Featured Article

What Makes APIs Hard to Learn? Answers from Developers
A study of obstacles that professional Microsoft developers faced when learning to use APIs uncovered challenges and resulting implications for API users and designers. More »

Also featured:

My IT Carbon Footprint
Self-awareness is the first step toward reducing our carbon footprint. More »

Once More, Into the Soup
Proliferating “x-centered design” terminology leaves us afloat in a soup of jargon. A metadesign diagram can clarify the broth and locate the meaty bits. More »

IT Productivity = ??
An experienced CIO shares her perspective on defining, using, and promoting productivity, first from a serious point of view and then from a lighthearted one. More »

Let’s Blend
Take a look at the changes that Internet technology has caused in consumer behavior toward various media and the resulting opportunities for multimedia technology. More »

Building on Realism and Magic for Designing 3D Interaction Techniques
Imagination-based interaction can complement reality-based interaction when designing 3D user interfaces. This hybrid approach could lead to guidelines for a large range of diverse interfaces. More »

On Safari in the File Format Jungle—Why Can’t You Visualize My Data?
Lots of glossy images and striking movies on the one side, lots of numbers and full hard disks on the other—seems like a natural pair. So why can’t visualization people “just visualize” some data? More »

Computing Then
Learn about the life and career of Adriaan van Wijngaarden (1916–1987), a pioneer of Dutch computing and, more broadly, of international computing.
More »

Society Online

Editors' Introduction
Daniel Zeng and Hsinchun Chen • IEEE Intelligent Systems

Social computing plays a central role in next-generation software, community-based decision making, and analyzing how technology affects politics, society, and culture. More »

Selected articles on Society Online:

Social Meaning on the Web: From Wittgenstein to Search Engines
Relevance feedback from hypertext Web searches considerably improves the performance of a Semantic Web search engine. More »

Friends Forever: How Young Adolescents Use Social-Networking Sites
Children use social networking sites to establish identity and to find support and comfort as they go through the many transitions of early adolescence. More »

The Use of Mobile Social Presence
Five studies explore how automated context sharing via mobile phones can affect communication, creating rich, new experiences and increasing feelings of social presence. More »

The Evolution of Online Identity
When we can send and receive proven identity claims over the Web, we’ll be better able to engage safely in personal and commercial transactions. More »

A Visual Interface for Social Information Filtering
Visualization offers openness to recommender systems, enhancing overall user trust. More »

Events

Editors' Picks: Conferences

International Test Conference, 1–6 November, Austin, Texas, US

International Workshop on Middleware for Pervasive Mobile and Embedded Computing (M-MPAC 2009), a workshop of Middleware 2009, 30 November, Urbana Champaign, Illinois, US

Events Calendar

Visit our events calendar to browse upcoming conferences and calls for papers by topic or date.

2009 and 2010 Magazine Editorial Calendars

Interested in writing for an IEEE Computer Society magazine? Browse the 2009 and 2010 editorial calendars to find out about upcoming themes and view calls for papers.

Calls for Papers

IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications magazine is accepting submissions for a special issue on Digital Human Faces: From Creation to Emotion (submissions due 23 November).

IT Professional magazine is accepting submissions for a special issue on IT Asset Management (submissions due 1 January 2010).