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 BLOG@CACM
We May Be 100 Years Behind in Making Computing Education Accessible to All
So when should we be able to provide computing education to everyone in the US? Using physics and mathematics as examples, we may be 100 years behind.
From The Female Perspective of Computer Science
Cruise Ship Conference
I've never been on a cruise before. Who would have thought that my first opportunity to sail would be for an academic conference on videogames? Come on, admit it. You're jealous.
The conference is Foundations of Digital…
From Putting People First
[Book] Smart Cities: Big Data, Civic Hackers and the Quest for a New Utopia
![[Book] Smart Cities: Big Data, Civic Hackers and the Quest for a New Utopia](/system/assets/0000/1953/030209_Vanderbeeken_Mark_250.small_square.jpg?1476779420&1260281963)
Smart Cities: Big Data, Civic Hackers and the Quest for a New Utopia by Anthony M. Townsend W. W. Norton & Company October 2013. 400 pages [Amazon link] Abstract An unflinching look at the aspiring city-builders of our smart,…
From Putting People First
Why wearable tech is unwearable
Belindar Parmar, CEO of Lady Geek and founder of Little Miss Geek thinks that current wearable devices are “emblematic of a lack of empathy that pervades the technology industries.“ “Empathy is the ability to see the world from…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Linkedin Growth and Use
Been fascinated by the growth of serious professional networks. They continue to grow. Even though my perceptions are that they are getting too complicated for incidental use and can get in the way of work. In discussions…
From Schneier on Security
NSA Collects Hundreds of Millions of Text Messages Daily
No surprise here. Although we some new codenames:
From The Eponymous Pickle
Dangers fom the Internet of Things
The Internet of Things will provide new sources of data from a increasing number of devices. The Smart Home will be a particular source of connectivity for the consumer. But will this same connectivity open us to new security…
From My Biased Coin
Passing of the Professor
Sadly, "The Professor", Russell Johnson, has passed away. I enjoyed Gilligan's Island as a kid. I can't help but think that his portrayal deeply affected people's perception of scientists, subconsciously or consciously, for…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Reverse Bell Curve In Programming Projects
I have some 60+ students working on end of semester projects these days. I have one section of Honors Programming and two sections of Explorations in Computer Science. And let me tell you I am learning a lot! I’m pretty sureMy…
From ACM-W supporting, celebrating and advocating for Women in Computing
Testing
This is a test
From Schneier on Security
SIERRAMONTANA: NSA Exploit of the Day
Today's implant from the NSA's Tailored Access Operations (TAO) group implant catalog:
SIERRAMONTANA (TS//SI//REL) SIERRAMONTANA provides persistence for DNT implants. The DNT implant will survive an upgrade or replacement …From Schneier on Security
Today I Briefed Congress on the NSA
This morning I spent an hour in a closed room with six Members of Congress: Rep. Logfren, Rep. Sensenbrenner, Rep. Scott, Rep. Goodlate, Rep Thompson, and Rep. Amash. No staffers, no public: just them. Lofgren asked me to brief…
From Schneier on Security
Edward Elgar's Ciphers
Elgar's cryptography puzzles from the late 1890s.
From The Eponymous Pickle
CW Guide to R Resources
In ComputerWorld: What looks to be a very good set of documents and links for using the data analytics language R. Continuing to establish itself as the language of analytics research and development. For both the beginner…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Augmented Reality Museum Tour
From Metaio. Here using the example of a museum tour. An excellent example of the use of augmented reality. Combining physical and artificial spaces to provide real time information. We all do it today, using our smart phones…
From The Eponymous Pickle
An Electronic Nose to Detect State of Health
Looking at the Electronic nose again. We were primarily interested in detecting engaging aromas in coffee. Now In Knowledge @ Wharton: " ... Samuel M. Khamis, the CEO of a new tech start-up, is building a chip that can be embedded…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Essentials of Business Analytics
Continue to make my way through this new text. Which seeks to position the three kinds of analytics: Descriptive, Predictive and Prescriptive. As I have preached many times in writing and talks. It always makes sense to proceed…
From Computational Complexity
Favorite Theorems: Introduction
I was invited to give a talk at the FST&TCS conference held in December 1994 in Madras (now Chennai). As I searched for a topic, I realized I was just finishing up my first decade as a computational complexity theorist so I decided…
From Schneier on Security
Cell Phone Tracking by Non-State Actors
This is interesting:
Adding credence to the theory that Brooklyn landlord Menachem Stark was kidnapped and murdered by professionals, a law enforcement source tells the Post that the NYPD found a cell phone attached to the bottom…From Gödel's Lost Letter and P=NP
Bounds On Binomial Coefficents
A simple but useful bound on binomial coefficients Andreas von Ettingshausen was a German mathematician and physicist who lived in the early part of the 19 century. He studied philosophy and jurisprudence, but later taught and…
From Schneier on Security
SCHOOLMONTANA: NSA Exploit of the Day
Today's implant from the NSA's Tailored Access Operations (TAO) group implant catalog:
SCHOOLMONTANA (TS//SI//REL) SCHOOLMONTANA provides persistence for DNT implants. The DNT implant will survive an upgrade or replacement …From The Eponymous Pickle
Behavioral Research in System 1 vs System 2
If you have been following some recent advances in thinking about cognition: " ... Charles Young examines what we can learn about measuring ad effectiveness by applying Daniel Kahneman’s System 1 and System 2 theory of cognition…
From The Eponymous Pickle
January/February Analytics Magazine
The latest issue of the always useful Analytics Magazine is now available. Cover articles include analytics careers and consulting. Good spread of detail and strategic topics. " ... The January/February issue of Analytics is…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Google Nests in the Smart Home
We actively experimented with smart home systems, solutions and configuration. Google's investment in the Nest thermostat indicates a big investment in a key part of the home environment. This article has more thoughts about…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Bias in Strategy Decisions
Bias, or what we often saw: 'confirmation bias' is a key danger in any kind of research or decision process. This is particularly important in less defined strategy decisions. In the HBR Blog. An obvious, but not always "…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Fate of the PC
Scoping the fate of the PC. They seem to be morphing into the tablet. What aspects of devices are true requirements?
From Putting People First
[Paper] Designing customer-centric branchless banking offerings
Designing Customer-Centric Branchless Banking Offerings Claudia McKay, Yanina Seltzer The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) 20 December 2013 pdf, iBook, Kindle Branchless banking services have taken on a significant…
From Schneier on Security
The Changing Cost of Surveillance
From Ashkan Soltani's blog post:
The Yale Law Journal Online (YLJO) just published an article that I co-authored with Kevin Bankston (first workshopped at the Privacy Law Scholars Conference last year) entitled "Tiny Constables…From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Nominations for the CSTA Board of Directors 2014 Election
Are you an active member of the Computer Science Teachers Association and looking to get more involved? The CSTA Board is a working board that develops policy for the CSTA. There are some great people on it but we are alwaysNominations…
From Computer Science Teachers Association
Run For the CSTA Board of Directors
Are you an educator or adminstrator with skills and drive? Have you considered putting those skills and drive to work for your CSTA? There are six vacancies on the CSTA Board of Directors and one of them may be just right …