Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the February 3, 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 453 Date: February 3, 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 Monday, February 3, 2003: http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html "Feds Building Internet Monitoring Center" "From Nanotechnology's Sidelines, One More Warning" "New Protocol Speeds Up Internet Resource Sharing" "Defense Dept., Firms Reach Wi-Fi Pact" "Tiny Whiskers Make Huge Memory Storage" "Total Information Delusion" "Blogs Open Doors for Developers" "Coder Finds New Way to Swap Tunes" "Wi-Fi Woes on the Horizon?" "Physicists Teleport Quantum Bits Over Long Distance" "IBM: Pervasive Computing Is the Future" "Four Voices on the Future" "Freedom of Expression (TM)" "Home-Schooling IT Talent" "2002 InfoWorld Technology of the Year" "Disruptive Technologies" "Weaving a Virtual World" "Putting the 'E' in Elections" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Feds Building Internet Monitoring Center" The Global Early Warning Information System (GEWIS) is an Internet-wide monitoring facility designed to identify and respond to cyberattacks on key information systems and e-commerce Web sites. It is a major component of the Bush administration's ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0203m.html#item1 "From Nanotechnology's Sidelines, One More Warning" The ETC group recently released an 80-page illustrated manifesto demonstrating the potential dangers of nanotechnology, if corporate research and development is allowed to proceed unchecked. Rather than fearing the popular scenario of the human ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0203m.html#item2 "New Protocol Speeds Up Internet Resource Sharing" Jonghun Park, an assistant professor at Penn State's School of Information Sciences and Technology (IST), has formulated a protocol that could potentially accelerate the sharing of disparate Internet resources, including Web services, databases, ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0203m.html#item3 "Defense Dept., Firms Reach Wi-Fi Pact" Worries over whether Wi-Fi devices would affect the U.S. military's use of radar were quelled with the Jan. 31 announcement of an agreement between the Department of Defense and tech companies. The resolution involves the establishment of ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0203m.html#item4 "Tiny Whiskers Make Huge Memory Storage" It may be possible to squeeze more information into hard drives thanks to a magnetic memory breakthrough from State University of New York in Buffalo researcher Harsh Chopra. Chopra and physicist Susan Hua have reportedly developed extremely small ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0203m.html#item5 "Total Information Delusion" The Pentagon's Total Information Awareness (TIA) project may have stalled due to opposition in Congress, but even if the effort goes forward, many computer scientists doubt the effectiveness of the technology. Recently, the Association for Computing ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0203m.html#item6 "Blogs Open Doors for Developers" Business software developers have started to see the value of sharing information online through Web logs (blogs), message boards, and other forms of communication from the outset in order to build a base of potential customers, not to mention fellow ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0203m.html#item7 "Coder Finds New Way to Swap Tunes" Former Apple programmer Jim Speth has developed open-source software called iCommune that allows Mac OS X users to swap files with each other directly over the Internet. He expects to avoid legal trouble because of the direct nature of the contacts ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0203m.html#item8 "Wi-Fi Woes on the Horizon?" The impending finalization of the 802.11g Wi-Fi specification is being preceded by the release of assorted 802.11g-enabled products to penetrate the potentially huge Wi-Fi market early; this rush to get products to market before specs are set could ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0203m.html#item9 "Physicists Teleport Quantum Bits Over Long Distance" Teleportation was considered unfeasible because it flies against the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics, which states that precisely replicating a tiny particle is an impossibility, since such a particle can be destroyed simply by measuring it. ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0203m.html#item10 "IBM: Pervasive Computing Is the Future" Pervasive computing devices, which IBM describes as any non-PC computing device, will increase to 1 billion in 2005, compared to 325 million in 2002, the firm predicts. Pervasive computers can take the form of smart cards, cell phones, cameras, Web-enabled ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0203m.html#item11 "Four Voices on the Future" At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, a quartet of researchers and technologists discussed the latest technology developments and what the future may hold. Rodney Brooks, director of MIT's Artificial Intelligence Lab, noted that robots ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0203m.html#item12 "Freedom of Expression (TM)" The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) curtails the public use of various content and gives corporations greatly expanded powers to censor, writes author Kembrew McLeod. For instance, companies can use the DMCA to compel ISPs to shut down Web sites ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0203m.html#item13 "Home-Schooling IT Talent" A large number of employers are not doing enough to prepare their companies for a rebound in the marketplace. Rather than abandon their campus recruiting efforts, companies would do well to keep strong ties with local colleges and universities and training ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0203m.html#item14 "2002 InfoWorld Technology of the Year" The 10 technologies that the InfoWorld Test Center considers the most impressive of 2002 have had a profound impact on enterprise IT strategy. Wireless networks became very important, as evidenced by the spread of the 802.11b standard, which continues ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0203m.html#item15 "Disruptive Technologies" Both nanotechnology and open-source software have the potential to become disruptive technologies that could dramatically change the IT sector and spawn new industries. Potential applications of nanotechnology, which involves the creation of nanoscale ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0203m.html#item16 "Weaving a Virtual World" Virginia Tech assistant professor Srinidhi Varadarajan has developed Weaves, a software development tool for testing, developing, and designing computer programs. The technology provides the benefits of both simulation and emulation--users can ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0203m.html#item17 "Putting the 'E' in Elections" The Florida voting debacle in the 2000 presidential election prompted several U.S. states and counties to junk their antiquated, lever-based voting machines and invest in electronic systems, which were put through their paces this past November. ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0203m.html#item18 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To review Friday's issue, please visit http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0131f.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.