The Known World

83. Uncharted Territory

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 11:33:27 -0800

Although they might bring great utility to the world, innovations always involve fundamental challenges to the way we think.

Closer Than You Might Think

Tue, 8 Dec 2015 15:02:19 -0700

The Known World podcast is no longer updated. You can find David Alan Grier at Closer Than You Might Think (http://www.computer.org/web/closer-than-you-might-think), his blog about computing technologies.

82. The Honest Give-and-Take

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:02:19 -0700

Information technology has not only expanded the scale and scope of global markets, it has also provided the means for probing the meaning of every give-and-take transaction.

81. The Habit of Change

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 19:36:18 -0700

As technology has changed, the fundamental way of extracting meaning from data has also changed.

80. Leisure Science

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 11:29:30 -0700

While it might seem otherwise to most individuals, we live in an age of leisure as much as we live in an age of information or industry or globalization.

79. The Chicken Bus

Wed, 3 Aug 2011 10:25:01 -0700

As with all engineering problems, we need to balance the twin factors of stability and control and do so in a way that doesn't damage either of them.

78. Experienced Hands

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 11:31:04 -0700

Social networking has neither altered the way that technical knowledge is presented nor has it dislodged computer science from its central place in the technical canon.

77. Dumb Grids and Smart Markets

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 12:50:14 -0700

The task of building a smart grid requires us to solve two kinds of problems: technical and social.

76. Not For All Markets

Fri, 13 May 2011 12:05:28 -0700

Crowdsourcing is one of the more intriguing forms of computation that employs markets.

75. Where Are You From?

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 13:10:52 -0700

In the Internet's artificial geography, an organization is identified by what it can do rather than by where it's located.

74. The Voice of Wisdom

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 09:31:54 -0800

In most circumstances, computing has faded into the background of our lives as part of the global infrastructure. However, it still has the ability to remind of us its presence.

73. A Very Bad Idea

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 08:53:01 -0800

The grand ideas that led to the 1991 High-Performance Computing Act shaped the modern Internet only as they sifted through layers of the vertical division of labor.

72. The Migration to the Middle

Mon, 3 Jan 2011 07:50:26 -0800

As we look to the future, we must not only anticipate a year of innovation and progress but also a migration of labor that will remake the field of digital technology.

71. Investing in Ignorance

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 07:43:15 -0800

The task of navigating the information hierarchy is harder than we would like to think and involves more uncertainty than we care to admit.

70. Sabotage!

Tue, 2 Nov 2010 09:47:19 -0700

The idea that an organized team of computer scientists might have created a major worm comes at an uneasy time for engineers.

69. The Confident and the Curious

Mon, 4 Oct 2010 09:50:05 -0700

Activities that attempt to coordinate the contributions of the general public with the Internet have a way of disciplining work and overcoming gross inefficiencies with mass labor.

68. Finding What You Want

Thu, 2 Sep 2010 11:12:02 -0700

When we adopt augmentative technologies, we usually find that we have to adjust our ideas, goals, and habits to fit our new tool.

67. Mental Discipline

Mon, 2 Aug 2010 10:00:08 -0700

The practices of engineering and computer science are influenced by the same forces that shape manual labor and office work. Occasionally, it’s useful to reassess our skills and question the value of our training.

66. The Spirit of Combination

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:12:02 -0700

Games on the internet, Wikipedia, and Diderot, and the structure of knowledge. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2010.210

65. The Value of a Good Name

Tue, 1 Jun 2010 15:28:13 -0700

In the modern age, identity may not be a name or a number. It's a story. And the question may be "who owns it?" Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2010.181

64. The Age of Accountability

Sun, 2 May 2010 15:28:05 -0700

The failure of a complex product tells just as much about how the organization operates as it does about the skill of individual workers. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2010.144

63. Utter Chaos

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:35:36 -0700

No matter what we may believe, scientific practice often begins with a season when we don’t know what we know.

62. Someday, You Will Understand

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:32:22 -0800

Invention and discovery are both creative acts, and both require us to place new ideas within a context or infrastructure. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2010.78

61. Raising Barns

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:34:54 -0800

Who stands watch over a software engineering project to ensure that a job is well done and every individual has learned what he or she needs to know? Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2010.49

60. Designing the Future

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:33:20 -0800

A good technological design requires substantial effort that shapes both the social and technical sides of an artifact. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2010.12

59. A Look Ahead

Wed, 3 Feb 2010 10:32:15 -0800

David talks about the origins of the podcast and what’s in store for upcoming episodes.

58. Honor Among Thieves

Tue, 2 Feb 2010 15:52:35 -0800

Without a human organization that can sift information and raise the gold from the dust, knowledge will die as rumor and innuendo will overwhelm any truth that may be making the rounds. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2009.394

57. Bad Alignment

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 10:28:56 -0800

Potential customers will be interested in new technology only if it somehow makes their lives better—if it moves them toward a goal they hold for themselves, their family, their company. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2009.342

56. The Marketplace of Ideas, Pt 4

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:06:18 -0700

Part 4: Like many of the accomplishments of software engineering, connecting the grid to a virtual machine is a way of hiding information, of allowing programmers to focus on the task they want to complete and ignore details beyond that task. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2009.332

55. The Marketplace of Ideas, Pt 3

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:11:26 -0700

Part 3: Like many of the accomplishments of software engineering, connecting the grid to a virtual machine is a way of hiding information, of allowing programmers to focus on the task they want to complete and ignore details beyond that task. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2009.332

54. The Marketplace of Ideas, Pt 2

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:48:39 -0700

Part 2: Like many of the accomplishments of software engineering, connecting the grid to a virtual machine is a way of hiding information, of allowing programmers to focus on the task they want to complete and ignore details beyond that task. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2009.332

53. The Marketplace of Ideas

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:12:59 -0700

Like many of the accomplishments of software engineering, connecting the grid to a virtual machine is a way of hiding information, of allowing programmers to focus on the task they want to complete and ignore details beyond that task. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2009.332

52. Data of the Night, pt 4

Fri, 9 Oct 2009 13:39:18 -0700

Part 4: Gunshot detection systems are a form of geographical information system, a technology that has expanded rapidly in the past two decades and has substantially altered how we deal with the physical landscape. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2009.281

51. Data of the Night, pt 3

Fri, 2 Oct 2009 13:18:42 -0700

Part 3: Gunshot detection systems are a form of geographical information system, a technology that has expanded rapidly in the past two decades and has substantially altered how we deal with the physical landscape. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2009.281

50. Data of the Night, pt 2

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:32:56 -0700

Part 2: Gunshot detection systems are a form of geographical information system, a technology that has expanded rapidly in the past two decades and has substantially altered how we deal with the physical landscape. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2009.281

49. Data of the Night

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:05:23 -0700

Gunshot detection systems are a form of geographical information system, a technology that has expanded rapidly in the past two decades and has substantially altered how we deal with the physical landscape. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2009.281

48. Welcome to the Family: Part 4

Thu, 3 Sep 2009 08:43:11 -0700

Becoming a professional means joining the family, with all the rights, responsibilities, and discipline that come with membership. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2009.272

47. Welcome to the Family: Part 3

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:27:23 -0700

Becoming a professional means joining the family, with all the rights, responsibilities, and discipline that come with membership. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2009.272

46. Welcome to the Family: Part 2

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 10:49:42 -0700

Becoming a professional means joining the family, with all the rights, responsibilities, and discipline that come with membership. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2009.272

45. Welcome to the Family

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:22:25 -0700

Becoming a professional means joining the family, with all the rights, responsibilities, and discipline that come with membership. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2009.272

44. The Character of Play, Pt. 4

Tue, 4 Aug 2009 14:23:23 -0700

In computer science education, we tend to emphasize the knowledge that we need to impart to our students and the skills they need to develop, but we generally fail to talk about the emotional and cultural aspects of their growth. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2009.236

43. The Character of Play, Pt. 3

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:28:47 -0700

42. The Character of Play, Pt. 2

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:26:32 -0700

41. The Character of Play

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 08:04:32 -0700

40. Marking the Fall of Sparrows

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:17:40 -0700

Electronic systems change the flow of work, the habits of thought, the way we perceive our activities. In the case of healthcare, such changes could easily produce a system that is radically different from the one we know. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2009.196

39. The Dictator and the Web Design

Mon, 11 May 2009 09:16:24 -0700

As Web technology moved from the laboratory to the public sphere, website design moved from being the product of a single individual to become the responsibility of a group. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2009.166

38. Top of the News

Thu, 2 Apr 2009 15:24:19 -0700

Step by faltering step, the front page has been vanishing from the American news industry.

37. Virtual Walls

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 08:54:36 -0700

Virtual machines are a technology that was invented in one era, overlooked in a second, and rediscovered in a third. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2009.98

36. Scanning the Horizon Pt 2

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:43:02 -0800

Part 2: In addition to reducing the time it took to pay for purchases, bar codes and scanners provided a system that would track inventory, reduce theft, and provide data to help merchants understand how their goods were purchased. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2009.58

35. Scanning the Horizon

Wed, 4 Feb 2009 14:37:06 -0800

In addition to reducing the time it took to pay for purchases, bar codes and scanners provided a system that would track inventory, reduce theft, and provide data to help merchants understand how their goods were purchased. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2009.58

34. Politics in Play

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:27:04 -0800

Building an adaptive power grid requires cooperation, getting a common agreement among a large collection of engineers, investors, policy makers, corporate executives, and voters. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2009.21

33. Evolutionary Fervor

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:32:30 -0800

The business community has long embraced the notion that progress is an evolutionary process that comes with markets, competition, and the survival of the fittest. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2008.529

32. Edward Elgar's Facebook Page

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:43:58 -0800

In just a handful of years, social networking tools have become part of our daily work and conversation. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2008.461

31. Drinking with Dinosaurs Pt. 4

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:40:31 -0800

We are told that we must learn from failure, but agreement with this principle does little to foster its enactment in the face of persistent psychological and organizational barriers. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2008.423

30. Drinking with Dinosaurs Pt. 3

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 11:13:06 -0700

29. Drinking with Dinosaurs Pt. 2

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:36:45 -0700

28. Drinking with Dinosaurs

Fri, 3 Oct 2008 09:41:59 -0700

27. Click Here to Empty Trash

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:25:18 -0700

We are beginning to assess the impact of digital technologies and are starting to devise strategies to handle the changes that computers have wrought upon the environment. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2008.380

26. Figures in the Distance Pt. 4

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 08:14:52 -0700

The technologies that we have deployed over the past two decades have given us new ability to manage activities at a distance. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2008.296

25. Figures in the Distance Pt. 3

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:23:35 -0700

The technologies that we have deployed over the past two decades have given us new ability to manage activities at a distance. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2008.296

24. Figures in the Distance Pt. 2

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 08:47:26 -0700

The technologies that we have deployed over the past two decades have given us new ability to manage activities at a distance. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2008.296

23. Figures in the Distance

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 10:28:13 -0700

The technologies that we have deployed over the past two decades have given us new ability to manage activities at a distance. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2008.296

22. Harry and Georgie Pt. 3

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:15:59 -0700

Hacking might occupy a special position—that gray area between the darkness and the light—because it touches not only on ethical issues but also on the very nature of computing itself. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2008.227

21. Harry and Georgie Pt. 2

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 09:09:01 -0700

20. Harry and Georgie

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 08:36:38 -0700

19. The Theosophists’ Bathroom pt. 4

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:49:38 -0700

The story that takes India from the electrical infrastructure of 1966 to a modern infrastructure 40 years later is a parable for the free market.

18. The Theosophists’ Bathroom pt. 3

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:48:04 -0700

The story that takes India from the electrical infrastructure of 1966 to a modern infrastructure 40 years later is a parable for the free market.

17. The Theosophists’ Bathroom pt.2

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:35:26 -0700

The story that takes India from the electrical infrastructure of 1966 to a modern infrastructure 40 years later is a parable for the free market.

16. The Theosophists’ Bathroom

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:29:19 -0700

The story that takes India from the electrical infrastructure of 1966 to a modern infrastructure 40 years later is a parable for the free market.

15. Knowing Your Audience

Fri, 2 May 2008 09:49:57 -0700

Embracing digital technology has had a profound impact on modern entertainment media, and can centralize the control over films and keep the producers in better touch with the audiences.

14. Thinking Locally, Acting Globally Part 2

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:31:27 -0700

Even though a project achieves its goal, it also can have unintended consequences.

13. Thinking Locally, Acting Globally

Fri, 4 Apr 2008 10:07:15 -0700

Even though a project achieves its goal, it also can have unintended consequences.

12. Long John Software and the Digital Jolly Roger

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 09:24:22 -0700

In unleashing our treasure ships of software bits and bytes upon the world, we have also opened it up to a new generation of pirates. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2008.90

11. Derek the Rocket Scientist

Fri, 8 Feb 2008 14:06:50 -0800

Trust is a difficult thing to engineer, as it involves history, character, and an ability to put aside your own goals for the good of the whole. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2008.47

10. The Public Eye

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 10:33:32 -0800

Computer security shares the methods and goals of computer science as a whole but has a couple of features that set it apart. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2008.32

9. A Force of Nature

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:34:40 -0800

Our educational system does little to prepare computer science students for making the transition to the working world. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2007.409

8. Songs of Comfort and Joy

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 11:53:44 -0800

The music industry's story is a vivid reminder that entire industries can fail to see shifts in the market. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2006.440

7. Counting Beans

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 12:51:02 -0800

Our current body politic is looking for a more robust voting mechanism that is secured by technology rather than by the competence and integrity of bean counters. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2007.382

6. E-Mailing from Armenia

Fri, 2 Nov 2007 17:43:13 -0700

The development of an information technology industry in the remains of the old Soviet Union brought the discipline of a market economy to the region. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2007.343

5. Controlling the Conversation

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 09:44:19 -0700

American automakers adopted computer controls to deal with complicated engineering problems only when pushed by forces beyond their control. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2007.309

4. Annie and the Boys

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 09:45:06 -0700

More than any other piece of software, the spreadsheet demonstrated that the personal computer could be a useful business tool. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2007.283

3. The Boundaries of Time

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 12:50:05 -0700

Much of the strategy to fix the Y2K Problem followed the standard cycle of quality engineering. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2007.254

2. Listening to the Opera

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 07:24:51 -0700

A story about community, cooperation and the sharing of labor in the world of Information Technology. It begins with the story of an aged lefty, talks about the development of computer users groups and gives a brief history of the Linux operating system. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2007.187

1. Working Class Hero

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 13:47:17 -0700

Linux and open source software represent a force that long predates the computer era: the notion of contributing to the common good. Article link: http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/MC.2007.187