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 ...
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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
...
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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 ...
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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
...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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, ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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