Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
November 2014
From Schneier on Security
Testing for Explosives in the Chicago Subway
Chicago is doing random explosives screenings at random L stops in the Chicago area. Compliance is voluntary: Police made no arrests but one rider refused to submit to the screening and left the station without incident, Maloney…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Advanced Analytics in Consumer Goods: Podcast
Abstract: In Justin Honaman, managing partner for consumer goods for North American industry consulting at Teradata, is interviewed by Ron Powell, independent analyst and consultant focused big data, business intelligence and…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Drone Ambulances
The Drone ambulance idea does not deliver a patient to the hospital but rather a defibrillator to the patient. Nice simplification idea.
From Putting People First
Technology-enabled navigation and mobility for people with sight loss
Getting around cities is a nerve-wracking experience for too many people, especially those living with sight loss. Too often it feels like public spaces and services – from parks to transport systems – are designed with insufficient…
From Gödel's Lost Letter and P=NP
DC Post
Discussing lower bounds for this blog’s 600th post source Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are three of the best known superheroes in DC Comics books, which were a childhood staple for many of our age. They brought us action…
From Schneier on Security
Why Hyping Cyber Threats is Counterproductive
Robert Lee and Thomas Rid have a new paper: "OMG Cyber! Thirteen Reasons Why Hype Makes for Bad Policy."...
From The Eponymous Pickle
Big Data and Analytics Fighting Fraud
The November December Analytics Magazine discusses FraudBig Data, Analytics, Fight Fraudby Drew Carter and Stephanie Anderson Fraud doesn't play favorites; it's a multi-industry problem. How to employ analytics for effective…
From Putting People First
What do you learn when you observe 100 days of iPhone use?
Barry Brown, Moira McGregor and Donald McMillan of the Mobile Life Centre at Stockholm University audio-video recorded over 100 days of device use from 15 users and just published their results, which they presented in September…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Office Applications and Computer Science
I love this meme image. When I tweeted it there was a lot of activity on it so I suspect it resonates with a lot of people. Most people who understand what computer science is will quickly agree that teaching office applications…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Cyber Physical Systems: A Perspective from Keith Marzullo
The following is a special contribution to this blog by Keith Marzullo, division director for the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Division of Computer and Network Systems (CNS). Starting in 2008, the National Science Foundation…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Demystifying Cognitive Systems
In Deloitte University Press: Demystifying artificial intelligence ... What business leaders need to know about cognitive technologies...
From The Eponymous Pickle
C-Level Execs and Big Data
A natural next step. The key will be how to make the translation from the analyst speak to the business strategy and process language. " ... An overwhelming majority of executives from companies that have brought big data"One…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Watson Powered Apps
A testament to the possibilities. Though I believe all of these can be considered Beta. In CIO Mag. " ... IBM is investing $1 billion in its IBM Watson Group with the aim of creating an ecosystem of startups and businesses…
From The Eponymous Pickle
YouTube Brandlab
Though I have used it for years, never thought about YouTube as an advertising platform. That is changing rapidly. I like the concept of labs to test ideas and engage and problem solve with clients. In Adage: A Video Tour…
From The Eponymous Pickle
IBM Streaming Analytics
We did considerable work in using real time data to predict maintenance operations in high speed manufacturing. Some of the methods we developed were ultimately licensed out. Recent press release:" ... Among the seven vendors…
From Schneier on Security
How the Internet Affects National Sovereignty
Interesting paper by Melissa Hathaway: "Connected Choices: How the Internet Is Challenging Sovereign Decisions." Abstract: Modern societies are in the middle of a strategic, multidimensional competition for money, power, and…
From Putting People First
Rethinking segmentation for the new digital consumer
Apple’s launch this week of Apple Pay, its m-commerce product, could help finally move millions of mainstream consumers toward the promise of mobile payments, according to media reports. Given that Apple Pay will expose user…
From Putting People First
Little Data, Big Data and UX design at LinkedIn
Julie Marie Norvaisas and Jonathan “Yoni” Karpfen of LinkedIn’s User Experience Design (UED) Research Team share how their team discovers and uses “little data” to inform and inspire, in the context of a company driven by “big…
From The Eponymous Pickle
How We Got to Now
Recently encountered PBS series on the process of innovation. Nicely done. Covers the history of discovered technologies, the process of integrating ideas, and the marketing of their value. Leading to changes in our lives…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Team Collaboration Tools
Have experimented with many, but never liked any of them. How much are collaboration styles changing, and do these address that?Working together: 3 new team collaboration tools ... Flow, Glip and Slingshot try to enhance the…
From Computational Complexity
Favorite Theorems: Circuit Lower Bounds
My long time blog readers should have no surprise on my final favorite theorem of 2005-2014.
Nonuniform ACC Circuit Lower Bounds by Ryan Williams (PDF)We saw several exciting circuit lower bound results in the 80's, highlighted…
From The Eponymous Pickle
More Robots, More Moral Hazards
More robots, increasingly autonomous. The challenge of moral and legal hazards.Whether you find it exhilarating or terrifying (or both), progress in robotics and related fields like AI is raising new ethical quandaries and…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Innovation and Regulation Working Together
From Knowledge@Wharton: Less regulation is very important. " ... The rapid growth of the sharing economy has spawned numerous skirmishes between local regulators and the companies that are disrupting established industries.…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Barriers to Retail Store Analytics
In RetailWire: Good general overview, full report requires registration. " ... Web style retail store analytics offer powerful benefits for in-store operations, yet retailers face obstacles to successfully implementing the…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Finding Hidden Laws
The Santa Fe Institute on " ... Finding the hidden laws that pervade complex biological & social phenomena ... "
From The Eponymous Pickle
Google Thoughts on Data Viz
In ClickZ: Straightforward thoughts on data visualization. " .... Google Analytics Advocate Adam Singer explores the use of data in order to communicate and tell your company story. ... "
From Putting People First
Creating government tech systems with excellent UX and ‘good enough’ security
Gov.uk, the website of the UK Government’s Digital Service that merges the websites of all UK Government Departments and many other agencies and public bodies, has posted a draft guidance document on risk management of cyber…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Neurotechnology Careers
Lots about brain modeling. But nothing about Neuromarketing. Funding is increasing opportunities. In Science.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Hadoop Predictions
Interesting, but I don't find this particularly useful. I understand why you want easier to use Big Data manipulation tools. But I would really like transparent and easier to use data manipulation, visualization and analytics…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Prototype Real Holodeck
How about if you built a virtual holodeck representing a retail store? Possible, but will it test similarly to a real store? The technology is here.