Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
October 2012
From ACM TechNews
Preparing For Cyber War, Without a Map
The U.S. government's retaliatory capability in response to cyberattacks on critical infrastructure is limited by a dearth of technology.
From ACM TechNews
Another Advance on the Road to Spintronics
Researchers say spintronic technology could be used to make dilute magnetic semiconductors by adding a small amount of magnetic atoms to normal semiconductors, rendering them ferromagnetic.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Develop Fast Image Processing For Industry
Researchers at Sweden's Lulea University of Technology have developed LTU-CUDA, software for fast image-processing tasks.
From ACM TechNews
First Micro-Structure Atlas of the Human Brain Completed
European researchers working on the CONNECT project recently created the first atlas of white-matter microstructures in the human brain.
From ACM News
ist Conference Presents Prototype Interface Projects
User interfaces have moved beyond mice and keyboards to touch screens, voice controls, and visual inputs like the Microsoft Kinect as was demonstrated at the recent 25th ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology…
From ACM Careers
In Des Moines, Turning Off Beacon Unleashes a Storm
A Des Moines television station has turned off the lights on the city's Weather Beacon, igniting a tempest among residents who were raised to look downtown for a forecast.
From ACM News
One Step Closer to a Brain
A few months ago Google shared with us another challenge it had taken on. It wasn't as fanciful as a driverless car or as geekily sexy as augmented reality glasses, but in the end, it could be bigger than both.
From ACM Opinion
3 Questions: A Web For Everyone
During the opening ceremonies of this summer’s Olympic games in London, a musical performance culminated with a stage-set house rising into the rafters to reveal Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, sitting at…
From ACM News
Steven Sinofsky: Microsoft's Controversial Mr. Windows 8
Two years ago, Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie was working on a file synchronization technology that would make stashing and grabbing pictures, documents, and music from any device a cinch.
From ACM TechNews
Beyond Bieber: Twitter Improves Student Learning
MSU researchers have found that Twitter can be an effective tool to improve student learning.
From ACM TechNews
Internet Anti-Censorship Tools Are Being Overwhelmed By Demand
The overwhelming popularity of U.S.-backed programs to thwart online censorship is limiting access to the tools in repressive countries because demand is creating bottlenecks and there is insufficient funding to expand capacity…
From ACM TechNews
'hackathon' Events Proliferate For Student Programmers
A proliferation in hackathon events for student coders is occurring as tech firms seek talent and students look for hands-on experience.
From ACM TechNews
Magic Finger Device Suggests New Day For Calling p Content
Researchers at Autodesk Research, the University of Alberta, and the University of Toronto have presented a new device called Magic Finger, which enables a user's gestures to control smartphones or tablets.
From ACM Careers
At Technology High School, Goal Isn't to Finish in 4 Years
Flakes of green paint are peeling from the third-floor windowsills.
From ACM News
Zero-Day Attacks Are Meaner, More Rampant Than We Ever Thought
Computer attacks that target undisclosed vulnerabilities are more common and last longer than many security researchers previously thought. The finding comes from a new study that tracked the number and duration of so-called…
From ACM TechNews
A Complex Logic Circuit Made From Bacterial Genes
Washington University in St. Louis professor Tae Seok Moon hopes to develop biological circuits made from genes and regulatory proteins.
From ACM News
Google Throws Open Doors to Its Top-Secret Data Center
If you're looking for the beating heart of the digital age—a physical location where the scope, grandeur, and geekiness of the kingdom of bits become manifest—you could do a lot worse than Lenoir, North Carolina.
From ACM News
Mars Soil Sample Delivered for Analysis Inside Rover
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has ingested its first solid sample into an analytical instrument inside the rover, a capability at the core of the two-year mission.
From ACM News
Devices Go Nose to Nose With Bomb-Sniffer Dogs
Denis Spitzer wants to beat dogs at their own game.
From ACM TechNews
Should High Schools Teach Big Data?
TechAmerica Foundation's Big Data Commission aims to prepare the United States for future high-tech jobs, especially those focused around data.
From ACM TechNews
Image Analysis May Allow Pathologists to Expedite Diagnoses
Pennsylvania State University researchers are using image recognition technology to develop an automated method of classifying histopathological images.
From ACM TechNews
Robots That Perceive the World Like Humans
UPV/EHU-University researchers are studying how to improve robot behavior by means of perception models that are closer to those of humans.
From ACM Careers
Ftc Offers $50,000 to Robocall Killers
The Federal Trade Commission is offering a cash reward of $50,000 to whoever develops a solution to block robotic calling on both landlines and mobiles.
From ACM TechNews
Women Use Emoticons More Than Men in Text Messaging :-)
Rice University researchers have found that women are twice as likely as men to use emoticons in text messages.
From ACM TechNews
The Internet of Things Will Transform Our Everyday
VTT researchers have developed several ubiquitous computing technologies, such as situation awareness for portable devices, mixed and augmented reality, and interoperability solutions enabling devices made by different vendors…
From ACM Opinion
Science in an Election Year
More than a dozen science and engineering organizations worked with ScienceDebate.org to draft 14 top science questions to ask the two main presidential candidates this election year.
From ACM News
Graphene Could sher in Flexible, ltra-Slim Gadgets
You've probably never heard of graphene, a carbon-based material, but it might be stuffed into your pocket or wrapped around your wrist in the not-too-distant future.
From ACM News
Computer Viruses Are 'rampant' on Medical Devices in Hospitals
Computerized hospital equipment is increasingly vulnerable to malware infections, according to participants in a recent government panel. These infections can clog patient-monitoring equipment and other software systems, at times…
From ACM News
Remembering Jon Postel—and the Day He Hijacked the Internet
One January day in 1998, Jon Postel emailed eight of the 12 organizations that handled the address books for the entire internet.
From ACM News
Who Controls the Internet?
Have you ever noticed that wherever you are in the world, every telephone keypad looks the same? Or wondered why satellites don't crash into each other? Or why you dial 64 to reach New Zealand, but 65 for Singapore?