Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
August 2010
From The Eponymous Pickle
How Eye Tracking is Changing the Web
Good intro piece in ReadWriteWeb. Not only about tracking in a passive sense to see where people are looking, but also as a means to interact with the web. Have never tried eye movement for tracking, would be interesting to see…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
P != NP ?
The internet is abuzz with stories about a purported proof that the class P is not equal to the class NP.
From Schneier on Security
P ? NP?
There's a new paper circulating that claims to prove that P ? NP. The paper has not been refereed, and I haven't seen any independent verifications or refutations. Despite the fact that the paper is by a respected researcher…
From The Eponymous Pickle
I-Room Virtual Space for Interaction
In the current IEEE Computer Intelligence Systems. An overview of a collaborative space to support sensory decisions. Quite interesting because it includes the input of game developers. The idea of including purposeful, valuable…
From The Female Perspective of Computer Science
Why I Never Learned Scientific Experimentation in High School
Every lab report was the same. We started off by copying down the hypothesis written in the text book or lab assignment, listed the equipment used, wrote out the steps, and then summarized the results. A conclusion confirming…
From Wild WebMink
? Free UK Tracks
Here are links to three of the free tracks I’ve found on Amazon UK over the last week (you have to be in the UK to download these). The best is probably the dark and brooding Robert Rich track but I bet the retro (very short)…
From Computational Complexity
That P ne NP proof- whats up with that?
Let me be he last on the block to tell you that an alleged proof of P ≠ NP is out there. NOT posting on it would be absurd; however, I cannot do any better than what Richard Lipton already posted so I point you to his post.
…From The Eponymous Pickle
Eyeballs Out
I just read the preprint of colleague Donna Sturgess' new book: Eyeballs Out: How To Step Into Another World, Discover New Ideas, and Make Your Business Thrive. In the book she visits the Nuclear Carrier USS Stennis and immerses…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Branded Storytelling Online
Storytelling should work. yes, but it does depend on the story. AdAge presents a number of case studies that worked, and others that did not. An instrutive set of examples.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Saffron Technologies Overview
A good explanatory post on associative memory vendor Saffron Technology ... which I have followed for some time. Will continue to track this impressive effort.
From Daniel Lemire's Blog
How to get everyone talking about your research!
Deolalikar claims to have solved the famous P versus NP problem.
From Schneier on Security
Ant Warfare
According to Moffett, we might actually learn a thing or two from how ants wage war. For one, ant armies operate with precise organization despite a lack of central command. "We
From Wild WebMinklinks for 2010-08-09
Copyright assignment – Once bitten, twice shy Excellent and thorough article about copyright assignment. If you are involved in the current, Canonical-sponsored Project Harmony, this is a must-read. (tags: FOSS OpenSource Copyright…
From BLOG@CACMOn Software Updates and Version Changes
Since the beginning of software industry, developers have produced updates for their products on a regular basis. How do these updates affect the software itself and the end user?
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred ThompsonInteresting Links 9 August 2010
What a week. My son was married a week ago. I picked him and his bride up from their honeymoon last night. In between I took a trip to Texas for a Microsoft conference and celebrated my birthday while away. At least my bride10…
From Computer Science Teachers AssociationTeaching Style Does Matter
I recently read a really interesting article on interactive teaching in computer science by .
The article, appearing in ACM Inroads (Vol. 1. No. 2) was interesting to me because it concerned teaching style/pedagogy, which…
From The Eponymous PickleCan you Bulletize that?
This is fairly old, but I was reminded of it by a colleague: Some Problems in the world are not Bullet-izable. And Tufte's classic comments on the subject.
From My Biased CoinPapers to Teach This Year
This fall I'm again teaching my "introductory" graduate class loosely centered on the themes of big data and communications/networks, Algorithms at the End of the Wire (Computer Science 222). [The real subtitle for the course…
From The Eponymous PickleRFID Reads from a Distance
Storefrontbacktalk reports about a passive RFID tag read from a distance of 217 feet, presented at the recent DEFCON conference. The comments debate if it was done with completely legal equipment. Its been long known that tags…
From BLOG@CACMRemembering Internet Dogs
An iconic cartoon by Peter Steiner, which appeared in The New Yorker in 1993, captured the nature of the nascent Internet. It shows a dog seated at a computer, remarking to a second dog on the floor that, “On the Internet, nobody…
From The Eponymous PickleMicro Drones at Google
Google ordering micro drones. For filling in the details on streetview? Don't swat that fly, could be Google getting data.
From The Eponymous PickleFurniture Mass Customization
I have just been looking at at some examples of mass customization. Most appear to be in the clothing area. Here is another, a startup in the mass customization of furniture. Useful case study in an alternate area.
From The Eponymous PickleTalking Washers and Dryers
In BWeek, More on work by Kenmore having appliances report their maintenance issues remotely. We experimented with a number of these appliances in the innovation centers. Aware and online appliances have been developed by a number…
From The Eponymous PickleProcter and Safe Drinking Water
Have followed P&G's safe drinking water for children effort in this blog for some time. Now they are rolling out a new effort featuring female bloggers.
From The Eponymous PickleInnovation is not Creativity
In the HBR Blog: by Vijay Govindarajan ' ... We like to think of an organization's capacity for innovation as creativity multiplied by execution. We use "multiplication" rather than "sum" because, if either creativity orThe…
From My Biased CoinBack from Travels
The slowdown in posting for the past month has been primarily due to travel. For the last month, I've been in England, based primarily at the Computer Science Department at the University College London. Thanks to my host,Brad…
From The Noisy ChannelTaking Blekko out for a Spin
If you’re a search engine junkie like me, you’ve probably heard about Blekko, a search engine that has been percolating for over two years and recently launched a private beta. If not, I encourage you to watch the TechCrunch…
From The Eponymous PickleAre Marketers Spying on You Online?
A very good little AdAge article that discusses what marketers know and what they don't know about you online. I also recommend reading the comments to the article in this case, which have some interesting things to say, especially…
From Schneier on SecurityFriday Squid Blogging: Canadian Squid Stamp
It's a giant fiberglass squid from Newfoundland.
From The Eponymous PickleVinimaya Virtual Supplier Network
I have now had a couple of in-depth conversations with the local company Vinimaya. Very impressive and particularly simple and cost effective solutions to company procurement problems. Their site contains a number of currentThe…