May 2, 2007 lecture by Maurice Herlihy for the Stanford University Computer Systems Colloquium (EE 380). Maurice talks about transactional memory, a computational model in which threads synchronize by optimistic, lock-free transactions -- this synchronization model promises to alleviate many of the problems associated with locking; the talk surveys the area, with a focus on open research problems. EE 380 | Computer Systems Colloquium: http://www.stanford.edu/class/ee380/ Stanford Computer Systems Laboratory: http://csl.stanford.edu/ Stanford Center for Professional Development: http://scpd.stanford.edu/ Stanford University Channel on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/stanforduniversity/