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From ACM Opinion

Bits and Barbarism

This is a tale of three money pits.

An Homage to Douglas Engelbart and a Critique of the State of Tech
From ACM Opinion

An Homage to Douglas Engelbart and a Critique of the State of Tech

Theodor Holm Nelson, who coined the term hypertext, has been a thorn in the side of the computing establishment for more than a half century.

Internet's Sad Legacy: No More Secrets
From ACM Opinion

Internet's Sad Legacy: No More Secrets

Anyone who can watch you will watch you.

Edward Snowden, The Dark Prophet
From ACM Opinion

Edward Snowden, The Dark Prophet

To avoid surveillance, the first four Americans to visit Edward Snowden in Moscow carried no cell phones or laptops.

A Force For Face-to-Face Communication
From ACM Opinion

A Force For Face-to-Face Communication

Clifford I. Nass, a professor of communication at Stanford who died on Saturday, regaled me several times over the years about his method for torturing students...

The Information-Gathering Paradox
From ACM Opinion

The Information-Gathering Paradox

Consumer trust is a vital currency for every big Internet company, which helps to explain why the giants of Silicon Valley have gone to great lengths in recent...

The Fatal Mistake That Doomed Blackberry
From ACM Opinion

The Fatal Mistake That Doomed Blackberry

Beleaguered gadgetmaker BlackBerry said on Monday that it's signed a tentative agreement to be purchased by a group led by Canadian holding company Fairfax Financial...

Does Digital Age Overcomplicate Design?
From ACM Opinion

Does Digital Age Overcomplicate Design?

There is a scene in the television series "Boss" in which the mayor of Chicago, played by Kelsey Grammer, is discovered by his wife washing bed sheets by hand at...

How Robots Can Trick You Into Loving Them
From ACM Opinion

How Robots Can Trick You Into Loving Them

I like to think of my Roomba as cute and industrious.

Who Will Prosper in the New World
From ACM Opinion

Who Will Prosper in the New World

Self-driving vehicles threaten to send truck drivers to the unemployment office.

From ACM Opinion

On the Symmetry Between Microsoft and Apple

I am not a tech industry maven, so I am busy coming up to speed on the implications of the Ballmer resignation.

In Markets' Tuned-­p Machinery, Stubborn Ghosts Remain
From ACM News

In Markets' Tuned-­p Machinery, Stubborn Ghosts Remain

A generation ago, when the stock market crashed on Oct. 19, 1987, the Nasdaq stock market appeared to have done much better than the New York Stock Exchange.

From ACM Opinion

We Need a Moratorium on 'Brain-Like' Tech Stories

My "aha" moment arrived two decades ago while I was an undergrad student (and dilettante "futurist," though I didn’t know the word then), sitting in the Great Hall...

From ACM Opinion

Google's Science Fellows Challenge the Company's Fund-Raising For Senator Inhofe

Ten years ago this week, Senator James M. Inhofe, the Republican from Oklahoma, used a two-hour floor speech to launch his campaign on the credibility of climate...

A Day in the Life of My Iphone
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.

I'm Still Waiting For My Phone to Become My Wallet
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.

Who Scores Games By Hand Anymore?
From ACM Opinion

Who Scores Games By Hand Anymore?

The first thing Bruce Levy did upon recent entry into Yankee Stadium while accompanied by his in-laws and teenage son was to purchase a program in the area of the...

The Pros and Cons of a Surveillance Society
From ACM Opinion

The Pros and Cons of a Surveillance Society

Here are three topics much in the news these days: Prism, the surveillance program of the national security agency; the death of Trayvon Martin; and Google Glass...

Social Media Images Form a New Language Online
From ACM Opinion

Social Media Images Form a New Language Online

Sergey Brin, Google’s co-founder, had an epiphany about the simplicity of communication through images while wearing Google Glass, the company’s controversial high...

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...
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