ACM TechNews - Wednesday, May 8, 2002

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ACM TechNews
Volume 4, Number 346
Date: May 8, 2002

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Top Stories for Wednesday, May 8, 2002:
http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html

"High-Tech Job Growth Outpaces Other Occupations, Report Finds"
"Hewlett-Packard Announces New Leadership and Strategy"
"A Human Touch for Machines"
"Microsoft Cites Security Concerns in Arguing Against States'
 Proposed Penalties"
"Apple Gives Peek at OS X Update"
"House Bill to Tackle Net Privacy; Critics Have Doubts"
"Visa Panel Will Focus on Science"
"A Challenge to Dissect Some Code"
"Futuristic Small Technology Promises Big Changes for All of Us"
"Opto-Chips Transmit Data at Light Speed"
"Q&A: Ellen Ullman"
"Mutant Viruses Order Quantum Dots"
"Net Video's Obstacle to a Steady Stream"
"Another Click in the Wall"
"The Computer Virus of the Future"
"Computer Science Attracting Fewer Applicants"
"What Makes IT Workers Tick"
"Defender at the Gate"
"Hollywood Versus High-Tech"

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

"High-Tech Job Growth Outpaces Other Occupations, Report Finds"
The National Science Foundation's Science and Engineering
Indicators 2002 report forecasts that science and engineering
(S&E) employment opportunities will grow at a rate that is about
triple that for all occupations between 2000 and 2010.  The ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0508w.html#item1

"Hewlett-Packard Announces New Leadership and Strategy"
Hewlett-Packard, newly merged with Compaq Computer, announced its
new leadership structure and product strategy at a Flint Center
meeting today that was broadcast to 100,000 of the company's
150,000 employees.  The new company will be split into four ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0508w.html#item2

"A Human Touch for Machines"
The affective computing movement is an attempt to invest machines
with the ability to determine and understand human emotions to
smooth their interaction with users.  On a purely scientific
level, affective computers could shed new light on intelligence ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0508w.html#item3

"Microsoft Cites Security Concerns in Arguing Against States'
 Proposed Penalties"
Microsoft this week in court argued that releasing the source
code to Windows would allow hackers easier access to computer
networks, virus writers access to critical information, and
digital pirates tools for illegal copying.  In response to ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0508w.html#item4

"Apple Gives Peek at OS X Update"
Apple CEO Steve Jobs on Monday opened his company's developer
conference in San Jose with a sneak preview of the next version
of OS X and accompanying software.  He urged developers to devote
themselves to the new release, code-named Jaguar, and consider ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0508w.html#item5

"House Bill to Tackle Net Privacy; Critics Have Doubts"
House Energy and Commerce Consumer Protection Subcommittee
Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) plans to present legislation that
would require businesses to disclose their privacy policies and
information-gathering practices to consumers, enable consumers to ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0508w.html#item6

"Visa Panel Will Focus on Science"
The Interagency Panel on Advanced Science Security (IPASS) has
been formed to check foreign student visa applications for
possible terrorist risks.  The panel will evaluate as many 2,000
applications a year from researchers and students that seek to ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0508w.html#item7

"A Challenge to Dissect Some Code"
Security experts believe understanding malicious code is even
more essential to combating it than merely flushing it out of
systems, so the Honeynet Project has issued a challenge to
participating system administrators:  Download and dissect code ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0508w.html#item8

"Futuristic Small Technology Promises Big Changes for All of Us"
The Foresight Institute, a nonprofit nanotechnology booster,
posits that the field could yield tremendous breakthroughs, such
as the elimination of illness and the synthesis of any type of
conceivable material.  The other side of the coin is nanotech's ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0508w.html#item9

"Opto-Chips Transmit Data at Light Speed"
Larry Dalton of the University of Washington's new Center for
Materials and Devices for Information Technology believes that
photonics research can be applied to the defense, satellite
communications, telecommunications, and computing industries, as ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0508w.html#item10

"Q&A: Ellen Ullman"
Author and veteran programmer Ellen Ullman says technology is
reaching a crucial point now that there is less focus on its
money-making potential.  As engineers and programmers work on
innovative ideas without aiming to commercialize it as soon as ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0508w.html#item11

"Mutant Viruses Order Quantum Dots"
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have been able
to create a three-dimensional grid of quantum dots using
genetically-engineered viruses designed to bind to zinc sulphide
molecules through a sequence of peptides at one end.  When mixed ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0508w.html#item12

"Net Video's Obstacle to a Steady Stream"
Apple, RealNetworks, and Microsoft have announced enhanced
streaming media systems that aim to eliminate video hiccups and
delays, but analysts contend that it will still be a while before
the quality of Internet video equals that of television.  The ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0508w.html#item13

"Another Click in the Wall"
Businesses are beginning to deploy extranet technology in order
to collaborate with colleagues, business partners, and
customers.  Extranets, which fall somewhere between the very
public Web site and a more private intranet, usually require a ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0508w.html#item14

"The Computer Virus of the Future"
Analysts portend that computer viruses of the future may be
capable of inflicting even more damage; with more business,
government, and military systems migrating to the Internet,
Symantec research director Stephen Trilling predicts that ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0508w.html#item15

"Computer Science Attracting Fewer Applicants"
The economic recession may be partly responsible for a drop-off
in the number of high school seniors applying to some of the
country's leading undergraduate computer-science programs.  For
example, fall applications to Carnegie Mellon University's ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0508w.html#item16

"What Makes IT Workers Tick"
Companies are using employee development programs to boost the
skills of their IT workers and maintain competitive advantage.
When Home Depot implemented Java a few years ago, it
cross-trained existing developers on the system, thus keeping ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0508w.html#item17

"Defender at the Gate"
Geo-encryption technology being pioneered by Georgetown
University professor Dorothy Denning is a cryptographic method by
which data is scrambled and stays that way until it reaches
specific locations with the aid of Global Positioning System ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0508w.html#item18

"Hollywood Versus High-Tech"
The threat of digital piracy and the entertainment industry's
determination to stop it is putting copyright owners and
technology companies at odds.  Not even collaboration to develop
copyright technology standards has helped bring about a ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0508w.html#item19


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