Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
July 2021
From The Eponymous Pickle
Amazon Alexa Live 2021
Attended some technical portions of this, was informative. Here a followup of things presented, announced.
Everything new announced at Amazon Alexa Live 2021
By Michael Bizzaco, July 21, 2021 9:00AM
Amazon Alexa is one of today’s…From insideHPC
Drop in Intel Earnings Expected Today
Pat Gelsinger’s got one foot on a tiger, the other on an aircraft carrier – one side is a rough, volatile ride; the other plows a course set years ago, hard to change direction. Intel’s new CEO has been pulled in different, difficult…
From Putting People First
The Incompatibility of Nudge and Co-Design as Tools for Policymaking
The use of nudge theory to inform policy interventions in response to COVID-19 has re-opened debates over the politically paternalistic nature of governing by ‘nudges’ and has given momentum to calls to include the more participatory…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Announcing the 2021 Computing Innovation Fellows
This past spring, the Computing Research Association (CRA) and its Computing Community Consortium (CCC) announced funding for a cohort of Computing Innovation Fellows (CIFellows) for 2021, with strong support from the National…
From insideHPC
Cambridge Quantum: Algorithm Solves Combinatorial Optimisation Problems Faster
Cambridge, UK, July 22, 2021 – In a development the company said “is likely to set a new industry standard,” scientists at Cambridge Quantum (CQ) have developed a new algorithm for solving combinatorial optimisation problems …
From insideHPC
Registration Open for LLNL-sponsored Industrial ML Forum
Registration is open through July 29 for the first Machine Learning for Industry Forum (ML4I), a three-day virtual event starting Tuesday, Aug. 10. The event is sponsored by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s High Performance…
From insideHPC
The Whole World Is Watching: ORNL’s Bernholdt & Programming Environment Team Prepare for Frontier and Exascale
The world’s fastest supercomputer comes with some assembly required. Frontier, the nation’s first exascale computing system, won’t come together as a whole until all pieces arrive at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Oak …
From The Eponymous Pickle
Algorithm Helping Demystifying Networks
Interesting, but don't understand it directly. But thinking it. Boolean models are easy.
Algorithm May Help Scientists Demystify Complex Networks By Penn State News, July 21, 2021
( note the PSU article does it better)
A newPennsylvania…From Schneier on Security
Nasty Printer Driver Vulnerability
From SentinelLabs, a critical vulnerability in HP printer drivers:
Researchers have released technical details on a high-severity privilege-escalation flaw in HP printer drivers (also used by Samsung and Xerox), which impacts…From The Eponymous Pickle
Hard-Rock Mining
Once consulted in this space. McKinsey talks the underlying economic processes of mining.
Digging deeper: Trends in underground hard-rock mining for gold and base metals
July 13, 2021 | Commentary
While underground mining methods…From The Eponymous Pickle
Future of Brain Computer Interfaces
Back to the classic problem of machine human interfaces.
Scientists Warn of 'Bleak Cyborg Future' From Brain-Computer Interfaces
By SciTechDaily, July 20, 2021
Surpassing the biological limitations of the brain and using one's mind…From The Eponymous Pickle
Pentagon Hacks Itself
A former employer of mine tests a by now classic approach. Note aiming at AI efforts here in particular.
The Pentagon Is Bolstering Its AI Systems—by Hacking Itself
By Wired, July 21, 2021
Intelligence as a way to outfox, outmaneuver…From The Eponymous Pickle
Sero! Concept Mapping: Free Trial
Mentioned here many times here before, the concept mapping tool Sero!
The Evidence Basis for Concept Mapping: 50 Years and Still Growing
More research-backed reasons to use CM in the classroom
Concept maps' early signs of promise…From The Eponymous Pickle
More Novel Drone Use
Makes one wonder though, how secure are these drones?
As Spain's Beaches Fill Up, Seaside Resort Sends in Drones
Reuters, Horaci Garcia, July 15, 2021
Officials in the town of Sitges in northeastern Spain are using drones for real…From insideHPC
DOE Funds $13M for Adapting Scientific Software to Run on Exascale Supercomputers
July 21, 2021 — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced more than $13 million for five advanced-computing projects across nine states, including $4.4 million to U.S. universities. The projects will focus on adapting…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Joking Chatbots Help Learning?
Brought the below up before, here is more detail. Humor is powerful, but how do we harness it? Need a good way. Thoughts? See my Humor link.
Joke-Cracking Chatbots Boost Learning Levels
By Paul Marks, Commissioned by CACM Staff…From The Eponymous Pickle
AI and Media Buying
Early on considered this option. Key was to also include options available, risks in choices, knowledge from previous choices.
How custom algorithms will shape the future of media buying
By John Wittesaele | July 14, 2021 …From insideHPC
Kubernetes Data Services Company ionir Names Mike Wall CEO
NEW YORK — July 21, 2021 — ionir, a microservices-based Kubernetes Data Services provider, today announced Mike Wall as CEO. The move comes as the company experiences rapid growth in North America and globally, accelerated by…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Using AI to Detect Gravitational Waves
Gravitational waves, ‘ripples’ in space-time caused by some of the most violent and energetic processes in the Universe, were first predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916 in his general theory of relativity. Proof of their existence…
From insideHPC
Quobyte Releases Hadoop Native Driver for Analytics, ML, Streaming and Real-time Applications
SANTA CLARA, CA, July 21, 2021 — Quobyte Inc., a developer of scale-out software-defined storage (SDS), today announced availability of its Hadoop Driver. Quobyte’s new native driver for Hadoop addresses the limitations of the…
From insideHPC
Aliro Quantum Wins U.S. Air Force Contracts for Quantum Network Simulation and Control
BOSTON — July 21, 2021 – Aliro Quantum today announced it has secured several contracts through AFWERX, a program from the U.S. Air Force focused on expanding technology, talent, and transition partnerships for rapid and affordable…
From insideHPC
Spectra Logic and StorMagic Announce Active Archive Repository for Video Surveillance, Digital Evidence Management and Media and Entertainment
BOULDER, Colo. – July 21, 2021 – Spectra Logic, a global leader in data storage and data management solutions, today announced a partnership with StorMagic, a company that simplifies storage and security from the edge to the…
From insideHPC
Exascale Computing Project’s CEED to Hold Virtual Annual Meeting Aug. 3-4
The Exascale Computing Project‘s (ECP) Center for Efficient Exascale Discretizations (CEED) will hold a virtual annual meeting highlighting progress on high-order methods and applications on Tuesday and Wednesday, Aug. 3-4. If…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Tracking Human Mobility
A somewhat unusual look at different kinds of mobility and how it relates to pandemic challenges.
App Tracks Human Mobility, COVID-19
University of Miami, Deserae E. del Campo, June 14, 2021
The COVID-19 vs. Human Mobility Web…From insideHPC
NERSC Honors 8 Early Career Scientists with Annual HPC Achievement Awards
The National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) recently announced the recipients of its annual High Performance Computing Achievement Awards, recognizing eight early-career scientists who have made significant…
From insideHPC
Atom Computing Unveils 1st-Gen Quantum System; Names New CEO after Closing $15M Series A Round
July 21, 2021 — Berkeley, CA — Atom Computing, a fast-growing quantum computing start-up announces its transition into the next phase of growth after closing $15M in Series A funding. Atom Computing is the first company to build…
From insideHPC
Quantum Software Developer Classiq Technologies Forms Advisory Board
Tel-Aviv, ISRAEL — July 20, 2021 — Quantum computing software developer Classiq Technologies announced today that two leading researchers in quantum computing – Prof. Tal Mor and Prof. Robert Wille – are joining its newly-formed…
From insideHPC
Energy Secretary Recognizes Los Alamos Project Management for Exascale Class Computer Cooling Project
The team responsible for managing the Exascale Class Computing Cooling Equipment (ECCCE) project at Los Alamos National Laboratory was recognized by the Secretary of Energy with an Achievement Award last week. Construction of…
From The Eponymous Pickle
A Strategy to Understand Machine Learning and Deep Learning
Below, Ajit Jaokar puts together an Excellent introductory newsletter post (here one of many, join his newsletter for much more) To get all the text and all illustrations, and commentary by him and others, click throughNEWSLETTER…
From insideHPC
Double-precision CPUs vs. Single-precision GPUs; HPL vs. HPL-AI Benchmarks; Traditional vs. AI Supercomputers
If you’ve wondered why GPUs are faster than CPUs, in part it’s because they’re asked to do less – or, to be more precise, to be less precise. Next question: OK, so if GPUs are faster than CPUs, why aren’t GPUs the mainstream…