ACM MemberNet - November 25, 2008
Welcome to the November edition of ACM MemberNet, bringing you the world of ACM and beyond. Explore the many facets of ACM with our newsletter of member activities and events. Read MemberNet online at http://membernet.acm.org/. Is there a person, event, or issue you'd like to see covered? Please email mn-editor at acm.org.
Read TechNews, ACM's digest of news and information for IT professionals published three times a week.
Washington Update, a monthly newsletter from USACM reporting on activities in Washington.
Published biweekly, ACM CareerNews provides summaries of articles on career-related topics in the computing field.
ACM-W newsletter (pdf) from ACM's Committee on Women in Computing
TOP STORIES
- ACM President Wendy Hall Speaks at 50 Years of Computing in Mexico Congress
- ACM E-voting Watchdogs Monitor Election, Spread Awareness on Security Issues
- ACM CEO John White on Digital Library's 10th Birthday
Awards - Call for 2008 ACM Award Nominations
- Nominations for 2009–2010 Athena Lecturer Award Due Feb. 1
Member Recognition - Call for ACM Advanced Member Level Nominations
SIG Awards - ACM SIG Awards Recognize Achievements in Diverse Fields
Conferences and Events - Special ACM Member Discount for SD Forum Game Development Conference
- SIGGRAPH Asia Conference to Feature Special Sessions on Production and Gaming
- Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces to Feature Speaker from Google
- "Engaging Computer Science Education" Theme of 2009 SIGCSE Symposium
- 2009 Computers, Freedom & Privacy Conference Accepting Proposals
- SC08 Marks 20th Anniversary of Supercomputing Conference
Member Programs - ACM-at-a-Glance for New Members, and Reasons to Transition for Students
- ACM Member-Get-A-Member 2008–2009 Campaign
- ACM Adds Four Offerings to Insurance Program
- Take Advantage of ACM's Lifetime Membership Plan
Online Books & Courses - New ACM Online Books & Courses Newsletter
Education - First China Computing Education Summit Taps ACM Experts
Student News - ACM Partners with Microsoft to Offer Students Free Software
- Upcoming ACM Student Research Competitions Call for Submissions
- ACM-W Student Scholarships for Attendance at Research Conferences
- Student Volunteers Needed to Help Train High School CS Teachers
- Graduating Students Eligible for Special Transition Rate
ACM-W News - Meeting Networking Goals at Grace Hopper via CONNECT
Publications News - New netWorker Digital Edition Debuts
- Communications of the ACM Reports: Analyzing Online Social Networks
- interactions Reports: On Innovation and Design for Technology
- Google Software Engineer Introduces Concurrent Language Erlang in ACM Queue
ACM in the News - "First SIGGRAPH Asia Sees Significant Participation From the Region's Talents"
- "Gene Spafford on IT Security Education"
- "E-Voting Backers, Watchdogs Hope to Smooth Out Bumps Next Time"
TOP STORIES
ACM President Wendy Hall Speaks at 50 Years of Computing in Mexico Congress
ACM President Wendy Hall was a keynote speaker at the 50 Years of Computing in Mexico Congress, organized by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and held November 12 to 14 in Mexico City. Hall said that through her research in multimedia and hypermedia, she was acutely aware of the power of computing to connect people across international boundaries, and that Mexico offers great potential as a key player in the international community of computing and information technology. She noted that this congress is a first step in leveraging Mexico's substantial assets—their large population; exposure to international firms engaged in hardware and software marketing and manufacturing; and desire to actively participate in the computing revolution—to achieve this goal. She said this is a transformative time for the Mexican computing community as well as the global computing arena, and encouraged them to pursue their vision to integrate Mexico into this diverse and dynamic world, and to take advantage of the resources available from this community to facilitate their journey.
ACM E-voting Watchdogs Monitor Election, Spread Awareness on Security Issues
Technology experts from ACM's US Public Policy Committee (USACM) reported problems in a wide array of different technologies accessed by the nearly 124 million voters who participated in the 2008 US elections. The USACM experts, who monitored the reliability of voting equipment and registration records around the nation on Election Day, said it appeared that no systemic failures occurred, and expressed relief. But despite improvements in some jurisdictions, they reiterated the need for improved voting technology to help build trust in the e-voting infrastructure and enable voters to maintain their confidence in the democratic process. Voter Registration Databases (VRDs) were also a concern.
Read the press release.
USACM Executive Committee member and former ACM President Barbara Simons was interviewed by O'Reilly Media about the election. In addition, USACM Chair Eugene Spafford, USACM Vice Chair Edward Felten, and other ACM experts were quoted in various media outlets.
ACM CEO John White on Digital Library's 10th Birthday
In a letter appearing in the November issue of Communications of the ACM, ACM CEO John R. White highlights the important contributions the ACM Digital Library has made to the computing community, and outlines recent technological improvements and future directions for this valuable resource.
Awards
Call for 2008 ACM Award Nominations
Each year, ACM recognizes technical and professional achievements within the computing and information technology community through its celebrated Awards Program. And annually, ACM's award committees evaluate the contributions of candidates for various awards that span a spectrum of professional and technological accomplishments. You and your colleagues are invited to nominate candidates for ACM awards, including:
Awards with November 30, 2008 nomination deadlines:- A.M. Turing Award
- ACM-Infosys Foundation Award in the Computing Sciences
- ACM-AAAI Allen Newell Award
- Software System Award
- Grace Murray Hopper Award
- Paris Kanellakis Theory and Practice Award
- Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award
- Distinguished Service Award
- Outstanding Contribution to ACM Award
- ACM-IEEE CS Eckert-Mauchly Award
Learn more about nomination procedures and read a letter from Award Committee Co-Chairs Calvin C. Gotlieb and James J. Horning on the ACM Awards Call for Nominations page. Refer to http://www.acm.org/nominations for the complete listing of 2008 Award Subcommittee Chairs and Members.
Nominations for 2009–2010 Athena Lecturer Award Due Feb. 1
The ACM-W Athena Lecturer Award celebrates outstanding women researchers who have made fundamental contributions to Computer Science. Candidates are nominated by Special Interest Group (SIG) officers; the Athena Lecturer gives a keynote at a SIG meeting of her and the SIG's choice, and receives a $10,000 honorarium, funded by Google. More information can be found on the Athena announcement page, which includes links to the nomination form and talks by previous winners. Nominations for next year are due February 1, 2009.
Member Recognition
Call for ACM Advanced Member Level Nominations
ACM recognizes annually a class of ACM Fellows, our eminent colleagues that ACM and its members look to for guidance and leadership. ACM also has advanced grade memberships of Distinguished Engineer/Scientist/Member and Senior Member.
Senior Member recognizes ACM members with at least 10 years of professional experience and 5 years of continuous ACM Professional membership who have demonstrated performance and accomplishment that set them apart from their peers. Nominations are accepted on a quarterly basis. The deadline for nominations is November 30, 2008. The next deadline is February 28, 2009.
The Distinguished Engineer/Scientist/Member designation recognizes ACM members with at least 15 years of professional experience and 5 years of continuous ACM Professional membership who have demonstrated significant accomplishments or made a significant impact on the computing field. The deadline for nominations is July 31, 2009.
Fellows are outstanding ACM members with at least 5 years of continuous ACM Professional membership who are recognized for their technical, professional and leadership contributions that advance the objectives of ACM and the field as a whole. The deadline for nominations is September 15, 2009.
SIG Awards
ACM SIG Awards Recognize Achievements in Diverse Fields
ACM's Special Interest Groups (SIGs) regularly cite outstanding individuals for their contributions in more than 30 distinct technological fields. Some awards presented (or to be presented) at recent conferences:- SIGCOMM Rising Star Award
- SIGDA Pioneering Achievement Award
- SIGPLAN John Vlissides Award and OOPSLA Most Influential Paper Awards
- SIGSOFT Impact Paper Awards
Conferences and Events
Special ACM Member Discount for SD Forum Game Development Conference
A one-day SD Forum conference, Business of New Media III: Gaming: The New Frontier will be held December 5th at Microsoft's Galileo Auditorium in Mountain View, California. ACM is an Association Sponsor, and ACM Members are eligible to attend this conference for $65, the SD Forum Members' rate. When registering, members should use the special ACM Member discount code "ACMGaming" in the "Please Enter Coupon Below" area of the form to receive this special rate. (The non-member rate is $95.) The $65 registration rate is effective until November 26; after that date, the price for SD Forum and ACM members will be $85. Michael Zyda, Director of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering's GamePipe Laboratory, and a member of ACM's Distinguished Speakers Program (DSP), is among the scheduled speakers.
SIGGRAPH Asia Conference to Include Special Sessions on Production and Gaming
The first ACM SIGGRAPH Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques in Asia (SIGGRAPH Asia 2008) will take place at the Suntec International Convention and Exhibition Centre in Singapore from December 10 to 13. Special behind-the-scenes presentations on the how and why of production and gaming have recently been added, with s panel, "Challenges for High-Quality Production and Training of Staff in Asia," a talk by Jeff White, Associate Visual Effects Supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic, and more. In addition to the trade exhibition, the conference will offer many opportunities to experience the latest technologies in an interactive environment, including an Art Gallery, a Computer Animation Festival, technical courses, an educators program, an Emerging Technologies program, sketches and posters, a Job Fair, and technical papers. The Computer Animation Festival will present creative achievements in every genre, plus "hybrid" innovations that mix state-of-the-art animation techniques with traditional storytelling approaches. Featured speakers will include Computer Graphics Pioneer Don Greenberg of Cornell University, and Rob Cook, Vice President for Technology, Pixar Animation Studios.
2009 Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces to Feature Speaker from Google
IUI 2009, the principal international forum for reporting outstanding research and development on intelligent user interfaces, will take place February 8 to 11, 2009 in Sanibel Island, Florida. The scheduled speakers include Alon Halevy of Google, on "User-Focused Database Management"; Trevor Darrell of University Berkeley/ICSI, on "Image Recognition for Intelligent Interfaces"; and Jun Rekimoto of University of Tokyo and Sony CS Labs. Workshops will include "Common Sense and Intelligent User Interfaces 2009: Story Understanding and Generation for Context-Aware Interface Design"; "Human Interaction with Intelligent and Networked Systems"; "Visual Interfaces to the Social and the Semantic Web"; and "Collaborative Information Visualization on Interactive Surfaces." Paper and demo presentations will also be part of the conference.
"Engaging Computer Science Education" Theme of 2009 SIGCSE Symposium
The 40th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE 2009) slated for March 4 to 7, 2009 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, provides a forum for sharing new ideas in this field. The program will include sessions on Java, game design and development, promoting critical thinking in students, robotics, Web development, K–12 outreach, and much more. Elliott Koffman of Temple University, winner of this year's SIGCSE Outstanding Contribution to CS Education Award, will give the Thursday morning keynote address. A Student Research Competition will take place at the conference.
2009 Computers, Freedom & Privacy Conference Accepting Proposals
The 19th annual Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conference, slated for June 1 to 4, 2009 in Washington, DC, is now accepting proposals for panels, workshop sessions, and other events. CFP is the leading policy conference exploring the impact of the internet, computers, and communications technologies on society. For more than a decade, CFP has anticipated policy trends and issues and has shaped the public debate on the future of privacy and freedom in an ever more technology-filled world. CFP focuses on topics such as freedom of speech, privacy, intellectual property, cybersecurity, telecommunications, electronic democracy, digital rights and responsibilities, and the future of technologies and their implications. CFP is requesting proposals and ideas for panels, plenaries, debates, keynote speakers, and other sessions that will address these and related topics and how we can shape public policy and the public debate on these topics as we create the future. CFP especially encourages proposals that:- Take advantage of the Washington, DC location
- Shed light on what we can expect from the new White House administration
- Incorporate a global and international perspective
- Focus on the future and what we can expect in the years to come in technology and policy
- Include debates or otherwise present challenging points of view
- Inform attendees about cutting-edge technologies and issues
SC08 Marks 20th Anniversary of Supercomputing Conference
The SC08 International Conference on High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis, celebrating its 20th anniversary, offered a varied technical program that included tutorials, technical paper presentations, panel discussions, workshops, birds-of-a-feather sessions, and poster presentations. The conference, held November 15 to 21 in Austin, Texas, featured a special SC08 20th Anniversary exhibit showing how SC has grown along with advances in the High-Performance Computing field. Biomedical Informatics and Energy were two new technology areas of focus this year. The Music Initiative, which explored the effects of high performance technologies on the generation of music, was also new to this year's conference.
Member Programs
ACM-at-a-Glance for New Members, and Reasons to Transition for Students
The ACM-at-a-Glance page orients new members to ACM, with essential background information on ACM's origins, scope, membership makeup, organization, conferences, Special Interest Groups, chapters, publications, awards program, public service activites, and more.
To help graduating students make the transition to their professional careers by providing continuous learning opportunities, ACM offers a special ACM Professional Membership at the low rate of $49 USD (regularly $99). A new Reasons to Transition page spells out the many advantages of renewing through this process.
ACM Member-Get-A-Member 2008–2009 Campaign
ACM recently launched its new 2008–2009 Member-Get-A-Member Recruitment Drive, with new prizes added to our already great selection, and an Apple iPhone grand prize! Current members are the ideal ambassadors to communicate the advantages of joining ACM to prospective members, and those who participate by telling friends and colleagues about ACM may be eligible for valuable gifts and special recognition. ACM's Online Member-Get-A-Member program is interactive, easy to use, and rewards members for helping to recruit new members. The drive ends June 30, 2009. For referral forms, recruitment tips and tools, prizes and rewards, and bonus gifts, visit the Member-Get-a-Member drive page.
ACM Adds Four Offerings to Insurance Program
ACM has added four plans to the ACM Insurance Program. The new offerings are Group 10 or 20 Year Level Term Life Insurance, Long Term Care, and Group Dental Insurance. ACM members living in the US are eligible. Visit the insurance page to learn more about these programs, and all of ACM's Insurance Program plans.
Take Advantage of ACM's Lifetime Membership Plan
ACM Professional Members can enjoy the convenience of making a single payment for their entire tenure as an ACM Member, and also be protected from future price increases by taking advantage of ACM's Lifetime Membership option. Pricing for ACM Lifetime Membership is based on age and current dues rates, and the option to include the ACM Digital Library is also available. ACM Lifetime Membership dues may be tax deductible under certain circumstances (please consult with your tax advisor). Lifetime Members will receive a certificate of recognition suitable for framing, and enjoy all of the benefits of ACM Professional Membership.
Online Books & Courses
New ACM Online Books & Courses Newsletter
The ACM Online Books and Courses newsletter, which was sent out to ACM members in October, is intended to be a quarterly upate on the newest books and courses being added to ACM's program of offering free online publications and training to our Professional and Student members. The newsletter highlighted Java as being one of the most popular topics in both categories, with Java Programming with J2SE 5: Getting Started with Java and Java Technologies for Web Services among the recommended courses, and Computer Graphics for Java Programmers, Second Edition and Professional Java Development with the Spring Framework as popular book choices. See these and more offerings on ACM's Online Books and Courses Page.
Education
First China Computing Education Summit Taps ACM Experts
The First China Computing Education Summit took place in Beijing on October 24 and 25 at Tsinghua University. The summit which was held because Chinese Computer Science educators are very interested in how Computer Science is taught in the United States and are grappling with both accreditation and the definition of computing, just as their American counterparts are. ACM CEO John White spoke about role of ACM and the SIGs in education, and ACM Education Board Members Jane Prey and Larry Snyder were the keynote speakers on Computer Science education in the United States. It was a successful first summit and shows promise to grow larger and better next year.
Student News
ACM Partners with Microsoft to Offer Students Free Software
Through ACM's partnership with the Microsoft Developer Network Academic Alliance (MSDN AA) Program, ACM Student Members can now receive free and unlimited access to about 100+ software packages. If you are an ACM Student Member, sign up for an MSDN AA account by logging in at myACM, checking the appropriate box, and clicking on "Submit." For more information, visit the MSDN AA FAQ page.
Upcoming ACM Student Research Competitions Call for Submissions
ACM Student Research Competitions take place at ACM-sponsored conferences throughout the year. Students present their papers in poster sessions to compete for the Grand Finals prizes, and network with luminaries from academia and industry. CHI 2009 is the next conference accepting submissions. The deadline is January 7, 2009. Learn about more competitions on the SRC submissions page.
ACM-W Student Scholarships for Attendance at Research Conferences
A program launched by ACM's Committee on Women in Computing (ACM-W) provides support for undergraduate or graduate women students in Computer Science programs who are interested in attending research conferences. It is not required that the student present a paper at the conference she attends. High school students will also be considered for conference support. Initially, up to 12 scholarships of up to $500 each will be awarded annually. ACM-W also encourages the student's home department to match the scholarship award and recognize the student's achievement locally within her department. Applications will be evaluated in four groups each year, in order to distribute awards across a range of conferences, with two to three awards given each quarter. For application form, notification dates and more information, please visit the scholarships page.
Student Volunteers Needed to Help Teach High School CS Teachers
The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) is seeking Computer Science college students proficient in Java and other new programming languages and environments to train high school CS teachers in these technologies. Java Engagement for Teacher Training (JETT) and Teacher Enrichment in Computer Science (TECS) are one- and two-day workshops for high school teachers, hosted by college and university CS students and faculty. Hosting a JETT or TECS workshop is a great volunteer experience for individual student ACM members, as well as student chapters. For more information please contact Gail Chapman, the JETT and TECS workshop coordinator.
Graduating Students Eligible for Special Transition Rate
ACM offers a special ACM Professional Membership for $49 USD (regularly $99) to help graduating students make the transition to professional careers, and take advantage of continuous learning opportunities, including free online books and courses and access to ACM's Career & Job Center. This one-year-only transition rate includes all the benefits of Professional Membership plus the option of purchasing a Digital Library subscription for $50. Recent graduates can access this special transition offer through ACM's convenient online renewal form, or by following the instructions on the paper renewal form.
ACM-W News
Meeting Networking Goals at Grace Hopper via CONNECT
More than 1,000 attendees created almost 8,000 connections at the 2008 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC 2008) via a unique "green" way (no business cards required) to achieve networking goals. The deployed CONNECT system involved three steps. Prior to GHC, each CONNECT participant set networking goals for attending GHC by completing a short questionnaire that recorded the type of people the participant hoped to meet at the conference (such as Ph.D. students, recruiters from industry, and professors). During GHC, attendees could choose to document connections made through the CONNECT system. CONNECT participants also received daily email messages that described how well the participant was meeting his/her networking goals, and suggested strategies for effective future networking. After GHC, all CONNECT participants received contact information of other CONNECT attendees that they had connected with during the conference. Early evaluation results show that participants found using CONNECT at GHC 2008 a very effective method for networking. For more information on CONNECT, contact Tracy Camp or visit the CONNECT site. The CONNECT project was supported by the National Science Foundation and ACM's Committee on Women in Computing (ACM-W).
Publications News
New netWorker Digital Edition Debuts
The digital edition of netWorker debuted earlier this month with articles on Web 3.0 (the ubiquitous and mobile Web) and open source hardware, as well as contributions by expert columnists. netWorker is ACM's magazine for practitioners, designers, business managers, and others plugged into the networking culture. With the digital edition it joins Communications of the ACM, interactions, and Queue in offering state-of-the-art functionality and live links to important resources on the Web.
Communications of the ACM Reports: Analyzing Online Social Networks
As the phenomenon of online social networking explodes, the November 2008 issue of Communications of the ACM (CACM) looks at why some sites succeed and other fail, and how social and technological networks converge. The issue also pays tribute to Jim Gray, one of the world's most distinguished computer scientists, and offers a technical perspective submitted by Gray on Polaris, a visual query language that unifies the strengths of visualization and database communities. CACM, the flagship publication of ACM, recently launched its expanded editorial scope and redesigned format, offering readers access to this generation's most significant leaders and innovators in computing and information technology. The November issue is available online in digital format.
Read the press release.
interactions Reports: On Innovation and Design for Technology
As businesses struggle to survive, achieve competitive advantage, and become better world citizens, innovation and design are among the popular buzzwords in today’s business pages. In a series of articles, the November+December 2008 issue of interactions presents stories on how new research and design strategies are working hand in hand to solve complicated challenges to creativity and sustainability, and the critical role of interactions in surviving the current business environment. interactions, a bimonthly publication of the ACM Media Group, focuses on the interactions among experiences, people, and technology.
Read the press release.
Google Software Engineer Introduces Concurrent Language Erlang in ACM Queue
ACM Queue's focus on concurrency continues with Erlang for Concurrent Programming, by Jim Larson from Google. Larson introduces Erlang, a language designed from the ground up for concurrent programming, and explains how it might fit into real-world concurrent software projects.
ACM in the News
"First SIGGRAPH Asia Sees Significant Participation From the Region's Talents"
TAXI Design Network, November 19, 2008
SIGGRAPH Asia will feature special sessions that focus on some of the most important developments in the industry, including a panel discussion on the issues and challenges of establishing a new production studio in Asia.
"Gene Spafford on IT Security Education"
CSO Online, November 17, 2008
IT security and cyberforensics are two areas with a critical need for more workers, writes USACM Chair Eugene Spafford.
"E-Voting Backers, Watchdogs Hope to Smooth Out Bumps Next Time"
Computerworld, November 10, 2008
USACM Chair Eugene Spafford says it is unclear whether fixing voting systems will be a top priority for incoming government officials.
Read more ACM in the News.
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