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From ACM Opinion

Snowden, Through the Eyes of a Spy Novelist

For a spy novelist like me, the Edward J. Snowden story has everything. A man driven by ego and idealism—can anyone ever distinguish the two?—leaves his job and...

Ways to Make Your Online Tracks Harder to Follow
From ACM Opinion

Ways to Make Your Online Tracks Harder to Follow


Tech Moves to the Background as Design Becomes Foremost
From ACM Opinion

Tech Moves to the Background as Design Becomes Foremost

In the last few decades, the computing industry has passed through several different eras.

From ACM Opinion

Blowing a Whistle

I'm glad I live in a country with people who are vigilant in defending civil liberties.

Fixing the Digital Economy
From ACM Opinion

Fixing the Digital Economy

Two big trends in the world appear to contradict each other.

At Google Conference, Cameras Even in the Bathroom
From ACM Opinion

At Google Conference, Cameras Even in the Bathroom

The future came crashing down on me this week at the Google I/O developer conference while I stood at a bathroom urinal.

From ACM Opinion

Measuring the Benefits of Tech Tools

When I was a young reporter we could not afford cellphones.

­nraveling Boston Suspects' Online Lives, Link By Link
From ACM Opinion

­nraveling Boston Suspects' Online Lives, Link By Link

It is America's first fully interactive national tragedy of the social media age.

The Flattening of Design
From ACM Opinion

The Flattening of Design

It might sound audacious to think that Microsoft, the arbiter of uncool, was at the forefront of design a few years ago. But it was.

More Cracks ­ndermine the Citadel of Tv Profits
From ACM Opinion

More Cracks ­ndermine the Citadel of Tv Profits

For the longest time in the media business, the concept of the bundle has been foundational.

The Child, the Tablet, and the Developing Mind
From ACM Opinion

The Child, the Tablet, and the Developing Mind

I recently watched my sister perform an act of magic.

From ACM Opinion

Googling You

The settlement last week between a group of state attorneys general and Google over the company’s improper data collection from home wireless networks shows the...

A Museum's Games Are Not on Pedestals
From ACM Opinion

A Museum's Games Are Not on Pedestals

Video games, as their name suggests, combine the ancient human practice of formal play with moving pictures, a younger form.

With Playstation 4, Sony Aims For Return to Glory
From ACM Opinion

With Playstation 4, Sony Aims For Return to Glory

For the Sony Corporation, a tech industry also-ran, the moment of reckoning is here.

A Fuzzy and Shifting Line Between Hacker and Criminal
From ACM Opinion

A Fuzzy and Shifting Line Between Hacker and Criminal

In January 2011, I was assigned to cover a hearing in Newark, where Daniel Spitler, then 26, stood accused of breaching AT&T's servers and stealing 114,000 email...

Guns, Maps and Data That Disturb
From ACM Opinion

Guns, Maps and Data That Disturb

Should data have a conscience?

From ACM Opinion

Sneaky Apps That Track Cellphones

A perversion of smartphone technology called "stalking apps"—precise, secretive trackings of the movements of cellphone users—is increasingly a matter of national...

How to Devise Passwords That Drive Hackers Away
From ACM Opinion

How to Devise Passwords That Drive Hackers Away

Not long after I began writing about cybersecurity, I became a paranoid caricature of my former self.

Fresh Windows, but Where’s the Start Button?
From ACM Opinion

Fresh Windows, but Where’s the Start Button?

Over the years, Keith McCarthy has become used to a certain way of doing things on his personal computers, which, like most others on the planet, have long run...

And the Firewalls Came Tumbling Down
From ACM Opinion

And the Firewalls Came Tumbling Down

There's much to like about "This Machine Kills Secrets," Andy Greenberg's well-reported history of WikiLeaks and the many projects it has inspired, but one unintentionally...
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