The Dependability of Complex Socio-technical Infrastructure & Smart Grids and Smart Meters: Game Changer, or Serious Danger? by Prof. Ross Anderson

DLS Programme Lecture 1: The Dependability of Complex Socio-technical Infrastructure Abstract: We have all become dependent on large complex systems such as Facebook, the bank payment system and even the Internet itself. Keeping these systems dependable in the face of accidents, errors and malice is one of the most important, and interesting, challenges facing engineers … The Dependability of Complex Socio-technical Infrastructure & Smart Grids and Smart Meters: Game Changer, or Serious Danger? by Prof. Ross Anderson

Learning hard chart constraints for efficient context-free parsing by Brian Roark – Oregon Health & Science University

Abstract: In this talk, I’ll present some recent work in learning hard constraints for cells within a context-free parsing chart, to reduce parsing time. Each cell in the chart represents one of the O(n^2) substrings of the input string, and characteristics of each substring can be used to decide how much work to do in … Learning hard chart constraints for efficient context-free parsing by Brian Roark – Oregon Health & Science University

Is provenance logical? (James Cheney, University of Edinburgh)

Research on provenance in databases (or other settings) sometimes has an arbitrary flavor. Once we abandon the classical semantics of queries there is a large design space for alternative semantics that could provide some useful provenance information, but there is little guidance for how to explore this space or justify or compare different proposals. Topics … Is provenance logical? (James Cheney, University of Edinburgh)

Staff BBQ

Despite the weather conditions, the end of summer BBQ went ahead, on Friday. It provided the perfect opportunity to welcome new members of staff and newly arrived PhD students. Congratulations also to Greg on submitting his thesis, and farewell to Angus who will be starting work in New York soon.

Exploring semantics in situation identification using context lattices by Dr.Juan Ye

Pervasive systems must offer an open, extensible, and evolving portfolio of services which integrate sensor data from a diverse range of sources. The core challenge is to provide appropriate and consistent adaptive behaviours for these services in the face of huge volumes of sensor data exhibiting varying degrees of precision, accuracy and dynamism. Situation identification is an enabling technology that resolves … Exploring semantics in situation identification using context lattices by Dr.Juan Ye

Software Freedom Day

Software Freedom Day is an annual event held by communities who are passionate about free and open-source software (FOSS). The event programme includes a talk by Dr Markus Tauber from the School, titled Expectations, Requirements and Survival when Starting with Linux. Markus has provided a short overview of his talk for those interested in attending: … Software Freedom Day

Evening Degree Welcome Reception and Meet Your Tutor

The annual welcome reception for the new evening degree students took place last night in the Gateway brasserie. The familiar but extremely useful Meet Your Tutor session followed shortly afterwards. Tuesday evening sessions for IT begin next week. Graduate Claire Gorgan was singled out for her achievements. Congratulations Claire. Evening Degree Programme website

Measuring the Effectiveness of Abstract Data Visualisations

Speaker: Mark Shovman, University of Abertay, Dundee Abstract: In natural and social sciences, novel insights are often derived from visual analysis of data. But what principles underpin the extraction of meaningful content from these visualisations? Abstract data visualisation can be traced at least as far back as 1801; but with the increase in the quantity … Measuring the Effectiveness of Abstract Data Visualisations

Arrival of Tony’s Cichlids

After much anticipation and excitement, the School welcomes 12 new African Cichlids for the start of a new semester.