ACM TechNews - Wednesday, November 13, 2002

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ACM TechNews
Volume 4, Number 422
Date: November 13, 2002

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Top Stories for Wednesday, November 13, 2002:
http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html

"House OK's Computer Security Bill"
"An Innovation Recession?"
"New Tech Taps Solar Power to Deliver Broadband"
"'Rewiring' File-Sharing Networks May Stop Attacks"
"U.S. Hopes to Check Computers Globally"
"Photonic Crystals in Uniforms"
"Tech Futures: Where Workers and Investors Will Find
 Opportunities in the Years Ahead"
"Silicon Hogs"
"CMU Work Aims to Change Relationship Between Vehicle, Driver"
"Few Firms Have Figured Out How to Make MEMS Quickly and Cheaply"
"Government-Backed Software Security Study Takes Off"
"Map Data Goes Live with Voice, Gesture-Based Computer System"
"Internet Turf War Playing Out"
"Three New 'Net Domains Could Be Added Next Year"
"IBM's 3D IC: No Funny Glasses Needed"
"New Software Cages Hacker Attacks"
"Heart of the Matter"
"A Scientific Funding Fight"
"Why 6-Legged Bots Rule"

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

"House OK's Computer Security Bill"
The $903 million Cyber Security Research and Development Act,
which will fund cybersecurity projects and training programs over
the next five years, was approved by the U.S. House of
Representatives on Tuesday.  Under the bill, the National ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1113w.html#item1

"An Innovation Recession?"
A study estimates that tech spending on research and development
fell 8 percent between mid-2001 and early 2002 because of the
economic recession, and analysts are troubled that this will
impact technological innovations, which are regarded as vital to ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1113w.html#item2

"New Tech Taps Solar Power to Deliver Broadband"
Researchers at the University of Southern California, San Diego
(UCSD) have developed broadband microwave antennas powered by
solar panels to deliver wireless connectivity to remote areas.
"The use of solar panels to power wireless broadband ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1113w.html#item3

"'Rewiring' File-Sharing Networks May Stop Attacks"
Stanford University researchers have developed a network design
model that would prevent attackers from crashing peer-to-peer
(P2P) file-sharing networks, including movie studios and music
labels that want to stop pirated works from being traded online. ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1113w.html#item4

"U.S. Hopes to Check Computers Globally"
Former national security adviser John Poindexter, who runs the
new Information Awareness Office, has proposed a global computer
surveillance system that would be used to study commercial and
government databases worldwide for evidence of terrorist ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1113w.html#item5

"Photonic Crystals in Uniforms"
MIT researcher Yoel Fink has conceived of polymer-based photonic
crystals that could be used as part of a $50 million Defense
Department contract to create an exoskeleton that would give
soldiers enhanced abilities.  Fink's planned contribution to the ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1113w.html#item6

"Tech Futures: Where Workers and Investors Will Find
 Opportunities in the Years Ahead"
In order for the technology sector to start selling its products
again, it does not need to introduce revolutionary products, but
simply further the penetration of existing ones throughout the
economy.  Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan noted last week
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1113w.html#item7

"Silicon Hogs"
Growing e-waste resulting from more and more electronic equipment
being junked is a well known problem, but a new study to be
published in the December issue of Environmental Science &
Technology indicates a huge amount of materials and energy is ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1113w.html#item8

"CMU Work Aims to Change Relationship Between Vehicle, Driver"
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) are working to
make interaction between drivers and electronic vehicle systems
easier and safer, given the risk of distraction caused by both
the increasing sophistication of vehicle electronics and the ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1113w.html#item9

"Few Firms Have Figured Out How to Make MEMS Quickly and Cheaply"
The road to mass production of microelectromechanical systems
(MEMS) is paved with obstacles, including high cost, a
still-developing infrastructure, packaging difficulties, and a
lack of standards.  Despite these hurdles, WTC forecasts that the ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1113w.html#item10

"Government-Backed Software Security Study Takes Off"
As part of the U.S. government's Software Protection Initiative
(SPI), the Air Force Research Laboratory awarded Network
Associates with a $1.8 million research contract focusing on
projects such as the production of a secure development ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1113w.html#item11

"Map Data Goes Live with Voice, Gesture-Based Computer System"
With funding from the National Science Foundation, Penn State
researchers have developed a prototype interface technology that
allows people to access Geographic Information System (GIS) map
data using gestures and vocal commands.  Emergency management ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1113w.html#item12

"Internet Turf War Playing Out"
The ICANN reform decisions approved at ICANN's Shanghai meeting
make the meeting ICANN's most eventful ever by launching ICANN
into a new era free of user-participation mechanisms and publicly
elected board members, writes Michael Geist.  ICANN has chosen ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1113w.html#item13

"Three New 'Net Domains Could Be Added Next Year"
ICANN President Stuart Lynn has recommended the creation of three
more top level domains, but they will probably be reserved for
specific online communities, and Lynn says that such limitations
could help avoid the huge domain rush that occurred during ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1113w.html#item14

"IBM's 3D IC: No Funny Glasses Needed"
IBM announced today that it has developed a new fabrication
technique for three-dimensional integrated circuits (ICs) that
would significantly boost the density, performance, and
functionality of chips.  The company said the slow adoption of 3D ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1113w.html#item15

"New Software Cages Hacker Attacks"
Experts at Pennsylvania State University have developed a program
that lures prospective hackers into fake databases, confines any
altered data, and almost instantly repairs the database.  As a
result, legitimate users can continue to operate the database ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1113w.html#item16

"Heart of the Matter"
Companies and government agencies are rethinking IT
infrastructure in order to boost efficiency, functionality,
performance, and flexibility, and the factors fueling this trend
include the need for real-time computing, collaborative business, ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1113w.html#item17

"A Scientific Funding Fight"
A congressional proposal to double the National Science
Foundation's $5 billion budget over the next three to five years
has been halted by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB),
which contends through officials and other opponents that the ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1113w.html#item18

"Why 6-Legged Bots Rule"
Robert J. Full of the University of California at Berkeley is
using his expertise in animal locomotion to advise technology
developers such as Segway Human Transporter inventor Dean Kamen
on how to create more effective, stable, and mobile mechanisms.  ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1113w.html#item19


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