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
Samsung Phone Detecting People and Objects
In Engadget: Advanced usability via sensory detection. " ... Samsung's Ultrasonic Cover: a specialized case that uses sound waves to detect people or objects (in a two-meter radius), helping users navigate new surroundings by…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Mckinsey Apps for Android Now
I see that McKinsey has set up an App for access to its publications. Here for the Android. They often have interesting documents, which I have pointed to here. The process of providing Apps for access to corporate information…
From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
NIST Cloud and Mobility Forum and Workshop on March 25-27, 2014
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will host a free NIST Cloud and Mobility Forum and Workshop on March 25-27, at its campus in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The event will include…
From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
NIST Cloud Computing Forensic Science Workshop on March 24, 2014
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a federal technology agency, will host a free Cloud Computing Forensic Science Workshop on Monday, March 24, at its campus in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Advance registration…
From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
USTR Invites Public Comments on New Public Interest Trade Advisory Committee
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is accepting public comments on the creation of a new Public Interest Trade Advisory Committee, as well as nominations for membership on the committee. The deadline for public…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Leslie Lamport Receives 2013 ACM Turing Award
The CCC congratulates Leslie Lamport from Microsoft Research on receiving the 2013 ACM Turing Award for advances in reliability and consistency of computing systems. From the Microsoft Website: The path to greatness begins with…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Pinterest Being Linked Again
Quite a long time ago I did some experiments with Pinterest for a client. I have been asked to refresh this experiment. So posts in this blog with visual components will now be selectively pinned. Let me know if you have any…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Compliance on the Shelf
I have recently have been looking at applications of compliance. The application to shelf spaces has been a long term interest, see the thread links below. Retailwire discusses the obvious, that image taking is making this easier…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Advanced Robot Locomotion
From IEEE Spectrum: A basic example of biomimicry. Are four legs required for precise and varied terrain robotic locomotion? Here a new example with quadropedic motion, and video. Impressive developments " ... In 2011,…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Billion Dollar Bracket Challenge
As you fill out your March Madness brackets, don’t miss out on your opportunity to win a billion dollars. Predicting a perfect bracket will win you $1,000,000,000 from billionaire Warren Buffet and Quicken Loans. Odds are slim…
From My Biased Coin
Leslie Lamport wins Turing Awards
In another sign that these Turing Award committees really know what they're doing, Leslie Lamport has won the Turing Award. There's a very nice writeup including the history of his work up on an official Microsoft blog post…
From Computational Complexity
Leslie Lamport wins Turing Award!
Leslie Lamport wins Turing Award! See here for more details. Leslie did work on reliability of systems and security that (according to the article) is ACTUALLY BEING USED. So Real People use his stuff. He also developed LaTeX…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Gaps in Supply Chain Talent
This came up in a conversation recently. The area is perceived as not sexy enough. Not the case, we need to work on attaching newest technology to the problems that are better defined here than in most domains.
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Does Teaching Programming Teach Grit?
Grit seems to be the latest educational buzz word these days. According to psychologist Angela Duckworth “grit is a better indicator of GPA and graduation rates. [then IQ]” What is grit? It seems loosely defined to me but perseverance…
From Putting People First
People first, technology second. It’s time for businesses to get personal
Todd McKinnon, CEO of Okta, explains in Re/Code how also in a business context a people-centric focus is increasingly essential. “In order to unlock the opportunity for “people-centric” experiences and to realize the new kinds…
From Computer Science Teachers Association
Beyond Hour of Code
That was the title I chose for a recent workshop that Vicky Sedgwick (@VisionsByVicky) and I presented at the local Computing Using Educators (CUE) Conference in California. I had meet Vicky a few months earlier at another local…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Future of Brain Implants
In the WSJ: Good piece that overviews a long running concept. " ... How soon can we expect to see brain implants for perfect memory, enhanced vision, hypernormal focus or an expert golf swing? .. Sooner than we think. How…
From My Biased Coin
ICERM (Brown) Workshop on Stochastic Graph Models
I'll be commuting throughout the week to the ICERM Workshop on Stochastic Graph Models. ICERM is the Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics, a new-ish place associated with and walking distanceEli…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Choosing the Next Big Idea
We did lots of work on portfolio analysis. There are usually no loss of interesting ideas to try to make money, with lots of advocates. But how do you choose? And how do you integrate those choices with the investments needed…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Economics as Science
In ZeroHedge: The danger of viewing economics as a science, dismal or otherwise. A somewhat rambling view but a reminder that economics can work at a micro level, but typically the same kind of model does not work at a larger…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Google to Open NYC Store
In Retailwire: Near the now iconic Apple store there. Surely also for prestige purposes. Also training? " ... Google will reportedly open its first U.S. store in New York City's trendy SoHo district, right around the corner…
From BLOG@CACM
Through A Google Glass, Darkly
I have been wearing Google Glass as both a technical assessment of utility and as a social study in human dynamics and expectations.
From The Eponymous Pickle
P&G Everyday
This was brought up me to me again, P&G Everyday, emphasizing the Olympics. Had not looked at it for for some time. Nicely done, very pictorial. Contains coupons and samples." .... P&G everyday™ is an online platform created…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Collaborative Innovation
Via colleague Louis Killeffer:" ... This week my conversation with Eliot Schreiber, Chief Operating Officer of Cloverleaf, becomes the fourteenth in a series of interviews with some of the leading practitioners in the world …
From Daniel Lemire's Blog
Should you get a PhD?
Most people like to learn, some like it more than others… and they decide to focus their life on learning. They become scholars. I think it is a mistake to pursue a Ph.D. for its own sake but it is not a mistake to pursue scholarship…
From Gödel's Lost Letter and P=NP
Happy St. Patrick’s Day 2014
A shocking story from our friendly Leprechaun Neil L. is not a computer scientist—he is a Leprechaun. He has visited me every year since I started writing GLL, always visiting on St. Patrick’s day. Today I want to report on what…
From Gödel's Lost Letter and P=NP
Happy St. Patrick’s Day 2014
A shocking story from our friendly Leprechaun Neil L. is not a computer scientist—he is a Leprechaun. He has visited me every year since I started writing GLL, always visiting on St. Patrick’s day. Today I want to report on what…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Interesting Links 17 March 2014
Apparently the groundhog was right about a long winter. At least for us in New Hampshire. Still plenty of snow on the ground here. Extra incenting to find things of interest on the Internet.
Nell Dale is one of the most popular…From Putting People First
Six ways to design humanity and localism into Smart Cities
A long post by Rick Robinson, Executive Architect at IBM specialising in emerging technologies and Smarter Cities, admonishes Smart Cities planners and designers not to overlook the social needs of cities and communities. After…
From Apophenia
TIME Magazine Op-Ed: Let Kids Run Wild Online
I wrote the following op-ed for TIME Magazine. This was published in the March 13, 2014 issue under the title “Let Kids Run Wild Online.” To my surprise and delight, the op-ed was featured on the cover of the magazine. Trapped…