Communications of the ACM
The blog archive provides access to past blog postings from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
September 2014
From The Eponymous Pickle
Ohio Aerospace Hub
Was introduced to the Ohio Aerospace Hub. Whose vision is to " ... Become the magnet for aerospace entrepreneurs, innovators and business owners seeking opportunity in a live-work-play-learn environment that fosters creativity…
From The Eponymous Pickle
3D Printer Startups Video
Makerbot and other low cost 3D Printer companies are examined in a Netflix video exclusive. Called 'Print the Legend'. A familiar look at the atmosphere of startups, before and after they become successful. If they do. This…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Mercedes Self Driving 18 Wheeler
In CWorld: Concept Vehicle. Impressive design. This should have considerable influence on supply chain efficiency. Good detail in the article." ... Mercedes-Benz showed off an autonomous semi-trailer truck that will be available…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Newspaper Goes to Virtual Reality
A curious example of how newspapers are looking at using virtual reality. Look at the tag link belong for examples about how we experimented with this. I have not though, been in Second Life for a number of years. It has"…
From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
NITRD Agencies To Develop National Privacy Research Strategy
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has asked a steering group in the Federal Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Program to lead development of a National Privacy Research…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
NIH awards initial $46 million for BRAIN Initiative
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced its first wave of investments totaling $46 million to support the goals of the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative. President Obama…
From Computational Complexity
Dagstuhl on Algebra in Computational Complexity
(Reminder- Theory day at UMCP: here is the link. ) There was a Dagstuhl on Algebra in Computational Complexity Sept 22-26. I learned stuff in the talks, over meals, and even in my room alone at night. 1) Recall that a while…
From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
U.S. Copyright Office Invites Petitions for 2015 DMCA Rulemaking
The U.S. Copyright Office is accepting petitions for the triennial rulemaking proceedings to determine exemptions to the anti-circumvention prohibitions under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The deadline for petitions…
From Putting People First
Domestic abuse and the law
OCAD‘s Super Ordinary Lab in Toronto, Canada also just started an unusual social design project that is worth sharing. Domestic Abuse and the Law: Confronting Systemic Impacts is a an ongoing participatory action research project…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Research Transformation
Sounds very familiar. Creating a research transformation agenda for 2015The two most powerful concepts in marketing research — trends and norms — are also the biggest enemies to innovation. And research programs are falling more…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Cheap Gesture Detection in Smartphones
In Technology Review: Another one of our research areas. In particular how you might use it for consumer interaction in retail. " .... A research project at the University of Washington shows a way to add gesture control…
From The Computing Community Consortium Blog
Transforming Healthcare Delivery
Former Computing Community Consortium (CCC) CI Fellow, Dr. Suchi Saria, now an Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins University, emphasizes the important role that computational scientists can play towards advancing and improving…
From Putting People First
Great resource on design research methods
Last week I was at Toronto’s OCADU (Ontario College of Art and Design – University), where Suzanne Stein showed me around in her Super Ordinary lab. One hidden gem was hanging on the wall, but it is luckily also available online…
From Putting People First
High tech psyche
If you want to be free in a digital age, must you switch off your computer, ask two new books, The End of Absence and The Glass Cage. The End of Absence: Reclaiming what we’ve lost in a world of constant connection by Michael…
From Putting People First
Using HCD to make mobile money relevant
Earlier in 2014, two consecutive Mondato Insights examined the role of Human Centered Design (HCD) in enhancing the user experience and closing the gap between registered and active users of Mobile Money. In the six months since…
From Computer Science Teachers Association
Computer Science Principles: Getting Started
After attending the CS Principles Summit in July, I was convinced that I needed to get this course started at my school site. The Summit was so informative and inspiring.
I had planned to attend the summit online, but due to…From The Eponymous Pickle
Book Launch: A Whole New Engineer
Long time correspondent Dave Goldberg has a book coming out, and there is a party. I plan to read and review here.Google On Air Hangout to Celebrate Launch of a New Book - Kindle Edition:A Whole New Engineer: The Coming Revolution…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Steven Pinker on Academic Writing
He complains about the quality of academic writing. As usual, he writes well. An example: " .... The other major contributor to academese is a cognitive blind spot called the Curse of Knowledge: a difficulty in imagining what…
From Putting People First
Reflecting on EPIC 2014
Simon Roberts – now of Stripe Partners – was the organizer of last year’s EPIC (Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference) in London. He did a truly excellent job. This year he was at EPIC in New York, not as an organiser any…
From Writing
Node.js vs Play Framework
Here's the showdown you've been waiting for: Node.js vs Play Framework. Both are popular open source web frameworks that are built for developer productivity, asynchronous I/O, and the real time web. But which one is easier to…
From Writing
Node.js vs Play Framework
Here’s the showdown you’ve been waiting for: Node.js vs Play Framework. Both are popular open source web frameworks that are built for developer productivity, asynchronous I/O, and the real time web. But which one is easier…
From Putting People First
An interview with Dirk Knemeyer on UX and reinventing democracy
Dirk Knemeyer is a UX thought leader, an entrepreneur, a game designer, and a former UXmatters columnist. Recently, Pabini Gabriel-Petit had the opportunity to interview Dirk about his experiences as a UX professional and entrepreneur…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Amelia Thinks like You
Emergence of more companies in the conversational advisory space. IPsoft gets publicity in the WSJ today with their cognitive offering: Amelia, a Machine, Thinks Like You ... She Can Solve Problems if Answer Is in Data SheWith…
From The Eponymous Pickle
Competing in a Digital Age
How do you compete in a digital age? In McKinsey. " ... Digitization is rewriting the rules of competition, with incumbent companies most at risk of being left behind. Here are six critical decisions CEOs must make to address…
From Putting People First
The anthropology of self-tracking devices (video)
Cultural anthropologist Natasha Schüll bridged the gap between human interaction and machine workings in her research on gambling. Her current research focuses on the design and use of self-tracking devices — such as when individuals…
From Putting People First
Focus groups are worthless
If Erika Hall, co-founder of Mule Design, could achieve one thing with her time here on earth, Ishemight be content if that one thing could be burning to the ground the practice of running focus groups in place of actual user…
From U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM
NIST Will Present Draft Privacy Engineering Objectives
On Thursday, October 2, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has a webcast scheduled to present its draft (including a discussion deck) Privacy Engineering Objectives and Risk Model. The development of these…
From BLOG@CACM
Computing: Art, Magic, Science
A new EdX MOOC emphasizes abstractions, Design by Contract and software quality.
From Schneier on Security
NSA Patents Available for License
There's a new article on NSA's Technology Transfer Program, a 1990s-era program to license NSA patents to private industry. I was pretty dismissive about the offerings in the article, but I didn't find anything interesting in…
From Computer Science Teacher - Thoughts and Information From Alfred Thompson
Interesting Links 29 September 2013
The big deal for me this past weekend was the birth of my first grandchild – a grandson. People are already asking me about what his first technology will be. I think I’ll leave that to his parents. At least for now. Earlier2015…