October 2014 issue of the Bulletin of the EATCS

The October issue of the EATCS Bulletin is now available online at http://bulletin.eatcs.org/index.php/beatcs/issue/view/16 from where you can access the individual contributions separately.

You can download a pdf with the printed version of the whole issue from http://www.eatcs.org/images/bulletin/beatcs114.pdf.

The Bulletin of the EATCS is open access, so people who are not members of the EATCS can read it. Let me thank the members of the association who make this service of the community possible with their support.  (EATCS members have access to the member area, which contains news and related articles and provides access to the Springer Reading Room. Young researchers can find announcements of open positions, news and related articles.)

This issue of the bulletin is brimming with interesting content, with five EATCS Columns and a piece by David Woodruff surveying the work for which he had received the EATCS Presburger Award 2014 amongst others. You might also enjoy reading the transcript of a dialogue between Christian Calude and Kurt Mehlhorn about theory, LEDA and Algorithm Engineering. I find it inspiring to read Christian's dialogues with famous members of our community and I always learn something useful from them. (Unfortunately, the lessons I think I learn do not make it often into my work practices. That's the theory-practice divide, I guess :-))

Here are a couple of excerpts to whet your appetite.

• Kurt's motto, even definition, for Algorithm Engineering is: "Treat programs as first class citizens in algorithms research and not as an afterthought." He also adds that "Algorithm engineering is not only a sub-discipline of algorithms research. More importantly, it is a mind set."
• CC: How do you manage to juggle between so many jobs in di fferent countries?
  KM: I try to follow some simple principles.
  I avoid multi-tasking. I set aside time for particular tasks and then concentrate on them. For example, when I was writing my 1984 books and the LEDA book, I would work on the book every work day from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm. I would not accept phone calls or interruptions by students during this time. Now, the 8am to 12pm slot is reserved for reading, thinking and writing. The no-interruption rule still holds.
  I clean my desk completely every evening when I leave my o ffice, so that I can start with an empty desk the next morning.
  When I accept a new responsibility, I decide, what I am going to give up for
  it. For example, when I became vice-president of the Max Planck Society in 2002 (for a 6 year term), I resigned as editor of Algorithmica, Information and Computation, SIAM Journal of Computing, Journal of Discrete and Computational Geometry, International Journal of Computational Geometry and Applications, and Computing.
  And most importantly, I am supported by many people in what I do, in particular, my co-workers, my students, and then administrative staff in the institute and the department. Cooperation and delegation are very important.

Enjoy the issue and consider contributing to future ones!