Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
August 2010
From ACM News
Stanford and Uc Berkeley Create Massively Collaborative Math
Have you been pondering the probability that two random integers are relatively prime? The answer—6/π²—awaits you in cyberspace.
From ACM News
Connecting Electronic Medical Records
Looking out his office window in Seattle, Thomas Payne can see two hospitals that use the same electronic record system as his own. And yet, says Payne, medical director of information technology services at the University…
From ACM News
Virtual Walkers Lead the Way for Robots
Children do it with ease, but walking on two feet is challenging for robots. And while animated characters stroll along quite happily, they rarely look human when they do.
From ACM News
Holographic Displays, Robot Eyes Hint at Your Interactive Future
The eyes may be the window to the soul. But what do you see when you look into robotic eyes so real that it’s almost impossible to tell they are just empty, mechanical vessels?
From ACM News
On the Web's Cutting Edge, Anonymity in Name Only
You may not know a company called [x+1] Inc., but it may well know a lot about you.
From ACM News
Pentagon Demands Wikileaks
A Pentagon spokesman on Thursday demanded that the secret-spilling website WikiLeaks return and delete all the classified Defense Department documents in its possession, and stop soliciting new ones.
From ACM News
Private Browsing Modes Leak Data
The private browsing modes on modern browsers leak information about where people have visited, suggests a study.
From ACM News
For Kevin Mitnick, Staying Legal Is Job One
Kevin Mitnick was eager to participate in a social-engineering contest at the Defcon hacker conference in Las Vegas last weekend and was told he would target Microsoft in the event.
From ACM News
In a Video Game, Tackling the Complexities of Protein Folding
In a match that pitted video game players against the best known computer program designed for the task, the gamers outperformed the software in figuring out how 10 proteins fold into their three-dimensional configurations…
From ACM News
Message From Rim Chief: Monitoring Would Kill Web
Research In Motion Ltd. co-CEO Michael Lazaridis lashed out at governments seeking to ban his company's BlackBerry phones, saying they risk undermining the growth of electronic commerce by demanding access to secure communications…
From ACM News
Shape-Shifting Robots
Self-folding sheets of a plastic-like material point the way to robots that can assume any conceivable 3D structure.
From ACM News
At IBM Research, a Constant Quest for the Bleeding Edge
When you think about diverse issues like river management during drought, urban traffic prediction, cocoa crop maximization, and how to win at Jeopardy, IBM might not be the first company that comes to mind.
From ACM News
Wikileaks Backlash Could Mean Less Data For Soldiers
Information shared with troops may be restricted.
From ICT Results
Roadmap For the Robotic Future
The humble robot cleaning your floor heralds a growing wave of robot helpers, from miners to surgeons. With a quarter of the world market for industrial robots, Europe is taking steps to maintain leadership in the robotic future…
From ACM News
Artificial Life Forms Evolve Basic Intelligence
For generations, the Avidians have been cloning themselves quietly in a box. They're not perfect, but most of their mutations go unnoticed. Then something remarkable happens.
From ACM News
Computing at the Speed of Light
Replacing metal wiring with fiber optics could change everything from supercomputers to laptops.
From ACM News
Cell Phones and Wifi Set to Invade Nyc's Subways
After years of negotiations, a plan is afoot to wire New York City's subway platforms for both cellular and WiFi service, a move that may see service extend into many of the subway system's tunnels.
From ACM News
Why Sex?
Computer science proposes a new solution to one of evolutionary theory's oldest problems.
From ACM News
Web Attack Knows Where You Live
One visit to a booby-trapped Web site could direct attackers to a person's home, a security expert has shown.
From ACM News
Hacking the Smart Grid
The hurried deployment of smart-grid technology could leave critical infrastructure and private homes vulnerable to hackers. Security experts at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas last week warned that smart-grid hardware…
From ACM News
Online Dating Sites Are a Treasure Trove For Scientists
Appearances count. Meet someone before you make up your mind. And on that first date, don't give away too much.
From ACM News
For E-Data, Tug Grows Over Privacy vs. Security
The threat by the United Arab Emirates to shut down mobile services on BlackBerrys like email and text messaging underscores a growing tension between communications companies and governments over how to balance privacy with…
From ACM News
Google, Twitter, and Facebook Build the Semantic Web
A truly meaningful way of interacting with the web may finally be here, and it is called the semantic web. The idea was proposed over a decade ago by Tim Berners-Lee, among others. Now a triumvirate of internet heavyweights—Google…
From ACM News
WikiLeaks Posts Mysterious 'Insurance' File
In the wake of strong U.S. government statements condemning WikiLeaks' recent publishing of 77,000 Afghan War documents, the secret-spilling site has posted a mysterious encrypted file labeled "insurance."
From ACM News
The Web's New Gold Mine: Your Secrets
Hidden inside Ashley Hayes-Beaty's computer, a tiny file helps gather personal details about her, all to be put up for sale for a tenth of a penny.
From ACM News
Is This the 'Safest Bridge in America?'
Just about everyone who worked to build the new Interstate Highway 35W bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, knew that their project would never be "just a bridge."
From ACM News
Plagiarism Lines Blur For Students in Digital Age
At Rhode Island College, a freshman copied and pasted from a Web site’s frequently asked questions page about homelessness—and did not think he needed to credit a source in his assignment because the page did not include author…
From ACM News
Adding Temperature to Human-Computer Interaction
An experimental new game controller adds the sensation of hot and cold to users' experience of a simulated environment.
From ACM News
In Silicon Valley, Forget Your Wallet
Two pilot programs by start-ups in Silicon Valley are testing ways to bring to market a long-promised innovation of the Internet era: the digital wallet.
From ACM News
Google: The Search Party Is Over
Yes, the company is still growing at rates that would be the envy of the rest of the Fortune 500. But its core business is slowing, its stock is down, its Android mobile platform generates scant revenue, and competition (hello…