2008 Media Coverage
Jaguar Upgrade Brings ORNL Closer to Petascale Computing
Upgrades to Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Jaguar supercomputer have more than doubled its performance, increasing the system's ability to deliver far-reaching advances in climate studies, energy research, and a wide range of sciences. "This is an important advancement," said Thomas Zacharia, part-time professor in the Computational Science and Engineering Division and ORNL associate laboratory director for computing and computational sciences. Source: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Pre-Teens Re-Invent Themselves on the Web
As interactive websites for children proliferate, more and more kids and ‘tweens are developing alter egos to explore life in cyberworld. “Get used to it,” said interactive computing professor Amy Bruckman, who studies how children interact with computers. “Identity formation is a key part of what kids go through, and these sites offer that opportunity.” Source: The New York Times
Security Experts Focus on VOIP
Many of the vulnerabilities that have made e-mail security problem are spreading to voice-over-IP systems, raising the specter of a new generation of security threats. “There is no reason to believe the bad guys will not exploit this,” said Mustaque Ahamad, professor of computer science and director of Georgia Tech’s Information Security Center. Source: Government Computer News
CoC Dean Named to Corporate Advisory Board
Certess, Inc., a provider of functional qualification tools for systems on a chip (SoCs) and intellectual property (IP) blocks, has formed a technical advisory board (TAB) that includes Dean Richard DeMillo and other academic leaders in computer science. Source: Business Wire
Your Phone Knows Where You Are
Associate professor Ling Liu spoke at Northwestern University recently about the work she and her colleagues are doing on location-based computing. “Everybody has cell phones and wireless laptops and we are all turned on in terms of connectivity, and therefore people know where we are,” she said. Source: Medill Reports
SIGGRAPH 2008 Papers Selected
A jury of industry and academic experts considered a record-breaking 518 submissions before choosing 90 papers for presentation at SIGGRAPH 2008. "These presentations give us a glimpse into a future with highly realistic computer games, stunning feature film special effects, intelligent cameras, and rich photo manipulation tools," said SIC Associate Professor Greg Turk, chair of the Technical Papers Jury. Source: Business Wire
Animal Behavior Study Could Lead to Better Robots
Three RIM faculty members are participating in a new $7.5 million study, led by the University of Pennsylvania and involving eight universities, that will “focus on the development of biologically inspired cooperative strategies for large teams of unmanned robots, including aerial and ground robots.” Source: University of Pennsylvania
The Spy Who Bugged Me
RIM faculty members Ron Arkin, Tucker Balch, Henrik Christensen and Frank Dellaert are participating in a $38 million project involving nine universities and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory to build insect-sized robots for government spying operations. Source: New Hampshire Union Leader
Computerized Combat Glove Takes the Load Out of Wearable Computers
A recent start-up company formed by students at MIT has developed the Handwear Computer Input Device (HCID), a lightweight computer glove that could greatly improve on earlier, heavier military technology. Thad Starner, an associate professor of computing at Georgia Tech University, says "The problem with most new soldier technologies is that people are trying to do too much.” Source: InventorSpot
Former GVU Affiliate to Direct School of Computing at Clemson
Larry F. Hodges has been named director of the School of Computing in the College of Engineering and Science at Clemson University effective July 1. In 1988, Hodges and colleague Bill Ribarsky started the Georgia Tech Computer Graphics Interest Group, or TechGraph, which eventually led to the founding of GVU in 1991. Source: Clemson University
SIC Professor to Speak about Wearable Computers
Thad Starner, an associate professor in the School of Interactive Computing, will present a lecture about wearable computers Wednesday at Berry College. “Reading Your Mind: Interfaces for Wearable Computing” begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday, in the Berry College science auditorium. Admission is free. Source: Rome News Tribune
Robot 'Bouncer' Raises Ethical Concerns
The owner of a downtown Atlanta pub is using a homemade, remote-controlled robot to patrol the area and discourage people from loitering. Henrik Christensen, director of Georgia Tech's Robotics and Intelligent Machines Center, says the so-called "Bum Bot" exploits the anxiety that underlies Hollywood stereotypes of violent robots. Source: The Washington Post.
Swarm Intelligence Inspired by Animal Behavior
Research into the sometimes coordinated behavior of birds and bees is helping scientists create computer programs that can enhance surveillance photos, quickly sort through military reports and even enable individual robots to navigate within an army of fellow automatons. Tucker Balch, associate professor in the School of Interactive Computing, said “swarm intelligence” applied to some problems can result in pretty good solutions pretty quickly. Source: MSNBC
Damballa Discovers New BotArmy
A security company spun off from research conducted at The
College of Computing has discovered a new botnet – Kraken – that allegedly has
infected more than 400,000 computers worldwide to generate spam. CoC Associate Dean Merrick Furst, Associate Professor Wenke Lee, and Ph.D. student David Dagon founded Damballa.Source: Washington Post
New Book by CoC Alumna Hits the Stores
Following on from her well-received title Taking Your iPhone to the Max, Mac Guru and CoC alumna Erica Sadun switches her attention to Apple's newest super-gadget with her new book, Taking Your iPod touch to the Max. Sadun earned her Ph.D. in Computer Science in 1996. Source: TechPedia
Humans Form Emotional Bonds with Robots
Some homeowners assign names and genders to their Roombas. Others dress them in school colors, or refer to them as "my baby." A survey of nearly 400 Roomba owners conducted late last year by SIC Associate Professor Beki Grinter and grad student Ja-Young Sung shows the human-robot connection takes myriad forms. Source: New ScientistTech
Make Robots, Not War
As military robots grow more sophisticated, some of their
designers are trying to prevent autonomous ones making decisions or being used as killing machines.
But CoC Regents' Professor Ronald Arkin says that because robots' judgments
will be unclouded by fear or other emotions, they will be less likely than
human soldiers to break the ethical conventions of war. Source: New Scientist Tech.
IT on Campus: What the Future Holds
Information technology permeates every aspect of the campus these days. At The Chronicle's Technology Forum, three experts – including Richard A. DeMillo, dean of the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology – spoke about what the future may hold for IT. "For good or bad, we are in the position of having to simultaneously react to what is going on in the IT industry and anticipate it," said DeMillo. Source: Chronicle of Higher Education.
Killer Robots a Threat to Humanity?
Increasingly autonomous, gun-toting robots developed for warfare pose a threat to humanity and may one day unleash a robot arms race, warns a top Canadian expert on artificial intelligence. But CoC Regents' Professor Ronald Arkin, who has worked closely with the US military on robotics, says the shift toward autonomy will be gradual and that robots may have a place on the front lines. Source: Canada.com
IBM, Universities Launch Research Collaboration for Cloud Computing
IBM announced yesterday that it will collaborate with Georgia Tech and Ohio State University on an initiative to develop new autonomic technology for cloud computing. “(W)ithout the coordinated use of hardware, operating systems, middleware and applications, it will simply not be possible to meet the demands of tomorrow's critical applications and systems that support them," said Karsten Schwan, CERCS Director at Georgia Tech. Source: CNNMoney.com
