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The creation of software agents has generated much recent interest. A variety of approaches and projects use the term "agents," ranging from adaptive user interfaces to systems that use planning algorithms to generate shell scripts. Generally, agents assist users in a range of daily, mundane activities like setting up meetings, sending out papers, locating information in multiple databases, tracking the whereabouts of people, and so on. The objective is to design agents that blend transparently into normal work environments, while relieving users of low-level administrative and clerical tasks. The practical aspects of software agents are taken seriously. Users should be able to assume the agents are reliable and predictable and the human user remains in ultimate control. One of the most difficult aspects of agent design is to define specific tasks that are both feasible using current technology, and are truly useful to the everyday user. Agents must provide solutions to real problems that are important to real users.

Several letters to the editor are presented in response to articles in previous issues including "The 'Art' of Being Donald Knuth," by Edward Feigenbaum in the July 2008 issue, "In Search of Dependable Design," by Leah Hoffman in the July 2008 issue, and "Information Accountability," by Daniel J. Weitzner in the June 2008 issue.