Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber: Welcome to the August 9, 2002 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 discussion (and voting) forums on current industry issues and the latest on ACM activities, 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 4, Number 384 Date: August 9, 2002 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 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 Friday, August 9, 2002: http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html "Lights, Camera, Legislation" "OECD Publishes Cyber-Security Guidelines" "Congress Reassesses Tech Office" "New Method Said to Solve Key Problem In Math" "Data Crunch Looks to Optics for Relief" "Italy Sponsors Technology Transfer to Developing Countries" "Breakthrough Technique Promises More Complex Chips" "Computer Talk" "New Homeland Security Agency Is Looking For a Few Good Nerds" "Team Recruits for Tech Careers" "Charmed by Six Feet of Circuitry" "IBM, DARPA Team on Low-Power Computing" "HP Looks to Keep Systems Cool" "Atomic 'Thinning' Could Allow Instant Boot-Up, Memory Access" "Resumes Pile Up, Yet Key Jobs Open" "Speech Technologies For the 21st Century" "Uncommon Sensors" ******************* News Stories *********************** "Lights, Camera, Legislation" On Thursday, the FCC will debate digital broadcast copy protection, which movie studios such as Disney are clamoring for, against the protests of the high-tech industry. High-tech companies are placing big bets on the advent of digital ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item1 "OECD Publishes Cyber-Security Guidelines" The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published a new version of its cyber-security guidelines this week after updating them for the first time in a decade. The U.S. State Department has praised the revised guidelines as an ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item2 "Congress Reassesses Tech Office" Congress has gone without its independent technology assessment body for seven years since its funding was cut by Republicans in 1995. Now, calls are growing for the reestablishment of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), which provides unbiased ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item3 "New Method Said to Solve Key Problem In Math" Three Indian Institute of Technology researchers have devised a new algorithm that enables computers to identify prime numbers rapidly and accurately. This could have significant ramifications for data encryption, where prime numbers are an ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item4 "Data Crunch Looks to Optics for Relief" Demand for dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) optical networking is being sparked by the corporate need to transfer and manage large amounts of data, and Todd Bundy of Adva Optical Networking believes storage could become optical networking's ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item5 "Italy Sponsors Technology Transfer to Developing Countries" Italy, under the leadership of technology minister and former IBM executive Lucio Stanca, has embarked on several projects to make information technology accessible to the poor people of developing countries. Reducing the digital divide in these ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item6 "Breakthrough Technique Promises More Complex Chips" IBM and Nion researchers disclosed the development of an electron microscope of unmatched precision in the Aug. 8 issue of Nature. They claim the device can produce an electron beam a mere three billionths of an inch wide. The unparalleled accuracy yielded by ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item7 "Computer Talk" Synthesized speech technology is being furthered by advances in computer technology, and is now able to completely recreate people's voices using complex software. And although the technology is not cheap, its use is spreading to many areas. ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item8 "New Homeland Security Agency Is Looking For a Few Good Nerds" The Department of Homeland Security's most pressing problem is connecting its computer systems to those of other federal agencies, and RBC Capital Markets analyst Cynthia Houlton notes that this effort is complicated by a shortage of IT workers, ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item9 "Team Recruits for Tech Careers" In order to draw more youths to math, science, and technology, two agencies have pledged to combine their resources. The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and the National Sciences Center (NSC) will work together to instill interest ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item10 "Charmed by Six Feet of Circuitry" The highlight of the 2002 conference of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence in Alberta, Canada, was Grace (Graduated Robot Attending Conference), a machine that was the end result of a project that integrated the technology and ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item11 "IBM, DARPA Team on Low-Power Computing" The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will commit $2 million to an IBM research project to make high-end computing systems more reliable and energy efficient, the partners announced today. The project will be part of DARPA's Power Aware ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item12 "HP Looks to Keep Systems Cool" Hewlett-Packard announced on Tuesday an initiative to produce technologies that aim to dissipate heat generated by computer chips and datacenters. The company reports that heat output is a growing problem, and estimates that chips just one-eighth of an ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item13 "Atomic 'Thinning' Could Allow Instant Boot-Up, Memory Access" Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) say they have hit upon a method for maintaining the thinness of atomic layers used for electronics and computer material, which could pave the way for ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item14 "Resumes Pile Up, Yet Key Jobs Open" Companies say it is difficult finding employees with senior level IT skills, while at the same time a half-million technology workers overall are expected to lose their jobs this year. Last year, about 500,000 tech workers lost jobs. According to a ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item15 "Speech Technologies For the 21st Century" The increasing sophistication of speech recognition and speech synthesis technology--and the convergence of the two--is yielding interfaces that are changing phone-directed business and will soon make a significant impact on how users access and control ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item16 "Uncommon Sensors" More useful and precise sensor technology is expected to develop thanks to advances in microelectronics, manufacturing, and wireless systems, according to researchers. Investments in military space and missile defense projects are directly ... http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0809f.html#item17 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- To review Wednesday's issue, please visit http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2002-4/0807w.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.