Instant Messaging: Time for IT
to Pay Attention
Pentagon Calls Off Voting
by Internet
The Pentagon has scrapped plans to allow U.S. servicemen
and citizens stationed abroad to vote over the Internet for
the upcoming presidential election, following a report from
computer-security experts concluding that the system is too
susceptible to tampering. After the report, the overseas ...
[read more]
to the top
Pondering 'Seamless' Feel
of the Web
The U.S. Patent Office has agreed to review a University of
California patent on Web browser technology, with regard to
whether the technology patent should be enforced. The agency
made its decision after the consortium that oversees the
technical protocols of the Web, the World Wide ...
[read more]
to the top
Geeks Put the Unsavvy on
Alert: Learn or Log Off
With viruses such as MyDoom spreading, technophiles are
chastising users they view as wanting the benefits of digital
technology while shirking from the responsibilities that come
with using it. World Wide Web Artists Consortium President
Scott Bowling writes, "It takes affirmative action on ...
[read more]
to the top
A Human
Touch?
Robots are expected to become more human in appearance and
behavior in the next 10 years or so, and move out of the
laboratory and into consumer households once a "killer app"
has been found. Commercially available robots are primarily
confined to the industrial sector, but sales of ...
[read more]
to the top
Guest-Worker Visas Come
Under Fire
Witnesses testified at a Feb. 4 hearing of the House
Committee on International Relations that guest-worker visa
programs are riddled with fraud and abuse, and Rep. Henry Hyde
(R-Ill.) called for reforms. The L-1 and H-1B visas have come
under fire in the wake of massive layoffs in the ...
[read more]
to the top
Catch Us If You
Can
Niklas Jennstrom and Janus Friis, who created the
controversial and popular Kazaa file-sharing program, are
trying to build a business that will make them rich while
protecting them from legal action, which Kazaa failed to do.
That business is Skype, a startup that uses some of Kazaa's
technology ...
[read more]
to the top
'We're Making Rapid
Progress'
Amit Yoran, chief of the Department of Homeland Security's
National Cyber Security Division, is confident that the new
National Cyber Alert System, along with other programs, will
significantly reduce threats to cyberspace by improving user
preparedness to such threats. In fact, he insists that ...
[read more]
to the top
From R2D2 to Spirit and
Beyond: What's in Store for Intelligent
Robots?
The romantic or dark visions of robots popularized in
science fiction and movies is a far cry from the actual state
of robotics and its future prospects. Vijay Kumar, director of
Penn Engineering's General Robotics, Automation, Sensing, and
Perception Lab, acknowledges that certain jobs ...
[read more]
to the top
Protecting the Cellphone
User's Right to Hide
Marketers are expecting a windfall through ads, coupons,
and other come-ons sent wirelessly to cell phones by
leveraging technology that tracks a caller's location, and at
the moment there is little cell phone users can do to stop
this, apart from turning off their location-tracking features.
...
[read more]
to the top
RFID: The Promise (and
Danger) of Smart Barcodes
Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, such as those
discussed at Harvard Business School's recent Cyberposium
2004, promise to revolutionize inventory and supply-chain
management as well as make shopping more convenient, but they
also raise concerns about privacy infringement. The ...
[read more]
to the top
Japan's Tech
Comeback
Though Japan's consumer-electronics market lead has been
eroded by upstart Asian players such as Samsung, LG, and Acer
in recent years, strong digital appliance sales indicate a
rebound for Japanese firms such as Sony, Sharp, Sanyo, and
Matsushita. The Japan Electronics & Information Technology
...
[read more]
to the top
From Art to
Science
Mills College, a small women's only school in Oakland,
Calif., offers a two-year graduate program in
interdisciplinary computer science designed to provide a
computer science background to students' studies as well as
offer new skills to broaden their career opportunities. The
program is run by ...
[read more]
to the top
Research Networks Plan
Extensible Peering
U.S. universities and research laboratories on the West
Coast plan to set up an extensible peering system using
Ethernet technology. With points of presence (POPs) in Seattle
and Los Angeles, the "Pacific Wave" project will allow
facilities in between to easily hook up to larger
international ...
[read more]
to the top
101 Ways to Save the
Internet
The problems plaguing the Internet--viruses, spammers,
identity theft, hacking--spring from its most attractive
features such as its openness, the free flow of data, and
peer-to-peer (P2P) cooperation. Eliminating these elements
would seriously devalue the Net, but there are ...
[read more]
to the top
Eyes and Ears
Everywhere
Many companies are turning to wireless technology to link
up embedded device networks in an effort to save money and
expand their mobility, though this connectivity carries
certain compromises. Sustaining battery life for long periods
requires reductions in transmission frequency and ...
[read more]
to the top
Toxic
Legacy
The squeeze is on manufacturers to recycle IT products more
responsibly as public awareness of e-waste's hazards spreads
and various recycling regulations mount. In early 2003, the
European Union passed several e-waste directives: One requires
IT product vendors to phase out certain ...
[read more]
to the top
A Fountain of
Knowledge
IBM's WebFountain analysis engine is designed to draw upon
public and proprietary resources, 160 TB of disk space, and a
massive conglomeration of hardware and software to make sense
of the chaotic Internet. With such a tool, companies can make
more intelligent business decisions and more ...
[read more]
to the top
Instant Messaging: Time
for IT to Pay Attention
IT departments are now taking instant messaging (IM) as
seriously as email because of its benefits as a collaboration
tool, and Nemertes Research analysts expect most enterprises
to be pervasively employing IM by mid to late 2004. Typical IM
enterprise adoption begins with workers using free ...
[read more]
to the top
To submit feedback about ACM TechNews, contact: technews@hq.acm.org
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.
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
to the top
© Copyright 2004 Information,
Inc.