Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
February 2016
From The Eponymous Pickle
IBM Internet of Things Educator Guide
Via IBM: for IBM resources.Use this educator guide for step-by-step guidance through recommended tutorials, labs, and other resources to teach others how to expand upon their Internet of Things skills.DescriptionRapidly compose…
From insideHPC
Sony Acquires Altair Semiconductor
Today Sony Corporation announced that it has reached an agreement with Altair Semiconductor to acquire the company. The purchase price is $212 million U.S. dollars (approximately 25 billion yen), and Sony expects to complete …
From insideHPC
ISC 2016 Keynote to Showcase Women’s Excellence in Computational Science
Today the ISC 2016 conference announced that their Tuesday keynote session will highlight contributions from female researchers and scientists in advancing the field of computational science. "This year, Dr. Jacqueline H. Chen…
From insideHPC
Supercomputing Super Eruptions at BSC
Researchers at BSC are using the MareNostrum supercomputer to study super eruptions--volcanic events with most destructive force on this planet. Only a few super volcanos exist in the world and when they erupt, they do so with…
From Blog@Ubiquity
Is the End Near for the Apple iPhone?
Alphabet recently became the largest company based on its market capitalization, squeezing out Apple for the number one spot of all-time successful companies. Perhaps the reason is that sales of the Apple iPhone disappointedRead…
From Computer Science Teachers Association
DRAFT 2016 CSTA K-12 CS Standards: We need your feedback!
No one can doubt that it is an exciting and busy time to be a K-12 computer science educator: an announcement from the White House about the new CS for All initiative, a new K-12 CS Framework under construction, an … Continue…
From Schneier on Security
Enabling Trust by Consensus
Trust is a complex social phenomenon, captured very poorly by the binary nature of Internet trust systems. This paper proposes a social consensus system of trust: "Do You Believe in Tinker Bell? The Social Externalities of Trust…
From The Eponymous Pickle
AI Still Flunks 8th Grade Science
In Wired: By this measure, its not here yet. Yet if we choose carefully, it can be remarkable." .... You might say that, way back in 2011, IBM Watson beat the best humans on Earth at Jeopardy!, the venerable TV trivia game…
From Schneier on Security
Using Eagles to Intercept Drones
Both Dutch and UK police are training eagles to attack drones....
From The Eponymous Pickle
Should we Create Humanlike Robots
In IEEE Spectrum: Sure, we will do it, and are doing it, if only for their capability of getting attention. But will there be actual value in mimicking ourselves? Or danger? Reminds me of the 'Media Equation', which we aimed…
From insideHPC
Nexsan BEAST Storage Array Delivers 4.8 PB in a 42U Rack
Today Nexsan announced the next-generation Nexsan BEAST storage array. Engineered to deliver superior reliability, availability and energy efficiency along with storage density, the BEAST enables 60 drives, or 480TB, in a standard…
From Computer Science Teachers Association
Three student videos that you do not want to miss!
Most of you have probably seen the results of our latest Faces of Computing video competition themed around Computing for the Common Good, and I’m sure you’ll agree that the winning entries delivered powerful messages. The High…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
IARPA Request For Information – Novel Training Datasets and Environments to Advance Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) has captured the public’s imagination for over 60 years, but it has proceeded in fits and starts leading to what has become known as an “AI winter” – a long period of diminished research and funding…
From insideHPC
Supercomputing and the Search for Planet 9
Still unobserved, Planet 9 is within the gravitational influence of our sun, completing one revolution in approximately 20,000 years. That means its orbital clock runs so slowly that it has not been around the sun since our last…
From insideHPC
Cyber Security: IDC Study Shows Wide Range of Corporate Preparedness
"The findings of a recent IDC study on the cybersecurity practices of U.S. businesses reveal a wide spectrum of attitudes and approaches to the growing challenge of keeping corporate data safe. While the minority of cybersecurity…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Blockchain Ledger: Hyperledger
And ledgers that are then plugged into smart contracts? Deeper compliance." .... Most people know alternative currencies such as bitcoin make use of a distributed transaction ledger technology called blockchain. But what isn…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Risks of Superintelligence
In the always provocative Kurzweil AI a while back:" ... In “The A.I. Anxiety” Sunday (12/27), the Washington Post concisely summarized the risks implicit in superintelligence … and more worrisome, in “superstupidity”: “There…
From insideHPC
Registration Opens for PRACEdays16 in Prague
Registration is now open for PRACEdays16. As one of Europe’s most important conferences on HPC in science and industry, PRACEdays16 will be held from May 10-12 in Prague, Czech Republic.
The post Registration Opens for PRACEdays16…From The Female Perspective of Computer Science
Rana el Kaliouby and Tracy Chou's Formative Moments
From insideHPC
Bright Computing Names Bill Wagner as CEO
Today Bright Computing announced that Bill Wagner has been appointed as its Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. As Bright Computing’s CEO, Bill succeeds Matthijs van Leeuwen, who founded the company and served as …
From The Eponymous Pickle
Video Ads
In Think with Google: Interesting stats and learnings about the use of video in Ads. An area we looked at closely. Google obviously has an interest regarding Youtube. Our interest was in cart mounted videos. How does…
From insideHPC
High-Performance Lustre* Storage Solution Helps Enable the Intel® Scalable System Framework
"Intel has incorporated Intel Solutions for Lustre Software as part of the Intel SSF because it provides the performance to move data and minimize storage bottlenecks. Lustre is also open source based, and already enjoys a wide…
From Schneier on Security
Fear and Anxiety
More psychological research on our reaction to terrorism and mass violence: The researchers collected posts on Twitter made in response to the 2012 shooting attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. They…
From Putting People First
The new face of behavioral change in healthcare
Glen de Vries argues that tracking basic biology can create positive reinforcements for health-related behaviors?. Yet, he is faced with a challenge: those who actively track their health metrics still represent a minority of…
From Putting People First
Experts fear wearables going down path of misguided user research
A recent study showed that in early wearable app development, the lack of identifying the user scenarios resulted in too much focus on technology and neglecting the users, writes Jennifer Elias in Forbes. “The people in at-risk…
From Gödel's Lost Letter and P=NP
Waves, Hazards, and Guesses
Some matters of gravity in science Moshe Vardi is famous for many things, including his brilliant turn as the Editor-in-Chief of the Communications of the ACM. In the current issue he contributed an Editor’s Letter titled “The…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Reading Customer Minds
In Retailwire: We can hardly do it consistently yet, but we can get some indications of mood and possibilities. And we don't have to always be exactly right. This particular application seems a gimmick." ... PCWorld reports…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Is Small Data more Business Process Context?
Making my way through the book below. Martin Lindstrom is a great storyteller, starting with his well known work with LEGO. Before I finish the book, my initial impression is that there is real value here. It can be seen…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
NIH Pill Image Recognition Challenge
The National Library of Medicine (NLM), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), recently published a Federal Register Notice for a national Pill Image Recognition Challenge. NLM seeks YOUR input in developing high-quality…
From insideHPC
Agenda Posted: HPCAC Swiss Conference in Lugano, March 21-23
The HPC Advisory Council has posted the speaker agenda for the HPCAC Swiss Conference. The event takes place March 21-23 in Lugano, Switzerland. The conference will focus on High-Performance Computing essentials, new developments…