Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
October 2009
From ACM TechNews
A View From the 2009 European Computer Science Summit
A recurring theme at Informatics Europe's recent European Computer Science Summit 2009, which took place Oct. 8-9 in Paris, was the concern that the European scientific community does not appreciate computing as a research discipline…
From ACM TechNews
The Web's Inventor Regrets One Small Thing
Governments around the world have put more of their data on the Web this year than previous years, and the United States and Britain have led the way, said Sir Tim Berners-Lee in an interview at a recent symposium on the future…
From ACM TechNews
Computer Program Proves Shakespeare Didn't Work Alone, Researchers Claim
An expert on William Shakespeare at the University of London has used plagiarism-detection software to determine that Shakespeare co-wrote the unattributed play The Reign of King Edward III.
From ACM TechNews
Why Desktop Multiprocessing Has Speed Limits
Despite the mainstreaming of multicore processors for desktops, not every desktop application can be rewritten for multicore frameworks, which means some bottlenecks will persist.
From ACM TechNews
Machine Learning by Watching and Listening
A team led by University of Pennsylvania professor Ben Taskar has demonstrated that computers can be educated to associate the content of video clips with existing descriptions of characters and actions, and then deduce information…
From ACM TechNews
Computing Project Combats Card Counting
A cost-effective computer system for identifying card counters and detecting dealer errors has been developed by a recent graduate of the University of Dundee. The Blackjack tracking system makes use of algorithms that employ…
From ACM News
Rewiring Cities For a More Convenient Future
Over the next few years, several Chinese cities aim to add broadband and other services that establish them as "e-cities" or "digital cities." The cities will use a combination of communications and computing infrastructure to…
From ACM News
$2 Million Grant to Fund Research on Wireless Patient Monitoring
A team of wireless researchers and doctors from Rice University and The Methodist Hospital Research Institute have won a $2 million federal grant to design and test next-generation wireless platforms and remote patient monitoring…
From ACM TechNews
Risky Business
A panel of researchers made a case for funding "high risk, high reward" research during a recent hearing of the U.S. House Science and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Science Education. The panelists told the subcommittee…
From ICT Results
3D Cmos Camera For Your Mobile?
European researchers have created a world-leading camera in CMOS that can record photons at a million times a second. Best of all, it will be really cheap to manufacture, offering applications in consumer products, entertainment…
From ACM News
Industry Body Forming to Address IT Graduate Skills
A pilot group within the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is months away from creating a global IT education-focused body to address the needs of the industry.
The Open Web Education Alliance (OWEA), which is due to be launched…From ACM News
Training to Climb an Everest of Digital Data
It is a rare criticism of elite American university students that they do not think big enough. But that is exactly the complaint from some of the largest technology companies and the federal government.
At the heart of this…From ACM TechNews
.s. Must Focus on Protecting Critical Computer Networks From Cyber Attack
A study from the RAND Corp. suggests the United States should focus on defending critical civilian and military computer networks from cyberattack, but does not need to make strategic cyberwarfare a priority investment.
From ACM TechNews
CLA Center Gets $4.5 Million For Role in National Earthquake Simulation Network
UCLA's earthquake center will receive $4.5 million of a $105 million grant given by the U.S. National Science Foundation to Purdue University to spearhead a national earthquake simulation network.
From ACM TechNews
Trinity's Humanitarian Open Source Software Project Snags Major Grant
The U.S. National Science Foundation has awarded a two-year, $800,000 grant to the Humanitarian FOSS Project (HFOSS), a collaborative three-college program that provides free open source software (FOSS) to community educational…
From ACM TechNews
Educational Alliance Gets Grant to Help Students With Disabilities Earn STEM Degrees
A $3 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation will help the Alabama Alliance for Students with Disabilities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in its efforts to prepare students with disabilities…
From ACM News
IBM and ACM-Icpc Announce 'battle of the Brains' Software Competition
Student computer programmers from universities around the world will battle for a spot to attend the World Finals of the 34th annual ACM-International Collegiate Contest (ICPC), sponsored by IBM. Referred to as the Battle of,…
From ACM News
Radio Waves 'see' Through Walls
University of Utah engineers showed that a wireless network of radio transmitters can track people moving behind solid walls. The system could help police, firefighters and others nab intruders, and rescue hostages, fire victims…
From ICT Results
Video Camera That Records at the Speed of Thought
European researchers who created an ultra-fast, extremely high-resolution video camera chip have enabled dozens of medical applications, including one scenario that can record 'thought' processes traveling along neurons.
From ACM TechNews
It to Create 2.8 Million Jobs in the Asia Pacific By 2013
Nearly three million jobs are expected to be created by the Asia-Pacific region's information technology (IT) industry by 2013, according to a new IDC study, which also projects 4.8 percent growth in IT spending each year for…
From ACM TechNews
Prototype Security Software Blocks Ddos Attacks
Auburn University researchers have developed a software filter that protects computers against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks without bogging down the computer's CPU and memory. The identity-based privacy-protected…
From ACM TechNews
Expeditions in Computing Continue to Break New Ground
The U.S. National Science Foundation's directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering recently created three new Expeditions in Computing. Each of these projects will receive $2 million in funding per year…
From ACM TechNews
Group Develops a Tool For Sharing Household Multimedia Resources
Computing researchers at the Ontological Engineering Group at the Polytechnic University of Madrid's School of Computing have collaborated with the private companies iSOCO and Telefonica I+D to develop software for sharing personal…
From ACM TechNews
FCC Chief Promises Industry More Spectrum and Net Neutrality Rules
Despite recent moves by several wireless companies to open their networks, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski says that more rules are needed to require them to provide equal access to the Internet…
From ACM News
Household Robots Do Not Protect sers' Security and Privacy
People are increasingly using household robots for chores, communication, entertainment and companionship. But safety and privacy risks of information-gathering objects that move around the home are not yet adequately addressed…
From ACM News
ACM Group Taps Multimedia Visionary for Top Award
At the ACM International Conference on Multimedia in Beijing, China, the ACM Special Interest Group on Multimedia (SIGMM) will present its prestigious technical achievement award to Lawrence A. Rowe, president of FX Palo Alto…
From ICT Results
Creating Resilience For Vehicular Applications
Automotive communications are a major element in the near future of vehicle technology, with applications ranging from variable road sign visualization, to accident warnings and driver-support systems which automatically reduce…
From ACM News
Obama Awards National Science, Technology Medals
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama linked scientific discovery to helping the struggling economy Wednesday as he honored those who invented batteries for implanted defibrillators, mapped the human genetic code, and made global…
From ACM News
.s. Begins Antitrust Inquiry of I.b.m.
The Justice Department has started a preliminary investigation into whether I.B.M. has abused its monopoly position in the market for mainframe computers, which remain vital to many of the world’s largest businesses.
This month…From ACM TechNews
Terrorists Nearing Ability to Launch Big Cyberattacks Against .S.
U.S. computer networks are most threatened by terrorist organizations that may purchase software code from cybercrooks to hack into sensitive platforms, a possibility that may be at hand within a few years, federal information…