Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
October 2014
From ACM TechNews
Agencies Bring Energy Modeling Out of the Lab
The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology has developed a database and software to help building professionals manage energy upgrades.
From ACM TechNews
Topcoder Now Has 3,700 Swift Devs
Appirio, which owns and operates the TopCoder platform, says it has registered more than 3,700 Swift developers who are working on 2,000 projects in 110 countries.
From ACM TechNews
Open Surveillance
A new encrypted search system could enable law enforcement officials to collect data more openly without compromising investigations.
From ACM TechNews
What Happened to All the Women in Computer Science?
Ada Lovelace is recognized as the first computer programmer, but today computer science is overwhelmingly a male domain.
From ACM Opinion
Machine-Learning Maestro Michael Jordan on the Delusions of Big Data and Other Huge Engineering Efforts
The overeager adoption of big data is likely to result in catastrophes of analysis comparable to a national epidemic of collapsing bridges.
From ACM News
.s. Government Probes Medical Devices For Possible Cyber Flaws
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is investigating about two dozen cases of suspected cybersecurity flaws in medical devices and hospital equipment that officials fear could be exploited by hackers, a senior official at…
From ACM News
Data Bank Struggles As Protein Imaging ps Its Game
Structural biology, the mapping of complex biological molecules such as proteins, is in the grip of a revolution.
From ACM News
.s. National Security Prosecutors Shift Focus from Spies to Cyber
The U.S. Justice Department is restructuring its national security prosecution team to deal with cyber attacks and the threat of sensitive technology ending up in the wrong hands, as American business and government agencies…
From ACM News
Galactic Wheel of Life Shines in Infrared
It might look like a spoked wheel or even a "Chakram" weapon wielded by warriors like "Xena," from the fictional TV show, but this ringed galaxy is actually a vast place of stellar life.
From ACM TechNews
Ask Watson or Siri: Artificial Intelligence Is as Elusive as Ever
Scientists are no closer to achieving an overall general artificial intelligence, in the sense that a computer can behave like a human.
From ACM TechNews
.k. Child Coders Triumph in European Contest
Microsoft recently brought together young programmers from across Europe for a gaming competition based on Kodu, the company's visual programming language.
From ACM TechNews
The Social Web of Things
Federal University of Bahia researchers suggest a social Internet of Things will enable people and their devices to be more coherently connected.
From ACM TechNews
Transforming Typewriters For the Digital Generation
A Plymouth University graduate has used sensors and circuit boards to convert a typewriter into an interactive social tool.
From ACM TechNews
The Internet Isn't Broken. It's Asleep
Researchers are leading an ambitious monitoring project that seeks to map out the Internet's "sleep" patterns to better discern normal downtime from major outages.
From ACM TechNews
MIT Computer Scientists Can Predict the Price of Bitcoin
Researchers have developed a machine-learning algorithm that can predict the price of Bitcoin.
From ACM News
If I Can Get Wi-Fi Here, I Can Get It Anywhere
New York has ambitious plans for its extensive network of pay telephones.
From ACM News
How the World Came to Be Run By Computer Code
From the scythe to the steam engine, we've always used technology to control the world around us.
From ACM Careers
This Incredible Oculus Sim Lets Soccer Players Relive Games
For many athletes, watching game film is a necessary chore.
From ACM TechNews
New High-Speed Transatlantic Network to Benefit Science Collaborations Across the .s.
The U.S. Department of Energy is extending its Energy Sciences Network to Amsterdam, Geneva, and London.
From ACM TechNews
A Better Prosthesis: Sandia Invents Sensor to Learn About Fit
Researchers are developing a sensor to determine how an amputated limb changes over time, and a system that automatically accommodates those changes in a prosthesis.
From ACM TechNews
Weather History Time Machine
Researchers say their new spectral optimal gridding of precipitation software democratizes the analysis of precipitation statistical models.
From ACM News
Wearable Tech Lets Boss Track Your Work, Rest and Play
Some jobs come with a uniform. For an increasing number of employees, that uniform will soon include a badge that tracks everything they do.
From ACM News
Making the world’s problem solvers 10% more efficient
Ten years after a Google engineer empowered researchers with Scholar, he can’t bear to leave it.
From ACM News
The Quiet Rise of the Satellite Spy Agency
As far as intelligence agencies go, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has remained relatively low profile—attracting neither the intrigue of, say, the CIA nor the umbrage directed toward the National Security Agency…
From ACM TechNews
A Dynamic New Tool to Preserve the Friendsters of the Future
The constant updating of modern websites and social media platforms presents a problem to those who want to preserve the experience of using a site or service at a given moment in time. Rhizome is developing a tool it hopes will…
From ACM News
All Three NASA Mars Orbiters Healthy After Comet Flyby
All three NASA orbiters around Mars confirmed their healthy status Sunday after each took shelter behind Mars during a period of risk from dust released by a passing comet.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers to Meet With Aid Workers to Build Ebola-Fighting Robots
Robotics researchers from numerous institutions are working to organize workshops that will bring together roboticists and humanitarian workers to discuss how robots could help address the needs of workers fighting the Ebola…
From ACM TechNews
Stop Worrying About Mastermind Hackers. Start Worrying About the It Guy.
Mistakes in launching Oracle software have led to millions of Americans' data being leaked onto the Internet. Those affected include universities or government agencies, which hold a wide range of information on individuals and…
From ACM TechNews
More Training, Skills Development Needed For Analyzing Big Data, Experts Say
Big data training is a major challenge, according to a recently published study from the National Academies Press. The report notes the need for better educating students at universities on how to best use big data.
From ACM Opinion
In Conversation Marc Andreessen
It's not hard to coax an opinion out of Marc Andreessen.