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When I was in college in the early 80's, I had access to a few of the ACM publications through the CS department library. They were useful back then, especially when I was working on my independent study project.
As a professional developer I've never seen the need for them. Their topics are of academic interest, but have relatively little practical application.
As Marc mentioned, the cost is prohibitive. I used to get ads from them wanting me to join - I could have spent over $1000 on publications a year.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Don't tell the Canadians. They would make membership compulsory.
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A decade after I started programming, I became aware of an organization called the Association for Computing Machinery[^] (ACM). I am a self taught programmer. So in 1975, because I knew that I was missing fundamentals of the programming paradigm, I decided to join. In 1975, the ACM was a vibrant, technically competent, and technically cutting edge organization. Some of you may know the ACM through its Special Interest Group on Graphics and Interactive Techniques[^] (SIGGRAPH) through their outstanding annual conferences. I was caught up in the excitement of participating in the field, nurtured by this spectacular organization.
In 1998, I resigned. Why?
In 1975, the ACM was technically relevant. It provided its members with a wide range of information, driven in part by academia, in part by practicing programmers. But slowly, the ACM changed. In part, the problem with the ACM was that it provided what it perceived its membership wanted - it followed the career path of its membership.
In those distant past days, a programmer was initially assigned maintenance responsibilities. These duties usually entail the repair and enhancement of existing software. As the programmer becomes more and more competent, the assignments become more and more challenging. About two years into a career, the programmer would begin to implement new software, usually as a coder. After about two or three more years, the programmer begins to look closely at the workplace, and the dichotomy between technician and manager becomes more apparent.
And now decision time is here. If the programmer wants a thick carpet, a nice suite of furniture, a corner office, and a secretary, the programmer realizes that management is the only way to go. So the programmer becomes a software manager.
Sadly, I believe that this is what happened to the ACM. Its membership gradually moved from the technical to the
managerial arenas. Responding to that shift in its membership focus, the ACM has now become another management organization.
And what I needed was a technically competent organization. To a great extent, Bob has provided that.
Gus Gustafson
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I think the only members of the national organization (aka paying members) we have at our college are the officers of the ACM club (since they have to be) XD Non-paying wise, we have over 50 active members, granted it's more of a social club than doing cool projects outside of competitions/events.
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Back in college, I joined for a short while, but even at student rates it was expensive. At that time, the journals were mostly research papers about algorithms. As a college student with tons of free time on my hands, I'd occasionally find an articles interesting enough to spend the time to get the in-depth understanding. However, as I moved out into the work world, I found such articles to be less and less relevant to my knowledge needs, and I didn't have the time to spend to understand the nuances of the articles anymore, so I let it lapse.
These days, the web serves me quite well. If I had to pick a journal though, it'd be Dr. Dobbs.
We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.
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When I was doing my Masters of Software Engineering, I read many ACM articles. They were technical and yet not over full of complex math. I looked into membership when I had finished my studies but, as has been mentioned before, it is expensive and I don't find them relevant for the software industry. If I had more free time I would probably look at joining just because I like keeping up to date with what's happening in the world of academia. They also have a lot of focus groups so there is always a wide range of topics to choose from.
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I was a member of both ACM and IEEE when I was in school. I found the publications interesting, especially the ones from the SIGs I joined. Additionally, Microsoft makes a lot of its stuff free to student members. All things considered, it was well worth the price. I haven't felt a need to maintain my memberships since I graduated, though.
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I have been a member since 1967. ACM is very diverse and there is some overlap with the IEEE Computer Society. As to it being another "management" organization, I think that commenter needs to do some homework. ACM has evolved and it has made Communications of the ACM over numerous times as the field has grown and fragmented. There are numerous publications and SIGs to meet every need. One does need to exercise some restraint is what publications and SIGs one adds to the basic membership. The Tutorial Series is still going and is a great way to learn about new fields and new concepts. Communications is diverse but no longer a detailed, lengthy research article journal - those now appear in either Journal Of ACM or a specialized journal. SIGs are a great way to keep up with a sub-discipline and meet fellow members who specialize to one degree or another in the same area of IT/CS/Computing...
Charles Wolfe
C. Wolfe Software Engineering
Sylmar CA USA
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I was a member of the ACM from 1980 to the early 90s, and belonged to SIGCHI and SIGART.
/ravi
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Lotrice has been scheduled for a big fight and we're in "The Lounge".
I assume we have a bookie here somewhere?
Or is this just another case of me being locked out of all the fun while all the boys in the "smoke filled room" place bets, smoke imported cigars and drink beer out of enema bags? If that is the case, then maybe DeathByChocolate and I will go get some ice cream.
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Youz needs't tawk w' Guido ovah in duh coynah. Yeah, ovah deeyah.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.-John Q. Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering.-Wernher von Braun
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.-Albert Einstein
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Ayyy... 
Software Zen: delete this;
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If you are going to get some ice cream count me in!! 
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The major advantage of build it yourself: You don't have to remove pre-installed viruses like Symantec, McAfee, Win8...
Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it. --- George Santayana (December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952)
Those who fail to clear history are doomed to explain it. --- OriginalGriff (February 24, 1959 – ∞)
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OriginalGriff wrote: The major advantage of build it yourself: You don't have to remove pre-installed viruses like Symantec, McAfee, Win8...
That and you can put in it exactly what you want. I've never bought a pre-built computer I've always built my own.
Have you ever just looked at someone and knew the wheel was turning but the hamster was dead?
Trying to understand the behavior of some people is like trying to smell the color 9.
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The one time I bought a pre-built system, I immediately wiped the drive and started fresh.
You'll never get very far if all you do is follow instructions.
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Smart move probably easier than removing all the junk.
Have you ever just looked at someone and knew the wheel was turning but the hamster was dead?
Trying to understand the behavior of some people is like trying to smell the color 9.
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I only bought a pre-built PC when my home XP bits died, great machine that one  Had to use emails/Net that weekend for stuff, it came with Windows 8 (  ) it seems so odd first thing was install a start button so I could use it. I'm wondering every machine I seen/used Windows 8 on has Norton, have MS bought it on the quiet?
OT Any tried VS6 on Windows 8 ???
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I only ever bought a pre-built system once...it was an AMD 286  ...compatibility wasn't very good back then...kinda put me off AMD for a long time.
Since then I built:
- 386 (no co-processor! 
- 486 DX2-66
- Pentium I
- Pentium III
- Pentium IV
- Core i7
- AMD 6-Core (don't remember what processor)...mostly run Linux in Hyper-V virtual machines on it.
- AMD 4-Core (for Media PC)
...still using the Core i7 as my main box...built it in 2009...might build a new one this fall, see how the money goes...still works good though...typing this on it
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I've got a quad 3GHz AMD on a BioStar mobo with 8GB of RAM so it's no sluff but I did a paint job recently and got 5 times what I asked to do the job so had a little mad money. Since my last build was in 2009 I thought this may be my last so why not?
I think this is my 4th or 5th build and I've helped with about 5-6 others so I feel comfortable with doing it.
My last build was a bear I ended up with a DOA mobo and 1 of my memory sticks was bad so it took a while to sort it out but it's been a good one.
Have you ever just looked at someone and knew the wheel was turning but the hamster was dead?
Trying to understand the behavior of some people is like trying to smell the color 9.
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Yeah, sometimes you just get a lemon...my Pentium IV's motherboard had an Intel Southbridge? chip that fused...cooked the electronics on one of my Western Digital hard disks...it was a 'Black' drive and they were good enough to replace it...my Dad had the same board and it went like 2 weeks later.
The thing always was kinda buggy...my Core i7 has been rock solid.
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I get all my stuff from NewEgg [^]for that reason they are great to work with. I returned the board no questions asked and had my new one in a few days.
Have you ever just looked at someone and knew the wheel was turning but the hamster was dead?
Trying to understand the behavior of some people is like trying to smell the color 9.
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I've been buying most of my stuff from them for the last few years as well...they are good to work with
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