The Future of the Internet

I really want to see a middle zone where we can preserve the experimentalist spirit of the PC and the Net, while still allowing [them] to be mission-critical functional for all the things we want to use [them] for. --J. Zittrain

Have you had a chance to read our recent reviews of The future of the Internet--and how to stop it by Jonathan Zittrain (Yale Univ. Press, 2008)? Two of our reviewers, Harry Skianis and Srijith Krishnan Nair, provide their assessments of the book here and here (these reviews are freely accessible until the end of October).

We came across this podcast of an interview with Zittrain. To hear more of his ideas (like the one quoted above), check it out. We'd love to hear what you think.

Featured in Five: George Pallis

Featured in Five is a new monthly section where we pose five questions to a Computing Reviews featured reviewer. Here are the responses from our current featured reviewer, George Pallis (University of Cyprus).

Q: What is the most important thing that's happened in computing in the past 10 years?
A: The Internet has revolutionized the computer and communications world like nothing before. It has impacted almost every aspect of our lives.

Q: By the end of your career, where do you think computer science will have taken us? What are you working on that might contribute toward that?
A: It's hard to say what will happen in 30 years! By that time, I plan to be working on cloud computing and content delivery networks (CDNs). Cloud computing refers to a recent trend in IT that moves computing and data away from desktop and portable PCs into large data centers. On the other hand, CDNs offer infrastructure and mechanisms to deliver content and services in a scalable manner. I believe that cloud computing and CDNs will be two disruptive technologies with profound implications for Internet services.

Q: Who is your favorite historical figure? Why?
A: Probably Albert Einstein. His discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect and his work in the field of theoretical physics have changed the world.

Q: If you weren't working in the computer science field, what would you be doing instead?
A: I would teach mathematics in high school.

Q: What is your favorite band and/or type of music?
A: I like to listen to anything recorded by George Ntalaras and Charoula Alexiou.

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To learn more about George Pallis, check out his profile.

Open to open source

Nothing warms my heart quite like an idealistic, Peace Corps veteran, garbed in a rare, killer Dylan tee. And while I might be feeding a repressed romantic dream, I am convinced that this granola-munching, guitar-toting, Habitat for Humanity-joining citizen is working to make things “better.” Technology has played an important role in addressing the world’s problems, from advances in sustainable agriculture to online education classes. Open-source software is, in many ways, another example of a “volunteer” opportunity for the computing world.

Seeing as the CR editorial staff is located in Columbus, Ohio, I’d like to pay a small homage to our growing city. The last week of June was filled with anticipation for the weekend community festival, ComFest. For three days, locals gathered to share our unique Midwest culture, including dance, music, food, and nature. And there was rain—oh, was there rain. But we rallied on, despite perceived setbacks. Similar to how our festival represents the coming together of many different types of people who are all working to create and encourage a supportive and growing community, open-source software also invites the possibility of involvement. Furthermore, open-source software faces showers of its own. Luckily, umbrellas never go out of fashion.

Phillip Laplante addresses open-source software more rationally than myself in our latest Hot Topic. Whereas I’d liked to jump right in, hand out Nobel prizes to every committer (new jargon, compliments of the HT), there are other, more business-minded aspects to be weighed (not to mention ethical concerns).

But I’ll continue beaming: open source invites contributors from the Web over, as code is worked and reworked until, finally, abracadabra (at least for the moment)! The Columbus community festival is a rare event that brings individuals of all types to one giant picnic blanket, so to speak. So the question is, has open-source software brought the Harvards, the hippies, and the hackers together at last?

Conference Spotlight: SIGGRAPH 2008

In just over a month, from August 11 – 15, SIGGRAPH 2008 will convene at the Los Angles Convention Center. This conference brings together the most innovative people in computer graphics and interactive techniques today. With a full program of speakers, classes, exhibitors, and much, much more, the conference promises to push the envelope of what is possible in computing.

We at Computing Reviews will be recruiting new reviewers at SIGGRAPH via an ad in the Program and Buyers Guide and inserts in the merchandise bag. Next year, we’ll be attending the conference in person. If you are a Computing Reviews reviewer and are attending SIGGRAPH this year, please shoot Angela Condon a quick email. We would love to know what we can do for reviewers attending the conference next year (reviewers’ lounge, lunch meeting, …), and how we can build a stronger sense of community and facilitate more exchange amongst our reviewers.

Click here to find out more about SIGGRAPH 2008.

Featured in Five: George White

Featured in Five is a new monthly section where we pose five questions to a Computing Reviews featured reviewer. Here are the responses from our current featured reviewer, George White (University of Ottawa).

Q: What is the most important thing that's happened in computing in the past 10 years?
A: With cheap, high-speed computing, even cheaper, huge storage capacities, and high-bandwidth communication links, we've been able to shrink the space-time world we live in to a very small volume. Or conversely, we've expanded our cubicles to include the universe. Worlds like this tend to be unstable. Positive feedback with high bandwidth and instant response drive their systems into instability.

Q: By the end of your career, where do you think computer science will have taken us? What are you working on that might contribute toward that?
A: By the time I click the mouse for the last time, I expect that fully half the world's population will have a passport to the global village with all its amenities, the world's largest library, the most complete collections of music, art and literature, as well as the best supplied grocery stores imaginable. Most of this population will not have the means to take advantage of it. At some time, this will trigger the all-too-well-known chaotic behavior of the classical feedback system. I am now working on a book attempting to study this phenomenon.

Q: Who is your favorite historical figure? Why?
A: Hard to say. Probably Louis Pasteur. He was able to find a balance of personal and professional life that yielded great results. His work led to many significant advances in both the fundamental understanding of microbiology and the public health of the entire world.

Q: If you weren't working in the computer science field, what would you be doing instead?
A: Cooking.

Q: What is your favorite band and/or type of music?
A: I like anything by Bach and family, Mozart and Beethoven. Favorite artists? I find new favorites every day, but [currently] I like to listen to anything recorded by Isabel Bayrakdarian or Wilhelm Kempff.

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To learn more about George White, check out his profile.

New: An Easier Way to Link to Reviews

We've released a very easy linking scheme for Computing Reviews that allows you to link to a review (if one exists) using the item's ISBN or DOI number. You can set this up for a variety of applications or just to provide easy links from your site. Let us know how you use it!

To link to the review of a book, simply construct a URL using the ISBN of the book, like this:

http://www.reviews.com/isbn/0521707412

To link to the review of a journal or conference proceedings article, construct the URL using the DOI of the article, like this:

http://www.reviews.com/doi/10.1145/1357054.1357336

If we have a review of the item, our system will find it based on the ISBN or DOI and redirect you to the review page. Subscribers with IP-based access will have the review page display automatically; otherwise, you'll need to use your login details to access the review.

If we don't have a review of the book or journal article, you'll be redirected to the Computing Reviews homepage.

That's it. We hope that database providers will be able to take advantage of this simple linking scheme to provide additional links within their content to our reviews.

Transforming the Fourier transform

Dune is new to me; I’m new to Dune. Science-fiction fanatics cast looks of pity on hearing this confession. If they don’t bolt too fast, I take the blows of scorn from the fashionistas. In a world where Clarke is God—he did give us 2001: A Space Odyssey, after all—I’ve missed the boat. And for those who don’t consider Asimov and Heinlein bookshelf staples, my admission is barely heard, if at all. Still, with a pride not easily wounded, I bear my tattered copy as a shield, firmly grasped in both hands. I was finished, finally, after toting it to the gym and the bar, reading late into the night and feeling like it was all night. Anxious for Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles, I place Dune on my broken-down bookshelf; my demeanor suggests a ceremonial sacredness. Stockhausen’s Stimmung should have been playing, uncannily, in the background.

Karlheinz Stockhausen is a noted spectralist. Fast Fourier transforms (FFTs) are used to analyze sound spectra, which eventually plays a role in composition. Listening to spectral music, I limbo between bizarre and spiritual—often feeling both, simultaneously. The elongated tones and rhythmic patterns have convinced me that Stimmung is Dune’s lost soundtrack. Obviously, it is hard to find the words that accurately describe my impressions of this work. It is even more difficult to list the incredible ways in which FFTs impact our lives—not to mention scientific advancement.

Whether faced with stoicism, glee, or, in my case, unease, introductory physics courses are a necessity. FFTs float around the curriculum, and a basic understanding is achieved. But in truth, considering their ubiquitous nature, FFT studies can, and often do, fill a lifetime—just ask Daniel Potts, our latest Hot Topic author. Specifically, Daniel focuses on an adapted type: nonequispaced fast Fourier transforms (NFFTs). NFFTs, true to form, continue to expand the Fourier transform influence. For more on NFFTs, read our latest Hot Topic.

The Gene That Binds Us

Scanning the gigantic dining room table that our family gathers around for every major event (and, to be quite honest, the minor ones too—like Flag Day, or when my cousin’s braces finally came off), I see my Amazonian height in my grandmother, and my fair skin graces all of the aunts. Looking through photo albums, the mystery surrounding my flaming red hair is solved. There is a strange gratification in sharing these traits with what my family clannishly calls “our people.” These inheritances are innocent enough, especially when compared to the twisted turn my mind suddenly takes: Thanks for the diabetic risk, Grandpa! What’s that about your heart, Uncle Mike?

With something akin to teenage angst, I am inevitably led to ponder those demons—diseases—that stealthily creep through generations. Today, technological advancements allow for the charting of those nastier genetic “gifts,” as the intricacies of hereditary disease become better understood.

Until now, genetic research has mainly focused on specific portions of the genome. This is useful for identifying specific genetic disorders such as cystic fibrosis. More prevalent health concerns are determined by the interaction of a wide variety of genes. And while it’s not all mapped out yet, I’m tempted to call myself lucky in light of my family’s unexplainable freedom from high blood pressure. Perhaps, I should amend the statement to very lucky considering my weekly craving for Philly cheesesteaks. Now, I’m not advocating for scientific advancement solely for justification of my poor eating habits, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.

And while I enjoy pointing out what side of the family saddled me with what genetic threats (similar to pitting Mom against Dad in an attempt to come out the ultimate winner), there is a more reasonable and, arguably, more exciting view to take. Computer science will be the instrumental force in broadening the way we understand humans’ susceptibility to certain diseases. Alright, Jason, I can take a hint. As an adult, it’s time to be reasonable and choose knowledge over familial myth.

Jason Moore provides us with the latest on the need for computational intelligence in human genetics in our latest
Hot Topic. Go check it out before your next family reunion—it can’t possibly be more controversial than religion or politics, right?

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Kate Barr is the assignment editor for Computing Reviews.

New Hot Topic: Adversarial Information Retrieval

It's definitely not hot in here - the weather here in California today is kind of cool and windy. What is hot are our topics!

(That was really bad wasn't it? I just didn't want to waste time coming up with a more clever intro and just get right to it. Forgive me.)

We have a new hot topic out today: "Adversarial Information Retrieval: The Manipulation of Web Content" written by Dennis Fetterly of Microsoft Research. Dennis provides an overview of how spamming works and how search engines are trying to deal with the problem. As someone who's current spam folder gets about 1000 new items a day and fights off comment spam from this and other blogs, this is a problem I'm very interested in! I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Upcoming: SLA and SSP - come say Hi!

Next week is going to be a busy week for us here at CR. We'll be at SLA 2007 in Denver, sharing a booth with our colleagues at Information Express. And then we'll also be at SSP later in the week, though that requires a lot less travel as it is in San Francisco and those of us going already work out of our California offices. I hope that if you're around either of those that you'll track is down to say hello.

You might also notice a new ad on the front page of Computing Reviews - we're partnering to promote SIGGRAPH '07. The ad will be running through the month of June.