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subjectComputer Applications
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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.


Supercomputer Hunts Child Abusers
From ACM TechNews

Supercomputer Hunts Child Abusers

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers are using the Jaguar supercomputer to analyze Internet traffic, looking for clues that will lead law enforcement officers...

Better Hands May Help Robots Grasp Meaning
From ACM News

Better Hands May Help Robots Grasp Meaning

Two recent studies show that roboticists are applying some fresh thinking to the building and operation of robot hands, and a third suggests why the work is so...

Robot Limbs to Plug Into the Brain with Light
From ACM News

Robot Limbs to Plug Into the Brain with Light

Imagine a bionic arm that plugs directly into the nervous system, so that the brain can control its motion, and the owner can feel pressure and heat through their...

From ACM News

Body Organs Can Send Status ­pdates to Your Cellphone

For cardiac patients such as myself, too much excitement can be a shocking experience. If my heart rate gets too high the implanted defibrillator in my chest can...

From ACM News

You Too Can Have a Dream Body

If you dislike the way you look on video, a new kind of image-manipulation software could make you feel better about yourself.

What's the Right Path for Indoor Satnav?
From ACM News

What's the Right Path for Indoor Satnav?

Tracking down one of the last few parking spots in the cramped confines of a dimly lit multi-storey car park is not among life's pleasures. German car maker BMW...

From ACM TechNews

Navigation App Gives You Freedom to Explore

Swansea University's Simon Robinson and colleagues have developed a smartphone navigation application that gives pedestrians the opportunity to explore unfamiliar...

The Mind's Eye: How the Brain Sorts Out What You See
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 TechNews

Shake to Adjust Your Smartphone's Privacy Settings

Open University's Lukasz Jedrzejczyk led the development of Privacy Shake, an application that enables users with global positioning system-enabled smartphones...

From ACM News

Flawed Proof ­shers In Era of Wikimath

His prospects of answering one of the biggest questions in mathematics may be fading, but Vinay Deolalikar of Hewlett-Packard Labs in Palo Alto, California, may...

'god Couldn't Do Faster': Rubik's Cube Mystery Solved
From ACM News

'god Couldn't Do Faster': Rubik's Cube Mystery Solved

It has taken 15 years to get to this point, but it is now clear that every possible scrambled arrangement of the Rubik's cube can be solved in a maximum of 20...

Perfecting Synthetic Sounds For Animated Worlds
From ACM News

Perfecting Synthetic Sounds For Animated Worlds

If computers can generate the imagery in animated movies like Toy Story 3 and Despicable Me, why can't they also generate the sound effects to go with them?

Shrewd Search Engines Know What You Want
From ACM News

Shrewd Search Engines Know What You Want

For better or worse, search engines have become the gateway to the Web. They help users to find information, advertisers to sell products—they even help hackers...

Crunching Cancer With Numbers
From ACM News

Crunching Cancer With Numbers

When Danny Hillis spent a day watching a top surgeon perform keyhole cancer surgery, he was left both exhilarated and depressed. The clinical precision with which...

19th-Century Tech Makes a Smarter iPhone
From ACM News

19th-Century Tech Makes a Smarter iPhone

Rarely has 19th-century technology stirred an audience of 21st-century technophiles as it did last week when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs revealed that the next-generation...

Invisibility Cloaks and How to ­se Them
From ACM News

Invisibility Cloaks and How to ­se Them

The "invisibility cloaks" being made in labs today can hide objects when viewed from a wide range of directions and in visible light--both considered implausible...

Why Labs Love Gaming Hardware
From ACM News

Why Labs Love Gaming Hardware

Blasting zombies may seem to have little to do with serious research, but video game hardware is helping scientists in a variety of ways including helping them...

Schrodinger's Cash: Minting Quantum Money
From ACM TechNews

Schrodinger's Cash: Minting Quantum Money

MIT researcher Scott Aaronson has brought quantum money a step closer to reality by outlining a computationally secure quantum money scheme founded on the type...

Touch Floors Could Be Next Step in Computer Interfaces
From ACM News

Touch Floors Could Be Next Step in Computer Interfaces

Imagine entering your living room and sliding your foot purposefully over a particular stretch of floor. Your hi-fi system springs to life, pumping out the sounds...

Look, No Hands: Cars That Drive Better Than You
From ACM News

Look, No Hands: Cars That Drive Better Than You

With his jeans, white trainers and stripy top, Bob is every inch the well-dressed 6-year-old. He's standing in the middle of a hotel car park and, scarily, I'm...
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