Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
June 2012
From ACM TechNews
System Improves Automated Monitoring of Security Cameras
MIT researchers have developed a system that can analyze several surveillance cameras more accurately and in less time than it would take a human operator.
From ACM TechNews
Prophets of Zoom
Deep-zooming software, known as zoomable user interfaces, enable information such as text, images, and video to sit on a single, limitless surface that can be viewed at whatever size works best.
From ACM Opinion
Is It Possible to Wage a Just Cyberwar?
In the last week or so, cyberwarfare has made front-page news: the United States may have been behind the Stuxnet cyberattack on Iran; Iran may have suffered another digital attack with theFlame virus; and our military and industrial…
From ACM Opinion
Stuxnet Expert Calls .s. the 'good Guys' in Cyber-Warfare
Sitting in the front row for the first full day of the International Conference on Cyber Conflict was one of the industry’s foremost "rock star" researchers, Ralph Langner.
From ACM Opinion
Nations Must Talk to Halt 'cyber Terrorism': Kaspersky
Eugene Kaspersky, whose lab discovered the Flame virus that has attacked computers in Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East, said on Wednesday only a global effort could stop a new era of "cyber terrorism."
From ACM Careers
Cyberthreats Turn Into Megabucks
As Congress boosts spending on cybersecurity and mulls over new data safety requirements on private industry, some companies stand to get rich.
From ACM News
Cyber-Attack Concerns Raised Over Boeing 787 Chip's 'back Door'
Two Cambridge experts have discovered a "back door" in a computer chip used in military systems and aircraft, such as the Boeing 787, that could allow the chip to be taken over via the Internet.
From ACM News
Virtual Patient Under the Knife on Hi-Tech Operating Table
At St Mary's Hospital in London, surgeon Aimee Di Marco is about to cut up a body.
From ACM News
Social Network Data Reveals Non-Members' Secrets
People who avoid social networking sites to maintain their privacy may not be as secure as they think, German computer scientists say.
From ACM TechNews
Training Cells to Perform Boolean Functions? It's Logical
Johns Hopkins University researchers have engineered cells that behave like AND and OR Boolean logic gates, producing an output based on one or more unique inputs, a development that could lead to computers that use cells as…
From ACM TechNews
Uh Students Develop Prototype Device that Translates Sign Language
University of Houston researchers have developed the concept and prototype for MyVoice, a device that reads sign language and translates its motions into audible words.
From ACM TechNews
Psc Provides Direct Link From Galaxy to the Xsede Backbone
Three Rivers Optical Exchange has established a high-bandwidth link from a Penn State bioinformatics program to the network backbone of the U.S. National Science Foundation's Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment…
From ACM News
Idf Admits to Using Cyber Space to Attack Enemies
The IDF uses cyber space to gather intelligence, attack enemies, and conduct various military operations, the military revealed on Sunday in a posting on its official Website.
From ACM News
Freaks, Geeks, and Microsoft
When the Kinect was introduced in November 2010 as a $150 motion-control add-on to Microsoft's Xbox consoles, it drew attention from more than just video-gamers.
From ACM TechNews
Could Ears Be the Perfect Biometric?
Ear identification could provide as distinctive a form of identification as fingerprints, says University of Southampton's Mark Nixon.
From ACM TechNews
Technology to Monitor Bird Sounds, Impacts of Environmental Change
Oregon State University researchers have developed a multi-instance, multi-label machine-learning system to simultaneously listen to multiple bird sounds.
From ACM TechNews
Finding Good Music in Noisy Online Markets
Columbia University researchers began an online social-media marketing experiment in 2004, creating nine versions of a music download site that presented the same group of unknown songs in different ways.
From ACM News
Iran: 'flame' Virus Fight Began with Oil Attack
Computer technicians battling to contain a complex virus last month resorted to the ultimate firewall measures—cutting off Internet links to Iran’s Oil Ministry, rigs, and the hub for nearly all the country's crude exports.
From ACM News
Astronomers Predict Titanic Collision: Milky Way vs. Andromeda
NASA astronomers say they can now predict with certainty the next major cosmic event to affect our galaxy, sun, and solar system: the titanic collision of our Milky Way galaxy with the neighboring Andromeda galaxy.
From ACM TechNews
Cisco: Global 'net Traffic to Surpass 1 Zettabyte in 2016
Global Internet Protocol traffic will reach an annual rate of 1.3 zettabytes in 2016, predicts Cisco Systems.
From ACM TechNews
Why Google Will Soon Answer Your Questions Directly
Google recently launched its "knowledge graph," which displays facts and services in response to search queries.
From ACM TechNews
S'pore Develops Chipset For Fast Data Transfer
A microchip developed in Singapore can transmit data 1,000 times faster than Bluetooth.
From ACM News
With Goal-Line Tech, Soccer Tries Kicking Its Addiction to Human Error
Saturday's high-profile match between England and Belgium is the biggest test yet for a system that may finally put an end to flubbed goal-line calls, a technological step forward that soccer sorely needs and will formally…
From Communications of the ACM
An Influential Theoretician
Sanjeev Arora, winner of the 2011 ACM-Infosys Award, discusses his pivotal role in theoretical computer science.
From Communications of the ACM
Analyzing Medical Data
Electronic patient records contain a treasure trove of data, and researchers are using natural language processing technology to mine the structured data and free text.
From Communications of the ACM
Game Changer
Judea Pearl's passionate advocacy of the importance of probability and causality helped revolutionize artificial intelligence.
From Communications of the ACM
Smarter Photography
Improvements in camera hardware, image processing, camera-photographer interfaces, and image viewing are advancing the state of the art in digital photography.
From Communications of the ACM
Data Mining Meets City Hall
Local and national governments are turning to open data to cut their costs, increase transparency and efficiency, and respond to the needs of citizens.