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 News
The Economics of Video Games
Inflation can be a headache for any central banker. But it takes a certain type of economist to know what to do when a belligerent spaceship fleet attacks an interstellar trading post, causing mineral prices to surge across the…
From ACM News
Mobile Ads: Here's What Works and What Doesn't
In 2010, Apple Inc. AAPL co-founder Steve Jobs proclaimed, "Mobile advertising really sucks." Now, however, the rule book for what works in mobile advertising is slowly being written.
From ACM News
Facebook's New Pitch to Brand Advertisers: Forget About Clicks
Facebook Inc., stung by doubts that advertising on the social network delivers enough bang for the buck, is preparing to unveil data to counter its critics and show that "clicks," the current metric of choice, tell only half…
From ACM TechNews
Fostering Tech Talent in Schools
Microsoft recently launched the Technology Education and Literacy in Schools (Teals) program, an effort aimed at getting high school students interested in computer science.
From ACM TechNews
Most European Languages in Danger of Digital Extinction
META-NET recently completed a study that assessed language technology support for 30 European languages in four different areas, including automatic translation, speech interaction, text analysis, and availability of language…
From ACM TechNews
Fast Algorithm Extracts, Compares Document Meaning
Technical University of Wroclaw researchers have developed an algorithm that reduces the complexity involved in comparing two documents by merging a computationally efficient statistical approach to text analysis with a semantic…
From ACM TechNews
Next p: Environmentally Safe Electronics That Also Vanish in the Body
University of Illinois researchers say they have developed biodegradable electronics technology that could lead to new design paradigms for a wide range of applications.
From ACM TechNews
Computers Match Humans in Understanding Art
Lawrence Technological University researchers have developed an algorithm that demonstrates computers can be made to understand art in a way very similar to how art historians perform an analysis.
From ACM Careers
Power, Pollution, and the Internet
Jeff Rothschild's machines at Facebook had a problem he knew he had to solve immediately. They were about to melt.
From ACM News
Mandelbrot: Art, Math, Science, and Works in Progress
The image here, generated from a relatively simple mathematical formula, has become iconic and permanently connected with the man who identified it: mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot. But its iconic nature has ended up leaving…
From Communications of the ACM
Redesigning the Data Center
Faced with rising electricity costs, leading companies have begun revolutionizing the way data centers work, from the hardware to the buildings themselves.
From Communications of the ACM
Digging For Drug Facts
With the right approach, data mining can discover unexpected side effects and drug interactions.
From Communications of the ACM
Computer Science and the Three Rs
A growing sense of crisis prevails as computer science searches for its place in the K--12 curriculum.