Communications of the ACM
The opinion archive provides access to past opinion stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
January 2014
From ACM Opinion
Confused About the Nsa's Quantum Computing Project? This MIT Computer Scientist Can Explain.
My Washington Post colleagues have reported on a National Security Agency program to to build a quantum computer.
From ACM Opinion
Why Her Will Dominate i Design Even More Than Minority Report
A few weeks into the making of Her, Spike Jonze's new flick about romance in the age of artificial intelligence, the director had something of a breakthrough.
From ACM Opinion
Lifelogging: What It's Like to Record Your Whole Life
Gordon Bell, one of the first people to chronicle his existence digitally, explains how it has changed his life and the potential pitfalls.
From ACM Opinion
The Case For Clemency: Expert Says Snowden Deserves A Pass
What's to be done about Edward Snowden?
From ACM Opinion
The Case Against Clemency: Expert Says Snowden's Leaks Hurt Security
A former NSA general counsel tells NPR's Morning Edition that Edward Snowden advertised his theft of government secrets as an act of civil disobedience and should take responsibility.
From ACM Opinion
Why We Don't Trust Technology Companies
Last October, T-Mobile made an astonishing announcement: from now on, when you travel internationally with a T-Mobile phone, you get free unlimited text messages and Internet use.
From ACM Opinion
10 Bold Predictions For 2014
At the beginning of each year, it's possible to make predictions about the future of the tech sector simply by extrapolating from data in the latest Mary Meeker Internet Trends presentation.
From ACM Opinion
8 Hypotheses About Tech in 2014
If there was a feeling that defined the cultural backdrop for 2013, it was technoanxiety.
From ACM Opinion
When Doctors 'google' Their Patients
I remember when I first looked up a patient on Google.
From ACM Opinion
The Internet of Things Is Wildly Insecure—and Often npatchable
We're at a crisis point now with regard to the security of embedded systems, where computing is embedded into the hardware itself—as with the Internet of Things.
From ACM Opinion
Making It
In January of 1903, the small Boston magazine Handicraft ran an essay by the Harvard professor Denman W. Ross, who argued that the American Arts and Crafts movement was in deep crisis.
From ACM Opinion
North Dakota Pitches Itself As a topia For Drones
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration named six sites dedicated to the research and testing of unmanned aerial systems, or drones.
From ACM Opinion
Why Snowden Won't (and Shouldn't) Get Clemency
I regard Daniel Ellsberg as an American patriot.
From ACM Opinion
Edward Snowden, Whistle-Blower
Seven months ago, the world began to learn the vast scope of the National Security Agency's reach into the lives of hundreds of millions of people in the United States and around the globe, as it collects information about their…
From ACM Opinion
Viewing Where the Internet Goes
Will 2014 be the year that the Internet is reined in?
From ACM Opinion
The Nsa's Metadata Program Is Perfectly Constitutional
Last month two judges issued two different opinions about the NSA's controversial bulk metadata collection program.
From ACM Opinion
The Top Four Tech Legal Cases to Watch in 2014
While we're all wiping the champagne-induced sleep from our eyes, inevitably we have to sober up for 2014.
From ACM Opinion
Civilian Photography, Now Rising to New Level
Five years ago, the DJI Phantom 2 Vision would have seemed like a science fiction film prop or a piece of surveillance hardware flown only by the sexiest of superspies.
From ACM Opinion
Stop Pouting About Tech's Next Big Thing, It's Here
It's easy to get jaded when you cover the technology industry.
From ACM Opinion
I, Glasshole: My Year With Google Glass
An anecdote: I wanted to wear Google Glass during the birth of our second child.
From Communications of the ACM
The Legacy of Steve Ballmer
Assessing the positive and negative components of the second Microsoft CEO's tenure.
From Communications of the ACM
Toward a Closer Integration of Law and Computer Science
Seeking better integration of the insights from the fields of law and technology.
From Communications of the ACM
Publish Now, Judge Later
A proposal to address the problem of too many conference submissions and not enough time for reviewers to carefully evaluate each one.
From Communications of the ACM
Estimation Is Not Evil
Reconciling agile approaches and project estimates.
From Communications of the ACM
Actually, Turing Did Not Invent the Computer
Separating the origins of computer science and technology.