ACM TechNews - Friday, August 2, 2002

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ACM TechNews
Volume 4, Number 381
Date: August 2, 2002

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Top Stories for Friday, August 2, 2002:
http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html

"Grey Matter More Prevalent in Silicon Valley"
"DMCA Defenders in Enemy Territory"
"Senate Approves Trade Bill Vital to Valley"
"In an Ancient Game, Computing's Future"
"Forgery Bill Could Criminalize Copying"
"Honey, Who Shrank the Circuits?"
"Security Czar Points Finger of Blame"
"Technology Innovation: The Key to Recovery"
"Same Job. Different Cubicle."
"Grid Computing Aims To Harness 'Clusters'"
"PC, Mac OS Updates May Spark Bluetooth"
"Teaching Machines to Hear Your Prose and Your Pain"
"Nanotechnology Backers See Trillion-Dollar Industry"
"Arguing the Case for a Smarter Disk Drive"
"China in Giant Software Push"
"Copyright as Cudgel"
"Fun & Games--and Business Insight"
"Going Hybrid"
"Silicon-Germanium Gives Semiconductors the Edge"

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

"Grey Matter More Prevalent in Silicon Valley"
A rise in the average age of technology workers over the last two
years is becoming more and more apparent, especially now that
Silicon Valley's dot-com boom is over.  Corporate executives are
approaching middle age, while the lower-level employees are also ...
<http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0802f.html#item1>

"DMCA Defenders in Enemy Territory"
The debate between copyright holders, consumer advocates, and
consumer electronics vendors was illustrated at a panel
discussion in Silicon Valley on Thursday.  Ronald Wheeler of Fox
Entertainment Group and Mitch Glazier of the Recording Industry ...
<http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0802f.html#item2>

"Senate Approves Trade Bill Vital to Valley"
The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a bill granting the president
the authority to negotiate international trade agreements that
cannot be revised by Congress, a move that high-tech companies in
Silicon Valley have fervently lobbied for.  More and more ...
<http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0802f.html#item3>

"In an Ancient Game, Computing's Future"
The ancient board game Go has generated tremendous interest in
artificial intelligence, at least for people who are trying to
develop capable computer Go programs.  A recent tournament for
such programs was held in Edmonton, Alberta, and showed the ...
<http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0802f.html#item4>

"Forgery Bill Could Criminalize Copying"
A bill proposed by Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) originally outlawed
the counterfeiting of any "physical feature" used to authenticate
software, music, and movies, but a recent revision that removes
the word "physical" from the proposal has critics and consumer ...
<http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0802f.html#item5>

"Honey, Who Shrank the Circuits?"
Various nanotechnology research teams presented their
breakthroughs this week at the 26th International Conference on
the Physics of Semiconductors in Edinburgh.  Three teams reported
that they were able to fabricate nanowires that integrate layers ...
<http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0802f.html#item6>

"Security Czar Points Finger of Blame"
Speaking at the Black Hat Security conference is Las Vegas, White
House cyber security advisor Richard Clarke cited five groups
responsible for the vulnerability of the Internet:  ISPs,
software makers, wireless network makers and users, the ...
<http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0802f.html#item7>

"Technology Innovation: The Key to Recovery"
The technology sector's research and development efforts are
suffering due to the slump in corporate technology spending.
Customers are focused on making their current IT investments work
better and are not interested in implementing the absolute latest ...
<http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0802f.html#item8>

"Same Job. Different Cubicle."
Former employees of VA Linux Systems say the company was doomed
by its hugely successful IPO, which saw the company's stock shoot
up 800 percent on the first day of trading.  The stock market
success was short-lived as the intense scrutiny and investor ...
<http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0802f.html#item9>

"Grid Computing Aims To Harness 'Clusters'"
Grid computing--in which PCs, servers, or other machines are
connected in clusters--offers a low-cost way for companies to
solve complex problems by tapping into a shared resource of
unused computing power.  In addition to cutting costs, grid ...
<http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0802f.html#item10>

"PC, Mac OS Updates May Spark Bluetooth"
The adoption of Bluetooth support in upcoming Microsoft and
Macintosh operating system updates should help the fledgling
technology.  Apple says its Macintosh OS X 10.2 operating system,
due out Aug. 24, will feature native Bluetooth support, while ...
<http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0802f.html#item11>

"Teaching Machines to Hear Your Prose and Your Pain"
Speech recognition software's ability to detect prosody in human
speech is severely limited, and researchers around the world are
working to make programs more capable of interpreting pauses,
timing, pitch, volume, and other cues that can be translated into ...
<http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0802f.html#item12>

"Nanotechnology Backers See Trillion-Dollar Industry"
The establishment of the New Jersey Nanotechnology Laboratory was
announced on Wednesday by government, industry, and academic
leaders.  The not-for-profit lab, formed by a consortium of
private and state interests, will initially receive $4 million in ...
<http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0802f.html#item13>

"Arguing the Case for a Smarter Disk Drive"
Gordon Hughes, associate director of the University of
California, San Diego's Center for Magnetic Recording Research,
believes that computer and disk drive manufacturers could realize
significant cost savings by building smarter drives capable of ...
<http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0802f.html#item14>

"China in Giant Software Push"
China Software Industry Association President Chen Chong says
that China plans to capture about 3 percent of the world software
market by 2005, which would allow software companies to control
over 60 percent of the domestic market while earning $3 billion ...
<http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0802f.html#item15>

"Copyright as Cudgel"
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a serious threat
to fair use rights, but few academics have raised their voices in
protest, even when the law was still being deliberated.  The law
essentially allows ISPs, content hosts, and search engine owners ...
<http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0802f.html#item16>

"Fun & Games--and Business Insight"
IT workers are using business simulation tools to help them
better understand companies and their place in them; executives
say that employees can follow corporate goals better, think more
cost-effectively, and be encouraged to pursue potentially ...
<http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0802f.html#item17>

"Going Hybrid"
The open-source software movement is starting to reveal its
limitations and opportunities as it becomes more pervasive.
Although many startup firms and Linux-only businesses have gone
bankrupt trying to make money off open-source, a number of ...
<http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0802f.html#item18>

"Silicon-Germanium Gives Semiconductors the Edge"
Silicon-germanium (SiGe) technology is fueling the current
expansion of optical networking and cheap, lightweight personal
communications devices because of its many advantages, which
include reduced electronic noise and power consumption, faster ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0802f.html#item19

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