Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the April 21, 2003 edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for IT professionals three times a week.ÿ 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 Remember to check out our hot new online essay and opinion magazine, Ubiquity, at ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ACM TechNews Volume 5, Number 485 Date: April 21, 2003 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Site Sponsored by Hewlett Packard Company ( < > ) ÿÿÿÿ HP is the premier source for computing services, ÿÿÿÿ products and solutions. Responding to customers' requirements ÿÿÿÿ for quality and reliability at aggressive prices, HP offers ÿÿÿÿ performance-packed products and comprehensive services. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Top Stories for Monday, April 21, 2003: "Cracking the Productivity Paradox" "Once-Dashing Chip Turns Out to Be Just A Face in the Crowd" "The Paradox of Privacy" "What's Holding Broadband Back?" "Minority Women Perceive IT as Way to Promised Land" "Modern Organizations Adapt and Respond in the Information Age" "Light Bulbs Being Replaced by Microchips" "NeXT Still Stands Out in Its Mac Incarnation" "Distributed Computers Power New Search Engine" "Perception May be Nano's Biggest Enemy, Leaders Tell Congress" "NASA Hopes to Improve Computers With Tiny Carbon Tubes on Silicon Chips" "Edges of Magnetic Tape Key to Boosting Data Density" "Technology of Many" "Can Your PC Become Neurotic?" "Mission Impossible?" "The Observant Computer" "Trends Shaping the Future: Technology Trends" "Computer Science Prize to Honor 3 Forerunners of Internet Security" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Cracking the Productivity Paradox" Although major IT players are convinced that IT boosts productivity, evaluating IT-based productivity improvement is difficult due to a lack of an accepted system of measurement.ÿ Cisco Systems, Intel, Xerox, Hewlett-Packard, and Microsoft are ... "Once-Dashing Chip Turns Out to Be Just A Face in the Crowd" The popularity of custom-designed application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) has waned in the last two years due to factors unrelated to the economic recession.ÿ The growing complexity of computer chips, as dictated by Moore's Law, has stifled hopes of ... "The Paradox of Privacy" Faster processors, more abundant data storage, and better database technology all mean that those interested--governments, companies, and other people--have easier access to personal data. Personal vendettas now can often result in enemies' personal ... "What's Holding Broadband Back?" IT and telecommunications executives gathered at the FCC's Technological Advisory Council on Thursday discussed issues holding back broadband adoption.ÿ Attendees cited a lack of compelling content, the price of new infrastructure, and ... "Minority Women Perceive IT as Way to Promised Land" Penn State researcher Dr. Lynette Kvasny says women in differing income brackets have markedly disparate views of IT:ÿ Minority women in low-income communities believe IT can be a ticket to upward mobility, while middle-class, predominantly white women ... "Modern Organizations Adapt and Respond in the Information Age" Two of the eight projects that the National Science Foundation (NSF) is funding under the Management of Knowledge-Intensive Dynamic Systems (MKIDS) program are being overseen by Carnegie Mellon University's Kathleen Carley and Stanford University's Ray ... "Light Bulbs Being Replaced by Microchips" Experts believe that light-emitting diodes (LEDs) will eventually outdate conventional lighting technologies--lightbulbs, fluorescent lamps, neon tubes, etc.--and revolutionize lighting applications.ÿ "We are not talking about replacing lightbulbs," ... "NeXT Still Stands Out in Its Mac Incarnation" NeXT technology has risen from the ashes as the cornerstone of Apple Computer's OS X operating system, writes Dan Gillmor.ÿ He characterizes NeXT as ahead of its time when it was launched about 10 years ago, and lists stability and a coherent graphical ... "Distributed Computers Power New Search Engine" LookSmart's Grub distributing computer project is cataloging vast numbers of existing Web pages in the hopes of building an expansive, constantly updated search engine that may one day compete with Google.ÿ As with other distributed computing ... "Perception May be Nano's Biggest Enemy, Leaders Tell Congress" Lawmakers and leading figures from industry and research convened to discuss the potential environmental, ethical, and societal ramifications of nanotechnology before the House Science Committee on Wednesday prior to its vote on the Nanotechnology ... "NASA Hopes to Improve Computers With Tiny Carbon Tubes on Silicon Chips" Scientists at the NASA Ames Research Center think they could extend Moore's Law thanks to a manufacturing breakthrough that allows copper interconnects on silicon chips to be replaced by carbon nanotubes.ÿ Meyya Meyyappan, director of Ames' Center for ... "Edges of Magnetic Tape Key to Boosting Data Density" A nine-month study conducted by Ohio State University engineers concludes that the data density of magnetic tape is significantly affected by a key manufacturing process.ÿ Ohio State professor Bharat Bhushan and graduate student Anton Goldade report in the ... "Technology of Many" Amorphous computing is what lies beyond today's distributed computing efforts, including Web services, grid computing, and peer-to-peer technology.ÿ Amorphous computing, also dubbed swarm computing, relies on multitudes of relatively weak nodes that are ... "Can Your PC Become Neurotic?" Neurotic computers may seem like the stuff of science fiction, but intelligent, autonomous machines will be able to design and retool their programs in response to changing environments and situations.ÿ In his book, "Digital Soul: Intelligent Machines and ... "Mission Impossible?" Revelations that 9-11 could perhaps have been averted if the FBI's information resources and infrastructure were better organized has prompted Bureau director Robert S. Mueller III to institute a widescale effort to modernize the agency's computer ... "The Observant Computer" Alex Waibel, director of Carnegie Mellon University's Interactive Systems Laboratories, is trying to eliminate forced interaction between humans and machines by developing an observant computer that can study human behavior and deduce how to serve people ... "Trends Shaping the Future: Technology Trends" Technology's increasing influence on the economy and society will have a wide array of benefits over the next 20 years, including minimization of industrial pollution, new jobs and business opportunities, and greater profitability balanced by lower prices ... "Computer Science Prize to Honor 3 Forerunners of Internet Security" ACM plans to announce that Ronald L. Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard M. Adleman will receive the 2002 A. M. Turing Award for their development work in public-key cryptography. The award, which carries a $100,000 prize financed by the Intel Corporation, ... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To review Friday's issue, please visit -- To visit the TechNews home page, point your browser to: -- 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:ÿ technews-request@acm.org