Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
March 2014
From The Eponymous Pickle
Microsoft Word on ipad
I have been using the iPad for a note taking and consulting tool for some time now. With Evernote as an organization tool. This has been a problem at times when I needed to create or utilize existing MS Word documents on the…
From Apophenia
Parentology: The first parenting book I actually liked
As a researcher and parent, I quickly learned that I have no patience for parenting books. When I got pregnant, I started trying to read parenting books and I threw more than my fair share of them across the room. I either get…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Shelf Eye Tracking
In Progressive Grocer: Report on how people interact with grocery shelves. We always knew it was more than just about having the eye level shelf. Its about category too. And other aspects of shopper behavior
From BLOG@CACM
Programming Languages Are the Most Powerful, and Least Usable and Learnable User Interfaces
Programming languages are amazing, but too hard to use and learn.
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Big Names form Consortium to Improve the Integration of the Physical and Data Worlds
As reported in today’s New York Times, the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) announced their formation today as an open membership group to further the development, adoption and widespread use of interconnected devices, intelligent…
From Schneier on Security
NSA Hacks Huawei
Both Der Spiegel and the New York Times are reporting that the NSA has hacked Huawei pretty extensively, getting copies of the company's products' source code and most of the e-mail from the company. Aside from being a pretty…
From Schneier on Security
Password Hashing Competition
There's a private competition to identify new password hashing schemes. Submissions are due at the end of the month....
From The Eponymous Pickle
Modernizing Manufacturing Economy
Via Lisa Kaczmarczyk. How can networks help modernize a manufacturing economy? A look at changing manufacturing economy in NE Ohio.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Big Data for Better Design via Simulation
Intriguing view from IBM. I further like the idea of using data and then creating simulations, perhaps more commonly called emulations, based on that data gathered. That can then provide a method to test out alternative designs…
From Schneier on Security
Smarter People are More Trusting
Interesting research. Both vocabulary and question comprehension were positively correlated with generalized trust. Those with the highest vocab scores were 34 percent more likely to trust others than those with the lowest scores…
From Schneier on Security
Giant Squid as an Omen
An omen of what? An increase in the number of giant squid being caught along the Sea of Japan coast is leading puzzled fishermen to fear their presence may be some kind of 'omen' -- although experts think the invertebrate are…
From Wild WebMink
Parody Finally Made Legal In UK
Originally posted on Meshed Insights & Knowledge:Draft regulations have been published in Britain that will finally end the anomaly where quotation, parody, caricature and pastiche are considered breaches of copyright. If approved…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Computer Science Tops the List of Degrees with Highest Return
On March 26, Derek Thompson of The Atlantic published an article titled Which College – and Which Major – Will Make You Richest? The article provides the full methodology and explanations of the study done by PayScale. What…
From Schneier on Security
Geolocating Twitter Users
Interesting research into figuring out where Twitter users are located, based on similar tweets from other users: While geotags are the most definitive location information a tweet can have, tweets can also have plenty more salient…
From Computational Complexity
Should We Have a TCS Ethics Board?
We sometimes hear of the (rare) scientist who fakes data or results of experiments. In theoretical computer science one cannot fake a theorem, particularly an important result that will attract close scrutiny before publication…
From Schneier on Security
Chilean Drug Trafficker Pencil-and-Paper Code
Interesting....
From Schneier on Security
Automatic Face-Recognition Software Getting Better
Facebook has developed a face-recognition system that works almost as well as the human brain: Asked whether two unfamiliar photos of faces show the same person, a human being will get it right 97.53 percent of the time. New…
From Schneier on Security
New Book on Data and Power
I'm writing a new book, with the tentative title of Data and Power. While it's obvious that the proliferation of data affects power, it's less clear how it does so. Corporations are collecting vast dossiers on our activities…
From Wild WebMink
Crowdsource vs Open Source
Originally posted on Meshed Insights & Knowledge:The acquisition of virtual reality company Oculus Rift by Facebook was announced this week to mixed reactions. Most negative were those who had enabled the VR goggles to be created…
From Computer Science Teachers Association
CSTA Georgia-Alabama Reception at SIGCSE
On March 7, 2014, after a long day at SIGCSE, the members of the Georgia and Alabama chapters of the CSTA got together for some collaboration and conversation.
CSTA-Georgia Vice-President, Deepa Muralidhar, thought it would…From The Eponymous Pickle
Considering an Enterprise of Things
Enterprise of Things. A natural organization. Had not thought of it in this way before. But it is a natural next step. It is likely that the enterprises will invest in this to create tailored experiences and benefits to"…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Cyber-Physical Systems Program Webinar
NSF is holding a webinar on Thursday, April 3, 2014 – 2:30 pm EDT to share information about the recently released solicitation, Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS). Please register here by 11:59pm EDT on Wednesday, April 2, 2014. …
From Schneier on Security
An Open Letter to IBM's Open Letter
Last week, IBM published an "open letter" about "government access to data," where it tried to assure its customers that it's not handing everything over to the NSA. Unfortunately, the letter (quoted in part below) leaves open…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Giant Vending
We experimented with the concept of 'giant' vending machines and how our products could be presented there. An example of their use for replacing local stores. Well known as part of a broader infrastructure in Japan. Now…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Building a Learning Organization
Learning is often poorly executed in the organization. It is assumed that the memory of people will be sufficient to act as a corporate memory. Yet people forget, or move. So this is often inadequate. In particular what is…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Reducing Costs vs Agility
A common problem in IT projects. A view from CIO Insight. Which summarizes a broader document. " ... Not only should governance help determine whether a process or system should be standardized, but it should also provide…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Why Big Data Innovation is Interesting to Execs
Interesting comments on Big Data and innovation. The provocative thought is often repeated: " ... Big data’s appeal to executives is obvious because it predicts how every action or initiative will turn out based on what has…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Data-Driven Operations Research Analyses in the Public Sector
From University of Cincinnati Operations, Business Analytics, and Information Systems (OBAIS) department at the Lindner College of Business (LCB). Please reply to [email protected] to add / modify / delete addresses in this distribution…
From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
USACM Supports Creation of a New Public Interest Trade Advisory Committee
USACM today strongly supported the creation of a new Public Interest Trade Advisory Committee in its comments submitted to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). The Public Interest Trade Advisory Committee…
From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
New Report on Third-Party Video Captioning and U.S. Copyright Law
G3ict yesterday released a white paper, authored by Colorado Law Professor Blake Reid, on third-party captioning of video programming and the legal uncertainties arising from conflicts between accessibility laws and regulations…