November 2004 - Vol. 47 No. 11

November 2004 issue cover image

Features

Opinion Editorial pointers Nov 1 2004

Editorial Pointers

It’s a humbling fact that the potential to unravel the mysteries of a single microscopic molecule can take every FLOPS of computational power in existence—and then some. Even more humbling is that it can happen only because of this extreme level of computational power, which allows scientists to visualize and comprehend vast volumes of biological […]

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

News News track Nov 1 2004

Computational biologists at IBM’s T.J. Watson Research Center have created an anti-spam filter inspired by the way scientists analyze genetic sequences. BBC News reports the formula automatically learns patterns of spam vocabulary with a proven 96.5% success rate. Indeed, in a recent test the filter misidentified only one message in 6,000 as spam. The formula, […]

Computing Applications

Opinion Forum Nov 1 2004

Although the Viewpoint by Peter Freeman and David Hart ("A Science of Design for Software-Intensive Systems," Aug. 2004) explored the idea that design must account for such factors as style and innovation, it didn’t say that the underlying tools of computer science and engineering, on which design is based, are unstable, and that this is […]

Computing Applications

Opinion The profession of IT Nov 1 2004

Many networks, physical and social, are complex and scale-invariant. This has important implications from the spread of epidemics and innovations to protection from attack.

Peter J. Denning

Architecture and Hardware

Opinion Hot links Nov 1 2004

Top 10 Downloads from Acm’s Portal

Communications of the ACM Volume 47, Number 11 (2004), Pages 21-22 Hot links: Top 10 downloads from ACM’s portal Diane Crawford Table of Contents Tables Back to Top Tables Table. The Top 10 Most Popular Papers from ACM’s Refereed Journals and Conference Proceedings Downloaded in August 2004 Table. THe 10 Most Popular Courses and Books […]

Computing Applications

Practice Practical programmer Nov 1 2004

Is This a Revolutionary Idea, or Not?

Assembling the individual pieces to form an integrated component architecture.

Robert L. Glass

Computing Applications

Opinion Viewpoint Nov 1 2004

Globalization and the American It Worker

Exporting IT jobs and importing IT workers not only harms U.S. IT workers, it also harms U.S. firms and the broader economy.

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Bioinformatics: transforming biomedical research and medical care Nov 1 2004

Bioinformatics and computational biology will enable breakthroughs in basic biological research and improvements in the prevention, treatment, and cure of diseases.

Craig A. Stewart

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Bioinformatics: transforming biomedical research and medical care Nov 1 2004

Computational Biology and High-Performance Computing

Understanding evolution and the basic structure and function of proteins are two grand challenge problems in biology that can be solved only through the use of high-performance computing.

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Bioinformatics: transforming biomedical research and medical care Nov 1 2004

Petaflops Computing

PetaFLOPS computers---capable of performing a thousand trillion mathematical operations per second, 25 times faster than the largest supercomputers today---will open new doors to understanding the functions of biological molecules.

Toshikazu Ebisuzaki, Robert Germain, and Makoto Taiji

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Bioinformatics: transforming biomedical research and medical care Nov 1 2004

The Seed: a Peer-to-Peer Environment For Genome Annotation

This open source toolkit will help scientists interpret the vast body of genomic data now publicly available.

Ross Overbeek, Terry Disz, and Rick Stevens

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Bioinformatics: transforming biomedical research and medical care Nov 1 2004

The Emerging Role of Biogrids

Four biomedically oriented grid systems, ranging from SARS diagnosis to arthropod evolution, demonstrate the promise of grid computing in medical practice and biological science.

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Bioinformatics: transforming biomedical research and medical care Nov 1 2004

Beyond Power: Making Bioinformatics Tools User-Centered

User-centered design techniques can broaden the appeal, use, and effectiveness of Web-based bioinformatics tools.

Homa Javahery, Ahmed Seffah, and Thiruvengadam Radhakrishnan

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Bioinformatics: transforming biomedical research and medical care Nov 1 2004

Biomedical Computing and Visualization Software Environments

Problem-solving environments and advanced visualization take on the complexity of biomedical computing, improving its utility to scientists and clinicians alike.

Chris R. Johnson, Rob MacLeod, Steven G. Parker, and David Weinstein

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Research and Advances Nov 1 2004

The One-Minute Risk Assessment Tool

An analysis of risks in software development, using data from senior IT managers, produced surprising results. Our one-minute assessment tool applies those results to assessing the risks of specific projects.

Amrit Tiwana and Mark Keil

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Nov 1 2004

What Leads to -ser Acceptance of Digital Libraries?

While millions of dollars have been spent building digital libraries, research indicates that millions of potential users may still be ignoring them.

James Y.L. Thong, Weiyin Hong, and Kar Yan Tam

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Nov 1 2004

Adopting Ontology to Facilitate Knowledge Sharing

Ontology-enabled knowledge management experiences derived from a domain ontology development project at Intel Corporation are described and assessed.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Research and Advances Nov 1 2004

Visualization Strategies and Tools For Enhancing Customer Relationship Management

Web sites that make it too cumbersome for customers to search and purchase products online will never enjoy a competitive edge. Fortunately, there are many visualization tools and techniques available that may be just what the customers' ordered.

Shobha Ganapathy, C. Ranganathan, and Balaji Sankaranarayanan

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Nov 1 2004

Remote Repair, Diagnostics, and Maintenance

An overview and comparison of the U.S., Japanese, and German machine tool industries.

Markus Biehl, Edmund Prater, and John R. McIntyre

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Nov 1 2004

What Americans Like About Being Online

A study of AOL users finds they are particularly gratified using the Net as a source of information, communication, and socializing---results that may be helpful to ISPs in their efforts to attract and retain users.

Thomas F. Stafford and Dennis Gonier

Computing Applications

Opinion Technical opinion Nov 1 2004

Nanoscience Fact Versus Fiction

With all the excitement over the potential of nanotechnology, has any research addressed the potential toxicity nanoparticles may have on our health and environment?

Ken Donaldson and Vicki Stone

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Opinion Inside risks Nov 1 2004

Evaluation of Voting Systems

The recent spate of security issues and allegations of "lost votes" in the U.S. demonstrates the inadequacy of the standards used to evaluate our election systems. The current standards (the FEC Voting Systems Standards) along with the revision being developed by IEEE 1583 (see the article by Deutsch and Berger in last month’s Communications) are […]

Computing Applications

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