April 2008 - Vol. 51 No. 4

April 2008 issue cover image

Features

Opinion Editorial pointers Apr 1 2008

Editorial Pointers

System security, as covered in these pages many times, is the ultimate team effort. It takes more than specialized equipment and protective strategies to maintain a system’s operations. It takes users to adopt these measures and apply them whenever necessary. On Team Security, the user is the weakest player. Ryan West, a design researcher at […]

Computing Applications

Opinion Forum Apr 1 2008

I applaud the goals of the research reported in "Women and Men in the IT Profession" (Feb. 2008) by Vicki R. McKinney et al. Unfortunately, the conclusions fell somewhat short of their goals; that is, it seems that women and men already in IT share similar socialization, experience, and attitude. Missing from the study was […]

Computing Applications

News News track Apr 1 2008

A new computerized look at the biomedical research literature has turned up tens of thousands of articles in which entire passages appear to have been lifted from other papers. In fact, researchers estimate there may be as many as 200,000 duplicates among some 17 million papers in the leading life sciences and biomedical research database […]

Computing Applications

Opinion Digital village Apr 1 2008

Faith-Based Security

A tongue-in-cheek look at serious security issues.

Computing Applications

Opinion The profession of IT Apr 1 2008

Getting to ‘We’

Solidarity, not software, generates collaboration.

Peter J. Denning and Peter Yaholkovsky

Computing Applications

News Call for nominations Apr 1 2008

Call For Nominations For Advanced Member Grades in the ACM

ACM has three distinct member grades to recognize the professional accomplishments of our members: Senior Member recognizes those ACM members, with at least 10 years of professional experience, that have demonstrated performance and accomplishment that set them apart. The list of recipients is found on: http://awards.acm.org/homepage.cfm?awd=159 Distinguished Engineer, Scientist, or Member recognizes those ACM members, […]

Computing Applications

News ACM honors Apr 1 2008

ACM Honors Distinguished and Senior Members

ACM has three distinct member grades to recognize the professional accomplishments of its members. The list of those members recognized as ACM Fellows in 2007 was published in the March 2008 issue of Communications (p. 22). Here, we list those members named senior members and distinguished engineer, scientist, or member in 2007. The Distinguished Engineer, […]

Computing Applications

Opinion Viewpoint Apr 1 2008

Solving Rubik’s Cube: Disk Is the New RAM

Substituting disk for RAM, disk-based computation is a way to increase working memory and achieve results that are not otherwise economical.

Daniel Kunkle and Gene Cooperman

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Apr 1 2008

The Psychology of Security

Why do good users make bad decisions?

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Apr 1 2008

The Business of Open Source

New products, new markets, and new forms of production impel the creative destruction of free enterprise. Open source software appears to be creative destruction in action.

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Apr 1 2008

Measuring Consumer Satisfaction in Internet Banking: A Core Framework

What service-quality attributes must Internet banks offer to induce consumers to switch to online transactions and keep using them?

Ziqi Liao and Michael Tow Cheung

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Apr 1 2008

The Provenance of Electronic Data

It would include details of the processes that produced electronic data as far back as the beginning of time or at least the epoch of provenance awareness.

Computing Applications

Practice Apr 1 2008

Designing a Learning Management System to Support Instruction

The goal of an LMS, devised by a growing number of universities, is to offer faculty instructional support. The actual use of these programs, however, suggests thatsupport is elusive. An experience at National Taiwan University illustrates how a university can increase faculty usage through better LMS design.

Hsiu-Ping Yueh and Shihkuan Hsu

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Research and Advances Apr 1 2008

Information Security and Risk Management

Use the new PCR risk metric to find ways to enhance security, avoiding one-dimensional metrics like ALE that could risk an organization's survivability.

Lawrence D. Bodin, Lawrence A. Gordon, and Martin P. Loeb

Computing Applications

Practice Apr 1 2008

A Typology of Complaints About Ebay Sellers

More could be done to reduce rising online fraud rates.

Dawn G. Gregg and Judy E. Scott

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Research and Advances Apr 1 2008

Missing Links: Building Critical Social Ties For Global Collaborative Teamwork

Face-to-face meetings may be invaluable, but they are not a panacea for the challenges facing teams spread around the globe---managers must also prioritize activities before and after these meetings to help team members stay connected.

Ilan Oshri, Julia Kotlarsky, and Leslie Willcocks

Computing Applications

Practice Apr 1 2008

Knowledge Management in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

A balanced combination of management support, technology, and organizational structural factors is necessary for successful knowledge management program implementation.

Ivy Chan and Chee-Kwong Chao

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Apr 1 2008

Demographic Changes in Is Research Productivity and Impact

Always considered an area dominated by North American institutions, there are signs afoot that the globalization of IS research productivity is making moves, particularly in Asia and Europe.

Mohamed Khalifa and Kathy Ning

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Apr 1 2008

‘Most Wired Hospitals’ Rate Patient Satisfaction

Considering the role of IT as a variable in health care institution quality assessment.

Pamela Whitten, Deirdre Mylod, Goran Gavran, and Howard Sypher

Computing Applications

Opinion Technical opinion Apr 1 2008

The Size of the IT Job Market

Comparing the U.S. IT job markets of the 1990s and 2000s.

Chuck Litecky, Bipin Prabhakar, and Kirk Arnett

Computing Applications

Opinion Inside risks Apr 1 2008

A Current Affair

It’s not a revelation that as a society we’re often amiss when it comes to properly prioritizing technological issues. So it should be no surprise that one of the most significant upcoming changes in our physical infrastructure is getting little play not only in the mass media, but in technology-centric circles as well. There are […]

Lauren Weinstein

Computing Applications

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