Communications of the ACM
Pen-Based Computing: Still Looking For The Write App
The sector, once popular, is searching for applications and users.
From ACM NewsAn edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.
From ACM TechNews
Worldwide Battle Rages For Control of the Internet
Governments in the Middle East and north Africa routinely block and censor Web sites to control political discussions, according to a new report on the region by...
From ACM TechNews
Pay-Per-Email Plan to Beat Spam and Help Charity
Yahoo! researchers are testing a scheme in which users pay one cent for each email message they send, with the money going to charity, in an effort to cut back...
From ACM TechNews
Is the Future of Healthcare Online?
An international coalition of medical and technology companies called the Continua Health Alliance is encouraging the migration of healthcare to the Web, as remote...
From ACM TechNews
Talking Paperclip Inspires Less Irksome Virtual Assistant
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has spent an estimated $150 million developing an artificially intelligent (AI) virtual assistant. DARPA's...
From ACM TechNews
Robo-Wheels Go Where Caterpillar Tracks Fear to Tread
Rescue robots could be more useful in snowy conditions thanks to an adjustable wheel that has been developed by researchers in Japan. A team led by Taro Iwamoto...
From ACM TechNews
How New Technologies Will Ease Our Traffic Woes
A new generation of monitoring and data-gathering technologies could drastically alter how people travel by car by providing them with more accurate information...
From ACM TechNews
Cyborg Crickets Could Chirp at the Smell of Survivors
Research supported by the U.S. Pentagon is attempting to turn insects into search-and-rescue systems capable of locating trapped victims in earthquake rubble and...
From ACM TechNews
Computer Learns Sign Language By Watching Tv
Software developed by researchers at the University of Oxford and the University of Leeds has autonomously determined the basics of sign language by watching TV...
From ACM News
'Smart' House Texts You If There's a Problem
It may look low-tech, but a smart doll's house could one day change the way we live, its inventors claim. Part of a project called InterHome, it is designed to...
From ACM TechNews
Emotional Robots: Will We Love Them or Hate Them?
Scientists have theorized that many technologies would function better if they were aware of their users' emotional states, and progress in this field includes...
From ACM TechNews
Magnet and Glue Turn Tongue Into Joystick
New ScientistGeorgia Tech University professors Maysam Ghovanloo and Xueliang Huo have developed a headset that enables a person to precisely control a wheelchair...
From ACM TechNews
'secret' Questions Leave Accounts Vulnerable
The secret questions some Web sites ask new users to answer for verification purposes in case a password is forgotten are actually far less secure and far easier...
From ACM TechNews
'governor' Would Teach Military Robots the Rules of War
Georgia Institute of Technology robotics engineer Ron Arkin is researching how military robots could be programmed to act ethically and obey the rules of engagement...
From ACM News
Virtual Power Plants Could Tame Coming Grid Chaos
Fears over energy security and climate change have led to record investment in renewable energy. But a major problem threatens to stall progress towards a more...
From ACM TechNews
Instant Sex Change Served p By Video Software
Software developed by University of East Anglia computer scientist Barry-John Theobald and Weta Digital's Iain Matthews can take a live video feed of a person talking...
From ACM News
Fake Web Traffic Can Hide Secret Chat
The Internet's underlying technology can be harnessed to let people exchange secret messages, perhaps allowing free, coded speech under oppressive regimes. So says...
From ACM TechNews
Software to Track Our Emotional Outbursts
Sentiment analysis agents are designed to teach computers to comprehend the emotions expressed in text just as well as people do, and early adopters include big...
From ACM TechNews
Could the Net Become Self-Aware?
The Internet is similar to the human brain in that it has a complex network of nodes for holding, processing, recalling, and transmitting information. The Web...
From ACM TechNews
Swapping Your Body Becomes a Virtual Reality
Neuroscientists at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, have used camera technology to create the illusion that a human being has swapped his or her body...
From ACM TechNews