Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
March 2011
From The Eponymous Pickle
A Slice of the History of Executive Information Systems
I have been doing some exploration of Executive Information Systems (EIS) and BI, which I was involved in for a number of years, and was sent this excerpt: - "Executive Information Systems (EIS) evolved from single user model…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Brain Computer Implant
A novel in brain computer-neural implant has now passed the 1000 day milestone: " ... A paralysed woman was still able to accurately control a computer cursor with her thoughts 1000 days after having a tiny electronic device…
From Schneier on Security
Authenticating the Authenticators
This is an interesting read:
It was a question that changed his life, and changed mine, and may have changed -- even saved -- all of ours by calling attention to flaws in our nuclear command and control system at the height…From The Female Perspective of Computer Science
The Difference One Woman Can Make
I was at the Board of Advisers meeting for the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI) last week in Mountain View when it struck me just how much of a difference one person can make.Anita Borg, like so many others…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Why Only Some Apps Succeed
A GigaOm look at why some Apps work and some do not, by Om Malik. Fundamentally he suggests its all about either utility or happiness.
From The Eponymous Pickle
The Psychology of Collaboration
As in most cases where groups of people are involved, it is not mostly about the technology. We used Greif's work in the 80s about 'Computer Supported Cooperative Work', a term little used today. We addressed different scales…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
NSF Announces Round Two of Its
Last Wednesday, the NSF announced the second round of an international grant competition designed to spur cutting-edge research in the humanities and social sciences.
From Putting People First
Design!publiC: design for governance in India
LiveMint.com, the Indian online partner publication of the Wall Street Journal, reports on India
From Schneier on Security
Identifying Tor Users Through Insecure Applications
Interesting research: "One Bad Apple Spoils the Bunch: Exploiting P2P Applications to Trace and Profile Tor Users":
Abstract: Tor is a popular low-latency anonymity network. However, Tor does not protect against the exploitation…From BLOG@CACM
From 'Must' and 'Unsuitable' to Design Guidelines in Computing Education
Rhetoric in education tends to be politicized and polarized, and computing education is no different. Research in computing education might learn from design-based research efforts from general education research, that emphasizes…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Trolls and Copyrights
A judicial case addresses the right to re-post. But I don't think this is the last we will hear about fair-use in blogs.
From Apophenia
The Politics of Queering Anything
Sitting at an academic conference years ago, I was struck by the marginalization of various voices under the guise of inclusion. There were queer panels and race panels and gender panels. In sampling those panels and various…
From Wild WebMink
? The Tyranny Of The Urgent
I’m nearing the end of the amazingly busy patch that March has turned out to be for me, and I can tell I must be getting older because I am running out of energy. I was reminded today of an essay that was given me when I was…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Leadership Lessons from P&G
From the Burghard Group: Leadership Lessons From P&G, 10 Lessons from Leaders: 1.Get to know people as individuals. Group activities are great for building teams, but one-on-one interactions build trust.2.Be predictable by…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Open Algorithm Contests Powering Predictive Analyses
A number of news organizations
From Computer Science Teachers Association
Putting Money Where it Counts: Teacher Salaries
President Obama wants to spend $90 million on ARPA-ED, an Advanced Research Projects Agency for Education. The goal is to fund porjects that will "transform teaching and learning in ways similar to how the Internet, BPS, and …
From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
Google Books Settlement Remains Unsettled
The ongoing saga of the Google Books case will continue, according to a recent opinion from the judge overseeing the negotiated settlement. Google Books prompted a 2005 suit for copyright infringement because the service offered…
From Schneier on Security
Detecting Words and Phrases in Encrypted VoIP Calls
Abstract: Although Voice over IP (VoIP) is rapidly being adopted, its security implications are not yet fully understood. Since VoIP calls may traverse untrusted networks, packets should be encrypted to ensureidentify…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Starbucks Mobile Payment Popular
Starbucks payment method using mobile phones and 2D bar code scanning is apparently quite successful. Now over three million people have used the capability. There have been some issues with the security of the method. Pushing…
From Schneier on Security
Transmitting Data Through Steel
This is cool:
Tristan Lawry, doctoral candidate in electrical and computer engineering, has developed equipment which can transmit data at high rates through thick, solid steel or other barriers. Significantly, Lawry's kit also…From Putting People First
Google UK
Think Quarterly is a 64 page magazine published by Google UK “that brings together some of the world’s leading minds to discuss the big issues facing businesses today.” Here are some of the articles I picked out: Executive Insight…
From Putting People First
Motion and the clay of interaction design
David Malouf, Professor of Interaction Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design, is in constant pursuit of the
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
FREE Microsoft Certification Exam Vouchers For Students
College student, high school student, any kind of student
From BLOG@CACM
Learning Through Twitter
Commentary on a recent study which evalauted the impact of Twitter on student engagement and grades.
From Putting People First
Open cities empower citizens
A recent Knight Foundation/Pew Research study shows how important, demonstrating that if citizens believe their city governments behave in a transparent manner and make information easily accessible, they tend to think more highly…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Google Online Magazine
Google has started a quarterly online magazine, based in the UK. Think Quarterly. There is also a good Mashable review of the first issue. Glossy format, overviews of technological issues. Each issue is described and formatted…
From Daniel Lemire's Blog
Know the biases of your operating system
Douglas Rushkoff wrote in Life Inc. that our society is nothing more than an operating system upon which we (as software) live: The landscape on which we are living
From The Eponymous Pickle
HP Mergers and Acquisitions
In the Software Advice Blog: HP Mergers and Acquisitions, Who's Next? An intriguing article. I have linked with HP for many years while I was in the enterprise. For a number of years we visited HP Labs yearly to see what was…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Crowd Sourcing Systems
In the ACM: An excellent and broad article on the the use of crowd sourcing. Includes some interesting updates on Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Must reading for those interested in this topic and its broad application. " ..…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Coming Convergence of Big Data and Predicitive Analytics
Data is surging and everyone is seeking to leverage it in new and better ways, In ITBusiness Edge:" ... As it becomes more affordable to collect massive amounts of data, there