Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the June 25, 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 512 Date: June 25, 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, June 25, 2003: http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html "Senator Presses Pentagon on Spy Plan" "New California Law Forces Companies to Disclose Hacking" "PlanetLab 'Slices' Into Alternate Universe" "Hackers Move on to Hijacking" "Sony's Flexible Approach Pays Dividends in Lab" "Bill Aims to Cut Computer Clutter" "Quantum Computing Is Out There, and It Just Got Funding" "Software Referees Group Calls" "Exhibiting Technology" "New Bill Injects FBI Into P2P Battle" "Researchers Demonstrate Tunable Schottky Barrier, Aim for Ferroelectric" "Virtual Voting" "Mentors Help Students Build a Better Robot" "In Search of Africa's Silicon Valley" "The Sentient Office Is Coming" "How Do I Know Who You Are?" "Defensive Postures" "From Virtual Communities to Smart Mobs" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Senator Presses Pentagon on Spy Plan" Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote a letter to the director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on June 24 asking 11 questions concerning the scope, privacy ramifications, and other details of Terrorist (formerly Total) Information ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0625w.html#item1 "New California Law Forces Companies to Disclose Hacking" A California law that takes effect on July 1, 2003, requires companies to notify state customers about network intrusions that compromise the security of their personal information. Personal information, according to the bill, refers to an individual's ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0625w.html#item2 "PlanetLab 'Slices' Into Alternate Universe" PlanetLab, which was launched June 24 by a consortium of academic institutions and high-tech companies, is an Internet-based testbed for online services that uses overlay networks and distributed computing. Organizers say its purpose is to allow ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0625w.html#item3 "Hackers Move on to Hijacking" Hackers are commandeering Web sites and using them as platforms to launch all kinds of unauthorized activity--transmission of unsolicited commercial email, pornographic site hosting, searching for more computers to victimize and so on--via an intrusion ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0625w.html#item4 "Sony's Flexible Approach Pays Dividends in Lab" Sony's Tokyo-based interactive research laboratory plays host to a research team that has been gathered to explore novel computer interface concepts such as Gummi, a flexible handheld device that is sensitive to touching and bending, and GestureWrist, a gadget ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0625w.html#item5 "Bill Aims to Cut Computer Clutter" The National Computer Recycling Act sponsored by Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) aims to curb the growing stockpile of discarded computers by attaching a fee of about $10 to new computer or monitor purchases to fund recycling initiatives. ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0625w.html#item6 "Quantum Computing Is Out There, and It Just Got Funding" Venture-capitalist firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) has funded Canada-based D-Wave Systems, the only startup in the world that aims to build a working quantum computer. Quantum computers, which rely on the quirky science of quantum mechanics to operate, ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0625w.html#item7 "Software Referees Group Calls" A collaboration between researchers at Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), Carnegie Mellon University, and Stanford University has yielded a prototype audio interface featuring software that mediates group teleconferencing with more flexibility by ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0625w.html#item8 "Exhibiting Technology" Museums and tourist exhibits are providing cutting-edge technology with an incubator of sorts, and emphasize experiences rather than the return-on-investment demanded in the wider business world. Seattle museum planner Howard Litwak explains ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0625w.html#item9 "New Bill Injects FBI Into P2P Battle" The Piracy Deterrence and Education Act of 2003 presented to Congress by Reps. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and Howard Berman (D-Calif.) on June 19 this year would command the FBI to organize a program to investigate and prosecute online copyright ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0625w.html#item10 "Researchers Demonstrate Tunable Schottky Barrier, Aim for Ferroelectric" Scientists have redefined one of the tenets of electronic computing with the discovery of a flexible Schottky barrier, the intersection of semiconductor and oxide material regulating the flow of electrons from one to the other. Named for Siemens ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0625w.html#item11 "Virtual Voting" The Department of Defense will use the general and presidential elections of 2004 as a testbed for its Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment (SERVE), an e-voting project designed to streamline the absentee voting process for Americans ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0625w.html#item12 "Mentors Help Students Build a Better Robot" The For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) robotics competition, now in its 11th year, pits teams of students against each other in the design and performance of robots, and assigns science and engineering professionals as ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0625w.html#item13 "In Search of Africa's Silicon Valley" Several countries in Africa are attempting to follow India's lead by developing high-tech hubs and become the African equivalent of India's Bangalore. The African nations of Uganda, Togo, Senegal, and Ghana, for example, are trying to break into the global ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0625w.html#item14 "The Sentient Office Is Coming" Sentient computer systems that can perceive their environment and intuitively anticipate users' needs are expected to become ubiquitous due to a number of factors. Usability is one reason, since consumers desire an easier way to program and operate ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0625w.html#item15 "How Do I Know Who You Are?" Biometrics advisor James L. Wayman of San Jose State University argues that biometrics security popularized in recent years is deeply flawed for a variety of reasons, including a lack of standards, legal controversy, and the current level of ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0625w.html#item16 "Defensive Postures" The growth of computer system vulnerabilities and hacking incidents is boosting the popularity of intrusion prevention systems (IPSes), which are split into two general categories: Host-based intrusion prevention (HIP) systems that shield servers ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0625w.html#item17 "From Virtual Communities to Smart Mobs" In his book, "Smart Mobs," author Howard Rheingold envisions how group and individual interactions can be revolutionized through Web-connected cell phones that can wirelessly transmit and receive content. Text messaging via cell phones removes ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0625w.html#item18 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To review Monday's issue, please visit http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0623m.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