Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
January 2013
From ACM Opinion
Vint Cerf: Internet Competition Has 'evaporated' Since Dial-p
Vint Cerf, co-creator of the Internet, said he is troubled by the prospect of companies like AT&T avoiding government regulation after the transition from traditional phone technology to all-IP networks.
From ACM TechNews
Revolutionary Paper Tablet Computer Is Thin and Flexible as Sheets of Paper
Researchers at Queen's University, Intel Labs, and Plastic Logic have developed PaperTab, a tablet computer that looks and feels like a sheet of paper. PaperTab is fully interactive with a flexible, high-resolution 10.7-inch…
From ACM TechNews
Researchers se Data From Traffic App to Identify High Frequency Accident Locations
Geosocial networks such as the global positioning system traffic app Waze could aid the police in their effort to deploy resources to high-frequency accident locations, including in real time, according to Ben-Gurion University…
From ACM News
U.s. Nuclear Lab Removes Chinese Tech Over Security Fears
A leading U.S. nuclear weapons laboratory recently discovered its computer systems contained some Chinese-made network switches and replaced at least two components because of national security concerns, a document shows.
From ACM News
It's All About the Genes and the Brain Machines
The amount of time and money needed to sequence genomes continued to fall in 2012, perhaps to no one’s surprise.
From ACM News
Feds Requiring 'black Boxes' in All Motor Vehicles
While many automakers have voluntarily installed the devices already, the National Transportation Safety Agency wants to hear your comments by February 11 on its proposal mandating them in all vehicles.
From ACM TechNews
China to Build Another 100-Petaflops Hybrid Supercomputer By 2014?
The Chinese Ministry of Science has commissioned a new 100-petaflop supercomputer to be used in space exploration and health care research, according to a VR-Zone report.
From ACM TechNews
Iran Designing Software For Controlled Social Media Access
Iran is designing intelligent software that would give its citizens limited access to social networking Web sites, according to a local media report.
From ACM TechNews
Computer Scientists Find Vulnerabilities in Cisco Voip Phones
Columbia University researchers have found significant vulnerabilities in Cisco voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) telephones, and have demonstrated how they can insert malicious code into a Cisco VoIP phone and start eavesdropping…
From ACM News
North Korean Students Show Google Chief How They Search Web
Students at North Korea's premier university have showed Google's executive chairman how they look for information online: they Google it.
From ACM News
Antarctic Irc: How Nasa's Flying Lab Stays Connected
Mars and Antarctica have a lot in common: They're both cold, inhospitable places with terrible broadband service.
From ACM Opinion
Better Than Human: Why Robots Will—and Must—take Our Jobs
It's hard to believe you'd have an economy at all if you gave pink slips to more than half the labor force.
From ACM News
All the World's a Game, and Business Is a Player
Congratulations. Reading the first paragraph of this article has earned you a badge.
From ACM News
Silent Skype Calls Can Hide Secret Messages
Got a secret message to send? Say it with silence.
From ACM TechNews
World's First Demonstration of Bit Commitment Performed at CQT
Computer scientists and quantum optics researchers at the University of Singapore's Center for Quantum Technologies have demonstrated secure bit commitment, a communication system for users who do not trust each other.
From ACM News
'hashtag' Is the 2012 Word of the Year
In its 23rd annual words of the year vote, the American Dialect Society voted "hashtag" as the word of the year for 2012. Hashtag refers to the practice used on Twitter for marking topics or making commentary by means of a hash…
From ACM TechNews
Google Glass Features and Apps Still in Flux
In an interview, Google Glass project leader Babak Parviz discusses where the wearable device is heading in the near future.
From ACM TechNews
Students Rush to Web Classes, but Profits May Be Much Later
Several approaches to online education are emerging, and universities across the United States are increasing their online offerings. However, none of these programs have developed a method for turning their growing popularity…
From ACM TechNews
Big Data, Java and Other Developer Skills: Top Hiring Priorities
Big data-related jobs ranked fourth among the top information technology skills hiring executives are looking for in 2013, according to a recent Dice.com survey of more than 1,000 tech-focused recruiters and hiring managers.
From ACM TechNews
Electronics Develop a Sixth Sense
This year's Consumer Electronics Show is being dominated by the term "context awareness," which describes technology that enables products to pick up clues to users' desires and respond without the need for commands.
From ACM TechNews
2013: The Year of the Internet of Things
Researchers at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization have shown how enabling technologies have rapidly matured and that the Internet of Things is ready for mainstream influence.
From ACM News
Billions and Billions of Planets
Look up at the night sky and you'll see stars, sure. But the sky is also filled with planets—billions and billions of them at least.
From ACM TechNews
Software Detects and Extracts Text From Within Video Frames, Makes It Searchable
National University of Singapore researchers have developed a method that automates the process of detecting text within video frames and extracting it from the background of a scene. The method could aid efforts to catalog…
From ACM TechNews
Best Tech Colleges Are Harder Than Ever to Get In
Early admission statistics indicate that 2013 will be another difficult year for high school seniors to get accepted into the leading undergraduate computer science and engineering programs.
From ACM Opinion
The Future of Medicine Is Now
In our era of instant gratification, the world of medicine seems like an outlier.
From ACM Careers
Communications Satellites Made Legal For Export
To the delight of American satellite makers, communications satellites—which orbit Earth to relay phone calls, link ships to shore and broadcast television programs—will become legal for civilian export under legislation that…
From ACM TechNews
To Thwart Hackers, Firms Salting Their Servers With Fake Data
Some companies are increasingly making use of controversial cybersecurity tactics involving the use of fake data on servers and Web sites meant to ensnare hackers.
From ACM News
Popular Office Phones Vulnerable to Eavesdropping Hack, Researchers Say
High-tech telephones common on many workplace desks in the U.S. can be hacked and turned into eavesdropping devices, researchers at Columbia University have discovered.
From ACM TechNews
C# Named Top Programming Language of 2012
Microsoft's C# programing language was ranked as the number one programming language of 2012, according to the PYPL PopularitY of Programming Language index.
From ACM News
Military Must Prep Now For 'mutant' Future, Researchers Warn
The U.S. military is already using, or fast developing, a wide range of technologies meant to give troops what California Polytechnic State University researcher Patrick Lin calls "mutant powers." Greater strength and endurance…