Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
February 2012
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Big Brother Knows More Than You Think
And by Big Brother I don
From BLOG@CACM
Design Adventures in a Children
The first in a series of articles about the design process used in a technology and play project in a children's hospital.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Advertising Adapts to Gender
An example of a public advertisement using facial recognition software to alter an advertisement based on gender. Another example of adaptive interactivity in displays that we will continue to see more of. Again I point you…
From Wild WebMink
? A Tax Whose Time Has Come
Dubbed “the world’s most popular new tax”, this proposal has gathered an amazing breadth of support globally, including world political and business leaders. It sounds like one of the things that should be on the political agenda…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Partners in Learning 2012 US Forum–Reminder
I know I keep blogging about this event but it really is a great event and I really hope many of you apply for this wonderful opportunity to showcase your work with innovations in teaching CS and technology. It is one of theOh…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Partners in Learning 2012 US Forum
I know I keep blogging about this event but it really is a great event and I really hope many of you apply for this wonderful opportunity to showcase your work with innovations in teaching CS and technology. It is one of theOh…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Brainfuence
Just getting to read Roger Dooley's book Brainfluence: 100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers with Neuromarketing. Nice so far, an easy non-technical read that does no over promise the idea. Good introduction. The link…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Paco Underhill on the Shopping List
Not too much unexpected here. Reminder of what the store is designed to do. Much of what shows up in the shopping basket is not in the shopping list. Though in our own exploration of the shopping list, it can mean many different…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Software as a Service for Data Scientists
In the CACM: Experience at Globus Online. Applicable in business too .." ... As big data emerges as a force in science so, too, do new, onerous tasks for researchers. Data from specialized instrumentation, numerical simulations…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Unilever to Halve Environmental Impact
A commitment for 2020. " ... Unilever Vice President Eelco Camminga said the company will be twice the size in 2020, with half the environmental impact. "We intend to source more responsibly, from more responsible manufacturers…
From The Female Perspective of Computer Science
Simple Storytelling in The Legend of Zelda
I love the Legend of Zelda games. They are similar enough to make me feel nostalgic, yet always offer something new. We've been playing the latest, Skyward Sword, over the last few months and it has been no exception. The …
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Big Data at the AAAS Annual Meeting
Early last Saturday morning, I had the privilege and pleasure of organizing and moderating a
From Schneier on Security
"1234" and Birthdays Are the Most Common PINs
Research paper: "A birthday present every eleven wallets? The security of customer-chosen banking PINs," by Joseph Bonneau, Sören Preibusch, and Ross Anderson:
Abstract: We provide the first published estimates of the difficulty…From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
ACM/IEEE-CS Computer Science Curricula 2013 - Strawman draft
Over the weekend, the ACM/IEEE-CS Computer Science Curricula 2013 committee (of which I am a member) released the first public from this effort. (The announcement follows my comments). The Strawman draft is not a complete document…
From Putting People First
Principles of Social Interaction Design: An Essay
Adrian Chan, social media expert and social interaction theorist at Gravity7, has written a long essay to collect his thoughts on social interaction design. “Imperfect and unfinished as any project on contemporary products will…
From Putting People First
User experience design is dead; Long live user experience
With Apple, Inc. having the largest market capitalization of any company in the world, and an endless stream of CEOs and pundits talking about the importance of user experience, Peter Merholz suspects the phrase
From Putting People First
Four new articles from UX matters
UX matters posted yesterday four new articles: The world of services user experience By Baruch Sachs In a services organization, you are not only the UX expert, you are also expected to be a thought leader in areas that go far…
From The Eponymous Pickle
A Fix For E-Mail: Fluent
I agree that EMail is becoming increasingly hard to deal with. Too much, too messy, and hard to deal with as an efficient means to store knowledge. These former Google employees claim to have a solution: Fluent. It will…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Supply Chain Analytics is Important
A survey of CIO's indicates that " ... Analytics/business intelligence was the top-ranked technology for 2012 as CIOs are combining analytics with other technologies to create new capabilities, for example, analytics plus supply…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Tailoring Analytical Insights at the Point of Decision
DemandTec is now an IBM Company, but I am continuing to make my way through their solution briefs for retail. This week I took a look at one that I had not reviewed before, their brief on shopper insights. Shopper insightsMy…
From Computer Science Teachers Association
Does CS "Rock" for your students?
One of the more interesting pieces of non-solicited email that I received this morning offered to help me teach like a rock star. I have to admit, the promotional technique was catchy and the email itself was short enough to…
From Wild WebMink
LibreOffice Matures
Now finally and firmly established as an independent entity, The Document Foundation and LibreOffice are a refreshing story of community triumphing over adversity. Read more over at ComputerWorldUK.
From The Eponymous Pickle
SpaceCurve and Complex Location Data
In GigaOM: Metadata linked to location.SpaceCurve, a Seattle-based startup pushing a database designed for location data, has raised $2.7 million on the promise it can help application developers better leverage the Internet…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Last week, the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Emerging Technologies released a consensus list — the result of input from “some of the world’s leading minds within the entire [Global Agenda Council] network” —…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Secure Wireless Retail Networks
Particularly useful for point-of-sale applications. Press release. " ... New West Technologies partners with Enterasys Networks and Honeywell to offer secure wireless mobile retail network ... "
From Daniel Lemire's Blog
What happens when you get more Ph.D.s?
Following the fall of the USSR, hundreds of world class mathematicians emigrated to the USA. Intuitively, this should have made American mathematics stronger. Did it? Borjas and Doran examined the problem. Their starting point…
From Apophenia
Are Librarians Encouraging Public Libraries to Abide by COPPA?
The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) was created to prevent corporations from collecting data about children without parental permission. This law explicitly does not apply to public institutions, non-profits,…
From Computational Complexity
Aggie for a Day
From BLOG@CACM
Why Don't We Use Worksheets in Computer Science Education?
Worksheets (short, constrained, sets of exercises with mostly fill-in-the-blank, true/false, and multiple choice activities) are unusual in CS education. Use of worksheets is a natural progression towards a broader audience for…
From Schneier on Security
Covert Communications Channel in Tarsiers
Marissa A. Ramsier, Andrew J. Cunningham, Gillian L. Moritz, James J. Finneran, Cathy V. Williams, Perry S. Ong, Sharon L. Gursky-Doyen, and Nathaniel J. Dominy (2012), "Primate communication in the pure ultrasound," Biology.…