Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the April 7, 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 479 Date: April 7, 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, April 7, 2003: http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html "Untethering From Clunky PC Box, Silicon Valley Hikes Wireless Frontier" "Disconnects on Wi-Fi and Cell Phones" "Wireless PDA Software Helps Grocery Shoppers Find Items" "FBI Computers Enter the 21st Century" "Why We May Never Regain the Liberties That We've Lost" "U.S. Military Helps Fund Calgary Hacker" "Experts Assess Bush's 2004 R&D Budget Request" "Blogs Step Up in Stature as Harvard Begins Study" "Internet Connected Real-Time Systems Vulnerable to Attack?" "Four IT Predictions to Watch" "DNS Pioneer Warns of Internet Security" "Indiana Spam Bill Passes Legislature" "Thwarting the Zombies" "Pictures Only a Computer Could Love" "Point, Click...Fire" "Spectrum for All" "Semantic Applications, or Revenge of the Librarians" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Untethering From Clunky PC Box, Silicon Valley Hikes Wireless Frontier" Computer industry insiders see the center of gravity shifting from the PC to wireless platforms and say the mobile industry today resembles the nascent PC market almost 30 years ago. Still, although money and expertise is now moving to the wireless ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0407m.html#item1 "Disconnects on Wi-Fi and Cell Phones" Thirty years after he invented the cell phone, Martin Cooper believes the technology is nearing the end of its life cycle, and thinks that carriers should redirect their efforts on improving telecommunications rather than adding new features to cell ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0407m.html#item2 "Wireless PDA Software Helps Grocery Shoppers Find Items" A prototype wireless personal digital assistant (PDA) system developed by Georgia Institute of Technology researchers was field-tested in a Kroger store in Atlanta by five grocery shoppers. Prior to the technology's development, extensive ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0407m.html#item3 "FBI Computers Enter the 21st Century" The FBI is attempting to modernize its computer systems with the $600 million Trilogy network, while civil liberties proponents are keeping a close eye on the project to see if it strikes a balance between privacy and security-related information gathering. The network will feature a new database designed to ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0407m.html#item4 "Why We May Never Regain the Liberties That We've Lost" Although the government has routinely rolled back civil liberties in times of crisis, they have usually been restored once the crisis passes; that may not be the case for the liberties rescinded as a result of the war against terrorism, writes Dan ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0407m.html#item5 "U.S. Military Helps Fund Calgary Hacker" The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has indirectly allocated $2.3 million to Calgary hacker Theo de Raadt in the hopes that his OpenBSD operating system could shield U.S. military networks from cyber-attacks launched by terrorists. De ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0407m.html#item6 "Experts Assess Bush's 2004 R&D Budget Request" Accompanying President Bush's proposed $122.5 billion 2004 federal research and development budget is a heavier emphasis on anti-terrorist and homeland security technologies, compared to past R&D budgets chiefly focusing on civilian medical research. ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0407m.html#item7 "Blogs Step Up in Stature as Harvard Begins Study" Universities will be watching Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet & Society as it conducts an academic study of blogs, described as publishing for people by study leader Dave Winer, former contributing editor to HotWired. The academic community ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0407m.html#item8 "Internet Connected Real-Time Systems Vulnerable to Attack?" Connected real-time systems offer many advantages to users, including a richer interface, resource and information sharing, and easier upgradeability, but the trade-off is vulnerability to a variety of assaults; the trick is to adequately protect ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0407m.html#item9 "Four IT Predictions to Watch" Gartner's Symposium ITxpo 2003 showcased four IT trends that enterprises can expect to play a significant role over the coming decade. Portal software, already widespread, will become even more important for large firms as it is integrated with content ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0407m.html#item10 "DNS Pioneer Warns of Internet Security" Paul Mockapetris, co-inventor of the DNS system, says "the majority of the work to be done still lies ahead of us." Mockapetris wants DNS security buffeted not only in response to the October 2002 DDoS attacks, but also in response to the recent ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0407m.html#item11 "Indiana Spam Bill Passes Legislature" Indiana's House of Representatives has passed an anti-spam bill on an unanimous vote and the bill is now heading to Indiana Gov. Frank O'Bannon. The legislation, HB 1083, includes a provision that would penalize spam senders for up to $500 per spam message sent; it ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0407m.html#item12 "Thwarting the Zombies" Massive numbers of Internet-connected machines acting as a hacker's zombie army are becoming more common as security experts work on defenses. These botnets, or networks of bot-controlled computers, are used to conduct denial-of-service (DoS) attacks ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0407m.html#item13 "Pictures Only a Computer Could Love" New lenses keyed to computers' strengths are being engineered for a variety of purposes. "Once you break away from thinking that the optics have to form something [people] recognize as an image, there are many things that you can do," notes National Defense ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0407m.html#item14 "Point, Click...Fire" The Iraqi battlefield is serving as the proving ground for advanced technologies, including networking, IT, and precision weaponry designed to give American forces a strategic advantage. The digital war currently being fought uses a computing grid ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0407m.html#item15 "Spectrum for All" FCC Chairman Michael Powell is preparing the way for a free and open radio spectrum, writes policy and law expert Lawrence Lessig. While on the one hand catering to vested interests that want radio spectrum as property, Powell is at the same time ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0407m.html#item16 "Semantic Applications, or Revenge of the Librarians" The supplier-centric IT industry will become customer-centric when Web services shift to semantic applications that enable interoperability between computer systems, thus systematizing data searches and transaction processing, writes David Moschella, ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0407m.html#item17 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To review Friday's issue, please visit http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0404f.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.