Communications of the ACM articles from November 2000

Communications of the ACM archives from November 2000

Editorial Pointers.(Editorial)
November 1, 2000... LIFE in the digital world is often frustratingly similar to the real world, especially when it comes to never having enough room for all our stuff. The more space we get, the more we need and want. It's an endless stream of supply-and-demand....

News Track.(Industry Trend or Event)
November 1, 2000... FED SITES FAIL ON PRIVACY Most federal Web sites do not meet the commercial standards for Internet privacy set by the Federal Trade Commission, including the FTC's own site, a study by the General Accounting Office has found. The GAO...

The Ethics of Personalization.(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2000... IN THE AUGUST 2000 SPECIAL section on Personalization, which consists mostly of uncritical cheerleading for various forms of Internet user profiling, Eugene Volokh promises us an article on "Personalization and Privacy," but instead gives us a...

Digital Politics 2000.(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)
November 1, 2000... The vote's in: the Web's potential in the political process is still lacking. In my column four years ago ("Digital Village," Oct. 1996, p. 19), I tried to objectively critique the political uses of cyberspace at that time. My guiding...

Computing at the Top of the World.
November 1, 2000... Nepal must mend the wide digital divide it has with most countries. But more importantly, can it close this divide among its own people? Starting near sea level in the tropical jungles along its southern border with India and moving...

An "Out-of-Box" Experience.(Industry Trend or Event)
November 1, 2000... What happens when a single usability goal extends across several companies? For the past several years, companies have been working to improve users' initial experiences with their products (called the "out-of-box" experience or OOBE)....

An Internet of Democracy.
November 1, 2000... Engaging the fundamental structure of the Internet with an eye toward making it a real democracy network. On a park bench outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia, I sit with my laptop. Ah, the wonders and hype of modern technology. It was...

ULTRA-HIGH-DENSITY DATA STORAGE.(Technology Information)
November 1, 2000... Innovative, inexpensive, efficient, and increasingly compact storage technologies promise practically unlimited capacity and instant access to data anytime, anywhere. DIGITAL DATA STORAGE IS THE LIFELINE OF THE INFORMATION REVOLUTION. THE...

NETWORK ATTACHED STORAGE ARCHITECTURE.(Technology Information)
November 1, 2000... In our increasingly Internet-dependent business and computing environment, network storage is the computer. THE GROWING MARKET FOR NETWORKED STORAGE IS A RESULT OF THE EXPLODING DEMAND FOR STORAGE CAPACITY IN OUR INCREASINGLY...

VOLUME HOLOGRAPHIC DATA STORAGE.(Technology Information)
November 1, 2000... Storing data inside the volume of the recording medium, rather than on its surface, as in conventional optical and magnetic approaches, these systems deliver much higher data-transfer rates and access based on partial information. ...

MAGNETO-OPTICAL DATA STORAGE.(Technology Information)
November 1, 2000... Combining optical techniques and magnetic storage media, HO technology will likely be used in magnetic drives to improve data density. The result: the continued fall of the cost of storing bits. COMPUTER USERS TEND TO TAKE FOR GRANTED THE...

PHASE CHANGE RECORDING.(Technology Information)
November 1, 2000... Burning data onto and off of the storage medium is Such a reliable read/write method, the CD is now the World's most popular means of distributing and Exchanging prerecorded digital content. HEATING A METALLIC ALLOY TO ITS MELTING POINT,...

MEMS-BASED INTEGRATED-CIRCUIT MASS-STORAGE SYSTEMS.(Technology Information)
November 1, 2000... Abandoning the rotating disk paradigm, simple miniature microelectromechanical systems position probe tips over the storage media, potentially creating a new generation of nonvolatile rewritable mass storage devices, as well as support for...

THE INTERNET AND THE FUTURE OF FINANCIAL MARKETS.(Industry Trend or Event)
November 1, 2000... Combining new technology with established financial market mechanisms. Rapid advances in computing and telecommunication technologies, particularly the Internet, have profoundly changed the dynamics of financial markets. More people are...

SEVEN COMMENTS ON CHARGING AND BILLING.(Industry Trend or Event)
November 1, 2000... As technology changes, so do delivery and payment arrangements. Profit is the usual motive for commercial service provision. For that reason charging and billing are at the core of the telecommunications business. Charging and billing for...

IS PAPERLESS REALLY MORE?
November 1, 2000... Rethinking the role of paper in the digital age. For the past 20 years, the evolution of the paperless office has been predicted as an inevitable result of technology advances--the fully electronic, high-tech office-of-the-future is just...

ON RISK, CONVENIENCE, AND INTERNET SHOPPING BEHAVIOR.(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)
November 1, 2000... Why some consumers are online shoppers while others are not. The past century experienced a proliferation of retail formats in the marketplace. However, as a new century begins, these retail formats are being threatened by the emergence of...

BENEFITS FOR VIRTUAL ORGANIZATIONS FROM DISTRIBUTED GROUPS.(Industry Trend or Event)
November 1, 2000... The rapid spread of capitalism around the world since the end of the Cold War in 1990 has been accompanied by a sharp increase in global business competition. Many computer technology advances have occurred in the same period, focusing on...

Management in the Small.(Industry Trend or Event)
November 1, 2000... Recognizing how issues common to larger companies present particular problems and opportunities in small ones. Managing the software engineering process is challenging under any circumstances. But are there significant differences between...

Voting Automation (Early and Often?).(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)
November 1, 2000... Computerization of manual processes often creates opportunities for social risks, despite decades of experience. This is clear to everyone who has waded through deeply nested telephone menus and then been disconnected. Electronic voting is an...