Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
January 2014
From Writing
A thousand lives
The other day, I was going through some old files on my computer, and stumbled across a paper that blew my mind. It was a technical write up of an experiment with thermistors and Alexandrite Lasers and included discussions of…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Tricorder Scanner Meets the Paper Jam
A discussion with a nurse last week about health recording devices was interesting. Will the device of the future allow you to just wave it across the body to determine its state of health? The device we were using had onethere…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Deeper Learning
In Innovation Excellence: On the topic of deeper learning. References a video and a MOOC course to launch soon. worth a further look. Not the same thing as the machine learning concept called deep learning.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Using Agile with BI
Was introduced to Agile methods last year. I like the approach, but not convinced of its generality. Connecting it to BI methods is worth a look.
From Gödel's Lost Letter and P=NP
Making Learning Less Shattering
COLT deadline is Fri. Feb. 7 Columbia University source. Vladimir Vapnik is one of the founding visionaries of Computational Learning Theory. His papers in 1963 with his advisor Aleksandr Lerner and in 1964 with Aleksey Chervonenkis…
From Geeking with Greg
Shouldn't wearable computing let you be super human?
Wearable computing so far seems to be going after mimicking a tablet, but I wonder if the real success will be in augmented perception. Current smartwatches are clumsy. They require an impossible tradeoff between having enough…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Hershey and 3D Chocolate Printing
A good example of CPG delivery, here what we called late stage differentiation, a place where 3D printing can work. It can work even better when customers can watch the process. Manufacturing as performance art?Hershey, 3D Systems…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Kahn Academy on Renting vs Buying a Home
Received from the Kahn Academy. " ... The math of renting vs. buying a home. Challenging the notion that it is always better to buy. ... ". Nicely done example of how the Kahn Academy works by providing short snippets of knowledge…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Google Wonderlabs
I am always intrigued by innovation labs. Do they work? Certainly you do NOT need a place to innovate, it should be done anywhere, at all times. But a place does make it easier to combine and then test innovations in the right…
From Putting People First
New XD Magazine to be launched
XD is a quarterly print magazine, to be launched from Australia in April 2014, which showcases the work of experience design practitioners and researchers from a wide range of human service industries and fields. Each issue of…
From Putting People First
[Book] Junkyard Planet
Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade by Adam Minter Bloomsbury Publishing 2013, 304 pages [Amazon link - video] Abstract When you drop your Diet Coke can or yesterday’s newspaper in the recycling bin, where…
From Putting People First
Why the resurgence of user-centred design matters for marketers
Marc Landsberg, CEO of socialdeviant, believes that marketing departments will increasingly invest in social platforms that are committed to users’ needs and interests In his article, Landsberg considers three immutable human…
From The Eponymous Pickle
L'Oreal and Google Glass
In Engadget: Reminds me of work done a number of times with virtual makeover. And related work directing complex maintenance tasks. " ... The hair care giant (and purveyor of giant hair) just announced Matrix Class for Glass…
From Putting People First
[Book] Practical Ethnography
Practical Ethnography: A Guide to Doing Ethnography in the Private Sector By Sam Ladner Left Coast Press April 2014, 200 pages [Publisher link - Amazon link] > Download free sample: pdf – kindle Abstract – Ethnography is an increasingly…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Marvin Minsky Honored
And more about AI in the MIT News. Marvin Minsky, another inspiration for us in our AI days, has been honored for lifetime achievement. I believe that some of his seminal work is yet to be appreciated in leading to automated…
From Putting People First
Interview with Leisa Reichelt, Head of User Research at UK Government Digital Services
Tricia Wang (see also previous post) just published her interview with Leisa Reichelt, Head of User Research at UK Government Digital Services. Tricia introduced it with a kind reference to me (thank you!): “>We are excited to…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Google Hires more Artificial Intelligence
In Wired: More indication that Google is very interested in the topic. Hiring Geoff Hinton. He was a person we watched closely during our long exploration of the use of neural nets for learning. Was unaware of some of the…
From Putting People First
Tricia Wang: The Conceit of Oracles (talk notes)
Sociologist and ethnographer Tricia Wang has posted the notes of “The Conceit of Oracles: How we ended up in a world in which quantitative data is more valued than qualitative data,” her inspiring and much appreciated opening…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Revolutionizing 3D Printing
In CWorld: Can the use of 3D printing be generalized for many purposes? Will we ultimately insert 3D manufacturing options into supply chain designs for many kinds of products? Would be quite a triumph."Researchers aim to revolutionize…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Registration Now Open for the 2014 CSTA Annual Conference
If you are a K-12 computer science educator there is one must attend professional development conference during the year. That is the CSTA Annual Conference. Sure SIGCSE is great and if you teach at the college/university level…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Salman Kahn on Education
An interview in HBR with Salman Kahn, founder of the Kahn Academy. Just have started to dive in. " ... Salman Khan was working as a hedge fund analyst when he started using online tools to tutor his cousins in math. Nine…
From Schneier on Security
Friday Squid Blogging: Camouflage in Squid Eyes
Interesting research:
Cephalopods possess a sophisticated array of mechanisms to achieve camouflage in dynamic underwater environments. While active mechanisms such as chromatophore patterning and body posturing are well known…From The Eponymous Pickle
Online Grocery Emerging
Will 2014 be the Year that online grocery will Leap forward? Are Amazon Fresh and Pantry be our future? Is it scale able and cost efficient? Bloomberg Business Week takes a look.
From The Eponymous Pickle
High Stakes Decision Making
On decision making in the HBR: Is about risk and behavior. " ... The next time you are thinking through a big-stakes decision ask yourself: “What happens first thing Monday morning? What behaviors will have to change?” Big…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Smart Contact Lenses
And in Mashable: Why deal with glasses when you can build the information right onto the eye? " ... Google's new smart contact lens project that acts as a non-invasive glucose monitor could be a godsend to the millions of sufferers…
From Schneier on Security
PowerLocker uses Blowfish
There's a new piece of ransomware out there, PowerLocker (also called PrisonLocker), that uses Blowfish:
PowerLocker could prove an even more potent threat because it would be sold in underground forums as a DIY malware kitPowerLocker…From Schneier on Security
STUCCOMONTANA: NSA Exploit of the Day
Today's implant from the NSA's Tailored Access Operations (TAO) group implant catalog:
STUCCOMONTANA (TS//SI//REL) STUCCOMONTANA provides persistence for DNT implants. The DNT implant will survive an upgrade or replacement …From The Eponymous Pickle
Micro Windmills
I like the idea of small. Nanotechnology is a good example. How about using small models for gathering energy? Here proposed for charging smartphones. Not sure if this is practical, but it bears looking at as a broad model…
From Schneier on Security
NSA-O-Matic
Generate your own fake NSA programs.
From Computer Science Teachers Association
Learning Form a Former Student
Each year during CS Ed Week I invite alumni to return to my school to talk about their education and careers with the junior class. I open it up to any alumni who feels that Computer Science and computational thinking is a large…