ACM MemberNet - December 23, 2008
Welcome to the December 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 Women's Council
TOP STORIES
- ACM Urges Obama to Include CS as Core Component of Science, Math Education
- ACM Introduces New Search Technology for Its Digital Library
- New Annual Reports from ACM and Committees
Awards - Two National Labs Win ACM Gordon Bell Prizes for High-Performance Computing Achievements
- Call for 2008 ACM-IEEE CS Eckert-Mauchly, ACM-Infosys Foundation Award Nominations
- Nominations for 2009–2010 Athena Lecturer Award Due Feb. 1
Member Recognition - Call for ACM Senior Member Nominations
Conferences and Events - 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
- Inaugural SIGGRAPH Asia Conference a Resounding Success
Member Programs - 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 - Most Popular Online Books Examine Code, Introduce Web Development
- Spring Semester Registration for Courses at Stevens Online Now Open
Career & Job Center - Revamped ACM Career & Job Center to Feature Easier Navigation, Corporate Listings
Education - ACM Urges Obama to Include CS as Core Component of Science, Math Education (see TOP STORY)
- New CSTA Report Outlines Extent of Problems with CS Teachers' Preparation
Student News - ACM-W Student Chapters Spread Around the World (see story under "ACM-W 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
Chapters News - Welcome New ACM Chapters
- ACM-W Student Chapters Spread Around the World (see story under "ACM-W News")
ACM-W News - ACM-W Transitions to Council Status to Gain More Opportunities,
Visibility for Women in Computing - ACM-W Student Chapters Spread Around the World
- ACM-W Ambassador's Report: Battling Shortage of Brazilian Women in CS
with "Bits, Bytes and Lipstick"
Publications News - netWorker Cover Wins Design Gold
- Communications of the ACM Reports: Tools and Techniques to Survive the Data Deluge
- interactions Reports: On Innovation and Design for Technology
- Amazon.com CTO Werner Vogels Discusses Building Scalable Web Services in ACM Queue
ACM in the News - "SIGGRAPH 2009 Art Papers Explore Art in a Digital World"
- "The Fastest Computers Are Going Hybrid"
- "OpenCL: to GPGPU and Beyond"
- "A*STAR Introduces 13 Innovative Technologies at SIGGRAPH Asia 2008"
- "Thieves Winning Online War, Maybe Even in Your Computer"
TOP STORIES
ACM Urges Obama to Include CS as Core Component of Science, Math Education
As Arne Duncan was announced as the next US Secretary of Education, ACM issued a set of recommendations supporting the new Administration's stated goal of making science and mathematics education a national priority at the K-12 level, and urging the new Administration to include Computer Science as an integral part of the nation's education system. The ACM recommendations cite the strong outlook for Computer Science-related jobs despite extraordinary challenges confronting the nation, and highlight the role of Computer Science in driving the technology sector, which is expected to continue its ability to make substantial contributions to economic growth in the near future. The ACM recommendations also urge action from federal, state and local policymakers as well as from the high-tech industry, and scientific and education societies to address these pressing issues. The entire statement is available at Computing in K-12 STEM Education Critical for 21st Century Skills (pdf).
Read the press release.
ACM Introduces New Search Technology for Its Digital Library
ACM has introduced into its Digital Library a new platform that adds more powerful search capability, allowing users not only to explore existing data but to discover unexpected information that goes beyond simple query results. This new search technology employs the Endeca Information Access Platform, a new class of database designed for exploring information, not just managing search transactions. Enhancing the utility of the Digital Library, a vast resource of nearly 1.5 million bibliographic records, are new search technologies such as guided navigation; discovered terms, drawn from ACM's subject classifications, author-supplied keywords, and the full text of the article; refinements by person name, publication, conference and other criteria; and the ability to view related material in journals, magazines, Special Interest Groups, and conferences.
Read more on the new DL search information page and in the press release.
New Annual Reports from ACM and Committees
Among the events and activities of ACM's past fiscal year highlighted in the Annual Report are:- professional and student memberships reached an all-time high
- revitalized flagship magazine Communications of the ACM launched to rave reviews
- international initiatives resulted in a new ACM China office and a multi-year plan for raising the Association's visibility in India
- the first ACM-Infosys Foundation Award in the Computing Sciences was presented
- the ACM Digital Library boasted more than 2 million pages of full-text articles; the Guide to Computing Literature, nearly 1.2 million bibliographic citations
- a two-year project to study the images and perceptions of computing held by high school students was launched by ACM and WGBH, the Boston-based PBS television station
- ACM partnered with Job Target to re-launch the Career & Job Center with newly expanded job opportunities in the computing industry
- The US Public Policy Committee (USACM) met with policymakers to promote e-voting standards during this crucial election year
Awards
Two National Labs Win ACM Gordon Bell Prizes for High-Performance Computing Achievements
ACM presented the 2008 ACM Gordon Bell Prizes to teams of scientists from the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), also a US Department of Energy (DOE) facility, for outstanding achievements in high-performance computing. ORNL was recognized in the Peak Performance Category for achieving the fastest performance ever, on ORNLs Cray XT Jaguar supercomputer. Berkeley Lab was the recipient of a Special Category award in Algorithm Innovation for realizing impressive performance and scalability in predicting the efficiency of a new solar cell material. The Gordon Bell Prizes, which recognize outstanding achievements in high-performance computing, were presented in November at the SC08 supercomputing conference in Austin, TX.
Read the press release.
Call for 2008 ACM-IEEE CS Eckert-Mauchly, ACM-Infosys Foundation 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. While the nominations deadlines for most of the general ACM awards have passed, please note the deadlines for nominations for these two important awards:- ACM-Infosys Foundation Award in the Computing Sciences - December 31, 2008
- ACM-IEEE CS Eckert-Mauchly Award - March 1, 2009
Please take a moment to consider those individuals in your community who may be suitable for nomination. Learn more about nomination procedures 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 Senior Member Nominations
The Senior Member advanced grade of membership 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 next deadline for nominations is February 28, 2009.
Conferences and Events
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
Inaugural SIGGRAPH Asia Conference a Resounding Success
More than 3,200 artists, researchers, developers, gaming experts, filmmakers, and academics gathered at the first ACM SIGGRAPH Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques in Asia (SIGGRAPH Asia 2008) at the Suntec International Convention and Exhibition Centre in Singapore. The conference, held over four days in December to discover new products, talents, technology and techniques in the digital media industry, attracted attendees from 49 countries. "We first thought of introducing an Asian edition of SIGGRAPH almost two years ago, with a vision to bring the best in computer graphics and interactive techniques to players and audiences in the region. I am happy to note that we have indeed achieved this objective. Eighty percent of visitors to SIGGRAPH Asia 2008 were from within the region, including Australia and New Zealand. The excellent quality of work we have seen at SIGGRAPH Asia and the ideas that have been put forth bode well for the interactive and digital media industry in Asia," stated Alyn Rockwood, Advisory Group Chair for SIGGRAPH Asia. The next edition of SIGGRAPH Asia will take place in Yokohama, Japan, from December 16 to 19, 2009.
Read the press release.
Member Programs
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
Most Popular Online Books Examine Code, Introduce Web Development
Two of the most popular titles in ACM's Online Books Program are Beautiful Code, offered through Safari Books Online®, and Beginning Web Development, Silverlight and ASP.NET AJAX: From Novice to Professional, offered through Books24x7®. In Beautiful Code, leading computer scientists pen a collection of essays on how they see code and how this vision influences how they code. Beginning Web Development gives readers skills to start building Web applications with Microsoft's next-generation technology. See these and more offerings on ACM's Online Books and Courses Page.
Spring Semester Registration for Courses at Stevens Online Now Open
ACM members are eligible for a 10% discount on courses at the Stevens-WebCampus program of Stevens Institute of Technology. Registration is now open through February 2, 2009 for the Stevens-WebCampus Spring 2009 session. Orientation begins the week of January 26, 2009. With more than 120 instructor-led courses, the WebCampus program offers a convenient and flexible way to earn an MBA in Technology Management or any of 17 Masters Degrees or 38 Graduate Certificates completely online. Students do not have to be accepted into a program in order to take graduate classes. It is possible to take up to three classes as a non-matriculating student while your application is under review.
View the list of courses available for Spring 2009.
For more information, contact the WebCampus Division at [email protected], or at 1-800-496-4935.
Career & Job Center
Revamped ACM Career & Job Center to Feature Easier Navigation, Corporate Listings
ACM's Career & Job Center is getting a new look. Over the next few months, ACM's Job Board will debut new and updated graphics and easier-to-navigate categories for both job seekers and employers. Also over the next few months, joining the existing Academic Job Board will be a new Corporate Job Board. Whether you are an active job seeker or just like to keep abreast of what's available in the computing industry and academia, be sure to visit ACM's Career & Job Center to post your resumé in the Resume Bank and view job openings. For more information, please contact Jennifer Ruzicka.
Education
ACM Urges Obama to Include CS as Core Component of Science, Math Education (see TOP STORY)
New CSTA Report Outlines Extent of Problems with CS Teachers' Preparation
Even though many computing and IT jobs are categorized as "recession proof," given the shortage of talent in the field, a new study points to another hole in the pipeline in preparing students and future employees for well-paid careers in computing. The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) released a report on the state of Computer Science teacher certification in K–12 education, adding to what is already known about the lack of attention by states to teaching computing skills. The report, titled Ensuring Exemplary Teaching in an Essential Discipline: Addressing the Crisis in Computer Science Teacher Certification (pdf), found that the lack of attention states pay in adequately preparing CS teachers is resulting in fewer students ready to tackle the complex technology and computing fields—key drivers in our nation’s economy. "The current systems of pre-service education and teacher certification, if they exist at all, are profoundly disconnected from the discipline of Computer Science, and the needs of teachers and students," stated Chris Stephenson, CSTA executive director and report co-author.
Read the press release.
Student News
ACM-W Student Chapters Spread Around the World (see story under "ACM-W 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.
Chapters News
Welcome New ACM Chapters
Chapters are the "local neighborhoods" of ACM. The regional ACM Professional, Student, ACM-W, and Special Interest Group (SIG) chapters around the globe involve members locally in competitions, seminars, lectures, workshops, and networking opportunities. ACM welcomes these new chapters that have been chartered since February 2008:
ACM Student Chapters:- Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania
- Duke University ACM-W, North Carolina
- East Carolina University, North Carolina
- Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
- Gettysburg College, Pennsylvania
- Knoxville ITT Tech Institute, Tennessee
- Nassau Community College, New York
- Piedmont Community College ACM Student SIGGRAPH, North Carolina
- Ramapo College of New Jersey
- Santa Clara University, California
- Schiller International University, Florida
- Tennessee Technological University ACM-W
- University of Baltimore, Maryland
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ACM-W
- University of Massachusetts Amherst ACM
- University of Massachusetts Lowell ACM-W
- University of New Orleans, Louisiana
- University of Virginia's College at Wise, Virginia
- The American University of Kuwait
- Amrita School of Engineering/Coimbatore, India
- Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology, Mumbai, India
- Institute of Technology-BHU, Uttar Pradesh, India
- VNIT-Nagpur, India
- Yeshwantrao Chavan College of Engineering, Nagpur, India
- International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad, India
- MenTe ACM-W, Monterrey, Mexico
- Instituto Tecnológico Tapachula, Mexico
- Government College University, Lahore, Pakistan
- CIIS-UPN, Molino, Peru
- National University of Singapore
- Bilgi ACM SIGACT, Turkey
- Greece ACM SIGCHI
- Madrid ACM SIGGRAPH, Spain
- Manila ACM SIGGRAPH, Philippines
- Spain ACM SIGCSE
- Vienna ACM SIGGRAPH, Austria
ACM-W Student Chapters Spread Around the World (see story under "ACM-W News")
ACM-W News
ACM-W Transitions to Council Status to Gain More Opportunities,
Visibility for Women in Computing
ACM-W has transitioned from ACM's Committee on Women in Computing to the ACM Women's Council. "With our new Council status, we will have a 'seat at the table' on the ACM Council which should bring us more visibility and interaction with other parts of the ACM, including the SIG board, the Education Board, the Publication Board, and the Awards Committee," says ACM-W Chair Elaine Weyuker in the current issue of the ACM-W newsletter. "Hopefully this will translate into more opportunities for women within ACM, including invitations for women to serve on program committees and as program and conference chairs, invitations to be keynote speakers, members of editorial boards, nominees for awards, and winners of awards. In short, our goal is to make sure that women gain visibility in all of ACM's realms." You can read the rest of her comments, and more about ACM-W's many activities, in the current issue.
ACM-W Student Chapters Spread Around the World
The ACM Women's Council (ACM-W's) Student Chapter project is going strong, with over 30 student chapters, including two international chapters. The first international chapter was chartered in 2007 at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey. Faculty sponsor Reyyan Ayfer, a recent Anita Borg Change Agent Award Winner and ACM-W Ambassador, has led the BILWIC ACM-W student chapter since its beginnings. This year, faculty sponsor Elda Quiroga chartered the ACM-W Student Chapter at ITESM-Monterrey in Mexico. Although the challenges may be different around the world, the mission of all ACM-W student chapters is the same, mainly to promote activities to recruit and retain women in computing. These activities include seminars, guest lectures, recruiting events, and mentor programs. The ACM-W Council provides supporting materials to help students and faculty sponsors get started, including a Start-Up Kit CD and an activities booklet with 101 different ideas for activities for the chapter. In addition, ACM-W International Ambassadors are also available in many countries as a resource for international chapters. Students in ACM-W Student Chapters may participate in MentorNet if they are ACM Student Members, apply for ACM-W scholarships to travel to research conferences, and become part of a larger network of women in computing through various online resources provided by the ACM-W Council. For more information on starting a chapter at your institution, see the ACM-W Student Chapters and Activities page or contact project director Paula Gabbert.
ACM-W Ambassador's Report: Battling Shortage of Brazilian Women in CS
with "Bits, Bytes and Lipstick"
Several initiatives are being organized in Brazil due to the increased awareness on the part of Computer Science university teachers there of the problem of the decreasing presence of women among undergraduate and graduate students. One is a column in a new electronic magazine, called SBC Horizons, to discuss opportunities and challenges for women in IT. Called "Bits, Bytes and Lipstick" and co-edited by ACM-W Brazil Ambassador Claudia Bauzer Medeiros, will aim to attract more young women to IT courses. Read more in her ACM-W News Blog post. And read a more recent blog post by Claudia about why women in Brazil are attracted to database research more than to other areas of Computer Science.
Publications News
netWorker Cover Wins Design Gold
The Society of Illustrators has awarded its Gold Medal in Editorial prize to ACM's netWorker magazine, for the design of its March 2008 issue cover. The issue, which featured stories on the theme, "Can Digital Voting Be Secured?" illustrated the topic with a sinister shadow looming over an unsuspecting voter. This is one of the Society's most prestigious awards, with submissions from The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Time magazine, The New York Times, and Rolling Stone as competition.
View the cover and learn more about netWorker.
Communications of the ACM Reports: Tools and Techniques to Survive the Data Deluge
Today's information age has produced volumes of digital data for listening, viewing, recording, manipulating, browsing, shopping, and learning. This flood of data has created a cyberinfrastructure as critical to our society as the roads, bridges, power grids, telephone systems, and public works were to the industrial era. The December 2008 issue of Communications of the ACM (CACM) explores new methods to access, display, manage, mine, and preserve this valuable but fragile digital resource. The issue also reports on new Web searching techniques that transcend keyword queries, and applications of mobile phones that are transforming life in developing countries. CACM, the flagship publication of ACM, offers readers access to this generation's most significant leaders and innovators in computing and information technology. The December 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.
Amazon.com CTO Werner Vogels Discusses Building Scalable Web Services in ACM Queue
A recent issue of ACM Queue focuses on building scalable Web services, a problem with which Amazon.com CTO Werner Vogels is well familiar. In his article Eventually Consistent, Vogels explains how making the tradeoff between consistency and availability can reap large scalability and performance benefits for applications that can tolerate it.
ACM in the News
"SIGGRAPH 2009 Art Papers Explore Art in a Digital World"
Business Wire, December 16, 2008
ACM SIGGRAPH is now accepting submissions for Art Papers for SIGGRAPH 2009 through January 8. Papers should present challenging ideas about the creation of art and its place in society, with the goal of informing artistic disciplines, setting standards, and sparking future trends.
"The Fastest Computers Are Going Hybrid"
Government Computer News, December 15, 2008
A clearly recognizable trend at the recent SC08 supercomputing conference in Austin, Texas, was a general shift in supercomputer design toward using multiple types of processors in a single system.
"OpenCL: to GPGPU and Beyond"
HPC Wire, December 11, 2008
The Khronos Group announced the ratification of version 1.0 of the OpenCL specification at SIGGRAPH Asia. OpenCL promises to expedite the development of applications that leverage the extra processing power available in the GPU.
"A*STAR Introduces 13 Innovative Technologies at SIGGRAPH Asia 2008"
Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), December 9, 2008
The Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) introduced 13 new graphics and animation, intuitive human-computer interaction, and neural signal processing technologies at ACM's SIGGRAPH Asia conference, which opened in Singapore on December 10.
"Thieves Winning Online War, Maybe Even in Your Computer"
New York Times, December 6, 2008
USACM Chair Eugene Spafford is concerned that companies will cut back on computer security to save money.
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