Implanting Hope
A CAPPS by Any Other
Name
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) will soon
release an assessment of the Secure Flight passenger
pre-screening system, but Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.),
computer security expert Bruce Schneier, and ACLU members held
a March 24 press call in which they expressed concern that the
...
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more] to the top
War of Words over Operating
Systems' Safety
Recent reports on Linux-based Web servers, the open-source
Firefox Web browser, and Apple's Mac OSX operating system
raise doubts about their security, which experts contend is
still better than their Microsoft equivalents. Symantec's
biannual Internet Security Threat report issued on ...
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more] to the top
Study: Grid Growth Requires
Friendlier Software Licensing
The 451 Group's recently released "Grid Computing--The
Impact of Software Licensing" study concludes that traditional
per-processing licensing models are hindering the growth of
grid computing, and friendlier licensing models should be
implemented. Primary study author William Fellows contends
that ...
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more] to the top
Common Sense Boosts Speech
Software
MIT Media Lab researchers are applying common-sense
reasoning to the improvement of speech recognition software's
accuracy through the Open Mind Common Sense Project. The
software's inability to understand word meaning makes
distinguishing between words that sound similar or identical
...
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more] to the top
Tech Versus the
World
The "Battle of the Brains" among the world's top collegiate
programmers is scheduled for April 3-7, 2005, in Shanghai,
China. Michigan Technological University's representative at
the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest will be
"MTU Blue," a team that consists of Jonathan Kaus, ...
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more] to the top
Small Banks Can Compete
Through Niche Marketing Online
A Penn State researcher believes small banks will be able
to compete with their technology-laden counterparts if they
concentrate on their niche markets. Although community banks
will not be able to invest as much in wireless communications
and mobile banking, adding links to their Web sites ...
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more] to the top
Biometric Passports Set to
Take Flight
The State Department's Office of Passport Policy, Planning,
and Advisory Service recently announced its readiness to start
issuing radio frequency identification (RFID) chip-equipped
biometric passports, but critics warn that the technology does
not adequately protect the user's personal ...
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more] to the top
SHA-1 Flaw Seen as No Risk
to One-Time Password Proposal
A vulnerability in the SHA-1 one-way hash function
discovered by Chinese cryptographers in February does not
affect most SHA-1-based applications, including the Hashed
Message Authentication Code (HMAC) from the Initiative for
Open Authentication (Oath). The proposed HMAC standard is a
one-time ...
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more] to the top
Getting Smart Is All About
Using Your Intelligence
Despite the ongoing investment in business intelligence
(BI) solutions, companies have not realized the goal of
information democracy, which provides the right amount of
information to the masses to provide key insights, solve
problems faster, and open up new opportunities. Gartner's ...
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more] to the top
Motion Filter Eases
Troubles With Mouse
An adapter invented by IBM researcher James Levine can
filter out shaky mouse movements caused by tremors in the
hands of users suffering from motor skills disorders. The
Assistive Mouse Adapter is about as small as a handheld
calculator and plugs in between the mouse and the computer;
the ...
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more] to the top
Does IM Stand for Insecure
Messaging?
The threat of instant messaging (IM) worms is growing, and
a key factor in their spread is the obliviousness of users and
IT administrators. "A person unaware of the IM threat is the
biggest risk that exists for these viruses to have some
success," warns McAfee research fellow Jimmy Kuo. ...
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more] to the top
PC Forum: Where in the
World Is Search Heading?
Dan Farber reports on the final PC Forum panel, where
scientists and vendor representatives offered their
perspectives on search technology developments, leading to
expectations that more personalized search could emerge in the
next five years, although no definite predictions were made.
...
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more] to the top
Cyberterrorism Isn't a
Threat Yet, One Expert Says
Cyberterrorism is a concept that has been overblown by the
media and poses no threat, though someday it will evolve into
a threat worth worrying about, according to longtime computer
security expert Marcus Ranum, the inventor of the proxy
firewall. Ranum made his comments at Texas Christian ...
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more] to the top
Tech That Makes a
Difference
University of California at Berkeley computer science
professor and Inktomi founder Eric Brewer sees three major
problems with attempts to bring technology to developing
regions: Their reliance on existing, off-the-shelf technology,
which may not align well with the region; their ...
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more] to the top
Taming the River of
Data
The Information Dominance Center (IDC) of the Army's
Intelligence and Security Command is testing new software
tools designed to fuse data from numerous sources and present
it in a comprehensible manner. Command director Maj. Gen. John
Kimmons says too much of his analysts' time is ...
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more] to the top
IETF Eyes 'Net Emergency
Communications
The IETF recently launched the Emergency Context
Resolutions with Internet Technologies (ECRIT) working group
to develop a way to stream emergency communications over the
Internet in much the same way that 911 calls are sent across
the public switched telephone network (PSTN). ECRIT is ...
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more] to the top
The
'dotCommunist'
Columbia University law professor and Free Software
Foundation general counsel Eben Moglen is a fervent believer
in free software as part of his struggle to promote freedom of
speech and advance knowledge. He defines software as a "public
utility," and argues that software patents and other ...
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more] to the top
The Science
Deficit
General increases in federal funding for research and
development belie the diversion of funding from key civilian
disciplines such as physics and biology to defense and
homeland security, and this trend is sparking fears that U.S.
technological innovation will lag behind that of international
...
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more] to the top
Implanting
Hope
Excitement is brewing over the potential use of implantable
brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) to increase the mobility and
independence of paralytics and other movement-impaired
patients, although the technology is in a very early stage of
development. One of the most notable inventions in this ...
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more] to the top
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