June 2004 - Vol. 47 No. 6

June 2004 issue cover image

Features

Opinion Editorial pointers

Editorial Pointers

Wireless sensor networks—incorporating hundreds, even thousands, of tiny interconnected monitoring devices—are not only increasing in scope and function, but now interacting with environments that are physically remote, hostile, or inaccessible. With each pioneering application we move a bit closer to the vision of a pervasive globally embedded Internet. Sensor networks operate in a wholly different […]
News News track

News Track

The U.S. government, despite denials to the contrary, is making its first moves toward a military-style draft of citizens with special skills in computers and foreign languages, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. The Selective Service System, an independent federal agency, has begun creating the procedures and policies to conduct such a targeted draft in the […]
Opinion Forum

Forum

The special section "Homeland Security" (Mar. 2004) detailed external attacks on various computer systems but did not mention that threats also originate inside those systems. The 9/11 attackers, for instance, were trained to fly inside "the system" and allowed to board U.S. aircraft by that same system. Protecting U.S. computer systems requires Americans to assume […]
Opinion Inside risks

Optimistic Optimization

Many people continue to ignore the long-term implications of decisions made for short-term gains, often based on overly optimistic or fallacious assumptions. In principle, greater benefits can result from farsighted vision based on realistic assumptions. For example, serious environmental effects (including global warming, water and air pollution, and adverse genetic engineering) are largely ignored in […]

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