Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
July 2011
From The Eponymous Pickle
Perception is Everything
In Fastcompany: Increasing the size of your fork will make you eat less. An interesting study in psychological perception.
From Wild WebMink
links for 2011-07-15
Why PROTECT IP Will Fail: Cultural Acceptance, Not Fear Of Punishment, Makes People Abide By Laws | Techdirt The key lesson from prohibition, ignored by policy hawks, is that "it is cultural acceptance of legal norms, not fear…
From Schneier on Security
Degree Plans of the Future
You can now get a Master of Science in Strategic Studies in Weapons of Mass Destruction. Well, maybe you can't:
"It's not going to be open enrollment (or) traditional students," Giever said. "You worry about whether you might…From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Worldwide Telescope Tour Contest
Have you explored outer space using the WorldWide Telescope? Do you have a favorite tour of space that you share with friends. Now you can share your tours of the universe with 8 million+ people. From now until September 1, 2011…
From Schneier on Security
My Next Book Title: Liars and Outliers
Thank you for all your comments and suggestions regarding my next book title. It will be:
Liars and Outliers: How Security Holds Society Together
We're still deciding on a cover, but it won't be any of the five from…From The Female Perspective of Computer Science
How Important is Interactive Storytelling in Educational Games?
Story in games. Something we seem to be trying for, but continue to struggle with. Perhaps it's even worse for educational games: we are told that narrative engages learners and helps to situate content, but it's not clearBooks…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Free Mentions Here!
Want an idea, software, book or direction reviewed here? Send it to me. Send books in pre-release PDF if you like. My address is in the left hand column. This blog is seen by many in enterprises large and small. Read…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Google+ and Psych of Group Membership
This Harvard blog post reminded me of both the psych of George Simmel and my favorite quote from Groucho Marx. I had forgotten Simmel's work but remembered Groucho's very well. Good thoughts about how this all relates to membership…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Twitter and Health Trends
via Stan Dyck an item on the use of Twitter to determine health trends. I mentioned before we delivered a related effort using over the counter drug sales to mine for epidemic and bioterror trends.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Biocompatible Electronics
From NCSU, what appears to be a considerable advance for in-body sensor and computing devices. Add nano miniaturization and remote control and wireless interaction, this could lead to considerable diagnostic and actuation devices…
From Computational Complexity
A slightly diff take on Liptons use or Ramsey's Theorem
This post takes an idea of Dick Lipton's in a slightly different direction.
ω(G) is the size of max clique in G.
Recall that, for all 0 < δ1 < δ2 < 1, the following problem is NP-hard: Given a graph G with the PROMISEδ…From Schneier on Security
Physical Key Escrow
This creates far more security risks than it solves:
The city council in Cedar Falls, Iowa has absolutely crossed the line. They voted 6-1 in favor of expanding the use of lock boxes on commercial property. Property owners would…From Wild WebMink
? Out Of Tune With Community
The first release of the contributor agreements created by Project Harmony were published last Monday. I participated in the Project, but I don’t endorse it. Find out why over on ComputerWorldUK.
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
CS & IT 2011 Day 3
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From The Eponymous Pickle
Dark Side of the Ad Universe
My former colleague Ted McConnell, now with the ARF, very asute in digital advertising, writes on The Dark Matter of the Online Ad Universe: What Happens When Media Weight Does the Opposite of What We Expect? How do Ads hurt…
From Putting People First
UX and the design of news at BBC World Service
Tammy Gur, Head of Design, BBC World Service Future Media, explains the work of the BBC’s user experience and design team which designs and develops news sites for the web and mobile devices in 27 languages, catering for audiences…
From Putting People First
A wearable wristband to track health, fight obesity
Jawbone announces Up, a wearable wristband to track health, fight obesity. A combination of a sensor-infused wristband and a smartphone app will provide nudges for healthier living, based on your behavior. “Just an hour ago on…
From Putting People First
Why UX practitioners should join the Government 2.0 movement
One of the most important relationships people have is with government. Cyd Harrell explores what this means for the user experience community. “One of the most important relationships people have is with government. Whether…
From Putting People First
New handset, new life
The Mobile Work Life Project is a Ryerson university-based research project funded by the Canadian Social Science and Humanities Research Council. Its aim is to add to our current understanding of the now-ubiquitous use of mobile…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Trends in the Mobile Gaming Industry and Serious Games
In Mashable: These trends are mostly about mobile gaming for entertainment, but I watch these trends for their potential applications beyond the 'angry avians' places. I am struck by the increasing ability to do serious things…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Accidental Creative
Heard Todd Henry talk a few weeks ago about creativity and noted that his book The Accidental Creative was being launched. It's out now and here is a book launch update. In the midst of reading it, and it matches well with…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
CS & IT 2011 Day 2
Wow! The day started off with a bang. Doug Rushkoff, who wrote Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age , was the opening keynote. Agree or disagree with what he says he was a dynamic speaker. I think most of …
From The Eponymous Pickle
Tube Free TP Tested
This has been tested before. And I recall there were cost, shipping and quality issues, and a decrease in total paper waste was not necessarily there. Yet it is well worth another look: " ... Kimberly-Clark is testing its new…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
An Alternative to Science Funding?
Crowds are common at rock concerts, basketball games, and scientific research proposals. Wait — what? In The New York Times this week, there’s an interesting story about scientists looking for funding in creative ways: As research…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Visually Does Infographics
ReadWriteWeb on a new startup called Visual.ly Which makes it easy to create data representations and infographics. Also share designs socially in a community. As I have mentioned here previously I am suspicious of infographics…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Examples of Text Analytics
Good piece in SASCom blog. Three good examples of text analytics in an upcoming Webinar. We practiced related goals since the 70s, when the data was loaded from mag tape reels. Unstructured data remains very important to…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Gmail Provides Contact information
I have many contacts, and it is particularly difficult to remember all of their information, especially when we have not connected for a while. This always led me to do a time consuming followup search. Now Gmail has added…
From Schneier on Security
Interview with Evgeny Kaspersky
From The Eponymous Pickle
Domain-Specific Language (DSL)
Admit I had not heard of this concept, nicely outlined and detailed in the CACM. Mistaking it for the phone line communication protocol. But it means something different here: " ... One of the main reasons why software projects…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Other Things People are Doing
ReadwriteWeb reports on studies about other things people are doing at the same time they are using mobile devices. Beyond just driving. The sometimes danger of course. But further some interesting implications for an increasingly…