BLOG@CACM – Page 45 – Communications of the ACM

Apr 28 2011

Embracing Noise or Why Computer Scientists Should Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Errors

Precision is not required in everything or even most things. Failures are best handled by expecting them all the time, not treating them as exceptions. We should expect errors and handle them routinely. We should stop worrying and learn to love the noise.

Greg Linden

Architecture and Hardware

Apr 27 2011

Why Have There Been So Many Security Breaches Recently?

We're only five months into this year, but there have been a large number of sensational security breaches. Why have there been so many, and what can we do about it?

Jason Hong

Computing Profession

Apr 23 2011

The Long Road to a Seat at the Table

Computer science is still a new discipline compared to the rest of STEM. It will take a while for people to know what a "computer scientist" is in the same way that they know what a "chemist" or "biologist" or "engineer" does.

Mark Guzdial

Computing Profession

Apr 12 2011

A Successful NY Celebration of Women in Computing!

A recap of our recent New York regional Celebration of Women in Computing.

Valerie Barr

Computing Profession

Apr 4 2011

Stats: We’re Doing It Wrong

A summary of the mistakes researchers make when analysing likert type data and what the correct methods should be.

Judy Robertson

Education

Apr 3 2011

New York Celebration of Women in Computing

A preview of the upcoming New York Celebration of Women in Computing, which is designed to bring the experience of the Grace Hopper Celebration to students in a smaller, less costly, and local setting.

Valerie Barr

Education

Apr 1 2011

Matters of Design, Part II

Jason Hong discusses how Apple creates well-designed products and what the human-computer interaction community can learn from its methods.

Jason Hong

Computing Applications

Mar 25 2011

From ‘Must’ and ‘Unsuitable’ to Design Guidelines in Computing Education

Rhetoric in education tends to be politicized and polarized, and computing education is no different. Research in computing education might learn from design-based research efforts from general education research, that emphasizes developing design guidelines.

Mark Guzdial

Computing Applications

Mar 24 2011

Learning Through Twitter

Commentary on a recent study which evalauted the impact of Twitter on student engagement and grades.

Judy Robertson

Computing Profession

Mar 21 2011

Call to Arms: Science and Engineering For Privacy

It is our responsibility as scientists and engineers to understand what can or cannot be done from a technical point of view on privacy.

Jeannette M. Wing

Computing Profession

Carnegie Mellon Professor Jeannette Wing

Mar 20 2011

Explaining Science and Engineering

As I have followed the international news regarding the Japanese disaster, I have been struck by the challenges each news organization has faced in explaining technical concepts. We live in a technological society, where understanding of scientific processes and the engineering design balances are essential to informed debate and decision making.

Daniel Reed

Computing Applications

Mar 11 2011

Algorithm Visualizations and Community Building

If you’re interested in using or developing algorithm visualizations (AVs), you should visit AlgoViz.org, a portal dedicated to creating a repository of AVs and building an active online community around them.

Jack Rosenberger

Computing Applications

Mar 10 2011

TeachScheme! Using Mathematics to Teach Programming

Matthias Felleisen and a team of computer scientists have developed the TeachScheme! Project, which provides high school teachers with courseware and other tools to use mathematics to teach programming.

Jack Rosenberger

Computing Applications

Mar 9 2011

Who Needs a Tablet?

Tablets do not solve a mainstream problem, they only serve a niche.

Greg Linden

Computing Applications

Mar 1 2011

Scientists, Engineers, and Computer Science; Industry and Research Groups

Mark Guzdial discusses what scientists and engineers should know about computer science, such as Alan Kay's "Triple Whammy." Greg Linden writes about industry's different approaches to research and how to organize researchers in a company.

Mark Guzdial and Greg Linden

Computing Applications

Feb 28 2011

Software Verification Turns Mainstream

Verification is maturing to the point where it will become integrated into mainstream software development.

Bertrand Meyer

Systems and Networking

Feb 24 2011

At the NSF CE21 Meeting: We Have Such a Long Way to Go

The NSF CE21 Community Meeting highlighted the opportunity that computing has to catch up with the rest of STEM on education issues.

Mark Guzdial

Computing Profession

Feb 24 2011

Let’s Teach Malware When It’s Ready: The Purpose of Undergrad CS

Ledin's call for teaching malware to all undergraduate students conflicts with my understanding of the purpose of an undergraduate CS degree.

Mark Guzdial

Computing Profession

Feb 19 2011

The Wonderful World of Cooking Interfaces

This is an article describing some recent (and bizarre) interfaces to support cooking. The intersection of computer science and culinary art is not as small as you might think.

Judy Robertson

Computing Applications

Feb 18 2011

Intellectual Amplification via Computing

As the recent performance of IBM's Watson system on the game show Jeopardy! illustrated, the combination of large-scale data, rich algorithm suites and powerful computing are opening new vistas. Vannevar Bush's 1940s vision of a Memex, a device capable of storing, indexing and retrieving data from a broad knowledge base, is now within our reach.

Daniel Reed

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Feb 15 2011

Who Needs a Netbook?

In only a couple years, improved smartphones and laptops have closed the niche that netbooks lived in. Rather than mourn the loss of netbooks, let's celebrate their demise.

Greg Linden

Computing Applications

Feb 6 2011

Design, Functionality, and Diffusion of Innovations

What's the relationship between functionality and design? What kinds of factors influence whether people do or don't adopt a technology?

Jason Hong

HCI

Feb 1 2011

Matters of Design

Jason Hong considers how software companies could effectively incorporate first-rate design into their products.

Jason Hong

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Jan 25 2011

What ‘Beginning’ Students Already Know: The Evidence

Detailed data collection at ETH Zurich over eight years shows what entering computer science students already know in computer usage and programming.

Bertrand Meyer

Computing Applications

Shape the Future of Computing

ACM encourages its members to take a direct hand in shaping the future of the association. There are more ways than ever to get involved.

Get Involved

Communications of the ACM (CACM) is now a fully Open Access publication.

By opening CACM to the world, we hope to increase engagement among the broader computer science community and encourage non-members to discover the rich resources ACM has to offer.

Learn More