Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
August 2017
From The Eponymous Pickle
Debating Statistical Significance
A considerable look, both technical and non-technical about statistical significance. Have it has been used, and how that is being re-considered. The original title says this is a nerdy debate, I disagree, it is very important…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Telepresence Robots
These robots should be called 'minimal presence portable robotics', we looked at them to test the idea of having someone who was very remote introduced to a team in a unique way. They have lots of problems. We discovered
In…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Data as Asset: Deriving Knowledge from Data
Good thought, and a natural way to lead toward value based intelligence. In O'Reilly.
A DevOps approach to data management
A multi-model approach to transforming data from a liability to an asset.
By Adam Michael Wood
Download
Deriving…
From Schneier on Security
Friday Squid Blogging: Squid Eyeballs
Details on how a squid's eye corrects for underwater distortion: Spherical lenses, like the squids', usually can't focus the incoming light to one point as it passes through the curved surface, which causes an unclear image.…
From Daniel Lemire's Blog
Optimizing polynomial hash functions (Java vs. Swift)
In software, hash functions are ubiquitous. They map arbitrary pieces of data (strings, arrays, …) to fixed-length integers. They are the key ingredient of hash tables which are how we most commonly implement maps between keys…
From Schneier on Security
I Seem to Have a LinkedIn Account
I seem to have a LinkedIn account. This comes as a surprise, since I don't have a LinkedIn account, and have never logged in to LinkedIn. Does anyone have any contacts into the company? I would like to report this fraudulent…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Making AI Explain Itself
Back to our maintenance problem. Unless you can explain a result, it is hard to maintain it under changing context. Trust too can be lost if the methods are indistinguishable from magic.
Inside DARPA's Push to Make Artificial…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Platt Research Institute: Journal of Retail Analytics
Have begun to follow, details for sign-in and article download at the link:
Journal of Retail Analytics
PRI’s Journal of Retail Analytics is a comprehensive quarterly publication that includes news and case studies regarding retail…
From insideHPC
Mellanox BlueField Accelerates NVMe over Fabrics
Today Mellanox announced the availability of storage reference platforms based on its revolutionary BlueField System-on-Chip (SoC), combining a programmable multicore CPU, networking, storage, security, and virtualization acceleration…
From Wild WebMink
7 Rules For Engaging Communities On Legal Matters
Having watched a fair number of people attempting to engage both the Open Source Initiative’s licensing evaluation community and the Apache Software Foundation’s legal affairs committee, here are some hints and tips for succeeding…
From insideHPC
Test Your Knowledge with the MPI Quiz
In this video, David Henty from EPCC conducts a video-based quiz on MPI. "The multiple-choice questions are partly designed for fun to test attendees' knowledge, but are mainly aimed at promoting discussion about MPI and its
…
From Daniel Lemire's Blog
Science and Technology links (August 11th, 2017)
It looks like the Java programming language might finally get in-language support for vector instructions, these instructions are supported by modern processors and multiply the processing speed… but they often require different…
From insideHPC
DOE Awards 1 Billion Hours of Supercomputer Time for Research
The DOE has awarded 1 Billion CPU hours of compute time on Oak Ridge supercomputers to a set important research projects vital to our nation's future. ALCC allocations for 2017 continue in the tradition of innovation and discovery…
From The Eponymous Pickle
The AI Nose
Have followed the idea of an 'Artificial Nose' for decades, we were first interested in using it as a automatic way to to evaluate and duplicate coffee blends and their components in the supply chain.
Also, the argument was…
From insideHPC
OSC Helps Map the Invisible Universe
The Ohio Supercomputer Center played a critical role in helping researchers reach a milestone mapping the growth of the universe from its infancy to present day. "The new results released Aug. 3 confirm the surprisingly simple…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Working in a Digitally Disrupted World
In McKinsey:
Do American workers feel they can ‘make it’?
Whether people in the United States believe they can thrive economically in a digitally disrupted world depends strongly on the amount of education they’ve attained, according…
From Schneier on Security
Confusing Self-Driving Cars by Altering Road Signs
Researchers found that they could confuse the road sign detection algorithms of self-driving cars by adding stickers to the signs on the road. They could, for example, cause a car to think that a stop sign is a 45 mph speed limit…
From The Eponymous Pickle
How AI is Already Changing Business
An HBR Ideacast ...
How AI Is Already Changing Business
Erik Brynjolfsson, MIT Sloan School professor, explains how rapid advances in machine learning are presenting new opportunities for businesses. He breaks down how the technology…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Marketing and AI
How will marketing adapt?
With AI, marketing is needed but marketers might not be
By Christine Coudert on SAS Voices ... "
From Schneier on Security
Turning an Amazon Echo into an Eavesdropping Device
For once, the real story isn't as bad as it seems. A researcher has figured out how to install malware onto an Echo that causes it to stream audio back to a remote controller, but: The technique requires gaining physical access…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Global City Teams Challenge Expo 2017
The 2017 Global City Teams Challenge (GCTC) Expo on August 28-29 in Washington, DC will bring together over 100 cities and communities around the world in partnership with more than 300 companies, universities, non-profits, and…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Robot Restocking
Includes a good expert discussion, usually the best parts of these pieces. Also an approach we did much experimenting with, starting with Blackberry devices.
Can robots keep shelves stocked at Schnucks? in Retailwire, by George…
From insideHPC
Job of the Week: IT Manager (HPC Systems Specialist) at Rutgers
Rutgers University is seeking an IT Manager (HPC Systems Specialist) in our Job of the Week. "This position will work closely with our dedicated and experienced staff in the setup, operation and maintenance of a rapidly growing…
From insideHPC
One Stop Systems Rolls Out 4U Value Expansion System
“The Value Expansion System is ideal for customers on a tight budget who need high-density PCIe expansion. Customers can utilize the 4UV for GPUs, flash or a combination of both, providing performance gains in many applications…
From insideHPC
Intel’s New “Ruler” SSD Form Factor – Up to 1 Petabyte in 1U
Today Intel announced its latest memory technologies to advance datacenter storage. "These new “ruler” form factor SSDs and dual port SSDs are the latest in a long line of innovations we’ve brought to market to make storing and…
From insideHPC
HPC Analyst Crossfire at ISC 2017
In this video from ISC 2017, Addison Snell from Intersect360 Research fires back at industry leaders with hard-hitting questions about the state of the HPC industry. "Listen in as visionary leaders from the supercomputing community…
From insideHPC
Feed The Cores – Memory Bandwidth Usage
It has always been a developers concern to feed the cpus or cores with data as fast as possible. Over time, both the CPUs and memory bandwidth have seen their respective speed increase dramatically. However, there is still the…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
#BUILTBYGIRLS Challenge - for teen girls with startup ideas
This looks interesting. Know a girl with entrepreneurship dreams and ideas?
#BUILTBYGIRLS is looking for the next wave of startup founders and change-makers. Are you building a mobile app, hardware device, robotics project, game…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Facebook Translates with Neural Nets
Another example of how the power of this tech is expanding. Some interesting details here.
Two versions of a Facebook post Facebook Translations Now Rely Entirely on Neural Networks
SiliconANGLE by Eric David
" ... Facebook on…
From Computational Complexity
Wearable Tech and Attention
Remember the Bluetooth craze where it seemed half of all people walked around with a headset in their ear. Now you rarely do.
Remember Google Glass. That didn't last long.
I remember having conversation with someone and all…