Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
January 2024
From Schneier on Security
Canadian Citizen Gets Phone Back from Police
After 175 million failed password guesses, a judge rules that the Canadian police must return a suspect’s phone.
[Judge] Carter said the investigation can continue without the phones, and he noted that Ottawa police have made…From Putting People First
[Book] The Experimentation Field Book
![[Book] The Experimentation Field Book](/system/assets/0000/1953/030209_Vanderbeeken_Mark_250.small_square.jpg?1476779420&1260281963)
This book is a hands-on manual for crafting and conducting useful experiments in real-life settings. It guides readers from any background or discipline through the fundamentals of identifying testable ideas, selecting an evidence…
From insideHPC
Quantum: Honeywell Closes $300M Round for Quantinuum
Some still insist quantum computing is a false dream and a fool’s errand, but quantum continues to make incursions into broader validation and wider backing. Quantum computing company Quantinuum, the result of a November 2021…
From insideHPC
D-Wave Names Former Secretary of Homeland Security to Board of Directors
Jan. 17, 2024 — D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS), a maker of quantum computing systems, software, and services, today announced the addition of Kirstjen Nielsen, former U.S. Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security from…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Reminder: CCC Call for Council Member Nominations
Thank you to everyone who has nominated a colleague or self-nominated themselves for the opportunity to be a CCC Council member for the three-year term beginning July 1, 2024 and concluding June 30, 2027. Read more here. As a…
From Computational Complexity
Offer Timing
In most academic fields, departments, either formally or informally, have their interviews and make their junior faculty offers at about the same time. Faculty candidates know their options and decisions get made quickly.
Not…From Schneier on Security
Code Written with AI Assistants Is Less Secure
Interesting research: “Do Users Write More Insecure Code with AI Assistants?“:
Abstract: We conduct the first large-scale user study examining how users interact with an AI Code assistant to solve a variety of security related…From insideHPC
Synopsys to Acquire Ansys
SUNNYVALE, CA and PITTSBURGH, PA, January 16, 2024 – Synopsys (NASDAQ: SNPS) and Ansys (NASDAQ: ANSS) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Synopsys will acquire Ansys. Under the terms…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Call for Submissions: NSF Workshop on Sustainable Computing for Sustainability
Below is a call for submissions to the NSF Workshop on Sustainable Computing for Sustainability, which has been taken directly from the NSF-WSCS 2024 website. The NSF Workshop on Sustainable Computing for Sustainability will…
From insideHPC
Q-CTRL and US Geological Survey in Quantum Partnership
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 16, 2024 — Quantum software company Q-CTRL announced it has entered a partnership with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to explore potential quantum computing and sensing applications for geological…
From insideHPC
Red Hat Developer Hub Now Available
RALEIGH, N.C. – JAN. 16, 2024 – Red Hat today announced the general availability of Red Hat Developer Hub, an internal developer platform (IDP) based on Backstage, an open source Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) project…
From The Noisy Channel
Retroactive Loss of Privacy
We live in an age where we increasingly feel a loss of privacy. Much of our communication, media consumption, and shopping is mediated through platforms that track us and then mine or resell our data.
But at least we all know …From insideHPC
QuEra and Pawsey Partner on Quantum and HPC
January 16, 2023, Boston and Perth, Australia — Neutral-atom quantum computing company QuEra Computing and Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre today announced a quantum technology partnership. Teams from QuEra and Pawsey are…
From Schneier on Security
The Story of the Mirai Botnet
Over at Wired, Andy Greenberg has an excellent story about the creators of the 2016 Mirai botnet.
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Ethics – What would you do? Part 2: answers
Answers to our ethical dilemma quiz from yesterday.
From ACM-W supporting, celebrating and advocating for Women in Computing
Call for Nominations: ACM-W Rising Star Award 2024
We are delighted to announce the opening of nominations for the ACM-W Rising Star Award 2024! This prestigious award honors the outstanding contributions of women and non-binary individuals in computing who have made significant…
From The Noisy Channel
Random Thoughts on Interestingness
As a computer scientist and an information scientist, I have always been fascinated by fundamental questions of computational complexity and compressibility. These days, I am less concerned with big questions like Turing completeness…
From Schneier on Security
Voice Cloning with Very Short Samples
New research demonstrates voice cloning, in multiple languages, using samples ranging from one to twelve seconds.
Research paper.
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Ethics – What would you do?
An ethical dilemma quiz with answers coming tomorrow.
From Computational Complexity
A nice dice problem-Part 2
In my last post (see here) I posed a dice problem, promising to give the answer in the next blog which is this blog. Here is the problem from my last blog:
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In this blog I pose…From Schneier on Security
Upcoming Speaking Engagements
This is a current list of where and when I am scheduled to speak:
- I’m speaking at the International PolCampaigns Expo (IPE24) in Cape Town, South Africa, January 25-26, 2024.
The list is maintained on this page.
From Gödel's Lost Letter and P=NP
ICTS 2024 — Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science
In case the Berkeley Simons Institute (1/30–2/2) feels warmer than where you are now Venkatesan Guruswami (University of California, Berkeley) is the chair of the ITCS 2024 conference. See here for details. Some of the program…
From Daniel Lemire's Blog
Estimating your memory bandwidth
One of the limitations of a compute is the memory bandwidth. For the scope of this article, I define “memory bandwidth” as the maximal number of bytes you can bring from memory to the CPU per unit of time. E.g., if your system…
From Schneier on Security
Friday Squid Blogging: Giant Squid from Newfoundland in the 1800s
Interesting article, with photographs.
As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.
Read my blog posting guidelines here.
From insideHPC
Google Cloud Waves Exit Fees
Starting January 11, Google Cloud customers who wish to stop using Google Cloud and migrate their data to another cloud provider and/or on premises, can take advantage of free network data transfer to migrate their data out of…
From Geeking with Greg
My book, Algorithms and Misinformation
Misinformation and disinformation are the biggest problems on the internet.
To solve a problem, you need to understand the problem. In Algorithms and Misinformation: Why Wisdom of the Crowds Failed the Internet and How to Fix…From insideHPC
Google in $1.67B AI Chip Patent Infringement Trial
Designing an AI specialty chip that gains traction is a sure way to riches. That’s why so much money – $1.67 billion – is at stake in a patent infringement lawsuit brought against Google. Reuters reported this week on a federal…
From insideHPC
Open Compute Project: Inaugural Advisory Board Applications Deadline Feb. 7
Jan. 12, 2024 — The Open Compute Project announced the formation of its inaugural advisory board. “In an effort to foster diversity and inclusivity in other market segments and geographies of the Community, OCP is creating an…
From Schneier on Security
On IoT Devices and Software Liability
New law journal article:
Smart Device Manufacturer Liability and Redress for Third-Party Cyberattack Victims
Abstract: Smart devices are used to facilitate cyberattacks against both their users and third parties. While users…From ACM-W supporting, celebrating and advocating for Women in Computing
Starting an ACM-W Professional Chapter
By Bettina Bair On November 6, 2023, the Central Ohio ACM-W Professional Chapter was officially chartered by ACM’s Chief Operating Officer, becoming the third active ACM-W Professional Chapter in the United States. There are…