Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the May 14, 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 495 Date: May 14, 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, May 14, 2003: http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html "Draft of Bill on Mass E-Mail Is Called Weak" "Taking Aim at Denial-of-Service Attacks" "Nanotech Gets Down to Business" "Setting a Standard for Wireless Security" "Faster Computer Techniques for Google" "Xerox Runs This Up the (Telephone) Pole: MEMS for Magical 'Last Mile'" "Video Devices Benefit the Deaf" "Fizzer Worm Bubbles Over" "The Games Robots Play" "Aftermath of War" "Invention International" "Intel Prototype Transforms Notebook" "'Simple, Cheap Technology' Holds Huge Promise" "New Virtual Reality Array Allows Immersive Experience Without the Disorienting 3-D Goggles" "Moving Up the Stack" "The Really, Really Messy Wi-Fi Revolution" "Reality Bytes" "Dawn of the Superworm" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Draft of Bill on Mass E-Mail Is Called Weak" A draft of a federal anti-spam bill sponsored by Reps. W.J. Tauzin (R-La.) and F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) is causing consternation among consumer groups and anti-spam advocates, who argue that all the measure will do is replace fraudulent spammers ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0514w.html#item1 "Taking Aim at Denial-of-Service Attacks" Carnegie Mellon University graduate students Abraham Yaar and XiaoFeng Wang presented two proposals at the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy on Monday that could act as effective deterrents against denial-of-service attacks by tweaking network ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0514w.html#item2 "Nanotech Gets Down to Business" Venture capitalists, big-money firms, and the U.S. government are all putting resources into nanotechnology, as evidenced by this year's NanoBusiness Conference in New York. Participants are excited by actual deployments of nanotechnology and reports by ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0514w.html#item3 "Setting a Standard for Wireless Security" The Presence and Availability Management (PAM) Forum and the Parlay Group announced their intention to merge on May 13 so that they can develop wireless security standards together. The organizations issued a press release stating that their merger ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0514w.html#item4 "Faster Computer Techniques for Google" Stanford University, the same academic institution that hosted research leading to the popular Google search engine, has yielded three methods that could collectively boost the speed of Google's Web page rankings by up to a factor of five. The techniques, ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0514w.html#item5 "Xerox Runs This Up the (Telephone) Pole: MEMS for Magical 'Last Mile'" Xerox has developed a prototype "last-mile" technology that may make the dream of cheap, rapid on-demand video and Internet services for the home and enterprise a reality. The device, a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switch incorporated into a... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0514w.html#item6 "Video Devices Benefit the Deaf" The are strong indications that wireless Internet is taking off among the 20 million hearing-impaired Americans in the United States, rather than leaving them behind. Sales of T-Mobile's wireless service using Danger in Motion's SideKick text-messaging ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0514w.html#item7 "Fizzer Worm Bubbles Over" The "Fizzer" worm that first emerged on May 8 is a mass-mailing worm that propagates by multiple means and attacks machines that run Microsoft's Windows operating system, according to McAfee, which updated Fizzer's risk profile on Monday from "low" to ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0514w.html#item8 "The Games Robots Play" Academic institutions contribute research to artificial intelligence that is put through its paces at RoboCup, an annual event in which robots compete in soccer games. The RoboCup American Open, hosted by Carnegie Mellon University, featured ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0514w.html#item9 "Aftermath of War" The fight against terrorists and the recent war in Iraq demonstrate how the Internet today affects war, political expression, and the media. The ability of embedded reporters was greatly enhanced through the Internet and some, such as Kevin ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0514w.html#item10 "Invention International" Former U.S. Patent Office commissioner and founder of the International Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI) Bruce Lehman says he established IIPI as a resource that people in developing countries could use to learn how to leverage patent, trademark, ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0514w.html#item11 "Intel Prototype Transforms Notebook" Intel's Florence is a prototype notebook computer that can easily switch between a tablet PC and a portable entertainment or messaging console. Designer Nick Oakley says the hinged, double-jointed device was inspired by "a two-way restaurant ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0514w.html#item12 "'Simple, Cheap Technology' Holds Huge Promise" Researchers reported significant advancements in the field of microfluidics with the announcement of a silicone rubber device that can transport a consistent stream of fluid despite pressure fluctuation. Such a device, which has no moving parts, could ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0514w.html#item13 "New Virtual Reality Array Allows Immersive Experience Without the Disorienting 3-D Goggles" The University of Pennsylvania is using a new system called LiveActor to allow users to interact in a virtual reality setting without 3-D glasses. LiveActor works by combining an optical motion capture tool with a stereo projection system. Users' ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0514w.html#item14 "Moving Up the Stack" Mainframes, PCs, minicomputers, and servers are transitioning to grid computing, in keeping with Gordon Bell's tenet that the prevalent IT platform changes every decade or so. The increasing complexity and heterogeneity of computing, as demonstrated by the ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0514w.html#item15 "The Really, Really Messy Wi-Fi Revolution" Low-cost, wireless broadband Internet access (Wi-Fi) is being touted as a revolutionary technology that will transform the way people use computers, but the Wi-Fi market is currently fraught with anarchy as Wi-Fi providers large and small fight over ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0514w.html#item16 "Reality Bytes" "Mirror Worlds" author David Gelernter's prediction that increased computing power and complexity would help bring about the online equivalent of cities is coming closer to reality. For example, participants in Web-based multiplayer games are ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0514w.html#item17 "Dawn of the Superworm" The Slammer worm--also known as Sapphire or SQL Hell-- was launched on Jan. 25, causing Internet service disruptions, flight cancellations, and malfunctioning ATMs. But experts warn that the worm could have been experimental, similar to the Nimda and ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0514w.html#item18 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To review Monday's issue, please visit http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0512m.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