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MEMORY MAKER ROBERT DENNARD, Winner of THIS YEAR’S IEEE MEDAL of HONOR, FIGURED out How to DO DRAM RIGHT

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MEMORY MAKER ROBERT DENNARD, Winner of THIS YEAR’S IEEE MEDAL of HONOR, FIGURED out How to DO DRAM RIGHT THE MAGAZINE OF TECHNOLOGY INSIDERS 05.09 MEMORY MAKER ROBERT DENNARD, WINNER OF THIS YEAR’S IEEE MEDAL OF HONOR, FIGURED OUT HOW TO DO DRAM RIGHT THE 25 MOST REMARKABLE CHIPS EVER TOUCH SCREENS GET TOUCHY-FEELY THE NETFLIX CHALLENGE: HELP US RECOMMEND MOVIES, WIN A MILLION DOLLARS volume 46 number 5 north american 05.09 UPDATE 11 BAIT TO TRACK DATA THIEVES A honeypot project in Germany finds viruses and tracks down the data they steal. By Michael Dumiak 12 CELLPHONE SECURITY THREAT 14 BRIGHT SPOTS IN THE GLOOM 14 ROBOTIC SEALS AID RESEARCH 15 TOUCH SCREENS WITH FEELING 16 THE RFID AS COMPUTER 24 18 ULTRAVIOLET RADIOS BEAM TO LIFE 20 THE BIG PICTURE Fabs get the white-glove treatment. OPINION 8 SPECTRAL LINES IEEE’s 125th-anniversary celebrations reveal the depth and breadth of its members’ contributions to technology. 10 FORUM Readers discuss the state of the U.S. nuclear arsenal and the demise of the business-method patent. 27 REFLECTIONS Bob Lucky’s head is in the clouds— 44 28 the computing clouds, that is. BETTER PICS: COVER STORY Medical DEPARTMENTS ultrasound 4 BACK STORY images will soon 48 THANKS FOR A man vanishes. Can Google find him? be much sharper [above]; a famed THE MEMORIES 6 CONTRIBUTORS 8-bit processor Robert Dennard’s 1968 invention of the one-transistor dynamic random- 22 HANDS ON powers a famed A high-definition CL D projector can cartoon robot access memory set the path of computing for the next half century. set you back US $2000—or you could [top right]; For this, he will receive the 2009 IEEE Medal of Honor. By Sally Adee build your own. By James Turner Netflix’s prize adds the fuel of 24 GEEK LIFE interest to the 28 THE MILLION DOLLAR How an Apple II–era microprocessor fire of genius. PROGRAMMING PRIZE ended up in the head of a 30th-century robot. COVER: To improve its recommender system, Netflix put a price on its head. By Erico Guizzo & David X. Cohen DAVID YELLEN By Robert M. Bell, Jim Bennett, Yehuda Koren & Chris Volinsky THIS PAGE: CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT, PAUL VOZDIC/ 25 TOOLS & TOYS GETTY IMAGES; Solve age-old engineering problems “FUTURAMA” TM AND 34 25 MICROCHIPS © 2009 TWENTIETH with your kids. By Sherry Sontag CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION. ALL THAT SHOOK THE WORLD RIGHTS RESERVED; 26 CAREERS RANDI SILBERMAN These chips unleashed groundbreaking technologies and gadgets—and In 2001, the iPod was a big hit, but are one reason that engineers don’t get out enough. By Brian R. Santo Sean Adams had a different idea. 44 NEXT-GEN ULTRASOUND By Sherry Sontag 64 THE DATA Technology from the semiconductor industry promises to supplant the Is the high-tech unemployment glass transducers now used for medical imaging. half full or half empty? Let’s look at By Butrus T. Khuri-Yakub, Ömer Oralkan & Mario Kupnik the numbers. By Steven Cherry WWW.SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG MAY 2009 • IEEE SPECTRUM • NA 1 volume 46 number 5 north american 05.09 WWW.IEEE.ORG/ THEINSTITUTE AVAILABLE 6 MAY ON THE INSTITUTE ONLINE TECH EXPERTS SPEAK AT IEEE MEDIA EVENT Get the scoop on the latest technologies in such areas as cancer recognition, brain-machine interfaces, and cognitive computing, as discussed by seven tech leaders at the IEEE Media Roundtable. The theme of the March event, held in celebration of IEEE’s 125th anniversary, was “Embracing Human-Technology Interactions.” NETWORKING HUMANITARIAN TECHNOLOGY The new IEEE Humanitarian Technology Network enables LEFT: MAYA members to connect and collaborate ENTERTAINMENT; RIGHT: JEFFREY WWW.SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG online with others doing similar work HAMILTON/GETTY IMAGES AVAILABLE 1 MAY ON SPECTRUM ONLINE in the field. ANIMATION NATION ACCESSIBILITY India’s burgeoning animation and visual-effects industry combines CONFERENCE two great passions of India’s technorati: moviemaking and software The first IEEE conference to identify the accessibility challenges arising composition. Much of the animation and visual-effects work on feature from the pervasive use of technology films such as Madagascar: Escape 2 and Alvin and the Chipmunks, TV will be held in July in Boston. Areas shows like Nickelodeon’s “Back at the Barnyard,” and games like of focus include transportation, Gears of War is being done by Indian animation houses. But as these collaborative care, and standards. companies start to expand and create original content, their success will hinge on a combination of economic and cultural factors, many of which still remain uncertain and unpredictable, as Suhas Sreedhar discovered during a recent visit to Bangalore. ONLINE FEATURES: ALSO ONLINE: LEARN ABOUT CHINA’S DTV • Webcasts standard, which takes advantage of • Podcasts advances in wireless communication • News and information encoding to create • Videos a system that works well even in bad • Blogs weather and can be viewed on the go. • Jobs • Career Accelerator GOT SOMETHING TO SAY? • IEEE Xplore® digital library Join the conversation among our • Interviews editors, bloggers, and readers in our • Opinions Contains over 25% expanded online comments sections. Renewable Resources • More! IEEE SPECTRUM (ISSN 0018-9235) is published monthly by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. All rights reserved. © 2009 by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., 3 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016-5997, U.S.A. The editorial content of IEEE Spectrum magazine does not represent official positions of the IEEE or its organizational units. Canadian Post International Publications Mail (Canadian Distribution) Sales Agreement No. 40013087. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Circulation Department, IEEE Spectrum, Box 1051, Fort Erie, ON L2A 6C7. Cable address: ITRIPLEE. Fax: +1 212 419 7570. INTERNET: [email protected]. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS: IEEE Members: $21.40 included in dues. Libraries/institutions: $399. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to IEEE Spectrum, c/o Coding Department, IEEE Service Center, 445 Hoes Lane, Box 1331, Piscataway, NJ 08855. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Canadian GST #125634188. Printed at W224-N3322 Duplainville Rd., Pewaukee, WI 53072-4195, U.S.A. IEEE Spectrum circulation is audited by BPA Worldwide. IEEE Spectrum is a member of American Business Media, the Magazine Publishers of America, and the Society of National Association Publications. WWW.SPECTRUM.IEEE.ORG MAY 2009 • IEEE SPECTRUM • NA 3 back story EDITORIAL EDITOR IN CHIEF Susan Hassler, [email protected] EXECUTIVE EDITOR Glenn Zorpette, [email protected] MANAGING EDITOR Elizabeth A. Bretz, [email protected] Where in SENIOR EDITORS Harry Goldstein (Online), [email protected]; Jean Kumagai, [email protected]; Samuel K. Moore (News), [email protected]; Tekla S. Perry, [email protected]; Philip E. Ross, [email protected]; David Schneider, [email protected]; William the World Sweet, [email protected] SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR Steven Cherry (Resources), [email protected] Wide Web Is ASSOCIATE EDITORS Sally Adee, [email protected]; Erico Guizzo, [email protected]; Joshua J. Romero (Online), [email protected]; Sandra Upson, [email protected] Al Phillips? ASSISTANT EDITOR Willie D. Jones, [email protected] SENIOR COPY EDITOR Joseph N. Levine, [email protected] COPY EDITOR Michele Kogon, [email protected] is name was Al Phillips, and be a she. There was an Al Phillips EDITORIAL RESEARCHER Alan Gardner, [email protected] journalist Brian Santo knew who’d recently been a New York EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, SPECTRUM RADIO Sharon Basco ASSISTANT PRODUCER, SPECTRUM RADIO Francesco Ferorelli, H this much about him: He’d Jets cornerback, but no way had he [email protected] been a successful semiconductor helped architect a chip in the 1970s. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTS Ramona Gordon, [email protected]; executive, having founded Western Then there was the Canadian wres- Nancy T. Hantman, [email protected] Digital Corp. in Southern California tler, who was actually better known INTERN Rosaleen Ortiz, [email protected] CONTRIBUTING EDITORS John Blau, Robert N. Charette, some 40 years ago. But he seemed to as Spider Dick, and also the founder Peter Fairley, Alexander Hellemans, David Kushner, have vanished not long after that. of a chain of dry cleaners in Hawaii. Robert W. Lucky, Paul McFedries, Kieron B. Murphy, Carl Selinger, Seema Singh, John Voelcker Phillips was just one of a couple Nope, and nope. of dozen people Santo had set Santo kept on Googling, and ART & PRODUCTION out to interview for this issue’s then he got a break. A letter to the SENIOR ART DIRECTOR Mark Montgomery ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Michael Solita “25 Microchips That Shook the editor of the Orange County Business ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Brandon Palacio World.” The idea was to get insight Journal, in California, was signed PHOTO EDITOR Randi Silberman about the chips straight from the “Al Phillips, Founder, Western DIRECTOR, PERIODICALS PRODUCTION SERVICES Peter Tuohy designers and managers who Digital Corp., Newport Coast.” EDITORIAL & WEB PRODUCTION MANAGER Roy Carubia created them. To reach these people, Bingo! From there, Santo turned SENIOR ELECTRONIC LAYOUT SPECIALIST Bonnie Nani some long retired, Santo put out calls, to the phone book, one of the oldest WEB PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Jacqueline L. Parker sent e-mails, and, of course, searched tools of the trade in journalism— MULTIMEDIA PRODUCTION SPECIALIST Michael Spector Google. In fact, he Googled like crazy. but not a big fat paper one. He used EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD “I wish I could just hook up Google’s phone book. Susan Hassler, Chair; Marc T. Apter, Francine D. Berman, Jan Brown, Raffaello D’Andrea, Stephen L. Diamond, Hiromichi my brain to Google,” sighs Santo Reached at his home in Newport Fujisawa, Kenneth Y. Goldberg, Susan Hackwood, Bin He, Erik [above, right], who started his Coast, Phillips [above, left] was only Heijne, Charles H.
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