Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
January 2013
From Schneier on Security
The Eavesdropping System in Your Computer
Dan Farmer has an interesting paper (long version here; short version here) discussing the Baseboard Management Controller on your computer's motherboard:
The BMC is an embedded computer found on most server motherboards made…From The Eponymous Pickle
Forecasting Rogue Clouds
What is a rogue cloud? " ... IT managers say "rogue cloud implementations" in which business managers sign up for services without getting IT approval is among their biggest challenges. This is according to a survey on avoiding…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
CCC Seeking New Council Members
THE COMPUTING COMMUNITY CONSORTIUM SEEKS NOMINATIONS FOR COUNCIL MEMBERS The CCC’s Nominating Committee invites nominations (including self-nominations) for members to serve on the CCC Council for the next three years. Please…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Irrelevant Ideas and Breakthroughs
Always an interest of mine in innovation. I pushed the idea for years in the enterprise. Usually with partial success. Here some thoughts from Wharton. What is the measure of irrelevance?
From The Eponymous Pickle
Apple Losing Shine
In E-Commerce Times. Although you can't tell it to the true fans, I am having more conversations about this recently. Not enough true innovation. Perception of real value is decreasing. Less direct conversation with its…
From Schneier on Security
Power and the Internet
All disruptive technologies upset traditional power balances, and the Internet is no exception. The standard story is that it empowers the powerless, but that's only half the story. The Internet empowers everyone. Powerful institutions…
From Computational Complexity
Who do you write papers for?
Mitch Daniels, the former governor of Indiana and new president of Purdue, wrote an inaugural letter where he discusses many of the challenges of higher education. His lists several common attacks on universities and one caught…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Watson the Shopping Assistant
A GigaOM piece just brought to my attention. The idea of using a cognitive system to solve problems was part of a direction we looked at in the late 80s during the hype for artificial intelligence and expert systems. OneThe…
From The Eponymous Pickle
CIO Strategies with CIO Eureka
A former colleague of mine at Procter & Gamble: José Ignacio Sordo Galarza, has started a company called CIO Eureka, which looks at enterprise CIO strategies. " ... Our ‘immediate results’ commitment brings a step change improvement…
From Computer Science Teachers Association
Student Teacher Time!
Spring is the season of student teachers. Do you remember when you went out and worked with an older, experienced teacher to see what the job was really like? You probably started out sitting in the back of the room like a new…
From Schneier on Security
"People, Process, and Technology"
Back in 1999 when I formed Counterpane Internet Security, Inc., I popularized the notion that security was a combination of people, process, and technology. Back then, it was an important notion; security back then was largely…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Canadian Computing Education Day + Scratch Day Canada
This came though on one of the mailing lists I am on. I know that some from Canada read this blog (or so the analytic report claims) so I thought I would also share it here. Hopefully a lot of secondary and post secondary schools…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Martha Pollack selected to be University of Michigan Provost
Martha Pollack, University of Michigan Professor of EECS and past Dean of their School of Information, has been selected as Michigan’s next Provost – another sign of the increasing influence of computer scientists in university…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Big Data and Healthcare Infographic
Big Data could revolutionize healthcare by replacing up to 80% of what doctors do while still maintaining over 91% accuracy. Please take a look at the infographic below to learn more.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Facebook and CPG
In Adage: How can Facebook work with the retailer and manufacturer in CPG? Useful numbers and thoughts. " ... CPG accounted for 12.5% of measured ad spending in 2011, as measured by Kantar Media. But while there are no publicly…
From Schneier on Security
Who Does Skype Let Spy?
Lately I've been thinking a lot about power and the Internet, and what I call the feudal model of IT security that is becoming more and more pervasive. Basically, between cloud services and locked-down end-user devices, we have…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Data Analytics Disruption in the Enterprise
Thoughtful piece in Greenplum. Once again I like the general idea, you look for patterns in data with an analytical search , then use an analytical method to use that pattern to predict or otherwise leverage the pattern to do…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Visual Guide to 3D Printers
Want to manufacture things to digital specifications at a distance? Build components in your cellar? As long as the components can be cut, formed or extruded from a relatively small number of parts. A visual display from Engadget…
From Putting People First
Q&A with the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation’s Gerry Greaney and Molly McMahon
Since its inception in 2008, the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation has become the poster child for internal innovation practices. The Center for Innovation focuses on engaging all of the stakeholders in the healthcare system,…
From Putting People First
Uncharted territory: Where digital maps are leading us
The way we use maps is evolving fast, and it will change a great deal more than how we navigate, argues Kat Austen, an opinion editor at New Scientist. “Digital maps offer to enhance and optimise the world, giving us an even…
From Computational Complexity
TCS online series- could this work?
Oded Regev, Anindya De and Thomas Vidick we are about to start an online TCS seminar series. See here for details, though I have the first few paragraphs below. Its an interesting idea- we can't all get to conferences so this…
From Putting People First
Successful public service design must focus on human behaviour
David Halpern, director of the Behavioural Insight Team at the UK Cabinet Office (widely known as the “nudge unit”), discusses research on how subtle changes in the way public services communicate with citizens can yield significant…
From The Female Perspective of Computer Science
A Few Good Game Podcasts
Now that I finally have a vehicle that can play files on a USB key, I've been able to listen to podcasts to make the most of my commuting time. I've been focusing on game content for the most part. Some shows have been better…
From Putting People First
New MA at UC London combining anthropology, materials and design
“The material world is a world of social potential. Social scientists should be better equipped to engage with materials and objects through ethnographic, critical, analytical, presentational and collaborative skills. Designers…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Starbucks Evolving Mobile Strategy
Starbucks is thinking of using its ground-breaking mobile card for payment in CPG retail. This extent of this is unclear but interesting. " ... Starbucks takes 20% of all card payments via mobile, and the brand is exploring ways…
From Schneier on Security
Backdoors Built in to Barracuda Networks Equipment
Don't we know enough not to do this anymore?
From The Eponymous Pickle
Slides from UC Visualization Day
The slides from two of the presentations from last weeks UC Data Visualization Day have now been posted. Both very well done. If you would like my impressions about the application of any of this, ask me:Stephen Few: "DataJeffrey…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Being Postdigital
A new idea to me, In a newly distruptuve era of analytics are we ready to be 'postdigital'? I think we are a distance from that, singularity or not. But an interesting exercise in preparation.
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Four Computer Scientists Win Academy Award
Four computer scientists win, the film industry’s highest honor, an Academy Award, for their technical achievement in special effects. The researchers developed a software algorithm called Wavelet Turbulence that generates turbulence…
From Schneier on Security
Complexity and Security
I have written about complexity and security for over a decade now (for example, this from 1999). Here's the results of a survey that confirms this:
Results showed that more than half of the survey respondents from mid-sized…