September 2006 - Vol. 49 No. 9

September 2006 issue cover image

Features

Opinion Editorial pointers Sep 1 2006

Editorial Pointers

Ubiquitous objects and mobile communication devices are fast becoming part of the invisible fabric of everyday life. While each comes with a unique set of operating requirements, we’ve come to expect them to work autonomously as well as in concert with other devices already part of our personal operating needs. As a result, finding ways […]

Architecture and Hardware

News News track Sep 1 2006

An inexpensive, wireless, battery-free microchip that stores documents, audio files, or video clips and can be pressed like a Post-it note onto just about any surface is potentially two to five years from market, according to its creators at Hewlett-Packard. The San Jose Mercury News reports these "memory spots," as HP calls them, can be […]

Computing Applications

Opinion Forum Sep 1 2006

The things Peter G. Neumann described as risks in his "Inside Risks" column ("Risks Relating to System Compositions," July 2006) I would generally characterize as stupidity. Unfortunately, too many software-oriented people, especially hackers and other free spirits, take an approach that is the equivalent of playing Russian Roulette, inevitably causing most of their own problems. […]

Computing Applications

Opinion The business of software Sep 1 2006

Software: Hard Data

Seeking solid information on the behavior of modern projects.

Phillip G. Armour

Computing Applications

Opinion Staying connected Sep 1 2006

Service providers are building their networks right to your door---that is, your den, your bedroom, and your kitchen.

Meg McGinity Shannon

Architecture and Hardware

Opinion Hot links Sep 1 2006

Top 10 Downloads from ACM’s Digital Library

Communications of the ACM Volume 49, Number 9 (2006), Pages 23-24 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 June 2006 Table. The 10 Most Popular Courses at […]

Computing Applications

Opinion Viewpoint Sep 1 2006

Wireless Laptops in the Classroom (and the Sesame Street Syndrome)

Give instructors the option of turning off wireless Web access to accommodate their students' learning styles, in some cases to save them from themselves.

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Privacy and security in highly dynamic systems Sep 1 2006

The IT community is accustomed to looking at the evolution of computers referring to the "laws" and "theories" of Moore and Bell. However, in the age of ad hoc and spontaneous networking and miniaturization, additional non-hardware-based dimensions may help to influence our conceptions of future developments in computing. The theory of computer-class formation from 1975 […]

GÜnter MÜller

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Privacy and security in highly dynamic systems Sep 1 2006

Personalization in Privacy-Aware Highly Dynamic Systems

Enabling novel ways to personalize the relationship with customers without sacrificing their privacy.

Stefan Sackmann, Jens StrÜker, and Rafael Accorsi

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Privacy and security in highly dynamic systems Sep 1 2006

Distributed -Usage Control

Using a server-side architecture to connect specialized enforcement mechanisms with usage control requirements and policies.

Alexander Pretschner, Manuel Hilty, and David Basin

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Privacy and security in highly dynamic systems Sep 1 2006

Externally Verifiable Code Execution

Using hardware- and software-based techniques to realize a primitive for externally verifiable code execution.

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Privacy and security in highly dynamic systems Sep 1 2006

Perspectives For Cryptographic Long-Term Security

Cryptographic long-term security is needed, but difficult to achieve. Use flexible cryptographic tools, and have replacements ready.

Johannes Buchmann, Alexander May, and Ulrich Vollmer

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Privacy and security in highly dynamic systems Sep 1 2006

Legal Programming

Using a process modeling-based approach to address privacy and related legal issues arising in an RFID-based augmented reality shopping situation.

Brian Subirana and Malcolm Bain

Computing Applications

Opinion A Wiki for discussing and promoting best practices in research Sep 1 2006

A Wiki For Discussing and Promoting Best Practices in Research

Dealing with the demands of escalating paper submissions is a daunting challenge for conference organizers and program chairs. ACM and IEEE have joined forces to create a forum for sharing ideas on the best ways to handle it all.

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Sep 1 2006

What Is Your Software Worth?

By applying well-known principlesof intellectual property valuation,sales expectations, growth of maintained software, discounting to present value, and the like, a method is presented for valuingsoftware based on the income that use of the softwareis expected to generate in the future.

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Sep 1 2006

Tapping the Power of Text Mining

Sifting through vast collections of unstructured or semistructured data beyond the reach of data mining tools, text mining tracks information sources, links isolated concepts in distant documents, maps relationships between activities, and helps answer questions.

Weiguo Fan, Linda Wallace, Stephanie Rich, and Zhongju Zhang

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Sep 1 2006

Polaris: Virus-Safe Computing For Windows XP

It limits the damage a virus can do by using the operating system's own security mechanisms to enforce the Principle of Least Authority on individual applications.

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Sep 1 2006

Mobile Data Service Fuels the Desire for Uniqueness

Mobile content creators and service providers can leverage users' desire to be unique to expand revenue.

Se-Joon Hong, Kar Yan Tam, and Jinwoo Kim

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Sep 1 2006

Asian Trio’s Adoption of Linux-Based Open Source Development

Three Asian economic heavyweights---China, Japan, and South Korea---join IT forces.

Bongsug (Kevin) Chae and Roger McHaney

Computing Applications

Opinion Inside risks Sep 1 2006

The Foresight Saga

In hindsight, the lack of foresight is an old problem that keeps recurring. The most prevalent situation seems to be "we had a backup system, but it failed when it was needed." For example, a power blackout shut down the Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center in Palmdale, CA, for three hours on the […]

Peter G. Neumann

Computing Applications

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