ACM TechNews - Friday, August 9, 2002

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ACM TechNews
Volume 4, Number 384
Date: August 9, 2002

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Top Stories for Friday, August 9, 2002:
http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html

"Lights, Camera, Legislation"
"OECD Publishes Cyber-Security Guidelines"
"Congress Reassesses Tech Office"
"New Method Said to Solve Key Problem In Math"
"Data Crunch Looks to Optics for Relief"
"Italy Sponsors Technology Transfer to Developing Countries"
"Breakthrough Technique Promises More Complex Chips"
"Computer Talk"
"New Homeland Security Agency Is Looking For a Few Good Nerds"
"Team Recruits for Tech Careers"
"Charmed by Six Feet of Circuitry"
"IBM, DARPA Team on Low-Power Computing"
"HP Looks to Keep Systems Cool"
"Atomic 'Thinning' Could Allow Instant Boot-Up, Memory Access"
"Resumes Pile Up, Yet Key Jobs Open"
"Speech Technologies For the 21st Century"
"Uncommon Sensors"

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

"Lights, Camera, Legislation"
On Thursday, the FCC will debate digital broadcast copy
protection, which movie studios such as Disney are clamoring for,
against the protests of the high-tech industry.  High-tech
companies are placing big bets on the advent of digital ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item1

"OECD Publishes Cyber-Security Guidelines"
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
published a new version of its cyber-security guidelines this
week after updating them for the first time in a decade.  The
U.S. State Department has praised the revised guidelines as an ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item2

"Congress Reassesses Tech Office"
Congress has gone without its independent technology assessment
body for seven years since its funding was cut by Republicans in
1995.  Now, calls are growing for the reestablishment of the
Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), which provides unbiased ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item3

"New Method Said to Solve Key Problem In Math"
Three Indian Institute of Technology researchers have devised a
new algorithm that enables computers to identify prime numbers
rapidly and accurately.  This could have significant
ramifications for data encryption, where prime numbers are an ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item4

"Data Crunch Looks to Optics for Relief"
Demand for dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) optical
networking is being sparked by the corporate need to transfer and
manage large amounts of data, and Todd Bundy of Adva Optical
Networking believes storage could become optical networking's ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item5

"Italy Sponsors Technology Transfer to Developing Countries"
Italy, under the leadership of technology minister and former IBM
executive Lucio Stanca, has embarked on several projects to make
information technology accessible to the poor people of
developing countries.  Reducing the digital divide in these ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item6

"Breakthrough Technique Promises More Complex Chips"
IBM and Nion researchers disclosed the development of an electron
microscope of unmatched precision in the Aug. 8 issue of Nature.
They claim the device can produce an electron beam a mere three
billionths of an inch wide.  The unparalleled accuracy yielded by ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item7

"Computer Talk"
Synthesized speech technology is being furthered by advances in
computer technology, and is now able to completely recreate
people's voices using complex software.  And although the
technology is not cheap, its use is spreading to many areas.  ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item8

"New Homeland Security Agency Is Looking For a Few Good Nerds"
The Department of Homeland Security's most pressing problem is
connecting its computer systems to those of other federal
agencies, and RBC Capital Markets analyst Cynthia Houlton notes
that this effort is complicated by a shortage of IT workers, ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item9

"Team Recruits for Tech Careers"
In order to draw more youths to math, science, and technology,
two agencies have pledged to combine their resources.  The
Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and the National
Sciences Center (NSC) will work together to instill interest ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item10

"Charmed by Six Feet of Circuitry"
The highlight of the 2002 conference of the American Association
for Artificial Intelligence in Alberta, Canada, was Grace
(Graduated Robot Attending Conference), a machine that was the
end result of a project that integrated the technology and ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item11

"IBM, DARPA Team on Low-Power Computing"
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will commit
$2 million to an IBM research project to make high-end computing
systems more reliable and energy efficient, the partners
announced today.  The project will be part of DARPA's Power Aware ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item12

"HP Looks to Keep Systems Cool"
Hewlett-Packard announced on Tuesday an initiative to produce
technologies that aim to dissipate heat generated by computer
chips and datacenters.  The company reports that heat output is a
growing problem, and estimates that chips just one-eighth of an ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item13

"Atomic 'Thinning' Could Allow Instant Boot-Up, Memory Access"
Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories and Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory (PNNL) say they have hit upon a method for
maintaining the thinness of atomic layers used for electronics
and computer material, which could pave the way for ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item14

"Resumes Pile Up, Yet Key Jobs Open"
Companies say it is difficult finding employees with senior level
IT skills, while at the same time a half-million technology
workers overall are expected to lose their jobs this year.  Last
year, about 500,000 tech workers lost jobs.  According to a ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item15

"Speech Technologies For the 21st Century"
The increasing sophistication of speech recognition and speech
synthesis technology--and the convergence of the two--is yielding
interfaces that are changing phone-directed business and will
soon make a significant impact on how users access and control ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item16

"Uncommon Sensors"
More useful and precise sensor technology is expected to develop
thanks to advances in microelectronics, manufacturing, and
wireless systems, according to researchers.  Investments in
military space and missile defense projects are directly ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item17


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