The Net Effect
File-Sharing Firms Can Be
Held Liable
In two Supreme Court decisions this week, the entertainment
industry scored significant proprietary victories. The first,
decided unanimously, held that online distributors of
file-sharing software can be found liable if it is
demonstrated that they encourage users to illegally share
copyrighted ...
[read more]
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U.S.-Style Labor Pains From
Mumbai to Bangalore
As India's technology industry has been flourishing, it is
experiencing the attendant labor problems of recruiting and
retaining workers. The average turnover among India's software
companies is 15 percent, with some reporting rates as high as
30 percent. Part of the genesis of India's boom ...
[read more]
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By and for the
Masses
The Internet is playing host to a growing number of sharing
sites that many believe will be the defining aspect of the
next phase of the Web. Advances in software have lowered the
operating cost and broadened the scope of sites offering
user-created content, going beyond the celebrated ...
[read more]
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County Moves Ahead With New
E-Voting System
On Tuesday, Alameda County supervisors approved the
continued use of Diebold's touch-screen electronic voting
machines. The county will negotiate a $5.4 million contract
for Diebold's TSx machines, which come with printers attached
to create paper verification, for the next ...
[read more]
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Paint Program Renders Ink
Physics
A Hong Kong University of Science and Technology team of
researchers has developed Moxi, technology designed to make
computer paint and animation programs more realistic. Moxi
simulates the properties of pigment at a very basic level,
such as its tendency to clump at the edge of ink while it ...
[read more]
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UF, Nine Other Universities
Complete Ultra High-Speed Data Network
The University of Florida is set to unveil Florida Lambda
Rail (FLR) next week, a new computer network that will link
that school with nine others in Florida and transmit data at
speeds of 10 Gbps, or roughly 100 times the capacity of the
old network. Two and a half years in the works, FLR ...
[read more]
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Vint Cerf: Next Stop,
Mars
Vinton Cerf, who along with Robert Kahn came up with the
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol that gave
computers standard addresses by which they could exchange
bundles of data, a precursor to today's Internet, is at it
again, this time shooting for the moon and beyond. Now ...
[read more]
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Space Station Gets HAL-Like
Computer
Voice-operated computer software will soon be used on the
International Space Station to help astronauts test station
water for bacteria. Developed with assistance from astronauts
at NASA's Ames Research Center in California, Clarissa will be
run on a laptop and will query astronauts ...
[read more]
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A Quantum Leap in
Cryptography
Quantum encryption, heretofore an abstraction confined to
laboratories, may soon be available to the average network
administrator, as id Quantique and MagiQ Technologies have
been preparing second-generation products for public release.
Developers also envision broader applications for the ...
[read more]
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Tracking Trends in the Top
Supercomputers
While IBM's BlueGene/L System held its position atop the
list of the world's 500 most powerful supercomputers, there
has been significant fluctuation in the high performance
computing field, as five of the top 10 from last November's
list were new additions. IBM holds six of the top 10 ...
[read more]
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Microsoft Gets Hip to
AJAX
Microsoft is making it easier for developers to build AJAX
applications-- Web applications that have rich graphics. The
software giant is developing software, code-named Atlas,
designed to provide developers with an enhanced environment
for building applications, and will include services such as
an ...
[read more]
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Exporting
Technology
After failed initiatives in India and Ireland, the MIT
Media Lab has joined forces with Taiwan's Industrial
Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to establish a Media Lab
collaboration in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Members of the NEXT
consortium, comprised of an assortment of Taiwanese companies,
will ...
[read more]
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IT Field Now Faces Worker
Shortage
In a dramatic reversal of the dismal job scene that
followed the dot-com collapse, many students graduating with
computer science degrees are finding jobs right out of
college. While the demand for computer scientists has cooled,
the level of interest among students in a field ...
[read more]
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Cybersecurity Group Looks
to Europe for Help
Former White House security director and current Cyber
Security Industry Alliance (CSIA) executive director Paul
Kurtz on Friday called the global information systems security
threat "high risk," and warned that federal agencies are
"taking information security for granted." Kurtz left his ...
[read more]
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Prof Bemoans Loss of the
Long View
The computer skills of U.S. students continue to improve,
says Virginia Polytechnic Institute engineering professor Jeff
Reed, but their math skills trail those of international
students. Reed, a wireless communications expert, believes
that too much of a focus on "'get the A, ...
[read more]
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University Researchers
Make Device That Turns Drivers Into
Musicians
Playing a piece of classical music can be as simple as
driving a car. The Expression Synthesis Project, developed by
researchers at the University of Southern California,
generates Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 5 in G minor through
driving on a virtual road. The program incorporates a MIDI ...
[read more]
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Keeping an Eye on
You
Social scientists such as cultural anthropologist Genevieve
Bell are helping Intel to think more about the end users of
its products, and consider that people around the world may be
using its products in different ways. Bell, who has a Ph.D. in
anthropology from Stanford ...
[read more]
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The Innovation Arms
Race
Innovation has consistently kept the U.S. at the forefront
of the global economy, but when it falls victim to outsourcing
the U.S. could be left in a tenuous position. Fears of U.S.
displacement escalate amid a cut in the NSF's research and
development budget and Bill Gates' charge that our ...
[read more]
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The Net
Effect
China is planning a major Internet upgrade to bring its
infrastructure into line with those of other developed
nations, but China's traditions of online censorship and
intrusiveness are a cause for concern. Experts warn that the
upgrade will largely remove the technological constraints that
...
[read more]
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