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THIS MONTH INSIDER


BLOOD IN THE WIRE IN a technological development that is not for the squeamish, Indian scientists have shown that a memristor, an experimental component that promises to increase the efficiency of computer systems, can be fashioned from human blood.


The idea of a memristor, a component of electrical circuits that ‘remembers’ the strength of the current that passes through it after that current is switched off, was first postulated in the 1970s. The man behind the idea, Professor Leon Chua, then described it as the fourth fundamental circuit element, after the resistor, capacitor and inductor. But it was not until 2008 that the theory was successfully put into practice. Hewlett-Packard research fellow R Stanley Williams, who created the memristor in his laboratory,


EVENTS DIARY


Internet World 2011 10-12 May 2011, London www.internetworld.co.uk


Enterprise Architecture Conference Europe 2011 8-10 June 2011, London


www.irmuk.co.uk/eac2011/


Future of the Data Centre 2011 16 June 2011, London www.information-age.com/events/


Cloud Computing World Forum 21-22 June 2011, London


www.cloudwf.com


IT Decisions 2011 28 June 2011, London www.itdshow.com


Business Analysis Conference Europe 2011 26-28 September, London


www.irmuk.co.uk/ba2011 The Future of the


Data Centre Information Age’s long-running and respected data centre management conference returns on Thursday 16th June 2011 in London. Attendees will hear the latest thinking on how businesses and government organisations can make the most of their data centre resources, and how technology is reshaping the “engine room of the business”.


Topics under discussion will include: • Joining the cloud – is a hybrid of public and private cloud systems the best option?


• What does ‘lights off’ mean for the business?


explained that it would allow


memory


chips that do not require an energy- intensive


boot-up to get going. “This opens up a


whole new door in thinking about


how chips could be designed and operated,” he said at the time. Now, in a paper published in


the International Journal of Medical Engineering and Informatics, a group of Indian scientists claim to have constructed a memristor out of human blood. They also demonstrated that a device with blood running through it could exploit these qualities. The paper’s publisher speculated that the discovery “bodes well” for the possibility of interfaces between computers and biological systems.


OFF TO A BAD START A new initiative to encourage entrepreneurs and small businesses was launched in March 2011, entitled StartUp Britain. Describing itself as “a response from the private sector to the government’s call for an ‘enterprise-led’ recovery”, StartUp Britain is an online source of useful information and market place for services that can help budding business people get their ideas off the ground. “We believe that many of the important functions and services necessary to foster and champion new enterprise can be open-sourced, instead of provided by government directly,” StartUp Britain’s mission statement asserts. “We aim to do this by creating a living marketplace online for the wide range of enterprise support that is already available.”


Commendable intentions they may be, but the site’s launch did


not go off altogether smoothly. First of all, it met vocal opposition from UK graphic designers for suggesting that businesses get themselves a logo by visiting a US-based crowdsourcing website, rather than encouraging them to patronise one of the UK’s many design agencies. It later amended that suggestion. Secondly, the site was found to contain a link to a ‘scareware’ website, which tricks users into downloading malware by telling them it has detected a virus on their computer. That was soon remedied as well, but not before the Daily Mail newspaper had reported that the incident “is likely to embarrass the government as the site features [David] Cameron’s face prominently.” None of this really hampers the site’s ability to support budding entrepreneurs in future, of course, but on the web, as in business, it certainly pays to get off to a good start.


UPCOMING EVENTS FROM INFORMATION AGE


• Location, location, location – where in the world is the best place for a data centre?


• Benchmarking energy efficiency – how does your data centre compare?


Who should attend? IT executives, data centre managers, facility managers with responsibility for the data centre


When and where does it take place? The event will take place on 16 June 2011 in a central London venue


How much does it cost? The event is FREE to attend for qualifying delegates


If you are interested in attending, please contact events manager Jenna Parker on 020 7250 7043 or email jenna.parker@vitessemedia.co.uk


14 INFORMATIONAGE APRIL2011


www.information-age.com


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