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 TechNews
Time For .s. to Assert Itself on the Internet, Report Says
The United States should apply its interests in overseeing the Internet's infrastructure because it plays such a crucial role in the country's national security and economic well-being, according to a recent Council on Foreign…
From ACM TechNews
Researcher Finds Top Reasons for Facebook Unfriending
University of Colorado Denver's Christopher Sibona surveyed more than 1,500 Facebook users on Twitter and found that the number one reason for unfriending is frequent, unimportant posts. The second reason was posting about polarizing…
From ACM News
Planar Battery Could Help Integrate Solar, Wind Power Into the Grid
A flat sodium-nickel chloride battery could deliver 30 percent more power at lower temperatures than its cylindrical counterpart, making it a viable alternative to lithium-ion batteries for storing wind and solar power on the…
From ACM News
Web Code Offers New Ways To See What sers Do Online
Worries over Internet privacy have spurred lawsuits, conspiracy theories and consumer anxiety as marketers and others invent new ways to track computer users on the Internet. But the alarmists have not seen anything yet.
From ACM News
Smart Phone Game Helps Players Make Healthier Food Choices
A Georgia Tech study has shown that playing health-related video games on a mobile device can help adults learn to live more healthfully by making smart diet choices.
From ACM News
Chinese and Saudis Lead Way in Internet Use
People in China and the Middle East are the busiest and most enthusiastic internet users, a study of the world’s online habits has revealed.
From ACM News
Eu Calls Stuxnet 'paradigm Shift' As U.s. Responds More Mildly
While official U.S. response has been comparatively mild, the European Union's cybersecurity agency says Stuxnet represents a "paradigm shift" in critical infrastructure threats and that current defense philosophies need to…
From ACM News
Google Cars Drive Themselves, in Traffic
Anyone driving the twists of Highway 1 between San Francisco and Los Angeles recently may have glimpsed a Toyota Prius with a curious funnel-like cylinder on the roof. Harder to notice was that the person at the wheel was…
From ACM News
Artificial Intelligence: Helping Man Explore the Cosmos
Man's first 50 years of spaceflight may have been fuelled by human ingenuity but it is artificial intelligence that will play an increasingly important role in future expeditions into the cosmos.
From ACM News
Electronics Breakthrough Could Revolutionize Memory Chips
Rice University graduate student Jun Yao's research with silicon-oxide circuits could be a game-changer in nanoelectronics.
From ACM News
The Smartphone's Shape-Shifting Future
The smartphone of the future might lose its sleek, solid shell to become a shape-shifter, able to alter its appearance to signal an alert in situations where visual and audible cues won't do.
From ACM News
Large Study Shows Females Are Equal to Males in Math Skills
The mathematical skills of boys and girls, as well as men and women, are substantially equal, according to a new examination of existing studies in the current online edition of journal Psychological Bulletin.
From ACM News
Computer Beats Human at Shogi, Japanese Chess, For First Time
A computer has beaten a human at shogi, otherwise known as Japanese chess, for the first time. Shogi is more complex than western chess, offering about 10224 possible games, compared to 10123 possible games for western chess…
From ACM News
An Operating System to Run It All
Intel's MeeGo will let apps span tablets, phones, and TVs.
From ACM News
When Glass Touch Screens Feel Like Sandpaper
Glass screens that can feel the touch of your fingers are all the rage these days. You'll find them in all kinds of gadgets, from smartphones to tablet computers.
From ACM TechNews
Computer Scientists Cry Foul Over Data Problems in Nrc Rankings
The National Research Council's use of a computerized methodology to rank computing research doctoral programs at the behest of the Computing Research Association has provoked a backlash by computer scientists.
From ACM TechNews
Computer Science Education Getting Short Shrift, Study Finds
Despite the expanding role of computing in society and the economy, quality computer science education is being "pushed out of the K-12 education system in the United States," according to a new report from the Computing in the…
From ACM TechNews
Innovation Mandate: Has America Lost Its Innovation Edge?
There are worries that U.S. high-tech global competitiveness is eroding because, among other things, intellectual property devised by U.S. companies is leaking overseas, either though the outsourcing of R&D and design work, or…
From ACM TechNews
Aircraft Software Puts Greener, Quieter Flights on the Horizon
University of Manchester researcher Antonio Filippone has developed software that accurately predicts the amount of carbon dioxide emissions airlines release into the atmosphere. The software is available for download for use…
From ACM TechNews
Multifunctional Smart Sensors and High-Power Devices on a Computer Chip
Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a process for integrating gallium nitride (GaN) on silicon to create a hybrid computer chip. This would allow GaN sensors and devices to be directly integrated into…
From ACM TechNews
Blind Inventors Revolutionize Computer Access
A visually impaired team at Queensland University of Technology has developed NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA), an open source screen reader program. NVDA has a synthetic voice read the words on a computer screen as a cursor…
From ACM TechNews
Keeping a Watch on the World
Led by University of Nottingham researchers, the Earth Observation Technology Cluster will monitor the Earth's landscape and the elemental forces that mold it by for example measuring volcanic gas emissions, mapping environments…
From ACM News
Linkedin Mines Twitter Streams
The LinkedIn social network has launched in limited beta a service that lets users glean relevant information from the massive volume of Twitter streams. Called Signal, the new feature will be rolled out gradually over the…
From ACM News
Computer Model Helps Pakistan's Flood Disaster Efforts
New computer model software is being used to simulate Pakistan's flooding, estimate the drawdown of the floodwaters, and predict how long it will take the waters to recede.
From ACM News
Body Organs Can Send Status pdates to Your Cellphone
For cardiac patients such as myself, too much excitement can be a shocking experience. If my heart rate gets too high the implanted defibrillator in my chest can think I'm having a heart attack and give me a friendly remedial…
From ACM News
Ornl Has Key Role in Doe Cybersecurity For Energy Effort
With the transition to a smart grid comes new opportunities for hackers, but researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are working to stay at least one step ahead.
From ACM News
Ban Naughty Countries From the Net: Former Intelligence Chief
Countries in Eastern Europe and Africa that harbor cyber criminals should be locked out of the global Internet until their governments do something to reduce the threats, the former chief technology officer at the U.S. National…
From ACM TechNews
Sick PCs Should Be Banned From the Net Says Microsoft
Microsoft researcher Scott Charney recently presented an Internet security proposal that requires users to present a "health certificate" to prove that their PCs have all of their software patches and are using a firewall that…
From ACM TechNews
Llnl Expertise Supports Establishment of Energy Efficiency Hub in Philadelphia
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is collaborating with Pennsylvania State University and several other public and private partners to launch the Greater Philadelphia Innovation Center for Energy Efficiency Buildings.
From ACM News
Android Invasion
How a tiny piece of software created by a few Google engineers is ushering in the mobile revolution and reshaping the fortunes of the world's biggest tech companies.