Scalable Management Of Computer Security (Anti-Worm, Anti-Virus, Ids, Fw)
Patrick Lincoln, SRI International, Menlo Park
04/01/2004
The antivirus/antiworm talk is based on a paper and presentation at WORM 2003, CCS, and a paper Dr. Lincoln and his coworkers at SRI are currently writing forUsenix Security, as well as general pontification on his part about these issues.
Who Makes The Best Partner? Neural Networks With Personalities
Gerald Eisman, San Francisco State University Computer Science Department
04/15/2004
Since J.J. Hopfield invented the "energy" function for recurrent neural networks in the early '80s, these systems have been used to find approximate solutions to combinatorial problems such as the Task Assignment problem or the Traveling Salesman problem. Improved results can be obtained by partnering two networks to work on a problem together. The individuals seek their own energy minima but periodically communicate their partial results to one another and then adjust their search accordingly. By giving the networks "personalities" (e.g. stubborn networks refuse to change course, forgetful networks frequently reset and begin again), we find that certain pairs perform better than others.
Improving Mpi For Linux Clusters
Greg Benson, University of San Francisco Computer Science Department
04/22/2004
The Message Passing Interface (MPI) has become a dominant programming paradigm for scientific and numerical parallel computing. In addition, Linux clusters base on switched networks allow for rapid and low-cost deployment parallel computing systems. This talk will summarize our recent efforts to improve MPI for Linux clusters. In particular, our own implementation of MPI, called USFMPI, performs better than both MPICH and LAM-MPI in many cases. Unlike MPICH and LAM-MPI, the USFMPI implementation is relatively compact making it easy to explore alternative implementation techniques. Experiments with the dissemination algorithm for allgather collective communication will be described.
Telecom Industry And Regulation
Don Proctor, Cisco, San Jose
04/29/2004
As the Telecom Act of 1996 redefined the role of the service provider in the late 1990s, VoIP began to redefine the fundamental business model of the US telecom market. In the old model, service providers charged for services based on time and distance; in the new model, service providers charge for services based on bandwidth and features. Today, 10% of business voice traffic is transmitted as VoIP, and cable operators, incumbent carriers, and competitive carriers are offering VoIP services to an increasing number of businesses and consumers. Initially deployed as a less expensive way of transmitting voice traffic, today VoIP has become one element in a portfolio of multi-modal broadband services including email, Web surfing, and instant messaging. As the concept of the traditional "telephone call" continues to evolve, the concept of universal access the regulatory framework that supports it must also evolve.
Inside Game Development
Jason Shankel, Maxis, Walnut Creek
05/06/2004
The computer game industry combines elements of both entertainment and technology. Do these elements mesh? Do they clash? How does a computer game develop from theinitial design stage to its final release?