The Next President's I.T. Agenda
E-Vote Still Flawed, Experts Say
Raba Technologies researchers issued a report on Jan. 29 warning that touch-screen voting machines from Diebold Election Systems are still vulnerable to internal or external tampering. These findings were the result of a week-long series of evaluations in which Raba testers used the ...
[read more]
to the top
U.S. Takes Anti-Virus Role
A federal alert system was officially launched by the Department of Homeland Security's cybersecurity division on Jan. 28; it will serve as an online clearinghouse of information on all kinds of cybersecurity threats. Consumers will also be able to access the system to learn if their own ...
[read more]
to the top
New Age Dawns at Eclipse
The Eclipse open-source development tools project is expected to declare its independence from IBM at the upcoming EclipseCon conference, and this could pave the way for other technology providers, including IBM competitors such as Sun Microsystems, to become Eclipse board members and ...
[read more]
to the top
A Quantum Leap in Codes for Secure Transmissions
Experts believe even the best existing digital security system will ultimately be defeated by hackers, and the only unbeatable solution is quantum cryptography, in which the keys used to encrypt and decrypt data are encoded within light particles so sensitive that even the slightest ...
[read more]
to the top
Internet Engineers Planning Assault on Spam
The Internet Research Task Force's Anti-Spam Research Group (ASRG) is debating new technical standards designed to curb the onslaught of spam by making it possible to confirm whether an email originates from a legitimate address. "What we're doing in the short term is not trying to stop spam ...
[read more]
to the top
The Trend of Vanishing Tech Jobs
Institute for International Economics economist Catherine L. Mann posits that the offshore outsourcing of computer programming is less dire than American programmers and consulting firms have made it out to be--in fact, she claims that the trend will ultimately be a positive boon that elevates ...
[read more]
to the top
Bipartisan Request Seeks Halt to Internet Voting
Both the Republican and Democratic party groups representing Americans abroad have asked the Pentagon to stop its planned test of Internet voting. Sponsored by the Federal Voting Assistance Program, the $22 million Internet voting experiment is meant to make it more convenient for overseas ...
[read more]
to the top
WiFi Standards Compete for Market Dominance
The rapid and widespread acceptance of Wi-Fi 802.11b technology means 2004 is a pivotal year for higher-speed options, namely 802.11a and 802.11g. As soon as the first 802.11b specification was released, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers working group responsible began ...
[read more]
to the top
Russia Retools Laws to Build IT Industry
Russia has the constituents to build a strong IT industry--a heavy focus on math, science, and basic research, an inexpensive engineering workforce, etc.--but the nation's long-term economic reliance on raw materials has limited its technology exports. Speakers at this week's U.S.-Russia ...
[read more]
to the top
What's Labor Going to Do About Offshoring?
Former South Bay AFL-CIO executive director Amy Dean, who is still president of the Silicon Valley non-profit Working Partnerships USA, believes public policy and labor unions must retool in order to better help white-collar professionals cope with offshore outsourcing and the perils of ...
[read more]
to the top
New Conductor Guides Data Along the Fiber Optic Route
Optical nanowires developed at Harvard University transmit light by guiding it, rather than containing it as in traditional optic fiber. Because the glass nanowires are smaller than light wavelengths, about half the light energy traveling along the wire flows outside in an evanescent field, and ...
[read more]
to the top
Badge Controls Displays
Researchers at England's University of Lancaster have mixed wireless communications, local area networks (LANs), and Internet access into a "smart space" in which the user can command nearby screens to display Net-based information relevant to their personal preferences without ...
[read more]
to the top
UH to Host World Conference on Future of Internet
The Techs in Paradise conference is scheduled to take place in Hawaii this week, bringing more than 300 top officials and executives in the Internet2 community to Honolulu. The regional counterpart working on the next-generation Internet, the Asia-Pacific Advanced Network, will join the ...
[read more]
to the top
With Tech Jobs Going Overseas, Starting Career More Stressful
Employment experts no longer list the technology sector as one of the best industries college seniors can look to for jobs. Internet-based MonsterTRAK, which is popular with college students, says finance, health care, and advertising offer the best opportunities for employment. The ...
[read more]
to the top
Four Wheels Good, Two Legs Bad
Robotic experts call bipedalism an impractical and inefficient approach to robot movement, and truly practical two-legged walking robots are not expected to emerge for decades. The idea that a multifunctional robot must be bipedal is an outdated concept, according to roboticists; for instance, ...
[read more]
to the top
Printer Magic
Corporate and academic researchers are working on advanced technologies in which 3D objects can be printed out layer by layer via the deposition of liquid polymers. Although printers are still incapable of running off electrical circuits integrated into completed, working components, Palo ...
[read more]
to the top
Trip to Mars Requires Intelligence
Technology experts explain that manned missions to Mars cannot take place without advancements in artificial intelligence. Metrica senior scientist David Kortenkamp anticipates dramatic AI improvements within President Bush's timeframe for manned expeditions to the red planet, though he ...
[read more]
to the top
The Next President's I.T. Agenda
Presidential candidates should have solid stances on technology-related issues so that CIOs will be able to clearly understand their IT policies, says Jonathan Zittrain of Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet & Society. The two overriding issues of critical infrastructure are ...
[read more]
to the top
© Copyright 2004 Information, Inc.
