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 CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Frequency Analysis for Fun
by Paul Curzon, Queen Mary University of London Frequency Analysis, a technique beloved by spies for centuries, and that led to the execution of at least one Queen...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Keeping secrets on the Internet – encryption keeps your data safe
How do modern codes keep your data safe online? Ben Stephenson of the University of Calgary explains When Alan Turing was breaking codes, the world was a pretty...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Composing from Compression
by Geraint Wiggins, Queen Mary University of London Computers compress files to save space. But it also allows them to create music! Music is special. It’s oneContinue...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Balls, beams and quantum computers – performing calculations with patterns of light
by Jane Waite, Queen Mary University of London Have you played the seaside arcade game where shiny metal balls drops down to ping, ping off little metal pegs and...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Getting off the beach, fast
by Paul Curzon, Queen Mary University of London Paul goes on holiday and sees how a car park can work like a computer. Computers get faster and faster every year...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
[From the archives] “A mob for the Earth” – online communities supporting the real world, and businesses
A mob for the Earth by Paul Curzon, Queen Mary University of London One Saturday afternoon last spring in San Francisco, a queue of people stretched down the pavement...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Competitive Zen
To become a Jedi Knight you must have complete control of your thoughts. As you feel the force you start to control your surroundings and make objects move just...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Pit-stop heart surgery
The Formula 1 car screams to a stop in the pit-lane. Seven seconds later, it has roared away again, back into the race. In those few seconds it has been refuelled...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Cyber Security at the movies: Rogue one (Part II: Authentication)
In a galaxy far, far away cyber security matters. So much so, that the whole film Rogue One is about it. Part of the key to keeping the Death Star plans secret...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Happy World Emoji Day –
“Emoji didn’t become so essential because they stand in for words – but because they finally made writing a lot more like talking.” Gretchen McCulloch (see Further...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Cyber Security at the movies: Rogue one (Part I: Physical Security)
In a galaxy far, far away cyber security matters quite a lot. So much so, in fact, that the whole film Rogue One is about it. The plot is all about the bad guys...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
When a chatbot acts as your “trusted” agent …
Artificial Intelligences are capable of acting as our agents freeing up our time, but can we trust them? Steve Phelps and his team run experiments with AIs as the...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Nurses in the mist
What do you do when your boss tells you "go and invent a new product"? Lock yourself away and stare out the window? Go for a walk, waiting for inspiration? Medical...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Negligent nurses? Or dodgy digital? – device design can unintentionally mask errors
Magicians often fool their audience into ‘looking over there’ (literally or metaphorically), getting them to pay attention to the wrong thing so that they’re not...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Screaming Headline Kills!!!
Medical mistakes can make a big news story with screaming headlines vilifying those 'responsible'. It may sell papers. Research by Chrystie Myketiak suggested it...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Bitten blue
For some reason biting flies home in on some people while leaving others (even those walking next to them) alone. What is going on, what does it have to do with...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Free CS4FN magazine issue 29 arriving in schools now, on Diversity in Computing
Schoolteachers, school librarians and home educators who subscribe* to the FREE Computer Science For Fun magazine will be receiving their free print copies this...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Creating great game worlds
Are you a PUBG or Fortnite addict? Maybe you enjoy playing Minecraft? Have you thought how these games are created? Could you create a game yourself? It is all...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)
Hallucinating chatbots
Chatbots that can answer questions and write things for you are in the news at the moment. These Artificial Intelligence (AI) programs are very good now at writing...
From CS4FN (Computer Science For Fun)