Communications of the ACM
The opinion archive provides access to past opinion stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
September 2014
From ACM Opinion
It’s Tim Cook's Apple Now
The Tim Cook era at Apple emerged onto the public stage today in full force, and it bears subtle differences from Steve Jobs’s Apple.
From ACM Opinion
Why I Just Asked My Students To Put Their Laptops Away
I teach theory and practice of social media at NYU, and am an advocate and activist for the free culture movement, so I’m a pretty unlikely candidate for internet censor, but I have just asked the students in my fall seminar…
From ACM Opinion
Our Cyborg Future
In June 2014, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Riley v. California, in which the justices unanimously ruled that police officers may not, without a warrant, search the data on a cell phone seized during an arrest…
From ACM Opinion
The Man Who Will Build Google's Elusive Quantum Computer
John Martinis is one of the world's foremost experts on quantum computing, a growing field of science that aims to process information at super high speeds using strange physics of very tiny particles such as electrons and photons…
From ACM Opinion
The Internet Power Vacuum Worsens
The United States hasn't even abandoned its Web protection yet, and authoritarian governments are already making their move.
From ACM Opinion
Want to Reform the Nsa? Give Edward Snowden Immunity
In 1970, Christopher Pyle disclosed in public writing that the U.S. Army was running a domestic intelligence program aimed at anti-war and civil-rights activists.
From ACM Opinion
Robot Servants Are Going to Make Your Life Easy. Then They'll Ruin It
Jibo, the "world's first family robot," hit the media hype machine like a bomb.
From ACM TechNews
Scala Founder: Language Due For 'fundamental Rethink'
Scala programming language designer Martin Odersky says he sees the industry in the midst of a paradigm shift, and Scala is leading the move toward a new balance between functional and object-oriented programming.
From ACM Opinion
The Hazards of Going on Autopilot
At 9:18 P.M. on February 12, 2009, Continental Connection Flight 3407, operated by Colgan Air, took off from Newark International Airport.
From ACM Careers
The Coming Age of the Internet Naturalist
Three years ago, Shaun Winterton was looking at photos of bugs on Flickr.
From ACM Opinion
The Case For Kill Switches in Military Weaponry
This summer the insurgent group ISIS captured the Iraqi city of Mosul—and along with it, three army divisions' worth of U.S.-supplied equipment from the Iraqi army, including Humvees, helicopters, antiaircraft cannons and M1…
From ACM Opinion
Why Government Researchers Think We May Be Living in a 2d Hologram
Operating with cutting-edge technology out of a trailer in rural Illinois, government researchers have started on a set of experiments that they say will help them determine whether or not you and me and everything that exists…
From ACM Opinion
Why Internet Governance Should Be Left to the Engineers
As the Internet and the disruptive innovations it spawns are becoming economically, politically, and culturally vital for the world’s three billion users (and counting), there's been a worrisome though unsurprising outburst of…
From ACM Opinion
The Defenders of Anonymity on the Internet
You may not realise it, but every time you open up your laptop or switch on your phone, you are at the heart of one of the greatest battles now taking place in our midst—what shape will the internet take in the future, and what…
From ACM Opinion
Why Do We Blindly Sign Terms of Service Agreements?
Audie Cornish talks with University of Chicago Law School professor Omri Ben-Shahar about terms of service agreements for software and websites.
From ACM Opinion
How to Keep Photos of Your Naked Body Off the Internet
If you've been conscious at any point during the past 48 hours, you've probably heard about the slew of raunchy celeb selfies making their way around the internet.
From ACM Opinion
Satellites: Make Earth Observations Open Access
Changes in land cover affect the global climate by absorbing and reflecting solar radiation, and by altering fluxes of heat, water vapour, carbon dioxide and other trace gases.
From ACM Opinion
John Walker, the Navy Spy Who Defined Crypto-Betrayal, Dead at 77
This week, the man responsible for what is probably the biggest cryptographic failure in military history died—just a few months before he was due to be released from prison.
From Communications of the ACM
Q&A: Finding Themes
ACM-Infosys Foundation Award recipient David Blei recalls the origins of his famous topic model, its extensions, and its uses in areas that continue to amaze him.
From Communications of the ACM
We Have Never Been Digital
Reflections on the intersection of computing and the humanities.
From Communications of the ACM
Soft Infrastructure Challenges to Scientific Knowledge Discovery
Seeking to overcome nontechnical challenges to the scientific enterprise.
From Communications of the ACM
Exploratory Engineering in Artificial Intelligence
Using theoretical models to plan for AI safety.
From Communications of the ACM
Learning For the New Digital Age
Digital machines are automating knowledge work at an accelerating pace. How shall we learn and stay relevant?
From Communications of the ACM
Accountability in Future Internet Architectures
Can technical and legal aspects be happily intertwined?