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subjectPerformance And Reliability
authorThe Washington Post
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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.


Twitter Is Surprisingly Accurate at Predicting Unemployment
From ACM News

Twitter Is Surprisingly Accurate at Predicting Unemployment

Twitter is full of relative junk: tweets you don't want to read from people you're not all that interested in knowing, almost all of them chiming in on topics (see ...

A Veteran Programmer Explains How the Stock Market Became "Rigged"
From ACM Opinion

A Veteran Programmer Explains How the Stock Market Became "Rigged"

A small group of financial firms are using their technological superiority to skim the top off the market, Michael Lewis claims in his new book "Flash Boys."

In New Case, Supreme Court Revisits the Question of Software Patents
From ACM News

In New Case, Supreme Court Revisits the Question of Software Patents

If you write a book or a song, you can get copyright protection for it. If you invent a pill or a better mousetrap, you can patent it.

Why Mh370 Could Still Talk to Satellites After Its Other Comms Went Dark
From ACM News

Why Mh370 Could Still Talk to Satellites After Its Other Comms Went Dark

It's the latest mystery in the hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: Was a key communications system on board the plane disabled before or after the co-pilot calmly...

Obama's Big Plan to Protect Businesses from Cyberattack
From ACM News

Obama's Big Plan to Protect Businesses from Cyberattack

It's been a long time coming, and some experts say it isn't enough.

New Surveillance Technology Can Track Everyone in an Area for Several Hours at a Time
From ACM News

New Surveillance Technology Can Track Everyone in an Area for Several Hours at a Time

Shooter and victim were just a pair of pixels, dark specks on a gray streetscape. 

One Day an Elevator Might Ask—are You Getting On?
From ACM News

One Day an Elevator Might Ask—are You Getting On?

Microsoft researchers have enabled elevators in a company building to detect the likelihood that a person walking by will want to board it.

This Company Sold Google a Quantum Computer. Here's How It Works.
From ACM Opinion

This Company Sold Google a Quantum Computer. Here's How It Works.

I thought it would be interesting to hear from D-Wave, a start-up that has raised more than $130 million in venture capital and employs over 100 people.

Confused About the Nsa's Quantum Computing Project? This MIT Computer Scientist Can Explain.
From ACM Opinion

Confused About the Nsa's Quantum Computing Project? This MIT Computer Scientist Can Explain.

My Washington Post colleagues have reported on a National Security Agency program to to build a quantum computer.

The Head of Google X Thinks We're All Too Risk-Averse
From ACM Opinion

The Head of Google X Thinks We're All Too Risk-Averse

Google X is responsible for some of Google's most literally fantastic projects: Google Glass, self-driving cars, gigantic inflatable balloons that beam Internet...

Here's What the Morris Worm Prosecutor Thinks About Aaron Swartz
From ACM Opinion

Here's What the Morris Worm Prosecutor Thinks About Aaron Swartz

It was 25 years ago Tuesday that The New York Times first named 23-year-old Cornell graduate student Robert Morris as the culprit behind what became known as the...

How a Grad Student Trying to Build the First Botnet Brought the Internet to Its Knees
From ACM Careers

How a Grad Student Trying to Build the First Botnet Brought the Internet to Its Knees

On November 3, 1988, 25 years ago Sunday, people woke up to find the Internet had changed forever.

Here's Why the Feds Didn't Have More Skilled Programmers For Healthcare.gov
From ACM Opinion

Here's Why the Feds Didn't Have More Skilled Programmers For Healthcare.gov

HealthCare.gov, the Web site at the center of President Obama's federal health insurance exchange, has been plagued with problems since it opened for business Oct...

Here's Everything You Should Know About Nsa Address Book Spying in One Faq
From ACM News

Here's Everything You Should Know About Nsa Address Book Spying in One Faq

A new report from The Washington Post, based on documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden, reveals that the National Security Agency is collecting hundreds...

Nsa Chief Defends Collecting Americans' Data
From ACM Opinion

Nsa Chief Defends Collecting Americans' Data

The head of the National Security Agency delivered a vigorous defense Wednesday of his agency's collection of Americans' phone records for counterterrorism purposes...

The Skies. The Limits.
From ACM News

The Skies. The Limits.

Long ago, in a dreamier era, space stations were imagined as portals to the heavens.

The Nsa Sponsors 'cyber Operations' Training at ­niversities. Here's What Students Learn.
From ACM News

The Nsa Sponsors 'cyber Operations' Training at ­niversities. Here's What Students Learn.

Last week, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh became one of the latest—and most prestigious—schools to partner with the National Security Agency on a program...

The New York Times Web Site Was Taken Down By Dns Hijacking. Here's What That Means.
From ACM News

The New York Times Web Site Was Taken Down By Dns Hijacking. Here's What That Means.

Just weeks after The Washington Post had our own run-in with the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA), the New York Times is down, and the SEA is claiming responsibility...

Google Maps Trained ­S to Follow Directions. Now Its Former Developer Wants ­S to Explore.
From ACM Opinion

Google Maps Trained ­S to Follow Directions. Now Its Former Developer Wants ­S to Explore.

It's not evident from the way his hair flops casually down and across, nor from his equally relaxed demeanor, but John Hanke is one of Google's most important idea...

Here's What You Find When You Scan the Entire Internet in an Hour
From ACM News

Here's What You Find When You Scan the Entire Internet in an Hour

Until recently, scanning the entire Internet, with its billions of unique addresses, was a slow and labor-intensive process.
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