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
K-Anonymity Privacy Protection Model Needs a Little Help
The "K-anonymity" method of providing anonymity to large data sets has raised excitement in realms as diverse as social networks and medical records, but it appears to need a little help.
From ACM News
Prison Without Walls
Incarceration in America is a failure by almost any measure. But what if the prisons could be turned inside out, with convicts released into society under constant electronic surveillance? Radical though it may seem, early…
From ACM TechNews
Helping Victoria Deal With Bushfires
The University of Melbourne and Bushfire CRC have designed Phoenix RapidFire, a simulation program that can provide detailed information on the spread of fires.
From ACM TechNews
Tech Research Customizes Tv sers' Preferences
Intel researchers have developed a way TV remote controls can identify users based on their viewing preferences and how they hold the remote, which could help advance customization of the TV-viewing experience.
From ACM News
Google Finding Its Voice
Google's Mike Cohen won't be satisfied until anyone who wants to talk to their computer can do so without laughing at the hideous translation or sighing in frustration.
From ACM News
Nasa Funds Development of Nano Materials For Advanced Lithium-Ion Batteries
NEI Corp. and UC San Diego recently won a Phase II Small Business Technology Transfer contract from NASA to develop and implement high energy density cathode materials for lithium batteries.
From ACM News
The Mind's Eye: How the Brain Sorts Out What You See
Can you tell a snake from a pretzel? Some can't—and their experiences are revealing how the brain builds up a coherent picture of the world.
From ACM News
James Myers to Lead the Nano Computational Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
James Myers has been selected to lead the Computational Center for Nanotechnology Innovations at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
From ACM News
The Internet's Secret Back Door
Web users in the United Arab Emirates have more to worry about than having just their BlackBerries cracked.
From ACM News
Advances Offer Path to Shrink Computer Chip
Scientists at Rice University and Hewlett-Packard are reporting this week that they can overcome a fundamental barrier to the continued rapid miniaturization of computer memory that has been the basis for the consumer electronics…
From ACM News
Retargeting Ads Follow Surfers to Other Sites
The shoes that Julie Matlin recently saw on Zappos.com were kind of cute, or so she thought. But Ms. Matlin wasn’t ready to buy and left the site. Then the shoes started to follow her everywhere she went online.
From ACM TechNews
N.c. Scientists Helping Soldiers
University of North Carolina researchers are collaborating with the Naval Postgraduate School to develop an intelligent-training system for the military using automatically controlled point-and-tilt cameras and (3-D) imaging. …
From ACM TechNews
Worm Memory ses Orders of Magnitude Less Power Than Other Devices
Cambridge University researchers have developed an inexpensive write once, read many (WORM) memory device that uses much less power than previous devices.
From ACM TechNews
Prediction of Intrinsic Magnetism at Silicon Surfaces Could Lead to Single-Spin Magnetoelectronics
Physicists at the Naval Research Laboratory and the University of Wisconsin-Madison predict that a family of well-known silicon surfaces, stabilized by chains of gold atoms, exhibits intrinsic magnetism despite the absence of…
From ACM TechNews
Panel: .s. Lacks Legal Framework to Fight in Cyberspace
The absence of a legal framework for waging cyberwarfare is crippling the U.S.'s ability to defend itself in cyberspace, according to a panel of government and private-sector experts.
From ACM TechNews
Location Determines Social Network Influence, Ccny-Led Team Finds
Researchers led by professor Hernan Makse at The City College of New York have found that location is more important than having the most connections when determining the best spreaders of information within a network.
From ACM TechNews
3-D Movies Via Internet and Satellite
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications have developed the Multiview Video Coding compression technique for three-dimensional movies that reduces their file size while maintaining their quality.
From ACM TechNews
DARPA Takes Aim at Insider Threats
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is seeking to address security threats by launching a new initiative to enable security staff to rapidly detect and halt network insiders from stealing or distributing sensitive…
From ACM TechNews
New Interface Technology Realizes 'touchable' 3-D Images
Scientists at Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology have designed a system that simulates the sensation of handling and touching a 3-D object displayed on a screen via a device that is attached…
From ACM News
.s. Escalates Air War Over Afghanistan
There may not be quite as many bombs falling from the sky. But don’t let that fool you. The United States has dramatically escalated its air war over Afghanistan.
From ACM News
Taking Over a Car
Researchers "break in" with software and a laptop.
From ACM News
Technology Aside, Most People Still Decline to Be Located
Internet companies have appropriated the real estate business’s mantra—it’s all about location, location, location. But while a home on the beach will always be an easy sell, it may be more difficult to persuade people to start…
From ACM News
Intel, Amd Vie to Rewire Pc's Brain
Intel and AMD are off to the races again. This time it's about making PCs not just faster, but more versatile.
From ACM News
But He Looked Good on Paper
Web start-ups are having a hard time hiring good programmers.
From ACM News
Ornl Graphite Foam Technology Licensed to Led North America
Graphite foam technology developed at the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been licensed to LED North America (Oak Ridge, TN) for use as a passive cooling component in LED lamps.
From ACM News
Emotionml: Will Computers Tap Into Your Feelings?
For all those who believe the computing industry is populated by people who are out of touch with the world of emotion, it's time to think again.
From ACM News
Nsf Announces Future Internet Architecture Awards
Four basic research projects funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation will explore different aspects of network architecture to foster new ideas and innovations towards the development of a more robust, secure and reliable…
From ACM TechNews
Thought-Controlled Computers on the Way: Intel
Intel is developing a computer that can directly read the thoughts of its user by mapping out brain activity produced when people think of particular words. Intel scientists are measuring activity in about 20,000 locations in…
From ACM TechNews
.s. Military Wants to Exert Influence Over Private Cyber Infrastructure
The U.S. military wants more authority to protect the nation's cyberinfrastructure because it depends on power grids, transportation networks, and financial systems that could become military targets, says Deputy Defense Secretary…
From ACM TechNews
Not Enough Students Take Advanced STEM Courses, Warns Iet
More students are taking advanced level science, technology and math in the United Kingdom, but the number is not enough to fill a skills shortage in time to prevent damage to the economy, according to the Institution of Engineering…