Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
August 2014
From Gödel's Lost Letter and P=NP
The Derivative Of A Number
Are you kidding? Edward Barbeau is now a professor emeritus of mathematics at the University of Toronto. Over the years he has been working to increase the interest in mathematics in general, and enhancing education in particular…
From Putting People First
Consumer Insights: The Music Experience in 2014
Today, music is as emotionally relevant as ever – and consumers have a myriad of ways to experience it, from streaming and downloading to live concerts and more. Thanks to social media, fans also have unprecedented access to…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Internet of Things Rising
Statistics on how the Internet of things is increasing in traffic and concern for the implications. especially resource needs and security. In Baselinemag: " ... By 2020, the Internet of things (IoT) is expected to interconnect…
From Schneier on Security
The Security of al Qaeda Encryption Software
The web intelligence firm Recorded Future has posted two stories about how al Qaeda is using new encryption software in response to the Snowden disclosures. NPR picked up the story a week later. Former NSA Chief Council Stewart…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Why AP
Sometimes you miss something by reading a blog post too early. Such is the case with a recent post by Mark Guzdial - Python is the most popular intro language: But what about CS Principles? There have been some 37 comments worth…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Reaching the Customer in Real Time
To reach the right customer, in the right place and time, with the right offer—perhaps a chicken dinner—you need real-time actionable insight ... From IBM.Watch as a grocery store uses this insight to sell more chicken dinners…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Visual Search in Apps
Accurate visual search for shopping was a particular are of interest. An example:" ... Slyce Inc Signs Agreement with Leading Grocery App Network PDN to Provide Visual Search Technology for Photo-Driven Shopping List Creation…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Improving Retail Employee Enthusiasm
A long time ago an enterprise I worked in was talking about acquiring a coffee emporium operation what was to become very successful. But the talk always went back to: We don't know how to run a retail business, especially…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Rural Telemedicine
Lots of news out there on using video conferencing systems for Telemedicine. Some hospital systems are starting to use it broadly to extend their reach, especially for rural applications:" ... A growing number of South Dakota…
From Computational Complexity
Complexity versus Algorithms: The FOCS Challenge
In recent years, I've heard complaints from my complexity colleagues that FOCS and STOC are mostly algorithms and from the algorithm buddies that STOC and FOCS are mostly complexity. What exactly counts as a complexity or algorithms…
From Schneier on Security
US Air Force is Focusing on Cyber Deception
The US Air Force is focusing on cyber deception next year: Background: Deception is a deliberate act to conceal activity on our networks, create uncertainty and confusion against the adversary's efforts to establish situational…
From Schneier on Security
QUANTUM Technology Sold by Cyberweapons Arms Manufacturers
Last October, I broke the story about the NSA's top secret program to inject packets into the Internet backbone: QUANTUM. Specifically, I wrote about how QUANTUMINSERT injects packets into existing Internet connections to redirect…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
New Multi-Year Initiative from NSF on the Professional Formation of Engineers is Launched
The Engineering Directorate at the National Science Foundation (NSF) has launched a new multi-year initiative to create and support an “innovative and inclusive” profession for the 21st century, called the Professional Formation…
From My Biased Coin
Back to Work
Harvard classes start up in a few weeks, and officially, my sabbatical is over. I'm back in my office, trying to get back into a Harvard routine.I notice that I've been very light in posting over my sabbatical. After my term…
From Computer Science Teachers Association
Computer Science and "Makered"
Are you a Maker? Do you even know what that is? And how, exactly, is this related to Computer Science? The exact lineage of the Maker Movement is debatable. The idea of making things, hacking, repurposing, and doing things by…
From The Female Perspective of Computer Science
How Small Changes in a Game's Story Can Make a Huge Difference
I recently wrote to the author of a book I love, Think Like a Programmer. I had wanted to ask some questions related to using the book for one of our first year classes. But it turned out that V. Anton Spraul also happens to…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Analytics as Model for Customer Service
From the Cisco Blog: A good simplified, decision oriented view of solving data needs to provide personalized customer service. I like the close inclusion of the decision process. It is not just about the data." ... I wrote in…
From The Eponymous Pickle
An Introductory Look at Marketing Mix
A simplified look by a student, at the marketing mix problem using SAS. Nicely presented. A classic problem solved by every company that needs to determine advertising and marketing strategy. Good introduction, though most…
From Schneier on Security
NSA/GCHQ/CESC Infecting Innocent Computers Worldwide
There's a new story on the c't magazin website about a 5-Eyes program to infect computers around the world for use as launching pads for attacks. These are not target computers; these are innocent third parties. The article actually…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Interesting Links–18 August 2014
Seems like I spent all my time last week doing last minute tasks before school starts. Getting cars inspected and reregistered for example. And a haircut that my wife insisted, correctly, was overdue. Teachers at my school report…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Memorable and Useful Visualizations
Should data visualization be memorable? Or should it be the best starting point for interacting with data using analytics, or decision processes to improve? That tell a useful story? Memorable can be good, especially with…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Telepresence via Mobile Robotics
Story of the visit of a conference via a mobile robot. The idea is simple, practical to a certain degree. Has been mocked in TV ads. Not quite the same experience as being there, but there has also been considerable increase…
From The Eponymous Pickle
More Humor at Work
More from Andrew Tarvin on Humor at work. Why does humor matter?: The infographic. Again see his site for much more. Always liked the idea, but it is harder than you think to make it happen. Andrew has the insight.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Negroponte on the Future
Founder of the Media Lab, gives a TED talk on a 30 year History of the Future ... We were members of the MIT Media Lab for years and enjoyed his thoughts then.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Mathematics of Discovery for Creativity?
In the WaPo: Having examined how expertise can be augmented by creativity, not sure how this is directly useful. The graphical representation shown is thought provoking. Does it describe creativity? " ... “People listening…
From Gödel's Lost Letter and P=NP
The 3SUM Assumption Is Wrong?
A new result on our three body problem Allan Grønlund and Seth Pettie are leaders in algorithm design and related problems. Today I want to give a quick follow up on our discussion of 3SUM based on a recent paper of theirs. I…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Augmenting and Scaling Expertise
Thoughts I just put in a private Linkedin Group that deals with how cognitive expertise is effectively delivered. It is all about how we can now augment and scale expertise, not easily done in the 90s during the last round"…
From Putting People First
How to conduct design research for home healthcare devices
As healthcare shifts from the hospital to the home, design research must also morph to keep up, writes Shana Leonard. Who is the typical user of your medical product and what is the use environment? These used to be easy questions…
From Putting People First
How Wells Fargo learned to innovate around the customer
Wells Fargo, the world’s most valuable bank, learned to innovate around the customer. In 1999, Steve Ellis, who runs the bank’s wholesale services group, went to a conference where Scott McNealy of Sun Microsystems described…
From Putting People First
Leveraging ethnography to improve food safety
Carolyn Rose explains how ethnography can be used to improve food safety: If done correctly, ethnography leads to a holistic and unbiased understanding of current practices and the motivations that drive them. Looking specifically…