Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
October 2010
From ACM News
Beno
Benoît B. Mandelbrot, a maverick mathematician who developed an innovative theory of roughness and applied it to physics, biology, finance and many other fields, died on Thursday in Cambridge, Mass. He was 85.
From ACM TechNews
The Second Coming of Tsubame
Tokyo Tech's TSUBAME 2.0 will officially be named the fastest Japanese supercomputer next month, with a raw performance of 2.4 petaflops that surpasses the total floating point operations per second capability of all other supercomputers…
From ACM TechNews
Faster Websites, More Reliable Data
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have developed TxCache, a database caching system that eliminates certain types of asymmetric data retrieval while making database caches easier to program.
From ACM TechNews
Parallel Java Programming System Launched By niversity
Researchers have launched a project to develop a Deterministic Parallel Java implementation, and say it would be the first implementation to guarantee deterministic semantics without run-time checks for general-purpose, object…
From ACM TechNews
Computational Power Against Noise
The Swiss Federal Office for the Environment is working with Empa's Acoustics and Noise Control Laboratory to develop a computer model to simulate noise levels along the Swiss rail network.
From ACM TechNews
Internet Security Plan Under Review Would Alert Users to Hacker Takeover
An Australian program allowing Internet service providers to alert customers if their computers are commandeered by hackers and restrict online access if they do not correct the problem is being considered by the U.S. government…
From ACM News
Will Apple's Culture Hurt the Iphone?
If you want a smartphone powered by Google's Android software, you could get Motorola's Droid 2 or its cousin, the Droid X. Then there is the Droid Incredible from HTC, the Fascinate from Samsung and the Ally from LG.
From ACM News
$5 Million Dod Grant Supports 'lab-on-a-Chip' to Monitor Brain-Injured Patients
The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded a $5 million grant to The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and the University of Cincinnati to further develop a "lab-on-a-chip" device used for monitoring patients suffering…
From ACM News
Atomic-Level Manufacturing with Every Atom in its Proper Place
The long-held dream of creating atomically precise three-dimensional structures in a manufacturing environment is approaching reality, according to the top scientist at a Texas company making tools aimed at that ambitious goal…
From ACM News
How Google Tested Google Instant
In a world of data-obsessed number-crunching engineers, Google's John Boyd is the people person.
From ACM News
Campaign Builds to Construct Babbage Analytical Engine
A U.K. campaign to build a truck-sized, prototype computer first envisaged in 1837 is gathering steam.
From ACM News
Nist Converts the Color of Single Photons Emitted By Quantum Dots
Researchers at NIST have demonstrated for the first time the conversion of single photons produced by a true quantum source to a near-visible wavelength, which may aid the development of hybrid quantum systems.
From ACM News
Facebook in Privacy Breach
Top-ranked applications transmit personal IDs, a Journal investigation finds.
From ACM News
Nist Releases 2009 Department of Commerce Technology Transfer Report
NIST has released the 2009 technology transfer report, an annual report summarizing the technology transfer activities and achievements of the U.S. Department of Commerce's scientific research agencies.
From ACM News
.s. Companies Are at Risk of Spying By Their Own Workers
Huang Kexue, federal authorities say, is a new kind of spy. For five years, Mr. Huang was a scientist at a Dow Chemical lab in Indiana, studying ways to improve insecticides. But before he was fired in 2008, Mr. Huang began…
From ICT Results
Robots 'think' With Their Hands
Actions speak louder than words, particularly if you are a robot. At least that is the theory proposed by the PACO-PLUS project, which aims to develop a new approach to robotic cognition based on the actions they can perform…
From ACM News
Inside the Lawsuit That Could Ground Deadly CIA Predator Drones
A new lawsuit alleges that Predator drone targeting software was pirated, and emails suggest the CIA knew it was sub-par.
From ACM News
Batteries Smaller Than a Grain of Salt
Researchers in California are aiming to create some of the tiniest batteries on Earth, the largest of which would be no bigger than a grain of salt. These tiny energy storage devices could one day be used to power the electronics…
From ACM News
Hackers Turn Attention to Corporate Data Theft
Financial services and professional services are the most vulnerable to information theft, with four out of 10 companies reporting some sort of loss or attack in the past 12 months, the Kroll annual survey of corporate fraud…
From ACM News
John Sculley: The Secrets of Steve Jobs' Success
In 1983, Steve Jobs wooed Pepsi executive John Sculley to Apple with one of the most famous lines in business: "Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?"
From ACM TechNews
Tech Hiring p Almost 50 Percent Since 2009, Dice Says
A recent Dice report found that the number of full-time U.S. technology jobs has increased 46 percent since last year, while contractors' hourly rates are rising. The total number of tech jobs rose from 51,439 to 70,798 in the…
From ACM TechNews
Ecs Research Advances Identification of People By Their Ears
A new biometric technique developed by computer scientists at the University of Southampton can automatically identify people by their ears. The technique uses light rays to highlight circular and tubular structures.
From ACM TechNews
Progress Is Slow on Cybersecurity Goals, Gao Reports
The White House's failure to designate roles and responsibilities to federal agencies has impeded efforts to carry out President Obama's strategy for securing computer networks, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office…
From ACM TechNews
Nsf Graduate Fellowships Now Recognize STEM Education as Valid Research Field
Ten years after the U.S. National Science Foundation began funding the Graduate STEM Fellows in K-12 Education Program, NSF has formally recognized that improving STEM education is a legitimate research activity for a graduate…
From ACM News
Cell Phone Is 'gadget of Choice' For Americans
U.S. consumers crave their gadgets, but the cell phone rules them all, according to a new Pew Internet study.
From ACM TechNews
Darpa Seeks to Shape Young Minds
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has launched an initiative to increase the number of computer science graduates by using a variety of online tools and educational strategies to guide interested middle and high…
From ACM TechNews
India Greenlights Secure OS Project
India plans to develop its own operating system for sensitive applications. V.K. Saraswat of India's Defense Research and Development Organization says the development of India's own OS source code is key to securing the country's…
From ACM TechNews
Malware Aimed at Social Networks May Steal Your Reality
A research paper predicts a new generation of malware that will target and extract information about relationships and record patterns of behavior in real-world social networks, a technique more dangerous and harder to detect…
From ACM News
Scvngr's Hunt: Retailers Who See Dollars in Game Dynamics
Can location-based games for smart phones boost foot traffic at stores?
From ACM News
Cyberwars Already nderway, With No Geneva Conventions
Cyber attacks of various sorts have been around for decades. University at Buffalo military ethicist Randall R. Dipert says we have good reason to worry, because cyber attacks are almost entirely unaddressed by traditional morality…