Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
November 2023
From insideHPC
@HPCpodcast: Tech Analyst Adrian Cockcroft on Trends Driving Future HPC Architectures
Along with his article to be found on this site, technology analyst Adrian Cockcroft of OrionX (and former AWS vice president) joins Shahin and Doug after SC23 to discuss TOP500 trends, the AI-HPC crossover, liquid cooling, chiplets…
From insideHPC
SC23: TOP500 Trends, the AI-HPC Crossover, Chiplet Standardization, the Emergence of UCIe and CXL Advancements
By Adrian Cockcroft, Partner & Analyst, OrionX Last year the UCIe chiplet standard had just been launched, and since then just about everyone has joined it, about 130 companies. The idea is that to build a complete CPU or GPU…
From Computational Complexity
The Engineer and The Computer Scientist
What is the difference between engineering and computer science? CS is not an engineering field, though there is some overlap. It's not the digital versus physical. To capture the difference we can look two tech CEOs dominating…
From Schneier on Security
Breaking Laptop Fingerprint Sensors
They’re not that good:
Security researchers Jesse D’Aguanno and Timo Teräs write that, with varying degrees of reverse-engineering and using some external hardware, they were able to fool the Goodix fingerprint sensor in a Dell…From Geeking with Greg
Book excerpt: The problem is bad incentives
(This is an excerpt from drafts of my book, "Algorithms and Misinformation: Why Wisdom of the Crowds Failed the Internet and How to Fix It")
Incentives matter. “As long as your goal is creating more engagement,” said former…
From Schneier on Security
Digital Car Keys Are Coming
Soon we will be able to unlock and start our cars from our phones. Let’s hope people are thinking about security.
From Daniel Lemire's Blog
Parsing 8-bit integers quickly
Suppose that you want to parse quickly 8-bit integers (0, 1, 2, …, 254, 255) from an ASCII/UTF-8 string. The problem comes up in the simdzone project lead by Jeroen Koekkoek (NLnet Labs). You are given a string and its length…
From insideHPC
AWS Unveils Graviton4, Trainium2 Chips
Today at AWS re:Invent, Amazon Web Services announced the next generation of two AWS-designed chip families — AWS Graviton4 and AWS Trainium2 — that the company said delivers advancements in price performance and energy efficiency…
From insideHPC
Hyperion Research Announces Winners of HPC Innovation Excellence Awards
HPC industry analyst firm Hyperion Research has announced the recipients of the 19th round of HPC Innovation Excellence Awards. The 2023 winners are: FedData Technology Solutions, Boston University, McMaster University and HPE…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
CCC Council Member Nominations Open
The Computing Community Consortium (CCC) is charged with enabling the pursuit of innovative, high-impact computing research that aligns with pressing national and global challenges. Established in 2006 through a cooperative agreement…
From BLOG@CACM
What Does Digitization Mean, and When Did It Begin?
Digitization is on everyone's lips. What does digitization mean and when did it begin?
From Geeking with Greg
Tim O'Reilly on algorithmic tuning for exploitation
Tim O'Reilly, Mariana Mazzucato, and Ilan Strauss have three working papers focusing on Amazon's ability to extract unusual profits from its customers nowadays. The papers are: Algorithmic Attention Rents: A theory of digital…
From Daniel Lemire's Blog
A simple WebSocket benchmark in Python
Modern web applications often use the http/https protocols. However, when the server and client needs to talk to each other in a symmetrical fashion, the WebSocket protocol might be preferable. For example, if you want to program…
From Gödel's Lost Letter and P=NP
Thanks to Will Shortz
For keeping us human—in crosswords at least for now Cropped from Guardiansource Will Shortz has just celebrated 30 years as the Crossword Editor of the New York Times. He remains the only person in the world whose college diploma…
From insideHPC
PASQAL and Investissement Québec Launch $90M Quantum Initiative
Nov. 27, 2023 — French quantum computing company PASQAL announced it is part of the inauguration of Espace Quantique 1, a $90 million quantum initiative, in the center of the DistriQ Quantum Innovation Zone in Sherbrooke, Quebec…
From ACM-W supporting, celebrating and advocating for Women in Computing
Gender Equality in Science (SCGES) brings together scientists from all disciplines for gender equality
The Standing Committee for Gender Equality in Science (SCGES) is an independent committee formed in 2020 by nine international scientific organizations, most of which are full members of the International Science Council (ISC)…
From Schneier on Security
Secret White House Warrantless Surveillance Program
There seems to be no end to warrantless surveillance:
According to the letter, a surveillance program now known as Data Analytical Services (DAS) has for more than a decade allowed federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies…From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Free event for families and schools: the Christmas Lectures from the Royal Institution
FREE: Come and see a TV programme being made at the People's Palace on Mile End Road (other UK venues available). It's time for the annual Royal Institution Christmas Lectures - this year it's "The Truth About AI".
From Computational Complexity
Can I make money in the betting markets based on what i ``know'' about the Republican VP choide
The betting markets for the Republican VP are here.
Assume that I am very confident that the VP won't be Nikki Haley. I can buy a NO share for 90 cents (that may change by the time you read this). If I buy 1 shares of NO for Haley…From Geeking with Greg
Book excerpt: People determine what the algorithms do
(This is an excerpt from drafts of my book, "Algorithms and Misinformation: Why Wisdom of the Crowds Failed the Internet and How to Fix It")
The problem is people. These algorithms are built, tuned, and optimized by people.…
From Daniel Lemire's Blog
A simple WebSocket benchmark in JavaScript: Node.js versus Bun
Conventional web applications use the http protocol (or the https variant). The http protocol is essentially asymmetrical: a client application such as a browser issues requests and the server responds. It is not possible for…
From ACM-W supporting, celebrating and advocating for Women in Computing
ACM-W Celebrating Technology Leaders discussed Quantum Computing – View On-Demand
In this episode of “ACM-W Celebrating Technology Leaders,” our host, Bushra Anjum (ACM-W Standing Committees Chair; Director of Data Science & Analytics, Doximity) invited women technologists from diverse career paths and stages…
From ACM-W supporting, celebrating and advocating for Women in Computing
ACM-W North America sponsored activities in Mexico
The 12th International Conference on Software Engineering (CIMPS) The 12th International Conference on Software Engineering (CIMPS) was held at CENIDET, Cuernavaca, Mexico, from October 18th to 20th. This international conference…
From ACM-W supporting, celebrating and advocating for Women in Computing
ACM-W NA is soliciting volunteers to assist with their mission
Author: Lindsay Jamieson, ACM-W NA chair We are soliciting volunteers to assist with the ACM-W mission in North America (Canada, the US, Mexico, and the Caribbean). From positions on standing committees to memberships in the…
From Schneier on Security
Friday Squid Blogging: Squid Nebula
Pretty photograph.
The Squid Nebula is shown in blue, indicating doubly ionized oxygen—which is when you ionize your oxygen once and then ionize it again just to make sure. (In all seriousness, it likely indicates a low-mass…From Schneier on Security
Chocolate Swiss Army Knife
It’s realistic looking. If I drop it in a bin with my keys and wallet, will the TSA confiscate it?
From Schneier on Security
LitterDrifter USB Worm
A new worm that spreads via USB sticks is infecting computers in Ukraine and beyond.
The group—known by many names, including Gamaredon, Primitive Bear, ACTINIUM, Armageddon, and Shuckworm—has been active since at least 2014…From ACM-W supporting, celebrating and advocating for Women in Computing
Quantum Computing: Potential, Practicality, and Perils
When? November 15, 2023, 12:30 PM in Pacific Time (US and Canada) Watch the recording here. In this episode of “ACM-W Celebrating Technology Leaders,” we invite women technologists from diverse career paths and stages, contributing…
From Putting People First
Study on how young Europeans perceive their future
*The Movers of Tomorrow: How Young Adults in Europe Imagine and Shape the Future* -
Study of young adults (aged 18 to 39) in Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland and the UK by Allianz Foundation and SINUS Institute.
From Schneier on Security
Apple to Add Manual Authentication to iMessage
Signal has had the ability to manually authenticate another account for years. iMessage is getting it:
The feature is called Contact Key Verification, and it does just what its name says: it lets you add a manual verification…