Information, Intelligence, Cryptanalysis, and Responsibility: From Mary, Queen of Scots, to Edward Snowden
Duncan Buell
Information has always been of value to governments, and governments have always tried to protect their own information and obtain that of other governments. In the Internet age, it is increasingly the case that not just government but also individual information—telephone, email, healthcare, and purchasing records--is available in a “public” sense to those organizations that have access to the communications infrastructure of the planet.
There is a very legitimate need for citizens to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures. There is also a very legitimate need for the government to provide for the common defense.
What we will hope to provide is a discussion of how simplistic and superficial reports are usually not enough to enable citizens to come to useful conclusions about what our national policy needs to be.
We will offer no solutions and no silver bullets. But ultimately, we in this democracy are responsible for our government, and we must make not just decisions but informed decisions. These can be harder to come by when the underlying information is intentionally (and perhaps sometimes legitimately) obfuscated.
Duncan Buell is a computer scientist in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at USC, where he has served as department chair and interim dean. He has published research in number theory, parallel computation, information retrieval, and digital humanities. Prior to coming to USC as department chair in 2000, he was employed by the Institute for Defense Analyses in Maryland, conducting high performance computing and computational mathematics research in support of the National Security Agency. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and has been since 1969 a member of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Part of the USC Last Lecture Series. More information.
In this symposium, CSE Ph.D., master and undergraduate students will give poster presentations to report their research progress. You are welcome to attend this event, hear their presentations and discuss with them on their research topics. Food/drinks will be provided.
Come join WiC for a fun evening of games! Take a quick study break to hang out and meet other students in computing at USC. We'll be bringing some of our favorite board games (Apples to Apples, Settlers, Taboo) and feel free to bring your own! And as always, pizza will be provided! All are welcome to join (not just women)! Please RSVP via the link below.
When: Thursday, October 1st at 7:00 pm
Where: Swearingen 3A75
https://www.facebook.com/events/917449478309225/
Follow the path of two USC computer engineering students as they move from undergraduates to founding a company through USC's technology incubator. After mixed success with various products and services, the company creates a software product called SpeedTree, which is used by hundreds of game developers including EA, Ubisoft, Activision, Bungie, Microsoft, and Sony. SpeedTree then migrates to the visual effects industry and is used in more than 50 feature films and 30 television productions, earning its developers a technical Academy Award.
Engineering and career lessons learned over their 15-year entrepreneurial journey will be shared from the perspective of someone who was right where you are just 20 short years ago.
Chris King helped found Interactive Data Visualization Inc. and developed SpeedTree, software that helps create the rich environments in movies and video games. Speedtree's original success in video games was with the company's work on The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and later it debuted in the film industry with Avatar. King and his colleagues have gone on to receive a Technical Achievement Award at the February 2015 Academy Awards, and continue to develop, support, and promote their software throughout the industry.
Talk sponsored by
Prof. Michael N. Huhns
Abstract:
The Center for Computational Robotics is the outgrowth of two previous research Centers, all with the goal of advancing the capabilities of physical and information systems. The activites of the previous centers can provide a context and perspectives that set the directions for the new Center. This seminar will describe these directions and outline the disciplines needed: from mechanics to ethics.
Drs. Jason O’Kane, Yiannis Rekleitis, and Jenay Beer are excited to announce the forming of the Center for Computational Robotics (CCR). We are kicking off a monthly CCR seminar brownbag series this Friday 9/25 from 11:30am-12:30pm. Speaker Prof. Mike Huhns will discuss the history of the Center (formally Center for Information Technology), and we will hold a discussion about the directions for the new research focus. Please join us in Swearingen 3A75
ACM and WiC are hosting a Resume Workshop next Wednesday, September 16th, at 6:45pm in 2A31 of Swearingen. In order to have enough pizza for everyone, we are asking for people to RSVP on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1480529815581991/
Below is some information provided by our guest speaker, David Grim:
Last year everyone had fun and learned lots. Based on last year’s experience, below is an overview of what your members can expect:
Ca$h prize$ - Some prizes will be awarded for:
Answering questions. (Hint – for repeat attendees we will ask some of the same questions))
Looking into the salary crystal ball. What can you expect to earn 5 & 10 years from graduation.
Like last year we will offer résumé ideas on what has worked in the past including:
Tips that will get the attention of the BEST companies.
Information Technology résumé formatting (It is different than a standard résumé. What works for a French major is different than for I.T., oui vs wii)
Information Technology résumé content (We have proven methods that will improve responses from hiring companies.)
Cover Letters (Our approach will save I.T. folks time.)
Thank you letters (Our approach will save I.T. folks time.)
Did you have a really cool internship this summer? Maybe you did cutting-edge research, or went to a tech conference? We want to hear about your summer! Women in Computing is hosting Summer Rehash, where you can give a flash talk about your summer experience and hear about what your classmates accomplished. As always, pizza is provided! All are welcome.
For those students who have never interned before, this will be a great chance to learn about various opportunities!
When: Thursday, September 10th at 7:00 pm
Where: Location TBD
RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/1491987947783407/
Sign up to talk: http://goo.gl/forms/lh9xKWLzuQ
Check out the Speaker Guidelines: http://bit.ly/1XroX5g
Xiaoyan (Iris) Lin, Assistant Professor in Statistics will give a talk tomorrow in our CSCE 791 – Seminar on Advances in Computing from 2:20PM – 3:10PM in SWGN 2A18. Below please find the details of her talk. The seminar talks are open to all interested graduate students and faculty.
Abstract: Interval-censored data occur naturally in many fields and the main feature is that the failure time of interest is not observed exactly, but is known to fall within some interval. In this paper, we propose a semiparametric probit model for analyzing case 2 interval-censored data as an alternative to existing semiparametric models in the literature. Specifically, we propose to approximate the unknown nonparametric nondecreasing function in the probit model with a linear combination of monotone splines, leading to only a finite number of parameters to estimate. Both maximum likelihood and Bayesian estimation methods are proposed. For each method, regression parameters and the baseline survival function are estimated jointly. The proposed methods make no assumptions about the observation process and can be applicable to any interval-censored data with easy implementation. The methods are evaluated by simulation studies and are illustrated by two real-life interval-censored data applications.
There are a number of other external speakers that have confirmed that they will give a talk in our seminar. I am currently working to obtain titles, abstracts and bios as early as possible and make them available to Song. Anyways the seminar schedule for this Fall is complete. Please see upcoming talks at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nPjHe2JQWbQaSl2pdHRe4qVQFHqTsTVk414….
Come join Women in Computing for our first meeting of the year! Pizza will be provided and all are welcome! We will be discussing plans for the year, and celebrating the start of a new semester. Hope to see you there. Please check out our Facebook page and rsvp to the meeting
Where: Swearingen 3A75
When: August 31st at 6:00 pm
RSVP at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1524020381222847/
