Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the September 15, 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 545 Date: September 15, 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, September 15, 2003: http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html "Crackdown on Copyright Abuse May Send Music Traders Into Software Underground" "'Perfect Storm' of Factors Sweeping More U.S. Tech Jobs Overseas" "GPS Lost: Can the Satellite Technology Find Its Way?" "EU Project Develops Tool to Help Blind People Access 3D Computer Graphics" "IEEE Works on Secure OS Standards" "In the Age of the Internet, Whatever Will Be Will Be Free" "Researchers Work to Improve Performance of Wireless Communications" "Open Source Helps Education Effort in Third World" "Wireless Webs to Cope With a Crisis" "An Open Source Search Engine" "Worth Its SALT" "Glowing, Talking Walls Will Do Your Bidding" "China Joins Global Fight Against Spam" "Make Robots Not War" "A Picture Tells a Thousand Lies" "A Web Address for Every Car?" "The Visa War" "The New X-Men" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Crackdown on Copyright Abuse May Send Music Traders Into Software Underground" The copyright infringement lawsuits the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed against music swappers is prompting the development of new systems and new methods that allow people to continue to trade digital files while maintaining . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0915m.html#item1 "'Perfect Storm' of Factors Sweeping More U.S. Tech Jobs Overseas" Information Technology Association of America President Harris Miller attributes the offshore outsourcing of U.S. tech jobs to a "perfect storm" of factors--sluggish national and international markets and escalating global rivalry. Both large and small . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0915m.html#item2 "GPS Lost: Can the Satellite Technology Find Its Way?" Widespread adoption of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology has been stymied by expensive, proprietary technology. GPS was first developed by the Defense Department, which spent billions of dollars setting up a network of 28 satellites in orbit . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0915m.html#item3 "EU Project Develops Tool to Help Blind People Access 3D Computer Graphics" The European Union has invested 1.38 million euros in the GRAB project, an effort to develop a haptic interface that allows visually impaired users to interact with computer-generated 3D graphics. The GRAB team, comprised of British, Irish, German, . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0915m.html#item4 "IEEE Works on Secure OS Standards" The P220 Base Operating System Security working group of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers is now working to develop "baseline consistent security requirements" for commercial off-the-shelf operating systems in an effort to . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0915m.html#item5 "In the Age of the Internet, Whatever Will Be Will Be Free" The Internet, by design, supports the free exchange of information, while the global spread of personal computing and inexpensive communications networks has helped foster a welter of new technologies and usage--the World Wide Web, instant . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0915m.html#item6 "Researchers Work to Improve Performance of Wireless Communications" New technology being developed by researchers at Motorola's Advanced Technology Center and the University of Missouri-Rolla could allow cell phones, for example, to operate in any geographic location and receive stronger signals with less . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0915m.html#item7 "Open Source Helps Education Effort in Third World" Third-world educational services, governments, and businesses are taking advantage of open-source software because they cannot afford increasingly expensive proprietary technology such as Windows; they also desire to skirt the upgrade cycle and foster . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0915m.html#item8 "Wireless Webs to Cope With a Crisis" Public safety officials are looking at a range of new technologies that promise to simplify and reinforce emergency response communications. Lack of radio spectrum and interference has long been a problem for firefighters and police, especially . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0915m.html#item9 "An Open Source Search Engine" The Internet search market is expected to balloon from $2 billion now to between $6 billion and $8 billion in four years, with Yahoo!, Google, and Microsoft--which jealously guard their intellectual property, competitive advantages, and technical . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0915m.html#item10 "Worth Its SALT" EDN Magazine (09/10/03); Potter, Stephen The Speech Application Language Tags (SALT) 1.0 specification is now available free of royalties, and has been contributed to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Developed by the SALT Forum, which is comprised of more than 70 companies interested in speech . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0915m.html#item11 "Glowing, Talking Walls Will Do Your Bidding" Researchers at the Sept. 10 British Association science festival say that houses could be radically transformed by advances in nanotechnology and mobile devices. Experiments with light emitting diodes and other small devices have led scientists such . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0915m.html#item12 "China Joins Global Fight Against Spam" China has had particular problems with spam, partially because network administrators in the country are not as stringent in overseeing systems as are administrators in other nations--says Justin Mallen of Silk Road Technologies--and partially because . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0915m.html#item13 "Make Robots Not War" Neuroscience researcher Steve Potter, who invented a neuron-controlled robot, vehemently refuses military funding to develop his technology out of concern that it would be applied to battlefield operations and weaponry. However, scientists such as . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0915m.html#item14 "A Picture Tells a Thousand Lies" The alteration of digital images has become a common practice, which is why a method to determine the authenticity of images is critical. Hany Farid, assistant professor in computer science at Dartmouth College, believes digital watermarking, which some . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0915m.html#item15 "A Web Address for Every Car?" Interest in networked cars has existed for years, and cars already include multiple microprocessors, while many drivers now use wireless email devices while in transit. In Japan, millions of drivers take advantage of the Vehicle Information . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0915m.html#item16 "The Visa War" Foreign outsourcing firms are taking advantage of the H-1B and L-1 visa programs to make their businesses more competitive against U.S. companies, but Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Chairman Ron Hira says the situation has . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0915m.html#item17 "The New X-Men" Software development is undergoing a dramatic change with the advent of extreme programming (XP), in which programmers co-develop code, thus shortening the development loop and eliminating lengthy upfront planning periods typical of . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0915m.html#item18 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To review the Friday's issue, please visit http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0912f.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