Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
June 2013
From The Eponymous Pickle
Exit Google Reader
Google Reader is shutting down tonight. I used it for years to gather information that ultimately showed up in this blog. I had the feeds from several hundred resources included. I tested several replacements and ultimately…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Browser Based R
Brought to my attention. A Browser based R system called StatAce. They warn it is an early Beta with some instabilities. Some comments in LinkedIn like it. " .... An appealing and functional interface that even works on…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Preparing for the Internet of Things
Microsoft Preparing for the Internet of Things. An intriguing development. First I have seen by a major operating system developer. " ... The Internet of Things has steadily been gaining momentum, as more and more objects…
From The Eponymous Pickle
IMDB Again
Have used the Internet Movie Database or IMDB since shortly after its creation in 1990, and through its acquisition by Amazon in 1998 ... My research orientation, even for non work things, has always made it an intriguing thing…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Technology Impact on Supply Chain
Insightful piece (Complete article is behind a pay wall) about implications for the supply chain of new technologies. " ... This report examines the long-term strategic impacts of this shift, highlighting the changes in the environment…
From BLOG@CACM
Education Removes Fear: Some Examples From CS Courses
One purpose of education is to remove fear; I present some examples from CS courses.
From The Eponymous Pickle
How SAS Does Agile
In SASCom: The concept of the Agile Scrum and how it is used at SAS. " ... Walk the halls in R&D and you’ll hear people speaking about their sprints and stories, you’ll see teams having scrums, and you’ll sense that they’re…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Eyetracking with Google Glass
In Mashable: On the basis of a patent, which we know may not mean much, but it is inevitable that we will see the capabilities integrated. " ... Google has been awarded a patent that could allow Google Glass users to unlock…
From The Eponymous Pickle
About 'Natural' Resources
An interesting look at natural resources. All are created by human effort. Some just require more effort than others.
From ACM-W supporting, celebrating and advocating for Women in Computing
Mission Statement
ACM-W supports, celebrates, and advocates internationally for the full engagement of women in all aspects of the computing field, providing a wide range of programs and services to ACM members and working in the larger community…
From My Biased Coin
And Thanks for All the Fish, Altavista Version
All sorts of news about the plug finally being pulled on Altavista, which I still have an attachment to, being partially the product myself of DEC. Here's a nice eulogy. There's a good basic history at wikipedia's Altavista…
From The Eponymous Pickle
To Save Everything, Click Here
Brought to my attention by Stephen Few, a new book: To Save Everything Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism, by Evgeny Morozov His very positive review. " ... Technologies are important. They give us opportunities…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Seizing Big Data Opportunity
A balanced view from E-Commerce Times about the topic. What it is and is definitely not. Recently have been asked for a concise definition of Big Data, and though not short, this does a good job of outlining the form and value…
From Putting People First
Designing for services beyond the screen
The producer-consumer model is so ingrained in our society that we tend to treat everything like a product—a one-and-done offering that can be pushed to the market and forgotten. Yet, writes interaction and service design consultant…
From Putting People First
Design in Service: Crafting the Citizen Experience
Many agree that a combination of factors – a demand for better user experience, the rise of ubiquitous technologies and more readily accessible datasets – present the conditions necessary for a more enjoyable life as a citizen…
From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
New AP Computer Science Principles Exam
The College Board announced this month a new Advanced Placement course and exam – Computer Science Principles (AP CSP). The course will introduce high school students to fundamental concepts of computing beyond computer programming…
From My Biased Coin
And Thanks For All the Fish
As my Area Administrator Tristen reminded me, "...today is officially your last day as my boss..." Monday is July 1, which officially ends my term as Area Dean for Computer Science at Harvard. The indefatigable David Parkes…
From Schneier on Security
Friday Squid Blogging: Man Pulled Under by Squids
Video story on Animal Planet.
As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven't covered.
From The Eponymous Pickle
Predictive Assistants that Take the Initiative
We worked with and visited the nonprofit research group SRI a number of times. They originally had been spun out of Stanford University. They were involved in detergent formulations for our enterprise years ago. The computer…
From Schneier on Security
Me on EconTalk
Another audio interview; this one is mostly about security and power.
From Schneier on Security
My Talk at Google
Last week, I gave a talk at Google. It's another talk about power and security, my continually evolving topic-of-the-moment that could very well become my next book. This installment is different than the previous talks and…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Travel Industry Big Data
Thomas Davenport on the use of Big Data in the travel industry. A very nontechnical view of the potential, but not necessarily current use of Big Data in the online travel industry. " ... Analytics guru Thomas Davenport assesses…
From Schneier on Security
Preventing Cell Phone Theft through Benefit Denial
Adding a remote kill switch to cell phones would deter theft.
Here we can see how the rise of the surveillance state permeates everything about computer security. On the face of it, this is a good idea. Assuming it works -…From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
A Retrospective Report of the Simons Institute Visions on The Theory of Computing Symposium
The following is a special contribution to this blog from Christos Papadimitriou, C. Lester Hogan Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California at Berkeley. Christos co-organized the…
From The Female Perspective of Computer Science
Teacher for a Year!
It's finally official: I get to teach for a year!
From Wild WebMink
IRS Blocks Open Source Non-Profit Status
Open source Foundations have a great track record for good governance of open source projects – think of the Apache Software Foundation, the Document Foundation, the Eclipse Foundation or the Mozilla Foundation and the tremendous…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Emotions Based on Brain Activity
Out of Carnegie Mellon, new research about how brain activities link to emotions. Further research into nonconscious activity of the brain. Depends strongly on how emotions are defined, and how the activity in areas of the…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Microsoft Research Tracks Phone Mood
A fairly detailed article on work MS is doing to track the mood of people using a smartphone. Called MoodScope. Of interest to enterprises that would like another measure of non conscious interactions with consumers. With the…
From The Eponymous Pickle
The Future of Autonomous Vehicles
Another good example of time forward looking search. From a company I have followed for some time: Recorded Future. Good understanding of possible futures has always been an interest. Here looking at the future of the autonomous…
From The Eponymous Pickle
MOOC in Progress
Good examples of the MOOC educational process in progress. Will this be our future education process? How will it be layered with more traditional methods? Efficiencies yes, but effectiveness?