Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the November 15, 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 the latest on ACM activities, member benefits, and industry issues, 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 423 Date: November 15, 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, November 15, 2002: http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html "Computing Moving from Innovation to Legislation" "Polymers Could Push Internet Speed" "Study Makes Less of Hack Threat" "HP Gets Patent, Recognition for Molecular Electronics Work" "It's How We Use Computers That Counts" "House Considers Jailing Hackers for Life" "A Wink Is Enough to Switch Off the PC" "W3C Bows to Royalty-Free Pressure" "Hunting Down the Pirates" "Coax Goes Nano" "Triple Gate, Double Play" "Tech Taps Into Portable Power Sources" "Teething Pains" "New IT Job Hot Spots" "Government Gains Ground" "Displaying the Future" "Sending a Message" "Venturing to Vote Online" "Future Tech: Good-bye, Mr. Edison" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Computing Moving from Innovation to Legislation" At the Computer Security Institute (CSI) convention in Chicago, director of Purdue University's Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS) Gene Spafford told attendees on Tuesday that the computing industry is moving "from ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1115f.html#item1 "Polymers Could Push Internet Speed" Bell Labs researchers have discovered through experimentation that certain polymers have the potential to greatly accelerate Internet speed, and such a breakthrough could lead to the real-time transfer of large video and audio files. "Basically, ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1115f.html#item2 "Study Makes Less of Hack Threat" A new report from England's mi2g finds a decline in the number of reported intrusions into government networks: American attacks fell from 386 to 162 between 2001 and the first 10 months of 2002, while attacks worldwide have fallen by around one-third. ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1115f.html#item3 "HP Gets Patent, Recognition for Molecular Electronics Work" Hewlett-Packard announced on Tuesday that it has received a patent for a chemical process that could be used to fabricate molecular electronic devices. Credited with inventing the process are HP Labs director of quantum science research R. ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1115f.html#item4 "It's How We Use Computers That Counts" The best strategy to boost productivity and business is not simply investing in information technology, but using it effectively. Despite cutbacks in computer budgets, U.S. productivity growth continues to maintain an annual gain of more ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1115f.html#item5 "House Considers Jailing Hackers for Life" The Cyber Security Enhancement Act (CSEA) was bundled into the proposed Department of Homeland Security bill the House of Representatives passed on Wednesday. Under the CSEA, hackers convicted of committing cybercrimes that "recklessly" endanger ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1115f.html#item6 "A Wink Is Enough to Switch Off the PC" A PC that a user can control wirelessly using eye movements is just one of the projects under development in the Academy of Finland's Research Program on Proactive Information Technology (PROACT), which has entered its startup phase. The academy will ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1115f.html#item7 "W3C Bows to Royalty-Free Pressure" A last-call working draft of the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) patents policy issued on Thursday removes a provision that would have allowed companies that own patents on technology used in W3C-authorized Web standards to charge royalties. Last year, ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1115f.html#item8 "Hunting Down the Pirates" Researchers from the Palo Alto Research Center, Hewlett-Packard, the University of Wollongong, Microsoft, and others will be among the presenters at the Association for Computing Machinery's workshop on Digital Rights Management (DRM 2002) to be held ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1115f.html#item9 "Coax Goes Nano" Harvard University researchers have adopted semiconductor assembly techniques used to build computer chips in order to construct nanoscale wires from multiple material layers. The wires are created by inducing a semiconductor vapor to condense ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1115f.html#item10 "Triple Gate, Double Play" Intel and others are working to produce a multi-gate, three-dimensional transistor that will offer significant boosts in computing power and speed; Intel's Robert Chau reported positive developments in its tri-gate array at the International ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1115f.html#item11 "Tech Taps Into Portable Power Sources" Work is proceeding apace in universities and scientific laboratories on alternative energy sources for portable electronics in response to a mandate from the consumer electronics industry to shrink devices down and replace nickel ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1115f.html#item12 "Teething Pains" After years of being touted as the networking system of the future, Bluetooth-enabled devices are finally on the market in force, but the wireless technology still suffers from compatibility problems despite several years of industry-wide ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1115f.html#item13 "New IT Job Hot Spots" The economic recession may have depressed business and job hirings in major tech hubs such as Silicon Valley and Seattle, but growth in other industries has caused new IT centers to sprout in places such as New York's Capital Region, Southern ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1115f.html#item14 "Government Gains Ground" Government IT workers score 3 percent to 5 percent better in server administration technologies such as Unix, Linux, and Windows systems than their private-sector counterparts, according to a new study from Brainbench, an online certification testing ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1115f.html#item15 "Displaying the Future" Within five years, the computer screen market may still be dominated by liquid-crystal display (LCD) and cathode-ray tube (CRT) technology, or they could be ousted by one or more alternative displays under development, the hottest being ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1115f.html#item16 "Sending a Message" The use of instant messaging (IM) software among companies demonstrates that the tool's applications, which until recently were mainly for social use, are suitable and desirable within the enterprise. IM supports direct message delivery to desktops and ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1115f.html#item17 "Venturing to Vote Online" European governments are moving ahead with pilot programs of Internet voting systems: Switzerland embarked on a $20 million e-voting project in 2001; last May, 16 e-voting or electronic ballot counting programs were carried out in the United Kingdom; ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1115f.html#item18 "Future Tech: Good-bye, Mr. Edison" The incandescent light bulb could be rendered obsolete thanks to breakthroughs in light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which offer longer life and more efficiency, durability, and portability. The University of Calgary's Dave Irvine-Halliday believes LEDs will ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1115f.html#item19 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To review Wednesday's issue, please visit http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1113w.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.