ACM TechNews - Wednesday, May 23, 2001

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ACM TechNews
Volume 3, Number 206
Date: May 23, 2001
Site Sponsored by Gateway (http://www.gateway.com)

Top Stories for Wednesday, May 23, 2001:
http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html

"Shifting Sands"
"Avant, Execs Plead No Contest in Code Theft Case"
"FBI Unit Fails to React on Time to Electronic Threats, Report Says"
"Biotech Industry Developing Worldwide Standard for Data"
"PCs Responding Better to Recycling"
"Keeping Innovation Alive in a Downturn"
"Ex-KGB Expert Unveils New Computer Shield"
"Big Data Centers Stand Empty"
"Commentary: The Seed of a Web Services Plan"
"Electronic Meetings Increase as Travel Eases"
"Sen. Kerry: Online Taxes, Privacy Changes Coming"
"Malaysian Tech Firms Fear Censorship Under Proposed New Federal
 Net Laws"
"Predicting the Death of the Internet"
"Does Opennenss Help or Hurt?"
"Pushing Pens"
"Stopping Diversity From Walking Away"
"The State of Software: Quality"
"You're Fired, Go Home"

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

"Shifting Sands"
Although the weakness in the tech sector job market is seen as a
boon to some recruiters, the long term effects could be
detrimental to companies.  Companies such as Cisco, Intel, Palm,
and Inktomi each have let go significant numbers of employees . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0523w.html#item1

"Avant, Execs Plead No Contest in Code Theft Case"
Semiconductor design firms Avant and Cadence Design Systems have
resolved a criminal case in which six executives, including its
CEO, have had to pay substantial fines and even serve jail time
for stealing code.  Avant's founders left their former employer . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0523w.html#item2

"FBI Unit Fails to React on Time to Electronic Threats, Report Says"
A new report from the General Accounting Office (GAO) has
identified numerous problems at the FBI's National Infrastructure
Protection Center (NIPC), which since 1998 has sought to identify
electronic threats from terrorists and hackers.  The NIPC, the . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0523w.html#item3

"Biotech Industry Developing Worldwide Standard for Data"
The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) has announced plans
to develop a global standard for biological data.  The standard
would dictate what biological data can be stored in databases and
how that data should be stored to facilitate use across different . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0523w.html#item4

"PCs Responding Better to Recycling"
Stanford Resources says 500 million PCs will be out of service by
2007, and Hewlett-Packard and other PC manufacturers are working
on ways to recycle their customers' used PCs, printers, and other
peripherals.  In the meantime, some states have taken legislative . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0523w.html#item5

"Keeping Innovation Alive in a Downturn"
Companies such as Intel and technology designer IDEO are working
to inspire their employees' creativity despite the economic
gloom.  Intel CFO Andy Bryant says the company has reconsidered
its plan to mandate time off for its employees.  Instead, says . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0523w.html#item6

"Ex-KGB Expert Unveils New Computer Shield"
Victor Sheymov, head of Virginia-based Invicta Networks and a
former KGB agent in charge of encrypting messages who defected to
the United States in 1980, has announced the invention of an
Internet security tool that would dwarf all others.  The Variable . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0523w.html#item7

"Big Data Centers Stand Empty"
Data centers along the Dulles Technology Corridor outside of
Washington, D.C., are standing empty due to the sudden drop-off
in demand.  Developers had been building the centers to house the
infrastructure for local ISPs such as UUNet and PSINet as well as . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0523w.html#item8

"Commentary: The Seed of a Web Services Plan"
Analysts at research firm Meta Group see Apple's new Unix-based
OS X as a maneuver that could possibly signal that company's
entrance into the Web services arena.  A Unix base would allow
Apple to provide Web services more efficiently and adopt . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0523w.html#item9

"Electronic Meetings Increase as Travel Eases"
Internet, telephone, and video conferencing are in greater demand
as companies look to cut down on travel expenses.  Web-based and
other forms of remote conferencing will garner 28 percent more
revenue than last year for a total of $10.5 billion in software . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0523w.html#item10

"Sen. Kerry: Online Taxes, Privacy Changes Coming"
Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) has announced plans to reintroduce a
bill that would give online retailers the right to collect
Internet users' personal data for use in marketing initiatives.
Kerry said that online marketers and businesses would be at a . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0523w.html#item11

"Malaysian Tech Firms Fear Censorship Under Proposed New Federal
 Net Laws"
The Malaysian government has threatened to censor Internet
companies in Malaysia as it does with print media companies,
which could hamper Malaysia's development of the "Multimedia
Super Corridor," a project meant to create an Asian "Silicon . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0523w.html#item12

"Predicting the Death of the Internet"
The Internet medium has lost its appeal and revealed itself to be
inherently boring and non-eventful, say Forrester analysts.  But
as Internet culture shifts away from the legacy system that is
the Internet, it will free the way for innovators to create the X . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0523w.html#item13

"Does Opennenss Help or Hurt?"
There is some debate among professionals who make computer
security and encryption tools over whether or not openness is
beneficial or harmful.  The use of the same source code might
help professionals secure a site, but such openness could also . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0523w.html#item14

"Pushing Pens"
Although some manufacturers believe that the market still is not
ready to embrace pen-based tablet computers, Microsoft is not
among them. The company unveiled a tablet PC at the ACM 2001
Computer-Human Interaction (CHI01) Conference in Seattle last . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0523w.html#item15

"Stopping Diversity From Walking Away"
IBM has established the Multicultural People in Training (MPIT)
project as a way to retain its roster of minority and women
workers as the job market for tech workers becomes even more
competitive.  For minority and women tech workers--executives in . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0523w.html#item16

"The State of Software: Quality"
The impact of defective software code on U.S. businesses is
immense, causing firms to lose nearly $100 billion last year in
repair costs, down-time, and lost productivity, according to the
market research firm Standish Group.  A software programmer, on . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0523w.html#item17

"You're Fired, Go Home"
The current economic downturn is causing confusion and distress
for many foreign tech workers employed in the United States
through the H-1B visa program.  This program has been cited by
the tech industry as a key source of highly skilled labor, and . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0523w.html#item18


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