Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
November 2015
From Putting People First
How Nissan’s using anthropology to make autonomous cars safe
What happens when robot cars meet complex social interaction, like head nods, horn honks, or even road rage? Dr. Melissa Cefkin “is here to teach autonomous cars how to behave”. A design anthropologist based at the Nissan Technical…
From Putting People First
How Nissan’s using anthropology to make autonomous cars safe
What happens when robot cars meet complex social interaction, like head nods, horn honks, or even road rage? Dr. Melissa Cefkin “is here to teach autonomous cars how to behave”. A design anthropologist based at the Nissan Technical…
From Putting People First
How brands design customer experiences of the future
In today’s digital age, consumers expect more from the business they support and the products they purchase. Consumers, Macala Wright writes, not only expect great brand experiences, they believe they’re entitled to them. This…
From Putting People First
How brands design customer experiences of the future
In today’s digital age, consumers expect more from the business they support and the products they purchase. Consumers, Macala Wright writes, not only expect great brand experiences, they believe they’re entitled to them. This…
From insideHPC
Parallel Methods in Financial Services for Intel Xeon Phi
Basic optimization techniques that include an understanding of math functions and how to simplify can go a long way towards better performance. "When optimizing for a parallel SIMD system such as the Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor…
From The Eponymous Pickle
How the Internet of Things is Changing Work
Lots of interesting examples, I clip below the obvious example in logistics. But collaboration and other enterprise examples are also goodHow the Internet of Things is Changing WorkHere's how Technologists think the worldThe…
From XRDS
Neural Networks and Recent Accomplishments (and how to train your own NN: a Python based DIY)
INTRODUCTION Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) are computational models inspired from one of nature’s most splendid creations – the neuron. It seems our quest to make the machines smarter has converged onto the realization that…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Fast Image Classification
Something we tried to do, but never at this speed. In Flowingdata. Neuraltalk2.
From The Female Perspective of Computer Science
Review / Ruby on Rails Tutorial: Learn Web Development with Rails by Michael Hartl
When I started at Shopify in the summer, the only Ruby I knew was from reviewing a children's book, and I didn't know any Rails at all. So I needed to get up to speed, and fast. Michael Hartl's Ruby on Rails Tutorial was my first…
From insideHPC
Speeding Up Applications at SC15
Software for data analysis, system management, and for debugging other software were be among the innovations on display at SC15 last week. In addition to the software, novel and improved hardware will also be on display, together…
From insideHPC
Video: PBS Pro Workload Manager Goes Open Source
In this video from SC15, Sam Mahalingam from Altair discusses the HyperWorks Unlimited Virtual Appliance and the new open source version of PBS Pro. “Our goal is for the open source community to actively participate in shaping…
From insideHPC
FujiFilm Qualifies Next-Gen LTO-7 Cartridge
Last week at SC15, Fujifilm announced that its next-generation LTO Ultrium 7 data cartridge has been qualified by the LTO technology provider companies for commercial production and is available immediately. FUJIFILM LTO Ultrium…
From Geeking with Greg
Quick links
What has caught my attention lately: Tog (of the famous Tog on Interface) says Apple has lost its way on design: "Apple is destroying design. Worse, it is revitalizing the old belief that design is only about making things[1]…
From insideHPC
Apply Now for Blue Waters Graduate Fellowships
NCSA is now accepting applications for the Blue Waters Graduate Program. This unique program lets graduate students from across the country immerse themselves in a year of focused high-performance computing and data-intensive…
From Blog@Ubiquity
Who Shaped Modern Computing — Part 2?
Legends like John McCarthy, Edsger Dijkstra and John Backus made significant impacts in the field and shaped modern computing as we know it today. By developing computer languages, such as FORTRAN and LIPS, they made it possible…
From insideHPC
Video: Pathscale Compilers Power ARM for HPC at SC15
In this video, Jason Souloglou and Eric Van Hensbergen from ARM describe how Pathscale EKOPath compilers are enabling a new HPC ecosystem based on low-power processors. "As an enabling technology, EKOPath gives our customers …
From The Eponymous Pickle
Getting Marketers Access to Data
In the HBR. Well put, its not only getting them access, but also useful access. In a form they can understand and can leverage. That starts with data visualization. And fundamentally:" .... Marketers these days can capture…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Intel Corp on Device Reliance
Correspondent John Stine on devices and more, This comes to mind as I am about to switch phones and add a new communications channel. " ... During a separate seminar at that same technology summit, Jon Stine -- Intel's global…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
CADENS Seeking Data and Visualizations
Does your research generate, analyze, and/or visualize data using advanced digital resources? CADENS is looking for scientific data to visualize or existing data visualizations to weave into larger documentary narratives in a…
From BLOG@CACM
Advice For CS Education from Science and Mathematics Education
We have a lot to learn from standards efforts in science and mathematics education.
From Schneier on Security
NSA Lectures on Communications Security from 1973
Newly declassified: "A History of U.S. Communications Security (Volumes I and II)," the David G. Boak Lectures, National Security Agency (NSA), 1973. (The document was initially declassified in 2008. We just got a whole bunch…
From The Eponymous Pickle
IBM Makes SystemML Freely Available
The continued competition to provide free and open source analytics integrated with their offerings. Consider the power of integrating cognitive systems like those that have grown from Watson, and these analyticsIn The WSJ…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Essentials of Innovation
Mckinsey's new Podcast format:Why are some big companies simply better innovators? The leaders of McKinsey’s Innovation practice, Erik Roth and Nathan Marston, explain the critical factors. ... The Essentials of Innovation Why…
From Schneier on Security
NSA Collected Americans' E-mails Even After it Stopped Collecting Americans' E-mails
In 2011, the Bush administration authorized -- almost certainly illegally -- the NSA to conduct bulk electronic surveillance on Americans: phone calls, e-mails, financial information, and so on. We learned a lot about the bulk…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Graph Visualization and Analytics Tools
Piece on commonly used graph visualization tools. One less known and not mentioned is Polinode, which I was recently introduced to. Every data scientist should such a tool available for understanding the topology of complex…
From insideHPC
Video: Asetek Showcases Growing Adoption of OEM Solutions at SC15
Asetek showcased its full range of RackCDU hot water liquid cooling systems for HPC data centers at SC15 in Austin. On display were early adopting OEMs such as CIARA, Cray, Fujitsu, Format and Penguin. HPC installations from …
From insideHPC
Podcast: Supercomputing Black Hole Mergers
"General Relativity is celebrating this year a hundred years since its first publication in 1915, when Einstein introduced his theory of General Relativity, which has revolutionized in many ways the way we view our universe. …
From insideHPC
NEC to Build Fastest Supercomputer in Finland for VSC
Last week at SC15, NEC Corporation announced that the Flemish Supercomputer Center (VSC) has selected an LX-series supercomputer. With a peak performance of 623 Teraflops, the new system will be the fastest in Finland, ranking…
From The Eponymous Pickle
One Marketing Metric
I like simple metrics, especially linked to actual funds, but are these accurately measurable and stable? In Adage: " .... One Marketing Metric to Rule Them All? Group Believes It Has One .. Lengthy Test Across 100 Brands Is…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Highlights from the GCTC Kick-Off Event
The following blog post is from Sokwoo Rhee, the Associate Director of Cyber-Physical Systems Program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He is leading the Global City Teams Challenge that had its kick…