September 2007 - Vol. 50 No. 9

Features

Opinion Editorial pointers Sep 1 2007

Editorial Pointers

Silicon-based technology has dominated the computing field since its inception, but changes are afoot. In recent years a swell of new computing paradigms have emerged, and while all are very different and all in their infancy, all are decidedly silicon-free. This month’s special section examines the current state of several of these non-traditional computing paradigms, […]

Architecture and Hardware

News News track Sep 1 2007

A team of roboticists are using the lessons of 1930s physiologist Nikolai Bernstein to build the world’s fastest walking robot. BBC News reports Runbot, a self-learning, dynamic robot, is helping scientists unravel the mystery of walking. The small, bipod robot can move at speeds of more than three leg lengths per second, slightly slower than […]

Computing Applications

Opinion Forum Sep 1 2007

Two points seemed to be missing from Abbe Mowshowitz’s and Nanda Kumar’s "Viewpoint" "Public vs. Private Interest on the Internet" (July 2007). For one, while they quoted Edward Whitacre’s (in)famous comment about Google, Vonage, and other content providers not paying AT&T for access, they failed to point out the fallacy of Whitacre’s argument, something that, […]

Computing Applications

Opinion Viewpoint Sep 1 2007

Why You Can’t Cite Wikipedia in My Class

The online encyclopedia's method of adding information risks conflating facts with popular opinion.

Computing Applications

News Online first Sep 1 2007

Evolving the ACM Journal Distribution Program

ACM’s Digital Library (DL) has become an enormously effective mechanism for the distribution of research articles and related material in the field of computing. The DL’s wide availability and associated facilities have greatly reduced the need, and demand, for producing research publications in print. Thus, ACM has been working to position its publications program to […]

Ronald F. Boisvert, Mary Jane Irwin, and Holly Rushmeier

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Opinion Staying connected Sep 1 2007

Shaking Hands, Kissing Babies, and . . . Blogging?

The Internet and technology seek to influence politics as usual.

Meg McGinity Shannon

Computing Applications

Opinion The business of software Sep 1 2007

The Conservation of Uncertainty

Exploring different units for measuring software.

Phillip G. Armour

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Beyond silicon: new computing paradigms Sep 1 2007

The meaning and implementation of the term "computing" has changed greatly since ACM was first organized 60 years ago. This special section presents overview articles collectively called "non-silicon-based new computing paradigms." Although these paradigms often differ from one another significantly, there are three common characteristics: the techniques are not based on the traditional silicon-based integrated circuit technology; the basic computing elements have been physically implemented, meaning they are not just theory; and many of them aim at miniaturization, often on the order of 1--100 nanometers. Here, the term "computing" is employed in a very broad sense.

Toshinori Munakata

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Beyond silicon: new computing paradigms Sep 1 2007

Computing with a Trillion Crummy Components

Attempting to build nanometer-scale circuits that are both defect- and fault-tolerant.

Warren Robinett, Gregory S. Snider, Philip J. Kuekes, and R. Stanley Williams

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Beyond silicon: new computing paradigms Sep 1 2007

Computation with Carbon Nanotube Devices

The remarkable properties of carbon nanotubes make them very promising candidates for future computing elements---both as a successor for silicon-basedtechnology and beyond.

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Beyond silicon: new computing paradigms Sep 1 2007

Molecular, Chemical, and Organic Computing

Evaluating computation at the level of individual molecules.

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Beyond silicon: new computing paradigms Sep 1 2007

Autonomous Programmable Biomolecular Devices Using Self-Assembled DNA Nanostructures

Surveying recent developments in bio-DNA computing.

John H. Reif and Thomas H. LaBean

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Beyond silicon: new computing paradigms Sep 1 2007

Toward a World with Quantum Computers

Surveying the recent past and projecting future developments and applications involving quantum information science.

Dave Bacon and Debbie Leung

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Beyond silicon: new computing paradigms Sep 1 2007

Optical Computing: Need and Challenge

Focusing on the reality and promise of optical computing.

Hossin Abdeldayem and Donald O. Frazier

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Beyond silicon: new computing paradigms Sep 1 2007

Micro/Nanofluidic Computing

Fluid-based computing may smooth the transition to microscale systems.

David W.M. Marr and Toshinori Munakata

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Beyond silicon: new computing paradigms Sep 1 2007

Amoeba-Based Neurocomputing with Chaotic Dynamics

Implementing a deadlock-breaking neural computing scheme that can flexibly search for reasonable solutions without any resource allocation program.

Masashi Aono, Masahiko Hara, and Kazuyuki Aihara

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Sep 1 2007

Parallel Computing on Any Desktop

Parallelization lets applications exploit the high throughput of new multicore processors, and the OpenMP parallel programming model helps developers create multithreaded applications.

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Sep 1 2007

Domain Expert User Development: the Smartgov Approach

The European Union's SmartGov project transforms public-sector employees into developers of the government e-services used directly by the public.

George Lepouras, Costas Vassilakis, Constantin Halatsis, and Panagiotis Georgiadis

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Sep 1 2007

The Online Consumer’s Hierarchy of Needs

Web site designers take heed: Not all interface characteristics are created equal.

Joseph S. Valacich, D. Veena Parboteeah, and John D. Wells

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Sep 1 2007

What Matters When Introducing New Information Technology

Focusing on the right issues at the right time increases the likelihood of success.

Susan A. Brown, Norman L. Chervany, and Bryan A. Reinicke

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Sep 1 2007

Sox, Compliance, and Power Relationships

There are several tactics CIOs can use for SOX compliance implementation. A pivotal one is understanding their relationship with the CEO, CFO, and auditors.

Ashley Braganza and Arnoud Franken

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Sep 1 2007

What’s Wrong with Online Privacy Policies?

Research has shown that privacy policies tend to intensify privacy concerns rather than engender trust. One way to combat this dichotomy is to redesign their content, language, and presentation format.

Computing Applications

Opinion Technical opinion Sep 1 2007

The Online Research ‘Bubble’

Seeking to improve the commonly used online survey sampling approaches.

Thomas F. Stafford and Dennis Gonier

Computing Applications

Opinion Hot Links Sep 1 2007

Top 10 Downloads from ACM’s Digital Library

Communications of the ACM Volume 50, Number 9 (2007), Page 118 Hot Links: Top 10 downloads from ACM’s digital library Diane Crawford Table of Contents Tables Back to Top Tables Table. The Top 10 Most Popular Papers from ACM’s Refereed Journals and Conference Proceedings Downloaded in June 2007 Table. Top 10 Most Popular Magazine and […]

Computing Applications

Opinion Inside risks Sep 1 2007

E-Migrating Risks?

The recent denial-of-service attacks in Estonia reprise a running theme in this column space: the prevalence of inherent weaknesses regarding security, survivability, and resilience of our computer-communication infrastructures. These attacks provide another warning of things to come. They also suggest further reasons why renewed energy should be expended on improving the trustworthiness of our infrastructures […]

Peter G. Neumann

Computing Applications

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