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subjectComputer Applications
authorThe New York Times
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Can We Trust Julian Assange and Wikileaks?
From ACM Opinion

Can We Trust Julian Assange and Wikileaks?

The release of a cache of emails from the Democratic National Committee by WikiLeaks last month has raised a great many questions—about the role of the D.N.C. in...

Make Algorithms Accountable
From ACM Opinion

Make Algorithms Accountable

Algorithms are ubiquitous in our lives.

Lessons From the Tesla Crash
From ACM Opinion

Lessons From the Tesla Crash

A recent fatal crash in Florida involving a Tesla Model S is an example of how a new technology designed to make cars safer could, in some cases, make them more...

Jobs Threatened By Machines: A Once 'stupid' Concern Gains Respect
From ACM Opinion

Jobs Threatened By Machines: A Once 'stupid' Concern Gains Respect

They replaced horses, didn't they? That's how the late, great economist Wassily Leontief responded 35 years ago to those who argued technology would never really...

To Write Better Code, Read Virginia Woolf
From ACM Opinion

To Write Better Code, Read Virginia Woolf

The humanities are kaput. Sorry, liberal arts cap-and-gowners. You blew it. In a software-run world, what's wanted are more engineers.

An Ipad Misplaced at the Airport Takes Its Own Vacation
From ACM Opinion

An Ipad Misplaced at the Airport Takes Its Own Vacation

Last month, Shelby Bonnie's iPad vanished from his carry-on bag somewhere at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after a red-eye flight from San Francisco...

Europe's Web Privacy Rules: Bad For Google, Bad For Everyone
From ACM Opinion

Europe's Web Privacy Rules: Bad For Google, Bad For Everyone

It's been a rough few months for Google in Europe.

Have Comment Sections on News Media Websites Failed?
From ACM Opinion

Have Comment Sections on News Media Websites Failed?

Many newspapers and online media companies have begun disabling comment sections because of widespread abuse and obscenity.

Why Apple's Stand Against the F.b.i. Hurts Its Own Customers
From ACM Opinion

Why Apple's Stand Against the F.b.i. Hurts Its Own Customers

Two weeks ago, privacy advocates across the country celebrated as the Federal Bureau of Investigation backed off its request for Apple to help gain access intoiPhone...

When Is the Singularity? Probably Not in Your Lifetime
From ACM Opinion

When Is the Singularity? Probably Not in Your Lifetime

Misconception: Computers will outstrip human capabilities within many of our lifetimes.

To Beat Go Champion, Google's Program Needed a Human Army
From ACM Opinion

To Beat Go Champion, Google's Program Needed a Human Army

Nearly 20 years ago, after a chess-playing computer called Deep Blue beat the world grandmaster Garry Kasparov, I wrote an article about why humans would long remain...

Should Hackers Help the F.b.i.?
From ACM Opinion

Should Hackers Help the F.b.i.?

The United States Justice Department announced this week that it was able to unlock the iPhone used by the gunman in the San Bernardino shooting in December, and...

Where Computers Defeat Humans, and Where They Can't
From ACM Opinion

Where Computers Defeat Humans, and Where They Can't

ALPHAGO, the artificial intelligence system built by the Google subsidiary DeepMind, has just defeated the human champion, Lee Se-dol, four games to one in the...

A Plan in Case Robots Take the Jobs: Give Everyone a Paycheck
From ACM Opinion

A Plan in Case Robots Take the Jobs: Give Everyone a Paycheck

Let's say computers come for most of our jobs. This may not seem likely at the moment; computer scientists and economists offer wildly varying ideas for how deeply...

Review: 'dark Territory' Illuminates Cybersecurity’s Shadows
From ACM Opinion

Review: 'dark Territory' Illuminates Cybersecurity’s Shadows

Fred Kaplan has written a consistently eye-opening history of our government’s efforts to effectively manage our national security in the face of the largely open...

To Keep America Safe, Embrace Drone Warfare
From ACM Opinion

To Keep America Safe, Embrace Drone Warfare

"Are you sure they're there?" the decision maker asks. "They" are Qaeda operatives who have been planning attacks against the United States.

Congress Starts to Get Serious About Online Privacy
From ACM Opinion

Congress Starts to Get Serious About Online Privacy

Congress could soon vote on a bill that would require law enforcement agencies to get a search warrant from a judge to obtain emails, photographs and other documents...

Tech's 'frightful 5' Will Dominate Digital Life For Foreseeable Future
From ACM Opinion

Tech's 'frightful 5' Will Dominate Digital Life For Foreseeable Future

There's a little parlor game that people in Silicon Valley like to play. Let's call it, Who's Losing?

Political Gifs Are the New Sound Bites This Campaign Season
From ACM Opinion

Political Gifs Are the New Sound Bites This Campaign Season

Every few decades, a piece of technology comes along that alters political campaigning.

A Pause to Weigh Risks of Gene Editing
From ACM Opinion

A Pause to Weigh Risks of Gene Editing

The technology for altering defects in the human genome has progressed so rapidly in the last three years that it has outstripped the ability of scientists and...
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