Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the January 15, 2003 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 5, Number 446 Date: January 15, 2003 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 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, January 15, 2003: http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html "Entertainment, Tech Firms Reach Truce on Digital Piracy" "More Computer Viruses Expected in 2003--Expert" "Business Apps Get Bad Marks in Usability" "W3C Embraces Scalable Vector Graphics Specs" "Hearings Sought on Data Agency" "Games of Infinite Possibilities" "Can Wi-Fi and Lasers Bridge the Last-Mile Gap?" "Open Source Group Issues Top Ten Web Vulnerabilities" "Phone Units Join in Effort for Seamless Wireless Net" "Report: Internet Security Threats Will Get Worse" "Security Experts to Teach Teens 'Ethical Hacking'" "Study Shows Linux on the Rise in Data Centers" "Time to Rethink Digital Copyright Act" "Internet Browser That Quadruples Surf Speed Wins Irish Science Prize" "Pervasive Computing Gets Organized" "Process Power" "The Nanodrive Project" "A Grip on the Future" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Entertainment, Tech Firms Reach Truce on Digital Piracy" The Recording Industry Association of America, the Business Software Alliance, and the Computer Systems Policy Project are hoping to seal the rift between the entertainment and technology industries over the issue of digital piracy by announcing their ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0115w.html#item1 "More Computer Viruses Expected in 2003--Expert" A monthly average of 600 to 700 new computer viruses will emerge this year, according to anti-virus solutions provider Sophos, continuing a pace established over the past two years, but decreasing from the 800 to 900 viruses per month that were born ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0115w.html#item2 "Business Apps Get Bad Marks in Usability" Difficult to use business applications impede many software projects and cost companies millions of dollars, according to Forrester Research. Forrester says many enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications are too difficult for ordinary users, ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0115w.html#item3 "W3C Embraces Scalable Vector Graphics Specs" The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is ready to consider Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.1 and SVG Mobile as standards that would help mobile devices display rich graphics better. An influx of new cell phones and handhelds sometimes have trouble displaying ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0115w.html#item4 "Hearings Sought on Data Agency" Congressional members are requesting more information about the massive data mining project planned by the Defense Department. Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) plans to introduce a bill that would halt work until Congress has finished a review of the ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0115w.html#item5 "Games of Infinite Possibilities" North Carolina State University assistant professor of computer science R. Michael Young is researching artificial intelligence that allows evolving storylines in computer games. Young says that instead of following programmers' expectations of how a game ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0115w.html#item6 "Can Wi-Fi and Lasers Bridge the Last-Mile Gap?" Telecommunications and wireless access firms are looking at free space optics (FSO) as a way to link homes and offices to high-speed network thoroughfares. FSO uses light pulses to transmit data at speeds up to 100 Mbps, and requires laser ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0115w.html#item7 "Open Source Group Issues Top Ten Web Vulnerabilities" The Open Web Application Security project (OWASP) released a list of the 10 most pressing Web application security problems for government and commercial organizations yesterday. Among them are information from Web requests that goes unauthenticated; ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0115w.html#item8 "Phone Units Join in Effort for Seamless Wireless Net" Motorola, Proxim, and Avaya today are expected to announce a collaborative effort to develop technology that enables wireless communications to seamlessly transfer between networks. Analysts say the project is the boldest attempt yet to exploit the ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0115w.html#item9 "Report: Internet Security Threats Will Get Worse" Internet security problems will worsen in the new year, with the biggest threats coming from new mass-mailing worms and rising hactivism, according to a recent study by Internet Security Systems (ISS). More incidents targeting consumer broadband and ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0115w.html#item10 "Security Experts to Teach Teens 'Ethical Hacking'" Computer security expert Andy Robinson is launching a program for high school students in Maine that aims to teach them both computer security skills and relevant ethics. As a student himself, Robinson received direction from the study of computers, ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0115w.html#item11 "Study Shows Linux on the Rise in Data Centers" The open-source Linux operating system will have an increasing presence in corporate data centers, according to a new report from the Goldman Sachs Group. The report concludes that Linux's popularity among corporate technology buyers will stem from the ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0115w.html#item12 "Time to Rethink Digital Copyright Act" Hiawatha Bray suggests that the new Congress should reconsider the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), especially in light of the latest case to cite it. The DMCA, which was originally instituted to prevent the piracy of copyrighted digital content ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0115w.html#item13 "Internet Browser That Quadruples Surf Speed Wins Irish Science Prize" A web browser named "XWEBS" developed by 16-year-old student Adnan Osmani in Mullingar, Ireland, has won a prestigious Irish exhibition prize for young scientists for successfully increasing Internet surfing speed up to 500 percent. Dublin University ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0115w.html#item14 "Pervasive Computing Gets Organized" The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is working on pervasive computing protocols that would merge data from many different sensors, allowing completely different modes of interaction between computers and users. NIST computer ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0115w.html#item15 "Process Power" Companies that wish to reduce their staff and maintain their productivity need efficient business processes, which is where business process management (BPM) software comes in. BPM's most compelling feature is its versatility: For example, Shell U.S. ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0115w.html#item16 "The Nanodrive Project" IBM's Millipede project is an attempt to create a "nanodrive" that will significantly boost data storage capacity beyond the limits of conventional silicon. The device, which has progressed to the prototype stage through trial and error, rapidly writes ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0115w.html#item17 "A Grip on the Future" Immersion sells products that use haptic technology to impart tactile sensations to users as they interact with computer-generated environments. The primary driver of Immersion's growth has been computer gaming equipment ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0115w.html#item18 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To review Monday's issue, please visit http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0113m.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.