Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
August 2009
From Schneier on Security
Marine Worms with Glowing Bombs
More security stories from the natural world:
During chase scenes, movie protagonists often make their getaway by releasing some sort of decoy to cover their escape or distract their pursuer. But this tactic isn't reserved for…From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Landmark Contributions by Students in Computer Science
There are many reasons for research funding agencies (DARPA, NSF, etc.) to invest in the education of students. Producing the next generation of innovators is the most obvious one. In addition, though, there are an impressive…
From Schneier on Security
Banning Beer Glasses in Pubs
Not beer, just the glasses:
The Home Office has commissioned a new design, in an attempt to stop glasses being used as weapons. Official figures show 5,500 people are attacked with glasses and bottles every year in England …From The Eponymous Pickle
TV vs Internet Advertising
From Progressive Grocer and GMA, on a new report: ' ... Early results of studies from comScore, in partnership with dunnhumbyUSA, indicate that advertising on the Internet may boost retail sales better than television-based campaigns…
From Putting People First
Nokia
Yesterday, Nokia launched Nokia Money, a new mobile financial service enables financial management and payments from a mobile phone – aimed specifically at emerging markets. From the Nokia press release: “Nokia Money has been…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Open Source BI Solutions
Mike Cristiani sends along a link to a whitepaper by Tableau Software: factors to consider when evaluating open source bi solutions '... This paper discusses the major issues and factors to consider when evaluating open source…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Unilever Crowdsources Ads
Unliever is going to the public for new ad ideas. ' ... Unilever is offering $10,000 (
From The Eponymous Pickle
Pioneering Study in Neuromarketing
Comments on work by Martin Lindstrom described in his Buylogy book: ' ... A pioneering study on Neuromarketing will change forever the way marketers and advertisers promote their goods and services. The field of "Neuromarketing"…
From Computer Science Teachers Association
Issues Old and New
Monday August 17th was *our* first day officially back with classes starting Thursday and, as usual, the new school year is raising many issues, some new and some not so new.
Like many CS educators, I am trying to learn how …From The Eponymous Pickle
Yale Summer Math Program
The summer math program for Economics Phds at Yale. Nice mix of practical math topics.
From Daniel Lemire's Blog
To be smarter, ignore external rewards
Last night, I watched a great talk by Dan Pink
From The Eponymous Pickle
Mining the Web for Feelings
In the NYT: Mining the Web for Feelings, Not Facts. The article is a bit thin, but worth reading. Another favorite topic of mine since the early days of linking directly to consumers with what was then called 'content analysis'…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Free Antivirus Software
Computerworld looks at a number of options. Useful.-
From The Eponymous Pickle
Complexities of Virtual Makeover
In Storefrontbacktalk, this was an area we looked at in some detail. And several different times with different technologies One of my favorite technical experiments. These methods fail because of relatively simple things…
From Apophenia
am I an academic?
academia (n.): The academic world or community; scholastic life. academic (n.): 1. An ancient philosopher of the Academy. 2. A member of a college or university. 3. A member of a society for promoting art or science At every…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Newspapers Colluding, Surviving
In Techdirt. Interesting piece on the survival of newspapers. Including the use of acts of congress to remove collusion penalties and the use of payment walls. For a while I thought that local news could allow them to survive…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Roof Tile Solar Panels
A nice idea, no mention of cost. Would like to see the idea played out broadly.
From The Noisy Channel
Social Networking: Theory and Practice
From Putting People First
The lost art of reading
David L. Ulin, book editor of the Los Angeles Times, argues that the relentless cacophony that is life in the 21st century can make settling in with a book difficult even for lifelong readers and those who are paid to do it. “Reading…
From Putting People First
Ideas for thought from the Symposium for the Future
The New Media Consortium is hosting a Symposium for the Future October 27-29 that will explore actual and potential applications of technology that could impact issues of global importance over the next five years and beyond.…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Augmented Reality on the iPhone
The idea continues to creep forward. I had an accidental introduction to it recently at the beach doing some star watching. An application called Star Walk lets you take the an image of the constellations and raise it up to the…
From Putting People First
Reading bar codes with mobile phones
Although it is more of a technical discussion, this article by The Economist is a worthwhile read as it describes quite well how a new way to deliver information to mobile phones is spreading around the world. “In America and…
From Putting People First
Phones and farmers
Abdul Bayes, professor of economics at Jahangirnagar University in Bangladesh, has written a nice article in the Daily Star newspaper where he condenses some recent research on mobile phones, farmers and the rural poor. “Coming…
From Putting People First
A short manifesto on the future of attention
Author and journalist Michael Erard has published a short manifesto on the future of attention: “Now we have a wide-ranging discussion about what is and what can’t be free, which is basically about the future of profit. Maybe…
From Putting People First
Data visualization: stories for the Information Age
Business Week explores how artists and designers are turning to data visualization to interpret the deluge of information around us. “For artists and designers, data visualization is a new frontier of self-expression, powered…
From Putting People First
Are we ready for the Autonomous Age?
The UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering recently published a discussion document (pdf) on the social, legal and ethical issues surrounding the development and use of autonomous systems. The document is the report of a roundtable…
From Putting People First
A plea for more critical thinking in design, please
John Barratt, president and CEO of Teague, reflects in a guest post on Fast Company on the fact that critical thinking in design is largely absent. “For reasons that are difficult for me to identify, it seems that the design…
From Putting People First
Where tech and philosophy collide
BBC News reports on the inaugural meeting of the London Futurist and Transhumanist Group. “While futurism involves trying to predict how technology will evolve over time, transhumanism is concerned with how that technology will…
From Putting People First
Alice Rawsthorn about
Alice Rawsthorn, the design critic of the International Herald Tribune/New York Times, approached the topic of co-design last week: “We can now
From The Eponymous Pickle
Stone Skipping at the Shore
Recently had a delightful week at the beach. As I have a number of times I took along James Trefil's book: A Scientist at the Seashore. Its a fun book if you want to know explore a number of physics 'whys' about the beach. One…