Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
February 2017
From The Noisy Channel
Stemming and Lemmatization
Different forms of a word often communicate essentially the same meaning. For example, there’s probably no difference in intent between a…
From Schneier on Security
Hacker Leaks Cellebrite's Phone-Hacking Tools
In January we learned that a hacker broke into Cellebrite's network and stole 900GB of data. Now the hacker has dumped some of Cellebrite's phone-hacking tools on the Internet. In their README, the hacker notes much of the iOS…
From Computational Complexity
The Hardness of Reals Hierarchy
In my last post (here) I defined the following hierarchy (which I am sure is not original- if someone has a source please leave a comment on it)
Z_d[x] is the set of polys of degree d over Z (the integers)
ALG_d is the set
…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Future of Interaction
We looked at interaction starting with light pens. Later on to smart mice, VR googles, eye direction, gestures and voice. The Verge examines the state of the question:
What’s the future of interaction?
by Ashley Carman@ashleyrcarman…
From insideHPC
IBM Collaborates with FDA on Blockchain Health Data
"The healthcare industry is undergoing significant changes due to the vast amounts of disparate data being generated. Blockchain technology provides a highly secure, decentralised framework for data sharing that will accelerate…
From insideHPC
Video: Tianhe-1A Supercomputer at Work
In this video, researchers describe how the Tianhe-1 supercomputer supports scientific research. "Currently #43 on the TOP500, the 2.56 Petaflop Tianhe-1A carries out 1,400 computing tasks per day. It is mainly used to serve
…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Voicebots Blog
Newly discovered blog on one of my favorite topics, AI voicebots, and pointer to post on Alexa advertising:
" ... There are now more than 5,000 Alexa skills which means there are thousands of ways for users to interact and engage…
From The Eponymous Pickle
The Last User Interface? Towards Intelligent Generalization.
Nicely put piece I just reread.. A good look at why Google should win the the voice assistant interface. By being able to efficiently figure out what we need, based on our personal and processional needs, and previous conversations…
From Gödel's Lost Letter and P=NP
A Panel On P vs. NP
A discussion on the famous problem William Agnew is the chairperson of the Georgia Tech Theoretical Computer Science Club. He is, of course, an undergraduate at Tech with a multitude of interests—all related to computer science…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Is there a Master Algorithm?
Interesting question. Though I suggest there is always a focus to such a 'master'
question. And ultimately the question directs you towards some process of direction or need. This is why 'decision tree' approaches, that include…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Living Your Best Life with Math
Inspiring, non-technical look at Math and living Life, perhaps a way to get kids inspired? in Quanta Magazine:
To Live Your Best Life, Do Mathematics
The ancient Greeks argued that the best life was filled with beauty, truth,
From The Eponymous Pickle
Detecting Trouble, Predicting Maintenance
Been involved in methods of detecting and predicting maintenance issues for some time. Nice thoughts here.
Deep Learning AI Listens to Machines For Signs of Trouble By Jeremy Hsu
Driving your car until it breaks down on the…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Spotting Fake Info in Data
Would add to beyond 'fake', tags like, 'expired', 'contradictory', 'signals of bias', ' unstable metadata', 'evidence of value', 'risk of use (or non-use)' ... just a few I have had experience with .... there are more. The…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Stories Configure Human Nature
Configuring human nature using stories. I agree, but also believe this needs to be controlled. Stories also often contain strong elements of confirmation bias. Stories need to be a way to present structure that can then be
…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Analytics at P&G
Andy Walter of P&G on their experiences with analytics. Interesting to read since I spent a long time there in related roles.
From insideHPC
HudsonAlpha to expand Encyclopedia of DNA Elements Project
Today the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, a nonprofit genomics and genetics research institute, has been awarded a four-year, $6.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the next phase of the
…
From insideHPC
John Gustafson presents: Beyond Floating Point – Next Generation Computer Arithmetic
"A new data type called a "posit" is designed for direct drop-in replacement for IEEE Standard 754 floats. Unlike unum arithmetic, posits do not require interval-type mathematics or variable size operands, and they round if an…
From Mostafa Dehghani
Modeling Retrieval Problem using Neural Networks
Despite the buzz surrounding deep neural networks (DNN) models for information retrieval, the literature is still lacking a systematic basic investigation on how generally we can model the retrieval problem using neural networks…
From Schneier on Security
Friday Squid Blogging: Whale Mistakes Plastic Bags for Squid
A whale recently died in Norway because there were thirty plastic bags in its stomach. Researchers believe it may have mistaken the plastic bags for squid. As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security…
From The Eponymous Pickle
How Will Robotics Alter Staffing Models in Retail?
Have been following how robotics will interact with in-store retail personnel. Lowe's is an interesting example to follow. How will this alter staffing models, customer engagement and satisfaction? In Retailwire, with further…
From The Eponymous Pickle
AI in the Everyday Enterprise
Always interested in how AI will be inserted into the enterprise. We made early, simplistic attempts that were highly focused, very successful at times, but not integrated into common tasks. How will this change in the near…
From The Eponymous Pickle
RFID Enabled Packaging
Continue to follow RFID solutions. We tested many alternatives in our labs.
Prime Vision to Offer RFID-enabled Packaging System
The solution provider hopes to improve tampering detection and tracking for packages by using Thinfilm's…
From insideHPC
Over 10,000 Users and Counting for Comet Supercomputer at SDSC
Today the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) announced that the comet supercomputer has easily surpassed its target of serving at least 10,000 researchers across a diverse range of science disciplines, from astrophysics to…
From Schneier on Security
How the US Secret Service Breaks into Smart Phones
Here's an article about the US Secret Service and their Cell Phone Forensics Facility in Tulsa. I said it before and I'll say it again: the FBI needs technical expertise, not back doors....
From insideHPC
Dr. William Vanderlinde on Computing Beyond Moore’s Law
In this video from the IEEE Rebooting Computing Workshop, Dr. William Vanderlinde, Chief Scientist at Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), explains how we have already entered the era at the end of Moore’s…
From insideHPC
Spectra Logic Celebrates Ten Years of Profitability
Today Spectra Logic announced its tenth consecutive year of profitability at the close of calendar year 2016. Spectra Logic’s success is rooted in investing in industry-leading research and development to build and improve its…
From insideHPC
Hexagon to Acquire MSC Software
Today Hexagon AB from Sweden announced an agreement to acquire MSC Software, a leading provider of computer-aided engineering solutions, including simulation software for virtual product and manufacturing process development.…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Complexity and Interaction
Interesting thoughts about the complexity of conversation.
Caring Cyborgs Asian Scientist (01/03/17)
Social robots designed to interact with people could act as caregivers for the elderly and children, but current models struggle…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Review the revised K-12 Computer Science (CS) Standards
The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) revised K-12 Computer Science (CS) Standards is now available for review. This is not to be confused with the CS Education Framework (on which these standards build). The committee…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Harnessing Automation
In McKinsey. Ultimately we will have to deal with this. To me this will mean better collaboration between humans, machines and evolving tacit knowledge. The future must work.
Harnessing automation for a future that works
By…