[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
ACM TechNews - Wednesday, July 9, 2003
Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber:
Welcome to the July 9, 2003 edition of ACM TechNews,
providing timely information for IT professionals three times a
week. For instructions on how to unsubscribe from this
service, please see below.
ACM's MemberNet is now online. For the latest on ACM
activities, member benefits, and industry issues,
visit http://www.acm.org/membernet
Remember to check out our hot new online essay and opinion
magazine, Ubiquity, at http://www.acm.org/ubiquity
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ACM TechNews
Volume 5, Number 517
Date: July 9, 2003
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - -
Site Sponsored by Hewlett Packard Company ( <http://www.hp.com> )
HP is the premier source for computing services,
products and solutions. Responding to customers' requirements
for quality and reliability at aggressive prices, HP offers
performance-packed products and comprehensive services.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - -
Top Stories for Wednesday, July 9, 2003:
http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html
"Antispam Legislation Hits Rocky Road"
"Dissertation Could Be Security Threat"
"Talking Computers Nearing Reality"
"New Memory That Doesn't Forget"
"Group To Simplify Linking Digital Devices"
"'Augmented Reality' Speeding Assembly and Service Tasks"
"Finally, a Purpose for Nanotech to Turn on Average Joe:
Big-Screen TVs"
"Researchers Use Lab Cultures to Create Robotic 'Semi-Living Artist'"
"Researchers Tinker With Tangled Webs"
"Tech Giants Try to Convince Girls It's Chic to Be a Geek"
"European Software Patents Row Continues"
"The Lure of Data: Is It Addictive?"
"Recommenders Can Skew Results"
"P2P's Little Secret"
"Calling Via Internet Has Suddenly Arrived"
"Net Hacks Just Starting"
"Researchers Power Up Server Clusters"
"RFID Finds Its Place"
"Meet the ZigBee Standard"
******************* News Stories ***********************
"Antispam Legislation Hits Rocky Road"
Several antispam proposals being considered by Congress are
dividing lawmakers, as demonstrated at a July 8 hearing by the
House Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security Subcommittee on the
Reduction in Distribution (RID) of Spam Act. The RID Spam ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0709w.html#item1
"Dissertation Could Be Security Threat"
The doctoral dissertation of 29-year-old George Mason University
(GMU) geography student Sean Gorman poses a serious threat to
national security, according to government and private sector
officials who have seen the work. Gorman has devised a computer ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0709w.html#item2
"Talking Computers Nearing Reality"
Upcoming products from IBM and Microsoft aim to bring the dream
of conversational computers closer to reality and move the
technology out of niche markets. Microsoft will issue on July 9
the first public beta of its Speech Server software, a back-end ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0709w.html#item3
"New Memory That Doesn't Forget"
Motorola and IBM are backing magnetoresistive technology for the
next generation of computer RAM, allowing users to access data up
to six times faster than static RAM and skip tedious boot-up and
load waits. Cell phones and PDAs will be the first to ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0709w.html#item4
"Group To Simplify Linking Digital Devices"
Most downloading via broadband is handled by PCs, but the
recently inaugurated Digital Home Working Group aims to better
facilitate home networking by developing universal standards for
linking digital products and digital media. Collaborative ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0709w.html#item5
"'Augmented Reality' Speeding Assembly and Service Tasks"
Augmented reality (AR) systems that relay context-related data as
images are expected to accelerate productivity in prototype and
small-volume assembly, service tasks, complex system maintenance,
and product development. Siemens' Automation and Drives division ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0709w.html#item6
"Finally, a Purpose for Nanotech to Turn on Average Joe:
Big-Screen TVs"
Nanotechnology is moving from the realm of scientific dream and
nightmare into the living room of normal people. Motorola
announced a breakthrough fabrication process that uses carbon
nanotubes in a large, thin-panel TV. The company said the ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0709w.html#item7
"Researchers Use Lab Cultures to Create Robotic 'Semi-Living Artist'"
A robotic machine that can draw pictures based on the neural
activity of several thousand rat brain cells in a petri dish is
the result of a collaborative venture between American and
Australian researchers. The robot, which resides at the ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0709w.html#item8
"Researchers Tinker With Tangled Webs"
Princeton University is the epicenter of an academic and
commercial consortium researching novel ways to strengthen the
Internet and eliminate spam. The PlanetLab group is funded
mostly by member institutions Rutgers, Stanford, Harvard, ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0709w.html#item9
"Tech Giants Try to Convince Girls It's Chic to Be a Geek"
Summer camps and programs run by the likes of IBM, Intel, and
others aim to interest girls in science, engineering, and math in
the hopes that they will pursue technical careers and reverse a
growing shortfall in the male-dominated U.S. tech workforce. The ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0709w.html#item10
"European Software Patents Row Continues"
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have come into conflict
with the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FEII)
over the European Commission's Proposal for a Directive on the
Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions. The proposed ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0709w.html#item11
"The Lure of Data: Is It Addictive?"
Psychology experts such as Harvard University's Edward M.
Hallowell and John Rately are studying a new form of addiction:
Pseudo-attention deficit disorder, a malady that affects highly
wired types--executives, businesspeople, consumers, and ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0709w.html#item12
"Recommenders Can Skew Results"
University of Minnesota researchers ran several experiments to
determine the accuracy of online recommender systems, and the
results indicate that the way the systems are set up can
influence user opinions. Using the Movie Lens recommender ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0709w.html#item13
"P2P's Little Secret"
Keeping peer-to-peer (P2P) file-swappers anonymous is difficult,
because P2P networks are designed to maximize efficiency rather
than cloak users' identities. Directly swapping files between
computers with unique Internet Protocol addresses makes it easy ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0709w.html#item14
"Calling Via Internet Has Suddenly Arrived"
Internet-based telephony is likely to ripple throughout the
telecommunications industry and lure many customers away from
traditional phone services with its advantages. The pluses of
Internet phone service include cheaper service rates because ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0709w.html#item15
"Net Hacks Just Starting"
MIT Professor of applied mathematics Dr. Tom Leighton, a member
of the U.S. President's Information Technology Advisory Committee
(PITAC), says that recent hacker attacks have been relatively
benign and that more malicious attacks could be forthcoming. He ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0709w.html#item16
"Researchers Power Up Server Clusters"
Jeff Chase of Duke University's Department of Computer Science is
developing "Cluster-on-Demand" software that allows users to
share computer clusters by tapping a single group of servers to
build multiple virtual systems. Such a breakthrough could help ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0709w.html#item17
"RFID Finds Its Place"
Many believe that radio frequency identification (RFID)
technology will make a splash in the supply chain management
sector thanks to the convergence of increasing technological
sophistication, standardization, and falling prices. The Auto-ID ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0709w.html#item18
"Meet the ZigBee Standard"
The ZigBee protocol and the IEEE 802.15.4 standard it works with
could become the core technology of future wireless sensors
thanks to an array of advantages. The 802.15.4 specification
supports strong data reliability split across 27 channels in a ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0709w.html#item19
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- To review Monday's issue, please visit
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0707m.html
-- To visit the TechNews home page, point your browser to:
http://www.acm.org/technews/
-- To unsubscribe from the ACM TechNews Early Alert Service:
Please send a separate email to listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
with the line
signoff technews
in the body of your message.
-- Please note that replying directly to this message does not
automatically unsubscribe you from the TechNews list.
-- To submit feedback about ACM TechNews, contact:
technews@xxxxxxxxxx
-- ACM may have a different email address on file for you,
so if you're unable to "unsubscribe" yourself, please direct
your request to: technews-request@xxxxxxx
We will remove your name from the TechNews list on
your behalf.
-- For help with technical problems, including problems with
leaving the list, please write to: technews-request@xxxxxxx