Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the February 19, 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 459 Date: February 19, 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 Wednesday, February 19, 2003: http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html "Bill Would Ban Spam E-Mail in California" "Diversity in the High-Tech Workplace" "Drive Resumes for Standard Software License" "Cyber-Security Strategy Depends on Power of Suggestion" "Digital Vaccine May Make Computer Networks Tolerant to a Fault" "'Selfish Routing' Slows the Internet" "Word 'Bursts' May Reveal Online Trends" "Commerce Proposes IT Policy Restructuring" "Faster Video for Wireless Devices?" "Tracking the Killer Worm" "Disk-Drive Capacity Continues to Grow" "Robots Are Getting More Sociable" "Conversation With Marc Andreessen" "U.S. Backs Merging Net, Phone Numbers" "High Impact" "Survival Guide: Perspectives From the Field" "Futurists" "Supercomputing Resurrected" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Bill Would Ban Spam E-Mail in California" California Sen. Debra Bowen (D-Marina del Ray) has authored a bill that would make it illegal to send spam email from California or to a California-based email address, a crime punishable by a maximum fine of $500. However, experts such as ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0219w.html#item1 "Diversity in the High-Tech Workplace" The workforces of the 10 highest-grossing high-tech companies in Silicon Valley have grown in diversity, but the emphasis is on Asians rather than other minorities, while executive levels remain predominantly white. About one in three jobs created ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0219w.html#item2 "Drive Resumes for Standard Software License" The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) is set to renew its drive to get standard software licenses established in all states. The group of lawyers, professors, and judges, backed by the software industry, has ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0219w.html#item3 "Cyber-Security Strategy Depends on Power of Suggestion" The Department of Homeland Security's national cybersecurity plan, released on Friday, lacks substantive action on the part of the federal government, according to many experts. Many technology firms opposed active interference from the government, ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0219w.html#item4 "Digital Vaccine May Make Computer Networks Tolerant to a Fault" Computer science graduate students at the University of California at Irvine have developed techniques that allow software engineers to inoculate computer systems against faulty data. Systems such as those used in international intelligence, ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0219w.html#item5 "'Selfish Routing' Slows the Internet" By choosing the fastest route for data packets passing through the Internet, individual systems hamper the overall flow of information, according to Cornell University researchers speaking at the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0219w.html#item6 "Word 'Bursts' May Reveal Online Trends" Cornell University computer scientist Jon Kleinberg believes that new online trends can be identified faster through computer algorithms that search for surges or "bursts" in the usage of specific words. "The key is to find unexpected changes in the ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0219w.html#item7 "Commerce Proposes IT Policy Restructuring" The U.S. Commerce Department is proposing merging various agencies that oversee information technology and telecommunications policy into one agency in order to streamline policy management. Secretary of Commerce Don Evans wants to ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0219w.html#item8 "Faster Video for Wireless Devices?" Truong Nguyen, an engineering professor at the University of California, San Diego, has received more than $200,000 in grants over three years to develop technology intended to improve the quality of video delivered via wireless devices such as cell ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0219w.html#item9 "Tracking the Killer Worm" The recent outbreak of the SQL Slammer worm could have been far more damaging than it was, according to Giga Information Group security analyst Michael Rasmussen, who believes the attack was launched to demonstrate proof of concept. Slammer could be a ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0219w.html#item10 "Disk-Drive Capacity Continues to Grow" Dan Gillmor predicts that the if the current pace of innovation keeps up, disk-drive users will soon have more inexpensive storage capacity than they know what to do with. Keeping pace with storage advancements is the shrinking size of disk drives. ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0219w.html#item11 "Robots Are Getting More Sociable" Scientists are trying to build sociable robots that could be used not only to better understand human social interaction, but to assist people both physically and psychologically. "Robots have always been an intriguing mirror to our own conception of what it ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0219w.html#item12 "Conversation With Marc Andreessen" Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen, who helped create the groundbreaking Mosaic Web browser 10 years ago, says that Internet navigation has not radically increased in sophistication since then, despite his and others' assumptions that it would ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0219w.html#item13 "U.S. Backs Merging Net, Phone Numbers" The Commerce Department has recommended that the United States join a new electronic numbering system that will let people use one identifier for various purposes, such as faxes, mobile phones, instant messaging, and email. The ENUM system is ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0219w.html#item14 "High Impact" The question as to whether IT is making a fundamental difference to society at large is a matter of debate, but there are individuals striving to put their technology skills, expertise, and corporate contacts to altruistic use. Stanford University ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0219w.html#item15 "Survival Guide: Perspectives From the Field" James Lewis of the Center for Strategic and International Studies argues that doomsday scenarios of cyberattacks on America's critical infrastructure are overblown. He points out that most cyberattacks are one-time assaults that result in minimal damage ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0219w.html#item16 "Futurists" The coming wave of technological development will present great opportunities for minorities and the underprivileged, while at the same time threaten to widen the "digital divide" between the technological haves and the have-nots. Wake Forest University's ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0219w.html#item17 "Supercomputing Resurrected" Japan stole the supercomputing speed record from the United States with the launch of NEC's Earth Simulator last March, an event that signals a deep gap in the U.S. supercomputing development effort, according to high-performance computing ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0219w.html#item18 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To review Friday's issue (there was no issue on Monday, February 17 [Presidents' Day holiday]), please visit http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0214f.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.