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An edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.


Strands Project Develops Robot Security Guards
From ACM TechNews

Strands Project Develops Robot Security Guards

The European Union's Seventh Framework Program is funding the Strands project, which is developing software for robot brains that can be used as security guards...

Why Video Games May Be Good For You
From ACM News

Why Video Games May Be Good For You

Games have long been accused of making players violent, but evidence has been building over the years that they can have positive effects.

Laser Listening: Could You Eavesdrop on the Guardian?
From ACM News

Laser Listening: Could You Eavesdrop on the Guardian?

The U.K. government has warned the Guardian newspaper that foreign agents could use laser technology to eavesdrop on them, in the wake of recent surveillance leaks...

Helping the Deaf to 'See' and 'Feel' Sound
From ACM News

Helping the Deaf to 'See' and 'Feel' Sound

Earlier this summer in a packed and freezing-cold auditorium in Doha, the all-female team of students from Qatar University burst into cheers and tears as theyINJAZ...

Users of Hidden Net Advised to Ditch Windows
From ACM News

Users of Hidden Net Advised to Ditch Windows

Legitimate users of the Tor anonymous browsing service are being advised to stop using Windows if they want to keep their identity hidden.

Optical Lattice Atomic Clock Could 'Redefine the Second'
From ACM News

Optical Lattice Atomic Clock Could 'Redefine the Second'

We currently use atomic clocks to count the seconds, but tests on an alternative atomic timekeeper have revealed that it is more precise.

'virtual Lolita' Aims to Trap Chatroom Pedophiles
From ACM TechNews

'virtual Lolita' Aims to Trap Chatroom Pedophiles

Negobot, a "virtual Lolita" robot, poses as a 14-year-old girl and tries to identify pedophiles in online chatrooms. 

Predicting Earthquakes and Saving Lives--With Smartphones
From ACM TechNews

Predicting Earthquakes and Saving Lives--With Smartphones

A new app called CrowdShake provides early earthquake warnings by converting a smartphone's accelerometer into a seismometer. 

Touchscreens 'a Small Step' in Innovation
From ACM News

Touchscreens 'a Small Step' in Innovation

The way we use digital devices has become big news.

Unmasking Organized Crime Networks with Data
From ACM News

Unmasking Organized Crime Networks with Data

One of the big challenges in fighting organized crime is precisely that it is organized. It is run a bit like a business, with chains of command and responsibility...

Future Cops: How Technology Is Set to Change Policing
From ACM News

Future Cops: How Technology Is Set to Change Policing

The sci-fi vision of police officers rushing to the scene of a crime before any crime has even been committed may be rather far-fetched but technology is increasingly...

What Would Happen If All Satellites Stopped Working?
From ACM Opinion

What Would Happen If All Satellites Stopped Working?

We may not always realise it, but we depend on space technology orbiting the Earth.

U.S. Spy Chief Clapper Defends PRISM and Phone Surveillance
From ACM News

U.S. Spy Chief Clapper Defends PRISM and Phone Surveillance

U.S. spy chief James Clapper has strongly defended government surveillance programmes after revelations of phone records being collected and internet servers being...

Html5 Webpage Locks 'would Stifle Innovation'
From ACM TechNews

Html5 Webpage Locks 'would Stifle Innovation'

The Electronic Freedom Foundation objects to the World Wide Web Consortium's plans to include ways to digitally lock media in HTML5. 

German Railways to Test Anti-Graffiti Drones
From ACM News

German Railways to Test Anti-Graffiti Drones

The idea is to use airborne infra-red cameras to collect evidence, which could then be used to prosecute vandals who deface property at night.

How to Hack a Nation's Infrastructure
From ACM News

How to Hack a Nation's Infrastructure

I'm watching a live video feed of people visiting a cafe in London.

Why Google and the Pentagon Want 'quantum Computers'
From ACM News

Why Google and the Pentagon Want 'quantum Computers'

Imagine a computer that can teach your mobile phone to recognize any object it sees, or one that can instantly find optimal travel routes for thousands of planes...

Robot Truck Platoons Roll Forward
From ACM News

Robot Truck Platoons Roll Forward

Imagine cruising down a three-lane highway and rounding a bend to find four trucks rolling along in single-file. They are all traveling close together—perhaps too...

Radical Roads Drive Robot Cars
From ACM TechNews

Radical Roads Drive Robot Cars

Los Angeles has completed the Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control system, synchronizing its 4,400 traffic lights. 

Will We Ever… Communicate Telepathically?
From ACM News

Will We Ever… Communicate Telepathically?

In a lab at Harvard Medical School, a man is using his mind to wag a rat's tail.
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