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Отправлено: 8 марта 2004 г. 22:43
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Тема: TechNews Alert for Monday, March 8, 2004
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ACM TechNews
March 8, 2004

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HEADLINES AT A GLANCE:

  • Short-Lived PCs Have Hidden Costs
  • Science Tries to Woo Women
  • What's Good About Computer Viruses
  • Competing Technologies Shake Up E-Mail
  • E-Voting Field Test
  • No Riders: Desert Crossing Is for the Robots Only
  • Dissolving the Limits of Linux: The Breakneck Evolution Continues
  • E-mail's Past Could Point to Future of Instant Messaging
  • New Research Field Focuses on Video Games
  • Scientists Debate Success of Los Alamos Supercomputer
  • Where Computer Display Technology Is Headed
  • More Work Needed for Biometrics
  • States Join Spyware Battle
  • Winning Ways to Stop Spam
  • MEMS Reliability Key to Acceptance
  • Smart-Label Revolution
  • Rethinking Network Security
  • Translation in the Age of Terror

     

    Short-Lived PCs Have Hidden Costs

    A new book from Tokyo's United Nations University, "Computers and the Environment," argues that increasing computers' usability lifetime will reduce their environmental impact, which is much larger than previously postulated. The book estimates that an average desktop PC devours about as ...

    [read more]      to the top


    Science Tries to Woo Women

    Addressing the underrepresentation of women in IT, engineering, and other scientific careers is essential to the modern economy, according to a March 8 report from the Institute of Physics, and Elizabeth Cannon at the University of Calgary contends that the lack of women pursuing science ...

    [read more]      to the top


    What's Good About Computer Viruses

    The growing threat of computer viruses and other forms of malware has inspired security researchers to turn to the human immune system as a model for more bug-resistant computing. University of Virginia computer science professor David Evans, who has several projects funded by the National ...

    [read more]      to the top


    Competing Technologies Shake Up E-Mail

    Experts anticipate a shakeout of competing antispam technologies supported by Microsoft, Yahoo!, America Online, and others in the next few months. Microsoft announced Caller ID, a new email authentication architecture, at the recent RSA Conference: Caller ID requires email senders to publish the ...

    [read more]      to the top


    E-Voting Field Test

    The Super Tuesday vote gave both e-voting critics and supporters more circumstantial evidence to bolster their respective cases: Nationwide, the media reported on potential problems, complaints, and positive feedback from voters. Many of the failures in electronic voting systems, which were ...

    [read more]      to the top


    No Riders: Desert Crossing Is for the Robots Only

    Impatient with military contractors' lack of progress in creating automated combat vehicles to be deployed in battlefield operations by 2015, the Pentagon has enlisted the help of computer scientists, artificial intelligence experts, and robot enthusiasts by inviting them to build ...

    [read more]      to the top


    Dissolving the Limits of Linux: The Breakneck Evolution Continues

    Linux is evolving faster than any previous operating system, leaping from an alternative platform for non-core components to an increasingly viable candidate for even the most challenging scientific applications. Attendees at this year's LinuxWorld Conference & Expo no doubt were surprised by the ...

    [read more]      to the top


    E-mail's Past Could Point to Future of Instant Messaging

    The future of instant messaging could lie in the past history of email, noted panelists at the Instant Messaging Planet Conference on March 3. Kieran McCorry of Hewlett-Packard's technology leadership group called IM's situation close to that of email 10 years ago, which was characterized by ...

    [read more]      to the top


    New Research Field Focuses on Video Games

    Video games are increasingly becoming a subject of research at colleges and universities across the country. The list of schools offering classes and programs on video games includes MIT, Purdue University, Ohio State University, and Princeton University. At the University of Michigan, ...

    [read more]      to the top


    Scientists Debate Success of Los Alamos Supercomputer

    Officials at Los Alamos National Laboratory believe the decision to not pursue the final phase of the Q machine was rooted in politics and congressional budgetary concerns, rather than on the performance of the supercomputer. The Department of Energy has decided not to expand Q, which ...

    [read more]      to the top


    Where Computer Display Technology Is Headed

    The way we regard computing could change significantly with a quintet of emerging display technologies. Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) are not backlit and boast a microsecond response time to avoid image smearing, giving them an image quality and contrast superior to liquid crystal ...

    [read more]      to the top


    More Work Needed for Biometrics

    Officials say that there is still work needed on standards, interoperability, and testing before biometrics can be used as a mature government security solution. Commercial solutions vary in accuracy and reliability, and Martin Herman, chief of the National Institute of ...

    [read more]      to the top


    States Join Spyware Battle

    State legislatures are beginning to regulate spyware and other advertising software--a trend that may please consumers but worries some Internet businesses. "Our concerns are [about] regulating a technology rather than regulating the use of a technology," says Internet Alliance executive ...

    [read more]      to the top


    Winning Ways to Stop Spam

    Even with the rapidly increasing amount of spam email, some IT managers have successfully reclaimed email for their company using various methods. Wyndham International manually updated a content filter to keep out unwanted messages, but found its efforts overwhelmed in late 2002, says ...

    [read more]      to the top


    MEMS Reliability Key to Acceptance

    Increasing the acceptance of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology is a tough challenge: Despite evidence that MEMS devices are reliable, their long gestation period for achieving dependable mass production has discouraged users, according to many attendees of last ...

    [read more]      to the top


    Smart-Label Revolution

    Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology has the potential to dramatically increase consumers' level of control over business transactions. Affixed to objects, RFID tags consist of small, inexpensive chips and antennas that broadcast data about the objects to a receiver; the ...

    [read more]      to the top


    Rethinking Network Security

    Overcoming the problems of network security and lowering the dangers presented by worms, trojans, and other kinds of malware that so plagued Internet users last year will require a coordinated multi-pronged approach that involves everyone. "Perimeter defense as the sole or primary means of ...

    [read more]      to the top


    Translation in the Age of Terror

    The 9/11 tragedy has spurred intelligence agencies to overhaul their efforts to translate the massive amounts of information they collect in order to anticipate and thwart future terrorist attacks. The National Virtual Translation Center will serve as the nexus of a secure network of ...

    [read more]      to the top


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