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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.


From ACM News

New Storage Device Is Very Small, at 12 Atoms

Researchers at I.B.M. have stored and retrieved digital 1s and 0s from an array of just 12 atoms, pushing the boundaries of the magnetic storage of information...

From ACM News

Google Adds Posts From Its Social Network to Search Results

Google's popularity was built on its ability to help people find just the right Web pages. Then came the social Web, led by Facebook, where people go to see vast...

The Critics Rave... For Microsoft?
From ACM News

The Critics Rave... For Microsoft?

"Gorgeous," raves The Huffington Post. "Best-looking smartphone operating system in the industry," gushes Slate. "Far superior to most if not all the Android...

From ACM News

In M.t.a. App Contest, Many Buttons Worth Pushing

How do you create public-service software? Run a contest.

In Flop of H.p. Touchpad, an Object Lesson For the Tech Sector
From ACM News

In Flop of H.p. Touchpad, an Object Lesson For the Tech Sector

The TouchPad tablet from Hewlett-Packard was one of the most closely watched new gadgets of 2011—and quickly turned out to be the year’s biggest flop.

Teachers Resist High-Tech Push in Idaho Schools
From ACM News

Teachers Resist High-Tech Push in Idaho Schools

Ann Rosenbaum, a former military police officer in the Marines, does not shrink from a fight, having even survived a close encounter with a car bomb in Iraq.

From ACM News

Apropos Appropriation

One recent afternoon in the offices of the Midtown law firm run by David Boies and his powerful litigation partners, a large black clamshell box sat on a conference...

Logging In With a Touch or a Phrase (anything but a Password)
From ACM News

Logging In With a Touch or a Phrase (anything but a Password)

Passwords are a pain to remember. What if a quick wiggle of five fingers on a screen could log you in instead? Or speaking a simple phrase?

Making Science Leap From the Page
From ACM News

Making Science Leap From the Page

When a college textbook, "Principles of Biology," comes out from the Nature Publishing Group in January, one place it won't be is on the shelves of school bookstores...

Digital Data on Patients Raises Risk of Breaches
From ACM News

Digital Data on Patients Raises Risk of Breaches

One afternoon last spring, Micky Tripathi received a panicked call from an employee. Someone had broken into his car and stolen his briefcase and company laptop...

Speed of Light Lingers in Face of New Camera
From ACM News

Speed of Light Lingers in Face of New Camera

More than 70 years ago, the MIT electrical engineer Harold (Doc) Edgerton began using strobe lights to create remarkable photographs: a bullet stopped in flight...

A New Secret Weapon For Electronics Shoppers
From ACM News

A New Secret Weapon For Electronics Shoppers

There was a time not so long ago that buying a car was one of the worst shopping experiences. As you drove off the dealer's lot, you couldn't escape the feeling...

Drone Crash in Iran Reveals Secret ­.s. Surveillance Effort
From ACM News

Drone Crash in Iran Reveals Secret ­.s. Surveillance Effort

The stealth C.I.A. drone that crashed deep inside Iranian territory last week was part of a stepped-up surveillance program that has frequently sent the United...

Creating Artificial Intelligence Based on the Real Thing
From ACM News

Creating Artificial Intelligence Based on the Real Thing

Ever since the early days of modern computing in the 1940s, the biological metaphor has been irresistible.

Underwater Drones Giving More Eyes to Police Harbor Unit as Searches Grow
From ACM News

Underwater Drones Giving More Eyes to Police Harbor Unit as Searches Grow

With President Obama in town last week, things were busy for the New York Police Department's Harbor Unit. Federal security agents were disseminating lists of...

Software That Listens For Lies
From ACM News

Software That Listens For Lies

She looks as innocuous as Miss Marple, Agatha Christie’s famous detective.

A High-Stakes Search Continues for Silicon's Successor
From ACM News

A High-Stakes Search Continues for Silicon's Successor

In a cluttered chip-making laboratory on Stanford's campus, Max Shulaker is producing the world's smallest computer circuits by hand.

Dna Sequencing Caught in Deluge of Data
From ACM News

Dna Sequencing Caught in Deluge of Data

BGI, based in China, is the world’s largest genomics research institute, with 167 DNA sequencers producing the equivalent of 2,000 human genomes a day.

Photoshopped or Not? A Tool to Tell
From ACM News

Photoshopped or Not? A Tool to Tell

The photographs of celebrities and models in fashion advertisements and magazines are routinely buffed with a helping of digital polish.

From ACM News

Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It's Not Clear Why

Millions of Americans who got on a plane over the Thanksgiving holiday heard the admonition: "Please power down your electronic devices for takeoff."
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