Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
November 2009
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
National Computer Science Education Week
Congress has resolved that the week of December 7 will be designated as “National Computer Science Education Week.”
From The Eponymous Pickle
Intel Says Brain Will Control Computers
Intel: Chips in brains will control computers by 2020Brain waves will replace keyboard and mouse, dial phones and change TV channels ...'-
From Schneier on Security
Friday Squid Blogging: New Squid Discovered
An expedition to study seamounts in the Indian Ocean has discovered some new species, including some squid.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Sparklines in Excel
Sparklines (above) are a simple means of including quantitative visuals in lines of text, conceived of by Edward Tufte. Three has been recently much ado about Microsoft applying for a patent on sparklines, without even mentioning…
From CERIAS Blog
Firefox Vulnerabilities: Souvenirs of Windows 95
I've been waiting for an announcement of vulnerabilities in Firefox due to popular extensions. I've compared it to Windows 95 before. Yet students often opine that Firefox is more secure than Internet Explorer. It is worth…
From Schneier on Security
FailBlog on Security
Funny: career fair fail.
From The Eponymous Pickle
LED Tattoos
In Wired Gadget Labs: Illustrated Man. We examined the use of LEDs on clothing for advertising, which can be readily done, but this takes it to the next level. Cannot imagine it personally, but my generation would not.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Process Model for Data Mining
This CRISP-DM model was looked at within the enterprise. Re-examined. It attempts to be very detailed and universal. Worth a look though it does not seem to have been updated for some time. ' ... The CRISP-DM project developed…
From Schneier on Security
Interview with Me
Yet another interview with me. This one is audio, and was conducted in Rotterdam in October.
From My Biased Coin
In Reverse
The Crimson is reporting that the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences will plan to decrease the size of the faculty* in response to budget woes. The key point seems to be that "There are now 720 associate professors and professors…
From Putting People First
Interaction design for specialised tasks
Mikkel Michelsen discusses the core differences between specialised use contexts and the mainstream use of a mass consumer product, and tries to answer the questions how to design the best possible systems when faced with special…
From Putting People First
Will consumers plug into home energy displays?
Dozens of home energy monitors are coming to market, but nobody knows whether only hybrid Prius owners will use them. Martin LaMonica reports on CNet News. “The gadgets themselves vary, but the common thread among them is the…
From Computational Complexity
Citing Papers
A student asked me which version of a research paper to cite, a journal (the last reviewed version) or a conference (the first reviewed version) of a paper. I generally cite papers in this precedence list.The fully refereed journal…
From Putting People First
User-driven innovation in Denmark
Some English language websites, blogs, articles and publications updating on what Denmark is doing on user-driven innovation: Is Denmark a lead user of user driven innovation? You might think so since the world
From Wild WebMink
links for 2009-11-20
From Schneier on Security
Denial-of-Service Attack Against CALEA
The researchers say they've found a vulnerability in U.S. law enforcement wiretaps, if only theoretical, that would allow a surveillance target to thwart the authorities by launching what amounts to a denial-of-service…
From Putting People First
How understanding the human mind might save the world from CO2
What will solve climate change? Will it be technology? Policy? A growing number of researchers and activists say it’s what’s behind it all: people. And understanding them is vital to addressing climate change, argues Annie Jia…
From Putting People First
EU ministers: accessible, interactive and customised online public services in Europe by 2015
EU press release (link): EU ministers have committed to developing smarter online public services for citizens and businesses by 2015. The Commission has welcomed this step forward in making eGovernment more accessible, interactive…
From Computational Complexity
Laptops in Church?
There are now bibles online where you can click for different versions, different translations, different interepretations, historical context, etc. The same is true, or will be soon, for other faith's holy books as well.
…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Incorporating Consumer Insight into Marketing
From Jeffrey D. Mills of ThinkVine
From The Eponymous Pickle
Thinking Chips
From IEEE Spectrum: IBM Unveils New Brain Simulator. ' ... Scientists and engineers at IBM revealed yesterday that they have created the largest brain simulation on a supercomputer to date. The number of neurons and synapses.…
From Putting People First
Designing social interfaces: overview and practical techniques
Dmitry Fadeyev, founder of the Usability Post blog, wrote an article for Smashing Magazine “to demonstrate the power of social interface design”. he standard approach to interface design is to craft a channel that allows you…
From Putting People First
Various articles on the power of the mobile phone in emerging markets
A number of articles illustrate the power of the mobile phone in emerging markets: What next after the Mobile revolution in Kenya? by John Karanja MPESA will be on its own a major driver of the economic expansion of the Kenyan…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Predictive Analytics
This afternoon at 3PM EST, a DM radio broadcast on Predictive analytics. Which they enthusiastically call an enterprise crystal ball. The broadcast is also recorded for later review. More information and register here. ....…
From Schneier on Security
A Taxonomy of Social Networking Data
At the Internet Governance Forum in Sharm El Sheikh this week, there was a conversation on social networking data. Someone made the point that there are several different types of data, and it would be useful to separate them…
From Wild WebMink
? Sometimes the Improbable is the Answer
From Schneier on Security
Stabbing People with Stuff You Can Get Through Airport Security
"Use of a pig model to demonstrate vulnerability of major neck vessels to inflicted trauma from common household items," from the American Journal of Forensic Medical Pathology.
Abstract. Commonly available items including …From The Eponymous Pickle
More Sensing
Introduction of attachable NFC/RFID reader for the IPhone. Yet another smart phone sensing example. And speculation that next generation IPhones will include NFC readers.-
From The Eponymous Pickle
Verizon Hub
A wireless VOIP Hub phone.Have now seen a number of ads for the Verizon Hub phone. It has now been around for a while. A phone that provides central family functionality for the home. This is something we tested in the late 90s…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Social Media Impact
Good piece on SNCR research on social media and decision making. The Post emphasises the professional use and collaboration using social media. Some useful statistics.