[H]ardNews - Blair Tech Ed.

Seeing Spots:

Semiconducting polymers embedded with lead-sulphide nanocrystals could produce a light source for integrated photonic chips, according to recent work at the University of Toronto. The technique, producing infrared light at wavelengths used in communications systems, could be used to create photonic components orders of magnitude less expensive than current components, which can cost as much as $1,000.

Game Hacking:

Tuesday evening, little things suddenly started to go very wrong in the virtual world of Shadowbane, a popular online multiplayer game. Some players noticed that their money and weapons had suddenly vanished. A few whispered that tonight the monsters somehow seemed slightly bigger and meaner. And then all hell broke loose. Shadowbane had been hacked by several of its players. But unlike standard game hacks, where players gift themselves with super strength, health or wealth, these hackers managed to completely alter the rules of Shadowbane -- turning a suddenly wrathful game loose on its players.

End Of Spam?

Unwanted commercial e-mail, better known as spam, can be contained within two years but will first reach unprecedented proportions, Microsoft Corp.'s chief spam fighter said Thursday. "Spam has reached epic proportions and we are in a crisis situation," said Ryan Hamlin, general manager of Microsoft's antispam technology and strategy group, speaking at Microsoft's Silicon Valley campus in Mountain View, California.

Nanoscale Design Tools:

The co-founder of a nanotechnology startup that prides itself on its modeling capabilities predicts the industry will have commercialized design software tools like those used for microsystems, but not anytime soon. He and other nanotech experts said the growth of nanoscale design tools will require a critical mass of people working on common products and acceptance by the field's do-it-yourself software developers.