Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
October 2012
From ACM TechNews
IETF Starts Work on Next-Generation HTTP Standard
The Internet Engineering Task Force is working on the next generation of Hypertext Transfer Protocol, says Mark Nottingham, chairman of the IETF HTTP working group.
From ACM TechNews
Nsf-Ncsa Study Probes Relationship Between Industrial Applications and nderlying Science
In an interview, U.S. NCSA director Merle Giles discusses the findings of a study to determine whether improvements in the science inside applications and other factors could help industrial HPC users.
From ACM TechNews
An Operating System in the Cloud
Tsinghua University researchers have developed TransOS, a cloud computing operating system that stores its code in the cloud, which enables a connection from a bare terminal computer.
From ACM News
Supreme Court Terminates Warrantless Electronic Spying Case
The Supreme Court closed a 6-year-old chapter Tuesday in the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s bid to hold the nation’s telecoms liable for allegedly providing the National Security Agency with backdoors to eavesdrop, without…
From ACM Opinion
Even Ray Kurzweil Is Nervous About a Future with Hyper-Intelligent Machines
Ray Kurzweil is looking forward to the year 2029.
From ACM TechNews
Automated Translation of Sign Language Into Text Is Now a Reality
University of Aberdeen researchers are developing technology that can automatically translate sign language into text.
From ACM News
China 'strongly Opposes' U.s. Report About Chinese Telecom Firms
China's Commerce Ministry announced Tuesday it "strongly opposes" a report that alleged Chinese telecommunication companies Huawei Technologies Inc. and ZTE Corp. posed national security threats in the United States.
From ACM TechNews
To Keep Passwords Safe From Hackers, Just Break Them Into Bits
RSA researchers have developed a system that splits passwords in two and stores each half in different locations.
From ACM TechNews
Ou Researchers Implement a Multi-Photon Approach in Quantum Cryptography
Quantum cryptography has the potential to offer unconditional security, but it is limited by its short transmission distance and slow speed.
From ACM TechNews
Non-Profit ScriptEd NYC Teaches Coding to Underprivileged Students
NYC has launched a pilot program designed to teach computer skills to students from underserved communities.
From ACM News
U.s. Panel Cites Risks in Chinese Equipment
In the latest development to highlight the sensitive terrain that the United States and China are navigating on economic issues, a House committee issued a blistering bipartisan report on Monday that accused two of China’s largest…
From ACM News
Mobile App Puts Brakes on Texting While Driving
Everyone knows that texting while driving kills, but that’s not enough to incentivize many people, especially teens, to keep their eyes on the road. Now a new mobile app, DriveScribe, awards motorists the equivalent of "frequent…
From ACM News
Quantum Manipulation and Measuring Win Nobel Prize in Physics
The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded jointly to Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland for experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems.
From ACM News
World's Fastest Radio Telescope Starts p in Australian Outback
In the remote Australian outback, scientists have launched the world's fastest radio telescope which will exponentially increase astronomers' ability to survey the universe, mapping black holes and shedding new light on the origins…
From ACM TechNews
Google Puts Its Virtual Brain Technology to Work
Google's recently developed learning software, which can identify specific objects by watching YouTube videos, is now being used to make Google's products smarter.
From ACM TechNews
Better Tools For Better Software
Northeastern University professor Matthias Felleisen recently received the 2012 Achievement Award from ACM's SIGPLAN for his work on Racket, which enables programmers to turn familiar vocabulary into a programming language.
From ACM TechNews
Virginia Tech to Tackle the 'Big Data' Challenges of Next-Generation Sequencing With HokieSpeed
The U.S. NSF and the National Institutes of Health recently announced about $15 million in new big data fundamental research projects that aim to develop tools and methods to extract and use knowledge from collections of large…
From ACM TechNews
University of Minnesota Engineers Invent New Device That Could Increase Internet Download Speeds
A device that controls light could lead to faster Internet downloading speeds, more affordable Internet transmission costs, and lower power consumption.
From ACM TechNews
Alan Turing's Cyber-Legacy Praised By Gchq Chief
GCHQ director Iain Lobban recently gave a speech noting the many enduring lessons that could be drawn from Alan Turing's work.
From ACM Careers
Data Scientist: The Sexiest Job of the 21st Century
When Jonathan Goldman arrived for work in June 2006 at LinkedIn, the business networking site, the place still felt like a start-up.
From ACM Careers
Why Trifacta Is Teaching Humans and Data to Work Together
Ask a group of data scientists the toughest part of their job, and many will probably tell you–it's not the math but the work required to turn raw data into something their software can work with.
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.
From ACM News
Can We Trust the Code That Increasingly Runs Our Lives?
Imagine how different the first pictures sent from the Mars Rover would have been if there had been a software failure.
From ACM News
NASA Mars Curiosity Rover Prepares to Study Martian Soil
NASA's Curiosity rover is in a position on Mars where scientists and engineers can begin preparing the rover to take its first scoop of soil for analysis.
From ACM News
In Europe, Speed Cameras Meet Their Technological Match
When Marc Guerin, a software salesman, drives the 38 kilometers from his home west of Paris to Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport, he seeks out the fastest route for his Audi Q5 crossover and powers up his Coyote, a radar warning…
From ACM News
New Tracking Frontier: Your License Plates
For more than two years, the police in San Leandro, Calif., photographed Mike Katz-Lacabe's Toyota Tercel almost weekly.
From ACM TechNews
Acoustic Cell-Sorting Chip May Lead to Cell Phone-Sized Medical Labs
Researchers have created a device that uses acoustic waves to sort a continuous flow of cells on a chip, and they believe it could lead to more efficient and less expensive analytic devices.
From ACM TechNews
Artificial Intelligence For Developing Technology For Older Adults
The role of AI in the development of technologies that promote safe independent living for older adults will be the focus of an upcoming symposium titled AI for Gerontechnology.
From ACM News
DDoS Attacks on Major U.S. Banks Are No Stuxnet—Here's Why
The attacks that recently disrupted website operations at Bank of America and at least five other major U.S. banks used compromised Web servers to flood their targets with above-average amounts of Internet traffic, according…
From ACM TechNews
Home-Based Assessment Tool For Dementia Screening
Georgia Tech researchers have developed ClockMe, a home-based software tool that allows adults to screen themselves for early signs of dementia.