Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
November 2012
From The Eponymous Pickle
Achieving Smarter Commerce: IBM and DemandTec
I have been following DemandTec (Now part of IBM) since they presented at our innovation centers soon after they were formed. I was impressed by the deep analytics they were using. Since then I have connected a number of times…
From The Female Perspective of Computer Science
I'm Going To Be a TEDx Speaker
I'm happy that I'm starting to get noticed when it comes to my public speaking abilities. My latest speaking request was for a local edition of TED on December 2: TEDxSandyHillWomen. A fellow speaker had been at my Processing…
From Schneier on Security
New Jersey Allows Voting by E-Mail
I'm not filled with confidence, but this seems like the best of a bunch of bad alternatives.
From Schneier on Security
New WWII Cryptanalysis
I'd sure like to know more about this:
Government code-breakers are working on deciphering a message that has remained a secret for 70 years. It was found on the remains of a carrier pigeon that was discovered in a chimney,…From The Eponymous Pickle
Power Retailers
In Progressive Retailer. A near time view of who the power retailers of the future. Those that operate in mutliple channels. " ... Manufacturers expect Wal-Mart Stores, Target, Kroger and Costco Wholesale to be the top "power…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Windows 8 Apps for Social Good Contest
I don’t work for Microsoft anymore so I don’t get paid to promote things like this. On the other hand I like the idea of a) applications for social good and b) using contests as a tool for motivating students to create real projects…
From Putting People First
Building software to conduct ethnographic research of online communities
While digital ethnography is an established field within ethnography, we don’t often hear of ethnographers building digital tools to conduct their fieldwork. Wendy Hsu wants to change that. In the first of her three-part guest…
From Computational Complexity
Produce or Perish
Every year or so the National Science Foundation releases a new version of the holy bible of grant submission procedures, the Grant Proposal Guide. Last month's update (which applies to grants due in 2013) has this tidbit in…
From Schneier on Security
On the Ineffectiveness of Airport Security Pat-Downs
I've written about it before, but not half as well as this story:
"That search was absolutely useless." I said. "And just shows how much of all of this is security theatre. You guys are just feeling up passengers for no good…From BLOG@CACM
Ph.D.s from the Faculty's Perspective
One professor's reflections on succeeding in PhD programs.
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Interesting Links 5 November 2012
Super Storm Sandy (for various reasons I believe it was not technically a hurricane when it reached me) came and went last week. I was lucky and we only lost power for a total of two hours. Days later many are still without power…
From Putting People First
Five perspectives on the future of the human interface
The next generation of apps will require developers to think more of the human as the user interface. It will become more about the need to know how an app works while a person stands up or with their arms in the air more so…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Associative Analytics
It has been a while since I took a look at Saffron Technology's blog. I know several of the people involved, and their tech is solid. They are now emphasizing what they call associative analytics. " ... From 2012See…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Analytic Bridge.
Have mentioned this a few times, Analytic Bridge pulls together a number of useful online resources for data science that are worth subscribing to. It is tough to keep up with, but well worth knowing it is here.
From Writing
Seven Languages in Seven Weeks: Erlang, Day 2
After learning some basic Erlang syntax on Day 1, I take on the second Erlang chapter, which introduces some more interesting concepts.Erlang, Day 2: ThoughtsI'm finding it very easy to dive into Erlang. After going through the…
From Writing
Seven Languages in Seven Weeks: Erlang, Day 1
After a long hiatus, I'm finally back to working my way through Seven Languages in Seven Weeks. After finishing up Scala, I'm now on the 5th language, Erlang, though it has taken me quite a bit longer than 5 weeks to get here…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Digital Anthropology
Have always been interested in how elements of sociology can be digitized and interpreted. Facebook and Twitter are examples of this can be done today. But how valid are the statistics involved? New related book. " ... Anthropology…
From Putting People First
Book: Digital Anthropology
Digital Anthropology Edited by Heather A. Horst, Daniel Miller Berg Publishers, Oct 2012 328pp Anthropology has two main tasks: to understand what it is to be human and to examine how humanity is manifested differently in the…
From Putting People First
Anthropology of mid-sized startups
In their natural habitats, social species organize into characteristic groups. Gazelles form herds, wolves form packs, and ants form colonies. Humans, in the same way, form tribes. Of course, we’re pretty far removed from our…
From Putting People First
Leaving our mark: What will be left of our cities?
From our cities, to our farms, to our rubbish, humans have firmly stamped their mark across the planet. Humanity’s impact on the globe is so great and varied that we have launched a new geological time period in the Earth’s history…
From Putting People First
Human face of big data
This past week featured a worldwide experiment conducted via a mobile app: The Human Face of Big Data. On September 26, 2012, Against All Odds Productions launched a smartphone and tablet app. With it, users could map their daily…
From Putting People First
Bridging the gap between humans and computers
Heather Kelly reports on the CNN website on The Atlantic’s recent Big Science Summit in San Jose, California: We have voice-controlled assistants on our phones, telepresence robots for when we can’t make it to a meeting in person…
From Putting People First
Philips Design: From data to meaning for people
On October 22nd, 2012, Philips Design organized a special seminar and workshop to explore how businesses can innovate by translating ‘Big Data’ into value for people. The internet is becoming ever more intertwined with our daily…
From Putting People First
NEXT Service Design videos
NEXT Service Design is the European conference for designing digital services, which took place on 8 October in Berlin. It focuses on design methods including design thinking, user-centric design and interaction design. Two videos…
From Putting People First
The Slow Revolution
The last ten years has seen a burgeoning of the Slow Movement in all aspects of life from management, travel and education to science and work. On 4 October, the RSA brought together a group of thinkers and practitioners at their…
From My Biased Coin
Posts from FOCS (Part 2)
Continuing posts from FOCS, with several guest-writers and guest-editor Justin Thaler.[Editor: First-year grad student Mark Bun of Harvard contributes a summary of two talks on submodular maximization from Session 13A on Tuesday…
From Computer Science Teachers Association
There's Nothing Like a Good Book!
I understand there are good reasons to push for more digital texts, and for the "fully immersive digital experience". But there is nothing like a good book, there is nothing like being lost in a good book. I worry that kids…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Autonomous Software
In CACM: On Mars,the use of autonomous software. " .... Among the most innovative applications NASA computer scientists have contributed to the mission is Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science (AEGIS), which…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Oracle Presentation
Prep for a presentation led me to this recent Oracle presentation on advanced analytics and in-database techniques.
From Gödel's Lost Letter and P=NP
More Interview With Kurt Gödel
Part II of the GLL exclusive src Kurt Gödel has assented to our publishing the second part of the interview we conducted with him a year ago. We had his assent to begin with, but issues of time are unclear in this type of situation…