Technology Briefs - Sept. 10 - Sept. 16
The Latest Headlines:
- Cyberattack Defense Plan Expected
- N.J. Gov. Wants to Ban Handheld Cell Phones While Driving
- UPS' SonicAir Offers Tracking Options
- E-911 Still Experiencing Trouble, Report Says
- Asphalt Industry Debuts ‘Perpetual Pavement’
- Postal Security Moves Could Take Years, Billions of Dollars
- Velant Secures Additional Capital Funding
- N.J. Gov. Wants to Ban Handheld Cell Phones While Driving
Cyberattack Defense Plan Expected
The Bush administration is expected to unveil recommendations later this week to protect the nation from cyberattacks, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.Trucking companies spend millions of dollars trying to protect their computer networks from viruses and hackers.
The Journal said the plan will likely urge industrywide programs for the sharing of security information and for home-computer users and small businesses to install firewalls,
N.J. Gov. Wants to Ban Handheld Cell Phones While Driving
New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey is pushing for a law that would outlaw the use of handheld cell phones while driving, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.Truck drivers rely on cell phones to communicate while on the road. Although some cities have their own rules regarding cell phones, New York is the only state that has passed a law banning handheld phones while driving.
The only exception under McGreevey's prospoal would be during emergencies, the story said. The New Jersey Assembly has already passed a bill prohibiting cell phone use by school bus drivers. Transport Topics
UPS' SonicAir Offers Tracking Options
United Parcel Service said Monday its same-day shipping service, UPS SonicAir, can now provide customers with updated shipping information via wireless devices, pager, phone, fax and e-mail.onicAir can also notify customers of proof of delivery and allow them to maintain contact with the shipment from pickup to delivery.
UPS is ranked No. 1 on the 2002 Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies. Transport Topics
E-911 Still Experiencing Trouble, Report Says
A report by washingtonpost.com Friday said that emergency operators can only locate callers using wireless carriers about 50% of the time.The report said that in the year since the Sept. 11 attacks demonstrated the value of wireless communications in a crisis situation, the government's mandate that all wireless carriers provide a system to locate a 911 caller is still bogged down by technological, financial and bureaucratic troubles.
Truckers have become more and more reliant on wireless phones for all sorts of communications.
The E-911 plan has been on the table for six years, but problems implementing the plan have caused some carriers to petition the Federal Communications Commission for extensions, the story said. Transport Topics
Asphalt Industry Debuts ‘Perpetual Pavement’
Representatives of the asphalt industry demonstrated a new product they hope will help ease highway congestion by reducing construction time, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.The new “perpetual pavement” is a hot asphalt mix that is being tested as a longer-lasting alternative to conventional two-layer asphalt, AP said.
The new asphalt mix adds a third 4-inch bottom layer, heavy with petroleum and tightly compacted in order to better resist wear and tear from cars and trucks. The extra layer also means that only occasional resurfacing would be needed as opposed to reconstruction of roads from the ground up, AP reported.
The trade group, Flexible Pavements, showed off the new pavement on a two-mile stretch of Interstate 77 between Akron and Canton, Ohio, AP said. Transport Topics
Postal Security Moves Could Take Years, Billions of Dollars
Hardening the U.S. Postal System against malicious mailings could take years and billions of dollars, a report in the New York Times Tuesday said.Officials are looking at ways to secure mail at every step of the process to ensure that the 200,000 billion pieces of mail each year remain contaminant- and terrorist-free.
One of the ideas being proposed is an intelligent stamp - one that is coded with a unique bar code that would allow authorities to track a letter back to its mailer. Also, the service is working with bulk mailers to pre-screen their mail, which would allow them to focus on monitoring and possibly decontaminating the 20% of mail that is not sent by bulk mailers, the Times said.
The number of mailboxes may be pared back and the ones that are left in service will likely start being monitored by video camera, the Times said.
The service is also putting technology to work in the detection of pathogens and other possible terrorist threats, the Times said. Different scanning machines, including ones that read biological material, are being tested at mail hubs around the country. Transport Topics
Velant Secures Additional Capital Funding
Velant Inc. said Monday it has closed a $10 million second round of venture capital funding, bringing the total investment in the company to $17 million.The Atlanta-based company, which offers fleet and shipment planning services to companies utilizing trucks in their supply chain operations, said funding was led by the venture capital firms 3i and Matrix Partners.
Velant seeks to provide dramatic cost savings and efficiency improvements to companies that operate their own private or commercial truck fleets and to shippers that utilize commercial carriers to transport their freight.
"We are proud of the progress Velant is making, and we are fortunate to have two world-class investors supporting our growth," said Dr. Don Ratliff, Velant's president and chief executive officer. Transport Topics
( for the full press release.)