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 Daniel Lemire's Blog
Why can’t you find a job with a Stanford computer science PhD?
To many of my older colleagues, the idea that you possibly couldn’t find a job with a good degree, let alone a PhD, is unthinkable. And what about a promising young graduate in Computer Science from Stanford University? What…
From Schneier on Security
Metadata Equals Surveillance
Back in June, when the contents of Edward Snowden's cache of NSA documents were just starting to be revealed and we learned about the NSA collecting phone metadata of every American, many people -- including President Obama -…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Interesting Links 23 September 2013
This weeks quote of the week is from Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher who Tweeted “I don't want my students to buy the apps - I want them to make them.” Isn’t that what most of use want? Students who are creators and not just consumers…
From The Eponymous Pickle
DunHumby Maps Price Sensitivity
In Research: " ...According to new research from Dunnhumby, a consumer’s sensitivity to price greatly influences their response to advertising tactics and the channel of delivery. Justin Petty, vice-president of media solutions…
From Computational Complexity
STOC CFP still delayed- but I was asked to pass this along
Since there were comments on the blog about the STOC and CCC CFP not being out yet I mailed various people who are in-the-know. I got email from David Shmoys (STOC PC chair 2014) telling me (1) The STOC the call is still delayed…
From The Eponymous Pickle
How iPads are Transforming Retail
In TheNextWeb: Nothing very revolutionary here. The examples work for all tablets. Still a good reminder of the basics of what can be done. I don't see enough about how strategic problems by management in retail can be solved…
From Gödel's Lost Letter and P=NP
Mary Jean Harrold
Mary Jean has passed away—she is already greatly missed Mary Jean Harrold started like many of her generation, as a math major. She earned her BS and MA degrees in mathematics from Marshall University. Then she received her MS…
From CERIAS Blog
A Valuable Resource for Young People (limited time offer)
Over the years, I've gotten to know many people working in security and privacy. Too few have focused on issues relating to children and young adults. Thankfully, one of these people is Linda McCarthy. A security professional…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Printing Food
In the NYT: At very least the form of the food, or perhaps also adding the intermixing of flavors as well. Another example of the rush to 3D printing. Still appears to be an artsy and niche angle. We looked at the remote…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Enterprise and Big Data
In Readwrite: Well thought out piece. Have seen this same behavior in many hype cycles. Large enterprises, who can afford it, accept the use of technologies like Big Data. The emphasis should be on business need, but that…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Digital Marketing is Dead: Says P&G Branding Boss
Not exactly what was said, but rather that digital has just become part of the accepted mix of techniques and our creativity should focus on brand building rather than technology emphasis.American City Business Journals/Cincy…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Reviving Artificial Intelligence at MIT
More on MIT's new center. Is AI and its application to business back?" ... A new interdisciplinary research center at MIT, funded by the National Science Foundation, aims at nothing less than unraveling the mystery of intelligence…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Turning Numbers into Knowledge
Long time collaborator and colleague Jeff Camm at the University of Cincinnati is featured in this recent Lindner College of Business article. I have been on the OBAIS board for several years." ... UC business analytics professor…
From The Female Perspective of Computer Science
A Preview of My GHC13 Gram's House Poster
It's not finalized, but here's a preview of the poster I made about Gram's House, a research project I started a few years ago, for the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. Gram's House is a game designed to encourage…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Advances in 3D Printing
In Techdirt: A good overview of printing and scanning advances to support remote manufacture. Links to a number of vendors and projects underway of interest.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Social Analytics Delivered
Gib Bassett passes along an article on a purveyor of social media analytics: Infinite Analytics. " ... a cloud-based big data startup that uses the social graph of consumers to provide personalized recommendation. They have developed…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Big Data Strategy and Hype
Forrester on Big Data Strategy. A useful cautionary view on the floods of hype. " ... Don't Have A Big Data Strategy Yet? Good. ... Big data noise has reached the point where most are reaching for the ear plugs. ... "
From The Eponymous Pickle
Saving Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble continues a spiral downwards, apparently unable to link its Nooks and coffee shops to a profitable experience. Books as experience goods and the power of samples, and some examples of bookstore experiences that…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Measurement as a Path to Success
A favorite topic of mine. Improving measurement can lead to better results, even if you don't apply advanced analytics to the measurements. Because measurement leads to control. " ... Measuring Your Way to Success in Procurement…
From Putting People First
Online time can hobble brain’s important work
While you are browsing online, you could be squandering memories — or losing important information, according to Swedish research. Contrary to common wisdom, an idle brain is in fact doing important work — and in the age of constant…
From Putting People First
Financial Times on EPIC conference
This week, business anthropologists from all over the world descended on the Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference at London’s Royal Institution, the historic site where Michael Faraday first demonstrated the power of electricity…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Innovation and Science Fiction
In the Atlantic: Inventors need to read more science fiction... " ... MIT researchers Dan Novy and Sophia Brueckner argue that the mind-bending worlds of authors such as Philip K. Dick and Arthur C. Clarke can help us not just…
From Schneier on Security
Friday Squid Blogging: How Bacteria Terraform a Squid
The bacterium Vibrio fischeri is a squid terraformer. Although it can live independently in seawater, it also colonises the body of the adorable Hawaiian bobtail squid. The squid nourishes the bacteria with nutrients…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Smart and Connected Health (SCH) Proposals due October 10 and December 10
The goal of the Smart and Connected Health (SCH) Program, which is a joint funding announcement between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is to accelerate the development and use…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Information Dashboard Design
Newly arrived to support a project: Information Dashboard Design: Displaying Data for At-a-Glance Monitoring by Stephen Few. I will review in the future. Their description:" ... Stephen Few exposes the common problems in dashboard…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Business Technology Strategy Template
Well thought out template for business technology strategy from Forrester Blogs. " .... What is it that almost every organization believes it needs, many organizations have, and few organizations use? The answer is an IT strategy…
From The Eponymous Pickle
ARD2 Augmented Reality
Recently brought to my attention this augmented reality delivery company: AR23D For advertising, sales and entertainment implementations. With development offices in the Ukraine and Russia. Their Blog. An interesting interview…
From Schneier on Security
Legally Justifying NSA Surveillance of Americans
Kit Walsh has an interesting blog post where he looks at how existing law can be used to justify the surveillance of Americans.
Just to challenge ourselves, we'll ignore the several statutory provisions and other doctrines that…From The Eponymous Pickle
National Identity By Smartphone
The curious observation that national identity varies by phone type. And the Asymco article and supporting data and visualizations.
From Schneier on Security
Google Knows Every Wi-Fi Password in the World
This article points out that as people are logging into Wi-Fi networks from their Android phones, and backing up those passwords along with everything else into Google's cloud, that Google is amassing an enormous database of …