Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
July 2010
From The Eponymous Pickle
Cyberwar Overhyped
Well known security analyst and writer Bruce Schneier writes that the idea of cyberwar has been greatly overhyped.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Eyeglass Mounted Augmented Reality
The idea of having visuals presented on eyeglasses is not new. I have mentioned here a number of examples of our maintenance applications that used this idea. Here is a new example. Having something like this approach, rather…
From Computational Complexity
Conflicts of Interest
a conflict-of-interest? Some thoughts.
Thought One
PROF: I can't vote on Professor X's Full Prof case since I have a conflict.
CHAIRMAN: (There are not that many Full Profs around so he is concerned about having a…
From Schneier on Security
Surveillance and Morality
"Does Surveillance Make Us Morally Better?":
Conclusion The upshot of these reflections is that the relation between surveillance and moral edification is complicated. In some contexts, surveillance helps keep us on track and…From The Eponymous Pickle
Shared Services
A Baseline article on Shared Services Organizations at Procter & Gamble. Have seen little written about these and how they are run. I was a member of one at P&G, and this rings true as an introduction. Though it does not detail…
From Putting People First
Video interviews with Dan Ariely and Clay Shirky
Big Think is an online think tank, founded in 2007, that presents video interviews with major intellectuals from a wide range of fields. Recent interviews that caught my attention are with Dan Ariely and Clay Shirky. Dan Ariely…
From Putting People First
Towards a read/write urbanism
Adam Greenfield, Nokia
From Putting People First
Sensemaking
Jon Kolko was one of the speakers yesterday at the Design Research Society conference in Montreal, Canada. His presentation addressed Sensemaking – the manner in which we make meaning during the design process, and arrive at…
From The Eponymous Pickle
MRI Scanning Worlds
This article in Mind Hacks hit home, last year I experienced an MRI scan myself. For medical and not for marketing purposes. It was an other worldly, claustrophobic experience. My brain was working overtime as the magnets drummed…
From The Noisy Channel
Paul Adams
This presentation by Paul Adams, lead for User Research for Social at Google, has been making the rounds in the blogosphere. It’s long (over 200 slides!) but well worth the time to read it, even if you’re already familiar with…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Comfortable Biosensors
In Kruzweil: EEG Biosensors that are comfortable enough to wear all the time. This could lead to many more analyses of 'base' conditions for neuromarketing studies.
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Visual Programming Languages
There seem to be a growing number of visual programming languages available these days. Kodu (below) is for creating games by younger people. It
From The Eponymous Pickle
Bluespring Software Delivers Business Processes
I had a very informative meeting with Bluespring Software today. A very impressive company which uses Visio and Office to deliver business process modeling via simulation methods. My grad school training and early enterprise…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Unilever Ice Cream Smile Machine
In StoreFrontBackTalk: " ... Even for an ice cream story, you can
From The Eponymous Pickle
Frontiers of Collaboration
Detailed piece that is interesting, but a tough thing to predict:In Knowledge@Wharton: Frontier of Collaboration:The Evolution of Social Networking Social networking tools such as Twitter and the emerging Google Wave web application…
From The Female Perspective of Computer Science
Negative Social Stereotypes and Deep Learning
The next chapter to cover in my series of reflections on Ken Bain's What the Best College Teachers Do (started here and here) is on what teachers expect of their students. The opening story for this chapter should resonate"Look…
From Schneier on Security
The Threat of Cyberwar Has Been Grossly Exaggerated
There's a power struggle going on in the U.S. government right now.
It's about who is in charge of cyber security, and how much control the government will exert over civilian networks. And by beating the drums of war, the military…From Putting People First
Habitar
Today I received the catalogue of the Habitar exhibition, organised by LABoral Art and Industrial Creation Centre, an exhibition centre for art, science, technology and advanced visual industries in Asturias, Spain, and curated…
From Schneier on Security
"Don't Commit Crime"
This sign is from a gas station in the U.K.
My first reaction was to laugh, but then I started thinking about it. We know that signs like "No Shoplifting" reduce shoplifting in the area around the sign, but those are warnings…From Computational Complexity
Drowning in Data
At a CCC Council meeting last week, a common theme emerged. The Army is "swimming with sensors and drowning in data". Biologists are considering trashing some of the DNA sequences they have already acquired because it will likely…
From Wild WebMink
? Join Me At Open World Forum
The conference landscape evolves constantly. Old events pass away, new ones arrive and it’s good to get pointers to know what’s worthwhile. I can recommend this year’s Open World Forum, happening in Paris on September 30 and…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Lego Robotics
Learing the scientific method through Lego Robotics. Making the point that simple rules can lead to complex behavior. Now when shown complex behavior can we determine the simple rules?
From Wild WebMink
links for 2010-07-07
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From The Eponymous Pickle
Gas vs Stamps vs CPI
MJ Perry does a good job of comparing the US price of postage stamps, vs Gasoline, versus the Consumer Price Index. Very telling about the increasing lack of efficiency in the USPS. As he suggests, there are no clear market…
From The Noisy Channel
Beyond Social Currency
A research study I like enough to have blogged about it a few times is Princeton sociologist
From The Eponymous Pickle
Layers for Foursquare
FourSquare has introduced a layer concept that will allow you to view physical map spaces through a number of outside sources of information. More examples at the link. Not new ... in Google Maps for example you can choose…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Data Shaping Store Shelves
Good overview article in a local paper about how companies are using advanced technologies to understand the shopping progress. With frequent mention of P&G. Yes, increasing amounts of data are being captured, now its a bigger…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
At the Interface between Computer Science and Economics
NSF/CISE has just announced a new program at the Interface between Computer Science and Economics & Social Science (ICES): Computational thinking has the potential to change the types of questions considered by social and economic…
From Computer Science Teachers Association
CS Going Mobile?
I recently ran across some statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau that I found interesting.
By 2008, the number of text messages sent on cell phones (357 per month, on average) exceeded the number of phone calls made (204 …From The Eponymous Pickle
Writing for IPhone and Android
Good introductory CWorld piece on writing Apps for multiple mobile smartphone platforms. I have talked to friends who have done both and there is lots of support out there. Given the volatility of the phone market it is an immediate…