Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
October 2013
From The Eponymous Pickle
Google Plus
For the purposes of an experiment, some posts of my blog are now being echoed into Google+ here: http://www.google.com/+FranzDill Feel free to link with me there.
From Schneier on Security
NSA Eavesdropping on Google and Yahoo Networks
The Washington Post reported that the NSA is eavesdropping on the Google and Yahoo private networks -- the code name for the program is MUSCULAR. I may write more about this later, but I have some initial comments:
It's a measure…From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Get Involved in Hour of Code 2013
Last week, Code.Org and others announced the Hour of Code to the world. Now backed by Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon, LinkedIn, Mark Zuckerberg, CSTA, the College Board, Boys & Girls Clubs, and over 100 other partners, we’re…
From The Eponymous Pickle
App Stores for the Defense Enterprise
Enterprises are looking for ways to ride the ease of use and simplicity of task partitioning and integration in App stores. Even the US Department of Defense.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Samsung Design America
Samsung Putting Design First. A new era of design connectivity. " ... Dennis Miloseski, head of the design studio for Samsung Design America, said that Samsung’s new design arm is “in the business to turn science fiction into…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Focusing Effort with Data, Leveraging it with Analytics
In preparation now for a talk to local executives on the use of analytics in the enterprise I reviewed some of the work done with Business Sphere. Its been some thirty years since I arrived at a global soap company, degreesee…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Engineering Software Development
In Computer.org: Software development fails more often than most other engineering endeavors. How can this be better addressed with engineering principles?
From Gödel's Lost Letter and P=NP
Pretending In Number Theory
A definition is often more important than a theorem Andrew Granville is a British mathematician and a world expert in analytic number theory. He came to Canada for his PhD, and after a postdoc in Toronto and time at IAS in Princeton…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Continued Progress of Design Thinking
Our enterprise added a design function, and I was involved in a number of introductory meetings. There was a slight skepticism between the groups that were design oriented versus those that were had been pushing quantifiedMore…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, Special Issue on Cloud Robotics and Automation, Calling for Submissions
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Robotics and Automation Society (IEEE-RAS) will be publishing a special edition of Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering (T-ASE) that is focused on Cloud Robotics…
From BLOG@CACM
Data Science Workflow: Overview and Challenges
I provide an overview of the data science workflow and highlight some challenges that data scientists face in their work.
From Schneier on Security
The Battle for Power on the Internet
We're in the middle of an epic battle for power in cyberspace. On one side are the traditional, organized, institutional powers such as governments and large multinational corporations. On the other are the distributed and nimble…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Data Variety as a Dimension
Data variety is one of the key dimensions of Big Data applications. Which are said to deal with Volume, Variety and Velocity of data. Here a post about how it is often an issue. Variety of data is often a problem in many…
From Computer Science Teachers Association
Computer Science History
Computer science tends to be a very forward looking field. We are constantly looking at the newest things including the future of computers, of programming languages and paradigms, the future of applications and of careers. This…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
We Are the Faces of Computing Poster Contest!
In honor of CSEdWeek, CSTA’s Equity Committee will be hosting its annual poster competition "We Are the Faces of Computing". This contest invites students of any age to design a poster that highlights the diverse and creative…
From The Eponymous Pickle
P&G at Teradata Partners Session
Good piece that covers many of the issues of the large CPG enterprise today:Via Gib Bassett Teradata Industry PartnersLessons the CPG industry can take away from Procter & Gamble’s 2013 Teradata Partners SessionThis (past) week…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Kroger Knows Your Shopping Habits
In Forbes: Good overview of what is fairly common practice in the use of analytics in retail/CPG today. " ... Working with dunnhumby, the customer data specialist which so impressed the UK’s Tesco that the grocer bought theThose…
From Daniel Lemire's Blog
People who make you feel stupid…
In his latest book, David and Goliath, Gladwell points out not everything is as it appears with respect to prestige and strength. For example, when you look at the productivity of economics PhD, the average new doctor from Harvard…
From Schneier on Security
What the NSA Can and Cannot Do
Good summary from the London Review of Books.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Solving a Big Data Conjecture
Interesting, but technical: " ... A mathematical problem related to big data was solved by Jean-Francois Puget, engineer in the Solutions Analytics and Optimization group at IBM France. The problem was first mentioned on Data…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Reacting to Google Algorithm Changes
Another Algorithm Change. Is there no other feasible reaction to the ongoing changes by Google?" ... Every online publisher and her brother has since rushed to spill ink on the topic because we all want to know: how can we please…
From My Biased Coin
Visiting UC Davis
Before returning home last week I spent a day at UC Davis giving a talk. I got the spend the day talking to various people I've collaborated with there (like Raissa D'Souza, Nina Amenta, and John Owens), and enjoyed gettingCharles…
From Schneier on Security
Arguing for NSA-Level Internet Surveillance
Jack Goldsmith argues that we need the NSA to surveil the Internet not for terrorism reasons, but for cyberespionage and cybercrime reasons. Daniel Gallington argues -- the headline has nothing to do with the content -- that…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Programmable Robots for Young Students
Play-I is a new start up using crowd funding to develop a pair of programmable robots for young students. I have a thing for robots. And these robots are pretty cute.
Play-Is robots are called Bo and Yana. That’s Bo on the left…From The Eponymous Pickle
Math and Music
An upcoming concert and lecture on patterns in math and music. If you are nearby Santa Fe, drop in. If you need to impress on someone the relationship between math and music, the link is also worth reading. " ... "The Majesty…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Improving Application Development
Creating reliable systems is still quite inefficient. McKinsey reports on enhancing efficiency and effectiveness. " ... Software has become critical for most large enterprises. They should adopt a reliable output metric that…
From The Eponymous Pickle
How Fast is Broadband Fast
Its fairly rare that I need broadband inside a project. Yes it is certainly useful for general browsing, or up and downloading files. This Readwrite Web article is about a comparison of speeds. A recent project made me think…
From Computational Complexity
University of Maryland Job Posting Mentions Quantum Computing explicitly!
The University of Maryland at College Park has its job posting up (its been up for a while). You can look at it here. I It lists THREE areas but says that they will take applicants from any area. This is believable since they…
From The Eponymous Pickle
No Such Thing as Electronic Privacy
In Compterworld: With more stories coming out about NSA, this short post explains how there is no such thing as privacy in electronics. Privacy as a delusion. Well OK, if the NSA is involved. But reasonable personal privacy…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
New York Times Article Highlights Computer Science Research in Medical Devices
Computer science has been an active component of medical devices for a long time, but has recently been brought to the spotlight by former Vice President Dick Cheney, when he spoke about turning off the wireless component of …