September 2003 - Vol. 46 No. 9

Features

Opinion Editorial pointers Sep 1 2003

Why math? This simple, yet age-old question has puzzled generations of computer science students pursuing what many believed is the stuff of precision and logic. Isn’t building computer systems and software rooted in real-life reasoning, they argue; while mathematics orbits around an abstract world? This month’s special section dispels those myths in a series of […]

Diane Crawford

Computing Applications

News News track Sep 1 2003

News Track

On the same day India’s National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) came out in defense of its recent claim that IT outsourcing to India has improved U.S. employment figures, the Associated Press reported a dramatic drop in U.S tech jobs migrating to India, Russia, and China. "U.S. banks, financial services, and insurance companies […]

CACM Staff

Computing Applications

Opinion Forum Sep 1 2003

Forum

The article "Digital Music and Online Sharing: Software Piracy 2.0?" (July 2003) on digital music sharing prejudged the most basic questions by formulating the issue in terms of "piracy" and "freeloading." The word piracy, formerly used by authors to criticize publishers who found lawful ways to publish unauthorized editions, has been turned around and now […]

Diane Crawford

Computing Applications

Opinion Staying connected Sep 1 2003

Power to the People

Broadband access gets electrified.

Meg McGinity

Architecture and Hardware

Opinion International perspectives Sep 1 2003

The Origins of Digital Computing in Europe

Retracing the paths of influential, but often isolated, computer pioneers.

Seymour Goodman

Architecture and Hardware

Opinion The business of software Sep 1 2003

Closing the learning application gap

Attempting to overcome the challenges to effectively conveying knowledge.

Phillip Armour

Computing Applications

Opinion Viewpoint Sep 1 2003

Responding to the Unexpected

How IT can help prepare for future attacks and disasters.

Yigal Arens and Paul S. Rosenbloom

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Why universities require computer science students to take math Sep 1 2003

Introduction

The main benefit of learning and doing mathematics is that it develops the ability to reason about formally defined abstract structures like those in computer science and its applications.

Keith Devlin

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Why universities require computer science students to take math Sep 1 2003

Why Math?

The mathematical thinking, as well as the mathematics, in a computer science education prepares students for all stages of system development, from design to the correctness of the final implementation.

Kim B. Bruce, Robert L. Scot Drysdale, Charles Kelemen, and Allen Tucker

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Why universities require computer science students to take math Sep 1 2003

Mathematical reasoning in software engineering education

Discrete mathematics, especially logic, plays an implicit role in software engineering similar to the role of continuous mathematics in traditional physically based engineering disciplines.

Peter B. Henderson

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Why universities require computer science students to take math Sep 1 2003

What is the attraction to computing?

The strongest motivators include a sense of accomplishment from solving problems and programming; the weakest include being captivated by the Web and a passion for playing computer games.

Vicki L. Almstrum

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Sep 1 2003

The future of peer-to-peer computing

An economical method for pumping up computing power by tapping into P2P systems using Web server technologies.

Alfred W. Loo

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Sep 1 2003

Record/replay for nondeterministic program executions

Controlling the nondeterministic features within multithreaded and highly responsive applications enables the continued use of all traditional software development techniques.

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Sep 1 2003

The role of IT in successful knowledge management initiatives

Executives must confront the challenging task of deciding the type of IT to deploy in support of their knowledge management initiatives.

Atreyi Kankanhalli, Fransiska Tanudidjaja, Juliana Sutanto, and Bernard C. Y. Tan

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Sep 1 2003

Security and Privacy Issues of Handheld and Wearable Wireless Devices

The distinguished capabilities of these devices are also the very reasons they require security and privacy protections of an unprecedented scale.

Roberto Di Pietro and Luigi V. Mancini

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Sep 1 2003

Creating sustainable competitive advantage through internetworked communities

Examining the effects of transforming the Hong Kong Stock Exchange from a closed to an open trading system.

Ali F. Farhoomand and Pauline S. P. Ng

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Sep 1 2003

Alternate distribution strategies for digital music

Digitization of music has created opportunities to reengineer the supply chain and improve its efficiency.<br><br>But how will it play out?

G. Prem Premkumar

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Sep 1 2003

Information-rich commerce at a crossroads: business and technology adoption requirements

The day is approaching when most of our common transactions may be information-rich, but first an extensive supporting infrastructure must be developed in three areas: devices, networking, and trust.

Robert G. Fichman and Mary J. Cronin

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Sep 1 2003

Concurrent-Convergent Strategy in It Consulting

The concurrent-convergent strategy in IT consulting can be exploited to increase client efficiency, to draw conceptual and practical lessons for other information-based applications, and to develop synergy between IT consulting and business process reengineering.

Ziqi Liao and Michael Tow Cheung

Computing Applications

Opinion Technical opinion Sep 1 2003

Open courseware and open source software

Learning from experience?

Stefan Baldi, Hauke Heier, and Anett Mehler-Bicher

Computing Applications

Opinion Inside risks Sep 1 2003

Risks in Trusting -ntrustworthiness

The Internet provides ample opportunity for proving the age-old truism, "There’s a sucker born every minute." Carnival-style swindles and other confidence games once limited to in-person encounters are now proliferating electronically, worldwide, at low cost and effort. A blatantly obvious example is the so-called Nigerian-style scam that requests use of one’s bank account to move […]

Peter G. Neumann

Computing Applications