Microsoft: Let us be your one stop for big data analytics

If there was any question that Microsoft wants to be everyone's data analytics shop, the company erased those doubts with its Monday presentation. In fact, Microsoft laid out plans for how the next iteration of many of its products -- SQL Server, Microsoft Azure, and its Hadoop-powered analytics components both inside and outside of Microsoft Azure -- are being designed as a single data platform.

Certainly, this was Microsoft's aim even before Satya Nadella replaced Steve Ballmer. Microsoft was linking SQL Server and Hadoop back in 2011, added connectivity for SQL Server with the Azure-hosted version of Hadoop in 2012, and expanded the ingestion, storage, and processing capacity of Azure along the way. But with Monday's presentation, Microsoft clarified how it all ties together.

The first and most obvious ingredient is SQL Server 2014, with new features like Azure connectivity and in-memory processing. The good stuff isn't mere hype; InfoWorld's Test Center looked at SQL Server 2014 and came away impressed by its performance gains, high-availability functionality, and backup-to-Azure options. But having SQL Server as the sole cornerstone for a big data or data analytics operation is a little like having a cargo plane as your only form of air travel, instead of a 767 for passengers or a twin-engine prop for quick getaways.

Small wonder, then, that SQL Server is getting complementary technology in the form of the Analytics Platform System (APS). It's close to the query-everything approach now used by Microsoft's Hadoop partner Hortonworks and by EMC/VMware Hadoop spin-off Pivotal. Each company boasts of the ability to tap into multiple data sources, including Hadoop.

APS, Microsoft's successor to its Parallel Data Warehouse product, does the same in reverse, pulling data in from Hadoop and more conventional sources. The details of how this works remain skimpy, but it's presented as an appliance (Microsoft calls it "big data in a box"). The company also hinted that APS can be used to take existing data confined within an organization, export it to Azure, process it there, and work with the results in tools like Excel.

Also in the mix is the ostentatiously named Microsoft Azure Intelligent Systems Service (ISS), "a cloud-based service to connect, manage, capture, and transform machine-generated data regardless of the operating system or platform." ISS runs on Azure -- a sure sign of where the ingested data is meant to be stored, analyzed, and processed. Again, Pivotal comes to mind as one of its boasting points was how data can be processed where it's already stored.

This last offering bears more than a passing resemblance to Amazon's Kinesis service, although Amazon's approach to data analytics is far more of a DIY kit, where the user is provided with various pieces (data ingestion, data storage, data analytics) that have to be cobbled together by hand. Microsoft envisions a situation where most of that heavy lifting has already been done, if only by dint of having all the products bear Microsoft's logo and sport a degree of native interconnectivity, and where existing Microsoft tools (the Hadoop-powered HDInsight and Power BI for Office 365, to name two examples) are used.

The cutesy formula Microsoft used to describe the different parts of its platform was "[data + analytics + people] @ speed." The "people" side of the equation once again includes the likes of connectivity to data through Microsoft Excel -- a smart way to keep part of the desktop edition of Microsoft Office relevant to business users. That's also a good metaphor for Microsoft's approach to the issue of big data: by having something to offer everyone somewhere in its stack -- and maybe being able to offer everything to someone.

Moving for new Windows

Leaked screenshots of the next set of features for Windows 8 were posted to the pirate site Wzor.net this past week, confirming that the next release (called by some a Feature Pack, not a Service Pack) will debut on April 7 or 8. The final name isn't available yet, but people are calling it Windows 8.2, Windows 8.1 Update 1 (which sounds odd), or Spring Update. My own name for it is NW9 (for "Not Windows 9"), but for this post, let's call it Windows 8.2.

This update is meant to address a variety of complaints by adding a few more Band-Aids for Windows 8's lack of mouse and keyboard support for nontouch PCs. Metro apps (aka Modern or Windows Store apps) will be available through the Windows Desktop's taskbar, and there will be standard Windows-style title bar options for splitting (aka snapping), minimizing, and closing Metro apps. (That's great because I'm pretty tired of having to grab an app in the middle at the top and pull downward to make it go bye-bye.)

[ Windows 8 left you blue? Then check out Windows Red, InfoWorld's plan to fix Microsoft's contested OS. | Stay atop key Microsoft technologies in our Technology: Microsoft newsletter. ]

Nontouch devices will have the Power options (shutdown, restart, and suspend) available from the Start screen. SkyDrive is renamed OneDrive to satisfy Microsoft's lawyers, who got beat up by British broadcaster SkyB over trademark-infringement claims. Internet Explorer 11 has an enterprise mode for Windows 7 business users whose apps are locked in to IE8.

As you can see, nothing monumental is happening here. That's led to more criticism against the often-criticized Windows 8. Microsoft's poor OS can't catch a break from its critics.

I'm not jumping on the critics' bandwagon. Yes, I know I've been beating up on Windows 8 since its very first public preview release, when I called it "Windows Frankenstein." I've even stated that I would prefer to skip Windows 8.2 and go directly to Windows 9 if at all possible.

But let's be reasonable for a moment. Windows 8 (and now 8.1) is out. Like many of you, I'm using it on all my systems, as well as supporting it on family members', friends', and clients' PCs. Even if Microsoft makes a few changes with each update, that's better than nothing. It's better than waiting a year for something entirely new, with no guarantee I'll like. I hope it doesn't work out that way, but we might hate Windows 9 even more than Windows 8! Although I have good reason to believe differently (otherwise, I'd be brushing up on my Linux right now), I'm glad to see some complaints addressed with Windows 8.2.

There is a time to complain and a time to hold off. Monumental changes are going on at Microsoft at the moment: A new CEO, Satya Nadella; major executive swaps and shifts in other departments; and a new vision. I believe it's best to ride out the next year hoping for a better one, and to take what we can get in terms of improvements on an OS that has already been vilified worse than Vista (though I didn't think the villification was entirely deserved in Vista's case, I do with Windows 8).

Google to Offer Glass to All U.S. Residents for a Limited Tim

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—Google is about to expand the availability of Google Glass, its proprietary Internet-connected eyewear. 

In an announcement on the Google+ website yesterday, the company said that on Tuesday, April 15 at 9:00 am EDT, it will allow any adult U.S. resident to join its Glass Explorer program. So far, the company has limited enrollment in the program to a select number of applicants. Those wishing to become Explorers must pay $1,500 plus tax for Glass, the same price Google has previously been charging for the device. 

Google noted that the number of spots in the Explorer program is limited, but did not specify how many spots are available or how long it will continue to accept new applicants to the program. 

Google made a special presentation about Glass at Vision Monday’s Global Leadership Summit on March 26, and Summit attendees had an opportunity to try the device.

Jet pilots go ‘missing’, give Germans MH 370 scare

NEW DELHI: The act of two pilots of Jet Airways keeping their headphones away from them caused panic at German airports on March 13 as the air traffic control could not get in touch with them for a full 30 minutes. Since this snapping of contact with an aircraft came on March 13 -- five days after Malaysia Airlines MH 370 incident, — the German authorities got alarmed about the missing plane and heaved a sigh of relief only after the aircraft got in touch with them.

This scare happened when Jet's 9W-117, operated on a Boeing 777-300 extended range aircraft, was flying from London to Mumbai. While over German airspace, the two pilots of this aircraft removed their headsets but forgot to increase its volume so that they could hear any sound from it from a distance and respond to it. This led to a break in communication for almost 30 minutes.

The German ATC then got in touch with Jet Airways, which sent an SMS to the aircraft cockpit through aircraft communications addressing and reporting system (ACARS). This is a digital datalink system for transmission of short messages between aircraft and ground stations via airband radio or satellite.

After getting this message, the pilots realized their mistake and responded to the german ATC, while apologizing to them for the lapse.

But given the scare and the long duration, the German air traffic control DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH complained to the Indian directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA). The regulator conducted an inquiry in which the pilots were quizzed and they admitted removing their headsets. The pilots were grounded for two weeks.

Jet Airways also launched its own probe into this lapse and has sent a report to the German authorities.

Simultaneously, Jet Airways' Permanent Inquiry Board also inquired into the incident. Agency reports quoted a Jet statement saying: "Based on the investigation report, Jet Airways has ensured strict disciplinary action towards the concerned pilots. The report has been sent to the German authorities for closure. At Jet Airways, we endeavour to maintain the highest standards of safety for our guests, at all times."

Polling in India

High voter turnout was recorded in the 91 constituencies in 14 states and Union Territories which went to polls in the third and substantial phase of Lok Sabha elections, with Chandigarh witnessing the highest percentage of 74.

Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Bihar witnessed naxal related violence which left 2 CRP jawans and one state police personnel dead.

The voter turnout this time was substantially higher over the last Lok Sabha elections in all the constituencies.

Muzaffarnagar and Shamli in Uttar Pradesh, which witnessed comunal riots in August last year, recorded "above average" voter turnout of 67.78 per cent and 70.85 per cent, respectively, Deputy EC Vinod Zutshi told reporters here.

The 10 seats of Uttar Pradesh, which went to polls today, reported a record turnout of 65 per cent as compared to 51.30 per cent recorded in the last LS polls.

The turnout in Delhi was 64 per cent, up by 12 per cent as against 2009 elections.

Chandigarh constituency recorded the highest turnout of 74 per cent, against 64 per cent in 2009 polls.

Kerala, which went to polls in single phase today, recorded 73.4 per cent voter turnout, up from 73.2 per cent last time.

Chhattisgarh's Bastar seat witnessed the lowest voter turnout among the 91 seats of 51.4 per cent. But it was higher as compared to 47.33 per cent recorded in the last LS polls.

EC maintained that the turnout could be "much higher" in all the seats as final reports were yet to come in with voting still on after the stipulated hours in various areas.

In Odisha, maoists snatched EVMs and took away the battery of one voting machine.

EC has decided to postpone polling in 22 places in Bihar -- 19 in Jamui, two in Nawada and one in Gaya -- as polling personnel were not sent there keeping in mind their safety.

The fresh date of polls in these areas will be decided soon.

Jharkhand's four seats today witnessed 58 per cent turnout, which was higher than the 50.89 per cent recorded in last general elections.

Madhya Pradesh, where nine seats went to polls, saw an average turnout of 54.13 per cent, while in Haryana it was 65 per cent. All the 10 seats of Haryana had a single-phase poll.

In the last elections, the turnout in Haryana was 68 per cent. "The turnout could be 73 per cent in Haryana when we get the final figures," Deputy EC Alok Shukla said.

The Jammu seat also saw an impressive turnout of 66.29 per cent -- 17 per cent higher than in 2009.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands also witnessed a record turnout. Till the last count, it was 67 per cent, higher than last time's 64.15 per cent. But in Lakshadweep, the turnout was 71.34 per cent, lower than last time's 85.98 per cent.

Molecular interactions from crude samples

A simple fluidic system makes it possible to analyze complex samples such as serum or cell lysates for diagnostic research or drug screening.

Our versatile biosensor can meet the demands of any kind of experimental design.

Primarily, to screen mouse IgG ant ibodies f rom crude samples, such as hybridoma supernat ant s for dissociation rates of bound antigen. In addition, to determine detailed kinetic rate constants  and affinity between the antigen and an antibody selected in the screen. 

Measuring the kinetic properties of biomolecules has become increasingly important in drug discovery and biomanufacturing. In areas such as immunization monitoring, clonal selection, and expression analysis, biosensors offer a clear advantage. In the past, it has been necessary to obtain purified or highly diluted molecules for such studies since crude samples have posed challenges for nonspecific binding, referencing, and system microfluidics.

The ability to analyze crude samples directly saves time, labor, and money. In this article, we show how the Attana200 system (Figure 1) can be used directly with crude samples for off-rate screening of antibodies in hybridoma supernatants containing serum as well as for scaffold proteins in crude E. coli lysates.

Attana’s biosensors are based on the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) technology. By applying an alternating potential to a piezoelectric quartz crystal, the crystal can be controlled to oscillate at its resonance frequency. A change in mass on the crystal surface results in a proportional change in resonance frequency.

This means that when a ligand is initially immobilized on the crystal surface, the added mass can be measured in real-time without the need for labeling. The analyte is then injected, and binding of the analyte to the surface-bound ligand increases the mass further, whereupon a new shift in the resonance frequency is registered. Flowing buffer through the sensor chamber enables detection of the release of bound analyte.

Using different surface coatings provides the option of capturing or immobilizing molecules and, accordingly, QCM can be used to study molecular interactions in real time. The QCM technology enables not only the study of biomolecules of varying species such as proteins, nucleic acids, and carbohydrates, but also of vastly different sizes, ranging from peptides to cells.

Clonal Selection

Researchers often need to select clones for expression of a biomolecule either secreted from or accumulated inside cells. Hybridoma and phage display are the two predominant techniques used to create a repertoire of clones (Figure 2). 

The Attana 200 system can be used through the entire hybridoma screening process. It offers a better methodology than ELISA for monitoring immunization, detecting the earliest antibodies of weak affinity. It also offers a powerful tool for screening of important properties such as off-rate constants early in the process, cutting sample numbers, and saving time. In addition, it is also widely used for establishing titers, due to its low coefficient variation.

In downstream processes such as characterization it can be used to establish specificity, kinetics, active concentration, cross reactivity, and for performing epitope mapping. Similarly, the Attana 200 system is used in the phage-display process to check specificity and correct folding of proteins in E. coli lysates after panning.

After re-cloning into the most favorable expression system, the Attana 200 system can be used under biologically appropriate conditions such as physiological temperatures to ensure that more relevant clones are chosen for expansion early in the process.

Crude Quality Issues

Crude oil is a highly variant natural resource. The quality ranges are similar to coal and depending on thematuration of the crude the quality can be high or low (younger crude's are of lower quality). One of the first indications of quality is color. The variations in oil color can be dramatic, and very indicative of the quality of that crude. Not all crude oil is black - higher quality oils can be a golden or amber in color.
All the quality measures here are based on the ability to produce the desired products. In the U.S., about 50% of the oil is converted into gasoline. So an oil that produces a higher % of gasoline "cuts" is more desirable and have a higher quality oil. Take note, we have used much of the higher quality crude oil already! Now we need to use the lower quality oils too and the general trend is to use increasingly lower quality crude's. This quality reduction has an impact on how we refine the crude into the desirable product.

High-throughput surface plasmon resonance

Spot up to several hundreds of different molecules on the biochip to take advantage of the multiplexing capabilities for the rapid screening (>100 sensorgrams in parallel) of molecules.

The reactivity of many different species (ligands) submitted to the same environment can be compared with only one sample injection.

Optimization studies for biomolecular interaction analysis (immobilization concentration, pH…) are faster – Saving you time and consumables.

Technologies based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) have allowed rapid, label-free characterization of protein-protein and protein-small molecule interactions. SPR has become the gold standard in industrial and academic settings, in which the interaction between a pair of soluble binding partners is characterized in detail or a library of molecules is screened for binding against a single soluble protein. In spite of these successes, SPR is only beginning to be adapted to the needs of membrane-bound proteins which are difficult to study in situ but represent promising targets for drug and biomarker development. Existing technologies, such as BIAcoreTM, have been adapted for membrane protein analysis by building supported lipid layers or capturing lipid vesicles on existing chips. Newer technologies, still in development, will allow membrane proteins to be presented in native or near-native formats. These include SPR nanopore arrays, in which lipid bilayers containing membrane proteins stably span small pores that are addressable from both sides of the bilayer. Here, we discuss current SPR instrumentation and the potential for SPR nanopore arrays to enable quantitative, high-throughput screening of G protein coupled receptor ligands and applications in basic cellular biology.

Label-free molecular interaction analysis

Surface Plasmon Resonance is an established tool in the life-science sectors. It offers a new generation of label-free biomolecular analysis, providing information on kinetic processes (association and dissociation), binding affinity, analyte concentration and real-time molecule detection.

A large variety of bio-interactions can be monitored, such as antibody/antigen, peptide/antibody, DNA/DNA, antibody/bacteria etc.

Foiling Quantum Hackers

Quantum cryptography holds promise for communication schemes that are, in theory, perfectly secure. But in the last few years, hackers have exploited security loopholes to crack some of the most sophisticated quantum encryption systems. Fortunately, two new papers in Physical Review Letters, one by Allison Rubenok, at the Institute for Quantum Science & Technology in Calgary, Canada, and colleagues [1] and the other by Yang Liu, at the Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences and the University of Science and Technology of China, and colleagues [2] now report a new quantum encryption method that can remove the weakest link of quantum encryption schemes: loopholes associated with defects of the photodetectors used at the receiver end. Code makers have now regained the upper hand against code breakers.

Code makers and code breakers have been fighting for thousands of years. With the rise of the Internet, the importance of communication security is growing. Each time we do online banking or use messaging apps on our smart phones, we should be concerned about communication security. Conventional (classical) cryptographic systems are often based on unproven computational assumptions.

In contrast, quantum encryption methods such as quantum key distribution (QKD)—the use of quantum states to transmit a shared encryption key between communicating parties—offer, in principle, unconditional security based on the laws of physics. This is an ideal solution in the long term, but we are not there yet: while QKD schemes have been demonstrated and have already led to commercially available products, a few research groups, in the last few years, have reported a number of high-profile successful hacks [3] against QKD systems, thus casting doubts on the security of practical QKD. Charles Bennett [4], an IBM Fellow and a co-inventor of quantum cryptography, wrote: “Photon detectors have turned out to be an Achilles’ heel for quantum key distribution (QKD), inadvertently opening the door … to subtle side-channel attacks.”

In one hacking example, Eve (the eavesdropper) can blind the detectors of Bob (the receiver) with a low-power, continuous-wave laser. While the detector is blinded, it works as a classical detector and loses the “quantum” protection: Eve can then intercept, unnoticed, Alice’s (the sender’s) signals. Countermeasures for quantum hacking have been proposed—such as security patches [5], teleportation tricks [6], and full device-independent QKD (DI-QKD) [7]—but all have been proven to be either ad hoc or impractical, e.g., not compatible with long-distance communications or with key generation at sufficient speeds.

Magnetic behavior discovery could advance nuclear fusion

Fusion is widely considered the ultimate goal of nuclear energy. While fission leaves behind radioactive waste that must be stored safely, fusion generates helium, a harmless element that is becoming scarce. Just 250 kilograms of fusion fuel can match the energy production of 2.7 million tons of coal.

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get a fusion reaction going.

"We have to compress the fuel to a temperature and density similar to the core of a star," said Alexander Thomas, assistant professor of nuclear engineering and radiological sciences.

Once those conditions are reached, the hydrogen fuel begins to fuse into helium. This is how young stars burn, compressed by their own gravity.

On Earth, it takes so much power to push the fuel atoms together that researchers end up putting in more energy than they get out. But by understanding a newly discovered magnetic phenomenon, the team suggests that the ignition of nuclear fusion could be made more efficient.

Two methods dominate for confining the fuel, made of hydrogen atoms with extra neutrons, so that fusion can begin. Magnetic confinement fusion uses magnetic fields to trap the fuel in a magnetic 'bottle,' and inertial confinement fusion heats the surface of the fuel pellet until it blows off in a way that causes the remaining pellet to implode. The team explored an aspect of the latter method through computer simulations.

"One of the concerns with nuclear fusion is to squeeze this very spherical fuel pellet perfectly into a very small spherical pellet," said Archis Joglekar, a doctoral student in nuclear engineering and radiological sciences.

To avoid pushing the ball of fuel into an irregular shape that won't ignite, the fuel must be exposed to uniform heat that will cause its surface layer to evaporate all at once. As this layer pushes off at high speed, it applies equal pressure to all sides of the pellet and causes it to shrink to one thousandth of its original volume. When that happens, the fuel begins to fuse.

Joglekar calls even heating "the biggest concern in terms of achieving inertial confinement fusion."

The heat comes from about 200 laser beams hitting the inside of a hollow metal cylinder with the fuel pellet sitting at its heart. The trouble is that the light energy from the laser is converted to heat in the metal by way of electrons, and the electrons can get trapped in magnetic fields created by the laser spots.

When the laser light hits the metal, it turns some of the surface metal into plasma, or a soup of electrons and free atomic nuclei. The laser and the heat drive the electrons to move in a way that sets up a magnetic field circling the laser spot.

The magnetic field acts as a boundary for the electrons -- they can't cross it. But until now, researchers didn't know that the hot electrons, in an effort to get to cooler areas, are able to push the magnetic fence outward.

The team showed that the flow of hot electrons could drive the magnetic fields around neighboring laser spots together, causing them to join up. Instead of forming a barrier between the laser spots, the joined fields open a channel between them.

"Now there's a clear path for the electrons to move into what would otherwise be the cold region," Joglekar said.

Designers of inertial fusion ignition systems may be able to use this newly discovered feature to place the laser spots so that they heat the cylinder more quickly and efficiently.

"Essentially, what we found is a completely new magnetic reconnection mechanism," Thomas said. "Though we're studying it in an inertial confinement fusion process, it might be relevant to the surface of the sun and magnetic confinement fusion."

For instance, knowing that the flow of hot, charged particles on the sun can push magnetic fields around could inspire new theories about how solar flares occur.

A paper on this work, titled "Magnetic reconnection in plasma under inertial confinement fusion conditions driven by heat flux effects in Ohm's law," is published in Physical Review Letters. It was carried out in collaboration with Amativa Bhattacharjee and William Fox of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.