Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
July 2013
From BLOG@CACM
So, Who Won The Battle Of The Brains?
And the winner of the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest is...
From BLOG@CACM
The ACM ICPC Competition Continues...
ITMO is the host of this year's ACM ICPC.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Data Completeness
One of a number of short pieces on dimensions of data quality. Here on one that is often forgotten: data completeness. Here about what I call historical completeness or variability. This relates to analytical models as well…
From BLOG@CACM
The Heat Is On
Students work together to solve complicated problems while competing at the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest.
From BLOG@CACM
Here We Go!
The ACM ICPC kicks off!
From Schneier on Security
US Department of Defense Censors Snowden Story
The US Department of Defense is blocking sites that are reporting about the Snowden documents. I presume they're not censoring sites that are smearing him personally. Note that the DoD is only blocking those sites on its own…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
CS Educator Interview: Myra Deister
Today’s computer science teacher interview is with Myra Deister from Sunny Hills High School in sunny California! As you will read Myra faces some challenges in her school. Some are more easy to overcome than others but sheCSTA…
From My Biased Coin
Nice Work If You Can Get It.
Links regarding David Petraeus's offer from CUNY to teach a course for $200,000. (Or, maybe, now $150,000. Who knows.)Gawker has a lot of info. A letter from a New York Assembyman to CUNY. Money has some nice info. Even.Here's…
From Gödel's Lost Letter and P=NP
Approximating Boolean Functions
You can fool all the functions some of the time, and some of the functions all the time, but you cannot fool all the functions all the time, or even most of the time. Eric Blais and Li-Yang Tan are both complexity theorists.…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Where Does the Internet End and the Library Begin?
Interesting panel conversation. A question that continues to evolve with the introduction of mobile abilities. The panel talks about formal libraries. But I think a strong additional argument is about the democratization of…
From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
USPTO Invites Public Comments on Reducing Online IP Infringement
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) invites public input on the effectiveness of voluntary initiatives encouraged by the Obama Administration to reduce online intellectual property infringement. The deadline for public…
From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
FCC’s Speaker Series Will Feature Clayton Lewis on Inclusive Design Online
The FCC’s Accessibility and Innovation Initiative Speaker Series will feature USACM member and accessibility expert Clayton Lewis on “The Future of Inclusive Design Online” on Tuesday, July 16, at 10 am EDT. The event is free…
From BLOG@CACM
The Lull Before the Storm
The evening before the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) World Finals.
From Schneier on Security
Security Analysis of Children
This is a really good paper describing the unique threat model of children in the home, and the sorts of security philosophies that are effective in dealing with them. Stuart Schechter, "The User IS the Enemy, and (S)he Keeps…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Linkedin Celebrity Advice
AdAge discusses this, but I had noticed it for some time. LinkedIn's use of the advice from tycoons and other 'names' to increase advertising traffic and revenue. I understand the goal, but the effect is cheapening to a professional…
From BLOG@CACM
The World's Smartest Programmers Compete: ACM ICPC
An introductory post with background on the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Recycling Kiosks
Have been a long time examiner of the kiosk in retail. Have followed Coinstar (Now called Outerwall) and integrating the Redbox kiosks. Now the company has bought a device recycling kiosk company called EcoATM. An interesting…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Mobile and CPG Awareness
Brand awareness is the top mobile ad priority of CPGsConsumer-packaged goods brands are more concerned about getter brand awareness and site traffic out of their mobile ad campaigns than mobile advertisers in other industries…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Numbers Behind Prism
Numbers Guy spins some ideas and the implications of the false positive .... as more of us are being watched, a concern for everyone. ...
From Schneier on Security
NSA E-Mail Eavesdropping
More Snowden documents analyzed by the Guardian -- two articles -- discuss how the NSA collected e-mails and data on Internet activity of both Americans and foreigners. The program might have ended in 2011, or it might haveNew…
From Putting People First
Notes on “Ambient Commons”, by Malcolm McCullough
Malcolm McCullough is one the key thinkers and writers about the intersection of the network, digital media, and the urban and architectural. Dan Hill (who will speak here in Torino on Thursday) was asked to provide a testimonial…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
CS Education Interview: Pat Yongpradit–Code.org
Pat Yongpradit has been an award winning computer science teacher at Springbrook High School for a number of years. He has taken high school teams to the national finals of Microsoft’s Imagine Cup competition where they haveCode…
From Putting People First
Urban sustainability: what will a smart city look like in the future?
By 2050 there will be five billion urbanites but, with pressure on resources and climate disruption, how will cities cope? New technology and conceptual design will be vital, says Emma Stewart, head of sustainability solutions…
From Putting People First
Four ways cities should be adapting to change
The report “State of the City: 5 Trends Impacting US Cities,” issued by Living Cities, not only provides guidance about what issues are trending but also how cities need to act so they can successfully adapt to these trends.…
From Computational Complexity
Computability in Europe
Bill and I are both in Europe this week. I'm in Milan at Computability in Europe and Bill is 500 miles away in Budapest for the Paul Erdős Centenary. The US 4th of July holiday doesn't seem to sway the the Europeans from holding…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Wal-mart vs Amazon in Online Groceries
In Knowledge @ Wharton: Very good piece on which of these retail giants are ahead in online retail, and the implications for their future. " ... Retail behemoths Walmart and Amazon are both readying major efforts to gain…
From Schneier on Security
I've Joined the EFF Board
I'm now on the board of directors of the EFF.
From Schneier on Security
How the NSA Eavesdrops on Americans
Two weeks ago, the Guardian published two new Snowden documents. These outline how the NSA's data-collection procedures allow it to collect lots of data on Americans, and how the FISA court fails to provide oversight over these…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Visual.ly Addresses Data Visualization
I followed Visual.ly for some time, and saw them as primarily a provider of infographics, which I was less than interested in. They have opened a new set of capabilities, which is more interesting. Have not looked at yet: …
From The Eponymous Pickle
Public Data Visualization Tools
A survey of data visualization tools aimed at public data. Towards the democratization of data visualization. " ... "Data visualization tool" usually means a platform to analyze your own data. But sometimes a one-stop shop…