bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Application of a DSS architecture to a special-purpose interactive language
Authors: Crabb Earl
Published: June 2007

Linking part of a functioning graphics oriented DSS with a host machine running on an existing special purpose interactive language can save implementation costs and implementation time for financial and marketing modelers. We assume that the DSS includes a color raster display device with an extended terminal support system, a joystick, a keyboard, and relational database software. The host machine is assumed to be an IBM 370 running a VM/CMS operating system and an applications program which is a commercially available financial and marketing modeling language known as EXPRESS. Many of the components typically contained in a DSS are already available in EXPRESS, including all relevant applications routines, database support routines, and databases containing relevant financial data. The paper outlines a potential dialogue section of a DSS, and its communications with the host. We explore a logical method of connecting the old concept of a command oriented interactive language with the new DSS concepts, in the specific limited area of financial and marketing modeling.
Local area networks in the administrative area of a university
Authors: Barner Lynda B.
Published: June 2007

This paper will describe an applications problem in a university administrative office and the process of arriving at a satisfactory solution to the problem using a combination of mainframe, data communications, personal computer (PC) and local area networking (LAN) technologies.
Office automation research at New York University
Authors: Sasso William C. , Kim Sung K.
Published: June 2007

The Center for Research on Information Systems (CRIS) at New York University's Graduate School of Business Administration sponsors an extensive program of research on a broad number of information systems topics. In this report, we will highlight recently published work prepared under the auspices of CRIS which we believe will be of interest to the readers of SIGOA Bulletin, presenting citations and condensed versions of their abstracts. We will also describe a series of research projects currently in progress, under the heading "OA Research Currently Underway."
Audio enriched links
Authors: Parente Peter
Published: June 2007

Audio Enriched Links provide previews of linked web pages to users with visual impairments. Before a user follows a hyperlink, the Audio Enriched Links software presents a spoken summary of the next page including its title, its relation to the current page, statistics about its content, and some highlights from its content. We believe that such a summary may be a useful surrogate for a full web page, and help users with visual impairments decide whether or not to spend time visiting a linked page. In this paper, we present some motivation for the Audio Enriched Links project. We describe the design and implementation of the current software prototype, and discuss the results of an initial evaluation involving four participants. We conclude with some implications of this work and directions for future research.
The audio abacus
Authors: Walker Bruce N. , Lindsay Jeffrey , Godfrey Justin
Published: June 2007

Point estimation is a relatively unexplored facet of sonification. We present a new computer application, the Audio Abacus, designed to transform numbers into tones following the analogy of an abacus. As this is an entirely novel approach to sonifying exact data values, we have begun a systematic line of investigation into the application settings that work most effectively. Results are presented for an initial study. Users were able to perform relatively well with very little practice or training, boding well for this type of display. Further investigations are planned. This could prove to be very useful for visually impaired individuals given the common nature of numerical data in everyday settings.
Memory enhancement through audio
Authors: Sánchez Jaime , Flores Héctor
Published: June 2007

A number of studies have proposed interactive applications for blind people. One line of research is the use of interactive interfaces based on sound to enhance cognition in blind children. Even though these studies have emphasized learning and cognition, there is still a shortage of applications to assist the development and use of memory in these children. This study presents the design, development, and usability of AudioMemory, a virtual environment based on audio to develop and use short-term memory. AudioMemory was developed by and for blind children. They participated in the design and usability tested the software during and after development. We also introduce AudioMath, an instance of AudioMemory to assist mathematics learning in children with visual disabilities. Our results evidenced that sound can be a powerful interface to develop and enhance memory and mathematics learning in blind children.
Evaluation of a non-visual molecule browser
Authors: Brown Andy , Pettifer Steve , Stevens Robert
Published: June 2007

This paper describes the evaluation of software, software designed to allow visually impaired users to explore the structures of chemical molecules using a speech based presentation. Molecular structures are typically presented as two dimensional schematics, and are an important example of a widely used form of diagram -- the graph. software is designed for exploring this specific class of graph. Among its features is the ability to recognise and make explicit features of the graph that would otherwise need to be inferred. The evaluation compared software with a simpler version without this facility, and found that participants were able to explore molecular structures more easily. We discuss the software, evaluation and results, particularly comparing them with theoretical considerations about how sighted readers use diagrams. Finally, we extract the important issues for non-visual graph presentation: making implicit features explicit; enabling hierarchical and connection-based browsing; allowing annotation; and helping users keep their orientation.
Middleware to expand context and preview in hypertext
Authors: Harper Simon , Goble Carole , Stevens Robert , Yesilada Yeliz
Published: June 2007

Movement, or mobility, is key to the accessibility, design, and usability of many hypermedia resources (websites); and key to good mobility is context and preview by probing. This is especially the case for visually impaired users when a hypertext anchor is inaccurately described or is described out of context. This means confusion and disorientation. Mobility is similarly reduced when the link target of the anchor has no relationship to the expected information present on the hypertext node (web-page). We suggest that confident movement with purpose, ease, and accuracy can only be achieved when complete contextual information and an accurate description of the proposed destination (preview) are available. Our past work (1) deriving mobility heuristics from mobility models, (2) transforming web-pages based on these heuristics, and(3) building tools to analyse and access these transformed pages; has shown us that a tool to expand context and preview would be useful. In this paper we describe the development of such a middleware tool to automatically and dynamically annotate web-pages with additional context information present within the page, and preview information present within hypertext link destinations found on the page.
Nonvisual tool for navigating hierarchical structures
Authors: Smith Ann C. , Cook Justin S. , Francioni Joan M. , Hossain Asif , Anwar Mohd , Rahman M. Fayezur
Published: June 2007

The hierarchical structure of a program can be quite complex. As such, many Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) provide graphical representations of program structure at different levels of abstraction. Such representations are not very accessible to non-sighted programmers, as screen readers are not able to portray the underlying hierarchical structure of the information. In this paper, we define a set of requirements for an accessible tree navigation strategy. An implementation of this strategy was developed as a plug-in to the Eclipse IDE and was tested by twelve student programmers. The evaluation of the tool shows the strategy to be an efficient and effective way for a non-sighted programmer to navigate hierarchical structures.
Designing a cognitive aid for the home
Authors: Paradise Jessica , Mynatt Elizabeth D. , Williams Cliff , Goldthwaite John
Published: June 2007

Cognitive impairments play a large role in the lives of surviviors of mild traumatic brain injuries who are unable to return to their prior level of independence in their homes. Computational support has the potential to enable these individuals to regain control over some aspects of their lives. Our research aims to carefully seek out issues that might be appropriate for computational support and to build enabling technologies that increase individuals' functional independence in the home environment. Using a case-study approach, we explored the needs and informed the design of a pacing aid for an individual with a cognitive impairment whose quality of life was negatively affected by her inability to pace herself during her morning routine. The contributions of this research include insights we gained with our methodology, two sets of design dimensions: user-centered contraints developed from capabilities and preferences of our users and system-centered capabilities that could be explored in potential designs, a design concept which illustrates the application of these design dimensions into a potential pacing aid, and evaluations of paper prototypes guided by the design dimensions.
Design and development of an indoor navigation and object identification system for the blind
Authors: Hub Andreas , Diepstraten Joachim , Ertl Thomas
Published: June 2007

In this paper we present a new system that assists blind users in orienting themselves in indoor environments. We developed a sensor module that can be handled like a flashlight by a blind user and can be used for searching tasks within the three-dimensional environment. By pressing keys, inquiries concerning object characteristics, position, orientation and navigation can be sent to a connected portable computer, or to a federation of data servers providing models of the environment. Finally these inquiries are acoustically answered over a text-to-speech engine.
Technology
Authors: Hopper Grace Murray
Published: June 2007

The 2nd of July was an anniversary for me, because I reported to the Mark I computer on the 2nd of July, 1944: 30 years in the computer industry. I can now spread out those 30 years in front of me and I can see that the changes are coming closer and faster. The time between major changes is getting shorter and shorter. It is more important than ever that today's decisions be made in the light of what is coming in the future. Because the changes are not going to be ten years from now, they may not even be five years from now, they may appear two years from now, we have less time to make valid decisions today for what we will be doing in the future.
A survey of mini-data base management systems in 1977
Authors: Slonim Jacob , Farrell Michael W. , Fisher Paul S.
Published: June 2007

A survey of minicomputer data base management systems was conducted to determine the current state of the industry. The results of the survey are highlighted in this paper to provide a broad view of the features of commercially available mini-data base systems. Among the topics presented are hardware requirements, software implementation, data independence, binding, integrity, privacy controls, installation base, availability, and user considerations. In addition, the relationship between the growth of the minicomputer market and mini-DBMS market in the second half of the 70's is emphasized.
Performance evaluation of three microcomputer systems in a small business data processing environment
Authors: Lewis T. G.
Published: June 2007

In March, 1977, a team of students under the guidance of the author began studying three personal computer systems to determine their strengths and weaknesses when placed in a data processing environment. The three systems were chosen to represent a broad spectrum of contemporary microcomputer based data processing equipment. System W is a firmware BASIC computer originally designed for scientific applications but found being used in a variety of business processing applications. System T is a storage display graphics computer based on the Motorola 6800 microprocessor ROM BASIC, and ROM operating system. System D is an Intel 8080 based computer designed specifically for business data processing.
Minicomputer timesharing performance and usability
Authors: Minow Martin
Published: June 2007

This article discusses usability, performance, and management of minicomputer timesharing systems. It attempts to define the factors that make operating-systems usable and suggests ways in improving the usability and performance of application programs. While some parts of the discussion are specific to Digital's RSTS/E operating system, much should prove applicable to other systems.This article is based on a talk given at the Fall 1977 DECUS Seminar which will be published in the DECUS proceedings. Some material has been added, and a few items that are of interest only to RSTS/E installations have been removed.
PL/I compilation
Authors: Dunn Stanley
Published: June 2007

With the recent increase in microprocessor use today, there is an ever increasing need for high-level languages for microprocessors. Instead of developing a cross compiler to produce suitable object code, a resident compiler should be developed.In order to increase the speed of the compilation, several microprocessors shall be used to perform the task. The compiler itself will not be an optimizing version and will be modularized so that it may be implemented on different size networks with changes only in the executive program.The microprocessor network will be constructed so that it may be used for other functions, not only to compile high level languages. The network implementation should be price-attractive, that is, the cost of implementing the network is competitive with the price of microprocessor compilers currently available on the market today.Although this paper is concentrating on an alternative to non-resident compilers for microprocessors, it is also to introduce another method for processor interconnection in multiprocessor networks and arrays.
A university course in computer security
Authors: Neugent Bill
Published: June 2007

This article presents an overview of a graduate-level course in computer security that I created and presented at The American University in Washington D.C. It should be of interest to SIGSAC Review readers who want an overview of the subject or who are teaching similar courses. There are three key elements:1. Course syllabus. This includes a course outline. Emphasis is placed on balanced coverage of all major relevant issues rather than specialized coverage of a few.2. List of research assignments. Twenty two projects are listed. These are areas where computer security research is needed. Work in any area should provide good material for a paper.3. Examinations. Seventy five questions are listed, along with their answers. These can serve as an introduction and reference for computer security neophytes.
A seminar in computer audit and control systems
Authors: Richards Thomas C.
Published: June 2007

This article presents a brief overview of a graduate-level course of computer audit and control systems. I hope it will be of interest to SIGSAC Review readers who are interested in the organization of such a course. Readers are also referred to the Spring 1982 edition of SIGSAC where Bill Neugent outlines in detail a similar course he is teaching at American University in computer security.
Testimony before the subcommittee on small business crime prevention act
Authors: Ball Leslie D.
Published: June 2007

My name is Leslie D. Ball. I am Professor of Information Systems at Babson College where I am responsible for teaching and developing computer graduate and undergraduate courses for students who are business majors. In addition, I have done extensive research in the area of computer crime and security and am active in various professional organization.
Easily remembered passphrases
Authors: Kurzban Stanley A.
Published: June 2007

As lay persons' use of information processing equipment increases, systems' accurate verification of a user's identity becomes a matter of growing concern. Prime considerations are:1. People must be prevented from convincing the system that they are someone else.2. The system must properly accept persons' accurate statements of their identities.3. Verification procedures must impose a minimal burden on lay users.4. Costs of verification must be reasonable. [9, 10, 11, 13, 19]
Comparative survey of database management systems on microcomputers
Authors: Everest Gordon C. , Lawrence Christopher T.
Published: June 2007

This paper presents the results of a survey of Database Management Systems (DBMS) available on microcomputer systems where the total cost of hardware plus software is less than $25,000. Most of the information was obtained from published materials and user manuals for the systems. The survey focuses on functional characteristics and physical requirements and limitations. None of the information is based on actual usage.
MRS
Authors: Hudyma Robert , Kornatowski John , Ladd Ivor
Published: June 2007

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the development and use of microcomputer database management system and choices for design and implementation are discussed. The development of a substantial piece of software, designed for modest machines, is also discussed.
New accessibility model for Microsoft Windows and cross platform development
Authors: Haverty Rob
Published: June 2007

Microsoft® Windows® User Interface (UI) Automation is the new accessibility framework for Microsoft Windows, which will ultimately replace MSAA, and is intended to address the needs of assistive technology products and automated testing frameworks by providing programmatic access to information about the user interface. UI Automation will be fully supported on Microsoft Windows XP and the next version of the Windows desktop operating system code-named "Longhorn". Support will continue for MSAA in the Longhorn timeframe as well. UI Automation will also be made available for cross platform development via a royalty-free license.
An overview of cognitive skills and impairments for cognitive work
Authors: Adams Ray
Published: June 2007

A practical taxonomy of IST functional requirements is developed here based upon occupational and cognitive factors to consider systematically:• the IST requirements of individuals with different cognitive skills and impairments; and,• the opportunities and solutions that IST developers can generate.The focus is on functionality and accessibility to IST function in the work-place. Whilst vocational factors provide the context of use, cognitive notions proved more useful and precise when considering systematically the range of accessibility solutions that need to be developed in IST. Analysis shows that this taxonomy captures the range of potential accessibility solutions.
A microcomputer based automated specimen weighing and recording system
Authors: Mills Mark
Published: June 2007

This paper will discuss a portable microcomputer based data acquisition system for toxicology research. The data acquisition system and the companion data base were designed and built by a team of individuals at Battelle, which consisted of Barry Brownstein, Jack Webb, Robert Weiner, and myself. The remainder of this paper will describe the factors which affected the design of the system, as well as details regarding the system's implementation. We will first examine the motivation for such a system.
Microcomputer database systems
Authors: Maryanski Fred J. , Slonim Jacob
Published: June 2007

Microcomputers and database management systems are two of the most rapidly expanding technologies in computer science. Because of the rapid advancements in both areas, one would expect a proliferation of microcomputer-based database systems. Although a limited number of these systems have surfaced thus far, a surprisingly small amount of information exists on the capabilities and problems of microcomputer databases. In this report we attempt to at least partially fill this information void by providing descriptions of currently available microcomputer database software packages, by determining the degree to which the limitations of today's microcomputers inhibit the realization of a complete DBMS package, and finally by projecting the effects of expected technological advances on microcomputer databases.
The next generation of personal computers
Authors: Press Larry , Rothenberg Jeff , Carlstedt Jim
Published: June 2007

The dissemination of computational power and access has followed lines typical of many other technologies. Telephones were once available to only a few people, and were nearly always shared, but as their utility became recognized and their cost decreased, their availability spread.
IMPACTS of small-scale computing technology
Authors: Dempster Michael , Fick Goran , Hackathorn Richard
Published: June 2007

This paper was initiated through discussions at a seminar on "Managerial and Organizational Consequences of Mini/Micro Computers" sponsored by the Management and Technology Area of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg, Austria on September 26-28, 1978.
A robust design for accessible text entry
Authors: Wobbrock Jacob O.
Published: June 2007

This paper describes the author's dissertation research on designing, implementing, and evaluating the Edge Write text entry method. The goal of this research is to develop a method that is highly "robust," remaining accessible and accurate across a variety of devices, abilities, circumstances, and constraints. Edge Write is particularly aimed at users with motor impairments and able-bodied users "on the go." To date, this research has resulted in versions of Edge Write for PDAs, touchpads, displacement joysticks, isometric joysticks, trackballs, 4-keys, and more, all of which use the same Edge Write alphabet and concepts. The stylus version, for instance, has been shown to be significantly more accurate than Graffiti for both able-bodied and motor-impaired users. Similarly, the trackball version has been shown to be better than on-screen keyboards for some people who use trackballs due to motor impairments. This paper discusses these and other achievements, and points towards future work on a mobile phone version for situationally-impaired users. From its inception, Edge Write has been developed with the help of participants, both able-bodied and motor-impaired.
Syntax-directed editing of general data structures
Authors: Fraser Christopher W.
Published: June 2007

Program editors help users create syntactically correct programs. Though such editors normally edit parse trees, applying similar techniques to other tree structures that need editing helps both users and implementors. This paper describes an editor that accepts a grammar describing a hierarchical data structure and allows the user to enter and edit arbitrary trees having this structure. It displays the pros and cons of this approach using instances of this editor that edit formatted documents, simple line drawings, and stick figures for trees.
A generalized approach to document markup
Authors: Goldfarb C. F.
Published: June 2007

Text processing and word processing systems typically require users to intersperse additional information in the natural text of the document being processed. This added information, called “markup,” serves two purposes:

1. it separates the logical elements of the document; and

2. it specifies the processing functions to be performed on those elements.
Public domain software
Authors: Wheeler Elliot S.
Published: June 2007

Public domain software is a large collection of software in the public domain and available to individuals for their own use for very minimal costs. There is more than 40 megabytes of this material easily available to almost any user of a microcomputer. The programs are written in many languages. Source and original documentation are often present. The subject matters covered range from machine dependent games to implementations of complete language systems and data bases. They are usually distributed on single density 8 inch floppy diskettes, using standard IBM 3740 format, for Digital Research's CP/M operating system or one of its look-alikes or successors. There are occasional limitations on the commercial use of these programs, but I understand that there is no limitation on their non-commercial use.
Developing a low-cost parallel processor system for real time microcomputer applications
Authors: Croucher Gary , Wind Michael , Childers Al
Published: June 2007

The authors detail their development, using available hardware and software technology, of a parallel processing environment for Furman University. Developmental stages included the design, construction, and testing of a 2708/2716/2758 EPROM programmer/reader, the design of general-purpose, microprocessor-driven "slave" computers (interfaceable in a variety of networks with a "master" computer, the departmental Apple II), the design of flexible operating systems within the slave computers, and the construction of slave computers for use in a variety of applications.
A string extension for Pascal
Authors: Boswell F. D. , Carmody M. J. , Grove T. R.
Published: June 2007

The Pascal language, as defined by the ISO Third Draft Proposal or Jensen and Wirth (in the
Pascal User Manual and Report (Second Edition)
), does not facilitate the manipulation of character strings. Standard Pascal defines a string type to be simply a fixed-length array of characters. This definition is, of course, adequate from a theoretic point of view, but leads to several problems for the Pascal programmer from a practical viewpoint.
A dichotomy of computer usage
Authors: Cary Ted
Published: June 2007

There have been many taxonomies of computer usage presented. Some are based upon the hardware and software involved. Others are based upon application characteristics. And on and on. The taxonomy (actually a dichotomy) which I wish to consider is based upon the support characteristics of a system. The split is a clean one. It is based on whether or not a system is directly supported by a staff with computer system expertise. By direct support, I mean that there are one or more people who are under control of the organization, i.e. people who reside in-house and whose allegiance is to that organization. Presumably then, we are considering people who are on the premises and being paid by the organization. A second ingredient of direct support is the ability of such people to react in a real-time sense to emergencies which arise in the use of a system. The dichotomy, then, is based on the existence of a controlled, real-time support staff. The real-time aspect of this dichotomy is exactly what the term implies. Some organizations would suffer with down-times measured in minutes. Others could go 24--48 hours with little, if any, inconvenience.
Real-time applications
Authors: Barkley John F.
Published: June 2007

Since this is being written during the holiday season, it seems a good time to reflect on the frontiers of real-time processing. Certainly one of the most exciting frontiers is in the construction of robots.
Minicomputer programming languages
Authors: Gorman Walter , Broussard Michael
Published: June 2007

Reduced hardware costs have made high level languages for minicomputers a necessity. A survey of some of the languages available. (FORTRAN, BASIC, FOCAL, PL-11, C, SPL, MPL, PLM, and BCPL) demonstrates the current need for a simple, portable, and readable minicomputer language.
A balanced view of MUMPS
Authors: Wasserman Anthony I. , Sherertz David D.
Published: June 2007

The MUMPS programming system was designed and developed to facilitate shared conversational access to a hierarchically-organized data base on a small computer. The MUMPS language, which has recently been standardized, contains features for numeric and string operations, along with a built-in file system called globals, embedded in a multiprogrammed execution environment. This paper gives an overview of the MUMPS language and a typical MUMPS system, then evaluates MUMPS in terms of modern notions of programming languages and software development. Despite the many attractive features for the development of interactive programs, MUMPS is seen to have a number of shortcomings when evaluated in this way. Among the problem areas are weakness of control structures, the ability to write self-modifying code, the incomprehensibility of most MUMPS programs, and the lack of support given by the language to notions of abstraction and modularity.
Optimized machine-independent extended FORTRAN for minicomputer programming
Authors: Bennett-Novak Gordon
Published: June 2007

A FORTRAN compiler is being developed to aid in writing systems and application programs for minicomputers. The compiler is machine-independent in the sense that it can be made to generate code for a new machine with relatively little effort. The FORTRAN language accepted by the compiler is extended to facilitate the writing of "systems" programs. Particular emphasis is placed on optimization of the generated code for efficiency of storage utilization.
Real-time applications
Authors: Barkley John F.
Published: June 2007

One way to automate instrumentation is to buy a system "off the shelf." When this choice is made, the manufacturer usually supplies the analytical instrument with the automation system. At the very least, the automation system is plug compatible with the data acquisition and reduction system.
On the efficient use of a minicomputer with limited I/O
Authors: Salomon David
Published: June 2007

We have recently received a Varian 520/i minicomputer to be used mainly for teaching purposes. Since our only I/O device is a standard teletype (equipped with a paper tape read/punch), we immediately faced the problem of software development. The existing system programs for that purpose, namely the assemblers, loaders and editor are very impractical to use with a teletype. A typical step in the debugging process involves: (1) loading the assembler, (2) assembling the program, (3) loading the program (normally overlaying the assembler or part of it), (4) executing the program and deciding on necessary changes, (5) loading the editor, and (6) editing the changes into the source paper tape.
Minicomputer systems in business
Authors: Lewis T. G.
Published: June 2007

Minis and micros have been praised for their low cost, flexibility, and general upheavel of traditional Renaissance Computers (general purpose computers). Indeed, minicomputers have revolutionized computing because of their special-purpose, dispersed, Common Computer image.
An alliance to increase the participation of individuals with disabilities in computing careers
Authors: Burgstahler Sheryl , Ladner Richard
Published: June 2007

The goal of the newly established
National Alliance for Access to Computing Careers (AccessComputing)
is to increase the representation of people with disabilities in a wide range of computing careers, including those in computer science, information systems, software development, computer engineering, systems management and maintenance, and teaching. The Department of Computer Science and Engineering and DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology) at the University of Washington (UW) lead
AccessComputing
. partners---Gallaudet University, Microsoft, the NSF Regional Alliances for Persons with Disabilities in STEM (hosted by the University of Southern Maine, New Mexico State University, the University of Wisconsin--Madison, and the UW), and SIGACCESS---and collaborators represent education, industry, government, and professional organizations nationwide. This article shares background information on challenges facing individuals with disabilities with respect to computing careers, objectives of
AccessComputing
, and activities in which you can participate.
Challenges and solutions for screen reader/I.T. interoperability
Authors: Harris Kip
Published: June 2007

The combination of Assistive Technology (AT) and Information Technology (IT) sometimes delivers a flawed end user experience. This is particularly disappointing to technologically savvy users who expect a seamless IT integration experience. The author draws from his experience as both AT and IT practitioner to present his view of the interoperability challenge within the screen reading problem domain.
Building the mobile web: rediscovering accessibility?
Authors: Harper Simon , Yesilada Yeliz , Goble Carole
Published: June 2007

The Third W4A International Cross-Disciplinary Workshop on Web Accessibility was held on Monday 22
nd
and Tuesday 23
rd
May 2006 as part of the Fifteenth International World Wide Web Conference (WWW2006) located at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. We ran over 2 days, welcomed 73 attendees, and were the biggest workshop at the conference. We accepted 41.6% of all submissions, each paper was peer reviewed by three of our programme committee. We published ISBN'ed proceedings as part of the ACM Digital Library, and eight of our authors have been invited to submit extended papers to the Springer Journal, Universal Access in the Information Society. Comments from our attendees, and our workshop evaluation questionnaires, suggested that they enjoyed the workshop and would be participating again next year. Our social programme also attracted 20 of our delegates. Overall we judge the workshop to be a great success.
SIGACCESS member profile
Authors: Keates Simeon
Published: June 2007

Member of SIGACCESS since: 1985Member of ACM since: 1985Also member of: SIGCSE
SIGACCESS member profile
Authors: Keates Simeon
Published: June 2007

Member of SIGACCESS since: 1981Member of ACM since: 1981Also member of: SIGCSE, SIGCHI
SIGACCESS member profile
Authors: Keates Simeon
Published: June 2007

Member of SIGACCESS since: The beginningMember of ACM since: (Almost the beginning) 1960Also member of: None
L
-diversity
Authors: Machanavajjhala Ashwin , Kifer Daniel , Gehrke Johannes , Venkitasubramaniam Muthuramakrishnan
Published: June 2007

Publishing data about individuals without revealing sensitive information about them is an important problem. In recent years, a new definition of privacy called
k
-anonymity has gained popularity. In a
k
-anonymized dataset, each record is indistinguishable from at least
k
− 1 other records with respect to certain identifying attributes.

In this article, we show using two simple attacks that a
k
-anonymized dataset has some subtle but severe privacy problems. First, an attacker can discover the values of sensitive attributes when there is little diversity in those sensitive attributes. This is a known problem. Second, attackers often have background knowledge, and we show that
k
-anonymity does not guarantee privacy against attackers using background knowledge. We give a detailed analysis of these two attacks, and we propose a novel and powerful privacy criterion called ℓ-diversity that can defend against such attacks. In addition to building a formal foundation for ℓ-diversity, we show in an experimental evaluation that ℓ-diversity is practical and can be implemented efficiently.
CDAM—compound document access and management
Authors: Herzner Wolfgang , Hocevar Erwin
Published: June 2007

This paper describes an object-oriented database approach for a direct access and memory management system which covers the needs of storing compound resp. multimedia documents in a multi-user and distributed environment. Document components may be distributed over several physical locations, documents may share components, and multi-user access is supported. In addition, the model allows to represent much of the document semantics, giving the opportunity to define and access components favourable through their properties. Rapid access and manipulation (using for example, associative methods) as well as encapsulation of data to minimize side effects are also considered.
A first step towards an evaluation framework taxonomy
Authors: Kokol Peter
Published: June 2007

A possible evaluation framework taxonomy is presented in this paper. Taxonomy is based on three root definitions derived with the "Checklands Soft System Methodology". According to them we distinguish three main evaluation framework categories: measurement, ranking and taxonomy.
The dynamics of viral marketing
Authors: Leskovec Jure , Adamic Lada A. , Huberman Bernardo A.
Published: June 2007

We present an analysis of a person-to-person recommendation network, consisting of 4 million people who made 16 million recommendations on half a million products. We observe the propagation of recommendations and the cascade sizes, which we explain by a simple stochastic model. We analyze how user behavior varies within user communities defined by a recommendation network. Product purchases follow a ‘long tail’ where a significant share of purchases belongs to rarely sold items. We establish how the recommendation network grows over time and how effective it is from the viewpoint of the sender and receiver of the recommendations. While on average recommendations are not very effective at inducing purchases and do not spread very far, we present a model that successfully identifies communities, product, and pricing categories for which viral marketing seems to be very effective.
Pervasive pheromone-based interaction with RFID tags
Authors: Mamei Marco , Zambonelli Franco
Published: June 2007

Despite the growing interest in pheromone-based interaction to enforce adaptive and context-aware coordination, the number of deployed systems exploiting digital pheromones to coordinate the activities of situated autonomous agents is still very limited. In this article, we present a simple low-cost and general-purpose implementation of a pheromone-based interaction mechanism for pervasive environments. This is realized by making use of RFID tags to store digital pheromones and by having humans or robots spread/sense pheromones by properly writing/reading RFID tags populating the surrounding physical environment. We exemplify and evaluate the effectiveness of our approach via an application for object-tracking. This application allows robots and humans to find forgotten-somewhere objects by following pheromones trails associated with them. In addition, we sketch further potential applications of our approach in pervasive computing scenarios, discuss related work in the area, and identify future research directions.
A model for the protection of reusable software
Authors: Denkins Pam , LeGrand Sue
Published: June 2007

In applied efforts to reduce the cost of the software life-cycle process, government agencies and industry are focusing on the reusability of software. Software reusability, both between various automated information systems and software projects, has become a primary requirement in many requests for proposals. Software reusability is, perhaps, one of the most significant low technology, cost-cutting methods available to the data processing community today. Without effective protective measures established and in place, however, reusing software can result in the proliferation of malicious code, resulting in the loss of dollars, possibly even lives. An effective protection plan for reusable software must combine verification of the software by the developer, appropriate protection of the software during both storage and use, guaranteed delivery and integrity when software is transferred, and re-verification of software by the new user prior to incorporation in a new design. NASA's approach to software protection establishes four hierarchical levels of automated information sensitivity and criticality and provides guidance for appropriate protective measures for each level. We advocate the addition of
protection domains
to the current NASA schema.
Computer “virus” identification by neural networks
Authors: Guinier Daniel
Published: June 2007

Computer viruses
are more and more numerous: around 400 in the year 1990 and this number is estimated to reach 1,000 for 1994-95. Users are not experts and need help in identifying the virus and carrying out the most appropriate cure in case of attack.
Knowledge
of viruses is necessary but public information offered by virus database or catalogs gives a powerful advantage to virus makers. On the other hand, not enough or no information to users is also a problem because then they use the product they have which does not necessarily provide the appropriate solution in case of virus attack. We propose
an alternative solution to the dilemma
found in a
neural network
, an artificial intelligence connectionist model which is fault tolerant, self adaptative to learn automatically, retaining experience to solve the problem of virus identification regarding
fuzzy information
on concerns and effects.
Principles of the formal neuron and the neural network
using hidden nodes is examined as well as the theoretical and practical apects of the

gradient
back propagation
algorithm. An implementation

of the algorithm is applied to virus identification with data referring to virus concerns and their obvious effects. First results have shown
a correct identification of viruses
while using fuzzy knowledge of end users
introducing uncertaincy on answers
or, even,
forcing erroneous data.
Such a system can be employed by ordinary users, system or computer security managers, as well as consultants as a complementary tool for virus warfare.
Further work
needs to be conducted to
validate methodologically
such an approach and to
optimize
input data coding, the
choice for parameters
and the
learning strategy.
Global security
Authors: Bulman Edward S. H.
Published: June 2007

In any enterprise, there are many aspects to security, and they apply to different divisions of the enterprise: manufacturing, shipping, sales, administration, etc. Those of us who work with computers know that we have to think about security just as much as those working in other divisions have to. In each different area, there are threats or dangers which must be protected against. Some of these threats may be specific to a particular department while others are common to several different departments. For each particular threat there may several different measures that can be taken to protect against it. We can divide all measures into three categories: physical, operational and administrative. When we examine each of these categories, we find that they all apply to the security of every division and department of an enterprise, including that of the computer department.
Spline cryptosystem
Authors: Ho C. Y. , Xuan Qiwo , Hwu Fengi
Published: June 2007

The
Spline Cryptosystem
has succeeded two major achievements: First, the system is based on real arithmetic which is generally considered unapplicable to cryptography because the information is lost through round-off errors. Secondly, our prospective cryptosystem-
Spline Cryptosystem
, without providing the common session key, the solution of recovering messages from corresponding cryptogram is mathematically undeterminate, which may withstand any attack. Moreover, the cryptosystem can be implemented on any current personal computer, and both enciphering and deciphering processes can be achieved in little amount of time in comparison with the RSA's approach. Eventually, machine hardware will catch up with practice, such that all of the current computationally insurmountable problems will be resolved in some time in the future.
Secure interoperability of trusted database management systems
Authors: Thuraisingham Bhavani
Published: June 2007

We describe issues on interconnecting trusted database management systems. In particular, issues on handling heterogeneity and autonomy are discussed.
Metapolicies I
Authors: Hosmer Hilary H.
Published: June 2007

Metapolicies, or "policies about policies", may become a powerful concept for developing the large, complex, and interrelated trusted systems that military, commercial and non-profit organizations need today. Metapolicies provide a framework for clarifying policies and for successfully coordinating security policies and subpolicies.When there is only one security policy, metapolicies tend to be implicit, embedded, and fixed. When more than one security policy is involved, as in a multipolicy system, metapolicies must become explicit and flexible.This paper illustrates metapolicies implicit in simple security policies, demonstrates how metapolicies can coordinate multiple security policies, and provides a foundation for future study of metapolicies.
On the design and administration of secure database transactions
Authors: Krishnamurthy E. V. , McGuffin A.
Published: June 2007

This article outlines some of the basic principles involved in the design and administration of a secure transaction service for a database system. Specifically it discusses the case in which the database also maintains personal details of the users in order to facilitate real time user identification. In this design we distinguish two types of identification for the user:-(i) User's self - declared identity and(ii) Machine perceived view of the identity of the user based on the user's behavioural characteristics - such as voice, handwriting, facial features, key - stroke and mouse dynamics.The user's self - declared identity, when valid, would initiate the transaction; however, the continuation of the transaction is dependent upon the machine's perceived view or identity of the user; this view controls the actual database operations that can be handled by the user. This can be achieved by expressing the attributes resulting from the machine's view as logical predicates and incorporating these as integrity constraints in the formal specification of the user's permit for operations on the database.We also briefly indicate how the above design principles can be realised in practice using ORACLE version 7.
On being responsible (abstract)
Authors: Jennings N. R.
Published: June 2007

Joint responsibility is a mental and behavioural state which captures and formalizes many of the intuitive underpinnings of collaborative problem solving. It defines the pre-conditions which must hold before such activity can commence, how individuals should behave (in their own problem solving and towards others) once such problem solving has begun and minimum conditions which group participants must satisfy.
A distributed artificial intelligence view on general purpose vision systems (abstract)
Authors: Boissier Olivier , Demazeau Yves
Published: June 2007

A General Purpose Vision System (GPVS) is an open and domain-independent system that is able to build, maintain, and use an internal representation of the external world from data provided by physical sensors such as cameras. The experience in constructing the
Vision As Process
(VAP) and SATURNE systems using a Distributed Artificial Intelligence (DAI) approach has enabled us to compare, from a DAI point of view, these two systems with other major existing GPVS's. As far as we know this work represents the first large-scale comparison between GPVS's at the module and module-integration levels using a DAI formalism. This has lead us to the identification of several basic common features within the systems studied. Furthermore we think these common features are essential for the construction of a GPVS, namely: 1/the distribution of the knowledge representation provides
level-agents
that denote the same knowledge at a given level of representation 2/the distribution of the knowledge processing provides
focus-agents
which realize the system's "focus of attention" 3/intersection of level-agents and focus-agents determines the active
basic-agents
that explicitly or implicitly constitute the system at a given time. The description of GPVSs in terms of basic-agents is a novel feature of our approach and may also be applicable to other domains such as robotics.