January 2021 - Vol. 64 No. 1

Features

Opinion Editor's letter Jan 1 2021

2021: Computing’s Divided Future

China and the West's fundamental systemic differences and growing geopolitical competition are increasingly open. The new reality is pulling the computing community apart, and spilling over into the academic and research communities.

Andrew A. Chien

Computing Profession

Opinion Departments Jan 1 2021

Reboot the Computing-Research Publication Systems

The virtualization of conferences due to COVID-19 has sharpened my conviction that the computing-research publication system is badly broken and in need of a serious reboot.

Moshe Y. Vardi

Computing Applications

Careers Career paths in computing Jan 1 2021

A Career Fueled by HPC

In a world of nuance and interpretation, the objectivity of math spoke to me (and still does). To be able to use applied math to do science through the use of very large-scale computers was magic.

Dona Crawford

Computing Profession

BLOG@CACM Jan 1 2021

Talking about Race in CS Education

Mark Guzdial suggests computer science education needs to change, to better serve the needs of students and society.

Mark Guzdial

Education

News Jan 1 2021

Geometric Deep Learning Advances Data Science

Researchers are pushing beyond the limitations of convolutional neural networks using geometric deep learning techniques.

Samuel Greengard

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

News Jan 1 2021

Fugaku Takes the Lead

Japan tops the Top500 supercomputer rankings, for the moment.

Don Monroe

Architecture and Hardware

Fugaku at Riken Center for Computational Science

News Jan 1 2021

Coalition of the Willing Takes Aim at COVID-19

Data science can only do so much in the face of a pandemic.

Chris Edwards

Computing Applications

four individuals and a hand holding a mobile phone, illustration

Opinion Technology strategy and management Jan 1 2021

Boeing’s 737 MAX: A Failure of Management, Not Just Technology

Tracing the trajectory of management and engineering decisions resulting in systemic catastrophe.

Michael A. Cusumano

Computing Applications

Opinion Security Jan 1 2021

Cybersecurity Research for the Future

Considering the wide range of technological and societal trade-offs associated with cybersecurity.

Terry Benzel

Computing Applications

Opinion Law and technology Jan 1 2021

Content Moderation Modulation

Deliberating on how to regulate—or not regulate—online speech in the era of evolving social media.

Kate Klonick

Architecture and Hardware

user and strident speakers, illustration

Opinion Historical reflections Jan 1 2021

The Immortal Soul of an Old Machine

Taking apart a book to figure out how it works.

Thomas Haigh

Computing Applications

The Soul of a New Machine, stylized cover image

Opinion Viewpoint Jan 1 2021

Insights for AI from the Human Mind

How the cognitive sciences can inform the quest to build systems with the flexibility of the human mind.

Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis

Computing Applications

neurons and lighted background, illustration

Opinion Viewpoint Jan 1 2021

Excessive Use of Technology: Can Tech Providers be the Culprits?

Seeking to assess the possible responsibility of tech providers for excessive use patterns.

Ofir Turel and Christopher Ferguson

Computing Applications

young male and female looking at smartphones

Practice Jan 1 2021

The Identity in Everyone’s Pocket

Keeping users secure through their smartphones.

Phil Vachon

Computing Applications

mobile phone with facial recognition feature

Practice Jan 1 2021

The Die is Cast

Hardware security is not assured.

Edlyn V. Levine

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Contributed articles Jan 1 2021

Does Facebook Use Sensitive Data for Advertising Purposes?

Facebook labels 67% of its users with potential sensitive interests, sometimes at great risk to the user.

José González Cabañas, Àngel Cuevas, Aritz Arrate, and Ruben Cuevas

Computing Applications

mobile phone users and a megaphone with Facebook icon, illustration

Research and Advances Contributed articles Jan 1 2021

Digital Instruments as Invention Machines

An analysis of patenting history from 1850 to 2010 to detect long-term patterns of knowledge spillovers via prior-art citations of patented inventions.

Pantelis Koutroumpis, Aija Leiponen, and Llewellyn D W Thomas

Computing Profession

Research and Advances Contributed articles Jan 1 2021

How to Transition Incrementally to Microservice Architecture

A field study examines technological advances that have created versatile software ecosystems to develop and deploy microservices.

Karoly Bozan, Kalle Lyytinen, and Gregory M. Rose

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Review articles Jan 1 2021

Secure Multiparty Computation

MPC has moved from theoretical study to real-world usage. How is it doing?

Yehuda Lindell

Systems and Networking

Research and Advances Review articles Jan 1 2021

The Ethics of Zero-Day Exploits: The NSA Meets the Trolley Car

Are U.S. government employees behaving ethically when they stockpile software vulnerabilities?

Stephen B. Wicker

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Research highlights Jan 1 2021

Technical Perspective: Deciphering Errors to Reduce the Cost of Quantum Computation

In "Constant Overhead Quantum Fault Tolerance with Quantum Expander Codes," by Omar Fawzi, et al., the authors produce an algorithm that can rapidly deduce the error in a quantum expander code, even when the syndrome is partially incorrect.

Daniel Gottesman

Computing Profession

Research and Advances Research highlights Jan 1 2021

Constant Overhead Quantum Fault Tolerance with Quantum Expander Codes

In this paper, we study the asymptotic scaling of the space overhead needed for fault-tolerant quantum computation.

Omar Fawzi, Antoine Grospellier, and Anthony Leverrier

Computing Profession

Research and Advances Research highlights Jan 1 2021

Technical Perspective: SkyCore’s Architecture Takes It to the ‘Edge’

"SkyCore," by Mehrdad Moradi, et al., addresses an exciting use case for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in which UAVs can act as mobile base stations for the cellular network, flying to areas in the network in order to improve wireless connectivity.

Richard Han

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Research highlights Jan 1 2021

SkyCore: Moving Core to the Edge for Untethered and Reliable UAV-Based LTE Networks

We argue for and propose an alternate, radical edge evolved packet core design, called SkyCore, that pushes the EPC functionality to the extreme edge of the core network.

Architecture and Hardware

Opinion Last byte Jan 1 2021

Stay in Balance

No tipping.

Dennis Shasha

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