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Latest News News Archive Refine your search:
dateMore Than a Year Ago
subjectComputers And Society
authorBloomberg
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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.


Inside the 20-Year Quest to Build Computers That Play Poker
From ACM News

Inside the 20-Year Quest to Build Computers That Play Poker

Four of the best professional poker players in the world spent most of January holed up at the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh, losing.

Silicon Valley Reckons With Its Political Power
From ACM News

Silicon Valley Reckons With Its Political Power

On Sept. 12, 2016, there was a momentary realignment in the constellation of global business.

China's Secretive Space Program Threatens Nasa's Dominance
From ACM News

China's Secretive Space Program Threatens Nasa's Dominance

The launch of the Shenzhou 11 spacecraft in western China last month marked another great leap forward for the nation's space program and its ambition to send manned...

China Adopts Cybersecurity Law Despite Foreign Opposition
From ACM News

China Adopts Cybersecurity Law Despite Foreign Opposition

China has green-lit a sweeping and controversial law that may grant Beijing unprecedented access to foreign companies' technology and hamstring their operations...

Twitter's 'firehose' of Tweets Is Incredibly Valuable, and Just as Dangerous
From ACM News

Twitter's 'firehose' of Tweets Is Incredibly Valuable, and Just as Dangerous

There are half a billion tweets a day. For the company, they’re sellable data. For despots, they’re a great way to hunt dissidents.

The Search For Virtual Reality's Killer App
From ACM Careers

The Search For Virtual Reality's Killer App

Sony Corp.'s release of the PlayStation VR on Thursday brings virtual reality to the cusp of mainstream adoption.

The Computer Voting Revolution Is Already Crappy, Buggy, and Obsolete
From ACM News

The Computer Voting Revolution Is Already Crappy, Buggy, and Obsolete

Six days after Memphis voters went to the polls last October to elect a mayor and other city officials, a local computer programmer named Bennie Smith sat on his...

Thanks to This Man, Airplanes Don’t Crash Into Mountains Anymore
From ACM Careers

Thanks to This Man, Airplanes Don’t Crash Into Mountains Anymore

Giant flocks of black birds circled the wreckage of an airliner that had struck an Alaska mountain two weeks earlier, killing all 111 aboard.

Google's Driverless-Car Czar on Taking the Human Out of the Equation
From ACM Opinion

Google's Driverless-Car Czar on Taking the Human Out of the Equation

You devoted your life to human-driven transportation, engineering SUVs at Ford and taking Hyundai (as U.S. CEO and president) to record levels of sales in the U...

Facebook's Really Big Plans For Virtual Reality
From ACM News

Facebook's Really Big Plans For Virtual Reality

The office building on Facebook Way is in the unfinished style that honors materials like plywood, concrete, and steel.

Google Tackles Challenge of How to Build an Honest Robot
From ACM News

Google Tackles Challenge of How to Build an Honest Robot

Google can see a future where robots help us unload the dishwasher and sweep the floor. The challenge is making sure they don’t inadvertently knock over a vase—or...

How the Constant Threat of War Shaped Israel's Tech Industry
From ACM Careers

How the Constant Threat of War Shaped Israel's Tech Industry

Unit 8200 is Israel's most mysterious agency. No one outside knows exactly how it operates, who works there, or how they learn.

On This Waterfront, Robot Longshoremen Are the New Contenders
From ACM News

On This Waterfront, Robot Longshoremen Are the New Contenders

On one end of a dock at America's busiest port, tractor-trailers haul containers through dense, stop-and-go traffic. Sometimes they collide.

Senators' Encryption Measure Adds New Fuel to Apple-Fbi Debate
From ACM News

Senators' Encryption Measure Adds New Fuel to Apple-Fbi Debate

Technology and Internet companies would have to provide government agencies with access to data when served with a court order under long-awaited draft legislation...

What Happens When the Surveillance State Becomes an Affordable Gadget?
From ACM News

What Happens When the Surveillance State Becomes an Affordable Gadget?

When Daniel Rigmaiden was a little boy, his grandfather, a veteran of World War II and Korea, used to drive him along the roads of Monterey, California, playing...

How Google Searches Pretty Much Nailed the New Hampshire Primary
From ACM News

How Google Searches Pretty Much Nailed the New Hampshire Primary

Google's ability to look into the future of political contests just notched another win: New Hampshire.

How Microsoft's Video Game Tech Could Help Ms Patients
From ACM TechNews

How Microsoft's Video Game Tech Could Help Ms Patients

Microsoft, working with Novartis and three multiple sclerosis clinics in Europe, has created a prototype intelligent-camera system to track the disease's progress...

How to Get Online in Cuba
From ACM News

How to Get Online in Cuba

Every afternoon, crowds of Cubans gather outside Havana's top hotels—mob boss Meyer Lansky's favorite Nacional de Cuba, Ernest Hemingway's old haunt Ambos Mundos...

Why Doesn't Silicon Valley Hire Black Coders?
From ACM Careers

Why Doesn't Silicon Valley Hire Black Coders?

In the fall of 2013 a young software engineer named Charles Pratt arrived on Howard University's campus in Washington.

The First Person to Hack the Iphone Built a Self-Driving Car. In His Garage
From ACM Careers

The First Person to Hack the Iphone Built a Self-Driving Car. In His Garage

A few days before Thanksgiving, George Hotz, a 26-year-old hacker, invites me to his house in San Francisco to check out a project he’s been working on.
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