Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
November 2019
From The Eponymous Pickle
Cognitive Automation
Augmentation is the near term approach here, but I expect augmentation to become more automated over time. Checking, validation and Numbers presented here are interesting, dependent much on the specific kind of tasks that…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Thermodynamic Computing Workshop Report Released
The Computing Community Consortium (CCC) recently released the Thermodynamic Computing workshop report, the output of the CCC’s January 2019 visioning workshop of the same name. The workshop was organized by Tom Conte (Georgia…
From insideHPC
PSI Researchers Using Comet Supercomputer for Flu Forecasting Models
Researchers at Predictive Science, Inc. are using the the Comet Supercomputer at SDSC for Flu Forecasting Models. "These calculations fall under the category of ‘embarrassingly parallel’, which means we can run each model, for…
From insideHPC
Penguin Computing to Showcase HPC Solutions at SC19
Today Penguin Computing announced plans for showcasing its innovative HPC solutions at SC19 in Denver. After a year of growth, Penguin Computing is bringing innovative technology demos and presentations to the show to offer expertise…
From insideHPC
European Processor Initiative Reaches Important Milestones in First Year
The European Processor Initiative (EPI) has announced the completion of important milestones in its first year. "The first-generation chip family, named Rhea, will include Arm ZEUS architecture general purpose cores and prototypes…
From insideHPC
Arm HPC User Group Returns to Denver Nov. 18
The Arm HPC team invites you to our 5th Annual Arm HPC User Group (AHUG) session at SC19. The all-day event takes place on Monday, Nov. 18 at the Curtis Hotel in Denver. "We have a full day agenda of strategic partners and end…
From The Eponymous Pickle
AI Heading off a Cliff?
Thoughts from a well known AI and Computing expert.
Warning! AI Is Heading for a Cliff By California Magazine via CACM
Asked if the race to achieve superhuman artificial intelligence (AI) was inevitable, Stuart Russell, University…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Considering Unforseen Circumstances
Are always an issue, and not considered carefully enough. Surely should be talked about in an analytical effort. Nice space by Peter Bruce that is worth following. Many more examples at the link.
Unforeseen Consequences …
From BLOG@CACM
Leonardo da Vinci's Robot Lion
We are celebrating the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death with a major exhibition of the Renaissance painter's works.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Cortana will Read Emails
Always liked the idea of Assistants reading emails. Though it clearly has to be selectively, and the selection has to be very easy to do. Also note I have not heard much about Cortana of late, is it still a viable capability…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
CSTA at 15 #CSTAat15
The Computer Science Teachers Association is now 15 years old. I’ve been a member from the start and I have to say that in some ways it feels like it has always been there but in other ways it feels like it just started. There…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Wikipedia Adds Credibility with Digital Books
Fascinating additional link to readily accessible knowledge. Of course, you can ask, how accurate is the book cited? Still like the further effort, will look for examples now. Also note the use of the Internet Archive,…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Microsoft Wins Pentagon Contract
New directions of defense department for the Cloud.
Microsoft Is the Surprise Winner of a $10B Pentagon Contract
Amazon had long been considered the favorite for JEDI, a project to use cloud computing to modernize warfare.
The corporate…
From Schneier on Security
Homemade TEMPEST Receiver
Tom's Guide writes about home brew TEMPEST receivers: Today, dirt-cheap technology and free software make it possible for ordinary citizens to run their own Tempest programs and listen to what their own -- and their neighbors'…
From Computational Complexity
Limits of using the web for info- self-reference
(I wrote this a while back so when I say `I Googled BLAH' I meant back then. It is prob different now.)
While the web is a wonderful to find things out there are times when it doesn't quite work.
An old blog of Scott Aaronson's…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Real World Applications of Drones
Overlook of current uses and future applications.
Real-World Applications for Drones By Logan Kugler
Communications of the ACM, November 2019, Vol. 62 No. 11, Pages 19-21
10.1145/3360911
In June, Amazon announced it was close…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Free Access to a Book: Math of Deep Learning
From DSC, requires simple sign-up. Math-Technical, with code examples.
Math of Deep Learning: Free Chapter from 832-page eBook
Posted by Capri Granville
The title of the eBook is Dive in Deep Learning. Below I list the content…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Elementary Intro to Kalman Filtering
A method we used actively, for sensor networks, here also an pointer to lots of introductions, including the ACM article.
An Elementary Introduction to Kalman Filtering
Demystifying the uses of a powerful tool for uncertain information…
From BLOG@CACM
The Size of Computing Education Today, By The Numbers
How many students learn general-purpose programming today, compared to using other computing environments or learning other STEM subjects?
From The Eponymous Pickle
IBM Watson and Lufthansa
Customer service is an increasing space for AI technologies.
IBM Watson helps Lufthansa Group optimize its customer service in DSSRseources
Lufthansa and IBM collaborate in the field of artificial intelligence (AI); new AI Studio…
From The Eponymous Pickle
A Look at CCPA
Concise look at the California Consumer Privacy Act.
CCPA: Do the Penalties Fit the Crime?
By David Harding / in ReadWrite
CCPA goes into effect on January 1, 2020 and aims to protect California’s 39 million inhabitants against…
From insideHPC
Radio Free HPC Celebrates 251st Episode
In this podcast, the Radio Free HPC team celebrates their 251st episode. "Not enamored with round numbers, the team notes that 251 is a prime number and round enough for celebration. This is not quite a “highlights” show, but…
From insideHPC
DOE Funds Center for Artificial Intelligence-focused Architectures and Algorithms
Sandia National Laboratories, PNNL, and the Georgia Institute of Technology are launching a research center that combines hardware design and software development to improve artificial intelligence technologies that will ultimately…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Automated Testing of Deep Learning Systems
Interesting look at automated testing of fundamental methods of deep learning. Which lead to some real concerns. Starts non-technically, then gets into depth. Useful way to check validity of resulsts, and check for ongoing…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Alexa Recordings Sought by Police
This scenario started to come out several years ago, more updates:
Florida police obtain Alexa recordings in murder investigation
This time, though, officers are more realistic about what they may find. ....
By Jon Fingas, @jonfingas…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Customers Calling
Another example of determining the classification 'why' of behavior:
Why are your customers calling you again? in Mckinsey.
Getting to the bottom of why customers keep calling your contact centers can generate significant savings…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Seeing Around the Corner for Autonomous Cars
Have mentioned this kind of tech a number of times, a kind of sensor data enhancement idea that has been considered for some time. Note in my 'seeing around the corner' tag, a link to a Quanta Mag article, and also some of
MIT…
From The Eponymous Pickle
AI Tech of Youtube Marketing
From The Eponymous Pickle
Trimming the Bushes
Classic messy, time consuming job, that needs some close attention. Solved?
Trimbot in a garden. Meet Edinburgh's 'Trimbot,' the Rose Pruning, Bush Trimming Auto-Gardening Robot
The Scotsman (UK)
By Conor Matchett
Researchers have…
From insideHPC
NNSA Explorations: ARM for Supercomputing
Howard Pritchard from LANL and Simon Hammond from Sandia gave this talk at the Argonne Training Program on Extreme-Scale Computing 2019. "Sandia National Laboratories has been an active partner in leveraging our Arm-based platform…