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Apr 11 2009

When Petascale Is Just Too Slow

Evolution or revolution, it’s the persistent question. Can we build reliable esascale systems from extrapolations of current technology or will new approaches be required? There is no definitive answer, as almost any approach might be made to work at some level with enough heroic effort. The bigger question is what design would enable the most breakthrough scientific research in a reliable and cost effective way?
Architecture and Hardware
Apr 9 2009

What To Do With Those Idle Cores?

So many processors on our desktops.  Four cores, eight cores, soon we will see hundreds of cores.  Almost all of them are going to be idle most of the time.  If it is nearly free to use  those idle cores, what work could we find for them that might be worthwhile?
Architecture and Hardware
Mar 18 2009

Privacy As… Sharing More Information?

When I first started working in the area of personal privacy I had what I would call a conventional view on privacy, which is how to minimize the flow of information going out about them. I reasoned that people were private individuals, wanted protection from interruptions, and wanted a lot of control and feedback about what was shared.
Computing Profession
Mar 17 2009

Connecting the Two Ends: Mobile Clouds

  In 1959, the colorful and brilliant physicist, Richard Feynman, gave a seminal lecture to the American Physical Society entitled, "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom," in which he considered the implications of matter manipulation at the atomic scale – a vision of then future nanotechnology. In computing, we also have plenty of room at the bottom, paradoxically enabled by plenty of room at the top. I speak, of course, of the transformative power of our now ubiquitous mobile devices and rich sensor/actuator networks (smart dust) coupled with the capabilities of immense cloud data centers. These two extremes of the modern computing scale are reshaping our society in deep and profound ways.
Architecture and Hardware
Mar 6 2009

Computers For Public Schools

It's been a while since several Latin countries decided to start programs to deliver computers and to connect all public schools to the Internet providing access to technological resources to children through several initiatives.
Education
Mar 5 2009

Google Android Authentication

I recently saw a Google Android phone at HotMobile 2009 and was intrigued by the drawing-based authentication mechanism built in. Basically, there's a 3x3 grid of dots, and to log in, you simply use your finger and draw a pattern across these dots, using each dot at most once.
Computing Applications
Feb 13 2009

­Usable Privacy and Security

We are facing an increasing number of security failures, not because of problems with encryption algorithms, network protocols, or system implementations, but rather due to problems with the user interfaces of computer systems and the people that use those systems.
Computing Profession
Feb 11 2009

Compute For America

The United States certainly needs more and better computing educators, but that alone may not be enough to turn around declining enrollments in computing.
Education

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