Communications of the ACM
Why the Simplex Method, at Age 75, is Still the Go-To Algorithm
Daniel A. Spielman and colleague Shang-hua Teng solved the mystery of the Simplex Method using a technique called smoothed analysis… 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.
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Barcelona Center Makes Super Bet on Cellphone Chips
Supercomputers, once built from handcrafted circuitry, were transformed when companies started assembling them from inexpensive PC-style microprocessors. Researchers...
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Justices Weigh Privacy vs. Gps Bugs
In a case that questions the Constitution's meaning in light of modern surveillance technology, the Supreme Court will consider Tuesday whether police need a...
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Poor Penmanship Spells Job Security For Post Office's Scribble Specialists
A man in Emden, Mo., recently mailed a letter that he had addressed, in a scribble, to somebody in "Shelhjreille, Mo." That's the way his handwriting made it...
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Software Finds Place in Posse
Law-enforcement and intelligence agencies are increasingly relying on information from the Web and electronic records to help solve crimes and evaluate threats...
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Feds Shift Tracking Defense
The U.S. Department of Justice now says its use of a cellphone-tracking device in a controversial Arizona case could be considered a "search" under the Fourth...
From ACM TechNews
Top 'innovators' Rank Low in R&d Spending
Many companies are devoted to innovation but they tend to have little to show for their spending on research and development, according to a new Booz & Co. report...
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Zot! Uc Irvine Team Proves Stellar at Mapping Dark Matter
When David Kirkby and Daniel Margala entered a contest to find out who could most accurately map dark matter in the universe, the first algorithm they submitted...
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Design Spotlight Is Thrown on Ive
Without Steve Jobs, Apple Inc. investors and customers are asking a big question: Can it continue to turn out innovative products without its co-founder and design...
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Decoding Our Chatter
Want to monitor an earthquake, track political activity or predict the ups and downs of the stock market? Researchers have found a bonanza of real-time data in...
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What to Do If You've Been Hacked
It's a nightmare scenario every business fears. Your tech department has spotted suspicious activity on the company network. Your customers and employees are...
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'stingray' Phone Tracker Fuels Constitutional Clash
For more than a year, federal authorities pursued a man they called simply "the Hacker." Only after using a little known cellphone-tracking device—a stingray—were...
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Walked Into a Lamppost? Hurt While Crocheting? Help Is on the Way
Today, hospitals and doctors use a system of about 18,000 codes to describe medical services in bills they send to insurers. Apparently, that doesn't allow for...
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Family Pioneers in Exploration of the Genome
A group of researchers said that by examining the whole genome of a family of four, they were able to make unusually specific findings, including the daughter's...
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On Your Mark, Get Set, Hack!
During a "hackathon" last year, GroupMe co-founders Steve Martocci and Jared Hecht built a group text-messaging service in one 24-hour stretch. In August, the...
From ACM TechNews
Face-Id Tools Pose New Risk
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) researchers are studying how facial-recognition tools can be detrimental to privacy. In a recent test, the researchers were...
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Ibm Ceo Candidate Talks About His Rise
Rodney C. Adkins oversees 50,000 employees and is responsible for $18 billion in revenue as senior vice president and group executive for systems and technology...
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Cisco Poised to Help China Keep an Eye on Its Citizens
Western companies, including Cisco Systems Inc., are poised to help build an ambitious new surveillance project in China—a citywide network of as many as 500,000...
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A Roboticist's Trip From Mines to the Moon
Robots created by William "Red" Whittaker have crawled into mines and volcanoes, crossed deserts, won a 60-mile road race, helped clean up nuclear waste and harvested...
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Google Takes On Friend Sprawl
Google Inc. launched its most ambitious social-networking effort yet, broadening a battle with Facebook Inc. to grab the attention of Web users and future advertising...
From ACM Opinion