communications of the acm
Departments
5 Editor’s Letter
Solving the Unsolvable
By Moshe Y. Vardi
6 Letters To The Editor
Practical Research Yields
Fundamental Insight, Too
23 Technology Strategy and Management
Driving Power in
Global Supply Chains
How global and local influences
affect product manufacturers.
By Mari Sako
9 In the Virtual Extension
10 BLOG@CACM
Reviewing Peer Review
Jeannette M. Wing discusses peer
review and its importance in terms
of public trust. Ed H. Chi writes
about alternatives, such as open
peer commentary.
News Viewpoints
26 Computing Ethics
Values in Design
Focusing on socio-technical design
with values as a critical component
in the design process.
By Cory Knobel and
Geoffrey C. Bowker
12 CACM Online
ACM Aggregates Publication
Statistics in the ACM Digital Library
By Scott E. Delman
31 Calendar
13 Weighing Watson’s Impact
Does IBM’s Watson represent
a distinct breakthrough in machine
learning and natural language
processing or is the 2,880-core
wunderkind merely a solid feat
of engineering?
By Kirk L. Kroeker
29 Legally Speaking
Too Many Copyrights?
Reinstituting formalities—
notice of copyright claims and
registration requirements—could
help address problems related
to too many copyrights that last
for too many years.
By Pamela Samuelson
117 Careers
Last Byte
120 Future Tense
My Office Mate
I became a biocomputational
zombie for science…and for love.
By Rudy Rucker
16 Automotive Autonomy
Self-driving cars are inching closer
to the assembly line, thanks
to promising new projects from
Google and the European Union.
By Alex Wright
19 Brave, New Social World
How three different individuals in
three different countries—Brazil,
Egypt, and Japan—use Facebook,
Twitter, and other social-media tools.
By Dennis McCafferty
22 ACM Award Recipients
Craig Gentry, Kurt Mehlhorn, and
other computer scientists
are honored for their research
and service.
32 Broadening Participation
The Status of Women of Color
in Computer Science
Addressing the challenges
of increasing the number of
women of color in computing
and ensuring their success.
By Maria (Mia) Ong
35 Viewpoint
Non-Myths About Programming
Viewing computer science in
a broader context to dispel
common misperceptions about
studying computer science.
By Mordechai (Moti) Ben-Ari
Association for Computing Machinery
Advancing Computing as a Science & Profession
PhotograPh courtesy of IBM