October 30, 2013
“Both theoretical and empirical research may be unnecessarily complicated by failure to recognize the effects of heterogeneity” – Vaupel & Yashin Big Data is daily topic of conversation among data analysts, with much said and written about its promises and pitfalls. The issue of heterogeneity, however, has received scant attention. This is unfortunate, since failing […]
Read moreSeptember 30, 2013
The title I chose is triggered by the lack of concern shown by computer scientists when public disclosures that companies like Apple, Google, HP own pay amazingly low taxes. These companies are derided in the press [look here for references]. The critiques provide little background, and often just repeat assertions that it’s all perfectly legal. […]
Read moreJune 25, 2013
Like all computer science and engineering departments, at Arizona State University (ASU), we regularly re-assess the impacts of our research and educational programs based on feedback from users of the technologies we develop and companies that hire our graduates. Last January, as part of the most recent of these efforts, we (in collaboration with IBM) […]
Read moreMay 14, 2013
Figure 1 shows a portion of a relational table contained in a real, large information system. The table concerns the customers of an organization, where each row stores data about a single customer. The first column contains her code (if the code is negative, then the record refers to a special customer, called “fictitious”), columns […]
Read moreMarch 22, 2013
Got your attention? Now that I have it, I would like to take a few minutes to discuss the role of limited attention and information overload in science. Attentive acts such as reading a scientific paper (or a tweet), answering an email, or watching a video require mental effort, and since the human brain’s capacity […]
Read more