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subjectPersonal Computing
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.


Maths Quiz Helps Paralyzed People Talk With Their Eyes
From ACM News

Maths Quiz Helps Paralyzed People Talk With Their Eyes

Giving fully conscious but paralysed people hard sums to do might seem like adding insult to injury. But because such brain teasers make the pupils of the eyes...

Echolocating App Will Let You Map a Room with Sound
From ACM News

Echolocating App Will Let You Map a Room with Sound

Bats, dolphins, and even some blind people use echoes to create a mental 3D map of their environment and where they are in it. A smartphone's chirp could soon let...

Bandwidth-Sharing App Brings Connectivity to All
From ACM TechNews

Bandwidth-Sharing App Brings Connectivity to All

Eyal Toledano of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed AirMobs, an app that would allow smartphone owners to share their mobile Internet connections...

Ford's Open-Source Kit Brings Era of Smart Car Apps
From ACM TechNews

Ford's Open-Source Kit Brings Era of Smart Car Apps

Ford Motor Co. recently released OpenXC, an open source hardware and software toolkit that will allow the hacker community to experiment with the computer systems...

Mapping Malware's Genome to Fight Future Attacks
From ACM News

Mapping Malware's Genome to Fight Future Attacks

Every year a computer worm emerges to stalk the Internet, each one seemingly bigger and badder than the last (see diagram).

Silent Skype Calls Can Hide Secret Messages
From ACM News

Silent Skype Calls Can Hide Secret Messages

Got a secret message to send? Say it with silence.

Ok, App, What Should I Wear to This Wedding?
From ACM TechNews

Ok, App, What Should I Wear to This Wedding?

New software could help people decide what to wear for weddings, job interviews, or first dates.  

Patent Could Shackle 3D Printers with Drm
From ACM Opinion

Patent Could Shackle 3D Printers with Drm

One of the greatest benefits of 3D printing technology—the ability to make replacements or parts for household objects like toys, utensils and gadgets—may be denied...

First Evidence For Iran's Parallel Halal Internet
From ACM TechNews

First Evidence For Iran's Parallel Halal Internet

Iranian officials have long discussed developing a religiously acceptable internal network, known as the "halal" Internet, which is isolated from the World Wide...

Graphics Chips Are For More Than Just Eye Candy
From ACM News

Graphics Chips Are For More Than Just Eye Candy

Chances are there is a graphics chip in your desktop computer, and it is fuelling a revolution.

Jazz-Singing Robot Could Shed Light on Consciousness
From ACM TechNews

Jazz-Singing Robot Could Shed Light on Consciousness

The University of Palermo's Antonio Chella is working to teach a singing robot how to improvise jazz duets with a human with hopes of learning more about the nature...

Reality Checker: How to Cut Nonsense From the Net
From ACM TechNews

Reality Checker: How to Cut Nonsense From the Net

Several organizations are developing technologies that can prevent falsehoods from spreading on the Internet.  

Wired Is the New Wireless: Spreading the Web in China
From ACM News

Wired Is the New Wireless: Spreading the Web in China

It's not easy to give over 1.3 billion people access to the internet—especially if that population is spread across a vast area that ranges from hinterland to sprawling...

Harnessing ­nused Smartphone Power For a Computing Boost
From ACM TechNews

Harnessing ­nused Smartphone Power For a Computing Boost

Technical University of Braunschweig researchers have found that smartphones can be joined together in a network, which when connected via Wi-Fi, can carry out...

Harness Unused Smartphone Power For a Computing Boost
From ACM News

Harness Unused Smartphone Power For a Computing Boost

Smarphone owners carry around more processing power in their pocket than a 1970s-era supercomputer, but most of the time it languishes unused.

Cheap Chips Herald Future of Wave and Pay
From ACM News

Cheap Chips Herald Future of Wave and Pay

Small, cheap smart-tag devices that are printed as digital circuits in rolls like newspapers could help kickstart the wireless payment industry. The devices, known...

Micro-Drones: The New Face of Cutting-Edge Warfare
From ACM News

Micro-Drones: The New Face of Cutting-Edge Warfare

Micro-aerial vehicles (MAVs) with uncanny navigation and real-time mapping capabilities could soon be zipping through indoor and outdoor spaces, running reconnaissance...

Online Friendships Light ­p Shadow Social Networks
From ACM News

Online Friendships Light ­p Shadow Social Networks

Friending someone on Facebook makes an association public, but many relationships are never professed online.

Next Xbox Could Have a Biometric Controller
From ACM News

Next Xbox Could Have a Biometric Controller

The controller for the next Xbox might be able to take biometric readings of your hand, according to a recent Microsoft patent.

New Search Tool to ­nlock Wikipedia
From ACM TechNews

New Search Tool to ­nlock Wikipedia

Researchers at the University of Cagliari and the University of California, Los Angeles have developed Swipe, a prototype plug-in that can help Wikipedia users...
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