Tracing the early days of ACM—its landmark accomplishments, its challenges, its goals—in celebration of its first 60 years.
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From a small group of like-minded scientists drawn to the dynamics of computer-generated images to a driving force in computer graphics bringing together thousands from around the world, SIGGRAPH continues to chart the course for this diverse and ever-changing field.
A History of the History of Programming Languages
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."---Isaac Newton, in a letter to Robert Hooke, Feb. 15, 1676
Sources For ACM History: What, Where, Why
ACM has developed a rich and varied history over its first six decades. Preserving that history in an open and plentiful archive is key to helping future historians tell the ACM story.
Not Only Digital: A Review of ACM's Early Involvement with Analog Computing Technology
When analog and digital were in flux, ACM provided a forum—as well as publications and conferences—to explore both sides.
The ACM and IEEE-CS Guidelines For Undergraduate CS Education
ACM curriculum recommendations have been instrumental over the last 40 years in defining what is taught at educational institutions around the world.
Call For Nominations For Advanced Member Grades in ACM
ACM has three distinct member grades to recognize the professional accomplishments of our members: Senior Member recognizes those ACM members with at least 10 years of professional experience that have demonstrated performance and accomplishment that set them apart. The list of recipients is available at awards.acm.org/homepage.cfm?awd=159. Distinguished Engineer, Scientist, or Member recognizes those ACM members […]
The SGB EC brought forward a motion to dissolve SIGAPL, the Special Interest Group on the APL and J Languages based on an insufficient level of activity. The SGB EC recommends that SIGAPL's resources be used to provide up to two years worth of membership in another SIG of their choice (one year for SIGAPL members who have paid only one year of dues). Furthermore, the SGB EC has recommended that the SIGAPL community could organize conferences or other activities under the auspices of a more general SIG such as SIGPLAN. In accordance with ACM Bylaw 6 Section 11, this motion will be considered only after ACM's membership has had 60 days of notice to respond. If one percent of all ACM members, or five percent of SIGAPL members challenge the proposal to dissolve SIGAPL, the consideration of the motion will be delayed six additional months to give those challengers an opportunity to revitalize the SIG. ACM members who wish to challenge the proposed dissolution should contact Donna Cappo, Director of SIG Services, at cappo@acm.org, no later than June 15, 2007. Challenges must include your ACM membership number and should indicate whether you are a current member of SIGAPL. Other questions can be addressed to SGB Chair Joseph Konstan (konstan@acm.org).
ACM Honors Distinguished Members
ACM has three distinct member grades to recognize the professional accomplishments of its members. The list of those members recognized as ACM Fellows in 2006 was published in the March 2007 issue of Communications (p. 26). Here, we list those members named distinguished engineer, scientist, or member and senior members in 2006. Distinguished Engineer, Scientist, […]
All space missions wrestle with producing enough power to complete their projects while restricting the weight of generators, batteries, and solar arrays onboard. Now, new research conducted by IntAct Labs, Cambridge, MA, is exploring the futuristic concept of covering spacesuits in motion-sensitive proteins that could generate power from astronauts’ movements, reports New Scientist. Biological organisms […]
ACM A.M. Turing Award Nominations Solicited
Nominations are invited for the 2007 A.M. Turing Award. ACM’s oldest and most prestigious award is presented for contributions of a technical nature to the computing community. Although the long-term influences of the nominee’s work are taken into consideration, there should be a particular outstanding and trendsetting achievement for technical contributions, which constitutes the principal […]
SIGs Announce Candidates For Election
In accordance with ACM Bylaw 6, the following SIGs will hold elections in 2007: SIGAPP, SIGART, SIGBED, SIGecom, SIGOPS, SIGPLAN. ACM Policy and Procedures require that those SIGs holding elections notify their membership of candidates for elected offices. Here is a list of SIG(s) that have submitted their slate of candidates in addition to those […]
The ACM Fellows Program was established by Council in 1993 to recognize and honor outstanding ACM members for their achievements in computer science and information technology and for their significant contributions to the mission of the ACM. The ACM Fellows serve as distinguished colleagues to whom the ACM and its members look for guidance and […]
A team of Hewlett-Packard scientists created a new computer chip design enabling an eightfold increase in the number of transistors on a chip without making the transistors smaller, reports the San Jose Mercury News. After a decade searching for new ways to boost chip performance as well as make elements of chips so small they […]
SIGs Announce Candidates For Election
In accordance with ACM Bylaw 6, the following SIGs will hold elections in 2007: SIGARCH, SIGCOMM, SIGCSE, SIGDOC, SIGEVO, SIGGRAPH, SIGIR, SIGITE, SIGMM, SIGSAM, and SIGWEB. ACM Policy and Procedures require that those SIGs holding elections notify their membership of candidates for elected offices. Below is a list of SIGs that have submitted their slate […]
ACM is considering the de-charter of the following chapters due to inactivity Members interested in revitalizing their chapters should contact Lauren Ryan, Local Activities Coordinator, at local_activities@acm.org. ACM will terminate the chapters listed below after 90 days unless interested volunteers express a desire to reactivate their chapter by updating their bylaws and preparing acceptable revitalization […]
U.S. employers are now compelled to keep track of all email messages, instant messages, and other electronic documents generated by their employees, as per new federal rules that took effect last December. The Associated Press reports the legislation, approved by the U.S. Supreme Court, requires companies involved in federal litigation to produce "electronically stored information" […]
Rising energy consumption and fuel prices could lead to energy costs eating up more than one-third of IT budgets within the next five years, according to a Gartner Group report that notes IT power demand is just the "tip of a melting iceberg for an IT industry that is currently unsustainable." BusinessWeek reports CIOs and […]
ACM is about to turn 60. We witnessed the birth of computing, ushered in the dawn of the information age, and reported the first voyages through cyberspace. And while an annual report is typically an exercise in reflection, ACM is always focused on tomorrow and the pivotal role it plays in sharing the kind of […]
ACM Honors Distinguished Members For Contributions to Computing
Inaugural class represents leading industries, research labs, and universities.
A survey of technology leaders, builders, and activists finds that most believe the Internet will continue to spread in a "flattening" and improving world. However, many others warn major problems will accompany the technology advances by 2020, according to a report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Findings from "The Future of the […]
IBM will build a supercomputer capable of 1,000 trillion floating point operations per second (or one petaflop) using 16,000 of the Cell processor chips it designed for the PlayStation 3 video game machine. The New York Times reports the U.S. Department of Energy awarded IBM the contract to build the Roadrunner machine for a total […]
In 1981, seven young Indian engineers founded a tiny firm in a cramped apartment after begging the Indian government to allow them to buy a Western computer. What transpired over the next 25 years is now known worldwide as Infosys, a $2 billion outsourcing giant with 58,000 employees and a market value of $22 billion. […]
In this edition of the ACM Queuecast hosted by Mike Vizard, Oracle's chief architect for tools and middleware Ted Farrell talks about the role of IDEs in the Eclipse open source era, and why developers still need IDE tools to better leverage a wide variety of middleware assets and take a more modular approach to building complex business applications.
Shape the Future of Computing
ACM encourages its members to take a direct hand in shaping the future of the association. There are more ways than ever to get involved.
Get InvolvedCommunications of the ACM (CACM) is now a fully Open Access publication.
By opening CACM to the world, we hope to increase engagement among the broader computer science community and encourage non-members to discover the rich resources ACM has to offer.
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