Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the February 26, 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 462 Date: February 26, 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 26, 2003: http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html "Critics Call for Electronic Voting Halt" "PCI Express to Usher in PC Changes" "Electronics Recyclers Vow to Clean Up" "Warchalking Hype Raises Wireless-Security Consciousness" "The Future of Java" "Computer Made From DNA and Enzymes" "Nanotech to Pave Way for Micro-Machines" "Wi-Fi Security Gets a Boost" "A Radio Chip in Every Consumer Product" "Swarm Intelligence: An Interview With Eric Bonabeau" "Software Uses In-Road Detectors to Alleviate Traffic Jams" "Taking the Bioterrorism Fight to Home PCs" "Promise of Intelligent Networks" "Making Cars That Drive Themselves" "Spyware Epidemic Rallies Call for Action" "Government Agencies Recruiting IT Workers" "Is Total Information Awareness a Homeland Security Answer or Big Brother?" "Evolution of the IT Lab" "Geekcorps Wants You!" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Critics Call for Electronic Voting Halt" Silicon Valley scientists want a moratorium on electronic voting declared until touch-screen voting machines can be modified to produce a paper trail in order to ensure that vote counts are accurate and to deter tampering. Critics' chief concern over ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0226w.html#item1 "PCI Express to Usher in PC Changes" PCI Express interconnect technology is expected to succeed the PCI-X standard for connecting PCs to peripherals and other systems; PCI Express chips should arrive by the end of 2003, while PCI Express-enabled PCs will become available the following ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0226w.html#item2 "Electronics Recyclers Vow to Clean Up" Sixteen North American electronics recyclers signed a pledge on Tuesday to responsibly handle electronic waste in order to prevent the buildup of such trash in landfills, as well as halt e-waste exports to Third World countries where poor laborers, ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0226w.html#item3 "Warchalking Hype Raises Wireless-Security Consciousness" Wireless company networks tempt techies with new challenges to prove their skills, free high-speed Internet access, and possibly valuable corporate secrets. Finding these opportunities is not difficult due to a low-tech method of marking spots where ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0226w.html#item4 "The Future of Java" The Java programming language is not gathering as much media attention as in years past, but industry insiders say that is because it is now taken for granted as part of the enterprise IT infrastructure. Java has become another common tool, but is also ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0226w.html#item5 "Computer Made From DNA and Enzymes" Israeli researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science have followed up last year's development of a programmable molecular computer synthesized from DNA and enzymes with a new device fueled by the single DNA molecule that also acts as input data. ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0226w.html#item6 "Nanotech to Pave Way for Micro-Machines" Speaking at the Nanotech 2003 conference on Monday, Albert Pisano of the University of California at Berkeley predicted that smaller, less expensive products and new markets could become a reality within the next decade thanks to advancements in ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0226w.html#item7 "Wi-Fi Security Gets a Boost" A new, more secure 802.11 standard will be released later this year by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), but several technologies are already available to help secure wireless LANs. Cisco's Sri Sundaralingam says a simple, ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0226w.html#item8 "A Radio Chip in Every Consumer Product" Radio frequency identification (RFID) chips are being tested and touted by retailers as an alternative to the limited practice of tracking items with bar codes. Joint ventures between manufacturers, retailers, and customers aim to use the technology ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0226w.html#item9 "Swarm Intelligence: An Interview With Eric Bonabeau" Wasp and ant colonies provide insight into future IT management systems, says Eric Bonabeau, a keynote speaker at the upcoming Emerging Technologies conference and an expert on swarm intelligence. Bonabeau used swarm intelligence ideas to speed ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0226w.html#item10 "Software Uses In-Road Detectors to Alleviate Traffic Jams" An Ohio State University engineer has developed software that could help alleviate traffic jams faster using loop detectors that are currently used to control traffic lights and scan traffic. In the March issue of Transportation Research, Benjamin ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0226w.html#item11 "Taking the Bioterrorism Fight to Home PCs" The effects of a terrorist-engineered smallpox outbreak could be mitigated by a joint effort between Texas-based United Devices and Oxford University to harness idle computers to search for a cure. "We basically have a way for people who are concerned ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0226w.html#item12 "Promise of Intelligent Networks" Intel researchers are developing a way for wireless networks to self-organize into "mesh networks" that can automatically re-route data in response to fluctuating demand as well as the addition or removal of data devices. Mike Witteman of Intel's ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0226w.html#item13 "Making Cars That Drive Themselves" The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) challenged inventors on Saturday to build unmanned, self-navigating robot vehicles to race from the Mojave Desert to Las Vegas--a distance of approximately 250 miles--within 10 hours, without any human ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0226w.html#item14 "Spyware Epidemic Rallies Call for Action" The last year has witnessed a significant proliferation of adware and spyware--software that resides on Web surfers' computers without their knowledge, usually to serve ads or to gather information on user behavior and send it back to a parent ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0226w.html#item15 "Government Agencies Recruiting IT Workers" With 50 percent of the federal IT workforce expected to reach retirement age by 2004, the U.S. government is hungry for new blood. Seventy percent of the nearly 60,000 federal IT workers counted by the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0226w.html#item16 "Is Total Information Awareness a Homeland Security Answer or Big Brother?" Michael Wynne, principal deputy under secretary of Defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics, and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) hold differing views on the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness (TIA) system, which would integrate databases about ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0226w.html#item17 "Evolution of the IT Lab" IT labs are changing to better fit enterprise goals, in which on-the-fly testing and verification of products prior to implementation is de rigueur. "What we have is an environment where we can replicate changes that we need to [make] with the ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0226w.html#item18 "Geekcorps Wants You!" The nonprofit startup Geekcorps aims to give international IT projects a leg up by sending volunteers to developing countries to provide IT and business expertise to small companies and community organizations. Geekcorps founder and executive ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0226w.html#item19 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To review Monday's issue, please visit http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0224m.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.