Communications of the ACM articles from September 2000

Communications of the ACM archives from September 2000

Editorial Pointers.(Technology Information)(Editorial)
September 1, 2000... SPEECH technology is a curious field that has been on the threshold of "emerging" for many years. In 1960, J.C.R. Licklider estimated we would achieve significant speech recognition by 1965. Indeed, I recall sitting in the plush offices of a...

News Track.(News Briefs)
September 1, 2000... "I think consumers fear identity theft and the building of super-profiles without their permission-things that most companies don't do and don't facilitate." --Chris Kelly, Excite@Home chief privacy officer PRIORITIZING PRIVACY An...

FORUM.(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2000... Is AOL-Time Warner a Closed System? I ENJOYED BROCK MEEKS'S column, "Bad Moon Rising" (Jun. 2000, p. 19). I was particularly amused by AOL'S Steve Case's quoted comments that "all competitors would be welcome on the AOL-Time Warner...

Ethics, Schmethics.(Technology Information)
September 1, 2000... Many scientists and their sponsoring companies act unethical, partly because of their willingness to reap the first financial benefits of any unethical innovation. There's a lot of bloviating in Washington, D.C. these days about the ethics...

Body of Technology.(Technology Information)
September 1, 2000... It's just a matter of time before a chip gets under your skin. You never know when you plunk yourself down on a public mode of transportation just what will unravel before your journey ends. As the Long Island Rail Road chugged along during...

Technological Access Control Interferes with Noninfringing Scholarship.(Technology Information)
September 1, 2000... Whether searches are human-assisted or computer-assisted, searching any work is fair use. When copyrighted works are distributed in digital form, publishers sometimes attach "technical access control"--such as encryption--that controls the...

CONVERSATIONAL INTERFACES.(Technology Information)
September 1, 2000... If you could speak to a computer that answers you in kind, or recogize you based solely on the properties of your voice,would you be happier with the interaction or work more productively? THE BUSINESS PRESS HAS FOR YEARS BEEN TOUTING...

NATURAL SPOKEN DIALOGUE SYSTEMS for TELEPHONY APPLICATIONS.(Technology Information)
September 1, 2000... A friendly "How may I help you?" replaces traditional menus for telephone services. FOR MORE THAN A GENERATION, SCIENCE FICTION WRITERS HAVE ASSUMED that in the future people would talk to their computers and their computers would talk...

SPEECH INTERFACES from an EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE.(Technology Information)
September 1, 2000... How does the human brain react when confronted by a talking computer? Answers from psychological research and its design implications help define the limits of what computers should say and how they might say it. WHAT MAKES HUMANS...

TAMING RECOGNITION ERRORS with a MULTIMODAL INTERFACE.(Technology Information)
September 1, 2000... More modes are better than one when it comes to comprehending human speech, especially when speakers are accented or interacting in noisy natural environments. A MULTIMODAL ARCHITECTURE CAN FUNCTION MORE ROBUSTLY THAN ANY individual...

VOICEXML for WEB-BASED DISTRIBUTED CONVERSATIONAL APPLICATIONS.(Technology Tutorial)
September 1, 2000... VoiceXML replaces the familiar HTML interpreter (Web browser) with a VoiceXML interpreter and the mouse and keyboard with the human voice. UNTIL RECENTLY, THE WEB DELIVERED INFORMATION AND SERVICES exclusively through visual interfaces on...

CONVERSATIONAL INTERFACES for E-COMMERCE APPLICATIONS.(Company Business and Marketing)
September 1, 2000... These e-commerce shopping agents are knowledgeable, patient, and affable during their conversational interaction with shoppers--while helping generate sales for site owners. CONSUMERS SPEND BILLIONS ONLINE, THOUGH MOST ARE UNHAPPY WITH...

THE LIMITS of SPEECH RECOGNITION.(Technology Information)
September 1, 2000... To improve speech recognition applications, designers must understand acoustic memory and prosody. HUMAN-HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS ARE RARELY A GOOD MODEL FOR DESIGNING effective user interfaces. Spoken language is effective for human-human...

VOICE BIOMETRICS.(Industry Trend or Event)
September 1, 2000... Who are you? ]Our voice alone can be used to verify your personal identity--unobtrusively and invisibly. "IT's ME!" This pronouncement is usually made over the telephone or at an entryway out of sight of the intended hearer. It...

Embodied User Interfaces for Really Direct Manipulation.(Technology Information)
September 1, 2000... Treating the body of the handheld device as part of its user interface. A major event in the history of human-computer interaction was the advent of the graphical user interface at Xerox PARC in the 1970s. The GUI was based on a bitmapped...

GLOBAL SOFTWARE PIRACY: YOU CAN'T GET BLOOD OUT OF A TURNIP.(Industry Trend or Event)
September 1, 2000... Any strategy created to combat global piracy rates must focus first on price discrimination. Information technology is a key driver in the globalization and growth of the world economy. The total worldwide package software market has been...

GSS FOR PRESENTATION SUPPORT.(Technology Information)
September 1, 2000... Supercharging the audience through simultaneous discussions during presentations. Presentations are an ubiquitous feature of organizational life. They are a key method for achieving a clear understanding of complex ideas among large groups...

AN INTEGRATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR IS QUALITY MANAGEMENT.(Industry Trend or Event)
September 1, 2000... Considering issues relating to multiple stakeholder groups, product, service, and process quality is important for managing IS quality. The importance of information technologies and the information systems function is no longer of debate...

The Problem with Scalability.(Technology Information)
September 1, 2000... In software, very few projects remain of constant magnitude. Software engineering evolved to deal with the needs of large systems developed by multiple large teams, and it has struggled to keep up with the increasing size and complexity of...

Missile Defense.(Government Activity)
September 1, 2000... For evaluating the proposed U.S. missile-defense shield, President Clinton has outlined four criteria relating to strategic value, technological and operational feasibility, cost, and impact on international stability. Strategic value is...

Commentary: Peter D. Weddle Discusses ACM's New Career Resource Center.(Industry Trend or Event)(Interview)
September 1, 2000... ACM's Membership Activities Board (MAB), in response to feedback from recent membership surveys and input from the Spring, 2000 MAB Retreat, will be launching later this year a new initiative called the Career Resource Centre (CRC). Frank...

ACM1: "Beyond Cyberspace" In March, 2001.(Industry Trend or Event)
September 1, 2000... ACM1: "Beyond Cyberspace" will be held March 10-14, 2001 in San Jose, California. In addition, the ACM1 Exposition will be held March 10-13 and the ACM1 Conference and Exposition Reception on March 12. Chuck House is the General Chair and Sid...

IRAL2000 Workshop To Be Held In Hong Kong.(Industry Trend or Event)
September 1, 2000... The Fifth International Workshop on Information Retrieval with Asian Languages (IRAL2000) will be held September 30 - October 1, 2000 in Hong Kong. The theme of the workshop will be "Global Interaction in the New Millennium." The...

Special Member Rates for Individuals In Developing Countries.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... In an effort to fulfill ACM's mission of disseminating computing and information technology ideas, techniques, and discoveries worldwide, ACM has developed a special set of membership dues for both professionals and students residing in...

21 ACM Chapters Chartered Outside US.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... ACM is pleased to announce that the following new chapters have been chartered: * Auckland/NewZealand ACM Chapter * Belgium ACM SIGCHI * Government College of Engineering/India * Instituto Tecnologico de Tuxtla, Mexico *...

ACM Online Chapter Formation Website.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... In a few short steps, the Chapter Formation Website will take you through the processes of creating Chapter Bylaws and, if desired, the automatic submission of the Chapter formation petition. You can back up or move forward from each step by...

Student Research Contest: Call for Participation.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... The ACM International 2001 Student Research Contest is open to students conducting recent research in any area of computing. Submissions must be received by October 13, 2000. The 2000 Student Research Competition was held last March at...

New Chapter Kit Program.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... ACM is delighted to announce that it has partnered with IBM to provide valuable educational student chapter kits to the ACM Student Chapters, free of cost. These kits will consist of several types of training and learning resources that cover...

Calling All Faculty!(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... ACM is calling all faculty to order free ACM student brochures. ACM student membership continues to experience tremendous growth, thanks to the support of dedicated faculty members. Student membership offers the same benefits as those of...

Winners Posted for Quest for Java 2000.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Attention all students! ACM is in the process of posting the Quest for Java 2000 winners on its website. To view the current status please visit the site at www.acm. org/jquest. Many thanks to all that participated in this event!

New & Noteworthy Products.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Welcome to "For Members Only: New & Noteworthy Products," a showcase for the latest (and most noteworthy) ACM publications and products. The listed books are offered at better-than-member rates for members only, and are publications that will...

ACM Opens Forums to the World.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... You might have noticed something new in the ACM Digital Library. In addition to links that help you "Find Related Articles" and add an item to your personal binder, there is a button you can click to "Discuss this Article." This leads you into...

ACM Crossroads Announcements.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... ACM has created non-student subscriptions for ACM Crossroads! Now faculty, computer science departments, libraries, and other individuals can subscribe to ACM Crossroads. ACM Member: $35 Individual Non-Member: $70 Institutional Non-Member:...

TOMS Special Issue Honors John R. Rice.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... The June, 2000 issue of the ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software (TOMS) celebrated the contributions of John R. Rice to the study of mathematical software on the occasion of his 65th birthday. Rice, who is W. Brooks Fortune Distinguished...

Communications of the ACM Editorial Calendar.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Communications of the ACM has issued its Editorial Calendar for the year 2001. Along with its usual variety of monthly feature articles depicting an array of industry services and concerns, the magazine has also scheduled the following special...

DL Update.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Another phase of ACM's ambitious Retrospective Capture Project has been completed. Users of the ACM Digital Library will now find ACM conference proceedings from 1985 through 1990 with full texts and abstracts, have been added the...

New SGB Chair Alain Chesnais Discusses SIG Issues.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... On July 1st Alain Chesnais took office as the newly elected Chair of ACM's SIG Governing Board (SGB). Chesnais has been active in ACM SIG concerns and Local Activities since the early 90's and contributed to the restructuring of the former SIG...

ACM's intelligence Magazine Makes Its Mark in The New York Times.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Readers of the July 25th New York Times Science section may have noticed an article on a checker-playing computer program that actually learned how to play -- and play well. The program, which was created by David B. Fogel, a computer scientist...

ACM TOSEM Special Issue on Software Engineering and Security.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Software system security concerns have transcended military, government, or infrastructure systems, and systems need to ensure security while using components and mobile code. Security has become a a central concern for a wide range of software...

Update on ACM's Member Value Plus Program.(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Have you taken advantage of your MVP benefits lately? The ACM Member Value Plus Program (MVP) provides ACM members with discounts on products and services to enhance career development, facilitate personal achievement, or merely present an...