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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.


How Google Remade the Computer Science Researcher
From ACM News

How Google Remade the Computer Science Researcher

John Wilkes spent a year negotiating his move to Google, and when he finally agreed to join the company, he still didn’t know what he’d be working on.

Scientists Figure Out What You See While You're Dreaming
From ACM News

Scientists Figure Out What You See While You're Dreaming

In today's science-so-weird-it-absolutely-must-be-science-fiction contest, we have a clear winner: a new study in which a team of scientists use an MRI machine,...

Mechanical Computer Flexes Its Muscle
From ACM News

Mechanical Computer Flexes Its Muscle

If we go way back to the 18th century, we find ourselves in the heyday of mechanics.

Paul Mockapetris, Inventor of the Domain Name System, Wants to Filter the Web
From ACM Opinion

Paul Mockapetris, Inventor of the Domain Name System, Wants to Filter the Web

Before the Internet, there was the ARPANet, a closed computer network that pretty much shut down on weekends and over holidays.

New Test For Computers: Grading Essays at College Level
From ACM News

New Test For Computers: Grading Essays at College Level

Imagine taking a college exam, and, instead of handing in a blue book and getting a grade from a professor a few weeks later, clicking the "send" button when you...

Gravity-Bending Find Leads to Kepler Meeting Einstein
From ACM News

Gravity-Bending Find Leads to Kepler Meeting Einstein

NASA's Kepler space telescope has witnessed the effects of a dead star bending the light of its companion star. The findings are among the first detections of this...

Electronic Warfare: The Ethereal Future of Battle
From ACM News

Electronic Warfare: The Ethereal Future of Battle

The voice of the foreign military commander is sinister and gloating.

Barons of Bitcoin: The Tokyo-Based Powerhouse that Controls the World's Virtual Money
From ACM News

Barons of Bitcoin: The Tokyo-Based Powerhouse that Controls the World's Virtual Money

The virtual currency Bitcoin isn't backed by any assets or central authority.

From Touch Displays to the Surface: A Brief History of Touchscreen Technology
From ACM Opinion

From Touch Displays to the Surface: A Brief History of Touchscreen Technology

It's hard to believe that just a few decades ago, touchscreen technology could only be found in science fiction books and film. These days, it's almost unfathomable...

A Leader of Obama's New Brain Initiative Explains Why We Need It
From ACM Opinion

A Leader of Obama's New Brain Initiative Explains Why We Need It

Neuroscientist William Newsome of Stanford University is one of two scientists tapped by President Obama to lead a new brain research initiative, which the administration...

Apple's iMessage Encryption Trips Up Feds' Surveillance
From ACM News

Apple's iMessage Encryption Trips Up Feds' Surveillance

Encryption used in Apple's iMessage chat service has stymied attempts by federal drug enforcement agents to eavesdrop on suspects' conversations, an internal government...

No More Robocalls: New Tech Automatically Hangs ­p On Robots
From ACM News

No More Robocalls: New Tech Automatically Hangs ­p On Robots

Every month, the Federal Trade Commission receives 200,000 complaints about illegal robocalls, making it the most common problem reported to the FTC.

Top Brain Scientist Is 'philosopher at Heart'
From ACM News

Top Brain Scientist Is 'philosopher at Heart'

d Boyden tilts his head downward, remaining still except for his eyes, which dart back and forth between blinks for a full 10 seconds. Then, as if coming up for...

Obama to ­nveil Initiative to Map the Human Brain
From ACM News

Obama to ­nveil Initiative to Map the Human Brain

President Obama on Tuesday will announce a broad new research initiative, starting with $100 million in 2014, to invent and refine new technologies to understand...

You'll Never Believe the Data 'wiped' Smartphones Store
From ACM Opinion

You'll Never Believe the Data 'wiped' Smartphones Store

Few things are more precious, intimate, and personal than the data on your smartphone.

Vcs Bet Big Bucks on Hadoop
From ACM Careers

Vcs Bet Big Bucks on Hadoop

Venture capitalists are pouring millions of dollars into startups that are betting their futures on the powerful data tool called Hadoop. The tool holds promise...

The Child, the Tablet, and the Developing Mind
From ACM Opinion

The Child, the Tablet, and the Developing Mind

I recently watched my sister perform an act of magic.

How the Science of Swarms Can Help ­s Fight Cancer and Predict the Future
From ACM News

How the Science of Swarms Can Help ­s Fight Cancer and Predict the Future

The first thing to hit Iain Couzin when he walked into the Oxford lab where he kept his locusts was the smell, like a stale barn full of old hay.

Bitcoin May Be the Global Economy's Last Safe Haven
From ACM News

Bitcoin May Be the Global Economy's Last Safe Haven

One of the oddest bits of news to emerge from the economic collapse of Cyprus is a corresponding rise in the value of Bitcoin, the Internet’s favorite, media-friendly...

Little-Known Surveillance Tool Raises Concerns By Judges, Privacy Activists
From ACM News

Little-Known Surveillance Tool Raises Concerns By Judges, Privacy Activists

Federal investigators in Northern California routinely used a sophisticated surveillance system to scoop up data from cellphones and other wireless devices in an...
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