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ACM TechNews - Monday, May 13, 2002



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ACM TechNews
Volume 4, Number 348
Date: May 13, 2002

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Top Stories for Monday, May 13, 2002:
http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html


"Public Domain Info Under Threat, Say Groups"
"Vulnerability Is Discovered In Security for Smart Cards"
"Pentagon Alienating Elite Science Advisers"
"Wearable Computers Will Enhance the World We See"
"Developers Embrace Mac OS X 'Jaguar'"
"The PC Needs Improvement, Microsoft Exec Says"
"The Legal Theorist"
"Vietnam Gets Technical"
"Internet Governance Body Eases Off Government Involvement"
"Computer-based Artificial Societies May Create Real Policy"
"Lawrence Lessig: The "Dinosaurs" Are Taking Over"
"Supercomputing Platform Built for Gaming"
"Patching the Whois Database"
"Government Seeks E-Job Hunters"
"Five Uneasy Pieces"
"Waiting For Broadband"
"Enter the Cyborgs"
"We've Only Just Begun to Use IT Wisely"
"Grid Computing"


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

"Public Domain Info Under Threat, Say Groups"
Information accessible to the public domain, also known as the
"information commons," is being threatened from patent and
copyright enforcement, according to speakers at a conference
hosted by Public Knowledge and the New America Foundation (NAF). . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0513m.html#item1


"Vulnerability Is Discovered In Security for Smart Cards"
Today a pair of Cambridge University computer security
researchers plan to demonstrate a cost-effective technique
whereby thieves can steal the information contained in smart
cards.  Sergei Skorobogatov and Ross Anderson have learned that . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0513m.html#item2


"Pentagon Alienating Elite Science Advisers"
For over four decades, the U.S. government has looked to a group
of academic scientists code-named "Jason" for advice on numerous
national security issues, but that group may now be endangered.
Jason members were outraged when the Defense Advanced Research . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0513m.html#item3


"Wearable Computers Will Enhance the World We See"
Researchers at Columbia University and elsewhere are developing
augmented reality devices--wearable technology that allows people
to enhance their visual perceptions by overlaying imagery and
data over their view of the surrounding environment.  Thus far, . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0513m.html#item4


"Developers Embrace Mac OS X 'Jaguar'"
Macintosh developers are very excited about Jaguar, the upcoming
Mac OS X release Apple CEO Steve Jobs previewed less than a week
ago at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).  "It's clear
that Apple is listening to customers and developers and is . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0513m.html#item5


"The PC Needs Improvement, Microsoft Exec Says"
Tom Phillips, general manager of Microsoft's Windows Experience
Group, told a conference of Taiwanese hardware makers that
desktop and laptop computers need to be significantly improved in
order to spur consumer demand.  Speaking at the Windows Hardware . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0513m.html#item6


"The Legal Theorist"
Pamela Samuelson, law professor at the University of California
at Berkeley, continues to shape the legal understanding of
intellectual property rights in the digital age.  Samuelson, also
a board member for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, first was . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0513m.html#item7


"Vietnam Gets Technical"
Vietnam is shaping up to be a regional IT player as it works to
overcome the obstacles hindering it now, such as limited Internet
infrastructure and a relatively small IT workforce.  The
government-owned telecom monopoly, Vietnam Posts and . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0513m.html#item8


"Internet Governance Body Eases Off Government Involvement"
ICANN has published a working paper that endorses many of ICANN
President Stuart Lynn's reform proposals, though it is ambivalent
about Lynn's suggestion that world governments select some of the
organization's leaders.  In March, ICANN decided to restructure . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0513m.html#item9


"Computer-based Artificial Societies May Create Real Policy"
Policy analysts and social scientists are slow to embrace
agent-based computer models as a way to test their policies and
theories.  Instead, they are relying on empirical models that use
existing data.  Agent-based modeling creates numerous agents that . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0513m.html#item10


"Lawrence Lessig: The "Dinosaurs" Are Taking Over"
Stanford University law professor and digital rights activist
Lawrence Lessig says corporate entities are threatening the
future of e-business.  For one, Lessig says that network
infrastructure operators are creating biased systems that favor . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0513m.html#item11


"Supercomputing Platform Built for Gaming"
IBM has launched grid computing technology for the online gaming
world, helping gaming software firm Butterfly to set up a
scalable network with unlimited capacity.  The Butterfly network
will provide a scalable platform for online game developers to . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0513m.html#item12


"Patching the Whois Database"
When the Whois directory was structured in the early 1980s, it
was intended to be an information-resource about IP addresses,
but today marketers can use accurate Whois data to smother domain
name owners with sale pitches and other tedious marketing . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0513m.html#item13


"Government Seeks E-Job Hunters"
The U.S. government is using the Net to find qualified candidates
for IT positions by retooling portals and hosting virtual job
fairs in order to better compete with the private sector.  The
U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is upgrading its . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0513m.html#item14


"Five Uneasy Pieces"
Five technologies--biometrics, collaboration tools, business
process outsourcing, grid computing, and open-source
software--are being heavily promoted, but it is essential to
separate fact from hype.  Biometric security systems that . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0513m.html#item15


"Waiting For Broadband"
IT managers are keeping their pockets tight when it comes to
purchasing new networking equipment, thanks to discouraging
financial trends.  The market is undergoing a switch as more and
more enterprise customers work toward providing more effective . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0513m.html#item16


"Enter the Cyborgs"
Implants that deliver feedback to the brain have opened up an
ethical can of worms, with ethicists debating over whether such
implants could turn human beings into remote-controlled robots,
as demonstrated by a recent experiment in which scientists used . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0513m.html#item17


"We've Only Just Begun to Use IT Wisely"
Enterprise architecture will help businesses reap the true
benefits of IT systems, writes Leon A. Kappelman, director of the
IS Research Center and University of North Texas professor.
Currently, IT is focused on optimizing parts instead of the . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0513m.html#item18


"Grid Computing"
Grid computing--the organization of computers into interlinked
networks that can be tapped for processing power--has even more
growth potential than the Internet explosion of the 1990s,
according to California Institute for Telecommunications and . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0513m.html#item19


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