ACM TechNews - Monday, October 21, 2002

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ACM TechNews
Volume 4, Number 413
Date: October 21, 2002

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Top Stories for Monday, October 21, 2002:
http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html

"Feds Planning Early-Warning System for Internet"
"Global Organization Seeks Voice in Internet Addressing System"
"Little Gain Seen in Patent Filings"
"Slowdown Sending Tech Jobs Overseas"
"Nanotechnology Takes Off"
"Voiceprints Make Crypto Keys"
"Tiny Atomic Battery Developed at Cornell Could Run for Decades
 Unattended, Powering Sensors or Machines"
"Council and Parliament Agree on Electronic Waste Directive"
"A Boon for Nonprofits With Software Needs"
"The New Software Controversy"
"Scientists Build Musical Search Engine"
"Challenges: Speed Bumps Ahead For Semantic Web"
"Work Force Summit Could Miss Key Labor Issues, Critics Say"
"They'll Be Registering .Org Names in Horsham"
"Technology Needs to Change Us"
"Enterprise Play"
"Unplugged U."
"Super Soldiers"

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

"Feds Planning Early-Warning System for Internet"
The Global Early Warning Information System (GEWIS) that the U.S.
National Communications System (NCS) plans to create will be
designed to monitor the Internet's performance and alert federal
and industrial users of any threats.  Such a system "will provide ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1021m.html#item1

"Global Organization Seeks Voice in Internet Addressing System"
Last week at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
organizational conference, ITU member representatives voted for a
resolution calling on the ITU to take an active role in all
"discussions and initiatives" involving domain names and the ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1021m.html#item2

"Little Gain Seen in Patent Filings"
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office logged only 350,000 new
patent applications for fiscal year 2002, which ended in
September, compared to the 345,000 patent applications submitted
the year before.  Some say this relatively anemic growth in ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1021m.html#item3

"Slowdown Sending Tech Jobs Overseas"
Experts note that more technology jobs are being shifted overseas
as a result of the economic slump.  Giga Information Group's
Stephanie Moore reports that roughly two-fifths of Fortune 500
companies ship software operations overseas, and reckons that ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1021m.html#item4

"Nanotechnology Takes Off"
U.S. researchers believe the next three to five years will
witness nanotechnology breakthroughs that will revolutionize
medicine, environmental controls, and manufacturing.  However,
such advancements can only be achieved by thoroughly ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1021m.html#item5

"Voiceprints Make Crypto Keys"
So that users can upgrade computer password security without
making it more difficult to access computing resources, Bell Labs
researchers are developing cryptographic keys by merging
passwords and voiceprint technology.  Prototype software ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1021m.html#item6

"Tiny Atomic Battery Developed at Cornell Could Run for Decades
 Unattended, Powering Sensors or Machines"
Speaking at a meeting of Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency (DARPA) investigators, Amil Lal and Hui Li of Cornell
University described a prototype microscopic battery that taps
energy from a radioactive isotope that could last for decades and ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1021m.html#item7

"Council and Parliament Agree on Electronic Waste Directive"
The European Parliament and the European Council reached
agreements on Oct. 11 regarding two environmental directives--the
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) and
the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS).  Under ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1021m.html#item8

"A Boon for Nonprofits With Software Needs"
Although major software companies have been smarting from the
technology downturn, especially in Silicon Valley, they can still
maintain visibility and keep their products widely distributed by
donating them to nonprofits.  Microsoft, for example, contributed ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1021m.html#item9

"The New Software Controversy"
Washington, D.C., attorney Joel Wolfson and Carnegie Mellon
University professor Stephen Cross have different opinions on the
effect of the proposed Uniform Computer Information Transaction
Act (UCITA), which seeks to amend the rules regarding the ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1021m.html#item10

"Scientists Build Musical Search Engine"
Scientists at Queen Mary, University of London say they have
created an online search engine for musical pieces that could one
day be as popular as the Google search engine.  Users may soon be
able to locate songs just by singing tunes into their PCs, the ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1021m.html#item11

"Challenges: Speed Bumps Ahead For Semantic Web"
Architects of the Semantic Web are now occupied with developing
an XML-based computing environment even though XML is still an
emerging business tool.  Developers have largely accepted XML as
the lowest-level language for recognizing such concepts as cost ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1021m.html#item12

"Work Force Summit Could Miss Key Labor Issues, Critics Say"
The National Academies conference in November is designed as a
forum where electronics industry organizations, academia, and
professional associations can talk about critical American
science and technology workforce issues and recommend government ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1021m.html#item13

"They'll Be Registering .Org Names in Horsham"
ICANNWatch.org editor and University of Miami Professor Michael
Froomkin believes that Afilias will do a good job of making the
.org domain work, but he says that ICANN's process for selecting
the .org registry to succeed VeriSign was "a lost opportunity to ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1021m.html#item14

"Technology Needs to Change Us"
Technology futurist Esther Dyson says the hallmark of
long-lasting technologies is that they change society in some
way.  In contrast to many dot-com technologies, which simply
glossed over existing business processes or products, ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1021m.html#item15

"Enterprise Play"
The gaming industry is rapidly rolling out advancements in data
speed, graphics, and interactive computing that have attracted
the attention of corporate computer users.  Video cards that game
developers use to deliver 3D graphics have been adopted by ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1021m.html#item16

"Unplugged U."
Dartmouth College's campus-wide wireless network, which consists
of over 500 Wi-Fi antennas distributed over about 200 acres, is
significantly influencing education, study habits, social
interaction, and security.  The importance of knowledge sharing ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1021m.html#item17

"Super Soldiers"
The U.S. military is investing $50 million in a project that
seeks to enhance the performance and capabilities of soldiers
through nanotechnology.  MIT earned this contract after
demonstrating actual products, such as an "artificial muscle" ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1021m.html#item18


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