The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO), Science and Technology Directorate, has issued a Broad Agency Announcement for its competitive FY98 Innovative and Technology Research Program. Academic institutions are especially encouraged to participate. Topics include mathematical methods and algorithms; distributive computing and simulation; multi-sensor tracking; on-board processing; fault-tolerant computing; etc. . Carol Williams, (703) 604-3904. [CBD, 31Jul97.]

Five-day Fedix Opportunity Alert (FOA) Grant Seminars for grant seekers and administrators will be offered in Washington, DC (22Sep97), Boston (27Oct97), Austin (17Nov97), and Chicago (08Dec97). $275-$325. , 1-800-875-2562 or 301-975-0103. Or consider the NSF Regional Grants Conference at UPittsburgh (and then elsewhere) on 13Oct97. , , (703) 306-1243. [Fedix Opportunity Alert Flyer, 04Aug97.]

The US tax code changed on 01Jun97, now allowing stock gifts to private charities to be deducted at only basis value (purchase price) rather than full value. Philanthropists beat the deadline by creating at least ten new San Jose foundations, with capitalization up to $500M. [Chris Nolan, SJM, 28Jul97, 1E.] (I don't know the names of the new foundations, but they may be good places to look for research funding. Existing charities have not had a computer science focus.)

The Deep Blue team has accepted the $100K Fredkin Prize, set up 17 years ago for the first developers to beat a world chess champion. (Anyone want to post a prize for the next milestone?) Deep Blue won primarily by brute force, whereas Gerald Tesauro's TD-Gammon -- also from IBM -- learns as it plays. It's now a worthy opponent for the top human players. You can download the OS/2 Warp software from . [Dan Gillmore, SJM, 04Aug97, 1E.]

The $5K ACM Kanellakis Theory and Practice Award is given to an individual or group for a specific theoretical accomplishment or major analytic study (since 1973) that has affected the practice of computing. Nominations should be sent by 01Oct97 to Christos Papadimitriou , (510) 642-1559. [Moshe Vardi , comp.ai, 07Jul97. David Joslin.]