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 Schneier on Security
DHS Puts its Head in the Sand
On the subject of the recent Washington Post Snowden document, the DHS sent this e-mail out to at least some of its employees:
From: xxxxx Sent: Thursday, July 11, 2013 10:28 AM To: xxxxx Cc: xxx Security Reps; xxx SSO; xxxx…From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
Library of Congress Legislative Data Challenge: Markup of U.S. Legislation in Akoma Ntoso
The Library of Congress invites the public to participate in its first Legislative Data Challenge. The winning solution will provide the most effective representation of four specific bills of the U.S. Congress using the international…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Computing and Communication Foundations Program Solicitation
The NSF has recently issued a new program solicitation – Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF): Core Programs. According to the solicitation, “The Division seeks advances in computing and communication theory, algorithm…
From Schneier on Security
Tapping Undersea Cables
Good article on the longstanding practice of secretly tapping undersea cables.
This is news right now because of a new Snowden document.
From The Eponymous Pickle
CPG Use of Big Data
In Progressive Grocer: A good piece on how the CPG is using Big Data. " ... Retailers and consumer packaged goods companies that are applying big data analytics to better understand consumers and adjust to their needs are…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Virtual Sandbox
Brought to my attention for a project that will require more than the usual amount of malicious software security. A virtual sandbox called Sandboxie that prevents software being run within it from altering any other parts of…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Competing Rapidly With Web Intelligence
Last month I gave a talk to a large company that is actively looking for new ways to compete. They have long been seen as a lower cost, but less innovative service provider. How does a company like this understand their competitive…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Emergence of the Smartwatch
In GigaOM: A not unexpected development. 2014 seems to be the year for broad delivery. How will this influence the more personal uses of the smartphone? Will it have commercial uses despite the yet smaller screen? In some…
From The Eponymous Pickle
ROI of Gamification
A simple but still incomplete view of the ROI of gamification. The same approach can be seen for many kinds of applications. " ... Measuring ROI is an elusive task: you have external factors that affect the results; measuring…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
CS Educator Interview: Tom Indelicato
I didn’t go far from home for this one. Tom Indelicato and I teach together at Bishop Guertin High School. Some years ago I hired him to be the fill a need for a computer science teacher. One of the best moves I’ve made. This…
From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
House Committee on Ways and Means Invites Public Submissions on President Obama’s Trade Policy Agenda
The House Committee on Ways and Means is accepting public statements for the record for Thursday’s hearing on President Obama’s trade policy agenda. The deadline for public submissions is Thursday, August 1. Thursday, July 18…
From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
House Hearing on Mens Rea in Federal Criminal Law on July 19
Friday, July 19 House Hearing on “Mens Rea: The Need for a Meaningful Intent Requirement in Federal Criminal Law” House Judiciary Committee Friday July 19, 9 a.m. Rayburn House Office Building Room 2237 A live webcast will be…
From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
Highlights from Clayton Lewis on “The Future of Inclusive Design”
At the FCC today, Computer Science Professor Clayton Lewis asserted a new paradigm for accessibility is emerging and that this paradigm may require changes to public policies related to accessibility, such as Section 508, and…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
2013 Microsoft Research Faculty Summit – OFF THE CHARTS
It’s impossible to convey how great this year’s Microsoft Research Faculty Summit has been: a “who’s who” of attendees from academia; heavy participation by top people from Microsoft Research; superb presentations on a range…
From Computational Complexity
DUMP YOUR TABLES! (the moral of my story that started with a hat problem)
Recall from my last post: PROBLEM 1: There are n people sitting on chairs in a row. Call them p1,...,pn. They will soon have HATS put on their heads, RED or BLUE. Nobody can see their own hat color. pn can see p(n-1),...,p1…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Data Virtualization
A very good overview of what is called data virtualization:" Data virtualization allows an organization to make its enterprise data easily available to business users. From a more technical standpoint, data virtualization makes…
From Schneier on Security
The Value of Breaking the Law
Interesting essay on the impossibility of being entirely lawful all the time, the balance that results from the difficulty of law enforcement, and the societal value of being able to break the law.
What's often overlooked, however…From The Eponymous Pickle
Cloud Reshaping Software Needs
In Bain & Company: How the cloud is reshaping the business of software. Very true. Some interesting statistics embedded. In my experience just this week I encountered the need to selectively transfer a large group of images…
From My Biased Coin
MS Faculty Summit Day One
Day one of the faculty summit was a great deal of fun. Primarily, I found I enjoyed catching up with people -- I saw a number of past/current collaborators, as well as many people who I enjoy talking to but don't get to see…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Recent NSF Program Solicitations
The NSF has recently issued three new program solicitations: Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC), Computer and Network Systems (CNS): Core Programs, and Information and Intelligent Systems (IIS): Core Programs. According…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Challenges and Vision Track at Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS) 2013 Conference
The following entry is a special contribution to this blog from Hamidreza Chitsaz, Assistant Professor at Wayne State University. This year Hamidreza and Moslem Kazemi, Carnegie Mellon University organized a challenges and vision…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Crafting a Sustainable Career
In the HBR Blog. (This apparently now requires a free registration) Some thoughts about how to establish a long term career. At first I had a problem with the too often used 'sustainable' label, but I liked the thoughts expressed…
From The Female Perspective of Computer Science
Active Learning in Large Lectures
One of my (self-assigned) tasks lately has been to go through my teaching notes before I start planning my fall courses. The latest topic I dug into was teaching interactively in large lectures. This is especially relevant
From The Eponymous Pickle
Saving Money in the Cloud
In Teradata Magazine: Agility and cost savings in the cloud. " ... Increasing the bottom line is critical for companies, and the cloud can save them money. In fact, in a survey conducted by Enterprise Management Associates,…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Mining the Social Web for Recruiting
What recruiters know about you, whether you are looking for another job or not. And new developments in these areas. Note the combination of search with knowledge structure focused at a particular task. " ... What recruiters…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Zeebox Can Listen in
In Engadget: And it can tell what you are listening through analyzing an audio fingerprint. More data and less privacy?
From Schneier on Security
A Problem with the US Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board
I haven't heard much about the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. They recently held hearings regarding the Snowden documents.
This particular comment stood out:
Rachel Brand, another seemingly unsympathetic board…From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Windows Phone Random Dialer Demo
This is posted on day two of the annual CSTA Conference. This afternoon I am taking part in a mobile developer throw down. Three of us are writing the same program on different platforms: iOS, Android and Windows Phone. Guess…
From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
Hill Tech Happenings, Week of July 15
July 17 Hearing: The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on health information technology 10 a.m., 215 Dirksen Building Subcommittees of the House Homeland Security Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform…
From Computational Complexity
A problem and later a story and a point.
I have (1) a math problem to tell you about (though I suspect many readers already know it), (2) a story about it, and (3) a point to make. TODAY I'll just do the math problem. Feel free to leave comment with solutions--- so…