Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the July 24, 2002 edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for IT professionals three times a week. For instructions on how to unsubscribe from this service, please see below. ACM's MemberNet is now online. For discussion (and voting) forums on current industry issues and the latest on ACM activities, visit http://www.acm.org/membernet Remember to check out our hot new online essay and opinion magazine, Ubiquity, at http://www.acm.org/ubiquity ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ACM TechNews Volume 4, Number 377 Date: July 24, 2002 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Site Sponsored by Hewlett Packard Company ( ) HP is the premier source for computing services, products and solutions. Responding to customers' requirements for quality and reliability at aggressive prices, HP offers performance-packed products and comprehensive services. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Top Stories for Wednesday, July 24, 2002: http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html "Executives Advised to Take Role in Internet Security" "Economy's Slump Hits Foreign Tech Workers Particularly Hard" "Critics Rap Web Group, Call for Changes" "Report: Cyberattack Could Harm U.S. Infrastructure" "Hollywood, Tech Make Suspicious Pairing" "Plan Would Swell Wireless Spectrum" "China Plans Software to Rival Windows" "Scientist Step Toward Next-Gen Internet" "Forgent Claims JPEG Patent; Others Cry Foul" "Helix Must Not Leave Open Sourcers Stranded" "MEMS Cut from a Different Cloth; Firm Finds New Polymer Process" "Battling Wi-Fi Specs Come Together" "Internet Extends Legal Reach of National Governments" "MIT Prof Critiques Europe's Wireless Efforts" "Is Anti-Virus Software Obsolete?" "The Instant-Mess Age" "Breakthrough Technologies" "Putting Content in Context" "Making the Grid" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Executives Advised to Take Role in Internet Security" Executives should pitch in to develop an effective Internet security system, according to a new guide to be released today by an industry organization. The Electronics Industry Alliance, together with Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0724w.html#item1 "Economy's Slump Hits Foreign Tech Workers Particularly Hard" Being a foreign technology professional with an H1-B visa no longer guarantees that one will be able to find work in the United States. "If your employer lays you off, you are in an employment no-man's land," says laid-off Canadian H1-B worker . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0724w.html#item2 "Critics Rap Web Group, Call for Changes" A Washington, D.C.-based forum was the setting for arguments between critics and proponents of the government-created Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) on Tuesday. The latter group consisted of people such as Syracuse . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0724w.html#item3 "Report: Cyberattack Could Harm U.S. Infrastructure" A report from the General Accounting Office (GAO) released on Monday says that the United States' "cyber critical infrastructure"--the essential systems given over to computer control--is still vulnerable; in fact, Sen. Joseph Lieberman . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0724w.html#item4 "Hollywood, Tech Make Suspicious Pairing" Microsoft's proposed Palladium computing architecture could significantly improve the security of computer systems, but Mercury News technology columnist Dan Gillmor warns that it could also allow the entertainment and software industry to choke off . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0724w.html#item5 "Plan Would Swell Wireless Spectrum" The U.S. government has agreed to release 90 MHz of spectrum for commercial use, which will enable wireless companies to build and create 3G networks that would provide handheld devices and next-generation wireless phones with high-speed data access and . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0724w.html#item6 "China Plans Software to Rival Windows" The Chinese newspaper People's Daily reports that a consortium of Chinese companies and universities have embarked on a project to build a computer desktop operating system that could compete with Microsoft's Windows 98 platform. The project, unveiled on July . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0724w.html#item7 "Scientist Step Toward Next-Gen Internet" On Monday, scientists from Britain's E-Science Centers announced that they had completed the building blocks for grid computing at the fifth Global Grid Forum. The blocks are used to construct the Data Access and Integration (DAI) program, which is based on . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0724w.html#item8 "Forgent Claims JPEG Patent; Others Cry Foul" Last week, Forgent Networks issued a statement that it owns the patent to JPEG image compression technology, and plans to license the technology to manufacturers of devices that compress, store, transmit, manipulate, and print digital pictures in color and . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0724w.html#item9 "Helix Must Not Leave Open Sourcers Stranded" Analysts say that RealNetworks' decision to release the source code for its new Helix media player software will help partner companies develop compatible products, but does not allow access to their still-proprietary encoding and coding software. Helix . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0724w.html#item10 "MEMS Cut from a Different Cloth; Firm Finds New Polymer Process" MCNC of North Carolina has collaborated with Florida-based Hills Inc. to produce micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) devices. The microactuators, or integrated force arrays (IFAs), are formed from the combination of three synthetic polymers that contract in . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0724w.html#item11 "Battling Wi-Fi Specs Come Together" Wireless Internet device manufacturers are moving the Wi-Fi industry toward a multi-mode scenario, where end users will be able to log on no matter what 802.11 standard is used. The upcoming 802.11g standard--which operates at 54 Mbps like . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0724w.html#item12 "Internet Extends Legal Reach of National Governments" Earlier this month Italian police shut down several possibly blasphemous Web sites hosted in the United States, demonstrating again the effect of national law on the Internet. Free speech advocates and others say that increased legal prosecution by . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0724w.html#item13 "MIT Prof Critiques Europe's Wireless Efforts" Delivering a keynote speech at Motorola's Smart Network Developers Forum in New Orleans, MIT Media Labs founder and chairman Nicholas Negroponte sharply criticized European regulators' strategy to deploy third-generation (3G) wireless . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0724w.html#item14 "Is Anti-Virus Software Obsolete?" Many experts believe that the effectiveness of desktop anti-virus software is being undercut by the increasing sophistication of computer viruses, the Klez.H email virus being a recent example. MessageLabs' Angela Hauge notes that anti-virus programs can be . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0724w.html#item15 "The Instant-Mess Age" Instant messaging (IM) is helping connect workers and make them more productive--when they are not misusing it by leaking proprietary information or chatting idly with personal friends online. ComScore Media Metrix says approximately 16.9 million . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0724w.html#item16 "Breakthrough Technologies" A quartet of breakthrough technologies currently being assessed by integrators and agencies are poised to make their mark on government IT infrastructures and open up new markets. The Semantic Web, which has received research funding from the . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0724w.html#item17 "Putting Content in Context" Digital objects such as video, audio, and images can be stored and arranged through digital asset management (DAM) software, which simplifies their location, modification, and reuse. Many enterprises are using DAM to provide a fast, centralized method . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0724w.html#item18 "Making the Grid" The Grid is a flexible infrastructure linking together a vast network of geographically distributed computers, storage, data, and software that people will be able to tap into to solve complex problems. It is an evolutionary step up from the Web, . . . http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0724w.html#item19 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To review Monday's issue please visit http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0722m.html -- To visit the TechNews home page, point your browser to: http://www.acm.org/technews/ -- 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. -- To submit feedback about ACM TechNews, contact: technews@hq.acm.org -- 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 ---- ACM TechNews is sponsored by Hewlett Packard Company.