Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
January 2011
From Daniel Lemire's Blog
Innovating without Permission
Is open source software is better than closed-source software? Is wikipedia better than Britannica? Is NoSQL better than Oracle and SQL Server? Are blogs better than corporate news services? Do patents favor innovation? Do long…
From Wild WebMink
OpenIDM Design Summit Announced
One of the key control points in enterprise software is the provisioning or IDM software. It’s the point all the threads of directory, authentication, authorisation and provisioning come together and it’s the part that the proprietary…
From Computer Science Teachers Association
Happy New Year! Now What About the Summer?
Now is the time for students (and teachers) to start thinking about their summer. I know the new year just began, but it's never to early to plan.
For the last several years I've have the tremendous opportunity to spend a month…From The Eponymous Pickle
Smartphone as a Dangerous Possession
In CNN Money, Your Smartphone as your most dangerous posssesson. Overplayed, yes, but each of the cautions about the security of your data and devices is worth considering.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Looking at Business Intelligence
I continue to enjoy Doug Lautzenheiser's blog: Business Intelligence Software, where he provides his insightful " ... personal opinions on the Business Intelligence industry, product usage, and brands such as IBM Cognos, SAP…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Effectiveness of Distributed Teams
This is something we wrestled with a number of times. Experience did seem to show that a team should be co located to achieve the best effectiveness. Though the team can often not be co located with all colleagues, customers…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Literary Allusion and Google
In Roughtype, a good piece on literary allusion and the effect of things like Google Search on communicating. We live in a world where fewer and fewer of the classics are read. Yet that is OK because we we can search for any…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Cellular Automata
New book on a favorite topic, Cellular Automata, by Thomas M. Li The paradigm was used in the enterprise. Too expensive to assure that I will acquire this, but if the publisher wants a review, send a copy along. This edited…
From Wild WebMink
links for 2011-01-15
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From The Eponymous Pickle
Private Data Analysis
In the CACM: A Firm Foundation for Private Data Analysis. What does it mean to preserve privacy? There is lots to do here.
From Schneier on Security
Friday Squid Blogging: Deep-Sea Squid Video
"Anthology of Deep-Sea Squids," from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
From The Female Perspective of Computer Science
Sneaking Computer Science Into Physics
I have been trying to convince local participants in the Let's Talk Science program that I can connect almost any of their course material to computer science. I would like more teachers to request computer science activities…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Sell to Your Customer's Buying Process
Another book added to the stack: Slow Down, Sell Faster!: Understand Your Customer's Buying Process and Maximize Your Sales, by Kevin Davis. We always tried to do this, and see the recent post on selling to the customer's…
From Schneier on Security
Me on Airport Security
Last week, I spoke at an airport security conference hosted by EPIC: The Stripping of Freedom: A Careful Scan of TSA Security Procedures. Here's the video of my half-hour talk.
From Schneier on Security
Loaded Gun Slips Past TSA
I'm not really worried about mistakes like this. Sure, a gun slips through occasionally, and a knife slips through even more often. (I'm sure the TSA doesn't catch 100% of all bombs in tests, either.) But these items are caught…
From BLOG@CACM
Big Data, Big Problems
U.S. government agencies are spending boatloads of money on pushing the envelope of massive compute servers, but appear to be ignoring the fact that many research groups have serious data-management problems.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Why of Buy, How of Buy
IMedia Connections interviews Donna Sturgess of Buyology Inc. about what her company does to understand the non conscious interactions of consumer to media and marketing. Very nicely put discussion of the issues involved. This…
From Computer Science Teachers Association
What's Our "Brand"? Do We Need a New Promotional Plan?
Almost every day I receive electronic newsletters with articles discussing STEM and robotics competitions, but I rarely see a mention of Computer Science. So, my business administration mentality has caused me to wonder, "Do…
From Schneier on Security
Surviving a Terrorist's Nuclear Attack
Interesting reading, mostly for the probable effects of a terrorist-sized nuclear bomb.
A terrorist bomb is likely to be relatively small -- possibly only a fraction of the Hiroshima bomb's explosive power -- and likely exploded…From Wild WebMink
? Indemnity
A Walled Wide Web for Nervous Autocrats I have been making the core point that this good WSJ article makes in my discussions with governments all over the world for the last six years, and it always makes an impression. It also…
From Putting People First
Sherry Turkle, has been an ethnographer of our technological world for three decades, hosted all the while at one of its epicenters: MIT. A professor of the social studies of science and technology there, she also heads up its…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Global Economy in 2011
A good piece in Knowledge at Wharton about key aspects and directions of of the global economy in countries such as India and China. Particularly useful for those that do not follow those countries closely.
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Watson Outpaces Jeopardy Wizards in Sneak Preview
“What is Jericho?” Those were the first words from “Watson,” the IBM supercomputer system that’s taking on Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter — the two winningest players in “Jeopardy!” history — this week. Minutes later, with three…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Social Media Field Guide
I see that former colleague Krista Neher's new book: The Social Media Field Guide, is now out. Much more here and ordering information. Also see her excellent Boot Camp Digital: Social Media Tips and tricks blog.
From Schneier on Security
Stealing SIM Cards from Traffic Lights
Johannesburg installed hundreds of networked traffic lights on its streets. The lights use a cellular modem and a SIM card to communicate.
Those lights introduced a security risk I'll bet no one gave a moment's thought to:what…From Computational Complexity
Are you a Ringer? A Reverse Ringer?
A ringer is an impostor, especially one whose pretense is intended to gain an advantage in a competition. This definition is from Wikipedia and agrees with what I thought the term meant. (Wiktionary has a similar definition. Spellcheck…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Locating and Engaging the In-Store Shopper
Newly alerted to ZuluTime, they have an online video that is worth looking at, more exploration and comments to follow: " ... Locate and Engage the In-Store Shopper ZuluTime
From The Eponymous Pickle
New Tools for Understanding the Brain
In Science Daily via Stan Dyck: " ... UCLA neuroscientists have now collaborated with physicists to develop a non-invasive, ultra-high-speed microscope that can record in real time the firing of thousands of individual neurons…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Smart Fabrics are Now Washable
Baseline article on the washability of smart fabrics. This had always been a barrier for the broader us of this technology.
From Schneier on Security
The Security Threat of Forged Law-Enforcement Credentials
Here's a U.S. Army threat assessment of forged law-enforcement credentials.
The authors bought a bunch of fake badges:
Between November 2009 and March 2010, undercover investigators were able to purchase nearly perfect counterfeit…