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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.


Big Patent Firm Sues Nine Tech Firms
From ACM News

Big Patent Firm Sues Nine Tech Firms

Technology companies on Wednesday received troubling news that some had feared for years: Intellectual Ventures LLC has started suing.

From ACM News

Suit to Snuff Out 'history Sniffing' Takes Aim at Tracking Web ­sers

A lawsuit filed last Friday for alleged use of "history sniffing," a method for surreptitiously detecting what websites a person has visited, is the latest to...

From ACM TechNews

IBM Claims Breakthrough in Laser-Based Chips

IBM recently announced a breakthrough in the development of silicon-based chips that send data using pulses of laser light. IBM says the research sets the stage...

Race Is On to 'fingerprint' Phones, Pcs
From ACM News

Race Is On to 'fingerprint' Phones, Pcs

David Norris wants to collect the digital equivalent of fingerprints from every computer, cellphone and TV set-top box in the world.

Shunned Profiling Technology on the Verge of Comeback
From ACM News

Shunned Profiling Technology on the Verge of Comeback

One of the most potentially intrusive technologies for profiling and targeting Internet users with ads is on the verge of a comeback, two years after an outcry...

Insurers Test Data Profiles to Identify Risky Clients
From ACM News

Insurers Test Data Profiles to Identify Risky Clients

Life insurers are testing an intensely personal new use for the vast dossiers of data being amassed about Americans: predicting people's longevity.

Google Battles to Keep Talent
From ACM News

Google Battles to Keep Talent

Google Inc. is fighting off Facebook Inc. and other fast-growing Internet firms that are poaching its staff, a reversal for a company that has long been one of...

New Ways Bankers Are Spying on You
From ACM News

New Ways Bankers Are Spying on You

Big Banker is watching you—more closely than ever.

From ACM News

Sensing a Parking Spot

In the first taste of a technology that could transform the way people park their cars in the city, Roosevelt Island is installing a system of sensors designed...

On the Threshold of the Avatar Era
From ACM TechNews

On the Threshold of the Avatar Era

Humanity is technologically on the brink of the avatar era, in which it becomes possible for people to virtually embody digital avatars that are not restricted...

From ACM News

Limewire Told to Shut

Popular file-sharing website LimeWire has been ordered to permanently shut down six months after a federal judge found it liable for copyright infringement on...

Wiring The Brain to Aid People With Paralysis
From ACM News

Wiring The Brain to Aid People With Paralysis

Scientists are reporting progress in their efforts to channel brain waves to power mechanical devices, a development that could someday help paralyzed people...

Engineering, Computer-Science Pay More Than Liberal Arts
From ACM TechNews

Engineering, Computer-Science Pay More Than Liberal Arts

Computer science and engineering graduates generally have significantly higher starting salaries than liberal arts majors, according to a Wall Street Journal and...

A Web Pioneer Profiles ­sers By Name
From ACM News

A Web Pioneer Profiles ­sers By Name

In the weeks before the New Hampshire primary last month, Linda Twombly of Nashua says she was peppered with online ads for Republican Senate hopeful Jim Bender...

Microsoft's Top Visionary To Leave as Ranks Shift
From ACM News

Microsoft's Top Visionary To Leave as Ranks Shift

Ray Ozzie, the executive who became Microsoft Corp.'s top technical visionary after the retirement of cofounder Bill Gates, plans to leave the software company...

Facebook in Privacy Breach
From ACM News

Facebook in Privacy Breach

Top-ranked applications transmit personal IDs, a Journal investigation finds.

'scrapers' Dig Deep For Data on Web
From ACM News

'scrapers' Dig Deep For Data on Web

At 1 a.m. on May 7, the website PatientsLikeMe.com noticed suspicious activity on its "Mood" discussion board. There, people exchange highly personal stories...

From ACM News

One Goal: 10 Quadrillion Calculations

Installation has begun in Kobe, Japan, on a government-funded supercomputer project, aimed at giving Japan the world's fastest computer, the "K Computer," which...

Inventions Ease the Plight of Trapped Miners
From ACM News

Inventions Ease the Plight of Trapped Miners

From copper-fibersocks to fiber-optic cable, innovation and improvisation make time more bearable for 33 Chilean.

From ACM News

India Launches Project to Id 1.2 Billion People

India's vaunted tech savvy is being put to the test this week as the country embarks on a daunting mission: assigning a unique 12-digit number to each of its...
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