Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the July 17, 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 374 Date: July 17, 2002 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Site Sponsored by Hewlett Packard Company ( ) 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 17, 2002: http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html "Computer Security Standards Ready" "Talks Weigh Big Project On Wireless Internet Link" "House OKs Life Sentences for Hackers" "Layoffs Shrink in Some Sectors" "Race Bias Suits Are Few at Tech Firms" "Undergrad Brain Drain Imperils U.S. Industry, Educators Say" "New Specs Released for Wireless Speech, Text Delivery" "Getting a Pixel Fix on the Enemy" "It Slices! It Dices! Nanotube Struts Its Stuff" "FCC News Isn't All Bad on Telecom" "Marcelo Tosatti: The Future Is Linux" "Holograms Grounded By Reality" "Q&A: The Science Behind 'Friendly Fridges'" "Robots Are Cute, But Can You Put Them to Work?" "IT Training Funds Dry Up" "Fortune Telling" "Real-World Bluetooth Applications" "Have Your Objects Call My Objects" "Computer Games and Scientific Visualization" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Computer Security Standards Ready" Government agencies such as the Pentagon and the National Institute of Standards and Technology have joined forces with private-sector firms such as Intel, Visa, and Pacific Gas & Electric to establish a set of anti-hacking guidelines, which are . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0717w.html#item1 "Talks Weigh Big Project On Wireless Internet Link" Intel, IBM, AT&T Wireless, and several wireless carriers are discussing the possibility of a nationwide 802.11, or WiFi, network dubbed Project Rainbow. Intel's newly established communications division is one of the most vociferous proponents . . . "House OKs Life Sentences for Hackers" The House of Representatives approved by almost unanimous vote the Cyber Security Enhancement Act (CSEA), under which computer hackers can draw a life sentence for carrying out intrusions that "recklessly" endanger the lives of others. Such a penalty is . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0717w.html#item3 "Layoffs Shrink in Some Sectors" There has been a huge climb in staff cutbacks in the telecom sector this year, while layoffs in other high-tech sectors have fallen compared to last year, according to a new study from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. CEO John Challenger says the . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0717w.html#item4 "Race Bias Suits Are Few at Tech Firms" Despite suspicions of Silicon Valley companies exhibiting a racial preference for Caucasian and Asian employees, the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) has yet to find a definitive test case in the three years since its investigation . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0717w.html#item5 "Undergrad Brain Drain Imperils U.S. Industry, Educators Say" Educators say that if the United States does not increase the number of engineering school graduates soon, it will lose out in the global marketplace. In 2000, America brought in 90,000 foreign engineers and computer scientists, compared to the 65,000 . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0717w.html#item6 "New Specs Released for Wireless Speech, Text Delivery" The SALT Forum announced today that it has released its first specifications for Speech Application Language Tags (SALT) to an undisclosed standards group. The specifications are designed to promote the further development of text-to-speech capabilities . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0717w.html#item7 "Getting a Pixel Fix on the Enemy" With backing from the Office of Naval Research, the University of Minnesota's Guillermo Sapiro and Duke University's Andrea Bertozzi have developed an algorithm that can restore corrupted data of digital images and video. The Navy hopes this inpainting . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0717w.html#item8 "It Slices! It Dices! Nanotube Struts Its Stuff" The ultra-thin, super-strong carbon nanotube is being touted as a do-all material. Nanotubes are already being used to create cheap displays: SI Diamond Technology exploits them to make lighted billboards, while Samsung is applying the technology to . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0717w.html#item9 "FCC News Isn't All Bad on Telecom" Recent rulings by the FCC that favor the phone industry's monopolization and control of customers' information have left a bad aftertaste, but there may be a glimmer of hope on the horizon in terms of the commission's position on airwaves allocation, . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0717w.html#item10 "Marcelo Tosatti: The Future Is Linux" Brazilian developer Marcelo Tosatti took over the maintenance of the 2.4 Linux kernel, the current stable one, from renowned Linux guru Alan Cox late last year. He says the biggest problems with his Linux version are with virtual memory on high-end computers . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0717w.html#item11 "Holograms Grounded By Reality" Three-dimensional light-generated images or holograms that float in midair are not currently possible because of fundamental scientific restrictions. "There's no law of physics that lets light travel in space and come back in midair without striking an . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0717w.html#item12 "Q&A: The Science Behind 'Friendly Fridges'" The psychological research behind the revolutionary artificial intelligence system EMIR (Emotional Model for Intelligent Response) enables scientists to imbue devices with emotions similar to those exhibited by humans, such as "angry robots" or . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0717w.html#item13 "Robots Are Cute, But Can You Put Them to Work?" Robots that can perform household duties are the focus of research efforts of several Japanese companies. PaPeRo from NEC's Central Research Laboratory can view its environment and identify up to 10 people with CCD cameras, receive audio input . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0717w.html#item14 "IT Training Funds Dry Up" A slowdown in corporate spending on IT training spurred by the economic downturn has forced many professionals to pay for their certification maintenance without reimbursement, but there are other options. Workers can elect to invest in CD- and . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0717w.html#item15 "Fortune Telling" Predictive intelligence applications are being used by many large enterprises in numerous capacities: With it, sports teams can anticipate player injuries, financial institutions can uncover insider trading and money laundering, manufacturers can design . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0717w.html#item16 "Real-World Bluetooth Applications" The Bluetooth wireless communication standard has many potential applications, and the hundreds of companies that comprise its Special Interest Group are developing new products that use the standard. Japan's Murata Manufacturing and Kitano Symbiotic . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0717w.html#item17 "Have Your Objects Call My Objects" Object-to-object communication via radio frequency identification (RFID) chips, or smart tags, has the potential to radically change businesses, vastly improving the tracking of inventory and work in progress. Most companies already using RFID systems are . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0717w.html#item18 "Computer Games and Scientific Visualization" Computer gaming technologies could prove very useful to scientific visualization, but the game industry's emphasis on rapid product development and the sacrifice of data accuracy and reliability for the sake of entertainment is anathema to . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0717w.html#item19 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To review Monday's issue please visit http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0715m.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 Hewlett Packard Company.