ACM TechNews - Friday, June 8, 2001

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ACM TechNews
Volume 3, Number 212
Date: June 8, 2001
Site Sponsored by Gateway (http://www.gateway.com)

Top Stories for Friday, June 8, 2001:
http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html

"Government's 'Matrix' Project Searches for Computer Vulnerabilities"
"Judge Asked for Ruling on Copyright"
"Tech Sales Slow Down Overseas"
"IBM Silicon Makes Faster Computers"
"Intel, Rivals, and SIA Saying Chips Down, But Rebound Looms"
"117,000 Visas Issued in Expanded H1-B"
"Spying Good Value, U.S. Tech Firms Hire Ex-KGBers"
"Report: U.S. Computer Export Controls Irrelevant"
"Ergonomics Hearings Planned"
"EU Plans Anti-Hacking Law"
"Among Code Warriors, Women, Too, Can Fight"
"When It Comes to Home PCs, the Penguin Doesn't Rule"
"ICANN May Face Restructuring"
"Hey, Bill, What's the Big Idea?"
"IT in Schools: Government Must Try Harder"
"A Call to Arms"
"The New Philanthropy"
"Test of Faith"
"Software for the 4th Dimension"

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

"Government's 'Matrix' Project Searches for Computer Vulnerabilities"
An inter-agency group of federal researchers is mapping the
computer systems critical to national stability.  Under the
auspices of the Department of Commerce's Critical Infrastructure
Assurance Office, the Matrix Project meets with different . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0608f.html#item1

"Judge Asked for Ruling on Copyright"
Princeton University computer-science professor Edward W. Felten
and his colleagues have asked a federal court to overturn
provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA)
that prevent them from publishing their research on cracking . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0608f.html#item2

"Tech Sales Slow Down Overseas"
The tech industry, which had been holding out hope that Europe
and other foreign markets would remain strong during the current
economic downturn in the United States, are now admitting that
their troubles may be global.  This week, Compaq, which counts on . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0608f.html#item3

"IBM Silicon Makes Faster Computers"
IBM next Wednesday will announce that it has developed a new
method of increasing processing speed in computer chips.  Chips
built using this new method will consume less power while
providing processing speeds 30 percent to 35 percent faster than . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0608f.html#item4

"Intel, Rivals, and SIA Saying Chips Down, But Rebound Looms"
Intel on Thursday said its revenue projections for the second
quarter were holding up and hinted that the semiconductor
industry may have begun its rebound.  Intel CFO Andy Bryant said
the situation was "not a disaster anyplace," but, "routine . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0608f.html#item5

"117,000 Visas Issued in Expanded H1-B"
The number of H1-B visas, which allow highly skilled foreign
workers to remain in the United States for up to six years,
issued this fiscal year by the Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS) now stands at 117,000, with some 40,000 still . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0608f.html#item6

"Spying Good Value, U.S. Tech Firms Hire Ex-KGBers"
An influx of programmers from the former Soviet Union is
impacting the hiring patterns of U.S. tech firms.  Although no
exact numbers are available, it seems the number of Russian tech
workers emigrating to the United States to work for U.S. firms or . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0608f.html#item7

"Report: U.S. Computer Export Controls Irrelevant"
The U.S. government should cease restricting the sale of powerful
computers overseas, concludes a new report from the Center for
Strategic Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.  The
report says most foreign governments now have access to computers . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0608f.html#item8

"Ergonomics Hearings Planned"
The Labor Department will hold public hearings next month to
determine how it will--or will not--confront the issue of
repetitive-motion injuries in the workplace.  The Clinton
administration had enacted tough new rules on companies' . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0608f.html#item9

"EU Plans Anti-Hacking Law"
The European Commission, the executive branch of the European
Union, on Wednesday revealed a series of proposed measures to
protect computer and IT security.  Those measures include a new
law against computer hacking and a new marketing campaign to . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0608f.html#item10

"Among Code Warriors, Women, Too, Can Fight"
Female computer professionals and teenage hackers are rarities in
the programming world, distinguished by their gender in a
male-dominated field.  One spokesperson for Defcon, the annual
hacker conference, estimated that the event drew one female for . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0608f.html#item11

"When It Comes to Home PCs, the Penguin Doesn't Rule"
In a market dominated by Microsoft Windows, Linux controlled a
mere 1.5 percent share of the desktop PC market last year,
according to data from International Data (IDC), with the
operating system's complexity and the dominance of Windows cited . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0608f.html#item12

"ICANN May Face Restructuring"
ICANN might have to be restructured in response to a call from
country code operators to create a separate supporting
organization for ccTLD operators, a move that would give them
more representation on ICANN's board.  Country code operators are . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0608f.html#item13

"Hey, Bill, What's the Big Idea?"
At the JavaOne programming language conference on Wednesday, Sun
Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy demonstrated Sun's new JXTA
programming architecture, which will enable peer-to-peer use in
almost all areas of the Internet.  Joy pointed to a JXTA . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0608f.html#item14

"IT in Schools: Government Must Try Harder"
A majority of the chief executives and board members of the
United Kingdom's 15 largest firms believe that the government
should take a greater role in promoting IT, including making IT
training a compulsory part of the school curriculum, according to . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0608f.html#item15

"A Call to Arms"
The United Nations has issued a report claiming that the global
demand for the ore Columbite-tantalite, or coltan, is helping
fuel the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Coltan
can be refined to get the highly heat-resistant metal powder . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0608f.html#item16

"The New Philanthropy"
The decline in the tech economy has not stopped the industry's
millionaires from giving to worthwhile causes.  Giving USA, a
publication that tracks philanthropy, says charitable donations
grew 6.6 percent last year to $12.7 billion--although that is the . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0608f.html#item17

"Test of Faith"
The IT confidence index, a new InformationWeek survey of 300 IT
and business managers, decreased 13.2 percent from the first to
second quarters of this year.  However, a separate survey
conducted by the magazine found that 70 percent of companies are . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0608f.html#item18

"Software for the 4th Dimension"
University of Maryland computer-science graduate research
assistant Harry Hochheiser is developing new software to improve
database searches based on time-series queries.  For example, an
analyst could use the software to seek stocks with values fitting . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/0608f.html#item19


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