ACM TechNews - Wednesday, December 5, 2001

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ACM TechNews
Volume 3, Number 284
Date: December 5, 2001

Top Stories for Wednesday, December 5, 2001:
http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html

"Goner Worm Spreads, Tries to Delete Firewalls"
"Bills Would Boost Electronic Security Research Funding"
"Cyber-Security Chief Petitions Execs"
"Internet Linked to Growth"
"Looking Ahead to 'The Year of the New Network'"
"New Priorities at Work"
"Biotech and IT Link Up as Technologies Converge"
"Experience Wanted"
"Energy Saving Marvel"
"Microsoft Is Resisting Licensing Of Its Code"
"IT: The Industry Without Women"
"What Sticks: Robo Sapiens"
"Entertainment Wins Rounds; Digital Copyright Fight Goes On"
"Sizing Up Supercomputers"
"Taking Curl for a Whirl"
"2001 InfoWorld 100"
"Are We There Yet?"
"H-1B Refugees"
"Sneaky Calculations"

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

"Goner Worm Spreads, Tries to Delete Firewalls"
Goner is a new computer worm spreading throughout the Internet,
masquerading as an email attachment that needs to be
double-clicked for it to activate.  The email message claims that
the attachment is a screen saver.  When launched, Goner is ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1205w.html#item1

"Bills Would Boost Electronic Security Research Funding"
Legislators are expected to introduce a pair of bills on Tuesday
that would dramatically increase federal funding for
cyber-security and IT projects.  The Network and Information
Technology Research Advancement Act would offer a 50 percent ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1205w.html#item2

"Cyber-Security Chief Petitions Execs"
Federal cybersecurity chief Richard Clarke urged technology
companies to provide users with free security software and called
on them to be more stringent in applying their products' security
features.  He also asked software companies to be more proactive ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1205w.html#item3

"Internet Linked to Growth"
A study sponsored by Cisco Systems indicates that the Internet
had an impact on worker productivity in the late 1990s, and is
poised to boost productivity even further in the next 10 years.
The report is based on a survey of 2,065 companies, many of which ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1205w.html#item4

"Looking Ahead to 'The Year of the New Network'"
Despite some analysis that the year 2002 is a consolidation year
for IT with no new breakthroughs, the number of new wireless
standards and developments promise to bring that sector to the
fore next year.  PricewaterhouseCooper's Bo Parker predicts that ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1205w.html#item5

"New Priorities at Work"
Recruiters report that more and more tech workers are interested
in nonprofit jobs.  Pathfinders director Anthony A. Spadafore
says the economic slump is partly responsible for this trend.
The reliability of the nonprofit sector is another attractive ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1205w.html#item6

"Biotech and IT Link Up as Technologies Converge"
As the gap closes between biotechnology and computing, separate
industries such as pharmaceutical labs and high-tech firms could
come together into hybrid mergers.  Some 140 alliances between
biotech and IT companies currently exist, with particular ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1205w.html#item7

"Experience Wanted"
Today's business environment is seeing more new tech startups
seeking the wisdom of tested tech entrepreneurs who join the team
as investors, directors, or advisors.  Ethernet inventor and 3Com
founder Bob Metcalfe, for example, works with Avaki, Nanosys, ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1205w.html#item8

"Energy Saving Marvel"
Intel and other PC-centric companies are advocating a new
power-saving standard for home computers that could save $2.5
billion annually by 2010 if implemented in every desktop system
in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1205w.html#item9

"Microsoft Is Resisting Licensing Of Its Code"
Microsoft is arguing that the European Union would be violating
international law if it demanded the company to license its
Windows source code, according to a source privy to a
confidential court document.  The European Union is investigating ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1205w.html#item10

"IT: The Industry Without Women"
The number of female network professionals in Western Europe is
expected to double by 2004, although they will still comprise
only a small portion of the employee population, concludes an IDC
report for Cisco Systems.  The increase will certainly not be ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1205w.html#item11

"What Sticks: Robo Sapiens"
Forthcoming computing technologies will become more and more
sensitive to human emotions and will be designed to evoke
emotional responses in people.  Such machines are likely to be
used as artificial pets and playmates.  Affective machines such ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1205w.html#item12

"Entertainment Wins Rounds; Digital Copyright Fight Goes On"
Hollywood studios and music labels have won two major cases
questioning the scope of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act,
but consumer rights and free speech activists say the law will
eventually be narrowed.  Eric Corley, owner of the hacker Web ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1205w.html#item13

"Sizing Up Supercomputers"
New supercomputer applications shown at ACM's SC2001 conference
were presented using super-powered connections to the fastest
networks in existence.  The show was built using four 2.5-gigabit
lines accessing Internet2, NASA's network, the National Science ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1205w.html#item14

"Taking Curl for a Whirl"
A new programming language promises to boost Web site browsing
speed and significantly cut site development time and simplify
maintenance.  Curl 1.0 aims to replace HTML and Java, allowing
Web sites to operate with a single language rather than relying ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1205w.html#item15

"2001 InfoWorld 100"
The 2001 InfoWorld 100 are managing to cut costs, boost
productivity, and be profitable in the face of an economic
recession and political instability as a result of the terrorist
attacks.  Furthermore, they are able to do so while fostering ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1205w.html#item16

"Are We There Yet?"
Although the Linux open-source operating system has made
significant strides as an enterprise-application server, compared
to 17 months ago, challenges still remain.  A lack of support and
qualified personnel are still major roadblocks in adopting Linux ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1205w.html#item17

"H-1B Refugees"
The economic downturn, coupled with over 1 million unemployed
American workers clamoring for jobs, has eroded the security of
many foreign workers living in the United States on H-1B visas.
Many are out of work, and the prospect of finding new jobs in the ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1205w.html#item18

"Sneaky Calculations"
Researchers at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana say
parasitic computing offers a way in which the Internet can be
used as a computer.  In their tests, physicists Albert-Laszlo
Barabasi and Hawoong Jeong and computer scientists Jay B. ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1205w.html#item19


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