Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
March 2015
From ACM TechNews
Guaranteeing Online Anonymity
A new program can provide an accurate assessment of the level of online anonymity an individual user achieves.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Develop "visual Turing Test"
Researchers have developed a "visual Turing Test" that can evaluate how well computers understand information taken from images.
From ACM TechNews
Watch What You Say
Mu'tah University researcher Ahmad Hassanat is developing a computerized system that can analyze the shapes human lips make as they produce different sounds.
From ACM News
Complex Molecules Made to Order in Synthesis Machine
Synthesizing complex molecules is a notoriously fiendish art—and a daily toil for many chemists.
From ACM News
FCC Goes Public with Net Neutrality Rules For Governing Internet
The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday finally spelled out how it will preserve the open Internet, publicly releasing a 400-page PDF that details its new, stricter regulations for broadband services.
From ACM News
Hipeac Unveils 5th Vision Document
The organization advises greater attention to the European Union’s position as it prepares to enter a new phase of scientific innovation.
From ACM News
The Philae Comet Lander Might Have Enough Power to Wake Up
In November, a spacecraft made a dramatic, first-ever landing on a comet—three times.
From ACM News
Spacecraft Data Suggest Saturn Moon's Ocean May Harbor Hydrothermal Activity
NASA's Cassini spacecraft has provided scientists the first clear evidence that Saturn's moon Enceladus exhibits signs of present-day hydrothermal activity which may resemble that seen in the deep oceans on Earth.
From ACM TechNews
Computer Science Researcher Hopes to Make Access to Cloud Storage More Efficient
A Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University professor plans to further develop a high-performance and load balanced in-memory object caching storage system.
From ACM TechNews
App, Beacons Guide Travel on nderground For Vision-Impaired
The test trial for a smartphone app that helps the visually impaired use London's public transportation system wraps up this week.
From ACM TechNews
Groovy Language Proposed as Apache Incubator Project
The Groovy dynamic object-oriented programming language has been formally submitted to the Apache Incubator.
From ACM TechNews
Connecting the Internet of Things to the Marketplace
The European Union-funded BUTLER initiative to expand the Internet of Things in a cooperative and seamless manner has published its achievements.
From ACM News
Pre-Crime Software Recruited to Track Gang of Thieves
They always choose the line at the bank farthest from CCTV—that's how the Felony Lane Gang got its name.
From ACM News
Cybercriminals Are Misappropriating Businesses' Web Addresses
Cybercriminals targeting businesses are stealing more than customer passwords and credit-card numbers these days.
From ACM Opinion
Finding Out What the Past Smelled Like
It was the smell that hit me first, a heady mixture of roasting meat, woodsmoke, and farmyard manure.
From ACM News
Dna Mutation Clock Proves Tough to Set
Mathematicians keep refining π even though they know it to more than 12 trillion digits; physicists beat themselves up because they cannot pin down the gravitational constant beyond three significant figures.
From ACM TechNews
Computer Scientists' 4-Million-Euro Project Aims to Make Big Data More Productive and Useful
Researchers are working a Horizon 2020 research project aimed at creating systems that will enable developers to incorporate big data into a variety of applications.
From ACM TechNews
Shortage of Security Pros Worsens
Cybersecurity job postings grew 74 percent from 2007 to 2013, more than twice the rate of all information technology jobs, according to a Burning Glass study.
From ACM TechNews
The CIA Campaign to Steal Apple's Secrets
New secret documents reveal a nearly 10-year effort by security researchers at Sandia National Laboratory to crack the security of Apple's iPhone and iPad mobile devices.
From ACM TechNews
Ftc Pits Humans Against Robocalls in New Contest
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is launching two contests asking the public to develop solutions for blocking, forwarding, and analyzing automated calls.
From ACM TechNews
Finger-Mounted Reading Device For the Blind
Researchers have developed a prototype of a finger-mounted device with a built-in camera that converts written text into audio for visually impaired users.
From ACM News
Pluto-Bound Probe Tweaks Its Trajectory
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft fine-tuned its path toward Pluto on Tuesday, firing its rocket thrusters for 93 seconds to aim for a fleeting flyby of the distant dwarf planet July 14.
From ACM TechNews
Just in Time: Tips For Computer Science Teachers When They Need It
Researchers are developing online professional development resources to provide "just-in-time" support for computer science teachers .
From ACM News
Personal Fabrication Machines Make 'homemade' Digitally
Digital cutting devices will supplement consumer-level 3D printers.
From ACM News
Silicon Valley Debate on Self-Driving Cars: Do You Need a Map?
The Silicon Valley race to build a self-driving car may revolve around one simple question: to map or not to map.
From ACM News
The Real Star Wars: Air Force Heads to the Heavens For Weapons Guidance
The success of precision-guided bombs in 1991’s Gulf War was a revelation.
From ACM Careers
Mistrust and Meddling nsettles .s. Science Agency
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has had a tough couple of years.
From ACM TechNews
Internet Rivals Google, Microsoft Partner on New Javascript Framework
Google and Microsoft have agreed to merge their separate work on new JavaScript technologies into a single common framework.
From ACM TechNews
These Compsci Programs Deliver Most Bang For Buck, Report Finds
Computer science majors have the best 20-year net return on investment out of all of the degrees in the new College ROI Report. Stanford, UC-Berkeley, and MIT have the best ROI for computer science programs.
From ACM Opinion
If an Algorithm Wrote This, How Would You Even Know?
Let me hazard a guess that you think a real person has written what you're reading. Maybe you're right. Maybe not.