Digital Identification Plan Still Facing Many
Hurdles
Investor's Business Daily (01/29/08) P. A5; Howell, Donna
Although implementing Real ID standards for driver's licenses is not
required until 2014, some experts are worried that problems could arise as
early as this spring, specifically at airport security lines. By law, Real
ID-compliant driver's licenses will eventually be required to board
commercial flights or to enter federal facilities, but 17 states have
passed legislation against the Real ID act amid concerns over costs and
privacy fears. States can apply for extensions to complying with Read ID,
but those that do not by early May could find their licenses invalid for
boarding commercial aircraft or for entering federal facilities. The
Department of Homeland Security "has been aware of problems with the way
the Real ID Act was written since May 11th, 2005," says the American Civil
Liberties Union's Timothy Sparapani. "They failed to go back to Congress
to ask for modifications or repeal." Homeland Security Secretary Michael
Chertoff says Real ID will give law enforcement a powerful advantage
against falsified documents and will bring piece of mind to citizens
concerned over identity theft. The purpose is not to establish a national
ID card, but to create common standards for licenses, DHS says. To comply
with the Real ID Act, states will have to collect significantly more
information to issue a license than they currently do. "As a result of
Real ID requirements, more information might be stored in a (new) set of
databases that are going to be accessed by thousands of people around the
country, along with some existing databases," says Eugene Spafford,
chairman of ACM's U.S. policy committee. "The combination of that
information will make it easier to commit identity theft and fraud." For
more information on USACM, visit
http://www.acm.org/usacm
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
Voting With (Little) Confidence
Technology Review (01/29/08) Naone, Erica
The Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act of 2008, recently
introduced by Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.), proposes government funding for
jurisdictions that use electronic voting machines to help switch to systems
that produce a paper trail, but many experts believe that a paper trail
alone is not sufficient. University of Maryland professor Ben Bederson,
who was part of a team that conducted a five-year study on voting machine
technology, says that machines need to be evaluated on more than security,
with a stronger focus on usability, reliability, accessibility, and ease of
maintenance. "Security, while important, happens to be one of those places
where voting machines actually have not proven to fail," Bederson says.
"However, in many other ways, they have failed dramatically, especially
[regarding] usability." In a usability study run by the University of
Maryland, the University of Rochester, and the University of Michigan,
researchers evaluated electronic voting systems built by Diebold, Elections
Systems and Software, Avante Voting Systems, Hart InterCivic, and Nedap
Election Systems, as well as a prototype built by Bederson. Participants
were told to vote for specific candidates in mock elections. The
researchers compared the results against how the voters were told to vote
and found that even in simple elections--a single race present on one
screen--there was an error rate of about 3 percent. As the task became
more complicated, such as having a voter change their selection, the error
rate increased to between 7 percent and 15 percent. In one test, errors
caused different candidates to win based on which machine was used.
Bederson's machine had the lowest error rate for the simple task, which
Bederson says is a strong indication that voting machine vendors need to
improve their systems.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
Call for Papers Now Open for the Web3D 2008 Symposium--To
Be Held at SIGGRAPH 2008
eMediaWire (01/29/08)
Research and applications papers are being accepted for ACM SIGGRAPH's
Web3D 2008 International Symposium until April 7, 2008. The annual Web3D
Symposium is looking for short or full papers that will lead to further
developments involving 3D multimedia technologies on the Web. Topics of
interest include interactive 3D graphics and immersive systems for servers,
desktops, and thin clients; high-performance 3D graphics for virtual
worlds, MMOs, augmented reality, and interactive online gaming; animated
humanoids and complex reactive characters; user-interface paradigms and
interaction methods for real-time 3D graphics and virtual environments; and
innovative 3D graphics applications for Web/multimedia in industry,
science, medicine, and education. Papers, which should be submitted in PDF
format at the Symposium submission site,
www.web3d.org/conferences/web3d2008/call/, will be reviewed by the
international Program Committee, and accepted papers will appear in the
Symposium Proceedings, which is published by ACM Press. The Web3D 2008
Symposium is scheduled for Aug. 9-10, 2008, at SIGGRAPH 2008 in Los
Angeles, Calif.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
IT Salary Increases Modest; Gender Gap Widens
Network World (01/29/08) Dubie, Denise
Salaries for IT professionals rose 1.7 percent last year, compared to a
5.2 percent increase in 2006, according to the Dice.com annual technology
salary report. Full-time IT pros averaged about $72,000, with MIS managers
seeing a 7.8 percent increase to $89,000, project managers enjoying about a
5 percent increase to $100,000 or more, and contractors gaining 3.7 percent
to about $93,000. More than half of the 19,000 respondents said they were
satisfied with their salaries. "Technology workers remain among the
highest paid employees, especially those with management experience and
hard-to-find skills," says Dice Holdings CEO Scot Melland. However, the
survey also found that women earned an average of $67,500, 2.4 percent less
than the $76,500 average that men earned. The gap in pay was most
pronounced among women with greater experience. Silicon Valley had the
highest salaries at $93,876, up 3.95 percent; followed by Boston at
$83,465, up 3.93 percent; the Baltimore/Washington, D.C.-area at $81,750;
Los Angeles at $81,000; and New York at $80,770.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
If It Only Had a Heart: Can Robots Behave
Humanely?
San Francisco Chronicle (01/29/08) P. B1; Abate, Tom
Stanford computer scientist Terry Winograd says that before academics
participate in creating fighting robots, they should ask themselves if they
support the goals and content of their studies, as well as if they are free
to publish their research. Professor Maarten van Veen of the Netherlands
Defense Academy expressed a similar concern, telling a group at Stanford's
Technology in Wartime conference, "We as computer professionals have a
responsibility for what we make." The event, organized by the Computer
Professionals for Social Responsibility and attended by civilians, military
personnel, academics, and human rights workers, focused on a key question:
"What should socially responsible computer professionals do in a time of
high-tech warfare?" Georgia Institute of Technology Mobile Robot
Laboratory director Ronald Arkin argued for the development of war-capable
robots in academia, arguing that Pentagon officials are determined to
create autonomous robots capable of deciding whether or not to use deadly
force, so computer scientists should help design their self-control
programs. Arkin says with proper ethical controls, robotic soldiers could
be more humane than human soldiers because they would not be effected by
emotions. Arkin noted a 2006 Mental Health Advisory Team study for the
U.S. Army's Surgeon General which found that 10 percent of soldiers and
Marines reported mistreating civilians by unnecessarily hitting them or
destroying property. "We could reduce man's inhumanity to man through
technology," Arkin says.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
Newcastle Scientists Develop 'Future Proof' Computer
Systems
Newcastle University (01/29/08)
Newcastle University computer scientists are leading DEPLOY, a European
Union project designed to make technology more robust and reliable. DEPLOY
will strive to add durability to transportation, automotive, space,
telecommunication, and business information technology. Beginning the
first of February, the DEPLOY project will build upon RODIN, a successful
three-year project by the European Union that created new ways of building
fault tolerance into computer systems. The methods are already being
tested by five European companies. The scientists will use formal
engineering methods to test the fault tolerance of each system developed,
and refine the systems in an industrial setting to ensure they meet the
needs of an increasingly technological society. "From the start we've made
it clear that we're not going to carry out research that is not meeting
industry's needs," says project director and Newcastle professor Sascha
Romanovsky. "The project will only be a success if we are able to create
what they need and can use."
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
Microchips Everywhere: A Future Vision
Associated Press (01/26/08) Lewan, Todd
Microchips with antennas could soon be embedded in virtually everything
bought, worn, driven, or read, scientists say, enabling law enforcement and
retailers to track consumer items, and consequently consumers, wherever
they go. A seamless, global network of electronic scanners will be able to
scan radio tags in a variety of public settings, identifying people and
their tastes and instantly sending them customized ads or "live spam."
Smart homes could be built with sensors in the walls, floors, and
appliances that will inventory possessions, record eating habits, monitor
medicine cabinets, and report data to marketers. Much of the technology
that would be used to monitor and track people already exists, and new,
potentially intrusive uses are being patented and deployed. Companies say
RFID technology improves supply chain efficiency, reduces theft, and
guarantees that brand-name products are authentic. RFID could be very
useful in the home. Refrigerators could warn home owners about expired
milk, create a weekly shopping list, and send signals to an interactive TV
for "personalized" commercials for frequently-bought foods. Scanners in a
microwave could read a chip-equipped meal and cook it without instruction.
The downside is that the technology could also be used for less helpful
purposes. Mark Rasch, former head of the computer-crime unit at the U.S.
Justice Department, says with so many tags in objects, relaying information
to databases could be linked to credit and bank cards, and almost no aspect
of life would be safe from government and industry monitoring. By placing
scanners in strategic areas, companies could search people's pockets,
purses, suitcases, briefcases, luggage, and possibly their kitchens or
bedrooms, at anytime, without being detected, Rasch says.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
Flexing a Super (Computing) Muscle
CNet (01/28/08) Cooper, Charles
The United States is currently the world leader in high-performance
computing, but there is little guarantee that today's technology leaders
will be able to maintain their place at the top as new technologies emerge.
Dave Turek, vice president of "Deep Computing" at IBM, is responsible for
thinking about present and future technologies and assessing challengers in
the supercomputing field. The United States employs a significant number
of highly-skilled computer scientists from India and China, but both of
those countries have relatively small shares in the supercomputing
industry. Turek says both India and China are still some years ways away
from having the type of industries that could effectively use supercomputer
technology. However, while India has shown little effort on the part of
the government to create an Indian supercomputing industry, China has been
forthcoming with its national strategy and has discussed the need to build
an indigenous industry, Turek says. Meanwhile, Russia has been busy buying
supercomputers, but there is little evidence that there is any material
effort in Russia to build the industry. "You can say there is a lot of
brainpower in China, there is a lot of brainpower in India, there is a lot
of brainpower in Russia--that's all true and nothing is forever," Turek
says. "There may come a point in the future where (they) get organized and
pursue these things and come up with some really terrific insights."
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
From Ranking Blogs to Predicting Posture
MSNBC (01/28/08) Nelson, Bryn
Carnegie Mellon University researchers led by professor Carlos Guestrin
are working to improve how scientists monitor everything, from algal blooms
in lakes, to subtle differences in how someone sits, to detecting
contamination in a city water system, to which blogs provide the most
useful information. The researchers have created Cascades, an algorithm
that could lead to dramatically improved sensor networks by combining the
scientific study of how information, influence, or physical items move
through networks with how to optimally detect the flow in a cost-effective
way. Guestrin was initially inspired by a collaborative project with civil
engineers trying to determine where to place a limited number of sensors in
water pipes to detect contamination as quickly as possible. The success of
the project led Guestrin to think about how the central idea could be
adapted to other applications, such as how information spreads across the
Internet. "Somebody places a story and some people link to the story, and
some people link to the links, and so on," he says. "You can think of it
as a cascade of information." To find the big story as quickly as
possible, the researchers created Cascades. Part of Cascades seeks to
maximize reward, or detecting the most news in the least amount of time,
while a second part seeks to minimize cost, such as the time spent reading
blogs. The algorithm also factors in the law of diminishing returns.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
Microsoft: Making Programming Easier
eWeek (01/28/08) Taft, Darryl K.
A primary goal of Microsoft's developer division is to simplify
programming, said Microsoft's Jason Zander, speaking at the Lang.NET
Symposium. "There's been a lot of research over the last 20 some years and
the question for us is how we're going to make that [programming for
parallel environments] easier," Zander said. "Computer science is one of
those fields where you can see what's going to be cool by looking back 20
to 30 years." He said the goals of the Common Language Runtime included
modernizing Microsoft's programming interfaces, creating a consistent
programming interface to allow developers to use all of their skills
orthogonal to language choice, and improving productivity. The Dynamic
Language Runtime, which is based on the CLR, allows for easier integration
of other languages in the future. Zander noted that Microsoft evolved some
of its licensing to include open-source-style licensing, starting with the
Shared Source Common Language Infrastructure, the Microsoft Reciprocal
License, and the Microsoft Permissive License. Also at the conference,
Microsoft fellow Anders Hejlsberg, who heads development on C#, said the
newest version of the language, C# 3.0, was the first chance to step back
and look at the evolution of the language. "The taxonomies of programming
languages are starting to break down," Hejlsberg said, point to dynamic
languages, programming languages, and functional languages. He said
"future languages are going to be an amalgam of all of the above. I think
that bleed will continue. We've been very keen to exploit that in C#."
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
IBM, Academia Tackle Cancer With High-Tech Tools
HPC Wire (01/25/08)
IBM, Rutgers, and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) are working to
develop grid-based diagnostic tools that could improve the accuracy of
predicting patients' responses to treatment and related clinical outcomes.
Using advanced computing and imaging technologies that facilitate
comparisons of cancerous tissues, and cell and radiology studies,
researchers and physicians expect to be able to give more accurate cancer
prognoses and more personalized therapy planning. They also hope it will
lead to the development and discovery of new cancer drugs. The work is an
extension of the "Help Defeat Cancer" project in which IBM's World
Community Grid was used to demonstrate the effectiveness of characterizing
different types and states of diseases based on the underlying staining
patterns visible in digitally imaged cancer tissues. The main objective of
the project is to build a deployable, grid-enabled decision support system
to help researchers, physicians, and scientists automatically analyze and
classify imaged cancer specimens with greater accuracy. Additionally, CINJ
is establishing a Center for High-Throughput Data Analysis for Cancer
Research that will use state-of-the-art computing resources and a Shared
University Research Award provided by IBM. The Center's primary objective
will be developing pattern-recognition algorithms that can simultaneously
analyze digitally archived cancer specimens, radiology images, and
proteomic and genomic data for better assessment of disease onset and
progression.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
Face Recognition Made Possible
AlphaGalileo (01/25/2008)
Hung-Son Le of Umea University in Sweden has developed algorithms that
enable a computer to recognize a face, even if it accesses a database that
has only one picture of the individual. The algorithms are capable of
improving contrast in both under-exposed and over-exposed pictures, and the
system does not need to be retrained, like existing Hidden Markov Model
(HMM)-based competitors, to "know" new pictures with different expressions
taken under different illumination conditions. In experiments and tests,
the system performed better than the leading competitors. Face-recognition
systems are usually trained using a database of face images that have
different illumination and poses, which can be costly and difficult to
collect. With Le's algorithms, users would not have to worry about the
quality of pictures, facial expressions, different angles, and
illumination. Banks could potentially use Le's research to roll out ATMs
that are capable of recognizing the face of customers as they look into a
camera.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
New Algorithm for Digital Map Technology
Innovations Report (01/25/08) Murphy, Helene
A fast and powerful algorithm that improves digital map technology will be
the subject of a presentation at next week's Electronic Imaging conference
in San Jose, Calif., by Dr. Jonathon Hare from the School of Electronics &
Computer Science (ECS) at Southampton University. Hare teamed up with ECS
professor Paul Lewis to develop MapSnapper, which allows users of mobile
phones to snap a section of a map and receive a photograph of points of
interests in return. The clickable points of interests provide information
such as on events, facilities, opening times, and accommodation. "The
vision was a product that would allow users to query a remote information
system based on photos of a paper map taken with a camera phone," Hare
says. "The information system could then return useful information to the
user via the device." He will also discuss how the algorithm combines a
number of computer vision techniques, including interest point extraction
and local description generator with multidimensional indexing.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
In Diatom, Scientists Find Genes That May Level
Engineering Hurdle
University of Wisconsin-Madison (01/21/08) Miller, Nicole
Unicellular algae called diatoms, which encase themselves in intricately
patterned, glass-like shells by laying down submicron-sized lines of
silica, a compound related to silicon, could lead to the next breakthrough
in computer chips. "If we can genetically control that process, we would
have a whole new way of performing the nanofabrication used to make
computer chips," says University of Wisconsin-Madison biochemistry
professor Michael Sussman. A team led by Sussman has reported finding a
set of 75 genes that specifically involve the silica bioprocessing in
diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana. The new data will allow Sussman to start
manipulating the genes responsible for silica production, which could lead
to significantly faster computer chips as diatoms are capable of creating
lines much smaller than current technology allows. To determine which
genes are involved in creating silica, the research team used a DNA chip
that allows the scientists to see which genes are involved in a given
cellular process. The chip identified genes that responded when diatoms
were grown in low levels of silicic acid, the raw material used to make
silica. "The semiconductor industry has been able to double the density of
transistors on computer chips every few years," Sussman says. "But they
are actually hitting a wall now because they're getting down to the
resolution of visible light."
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
Tekniker-IK4 Leads Robotics Project
Basque Research (01/23/08)
The Basque research center Tekniker-IK4 recently launched "ROBAUCO:
Mobile, Autonomous and Collaborative Robots," a project designed to lay the
foundation for the development of mobile robots that are capable of
performing complex tasks and sharing work with humans in a friendly and
natural manner. Tekniker-IK4 is working with Fatronik in Basque, the
Valencian Instituto Tecnologico de Informatica (ITI), CARTIF in
Castilla-Leon, as well as robotics researchers at the Carlos III University
in Madrid, the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, the University of
Seville and the University of the Basque Country on ROBAUCO. Sensors and
sensorial systems will be used to enable the robots to recognize unknown
terrain and changing situations, and solutions will be developed to allow
them to communicate and collaborate with each other as well as humans.
Person-robot interaction will be a focus to allow the robots to pick up
voice communications and gestures, and the researchers will also develop
autonomous behavior solutions to enable the robots to perform a
self-diagnosis and take appropriate actions if they breakdown. They also
will develop mecatronic components that will enable the robots to move
through all media, terrestrial, aquatic and aerial conditions, and handle
any obstacles in such situations.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
Cyberadvice Awaits the Next President
Government Computer News (01/21/08) Vol. 27, No. 2, Jackson, William
The Center for Strategic and International Studies, a security and policy
think tank, is organizing a list of recommended security initiatives for
the next president to follow. The Commission on Cyber Security, formed by
the CSIS, will brainstorm practical policy changes and will address issues
of infrastructure protection, software assurance, and inter-agency
cybersecurity before submitting an agenda by the end of this year. Senior
fellow James Lewis, also the director of CSIS' Technology and Public Policy
Program, says the group is comprised of 35 reputable experts who are likely
to get the next president's attention with their views on security. "We
want to focus on what can be implemented, not what would be nice to have,"
he says. The group expects to recommend up to six new initiatives to the
incoming president. "Despite the good work of a lot of people, the problem
has gotten worse," Lewis says. "With a new administration coming in, this
was an opportunity to step back and look for new ideas. It seemed like a
good time to do it."
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
Face to Face; a Private View
Total Telecom (01/08) Taaffe, Joanne
The creation of new Internet standards bodies took away some of the
International Telecommunications Union's influence, even though the
organization kept insisting that it was important to ICT standardization.
However, when Hamadoun Toure took over as ITU's secretary general, he
implemented numerous structural reforms needed for the organization to once
again become relevant. During his first year in office, Toure made efforts
to increase transparency and the speed of decision making. He points to
the organization's budget, which was balanced after just two days of
discussion, as an example of his successful reforms. The reforms allowed
ITU to begin work on large-scale projects, such as Connect Africa and a
cyber-crime initiative. Connect Africa aims to encourage the creation of
broadband infrastructure across the nation. Toure believes that access to
broadband Internet will make Africa more attractive to foreign investors,
who will invest in other infrastructure programs. He also urges the
continent's governments to provide the type of environment that will make
foreign companies feel secure investing their money in Africa. The Global
Cyber-security Agenda provides a neutral forum for governments and
operators to work together toward a solution to cyber-crime issues.
"Different parties that are at odds with each other can work together at
the ITU," said Toure. He said that ITU recognizes its limitations, and
pledged that the organization will not get involved in Internet governance,
which is controlled by ICANN.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
LISA Helps
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (01/08)
Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and
Automation IFF in Magdeburg have developed a laboratory robot that could
quickly make its way to the commercial market as a tool for providing
assistance with everyday routines in the home. LISA (life science
assistant) is not only cost-effective, but its sensing gripper arm is able
to limit jostling and prevent the robot from injuring people, making it
very safe. Within a year, biotechnology labs will be able to use LISA for
loading incubators, measuring equipment with sample trays, and navigation
from one lab instrument to another. LISA also features "artificial skin"
with intelligent signal processing electronics, a thermographic camera that
can pick up body heat and determine if a human hand is in the way, and a
laser-aided navigation system that allows it to move through familiar
spaces and doorways on its own. The robot can understand sentences, ask a
question if it does not understand, and receive commands through a
touchscreen. LISA learns new tasks easily, which is critical for the life
science laboratory. "LISA was tailored precisely to its niche for use,"
says project coordinator Dr. Norbert Elkmann from the IFF. "This is the
only way its everyday use will soon be possible--we could be that far in
about one to two years."
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
