Researchers Retask Sensor Networks to Detect New Hazards

This article does a good job explaining the idea behind the project and the many computer science research questions the researchers face.

Facebook vs Typosquatters

Legal issues concerning registering domain names that are basically typos of known domain names, e.g., facebbok.com.  The Facebook case.

Mining Books to Map Emotions through a Century

Mining Books To Map Emotions Through A Century

• Ask questions about the importance of the context of the words

Social Media used for Tracking Tornadoes

Researchers using social media to track tornado debris

Computing and Gun Violence

What a hot topic to discuss!

• Viewpoint Can Computer Professionals and Digital Technology Engineers Help Reduce Gun Violence?  -- from Communications of ACM
• Can 'Smart Gun' Technology Help Prevent Violence? - from NPR's "All Things Considered"

One Laptop Per Child

One Laptop Per Child released an inexpensive laptop, now tablet.

Read BOTH:

• Given Tablets but No Teachers, Ethiopian Children Teach Themselves
•  The Failure of One Laptop Per Child  

Note the publication date for each article.


OPTIONAL Background: A story about the original laptop, before its release in 2007

 Discussion about the pros and cons of the technology, the challenges, and solutions.

Facebook's Algorithms

The last article I had was from 2007.  This article is from Nov 2012:
News Feed, EdgeRank and page posts: what’s really going on with Facebook?

To discuss with class

• How are some of the algorithms implemented?
• What are some of the non-technical challenges that Facebook faces?  How do they attempt to balance the solutions to these challenges?