Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the November 22, 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 426 Date: November 22, 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 22, 2002: http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html "Sept. 11 Showed Work Needed on Internet" "Russia Joins Tech-Worker Game" "Protecting U.S. Could Boost Tech Sector" "Homeland Security's Tech Effects" "Dyson Seeks to Amplify the Public's Voice in Internet Policy" "Tele-Immersion System Is First 'Network Computer,' With Input, Processing, and Output in Different Locations" "Energy Needs May Limit Size, Ability of Quantum Computers" "InfiniBand Reborn for Supercomputing" "Pushing Patents" "A Long, Hard Look at the Hackers" "Agencies Fail Cyber Test" "New Dogs or New Tricks Await Semiconductor Industry" "Cyber Dudes to the Rescue" "Learning From the 'Thumb Tribes'" "Cyberinfrastructure Will Fuel Scientific Discovery, NSF Chief Says" "Future of the Notebook" "Dead Air" "Innovation Interrupted" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Sept. 11 Showed Work Needed on Internet" Although the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks physically impacted the Internet only slightly, they revealed the need for operators to review Internet redundancy plans, says a new study by the National Research Council. The study, requested by the ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1122f.html#item1 "Russia Joins Tech-Worker Game" Information technology currently accounts for roughly 1 percent of Russia's gross domestic product, and although Russian IT workers currently number 70,000, about 1.3 million Russians have a computer science or engineering degree. In order to find ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1122f.html#item2 "Protecting U.S. Could Boost Tech Sector" The technology sector could receive a much-needed shot in the arm with the Senate's passage of the Homeland Security bill, which calls for the consolidation of 22 federal agencies into a Department of Homeland Security. The effort will require the ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1122f.html#item3 "Homeland Security's Tech Effects" The legislation that passed Congress to create the Homeland Security Department also includes a number of details concerning law enforcement's ability to secure the cyber-front. A number of new offices will be established to consolidate information on ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1122f.html#item4 "Dyson Seeks to Amplify the Public's Voice in Internet Policy" Former ICANN Chairwoman Esther Dyson says that Internet users around the world need to be more educated about Internet issues in order to make ICANN global democracy work, which is one reason Dyson is not unhappy about the end of elected ICANN board ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1122f.html#item5 "Tele-Immersion System Is First "Network Computer," With Input, Processing, and Output in Different Locations" Scientists from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill collaborated to create the first tele-immersion system to rely on computing power over a network. The system displayed at the Super Computing 2002 meeting in ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1122f.html#item6 "Energy Needs May Limit Size, Ability of Quantum Computers" The more accurate a quantum computer is, the greater its energy needs, according to a report by University of Arkansas physics professor Julio Gea-Banacloche. Precise quantum calculations require pulsed electromagnetic fields, and a way to generate the ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1122f.html#item7 "InfiniBand Reborn for Supercomputing" The InfiniBand high-speed networking standard, which never fulfilled its promise to replace PCI technology and revolutionize business computing, may get a second chance from the supercomputing sector, which has pledged support to build ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1122f.html#item8 "Pushing Patents" Silicon Valley giants such as Hewlett-Packard and Cadence Design Systems may be losing money, but their research and development budgets and patent filings have continued to climb, thus stressing the importance of having a portfolio of intellectual ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1122f.html#item9 "A Long, Hard Look at the Hackers" Governments are taking the perceived threat of cyberterrorism very seriously, especially after the Sept. 11 attacks. The U.S.'s national strategy to secure cyberspace postulates a scenario in which terrorists use the Internet to remotely cripple ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1122f.html#item10 "Agencies Fail Cyber Test" The House Government Reform subcommittee gave the federal government an overall failing grade for its computer security efforts, which were assessed in a study by the General Accounting Office (GAO). The GAO's study flunked 14 out of the 24 largest ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1122f.html#item11 "New Dogs or New Tricks Await Semiconductor Industry" Experts at the Nanoelectronics Planet Conference & Expo this week discussed the future of silicon as a platform for computing. Many attendees said that nanoelectronics would only be able to make halting progress into the semiconductor realm because of the ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1122f.html#item12 "Cyber Dudes to the Rescue" The nation's computer infrastructure could be protected by the Cyber Corps, a federally funded task force of young computer experts who will be offered cybersecurity degrees in return for two years of government service. Some 150 students are enrolled ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1122f.html#item13 "Learning From the "Thumb Tribes"" The mobile Internet stemming from the convergence of the Web and cell phones will give rise to what "The Virtual Community" author Howard Rheingold calls "smart mobs"--social groups that are able to carry out collective activities with astonishing speed. He ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1122f.html#item14 "Cyberinfrastructure Will Fuel Scientific Discovery, NSF Chief Says" Grid computing will play a key role in future scientific discoveries, said National Science Foundation Director Rita Colwell this month at the ACM's Supercomputing 2002 conference in Baltimore. She said in her keynote address that a number of ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1122f.html#item15 "Future of the Notebook" In addition to speed upgrades and size and weight reductions, notebook PCs will go through other, more fundamental changes over the next five years. Processors such as Intel's Banias chip, which features improved heat and power management, will be ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1122f.html#item16 "Dead Air" Despite the open nature of the nation's airwaves, most of the radio spectrum has been apportioned to private industry and special interests, severely restricting opportunities for cellular carriers, wireless providers, and others to give quality ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1122f.html#item17 "Innovation Interrupted" The rapid proliferation of breakthrough technologies appears to be giving way to more modest enhancements to existing systems as companies struggle to save money, become more efficient, and bolster their bottom lines amidst the economic downturn. In ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1122f.html#item18 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To review Wednesday's issue, please visit http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/1120w.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.