Interesting Snippets from 2012-08-24

• Computer viruses: A thing of threads and patches | The Economist

  A paper presented to a conference in Bellevue, Washington, earlier this month describes—for the enlightenment of the white hats in this arms race—an innovation that may make viruses still sneakier. Its authors, Vishwath Mohan and Kevin Hamlen of the University of Texas, call their program “Frankenstein”, after the fictional scientist who (at least, in film versions of the story) stitched together his monster out of body parts scavenged from graveyards and slaughterhouses.

  The digital version of Frankenstein works by scanning innocuous programs—word processors, say, or the calculator that is part of Microsoft’s Windows operating system—for small chunks of code dubbed “gadgets”. Such snippets encode handfuls of the most basic operations that computers perform: loading a number into memory, for instance, and then adding two numbers together. Harvest enough of these, and arrange them in the right order, and it is possible to knock together a piece of software that can perform any task you like.

• Start-Ups Emerge as Tech Vendors of Choice - WSJ.com

  Businesses are getting more comfortable buying technology from start-ups and other small outfits, a shift that could usher in a period of slower growth for tech giants such as Hewlett-Packard Co. and Oracle Corp.

  There is no precise data that shows the tech-buying shift. In a recent study by the CIO Executive Council, a peer group for IT executives, corporate tech buyers gave their top vendors a score of only 3.23 out of 10 across 20 categories, such as providing honest communication and demonstrating an ability to innovate.

  Meanwhile, a 2012 survey of U.S. CIOs by recruiting firm Harvey Nash Group PLC found 73% said they needed to embrace new technology or risk losing market share.

  The dollars at stake are huge. Gartner Inc. projected in July that world-wide corporate IT spending is on pace to hit $3.6 trillion this year, up 3% from last year.

• Book Review: Ballpoint - WSJ.com

  Common objects often have uncommon stories. The zipper, the pencil and the paper clip were devised by inventors who long struggled to produce things we now take for granted. Unearthing the histories of these humble objects may reveal much about the hidden underpinnings of our everyday world. That is the case with "Ballpoint," Hungarian author György Moldova's chronicle of the vicissitudes of the ballpoint pen's invention and commercial development.

  Mr. Moldova, the author of more than 50 books of nonfiction and fiction, is much honored in his native land, where he is renowned for his vivid portraits of subjects that would seem to resist enlivening, such as coal mining and the railway and textile industries. He presents "Ballpoint" (translated by David Robert Evans) as "both a historical manuscript and a novel." He also quotes the words of the great Russian mathematician Nicolai Lobachevsky: "The real problem with books about geniuses is that they are not written by geniuses."

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