Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the January 27, 2003 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 the latest on ACM activities, member benefits, and industry issues, 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 5, Number 450 Date: January 27, 2003 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 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 Monday, January 27, 2003: http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html "Big Shift in IT Jobs to Outsourcing Predicted" "Worm Exposes Laziness and Microsoft Flaws" "Crime Is Soaring in Cyberspace" "Taming the Frontier" "Little Progress on Women in IT" "Electrical Control of Electron Spin Steers Spin-Based Technologies Toward Real World" "A Wish List For Commercial Grid Systems" "THE Key to User-Friendly Computers?" "Teleworking Boom Causing IT Headaches" "Remote Monitoring Aids Data Access" "Hot Off the Press" "When Files Survive, But Not the Technology to Read Them" "Interfaces of the Future" "Internet2: The Virtual Sequel" "Electric Paper" "Wi-Fi Stands Guard" "Electroactive Polymers" "When It Doesn't Wash" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Big Shift in IT Jobs to Outsourcing Predicted" Between 35 percent and 45 percent of North American IT professionals will lose their jobs to part-timers, overseas technicians, contractors, and consultants by 2005, predicts Foote Partners. Foote Partners President David Foote attributes this ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0127m.html#item1 "Worm Exposes Laziness and Microsoft Flaws" Most of the blame for this weekend's outbreak of the Sapphire worm, which exploited a flaw in Microsoft SQL servers and infected over 120,000 computers, has been directed toward administrators who failed to patch their software since the flaw ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0127m.html#item2 "Crime Is Soaring in Cyberspace" Cybersecurity consultants such as Ponemon Institute Chairman Larry Ponemon report that cybercrimes are increasing exponentially, yet quantifying losses is difficult because victimized companies are reluctant to publicly disclose ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0127m.html#item3 "Taming the Frontier" The Internet is becoming more structured and regulated as government and businesses work to stamp out illegal or competitive activity. In 1996, Electronic Freedom Foundation founder John Perry Barlow wrote in the "Declaration of ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0127m.html#item4 "Little Progress on Women in IT" A study conducted by the U.K.-based Women in IT Champions Group has found that government efforts to attract more women into the IT workforce have made little progress. The report concludes that though 36 percent of new hires in first quarter 2002 were ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0127m.html#item5 "Electrical Control of Electron Spin Steers Spin-Based Technologies Toward Real World" Quantum computing and spintronics technologies could be one step closer to reality thanks to a breakthrough from researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB). The scientists report that high-speed ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0127m.html#item6 "A Wish List For Commercial Grid Systems" Fujitsu Laboratories researchers recently wrote that commercial grid computing networks are still immature, even as grid standards continue to improve. They said the Globus Toolkit 3.0, which is expected in alpha version soon, provides the most basic ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0127m.html#item7 "THE Key to User-Friendly Computers?" Jef Raskin, who co-designed Apple's trend-setting graphical user interface (GUI), is also one of its most outspoken critics. In an effort to repair what he terms "fundamental flaws" that are the result of "incompatibilities between the designs of both GUIs ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0127m.html#item8 "Teleworking Boom Causing IT Headaches" Teleworking--the trend of professionals working at least part of the time out of the office through online connections--is expected to increase dramatically: The International Teleworkers Association Council (ITAC) estimates that the U.S. teleworker ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0127m.html#item9 "Remote Monitoring Aids Data Access" Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have discovered a new way to access large sets of remote data in close to real time. Often, businesses and researchers have a hard time visualizing and manipulating complex data over distances because of increased ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0127m.html#item10 "Hot Off the Press" Organic electronics promise to allow low-cost, flexible circuits that could add intelligence to everyday items, but the technology still has some hitches before widescale commercial production is possible. Researchers have touted the ability to deposit ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0127m.html#item11 "When Files Survive, But Not the Technology to Read Them" Howard Besser, director of New York University's Moving Image Archiving and Preservation Program, comments that the assumption that digital records will last forever is false. Computer files may be preserved, but if the technology to read them becomes ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0127m.html#item12 "Interfaces of the Future" Futuristic computer interfaces such as those envisioned by science fiction writers--machines that can read a user's gestures or facial expressions, for example--are still on the drawing board or in the lab, and there has not been a sudden appearance ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0127m.html#item13 "Internet2: The Virtual Sequel" Although Internet2 is capable of delivering data about 1,000 times faster than a standard 56 Kbps modem, the research network has not yet lived up to its potential in terms of applications. Technologies targeted for use with Internet2 may not become ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0127m.html#item14 "Electric Paper" Scientists are working to transform regular paper into an electronic display for moving images, changing colors, and text. After asking paper makers four years ago if they were interested in having electronic circuits, sensors, and displays added to ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0127m.html#item15 "Wi-Fi Stands Guard" The growth of Wi-Fi technology is being impeded by security concerns that have prompted corporate customers to postpone deployment, according to Dennis Eaton of Wi-Fi chip supplier Intersil. "Although we've seen a healthy amount of wireless LAN ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0127m.html#item16 "Electroactive Polymers" Researchers at the Artificial Muscle Research Institute at the University of New Mexico are using electroactive polymers to give robotic devices more lifelike movements. The lab is home to robotic fish, wings, and arms that swim, flap, and lift with ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0127m.html#item17 "When It Doesn't Wash" As consumer appliances are enhanced with software to make them more durable and more easily upgradeable, the question arises as to how to deal with buggy software. Analysts say the chief culprit behind such problems is the technology industry, which ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0127m.html#item18 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To review Friday's issue, please visit http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0124f.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.