Search

Looks at the reliable authentication needed by businesses on the Internet. The definition of a digital certificate; The roles of a public certificate authority, such as VeriSign; Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) functions as similar to encryption functions; How much assurance certificates provide; Secure Electronic Transactions (SET) protocol as possibly a standard part of electronic commerce; Vendor contact information for certificate systems. INSETS: How public-key crypto works.;Secure electronic transactions protocol.;Are smartcards a certificate solution?..

Opinion. Offers ten reasons why microprocessors define the twentieth century more than any other achievement. Microprocessors' effect on privacy, the electronic workplace, computed tomography (CT) scanners, collaborative news gathering, e-mail, understanding of DNA, automobiles, credit, animation and worldwide telephone service.

Discusses the basics of the network computer (NC). What comprises an NC; The standard NC; The fundamental requirement of being able to support a JAVA environment; Hardware that is NC-specific; The biggest problems of NC; The architecture of NCs; What it takes to make a network computer. INSET: What it takes to make a network computer.

Discusses the move by Sun Microsystems to design a CPU that is dedicated to running future Java-based applications. The development of a core specification called picoJava; PicoJava's architecture; The difference between picoJava chips and other processors; The method designed to cache data; The dispatching of simultaneous instructions; The ability to pipeline the code; The potential of Java chips. INSETS: Vital statistics;Where to find.

Reports on how the Federal Bureau of Investigation uses database linkages between DNA labs and law-enforcement agencies throughout the United States for more efficient crime-fighting. Easier matching of DNA and identification of criminals; Development of an E-mail based system; Problems encountered in making the systems; Solutions developed. INSET: DNA by the numbers..

Features various types of random access memory (RAM) technology. Includes Cached RAMs; Dynamic RAMs (DRAM); Extended data out RAMs; Fast page mode (FPM); Ferroelectric RAMs (FRAM); Vendors' contact information. INSETS: Smart memory.;Is cache losing its cachet?, by David F. Bacon, Peter Wayner.;One machine, many RAMS, by Rick Cook.;Why RAM prices stay high.

Examines how intelligent computer software and agent-oriented operating environments evolve to provide secure and interoperable platforms for roaming software. Development from object-oriented programming, cryptographic algorithms and lightweight, multithreaded kernels; Commercialization of the Telescript program Magic Link personal digital assistant from Sony Electronics.

Reports on Microsoft Corp.'s development of the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol and Windows-Internet Naming Service open standards for the Internet computer network. Automation on the Internet Protocol (IP); Message format; Failure mode; Structure; Security measures; Flexibility. INSET: Security..

Focuses on Sun Microsystems Inc's UltraSparc microprocessor. Architecture; Memory; Performance; Pipelines; Context switching; Multimedia instructions; Speculative loads.

Discusses ways electronic data interchange (EDI)can replace paper messages with electronic messages. Standardization issues; Need for digital clearinghouses to route and translate electronic documents; Feature on digital cash and timestamps. INSETS: Digital cash.;Whose authentication systems?..

Features developments in asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network technology. Flexibility of tariff arbitrage; Variation of prices; Switching of traffic between computer networks; Applications in telecommunications.

Focuses on attempts by scientists to reduce power consumption in microprocessors by recycling the power and reversing the computation. Power problems encountered by microcomputer manufacturers in the past; Factors that influence the amount of power consumed by chips; Theory behind reversible computation; Problems associated with the use of reversible computation. INSET: Low-power chip technology..

Focuses on General Magic's Telescript, a computer program language. Cryptographically secure signature feature; Comparison with software communication systems; Process description; Security measures; Network version of money called Teleclicks; Importance to wireless communications; Limitations. INSET: A vocabulary for Telescript..

Discusses the possibilities of digital read channel technology and partial response maximum likelihood (PRML) signalling in hard drive development. Construction of hard drives; Conversion of data to disk readable form; Role of PRML algorithms in digital read channels; Proprietary approaches to PRML; Drive electronics; Future possibilities. INSET: PRML at work..

Features the Video-RISC Compression Architecture of C-Cube Microsystems. VideoRISC Compression Processor; Applications; Standard for compression; RISC microprocessor; Motion estimator; Incoming and outcoming buffers; Memory hierarchy.

Discusses the role of object-oriented technologies in the evolution of operating systems. Advantages; Evolution of Microsoft's OLE technology; Apple's OpenDoc; Microsoft's Component Object Model and IBM's System Object Model as competing models; Taligent's frameworks for its operating system; Performance of Next's NextStep; Object Management Group's Common Object Request Broker Architecture; Security problems. INSET: To inherit or not to inherit?.

Discusses the functions of graphical user interface (GUI) accelerators. Provides additional intelligence to bundle; Allows communication between the central processing unit (CPU) and the video hardware; Speeding graphics performance by adding intelligence into the video hardware.

Discusses the controversy that has arisen over computerized encryption systems. Why US law enforcement agencies want to ban or limit their use; Examples of how encryption can be used by criminals; Encryption clause included in the Omnibus Crime Act of 1991, which was later removed; Arguments against regulation of encryption; What weak encryption consists of; Solution from Silvio Micali, a professor of computer science at MIT; More. INSETS: Encryption systems.;How the trapdoor works..

Looks at the advantages and disadvantages of the two types of visualization software architecture, the object-oriented environment and the WYSIWYG environment. Set of four tools common to visualization software; Tools for loading, transforming, rendering and controlling data; How each tool works; Example of the IBM Data Explorer tool-oriented software; Example of NIH Image software for the Mac, a WYSIWYG environment; More.

Discusses how wireless data communications work. Standard approach to radio transmission; Cellular phones and cellular maps; The pure data networks; RAM Mobile Data's Mobitex system; Tetherless Access, Ltd. and its vision of linking all computers in a metropolis into a wireless network; Technical problems and limitations of the proposed network. INSET: Untitled..

Discusses the expansion of wireless data communications and the competition between radio frequency (RF) service providers and cellular companies. How wireless data communications work; Advantages and disadvantages; Characteristics of RF systems; The Mobidem modem; Features of cellular phone systems; Advantages and disadvantages. INSETS: PCs and you.;Broadcasting without a license.;Wireless data communications..

Explains how system software vendors are using object techniques to provide seamless systems for computer users, rather than just hard disks full of programs. Benefits of the use of object techniques; History of object-oriented technology; Example of fundamental changes in Apple's new System 7.0, released in 1991, including Apple events; Apple's new OCE (Open Collaborative Environment); Microsoft's system of links and connections; Architectural considerations; More.

Presents an inside look at digital signal processors. Comparisons of the capabilities of DSPs to standard chips; How the digital vector, or the vector dot product, enhances the DSP; Highlights of DSP architecture; Instruction flux; DSP addressing modes; Double-decker buses; Ports for communicating with other chips; Floating-point vs. fixed-point values; Special interrupt mode; How DSPs will be used in future computing applications.

Evaluates three handheld personal computers (HPC) that run the Microsoft Windows operating system (OS). The LG HPC from LG Electronics; The NEC MobilePro; The Compaq PC Companion; Technology and implementation ratings; Advantages and disadvantages of each; Features; Price information; Contact points. INSET: More better HPCs (Developing for Windows CE)..

Focuses on computer software for videoconferencing. Connectix VideoPhone 1.1; Enhanced CU-SeeMe for Windows; Apple QuickTime Conferencing; Features and capabilities. INSETS: Reflectors or multicasting?.;Starter camera..

Reviews three computer software programs for making telephone calls over the Internet. DigiPhone, by Third Planet Publishing, Inc., Internet Phone, by VocalTec, Inc. and PGPfone, which can be downloaded from the World Web site; Features; Reasons for unpredictable sound quality; Cost. INSET: Pronounced packet problems.

Features the interpreted scripting computer program language known as the Tool Command Language (TCL). TCL command strings; Aid offered by TCL to novice programmers; TCL Version 7.5; Two interpreters of Safe-TCL; Safety features; Simplicity.

Looks at the work on artificial intelligence or machine learning in the Machine Learning and Inference Center at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Definition of logical structure of the problem; Inlen system as an example of their work; Imposed limitations on its answering capabilities; Algorithms. INSETS: Mix `n' match.;Patterns in the code..

The article reviews software developer kits from Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, including the Backbase 3.2, the Bindows 2.5, and the JackBe NQ Suite 4.6.1.

This article looks at six high-profile toolkits which offer a wide variety of application development options for information technology staff that have the knowledge and time to take advantage of them. The open source toolkits examined are varied but can be covered by the term AJAX, an acronym for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. AJAX start to appear around a year ago. It suggests that IT executives who are interested in knowing whether these open toolkits compete with the best commercial tools they should check the specific details. INSET: Proprietary AJAX Toolkits: Leveling the Playing Field.

This article presents information on an Internet browser model called AJAX, introduced in the U.S. market in 2005. In 2004, Thomas Lackner didn't ask much of JavaScript. When he sketched out the architecture to a Web application, he knew he could count on the browser language for set-a-cookie hacks and for loading images, but he turned to the server side for the heavy lifting. But when Google began launching highly interactive Web sites such as Gmail and Google Suggest, the scales dropped from Lackner's eyes and he saw the opportunity. Lackner says that he started trying to add AJAX components to every Web applications he worked on. AJAX is the newly minted acronym encompassing a fresh vision of empowered browsers: Asynchronous JavaScript and Extensible Markup Language (AJAX). Before AJAX, Web pages displayed links, forms, and buttons. When a user clicked on a link or a button, the browser sent a message to a distant server asking what to display next. JavaScript would typically be used for nothing more than to check form inputs. Web pages were as static as pages in a book.

The article discusses data quality. Several software vendors are offering tools and packages that treat data with more respect, creating sophisticated, logical frameworks for information. Such systems are practical tools designed to help remove the most glaring and expensive problems, scrubbing the data by applying rules removing all possibilities for false duplication. Address cleansing is a process where a company takes a mailing list and ensures that all the addresses are current and valid. Helping the U.S. Postal Service develop the technology for parsing and correcting is Pitney Bowes Group 1 Software which the company is selling for more general applications. Software than ensures data quality can also reduce workloads and make companies comply with regulations.

Reviews the open source softwares NitroX from M7 and the MyEclipse Enterprise Workbench from Genuitec.

The article provides information on several tools for building more fully powered Web clients, offered by ICEsoft Technologies and Nexaweb Technologies Inc. ICEbrowser SDK 6.0 would display standard HTML but would disable caching, saving or printing the file, it also use system specification language encryption to secure the Web traffic and use standard authentication to control access to the server. The Abstract Window Toolkit comes with a fairly impressive collection of hooks that tap into most stages of the HTTP process. ICEsoft's browser works best when a user wants the basic features of the HTTP world but cannot live with the structural limitations of the current browsers. Nexaweb's toolkit offers a simple framework for building client applications and for linking them to a distant server with packets of data known as Managed Client Objects (MCO). Nexaweb shuttles the MCO back and forth between the client and the server, compressing and encrypting them as necessary. Nexaweb Studio built on top of the Eclipse open source IDE, comes with several plug-ins for building these clients by dragging and dropping the components. The plug-ins produce an XML-encoded file which is similar to XML user Interface Language that carries the details about the interface and the Nexaweb client handles the details of decoding and displaying it.

Discusses the issue of using open-source operating system into corporate offices. Versions of open-source operating systems; Experiences of programmers in using open-source systems; Why Apple Computer Inc. is rewriting its Mac OS operating system.

This article reports on the Financial Cryptography Conference held at the Commonwealth of Dominica in February and March 2005. The program is filled with papers about privacy-preserving protocols and probabilistic escrow but contains little from the nonacademic world. The people who work at actual financial institutions just are not as interested in financial cryptography as they were in 1997. One reason for the failure of financial cryptography is simple. The problem for financial cryptography's would be pioneers is that the old credit card system seems to be good enough for the new online world. If Amazon, Wal-Mart, and other e-commerce sites can keep customers happy with plastic cards, there is little demand for any of the more exciting ideas. Joseph Nocera, author of A Piece of the Action, a history of the credit card industry, says digital currency is facing a chicken-and-egg question but points out that credit cards encountered the same problem, and that their acceptance took decades. In fact, 2005 was the first year credit cards and other electronic systems carried more payments than bank checks. As they come to appreciate just how long the road ahead will likely be, some financial cryptographers are searching for niches where they can flourish in the short term.

Focuses on the use of open source software on partnerships of two Internet-related companies. Advantages and disadvantages of the software on the involved companies; Information on the partnership between Red Hat and Cygnus Solutions, two open source companies; Services offered by Digital Creations. INSET: OPEN OPTIONS.

Discusses the development of the digital watermark, a technology used for determining the legitimacy of music copies on the Internet. Aim for the development; How the technology works; Background of the Secure Digital Music Initiative; Potential of digital watermarks.

Explains the stages of music sharing over the Internet. Conversion of the audio information or music into a computer-readable file; Delivery of the file over the Internet; Issues concerning music sharing over the Internet in the United States.

Focuses on the decision of Ralph Levien, a software developer for offering a free license on a technique for protecting memory in computer system from crashes. Reaction of the users of open-source software on the decision; Concern of open source developers; Goal of Open Patents.

Reviews the BeOs Preview Release from Be, Inc., an operating system for Power Macs. History of its development; Workspace, the biggest addition; Less obvious differences; Contrasts with Unix; Forecasts. INSET: Tech focus: BeOS file system..

Reviews the Java-based network operating system, Epic 1.1, from Novera Software, Inc. Price; Vendor contact point. INSET: Tech focus: Java security..

Discusses Java's programming language which makes reusable and transportable code an Internet reality. Java applets being powerful units of code that can travel across the network and link themselves to class libraries on the host computer; Static linking; Class constant pool; Method signature table; Method block; Method inlining. INSET: Method Inlining.

Discusses how companies can create and use their own digital coupons and vouchers. Includes setting up a server; Publishing a public key; Redeeming the coupon.