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ACM TechNews - Friday, May 24, 2002
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ACM TechNews
Volume 4, Number 353
Date: May 24, 2002
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Top Stories for Friday, May 24, 2002:
http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html
"Microsoft Describes Plans to Let Consumers Replace Its Software
With Rivals'"
"Open-Source Fight Flares At Pentagon"
"Personal Robot of the Future Today"
"EFF Responds in California DVD Cracking Case"
"Similar Graphs Raised Suspicions on Bell Labs Research"
"Sensors Seen Enabling New-Age Services"
"Tech Toxics' Tarnished Legacy"
"Science, Education Bills Clear Committee"
"Cornell Students Build Computer Cluster with Castoffs"
"Digital Warriors"
"ICANN Tackles Management Basics"
"Visions Of a Wild and Wireless Future"
"Format's Redesign Yields Faster Image Files"
"Biotech Future to Wed Biology, Computers"
"India Tackles the Digital Divide"
"Internet Navigators Think Small"
"Quality First"
"Simple Science"
"Back to the Future"
******************* News Stories ***********************
"Microsoft Describes Plans to Let Consumers Replace Its Software
With Rivals'"
Microsoft this week demonstrated its compliance with the core
penalty levied against it in the antitrust settlement struck with
the Justice Department last year. Government lawyers will review
the company's solution, which involves a 40 MB software update . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item1
"Open-Source Fight Flares At Pentagon"
Over the past few months Microsoft has been urging the Pentagon
to stop using open-source software on the grounds that it
represents a threat to security and intellectual property, but a
May 10 Mitre report for the Defense Department arrived at the . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item2
"Personal Robot of the Future Today"
The ER1 from Evolution Robotics is the first mass-produced robot
capable of carrying out mundane but helpful tasks. In its basic
form, the ER1 is a wheeled metal box with a camera; by plugging
it into a laptop, users can program the robot via a graphic . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item3
"EFF Responds in California DVD Cracking Case"
The California Supreme Court received a brief from the Electronic
Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the First Amendment Project on
Wednesday calling for it to support a Court of Appeals ruling to
overturn a preliminary injunction that prevents the disclosure of . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item4
"Similar Graphs Raised Suspicions on Bell Labs Research"
Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs has convened an independent panel
to investigate the possibility that Bell Labs physicist Dr. J.
Hendrik Schon may have doctored data in a number of research
papers concerning molecular electronics. The panel will probe . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item5
"Sensors Seen Enabling New-Age Services"
Sensors with wireless connections to the Internet will spark a
new information revolution while a hotbed of innovative
commercial applications will eventually make it possible for
users to reconfigure their equipment on the fly. Paul Saffo of . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item6
"Tech Toxics' Tarnished Legacy"
A new research report details how California-based manufacturers
of high-tech hardware are polluting the environments of
developing nations. The Nautilus Institute for Security and
Sustainable Development and the National Heritage Institute's . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item7
"Science, Education Bills Clear Committee"
The House Science Committee on Wednesday passed two bills
designed to boost science and technology education and research.
The Investing in America's Future Act of 2002 (H.R. 4664)
provides a $2 billion funding increase for the National Science . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item8
"Cornell Students Build Computer Cluster with Castoffs"
Two Cornell University undergraduates are building a computer
cluster unit with machines donated by Mitre as well as discards
found around campus. Computer science sophomore Nick Burlett
says, "The cluster...is mostly a proof-of-concept that we are . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item9
"Digital Warriors"
Some researchers believe artificially intelligent computer
systems could help detect or forestall terrorist attacks,
although their accuracy is still an unknown factor. Global
Security Organization director John Pike notes that intelligence . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item10
"ICANN Tackles Management Basics"
ICANN plans to meet in private during this weekend to discuss
restructuring proposals and reach a consensus on the best way to
move forward, says ICANN's Mary Hewitt. Domain name consultant
Michael Palage says that ICANN will use President Stuart Lynn's . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item11
"Visions Of a Wild and Wireless Future"
Robert Kahn, executive director of the not-for-profit think tank
the Corporation for National Research Initiatives, helped create
the TCP/IP protocols the Internet is based upon today and says
the most innovative and valuable uses of that network are yet to . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item12
"Format's Redesign Yields Faster Image Files"
The long wait times to download JPEG files so that images can be
recreated over the Internet may become a thing of the past thanks
to a format upgrade called JPEG 2000. Digital cameras, printers,
Adobe Photoshop, and other products that will support the new . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item13
"Biotech Future to Wed Biology, Computers"
There must be a solid workforce to process a vast amount of
genetic data so that new drugs, personalized medicine, and other
bioinformatics applications can become a reality, but right now
there is a shortage of expertise. Biology training has . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item14
"India Tackles the Digital Divide"
The Indian government, community-oriented companies, and
technology vendors are working to break down the barriers keeping
India's rural masses from accessing the Internet. HP Labs India,
for example, is focusing on three tracks representative of other . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item15
"Internet Navigators Think Small"
Researchers investigating the structure of the Internet say the
network configures itself along sociological lines to form
tight-knit communities. A group of sites that have similar
focuses and interests share far more links with one another than . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item16
"Quality First"
Software quality has become a hot-button issue for
business-technology managers, who are sending vendors the message
that accountability lies with them. An April InformationWeek
Research survey of 800 business-technology managers finds that 97 . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item17
"Simple Science"
After 11 years of intense research, researcher and
multimillionaire Stephen Wolfram is convinced that almost all
complex phenomena--whether it be weather or human thought
patterns--follow simple, basic rules, a theory that often puts . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item18
"Back to the Future"
In an effort to keep pace with Moore's Law, chip companies are
exploring ways to enhance or replace shrinking silicon chips with
new semiconductor materials that could also yield many
breakthrough products. Intel's Gerald Marcyk explains that . . .
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item19
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