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
Another Perspective on the Value of Privacy
But while Descartes's overall view has been rightly rejected, there is something profoundly right about the connection between privacy and the self, something that recent events should cause us to…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
How Important Is The First CS Course?
I’ve been reading a lot from CS educators lately. Regular readers know I am running a series of interviews with teachers from all over. As I write this I have five of them posted with an other half dozen or so in the queue to…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Digital Augmented Telescopes: Tellscopes
In Fast Company: A telescope called a Tellscope. A terrestial rather than a celestial scope, with elements of augmented reality. The article discusses the hardware and software approaches involved. " .... One year ago, the…
From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
FCC Open Internet Advisory Committee Meeting on July 9
The FCC’s Open Internet Advisory Committee will meet tomorrow, Tuesday, July 9, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT, to discuss issues related to its four working groups: (1) mobile broadband, (2) economic impacts of open internet frameworks…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Garmin Heads up Display
Garmin has introduced a Heads up display interface (HUD) , to be placed on a car windshield, to be made available later this year. " ... The HUD is a small box that sits atop the dashboard. It offers two ways to view directions…
From Daniel Lemire's Blog
Fast integer compression in Java
Last year, we published a fast C++ library to quickly compress and decompress arrays of integers. Out of habit, I ported it to Java and published it under the name JavaFastPFOR library. Unlike generic compression techniques like…
From Schneier on Security
Big Data Surveillance Results in Bad Policy
Evgeny Morozov makes a point about surveillance and big data: it just looks for useful correlations without worrying about causes, and leads people to implement "fixes" based simply on those correlations -- rather than understanding…
From The Eponymous Pickle
More Smartphone Metadata Gathering
Another claim for a vendor gathering metadata from Smartphones, here from Motorola. Metadata, or 'data about data', has been trivialized as a source of personal information, but when combined with other sources of data it can…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Reflections on EdTech Conferences
This was the second year in a row that I didn’t attend ISTE. I really miss it but events conspired against me. But I’ve been reading a lot from people who did go and it has gotten me thinking quite a bit. Over the last 15 toAudrey…
From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
Hill Tech Happenings, Week of July 8
July 9 Workshop: The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board will hold a public workshop on surveillance programs. Technology experts will be part of at least one panel during the event. 9:30 a.m., Mayflower Hotel, 1127 Connecticut…
From The Eponymous Pickle
NumberSense Reviewed
I have been looking for books that explain the difference of what I call analytics, in my long time consulting practice and the newly hyped arena of Big Data. I am always also on the look out for books that I can use with client…
From Computational Complexity
AltaVista versus Google
Today Yahoo is closing AltaVista, the best search engine before Google. The news caught me by surprise, AltaVista still existed? A number of commentators attribute bad management for AltaVista losing its dominance to Google.TCS…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Herman Miller's Living Office
We worked with Herman Miller in the area of innovative office design. This is a short article on their concept of the living office. Although I have not been close to this space for a while, methods like P&G's Business Sphere…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Data Mining Concepts and Techniques
Bought some time ago, but finally exercised in some detail: Data Mining: Concepts and Techniques, by Jiawei Han and Micheline Kamber. There are later editions than mine, but this is a very good, though mostly technical introduction…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Private Label Brands Hold Ground
An indication that private label brands are holding their own after a slow recovery. " ... While private labels have existed for some time, the recession proved to be the inflection point for them to become a true force inGood…
From BLOG@CACM
ACM-W: One Way to Support Women in Computing!
An update on ACM-W activities in 2012-2013, and a look to the coming year.
From Putting People First
Saskia Sassen and Scott McCloud keynote speakers at Interaction14
Interaction 14 just announced its first keynote speakers: Saskia Sassen is someone to look forward to. A sociology professor at Columbia University, she is known for her critical and thought provoking thinking on a wide variety…
From Schneier on Security
Protecting E-Mail from Eavesdropping
In the wake of the Snowden NSA documents, reporters have been asking me whether encryption can solve the problem. Leaving aside the fact that much of what the NSA is collecting can't be encrypted by the user -- telephone metadata…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Interesting Links 8 July 2013
I don’t know about you but I am enjoying my summer. Keeping very busy though. Really spending some quality time with TouchDevelop. Also working on my presentations for the CSTA Annual Conference which is only a week away! Plus…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Query-less search
An examination of query-less, or parameter-less search in Google Operating System. And the mention of a Google patent in the space. And its ultimate integration in Google Now. We explored the idea with MIT researchers. A…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Visualization Books: Incomplete
The Economist looks at a number of information and data visualization books. What they look at is good, but is very incomplete. Largely based on infographics, and does not include the ability to interact with changing data.…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Crowds vs Innovation
In Innovation Excellence: It should be remembered that innovation is often be an act of going against the crowd. Creative people do go against the crowd: " ... At minimum, they do their own thing. At best, they lead the crowd…
From Putting People First
Herman Miller’s Living Office
“The most important thing in the room is not the furniture — it’s the people.” Almost 50 years after the Action Office, Herman Miller embarks on the next big rethinking of the workplace: the Living Office. It is the ultimate…
From Putting People First
Cities are being redrawn according to Google’s world view
In the second of two columns exploring the impact of digital culture on design, Sam Jacob looks at how Google Maps is reshaping cities while Apple, Facebook and Amazon are reshaping the natural landscape by building their own…
From Putting People First
Prism is the dark side of design thinking
In this first of two columns about the impact of digital culture on design, Sam Jacob asks what America’s Prism surveillance program tells us about design thinking. “Prism tells us something about design in the twenty-first century…
From Putting People First
Seoul, the Sharing City
On 20 September 2012, the Seoul Metropolitan Government disclosed its plan for promoting the “Sharing City, Seoul” project, which includes 20 sharing programs and policies for generating or diffusing “sharing city” infrastructure…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Compliance Success
My long time friend and correspondent John Sopko, was featured in the NYT this week concerning his government compliance work. Nice to see our government trying to make sure our money is spent well.The Afghan LegacyAlong with…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
CS Educator Interviews: The Index
In June of 2013 I started collecting interviews with computer science educators. The plan was to highlight people doing interesting things at a wide range of schools. It’s been an educational experience for me. And a lot of fun…
From Putting People First
Book: Legible Practices by Helsinki Design Lab
The social innovation book Legible Practices aims at codifying the practises of stewardship, as exhibited by innovators who are consciously rethinking institutions to better meet the challenges of today. It is the last book by…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Peapod and Virtual Event Shopping
Peapod's use of lunch truck style vehicles to sell items at events. The approach also reminds me ot the Schwan's model in suburban communities. We experimented with the Peapod delivery method. Note the mobile billboard aspect…