Communications of the ACM
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How the “Frontier” Became the Slogan of Uncontrolled AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been billed as the next frontier of humanity: the newly available expanse whose exploration …
From Computational Complexity
GPU Computing
Back around 1980, I used to write computer games for the Apple II. Plotting a point on the Apple II screen required dividing by 7, a lengthy process for the 6502...
From Computational Complexity
Map Coloring Revisited
Following the coloring theme from Bill's last post, a few years ago I asked you readers for natural examples of maps that were and were not three colorable. Chris...
From Computational Complexity
Ideas in Search of a Blog Post
I keep a list of ideas for blog posts, but some will never turn into posts. So here are a few random thoughts from that list. Some people like to write prose,last...
From Computational Complexity
The Golden Ticket
Today is the official publication date of my first book The Golden Ticket: P, NP and the Search for the Impossible by Princeton University Press, though the book...
From Computational Complexity
Technology and Jobs
Entertainment Weekly reported last month on the bankruptcy of the special effects company Rhythm and Hues and the troubled industry. I remarked five years ago that...
From Computational Complexity
Gary Miller to Receive the Knuth Prize
The 2013 Knuth Prize will be awarded to Gary Miller at STOC (ACM Press Release). The Knuth prize is now given yearly for outstanding contributions to the foundations...
From Computational Complexity
A Century of Erdős
The great Hungarian combinatorialist Paul Erdős was born one hundred years ago today. The big celebration will happen in Budapest in July. It's hard to say more...
From Computational Complexity
The Slot Machine Theory of Paper Submissions
Why do scientists publish so much? There is the whole "publish or perish" thing but that doesn't explain the large increase in quantity of publications. With a...
From Computational Complexity
Goodbye Old Friends
We had two terrible losses this week. Not people but websites, Intrade and Google Reader. The corporate auditors for the real-money Irish prediction markets...
From Computational Complexity
Turing Award to Shafi and Silvio
The 2012 ACM Turing Award, the highest honor in computer science, will be given to MIT cryptographers Shafi Goldwasser and Silvio Micali. From the press release...
From Computational Complexity
Opera and MOOCS
I've really learned to enjoy opera (the art form not the browser) and while I've come to really enjoy Atlanta, the city only has a regional opera company. So IMetropolitan...
From Computational Complexity
Our Government at Work
Barring a surprise deal, the sequester goes into effect tomorrow. NSF Director (and soon to be CMU President) Subra Suresh announced a sequestration impact statement...
From Computational Complexity
Interruptions
I got a new toy this week, the Pebble watch which I got early because I pre-ordered donated to their Kickstarter campaign. It's a little buggy and the promised...
From Computational Complexity
Beauty and Science
Christopher Shea wrote a recent Chronicle Review article Is Scientific Truth Always Beautiful? I would argue the answer is yes, and it boils down to Occam's Razor...
From Computational Complexity
The Complexity-STOC Bonanza
STOC and Complexity are co-located this July in beautiful Palo Alto, California. Both conferences have just announced their accepted papers: STOC (with PDF links...
From Computational Complexity
Postdocs in Computer Science
Anita Jones is troubled by the growing number of postdocs in computer science, she uses "troubling" twice in the first paragraph of her CACM Viewpoint. But is it...
From Computational Complexity
Who do you write papers for?
Mitch Daniels, the former governor of Indiana and new president of Purdue, wrote an inaugural letter where he discusses many of the challenges of higher education...
From Computational Complexity
The End of a Useless Test
First a word from our sponsor: Mihalis Yannakakis is celebrating his 60th birthday this year and you are invited to the party. From the Educational Testing Service...
From Computational Complexity
Rise of the Engineer
I rarely watch TV commercials anymore but its NFL playoff time and during a game last weekend, the following Ford commercial caught my eye. When not showing...
From Computational Complexity