Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
June 2013
From Schneier on Security
Security and Human Behavior (SHB 2013)
I'm at the Sixth Interdisciplinary Workshop on Security and Human Behavior (SHB 2013). This year we're in Los Angeles, at USC -- hosted by CREATE.
My description from last year still applies:
SHB is an invitational gathering…From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
How To Video: Hello World in TouchDevelop
I’ve decided that a tool as visual and touch enabled as TouchDevelop lends itself to video instructions more than text based ones even with a lot of pictures. So here now is “Hello World” TouchDevelop style in a video.
From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
White House Task Force on High-Tech Patent Issues: Legislative Priorities and Executive Actions
The White House today released a report on the impact of patent trolls on innovation and announced five executive actions the USPTO and the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator will take to address perceived problems…
From Computer Science Teachers Association
The Challenge of Teaching Computer Science (in Brazil)
I just got back from a week in Brazil. My Portuguese isn't very good (I need to take a Portuguese word, figure out its Spanish equivalent, and then try to translate that word to French -- any many in Brazil speak quicker than…
From The Eponymous Pickle
On Exiting Unprofitable Businesses
In the HBR: A video. This is fundamental. I would further ask: How can your predict when a business is declining fundamentally? " ... Rita Gunther McGrath, author of The End of Competitive Advantage, explains how to identify…
From Apophenia
Taking a vacation? Take an email sabbatical!
This post was originally written for LinkedIn; see comments there. Have you ever returned from vacation more stressed out than when you left? Is the reason because you came home to 10,000 email messages that managed to convey…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Handwashing Compliance Gamification
A good example of the use of gamification to change employee behavior. Also in this article, the use of the term 'engagement science' whose definition is obvious, but I had not heard before. " ... . It turns out that only 30…
From Schneier on Security
The Problems with CALEA-II
The FBI wants a new law that will make it easier to wiretap the Internet. Although its claim is that the new law will only maintain the status quo, it's really much worse than that. This law will result in less-secure Internet…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Wearable Existance
Thad Starner, wearable computing pioneer, who we talked to regarding wearable computing in manufacturing settings, his comments on the emergence of wearable computing via Google Glass in Technology Review. This is an idea that…
From The Eponymous Pickle
COBOL is still here
The early programming language COBOL is still here and used in many key systems. I was last informed of that twenty years ago during an audit of important systems. A reminder that things have not changed greatly in a large…
From Computational Complexity
STOC is Burning
Bill and I are in Palo Alto this week for the co-located meetings of STOC and Complexity. In a new ACM policy, the STOC 2013 papers are freely downloadable by all for the next month. Check out the best papers and best student…
From Schneier on Security
The Security Risks of Unregulated Google Search
Someday I need to write an essay on the security risks of secret algorithms that become part of our infrastructure. This paper gives one example of that. Could Google tip an election by manipulating what comes up from search…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Side by Side Programming Language Comparisons
For fun this week I am working on a side by side programming language reference for Alice 3.1, C#, Scratch 2.0, TouchDevelop, Small Basic and Visual Basic. Keeping it simple. Variable and array declarations, Assignment statements…
From Putting People First
Without opt in, Google Glass will generate hostility
“Google and friends should not be trying to make these things acceptable in polite society,” writes Roger Kay in Forbes. “If they persist, they can expect a wave of hostility the likes of which they have perhaps only begun to…
From Putting People First
A beautiful kids’ book that combines interactivity with good old-fashioned text
The Jörgits and the End of Winter, an indie fantasy novel for kids nine and up, uses interactivity as a supplement to the story, not a stand-in for it, and shows how interactivity can work in a slightly more substantial text.…
From Putting People First
Understanding people core strategic goal of World Bank financial inclusion group
The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) is an independent policy and research center, affiliated with the World Bank, dedicated to advancing financial access for the world’s poor. Their next five-year strategic direction…
From Putting People First
The case for preserving the pleasure of deep reading
The deep reading of books and the information-driven reading we do on the web are very different, both in the experience they produce and in the capacities they develop, writes Annie Murphy Paul on MindShift. Recent research…
From Putting People First
Book: Rewire – Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection
Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection by Ethan Zuckerman W. W. Norton & Company, June 2013 288 pages [Amazon link] Abstract We live in an age of connection, one that is accelerated by the Internet. This increasingly…
From Daniel Lemire's Blog
Why I never give straight answers
There are some questions that you should never answer. This is true when you are facing justice, your angry wife, or students. Carl Zimmer, a famous science writer, complains about how students keep asking him homework questions…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Self Service Business Intelligence
Thoughts on the concept of self-service business intelligence. True there are many issues to think about, like the use of standards, security and efficiency. Despite all these things, there is still active value here, with…
From The Eponymous Pickle
CID Topic Analyst
Brought to my attention, and demonstrated to me today, a product called CID Topic Analyst A means to semantically analyze text and classify its structure for applications like competitive analysis.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Mobile Ads as Betrayal
In Adage: Yes, I feel this way, there is something more personal about mobile. But at the end of the day, someone has to pay.
From Computer Science Teachers Association
Maybe Centralizing Education Isn't the Best Idea
A year and a half ago, after I had returned from Costa Rica, I extolled the virtues of a centralized (i.e. national) education system. In Costa Rica, an intelligent government, could make the introduction of computer science …
From The Eponymous Pickle
ShopperTrak Buys RapidBlue
We tested Shoppertrak extensively in laboratory and live retail environments. A very simple, useful systems for in store behavior analysis. This combination is an interesting development.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Innovation as Usual: The Book
Newly brought to my attention. Unread as yet, but on the stack. Innovation as Usual: How to Help Your People Bring Great Ideas to Life Paddy Miller, Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg" ... Turn team members into innovatorsMost organizations…
From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
Hill Tech Happenings, Week of June 3
June 4 Hearing: The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee will meet to hear testimony on the security of veterans’ private data. 2:30 p.m., 334 Cannon Building June 5 Hearing: The…
From Putting People First
Crafting UX – designing the user experience beyond the interface
In large technologically-driven organizations with a broad and complex product range, establishing a user-centric approach to product design can be very challenging. The shift towards designing products and services for compelling…
From Schneier on Security
The Problems with Managing Privacy by Asking and Giving Consent
New paper from the Harvard Law Review by Daniel Solove: "Privacy Self-Management and the Consent Dilemma":
Privacy self-management takes refuge in consent. It attempts to be neutral about substance -- whether certain forms of…From My Biased Coin
NSF Reviewing Trial Run
Noam Nisan points to the NSF trying out some new rules for reviewing in its upcoming SSS program. There's a lot here to discuss. First, I'm glad to see the NSF is willing to try out some new reviewing approaches. They've been…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Interesting Links 3 June 2013
Finals start later this week. The school year is winding down and what a whirlwind it has been for me. I hit the ground running. Stumbled a bit here and there but I think we all do. Now that I am back in the groove I am looking…