__ Deductible Junkets __
__ CyberRisk '96 __
__ The gray areas of computer security __
With one foot in the world of corporate high tech and the other in the computer underground, the National Computer Security Association knows computer security front and back. Founded in 1989, the NCSA produces countless publications on firewalls, encryption, and other security-related issues; offers training and consulting services; and maintains a covert reconnaissance team that can tell you who is about to crack into your network through which hole.
But the NCSA is also known for conferences. CyberRisk, cosponsored by the Computer Ethics Institute, is just the newest addition to its popular series.
What inspired CyberRisk? Corporate policymakers are in a twit, says conference organizer Dave Harper. Should sysops report who is reading what Web sites to management? Who owns a personal Web page running off a company server? Does monitoring email violate employee privacy? What is privacy? CyberRisk will focus on these gray areas of corporate policy.
Although broad constitutional theories and First Amendment issues provide a framework for the program, the event is more practical than theoretical. As Harper explains, "It will be a policy swap meet for corporate legal types, IS managers, and human resource folks."
The rough program includes Ira Winkler, NCSA chief technologist, on the ethics of penetration analysis (when a company hires outside security specialists to break into its network); NCSA director of education Mich Kabay on online marketing ethics; and Ramone Barquin of the Computer Ethics Institute on the topic of autonomous agents. CyberRisk is part of the ongoing National Computer Ethics and Responsibilities Campaign.
Registration: US$595. Contact: +1 (717) 258 1816, fax +1 (717) 243 8642, email conference@ncsa.com, on the Web at www .ncsa.com/.
__ Off-the-Hill in Washington, DC __
By the time CyberRisk '96 kicks off on November 7, the DC politicos will either be hungover or job hunting. Take in the political scene - and a capital view of the city - from atop The Old Post Office Pavilion.
Then quit the Hill and explore the new U Street, where hip bars and restaurants have sprung from the ashes of the 1968 riots. Start at Polly's Cafe, a hole-in-the-wall known for its big - no, vast - grilled chicken salad. Cross the street to State of the Union for a shot of its orange-infused vodka and a groovy house beat under the watchful gaze of Lenin.
Jazz hounds take note: Pearl Bailey and Duke Ellington got their start a few blocks east at the Lincoln Theater, the first black venue in the city. This grand dame of deco reopened in 1994; take in a show or just take the historical tour. Rockers should roam farther east to the new-and-improved 9:30 Club, cradle of the lively local alternative scene, to catch a few riffs of go-go, reggae, or indie bands.
The hippest rockers haunt The Black Cat club, a beer-soaked joint on the grand 14th Street corridor. When they're not downing platefuls of nachos at Dante's, where Fugazi screams from the juke till 2 a.m.
And by that hour it should be clear: any old Bill or Bob can squat in the White House, but off-the-Hill and out-of-the-lobby you'll find a diverse and gritty, pulsing urban complex.
- Michael Learmonth *
__ The Current Roundup (see Wired 4.09) __
October 16-19 WebNet 96; San Francisco. € October 17-27__Art Futura '96; Madrid. € October 18-19 Cultivating the NETconomy: The Fourth Annual Bionomics Conference; San Francisco. € __ October 20-23 Intelligent Systems: A Semiotic Perspective; Gaithersburg, Maryland. € __ October 27-31__ Frontiers '96: Sixth Symposium on the Frontiers of Massively Parallel Computation; Annapolis, Maryland. € __ November 7-8__ Doors of Perception 4 'Speed'; Amsterdam.
November 7-8 CyberRisk '96; Washington, DC See above.
November 11-25 Fourth Annual New York Digital Salon; New York This international juried competition includes a gallery exhibition, screenings of computer-animation shorts, and a networked exhibit. Registration: all events are free, though reservations are required for the screenings. Contact: +1 (212) 592 2535, fax +1 (212) 592 2509, email salon@sva.edu, on the Web at www.sva.edu/salon/info.html.
November 17-22 Supercomputing 96; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Supercomputing 96 - the annual conference on the fastest and most powerful machines. This year's event will focus on how high-performance computing has changed scientific research and business. Registration: US$460, $350 for members. Contact: (800) 472 5989, +1 (412) 268 6355, email questions96 @mail.supercomp.org, on the Web at www.supercomp.org/sc96/.
November 18 GreyWorks '96; College Park, Maryland The field of grey literature - publications unavailable through normal book-selling channels, often produced in small quantities with limited distribution, promotion, and exploitation - has exploded along with the Internet and electronic publishing. This second US workshop - focused on "Information Forecasts and Grey Literature" - will take a look at the current state of the *nonpublished *publishing industry. Registration: US$300. Contact: telephone/fax +31 (20) 671 1818, email greynet@inter.nl.net, on the Web at www.konbib.nl/infolev/greynet/home.html.
December 2-7 Neural Information Processing Systems - Natural and Synthetic; Denver and Snowmass, Colorado Neuroscientists, computer scientists, AI guys and a smattering of other academics attend this annual conference. Pre-conference tutorials, talks, and workshops investigate a variety of neural topics ranging from applications (financial analysis, signal processing, DNA sequencing) to robot motor control to learning algorithms. Registration: US$285, $100 for students. Contact: +1 (319) 465 5585, fax +1 (319) 465 6709, email nipsinfo@salk.edu, on the Web at www.cs.cmu.edu/Web/Groups/NIPS.
__February 19-22, 1997 __ TED; Monterey, California This year's brainfest will scrutinize storytelling and the news. Why are media companies obsessed with 24-hour news? How do design issues change from newspapers to magazines to Web sites? Come hear the news and stories of Daniel Boorstin, Steve Case, Herbie Hancock, Michael Kinsley, C. Everett Koop, and Tod Machover. Richard Saul Wurman's all-star lineup for TED 7 won't disappoint. Registration: US$2,250. Contact: +1 (401) 848 2299, fax +1 (401) 848 2599, email wurmanrs@aol.com, on the Web at www.ted.com/
Out on the Range:
__January 3-5, 1997__The 1997 European Anime Convention; London. Contact: email shinnenkai@hpsound.demon.co.uk, on the Web at 194.177.182.12/lac/shinnen.htm. January 6-9 Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing '97; Kapalua, Hawaii. Contact: +1 (619) 658 9782, email psb@intsim.com. __January 27-29 __ Fast Software Encryption Workshop 1997; Haifa, Israel. Contact: + 97 (24) 8294308, on the Web at www.cs.technion.ac.il/~biham/Fse4/.
