Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the November 17, 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 572 Date: November 17, 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, November 17, 2003: http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html "Fast Track for Science Data" "DARPA to Overhaul Supercomputing Benchmarks by 2006" "Encryption Revolution: The Tantalizing Promise of 'Unbreakable' Codes" "Gadgets Help Baby Boomers Manage Old Age" "More Consumers Reach Out to Touch the Screen" "Software Speeds Calculations on Supercomputers" "Spammers Target Instant Message Users" "Romanians Become Latest Tech Rivals for Off-Shore Jobs" "ASIMO's Steps Are a Giant Leap for Robotics" "IT Does Matter" "China's Internet Revolution" "Cell Computing the Foundation of IBM Prototype" "The Virus at 20: Two Decades of Malware" "Where Is the Real Matrix?" "Corporate Trademarks and the Future of Domain Disputes" "Jury Still Out on E-Voting" "Spam Nation" "Wireless Mesh Networks Boost Reliability" "Now Who's in the Driver's Seat?" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Fast Track for Science Data" The first leg of the National LambdaRail (NLR), a superfast network for scientific research that will ultimately extend across 10,000 miles of unused optic cable, will go live on Nov. 17 as Chicago's TeraGrid facility is connected to the Pittsburgh ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/1117m.html#item1 "DARPA to Overhaul Supercomputing Benchmarks by 2006" The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is readying a new set of supercomputer benchmarks that would give a more comprehensive and nuanced measure of supercomputer performance, as well as allow designers to experiment with novel approaches. ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/1117m.html#item2 "Encryption Revolution: The Tantalizing Promise of 'Unbreakable' Codes" Supposedly uncrackable quantum encryption has begun to emerge in the wake of two decades of research, as signified by a new system MagiQ Technologies began to sell commercially this month. MagiQ CEO Bob Gelfond says the new system, dubbed Navajo, offers a ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/1117m.html#item3 "Gadgets Help Baby Boomers Manage Old Age" As the baby boomer generation makes the transition to old age over the next three decades, researchers and marketers are developing and testing gadgets designed to ease their autumn years. The percentage of aged baby boomers expected by 2030, not ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/1117m.html#item4 "More Consumers Reach Out to Touch the Screen" Computers are taking over an greater percentage of day-to-day human interactions as consumers bypass the cashier or ticket agent and pay directly at a kiosk. These machines fitted with touch-screens are taking over at gas pumps, airline ticket ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/1117m.html#item5 "Software Speeds Calculations on Supercomputers" Software developed by Dhabaleswar Panda of Ohio State University and Pete Wyckoff of the Ohio Supercomputer Center helps accelerate supercomputer calculations by establishing compatibility between message passing interface (MPI) software ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/1117m.html#item6 "Spammers Target Instant Message Users" Unsolicited commercial messages are not restricted to email or pop-up ads; now spammers are exploiting instant messaging to annoy users with an even more intrusive form of advertising called "spim." Spim is even more aggravating for users because ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/1117m.html#item7 "Romanians Become Latest Tech Rivals for Off-Shore Jobs" The eastern European nation of Romania contains the most eager-to-offshore programmers after India, thanks to the heavy concentration of engineering and industrialization implemented throughout the country during its Communist regime. Math is ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/1117m.html#item8 "ASIMO's Steps Are a Giant Leap for Robotics" One of Honda Motor's advanced humanoid robots will be on display at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle this weekend. The ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility) humanoid robot, which looks like the robots seen in the Steven Spielberg movie "A.I: ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/1117m.html#item9 "IT Does Matter" Discussion on the value of IT in business needs to consider perceived customer value, writes International Data analyst Margaret Tanaszi: End users may be fluid and demanding, but they will consistently reward companies that provide valuable ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/1117m.html#item10 "China's Internet Revolution" During a recent interview, Xiao Qiang--the former executive director of Human Rights in China and current head of the Berkeley China Internet Project at the University of California at Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism--addressed Internet ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/1117m.html#item11 "Cell Computing the Foundation of IBM Prototype" IBM's prototype Blue Gene/L supercomputer will be the first to employ a cell computing chip architecture, in which operations are split up among dual-processor chips. Whereas most supercomputers have enormous space requirements, the Blue Gene ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/1117m.html#item12 "The Virus at 20: Two Decades of Malware" The twentieth anniversary of the first computer virus, created by U.S. student Fred Cohen as a Unix research project, has established malware as an important--if unfortunate--part of the IT landscape. MessageLabs' Alex Shipp, Computer Associates' ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/1117m.html#item13 "Where Is the Real Matrix?" The virtual world of connecting brains directly to computers, as seen in "The Matrix" movie trilogy, is not fantasy to some engineers and scientists, write Princeton scientist Shy Shoham and analyst Sam Hall. In fact, since the 1950s, researchers have ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/1117m.html#item14 "Corporate Trademarks and the Future of Domain Disputes" Cybersquatters took advantage of the rush for domain names from the start, registering domain names associated with established firms and companies in order to make a profit from the sale of such names. However, roughly 80 percent of UDRP cases end with a ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/1117m.html#item15 "Jury Still Out on E-Voting" Despite promises that electronic voting systems are secure, experts remain unconvinced. Critics argue that users of touch-screen voting systems cannot verify that their votes are being accurately registered and tallied because there is no ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/1117m.html#item16 "Spam Nation" Twenty-five percent to 60 percent of all email is spam, and an October Pew Internet & American Life Project survey estimates that 70 percent of email users do not like spam. Though national laws such as the Can-Spam Act and state statutes such as the ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/1117m.html#item17 "Wireless Mesh Networks Boost Reliability" The decentralized wireless mesh network topology allows intelligence to be distributed across network nodes in a way that supports scalability, reliability, self-configuration, and self-repair, which are distinct advantages over traditional ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/1117m.html#item18 "Now Who's in the Driver's Seat?" Intense competition in the automotive industry is pushing the development of drive-by-wire systems, in which steering and braking are directly under computer control so that cars are safer and more fuel efficient. Though drivers will make little ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/1117m.html#item19 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To review the Friday's issue, please visit http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/1114f.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