Communications of the ACM
An 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
Popular Student Monitoring Software Could Have Exposed Thousands to Hacks
The McAfee Enterprise Advanced Threat Research team found a bug in the Netop Vision Pro Education software used by about 3 million teachers and students worldwide...
From ACM News
How Internet Pioneer Vint Cerf Illuminated Google's Misinformation Mess
In U.K. Parliament testimony, Google's chief Internet evangelist gave a frank explanation of why its systems can't always tell good information from bad.
From ACM News
Think You Know the World’s Most Popular Websites? Think Again
See the chaos of the Internet in this ridiculously detailed world map.
From ACM News
25 Moments in Tech that Defined the Past 25 Years
From the obvious (Steve Jobs unveils the iPhone) to the obscure (AT&T stops charging an hourly rate for internet access), these events were landmarks.
From ACM News
This Unheard Steve Jobs Tape is Part of an Amazing Trove of Tech History
When Steve Jobs demoed his NeXT computer at a 1988 user meeting, Charles Mann was there to record it—along with dozens of other talks by computing pioneers.
From ACM TechNews
3D-Printed Tiles Helping Restore Devastated Coral Reefs
Marine scientists and architects created three-dimensionally-printed terra-cotta tiles to function as artificial coral reefs, in order to help restore devastated...
From ACM News
How Wikipedia’s Volunteers Became the Web’s Best Weapon against Misinformation
In the Facebook era, the volunteer editors behind the archaic-looking website have built Wikipedia into a formidable force for truth.
From ACM News
Google Just Got Better at Understanding Your Trickiest Searches
Google is rolling out an update to its English-language search engine that vice president of search Pandu Nayak calls "the single biggest change we've had in the...
From ACM News
Mozilla, Creative Commons Want to Reimagine the Internet Without Ads, and They Have $100M to Do it
The Grant for the Web program will give roughly $20 million per year for five years to content sites, open source infrastructure developers, and others.
From ACM TechNews
Can We Print a New Set of Coral Reefs Before They're Gone?
Scientists at three Israeli institutions are collaborating to restore dying coral reefs via three-dimensional printing.
From ACM TechNews
Plants Are Oldest Sensors in the World. Could They Be the Future of Computers?
MIT's Harpreet Sareen suggests using plants as a new building material for computer circuits.
From ACM TechNews
Tactile Blocks Teach Blind Kids to Code
Microsoft is testing an educational programming kit for visually impaired children that uses differently-shaped blocks or "pods" that each embody a line of code...
From ACM TechNews
Schools in China Track Students With GPS-Enabled 'Smart' niforms
Students at 11 schools in the Chinese province of Guizhou are wearing "smart uniforms" incorporating computer chips to ensure they attend classes and behave properly...
From ACM TechNews
Disaster Relief Is Dangerously Broken. Can AI Fix It?
The use of artificial intelligence in disaster relief is gaining favor as weather-related catastrophes grow in frequency and severity.
From ACM TechNews
NASA Astronauts Will Get to Use This Extraterrestrial Supercomputer
A standard Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Apollo 4000-series business computer is being used to conduct science experiments on the International Space Station.
From ACM TechNews
Mozilla's Ambitious Plan to Teach Coders Not to Be Evil
Several organizations last week jointly launched an academic contest to incorporate ethics into undergraduate computer science education.
From ACM TechNews
A Google Intern Built the AI Behind These Shockingly Good Fake Images
Google researchers have developed an artificial intelligence system that generates incredibly realistic fake images.
From ACM TechNews
The Machines Have Taught Themselves to Make Mario Levels
Using an artificial intelligence technique, researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz discovered a way to create new levels of Super Mario Bros by...
From ACM News
Here's a Peek at the Iphone's Next Big Trick
We've all heard about the promise of augmented reality coming to the iPhone. With iOS 11 due later this year, Apple is releasing ARKit–a software that allows developers...
From ACM TechNews
Tech's Big Gender Diversity Push, One Year In
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates the representation of women in computer and mathematical operations is slightly worse than it was in 2010...12