Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the December 24, 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 Remember to check out our hot new online essay and opinion magazine, Ubiquity, at ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ACM TechNews Volume 5, Number 587 Date: December 24, 2003 Top Stories for Wednesday, December 24, 2003: "Creator of Linux Defends Its Originality" "U.N. Summit Asks How to Globalize Internet" "United States, Russia, China Link Up First Global-Ring Network" "The Internet Is a Very Sick Place" "Invasion of the Centibots" "Open-Source Battle Is Heating Up" "Software Glitch Brings Y2K Deja Vu" "Digital Defense" "Where the Net Is Heading in 2004" "What's Next?" "Accessibility Opens Up" "The Allure of Low Technology" "Here's a New Spin (Cycle) on Small Tech: Smart Appliances" "Morpheus Falling?" "An IQ Injection for the Internet" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Creator of Linux Defends Its Originality" Linux operating system inventor Linus Torvalds yesterday refuted SCO Group's contention that large sections of code embedded in Linux were baldly copied from the SCO-owned Unix operating system, in violation of SCO licensing terms and copyright.˙ This claim is at the crux of SCO's suit˙ ... "U.N. Summit Asks How to Globalize Internet" An issue raised at the recent U.S. World Summit on the Information Society was the prevailing Western influence on Internet content, in terms of language and cultural values.˙ This trend is very problematic for developing countries, many of which still lack Internet access.˙ Summit˙ ... "United States, Russia, China Link Up First Global-Ring Network" U.S., Russian, and Chinese academics have set up a high-speed Internet link to span the entire globe.˙ The ring connects North American, European, Russian, and incipient Chinese research networks and will foster greater scientific collaboration between the countries.˙ Among the activities˙ ... "The Internet Is a Very Sick Place" Malware authors did not exhibit much innovation this year, but that is small comfort to the many people whose computers were hijacked or networks compromised by record worm and virus attacks.˙ F-Secure's Mikko Hypponen notes that the most widespread of this year's worms, such as Slammer and˙ ... "Invasion of the Centibots" The Centibots project is a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)-funded joint venture between SRI International, Stanford University, the University of Washington, and ActivMedia to develop a network of autonomous robots that can be deployed by the military to map˙ ... "Open-Source Battle Is Heating Up" The Massachusetts state legislature is debating a proposition that the state give preference to open-source software products for its own use.˙ The controversy started in September with a leaked memo from Massachusetts finance and administration secretary Eric Kriss, and has been joined by a˙ ... "Software Glitch Brings Y2K Deja Vu" Echoes of the Y2K bug are reverberating as software maker PTC attempts to correct a date-related glitch that threatens to render software on thousands of computers around the world inoperative after Jan. 10.˙ PTC's Joe Gavaghan reports that PTC programmers had to set a date for infinity so˙ ... "Digital Defense" Hackers and malware authors may currently have the upper hand thanks to the growing number of vulnerabilities stemming from increasing software complexity, a rise in computer connectivity, and the emergence of sophisticated and simple-to-use digital weapons.˙ But computer security˙ ... "Where the Net Is Heading in 2004" Alex Salkever makes a number of predictions for the Internet in 2004, and though none of these forecasts are written in stone, he is quite certain that the Internet will undergo many more changes next year than in the last several years.˙ He writes that competition against leading search˙ ... "What's Next?" Change is par for the course at Apple, but though the company keeps quiet about future products until they are ready for their market debut, the chips Apple uses in its PCs--those from IBM in particular--can shed light about upcoming releases.˙ IBM is reportedly ready to introduce its PowerPC˙ ... "Accessibility Opens Up" The development and rollout of computer hardware and software tools that disabled people can use is accelerating, and cost is not necessarily a factor.˙ Expensive customized devices may not have to be provided when adaptable ergonomic products available in any office supply catalog may˙ ... "The Allure of Low Technology" China's dedication to turn itself into a technology giant through pride-boosting accomplishments such as October's space mission, strong electronics exports, a low-wage tech workforce, abundant foreign intellectual property, and rising research spending, is not in doubt--but˙ ... "Here's a New Spin (Cycle) on Small Tech: Smart Appliances" Microscale sensors and actuators are expected to raise the intelligence of household appliances and relieve people of various inconveniences in the kitchen, laundry room, and elsewhere in the next few years, if the hype is to be believed.˙ Though some modern washing machines come equipped with˙ ... "Morpheus Falling?" Either the U.S. Supreme Court or Congress will have to resolve legal issues surrounding second-generation file-sharing software, particularly revising technology and copyright precedents set in the Sony Betamax case of 1984.˙ In that case, the Supreme Court ruled that VCR makers could not be held˙ ... "An IQ Injection for the Internet" MIT senior research scientist David Clark envisions a cognitive Internet that can identify network problems, fix them, and learn from its experiences more effectively than human network administrators; his Knowledge Plane (KP) project aims to accomplish this goal in about a decade ... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Site Sponsored by AutoChoice Advisor ˙˙ Looking for a NEW vehicle?˙ Discover which ones are ˙˙ right for you from over 250 different makes and models. ˙˙ Your unbiased list of vehicles is based on your preferences ˙˙ and years of consumer input. < > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- To review Monday'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:˙ technews-request@acm.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -