Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the July 29, 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 379 Date: July 29, 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 Monday, July 29, 2002: http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html "Technology Climate Is Gloomy, But Its Future Still Seems Bright" "FBI Plans to Fight Terror With High-Tech Arsenal" "Linux Poised to Plug in USB 2" "Grants Awarded to Forward-Looking Tech Vendors" "Q&A: U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson on PC Recycling" "Movie Studios Press Congress in Digital Copyright Dispute" "Optimism Returns to Indian IT Firms" "Unheralded Hard Drives a Catalyst for Better Gadgets" "A Digital Nudge for Cocktail Conversation" "Deep Space Probes Could Communicate Better Using Laser Light, Researchers Say" "New Zurich Nanotech Lab Will Help Advance Industry" "Chinese Developers Place Confidence in Open Source" "Esther Dyson Defends ICANN" "ICANN Delays Naming .Org Successor" "PGP on Shaky Ground" "Are You Blogging Yet?" "Server Blades" "Driving Mr. Desai" "Collaborative Augmented Reality" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Technology Climate Is Gloomy, But Its Future Still Seems Bright" Technology continues to pervade today's cultural, scientific, and business realms, despite the continued slump in the industry. While the business metrics of IT companies continue to degrade, the situation has resulted in a consumer bonanza as companies cut ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0729m.html#item1 "FBI Plans to Fight Terror With High-Tech Arsenal" The FBI is working to reengineer its tremendous pile of disparate information into an efficient data mining system by Sept.11, 2004, while the planned incorporation of artificial-intelligence software will hopefully facilitate the prediction of terrorist ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0729m.html#item2 "Linux Poised to Plug in USB 2" USB 2 support will be included in the upcoming 2.4.19 kernel of the Linux operating system, demonstrating that the open-source community can keep abreast of the latest technology changes. USB 2 connections transfer data at speeds up to 480 Mbps, far more ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0729m.html#item3 "Grants Awarded to Forward-Looking Tech Vendors" California's Technology, Trade, and Commerce Agency has awarded Next Generation Internet (NGI) grants to seven small IT firms in the state in order to boost California's technology edge. In addition to the cash grants, the companies will have access to ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0729m.html#item4 "Q&A: U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson on PC Recycling" Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) has proposed legislation calling for EPA-coordinated PC recycling centers funded by an upfront fee attached to every PC purchase; end users would be required to pay as much as $10 for every monitor and another $10 for every ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0729m.html#item5 "Movie Studios Press Congress in Digital Copyright Dispute" Copyright holders such as movie studios are applauding congressional legislation calling for the institution of digital copyright protections to stem piracy, while consumer proponents and technology executives worry that such measures could severely ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0729m.html#item6 "Optimism Returns to Indian IT Firms" India-based Infosys reported a 14 percent increase in net profits during the first quarter of 2002, which represents part of the resurgence of India's IT economy after two years in the doldrums due to the global economic slowdown. Many global multinationals ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0729m.html#item7 "Unheralded Hard Drives a Catalyst for Better Gadgets" As hard drives become denser, smaller, and less expensive, they are fueling the development of smaller and more powerful gadgets. International Data (IDC) projects that hard drive shipments will climb to 213 million in 2002 and 352 million in 2006; the ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0729m.html#item8 "A Digital Nudge for Cocktail Conversation" Accenture Technology Labs researchers have united speech recognition technology with wearable computing in the prototype Personal Awareness Assistant, which is designed to be a memory aide. The device consists of a wearable computer with an audio ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0729m.html#item9 "Deep Space Probes Could Communicate Better Using Laser Light, Researchers Say" Transparent Networks researcher Alex Harwitt and research colleagues are urging NASA to switch deep-space communication systems from relying on radio waves to using near-infrared lasers. Japanese and European space agencies have tested laser ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0729m.html#item10 "New Zurich Nanotech Lab Will Help Advance Industry" The FIRST (Frontiers in Research, Space & Time) laboratory which opened this month at Zurich's Swiss Institute of Technology is collaborating with private-sector partners on nanotechnology and microtechnology projects. GigaTera will use the lab to develop ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0729m.html#item11 "Chinese Developers Place Confidence in Open Source" Chinese software developers are embracing open source technology more than their U.S. counterparts, reports the first-ever Evans Data survey of the People's Republic of China. About 70 percent in China plan to write programs for Linux in 2003, compared to 40 ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0729m.html#item12 "Esther Dyson Defends ICANN" Esther Dyson, the founding chair of ICANN and currently a member ICANN's at-large study committee, says the institution needs to change its method of operations, but that critics are unreasonable in some of their calls for reform. In an interview ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0729m.html#item13 "ICANN Delays Naming .Org Successor" ICANN missed a self-imposed deadline this week when it failed to publish a preliminary evaluation of the merits of all 11 .org bidders, and now ICANN has announced a delay in its decision concerning management of .org. ICANN plans to publicize its ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0729m.html#item14 "PGP on Shaky Ground" Phil Zimmerman authored Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) in the early 1990s, but decided to sell the encryption technology to Network Associates two years ago when it became obvious that it was not a money-making endeavor. This past February, Network Associates ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0729m.html#item15 "Are You Blogging Yet?" Although some say that Web logging, or blogging as it is more commonly known, will replace conventional journalism, the majority's view is that it will actually complement traditional media with new voices and new forms of discourse, and extend it ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0729m.html#item16 "Server Blades" Server blade technology offers a wealth of features that promise to give midrange customers the advantages of large-scale servers at affordable prices. Their small size makes them easier to manage than clusters, they are very energy-efficient and generate ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0729m.html#item17 "Driving Mr. Desai" IBM's Director of Worldwide Automotive Solutions Raj Desai is leading his company's effort to establish an open platform on which to build pervasive auto-based computing applications, but IBM is approaching the challenge from the auto manufacturer's and ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0729m.html#item18 "Collaborative Augmented Reality" Augmented reality (AR) systems, in which virtual objects are superimposed over real-world environments via special interfaces, are being developed to enhance both remote and face-to-face collaboration. The advantages AR has over traditional desktop ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0729m.html#item19 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To review Friday's issue, please visit http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0726f.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.