ACM TechNews - Friday, October 20, 2000

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ACM TechNews
Volume 2, Number 120
Date: October 20, 2000
Site Sponsored by Gateway (http://www.gateway.com)

Top Stories for Friday, October 20, 2000:
http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html

"Running on Empty"
"Nurturing the Techie in Girls"
"Microsoft Judges to Brush Up on PC Basics"
"Privacy Treaty a Global Invasion?"
"U.S. Relaxes Encryption Rules"
"The Place That Tech Forgot"
"Germany Won't Tax Net Surfers at Work"
"Geeks, Proud of the Name, Start a Volunteer Corps"
"Crystal Clarity for the Printed Word"
"EarthLink Flaw Exposes Domains"
"Candidates Offer Insights to Net Policies"
"Internet Rain Puts a Bloom on the Business-to-Business Marketplace"
"Temps Rule in Big Reversal, Unions Open Up"
"Who's In Charge of IT?"
"Is the PC Boom Over?"
"DNS Security Upgrade Promises a Safer 'Net"
"Tech Industry Doubles Its Campaign Contributions"
"Enforcing Moore's Law"
"Internet Has Just Begun to Change Government"

******************* News Stories ***********************

"Running on Empty"
Innovation in the U.S. high-tech industry appears temporarily
frozen as technologies such as HTML reach the limits of their
potential, according to attendees at this week's Agenda
conference.  HTML fueled a large part of the high-tech boom in . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1020f.html#item1

"Nurturing the Techie in Girls"
Today's school-age girls should be encouraged to take an interest
in technology so that the next-generation of women will play a
larger role in the digital economy, according to several recent
studies.  Although young girls and boys display the same skill . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1020f.html#item2

"Microsoft Judges to Brush Up on PC Basics"
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on
Wednesday said it might hold a briefing on Nov. 14 to help the
judges hearing the Microsoft antitrust case understand basic
concepts of computer technology.  The appeals court is . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1020f.html#item3

"Privacy Treaty a Global Invasion?"
A proposed treaty crafted by the Council of Europe and the United
States would compromise the privacy of Internet users and the
freedom of computer programmers, according to civil liberty
groups.  Designed to help police deal with online crimes that . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1020f.html#item4

"U.S. Relaxes Encryption Rules"
The U.S. high-tech industry, as of Thursday, is allowed to export
strong encryption products to 23 foreign governments, under
relaxed encryption rules approved last year by the Clinton
administration.  The new rules allow companies to sell a wider . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1020f.html#item5

"The Place That Tech Forgot"
The habits of workers in the new, tech-driven economy may be
breaking down the idea of community, social scientists suggest.
"Technology, by erasing distance, is erasing also our sense of
place," says Harvard University professor Robert D. Putnam.  . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1020f.html#item6

"Germany Won't Tax Net Surfers at Work"
Germany has decided to nix its plans to tax the personal use of
the Internet in the workplace, fearing that the proposed tax law
would hurt Germany's ability to attract technology workers and
would keep workers from developing needed Internet skills.  The . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1020f.html#item7

"Geeks, Proud of the Name, Start a Volunteer Corps"
High-tech workers have formed their own group aimed at narrowing
the digital divide between Western countries and developing
nations.  Geekcorps sends IT professionals to places such as
Ghana to teach such computer skills as Java and Unix.  The idea . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1020f.html#item8

"Crystal Clarity for the Printed Word"
A number of technologies are emerging that aim to help e-books
replace their traditional print counterparts.  Early attempts at
selling e-books have not been widely successful, but experts such
as Microsoft head researcher of e-books Bill Hill say improving . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1020f.html#item9

"EarthLink Flaw Exposes Domains"
A software flaw and an improperly protected file exposed the
passwords to 81,000 domain accounts held by MindSpring, a
subsidiary of EarthLink.  EarthLink has begun an investigation of
the incident but says no consequences have resulted as of yet . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1020f.html#item10

"Candidates Offer Insights to Net Policies"
Tuesday night's debate between Al Gore and George W. Bush
provided insight into the shape of each presidential candidate's
Internet policy.  Responding to a question about the plethora of
pornography and bad language in movies, music, and other . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1020f.html#item11

"Internet Rain Puts a Bloom on the Business-to-Business Marketplace"
The number of electronic business-to-business (B2B) marketplaces
continues to expand and will total 3,000 by 2001 and 20,000 by
2003, according to Net Market Makers.  The rise of B2B exchanges
surprised many observers, who expected e-commerce to eliminate . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1020f.html#item12

"Temps Rule in Big Reversal, Unions Open Up"
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Aug. 25 decided to
allow temporary workers into labor unions, in a major shift of
U.S. labor policy that could lead to labor organization in the
high-tech industry.  The decision, which reverses almost 30 years . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1020f.html#item13

"Who's In Charge of IT?"
Managing IT operations and projects in an era when technology is
fast becoming integral to every business process demands that IT
managers have as much general business experience as technical
experience.  Meanwhile, business managers must possess an . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1020f.html#item14

"Is the PC Boom Over?"
Although personal computer makers are quick to blame everything
from a weak European market to consumers' concerns about the
economy, Wall Street does not agree that these factors are
responsible for slowing PC sales growth.  After recording slow . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1020f.html#item15

"DNS Security Upgrade Promises a Safer 'Net"
The new DNSSEC security technology will prevent spoof attacks on
the Internet, but it must overcome a number of obstacles before
it can be widely adopted.  DNSSEC will fix a glitch in the
Internet Domain Name System (DNS) that allows hackers to easily . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1020f.html#item16

"Tech Industry Doubles Its Campaign Contributions"
The high-tech industry is now among the top 10 industries making
political contributions.  According to research by the Center for
Responsive Politics, high-tech companies contributed $22 million
to campaigns this year, which ranks the industry ninth just ahead . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1020f.html#item17

"Enforcing Moore's Law"
Design engineers and chipmakers are researching new ways to
extend the life of silicon as the primary building material of
semiconductors.  Moore's Law states that the number of
transistors on a chip doubles every two years, thus increasing . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1020f.html#item18

"Internet Has Just Begun to Change Government"
The Aspen Institute of Washington recently held a meeting to
discuss what effect information technology will have on
democracy.  The invention of radio and television transformed
politics, but voter participation has declined since 1900--so it . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2000-2/1020f.html#item19

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