ACM TechNews - Friday, December 27, 2002

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ACM TechNews
Volume 4, Number 439
Date: December 27, 2002

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Top Stories for Friday, December 27, 2002:
http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html

"1.1 Million Jobs Coming for Haggard IT Workforce"
"EU Copyright Law Misses Deadline"
"India Is Regaining Contracts With U.S."
"The Year Ahead: Top Ten Technologies to Watch"
"Critics Fear Broadcast Flag Would Stomp on Consumer Rights"
"Ex-Hacker Will Soon Be Allowed to Use the Internet Again"
"'No-Touch' Typing for Disabled"
"Eyeing the Costs of the Tech Boom"
"The Code That Cuts Both Ways"
"Erasing the Blind Spot: A Driver's Aid Averts Traffic Jams"
"Piracy Foes' Big Legal Stick Cut Shorter by Prudent Jury"
"Sharing the Riches"
"Top Ten Trends 2003"
"Computer Clocks Wind Down"
"Why You Might Soon Feel More Secure about Insecure Software"
"God Is the Machine"

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

"1.1 Million Jobs Coming for Haggard IT Workforce"
Although U.S. firms laid off 500,000 tech workers in 2002, a new
study from the Information Technology Association of America
predicts that 1.1 million tech workers will be hired back in
2003.  After two consecutive years of falling numbers, the size ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1227f.html#item1

"EU Copyright Law Misses Deadline"
Despite aggressive lobbying, the Dec. 22 deadline for the
adoption of the European Union's Copyright Directive has come and
gone, with only two member states, Greece and Denmark,
instituting it.  The directive, which the EU approved in April, ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1227f.html#item2

"India Is Regaining Contracts With U.S."
Indian companies and the India-based units of overseas firms are
taking more outsourcing contracts after a lull following the
Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.  In Bangalore and other high-tech nodes
in India, companies such as Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1227f.html#item3

"The Year Ahead: Top Ten Technologies to Watch"
The year 2003 will see continued improvement in wireless
networking, location-based mobile services, radio-frequency ID
(RFID) chips, displays, and other technologies.  More devices
will come equipped with Bluetooth wireless connectivity, and new ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1227f.html#item4

"Critics Fear Broadcast Flag Would Stomp on Consumer Rights"
Inserting broadcast flags into television transmissions in order
to limit or prevent unauthorized distribution of programs will
violate consumers' rights and stifle high-tech innovation,
critics charge.  The flag, which devices would pick up to render ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1227f.html#item5

"Ex-Hacker Will Soon Be Allowed to Use the Internet Again"
Famed and convicted hacker Kevin Mitnick will be released Jan. 20
from probation, which bars him from using computers, software,
modems, or any other devices connecting to the Internet without
prior permission.  He has been granted permission to use a cell ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1227f.html#item6

"'No-Touch' Typing for Disabled"
Programmers at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil
have produced a free adaptable software program that disabled
people use to operate computers and home automation systems.
Once downloaded onto a user's computer, the Motrix program allows ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1227f.html#item7

"Eyeing the Costs of the Tech Boom"
Every technological revolution has a downside:  For the
information technology and networking boom, that downside
includes information overload and intense competition that
threatens to inundate unskilled workers and consumers.  Other ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1227f.html#item8

"The Code That Cuts Both Ways"
There is widespread agreement that publicly disclosing computer
security flaws is necessary, but experts disagree on how much
information should be disclosed, and how soon after bugs are
discovered should the public be notified.  Computer vendors such ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1227f.html#item9

"Erasing the Blind Spot: A Driver's Aid Averts Traffic Jams"
Technology firms and automakers are looking into
driver-assistance systems that can make the roads safer and less
congested.  Different types of monitoring devices would help
drivers respond faster to traffic conditions so that isolated ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1227f.html#item10

"Piracy Foes' Big Legal Stick Cut Shorter by Prudent Jury"
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) received a serious
set-back recently as a jury in San Jose acquitted a defendant
prosecuted under that law.  Elcomsoft was standing trial for
selling an e-book copying program over the Internet which ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1227f.html#item11

"Sharing the Riches"
Lotus founder Mitch Kapor is funding the nonprofit Open Source
Applications Foundation (OSAF) that focuses on bringing
open-source software to PC users in order to make information
exchange more intuitive.  OSAF's centerpiece is Chandler, a ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1227f.html#item12

"Top Ten Trends 2003"
Red Herring's sixth annual top 10 trends list concentrates on
emerging technologies likely to make a significant impact in
2003; they are expected to balance out some of the more negative
trends, and owe a great deal of their development to the Sept. 11 ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1227f.html#item13

"Computer Clocks Wind Down"
The reliability of the synchronous circuits or "clocks" common in
most computers is more difficult to maintain as chips increase in
size and complexity, and their heat output and power consumption
rise with each new chip generation.  To find a solution, ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1227f.html#item14

"Why You Might Soon Feel More Secure about Insecure Software"
The software industry is notorious for releasing products with
inadequate security, and consumers have accepted this as the
status quo.  Software security was lax because there was
initially no call for it, but the growth of networking and ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1227f.html#item15

"God Is the Machine"
Digital physicists argue that the universe could well be the
ultimate computer, and that all existence is, in essence, a
function of computation.  Adding weight to such suppositions are
the theories that all things--equations, multimedia works, even ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1227f.html#item16


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