Killer Maps
"Legislation Would Nearly Double H-1B Visa Limit"
The controversy surrounding the H-1B visa program continues, with the introduction of draft legislation in the Senate that would allow technology companies to recapture unused visas for foreign workers going back to the early 1990s. The draft bill, which has the support of the Information ...
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"Andreessen: PHP Succeeding Where Java Isn't"
Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen recently predicted that the simplicity of PHP will make it a more popular scripting language than Java for Web-based applications. Andreessen noted that while Java enjoyed initial success because it was a simpler language than C and C++, it has since ...
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"Sue Companies, Not Coders"
While some have called for holding individual programmers accountable for security vulnerabilities in the codes they write, a more sensible approach would place the responsibility on their employers, writes Counterpane Internet Security CTO Bruce Schneier. The reason for this is incentive, ...
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"Tech Sector Job Cuts Up 18.8 Percent So Far in '05"
The technology industry continues to struggle when it comes to creating new jobs, as the sector has been unable to offset job losses so far this year. During the third quarter, the tech industry eliminated 41,439 jobs, to bring the total number of jobs lost through the first three quarters of ...
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"A Journey to a Thousand Maps Begins With an Open Code"
Google's map technology has been augmented by a growing contingent of volunteer programmers who add in specific features such as the location of potholes and coffee shops with free wireless Internet access, forming a mash-up of Google Maps. Other enhancements allow you to target the exact ...
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"Why We Need IT"
There is an inconsistency in the lamentations over an IT worker shortage by the same businesses that are pursuing offshoring initiatives and hiring long-term temporary workers to avoid paying benefits and competitive salaries. While many other industries have been effectively ruined ...
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"Fuel Cells May Soon Power Your Gadgets"
Japanese electronics companies Toshiba, Hitachi, and Fujitsu are separately developing fuel cells for cell phones, which could prove to be a more efficient and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional lithium-ion batteries. These fuel cells run on methanol, an alcohol that ...
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"University Works on New Wireless Transport Protocol for... Transport"
A team of developers from the University of New South Wales is creating a new wireless protocol for public transport networks, with the aim of providing less expensive online access for passengers, as well as lowering power consumption. The On-board Communication Entertainment and ...
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"Info Science Blends Design, Technology"
A new program of study at Cornell University explores the impact of technology on culture, government, law, and the economy, with particular emphasis on the manner in which people interact with information systems and their design. Information Science (IS) offers students more insight ...
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"Does Open-Source Make the FCC Irrelevant?"
Eben Moglen, a professor at Columbia Law School, says while the FCC might have been of good use during the 1920s, when it was created to assign particular frequencies to broadcasters so they would not attempt to drown one another out by increasing the transmitter power, a new generation of ...
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"Furor Grows Over Internet Bugging"
The FCC recently mandated an extension of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) to include voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, which essentially means VoIP services that can both dial into and be called from the traditional phone network will be required to comply ...
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"Mother Nature's Storms Postpone DHS' Cyber Storm"
Originally scheduled for November 2005, the Homeland Security Department's (DHS) virtual cyberattack on the United States exercise, known as Cyber Storm, will occur in February 2006 due to resource demands and infrastructure damage related to recent hurricanes in the Gulf Coast ...
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"Senator: Keep U.N. Away From the Internet"
Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) has proposed a non-binding resolution that would back the Bush administration's support of the status quo in Internet governance and opposes the intervention of the United Nations in the operations of ICANN. Coleman's call for congressional support of President ...
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"Meet the Life Hackers"
A study by University of California at Irvine researcher Gloria Mark finds that modern, high-tech office workers are frustrated by the many interruptions they regularly encounter in their daily grind; yet these interruptions, ironically enough, are critical to their jobs. In the ...
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"Flexibility Is Key to Access"
Accessibility is the latest focus of development technology as XML tools become more refined and data manipulation grows more integrated with conventional code. As XML use increases, however, programmers are often frustrated at their inability to query it with the same facility as an SQL ...
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"K-12 Programs Draw Girls to Science"
To help overcome the proportionate absence of girls in engineering, MathWorks is sponsoring an after-school robotics club for fifth grader girls where, in teams of three, they design a robotic device to improve handicapped access. That the environment is all female helps the children ...
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"The Future of the Web"
The next-generation Internet was the focus of discussion at the Web 2.0 conference in early October, which was preceded by the announcement of an alliance between Sun Microsystems and Google, whereby Sun will incorporate Google's Web-search toolbar in its Java run-time environment, and Google ...
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"Pocket Braille for People on the Move"
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have taken a step closer to developing a portable electronic Braille display, although Takao Someya still expresses concerns that the device may not be powerful enough. "If a blind person cannot feel the movement of the dots, the device will not be ...
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"Killer Maps"
Consumers stand to benefit tremendously from Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo!'s competing efforts to turn online maps into browsers that organize information along geographic lines. Google offers a search-and-mapping service, Google Maps, that combines satellite pictures, map dragging ...
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