Engineering Multipole Resonances in Dielectric Metasurfaces for Transmission, Reflection, and Absorption Control

<img src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/gray-comsol-logo-with-stylized-text-and-rounded-rectangular-emblem-on-left.png?id=68001893&width=980"/><br/><br/><p>Dielectric metasurfaces have moved to the forefront of nanophotonics, offering flat, low-loss alternatives to conventional bulk optical elements for controlling the amplitude, phase, and polarization of light. These structures are of growing interest to researchers and engineers working on sensing, energy harvesting, and flat optics, as their performance hinges on precisely engineered optical resonances. Full-wave finite element simulation, combined with semianalytical multipole decomposition in the COMSOL Multiphysics® software, gives us a way to not only predict these resonances but also uncover their underlying physical origins.</p><p>In this webinar, Dr. Pavel Terekhov, postdoctoral researcher at National Institute of Standards and Technology, will trace how a single quadrumer meta-atom, originally studied for its magnetic octupole response, evolves into two distinct light manipulation regimes. He will first revisit the foundational single-particle results that motivated this work, then show how arranging quadrumers into a periodic crystalline silicon metasurface produces anomalous absorption enhancement, governed by two independent multipole mechanisms coexisting in the same structure. Building on this, he will then introduce ongoing work on a gallium nitride metasurface, where the complex interplay of four different multipoles is used to sculpt reflection and transmission spectra including the quasi-bound-states-in-the-continuum (q-BIC) manipulation.</p><p>Attendees will see how COMSOL Multiphysics® and multipole decomposition connect full-wave simulation and analytical insight, turning abstract resonance behavior into physically interpretable design rules. The broader takeaway is that multipole-based simulation is not just a diagnostic tool but a design strategy: It enables the on-demand tailoring of absorption, reflection, and transmission in dielectric metasurfaces, with direct relevance to sensing, energy harvesting, and future optical device applications.</p><p><strong><span>Key Takeaways:</span></strong></p><ul><li>Learn about modeling multipole resonances in dielectric metasurfaces using full-wave finite element simulation and semianalytical multipole decomposition in COMSOL Multiphysics®.</li><li>See how multipole-based simulation can be used to understand and control absorption, reflection, and transmission in silicon and gallium nitride metasurfaces.</li><li>Explore how different multipole mechanisms, including quasi-bound states in the continuum (q-BICs), can be engineered to tailor optical responses for sensing, energy harvesting, and flat optics.</li><li>Gain insights into how simulation and multipole decomposition can help researchers and engineers turn complex resonance behavior into practical design strategies for future optical devices.</li></ul><div><a href="https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/5510255/64A1C3695631E727E756BFCA0490437A?utm_source=IEEE" target="_blank">Register now for this free webinar!</a></div> Reference: https://ift.tt/oTfNmAW

Hacks of 2 federal agencies in a month have spilled a bonanza of sensitive data

<p>The Pentagon is informing more than 2 million current and former military members that their personnel records storing sensitive personal information were stolen over a monthslong compromise of one of its networks. The breach is the second one in recent months to expose sensitive government information.</p> <p>The records, according to one <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AirForce/comments/1wmotdr/question_about_data_breach_letter/">notification letter</a> posted to Reddit, included Social Security numbers, names, addresses, sex, race, and occupational specialty. This last category could be particularly valuable to foreign adversaries because it could help their intelligence agencies in identifying high-value military personnel. Starting last October, hackers gained access to a system operated by the <a href="https://dwp.dmdc.osd.mil/dwp/app/about/overview">Defense Manpower Data Center</a>, which collates Department of Defense personnel records. The Pentagon says that the breach compromised the records of 2.8 million living individuals.</p> <h2>A potential boon</h2> <p>The incident is the second time a major network breach in recent months has exposed sensitive US government personnel records that criminal groups or foreign adversaries could use. Last month, the ransomware group ShinyHunters claimed it hacked into FBI systems and stole records of thousands of the agency’s current or former employees. Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/hacked-fbi-data-has-sensitive-information-about-employees-intelligence-roles-2026-09-23/?ref=404media.co">reported</a> the job titles in the records included ones related to investigating China or Russia.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/10/hacks-of-2-federal-agencies-in-a-month-have-spilled-a-bonanza-of-sensitive-data/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/10/hacks-of-2-federal-agencies-in-a-month-have-spilled-a-bonanza-of-sensitive-data/#comments">Comments</a></p> Reference : https://ift.tt/fImL4qU

Memory executives expect RAM shortage to continue through 2028

<p>Micron and Samsung executives this week said the memory shortage will continue for at least the next couple of years.</p> <p>Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra expects demand for the firm’s memory to exceed its available supply over that period, he told investors last night.</p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/after-nearly-30-years-crucial-will-stop-selling-ram-to-consumers/">Micron no longer sells consumer RAM,</a> and Mehrotra’s statements refer to Micron’s business-to-business sales of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI and DRAM for servers. However, his comments also have implications for consumer devices. Manufacturing capacity is prioritizing memory for AI and servers, limiting the supply of memory manufactured for consumer devices.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2026/10/memory-supplies-are-only-getting-tighter-micron-ceo-says/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2026/10/memory-supplies-are-only-getting-tighter-micron-ceo-says/#comments">Comments</a></p> Reference : https://ift.tt/oPN6KZH

Electricity Theft Is Rampant, but Delhi Found a Fix

<img src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/three-lightbulbs-glowing-with-the-middle-one-appearing-to-wear-a-black-mask-with-a-menacing-face.jpg?id=67857147&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C208%2C0%2C208"/><br/><br/><p><span><span>It’s</span> disheartening how much power gets generated and then promptly lost as it travels through grid networks. </span><span>Th</span><span>is</span> <span>leaking </span><span>of electricity </span><span>happens </span><span>when</span> it <span>vanishes as heat</span> as w<span>ell as </span><span>whe</span><span>n</span> <span>it</span> <span>is</span> pilfered by <span>thieves and nonpaying customers. </span> </p><p><span><span>More than</span> half of </span><span>the</span> countries <span>that</span> <span>track these metrics </span><a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.LOSS.ZS?end=2024&start=1960&view=map&year=20230" target="_blank"><span><span>lost at least 10 percent of the</span><span>ir</span> electricity</span></a><span> in 2023, according to the World Bank. Losses topped 20 percent for 24 of those nations. Two countries lost more than half of what they </span><span>generated</span><span>. </span> </p><p><span><span>With numbers this high, c</span><span>utting down on</span> losses</span> makes sense<span>. </span><span>Electricity demand is rising beyond what many grid </span><span>operators </span><span>can supply</span><span>;</span> <span>reducing waste would help meet some of that demand</span> without <span>having to </span><span>build new power plants</span><span>. Plus, </span><span>when </span><span>the power comes from fossil fuels</span><span>,</span> <span>any</span> loss <span>means emitting </span><span>even more </span><span>greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. And </span><span>electric losses </span><span>hit </span><span>the bottom lines of </span><span>power providers, </span><span>which</span> <span>ultimately pass</span> th<span>ose</span> costs on to everyone else. </p><p><span><span>The trouble is, reducing </span><span>electricity </span><span>losses is </span><span>a </span><span>hard and </span><span>expensive</span> process that takes a long time</span><span>. </span><span>Typically, the less </span><span>maintained</span> the grid infrastructure, the more electricity <span>that’s</span> lost. And the more <span>fragile </span><span>the region’s law enforcement and government, the more </span><span>prevalent </span><span>the power theft. Natural disasters and war make things worse.</span> </p><h2>Delhi’s Power Grid Comeback</h2><p><span><span>Fixing a </span><span>power </span><span>grid </span><span>requires a systemic approach across many sectors</span><span>. </span><span>There’s</span> no one technology that will solve the problem. </span><span>A</span><span>t the outset, </span><span>the obstacles to success may </span><span>feel </span><span>insurmountable</span><span>. Equipment across entire </span><span>grid </span><span>networks must be updated. Multiple arms of government </span><span>must</span> <span>agree to reforms and </span><span>coordinate to ensure power providers are set up to succeed. Regulations must be written</span> or revised<span>,</span> <span>i</span><span>nvestments made</span><span>,</span> <span>c</span><span>ultures changed.</span></p><p><span><span>T</span><span>he city of Delhi </span><span>did all those things. Over </span><span>the </span><span>p</span><span>ast </span><span>2</span><span>5 </span><span>year</span><span>s</span><span>, it </span><span>cut</span> its electricity losses from </span><span>about </span><span>50 to 5 percent</span><span>.</span> How the city pulled off that impressive feat is the focus of <span>“<a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/delhi-electricity-loss" target="_blank">The Epic Comeback of Delhi’s Power Grid</a>”</span><span> by</span> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/minishajithomas/" target="_blank"><span><span>Mini</span> Shaji</span> Thomas</a><span><span>, an electrical engineer at</span> the university</span> Jamia Millia Islamia who has lived in Delhi since the 1990s<span>. She gives us a </span><span>view</span> from the inside<span>—</span><span>as a resident and a </span><a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/empowering-women-power-industry" target="_self"><span><span>power systems expert</span></span></a><span>. </span> </p><p><span><span>Delhi</span> i</span><span>s a shining example, but </span><span>some </span><span>other regions have significantly lowered electricity losses over the last quarter century </span><span>too</span><span>. The country of </span><a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.LOSS.ZS?end=2023&locations=GE&start=1990&view=chart&year=20230" target="_blank"><span><span>Georgia</span></span></a> <span>went from losses</span> of over 16 percent in 2002 to <span>about </span><span>8</span> percent in 2023. In <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.LOSS.ZS?end=2023&locations=SG&start=1990&view=chart&year=20230" target="_blank"><span><span>Singapore</span></span></a><span><span>, losses dropped from 6.6 percent to </span><span>a nearly</span> nonexistent 0.2 percent over the same </span><span>time period</span><span>.</span> </p><h2>Global Electricity Theft Crisis</h2><p><span><span>But there are many </span><span>parts of the world </span><span>where </span><span>electricity </span><span>losses </span><span>remain</span> a problem or have gotten worse. In </span><a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.LOSS.ZS?end=2023&locations=JM&start=1990&view=chart&year=20230" target="_blank"><span><span>Jamaica</span></span></a><span><span>, where power theft is rampant, losses have hovered between 21 and 28 percent </span><span>for</span> years. </span><a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.LOSS.ZS?end=2023&locations=AR&start=1990&view=chart&year=20230" target="_blank"><span><span>Argentina’s losses</span></span></a> <span>nearly doubled between 2015 and 2023, going from an all-time low of about 12 percent to an all-time high of nearly 24 percent.</span> The main problem: <span>T</span><span>ransmission and distribution companies lacked the capital to </span><span>maintain</span> and upgrade their networks, which left equipment <span>operating</span> under stress. <span>A</span> delay in the installation of smart meters <span>has </span><span>allow</span><span>ed thieves to </span><span>more easily </span><span>siphon </span><span>power </span><span>and </span><span>tamper</span> with <span>meter</span><span>s</span><span>. </span> </p><p><span><span>Thomas says she hopes her account of Delhi</span><span>’s grid comeback </span><span>will </span><span>serve as a blueprint for </span><span>other</span><span>s. </span><span>It’s</span> possible to replicate the sweeping changes Delhi made, she says. But it “requires a concerted effort from all stakeholders, customers, the utility, the government</span><span>,</span> and their employees.” </p> Reference: https://ift.tt/SrBfP5q

Attackers have been exploiting critical Zimbra flaw to steal emails

<p>Hackers have been exploiting a critical vulnerability in the Zimbra Collaboration Suite in an attempt to obtain email backups and authentication credentials of vulnerable organzations, Microsoft has <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2026/09/30/unauthenticated-command-injection-on-internet-facing-mail-servers-tracking-cve-2026-73570/">warned</a>.</p> <p>The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-73570, lets attackers remotely issue operating system commands without authentication. Zimbra maintainer Synacor issued a patch on July 20, but didn’t disclose the vulnerability for more than three weeks after that. The security-focused Shadowserver Foundation <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:3xyh2kw5hfxsax4zff3pp5ub/post/3mtt4ls2sgs2z">said last week</a> that its scans found that 274 separate instances of the Zimbra Collaboration Suite had been compromised. The number of servers running the software has fluctuated from 19,000 in the week following the patch to about 12,000 in the weeks following that. Currently, Shadowserver is <a href="https://dashboard.shadowserver.org/statistics/iot-devices/time-series/?date_range=other_range&amp;d1=2026-07-01&amp;d2=2026-09-29&amp;vendor=synacor&amp;model=zimbra+collaboration+suite&amp;limit=100&amp;group_by=geo&amp;stacking=stacked">tracking</a> about 10,000 instances.</p> <h2>Look, ma, no authorization</h2> <p>From July 28 to August 7, Microsoft said Wednesday, the company detected two distinct scanning tools probing the Internet for vulnerable endpoints. The attackers first validated their exploit worked by sending HTTP, requests and DNS, ICMP, and out-of-band identity checks to domains hosted on public services. The probes allowed the attackers to confirm the exploit successfully executed commands on vulnerable servers without actually compromising them. Eventually, the attackers began using their command injection capability to install malicious payloads. Microsoft wrote:</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/09/attackers-have-been-exploiting-critical-zimbra-flaw-to-steal-emails/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/09/attackers-have-been-exploiting-critical-zimbra-flaw-to-steal-emails/#comments">Comments</a></p> Reference : https://ift.tt/07qPvwB

A Brief History of the Bloomberg Terminal

<img src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/vintage-bloomberg-financial-keyboard-terminal-with-built-in-speaker-and-market-function-keys.jpg?id=67857164&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C187%2C0%2C188"/><br/><br/><p>Financial markets have always relied on timely information, and the drive for timeliness has always adapted to the latest technology. From clipper ships transiting the oceans to telegraph wires connecting cities to fiber-optic cables <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-microsecond-market" target="_self">conducting trades in microseconds</a>, traders have embraced any advantage to get the most up-to-date information. Indeed, the history of finance is really a story about how fast you can move information and who controls the interface.</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe height="110px" id="noa-web-audio-player" src="https://embed-player.newsoveraudio.com/v4?key=q5m19e&id=https://spectrum.ieee.org/bloomberg-terminal?draft=1&bgColor=F5F5F5&color=1b1b1c&playColor=1b1b1c&progressBgColor=F5F5F5&progressBorderColor=bdbbbb&titleColor=1b1b1c&timeColor=1b1b1c&speedColor=1b1b1c&noaLinkColor=556B7D&noaLinkHighlightColor=FF4B00&feedbackButton=true" style="border: none" width="100%"></iframe></div><p><span>It’s only natural that people also figured out a way to profit by supplying that market intel. In 1841, for example, the </span><a href="https://guides.loc.gov/this-month-in-business-history/july/dun-bradstreet-founded" target="_blank">Mercantile Exchange</a><span> (predecessor to Dun & Bradstreet) began selling proprietary business information to its U.S. clients. The following decade, Paul Julius Reuter began selling news services and stock price information. To supplement the company’s telegraph dispatches, he sent </span><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/business/the-long-history-of-speed-at-reuters-idUSKBN2761WD/" target="_blank">pigeons</a><span> between Aachen, Germany, and Brussels; each bird carried a cylinder containing slips of paper with that day’s stock prices. In 1867, an inventor named Edward Calahan introduced the first telegraphic ticker-tape machine, which spooled out stock price information in near real time; Thomas Edison improved upon the design with his </span><a href="https://edison.rutgers.edu/life-of-edison/inventions?view=article&id=539:stock-ticker&catid=91" target="_blank">patented version</a><span> in 1871.</span></p><p>The <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/100214/who-were-original-dow-jones-industrial-average-djia-companies.asp" target="_blank">Dow Jones Industrial Average debuted</a> in 1896 as an index of 12 key businesses listed on U.S. stock exchanges. It included gas, oil, coal, and electric companies, as well as enterprises dealing in leather, rubber, and tobacco. Messengers delivered quotes from the trading floor to brokerage offices, while stock tickers kept investors informed of prices. By the time New York City held its <a href="https://downtownny.com/ticker-tape-parades/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first official ticker-tape parade</a>, in 1919, telegraphy in Western Europe and the United States had become the chief means for quick transmission of vital stock information.</p><p>In 1960, the first paperless financial service debuted, when Quotron introduced its electronic screens for displaying market quotes. Over the next two decades, other companies rolled out similar innovations for distributing financial news and data.</p><p>So when Michael Bloomberg decided to enter this well-established industry in 1981, the big question was: How would his new company stand out?</p><h2>The Birth of the Bloomberg Terminal</h2><p>Bloomberg had cofounded Innovative Market Systems (IMS) after being fired from the investment bank Salomon Brothers. Landing on his feet with his US $10 million equity payout and joined by former Salomon colleagues Thomas Secunda, Duncan MacMillan, and Charles Zegar, Bloomberg pursued his belief that Wall Street would pay a premium for specialized financial data. He’d earned an electrical engineering degree from Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from Harvard, and he’d built computerized financial systems for Salomon. IMS focused on developing a computer terminal that not only provided up-to-date information but could also do instant quantitative analysis based on historical data.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"> <img alt="Color photo of a white man in a business suit posing in front of a computer with office workers in the background. " class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fcbf762b1e926eb8a771ee74ed91b05b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="eed43" loading="lazy" src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/color-photo-of-a-white-man-in-a-business-suit-posing-in-front-of-a-computer-with-office-workers-in-the-background.jpg?id=67857167&width=980"/> <small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Michael Bloomberg believed Wall Street would pay a premium for access to specialized financial data. </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Karjean Levine/Getty Images</small></p><p>At the time, most financial data still circulated through telephone calls, printed price sheets, and specialist publications, and analysis involved a fair amount of gut instinct guided by human expertise. Companies such as Reuters and Dow Jones provided subscription-based services for access to business news. But traders still had to assemble information from multiple sources and perform their own calculations and analysis.</p><p>IMS proposed an integrated system with a single interface. Its Market Master terminal consisted of a monochrome CRT monitor, a custom keyboard, and a communications/controller unit that connected to the company’s private network. <a href="https://ted-merz.com/2026/01/28/bloombergs-yellow-keys/" target="_blank">At launch</a>, it provided only U.S. government bond prices and bond-calculation tools, but the dream was much bigger: a dedicated terminal that would sit on a trader’s desk and run different market scenarios, produce yield curves, and support investment calculations.</p><p>IMS initially had just one client, Merrill Lynch, which invested $30 million (about $110 million today) in exchange for a 30 percent stake in the company and exclusive rights to the terminals for five years; Merrill waived that right in 1984. The first 22 Market Master terminals were delivered to Merrill in 1982, in the middle of a <a href="https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/recession-of-1981-82" target="_blank">global recession</a>. The timing was fortuitous. Worldwide, stock markets were transitioning to electronic trading, and the U.S. Federal Reserve was allowing more freely floating interest rates. Bond prices were more volatile, and investors were eager to figure out how to value them accurately. Bloomberg’s specialized financial terminals provided the data and the analytical tools to process and comprehend those sweeping changes.</p><p>Five years after its launch, IMS rebranded as Bloomberg LP and expanded its clientele, and the Market Master became known as the Bloomberg Terminal.</p><h2>How Did the Bloomberg Terminal Work?</h2><p>The Bloomberg Terminal’s keyboard was designed with traders and analysts in mind. The function keys were color-coded and given labels specifying their usage, so that users didn’t have to remember. The original keyboard, affectionately referred to as “<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/professional/insights/trading/look-back-bloomberg-keyboard/" target="_blank">the Chiclet</a>,” was hand assembled. A cable ran from the keyboard to the Bloomberg Controller, which had a dedicated phone line to connect to a local hub. The internet wasn’t commercially available yet, so the company basically built its own closed network, with centralized computers that maintained large databases and performed most of the calculations. Commands entered on the keyboard sent a request to the hub, which processed the information and sent back the result.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"> <img alt="Color photo of a computer keyboard with mostly black keys and some red, yellow, and green keys and with the logo Bloomberg. " class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8f4a814e3d3bd3979772325a0ebf8582" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="a8b23" loading="lazy" src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/color-photo-of-a-computer-keyboard-with-mostly-black-keys-and-some-red-yellow-and-green-keys-and-with-the-logo-bloomberg.jpg?id=67857168&width=980"/> <small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">The Chiclet keyboard for the Bloomberg Terminal was introduced around 1983. Although it looks like a generic keyboard, its function keys were finance-specific hot keys.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">National Museum of American History/Smithsonian Institution</small></p><p>Hot keys let traders easily call up data on government securities, corporate debt, and currency markets, among other things. A series of keystrokes would pull up other historical and real-time data, run an analysis, or place a trade. Learning how to use the terminal and digest the vast amount of information, which was presented mostly in tabular form, became a rite of passage for users.</p><p>In 1990, Bloomberg added a trackball to the keyboard, which helped the user navigate the multiple windows and menus typically displayed on screen. Two years later, the keyboard gained a built-in speaker, to support multimedia information; this design also included telephone, headphone, and microphone jacks. One of the most popular features was Instant Bloomberg, which allowed users to chat directly with fellow Bloomberg Terminal users over the proprietary network. By 1996, Bloomberg had keyboards that supported 23 different languages. In the early 2000s, the company began incorporating biometric authentication for terminal login, via a fingerprint reader on the keyboard.</p><p>As the company’s business model evolved, the Bloomberg Terminal added services well beyond its initial offerings. In 1990, for example, worried that Dow Jones would stop providing access to its news stories, Bloomberg set up its own news service. It recruited <em><em>Wall Street Journal </em></em>reporter Matthew Winkler to oversee a dozen reporters; their stories on market and securities movements used graphs and calculations that served as advertisements for the terminal’s capabilities. These days, the Bloomberg news empire includes <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/businessweek" target="_blank">Bloomberg Businessweek</a>, <a href="https://www.bloombergradio.com/" target="_blank">Bloomberg Radio</a>, and <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/live" target="_blank">Bloomberg Television</a>.</p><p>Bloomberg’s subscription-based financial model included the leasing of a Bloomberg Terminal with its specialized keyboard and other hardware, access to a dedicated private network, and a suite of services. In 1999, a subscription to a single Bloomberg Terminal cost $1,600 per month with a minimum two-year contract and a discount on each additional terminal. Today the annual price is upwards of $32,000 (trending a little below inflation). In 1995, the company launched a suite of “Open Bloomberg” software products that ran on the customer’s own PC; five years later, it stopped leasing dedicated terminals. Current customers also have access to mobile applications that allow terminal functions to run on phones and tablets. Today, “Bloomberg Terminal” has come to refer to the integrated data, analytics, news, communications, and trading environment.</p><h2>The Legacy of the Bloomberg Terminal</h2><p>Although the shift away from dedicated terminals was a logical response to the rise of the internet and publicly available market data, it altered the material culture of financial work. For nearly two decades, Bloomberg Terminals commanded an aura of power and financial prowess. They were emblems of market mastery, with a brand that was distinct from other office computers. With Open Bloomberg, users were no longer tied to a single desk or a fixed set of monitors.</p><p>And so, cast-off Bloomberg Terminals found their way into museum collections. They’re a physical embodiment of the ethereal nature of financial markets, and a manifestation of mathematical calculations, network infrastructure, and business culture.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"> <img alt="Color photo of a gray computer keyboard with different color keys and the logo Bloomberg." class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4bb2b9fa89a2836a749b629adc4abcb4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="54a8f" loading="lazy" src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/color-photo-of-a-gray-computer-keyboard-with-different-color-keys-and-the-logo-bloomberg.jpg?id=67857171&width=980"/> <small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">The Bloomberg keyboard used by “Bond King” Bill Gross has his login and password taped on the front.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">National Museum of American History/Smithsonian Institution</small></p><p>The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History has a number of Bloomberg keyboards in its collection, but my favorite is object number <a href="https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_1460219" target="_blank">2014.0012.02</a>, which was used by “Bond King” Bill Gross during the 1990s and 2000s at Pacific Investment Management. Gross had cofounded PIMCO in 1971 and built it into a $2 trillion bond investment firm. I especially love that Gross taped his login and password directly on his keyboard, which makes the object more relatable. I may never know what it’s like to manage billions in assets from a Bloomberg Terminal, but I absolutely understand the trial of remembering my passwords.</p><p><em><em>Part of a </em></em><a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/collections/past-forward/" target="_self"><em><em>continuing series</em></em></a><em> </em><em><em>looking at historical artifacts that embrace the boundless potential of technology.</em></em></p><p><em><em>An abridged version of this article appears in the October 2026 print issue as “The Keyboard That Moved Markets.”</em></em></p><h3>References</h3><br/><p><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/professional/insights/trading/look-back-bloomberg-keyboard" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bloomberg Professional Services</a> has a nice timeline showing the evolution of its keyboards.</p><p>For an economic analysis of how computers like the Bloomberg Terminal changed financial markets, see Gerben Bakker’s 2025 paper “<a href="https://researchonline.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/129938/" target="_blank">The Terminal Revolution: Reuters and Bloomberg as global providers of financial and economic news, 1960–2020</a>,” published by the London School of Economics and Political Science.</p><p>Bloomberg Terminals are in the collections of many museums, including the <a href="https://computerhistory.org/blog/tools-of-the-trade-an-historical-look-at-technology-and-commerce/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Computer History Museum</a> and the <a href="https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_1460219" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">National Museum of American History</a>.</p> Reference: https://ift.tt/jdCfpyG

Cloudflare plans to issue quantum-safe TLS certificates

<p>Cloudflare said Tuesday it plans to issue quantum-proof TLS certificates, making it one of the first authorities to issue such certificates that use a form of cryptography that is widely believed to withstand attacks from quantum computers.</p> <p>The Internet infrastructure provider <a href="https://blog.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-certificate-authority/">said</a> it will use an open source platform that issues both classic TLS certificates and a post-quantum equivalent known as <a href="https://www.encryptionconsulting.com/education-center/merkle-tree-certificates/">Merkle Tree Certificates</a>. The hybrid certificates will be free to both paying and non-paying users. To help build the massive system and establish ubiquity across the sprawling TLS ecosystem, Cloudflare will be acquiring an already trusted certificate root from CA GlobalSign. Cloudflare said the move will let millions of websites use post-quantum certificates at the flip of a switch and without incurring any increased performance overhead.</p> <h2>Fundamental architectural changes ahead</h2> <p>Cloudflare’s plans are part of a major overhaul in the web public key infrastructure (WebPKI) required to make website encryption and authentication safe for the coming post-quantum age. A major challenge is using quantum-proof signatures that can be easily transmitted during web requests and recorded in transparency logs to ensure counterfeit certificates aren't assigned to websites. The makeover will take years to complete, because it requires the work of an untold number of engineers who design operating systems, browsers, certificate authorities, and Internet infrastructure.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/09/cloudflare-plans-to-issue-quantum-safe-tls-certificates/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/09/cloudflare-plans-to-issue-quantum-safe-tls-certificates/#comments">Comments</a></p> Reference : https://ift.tt/rzfXlTF