Review and Comment Articles

· Biggest security holes revealed - Drawn up by non-profit security group Sans, the Top 20 names the software most in need of fixing to avoid attack by malicious hackers. Programs make it on to the list if they are widely used, the bugs widely known, and are being actively exploited.
· AOL to Offer Free E-Mail in Bid to Build Audience - America Online plans to begin offering free e-mail accounts today to about 20 million users of its popular AIM instant messaging service as part of a bid to build a bigger audience and then profit by selling more advertising.
· Bots Kick Grass in RoboCup Soccer - It looked like a scene from a sci-fi flick. Hugging the sideline, the robot dog waddled down the field and hit a ball with its nose. The ball bounced off the goal post. It was one of the University of Texas' last chances to get back in the game, which it eventually lost 2-0 to the reigning European champs from Dortmund University in Germany.
· Paralyzed Rats Walk; Humans Next? - Researchers studying embryonic stem cells have published long-awaited data in a peer-reviewed journal, revealing how they enabled rats with crushed spinal cords to walk again. Spinal cord injury patients are hopeful, but they're not all celebrating just yet.
· Go Forth and Multiply, Little Bot - A robot that makes functional copies of itself was announced this week in the journal Nature. Researchers at Cornell University's Computational Synthesis Lab say their robot is a working example of machine self-replication and evidence that self-reproduction is not unique to biology.
· The Apple of an Electronic Eye - Engineers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture have developed a way of taste-testing and checking the firmness of apples without biting into them -- by blasting them with lasers. Don't worry. The fruit is fine, and delicious. "By measuring light scattering in the fruit, mathematical models can determine its firmness and sweetness,"
· Yahoo introduces online music subscription service for $60 annually - Internet powerhouse Yahoo Inc. is introducing an online music subscription service that will enable consumers to download thousands of songs onto their portable MP3 players for $60 annually, undercutting the prices of the current industry leaders by more than 60 percent.
· Senate Backs Measure to Tighten ID Requirements - The Real ID Act, which the Senate approved yesterday, would make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to obtain identification that the federal government will recognize when they try to board an airplane, fill out tax forms or open a bank account. But the measure would affect U.S. citizens as well.
· Google steps up fight for the China market - Web services leader Google Inc. has won a license to operate in China and has bought a Web address as it battles Yahoo Inc. in the world's second-largest internet market.
· Internet Attack Called Broad and Long Lasting by Investigators - The incident seemed alarming enough: a breach of a Cisco Systems network in which an intruder seized programming instructions for many of the computers that control the flow of the Internet.
· NASA Chief Speeds Plan For Spacecraft - Less than a month after taking the job, NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin is pushing an ambitious but risky plan to shave four years off the timetable for building a next-generation spaceship to replace the space shuttle, and wants to launch it with a crew by the end of 2010.
· Spyware Goes Legit? - Several high-profile businesses got some free advertising on the Los Angeles Times Web site today, but it's not the kind of exposure they're looking for. Times writer Joseph Menn reported that Mercedes-Benz USA and Yahoo, which build the kinds of engines we like in our garages and for our computers, have relied on spyware to get their brands in front of Internet users. And they're not the only ones.
· Computers Now Grading Students' Writing - Software now scores everything from routine assignments in high school English classes to an essay on the GMAT, the standardized test for business school admission. (The essay section just added to the Scholastic Aptitude Test for the college-bound is graded by humans).