Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the August 14, 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 386 Date: August 14, 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, August 14, 2002: http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html "Bright Spots in the Gloom" "New Computer Security Dilemma: A Lack of Viruses" "U.K. Looks to Copy DMCA" "The Future of Microprocessors Revealed" "Web Geeks Rally for the Disabled" "A Fresh Breath of Oxygen" "Idea in Former Employee's Head Belongs to Alcatel" "Programming Tool Makes Bugs Sing" "Net Visionaries Seek New Vistas" "What Utopia Can Technology Deliver?" "Stakes Higher for Hackers After Sept. 11" "Down the Road: Bendable Computers and Wearable LEDs" "Playing Fair on Electronics Recycling" "We Must Engage in Copyright Debate" "Prime Efforts May Boost Encryption" "Micromachine Technique Creates Terahertz Sensor" "You Read My Mind" "Who's Been Looking at Your Data?" "Why Tech Falls Short of Expectations" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Bright Spots in the Gloom" Silicon Valley's unemployment rate has hovered around 7 percent for most of 2002, and between December 2000 and May 2002, the region experienced over 100,000 job cuts. However, Silicon Valley may be ahead of the rest of the country in perceiving an ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0814w.html#item1 "New Computer Security Dilemma: A Lack of Viruses" Anti-virus firms have predicted that computer viruses and worms will be even more destructive, invasive, and numerous this year than last year, but such predictions have so far failed to pan out. Security experts are attributing this development to a ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0814w.html#item2 "U.K. Looks to Copy DMCA" The United Kingdom has responded to the call to deploy the European Union Copyright Directive by proposing its own version of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which has engendered controversy in the United States. The proposal would ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0814w.html#item3 "The Future of Microprocessors Revealed" Over 15 new microprocessors from almost all leading manufacturers are slated to debut at the 15th annual Microprocessor Forum in October, which analysts have long used to gauge future trends. The forum will be launched with the announcement of a 64-bit ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0814w.html#item4 "Web Geeks Rally for the Disabled" The first Accessibility Internet Rally (AIR) California scheduled for Sept. 21 will foster collaboration between Web developers and nonprofit organizations in the creation of Web sites accessible to users with physical or mental handicaps. CompuMentor project ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0814w.html#item5 "A Fresh Breath of Oxygen" Rodney Brooks, director of the Artificial Intelligence Lab at MIT's Laboratory for Computer Science, is spearheading an ambitious MIT research project called "Oxygen," which is focused on developing computer systems that interact with human beings ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0814w.html#item6 "Idea in Former Employee's Head Belongs to Alcatel" Alcatel USA has won a summary judgment in its bid to claim proprietary rights to a software idea held by former employee Evan Brown, who had signed an invention disclosure contract with Alcatel but had not written the contested idea down on paper. ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0814w.html#item7 "Programming Tool Makes Bugs Sing" University of Northumbria researchers in Britain are adding sound to computing programs to investigate new applications, such as the detection of software bugs using auditory cues. Northumbria lecturer Paul Vickers states that the research could lead to more ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0814w.html#item8 "Net Visionaries Seek New Vistas" Internet experts Vinton Cerf and Tim Berners-Lee are promoting new extensions of the Internet, and both Internet visionaries were recently honored at the Telluride Tech Festival in Colorado for their work. Cerf is working on extending the Internet into ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0814w.html#item9 "What Utopia Can Technology Deliver?" A hefty report from the National Science Foundation and the Commerce Department outlines the next two decades of technology development, and recommends that the convergence of nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, and ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0814w.html#item10 "Stakes Higher for Hackers After Sept. 11" New laws designed to improve security, such as the U.S. Patriot Act and the Cyber Security Enhancement Act, carry greater penalties for hackers that commit cybercrimes. People who intrude into computer networks could now go to jail for up to 10 ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0814w.html#item11 "Down the Road: Bendable Computers and Wearable LEDs" The National Science Foundation and the Semiconductor Research Corporation are funding research by Cornell University scientists seeking to create flexible electronics through the combination of organic and inorganic interfaces. Cornell's Jim Engstrom says ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0814w.html#item12 "Playing Fair on Electronics Recycling" Heather Bowman, the Electronic Industries Alliance's (EIA) director of environmental policy, says that electronics recycling legislation currently being discussed at both the state and national levels must be fair to consumers, manufacturers, and ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0814w.html#item13 "We Must Engage in Copyright Debate" Dan Gillmor urges consumers, scholars, and other parties who are not copyright owners to challenge the terms of the debate currently brewing between the entertainment cartel and Congress. He says the cartel is using "scare tactics"--threats of anarchy ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0814w.html#item14 "Prime Efforts May Boost Encryption" Computer scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, India, have developed a new algorithm to confirm whether initial numbers used to generate a larger number are in fact prime numbers. RSA, an often-used encryption algorithm, creates ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0814w.html#item15 "Micromachine Technique Creates Terahertz Sensor" The Star Tiger European research consortium is considering the use of photonic-crystal technology to synthesize a single-chip sensor that detects terahertz radiation, which exists on the spectrum between infrared and radar. The project's assembly ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0814w.html#item16 "You Read My Mind" At a recent event hosted by IBM's Almaden Research Center, Kevin Wheeler of the Extension of the Human Senses Group at NASA's Ames Research Center presented research in the realm of human-machine integration. Wheeler's current research focus is on systems that ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0814w.html#item17 "Who's Been Looking at Your Data?" The growing frequency of computer network intrusions--and their potential for cyberespionage or cyberterrorist assaults on the nation's infrastructure--has prompted academic leaders to take a serious look at restructuring their security processes. ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0814w.html#item18 "Why Tech Falls Short of Expectations" Prodded by Y2K concerns, the Internet boom, and an unstable economy, many companies have made excessive IT investments that have not generated sufficient returns or fulfilled corporate goals. Mainstay Partners conducted a four-year survey of 450 ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0814w.html#item19 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To review Monday's issue please visit http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0812m.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.