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8 Hypotheses About Tech in 2014
From ACM Opinion

8 Hypotheses About Tech in 2014

If there was a feeling that defined the cultural backdrop for 2013, it was technoanxiety.

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...

2013: The Year 'the Stream' Crested
From ACM Opinion

2013: The Year 'the Stream' Crested

The Stream has been the organizing metaphor for the web for the past several years.

Could a $500 Gadget Have Prevented the Metro-North Tragedy?
From ACM Opinion

Could a $500 Gadget Have Prevented the Metro-North Tragedy?

Investigators are still studying what caused the derailment of a Metro-North commuter train on its way to Grand Central Terminal just over a week ago, killing four...

All Can Be Lost: The Risk of Putting Our Knowledge in the Hands of Machines
From ACM Opinion

All Can Be Lost: The Risk of Putting Our Knowledge in the Hands of Machines

On the evening of February 12, 2009, a Continental Connection commuter flight made its way through blustery weather between Newark, New Jersey, and Buffalo, New...

The Man Who Would Teach Machines to Think
From ACM Opinion

The Man Who Would Teach Machines to Think

"It depends on what you mean by artificial intelligence."

The Battle For Power on the Internet
From ACM Opinion

The Battle For Power on the Internet

We're in the middle of an epic battle for power in cyberspace.

The Nobel Prize in Physics Is Really a Nobel Prize in Math
From ACM Opinion

The Nobel Prize in Physics Is Really a Nobel Prize in Math

This year's Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to François Englert and Peter W. Higgs for the prediction of the Higgs boson, which was experimentally confirmed...

Playing War: How the Military ­ses Video Games
From ACM Opinion

Playing War: How the Military ­ses Video Games

According to popular discourse, video games are either the divine instrument of education’s future or the software of Satan himself, provoking young men to carry...

Rage Against the Algorithms
From ACM Opinion

Rage Against the Algorithms

When was the last time you read an online review about a local business or service on a platform like Yelp?

Students Are 'hacking' Their School-Issued Ipads: Good For Them
From ACM Careers

Students Are 'hacking' Their School-Issued Ipads: Good For Them

Almost immediately after receiving their new school-issued iPads this fall, students in Indiana and in California (and probably elsewhere) managed to bypass the...

Civics For a Digital Age
From ACM Opinion

Civics For a Digital Age

Over half of the world’s population lives in urban environments, and that number is rapidly growing according to the World Health Organization.

The Message Voyager 1 Carries For Alien Civilizations
From ACM Opinion

The Message Voyager 1 Carries For Alien Civilizations

The year was 1977.

Go Ahead, Mess With Texas Instruments
From ACM Opinion

Go Ahead, Mess With Texas Instruments

Last year, while cleaning out the basement of my childhood home, I discovered a plastic storage bin marked "Calcusoft." Inside were piles of notebooks filled with...

The Real, Terrifying Reason Why British Authorities Detained David Miranda
From ACM Opinion

The Real, Terrifying Reason Why British Authorities Detained David Miranda

Last Sunday, David Miranda was detained while changing planes at London Heathrow Airport by British authorities for nine hours under a controversial British law—the...

What Snowden and Manning Don't ­nderstand About Secrecy
From ACM Opinion

What Snowden and Manning Don't ­nderstand About Secrecy

As an old reporter who has from time to time outed classified information, I have watched the cases of Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden with professional interest...

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.

What Does It Really Matter If Companies Are Tracking US Online?
From ACM Opinion

What Does It Really Matter If Companies Are Tracking US Online?

Say you, like me, went to bed a little early last night.

How to Think About Drones
From ACM Opinion

How to Think About Drones

Consider David. The shepherd lad steps up to face in single combat the Philistine giant Goliath.

The Machine Zone: This Is Where You Go When You Just Can't Stop Looking at Pictures on Facebook
From ACM Opinion

The Machine Zone: This Is Where You Go When You Just Can't Stop Looking at Pictures on Facebook

"People love Facebook. They really love it," Biz Stone wrote earlier this month. "My mother-in-law looks hypnotized when she decides to put in some Facebook time...
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