Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
February 2013
From The Eponymous Pickle
Turning Data into Smart Data
In Information Week: Fundamentally agree, but it's really more about turning raw data into smarter decisions. I have not lapsed into call everything 'Smarter', because of typically the involvement of human decision makers.…
From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
USACM Chair Comments on Cybersecurity Executive Order
On Tuesday, as part of the State of the Union address, President Obama issued an executive order on cybersecurity. The order focuses on the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure – defined in the order as “systems and assets…
From Schneier on Security
Jacob Appelbaum's 29C3 Keynote Speech
This speech from last December's 29C3 (29th Chaos Communication Congress) is worth listening to. He talks about what we can do in the face of oppressive power on the Internet. I'm not sure his answers are right, but am glad…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Throw Out The Usual Suspects
Anyone who has spent time in a classroom knows that there are some students, usually a small number, to take up most of the class participation. It’s not that they are the only ones who know what is going on but they are the …
From Wild WebMink
Learning from LibreOffice
LibreOffice is built from a large legacy codebase that dates back over 20 years. It includes millions of lines of code, can be compiled for a wide range of platforms and incorporates the ideas from long-superseded approaches…
From Schneier on Security
Guessing Smart Phone PINs by Monitoring the Accelerometer
"Practicality of Accelerometer Side Channels on Smartphones," by Adam J. Aviv. Benjamin Sapp, Matt Blaze, and Jonathan M. Smith.
Abstract: Modern smartphones are equipped with a plethora of sensors that enable a wide range …From Computational Complexity
Beauty and Science
Christopher Shea wrote a recent Chronicle Review article Is Scientific Truth Always Beautiful? I would argue the answer is yes, and it boils down to Occam's Razor that the simplest explanation that fits the available data is…
From Computer Science Teachers Association
New Thoughts on App Inventor
In September 2011, I posted about how much I like App Inventor as a tool to get students excited about computer science along with believing that they have the ability to create technology that could potentially change someone's…
From My Biased Coin
ICALP formatting
Given the loud outcry regarding the STOC 2013 formatting, which gave you 10 double-column pages to work with (at the cost of, you know, having to turn your paper into double-column format), I though I'd again express my annual…
From The Female Perspective of Computer Science
Kid Friendly Newspapers Via Augmented Reality
Someone recently shared this Popular Science article about an augmented reality app that 'translates' newspapers for children. The main idea is to simplify the language, add animations, and include character commentaries to
At…From Schneier on Security
Using the iWatch for Authentication
Usability engineer Bruce Tognazzini talks about how an iWatch -- which seems to be either a mythical Apple product or one actually in development -- can make authentication easier.
Passcodes. The watch can and should, for most…From Putting People First
First outputs from Intel research centre on sustainable connected cities
The Intel Collaborative Research Institute for Sustainable Connected Cities – a cooperation between University College London (UCL), Imperial College London and Intel – was launched in May 2012, which a focus on how to enable…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
CCC Council Member Anita Jones Receives AAAS’ Highest Honor
Congratulations to CCC Council member Anita Jones for being named the recipient of the 2012 Philip Hauge Ableson Award. The Ableson award is the highest award conferred by the American Association for the Advancement of Science…
From Schneier on Security
Anti-Cheating Security in Casinos
With over a thousand cameras operating 24/7, the monitoring room creates tremendous amounts of data every day, most of which goes unseen. Six technicians watch about 40 monitors, but all the feeds are saved for…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Beware the Scaffold That Becomes Crutch
This year I am experimenting with scaffolding to help students get started with projects. For example I started one group with a project to calculate BMI (Body Mass Index). The students were given a project with the code that…
From Wild WebMink
A Real Love Song
For Valentine’s Day, here’s a song about real love. That’s Who Are We Fooling, by Brooke Fraser and Aqualung. Amazon UK will give you £1 to buy any track if you have a Facebook account and tell them your favourite today (assuming…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Computer Science - Part of English Baccalaureate
There is some good news from the UK in that Computer Science is going to be part of English Baccalaureate (secondary school) program there. The Ministry of Education there has made two important and perhaps transformative decisions…
From My Biased Coin
Online Censorship Day and Other Links
1) Sharon Goldberg and Nick Feamster asked me to announce the following:In the tradition of CAEC, NYCE, and etc, we are holding a "Day" on online censorship at BU on March 8, with speakers from technology, law and public policy…
From Schneier on Security
Real-World Prisoner's Dilemma from France
This is a real story of a pair of identical twins who are suspected in a crime. There is there is CCTV and DNA evidence that could implicate either suspect. Detailed DNA testing that could resolve the guilty twin is prohibitively…
From Gödel's Lost Letter and P=NP
The Informatics Prize
From a specialty in Complex Analysis Rolf Nevanlinna was one of the top complex analysts of the last century, and is widely cited as the most famous Finnish mathematician of all time. Many might argue that his contributions go…
From Computational Complexity
The Complexity-STOC Bonanza
STOC and Complexity are co-located this July in beautiful Palo Alto, California. Both conferences have just announced their accepted papers: STOC (with PDF links) and Complexity. Both conferences will have student travel awards…
From Putting People First
Report: Divided Brain, Divided World
Divided Brain, Divided World; Why the best part of us struggles to be heard is an RSA report that explores the practical significance of the scientific fact that the two hemispheres of our brains have radically different ‘world…
From Putting People First
From GoPros to vanity camera drones
Nicolas Nova went skiing and saw a lot of GoPro cameras on people’s heads. He got intrigued, and wrote an Ethnography Matters column where he questions informal urban bricolage, weird cameras, curious gestures and wonders about…
From Putting People First
The “intentional fallacy” and the “affective fallacy” of interaction design
How seriously should we (as researchers, practitioners, users, and members of society) seek to understand and factor in the intentions of the designers who made them and the felt experiences of those who use them? Such intentions…
From Schneier on Security
New al Qaeda Encryption Tool
There's not a lot of information -- and quite a lot of hyperbole -- in this article:
With the release of the Asrar Al Dardashah plugin, GIMF promised "secure correspondence" based on the Pidgin chat client, which supports multiple…From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Making Money or Making a Difference
I found this very interesting info graphic (OK Doug Peterson tweeted the link so really he found it first) from Seattle University at Training in Technology: The Merits of a Master's Degree [INFOGRAPHIC] It is intended to show…
From The Female Perspective of Computer Science
Are You Playing a Character, or Just Coaching Them?
Think of your favourite games that are about a particular character. Do you actually play that character, or are you just the coach? That is, are you able to fully control that character and how he or she acts, or can you merely…
From Schneier on Security
Massive Police Shootout in Cleveland Despite Lack of Criminals
This is an amazing story. I urge you to read the whole thing, but here's the basics:
A November car chase ended in a "full blown-out" firefight, with glass and bullets flying, according to Cleveland police officers who described…From Computer Science Teachers Association
On Grades and STEM
The other day I was reading () Desire2Learn Acquires Course-Suggestion Software Inspired by Netflix and Amazon. The article discusses a program that uses information in a student's transcript, along with historical information…
From Computational Complexity
Proving DFA-langs closed under concat and * without using equiv to NDFA's
While teaching the Equiv of DFA, NDFA, Reg exps, I wanted to impress upon my students that the best way to show DFA-langs are closed under concat and * is to first prove DFA=NDFA and then show NDFA's closed under concat and *…