Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
October 2013
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Robotics Roadmap is now on the Road!
The National Robotics Initiative (NRI) Principal Investigator meeting showcased an amazing collection of new ideas and technologies developed by over 200 of the top researchers in the field Oct. 1-2 in Washington. The NRI program…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Emotions of Shopper Behavior
It has been a known for a long time that emotions are powerful drivers of shopping behavior. Good piece. Supermarket News writes: " ... Shopper Intelligence founder Christopher Brace says that because shoppers are swayed "…
From The Eponymous Pickle
A Game About Type
An intriguing idea. A game that is about type fonts. Typography. For a small charge, have not tried it yet. " ... "Type:Rider" Is The Ultimate Video Game about Typography. Available now for IOS and Android, Type:Rider --…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Kellogg and Mobile Loyalty
A straightforward approach. A many product CPG assortment to address. But will this work or contribute to the yet another loyalty systems effect?" ... Kellogg's is building on its loyalty program with a mobile effort that allows…
From Schneier on Security
Build Your Own Enigma
Neat.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Reinvent the to Do List
In the HBR Blog: I have now used at least a dozen methods of simplifying reminding myself and others what we need to get done. Bottom line is that simple works best, but it often does not work at all. Technology makes sense…
From Schneier on Security
Breaking Taiwan's Digital ID
There's a serious random-number generation flaw in the cryptographic systems used to protect the Taiwanese digital ID. Article and paper.
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Chemistry, Computer Science and the Nobel Prize
There is no Nobel Prize in Computer Science. We do have the Turing Award which is as close as we get. It’s not as well known as the Nobel Prize though so when scientists get recognized by the Nobel Committee for work that isThree…
From The Female Perspective of Computer Science
Why are we still geeks? Correcting media images of Computer Science / GHC13
Maria Klawe (Harvey Mudd College, far left), Brenda Laurel (Purple Moon, far right), and Kim Surkan (MIT) gave an insightful panel about the images of geeks in the media. In some ways, I didn't learn much new, but I liked hearing…
From Computational Complexity
Shut Down
The NSF core proposal in theoretical computer science, or Algorithmic Foundations as the NSF calls it hs three deadlines this academic year:
From Schneier on Security
A New Postal Privacy Product
The idea is basically to use indirection to hide physical addresses. You would get a random number to give to your correspondents, and the post office would use that number to determine your real address. No security against…
From The Eponymous Pickle
What Does Watching TV Mean Today?
In the WSJ: " ... In Digital Era, What Does 'Watching TV' Even Mean? ... Study Suggests More Time Spent on Smartphones, Computers, Tablets Than Television. .. ". With the usual registration warnings.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Center for Business Analytics Short Courses
The Center for Business Analytics in the Carl H. Lindner College of Business at the University of Cincinnati is introducing a set of short courses on specialized business analytics topics. These courses are open to the public…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
2013 Nobel Prize for Chemistry Awarded for Computer Modeling of Chemical Processes
Today (October 9, 2013), The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize for Chemistry to Martin Karplus of Harvard University and the Universite de Strasbourg, Michael Levitt of the Stanford University of…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Neuromarketing Cautions
Comments and cautions from the corporate counsel blog Lexology on criticisms of Neuromarketing technologies.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Small Data Mashups
In TechCrunch: Have played with this kind of visual, non programming data mashup before. It seems convenient, but only for the simplest requirements. With caution.
From Schneier on Security
The NSA's New Risk Analysis
As I recently reported in the Guardian, the NSA has secret servers on the Internet that hack into other computers, codename FOXACID. These servers provide an excellent demonstration of how the NSA approaches risk management, …
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Computer Programming Is Women’s Work
When two related posts come though my screen at about the same time it always screams for me to write a blog post. That’s the case today as I saw Why schoolgirls are not interested in studying IT (thanks to a link from Mark Guzdial…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Wal-Mart CMO on Measuring Innovation
In Adage: A video. " How Walmart Knows When Innovation Works ... Chief marketing officers should also be chief innovation officers, Walmart Chief Marketing Officer Stephen Quinn said this weekend at the Association of National…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Urban World App Examined
Came upon the visually impressive Urban World App by McKinsey. Free and readily downloadable for IOS or Android. The front end interface is a globe you can move around and zoom into. You can access a large economic database…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Mathematical Shape of Things to Come
New challenges on how to deal with bigger, more complex, dynamic and disorganized data. Some great nontechnical examples here that can give you an appreciation of the problems being addressed. Will the mathematics of topology…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Serious Games for Learning
In Serious Games Market: " ... Mecanika is a physics-based puzzle Serious Game designed by François Boucher-Genesse to help players intuitively learn classical mechanics concepts -- kinematics and dynamics. The game is the…
From Computer Science Teachers Association
2013: The Summer of CS
As we launch into a new academic year, I can't help but be excited by the amazing momentum I am currently feeling in computer science education.
This past summer marked a steady march forward by hundreds of computer science…From Schneier on Security
Me on Surveillance
This is a video of me talking about surveillance and privacy, both relating to the NSA and more generally.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Cloud Changing Business Culture and Strategy
An interesting view. Or has a new business culture created the need for cheap, fast and accurate sharing in new ways that have created the Cloud?
From The Eponymous Pickle
Big Science Driving Big Data
In Quanta: How big science has created and continues to drive Big Data. This is my background so I follow it carefully. We are finally seeing a time where the sensors of business will approach the volume of the sensors of science…
From Schneier on Security
Why It's Important to Publish the NSA Programs
The Guardian recently reported on how the NSA targets Tor users, along with details of how it uses centrally placed servers on the Internet to attack individual computers. This builds on a Brazilian news story from a mid-September…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
American Computer Science League (ACSL)
This was posted to the CSTA announcement list. I don’t have first hand experience but I hear good things.
Computer contests for high school students are available in many varieties. However, for those schools that annually…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Augmented Pixels Reality Hoops Game
This continues my conversations with developers in the Augmented reality space. Here with the Ukranian firm Augmented Pixels. A new free game developed and then updated this fall is called Reality Hoops. I confirmed it will run…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Shifting Urban Landscape Report
Most interesting and timely report from McKinsey: Urban world: The shifting global business landscape. With lots of interesting graphics and statistics." ... Emerging markets are changing where and how the world does business…