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The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.

February 2012


From The Eponymous Pickle

Origami Robotics

Origami Robotics

We examined this idea broadly years ago, could the concept of Orgami be used to deliver certain forms of packaging?  The concept here is very different, but with similar design inspiration:   In IEEE Spectrum:" ... Harvard University…


From The Eponymous Pickle

Agile Careers: Swarms vs Teams

Agile Careers: Swarms vs Teams

Swarming.  Hearing lots about agile lately.  Heard about agile development from Sogeti last night.  Always thought it was a good idea, but needs to be executed well or it leads to chaos.


From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Tutorials, Projects and Problem Solving

Tutorials, Projects and Problem Solving

Another recent confluence of posts on similar topics (list below) has caused me to spend some time thinking. And sooner or later I have to think though my fingers and get my thoughts out in a blog post. So here goes. Problem …


From Computational Complexity

Is 99.8% Secure Secure?

Guest post by Janos Simon A group of researchers (Arjen Lenstra and collaborators  from EPFL Lausanne and James Hughes from Palo Alto) published a study, Ron was wrong Whit is right, of new vulnerabilities of cryptosystems.story…


From The Computing Community Consortium Blog

Administration Issues Advanced Manufacturing Strategic Plan

Administration Issues Advanced Manufacturing Strategic Plan

The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC)


From Schneier on Security

Computer Security when Traveling to China

Computer Security when Traveling to China

Interesting:

When Kenneth G. Lieberthal, a China expert at the Brookings Institution, travels to that country, he follows a routine that seems straight from a spy film. He leaves his cellphone and laptop at home and instead…


From Putting People First

Youth and Digital Media: From Credibility to Information Quality

Youth and Digital Media: From Credibility to Information Quality

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University published a substantial new report from the Youth and Media project: “Youth and Digital Media: From Credibility to Information Quality” by Urs Gasser, Sandra Cortesi…


From Putting People First

Free eBook: Six Circles

Free eBook: Six Circles

As technology has advanced, the importance of how humans interact with systems, machines, and each other, have also advanced into a fusion of disciplines, coalescing under the banner of “user experience.” And though “experience”…


From The Female Perspective of Computer Science

Updated Teaching Philosophy

Updated Teaching Philosophy

I've recently updated my teaching philosophy.  I tried to make it to-the-point and backed by research.  I could have written a lot more, but think I captured the key aspects of how I teach.  Would love any feedback you mightThough…


From The Eponymous Pickle

BOI Solutions

BOI Solutions

Just introduced to the new BOI Solutions.  Have worked with their people for years.  A Revolutionary approach to multimedia collaboration....  More to follow.


From The Eponymous Pickle

Innovation Center Supports P&G's Tide New Detergent

Innovation Center Supports P&G's Tide New Detergent

A rare public peek into P&G's innovation center by Jared Newman.   Done for the introduction of Tide Pods.Fifty Cameras, a Fake Home and Virtual Reality: How Tide


From Schneier on Security

Another Piece of the Stuxnet Puzzle

Another Piece of the Stuxnet Puzzle

We can now conclusively link Stuxnet to the centrifuge structure at the Natanz nuclear enrichment lab in Iran. Watch this new video presentation from Ralph Langner, the researcher who has done the most work on Stuxnet. It's…


From The Eponymous Pickle

Windows with Flash on Your iPad

Windows with Flash on Your iPad

From ComputerWorld: A curious way to get to flash on your iPad, and run things like Word.  Could be very useful. Trying now.


From The Eponymous Pickle

Gamifying the Help Desk

Gamifying the Help Desk

From Lauren Carlson.  This is an interesting and novel gamification example, of the class of applications where you are trying to get people to do tedious tasks. Gamifying support agent work: ".. Gamification is slowly but surely…


From Putting People First

Designing perceptual persuasion

Designing perceptual persuasion

All web designers use perceptual persuasion in their designs, but without knowing they do. Interaction designer Wouter Middendorf delves into the matter: “Persuasive design is hot. Especially on the web as designers found out…


From The Computing Community Consortium Blog

NSF Issues Advanced Computing Infrastructure Plan

NSF Issues Advanced Computing Infrastructure Plan

The National Science Foundation (NSF)


From Computational Complexity

The Envelope Please

The conference that shares its namesake with this blog has announced their accepted papers. The 27th Conference on Computational Complexity itself will be held in Porto, Portugal June 26-29. If you go, stop by England on theCambridge…


From The Computing Community Consortium Blog

In This Week

In This Week

Today’s issue of Nature


From Schneier on Security

Mobile Malware Is Increasing

Mobile Malware Is Increasing

According to a report by Juniper, mobile malware is increasing dramatically.

In 2011, we saw unprecedented growth of mobile malware attacks with a 155 percent increase across all platforms. Most noteworthy was the dramatic growth…


From Putting People First

The future of television is not television

The future of television is not television

Television is breaking free of old paradigms and constraints. Consumers have no shortage of places to look for the content they want


From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson

Next Round Of Imagine Cup Deadlines Coming Up

Next Round Of  Imagine Cup Deadlines Coming Up

The Imagine Cup series of competitions has a new round of deadlines coming up over the next two weeks. The good news is that the barriers to entry in most of these is low enough that students still have time to get their actFor…


From The Eponymous Pickle

Google Glasses for All?

Google Glasses for All?

The rumor has been out there for years, that Google was developing a glasses-style interface for interaction and search.  We examined the general idea for maintenance applications, which was offered by a couple of vendors inWill…


From CERIAS Blog

An Interesting Opportunity

An Interesting Opportunity

As someone who is interested in information security and CERIAS (or why else would you be reading this blog?), you are undoubtedly already aware of the great need for education and research in information/cyber security areas…


From Computer Science Teachers Association

Collaboration A Key Skill for the Elementary Classroom

Collaboration A Key Skill for the Elementary Classroom

Motivation often comes from the most unlikely of sources. My mother recently waxed nostalgic about life before computers. She said, "Life was much simpler then. The internet brings the evils of the world into our homes and shows…


From The Eponymous Pickle

Scientific Storytelling using Visualization

Scientific Storytelling using Visualization

Useful thoughts.  Tell a good story, get it to the right people, then provide the background as needed"Scientists frequently tell stories using visualizations of scientific data, in the process of disseminating findings to peers…


From Computational Complexity

Presidents Day Poll- what does the youth of american think about....

(In honor of President's day which was two days ago.)

On Presidents Day last year I had my classes fill out a form saying who they thought was the best, second best, third best, and worst president. I gave them a list and…


From The Eponymous Pickle

Empower MediaMarketing Expands

Empower MediaMarketing Expands

I have had a number of interactions with Empower.  They acquired retail data analytics specialists MIG last year. Now they have created the Empower Group by the acquisition of Powerhouse Factories to create services in creative…


From The Eponymous Pickle

P&G to Address Cost Cutting

P&G to Address Cost Cutting

An extended article on how P&G plans to address cost cutting.  A periodic thing at all large enterprises.


From Schneier on Security

John Nash's 1955 Letter to the NSA

John Nash's 1955 Letter to the NSA

Fascinating.


From The Computing Community Consortium Blog

2012 STEM Video Game Challenge Launched

2012 STEM Video Game Challenge Launched

For the second year in a row,