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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.


Computer Swap on Curiosity Rover
From ACM News

Computer Swap on Curiosity Rover

The ground team for NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has switched the rover to a redundant onboard computer in response to a memory issue on the computer that had been...

Connecting the Neural Dots
From ACM News

Connecting the Neural Dots

In setting the nation on a course to map the active human brain, President Obama may have picked a challenge even more daunting than ending the war in Afghanistan...

Teaching Robots Lateral Thinking
From ACM News

Teaching Robots Lateral Thinking

Many commercial robotic arms perform what roboticists call "pick and place" tasks: The arm picks up an object in one location and places it in another.

Pushing the Wrong Button: Bad Button Placement Leads to Drone Crashes
From ACM News

Pushing the Wrong Button: Bad Button Placement Leads to Drone Crashes

Unmanned aircraft crash. In fact, they crash a lot—though there's no recent specific data, the Congressional Research Service reported last year that despite improvements...

Clever Battery Completes Stretchable Electronics Package
From ACM TechNews

Clever Battery Completes Stretchable Electronics Package

Researchers have demonstrated a flexible lithium-ion battery that continues to work even when stretched, folded, twisted, and mounted on a human elbow. 

And Now, From I.b.m., Chef Watson
From ACM News

And Now, From I.b.m., Chef Watson

I.B.M.'s Watson beat "Jeopardy" champions two years ago. But can it whip up something tasty in the kitchen?

This Amazing 3d Desktop Was Born at Microsoft
From ACM News

This Amazing 3d Desktop Was Born at Microsoft

The history of computer revolutions will show a logical progression from the Mac to the iPad to something like this SpaceTop 3D desktop, if computer genius Jinha...

On Today's Battlefield, Is Information More Important Than Firepower?
From ACM Opinion

On Today's Battlefield, Is Information More Important Than Firepower?

Halo, Borderlands, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Battlefield, Metal Gear Solid—these kinds of games taught a generation to see enemies as red dots on a mini-map...

China Says ­.s. Routinely Hacks Defense Ministry Websites
From ACM News

China Says ­.s. Routinely Hacks Defense Ministry Websites

Two major Chinese military websites, including that of the Defense Ministry, were subject to about 144,000 hacking attacks a month last year, almost two-thirds...

Sd College Tests Fingerprint Purchasing Technology
From ACM News

Sd College Tests Fingerprint Purchasing Technology

Futurists have long proclaimed the coming of a cashless society, where dollar bills and plastic cards are replaced by fingerprint and retina scanners smart enough...

After M.t.a. Setbacks, No-Swipe Fare Cards Are Still Stuck in the Future
From ACM News

After M.t.a. Setbacks, No-Swipe Fare Cards Are Still Stuck in the Future

For nearly 50 years, coins were the currency in New York’s subway and bus system. Tokens carried the next 40 years, until the MetroCard first slid into riders’...

Stuxnet Missing Link Found, Resolves Some Mysteries Around the Cyberweapon
From ACM News

Stuxnet Missing Link Found, Resolves Some Mysteries Around the Cyberweapon

As Iran met in Kazakhstan this week with members of the UN Security Council to discuss its nuclear program, researchers announced that a new variant of the sophisticated...

The Art of Cyberwar
From ACM Opinion

The Art of Cyberwar

The New York Times’ front-page report last week that the Chinese army is hacking into America's most sensitive computer networks from a 12-story building outside...

Three Radical New Brain-Mapping Tools Scientists Want Obama to Deliver
From ACM News

Three Radical New Brain-Mapping Tools Scientists Want Obama to Deliver

The Obama administration wants to make a huge investment in mapping the human brain,according to The New York Times. How can they get the most bang for their buck...

Diamond Idea For Quantum Computer
From ACM News

Diamond Idea For Quantum Computer

Quantum mechanics isn't what it used to be.

How Augmented-Reality Content Might Actually Work
From ACM Opinion

How Augmented-Reality Content Might Actually Work

Augmented reality is very exciting. The promise of it is this: all the information on the Internet overlaid on the real world exactly where and when you need it...

The Ar-15 Is More Than a Gun. It's a Gadget
From ACM Opinion

The Ar-15 Is More Than a Gun. It's a Gadget

I was shaking as I shouldered the rifle and peered through the scope at the small steel target 100 yards downrange.

Touchy-Feely Bionic Hand Closer to Reality
From ACM TechNews

Touchy-Feely Bionic Hand Closer to Reality

A bionic hand under development features an interface that links the hand to a person's nervous system. 

Al-Qaida Tipsheet on Avoiding Drones Found in Mali
From ACM News

Al-Qaida Tipsheet on Avoiding Drones Found in Mali

One of the last things the bearded fighters did before leaving this city was to drive to the market where traders lay their carpets out in the sand.

Nielsen Adjusts Its Ratings to Add Web-Linked Tvs
From ACM News

Nielsen Adjusts Its Ratings to Add Web-Linked Tvs

For media executives, there may be nothing worse than a viewer or listener who is not counted.
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