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ACM TechNews - Wednesday, February 12, 2003
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ACM TechNews
Volume 5, Number 457
Date: February 12, 2003
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Top Stories for Wednesday, February 12, 2003:
http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html
"Congress Agrees to Bar Pentagon From Terror Watch of Americans"
"Software Licensing Act Hits Snag With Lawyer Group"
"Woman Sues Software Makers Over Licensing Terms"
"MEMS to Remain a Niche Technology?"
"If U.S. Launches Cyberattack, It Could Change Nature of War"
"Researchers Announce World's Smallest Switch"
"New Mac Tool Is Kon-Fabulous"
"DARPA Releases Strategic Plan"
"Falling Prey to Machines?"
"Intel Developer Forum To Cover New Tracks, Latest Advancements"
"At FCC, Gadget-Freak Powell Shapes Digital Future"
"The Internet Might Just Save the Planet"
"Bridging the 'Power Gap'"
"Applying Space Technology on Earth"
"EU Proposes Agency to Coordinate Internet Security"
"Goodbye GUI? Ambient Orb a Computer 'Mood Ring'"
"The Best Thing Since the Bar-Code"
"Blurring Lines"
"Mega-Bandwidth Gets Real"
"Take a Number"
******************* News Stories ***********************
"Congress Agrees to Bar Pentagon From Terror Watch of Americans"
Negotiators from the Senate and the House of Representatives have
agreed to prohibit the Pentagon from using the Total Information
Awareness (TIA) project to spy on innocent American citizens.
Last Friday's announcement that the Pentagon would set up several ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0212w.html#item1
"Software Licensing Act Hits Snag With Lawyer Group"
The Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA), which
proponents claim would create a software licensing law that could
be applied nationally and reduce liability costs for software
vendors, may be in jeopardy because the American Bar Association ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0212w.html#item2
"Woman Sues Software Makers Over Licensing Terms"
A San Francisco-area chef is suing software vendors Microsoft and
Symantec, and their retailers, for not allowing consumers to
return software when they do not agree with its licensing terms.
Cathy Baker's lawyer, Ira Rothken, says existing contract law ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0212w.html#item3
"MEMS to Remain a Niche Technology?"
Panelists at the International Solid State Circuits Conference
(ISSCC) in San Francisco expected microelectromechanical (MEMS)
devices to be a key market driver without making any definite
predictions about when they will take off. They wondered whether ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0212w.html#item4
"If U.S. Launches Cyberattack, It Could Change Nature of War"
The nature of war could undergo a fundamental shift if a nation
launches a coordinated cyberattack on another, according to
historians. The effects of such an attack are hard to predict,
and that is why the U.S. military is debating the use and ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0212w.html#item5
"Researchers Announce World's Smallest Switch"
Physics scientists have created the world's smallest electrical
switch using a single molecule sandwiched between two gold
surfaces. A scanning tunneling microscope's gold tip is used to
switch the benzene-dithiolate (BDT) molecule, which contains ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0212w.html#item6
"New Mac Tool Is Kon-Fabulous"
A new open-architecture Mac software called Konfabulator promises
to allow anyone to create their own mini-applications. Arlo
Rose, who together with Greg Landweber created Kaleidoscope for
customized Mac environments, plans to replicate that success with ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0212w.html#item7
"DARPA Releases Strategic Plan"
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) outlined
eight key research areas in a report disclosed to the public on
Feb. 6. In the area of counterterrorism, one of DARPA's chief
projects is the Total Information Awareness (TIA) project, a ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0212w.html#item8
"Falling Prey to Machines?"
John Holland, recipient of the first computer science Ph.D in
1959, says artificial intelligence is possible, but will take far
more work on the conceptual side. Holland is now a computer
science and psychology professor at the University of Michigan ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0212w.html#item9
"Intel Developer Forum To Cover New Tracks, Latest Advancements"
The upcoming Intel Developer Forum (IDF), a leading industry event for
designers and developers, will offer new tracks on Intel technology as
well as in-depth technical training on the latest advances in computing
and communications. IDF, slated for Feb. 18-21 at the San Jose McEnery ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0212w.html#item10
"At FCC, Gadget-Freak Powell Shapes Digital Future"
FCC Chairman Michael Powell is an avowed technology aficionado
and unabashed advocate of free market economics, and Powell's
vision for the technology industry is to promote progress by
having the government study the markets and intervene as little ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0212w.html#item11
"The Internet Might Just Save the Planet"
Despite the global economic downturn, several Internet-driven
trends are providing new growth and promise, writes Jeff Davies.
First, communication barriers have largely been erased, allowing
one-person businesses to be available all the time via cell ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0212w.html#item12
"Bridging the 'Power Gap'"
Because portable electronic devices have developed so quickly in
the last few years, their functions have outstripped traditional
batteries' ability to power them adequately. President Bush
attempted to address this need in his recent proposal for ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0212w.html#item13
"Applying Space Technology on Earth"
Searchers for debris of the space shuttle Columbia used global
positioning devices to mark the exact location of finds.
Observers say many popular current technologies, including the
Global Positioning System (GPS), were originally spawned or made ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0212w.html#item14
"EU Proposes Agency to Coordinate Internet Security"
The European Union on Monday proposed creating an agency to
monitor Internet security throughout Europe. It could take up to
nine months for the European Parliament and the EU member
countries to approve the agency; Erkki Liikanen, EU information ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0212w.html#item15
"Goodbye GUI? Ambient Orb a Computer 'Mood Ring'"
Forthcoming products developed by Ambient Devices have the
potential to dramatically change computer/person interaction,
according to Ambient executives. One of the products is a large
orb that is wirelessly linked to Internet data feeds via pager ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0212w.html#item16
"The Best Thing Since the Bar-Code"
Academic researchers are working with businesses to develop smart
label technology that promises to replace the bar code as a
universal method for identifying and tracking just about
anything. Consumer goods manufacturers see radio-frequency ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0212w.html#item17
"Blurring Lines"
The availability of new technology that can be used in the office
as well as in the home gives IT managers and chief technologists
more to think about when they make their IT decisions. Employees
are increasingly purchasing new wireless communications devices ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0212w.html#item18
"Mega-Bandwidth Gets Real"
Advanced networking, high-bandwidth technologies are already
being used to link hundreds of sites throughout the United
States, and they are starting to penetrate the corporate sector.
Over 200 U.S. colleges, government sites, and corporations are ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0212w.html#item19
"Take a Number"
Although the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has been
awarding business-method patents (class 705) since 1998, many
people say they can be detrimental to commercial activities. An
example of business-related intellectual property is Amazon.com's ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0212w.html#item20
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