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An edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.


Google Reports 'alarming' Rise in Government Censorship Requests
From ACM News

Google Reports 'alarming' Rise in Government Censorship Requests

Western governments, including the United States, appear to be stepping up efforts to censor Internet search results and YouTube videos, according to a "transparency...

The Tiny Island with a Huge Web Presence
From ACM News

The Tiny Island with a Huge Web Presence

If you're among the companies vying for one of the nearly 2,000 new generic top-level domains, or gTLDs, you've got big pockets. The application alone costs about...

Class of 2011 Scores Higher-Paying Jobs
From ACM TechNews

Class of 2011 Scores Higher-Paying Jobs

Engineering students secured the highest-paying jobs among 2011 graduates, according to a new survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers.  

From ACM News

Cyberwar Explodes in Syria

A familiar digital chime rang on the computer. Someone was calling via Skype from Syria.

Why Can't Americans Vote Online?
From ACM News

Why Can't Americans Vote Online?

Tuesday is Election Day in the United States, and although the mostly state and local races won't stir the same passions as next year's presidential contest,...

Why Computer Voices Are Mostly Female
From ACM News

Why Computer Voices Are Mostly Female

To most owners of the new iPhone, the voice-activated feature called Siri is more than a virtual "assistant" who can help schedule appointments, find a good nearby...

How Many Pages Are on the Internet?
From ACM News

How Many Pages Are on the Internet?

It seems like an answerable question, right? But no one really knows how many Websites or individual Web pages make up this seemingly infinite digital universe...

How 9/11 Inspired a New Era of Robotics
From ACM News

How 9/11 Inspired a New Era of Robotics

When Robin Murphy saw the World Trade Center towers fall on September 11, she knew of an unexpected group that could help respond: robots.

Meet Dark Tangent, the Hacker Behind Black Hat and Def Con
From ACM News

Meet Dark Tangent, the Hacker Behind Black Hat and Def Con

The word "hacker" evokes all kinds of scary images. But Jeff Moss says hackers are exactly what the world needs more of, because they can make the Internet safer...

Phone Hacking Can Extend Beyond Voice Mail
From ACM News

Phone Hacking Can Extend Beyond Voice Mail

While the phone hacking by British tabloid News of the World was unexceptional by technical standards, security experts say the scandal portends how the growth...

From ACM News

Cell Phone Users Are Talking Less

Call Kimberly Brown a smartphone junkie if you want. "I'm sure everyone around me will say I'm most definitely addicted," said Brown, an archaeologist at The...

From ACM News

Why Would-Be Engineers End Up As English Majors

Amenah Ibrahim vividly remembers her first introduction to thermodynamics.

Why Gadget Makers Wield a 'Kill Switch'
From ACM News

Why Gadget Makers Wield a 'Kill Switch'

When you buy a video game from Best Buy, you don't give the retailer the right to barge into your house whenever it wants. So why do we give that permission to...

Mac vs. Pc: The Stereotypes May Be True
From ACM News

Mac vs. Pc: The Stereotypes May Be True

Remember those Apple ads that cast the Mac as a 20-something, self-satisfied hipster while the PC was portrayed by an older, square-looking guy in a brown suit...

How Google Is Teaching Computers to See
From ACM News

How Google Is Teaching Computers to See

Computers used to be blind, and now they can see.  Thanks to increasingly sophisticated algorithms, computers today can recognize and identify the Eiffel Tower...

Online Photos: Are They New Digital Fingerprints?
From ACM News

Online Photos: Are They New Digital Fingerprints?

For Mike Smith, Facebook is a fort for communicating freely with friends online. Within the confines of that giant yet access-restricted network, the music-software...

Google Making App that Would Identify People's Faces
From ACM News

Google Making App that Would Identify People's Faces

Google is working on a mobile application that would allow users to snap pictures of people's faces in order to access their personal information, a director...

From ACM News

California High Court: Retailers Can't Request Cardholders' Zip Code

California's high court ruled Thursday that retailers don't have the right to ask customers for their ZIP code while completing credit card transactions, saying...

Behind-the-Scenes with Ibm's 'jeopardy!' Computer, Watson
From ACM News

Behind-the-Scenes with Ibm's 'jeopardy!' Computer, Watson

His name is Watson. He's bad with puns. Great at math. And, next week, he will compete on the game show "Jeopardy!" against real, live, breathing, thinking humans...

From ACM News

Rediscovering Wwii's Female 'computers'

In all the interviews and conversations, it hadn't come up. To the sisters, it was just a job they'd held a long time ago, when they were teens with a talent...
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