A project aims to unhitch computing from its PC harness

Article Abstract:

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Laboratory of Computer Science is about to begin Oxygen, a five-year, $40 million research project to reinvent all areas of information technology and computing. The project is being financed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa, the research arm of the Pentagon. Project Oxygen was formulated by the lab's director, Michael Dertouzous, and is being viewed as a testing ground for some of the ideas that the lab has already been developing and which others may develop into marketable products. One of these projects is the Handy 21, a portable computing device that combines the functions of a cellular telephone, two-way radio, beeper, television, hand-held computer and intelligent remote-control pointing device. A major element of the project is the development of a new, more powerful type of speech recognition system. The goal of this part of the project is to create a more conversational voice-input system based on more narrowly-defined subject areas. Another major element in the project is the Enviro 21, a more powerful version of the Handy 21 system that involves embedded sensor networks that could control mechanical systems in the home.

Electronic computers, Science & research, Computer peripheral equipment, not elsewhere classified, Other Computer Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing, Card Tabulators, Research, Innovations, Hand-held computers, Handheld computers, Handheld data devices, Computers, Digital computers, Technology development, Information technology, Hand-held data device, Voice communications software, Voice I/O equipment, Voice recognition software, Speech recognition software, Voice I/O device, Dertouzous, Michael, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Laboratory for Computer Science

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Court hears appeal in encryption case

Article Abstract:

A Federal appeals court heard arguments in a suit examining whether the Government may place export controls on encryption software. The ruling from the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco may alter the electronic commerce and banking industries. The Government is appealing Federal District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel's Dec 1996 ruling that struck down Government control attempts as unconstitutional. Export rules permit users to send computer source code in printed form, but not as electronic text through the Internet. Justice Department attorney Scott McIntosh told the three-judge panel of the Government's intention to prevent intelligence agencies from gaining unauthorized access to foreign governments and citizens. Cindy Cohn, an attorney representing former University of California at Berkeley graduate student Daniel J. Bernstein and advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation, cited Judge Patel's ruling that the Government action represented an illegal prior restraint on speech.

Software, Safety and security measures, Cases, Internet, Telecommunications regulations, Encryption, Data encryption, Internet security, Network security software, Government communications regulation, United States. District Court. California

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Illness becomes apt metaphor for computers

Article Abstract:

With the latest of many computer viruses sweeping the world, computer scientists philosophize the similarities between the Internet and biological ecosystems, pointing up the enormous vulnerability of the Web. The "worm," conceived in Israel, quickly spread worldwide, crashing electronic mail systems and destroying files worldwide. The autonomy of a single computer environment, Microsoft software and Intel chips, also leaves that environment vulnerable to hostile software. To many, computer viruses should be handled as the Centers for Disease Control handles public health issues. Biological metaphors abound.

Product standards, safety, & recalls, General services, Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences, Information Systems, Computer Science, Analysis, Product defects and recalls, Investigations, Crimes against, Electronic mail systems, E-mail, Email, Email software, Computer viruses, Computer crimes, Internet/Web technology, Computers and civilization, Product bug fix/bug patch/maintenance upgrade, Computers and society

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