Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
June 2014
From ACM Careers
Software That Sees Employees, Not Outsiders, As the Real Threat
A growing number of companies are under pressure to protect sensitive data—and not just from hackers lurking outside the digital walls.
From ACM News
Pluto-Bound Craft Seeks Manhattan-Sized Lump of Ice
Desirable destinations at the fringes of the solar system can be hard to find.
From ACM TechNews
Elephants Pave Way For New Intel on Australian Shoppers
Queensland University of Technology researchers have used a Sri Lankan elephant-tracking model to analyze the behavior of shoppers in Australia.
From ACM TechNews
Revolutionizing How We Keep Track of Time in Cyber-Physical Systems
A U.S. National Science Foundation to five universities will support development of new clocking technologies, synchronization protocols, and control and sensing algorithms.
From ACM News
Titan Flybys Test the Talents of Nasa's Cassini Team
As NASA's Cassini spacecraft zooms toward Saturn's smoggy moon Titan for a targeted flyby on June 18, mission scientists are excitedly hoping to repeat a scientific tour de force that will provide valuable new insights into the…
From ACM TechNews
The Role Robotics Could Play in Future Food Production
At the 13th International Conference on Intelligent Autonomous Systems, the academic and industrial communities will discuss advances in agriculture and horticulture.
From ACM TechNews
Crossing the Goal Line: New Tech Tracks Football in 3D Space
Researchers have developed a system that can track a football in three-dimensional space using low-frequency magnetic fields.
From ACM TechNews
Roads in the Future Will Need Data Standards as Well as Signs, Says Dot's Cio
Data standards will be needed to facilitate traffic flow in the future, and government officials, engineers, and automakers are considering how to implement the technology.
From ACM TechNews
Computing Crime and Punishment
Scientists and historians have performed a computational analysis of historical court records in London.
From ACM News
Neuroscience's New Toolbox
The hypothalamus is a small structure deep in the brain that, among other functions, coördinates sensory inputs—the appearance of a rival, for example—with instinctual behavioral responses.
From ACM News
Forget Touchscreens, 3D Holographic Displays Are Coming
As it stands, the touchscreen experience is confined to a flat, two-dimensional world.
From ACM Careers
Mastercard Expects Big Growth from 'big Data' Insights
MasterCard Inc, the world's second-largest debit and credit card company, sees business booming from selling data to retailers, banks, and governments on spending patterns found in the payments it processes, a top executive told…
From ACM News
Facial Recognition Gets Real
Facial recognition and expression analysis technologies are maturing, and they're changing the face of marketing, healthcare, security, and more.
From ACM TechNews
Internet of Things to Increase Shortage of Security Professionals
Cisco's 2014 Annual Security Report says about 1 million information security staffers and managers are needed to meet global demand for cybersecurity professionals.
From ACM TechNews
Darpa's Plan X Tech Visualizes Battle's Cyber Effects
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Plan X program aims to create technologies to help the Defense Department with cyberwarfare.
From ACM TechNews
Meet Diesel, a Cute Dog and Organic Robot
A Labrador Retriever named Diesel has become a canine that functions as a Cyber-Physical Search and Rescue Dog through a high-tech vest.
From ACM News
Squiggly Lines Secure Smartphones
To protect your financial and personal data, most mobiles come with PIN-based security, biometrics or number grids that require you to retrace a particular pattern to access your device.
From ACM Opinion
Jonathan Ive on Apple's Design Process and Product Philosophy
When Steven P. Jobs led Apple, he created a core principle for the company's designers and engineers: stay fully focused on making great products.
From ACM News
Quantum Network Would Be Most Precise Clock Yet
By exploiting the tricks of quantum physics, researchers say they could build a worldwide network of atomic clocks that are much more accurate than any single clock in existence today.
From ACM TechNews
FCC Begins Investigation Into Quality of Internet Download Speeds
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is investigating deals in which some companies have agreed to pay Internet service providers for faster video delivery.
From ACM News
Scotus to Weigh In on When Online Rants Become Criminal Threats
The US Supreme Court on Monday announced that it will consider a case involving a thorny free speech issue in the digital age: at what point does a statement made on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter cross the threshold…
From ACM TechNews
Football-Playing Robots Eye Their Own Cup, and Beyond
The premiere event for robotic football (soccer) is scheduled for Brazil in July, and the University of Pennsylvania robotics lab will be seeking a fourth consecutive win.
From ACM Opinion
The Turing Test Is Not What You Think It Is
Whether or not you caught wind of the excited announcement that "Eugene Goostman," a computer program ("chatbot") devised by Vladimir Veselov, Eugene Demchenko, and Sergey Ulasen, had passed the Turing Test this past week, there's…
From ACM TechNews
Who's Using Your Data?
The HTTP with Accountability protocol is designed to track the transmission of private data and enable the data owner to see how it is used online.
From ACM TechNews
Thermal Camera Turns Many Things Into Interactive Surfaces
Augmented reality company Metaio is developing technology that could enable people to use all kinds of objects as interactive touch surfaces.
From ACM TechNews
New Computer Program Aims to Teach Itself Everything About Anything
Computer scientists say they have developed the first fully automated computer program that pairs textual and visual data to learn visual concepts.
From ACM TechNews
Online Marketing Schemes Can Still Lure Customers
Despite legislation and warnings, online consumers remain susceptible to post-transaction marketing schemes.
From ACM News
How to Win at Bridge sing Quantum Physics
Contract bridge requires major brainpower, and preferably an obsession with rules and strategy. So how to make it even geekier? Throw in some quantum mechanics to try to gain a competitive advantage.
From ACM TechNews
Windows Bug-Testing Software Cracks Stem Cell Programs
Windows bug-testing software is providing insight into how stem cells determine which type of tissue to become.
From ACM News
At World Cup, Goal-Line Tech Causes Controversy
As all things that are meant to be infallible, new technology being used in the 2014 World Cup has caused a stir.