BLOG@CACM – Page 44 – Communications of the ACM

Dec 9 2011

Planting Seeds in the Field of Knowledge

In these challenging economic times, universities are under great stress--economically, politically, and socially. It is tempting for those of us in computing to ignore these issues but, like agriculture and engineering before us, I believe computing has a social responsibility to be an active and enthusiastic partner in helping chart the nature of higher education.

Daniel Reed

Computing Profession

Dec 4 2011

Hadoop AllReduce and Terascale Learning

In a breakthrough last summer, we came up with the first learning algorithm I've seen that is provably faster than any future single machine learning algorithm.

John Langford

Computing Applications

Dec 1 2011

Conferences and Video Lectures; Scientific Educational Games

John Langford analyzes whether conferences should offer video lectures. Judy Robertson discusses the merits of the Game Design Through Mentoring and Collaboration project.

John Langford and Judy Robertson

Computing Applications

Nov 29 2011

Enrollment and Quality: Does It Matter to Measure?

CS is declared to be the hottest major on campus based on enrollment at the top institutions. But is it rising everywhere? We don't really know how to measure computing knowledge. Is that a problem?

Mark Guzdial

Education

Nov 17 2011

Celebrate Computing!

Computer Science Education Week 2011 is a call to action. It gives the computing community an opportunity to raise awareness about the societal impact of computing, the richness of computing careers, and the critical need for computer science education.

Debra Richardson

Education

Nov 13 2011

SC11: The Cray, Fernbach, and Kennedy Awards

The Cray, Fernbach, and Kennedy awards and the work of the recipients reflect the evolving interplay of technology, software, applications and algorithms in advancing high-performance computing. They also recognize intellectual leadership and mentoring of a new generation of high-performance computing talent.

Daniel Reed

Computing Applications

Nov 12 2011

Techwomen Alumnae Attend Grace Hopper

Here is information about the Techwomen program and its attendees at Grace Hopper.

Valerie Barr

Education

Nov 12 2011

Exciting New Research Presented at Grace Hopper

The Grace Hopper Conference includes a Ph.D. Forum that showcases the research of current Ph.D. students, with the additional goal of providing support and mentoring.

Valerie Barr

Computing Applications

Nov 11 2011

Alain Chesnais Welcomes Grace Hopper Attendees

Alain Chesnais, President of ACM, welcomed attendees to the 11th Grace Hopper Conference

Valerie Barr

Education

Nov 11 2011

Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Keeps Growing!

The official opening of the Grace Hopper Conference (GHC) on 11/10/2011 was an exciting event. Conference statistics show a growth of 35% since 2010.

Valerie Barr

Education

Nov 11 2011

Sheryl Sandberg’s Keynote at Grace Hopper

Sheryl Sandberg gave the opening keynote at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing and spoke about why careers in technology are important and why it is critical that women go into these careers.

Valerie Barr

Computing Profession

Nov 8 2011

A Futuristic Health IT Scenario

Our technology is the change agent for healthcare in the future.

Jeannette M. Wing

Computing Profession

Carnegie Mellon Professor Jeannette Wing

Nov 1 2011

In Support of Open Reviews; Better Teaching Through Large-Scale Data Mining

Bertrand Meyer writes about his long-standing decision not to provide anonymous reviews. Greg Linden considers how educational practices could be improved through the data mining of students' schoolwork.

Bertrand Meyer and Greg Linden

Computing Applications

Oct 28 2011

John McCarthy

The contributions and personality of John McCarthy, one of the pioneers of computer science.

Bertrand Meyer

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Oct 28 2011

High School CS Teachers as the New Computing Professionals

If you were a human-centered computing research in 1960's, you'd study, "Who are software engineers?" Today, the new computing professionals to study are high school CS teachers.

Mark Guzdial

Education

Oct 24 2011

Celebrate Open Access Week With ACM

Help your papers reach a wide audience with ACM's new service: Author-Izer.

Judy Robertson

Computing Profession

Oct 14 2011

Connecting Science to Society

As America debates how to get through these tough economic times, research funding for science and engineering may get lost in the clamor. Here are some suggestions about what you can do.

Jeannette M. Wing

Computing Profession

Oct 10 2011

Computers in Education Should Target Test Scores

Does it help to bring computers into the classroom? So far, there seems to be little evidence that it does.

Greg Linden

Computing Profession

Oct 8 2011

Analog Computing: Time For a Comeback?

Use of the word "computer" conjures certain images. One of them, so deeply ingrained that we rarely question it, is that computing is digital. The alternative, analog computing, has a long and illustrious history, and hybrid (digital and analog) computing may be one way to address challenges on the frontier of device physics, computer architecture and software.

Daniel Reed

Architecture and Hardware

Oct 6 2011

Yes, Computer Scientists Are Hypercritical

Are computer scientists hypercritical? Are we more critical than scientists and engineers in other disciplines? Some numbers from the National Science Foundation support the claim that we are hypercritical.

Jeannette M. Wing

Computing Profession

Oct 1 2011

From Idea to Product; How Schools of Education Can Help CS

Daniel Reed discusses how researchers communicate their project ideas to companies and product groups and get them successfully adopted. Mark Guzdial considers whether schools of education could create more high school CS teachers.

Daniel Reed and Mark Guzdial

Computing Applications

Sep 28 2011

The U.K. Is Taking Steps to Improve Computing Education in Schools

The United Kingdom is stepping up its efforts to improve computing education in schools.

Mark Guzdial

Education

Sep 28 2011

Somebody

Stanford University has very visibly started pushing mass teaching in AI, machine learning, and databases.

John Langford

Computing Profession

Sep 24 2011

The Modes and Uses of Scientific Publication

Publication is about helping the advancement of humankind. Let us take this basis for granted and look at the other, possibly less glamorous aspects. Publication has four modes: Publicity; Exam; Business; and Ritual.

Bertrand Meyer

Computing Applications

Shape the Future of Computing

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