November 2005 - Vol. 48 No. 11

Features

Opinion Editorial pointers Nov 1 2005

In a lecture almost 60 years ago, Alan Turing noted the point of building computers is to treat them as slaves, giving them only thoroughly spelled-out chores to do. Still, he wondered aloud, would it be necessary to always use computers in such a manner? As great as the technical achievements have been since then, […]

Diane Crawford

Computing Applications

News News track Nov 1 2005

News Track

Not only are U.S. federal agencies making a concerted effort to recruit some of the most talented computer hackers, so too are Al-Qaida and other terrorist groups. Mark Rasch, former head of the Justice Department’s computer crime unit, notes an escalating trend in terrorist organizations trying to hire hackers to penetrate government and computer networks. […]

CACM Staff

Computing Applications

Opinion Forum Nov 1 2005

Forum

Michael A. Cusumano’s "Technology Strategy and Management" column ("The Puzzle of Japanese Software," July 2005) was intriguing but took a strange direction. He wrote that one study found that Japanese software projects have only one-twentieth the number of defects as their U.S. counterparts, and that "so few bugs may suggest an overly rigid style of […]

Architecture and Hardware

Opinion The profession of IT Nov 1 2005

Recentering Computer Science

The recent decreases of enrollment in computer science programs signal a chasm between our historical emphasis on programming and the contemporary concerns of those choosing careers.

Peter J. Denning and Andrew McGettrick

Computing Applications

Practice Practical programmer Nov 1 2005

The Plot to Deskill Software Engineering

Do software engineering milestones represent creativity-enhancing or creativity-stifling developments?

Robert L. Glass

Computing Applications

Opinion Hot links Nov 1 2005

Top 10 Downloads from ACM’s Digital Library

Communications of the ACM Volume 48, Number 11 (2005), Pages 25-26 Hot links: Top 10 downloads from ACM’s digital library 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 2005 Table. The 10 Most Popular Courses at […]

Computing Applications

Opinion Viewpoint Nov 1 2005

Crisis and Opportunity in Computer Science

The future of the field depends on winning back student enrollment, public interest in technology, and government research funding.

Maria Klawe and Ben Shneiderman

Computing Applications

Opinion President's letter Nov 1 2005

Rescuing Our Families, Our Neighbors, and Ourselves

Should computer scientists and engineers take on a greater responsibility to help reduce the loss of life and property damage from natural disasters?

David A. Patterson

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Research and Advances Nov 1 2005

It’s Time to Think Outside the Computational Box

Systems that don't announce when they've reached their final results can `compute' the uncomputable, possibly allowing them to understand their users and generate their own programs from examples.

Peter Kugel

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Research and Advances Nov 1 2005

Mobile Cookies Management on a Smart Card

With CookiesCard, cookies are stored on users' smart cards, coupling cookies to users, not to their machines.

Alvin T. S. Chan

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Nov 1 2005

Call For a Public-Domain Speechweb

All that's missing is innovative use of existing technology and the encouragement of public participation.

Richard A. Frost

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Nov 1 2005

Detection and Prevention of Stack Buffer Overflow Attacks

How to mitigate remote attacks that exploit buffer overflow vulnerabilities on the stack and enable attackers to take control of the program.

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Nov 1 2005

Rule of Law and the International Diffusion of E-Commerce

Strong institutional environments serve as a foundation for e-commerce growth opportunities.

Chuan-Fong Shih, Jason Dedrick, and Kenneth L. Kraemer

Computing Applications

Practice Nov 1 2005

Business Email: The Killer Impact

Workplace email is quickly evolving to keep up with those who use it---and perhaps to make way for the next killer app.

Rana Tassabehji and Maria Vakola

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Nov 1 2005

Assessing the Relative Influence of Journals in a Citation Network

Some journals are perceived as sources of knowledge; others serve as storers of knowledge. Learning the strengths and persuasions of journals is of value to academia, scholars, and publishers.

Sridhar Nerur, Riyaz Sikora, George Mangalaraj, and VenuGopal Balijepally

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Nov 1 2005

Maintaining Enterprise Software Applications

The problem of maintaining integrated applications is by no means a simple one and requires an interdisciplinary approach.

Radha Mookerjee

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Research and Advances Nov 1 2005

An Architecture For Distributed Scenario Building and Evaluation

A Web portal can support collaborative learning and help individuals and organizations plan for an uncertain future.

Rosemary H. Wild, Kenneth A. Griggs, and Eldon Y. Li

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Nov 1 2005

-sing Web-Based Search Data to Predict Macroeconomic Statistics

Tracking common search terms used on the Web can produce accurate, useful statistics about the unemployment rate. We hope to extend this approach to other economic statistics.

Michael Ettredge, John Gerdes, and Gilbert Karuga

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Opinion Technical opinion Nov 1 2005

Software Process Improvement: It's a Journey, Not a Destination

Realizing the benefits of continuous software process improvement.

Bill C. Hardgrave and Deborah J. Armstrong

Computing Applications

Opinion Inside risks Nov 1 2005

The Real National-Security Needs For VoIP

In August 2005 the Federal Communications Commission announced that the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) applies to broadband Internet access and "interconnected voice over IP" (VoIP). VoIP providers already had to comply with legally authorized wiretap orders; the FCC ruling means that all VoIP implementations would now have to pass federal wiretapping standards […]

Steven M. Bellovin, Matt Blaze, and Susan Landau

Computing Applications

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