|
Welcome to the June 28, 2024 edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for computer professionals three times a week.
|
|
|
Wen-mei W. Hwu, professor emeritus at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, received the ACM-IEEE CS Eckert-Mauchly Award in recognition of pioneering and foundational contributions to the design and adoption of superscalar, VLIW, and throughput-oriented manycore processor architectures. Hwu has published over 400 technical papers in major ACM/IEEE conferences and journals. In 1999, he received the ACM Grace M. Hopper Award “for the design and implementation of the IMPACT compiler," and in 1998 he received ACM SIGARCH’s first Maurice Wilkes award for his work on architecture support for ILP compilers.
[
» Read full article
]
ACM Media Center (June 27, 2024)
|
NBCUniversal and the streaming platform Peacock said subscribers will have access to customized, daily highlight reels from the Summer Olympics presented in the AI-generated voice of broadcaster Al Michaels, who gave permission for his voice to be used. Subscribers can choose which events will be included in the daily highlight reel and the type of highlights to be included, such as viral clips, gold medalists, or elimination events.
[
» Read full article
*May Require Paid Registration
]
The New York Times; John Koblin (June 26, 2024)
|
King's College London researchers found the percentage of female students in the U.K. studying for a General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) in computing plunged from 43% in 2015, when the information communication technology (ICT) GCSE was still in use, to 21% in 2023, when it had been replaced with a GCSE for computer science. The study found 40,000 female students took the ICT GCSE in 2015, and another 5,000 took computer science; in 2023, there was no ICT, and just 18,600 females took computer science.
[
» Read full article
]
The Guardian (U.K.); Sally Weale (June 26, 2024)
|
 A North Korean defector known only as Choi sends "smart" balloons into the country from his apartment in Seoul, South Korea. The balloons are equipped with GPS trackers, sensors, and small circuit boards to ensure they maintain a certain altitude, and can carry automated flyer-dispensing devices that periodically release leaflets, and loudspeakers to transmit propaganda messages. Choi uses a 3D printer to manufacture some of the devices equipped to the balloons.
[
» Read full article
]
CNN; Jessie Yeung; Mike Valerio; Yoonjung Seo (June 26, 2024)
|
 The latest Stack Overflow survey of 89,184 software developers in 185 countries found that Zig is the best-paying programming language this year, earning developers working in that language an average annual salary of $103,000. However, only 0.83% of respondents said they were proficient in Zig. The survey also found that Dart and SAS developers saw their median pay jump more than 20% year over year in 2023, while Clojure developers experienced a 10% drop in median pay on average.
[
» Read full article
]
The Next Web; Amanda Kavanagh (June 25, 2024)
|
The estate of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen plans to auction off vintage items from his Living Computers Museum + Labs in Seattle, which closed in 2020. The event, "Gen One: Innovations from the Paul G. Allen Collection," will include three auctions. One rare item to be put on the block is a DEC PDP-10: KI-10 from 1971, the first computer that both Allen and Bill Gates used prior to founding Microsoft.
[
» Read full article
]
GeekWire; Kurt Schlosser (June 25, 2024)
|
A camera system developed by researchers at Australia's Edith Cowan University can identify signs of alcohol intoxication in individuals before they begin driving. In collaboration with mobile asset management solution provider Mix by Powerfleet, the researchers used a driving simulator to gather video data to train the machine learning system, which detects alcohol impairment based on a driver's facial features, gaze direction, and head position. The system, which uses only a standard RGB camera, was found to be 75% accurate in classifying levels of alcohol intoxication.
[
» Read full article
]
Tech Times; Jace Dela Cruz (June 25, 2024)
|
Verizon Wireless will pay a $1.05-million penalty to the U.S. Treasury in response to a 911 outage in December 2022. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said hundreds of 911 calls in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee failed to go through during the outage, which lasted nearly two hours. The outage was caused by "the reapplication of a known flawed security policy update file," according to an FCC consent decree.
[
» Read full article
]
Ars Technica; Jon Brodkin (June 25, 2024)
|
Use of India's e-rupee digital currency has dropped to about 100,000 retail transactions per day, just a tenth of its December 2023 peak. The Reserve Bank of India said its e-rupee pilot project will not be expanded as its focus shifts to testing the technology and identifying use cases for the digital currency.
[
» Read full article
]
Reuters; Jaspreet Kalra (June 25, 2024)
|
Researchers increasingly are using Lego components to create low-cost but effective lab equipment. In addition to its durable bricks, Lego offers sensors that can identify certain colors, detect rotational motion, and measure distances to an object. Lego components have been used by researchers at France's Université Côte d’Azur to build a mechanical cell stretcher, while Emory University researchers developed a Lego chromatographer. Researchers at the U.K.'s Cardiff University used Lego pieces to build a 3D bioprinter, and researchers at Germany's University of Göttingen built a Lego microscope.
[
» Read full article
]
MIT Technology Review; Elizabeth Fernandez (June 25, 2024)
|
Major record companies are suing AI song-generators Suno and Udio for copyright infringement, alleging the startups are exploiting the recorded works of artists. The Recording Industry Association of America announced the lawsuits Monday, brought by labels including Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Warner Records.
[
» Read full article
]
Associated Press (June 24, 2024)
|
Amid its conflict with China, Taiwan is looking to build a drone army for self-defense. While Ukraine built a domestic drone industry using Chinese parts, there are concerns Chinese suppliers could help the Chinese military hack into drones used by Taiwan's military. In addition, a blockade could be used to cut off its drone supplies. Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department has approved a $360-million arms package for Taiwan that includes around 1,000 drones.
[
» Read full article
*May Require Paid Registration
]
The Wall Street Journal; Joyu Wang (June 23, 2024)
|
|
