Researchers identify ways to exploit 'cloud browsers' for large-scale, anonymous computing

Nov. 28, 2012 — Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of Oregon have found a way to exploit cloud-based Web browsers, using them to perform large-scale computing tasks anonymously. The finding has potential ramifications for the security of "cloud browser" services.

At issue are cloud browsers, which create a Web interface in the cloud so that computing is done there rather than on a user's machine. This is particularly useful for mobile devices, such as smartphones, which have limited computing power.The cloud-computing paradigm pools the computational power and storage of multiple computers, allowing shared resources for multiple users.

"Think of a cloud browser as being just like the browser on your desktop computer, but working entirely in the cloud and providing only the resulting image to your screen," says Dr. William Enck, an assistant professor of computer science at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the research.

Because these cloud browsers are designed to perform complex functions, the researchers wanted to see if they could be used to perform a series of large-scale computations that had nothing to do with browsing. Specifically, the researchers wanted to determine if they could perform those functions using the "MapReduce" technique developed by Google, which facilitates coordinated computation involving parallel efforts by multiple machines.

The research team knew that coordinating any new series of computations would entail passing large packets of data between different nodes, or cloud browsers. To address this challenge, researchers stored data packets on bit.ly and other URL-shortening sites, and then passed the resulting "links" between various nodes.

Using this technique, the researchers were able to perform standard computation functions using data packets that were 1, 10 and 100 megabytes in size. "It could have been much larger," Enck says, "but we did not want to be an undue burden on any of the free services we were using."

"We've shown that this can be done," Enck adds. "And one of the broader ramifications of this is that it could be done anonymously. For instance, a third party could easily abuse these systems, taking the free computational power and using it to crack passwords."

However, Enck says cloud browsers can protect themselves to some extent by requiring users to create accounts -- and then putting limits on how those accounts are used. This would make it easier to detect potential problems.

The paper, "Abusing Cloud-Based Browsers for Fun and Profit," will be presented Dec. 6 at the 2012 Annual Computer Security Applications Conference in Orlando, Fla. The paper was co-authored by Vasant Tendulkar and Ashwin Shashidharan, graduate students at NC State, and Joe Pletcher, Ryan Snyder and Dr. Kevin Butler, of the University of Oregon. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Army Research Office.

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Eating or spending too much? Blame it on social networking sites

Dec. 11, 2012 — Participating in online social networks can have a detrimental effect on consumer well-being by lowering self-control among certain users, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

"Using online social networks can have a positive effect on self-esteem and well-being. However, these increased feelings of self-worth can have a detrimental effect on behavior. Because consumers care about the image they present to close friends, social network use enhances self-esteem in users who are focused on close friends while browsing their social network. This momentary increase in self-esteem leads them to display less self-control after browsing a social network," write authors Keith Wilcox (Columbia University) and Andrew T. Stephen (University of Pittsburgh).

Online social networks are having a fundamental impact on society. Facebook, the largest, has over one billion active users. Does using a social network impact the choices consumers make in their daily lives? If so, what effect does it have on consumer well-being?

A series of interesting studies showed that Facebook usage lowers self-control for consumers who focus on close friends while browsing their social network. Specifically, consumers focused on close friends are more likely to choose an unhealthy snack after browsing Facebook due to enhanced self-esteem. Greater Facebook use was associated with a higher body-mass index, increased binge eating, a lower credit score, and higher levels of credit card debt for consumers with many close friends in their social network.

"These results are concerning given the increased time people spend using social networks, as well as the worldwide proliferation of access to social networks anywhere anytime via smartphones and other gadgets. Given that self-control is important for maintaining social order and personal well-being, this subtle effect could have widespread impact. This is particularly true for adolescents and young adults who are the heaviest users of social networks and have grown up using social networks as a normal part of their daily lives," the authors conclude.

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Keith Wilcox, Andrew T. Stephen. Are Close Friends the Enemy? Online Social Networks, Self-Esteem, and Self-Control. Journal of Consumer Research, 2012; : 000 DOI: 10.1086/668794

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Leap forward in brain-controlled computer cursors: New algorithm greatly improves speed and accuracy

Nov. 18, 2012 — Stanford researchers have designed the fastest, most accurate algorithm yet for brain-implantable prosthetic systems that can help disabled people maneuver computer cursors with their thoughts. The algorithm's speed, accuracy and natural movement approach those of a real arm, doubling performance of existing algorithms.

When a paralyzed person imagines moving a limb, cells in the part of the brain that controls movement still activate as if trying to make the immobile limb work again. Despite neurological injury or disease that has severed the pathway between brain and muscle, the region where the signals originate remains intact and functional.

In recent years, neuroscientists and neuroengineers working in prosthetics have begun to develop brain-implantable sensors that can measure signals from individual neurons, and after passing those signals through a mathematical decode algorithm, can use them to control computer cursors with thoughts. The work is part of a field known as neural prosthetics.

A team of Stanford researchers have now developed an algorithm, known as ReFIT, that vastly improves the speed and accuracy of neural prosthetics that control computer cursors. The results are to be published Nov. 18 in the journal Nature Neuroscience in a paper by Krishna Shenoy, a professor of electrical engineering, bioengineering and neurobiology at Stanford, and a team led by research associate Dr. Vikash Gilja and bioengineering doctoral candidate Paul Nuyujukian.

In side-by-side demonstrations with rhesus monkeys, cursors controlled by the ReFIT algorithm doubled the performance of existing systems and approached performance of the real arm. Better yet, more than four years after implantation, the new system is still going strong, while previous systems have seen a steady decline in performance over time.

"These findings could lead to greatly improved prosthetic system performance and robustness in paralyzed people, which we are actively pursuing as part of the FDA Phase-I BrainGate2 clinical trial here at Stanford," said Shenoy.

Sensing mental movement in real time

The system relies on a silicon chip implanted into the brain, which records "action potentials" in neural activity from an array of electrode sensors and sends data to a computer. The frequency with which action potentials are generated provides the computer key information about the direction and speed of the user's intended movement.

The ReFIT algorithm that decodes these signals represents a departure from earlier models. In most neural prosthetics research, scientists have recorded brain activity while the subject moves or imagines moving an arm, analyzing the data after the fact. "Quite a bit of the work in neural prosthetics has focused on this sort of offline reconstruction," said Gilja, the first author of the paper.

The Stanford team wanted to understand how the system worked "online," under closed-loop control conditions in which the computer analyzes and implements visual feedback gathered in real time as the monkey neurally controls the cursor to toward an onscreen target.

The system is able to make adjustments on the fly when while guiding the cursor to a target, just as a hand and eye would work in tandem to move a mouse-cursor onto an icon on a computer desktop. If the cursor were straying too far to the left, for instance, the user likely adjusts their imagined movements to redirect the cursor to the right. The team designed the system to learn from the user's corrective movements, allowing the cursor to move more precisely than it could in earlier prosthetics.

To test the new system, the team gave monkeys the task of mentally directing a cursor to a target -- an onscreen dot -- and holding the cursor there for half a second. ReFIT performed vastly better than previous technology in terms of both speed and accuracy. The path of the cursor from the starting point to the target was straighter and it reached the target twice as quickly as earlier systems, achieving 75 to 85 percent of the speed of real arms.

"This paper reports very exciting innovations in closed-loop decoding for brain-machine interfaces. These innovations should lead to a significant boost in the control of neuroprosthetic devices and increase the clinical viability of this technology," said Jose Carmena, associate professor of electrical engineering and neuroscience at the University of California Berkeley.

A smarter algorithm

Critical to ReFIT's time-to-target improvement was its superior ability to stop the cursor. While the old model's cursor reached the target almost as fast as ReFIT, it often overshot the destination, requiring additional time and multiple passes to hold the target.

The key to this efficiency was in the step-by-step calculation that transforms electrical signals from the brain into movements of the cursor onscreen. The team had a unique way of "training" the algorithm about movement. When the monkey used his real arm to move the cursor, the computer used signals from the implant to match the arm movements with neural activity. Next, the monkey simply thought about moving the cursor, and the computer translated that neural activity into onscreen movement of the cursor. The team then used the monkey's brain activity to refine their algorithm, increasing its accuracy.

The team introduced a second innovation in the way ReFIT encodes information about the position and velocity of the cursor. Gilja said that previous algorithms could interpret neural signals about either the cursor's position or its velocity, but not both at once. ReFIT can do both, resulting in faster, cleaner movements of the cursor

An engineering eye

Early research in neural prosthetics had the goal of understanding the brain and its systems more thoroughly, Gilja said, but he and his team wanted to build on this approach by taking a more pragmatic engineering perspective. "The core engineering goal is to achieve highest possible performance and robustness for a potential clinical device, " he said.

To create such a responsive system, the team decided to abandon one of the traditional methods in neural prosthetics. Much of the existing research in this field has focused on differentiating among individual neurons in the brain. Importantly, such a detailed approach has allowed neuroscientists to create a detailed understanding of the individual neurons that control arm movement.

The individual neuron approach has its drawbacks, Gilja said. "From an engineering perspective, the process of isolating single neurons is difficult, due to minute physical movements between the electrode and nearby neurons, making it error-prone," he said. ReFIT focuses on small groups of neurons instead of single neurons.

By abandoning the single-neuron approach, the team also reaped a surprising benefit: performance longevity. Neural implant systems that are fine-tuned to specific neurons degrade over time. It is a common belief in the field that after six months to a year, they can no longer accurately interpret the brain's intended movement. Gilja said the Stanford system is working very well more than four years later.

"Despite great progress in brain-computer interfaces to control the movement of devices such as prosthetic limbs, we've been left so far with halting, jerky, Etch-a-Sketch-like movements. Dr. Shenoy's study is a big step toward clinically useful brain-machine technology that have faster, smoother, more natural movements," said James Gnadt, PhD, a program director in Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health.

For the time being, the team has been focused on improving cursor movement rather than the creation of robotic limbs, but that is not out of the question, Gilja said. Near term, precise, accurate control of a cursor is a simplified task with enormous value for paralyzed people.

"We think we have a good chance of giving them something very useful," he said. The team is now translating these innovations to paralyzed people as part of a clinical trial.

This research was funded by the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Foundation; NSF, NDSEG, and SGF Graduate Fellowships; DARPA ("Revolutionizing Prosthetics" and "REPAIR"); and NIH (NINDS-CRCNS and Director's Pioneer Award).

Other contributing researchers include Cynthia Chestek, John Cunningham, and Byron Yu, Joline Fan, Mark Churchland, Matthew Kaufman, Jonathan Kao, and Stephen Ryu.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Stanford School of Engineering. The original article was written by Kelly Servick, science-writing intern.

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Vikash Gilja, Paul Nuyujukian, Cindy A Chestek, John P Cunningham, Byron M Yu, Joline M Fan, Mark M Churchland, Matthew T Kaufman, Jonathan C Kao, Stephen I Ryu, Krishna V Shenoy. A high-performance neural prosthesis enabled by control algorithm design. Nature Neuroscience, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nn.3265

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Computational neuroscience: Memory-making is all about the connection

Nov. 8, 2012 — A model that shows how connections in the brain must change to form memories could help to develop artificial cognitive computers

Exactly how memories are stored and accessed in the brain is unclear. Neuroscientists, however, do know that a primitive structure buried in the center of the brain, called the hippocampus, is a pivotal region of memory formation. Here, changes in the strengths of connections between neurons, which are called synapses, are the basis for memory formation. Networks of neurons linking up in the hippocampus are likely to encode specific memories.

Since direct tests cannot be performed in the brain, experimental evidence for this process of memory formation is difficult to obtain but mathematical and computational models can provide insight. To this end, Eng Yeow Cheu and co-workers at the A*STAR Institute for Infocomm Research, Singapore, have developed a model that sheds light on the exact synaptic conditions required in memory formation.

Their work builds on a previously proposed model of auto-associative memory, a process whereby a memory is retrieved or completed after partial activation of its constituent neural network. The earlier model proposed that neural networks encoding short-term memories are activated at specific points during oscillations of brain activity. Changes in the strengths of synapses, and therefore the abilities of neurons in the network to activate each other, lead to an auto-associative long-term memory.

Cheu and his team then adapted a mathematical model that describes the activity of a single neuron to incorporate specific characteristics of cells in the hippocampus, including their inhibitory activity. This allowed them to model neural networks in the hippocampus that encode short-term memories. They showed that for successful formation of auto-associative memories, the strength of synapses needs to be within a certain range: if synapses become too strong, the associated neurons are activated at the wrong time and networks become muddled, destroying the memories. If they are not strong enough, however, activation of some neurons in the network is not enough to activate the rest, and memory retrieval fails.

As well as providing insight into how memories may be stored and retrieved in the brain, Cheu thinks this work also has practical applications. "This study has significant implications in the construction of artificial cognitive computers in the future," he says. "It helps with developing artificial cognitive memory, in which memory sequences can be retrieved by the presentation of a partial query." According to Cheu, one can compare it to a single image being used to retrieve a sequence of images from a video clip.

The A*STAR-affiliated researchers contributing to this research are from the Institute for Infocomm Research.

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Eng Yeow Cheu, Jiali Yu, Chin Hiong Tan, Huajin Tang. Synaptic conditions for auto-associative memory storage and pattern completion in Jensen et al.’s model of hippocampal area CA3. Journal of Computational Neuroscience, 2012; 33 (3): 435 DOI: 10.1007/s10827-012-0394-8

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On-demand synaptic electronics: Circuits that learn and forget

Dec. 20, 2012 — Researchers in Japan and the US propose a nanoionic device with a range of neuromorphic and electrical multifunctions that may allow the fabrication of on-demand configurable circuits, analog memories and digital-neural fused networks in one device architecture.

Synaptic devices that mimic the learning and memory processes in living organisms are attracting avid interest as an alternative to standard computing elements that may help extend Moore's law beyond current physical limits.

However so far artificial synaptic systems have been hampered by complex fabrication requirements and limitations in the learning and memory functions they mimic. Now Rui Yang, Kazuya Terabe and colleagues at the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan and the University of California, Los Angeles, in the US have developed two-, three-terminal WO3-x-based nanoionic devices capable of a broad range of neuromorphic and electrical functions.

In its initial pristine condition the system has very high resistance values. Sweeping both negative and positive voltages across the system decreases this resistance nonlinearly, but it soon returns to its original state indicating a volatile state. Applying either positive or negative pulses at the top electrode introduces a soft-breakdown, after which sweeping both negative and positive voltages leads to non-volatile states that exhibit bipolar resistance and rectification for longer periods of time.

The researchers draw similarities between the device properties -- volatile and non-volatile states and the current fading process following positive voltage pulses -- with models for neural behaviour -- that is, short- and long-term memory and forgetting processes. They explain the behaviour as the result of oxygen ions migrating within the device in response to the voltage sweeps. Accumulation of the oxygen ions at the electrode leads to Schottky-like potential barriers and the resulting changes in resistance and rectifying characteristics. The stable bipolar switching behaviour at the Pt/WO3-x interface is attributed to the formation of the electric conductive filament and oxygen absorbability of the Pt electrode.

As the researchers conclude, "These capabilities open a new avenue for circuits, analog memories, and artificially fused digital neural networks using on-demand programming by input pulse polarity, magnitude, and repetition history."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), via ResearchSEA.

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Rui Yang, Kazuya Terabe, Guangqiang Liu, Tohru Tsuruoka, Tsuyoshi Hasegawa, James K. Gimzewski, Masakazu Aono. On-Demand Nanodevice with Electrical and Neuromorphic Multifunction Realized by Local Ion Migration. ACS Nano, 2012; 6 (11): 9515 DOI: 10.1021/nn302510e

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IT building blocks for the ordinary person

Nov. 21, 2012 — Would you like to create your own tourist guide? Or put together telecom services that give you better control of the everyday functions on your phone?

We seem to be drowning in 'intelligent things' and IT services. In our smart home, we can use various applications to control the front door, TV, washing machine, vacuum, heating and blinds. Other apps enable us to find out what time the bus is leaving, or book a table at a restaurant. On the medical side, there are sensors that can monitor your heart rate, intelligent pill boxes that remember when you should take your medicine, and applications to notify relatives if an elderly person doesn't get out of bed at their normal time.

But what if you go on holiday, and want to be able to water the plants in your garden, or turn the heating on or off in a certain room when the weather changes? Do you want to keep checking on yr.no in your hotel room, or use various different apps to control your house remotely? Wouldn't it be better if you could programme your house before you set off, and then enjoy your holiday without worrying?

Overwhelmed?

'We're now seeing many intelligent devices affecting our lives, and we are expecting to see more,' says Jacqueline Floch at SINTEF ICT. 'The question is whether people out there will be able to function independently. Some will manage to acquire the right technology skills and tailor IT services to their own needs, while others will feel overwhelmed by the huge choice'.

The researchers' idea is therefore to create a tool composed of different building blocks, so that people can select, combine and put together the services they need. 'Since most people aren't qualified programmers or software developers, we have to provide them with a new user interface and a tool that they can understand,' says Floch. Working with companies

For the last four years, the ICT researchers -- supported by the Research Council of Norway and the VERDIKT programme -- have been working with the three companies Tellu, Gintel and Wireless Trondheim on various aspects of the project. The result is the 'UbiSys' framework. Tellu currently develops software systems for the mobile market, while Gintel creates software for telecom operators and service providers, and Wireless Trondheim offers a network on which new IT services can be operated experimentally.

Easier tracking

The researchers have used the services offered by these companies as their starting point. For example, Tellu in Oslo markets the SmartTrack service platform. This allows different tracking services to connect and work together to monitor mobile units, whether these are devices or people.

It is possible to track these units, irrespective of their situation and condition, such as their location, movement or battery level. For example, users in the transport industry can track containers, while a smelting plant can keep track of its tools.

'The SmartTrack interface supports the definition of rules such as "if a person has a fall, notify a relative" or "if a tool is not indoors by 20:00, send an alarm to the duty officer." This interface is complex, and requires programming expertise. We have simplified this, allowing Tellus's customers to create their own rules,' says Floch. By combining SmartTrack with 'UbiSys', she thinks that 'the man in the street' will be able to use the service.

Telecom services

Gintel develops systems that enable telecom operators and service providers to tailor services to their corporate customers. These services might be managing incoming calls or conference services. Gintel currently offers its operators the 'Easy Designer' framework which allows users to modify existing services and quickly create new solutions. No software development expertise is needed to use Easy Designer, but users need to be expert in the communication and training domains.

In response to requests from its clients, Gintel is now moving towards the end users of telecom services, i.e. telephone users. The company has therefore started using 'UbiSys', enabling end users to put together telephone services themselves. The result is 'EasyDroid'.

'What we have done,' says Jacqueline Floch, 'is give people a way of controlling the everyday functions on their phones. You can link incoming calls to your calendar and location. If you're in a meeting or at a concert, you can set the phone so that it automatically diverts calls. You can also choose to receive calls from 'important' people, send a text when the meeting is over, or forward the call to someone else. There are many options. The point is that you are in control and can put things together in any way you like.'

City Explorer

In order to demonstrate to a broader audience how they envisage these tools made of different building blocks, the SINTEF researchers have developed the City Explorer application. This is an Android app that enables users to create their own city guide.

The app lets people create or edit places and itineraries in a city, and the new prototype includes three examples for Trondheim: one for tourists, one for people interested in architecture, and one for visitors interested in sculptures.

'Again, the important thing is that people can put things together just as they want,' says Jacqueline Floch. 'We are interested in adding to existing functions, so that the user can create their own "menu list."

For example, you can set your phone to go to silent mode in specific locations. Or you can get your phone to automatically obtain the bus timetable for the next stop on a given itinerary, and remind you when you are due to be arriving at that stop. Some people prefer to do this manually, while others are easily distracted and forget to do it. People are different, and that's why we want to give them the option of controlling everyday things themselves.'

The research group now needs funding for further work, which will focus on the elderly and AAL -- Ambient Assisted Living, or welfare technology.

Fact box: UbiSys -- framework for end user service development. UbiSys is made up of three tools: UbiCompPro -- a tool for professionals, which they use to develop 'building blocks'. UbiComposer -- an editor for end users, which they use to put together building blocks. UbiCompRun -- middleware (runtime platform), used to execute services put together by users.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by SINTEF. The original article was written by Åse Dragland.

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Information and communication technologies allow electrical consumption to be reduced by one third

Nov. 12, 2012 — Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) may allow a thirty percent reduction in electrical consumption in cities. This is what is demonstrated by a European research project that Universidad Carlos III of Madrid (UC3M) has participated in. The results were presented after analysis showed how to optimize the use of residential consumption and generation infrastructures.

The scientists and technologists who are participating in the ENERsip project have formed a consortium of ten partners from five European countries led by the Spanish company Tecnalia; they have designed, developed, and validated an ICT platform that allows residential electrical consumption to be reduced by 30 percent, while also integrating micro-generating installations using renewable energy, such as photovoltaic solar panels installed on the roofs of homes.

The key to obtaining these results lies in two strategies: reducing the consumption of electricity in homes (around 15 to 20 percent) and adjusting the consumption and generation of electricity in districts (approximately 15 to 20 percent). First, the system "gives the users information regarding their consumption, allowing them to identify the appliances that use the most energy; it then suggests possible solutions, attempting to modify certain behaviors and fomenting good practices that allow consumers to reduce their electricity bill," explains Professor José Ignacio Moreno, of the UC3M's Department of Telematic Engineering. In this way, the ENERsip platform allows appliances to be monitored by networks of sensors and actuators so that they can be controlled wirelessly by using web applications.

In addition, the system they have designed carries out automatic actions that allow the consumption in homes within a district to be adjusted as much as possible so that they use renewable energy generated by sources from within the same district, thus reducing energy flows and, consequently, energy losses and costs. "This type of action falls within what is know as electricity demand management," indicates another of the UC3M researchers, Gregorio López. For example, he comments, the temperature could be raised by a few degrees in the summer (or lowered in winter) in hundreds of thousands of homes during the periods of lowest production of renewable energy in a district, or the programmed running of certain appliances (dishwashers, washing machines) can be moved to a time period when renewable energy production its at its peak. "Of course," López points out, "those households would have agreed in advance to participate in this type of program in exchange for certain incentives, and pre-established levels of comfort would never be compromised."

Intelligent and efficient electrical grids

The conclusion of this project, which falls within what is known as Smart Grid framework, is that, thanks to the automatic actions that using ICTs permits, savings in electrical consumption of up to 30 percent can be achieved. To obtain these results, the researchers tested the system in various computer simulations; they validated the platform in a pilot project carried out in three buildings located in different geographic points of Israel. Moreover, these figures are in the same range of those which appear in reports on other projects, such as SMART 2020, for example, which estimates that the application of ICTs to improve energy efficiency could result in a savings of approximately 600 billion Euros globally in the year 2020.

A few basic ICT installations would be sufficient to make the ENERsip platform work. Specifically, the platform would require networks with sensors and actuators for the consumption and micro-generation infrastructures, an Internet connection and a web application that would allow access from any device connected to the Web (although the ENERsip project itself also uses a dedicated core communications infrastructure that offers certain advantages). "It could be implemented from any home equipped with the typical consumer infrastructure or consumer and micro-generation infrastructure," José Ignacio Moreno states. The team he heads at UC3M has been in charge of the formal design and modeling of the communications architecture of the ENERsip platform, as well as the software simulations to evaluate the performance of that architecture. In addition, he has participated in the design and definition of the platform's integration and validation phases and scenarios; he has reported on the progress of the research through technical articles presented at key communication conferences, such as INFOCOM 2011 and ICC 2012.

The ENERsip consortium, which is formed by ten partners from five European countries, is led by the Spanish company Tecnalia and includes the participation of various leading companies in the field, such as Amplia Soluciones (Spain), Honeywell (Czech Republic), IEC (Israel Electric Corporation, Israel), ISA (Intelligent Sensing Anywhere, Portugal), ISASTUR (Ingeniería y Suministros de Asturias S.A., Spain), MSIL (Motorola Solutions Israel Ltd, Israel), as well as research centers such the ISR-UC (Institute of Systems and Robotics-University of Coimbra, Portugal), UC3M (Universidad Carlos III of Madrid, Spain) and VITO (Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek, Belgium).

Project Web: www.enersip-project.eu

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