Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
January 2010
From The Eponymous Pickle
Mobile Commerce Speed
Evan Schuman surveys the speed of mobile commerce in StoreFrontBackTalk. Are our decisions strongly influenced by mobile site speed?
From Schneier on Security
Post-Underwear-Bomber Airport Security
In the headlong rush to "fix" security after the Underwear Bomber's unsuccessful Christmas Day attack, there's far too little discussion about what worked and what didn't, and what will and will not make us safer in the future…
From The Eponymous Pickle
DM Broadcast Today
Of Interest: ' ... We're starting the year off strategically at DM Radio, with a show focused on the many values of Data Modeling. Often associated with improving the performance of operational and analytical systems, data modeling…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Automated Negotiating Agents
Can Automated Agents Proficiently Negotiate With Humans? ... Exciting research in the design of automated negotiators is making great progress. From CACM.While the ability to negotiate successfully is critical for any social…
From Computational Complexity
DO NOT do this when choosing books for your class
When I took my first graduate course in complexity theory the professor had FOUR books on the REQUIRED FOR THE COURSE list. I bought all four. He said that We may not use these books much but they will be good to have on your…
From The Female Perspective of Computer Science
Sorting Bottles and Boxes with Processing
(Click the link at the bottom to see the game.)One of my classes this term (a game design grad course) requires the use of Processing:
Processing is an open source programming language and environment for people who want to …From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Starter Resources for Robotics Learning
iRobot is probably the best known robotics company in the US. Their Roomba vacuuming robots and other household robots are widely used all over the place including my house. Their military robots are saving lives on the battlefields…
From Wild WebMink
links for 2010-01-07
This is a useful part of the discussion, apart from the title. Since it describes a situation which has existed for…
From Schneier on Security
Gift Cards and Employee Retail Theft
Retail theft by employees has always been a problem, but gift cards make it easier:
At the Saks flagship store in Manhattan, a 23-year-old sales clerk was caught recently ringing up $130,000 in false merchandise returns and[…From Putting People First
Kenya: Taking money out of banks
Since cellphones became widely used in Kenya five years ago, they’ve become the bank card du jour. The Christian Science Monitor reports. “[In Kenya] with a mobile phone, one can pay electricity and water bills, pay for goods…
From Putting People First
In praise of design-hacking
The Design & Society group within the UK’s Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) has published a pamphlet by Scott Burnham, entitled “Finding the truth in systems: in praise of design-hacking”…
From Putting People First
How the mobile Internet could change everything
The ubiquity of mobile phones and the growth of the internet will converge in the next decade. Luke Allnutt of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty thinks this is good news for the developing world. “While the defining technological…
From Putting People First
Will the new mobile era change the world for the better? MIT says
At MIT teams of the Media Lab’s Next Billion Network – our next generation of tech movers and shakers – are exploring new ways to harness the increasingly ubiquitous cellphone to help people in developing nations to raise their…
From Putting People First
Design for relevance
Harald Lamberts, Head of User Experience for Internet Services & Handsets at the Vodafone Group, wrote a thoughtful viewpoint article on DMI on the issue of relevance in design, in an era of technology overkill. “With new social…
From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
Bono Still Hasn
I don't get to blog much about technology policy issues anymore, but every once in a while something juicy comes along that is worth spending a few minutes responding to. In Sunday's New York Times Bono (U2's lead singer) wrote…
From Schneier on Security
Nate Silver on the Risks of Airplane Terrorism
Over at fivethirtyeight.com, Nate Silver crunches the numbers and concludes that, at least as far as terrorism is concerned, air travel is safer than it's ever been:
In the 2000s, a total of 469 passengers (including crew and…From Putting People First
The Trill Centre is a project by Intel, Ireland’s Industrial Development Agency (IDA), and academic partners including Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin and the National University of Ireland Galway, focused on…
From Schneier on Security
Another Contest: Fixing Airport Security
Slate is hosting an airport security suggestions contest: ideas "for making airport security more effective, more efficient, or more pleasant." Deadline is midday Friday.
I had already submitted a suggestion before I was asked…From Schneier on Security
David Brooks on Resilience in the Face of Security Imperfection
David Brooks makes some very good points in this New York Times op ed from last week:
All this money and technology seems to have reduced the risk of future attack. But, of course, the system is bound to fail sometimes. Reality…From The Eponymous Pickle
Eyetracking Web Useability: Review
A good review of the book, which is on my list, read the full, useful review: ' ... Eyetracking Web Usability is the outcome of the largest eyetracking study ever undertaken: 1.5 million fixations from 300 participants. Nielsen…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Legality of Remote Temperature Sensing
A look, from a perspective of legality, about using remote sensing. Some interesting technology mentioned and some of the privacy issues involved.
From Schneier on Security
TSA Logo Contest
Over at "Ask the Pilot," Patrick Smith has a great idea:
Calling all artists: One thing TSA needs, I think, is a better logo and a snappy motto. Perhaps there's a graphic designer out there who can help with a new rendition …From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Intel Schools of Distinction 2010
An announcement arrived in my inbox about applications being open for this year’s Intel Schools of Distinction awards. Microsoft is one of the sponsors BTW. This is a good opportunity to get cash and products for your school …
From Schneier on Security
Breaching the Secure Area in Airports
An unidentified man breached airport security at Newark Airport on Sunday, walking into the secured area through the exit, prompting an evacuation of a terminal and flight delays that continued into the next day. This problem…
From My Biased Coin
New Paper: Information Asymmetries in Pay-Per-Bid Auctions
I'm happy to announce a new paper that answers, among other questions, how I spent a huge chunk of my winter holiday break. The paper is by me, John Byers, and the graduate student we're co-advising, Giorgos Zervas, and is entitled…
From The Eponymous Pickle
New 3D Displays
Increasing examples of large 3D displays that don't need glasses. The display revolution continues.
From The Eponymous Pickle
TeleHealth in 2010
From Computerworld: Will IT change how doctors treat you in 2010?. Telehealth tech could allow patients to be monitored wirelessly in real time ...
From Schneier on Security
Me on Airport Security Profiling
Yesterday I participated in a "Room for Debate" discussion on airport security profiling. Nothing I haven't said before.
From Schneier on Security
Matt Blaze on the New "Unpredictable" TSA Screening Measures
"Unpredictable" security as applied to air passenger screening means that sometimes (perhaps most of the time), certain checks that might detect terrorist activity are not applied to some or all passengers on any…
From Computational Complexity
Axioms: What should we believe?
Some misc thoughts on set theory inspired by yesterdays comments and other things. Geometry: Use Euclidean Geometry when appropriate, for example if you are designing a bridge, use Riemannian geometry when looking at space…