Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
December 2010
From ACM News
In Historic Shift, Smartphones, Tablets to Overtake PCs
Shipments of smartphones, tablets and other app-enabled devices will overtake PC shipments in the next 18 months, an event that may signify the end of the PC-centric era, according to market research firm IDC.
From ACM TechNews
DoD Creates a Test Range for Cyberspace
The U.S. Department of Defense has set up the Information Assurance Range as a simulation of the Global Information Grid, as well as a virtual training ground for DoD cyberpersonnel and a testbed for new information assurance…
From ACM News
Tiny Laser Light Show Illuminates Quantum Computing
With similarities to the light-show projectors used at planetariums, a new laser-beam steering system that aims and focuses bursts of light onto single atoms for use in quantum computers has been demonstrated by researchers…
From ACM News
Math Puzzles
I met a man with seven wives. ...” You may know this singsong quiz, But what you might not know is this: That it began with ancient Egypt’s Early math-filled manuscripts.
From ACM News
How Can Online Advertising Companies Be Kept from Tracking Web Surfers?
The FTC is calling for "do not track" software, but one privacy and security expert said such programming would have to be incorporated into a browser for it to work properly.
From ACM TechNews
It Will Soon Be Too Late to Stop the Cyberwars
Clearly defining cyberwar is problematic because there are various levels of cyberespionage and tactics that create uncertainty, writes Bruce Schneier.
From ACM TechNews
Green Grid Creates More Metrics For Energy Efficiency in Data Centers
The Green Grid consortium is developing two metrics to add to its power usage effectiveness metric for measuring energy efficiency in data centers. The new metrics will address carbon usage effectiveness and water usage effectiveness…
From ACM TechNews
Japanese Supercomputer Gets Faster But Draws No More Power
The Tokyo Institute of Technology recently developed Tsubame 2.0, a high-performance computer that is the second most energy-efficient supercomputer in the world, while achieving a peak performance of 2.4 petaflops.
From ACM TechNews
Live Online Briefing: Inspiring the Next Bill Gates
The National Science Foundation will host a Webcast on Dec. 7 featuring Georgia Tech's Amy Bruckman, MIT's Leah Buechley, and ACM's Cameron Wilson, as part of the federally sponsored Computer Science Education Week.
From ACM TechNews
Schools See Surge in Computer Science Classes
Many colleges saw significant growth in computer science enrollment this fall compared to three years ago, demonstrating the growing importance of technology education among young people.
From ACM TechNews
Robots Imitate Honey Bees For Aircraft Aerobatics
University of Queensland scientists have developed an autopilot system that is able to guide planes through extreme maneuvers, such as loops and barrel rolls, by watching the horizon like a honey bee.
From ACM TechNews
Tongue Clicks to Control Wheelchairs
The University of Bristol's Ravi Vaidyanathan is leading a research effort to develop an in-ear device that would enable people to control a wheelchair by clicking their tongue. The device would replace tongue-controlled interfaces…
From ACM News
Cables Discuss Vast Hacking by a China That Fears the Web
As China ratcheted up the pressure on Google to censor its Internet searches last year, the American Embassy sent a secret cable to Washington detailing why top Chinese leaders had become so obsessed with the Internet search…
From ACM News
.s. Chip Manufacturing in the Age of the Ipad
Behind the fly-off-the-shelf popularity of products like Apple's iPad and iPhone are hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs—mostly overseas. Is it possible to create more of those jobs here in the U.S. to combat chronically…
From ACM News
Rear-View Cameras on Cars Could Become Mandatory
The government has proposed requiring automakers to install the systems on all their vehicles to eliminate blind spots and reduce back-over accidents.
From ACM TechNews
Stanford Students Create 'do Not Track' Software
Stanford University researchers have developed Do Not Track, software that enables users to disable third-party Web tracking technology and tell advertisers to stop following their behavior online.
From ACM TechNews
Virtual Training Gets Real!
University of Leeds researchers are leading the ImREAL project, which is developing a virtual-reality training tool aimed at creating a simulated learning environment that responds and adapts to users' behavior.
From ACM News
Researchers Continue Search For Elusive New Particles at Cern
Texas Tech University researchers' recently published results are the first of the "new physics" research papers produced from the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment at CERN's Large Hadron Collider.
From ACM News
WikiLeaks Struggles to Stay Online After Cyberattacks
An American provider of Internet domain names withdrew its service to the WikiLeaks Web site late Thursday after a barrage of attacks by hackers threatened to destabilize its entire system. But by Friday, WikiLeaks was pointing…
From ACM News
Every Day We Write the Book
What would happen if Facebook made its data available for research?
From ACM TechNews
U.s. Tech Lead Is at Risk, Says Obama's Top Scientist
The United States is in danger of losing its technological edge amid a deterioration in its global competitiveness, warns U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Particularly alarming is the country's loss of leadership in the area…
From ACM TechNews
IBM Chip Breakthrough May Lead to Exascale Supercomputers
IBM's new CMOS Integrated Silicon Nanophotonics technology boosts the data transfer rate between computer chips using pulses of light, and could boost supercomputing calculations to speeds approaching an exaflop.
From ACM TechNews
Fcc Chief Previews Proposed Net Neutrality Rules
U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Julius Genachowski recently previewed new Net neutrality rules designed to preserve the Web "as a platform for innovation, investment, competition, and free expression."
From ACM TechNews
A European Network of Excellence for Large-Scale Data Management Over the Internet Is Launched
The Universidad Politecnica de Madrid is participating in PlanetData, a European project to help researchers publish their data in a more serviceable form on a large scale over the Internet.
From ACM News
Faculty Innovators Explore Ipad se
A nine-year-old Faculty Innovators program at Western Illinois University strives to mentor faculty on integrating technology and teaching. This year, participating faculty members are exploring the use of iPads.
From ACM News
Web Bug Reveals Browsing History
Porn sites are among the top users of a browser bug that reveals all the places people go online, finds research.
From ACM News
Google Earth Engine Debuts
In what promises to be one of the most impressive innovations to come out of the Cancun climate talks, the philanthropic arm of Google launched a new technology platform Thursday that will allow worldwide monitoring and measurement…
From ACM News
Parc Readies Printed Electronics For Market
Early 2011 will see printed memory devices in toys and printed sensors in packages used to ship drugs.
From ACM News
China Arrests Hundreds of Hackers, Says Situation 'grim'
China has arrested more than 460 hackers and solved 180 cyber attack cases this year, but the situation of hacker attacks is "still very grim and the number of hacker attacks and sabotage activities in China are still high," a…
From ACM TechNews
Professor Develops Innovative Technology For Wireless nderground Communication
Ryerson University professor Xavier Fernando has developed highly reliable underground wireless communications systems that can ensure miners' safety before and after disasters.