ACM MemberNet - October 24, 2013

Welcome to the October 2013 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.

October 24, 2013

Get Involved in CSEdWeek 2013's "Hour of Code" to Introduce Programming to Students of All Ages

CSEdWeek's "Hour of Code" is an exciting new opportunity for you to get people in your community involved in computer programming. The Hour of Code, part of Computer Science Education Week, December 9 to 15, aims to introduce more than 10 million students of all ages to the basics of coding, and to underscore the critical role of computing in all careers. Hour of Code is intended to demystify computing for people who think programming is hard or requires math. It offers self-guided activities that every student can use to try out the essentials of computer science. It includes a variety of tutorials featuring technology leaders like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg.

As a founding partner of Computer Science Education Week, ACM is inviting you to engage with your families, schools, professional and recreational groups to participate in the Hour of Code. You can play an important role in making computing an integral part of the next generation's future by planning activities such as these:

Help recruit teachers, schools and students to participate in the Hour of Code
Promote the Hour of Code using social media, traditional media, mailing lists, etc.
Host an Hour of Code in your own organization
At work, ask your employees or members to organize an Hour of Code at local schools or groups
Participate yourself!

Visit CSEdWeek's site for participation and hosting information, as well as videos featuring celebrities providing inspiration and everyday people discovering the magic of coding.

CSEdWeek is a national annual awareness program for computer science education. It is organized by the Computing in the Core Coalition and Code.org to raise awareness (particularly in the K-12 environment) of the importance of CS education and its connection to careers in computing and other fields. The first week in December was chosen for National Computer Science Education Week in honor of the birthday of Grace Murray Hopper (December 9, 1906), one of the outstanding pioneers in the field of computer science.

Notice of SIG Elections to Extend Officers' Terms

Officers of permanent ACM Special Interest Groups (SIGs) are elected by plurality vote of the SIG members beginning July 1. At the end of the term, the SIG Governing Board may exercise an option at the request of the SIG officers to extend their term for a set number of years as set forth in the SIG's bylaws. In accordance with this policy, the SIG Governing Board voted to approve the request to extend the terms of office for the following SIGs: SIGMICRO and SIGSIM.

Elections will be held for either of these SIGs if a petition is brought forward by one percent (1%) of the members of the SIG. A petition to initiate an election must be received at ACM Headquarters: Patricia Ryan, Office of Policy and Administration, ACM, 2 Penn Plaza, Suite 701, New York, NY 10121 by November 1. Questions about the petition process should be directed to ACM's Chief Operating Officer, Pat Ryan (ryan_p at acm dot org).

AWARDS

ACM, IEEE-CS Honor Jack Dongarra with Ken Kennedy Award for Advances in HPC

Jack Dongarra of the University of Tennessee will receive the ACM-IEEE Computer Society Ken Kennedy Award for his leadership in designing and promoting standards for mathematical software used to solve numerical problems common to high performance computing (HPC). His work has led to the development of major software libraries of algorithms and methods that boost performance and portability in HPC environments, which rely on supercomputers and parallel processing techniques for solving complex computational problems. Dongarra, the Distinguished University Professor at the University of Tennessee, is the founder and director of the Innovative Computing Laboratory at the University, and holds positions at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Manchester. He will receive the Kennedy Award on November 19 in Denver at SC13, the International Conference on High Performance Computing.
Read the ACM press release.

Call for 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 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

Other Award deadlines:

Gordon Bell Prize: Abstracts due April 1; Papers due April 8
ACM-IEEE CS Ken Kennedy Award: July 1
Doctoral Dissertation Award: October 31

Please take a moment to consider those individuals in your community who may be suitable for nomination. Refer to http://awards.acm.org/award_nominations.cfm for nomination guidelines and the complete listing of 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 December 3. Please read Advice to Those Seeking ACM Senior Members by Senior Member Committee Chair Susan Rodger on how to submit a strong nomination package.

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 35 distinct technological fields. Some awards presented (or to be presented) at recent conferences:

SIGACT/SIGOPS Edsger W. Dijkstra Prize in Distributed Computing

CONFERENCES AND EVENTS

HILT 2013, November 10 to 14, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

ACM SIGAda's International Conference on High Integrity Language Technology will provide a forum for experts from academia/research, industry, and government to present the latest findings in designing, implementing, and using language technology for high-integrity software. The conference will feature keynote and invited presentations from leading experts in language technology and high-integrity systems. Keynote speakers are 2007 ACM A. M. Turing Award recipient Edmund M. Clarke; Microsoft Research Corporate VP and ACM Fellow Jeannette Wing; and John Goodenough, Fellow of both Carnegie-Mellon's Software Engineering Institute and ACM. Michael Whalen, Program Director at the University of Minnesota Software Engineering Center, is an invited speaker.
Read the ACM press release.

SC 2013, November 17 to 22, Denver, Colorado

For 25 years, the International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis has served as the crossroads for the entire HPC community, from users and program managers to colleagues and vendors, and from government to private industry to academia. The technical program and exhibits will feature the latest developments in high-performance computing technology. Katherine Yelick, the 2013-2014 ACM-W Athena Lecturer, will deliver her Athena Lecture; noted anthropologist, Intel Fellow and ACM Distinguished Speaker Genevieve Bell will keynote.

SIGGRAPH Asia 2013, November 19 to 22, Hong Kong

The 6th ACM SIGGRAPH Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques in Asia will present the most cutting-edge graphical achievements across a range of fields, including hardware and software, film and game production, and research and education. The largest graphics event in Asia, SIGGRAPH Asia 2013 expects to attract 7,000 attendees from various industry sectors and more than 130 exhibitors from 50 countries around the world. The conference will include an Art Gallery with exceptional digital and technologically mediated art; a Computer Animation Festival; comprehensive instructional courses on contemporary topics in graphics and interactive techniques; and a showcase of Emerging Technologies such as interfaces, input devices, systems of engagement, and robotics with hands-on demonstrations. Other programs include the Symposium on Mobile Graphics and Interactive Applications. Scheduled keynote speakers are Thad Starner, Professor of Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology, on "Wearable Computing: Through the Looking Glass"; and Philip Rosedale, founder of Second Life/Linden Lab and co-founder of High Fidelity, on "The Revenge of Virtual Reality."

Call for Submissions: First Annual ACM Conference on Learning at Scale (with SIGCSE 2014), March 4 to 5, 2014, Atlanta, Georgia

The First Annual ACM Conference on Learning at Scale conference will be held immediately prior to and collocated with SIGCSE 2014. The conference is intended to promote scientific exchange of interdisciplinary research at the intersection of the learning sciences and computer science. Inspired by the emergence of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and the accompanying huge shift in thinking about education, this conference was created by ACM as a new scholarly venue and key focal point for the review and presentation of the highest quality research on how learning and teaching can change and improve when done at scale. Submissions are welcome, with the first deadline on November 8. Please visit the website for details.

Call for Participation: 2014 Workshop on ACM History, May 21 to 22, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota

The ACM History Committee is sponsoring a two-day archiving workshop designed to help diffuse knowledge of professional archival practices into ACM's membership and others with an active interest in preserving computer heritage. The audience will include people who are creating archives, not just those who are using them. The workshop will be of special interest to ACM officers and staff, SIG leaders, historically-minded ACM members, and others working on computer history archiving projects. Priority will be given to ACM members and members of other national computer societies affiliated with ACM. Participants will leave with a "tool kit" of practical, useful procedures as well as insights into professional archiving practices. Project proposals are due by January 15, 2014. Visit the workshop site for more information.

PUBLIC POLICY

USACM Comments on Open Government National Action Plan

The government is working on version 2.0 of a National Action Plan that is part of the Obama Administration's Open Government Initiative. USACM submitted comments on September 24. They include recommendations to design tools and plans for increasing access to information with both businesses and the public in mind; evaluate progress on the Action Plans regularly and share that information with users; public participation strategies that involve computing through social structures that attract more than developers and technologists; encourage feedback and public participation tools that facilitate multi-directional communication and/or collaboration; respond to disasters and similar events to encourage activity through prizes and/or competitions; more datasets released through http://research.data.gov for use by researchers and the public.
Read the full set of USACM comments.

MEMBER PROGRAMS

Become an Ambassador for ACM—You Could Be a Grand Prize Winner!

The Ambassadors for ACM program rewards ACM members like you for encouraging new members to join. Your first-hand experience with ACM's valuable career development and continuous learning programs makes you a perfect envoy to share your ACM experiences with prospective members. Please consider becoming an Ambassador for ACM. The 2013–2014 Ambassadors for ACM program offers opportunities for you to earn new prizes, rewards and bonus gifts with each referral. The top ACM Ambassador for September was Sarabjeet S. Waraich.

Submit the ACM Referral Form, and your referrals can join ACM at a special discount rate. Our members are our greatest asset. Your support of ACM is critical to our continuing efforts to advance computing as a science and a profession.

MentorNet Matches ACM Students, Professionals for One-on-One Mentoring

ACM partners with MentorNet to promote e-mentoring relationships between students (protégés) and professionals (mentors). MentorNet, founded in 1997, now boasts 30,000 mentor/protégé relationships that encourage and inspire students considering careers in science, technology, engineering and math. Professionals also benefit from the program, practicing skills and gaining insights into their own careers. Above all, they gain satisfaction from knowing that they're helping to diversify the global workforce in these fields. ACM members can participate in this program as protégés if they are undergraduates, graduates, post-doctoral students, or untenured faculty. ACM Professional Members with a college degree and at least two years of professional work experience in engineering, science, technology, mathematics, medicine or related disciplines can qualify as mentors. To learn more, visit MentorNet's site and the introductory ACM MentorNet page. Also check out the short videos for protégés and mentors that will walk you through the steps of creating a profile and connecting with others in the MentorNet community.

Valuable Offers and Discounts for ACM Members

Take advantage of ACM's Discounts and Special Offers Program, an exclusive benefit of membership in ACM. ACM Members receive valuable offers and discounts on select programs and services. To view a complete listing, please visit the discounts and special offers page.

LEARNING CENTER

Watch ACM Webcast with ACM Past President Alain Chesnais: "3D on the Web—Introduction to WebGL"

Register to watch "3D on the Web—Introduction to WebGL," presented October 29 by Alain Chesnais, Past President of ACM, former SIGGRAPH President and co-founder of TrendSpottr, which develops web services to identify real-time trends in social media communities such as Twitter and Facebook. Chesnais will introduce WebGL, which extends the 2D canvas primitive to incorporate real-time 3D support without requiring any plugins. A demonstration of how WebGL works will be included, and will be followed by a live question-and-answer session with Alain.

ACM Learning Webinars are free with registration, available for streaming on all major mobile devices, and are recorded for on-demand viewing after the event (registration required).

ACM Members Get 20% off Registration for NYU-Poly Cyber Security Event in November

ACM Members are eligible for a 20% discount on registration to the THREADS Conference and Competition Finals, part of NYU-Poly's Cyber Security Awareness Week (CSAW) 2013 Competition. At the THREADS conference, you will hear from researchers who participated in DARPA's Cyber Fast Track program about some of the best tools and products to come out of the program. CSAW includes talks by industry experts, a career fair for corporate partners, and the student competition. PhD students will present their research papers, Master's students will compete in an Embedded Systems event, more than 10,000 undergraduates will participate in Capture the Flag, and high school teams will compete in a Forensics Challenge.

The conference and Competition Finals will take place November 14 to 16 in Brooklyn, New York. Admission is $125. Use code ACM13 at registration for a special discount. For registration to THREADS, visit the CSAW website and click on "THREADS" in the top nav menu.

CAREER & JOB CENTER

Import Your LinkedIn Profile in ACM's Career & Job Center

Be sure to visit ACM's Career & Job Center to update your résumé or create a new one in the Résumé Bank. ACM members' résumés include an ACM logo on their entry, highlighting their ACM membership to employers.

Now available when posting a résumé in the Résumé Bank: import your LinkedIn profile. You will be required to sign in to your LinkedIn account. Please note that LinkedIn does not have exactly the same fields as ACM, so you will have to review the imported information and update where necessary. Once you have a résumé created and saved in our system, you can publish it to the Résumé Bank so that employers find you! Or keep it private and use it when applying online for jobs. Log in to ACM's Job Board and post your résumé today. You can also upgrade to a Preferred Résumé to keep it at the top of the Résumé Bank, highlighted with a star next to it for increased visibility ($25 for 90 days).

In addition, ACM offers CareerNews, which provides summaries of articles on career-related topics of interest to students and professionals in the computing field, in a bi-weekly email alert to ACM members. ACM members can subscribe to the CareerNews email alert service.

For more information about the Career & Job Center please contact Jennifer Ruzicka.

STUDENT NEWS

XRDS Needs You!

XRDS, the ACM magazine for students, is seeking students to become an active part of our team. Please email your resume/CV and a short paragraph about yourself to [email protected].

Upcoming ACM Student Research Competitions

ACM Student Research Competitions (SRCs), sponsored by Microsoft Research, offer a unique forum for undergraduate and graduate students to present their original research at well-known ACM sponsored and co-sponsored conferences before a panel of judges and attendees. The most recent SRC winners presented at GHC 2013. The next conferences accepting submissions are:

CGO 2014, February 15-19, 2014, deadline November 15
PLDI 2014, June 9-11, 2014, deadline November 15
ICSE 2014, May 31-June 7, 2014, deadline November 22

Learn about more competitions on the SRC submissions page.

ACM-W Student Scholarships for Attendance at Research Conferences

The ACM Women's Council (ACM-W) provides support for women undergraduate or graduate students in computer science and related programs who wish to attend research conferences. This exposure to the Computer Science research world can encourage a student to continue on to the next level (Undergraduate to Graduate, Masters to Ph.D., Ph.D. to an industry or academic position). The student does not have to present a paper at the conference she attends. Students can apply an unlimited number of times; however, once a student receives an award, she is no longer eligible for future ACM-W scholarships.

The ACM-W scholarships are divided between scholarships of up to $600 for intra-continental conference travel, and scholarships of up to $1200 for intercontinental conference travel. Scholarship applications are evaluated in six groups each year, in order to distribute awards across a range of conferences.

ACM-W encourages the student's home department to match the scholarship award and recognize the student's achievement locally within their department. In addition, if the award is for attendance at one of several ACM Special Interest Group conferences (SIGACCESS, SIGACT, SIGARCH, SIGCOMM, SIGCHI, SIGCSE, SIGDA, SIGECOM, SIGEVO, SIGGRAPH, SIGHPC, SIGIR, SIGITE, SIGMM, SIGMOBILE, SIGOPS, SIGPLAN, and SIGSOFT), the SIG will provide complimentary conference registration and a mentor during the conference. The number of free registrations available varies from SIG to SIG. The 2013-2014 scholarships are made possible by generous support from Google.

For application form, notification dates and more information, please visit the scholarships page.

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.

DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS PROGRAM

Featured ACM Distinguished Speaker: Jaeha Kim

The Distinguished Speakers Program (DSP) is one of ACM's most valued outreach programs, providing universities, corporations, event and conference planners, and local ACM chapters with direct access to top technology leaders and innovators from nearly every sector of the computing industry.

This month's featured speaker is Jaeha Kim. Jaeha is currently Assistant Professor at Seoul National University and his research interests include low-power mixed-signal systems and their design methodologies. He received the BS degree in electrical engineering from Seoul National University in 1997, and received MS and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1999 and 2003, respectively. Prior to joining Seoul National University in 2010, Jaeha was with Stanford University as Acting Assistant Professor from 2009 to 2010, with Rambus, Inc., Los Altos, California as Principal Engineer from 2006 to 2009, and with Inter-university Semiconductor Research Center (ISRC) in Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea as post-doctoral researcher from 2003 to 2006. From 2001 to 2003, he was with True Circuits, Inc. in Los Altos as a circuit designer. Jaeha Kim is a recipient of the Takuo Sugano Award for outstanding far-east paper at the 2005 International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) and the Low Power Design Contest Award at 2001 International Symposium on Low Power Electronics and Design (ISLPED). He served on the technical program committees of the Design Automation Conference (DAC), International Conference on Computer Aided Design (ICCAD), and Asian Solid-State Circuit Conference (A-SSCC).

For more information on Jaeha, please visit his DSP speaker information page.
Jaeha Kim's Digital Library author page.

IEEE-CS and ACM have joined to share their invited speaker programs, to further the dissemination of technical knowledge of computing fields that greatly benefit both memberships. IEEE-CS chapter volunteers can host a speaker from ACM's Distinguished Speakers Program (DSP), with access to top technology leaders and innovators from nearly every sector of the computing industry, by following the instructions on the DSP site. Make sure you identify yourself as an IEEE Computer Society Chapter.

IEEE-CS provides a popular offering of first-quality speakers serving its professional and student chapters. The Distinguished Visitors Program (DVP) owes its success to the many volunteers and staff members of the Computer Society who generously contribute their time and talent. Organizers of an ACM chapter, conference, or event can host a speaker from IEEE-CS's DVP by following the instructions instructions on the DVP site. Make sure you identify yourself as an ACM chapter or event.

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 September 14 to October 15, 2013:

ACM Student Chapters:

DR N. G. P. Institute of Technology ACM Student Chapter, Coimbatore, India
Eastern New Mexico University ACM Student Chapter, Portales
Midlands Technical College ACM Student Chapter, Columbia, South Carolina
Monroe College ACM Student Chapter, Bronx, New York
Nanjing ACM Student Chapter, Nanjing, China
SNGCE ACM Student Chapter, Ernakulam, India
Syracuse University ACM Student Chapter, Syracuse, New York
Tecnológico de El Mante ACM Student Chapter, Mante, Mexico
Trine University ACM Student Chapter, Angola, Indiana
University of Mauritius ACM Student Chapter, Moka, Mauritius
UTD ACM Student Chapter, Richardson, Texas

ACM Professional Chapters:

Greater Hartford ACM Chapter, New Britain, Connecticut
Santiago ACM SIGGRAPH Professional Chapter, Santiago, Chile

ACM-W NEWS

Regional Celebrations Circle the Globe

By Jodi Tims, ACM-W Regional Celebrations Committee Chair

The ACM-W Regional Celebrations program continues to grow, and is expanding activities to international venues. We are looking forward to several exciting new international events during 2013–2014. The inaugural Caribbean Celebration of Women in Computing will be held at the University of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, February 26-27, 2014. WomENcourage, the first conference organized by ACM-W Europe, will be held at the University of Manchester, UK, on March 1, 2014. In addition, the third Arab Women in Computing Conference in May 2014 in Abu Dhabi, will be affiliated with ACM-W for the first time. Adding these three events to our existing international conferences in Australasia, Ontario, Canada, and India gives us increased presence around the world. We are definitely keeping an eye on the map and strategizing about places where we have yet to hang our ACM-W banner! During 2013–2014, there will also be eight events in the US, including Missouri-Iowa-Nebraska-Kansas, Tennessee-Georgia-Alabama, Indiana, Carolinas, Southern California, Northwest, Northern Virginia, and Northern Kentucky. Stay tuned to MemberNet; each month we will feature highlights from one of these events.

The ACM-W Regional Celebrations project provides programming that showcases female role models, encourages mentoring and networking, supplies accurate information about computing careers, and creates opportunities for women to participate in the program, often for the first time in their careers. The regional conferences are run with almost 100% volunteer effort and involve considerable fundraising. If you are interested in working on or supporting any of the regional conferences, please contact Valerie Barr or Jodi Tims. We'd love to have you join our conference committees or become a sponsor of this important effort to encourage and increase the participation of women in computing.

Join ACM-W's Membership Email List

Did you know that ACM-W offers a general email distribution list for its members? This ACMW-public list is a communication channel for disseminating general information about ACM-W, bulletins and upcoming events. To join the list: http://signup.acm.org/listserv_index.cfm?ln=ACM-W-PUBLIC.

Be sure to read the current issue of the ACM-W CIS Newsletter for the latest news on ACM-W activities and events.

PUBLICATIONS NEWS

TOMCCAP October Issue Features Special Section Honoring 20th Anniversary of ACM Multimedia Conference

The October 2013 issue of ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications, and Applications (TOMCCAP) is now available in the Digital Library and features invited position papers written by some of the most influential researchers in the field. The Special Section commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the ACM Multimedia Conference combines longer review articles summarizing where the field has come from, with shorter personal notes explaining the development of the field and possible future directions. Read the Editorial Note for background this section.

New ACM Journal ACM Transactions on Spatial Algorithms Accepting Submissions

The new ACM journal, ACM Transactions on Spatial Algorithms and Systems (TSAS), is now accepting submissions. TSAS is a new scholarly journal that publishes the highest quality papers on all aspects of spatial algorithms and systems and closely related disciplines. Visit the submissions site for more information.

ACM Transactions on Information Systems Seeks New Editor-in-Chief

ACM Transactions on Information Systems (TOIS) is seeking a new Editor-in-Chief. Nominations are due November 1.

CACM Reports: Technologies for Caring for People with Dementia

The number of people with dementia was estimated in 2010 at 35 million worldwide, and that figure is expected to double by 2030. Digital technology has the potential to improve the quality of care for this population, according to the November issue's cover story, "Computing Technologies for Reflective, Creative Care of People with Dementia." Also in this issue, "Algorithmic Trading Review" notes the rapid growth of financial trading by programmed systems, which accounted for over 73% of U.S. equity trading volumes in 2011. "The End of The American Network," by Editor-in-Chief Moshe Y. Vardi, says the U.S. National Security Agency's pervasive eavesdropping makes the surveillance technology in Orwell's 1984 look "rather primitive in comparison," and asks whether the Internet can be free, or freer, from government meddling. "Media Tablets for Mobile Learning" aims to give technology and learning experts a nuanced understanding of how media tablets might influence educational institutions and corporate training organizations. "Legal Issues with Robots" looks at where responsibility lies when property is damaged or someone is injured by an automated system.

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 in print, web and digital format.

ACM Queue Presents: Online Algorithms in High-frequency Trading

Jacob Loveless, Sasha Stoikov, and Rolf Waeber describe the challenges faced by competing algorithms used in HFT (high-frequency trading), which has emerged as a powerful force in modern financial markets. Unlike the recent past, modern trading occurs mostly in electronic servers in data centers, where computers communicate their trading intentions through network messages. A typical HFT algorithm operates at the sub-millisecond time scale, where human traders cannot compete. The algorithms receive large amounts of data every microsecond and must be able to act extremely fast on the received data, as the profitability of the signals they are observing decays very quickly.

Subscribe to Communications of the ACM, the computing industry's most trusted source for news, analysis and insights! Non-members can use our online form and receive a new ACM membership with your 12-month subscription, or request a sample issue using our online free trial issue form.

ACM IN THE NEWS

"How IBM Is Making Computers More Like Your Brain. For Real"

CNet, October 17, 2013
"If we want to make an impact in the cognitive systems era, we need to understand how the brain works," says IBM Research's Matthias Kaiserswerth. Matthias is a member of the ACM Europe Council.

"Dude, Where's My Code?"

MIT News, October 16, 2013
"It turns out that the C programming language has a lot of subtle corners to the language specification, and there are things that are undefined behavior that most programmers don't realize are undefined behavior," says MIT professor and 2010 ACM - Infosys Foundation Award in the Computing Sciences recipient Frans Kaashoek.

"Got a Kickstarter Project? This Man Can Predict Within Four Hours If It Will Fail"

The Guardian, October 16, 2013
Researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne have developed a method of predicting whether a Kickstarter project will succeed within four hours of its launch with 76% accuracy. The EPFL researchers presented their findings at the recent ACM Conference on Online Social Networks.

"A Day to Remember the First Computer Programmer Was a Woman"

The New York Times, October 15, 2013
As Ada Lovelace's history indicates, women have played a significant role in the software industry, and some say the tide is changing again in Silicon Valley. "There's a lot more focus than we've seen in the past, and a lot more hard conversations," says Anita Borg Institute executive director Telle Whitney, who co-founded the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing with Anita Borg.

"Code.org Aims to Introduce More Than 10M Students to Computer Programming"

ZDNet, October 14, 2013
Code.org has unveiled "Hour of Code," an initiative that aims to enhance computer science education for more than 10 million students worldwide by taking them through an hour-long introduction to computer programming.

"'Spaf' on Security"

Dark Reading, October 10, 2013
Purdue University professor and USACM Chair Eugene Spafford says in an interview that not enough serious consideration is being given to computer security, noting that "we went from 20 pieces of malware in 1988 to [around] 180 million today."

"Duolingo 'Incubator' to Crowdsource New Language Courses"

PCMag.com, October 9, 2013
Duolingo is turning to crowdsourcing as a low-cost way to expand the number of languages it supports. "There are many exciting aspects about this, including the possibility of helping preserve endangered languages across the globe," says Duolingo co-founder and 2011 ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award recipient Luis von Ahn.

"SC13 Supercomputing Show Must Go On, Government Shutdown or Not"

Network World, October 8, 2013
SC13 is determined to hold its annual Supercomputing Conference the week of November 17 in Denver as scheduled, regardless of the status of the US government shutdown, which directly impacts many volunteers and committee members, according to SC13 general chair Bill Gropp. "SC13 is committed to making this year's conference the best ever and will do everything we can to ensure everyone can attend," he says.

"UltraHaptics—It's Magic in the Air"

University of Bristol News, October 7, 2013
University of Bristol researchers have developed UltraHaptics, an interface system that enables users to experience multi-point haptic feedback above an interactive surface without having to touch or hold a device. The researchers presented their work at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST) held earlier this month.
More coverage of UIST:

"Take Virtual 3D Tours of Tourist Sites With Wikipedia"

New Scientist, October 2, 2013
Researchers at the University of Washington and Intel Labs have developed an online system that can automatically create annotated three-dimensional reconstructions of tourist sites on Wikipedia. The research will be presented at SIGGRAPH Asia in Hong Kong in November.

"Facebook's Sandberg Takes on the Tech Gender Gap"

Computerworld, October 2, 2013
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg took aim at the gender gap in the technology industry during a keynote session at the recent Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing.

"Kurzweil: The Human Brain on IT"

SearchCIO.com, September 30, 2013
Information technology (IT) is causing the rate at which the world is changing to accelerate, says inventor, futurologist and 1978 ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award recipient Ray Kurzweil.