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The Fuzzy Math Behind the Search For Mh370
From ACM Opinion

The Fuzzy Math Behind the Search For Mh370

Five weeks into the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, more than $30 million has been spent scouring great swatches of the southern Indian Ocean.

Can We Really ­pload Johnny Depp's Brain?
From ACM Opinion

Can We Really ­pload Johnny Depp's Brain?

When Wally Pfister's Transcendence is released on April 17, millions of moviegoers will be asking themselves, "Could we really upload Johnny Depp into a computer...

The Lewis Effect
From ACM Opinion

The Lewis Effect

Michael Lewis couldn't have timed it better if he'd tried.

Bots on the Beat
From ACM Opinion

Bots on the Beat

On March 24 at 2:36 p.m., the New York Post reported that the body of former Nets basketball player Quinton Ross had been found in a shallow grave on Long Island...

The True Meaning of Pi Day
From ACM Opinion

The True Meaning of Pi Day

There are holidays like Mother's Day, Earth Day, Thanksgiving Day. Even a Talk-Like-Shakespeare Day. But Friday is Pi Day.

Language Barriers
From ACM Opinion

Language Barriers

The British scientist and polymath Stephen Wolfram has always had big ambitions.

The Weirdest Thing About the Apple Security Bug Is How Simple It Was
From ACM Opinion

The Weirdest Thing About the Apple Security Bug Is How Simple It Was

So for the past 18 months, there has been a horrific security hole in many of Apple's products that has allowed "man in the middle" attacks on supposedly secure...

Good Riddance to Mt. Gox
From ACM Opinion

Good Riddance to Mt. Gox

It is over. Mt. Gox, bitcoin’s oldest—and once its most popular—exchange, was taken offline Monday night, leaving behind angry customers and acrimonious debate...

Why Watson Is Real Artificial Intelligence
From ACM Opinion

Why Watson Is Real Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is here now.

What Is Nasa For?
From ACM Opinion

What Is Nasa For?

What the heck is NASA for? It's like asking what a panda is for.

Virtual Worlds Are Real
From ACM Opinion

Virtual Worlds Are Real

Ever since virtual worlds and online games emerged in the mainstream consciousness around 2005, the media has insisted on framing them as escapist fantasies.

The Evil Genius of Fantasy Football
From ACM Opinion

The Evil Genius of Fantasy Football

Watching football means watching young men damage their brains.

In Search of Planetary Intelligence
From ACM Opinion

In Search of Planetary Intelligence

It is said that Mahatma Gandhi, when asked about Western civilization, remarked, "I think it would be a good idea."

To Boldly Go Nowhere, For Now
From ACM Opinion

To Boldly Go Nowhere, For Now

On Aug. 20, NASA's administrator formally welcomed the newest candidates of the astronaut corpsand released a space exploration roadmap that includes robotic and...

Maybe Everybody Should Not Learn to Code
From ACM Opinion

Maybe Everybody Should Not Learn to Code

In the past few years, programming has gone mainstream, as celebrities from Chris Bosh to President Obama jump on the "everyone should learn to code" bandwagon.

WikiLeaks' Teenage Benedict Arnold
From ACM Opinion

WikiLeaks' Teenage Benedict Arnold

When he met Julian Assange for the first time, Sigurdur Thordarson admired the WikiLeaks founder's attitude and quickly signed up to the cause.

The Mooc Racket
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...

Nsa Can Reportedly Track Phones Even When They're Turned Off
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...

Meet the Most Important Tech Company You've Probably Never Heard Of
From ACM Opinion

Meet the Most Important Tech Company You've Probably Never Heard Of

Never trust gadget-makers’ claims about battery life.

The Taming of the Spook
From ACM Opinion

The Taming of the Spook

On March 24, 2009, the National Security Agency’s inspector general issued a 51-page draft report on the President’s Surveillance Program, the warrantless authority...
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