Communications of the ACM
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How the “Frontier” Became the Slogan of Uncontrolled AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been billed as the next frontier of humanity: the newly available expanse whose exploration …
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Film Futures: Brassed Off
Computer Scientists and digital artists are behind the fabulous special effects and computer generated imagery we see in today’s movies, but for a bit of fun, in...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Film Futures: Tsotsi
Computer Scientists and digital artists are behind the fabulous special effects and computer generated imagery we see in today’s movies, but for a bit of fun, in...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Annie Easley: putting rockets into space
Annie Easley was a pioneer both as a computer programmer but also as a champion of women and minorities into computer science. She went from being a human computer...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Torchwood: in need of some backup
***SPOILER ALERT*** Disaster planning, that’s the Torchwood game. They are there to save the Earth whenever it needs saving from aliens (which is every week). Shame...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Moon and Mind-Body Dualism
**spoiler alert** The least interesting thing about Duncan Jones is who his superstar father is. He stepped out of the shadow with a vengeance in directing oneContinue...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Bank holiday bunting appears automatically on the GOV.UK website – thanks to a little program!
This is an updated version of a snippet that appeared previously on this blog. If you’re reading this post today (Monday 21 April 2025) it’s Easter Monday which...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Robot runners
The first ever half marathon allowing humanoid robots to run against humans was held in Beijing this weekend (April 2025). 12,000 humans ran the event alongside...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
The CS4FN Easter Egg Hunt
Easter eggs can be chocolate but they are also hidden treasures to be found in games, websites, other software (and now even Lego sets). Especially for Easter we...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
A Sea Hero Quest to understand our navigation skills
Video games can be a very successful way to do citizen science, getting ordinary people involved in research. Sea Hero Quest is an extremely successful example....
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Robert Weitbrecht and his telecommunication device for the deaf
Robert Weitbrecht was born deaf. He went on to become an award winning electronics scientist who invented the acoustic coupler (or modem) and a teletypewriter (or...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Debugging your sandwich maker
Do you know how to make a sandwich? More importantly do you know how to write down a set of precise, detailed instructions that could tell someone else how to make...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Making mistakes creatively – putting error messages to good use
Have you ever seen a website say “404 – page not found” or something very similar? This can happen if a page has since been moved or deleted, or if you’ve typed...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Always check the text before sending to print!
One of our tasks here at CS4FN is to proofread our magazines before we put them in the post and send them out to our subscribers. We’re not just checking for spelling...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Super-plant supercapacitors
There are a whole range of plants that have been called superfoods for their amazing claimed health benefits because of the nutrients they contain. But plants can...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
The wrong trousers? Not any more!
Inspired by the Wallace & Gromit film ‘The Wrong Trousers’, Johnathan Rossiter of the University of Bristol builds robotic trousers. We could all need them as we...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Language-mangling rude word filters
What we have here on the right is a water butt also known as a rainwater tank. These are large containers which collect rainwater so are an environmentally friendly...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Broadband, by carrier pigeon
There’s a joke, about a Victorian football newspaper reporter, who takes a homing pigeon with him to the match so that he can swiftly return the score to his editor...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Music-making mates for Mortimer
Robots are cool. Fact. But can they keep you interested for more than a short time? Over months? Years even? Louis McCallum of Queen Mary University of London tells...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Philippa Gardner bringing law and order to a wild west
Verified Trustworthy Software The computing world is a wild west, with bugs in software the norm, and malicious people and hostile countries making use of themContinue...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)