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 […]
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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 […]
MIT researchers made a 60-watt light bulb glow by sending it energy wirelessly from a device seven feet away. Experts call it the first step in a future in which cell phones and other gadgets get juice as needed without being plugged in first. The breakthrough, reports the Boston Globe, is called WiTricity. While the […]
Call For Nominations For ACM General Election
The ACM Nominating Committee is preparing to nominate candidates for the officers of ACM: President, Vice-President, Secretary/Treasurer; and five Members at Large. Suggestions for candidates are solicited. Names should be sent by November 5, 2007 to the Nominating Committee Chair, c/o Pat Ryan, Chief Operating Officer, ACM, 2 Penn Plaza, Suite 701, New York, NY […]
The U.S. Department of Defense is using some of the nation’s top technology venture capitalists and strategists to help it tap innovations from tiny start-up companies that have not traditionally been a part of the military’s vast supply chain. The New York Times reports the program provides a regular exchange of ideas and meetings among […]
A team of 18 mathematicians and computer scientists have mapped one of the most complex objects in mathematics—E8—shown here in an eight-dimensional form projected onto two dimensions. The monstrous computer-based calculation has rekindled researchers’ hopes of solving a longstanding problem among mathematicians, reports Scientific American. The team’s calculation, which took four years to prepare and […]
Princeton professor Andrew Appel recently purchased five Sequoia e-voting machines from a government auction site for $82; now he and his students are dissecting the machines to determine just how tamper-proof they really are. Wired reports the team is reverse engineering the software embedded in the machines’ ROM chips to check for security holes. Appel […]
SIGCOMM’s Archaeological Journey Into Networking’s Past
Documenting the technical history of a SIG is indeed a priceless resource.
Edmund Berkeley and the Origins of ACM
A fascination with computing machinery, and a desire to explore this emerging field with mathematicians, engineers, computer manufacturers, and others, inspired E.C. Berkeley to help create a hub for these common interests to connect.
ACM Established to Develop Communication About Computing
Sixty years ago most computer scientists worked in a vacuum, unaware of the projects their peers around the U.S. were exploring. Sharing research was key to furthering the field, most agreed, but what vehicle could best serve as a conduit for communication?
Tracing the early days of ACM—its landmark accomplishments, its challenges, its goals—in celebration of its first 60 years.
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 […]
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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