Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
August 2013
From Schneier on Security
Friday Squid Blogging: Bobtail Squid Photo
As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven't covered.
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
National Science Foundation Appoints new Division Director for the Division of Computing and Communications Foundations
On August 29, 2013, Dr. Farnam Jahanian, Assistant Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), announced the appointment of Dr. Rao Kosaraju as the new Division Director for the Computing and Communications Foundations…
From Schneier on Security
Opsec Details of Snowden Meeting with Greenwald and Poitras
I don't like stories about the personalities in the Snowden affair, because it detracts from the NSA and the policy issues. But I'm a sucker for operational security, and just have to post this detail from their first meeting…
From Computer Science Teachers Association
Bring the Experts into your Classroom
The perfect guest speaker in your classroom can motivate students, add spark to a lesson, and set the stage for great learning experiences. But we all know the results of a less than perfect speaker. While I think a real, live…
From The Female Perspective of Computer Science
Designing an Intro to CS for Non-Majors: From Objectives to Problems
When working on my introductory computer science class for non-majors, I started with the objectives. From there, I thought about the types of assignments and tutorials I wanted, but mostly moved on to figuring out the actual…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Combatting Patent Trolls
I recently commented on patent trolls. I have been on the receiving end of being threatened by patent trolls. I was informed that there is now an advertising effort underway to stop the madness, called Stop Bad Patents. Sponsored…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Don't Let them Underestimate You
Very good piece in the HBR Blog. Emphasizing about how you should set your self up and prepare for client meetings such that your capabilities are not underestimated. Very good advice by Dorie Clark. Read it before your next…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Nanotechnology Conference
From the Foresight Institute, an upcoming conference in February 2014 , an excellent source of information in nanotech. Their site is well worth following. Particularly interested in how this technology can be modeled and simulated…
From The Eponymous Pickle
In Store Gamification
Using in-store gamification. Via John Curran of 5th Screen Display Services, who worked with us at our Innovation centers and introduced us to advanced interactive displays. How might such displays be used as part of an engaging…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Pinterest as Business Platform
Took a close look at Pinterest about a year ago. Was interested in a largely non-text way of communicating, especially in a strong story format. I was disappointed in how well it supported sequential strong stories. StillA…
From Schneier on Security
More on the NSA Commandeering the Internet
If there's any confirmation that the U.S. government has commandeered the Internet for worldwide surveillance, it is what happened with Lavabit earlier this month.
Lavabit is -- well, was -- an e-mail service that offered more…From The Eponymous Pickle
Encrypting Cloud Data
Google decides to encrypt cloud data. A very good idea to do this in general. Cloud data is a target.
From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
New Report on Computer Science Teacher Certification in the United States
Computer science teacher certification throughout the United States is “deeply flawed” and requires coordinated action by federal and state policymakers, education administrators, and teachers to establish statewide systems and…
From Schneier on Security
How Many Leakers Came Before Snowden?
Assume it's really true that the NSA has no idea what documents Snowden took, and that they wouldn't even know he'd taken anything if he hadn't gone public. The fact that abuses of their systems by NSA officers were largelyself…
From Schneier on Security
The Federal Trade Commission and Privacy
New paper on the FTC and its actions to protect privacy:
Abstract: One of the great ironies about information privacy law is that the primary regulation of privacy in the United States has barely been studied in a scholarly…From The Eponymous Pickle
Patent Trolling Against Location Systems
In GigaOM: Lawsuits have been issued against Apple and others. The patent mentions systems that can determine and utilize their location. Should could have broad relevance to smartphone, other mobile and related systems.…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
CCC Sponsors Computational Sustainability Track at AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-13)
The following entry is a special contribution to this blog from Douglas H. Fisher, Associate Professor of Computer Science at Vanderbilt University. This year Doug and Carla Gomes (Cornell University) were co-chairs of the Computational…
From Putting People First
User-centred mobile app development in Kenya
The success of a mobile app – its high adoption rate and actual use – largely depends on the degree of involvement of the end user during the development stage. Mark Kamau, Kenyan web solution expert at the iHub UX Lab in Nairobi…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Unilever Crowd sourcing Shower Taking
Not too many details, but consumer goods giant is exploring crowdsourcing for future consumer need and product development. Using the online package eYeka. The work is to develop the next generation of showers. " ... This…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Brain to Brain Connections
This progress at the U of Washington implies more. Once you can establish a brain to brain connection, you can also connect a brain to Internet to brain connection. An Internet of brains? Includes a video. The implications?…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Skype Planning 3D Video
In Fast Company: Not sure this will be generally useful. Would prefer interface and quality improvements to Skype. Though in thinking it through it might be an interesting way to augment 3D remote printing applications.
From Putting People First
Seeing the elephant: defragmenting user research
“Forget Big Data — right now, our bigger problem is fragmented data that comes from siloed user research teams.” Just as we favor the research tools that we find familiar and comfortable, large organizations often use research…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Kinect Launching a Surgical Revolution
Manipulating virtual images in no touch environments: " .... virtual images can be difficult to retrieve and manipulate. A surgeon can't use a mouse or keyboard, because they are unsterile and pose a risk of infection. A surgeon…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Innovation Power of the Cloud
In Computing Now: Insightful piece on why cloud computing is linked to innovation. I admit that I started out thinking that the Cloud was simply an obvious tool, but have become more convinced of its importance: " ... The…
From Gödel's Lost Letter and P=NP
D Plus O Equals Do
Our 500th post comes with a non-Federal proposal Cropped from HeinOnline source. Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States, and the 43rd person to hold that office. Stephen Cleveland counts as both the 22nd and…
From Daniel Lemire's Blog
Funding science: When bureaucrats get out of control
Throughout most of the world, scientists are almost entirely dependent on one source of funding: their government. So every few years (or more often), professors and researchers apply for research grants. This gives disproportionate…
From Schneier on Security
Feds Target Polygraph-Beating Company
A company that teaches people how to beat lie detectors is under investigation.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Digital Game Based Learning
Via the ACM: Digital Game-Based Learning. Abstract: Research published by University of Rochester neuroscientists C. Shawn Green and Daphne Bavelier has grabbed national attention for suggesting that playing "action" video and…
From Putting People First
Ethnographic stories for market learning
The July 2013 issue of the Journal of Marketing (a publication of AMA, the American Marketing Association) describes the results of a comprehensive study (pdf) by Julian Cayla and Eric J. Arnould on the way various organizations…
From Computer Science Teachers Association
Privacy, Protection, and Personal Safety
One of the great things about working in a top-10 computer science department is that I get to see which fields are really hot. At the University of Washington I get the added bonus of working with faculty who care deeply about…