Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
May 2014
From The Eponymous Pickle
A Tour of Bletchley Park
Have a long time interest in code breaking and its connection to the birth of the modern computer. Much of that happened at Bletchley Park. Here a text and image tour with no technical detail. Some of the earliest examples…
From My Biased Coin
Child Geniuses and Other Articles
Stuck on a flight home, I passed time reading a hotel copy of the Wall Street Journal, to find more interesting things than I would have thought.What first caught my eye is an interesting piece by Jordan Ellenberg, a math professor…
From The Eponymous Pickle
App for the Physically Impaired
On building apps for the physically impaired. From Phys Org News. " .... A new smartphone app developed by a team at the University of Palermo in Italy helps sightless people navigate inside of buildings where GPS doesn't work…
From XRDS
XRDS: Crossroads, The ACM Magazine for Students Volume 20 Issue 4, Summer 2014
From XRDS
Towards a critical debate about technology and its impact
Sean Follmer, Inbal Talgam-Cohen
From XRDS
Adbarrassment
XRDS Staff
From XRDS
Why saying no to the NSA is a slippery slope
Scott Delman
From XRDS
Women, hip-hop, and self-teaching: the new diversity in computing
Jean Yang
From XRDS
Women in computing
Jay Patel
From XRDS
<i>XRDS</i> anywhere, anytime
Pedro Lopes
From XRDS
A beginner's guide to computer science research
Somdip Dey
From XRDS
Doing research in practice: some lessons learned
Željko Obrenović
From XRDS
The curious case of a sick google glass
Wolfgang RichterThe XRDS blog highlights a range of topics from security and privacy to neuroscience. Selected blog posts, edited for print, will be featured in every issue. Please visit xrds.acm.org/blog to read each post in…
From XRDS
Pattern recognition: how hidden bias operates in tech startup culture
Freada Kapor Klein, Ana Díaz-HernándezMost people like to believe they judge others on their merits, and not by their gender or ethnicity. Neuroscience has shown this isn't always the case, so what can we do about it?
From XRDS
Open source, open heart
Jesse BeachCreativity requires technical training, personal development, and the freedom to take risks regardless of your gender.
From XRDS
It's deeper than rap, toward culturally responsive CS
Omoju MillerUsing hip-hop lyrics and artificial intelligence to engage more students in computer science based on their cultural background.
From XRDS
In search of diverse students
Tobias Berg, Rebecca Apel, Carmen Leicht-ScholtenIn Germany, the IGaDtools4MINT research project aims to integrate gender and diversity in STEM subjects.
From XRDS
Making tech more inclusive: an interview with Ashe Dryden
Erin CarsonExposing the driving causes behind the lack of diversity in our communities, and how to use your privilege for good.
From XRDS
Hackers!: the myth that warped an industry
Sarah Jeong, Colin McSwiggenFrom the early 1980s to the present day, the tech industry, the law, and media representations have evolved in tandem, all hypnotized by the myth of "The Hacker"---an ideal coder, stereotyped as an…
From XRDS
All hands on deck!
Grace WooTen action items for attracting and retaining more women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields of study.
From XRDS
Gendered expectations: are we unintentionally undermining our efforts to diversify STEM fields?
Eve Fine, Amy Wendt, Molly CarnesA look at how implicit biases influence the advancement of women in science and engineering.
From XRDS
Campus for moms: an ingenious idea for moms with ideas
Liron Lifshitz-Yadin, Daniela Raijman-AharonovHaving a baby and taking a new start. A program for women on maternity leave, teaches them how to give birth to a startup.
From XRDS
The prerequisites and privilege of autodidacticism: what you already need to know to teach yourself
Aliza AufrichtigThe proliferation of free, high-quality online courses has been heralded as a means to democratize education. The real innovations in online learning will be programs that teach the critical thinking required…
From XRDS
Profile Peter Havelock: how does the world's largest IT company understand diversity?
Adrian Scoică
From XRDS
J. Craig Venter Institute: Rockville, Maryland
Arka Bhattacharya
From XRDS
Demographics in computing
Finn Kuusisto
From XRDS
Exploring data with topological tools
Marinka Zitnik
From The Eponymous Pickle
Scratch Creation Language from MIT
Scratch. Was pointed out to me a year ago but just had a chance to take a look. Has existed publicly since 2006. Creation environment for kids. This reminds me of other environments, like Turtle Programming of longer ago. This…
From The Eponymous Pickle
User Generated Content and Media Perception
In Knowledge@Wharton: The addition of often politically polarized user-generated content changes public perception of media organizations – and it may hurt profits. But competitive pressure means it is likely here to stay, says…
From The Eponymous Pickle
SEO at Tesco
An example of a technologically advanced retailer:" ... Search engine optimization has helped Tesco grow to occupy 50% of the U.K. online grocery market, and among 2,500 online search terms, Tesco is the most visible supermarket…