Communications of the ACM
The opinion archive provides access to past opinion stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
July 2013
From ACM Careers
The Brains Behind Research on the Brain
While studying physics and electrical engineering as an MIT undergraduate in the late 1990s, Mehmet Fatih Yanik managed to avoid taking any biology classes until his final semester, when he was forced to sign up for a course.
From ACM Opinion
Ex-saf Chief Scientist Likens .s. Cybersecurity Challenge to Whac-A-Mole
From his vantage point as chief scientist of the U.S. Air Force, Mark Maybury had a bird’s-eye view of myriad advantages and challenges that modern technology presents not only to the military but also to society as a whole.
From ACM TechNews
Q&a: Tiffani Williams, Computer Scientist, on Creating an Open Source Tree of Life
The Open Tree of Life project aims to develop an open source compendium of existing knowledge on thousands of plant and animal species.
From ACM Opinion
A Day in the Life of My Iphone
Each morning at 7 a.m., I am awakened by the sound of a spaceship next to my bed.
From ACM Opinion
Mail from the (velvet) Cybercrime nderground
Over the past six months, "fans" of this Web site and its author have shown their affection in some curious ways.
From ACM Opinion
Ars Speaks with Vocal Nsa Critic Sen. Ron Wyden
As a series of top-secret NSA documents have been leaked over the past several weeks, the issue of widespread government surveillance has been front-and-center in the public eye.
From ACM Opinion
Software-Defined Data Centers Could Change the It Landscape
IT vendors like VMware, Red Hat and Citrix are close to realizing a decades-old vision of virtualized data centers, which could usher in an era of commoditized hardware and self-service IT.
From ACM Opinion
Justice For Alan Turing?
What do we do with the knowledge that people not all that different from ourselves have behaved with astounding stupidity and cruelty, over and over again, in the recent past?
From ACM Opinion
Quantum Computers Will Give Artificial Intelligence Big Boost, Studies Suggest
Quantum computers of the future will have the potential to give artificial intelligence a major boost, a series of studies suggests.
From ACM Opinion
Eff to Court: Forced Decryption nconstitutional
You shouldn't have to surrender your constitutional rights in order to safeguard your electronic privacy.
From ACM Opinion
Could the Government Get a Search Warrant For Your Thoughts?
We don't have a mind reading machine.
From ACM Opinion
I'm Still Waiting For My Phone to Become My Wallet
During the sweltering heat wave earlier this month, it seemed too hot to wear much, carry much or do much of anything at all.
From ACM TechNews
Ajay Bhatt: Intel's Rock-Star Inventor
Intel engineer Ajay Bhatt invented the universal serial bus (USB) port about 25 years ago. He currently is analyzing PC architecture to provide portable computers with the power efficiency required to last all day.
From ACM Opinion
The Mooc Racket
The word mooc sounds a bit like slang from Goodfellas or the affectionate shortening of the already-affectionate name of a former outfielder for the New York Mets. In fact, a MOOC is a new kind of college-like experience that…
From ACM Opinion
The Immigrant Brain Drain: How America Is Losing Its High-Tech Talent
Vivek Wadhwa of Duke University questions the claim that competition from high-tech guest workers in the United States is keeping domestic workers' wages low and making it harder for native STEM graduates to find jobs in…
From ACM Opinion
The Youtube Tutor
In 2006 Salman Khan logged on to YouTube and uploaded a handful of videos he had made to help his cousins with their homework. Today six million students visit the Khan Academy each mont.
From ACM Opinion
To Develop Tomorrow's Engineers, Start Before They Can Tie Their Shoes
Think "student engineers" and you probably have visions of high school or college students.
From ACM Opinion
Technology to Protect Against Mass Surveillance
In the past several weeks, EFF has received many requests for advice about privacy tools that provide technological shields against mass surveillance.
From ACM Opinion
How Protecting Your Privacy Could Make You the Bad Guy
There's a funny catch-22 when it comes to privacy best practices.
From ACM Opinion
Smart Phones Mean You Will No Longer Have to Memorize Facts
When my father was growing up, his father offered him 25 cents to memorize the complete list of U.S. presidents. "Number one, George Washington. Number two, John Adams …"
From ACM Opinion
The Paradox of Wearable Technologies
Ever talk to someone at a party or conference reception only to discover that the person you are talking to is constantly scanning the room, looking this way and that, perhaps finding you boring, perhaps looking for someone more…
From ACM Opinion
Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales Explains Its Mission to Be Mainstream
Wikipedia is expanding its major new "open data" initiative, expanding tools that allow developers to use its content on other websites and simplifying its editing tools to appeal to more mainstream web users.
From ACM Opinion
Did Facebook Miss a Massive Opportunity By Building a Walled Garden Instead of a Truly Open Platform?
When Facebook first launched its platform strategy in 2007, it seemed as though a new world of opportunity had opened up for anyone interested in the social web—a kind of social operating system that they could build on and extend…
From ACM Opinion
Microsoft Is Doomed, But First It's Going to Make a Ton of Money
Microsoft stock lost about 10 percent of its value in the wake of a quarterly earnings report on Thursday that investors deemed sub-par. Yet revenue for the second quarter was up 10 percent, to $19.9 billion.
From ACM Opinion
Hands On the Wheel, Mind On the Road–not Cyberspace
Makers of cars and mobile electronics are pushing a tempting vision of the future. It is one in which you can stay fully connected while driving.
From ACM Opinion
E-Book Vs. P-Book
When Barnes & Noble announced, a couple of weeks ago, that its Nook division lost almost five hundred million dollars last year and that its C.E.O. was resigning, there was one obvious conclusion: the company was doomed.
From ACM Opinion
Douglas Engelbart’s nfinished Revolution
Doug Engelbart knew that his obituaries would laud him as "Inventor of the Mouse."
From ACM Opinion
Nsa Can Reportedly Track Phones Even When They're Turned Off
The NSA has a diverse range of surveillance capabilities—from monitoring Google Maps use to sifting through millions of phone call records and spying on Web searches.
From ACM Opinion
Your Creative, Open Hackathon Is Ripe For Legal Challenges
NASA's Space Apps Challenge recently became the world's largest open hackathon, with over 8,000 participants spanning 44 countries.
From ACM Opinion
Shutterstock's Chris Fischer: Making the Most of Open Source's 'huge Tech Edge'
"Some of the most mature databases have been open-source-based. Also, the most mature Web servers in the market are open source software. Considering the . . . capabilities of the technology, I would take open source over any…