June 2018 - Vol. 61 No. 6

Features

Opinion Cerf's up Jun 1 2018

ACM's most prestigious recognition is the ACM A.M. Turing Award and the 2017 award goes to John Hennessy and David Patterson: "For pioneering a systematic, quantitative approach to the design and evaluation of computer architectures with enduring impact on the microprocessor industry."

Vinton G. Cerf

Computing Profession

Opinion Letters to the editor Jun 1 2018

When to Hold ‘Em

"Always Out of Balance" (April 2018) overstated (somewhat) the effect of intractability by claiming the intractability of computing Nash equilibrium necessitates researchers abandon this notion in favor of other competition-related ideas.

CACM Staff

Computing Profession

BLOG@CACM Jun 1 2018

Programming Programming Languages, and Analyzing Facebook’s Failure

Mark Guzdial considers an idea with significant educational implications, while Susan Landau looks into the Cambridge Analytica/Facebook scandal.

Mark Guzdial and Susan Landau

Computing Applications

News Jun 1 2018

Rewarded for RISC

ACM A.M. Turing Award recipients David Patterson and John Hennessy developed the "dangerous" idea that software should be simpler so it can be executed more quickly, which evolved into the Reduced Instruction Set Computer architecture.

Neil Savage

Architecture and Hardware

News Jun 1 2018

Deep Learning Hunts for Signals Among the Noise

Neural networks can deliver surprising, and sometimes unwanted, results.

Chris Edwards

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Deep Learning Hunts for Signals Among the Noise, illustration

News Jun 1 2018

3D Sensors Provide Security, Better Games

A variety of techniques allow sensors to locate and recognize objects in space.

Keith Kirkpatrick

Architecture and Hardware

News Jun 1 2018

Getting Hooked on Tech

Are technology companies maximizing profits by making users addicted to their products?

Logan Kugler

Computing Applications

Opinion Inside risks Jun 1 2018

Risks of Cryptocurrencies

Considering the inherent risks of cryptocurrency ecosystems.

Nicholas Weaver

Security and Privacy

Opinion The profession of IT Jun 1 2018

An Interview with Dave Parnas

A discussion of ideas about software engineering.

Peter J. Denning

Computing Profession

Opinion Kode Vicious Jun 1 2018

Watchdogs vs. Snowflakes

Taking wild guesses.

George V. Neville-Neil

Computing Applications

Opinion Viewpoint Jun 1 2018

Effectiveness of Anonymization in Double-Blind Review

Assessing the effectiveness of anonymization in the review process.

Computing Applications

Effectiveness of Anonymization in Double-Blind Review, illustration

Practice Jun 1 2018

Designing Cluster Schedulers for Internet-Scale Services

Embracing failures for improving availability.

Diptanu Gon Choudhury and Timothy Perrett

Computing Applications

Designing Cluster Schedulers for Internet-Scale Services, illustration

Practice Jun 1 2018

Thou Shalt Not Depend on Me

A look at JavaScript libraries in the wild.

Tobias Lauinger, Abdelberi Chaabane, and Christo B. Wilson

Computing Applications

Thou Shalt Not Depend on Me, illustration

Practice Jun 1 2018

Documentation Is Automation

A.B.A. = Always be automating.

Thomas A. Limoncelli

Computing Applications

Documentation Is Automation, illustration

Research and Advances Contributed articles Jun 1 2018

Bias on the Web

Bias in Web data and use taints the algorithms behind Web-based applications, delivering equally biased results.

Ricardo Baeza-Yates

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Contributed articles Jun 1 2018

Ability-Based Design

By focusing on users' abilities rather than disabilities, designers can create interactive systems better matched to those abilities.

Jacob O. Wobbrock, Krzysztof Z. Gajos, Shaun K. Kane, and Gregg C. Vanderheiden

Architecture and Hardware

Ability-Based Design, illustrative photo

Research and Advances Contributed articles Jun 1 2018

Identifying Patterns in Medical Records through Latent Semantic Analysis

Text analysis can reveal patterns of association among medical terms and medical codes.

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Review articles Jun 1 2018

Privacy in Decentralized Cryptocurrencies

When it comes to anonymizing cryptocurrencies, one size most definitely does not fit all.

Daniel Genkin, Dimitrios Papadopoulos, and Charalampos Papamanthou

Computing Applications

Privacy in Decentralized Cryptocurrencies, illustration

Research and Advances Research highlights Jun 1 2018

Technical Perspective: Measuring Optimization Potential with Coz

In "Coz: Finding Code that Counts with Causal Profiling," Curtsinger and Berger describe causal profiling, which tell programmers exactly how much speed-up bang to expect for their optimization buck.

Landon P. Cox

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Research highlights Jun 1 2018

Coz: Finding Code that Counts with Causal Profiling

This paper introduces causal profiling. Unlike past profiling approaches, causal profiling indicates exactly where programmers should focus their optimization efforts, and quantifies their potential impact.

Charlie Curtsinger and Emery D. Berger

Architecture and Hardware

Opinion Last byte Jun 1 2018

RISC Management

ACM A.M. Turing award recipients John Hennessy and David Patterson have introduced generations of students to reduced instruction set computing.

Leah Hoffmann

Architecture and Hardware

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