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FutureMedia Fest 2011 kicks off today at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center! If you can't make it out to the event, we will be streaming some of the sessions online at http://futuremediafest.gatech.edu. If you're on campus, you can tune into the Georgia Tech cable channel 19. Be sure to follow along on Twitter using the hashtag #FMFGT.

The year ahead will feature new and increasingly sophisticated means to capture and exploit user data, as well as escalating battles over the control of online information that threatens to compromise content and erode public trust and privacy. Those were the findings announced by the Georgia Tech Information Security Center (GTISC) and the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) in today's release of the Georgia Tech Emerging Cyber Threats Report for 2012. The report was released at the annual Georgia Tech Cyber Security Summit, a gathering of industry and academic leaders who have distinguished themselves in the field of cyber security.

“We continue to witness cyber attacks of unprecedented sophistication and reach, demonstrating that malicious actors have the ability to compromise and control millions of computers that belong to governments, private enterprises and ordinary citizens,” said Mustaque Ahamad, director of GTISC. “If we are going to prevent motivated adversaries from attacking our systems, stealing our data and harming our critical infrastructure, the broader community of security researchers—including academia, the private sector and government—must work together to understand emerging threats and to develop proactive security solutions to safeguard the Internet and physical infrastructure that relies on it.”

There’s this fantastic comic on XKCD that makes every nerd I know laugh. It’s titled “Tech Support Cheat Sheet,” and it’s a flow chart explaining to the people who treat nerds as their own personal “Geek Squad” how to use a computer program. It's introduced thus: Dear various parents, grandparents, co-workers, and other “not computer people.” We don’t magically know how to do everything in every program. When we help you, we’re usually just doing this: It’s funny for nerds because they know working with consumer technology is not rocket science.

Amy Bruckman, an associate professor at Georgia Tech’s School of Interactive Computing, is quick to point out, “There’s some basic debugging skills and logical thinking skills that solve most problems with technology.” But for easily the past 50 years in America, she said, a culture of anti-intellectualism has made mastering technology the domain of nerds and decidedly un-mainstream. “Think about the ham radio enthusiast,” Bruckman said, “who, at least in our stereotypical visions, is the nerdiest kid we’ve ever heard of. “Sitting alone, communicating with other enthusiasts. Electronic communications used to be the ultimate nerd pursuit.” For nerds, “Being smart has immediate payoffs” when it comes to manipulating technology, she said.

The rapid evolution of computers makes it challenging for computer savvy users to keep up, but what about older Americans? How useful are computers to the aging population?  As the rate of technology change accelerates, there is a need to understand how older adults use technology and what factors influence their adoption of new technology.

A team of researchers from Georgia Tech and Florida State University are investigating the perceptions older adults have of the usefulness of computers as a communication tool. This study, being presented at the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, examined the degree to which demographic variables, technology and computer experience, and the perceived importance of an activity for older adults’ quality of life influenced the older adults’ perceived importance of the computer for communication activities.
Wendy Rogers, Georgia Tech School of Psychology professor and principal investigator on the NIH-funded project, explained, “This research will broaden our understanding of technology acceptance for older adults. Our findings will help guide the design of future systems as well the development of better instruction and training for current computer systems.”

Although some findings were anticipated based on previous work, the research did uncover some unexpected results that may lead to future research.

“One of the more surprising findings was that within this sample of older adults, the oldest individuals found a computer more useful for communication activities,” said John Burnett, a graduate student on the research team. “There could be several reasons for this finding, and it deserves more research.”

We’re excited to announce the first round of speakers and sponsors for this year’s fest! Our speakers include representatives from Turner, Autotrader.com, The Weather Channel, Intel, Saab, Meebo, OpenStudy, Scoutmob, Cox Media Group, ONE, The Carter Center, KPMG, Donorschoose.org, BLiNQ Media, Engauge, and many others. For the full list of additions check out the speakers page.

Sponsors for this year include Metro Atlanta Chamber, Autotrader.com, Georgia Department of Economic Development, IEEE-USA, Technology Association of Georgia, Georgia State University, and Women in Technology. Visit the sponsor page to learn more.

In the Harry Potter world, characters read newspapers with pictures that move. Where a photo normally sits, Quidditch players fly back and forth across a field. Goblins investigate the aftermath of a bank robbery.

With the development of augmented reality, technology in the real world is creeping closer to that of fictional scenario. Augmented reality software places computer-generated images on top of real world environments, such as a smartphone's camera or a live television broadcast. Think of the yellow first-down line you see while watching a football game. The concept of augmented reality first appeared in fighter jets, in what was called a Head-Up Display. It involved symbols projected onto a transparent glass screen, allowing pilots to better aim their weapons. When a driver glances at the speedometer or gas gauge, they briefly take their eyes off the road in front of them. This was a distraction that pilots could not afford.

Since then, augmented reality techniques have been implemented by numerous smartphone applications. The Layar program can recreate historical objects like the Berlin Wall by placing a computer generated replica of the wall on the phones of people scanning the original site. Yelp's Monocle app displays information about nearby restaurants and buildings when a phone is pointed in any given direction. And Ball Invasion, a game by the developer 13th Lab, has players scan any room with an iPad's camera, then uses the walls as part of a racquetball-style arena.

Beyond iPhones and other smarphones, augmented reality technology is being utilized by several industries. Here is a look at three of the ways in which it may soon impact our lives.

In the natural world, species that share the same ecosystem often compete for resources, resulting in the extinction of weaker competitors. A new computer model that describes the evolution of the Internet's architecture suggests something similar has happened among the layers of protocols that have survived -- and become extinct -- on the worldwide network.

Understanding this evolutionary process may help computer scientists as they develop protocols to help the Internet accommodate new uses and protect it from a wide range of threats. But the model suggests that unless the new Internet avoids such competition, it will evolve an hourglass shape much like today's Internet.

"To avoid the ossification effects we experience today in the network and transport layers of the Internet, architects of the future Internet need to increase the number of protocols in these middle layers, rather than just push these one- or two-protocol layers to a higher level in the architecture," said Constantine Dovrolis, an associate professor in the School of Computer Science at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

One of the first things to disappear in the wake of a major disaster is reliable communication. Without access to cell phone service or the Internet, it's difficult for first responders--or anyone who wants to help out--to speak with each other. And while satellite phones work in these situations, they're too expensive for many first responder organizations to purchase en masse. Now researchers from Georgia Tech College of Computing claim to have developed a cheap, easy solution: LifeNet, a piece of software that allows people to communicate after disasters, even if landlines, cell phone networks, and the Internet are all down.

"It's just a piece of code that you can have on your laptop or phone. Once you have the software, the computers can communicate with each other, and you don't need infrastructure," says Santosh Vempala, the Georgia Tech computer science professor in charge of the project.

Any device that has LifeNet installed acts as both a host and router for the network--meaning the software can route data both to and from any other LifeNet-enabled device. You can read more technical details here.

A group of people using the software can all communicate with each other (texting is the easiest way), but if even one person on the network has access to the Internet, everyone else can access it, too--though the connection probably wouldnt be strong enough to do any powerful surfing, like stream video. And if one user has a satellite phone, the whole network can use its services.

A little vibration can be a good thing for people who need a sensitive touch.

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a glove with a special fingertip designed to improve the wearer's sense of touch. Applying a small vibration to the side of the fingertip improves tactile sensitivity and motor performance, according to their research results.

Previous research has shown that adding an appropriate amount of white noise -- a concept called stochastic resonance -- can improve sight, hearing, balance control and touch, but the white noise had not been incorporated into a wearable device. The Georgia Tech prototype is believed to be the first wearable stochastic resonance device, attaching to the fingertip to improve the sense of touch.

"This device may one day be used to assist individuals whose jobs require high-precision manual dexterity or those with medical conditions that reduce their sense of touch," said Jun Ueda, an assistant professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech.

Ueda worked with Minoru Shinohara, an associate professor in the School of Applied Physiology at Georgia Tech, and visiting scholar Yuichi Kurita, to design the device and test its capabilities on a small group of healthy individuals.

When it comes to broadband speeds, U.S. Internet service providers (ISPs) largely deliver on their promises, says a report issued today by the Federal Communications Commission, but “throughput” is only one of several metrics listed in the report that affect network performance. ISPs should provide a broadband “nutrition label”—easy-to-understand information about service-limiting factors—and users need better ways of measuring the performance their ISPs are delivering, concludes a study from the Georgia Tech College of Computing.

Out of some 2 billion Internet users worldwide, about 500 million are residential broadband users, and recent figures show that two-thirds of U.S. households are hooked up to high-speed Internet. Generally speaking, these customers’ throughput—the “width” of their Internet pipeline—lives up to speeds advertised by their ISPs, says the FCC report, “Measuring Broadband America.” But many home Internet users simultaneously run multiple applications that each use network resources, and the behavior of one application can affect the performance another application receives, says Nick Feamster, associate professor in the School of Computer Science.

“People should care about more than just throughput,” Feamster says. “Optimal network performance depends on several other factors, but measuring these important metrics and explaining them to consumers is challenging.  It goes back to transparency—we want to give users the information that will help them make the best decisions about which service plan to purchase, and to give them ways to verify that they’re getting the level of service that they’re paying for.”

Since his stroke 10 years ago, Henry Evans has been unable to scratch an itch or shave his own face.

But now, even though he is mute and quadriplegic, he can scratch himself and shave his cheek with the aid of a Personal Robot 2 (PR2) in a laboratory setting.

These successes come out of a new project called Robots for Humanity, a collaboration of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Willow Garage and Henry and Jane Evans of Palo Alto, Calif.

The initial steps show great potential for the role of personal robots in assisting individuals with disabilities.

“This is just the beginning,” said Charlie Kemp, director of the Healthcare Robotics Lab at Georgia Tech and assistant professor of biomedical engineering. “We hope to really push on these technologies so robots like this can actually help people every day. “

The Robots for Humanity project started somewhat serendipitously. Last year, Henry Evans saw Kemp on CNN demonstrating his research with the PR2, a robot built by private research lab Willow Garage. Evans was excited about the robot’s potential to help him, so he contacted Willow Garage and Kemp to see if they would be willing to work with him.

Students will once again be given the chance to show off their hacking prowess in a competition designed to demonstrate the importance of network security.

The Georgia Tech Information Security Center (GTISC), the Georgia Tech Association for Computing Machinery (GT ACM) and Georgia Tech Research Institute’s (GTRI) Cyber Technology and Information Security Lab (CTISL)  host the second cyber security competition, Hungry, Hungry Hackers (H3).

Open to all college students, the competition will be held at the GTRI Conference Center August 27, 2011, from 10 a.m. to midnight. In addition to the competition, a tutorial session will be provided for “n00bs” and those wanting to learn basic skills at 8 a.m.