 at 12:07PM

Just in case it didn't really sink in last August, NBC is gearing up to air 3,600 hours of Olympics coverage this year. Yeah, 3,600 hours. So, how are mere plebeians supposed to watch that much content? With a couple HD DVRs, you ought to have no troubles at all. Hailed as the "most ambitious single media project in history," NBC Universal will be broadcasting across seven different NBC networks: NBC, USA, MSNBC, CNBC, Oxygen, Telemundo and Universal HD, as well as NBCOlympics.com.

Granted, this is speaking strictly of coverage here in the United States, but there's no denying that nations across the globe are doing their best to snatch up as much of the Games as possible. For a complete rundown of what to expect just under a month from now, bookmark the links below.

Read - NBC announces Olympics plans
Read - Coverage listings

Going to the Olympics? Your Cell Phone or Computer Could Be at Risk

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jun 12th 2008 at 4:41PM

National security agencies are warning American officials and businesses to take extra precautions with the data (addresses, documents, etc) on their cell phones and laptops while in China for the Olympics. In the past year, China has shown its desire to infiltrate American networks in order to steal government and industry secrets, and agencies are warning that it will be very easy for it to do so with all of the electronic gadgets coming into the country.

"There is a high likelihood -- virtually 100% -- that if an individual is of security, political, or business interest to Chinese...security services or high-tech industries," says U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission chairman,"then their electronics can and will be tampered with or penetrated."

China, of course, denies the charges of espionage, but it's hard to ignore the country's long history of espionage. Security experts warn that even if your laptop never leaves your side, you should have it checked out for bugs and malicious software up your return and before connecting it to an American network. [Source: USA Today]

Oscar Pistorius Free to Qualify for Olympics on Prosthetics

by Paul Miller, posted May 21st 2008 at 11:37AM

Good news for the cyborgs in the crowd: the ruling by the International Association of Athletics Federations that barred double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorious from a shot at the Olympics has been overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Detractors from Oscar's entry into the Olympics have cited a suspect study that says Oscar could be using as little as 25% of the energy of other sprinters, thanks to the mechanical advantage of his "Cheetah" prosthetics, which basically act as springs. Others feared that this could set a dangerous precedent for the entry of bionics into athletic competition, but the ruling was rather tightly worded, and if related cases come up they will be tried individually. Of course, Oscar still has to qualify, and his personal best in the 400 is about a second off the qualifying time for Beijing. Even if he can't make it, he plans try for the world championships and the London Olympics in 2012. [Source: NYT]

China Will Block Internet During Olympics, But Will Go Easy On Pirates

by Tim Stevens, posted May 8th 2008 at 10:50AM

China Will Block Internet During Olympics, Not Pirates

Despite having the highest number of online users in the world, China is still one of the most strict censors of the Internet. In the build-up to the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer, the nation has been talking about the easy availability of Internet access for the media covering the games, but now it's backing away from pledges of "complete freedom," indicating that some sites will continue to be censored.

So, the media may find themselves blocked from some sites while in the country, but, in an ironic twist, the Chinese government is also saying that it's unable to block those selling Olympic-themed memorabilia. Officials have complained about seeing vendors openly selling knockoff shirts and mascots (along with pirated copies of Hollywood movies and the like) on street corners in Beijing. The government has fined a number of them recently, but is indicating it is powerless to stop it completely.

So, between the censorship and bionic swimming suits, it's certainly shaping up to be an interesting Olympics, and we haven't even started talking about the competitors yet! [Source: Reuters]

NASA Technology Speedo Suit Helping Swimmers Break Records

by Tim Stevens, posted Apr 4th 2008 at 10:17AM

New Speedo Suit Is Fast ... Maybe Too Fast

In the world of Olympic competition, participants will do anything they can to get an edge. Some take things a little too far, using performance enhancing drugs, but you can be sure that even those who would never break the rules are doing everything in their power to get the most out of them.

Apparel and equipment manufacturers are definitely on board, spending millions of dollars to produce the ultimate pair of skis, sneakers or skates that will propel their athlete (wearing their logo) to victory. So it is with Speedo, but it may have been a little too successful with its new suit, which has been breaking records by the dozen since it first saw competition.

The suit, called the LCR Racer, uses a variety of different materials to shape and optimize the body of the swimmer, including some panels that flex and provide little resistance along with other panels, along the abdomen, that are much stiffer and provide support. This composite construction, combined with the lack of seams (thanks to ultrasonic welding used to join those panels together), results in a suit with considerably less drag and, ultimately, much greater speeds.

The suit was co-developed with NASA at an estimated cost of roughly $4 million. Since it was launched in February, 16 world records in swimming have been broken. Of those, all but one were broken by a swimmer wearing the LCR Racer.

This excellent performance has earned the suit some extra attention by Olympics officials as qualifying races are getting underway. But, so far, it is in the clear and legal for use in the games. We'll surely be seeing much, much more of if this summer.

From Daily Mail

Related Links:

PixelJunk Monsters dev teases Trophy patch GameTap Thursday: Fallout, Battle Chess, Aveyond 2 Nintendo debuts Wii 'Bonus Content' feature in Japan	NimbleX : Portable Linux That's Ready to Rock Portrait Professional lets you airbrush away imperfections Totem Destroyer - Time Waster
Mac 101: Pairing/Unpairing Apple remotes Apple posts 3 new iPhone 3G ads: Everyone, Unslow, Work Friendly Ad-Hoc and the Washington Post	Pre-market movers (BIDU) (AMZN) Early analyst calls (BA) (T) (C) (MCD) Earnings preview for Ford
FaceBreaker demo breaks faces next Thur. It's an NCAA Football 09 Live Weekend Next week, Ticket to Ride expands into Europe	Volkswagen considering price hike In the Autoblog Garage:2009 Nissan GT-R Autoclub Speedway Redline Time Attack and Live Sockets Circuit Battle
Sins of a a Solar Empire 1.1 beta to begin later today Get Still Alive now with the free Portal Flash Version map pack E3 08: Red Faction: Guerrilla trailer breaks through	Cramp Forces Man to Crawl Across Finish Line at New York City Triathlon Stands Collapse at Bullfight in Colombia FanHouse Minute: The Favre Saga, Day 20

Beware of Chinese Hackers at the Olympics

"Smart Devices" to Monitor Cars During Beijing Olympics

NBC Lays Out 2008 Beijing Olympics Coverage Plans

Going to the Olympics? Your Cell Phone or Computer Could Be at Risk

Oscar Pistorius Free to Qualify for Olympics on Prosthetics

China Will Block Internet During Olympics, But Will Go Easy On Pirates

NASA Technology Speedo Suit Helping Swimmers Break Records

Breaking news Feed

Featured stories Feed

AOL Tech Network

Resources

Categories

cnet reviews

downloads

Features

Hot Topics

Latest Reviews from CNET.com

Top Product Reviews