Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the June 20, 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 510 Date: June 20, 2003 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Get more. Save more. Outfitting your business with the latest, award-winning IBM technology has several benefits, not least of which is the money you can save when buying in volume. As you can see, it doesn't take much to maximize your discount. This offer is valid on phone orders only on select PC products, so call today and give your business, and your budget and IBM edge. Savings referenced off regular IBM Web price. Not in addition to standard affinity program discount. Buy Up to 5 systems --> 10% everyday discount Buy 6 - 10 systems --> 10% + additional 2% = 12% discount Buy 10+ systems --> 10% + additional 4% = 14% discount Call today 800-426-7235, ext 3559 Offer valid on phone orders only. Discount is available directly from IBM on select PC products, excludes PC options and third party options. Savings referenced off regular IBM Web price. Not in addition to standard affinity program discount. Shipping and handling not included. This offer cannot be combined with other discounts, rebates or special offers. Offer subject to product availability. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Top Stories for Friday, June 20, 2003: http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html "Lawmakers Look to Curb L-1 Visas" "Anti-Spam Bill Gains in Senate" "Europe Plans Patent Standard That Excludes 'Business Methods'" "Where Is Everybody? The Wireless Network Might Know" "UC Riverside Computer Science Graduate Student Wins ACM Student Research Competition Award" "Tiny Computers Will Bend to Browse" "Security Researchers Nibble at Bluetooth" "An Opening In Cyberspace" "UI Researchers Develop Concert of Calculations" "I, Robot" "Can Anyone Stop the Music Cops?" "Hans Reiser Speaks Freely About Free Software Development" "Report Sheds Light on China's Evolving R&D Centers" "Phone Butler Organizes Your Life" "IT Feels the Squeeze" "Creative Management" "Broadband a Go-Go" "The Role of Speech in Multimodal Applications" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Lawmakers Look to Curb L-1 Visas" Connecticut Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D) and Nancy Johnson (R) have promised to act against alleged abuses of the L-1 visa program, which is designed to allow multinational companies to more easily transfer workers from their overseas branches. Johnson told ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0620f.html#item1 "Anti-Spam Bill Gains in Senate" Sens. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) and Ron Wyden's (D-Ore.) Can Spam Act of 2003 was passed unanimously by the Senate Commerce Committee on June 19. The legislation targets spammers who sell pornography or fraudulent content, fail to comply with consumers' ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0620f.html#item2 "Europe Plans Patent Standard That Excludes 'Business Methods'" A proposed pan-European software-patent law that bans software companies from obtaining patents on business methods is drawing controversy, but European Parliament member Arlene McCarthy expects the measure to be approved by Parliament and member ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0620f.html#item3 "Where Is Everybody? The Wireless Network Might Know" Researchers are enhancing wireless networks to not only track computer users' whereabouts, but adapt the computers to better serve users according to their situation--in other words, making them context-aware, according to Asim Smailagic of Carnegie ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0620f.html#item4 "UC Riverside Computer Science Graduate Student Wins ACM Student Research Competition Award" University of California, Riverside graduate student Jing Li took third place in the AC Student Research Competition (SRC) Grand Final. ACM recognized Li, who is studying computer science with a concentration in bioinformatics/algorithms for his Ph.D. ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0620f.html#item5 "Tiny Computers Will Bend to Browse" An ultra-small, flexible computer prototype created by German inventor Carsten Schwesig could form the basis of paper-thin, credit-card-sized map browsers and other information gadgets from Sony. The prototype, nicknamed "Gummi," consists of a ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0620f.html#item6 "Security Researchers Nibble at Bluetooth" Bluetooth technology is maturing with the approval of version 1.2 this month at the Bluetooth World Congress, but perhaps a more reliable sign of technological maturity is the development of the first Bluetooth hacking tool. Ollie Whitehouse, an @Stake ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0620f.html#item7 "An Opening In Cyberspace" The U.S. critical infrastructure's increasing reliance on computer networks has made cybersecurity a major issue, and North Carolina universities are working to draw cybersecurity funding by developing more effective hacker ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0620f.html#item8 "UI Researchers Develop Concert of Calculations" University of Illinois researchers have harnessed 10 relatively cheap, networked computer workstations that are able to collaboratively calculate a 20-million-unknown mathematical problem. "Most universities can't touch a problem [of the kind ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0620f.html#item9 "I, Robot" For humanoid robots to become truly interactive and as versatile as those depicted in popular media such as science-fiction movies and TV shows, they must incorporate hardware and software that allows them to mimic the fluidity and flexibility of human ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0620f.html#item10 "Can Anyone Stop the Music Cops?" With the judicial system appearing to defer to the entertainment industry when it comes to cases of alleged digital infringement, a new proposal from Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) is finding favor among technology companies and civil liberties groups. The ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0620f.html#item11 "Hans Reiser Speaks Freely About Free Software Development" Hans Reiser, project manager for the Linux-enabled ReiserFS filesystem at Namesys, answers numerous questions about the product and free software development posted on Slashdot. Reiser explains that the most successful free software implementations ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0620f.html#item12 "Report Sheds Light on China's Evolving R&D Centers" IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and other U.S. computer makers have played a key role in the development of the high-technology research and development network in China. The initial interest of U.S. computer makers in China as a potential hub for R&D led a number ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0620f.html#item13 "Phone Butler Organizes Your Life" Researchers at UK's University of Southampton have created software designed to help people schedule both corporate and personal engagements. "I see the artificial agent as a butler-type character," says Southampton computer science ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0620f.html#item14 "IT Feels the Squeeze" Salary declines and a soft job market have become the status quo in the IT sector for the third consecutive year, according to respondents to the 2003 InfoWorld Compensation Survey. Poll results indicate that monetary bonuses have fallen 12.5 percent, ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0620f.html#item15 "Creative Management" Intellectual property (IP) asset management tools are gaining favor in markets that produce or receive large amounts of intangible, mind-generated content, such as the media, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, oil and gas, chemicals, ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0620f.html#item16 "Broadband a Go-Go" The path to wireless mobility, which promises anytime/anywhere high-speed Web access from any kind of handheld, is being mapped out by companies setting up wireless broadband networks that serve communities throughout the United States. BroadBand ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0620f.html#item17 "The Role of Speech in Multimodal Applications" Integrating speech technology with a graphical user interface (GUI) results in a multimodal interface that supports various applications, writes Dr. Deborah Dahl, chairman of the World Wide Web Consortium's Multimodal Interaction Working Group. Some ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0620f.html#item18 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To review Wednesday's issue, please please visit http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0618w.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