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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.


Motion-Captured Laughs Make Animations More Amusing
From ACM TechNews

Motion-Captured Laughs Make Animations More Amusing

The European Commission's Ilhaire project aims to make chatbot avatars laugh more realistically. 

How Microsoft's 1 Percenters Balance Basic Research with Short-Term Success
From ACM Opinion

How Microsoft's 1 Percenters Balance Basic Research with Short-Term Success

When Microsoft launched its research labs in 1991, the personal computer was just beginning to blossom into a worldwide phenomenon, thanks in no small part to Windows...

Stanford Researchers: It Is Trivially Easy to Match Metadata to Real People
From ACM Opinion

Stanford Researchers: It Is Trivially Easy to Match Metadata to Real People

In defending the NSA's telephony metadata collection efforts, government officials have repeatedly resorted to one seemingly significant detail: This is just metadata—numbers...

French Team Invents Faster Code-Breaking Algorithm
From Communications of the ACM

French Team Invents Faster Code-Breaking Algorithm

New method can crack certain cryptosystems far faster than earlier alternatives.

How Do You Feel? Your Computer Knows
From Communications of the ACM

How Do You Feel? Your Computer Knows

Interfaces can sense your mood, if you let them.

'Peace Technologies' Enable Eyewitness Reporting When Disasters Strike
From Communications of the ACM

'Peace Technologies' Enable Eyewitness Reporting When Disasters Strike

Ushahidi — or "testimony" in Swahili — has played a central role in coordinating responses to crises around the globe.

For Steve Ballmer, a Lasting Touch on Microsoft
From ACM Opinion

For Steve Ballmer, a Lasting Touch on Microsoft

On the eve of his exit as chief executive officer of Microsoft, after more than a decade on the job, Steve Ballmer is more than ever a CEO whose image does not...

New System Allows For High-Accuracy, Through-Wall, 3D Motion Tracking
From ACM News

New System Allows For High-Accuracy, Through-Wall, 3D Motion Tracking

Imagine playing a video game like Call of Duty or Battlefield and having the ability to lead your virtual army unit while moving freely throughout your house.

Doom's Creator Looks Back on 20 Years of Demonic Mayhem
From ACM Opinion

Doom's Creator Looks Back on 20 Years of Demonic Mayhem

At the stroke of midnight on December 10, 1993, an executive at id Software uploaded a file to an FTP site on the University of Washington's network.

An App-Led Walk Down Memory Lane
From ACM TechNews

An App-Led Walk Down Memory Lane

The Memoir iPhone app accesses photos and status updates from a user's social networks based on the user's location, what is going on, and who else is around. 

Explained: Matrices
From ACM TechNews

Explained: Matrices

Researchers say they have built one of the first chips to implement the new high-efficiency video-coding standard for ultrahigh-definition TVs. 

Falling in Love with AI Virtual Assistants: A Creepy Love Affair Nearer Than You Think
From ACM Opinion

Falling in Love with AI Virtual Assistants: A Creepy Love Affair Nearer Than You Think

"I've never loved anyone the way I've loved you," swoons Joaquin Phoenix, in the movie Her.

World of Spycraft: Nsa and CIA Spied in Online Games
From ACM News

World of Spycraft: Nsa and CIA Spied in Online Games

Not limiting their activities to the earthly realm, American and British spies have infiltrated the fantasy worlds of World of Warcraft and Second Life, conducting...

Students ­pdate Classic Animation Technique
From ACM TechNews

Students ­pdate Classic Animation Technique

Much of the repetitive manual work involved in the classic squash and stretch animation technique has been automated in a new software program. 

Wave Fingers, Make Faces: The Future of Computing at Intel
From ACM TechNews

Wave Fingers, Make Faces: The Future of Computing at Intel

Intel's perceptual computing technology incorporates gestures, facial recognition, and voice recognition to make devices more "natural, intuitive, and immersive...

How Do Game Companies Share Massive Files?
From ACM News

How Do Game Companies Share Massive Files?

Electronic Arts' multi-player shooter "Battlefield 4" exploded onto the computer games scene earlier this month, giving players a realistic taste of military combat...

Today, Glasses. Tomorrow, Body Implants?
From ACM News

Today, Glasses. Tomorrow, Body Implants?

Wearable gadgets like smart watches and Google Glass can seem like a fad that has all the durability of CB radios or Duran Duran, but they're important early signs...

Life Points the Way to a New Template For Chipmaking
From Communications of the ACM

Life Points the Way to a New Template For Chipmaking

While significant obstacles remain, researchers are optimistic about using DNA to guide graphene into complex circuit shapes on silicon.

Seeing the Big Picture
From Communications of the ACM

Seeing the Big Picture

Lensless cameras and other advances in digital imaging, computational optics, signal processing, and big data are transforming how we think about photography.

CS Enrollments Rise . . . at the Expense of the Humanities?
From Communications of the ACM

CS Enrollments Rise . . . at the Expense of the Humanities?

A growing proportion of U.S. college students are earning degrees in computer and information sciences, surprising some in academia.
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