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subjectPersonal Computing
authorThe Atlantic
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An edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.


­.s. Supreme Court: Gps Trackers Are a Form of Search and Seizure
From ACM News

­.s. Supreme Court: Gps Trackers Are a Form of Search and Seizure

If the government puts a GPS tracker on you, your car, or any of your personal effects, it counts as a search—and is therefore protected by the Fourth Amendment...

Finding Out What the Past Smelled Like
From ACM Opinion

Finding Out What the Past Smelled Like

It was the smell that hit me first, a heady mixture of roasting meat, woodsmoke, and farmyard manure.

Watching the Universe in Real Time
From ACM Careers

Watching the Universe in Real Time

Even though the sky looks about the same every night to those of us here on Earth, cataclysmic things happen in outer space constantly.

The App Economy Is Now 'bigger Than Hollywood'
From ACM Careers

The App Economy Is Now 'bigger Than Hollywood'

What is the major cultural force in America right now? It might just be apps and the web.

The Internet Is Losing Interest in Computers
From ACM Opinion

The Internet Is Losing Interest in Computers

You may know Google Trends.

How Darpa's Augmented Reality Software Works
From ACM Opinion

How Darpa's Augmented Reality Software Works

Six years ago, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) decided that they had a new dream. The agency wanted a system that would overlay digital tactical...

Should ­.s. Hackers Fix Cybersecurity Holes or Exploit Them?
From ACM Opinion

Should ­.s. Hackers Fix Cybersecurity Holes or Exploit Them?

There's a debate going on about whether the U.S. government—specifically, the NSA and United States Cyber Command—should stockpile Internet vulnerabilities or disclose...

The Not-So-Distant Future When We Can All ­pgrade Our Brains
From ACM Opinion

The Not-So-Distant Future When We Can All ­pgrade Our Brains

In a decade, cognitive enhancement may have gone mainstream.

How to Win $1 Billion on Ncaa Basketball: A Mathematician's Tips
From ACM Opinion

How to Win $1 Billion on Ncaa Basketball: A Mathematician's Tips

Last Thursday, the underground classroom at the National Museum of Mathematics in New York was filled to capacity for a college professor's PowerPoint-aided lecture...

Everything We Know About How the Nsa Tracks People's Physical Location
From ACM News

Everything We Know About How the Nsa Tracks People's Physical Location

Glenn Greenwald is back reporting about the NSA, now with Pierre Omidyar's news organization FirstLook and its introductory publication, The Intercept.

Stanford Researchers: It Is Trivially Easy to Match Metadata to Real People
From ACM Opinion

Stanford Researchers: It Is Trivially Easy to Match Metadata to Real People

In defending the NSA's telephony metadata collection efforts, government officials have repeatedly resorted to one seemingly significant detail: This is just metadata—numbers...

Study: 80% of College Students Say They Text in Class
From ACM News

Study: 80% of College Students Say They Text in Class

From the front of his classroom, University of Nebraska-Lincoln associate professor Barney McCoy noticed that students’ smart phones were making regular appearances...

What Is a Jpeg? The Invisible Object You See Every Day
From ACM News

What Is a Jpeg? The Invisible Object You See Every Day

In 2012, the photograph of Barack and Michelle Obama embracing after his re-election was "liked" over 4 million times.

Among the Nsa's Own Tips For Securing Computers: Remove the Webcam
From ACM News

Among the Nsa's Own Tips For Securing Computers: Remove the Webcam

Seems like everything gets hacked these days. Baby monitors. White House employees' personal email. Toilets.

Twitter Can Tell Whether Your Community Is Happy or Not
From ACM TechNews

Twitter Can Tell Whether Your Community Is Happy or Not

Researchers recently released a study on whether a community's sense of happiness could be determined from communications on Twitter. The study demonstrates that...

Chatting in Code on Walkie-Talkies in Pakistan's Restive Tribal Areas
From ACM News

Chatting in Code on Walkie-Talkies in Pakistan's Restive Tribal Areas

Sharif loves using his mukhabera. "I use it daily, mostly at night time, because signals are clear at that time," he says. "I am in touch with most of my friends...

Paul Otellini's Intel: Can the Company That Built the Future Survive It?
From ACM Opinion

Paul Otellini's Intel: Can the Company That Built the Future Survive It?

Forty-five years after Intel was founded by Silicon Valley legends Gordon Moore and Bob Noyce, it is the world's leading semiconductor company.

How Facebook Designs the 'perfect Empty Vessel' For Your Mind
From ACM News

How Facebook Designs the 'perfect Empty Vessel' For Your Mind

One day in March, I was sitting across from Facebook's design director, Kate Aronowitz, at 1 Hacker Way in Menlo Park when she told me, "It takes a lot of work...

How Augmented-Reality Content Might Actually Work
From ACM Opinion

How Augmented-Reality Content Might Actually Work

Augmented reality is very exciting. The promise of it is this: all the information on the Internet overlaid on the real world exactly where and when you need it...

Why Google Maps Is Better Than Apple Maps
From ACM Opinion

Why Google Maps Is Better Than Apple Maps

There's a simple answer: people.
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