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subjectComputers And Society
authorNew Scientist
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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.


From ACM TechNews

Augmented Reality Gets Off to a Wobbly Start

Although the iPhone can superimpose navigation routes or reviews on top of real-time images, augmented reality (AR) still has a long way to go. The iPhone's application...

From ACM TechNews

Get to Hospital to See the Future

Modern hospitals provide a glimpse into how people will interact with machines in the future, according to a new Gartner report on the future of human-computer...

Worldwide Battle Rages For Control of the Internet
From ACM TechNews

Worldwide Battle Rages For Control of the Internet

Governments in the Middle East and north Africa routinely block and censor Web sites to control political discussions, according to a new report on the region by...

Pay-Per-Email Plan to Beat Spam and Help Charity
From ACM TechNews

Pay-Per-Email Plan to Beat Spam and Help Charity

Yahoo! researchers are testing a scheme in which users pay one cent for each email message they send, with the money going to charity, in an effort to cut back...

Is the Future of Healthcare Online?
From ACM TechNews

Is the Future of Healthcare Online?

An international coalition of medical and technology companies called the Continua Health Alliance is encouraging the migration of healthcare to the Web, as remote...

Talking Paperclip Inspires Less Irksome Virtual Assistant
From ACM TechNews

Talking Paperclip Inspires Less Irksome Virtual Assistant

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has spent an estimated $150 million developing an artificially intelligent (AI) virtual assistant. DARPA's...

From ACM TechNews

Robo-Wheels Go Where Caterpillar Tracks Fear to Tread

Rescue robots could be more useful in snowy conditions thanks to an adjustable wheel that has been developed by researchers in Japan. A team led by Taro Iwamoto...

How New Technologies Will Ease Our Traffic Woes
From ACM TechNews

How New Technologies Will Ease Our Traffic Woes

A new generation of monitoring and data-gathering technologies could drastically alter how people travel by car by providing them with more accurate information...

Cyborg Crickets Could Chirp at the Smell of Survivors
From ACM TechNews

Cyborg Crickets Could Chirp at the Smell of Survivors

Research supported by the U.S. Pentagon is attempting to turn insects into search-and-rescue systems capable of locating trapped victims in earthquake rubble and...

From ACM TechNews

Computer Learns Sign Language By Watching Tv

Software developed by researchers at the University of Oxford and the University of Leeds has autonomously determined the basics of sign language by watching TV...

'Smart' House Texts You If There's a Problem
From ACM News

'Smart' House Texts You If There's a Problem

It may look low-tech, but a smart doll's house could one day change the way we live, its inventors claim. Part of a project called InterHome, it is designed to...

Emotional Robots: Will We Love Them or Hate Them?
From ACM TechNews

Emotional Robots: Will We Love Them or Hate Them?

Scientists have theorized that many technologies would function better if they were aware of their users' emotional states, and progress in this field includes...

Magnet and Glue Turn Tongue Into Joystick
From ACM TechNews

Magnet and Glue Turn Tongue Into Joystick

New ScientistGeorgia Tech University professors Maysam Ghovanloo and Xueliang Huo have developed a headset that enables a person to precisely control a wheelchair...

From ACM TechNews

'secret' Questions Leave Accounts Vulnerable

The secret questions some Web sites ask new users to answer for verification purposes in case a password is forgotten are actually far less secure and far easier...

'governor' Would Teach Military Robots the Rules of War
From ACM TechNews

'governor' Would Teach Military Robots the Rules of War

Georgia Institute of Technology robotics engineer Ron Arkin is researching how military robots could be programmed to act ethically and obey the rules of engagement...

Virtual Power Plants Could Tame Coming Grid Chaos
From ACM News

Virtual Power Plants Could Tame Coming Grid Chaos

Fears over energy security and climate change have led to record investment in renewable energy. But a major problem threatens to stall progress towards a more...

From ACM TechNews

Instant Sex Change Served ­p By Video Software

Software developed by University of East Anglia computer scientist Barry-John Theobald and Weta Digital's Iain Matthews can take a live video feed of a person talking...

From ACM News

Fake Web Traffic Can Hide Secret Chat

The Internet's underlying technology can be harnessed to let people exchange secret messages, perhaps allowing free, coded speech under oppressive regimes. So says...

Software to Track Our Emotional Outbursts
From ACM TechNews

Software to Track Our Emotional Outbursts

Sentiment analysis agents are designed to teach computers to comprehend the emotions expressed in text just as well as people do, and early adopters include big...

Could the Net Become Self-Aware?
From ACM TechNews

Could the Net Become Self-Aware?

The Internet is similar to the human brain in that it has a complex network of nodes for holding, processing, recalling, and transmitting information. The Web...
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