Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the June 5, 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 357 Date: June 5, 2002 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Site Sponsored by Compaq (http://www.compaq.com/smbcatalog) Compaq is the premier source for computing services, products and solutions. Responding to customers' requirements for quality and reliability at aggressive prices, Compaq offers performance-packed products and comprehensive services. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Top Stories for Wednesday, June 5, 2002: http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html "Hollywood Has a Setback in Controls for Digital TV" "Did MS Pay for Open-Source Scare?" "UCITA Backers Try Again" "New Viruses Aim to Cross Multi Platforms" "Universe Is a Computer" "MIT Student Hacks Into Xbox" "Interference More Likely as Wireless Devices Get Popular" "NASA Graduates From Pens to Computers" "Superchip" "Govt. Key to Broadband Reaching Masses, Net Pioneer Says" "Research Shows Court Everyone's Handwriting Different" "Search Engine Helps Move University Research Into Real World" "Sally Ride Launches Girls' Science and Technology Club" "Conference Looks at Africa's IT" "Reform Board Wants a Bigger ICANN" "Apps on the Edge" "IT Workers' Skills Tested" "Survival In an Insecure World" "The Rise of the Creative Class" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Hollywood Has a Setback in Controls for Digital TV" Although negotiators announced on Monday that film studios, technology firms, and consumer-electronics companies were close to a deal that could speed up the adoption of digital television, the coalition fell apart yesterday as the participants were ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0605w.html#item1 "Did MS Pay for Open-Source Scare?" A soon-to-be-released white paper about the inherent security risks of open-source software--and the authors' reticence to reveal the identity of the report's sponsor--has aroused suspicion from open-source proponents that Microsoft may be ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0605w.html#item2 "UCITA Backers Try Again" The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws is trying to revise its unpopular legislation governing software licenses. The group's proposal, the Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act (UCITA), has only been adopted so far in Maryland ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0605w.html#item3 "New Viruses Aim to Cross Multi Platforms" Smile.D, a new cross-platform virus, has been released that is more difficult than most to detect, according to antivirus companies, who say the code could force antivirus developers to rethink their strategies. Simile.D, the fourth variation of the ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0605w.html#item4 "Universe Is a Computer" MIT physicist Seth Lloyd reckons that every event that has taken place in the universe since its birth can be reduced to a form of computation; he has essentially modeled the universe after a computer. The link between physics and information science ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0605w.html#item5 "MIT Student Hacks Into Xbox" MIT student Andrew Huang reports in a recently published research paper that he has successfully breached the security system of Microsoft's Xbox game console and extracted software keys that would allow the console to run unauthorized applications. He ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0605w.html#item6 "Interference More Likely as Wireless Devices Get Popular" There will likely be an increase in online congestion and Internet access slowdowns as more people acquire wireless devices and crowd network frequencies. Wireless is becoming more and more popular for companies, universities, and households because ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0605w.html#item7 "NASA Graduates From Pens to Computers" NASA researchers plan to collaborate with each other using new technology when the agency sends a pair of explorer robots to Mars next year, according to an announcement on Monday. They will use IBM's BlueBoard, a plasma screen with touchpad ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0605w.html#item8 "Superchip" Intel's new Itanium 64-bit processor, based on Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing (EPIC) design, will drive computer developments over the next decade just as today's computer technology is running out of gas, says University of Waterloo ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0605w.html#item9 "Govt. Key to Broadband Reaching Masses, Net Pioneer Says" Internet pioneer and WorldCom VP Vint Cerf says the U.S. government needs to be a more active participant in the effort to extend broadband's reach to the masses, which is currently blocked by existing and proposed telecom regulations. He ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0605w.html#item10 "Research Shows Court Everyone's Handwriting Different" An initiative by University of Buffalo computer scientists has yielded objective criteria for handwriting analysis, which could impact court cases that rely on handwritten documents as evidence. Sponsored by a grant from the National Institute of ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0605w.html#item11 "Search Engine Helps Move University Research Into Real World" University of California, Santa Barbara associate professor Tao Yang is helping three graduate students develop software that seamlessly connects computer clusters to the end user, using Yang's Teoma search engine as the primary development tool. ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0605w.html#item12 "Sally Ride Launches Girls' Science and Technology Club" Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, has founded a club that aims to help girls in elementary and middle school maintain their passion for science, math, and technology in the hopes that they might one day become scientists and engineers. Studies show ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0605w.html#item13 "Conference Looks at Africa's IT" In Mali, delegates from approximately 40 African countries joined media groups and international organizations Tuesday for a conference on the continent's roll in the new "information society." Attendees discussed ways in which African nations ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0605w.html#item14 "Reform Board Wants a Bigger ICANN" The ICANN committee proposal to reform ICANN's internal structure calls for creating a structure that separates ICANN functions into three departments: technical issues, policy-making, and operational structures. The proposal calls for a study group to ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0605w.html#item15 "Apps on the Edge" The spread of Web applications has spurred enterprises to improve performance for remote users, and edge computing is one such initiative. Content delivery networks (CDNs) and application infrastructure suppliers are teaming up to provide offerings that ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0605w.html#item16 "IT Workers' Skills Tested" More and more companies are requiring both new and veteran IT workers to take extensive tests that assess their technical and business skill levels in order to identify shortcomings, formulate improvement strategies, and organize IT teams. ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0605w.html#item17 "Survival In an Insecure World" David A. Fisher of the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) at Carnegie Mellon University notes that there is no real central control of the unbounded systems that compose the nation's online critical infrastructure, which makes defending it against hackers ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0605w.html#item18 "The Rise of the Creative Class" In the quest to optimize IT employee performance, focusing strictly on financial advantages does not yield the best results, because workers have inner needs and desires that money alone does not satisfy, writes Richard Florida, co-director of Carnegie ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0605w.html#item19 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To review Monday's issue, please visit http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0603m.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 Compaq.