Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
March 2013
From The Eponymous Pickle
Using The Cloud To Your Benefit
Molly Malone of DMI Partners writes, in a guest post:As a technology enthusiast, you’ve no doubt heard of the cloud – cloud computing, cloud-based storage, cloud phone systems, and more. By harnessing the power and ubiquity of…
From BLOG@CACM
Nerdy Strutting: How to Put Women Off the Tech Industry
A reflection on how interaction patterns in the tech industry might be off putting to women even if they are not offensive or explicitly exclusive.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Tagging
Reminder. All new blog posts, and many older ones are now tagged. Which means that at the end of each post there are listed a set of 'Labels', underlined words or phrases, which categorize the posts. Clicking on any one of…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Computers that Can Teach Themselves
Machine learning is a favorite topic in AI. We did that in a simple form in what was called case based reasoning. But who directs learning? Can a machine create its own appetite for learning by knowing what it does not know…
From BLOG@CACM
Innovation For Jobs
As technology continues to eliminate some jobs, how can we use innovation to create more?
From Putting People First
Human-centred systems innovation
How do we help or support people that live in situations that do not fit into a system’s categories, e.g. by transforming perceptions of what a system can be? This question is constantly reoccurring in the development of our…
From Schneier on Security
Our Internet Surveillance State
I'm going to start with three data points.
One: Some of the Chinese military hackers who were implicated in a broad set of attacks against the U.S. government and corporations were identified because they accessed Facebook from…From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Interesting Links 25 March 2013
I’ll getting my feet under me again lately. I’m catching up on grading for one thing. And lesson planning and trying to have a life away from the computer. Having a snow day this week didn’t hurt. So that’s good.
In fact I…From The Eponymous Pickle
Black Holes of Innovation
In Innovation Excellence: Some cautionary thoughts about black holes of innovation. " ... Over the past few years, companies let go large numbers of research scientists, middle management and other staff. It made the balance…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Predicting Asset Failure
Always good question to ask. How can I accurately predict system failure and prepare for it? Especially when failure is rare? Failures can often cascade. We explored this in the manufacturing line space and collaborated with…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
HTML and Computer Science
It started innocently enough as Twitter conversations are want to do. Eric Williams, a school superintendent in Virginia, posted a tweet about computer science and linked to an article about teaching HTML as important for internet…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Compost Analytics for the City
This is a classic example of vehicle routing using analytics. I have worked on problems as disparate as ambulance routing in semi rural counties and routing log trucks to pulp mills, to minimizing the travel of fork lifts in…
From Wild WebMink
Tina Dico at Union Chapel
Tina Dico at Union Chapel, originally uploaded by webmink. We had an evening out last night in London at Union Chapel, an excellent venue for acoustic gigs. We saw & heard Tina Dico, who has a wonderful voice and writes strong…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Business Analytics Book
A review of recent book Business Analytics: A Practitioner's Guide (International Series in Operations Research & Management Science) by Rahul Saxena and Anand Srinivasan. Saxhena is a practitioner at Cisco. They decribe…
From Putting People First
Big Data and personal data for behavioral analysis and behavioral change
In a broader article on Big Data and privacy, the New York Times writes about the work of Alex Pentland, a computational social scientist, director of the Human Dynamics Lab at the M.I.T., and academic adviser to the World Economic…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Videolocators Case Study
Some time ago I mentioned the Videolocators startup. Which uses some intriguing SEO methods. Ed Burns, their CEO sends along a case study of the service which " ... serves two groups – those who need help finding lost family…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Lockheed and Quantum Computing
Have followed quantum computing here for specialized problem solving for some time. Here a GigaOM article with more detail about how Lockheed-Martin is using the technology. And more from this blog about the topic.
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
“Making the Most of Big Data”
As we enter the second year of the Federal “Big Data Initiative,” the Administration is encouraging multiple stakeholders to develop and participate in Big Data innovation projects across the country. Later this year, the Office…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Petroleum Geology
Reading for data analysis background: Nontechnical Guide to Petroleum Geology, Exploration, Drilling & Production, 3rd Ed. by Norman J. Hyne (Mar 31, 2012)Very readable, for introduction to terms used in this industry.
From Schneier on Security
Friday Squid Blogging: Giant Squid Genetics
Despite looking very different from each other and being distributed across the world's oceans, all giant squid are the same species. There's also not a lot of genetic diversity.
As usual, you can also use this squid post to…From Schneier on Security
Changes to the Blog
I have made a few changes to my blog that I'd like to talk about.
The first is the various buttons associated with each post: a Facebook Like button, a Retweet button, and so on. These buttons are ubiquitous on the Internet…From Wild WebMink
Reader Reminder
My Infoworld Open Sources article for this week is now live. It takes the demise of Google Reader as a reminder that without open source software processing open standards, we have no freedom to “rehost and carry on”.
From Computer Science Teachers Association
Why am I Running for the CSTA Board?
Who am I and why am I running for the CSTA Board? I am someone who is deeply committed to computer science education. As an educator, as a software professional, and as someone who sees himself as a computer science education…
From Putting People First
She’s not talking about it, but Siri is plotting world domination
Apple has a vision of a future in which the disembodied voice of Siri is your constant companion. It goes something like this: You arrive home at the end of a long day and plop down on the couch. A beer in one hand, your phone…
From Putting People First
The next wave in branding: merging experiences across markets
It’s time to start thinking strategically about designing user experiences for interconnected ecosystems like health care, argues frog’s Fabio Sergio. “Within [massive inter-connected service ecosystems such as education, finance…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Wal-Mart Expands Smartphone Checkout
It is reported that Wal-Mart will expand its test of using smartphones for in-aisle checkout. The system they are using is Scan & Go, delivered as an App for popular smartphones. The idea is becoming more popular and being…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Google Keep vs Evernote
A comparison of newly available of Google Keep, and well known note taking system Evernote. Have used Evernote for years. In recent weeks I have been helping a client understand the issues behind mobile information gathering…
From Schneier on Security
FBI Secretly Spying on Cloud Computer Users
Both Google and Microsoft have admitted it. Presumably every other major cloud service provider is getting these National Security Letters as well…
From My Biased Coin
Harvard in the NCAA Tournament
Thank goodness it's Harvard's vacation week.Otherwise, the rioting would have been unbearable.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Innovative Supply Chain Solutions
In SCDigest: An exploration of the 'pain to gain ration', of various supply chain innovations. Well done. I did such an analysis a few years ago. I love the term too, there are always costs thus pains involved to make innovation…