Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
August 2021
From The Eponymous Pickle
McKinsey on Hybrid Work
Talking Hybrid work. Why, When, Measures and how much.
It’s time for leaders to get real about hybrid By Aaron De Smet, Bonnie Dowling, Mihir Mysore, and Angelika Reich
It’s time for leaders to get real about hybrid
Employers…From The Eponymous Pickle
The Target of Malware
Am a recent user of Discord, so this surprised me. But it is a way to get inside quickly. Also note Sophos Labs, new to me. Here just the intro.
Malware increasingly targets Discord for abuse
SophosLabs Uncut•Android malware…From The Eponymous Pickle
Future of AI is Generative
Looks to be a good talk, about to experience.
THE HIVE THINK TANK LECTURE: THE FUTURE OF AI IS GENERATIVE NOT DISCRIMINATIVE
On May 26, 2021, Steve Omohundro gave a lecture on “The Future of AI is Generative not Discriminative”…From The Eponymous Pickle
Simulation and Causation Leading to Machine Learning
Hmm quite a thought, Want to see this broadly adapted and usefully applied. Technical supporting papers.
Published…From The Eponymous Pickle
Smart Contract Monitoring with Tenderly
Continue to look at how the aspect of a 'contract' can be integrated with code and logic.
Ethereum smart contract monitoring platform Tenderly raises $15.3M BY KYT DOTSON
Tenderly, a platform that helps developers monitor smart…From The Eponymous Pickle
Deep Mind Will Release Structure of Every Protein
Mentioned this in a previous piece. Here more detail from Technology Review. Which covers implications further.
DeepMind says it will release the structure of every protein known to science
The company has already used its protein…From The Eponymous Pickle
Pocket Identity Revisit
Unless something like face identity fails, as mentioned here previously.
The Identity in Everyone's Pocket By Phil Vachon
Communications of the ACM, January 2021, Vol. 64 No. 1, Pages 46-55
Most every technology practitioner has…From The Eponymous Pickle
Reaching Quantum Speed Limits
Speed limits, but errors accounted for as well? JQI new to me.
Information Transfer Protocol Reaches Quantum Speed Limit By Joint Quantum Institute
Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) scientists have developed a quantum informationThe…From The Eponymous Pickle
Business as Imagination Machine
Links discovered in O'Reilly.
Turn Your Business Into 'The Imagination Machine'
By Myles Suer | May 20, 2021 in CMSWire
How can businesses harness the collective imagination of their workforce at a time when innovation isMartin…From Schneier on Security
Defeating Microsoft’s Trusted Platform Module
This is a really interesting story explaining how to defeat Microsoft’s TPM in 30 minutes — without having to solder anything to the motherboard.
Researchers at the security consultancy Dolos Group, hired to test the security…From Schneier on Security
Squid Dog Toy
It’s sold out, but the pictures are cute.
As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.
Read my blog posting guidelines here.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Shopic Carts Get More Funding
We tested a number of such Smart Cart Ideas. Lost most interest in the 90s. Now with Amazon trying related ideas. Have just recently gained some traction. Basic description below.
AI News
Shopic AI smart carts secure further…From insideHPC
New York Power Authority Turn to ALCF’s Theta Supercomputer for Climate Change Planning
The largest state public power entity in the U.S., the New York Power Authority (NYPA), is addressing critical, long-term planning challenges by assessing how its ability to generate, transmit and deliver electricity may be affected…
From The Eponymous Pickle
L'Oreal Taking Cosmetics Digital, Virtual
Worked with a large Cosmetics Company, so of interest
L’Oréal’s New Digital Chief Takes Cosmetics Virtual By The Wall Street Journal, August 6, 2021
L'Oréal Group's newly appointed digital executive is exploring how online games…From The Eponymous Pickle
Master Faces can Bypass Authentication
Looks to be a dangerous authentication bypass on a now common security method using GAN methods.
‘Master Faces’ That Can Bypass Over 40% Of Facial ID Authentication Systems mmUpdated 2 days ago on August 4, 2021By Martin Anderson…From The Eponymous Pickle
An Introduction to Operations Research
My primary field from years back. With some great visuals. Integrating it with machine learning and decision making makes much sense. I disagree with the joke below, it has a natural decision and learning focus.
Why Operations…From insideHPC
Hyperion Research Announces Agenda for 2nd Virtual HPC User Forum
St. Paul, MN, Aug. 5, 2021 — Hyperion Research announced today that it will offer another virtual HPC User Forum meeting during the period September 7-10, 2021. Following the successful format of the May 2021 virtual meeting,…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Scaling up Chatbots
Below just the introduction, much more at the link.
Scaling Up Chatbots for Corporate Service Delivery Systems By Alistair Barros, Renuka Sindhgatta, Alireza Nili Communications of the ACM, August 2021, Vol. 64 No. 8, Pages…From The Eponymous Pickle
Python Code Libraries Riddled with Holes
Take caution with all those handy libraries.
Python Code Libraries Are Riddled With Security Holes By TechRadar, August 2, 2021
Almost half of the packages in the official Python Package Index (PyPI) repository have at least one…From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Eleven New NSF National AI Research Institutes Announced Last Week
Last week, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced the establishment of 11 new NSF National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes, building on the first round of seven institutes funded in 2020. The combined investment…
From insideHPC
Apply Now for the SC21 Early Career Program
Early-career researchers and technical professionals within the first five years of a permanent position are encouraged to apply for the SC21 Early Career Program. This virtual workshop, scheduled for Monday, November 15, 2021…
From The Eponymous Pickle
P&G Ventures
More from my former employer.
P&G Ventures Among Top 20 Best Workplaces for Innovators According to Fast Company
CINCINNATI, Aug. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Fast Company released its third annual Best Workplaces for Innovators list…From insideHPC
DOE Funds $15M for Integrated Computational and Data Infrastructure for Science Research at 5 Universities
Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $15.1 million for three collaborative research projects, at five universities, to advance development of what DOE said is a flexible multi-tiered data and computational infrastructure…
From Schneier on Security
Using “Master Faces” to Bypass Face-Recognition Authenticating Systems
Fascinating research: “Generating Master Faces for Dictionary Attacks with a Network-Assisted Latent Space Evolution.”
Abstract: A master face is a face image that passes face-based identity-authentication for a large portion…From Computational Complexity
Pole Vault Live Blogging
As I write this I'm watching the women's pole vault final in the Olympics. Of the 15 women who made the finals, only four remain after two heights.
To expand on my tweet, I find the pole vault the purest of the Olympic Sports.…From insideHPC
Dataiku Raises $400M at a $4.6B Valuation for ‘Everyday AI’ in the Enterprise
August 05, 2021 – NEW YORK – Dataiku, the platform for Everyday AI, today announced $400M in Series E investment led by Tiger Global, with participation from several existing investors, including ICONIQ Growth, CapitalG, FirstMark…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Radar Trends for August
As usual, well done look at look and links for trends to watch.
Radar trends to watch: August 2021
Trends in Programming, Robotics, Security, and More By Mike Loukides
Learn more
Security continues to be in the news: most notably…From insideHPC
Intelligent Light Announces Kombyne an ‘HPC Efficiency Multiplier’ for CFD
RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Aug. 4, 2021 –Intelligent Light announced today the creation of Kombyne, an SaaS high performance computing (HPC) workflow tool initially developed for the defense, automotive, aerospace industries and academic…
From insideHPC
ALCF GPU Hackathon and Computational Performance Workshop: Prepping Researchers for Current & Future HPC
As the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF) continues its transition to deploying and operating supercomputers powered by graphics processing units (GPUs), training researchers to use the powerful new resources for science…
From Gödel's Lost Letter and P=NP
Turning the Tables on Cheating?
Colonel Stok: Do you play chess? Harry Palmer: Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating. Sleuth source Michael Caine played Harry Palmer in the movie Funeral in Berlin. This was released in 1966—long before computers…