Technology, Society, and the Environment

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NETWORKS & COMMS -- Technology, Society, and the Environment Subsections

1a) Green Engineering

1b) Privacy, Security, & Human Rights

1c) Engineering As If Humans Mattered

1d) Corporate Citizens - Good, Bad, & Ugly

Resources

- NETWORKS & COMMS (Top Page) -

1a) Green Engineering

InGaAsN Looks Promising As Very Efficient Photovoltaic Power Source
Scientists at the Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., are researching ways to use indium gallium arsenide nitride (InGaAsN), a semiconductor alloy, as a photovoltaic power source for communications satellites and fiber-optic lasers. The researchers have discovered that the addition of 1% or 2% nitrogen to GaAs dramatically alters the alloy's optical and electrical properties and causes, in their own words, 'crazy physics.' (Electronic Design)

1b) Privacy, Security, & Human Rights

- New - Hacking's History From phone phreaks to Web attacks, hacking has been a part of computing for 40 years. PCWorld.com staff
Hacking has been around pretty much since the development of the first electronic computers. Here are some of the key events in the last four decades of hacking. 1960s The Dawn of Hacking The first computer hackers emerge at MIT. They borrow their name from a term to describe members of a model train group at the school who 'hack' the electric trains, tracks, and switches to make them perform faster and differently. (PC World)
- New - Hacker Speak Don't know a buffer overflow from a script kiddie? Here's your guide to understanding all the talk about computer security. Andrew Brandt
Hackers and members of the Internet security industry, like workers in other specialty trades, have their own form of shop talk. The following is an abbreviated list of catch phrases and euphemisms used by hackers and security professionals. (PC World)
Warning: New Threat to Web Sites Sinister new tool could bypass defenses to denial-of-service attacks. by Jack McCarthy, IDG News Service
A new distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) tool found recently in computers at several universities may be able to bypass the defenses implemented by Web sites after last February's fracas. (PC World)
Children's Privacy Law Takes Effect Friday is the deadline for compliance; some sites are still scrambling to get ready. by DeWayne Lehman, Computerworld
Web sites catering to kids are scrambling to meet Friday's deadline to comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. Many won't make it, possibly facing stiff fines, according to the Federal Trade Commission. (PC World)
Mafiaboy Was Merely a Copycat - Police say Canadian teenager was imitating the work of experts who attacked Yahoo, EBay, and Amazon.com. by Ann Harrison, Computerworld online
The Canadian teenager known as Mafiaboy, who was arrested this week in connection with an attack against the CNN Web site in February, is an amateur who simply copied tactics used by far more sophisticated attackers who may never be caught, security analysts say. (PC World)

1c) Engineering As If Humans Mattered

- New - An Innovation in Tele-medicine Through 'Augmented Reality' Visualization by Brian McGinty
The University of Central Florida recently hosted a live demonstration of a laboratory technology, a superimposed skeleton onto a live patient that correctly tracked the movements of the patient. Knee joint superimposed over the patient's leg The black sock is studded with infra-red diodes, which generate light pulses captured by a vertical column of three tracking cameras several feet away. (ChipCenter: EE Expert)
- New - Intel and Scientific Community Announce Cancer Research Program
Program Uses the Power of Personal Computers and Peer-to-Peer Computing to Create World's Largest 'Virtual Supercomputer' (ChipCenter: WebScan)
Biological Computing - The boundry between organic life and computers will continue to blur. By Simson L. Garfinkel - Tech Review
A vial of bacteria capable of computation? Injectable cells that survey the bloodstream and produce drugs on demand? These ideas might not be as far-fetched as they sound. (MARATHON Digital Publishing {scan via})
Clinton Issues Tech Challenge President targets 'digital divide' in Comdex speech, asks all companies to help. by Margret Johnston, IDG News
Specifically, Clinton asked technology companies to support his national call to action issued at a White House briefing on April 4. That event challenged corporations and organizations to take concrete steps to connect every United States classroom to the Internet and to make home access to the Net universal. 'If you are not part of this, I hope you will become part of this,' Clinton said. 'I want you all to ask if there's anything you are not doing that you could do.' (PC World)
Tuition-free computer school is set for launch - by DAN GILLMOR Mercury News Technology Columnist
Philip Greenspun and his colleagues at the ArsDigita Foundation (www.arsdigita.org) are launching a tuition-free, university-level program in computer science. You read that right -- there's no tuition cost for students. ``We want to help people build better (technology-based) services for society,'' says Greenspun. (MARATHON Digital Publishing {scan via})
Lucent provides Bay Area Rapid Transit with Speech Solutions for Handicapped
Lucent Technologies will provide speech software to the Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART), providing commuters with an easier way to both hear and see travel announcements.The system uses technology developed by Bell Labs, called Text-to-Speech (TTS) software, that converts text messages into natural-sounding voices. With this technology, BART will be able to automate its train information systems across its network of 39 stations. (ChipCenter: WebScan)

1d) Corporate Citizens - Good, Bad, & Ugly

Silicon hell The computer industry prides itself on a 'clean' image � but it's actually doing horrible damage to its workers and the environment. By Christopher D. Cook and A. Clay Thompson
ON APRIL 16, in Building Three of MMC Technology's CD-ROM plant in San Jose, the lid exploded off a 55-gallon drum, sending up a cloud of toxic chemicals and a splash of nitric acid. The news media normally discuss the new technologies as digitally clean, trafficking in information rather than goods, thriving on creativity rather than muscle. What we've found is a very different story. Behind the well-paid geeks in cubicles and the sharp-dressed entrepreneurs is an industry that consumes as many resources, uses as many lethal chemicals, and generates as much toxic waste as some of the worst culprits of the pre-Internet age. (MARATHON Digital Publishing {scan via})
Compaq and ricardo Partner for Online Charity Auctions
The fund raising activity will comprise a series of auctions run throughout the year. Items to be auctioned include a crash helmet belonging to Jensen Button (BMW WilliamsF1 Team racing driver), two state-of-the-art Presario PCs and two Compaq Aero handheld devices, all of which have been autographed by both Jensen Button and Sting.The goal is to raise considerable funds for a variety of charities, the first of which to benefit is 'NepalHilfe Starnberg,' a German based charity supporting underprivileged children in Nepal. (ChipCenter: WebScan)
Nortel Networks Foundation to Support Education for Internet Economy - Investments to Focus on Science, Math, Technology Programs for Future Leaders
Signaling its commitment to the next generation of science and technology leaders, Nortel Networks announced annual global funding in 2000 of US$16.5 million for science, math and technology education programs for students. (ChipCenter: WebScan)

Resources

The Virtual Job: The Tales, Trials, and Technology Of A Home-Based Editor

ChipCenter Reference Library
This is your access point for lots of good information covering applications, design tools, consultants, intellectual property, trade shows and standards.
Standards Watch
Here is your access point to the standards world.

Lee H. Goldberg
Before trading his 'scope probe in for a pen, Lee spent nearly 20 years in the electronics industry. During that time, he worked in several fields, including microcircuit design, ultrasonic instruments, robotics, and interplanetary spacecraft. He spent 5 years in the print world with Electronic Design before making the jump to Cyberspace here at ChipCenter. When he's not at a trade show or flying his ultralight, Lee lives in Princeton, New Jersey with his wife Catherine and daughter, Anwyn. Lee holds a Bachelor's in electical engineering from Thomas Edison College. His non-fiction work has appeared in IEEE Computer, New Telecommunications Quarterly, Wireless Systems Design, The Princeton Packet, Aviation Art Gallery, and Electronic Design. His most recent book, 'Green Electronics/Green Bottom Line - Environmentally Responsible Engineering' is published by Newnes Press.
Please send your comments to lgoldberg@chipcenter.com.


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