Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
September 2013
From The Eponymous Pickle
GE is About What is Next
GE with who I have worked with locally and globally, has always impressed me as forward looking. From promoting innovation to the use of leading edge technologies. From Adage, about how GE faces both businesses and consumer…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Life as a Negotiaton
Life as a Series of Negotiations. And the most important ones: " ... Actually, the most important negotiations we have — the ones that determine the quality of our lives and the impact of our actions — are the ones we have…
From Computational Complexity
Types of questions for exams
QUESTION: Give as many types of exam questions you can, give examples, and comment on if this is a good type of question. My answer below. A problem that some students can get right even if they never had the course because…
From Putting People First
Book: Putting Citizens First
Putting Citizens First Engagement in Policy and Service Delivery for the 21st Century Evert A. Lindquist, Sam Vincent and John Wanna Australian National University – Co-published with ANZSOG August 2013, 220 pages Free pdf (alternative…
From Putting People First
Book: Interactive Visualization
Interactive Visualization: Insight through Inquiry By Bill Ferster The MIT Press, 2012 ISBN-10: 0262018152, ISBN-13: 978-0262018159 (Amazon link) Abstract Interactive visualization is emerging as a vibrant new form of communication…
From Schneier on Security
Our Newfound Fear of Risk
We're afraid of risk. It's a normal part of life, but we're increasingly unwilling to accept it at any level. So we turn to technology to protect us. The problem is that technological security measures aren't free. They cost…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
The Most Successful Computer Scientist in the World
During a class discussion last week one of my students asked me “Who is the most successful computer scientist in the world?” Whoa! What a question. I started my reply with “it all depends on how you measure success.” Success…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Updating the Shopping Center
They seem to be dying. Yet they still work in much more focused applications as places to display and buy. In Shopperception. " ... Despite the rising numbers of online shopping and the immense power of digital marketing,…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Interesting Links 2 September 2013
It’s Labor Day in the US and schools are closed here. It’s actually the fourth day in a four day weekend for my school. Some how it always feels like this lets us ease into a full five day a week school schedule.
I found this…From The Eponymous Pickle
Top Data Science Languages
Vincent Granville usefully summarizes a survey of language use. Top Languages for analytics, data mining, data science:Very interesting study published by KDNuggets. Here are the highlights:The most popular languages continue…
From Putting People First
Ericsson Report: Identifying the needs of tomorrow’s video consumers
The Ericsson ConsumerLab TV & Media 2013 report (presentation) looks at how the explosion of connected mobile devices in the home has opened a whole new world of possibilities when it comes to viewing TV and video content. Consumer…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Consulting Excellence
Former colleague Ed Peak's consulting blog site. We met last week and he has an impressive portfolio. ' ... Leveraging Information Technology ... Improving your business & organization performance ... Success in Information…
From Putting People First
BBC R&D launched the UX Research Partnership
Some weeks ago the BBC announced the BBC User Experience Research Partnership, a long-term collaboration project between BBC Research and Development (BBC R&D) and leading UK universities in the fields of User Experience and…
From Schneier on Security
1983 Article on the NSA
The moral is that NSA surveillance overreach has been going on for a long, long time.
From Gödel's Lost Letter and P=NP
More on the Diagonal
A different angle on the Halting Problem src Rudolf Carnap was a German-born philosopher who became a mainstay of the famous “Vienna Circle.” Kurt Gödel often visited their meetings, but was not a member. Perhaps, to quote Groucho…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
How Google Glass Disrupts The Sports Image Monopoly
I was attending a golf tournament this weekend. So naturally my thoughts turned to technology. Yes it was everywhere. But the most disruptive technology was in taking pictures and videos. There were a lot of people telling people…
From My Biased Coin
How Should History Affect Funding Decisions?
As I go through the reviews from my latest NSF proposal, there are general high-level comments related to my past work. This leads to an interesting and perhaps-not-often-enough discussed issue -- how should the past influence…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Rexamining Excel 2013
In preparation for a conversion to a more generalized data visualization system I have been exploring Excel 2013 use for visualization. It is commonly used in industry. Much data is already accessible in Excel. I am impressed…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Transition to Mobile Devices
Considering the issues with transitioning to mobile devices. Much talked these days. " ... The post-PC era is not marked by the extinction of personal computers, but rather by the prevalence of portable computing devices that…
From Putting People First
How we do user research in agile teams
Getting user research into agile teams in a way that is timely, relevant and actionable is a challenge that teams the world over are tackling. Working effectively in agile has recently been the driver of some fairly significant…
From Putting People First
Googling yourself takes on a whole new meaning
CLive Thompson used Google Glass for six weeks. He discusses the latest in high-tech eyewear in the New York Times Magazine. “With Glass, I eventually settled upon a midpoint. I wore it mostly when alone, or when working at my…
From Putting People First
The web giants pumping us for data
As society becomes more networked, the information available to the Googles, Amazons and Facebooks of this world will increase exponentially. “As society becomes more and more networked, and as the so-called “internet-of-things”…
From Putting People First
Abraham Maslow and the pyramid that beguiled business
The psychologist Abraham Maslow’s theory of human motivation is 70 years old but continues to have a strong influence on the world of business. What is it, and is it right? Maslow’s friend, management guru Warren Bennis, believes…