ACM MemberNet - October 29, 2009
Welcome to the October 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 current and past issues of 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 Women's Council
TOP STORIES
- ACM to Serve European Computing Community with World-Class Resources
- Robert L. Ashenhurst, Long-Time Communications Editor, Dies
Awards - ACM, IEEE-CS Honor Pioneer of Grid Computing with Ken Kennedy Award
- Call for Nominations: Women of Vision Award 2010
- Call for 2009 ACM Award Nominations
Member Recognition - Call for ACM Senior Member Nominations
SIG Awards - ACM SIG Awards Recognize Achievements in Diverse Fields
Conferences and Events - Al Gore to Speak at SC09
- Graphics Guru, CHI Pioneer, Disney VP to Speak at 2nd SIGGRAPH Asia Conference
- SIGCSE 2010 Aims to Unite CS Educator Community
- ACM-BCS Visions of Computer Science 2010 Call for Papers
- DAC 2010 Planning Technical Program
- Computers, Freedom and Privacy 2010 Call for Proposals
Public Policy - ACM, Partners Applaud National Computer Science Education Week to Advance Computing's Role in Preparing Skilled Workers
Member Programs - New ACM Member-Get-A-Member 2009–2010 Campaign Launched
- ACM Launches Multimedia Center
- Free Subscription to ACM TechNews for Non-members
- Take Advantage of ACM's Lifetime Membership Plan
- ACM Adds Four Offerings to Insurance Program
Online Books & Courses - Safari Books Online® Upgrades Interface
Career & Job Center - Post Your Resumé in ACM's Career & Job Center
Education - ACM, WGBH Introduce DotDiva, New Program to Improve Computing's Image to Girls
Student News - Upcoming ACM Student Research Competitions
- 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
- Deadline for ACM Student Chapter Excellence Awards Nominations Extended to December 15
ACM-W News - Join ACM-W's Membership Email List
- ENIAC Documentary Film to Celebrate Early Women Programmers
Publications News - ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications and Applications Seeking Editor-in-Chief
- ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation Seeking Editor-in-Chief
- Communications of the ACM Reports: Digital Fluency for a New Generation of Computer Programmers
- Experts Do Some Myth-Busting about Software Maintenance in acmqueue
ACM in the News - "ACM Software Competition Pushes Students to Create Smarter Software"
- "Google Envisions 10 Million Servers"
- "Looking for Online Privacy in the Clouds"
- "What's Next for the Netflix Algorithms?"
- "A Report From the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing"
- "Pentagon Research Director Visits Universities in Bid to Re-energize Partnerships"
TOP STORIES
ACM to Serve European Computing Community with World-Class Resources
Fifteen leading computer scientists from academia and industry have joined the newly-formed ACM Europe Council to expand ACM's high-quality technical activities, conferences, and services in the European region. Director of External Research Programs for Microsoft Research Europe Fabrizio Gagliardi chairs the Council, which hosted a special event in Paris on October 8, in conjunction with the European Computer Science Summit, to introduce ACM Europe, a new effort to recognize and support European members and ACM activities in Europe. A reception at the event also honored the achievements of European computer scientists and recognized European winners of ACM's A.M. Turing Award, as well as other European ACM award winners and ACM Fellows.
Read the press release.
Robert L. Ashenhurst, Long-Time Communications Editor, Dies
Robert L. Ashenhurst, professor emeritus of applied mathematics at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business and the fifth editor-in-chief of Communications of the ACM, passed away October 21. He was 80 years old. In 1998, ACM recognized Ashenhurst's 35 years of service with its prestigious Outstanding Contribution to ACM Award. Of those 35 years, 28 were dedicated to steering the editorial direction of and maintaining the highest editorial standards for Communications. He served as the publication's Computer Systems Editor from 1963 to 1972; maintained the popular Forum column from 1973 to 1991; and left his greatest footprint as its Editor-in-Chief from April 1973 to January 1983. Of the eight Editors-in-Chief to head Communications to date, Ashenhurst served the longest. In an essay published in the January 2008 issue of Communications, marking the publication's 50th anniversary, Ashenhurst recalled some of the many challenges he faced as editor, often trying to find the editorial common thread between academics and practitioners to make each issue of professional value to both sides. Ashenhurst also served ACM for many years as a member of ACM Council; he was its Parliamentarian for over two decades. He chaired ACM SIGCAS, ACM's Constitutions and Bylaws Committee, and ACM's Chicago chapter. He was an active member of ACM's Awards Committee as well as its Curriculum Committee on Education for Management. He was named an ACM Fellow in 1995.
An editorial memoriam for Ashenhurst is planned for the January 2010 issue of Communications to detail his many ACM and CACM contributions, including favorite recollections from ACM colleagues and former editors.
Read the University of Chicago obituary.
Awards
ACM, IEEE-CS Honor Pioneer of Grid Computing with Ken Kennedy Award
ACM and IEEE Computer Society (IEEE-CS) will jointly present the inaugural Ken Kennedy Award to Francine Berman for her leadership in building national-scale cyberinfrastructure, the environment that supports rapidly expanding computing and information services over networked resources, including the Internet. Berman, vice president for research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is a pioneer in grid computing, a structure that lets companies or universities link many computational and other resources over a network to solve current health, environment and social problems. She will receive the 2009 Kennedy Award at the SC09 Conference, held November 14 to 20, in Portland, Oregon.
Read the press release.
Call for Nominations: Women of Vision Award 2010
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2010 Women of Vision Awards. These annual awards, sponsored by the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI), honor women making significant contributions in the areas of Innovation, Social Impact and Leadership. Nominations will be accepted until midnight EST on December 11. The winners will be honored at the Women of Vision Awards Banquet on May 12, 2010.
Call for 2009 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, 2009 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
- Eugene L. Lawler Award for Humanitarian Contributions within Computer Science and Informatics
- Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award
- Distinguished Service Award
- Outstanding Contribution to ACM Award
- Doctoral Dissertation Award: October 30, 2009
- ACM-IEEE CS Eckert-Mauchly Award: March 30, 2010
- ACM-IEEE CS Ken Kennedy Award: July 1, 2010
- SIAM/ACM Award in Computational Science and Engineering: September 30, 2010
- ACM Gordon Bell Prize: submissions opened March 16, 2009
Refer to http://www.acm.org/nominations for the complete listing of 2009 Award Subcommittee Chairs and Members.
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 deadline for nominations is November 30.
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:- SIGDA Pioneering Achievement Award
- SIGDOC 2009 Diana Award
- SIGOPS Mark Weiser Award
- SIGUCCS Penny Crane Award
Conferences and Events
Al Gore to Speak at SC09
The SC09 International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis is scheduled for November 14 to 20 in Portland, Oregon. The keynote speaker will be Al Gore. With the theme of "Computing for a Changing World," this year's conference will explore initiatives related to sustainability, bio-computing and the 3D Internet. Workshop topics include high-performance computing in India, data storage, and grid computing. In addition, the many panels, tutorials, papers, and birds-of-a-feather sessions will offer diverse opportunities to network and learn about cutting-edge HPC technologies. The Masterworks program will include industry leaders from Google and Facebook discussing computer architecture demands of providing Web services to millions of users in a cost-effective manner. Other featured speakers at SC09 will include Intel's Justin Rattner, and Leroy Hood, president and co-founder of the Institute for Systems Biology. Francine Berman, vice president for research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, will receive the inaugural Ken Kennedy Award, sponsored by ACM and IEEE-CS, on November 18.
Graphics Guru, CHI Pioneer, Disney VP to Speak at 2nd SIGGRAPH Asia Conference
The second SIGGRAPH Asia 2009 conference follows a very successful inaugural conference last year, where researchers, developers, producers, and providers of computer graphics and interactive techniques found a new international venue in which to newtork and share ideas. The 2009 conference, which will take place December 16 to 19 in Yokohama, Japan, has many of the featured events of the American SIGGRAPH, including Art Gallery and Emerging Technologies exhibitions, Computer Animation Festival, and job fair. Featured speakers are Joe Rohde, Executive Designer and Senior Vice President of Walt Disney Imagineering; Graphics-technology expert David Kirk; and award-winning human-computer interaction pioneer Jun Rekimoto. Early registration is open until October 30. Visit the SIGGRAPH ASIA 2009 web site and Facebook page for more information.
SIGCSE 2010 Aims to Unite CS Educator Community
SIGCSE 2010, the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, continues the long tradition of bringing together colleagues from around the world to make contact via paper, panel, poster and special sessions, as well as workshops, birds-of-a-feather, and informal settings. The conference, taking place March 10 to 13, 2010, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, will give educators and all those interested in educational topics an opportunity to address the challenges of developing, implementing and/or evaluating computing programs, curricula, and courses. The symposium provides a forum for sharing new ideas for syllabi, laboratories, and other elements of teaching and pedagogy, at all levels of instruction. Birds of a Feather, Poster, and Video submissions are due November 2. Lightning Birds of a Feather submissions are due January 15, 2010. SIGCSE will also host the ACM Student Research Competition.
ACM-BCS Visions of Computer Science 2010 Call for Papers
The joint ACM-BCS 2010 Visions of Computer Science conference will take place April 13 to 16, 2010 at the Informatics Forum, Edinburgh University, Scotland. This flagship event, a joint effort of ACM and the British Computer Society, aims to energize the computing community and bring it together around some positive and inspiring visions of our discipline and follows the highly successful Visions of Computer Science conference in 2008. Topics include but are not limited to Computer Architectures and Digital Systems; Theoretical Computer Science: Algorithms and Complexity; Logic and Semantics; Non-standard Models of Computation; Programming Methods and Languages; Software Engineering and System Design Tools; Quantitative Evaluation of Algorithms, Systems, and Networks; Artificial Intelligence, Agents, and Machine Learning; Computer Networks; Distributed and Pervasive Systems; Grid Computing and eScience; Digital Economy; Databases, Information Retrieval and Data Mining, and Web-based Computation; Human Computer Interaction; Robotics and Computer Vision; Bioinformatics, Synthetic Biology and Synthetic Chemistry; and Medical Applications. The submission deadline for papers is December 18.
DAC 2010 Planning Technical Program
The organizers of ACM's 47th Design Automation Conference (DAC 2010) are now accepting contributions for the technical program of next year's gathering, which takes place June 13 to 18, 2010, in Anaheim, California. Submissions for research papers and Wild and Crazy Ideas (WACI) papers are due on November 19. Research papers should focus on multicore/many core architectures, system prototyping technology, and embedded software design and debug, while WACI papers give industry professionals and researchers an opportunity to cover more unconventional technical ideas. Students have until November 25 to enter their designs for electronic systems into the Student Design Contest, which is jointly sponsored by ISSCC and DAC. Submissions for User Track Presentations, due on January 18, 2010, should address the real-life issues that IC designers, application engineers, and design flow developers face. Ideas for the specific design, design methodologies, and design automation topics of workshops should be submitted by January 29.
Computers, Freedom and Privacy 2010 Call for Proposals
Organizers of the 20th annual ACM Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conference (CFP 2010), which takes place June 15 to 18, 2010, in San Jose, have announced a call for proposals to help shape the program for next year's gathering. With the theme "Computers, Freedom, and Privacy in the Networked Society," the conference seeks to address how constant connection in social, communication, information, and physical environments impacts freedom and privacy, and how computers can be used to improve freedom and privacy. Organizers are seeking suggestions for speakers, topics, workshops, tutorials, and panel sessions. The proposals should take advantage of the location of the conference, include a diverse set of panelists and new voices, offer a number of perspectives on challenging issues, and explore cutting-edge technology, legal, and policy issues. Possible topics include social networks, cloud computing, surveillance networks, anonymity in a networked world, ethics and computing, accessibility, open source, and media concentration, advertising, and political campaigning on the Internet. The final program will be assembled partly from the proposals. The early bird deadline for proposals is December 1, and the final deadline is January 31, 2010.
Public Policy
ACM, Partners Applaud National Computer Science Education Week to Advance Computing's Role in Preparing Skilled Workers
ACM is joining with several partners from the computing community to commend the U.S. House of Representatives' passage of a resolution to raise the profile of computer science as a transforming industry that drives technology innovation and bolsters economic productivity. The resolution, H. RES. 558, sponsored by Congressmen Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) and Jared Polis (D-CO), designates the week of December 7 as "National Computer Science Education Week." Microsoft, Google, Inc., and Intel, as well as the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA), National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), and the Computing Research Association (CRA) are partnering with ACM to build awareness of computer science education as a national priority. "National Computer Science Education Week will help us draw attention to the need for an educational system that values computer science as a discipline and provides students with critical thinking skills and career opportunities," said Bobby Schnabel, Chair of ACM's Education Policy Committee and dean of the School of Informatics at Indiana University. "We want to thank Congressmen Ehlers and Polis for calling attention to these issues."
Read the press release.
Member Programs
New ACM Member-Get-A-Member 2009–2010 Campaign Launched
ACM recently launched its new 2009–2010 Member-Get-A-Member Recruitment Drive, with new prizes added to our already great selection, and an Amazon Kindle® 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, 2010. For referral forms, recruitment tips and tools, prizes and rewards, and bonus gifts, visit the Member-Get-a-Member drive page.
ACM Launches Multimedia Center
ACM is pleased to announce the recent launch of its Multimedia Center, featuring selected videos from some of the organization's most popular activities and events. We are celebrating the launch with an Open House, which will extend through the fall of 2009. Once in the Center, simply click on the arrow (>) on the video window to play your selection, or the thumbnail image to the right to select another video. Our collection consists of 10 featured videos, with a new video added each week to replace an existing one, keeping the collection at 10 videos at all times. You can also click on the Digital Library Source link to learn more about each video's context, and to access related materials. (Note that only ACM members with Digital Library subscriptions or those with institutional entry can access full text.) The site also includes a special introductory offer for non-members to join ACM, so ACM members are highly encouraged to invite their non-member peers to visit during this time.
Free Subscription to ACM TechNews for Non-members
ACM TechNews, the tri-weekly digest of computing and technology news gathered from leading sources, is available to non-members. ACM TechNews summaries are perfect for busy professionals who need to keep up with the latest industry developments. Regularly cited as one of ACM's most valued benefits, ACM TechNews also includes links to the news items' original sources. ACM members are strongly encouraged to make their non-member peers and colleagues aware of the important opportunity to subscribe to this valuable service. Registration is easy, and the subscription registration page also includes a link to access an introductory offer to join ACM.
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. Show your exceptional support for ACM and its efforts to advance computing as a science and profession, and join over 900 of your peers by becoming a Lifetime Member!
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.
Online Books & Courses
Safari Books Online® Upgrades Interface
Safari has upgraded its website, making it easier to access, read and organize information in ACM's Safari Books program with an improved user interface. Among the new features ACM Professional members can now enjoy are:- Personalizing your books and bookshelves
- Collaborating and sharing tools
- New content reader
- Rating content
Career & Job Center
Post Your Resumé in ACM's Career & Job Center
Be sure to visit ACM's Career & Job Center to update your resumé, or create a new one in the Resumé Bank. ACM members' resumés now include an ACM logo on their entry, highlighting their ACM membership to employers. Also be sure to set up a Personal Job Alert to be notified about new jobs that are posted daily on the site. The Career & Job Center also includes access and links to hundreds of articles and websites in the Resources section. Take advantage of this free resource; browse through the library of articles, tips and information. For more information about the Career & Job Center please contact Jennifer Ruzicka.
Education
ACM, WGBH Introduce DotDiva, New Program to Improve Computing's Image to Girls
Dot Diva (formerly known as New Image for Computing (NIC)), is an initiative of ACM and the WGBH Educational Foundation to improve the image of computer science among college-bound high school girls. The Dot Diva program is inviting participation of students, faculty and interested others via recruiting, nominations and joining Dot Diva on Facebook and Twitter. Ignite Talks, a new component of the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC), included a presentation on NIC and Dot Diva to raise awareness of efforts aimed at improving the public image of computing. For more information, check the GHC conference program (pdf; go to page 31 or search on "Ignite") and visit the Dot Diva site.
Student News
Upcoming ACM Student Research Competitions
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. Learn about more competitions on the SRC submissions page.
ACM-W Student Scholarships for Attendance at Research Conferences
A program launched by the ACM Women's Council (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. For more information, visit the Reasons to Transition to Professional Membership page.
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 were chartered April 1 to October 19, 2009:
ACM Student Chapters:- ABV Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management ACM Student Chapter, Gwalior, India
- ACM MPSTME, Mumbai, India
- Franklin University, Columbus, Ohio (ACM-W Student Chapter)
- Bahria University ACM Student Chapter, Islamabad, Pakistan
- Binghamton University ACM Student Chapter, Binghamton, New York
- BIT Mesra ACM Student Chapter, Ranchi, India
- Bryant & Stratton College—Milwaukee, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
- CIIT, Lahore, Pakistan
- COMSATS Institute of Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan
- Dadi Institute of Engineering & Technology (DIET), Viskhapatnam District, India
- DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois
- Green River Community College, Auburn, Washington
- Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, Bidar, India
- Hanoi University of Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam
- Northern Kentucky University Informatica, Highland Heights, Kentucky
- Instituto Tecnologico de Celaya, Mexico
- Instituto Tecnologico de Saltillo, Mexico
- ITSLPSIC, San Luis Potosí, Mexico
- McNeese State University, Lake Charles, Louisiana
- PSG Tech, Coimbatore, India
- Sinhgad College of Engineering, Pune, India
- St. Mary's College of Maryland, Saint Mary's City
- St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota
- UC Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
- University of Georgia, Athens
- Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts
- Universidad Catolica de Columbia, Bogota
- Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico
- Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Kuantan, Pahang Darul Makmur
- University of Colorado, Denver
- University of Colorado Denver ACM Computer Science Club, Denver
- University of Puerto Rico/Mayaguez
- Upper Iowa University, Fayette
- Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia
- Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan (ACM-W Student Chapter)
- Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina
- York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Warner Robins, Georgia
- Austin ACM SIGGRAPH, Austin, Texas
- ACM Mexico, Veracruz
- Beijing ACM SIGSPATIAL, Beijing, China
- Centrifuge Info Tech, Lagos, Nigeria
- Kampala, Uganda
- Bratislava, Slovakia
- Thapar University, Patiala, India
- The DWC Professional Chapter (Dubai Women's College Chapter), Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Hanoi, Vietnam
The deadline for the 2009 ACM Student Chapter Excellence Awards applications has been extended to December 15. The ACM Student Chapter Excellence Awards Program recognizes chapters that display considerable initiative during the academic year. All student chapters in good standing are encouraged to apply for an award in any or all of the following categories:- Chapter Activities
- Web site
- Community Service
- Recruitment
- School Service
ACM-W News
Join ACM-W's Membership Email List
A note from Bettina Bair, ACMW:CIS Newsletter Editor:
Did you know that ACM-W also offers a general email distribution list for its members? This ACMW-public list is an extremely low volume communication channel for disseminating general information about ACM-W, bulletins and upcoming events. Recently, in an effort to provide better communication with its members, ACM-W combined the CIS Newsletter list with the ACMW-public list. Your subscription will be automatically copied from the newsletter list to the more general one. The next newsletter will contain an interview with Ruzena Bajcsy, reports from our ACM-W ambassadors, scholarship project updates, new regional celebrations and much more!
To join the list: http://signup.acm.org/listserv_index.cfm?ln=ACM-W-PUBLIC
ENIAC Documentary Film to Celebrate Early Women Programmers
Sixty years ago, six young women programmed the world's first all-electronic computer, the ENIAC. They worked tirelessly to make programming easier for all. They created the first sort routine, software application and instruction set, and classes in programming. Their work dramatically altered computing in the 1940s and 1950s. The ENIAC Programmers Project records their stories and seeks recognition for their accomplishments, to culminate in the first feature documentary film about this dramatic period in computing history. Kathy Kleiman, founder of the ENIAC Programmers Project and longtime ACM-W member, is the driving force behind this effort, and is nearing completion of the documentary, which focuses on such pioneers as Jean Bartik, an ENIAC programmer who this year was named a Fellow by the Computer History Museum, and a Computer Pioneer by the IEEE Computer Society. A talk Bartik, 85, gave at the Museum, was promoted by women bloggers across Silicon Valley, and saw a capacity crowd that was the most female and the youngest of any event ever hosted by the Museum. To learn more about the project and to donate funds toward completion of the film, visit the ENIAC Programmers Project web site.
Publications News
ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications and Applications Seeking Editor-in-Chief
The ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications and Applications (TOMCCAP) is accepting nominations for Editor-in-Chief. The deadline for nominations is November 2. For more information please visit the TOMCCAP EIC search page.
ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation Seeking Editor-in-Chief
The ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation (TOMACS) is accepting nominations for Editor-in-Chief. The deadline for nominations is November 30. For more information please visit the TOMACS EIC search page.
Communications of the ACM Reports: Digital Fluency for a New Generation of Computer Programmers
Scratch, sometimes called "the YouTube of interactive media," has become an appealing approach to programming for people who hadn't previously imagined themselves as programmers, according to the November Communications of the ACM (CACM) cover story. A team of researchers from MIT's Media Laboratory with colleagues from a Canadian-based company and the University of Pennsylvania relate how young audiences use this unique programming tool to gain digital fluency and learn critical problem-solving and design skills. Technology writer Leah Hoffmann examines the obstacles to utilizing electronic medical records despite federal stimulus funds of nearly $20 billion to help health-care providers implement digital record systems. Also in this issue, Editor-in-Chief Moshe Y. Vardi connects the "image crisis' that has nagged computer science with the reality of computing careers as attractive, rewarding options for CS graduates. Communications, the flagship publication of ACM, offers readers access to this generation's most significant leaders and innovators in computing and information technology, and is available online in digital format.
Read the press release.
Experts Do Some Myth-Busting about Software Maintenance in acmqueue
Many developers pay lip service to the importance of software maintenance, but few actually make it a central part of their development practice. In their acmqueue article You Don't Know Jack About Software Maintenance, engineers Paul Stachour and David Collier-Brown attempt to remedy this problem. They describe many of the popular, yet inadequate, approaches to software maintenance, and then offer a more sensible alternative. Effective maintenance, they argue, begins with the design itself, a process they illustrate with several real-world examples. By designing for "continuous change," developers can avoid many of the software-update headaches that plague even the most successful projects.
ACM in the News
"ACM Software Competition Pushes Students to Create Smarter Software"
Campus Technology, October 22, 2009
ACM's International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC), sponsored by IBM, challenges students to solve real-world problems using open technology and advanced computing methods in a very short time period. Next year's World Finals will take place February 2010 in Harbin, China.
"Google Envisions 10 Million Servers"
Data Center Knowledge, October 20, 2009
The computer industry had an opportunity to learn about the technical details of Google's infrastructure during LADIS 2009, ACM's recent SIGOPS International Workshop on Large Scale Distributed Systems and Middleware.
"Looking for Online Privacy in the Clouds"
U.S. News and World Report, October 15, 2009
Duke University professor Landon Cox proposed three possible options for protecting privacy on social networks in a presentation at ACM SIGCOMM in Barcelona in August 2009.
"What's Next for the Netflix Algorithms?"
Technology Review, October 8, 2009
Experts at ACM Conference on Recommender Systems discuss what insights have been gleaned from the Netflix Prize, a $1 million competition to improve the accuracy of the movie rental company's in-house recommendation system by 10 percent.
"A Report From the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing"
Computing Community Consortium, October 8, 2009
The 1,600 attendees at the ninth Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference, which took place in Tucson, Arizona, from Sept. 30-Oct. 3, are evidence that gender equality in computer science could be right around the corner, writes Harvey Mudd College professor Christine Alvarado.
"Pentagon Research Director Visits Universities in Bid to Re-energize Partnerships"
New York Times, October 7, 2009
Former ACM president David Patterson welcomes new DARPA director Regina Dugan's outreach efforts to universities: "She seems to genuinely value academic input into the defense research enterprise and really wants to re-engage the research community in the DARPA mission."
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