Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the July 19, 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 375 Date: July 19, 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 Friday, July 19, 2002: http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html "Tech Activists Protest Anti-Copying" "Hackers to Corporate America: You're Lazy" "Report of EE Shortage Stirs 'Boom-or-Bust' Debate" "As Tech Jobs Decrease, Interest in Unions Is Up" "Apple Trains Spotlight on 'Jaguar' OS" "National Cyberspace Protection Plan Would Ask Home Computer Users to Pitch In" "Albany Chosen as Research Hub For the Next Generation of Chips" "Digital Copy Locks: No International Consensus" "Web Friend or Faux?" "Slow Starts" "Bringing a Much Bigger Internet to Light" "Not Just Closing a Divide, But Leaping It" "Quantum Entanglement Stronger Than Suspected" "The Case of the Missing Code" "Intel's in the Lab with Ultra Wideband" "Mainframe Skill Shortage" "Cleaning Up" "Broadband Horizon" "Don't Mess With My Tech" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Tech Activists Protest Anti-Copying" Free software activists voiced their dismay over being left out of a Commerce Department roundtable on Wednesday by interrupting MPAA President and panelist Jack Valenti's address with hoots and jeers. The panel was there to discuss plans to impose . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0719f.html#item1 "Hackers to Corporate America: You're Lazy" Hackers and analysts say that the defacement of Web sites, such as the USA Today hack of July 11, are a wake-up call for corporate administrators who are lax in keeping their online security up-to-date. The leader of the "white hat" hacker . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0719f.html#item2 "Report of EE Shortage Stirs 'Boom-or-Bust' Debate" Recommendations to produce more U.S. graduates to stave off boom-and-bust cycles that plague the engineering sector has triggered disagreement between educators and practicing engineers, with the latter group claiming that such a measure . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/019f.html#item3 "As Tech Jobs Decrease, Interest in Unions Is Up" Technology industry unions are practically unknown in the United States, since most tech workers have received good pay and treatment. However, the economic slump--and the layoffs that have come with it--is giving unions more credence among . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0719f.html#item4 "Apple Trains Spotlight on 'Jaguar' OS" Apple's new Mac OS 10.2 "Jaguar" operating system features more than 150 refinements and additions, according to CEO Steve Jobs, who delivered a two-hour keynote speech at this week's MacWorld exhibition in New York. In addition to the new operating system, . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0719f.html#item5 "National Cyberspace Protection Plan Would Ask Home Computer Users to Pitch In" Home computer users will be expected to contribute to the national cybersecurity initiative by keeping their antivirus software up to scratch, the president's cybersecurity adviser Richard Clarke announced on Wednesday. He added that the plan . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0719f.html#item6 "Albany Chosen as Research Hub For the Next Generation of Chips" The International Sematech computer chip consortium, whose members include IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, and Germany's Infineon Technologies, has negotiated with government officials to build a $400 million research and development center at the . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0719f.html#item7 "Digital Copy Locks: No International Consensus" European and American lawmakers disagree about the deployment of digital rights management (DRM) technology in electronic devices. The European Parliament has stated that it will allow the development of DRM standards to be directed by the market, while . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0719f.html#item8 "Web Friend or Faux?" Digital "buddies" or "bots" are instant-message software applications that interact intimately with users online because they are imbued with personalities that establish trust and are eerily lifelike in many cases. They formulate their responses to . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0719f.html#item9 "Slow Starts" Canadian and European nanotechnology initiatives are proceeding at a slow pace because of bureaucratic red tape. "Europe's solution to problems is usually to form committees to discuss the implications of forming a committee," laments Tim Harper of the . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0719f.html#item10 "Bringing a Much Bigger Internet to Light" Deep-Web mining aims to tap into public-access databases instead of just the static-URL Web sites picked up by standard search engines. The database-based deep Web has 500 times more volume than the Web segment search engine queries usually focus on, . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0719f.html#item11 "Not Just Closing a Divide, But Leaping It" A number of computer community centers are operating across the country and overseas, sponsored by private-sector firms and meant to give underprivileged teenagers the chance to learn advanced tech skills. These centers, such as those belonging to the Intel . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0719f.html#item12 "Quantum Entanglement Stronger Than Suspected" Quantum entanglement is stronger than expected, according to new research from Erwin Altewischer and fellow scientists at Leiden University in the Netherlands, a finding that could lead to new types of quantum computers and quantum-based encryption systems . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0719f.html#item13 "The Case of the Missing Code" Rumors that al-Qaida operatives are transmitting hidden messages over easily accessible Web pages is generating controversy again, with the publication of a USA Today story claiming hundreds of such messages exist on eBay. Using steganography, terrorists . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0719f.html#item14 "Intel's in the Lab with Ultra Wideband" Director of Communications Interconnect and Technology at Intel Labs Kevin Kahn says the company's investigation into Ultra Wideband (UWB) technology is viewed as a research project into future applications rather than a push toward product . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0719f.html#item15 "Mainframe Skill Shortage" New hires at most companies are not equipped with the mainframe skills of the older generation of programmers, say IT managers. In response, many firms, such as the department store chain Boscov and Volkswagen of America, are migrating to newer . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0719f.html#item16 "Cleaning Up" Illinois corporations are forbidden by state law to throw out old computers, which has prompted some businesses to come up with unique ways to recycle obsolete machines. Sipi Metals reduces computers to their basic metals and finds new uses for them--for . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0719f.html#item17 "Broadband Horizon" IDSN and DSL broadband is only two times faster and 10 times faster than a typical Internet connection, respectively, yet ISPs continue to label these offerings broadband because today's technology remains unable to exceed this benchmark. Broadband . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0719f.html#item18 "Don't Mess With My Tech" Since its launch 14 years ago, the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) has earmarked hundreds of millions of dollars so that companies and consortia can carry out research and development for ways to improve computer chips and electronics, but now the . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0719f.html#item19 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To review Wednesday's issue, please visit http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0717w.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.