1+1 =3
Marc LeBrun , Fixpoint, Inc., Novato
10/20/2005
“Incredible systems abound, but of pleasant construction or of a sensational kind.” – Jorge Luis Borges, “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius.” We entertain the thesis that there are no bugs, only under-appreciated outputs. Probing familiar primitive operations at subatomic scales, we sketch an introductory natural history of some arithmetics from alternate universes. This in turn recommends more systematic spelunking in the wide dark space of programs, attending carefully to the whispering vox machine. (Note: While abstaining from inventing any allegedly New Kinds of Science, we cannot rule out possible wild discursions into the nature of knowledge and the future of culture.) As a concrete warm-up exercise, you are invited to contemplate what the simple expression x & -x computes for integral x.
Managing Oracle Applications: Introduction
Eric Levinson, Turin Networks, Petaluma
10/27/2005
This session will give a "big picture" look of what it takes to set up users, employees, responsibilities, accounting codes, reporting structures, and signing limits. We will cover how to run concurrent jobs (such as reports and bulk modification code), how to see if they are completed successfully, and how to change desired outcomes of programs already running.
What's Next In Wireless Security?
Paul Lambert, PicoMobile Networks, Mountain View
11/03/2005
The latest IEEE wireless LAN standards have patched the blatant flaws of the WEP algorithm. The cryptographic algorithms have been improved, but there are still interesting system security issues and potential attacks to wireless LANS. This presentation describes new wireless protocols and emerging new security threats. The technologies covered will include 802.11i, WiFi Alliance protocols, FMC architectures and new device enrollment protocols. New system level threats like 'Evil Beacons', 'Countermeasure DoS', and 'NFC touch and steal'will be described.
The Troubled Relationship Between Computers And Ethics
John Sullins, Philosophy Department, Sonoma State University
11/10/2005
Computer technology presents us with uniquely challenging ethical problems. This is due to the fact that the rate of change in the power and ubiquity of computers greatly exceeds the ability of those outside of computer science to analyze and moderate the inevitable social impacts of those changes. Since the computer is a central technology that affects every one’s lives, choices computing professionals make in the design of computer systems deeply influence the way we live and interact with one another. Computer technology is designed to help us live a better life but often, what seems to computer engineers like an improvement in our lifestyle, is not perceived as such by users of that technology. Arguably what is needed to mitigate this problem is for those interested in ethics and social justice to become more computer savvy but more importantly it is crucial that students in computer science also be trained in the ethical and social impact of computing technology since they will be the ones with the real power to change society.
Interactive Rendering Of Planetary-Scale Geometry And Texture
Kenneth I. Joy, University of California, Davis
11/17/2005
The real-time display of huge geometry and imagery databases involves view-dependent approximations, typically through the use of precomputed hierarchies that are selectively refined at runtime. This talk focuses on the problem of terrain visualization, in which planetary databases involving billions of elevation and color values are displayed in PC graphics hardware at high frame rates. We show how innovative data structures, new out-of-core storage organization based on space-filling curves, and optimization using graphics processors can be used to solve this problem.