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 Wild WebMink
Ubuntu Phone – Nick Of Time?
I discussed Ubuntu Phone with Canonical Mobile Product Manager Richard Collins (who you’ll recall demoed Ubuntu for Android for me). Here’s the video: For my full discussion of the news and its prospects, see my InfoWorld column…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Leading at Amazon
Leading for the long term at Amazon. An HBR interview with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Jaron Lanier vs the Web
We talked to Jaron Lanier a number of times as we looked at how to visualize and virtualize corporate process. I have followed his work for years. Most interesting of late his critical views of the Internet. More in The…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Latest on Google Glass
In Technology Review: I have mentioned a number of times in this space that our enterprise experimented with this idea long before it was technically feasible. Here now evolving wearable displays from Google. This matched…
From My Biased Coin
Answers for Assignments?
One of the smarter students I've known at Harvard, who has been a Teaching Assistant for me the last two years (and who I'm hoping will be back again this year), recently made the following argument to me, encouraging me to…
From Computer Science Teachers Association
Share Your PD Experiences
As every computer science teacher knows, professional development is critical to keeping our knowledge up to date, our teaching skills sharp, and reinforcing our sense of community and common purposes; not to mention some modicum…
From Putting People First
Hertz president on the future of mobility
A day after the announcement that the Avis Budget Group has agreed to acquire Zipcar, the world’s leading car sharing network, for approximately $500 million, Michel Taride, president of Hertz International and executive vice…
From Putting People First
Research on the impact of tablets in secondary schools
Two months ago I wrote about what was then one of the first qualitative studies on the impact of tablets in schools: “Carphone Warehouse (corporate site), a UK mobile phone retailer, recently commissioned the Family Kids and…
From Schneier on Security
Classifying a Shape
This is a great essay:
Spheres are special shapes for nuclear weapons designers. Most nuclear weapons have, somewhere in them, that spheres-within-spheres arrangement of the implosion nuclear weapon design. You don’t have to…From Daniel Lemire's Blog
Are CAPTCHAs a good idea?
A CAPTCHA is a small test used to distinguish human users from robots. They are popular as an anti-spam tool. Until a few months ago, I had an annoying CAPTCHA on this blog. I have since removed it and I will not go back. What…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Data Scientists as Future CEOs
Are data scientist the model for future CEOs? Data science certainly needs the ability to search for new sources of income and efficiently delivering it. New data and contexts have to be continually reviewed. But that…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Conquering Email
Something I have tried for to do this for years. Its especially tough when you deal with a number of disparate client systems. Have been unable to completely tame it for efficiency and time value. But here are some thoughts…
From Computational Complexity
Erdős and Turing
Only nine months separate the births of two very influential mathematicians, Paul Erdős and Alan Turing, whose centenaries we celebrate this year and last. That's where the similarities end. Turing used philosophical ideas to…
From Schneier on Security
Apollo Robbins, Pickpocket
Fascianting story:
"Come on," Jillette said. "Steal something from me." Again, Robbins begged off, but he offered to do a trick instead. He instructed Jillette to place a ring that he was wearing on a piece of paper and trace…From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Avoid Puzzles in Code
I keep seeing a lot of order of operations “puzzles” in my Facebook stream. The most recent one was 6/2*(1+2) = ? or A lot of people got it wrong. As you might expect the two answers I saw most were 1 and 9. Nine being the correct…
From Daniel Lemire's Blog
Reflecting on 2012
The new year (2013) is here. So, it is time to reflect on what I have done and seen in 2012. As a researcher, one of the most interesting innovation in 2012 has been the emergence of the Google Scholar profiles. They are pages…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Thirty Years With the Modern Day Internet
Vint Cerf, Internet Pioneer, marks the emergence of the modern day Internet, only thirty years ago today. I was a user of its predecssor before that. We had no idea where all of this would go. In the Google Blog.
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
We Need More Operating Systems
Pure opinion post here. I have never been a big fan of the operating system mono culture. In my first job out of college I worked for a company that developed applications for three different operating systems – OS/8, RSTS/Ecomparison…