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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.


North Korea: On the Net in World's Most Secretive Nation
From ACM News

North Korea: On the Net in World's Most Secretive Nation

There's a curious quirk on every official North Korean Website: a piece of programming that must be included in each page's code.

Selling Flak Jackets in the Cyberwars
From ACM News

Selling Flak Jackets in the Cyberwars

When the Israeli army and Hamas trade virtual blows in cyberspace, or when hacker groups like Anonymous rise from the digital ether, or when WikiLeaks dumps a trove...

There's So Much Data that We're Running Out of Words to Describe It
From ACM News

There's So Much Data that We're Running Out of Words to Describe It

The world is producing and storing data at such a rate that the day isn't far off when we will literally no longer have a proper way of describing it.

Online Learning Tool Brings 'the Crowd' Into Homework Assignments
From ACM TechNews

Online Learning Tool Brings 'the Crowd' Into Homework Assignments

Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have developed Caesar, a computer system designed to provide students with feedback on their homework assignments...

Mind-Controlled Robotic Arm Gets Closer Than Ever to Human Limb
From ACM News

Mind-Controlled Robotic Arm Gets Closer Than Ever to Human Limb

Researchers in the United States have developed a robotic arm controlled directly by thought with a level of agility closer than ever to a normal human limb.

Hacking the Human Brain: The Next Domain of Warfare
From ACM News

Hacking the Human Brain: The Next Domain of Warfare

It's been fashionable in military circles to talk about cyberspace as a "fifth domain" for warfare, along with land, space, air, and sea.

Google Gets a Second Brain, Changing Everything About Search
From ACM News

Google Gets a Second Brain, Changing Everything About Search

In the 1983 sci-fi/comedy flick The Man with Two Brains, Steve Martin played Michael Hfuhruhurr, a neurosurgeon who marries one of his patients but then falls in...

A Brooklyn Protester Pleads Guilty After His Twitter Posts Sink His Case
From ACM News

A Brooklyn Protester Pleads Guilty After His Twitter Posts Sink His Case

In the end, the tweets told the tale.

This Real-Life Pixar Lamp Cutely Refuses to Let You Turn It Off
From ACM Opinion

This Real-Life Pixar Lamp Cutely Refuses to Let You Turn It Off

Design-class projects have come a long way. That's the only conclusion I can draw from this brilliant video of a robotic desk lamp that squeaks, swivels, and mugs...

Robots Ride the Ocean Blue
From ACM News

Robots Ride the Ocean Blue

When superstorm Sandy was rampaging across the Caribbean and mid-Atlantic, heralded by gale force winds, torrential rain, and surging tides, people rushed to get...

Microsoft Retools in Fight Against China Pirates
From ACM News

Microsoft Retools in Fight Against China Pirates

For pirates in China, where illegal software sales greatly outmatch legal ones, a new version of Windows typically means a new treasure ship to plunder.

China Looks to Lead the Internet of Things
From ACM News

China Looks to Lead the Internet of Things

When architect James Law looks in the mirror each morning his reflection is not all that greets him—he can also see the weather report, email messages, and his...

25-Gpu Cluster Cracks Every Standard Windows Password in <6 Hours
From ACM News

25-Gpu Cluster Cracks Every Standard Windows Password in <6 Hours

A password-cracking expert has unveiled a computer cluster that can cycle through as many as 350 billion guesses per second.

Can Disguises Fool Surveillance Technology?
From ACM News

Can Disguises Fool Surveillance Technology?

Stick on a fake moustache. Add some glasses. Dye your hair. And perhaps pop on a hat.

Why Google Maps Is Better Than Apple Maps
From ACM Opinion

Why Google Maps Is Better Than Apple Maps

There's a simple answer: people.

7 Secret Ways America's Stealth Armada Stays Off the Radar
From ACM News

7 Secret Ways America's Stealth Armada Stays Off the Radar

It's no secret how America's stealth warplanes primarily evade enemy radars.

More Radar, Less Radio for Safer Takeoffs And Landings
From ACM News

More Radar, Less Radio for Safer Takeoffs And Landings

US Airways Flight 27 was roaring down Runway 15R at Boston's Logan Airport when a pickup truck suddenly pulled into its path.

Learning to Accept, and Master, a $110,000 Mechanical Arm
From ACM News

Learning to Accept, and Master, a $110,000 Mechanical Arm

After the explosion, Cpl. Sebastian Gallegos awoke to see the October sun glinting through the water, an image so lovely he thought he was dreaming.

China Developing GPS-on-a-Shoestring Plan
From ACM News

China Developing GPS-on-a-Shoestring Plan

When it comes to satellite navigation systems, everybody's gotta have one.

An Accelerometer So Good That Only Quantum Mechanics Limits It
From ACM News

An Accelerometer So Good That Only Quantum Mechanics Limits It

We take it for granted now, but the fact that you can flip your phone from portrait to landscape mode depends on accelerometers. As everyone knows, though, the...
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