Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the May 24, 2002 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 discussion (and voting) forums on current industry issues and the latest on ACM activities, 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 4, Number 353 Date: May 24, 2002 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Site Sponsored by Compaq (http://www.compaq.com/smbcatalog) Compaq is the premier source for computing services, products and solutions. Responding to customers' requirements for quality and reliability at aggressive prices, Compaq offers performance-packed products and comprehensive services. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Top Stories for Friday, May 24, 2002: http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html "Microsoft Describes Plans to Let Consumers Replace Its Software With Rivals'" "Open-Source Fight Flares At Pentagon" "Personal Robot of the Future Today" "EFF Responds in California DVD Cracking Case" "Similar Graphs Raised Suspicions on Bell Labs Research" "Sensors Seen Enabling New-Age Services" "Tech Toxics' Tarnished Legacy" "Science, Education Bills Clear Committee" "Cornell Students Build Computer Cluster with Castoffs" "Digital Warriors" "ICANN Tackles Management Basics" "Visions Of a Wild and Wireless Future" "Format's Redesign Yields Faster Image Files" "Biotech Future to Wed Biology, Computers" "India Tackles the Digital Divide" "Internet Navigators Think Small" "Quality First" "Simple Science" "Back to the Future" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Microsoft Describes Plans to Let Consumers Replace Its Software With Rivals'" Microsoft this week demonstrated its compliance with the core penalty levied against it in the antitrust settlement struck with the Justice Department last year. Government lawyers will review the company's solution, which involves a 40 MB software update . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item1 "Open-Source Fight Flares At Pentagon" Over the past few months Microsoft has been urging the Pentagon to stop using open-source software on the grounds that it represents a threat to security and intellectual property, but a May 10 Mitre report for the Defense Department arrived at the . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item2 "Personal Robot of the Future Today" The ER1 from Evolution Robotics is the first mass-produced robot capable of carrying out mundane but helpful tasks. In its basic form, the ER1 is a wheeled metal box with a camera; by plugging it into a laptop, users can program the robot via a graphic . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item3 "EFF Responds in California DVD Cracking Case" The California Supreme Court received a brief from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the First Amendment Project on Wednesday calling for it to support a Court of Appeals ruling to overturn a preliminary injunction that prevents the disclosure of . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item4 "Similar Graphs Raised Suspicions on Bell Labs Research" Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs has convened an independent panel to investigate the possibility that Bell Labs physicist Dr. J. Hendrik Schon may have doctored data in a number of research papers concerning molecular electronics. The panel will probe . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item5 "Sensors Seen Enabling New-Age Services" Sensors with wireless connections to the Internet will spark a new information revolution while a hotbed of innovative commercial applications will eventually make it possible for users to reconfigure their equipment on the fly. Paul Saffo of . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item6 "Tech Toxics' Tarnished Legacy" A new research report details how California-based manufacturers of high-tech hardware are polluting the environments of developing nations. The Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainable Development and the National Heritage Institute's . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item7 "Science, Education Bills Clear Committee" The House Science Committee on Wednesday passed two bills designed to boost science and technology education and research. The Investing in America's Future Act of 2002 (H.R. 4664) provides a $2 billion funding increase for the National Science . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item8 "Cornell Students Build Computer Cluster with Castoffs" Two Cornell University undergraduates are building a computer cluster unit with machines donated by Mitre as well as discards found around campus. Computer science sophomore Nick Burlett says, "The cluster...is mostly a proof-of-concept that we are . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item9 "Digital Warriors" Some researchers believe artificially intelligent computer systems could help detect or forestall terrorist attacks, although their accuracy is still an unknown factor. Global Security Organization director John Pike notes that intelligence . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item10 "ICANN Tackles Management Basics" ICANN plans to meet in private during this weekend to discuss restructuring proposals and reach a consensus on the best way to move forward, says ICANN's Mary Hewitt. Domain name consultant Michael Palage says that ICANN will use President Stuart Lynn's . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item11 "Visions Of a Wild and Wireless Future" Robert Kahn, executive director of the not-for-profit think tank the Corporation for National Research Initiatives, helped create the TCP/IP protocols the Internet is based upon today and says the most innovative and valuable uses of that network are yet to . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item12 "Format's Redesign Yields Faster Image Files" The long wait times to download JPEG files so that images can be recreated over the Internet may become a thing of the past thanks to a format upgrade called JPEG 2000. Digital cameras, printers, Adobe Photoshop, and other products that will support the new . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item13 "Biotech Future to Wed Biology, Computers" There must be a solid workforce to process a vast amount of genetic data so that new drugs, personalized medicine, and other bioinformatics applications can become a reality, but right now there is a shortage of expertise. Biology training has . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item14 "India Tackles the Digital Divide" The Indian government, community-oriented companies, and technology vendors are working to break down the barriers keeping India's rural masses from accessing the Internet. HP Labs India, for example, is focusing on three tracks representative of other . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item15 "Internet Navigators Think Small" Researchers investigating the structure of the Internet say the network configures itself along sociological lines to form tight-knit communities. A group of sites that have similar focuses and interests share far more links with one another than . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item16 "Quality First" Software quality has become a hot-button issue for business-technology managers, who are sending vendors the message that accountability lies with them. An April InformationWeek Research survey of 800 business-technology managers finds that 97 . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item17 "Simple Science" After 11 years of intense research, researcher and multimillionaire Stephen Wolfram is convinced that almost all complex phenomena--whether it be weather or human thought patterns--follow simple, basic rules, a theory that often puts . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item18 "Back to the Future" In an effort to keep pace with Moore's Law, chip companies are exploring ways to enhance or replace shrinking silicon chips with new semiconductor materials that could also yield many breakthrough products. Intel's Gerald Marcyk explains that . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0524f.html#item19 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To review Wednesday's issue, please visit http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0522w.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@listserv2.acm.org 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@hq.acm.org -- 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@acm.org 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@acm.org ---- ACM TechNews is sponsored by Compaq.