ACM TechNews - Monday, September 8, 2003

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ACM TechNews
Volume 5, Number 542
Date: September 8, 2003

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Top Stories for Monday, September 8, 2003:
http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html

"IT Links to Blackout Under Scrutiny"
"Suits Could Clarify File-Sharing Rules"
"Databases: The Next Copyright Battle?"
"Computer Helps Translate Gap Between 'He Said, She Said'"
"Worlds in Transition: IT in Eastern Europe"
"With Networks, Slow and Steady Sometimes Wins the Race"
"NTU Announces Multimedia Software Research Results"
"Networking From the Rooftop"
"Emerging Community Asks Big Questions About Accelerating Change"
"MIT's RoboSnails Model Novel Movements"
"Joining the Digital Ranks: Worldwide Computer Certification"
"Rediscovering the Internet"
"Internet Companies See Value in Misaddressed Web Traffic"
"BA Predicts the Future"
"They Know Where You Are"
"Epidemic"
"Big Bad World"
"Technology and Human Vulnerability"
"Call for ACM Award Nominations"

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

"IT Links to Blackout Under Scrutiny"
The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Forces, the Homeland Security
Department, and the private sector have been collaborating since
Aug. 14 to determine the cause of the recent power outage but
have yet to uncover any evidence clearly indicating that ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0908m.html#item1

"Suits Could Clarify File-Sharing Rules"
Individual peer-to-peer file-swappers are under the gun in court,
as the recording industry prepares to file suit against hundreds
of people who have both downloaded and made available copyrighted
files.  The new cases will push the boundaries of copyright law ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0908m.html#item2

"Databases: The Next Copyright Battle?"
The U.S. House of Representatives' Energy and Commerce
Committee and Judiciary Committee will conduct a joint hearing
on a proposal to grant publishers of factual information protection
from that data's unauthorized duplication, according to a Commerce ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0908m.html#item3

"Computer Helps Translate Gap Between 'He Said, She Said'"
The Winnow computer program developed by researchers at the
Illinois Institute of Technology can determine whether anonymous
messages are written by men or women with over 80 percent
accuracy, and such technology could be used to increase the ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0908m.html#item4

"Worlds in Transition: IT in Eastern Europe"
Although the economies of Eastern European countries have been
characterized by turbulence since the fall of the Iron Curtain,
Ned Cabot of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency says Eastern
Europe may be experiencing faster growth than any other region ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0908m.html#item5

"With Networks, Slow and Steady Sometimes Wins the Race"
Ember CTO Robert Poor believes that slow and steady wireless
networks, rather than the fast and smart networks supported by
Such highly touted standards as Bluetooth and 802.11, may come
out on top in certain situations.  Such networks would consist of ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0908m.html#item6

"NTU Announces Multimedia Software Research Results"
A Taiwanese research group has developed advanced information
storage technologies that work with MPEG-4 and MPEG-7.  The
Communication and Multimedia Laboratory at National Taiwan
University (NTU), which includes more than 80 researchers, ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0908m.html#item7

"Networking From the Rooftop"
Multi-hop mesh networks, such as MIT's Roofnet, which consists of
wireless nodes that can be either stationary or mobile, are much
less expensive to set up than DSL or cable and can be used to
surpass the "last mile" barrier and make broadband Internet ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0908m.html#item8

"Emerging Community Asks Big Questions About Accelerating Change"
The first Accelerating Change Conference (ACC2003) is to be held
Sept. 12-14 at Stanford University, gathering 24 futurists
and prominent thinkers.  Foresight Institute Chair K. Eric
Drexler will speak about the long-term goals of nanotechnology ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0908m.html#item9

"MIT's RoboSnails Model Novel Movements"
Researchers in MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering have
created two robots that mimic the locomotion of snails, and the
findings derived from their performance could clear the way for
new forms of movement in future systems.  RoboSnails I and II ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0908m.html#item10

"Joining the Digital Ranks: Worldwide Computer Certification"
Workers spend an average of three hours a week dealing with
computer-related problems, and over 70 percent of that time
is wasted because they lack fundamental computing knowledge,
estimates a recent Cap Gemini Ernst & Young report.  In an effort ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0908m.html#item11

"Rediscovering the Internet"
Bob Frankston believes the Internet is at risk of returning to
its primitive roots by re-establishing complex networks that
tangle up infrastructure.  Efforts to stop such developments only
encourage people to interfere in the Internet even further, he ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0908m.html#item12

"Internet Companies See Value in Misaddressed Web Traffic"
Internet companies, including AOL Time Warner and Microsoft, are
banking on mistyped addresses to improve their business revenue
by directing users to their search engines, which then display
advertisements for products and services.  Meanwhile, VeriSign ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0908m.html#item13

"BA Predicts the Future"
Business analytics (BA) software focuses on future trends, not on
summarizing and reporting historical data, as does business
intelligence (BI) software.  Both systems are linked to databases
and allow analysis, and so have been confused in the marketplace; ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0908m.html#item14

"They Know Where You Are"
New location-aware technologies, such as smart cell phones, GPS
chips, and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, promise
many benefits, including more efficient inventory management,
real-time driving directions, and more responsive emergency ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0908m.html#item15

"Epidemic"
The virus epidemics of the past summer should serve as a jolt for
businesses, consumers, and the software industry to stop being
complacent and take cybersecurity seriously.  Combined with spam,
viruses make routine computing a source of frustration for ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0908m.html#item16

"Big Bad World"
According to the InformationWeek 2003 Global Information Security
Survey, IT security threats and the measures used to combat them
are pretty consistent worldwide, due to the spread of the
Internet and global supply chains.  Forty-five percent of ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0908m.html#item17

"Technology and Human Vulnerability"
Virtual realities supported by rapidly advancing technologies are
starting to impinge on people's real-world perceptions.  The
way human-technology interaction is reshaping human identity and
society is of central interest to Sherry Turkle, the Abby ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0908m.html#item18

"Call for ACM Award Nominations"
Nominations are open for the 12 major ACM awards, the
eagerly awaited annual event that recognizes
outstanding technical and professional achievements
in computer science and information technology.  ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0908m.html#item19


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