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ACM TechNews - Friday, August 16, 2002
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ACM TechNews
Volume 4, Number 387
Date: August 16, 2002
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Top Stories for Friday, August 16, 2002:
http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html
"Sleuths Invade Military PCs With Ease"
"S.F., S.J. Officials Vow to Act on Controlling E-Waste"
"Cambridge Tries U.S. Approach On Patent Profit"
"ACM Turing Winner Kristen Nygaard Dies at 75"
"Growing Pains for Linux, Open Source Standard-Bearer"
"New Ways to Power Hungry Mobile Devices"
"Hiring for Tech Jobs Fails to Pick Up, Slowing Recovery"
"Whither Wi-Fi?"
"A Campus for Collaboration, at a Billion Bits Per Second"
"HyperCard Forgotten, But Not Gone"
"Robot Competitions Finding a Place in Pop Culture"
"Russia Becoming IT Powerhouse"
"Russia to Host Next-Generation Tech Symposium"
"Geeks In Government: A Good Idea?"
"Quantum Cryptography Arrives"
"Quality Counts"
"Program Attracting Girls to Technical Studies"
"'Approachable Design' Not Just for Cars Anymore"
"Wireless Insecurity"
******************* News Stories ***********************
"Sleuths Invade Military PCs With Ease"
With little experience and without authorization, ForensicTec
Solutions security consultants breached many military and
government computer systems this summer using free, readily
available software; they say this proves that the networks are . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0816f.html#item1
"S.F., S.J. Officials Vow to Act on Controlling E-Waste"
With several bills for recycling electronic waste currently held
up in the California legislature, Bay Area officials announced
that they would propose local programs if delays continue. The
stalled bills include a proposal from Sen. Byron Sher (D-San . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0816f.html#item2
"Cambridge Tries U.S. Approach to Patent Profit"
Cambridge University's new policy of claiming ownership of
patents and intellectual property coming from its departments is
riling the community within and around the school. The area
surrounding Cambridge, dubbed "Silicon Fen," is widely seen as . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0816f.html#item3
"ACM Turing Winner Kristen Nygaard Dies at 75"
Norwegian computer pioneer and University of Oslo professor
Kristen Nygaard passed away on Aug. 10 at the age of 75. In the
1960s, he and the late Professor Ole-Johan Dahl created the
Simula programming language used to manage the complexity . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0816f.html#item4
"Growing Pains for Linux, Open Source Standard-Bearer"
A stronger corporate presence at this week's LinuxWorld
conference demonstrates the increasing popularity of the
open-source operating system, but Linux enthusiasts are worried
that the technology's grass-roots appeal is in danger because of . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0816f.html#item5
"New Ways to Power Hungry Mobile Devices"
Future mobile devices that include features such as Internet
access and color screens will probably consume power much more
rapidly, so manufacturers are looking for alternative power
sources. Gartner VP Ken Dulaney believes that the move toward . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0816f.html#item6
"Hiring for Tech Jobs Fails to Pick Up, Slowing Recovery"
Job growth in the technology sector is still stagnant and
hindering the economic recovery, despite indications earlier this
year that the tech job market was improving and would be much
better by now. Outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0816f.html#item7
"Whither Wi-Fi?"
In an interview with CNET News.com, Wireless Ethernet
Compatibility Alliance (WECA) Chairman Dennis Eaton says the
future of wireless LAN technology using the Wi-Fi brand name is
in the middle of a tug-of-war over the technology's future . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0816f.html#item8
"A Campus for Collaboration, at a Billion Bits Per Second"
Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of
Management hosts a broadband network that can transfer a billion
bits of data per second, a speed that CIO Lev Gonick estimates is
10 to 100 times faster than any other school's network . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0816f.html#item9
"HyperCard Forgotten, But Not Gone"
Apple's HyperCard programming software languishes as company
executives refuse to back updates for the aging code, which
hasn't had a meaningful update in 15 years, but many users still
say HyperCard is the best programming environment ever . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0816f.html#item10
"Robot Competitions Finding a Place in Pop Culture"
Robot competitions, which are growing in popularity, are seen as
both a sport and a way to interest young people in science and
engineering. In the International Design Contest (IDC), which is
entering its 13th year, multinational teams are given two weeks . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0816f.html#item11
"Russia Becoming IT Powerhouse"
Russia's software development outsourcing industry is gaining
clout on the global scene as companies continue to look for
top-notch programming talent at cheap prices. The country's
outsourcing sales have grown 50 percent per year, even while the . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0816f.html#item12
"Russia to Host Next-Generation Tech Symposium"
A symposium to be held in Moscow on Sept. 10-13 will concentrate
on microelectronics materials and processes. Some 500
international researchers from academia, industry, and national
laboratories are expected to attend, share their research, and . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0816f.html#item13
"Geeks In Government: A Good Idea?"
The hard truth is that Washington legislators strongly support
the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) even as technologists
fervently oppose it, and no amount of protesting is likely to
sway the lawmakers. The DMCA, the USA Patriot Act, and life . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0816f.html#item14
"Quantum Cryptography Arrives"
Quantum cryptography, which uses quantum mechanics to ensure that
encrypted content is perpetually safeguarded, may already be in
use for sensitive Washington, D.C., correspondence, according to
Bell Labs researcher Chris Fuchs. He received this impression . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0816f.html#item15
"Quality Counts"
The IT spending downturn has empowered IT managers to demand
better quality software from vendors. Rather than be a silent
victim, American Power Conversion (APC) threatened to no longer
act as a reference for its software vendor unless bugs in its . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0816f.html#item16
"Program Attracting Girls to Technical Studies"
The Girls Embrace Technology (GET) program is a six-week summer
internship designed to allow female high-school students in
Boulder, Colo., to become more familiar with engineering design,
physics, instructional design, and software development, in the . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0816f.html#item17
"'Approachable Design' Not Just for Cars Anymore"
So that office equipment such as printers, servers, and copiers
impart a satisfying user experience, designers are taking a cue
from the auto industry to give products a consistent appearance
and feel that incorporates such human factors as ease-of-use, . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0816f.html#item18
"Wireless Insecurity"
What makes wireless networks so vulnerable is not so much the
technology as poor management and a failure to make security a
key component of business strategy, according to experts. For
example, an anonymous hacker informed SecurityFocus that he was . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0816f.html#item19
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