Editorial Pointers

Twenty years ago Terry Winograd and Fernando Flores published a controversial book about system design that doubted artificial intelligence would ever show signs of true intelligence. The book, Understanding Computers and Cognition: A New Foundation for Design, sent the AI community reeling while giving wings to a new perspective that emphasized language rather than symbols for prompting computer action.

Today the Winograd/Flores work is recognized as a groundbreaking textbook on system design, and the Language-Action Perspective (LAP) movement it inspired continues to guide design practices using human communication and human nature at its core. Indeed, it was this anniversary that moved Hans Weigand, an associate professor in the faculty of economics at Tilburg University, The Netherlands, to spearhead a section that reflects two decades of LAP, focusing on its practical contributions and its ever-growing relevance. He asked every contributor here to reveal something unexpected they discovered from using LAP and the value that discovery offers computing professionals. Our deep gratitude for all who shared their findings with us.

Also this month, Dawn Gregg and Steven Walczak present the Amorphic system designed to extract Web-based information for a variety of domains. Stephen Andriole discusses two strategic business technology investment priorities for the early 21st century: collaborative business modeling and technology integration. And Whitworth et al. consider the need for more integration when systems mean many different things to different users. Brian Dobing and Jeffrey Parsons dispel some myths about how UML is used. And Hai Zhuge explains how the e-science knowledge grid allows for the flow of knowledge among scientists.

Security and privacy are a running theme with columnists this month. Rebecca Mercuri contends that damages caused by the increasing number of identity fraud cases may be significantly overstated. Meg McGinity Shannon notes that surveillance technologies continue to outpace the laws governing their use. And Peter Neumann and Lauren Weinstein examine the privacy and security "Risks" of RFID tags.

Finally, on page 34 meet the candidates running for ACM’s 2006 General Election and their plans and ideas for the Association. And in "President’s Letter," David Patterson reflects on his (almost) two-year ACM presidency, making good on his promises and then some.

Diane Crawford
Editor