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 The Eponymous Pickle
What Does Data Gate Mean for Marketers?
In Ad Age: Insightful, thinking now how about the interaction of privacy and big data. Are the algorithms involved also privacy sensitive? " ... In addition to all the questions it's raised about privacy expectations and…
From Schneier on Security
The US Uses Vulnerability Data for Offensive Purposes
Companies allow US intelligence to exploit vulnerabilities before it patches them:
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), the world's largest software company, provides intelligence agencies with information about bugs in its popular software…From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Two Sides: APCS Principles
Last week there was an announcement of a multi-year $5.2 million grant from the NSF to fund creation of a new Advanced Placement Computer Science course called (working title at least) AP CS Principles. This is based on the work…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Two Sides: Putting Industry Professionals in the Classroom
Mark Guzdial is one of the people I most respect in the area of computer science education so when he says something is good or bad I tend to take it very seriously. Not that I always agree but I have to think long and hard about…
From Putting People First
Book: Trust is a Choice
Trust is a Choice – Prolegomena of Anthropology of Trust(s) by Stephanie A. Krawinkler 189 pages, 2013 Carl-Auer Verlag (Publisher) [Amazon link] [Extract] Trust is a universal but culture-bound phenomenon and a critical success…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Take Our Quick Survey
We invite you to take a few minutes to complete a brief survey by the Computing Research Association (CRA). Your feedback is important to us and helps improve our communications. The survey deadline is Monday, July 1. If you…
From Schneier on Security
Petition the NSA to Subject its Surveillance Program to Public Comment
I have signed a petition calling on the NSA to "suspend its domestic surveillance program pending public comment." This is what's going on:
In a request today to National Security Agency director Keith Alexander and Defense…From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
USACM Notes Technology In Letter to Voting Commission
On Friday the Presidential Commission on Election Administration, established earlier this year by Executive Order, will hold its first public meeting in Washington, D.C. As part of the public comment period prior to the meeting…
From The Eponymous Pickle
CPG Growing With Innovation
Short piece on the use of innovation and digital marketing to improve CPG sales. " ... A new report by the GMA and PwC found that despite lagging sales in 2012, 2013 is proving to be a lucrative year for food, beverage and…
From Schneier on Security
Finding Sociopaths on Facebook
On his blog, Scott Adams suggests that it might be possible to identify sociopaths based on their interactions on social media.
My hypothesis is that science will someday be able to identify sociopaths and terrorists by their…From BLOG@CACM
Twitter Coverage of the ACM Awards
An aggregation of tweets I posted during the ACM Awards ceremony in San Francisco on June 15.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Managing Creative People
In Fastcompany. Good view. Frequently an issue. Especially if the people involved do not have the very best people skills. How many of us do. Individual creativity still exists and can produce real value.
From The Eponymous Pickle
GE and Industrial Data in the Cloud
In CWorld: " ... GE thinks it's time to put industrial data in the cloud. The company is introducing a platform for collecting and analyzing data from industrial gear ... Internet tools are just starting to be applied to industrial…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Fake Shops
In our innovation labs we experimented with using false front displays to set contexts for consumers in a laboratory. Interesting and obvious idea, but the coverings tend to be much more permanent than expected. Stifling innovative…
From Schneier on Security
Cost/Benefit Questions NSA Surveillance
John Mueller and Mark Stewart ask the important questions about the NSA surveillance programs: why were they secret, what have they accomplished, and what do they cost?
This essay attempts to figure out if they accomplishedthis…From Wild WebMink
Brazil’s Half-Miracle
On all the social media networks, there’s a hashtag that I have kept seeing the last few days: #ChangeBrazil, associated with unrest across Brazil. Since I may be going there soon for the huge FISL open source conference, I…
From Putting People First
Service design in the physical space and why it makes sense to design for a minority
The physical environment in which a service plays out has a significant influence on the experience of a service. So it’s not uncommon for service design projects to take the physical environment into account. In a recent project…
From Putting People First
New Ericsson report on needs of today’s smartphone and mobile internet users
A new Ericsson ConsumerLab report, Unlocking Consumer Value, identifies the needs of today’s smartphone and mobile internet users. “The rapid uptake of smartphones and other connected devices has transformed the mobile broadband…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Smaller Tablets
Looking a several projects that aim to deliver information to small executive groups. Mobile is esential. The question is what are the likely formats of the tablets being used in the next 18 months? Applications includeNow…
From Wild WebMink
Porn Summit Actively Harmful
The government clearly wishes to be seen to be doing something about the issues of children viewing pornography and of child pornography. To this end they have called a summit, to be chaired by Culture Secretary Maria Miller…
From Schneier on Security
Details of NSA Data Requests from US Corporations
Facebook (here), Apple (here), and Yahoo (here) have all released details of US government requests for data. They each say that they've turned over user data for about 10,000 people, although the time frames are different.much…
From The Female Perspective of Computer Science
Why Game Designers Should Understand Procedural Rhetoric
I am sometimes asked why I think stories in games need to improve. Considering I'm studying nonlinear stories in games for my PhD project, I was for a long time unsatisfied with my answer. But I finally figured out what myElizabeth…
From The Eponymous Pickle
DunnHumby Buys Standard Analytics
Just announced. A further indication of movement of more data gathering and integrating companies moving towards the use of stronger predictive analytics. " ... Dunnhumby said the acquisition would allow it to offer clients…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Sandra Hughes Coaching Strategies
Former colleague Sandra Hughes, For a time chief privacy office of Procter & Gamble, has just set up a blog: Sandra Hughes Strategies. Check it out. She does consulting and life coaching. She writes: " ... I am a consultant…
From Schneier on Security
NSA Secrecy and Personal Privacy
In an excellent essay about privacy and secrecy, law professor Daniel Solove makes an important point. There are two types of NSA secrecy being discussed. It's easy to confuse them, but they're very different.
Of course, if…From The Eponymous Pickle
Data and Analytics Need Stories
In Fast Company: Stories simplify, integrate complex things into an understandable thread, engage. That includes data and analytics, but is not often done well. " ... Speaking to us backstage at SapientNitro’s iEX conference…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Weave Data Visualization into Your Business
Excellent overview piece on the topic, which makes the point that the business process must be woven into the quantifications and visuals, a favorite topic of mine. The author discusses the various transformation your business…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Communicating Data
In the HBR: Data needs to be gathered, understood, communicated and embedded in the decision process. You need quant people to make this happen. This article makes these points and more. In the process of several such projects…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Presentations from the Symposium on Visions of the Theory of Computing
The Computing Community Consortium (CCC) sponsored the Simons Institute Symposium on Visions of the Theory of Computing. The three-day symposium brought together distinguished speakers and participants from the Bay Area and…
From Schneier on Security
Evidence that the NSA Is Storing Voice Content, Not Just Metadata
Interesting speculation that the NSA is storing everyone's phone calls, and not just metadata. Definitely worth reading.
I expressed skepticism about this just a month ago. My assumption had always been that everyone's compressed…