Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the June 28, 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 367 Date: June 28, 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, June 28, 2002: http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html "Cable Firms Faulted for Restrictions on Internet Service" "MIT Project Creates Smart Computing Environment" "Using UWB to TurboCharge Cable TV" "Lawmaker: Let Studios Hack P2P Sites" "Chip Platform Reduces Time to Market" "Microsoft Wants Security Hard-Wired in Your Computer" "In Remote Library Stacks, an All-Seeing, Scanning Robot" "Deep Linking's Legal Link on Hold" "Europeans Demand Independence From U.S.-Based Internet Overseer" "Nanotechnology: Small Stuff, Big Business" "In the Future, Eyes Are the Window to the Wallet" "Digital Characters Learn to Move" "IT Pros: Cyberraid to Hit U.S. Agencies" "Researchers Say Software Innovation Thwarts Piracy" "Fish's Sixth Sense Could Help Robots Navigate Oceans" "Cyber-Attacks by Al Qaeda Feared" "Crystal-Ball Display Renders Images in 3D" "IBM Technologist Sees Convergence of Biology and IT" "Betting on a New Idea" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Cable Firms Faulted for Restrictions on Internet Service" The High Tech Broadband Coalition, a group of major IT firms including IBM, Microsoft, and Dell, has asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to prevent cable companies from imposing restrictions on the type of content viewed by broadband ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0628f.html#item1 "MIT Project Creates Smart Computing Environment" The second annual meeting for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Project Oxygen Alliance highlights advances in interactive computing environments. Much like in Steven Spielberg's new "Minority Report" movie, users of these new ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0628f.html#item2 "Using UWB to TurboCharge Cable TV" Ultrawideband (UWB) technology developer Pulse-Link says it has a new offering that couples UWB technology with existing cable infrastructure, doubling its capacity for interactive TV, VoIP, and Internet bandwidth. While the over-wire UWB technology makes ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0628f.html#item3 "Lawmaker: Let Studios Hack P2P Sites" Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) says the movie and music industries need protections against anti-hacking laws so that they can use technology to fight online piracy of their works. Currently, the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act prevents copyright owners ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0628f.html#item4 "Chip Platform Reduces Time to Market" Agere Systems has unveiled a new integrated circuit manufacturing technology that promises to double capacity on cell phone hardware while cutting six months from development time. Agere marketing director Cindy Genther says the new development means ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0628f.html#item5 "Microsoft Wants Security Hard-Wired in Your Computer" With its new Palladium project, Microsoft is aiming for a redesign of personal computing that would bolster security and give more control over data to users. Under the proposed scheme, computer chip manufacturers like Intel would build special chips ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0628f.html#item6 "In Remote Library Stacks, an All-Seeing, Scanning Robot" John Hopkins University scientists say libraries may someday use robots to hunt down and scan portions of books for patrons. The scanned pages would be accessed from anywhere through an Internet-based system. These robots could also help libraries ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0628f.html#item7 "Deep Linking's Legal Link on Hold" The Netherlands court's decision over the legality over the practice of "deep linking" has been delayed further as it considers a preliminary injunction against the defendant. The online news service Newsbooster is accused of violating the ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0628f.html#item8 "Europeans Demand Independence From U.S.-Based Internet Overseer" Some ccTLD representatives such as Nominet's William Black are voicing displeasure about ICANN's attempts to impose control over ccTLDs and say they would prefer autonomy from ICANN. Japan, Australia, Burundi, and this week, Malawi, have signed ICANN ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0628f.html#item9 "Nanotechnology: Small Stuff, Big Business" Venture capitalists and U.S. firms are betting on nanotechnology, which involves creating functional items on the scale of atoms and molecules, according to Mihail Roco of the National Science Foundation. For example, cancer-fighting drugs are as small as ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0628f.html#item10 "In the Future, Eyes Are the Window to the Wallet" As technology allows consumers to tune out advertising, such as with SONICBlue and TiVo video recorders, marketers are also using technology to more effectively reach their target. Steven Spielberg's recent movie "Minority Report" illustrates the result ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0628f.html#item11 "Digital Characters Learn to Move" Researchers in the United Kingdom have come up with a way to naturally animate virtual characters, instead of programming their movements beforehand. As a result, digital avatars would more naturally respond to their environments and situations. ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0628f.html#item12 "IT Pros: Cyberraid to Hit U.S. Agencies" A survey sponsored by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) finds that nearly half of the IT professionals questioned believe U.S. government agencies will be subject to a major cyberattack within the next year. BSA President Richard Holleyman says the attack ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0628f.html#item13 "Researchers Say Software Innovation Thwarts Piracy" Purdue University researchers have developed a more sophisticated system of protecting software from being illegally copied. Instead of depending on a single mechanism, often just a simple line of code, to secure software, the Purdue team has created a ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0628f.html#item14 "Fish's Sixth Sense Could Help Robots Navigate Oceans" Scientists have created an artificial lateral line system for swimming robots and sea probes, mimicking the biological system fish and amphibians use to sense subtle water movements and navigate without visual aid. The team from the University of ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0628f.html#item15 "Cyber-Attacks by Al Qaeda Feared" Intelligence gathered during the war on terrorism shows that Al-Qaeda had paid far more attention to the possibility of a cyber-attack against critical infrastructure than previously thought. In the fall of last year, the FBI was alerted to a ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0628f.html#item16 "Crystal-Ball Display Renders Images in 3D" Actuality Systems' globe-shaped display allows viewers to look at images from any angle. The company hopes the product can be useful for medical and molecular modeling applications. In addition, the display might be adapted for gaming systems, but ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0628f.html#item17 "IBM Technologist Sees Convergence of Biology and IT" IBM's senior vice president of technology and marketing, Nicholas N. Donofrio, says computer systems need to move toward a biological paradigm if people are going to maximize the efficiencies they bring. Currently, Donofrio says the IT ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0628f.html#item18 "Betting on a New Idea" Universal Display has a relationship with Princeton University in which the company develops and licenses enabling technology for the organic light-emitting diode (LED) devices created by a research group led by professor of electrical engineering Stephen ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0628f.html#item19 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To review Wednesday's issue, please visit http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0626w.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.