Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
April 2012
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
More on the White House
At an
From Schneier on Security
Disguising Tor Traffic as Skype Video Calls
One of the problems with Tor traffic is that it can de detected and blocked. Here's SkypeMorph, a clever system that disguises Tor traffic as Skype video traffic.
To prevent the Tor traffic from being recognized by anyone analyzing…From Wild WebMink
Open Source And Cut-Throat Competition
If your perception of open source is that it’s all about volunteers and hobbyists working selflessly for the betterment of humanity, the cloud computing market today will be shattering your illusions. I explain more in my article…
From Wild WebMink
Speculating About Microsoft
Microsoft just launched a new subsidiary to interact with open source communities. I’ve seen plenty of “what they did” reporting but so far no “why”. My (highly speculative) offering is intended to catalyse some real answers.…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Business Value of Mobile for the Small and Medium Size Business
Good post with statistics for using with the Small and Medium Size Business. " .... What are SMBs top business challenges, and how well do mobile solutions help them meet these challenges? Interestingly, that depends on whether…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Facebook and Human Behavior
Interesting view of how Facebook is being used as a means of understanding why people do what they do. Intriguing, but I wonder how well it works in an artificial environment. But the richness in so much data can lead to new…
From My Biased Coin
Congratulations to Radhika Nagpal
I'm very, very happy to report that Radhika Nagpal has been offered tenure at Harvard.Radhika works in several areas, including biologically inspired multi-agent systems, which covers such areas as modular and swarm robotics; …
From Wild WebMink
New Travel Blog
If you aren’t following my new travel blog, do give it a try!
From The Eponymous Pickle
Pinterest Guide for Marketers
I have been exploring this for use as an image-oriented story-telling communications platform. Here is a good introductory guide for marketers.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Visible Supply Chain
The topic of how to make a supply chain visible as possible has been examined many times. As far back as the 70s we experimented with the topic using call-in reporting methods. In the 90s we started to experiment with GPS.…
From Schneier on Security
Bomb Threats As a Denial-of-Service Attack
The University of Pittsburgh has been the recipient of 50 bomb threats in the past two months (over 30 during the last week). Each time, the university evacuates the threatened building, searches it top to bottom -- one of the…
From Geeking with Greg
More quick links
More of what has caught my attention recently:
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Regina Dugan
Recently-departed Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Director Regina Dugan gave a “breathtaking” TEDTalk at the 2012 TED Conference
From Computational Complexity
Unique Golf Winners
In the Masters Golf Tournament held last weekend there were 55 players who had a final score between 10 under par and 9 above. By the pigeonhole principle one would expect many players to have the same score and in particular…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Marketing in a Gaming World
Gaming continues to be a hot topic. It can get people's attention like a good ad can. But I have seen it better applied to applications where it is meant to get people to do things that they would not otherwise do. Competition…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
AFOSR Seeking
The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) has announced a new basic research initiative seeking
From Schneier on Security
Brian Snow on Cybersecurity
Interesting video of Brian Snow speaking from last November. (Brian used to be the Technical Director of NSA's Information Assurance Directorate.) About a year and a half ago, I complained that his words were being used to…
From Wild WebMink
Rediscovering History
Reblogged from The Global Mink: Spending as much time travelling as I do, one of the things that strikes me is how differently we all view history. For example, a favourite
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Recognizing Teachers Who Recruit Women and Girls into STEM
The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology has opened nominations for the A. Richard Newton Educator Award to recognize educators who engage in new, innovative and successful practices and programs to attract more women…
From Putting People First
Designing for touch
Fingers and thumbs turn desktop conventions on their head. Interaction designer Josh Clark explains what you need to keep in mind when designing for mobile touchscreens and compares finger-friendly touch interfaces for iPhone…
From Putting People First
Boston Citizens Connect
With its Citizens Connect app, Boston is showing how to use technology to empower citizens and involve them in the inner workings of the city. Hana Schank reports on FastCo.Exist. “Some cities seem to take an approach to digital…
From Schneier on Security
"Raise the Crime Rate"
I read this a couple of months ago, and I'm still not sure what I think about it. It's definitely of the most thought-provoking essays I've read this year.
According to government statistics, Americans are safer today thanWhen…From The Eponymous Pickle
Scan Now Ship Later
A new way to shop. In particular, how will this change how images and displays are constructed and positioned? Not new, but rapidly growing.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Wireless Expense Management: Bill Police
I have been asked to look at the wireless expense management company Bill Police. So far this looks to be a good solution to the problem of increasing communications costs. Continuing a look at enterprise applicability. …
From The Eponymous Pickle
Thwarting Showrooming
In the WSJ: I have been asked to look at 'showrooming', where a shopper uses a retailer to touch and view items and then buys them online or elsewhere for lower cost. A growing concern of physical retailers. The complete…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
DARPA Unveils Robotics Grand Challenge
The
From Schneier on Security
A Heathrow Airport Story about Trousers
Usually I don't bother posting random stories about dumb or inconsistent airport security measures. But this one is particularly interesting:
"Sir, your trousers.""Pardon?"
"Sir, please take your trousers off."
A pause.
…From The Eponymous Pickle
New Online University
A startup seeks to deliver an elite online University. Project Minerva. " ... "The only way we're going to find out what works is to do it, rather than sit there opining," said David Wiley, an associate professor of instructional…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Strategic Planning for the NIH Common Fund
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has scheduled two
From Putting People First
Videos from Technology Frontiers, an event by The Economist Group
Over 250 business leaders from across Europe descended on London’s Inmarsat Conference Centre for Technology Frontiers, two days of thought provoking sessions and networking. Led by The Economist