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Captchas Are Becoming Security Theater
From ACM Opinion

Captchas Are Becoming Security Theater

CAPTCHAs are a time-worn way for humans to tell computers that we are human.

Why the Web Needs Perfect Forward Secrecy More Than Ever
From ACM Opinion

Why the Web Needs Perfect Forward Secrecy More Than Ever

EFF has long advocated for websites to support HTTPS instead of plain HTTP to encrypt and authenticate data transmitted on the Internet.

Google Wants to Make 'science Fiction' a Reality—and That's Limiting Their Imagination
From ACM Opinion

Google Wants to Make 'science Fiction' a Reality—and That's Limiting Their Imagination

Self-driving cars, extreme life extension, and global wifi provided by weather balloons: Google makes projects that sound like science fiction into reality at its...

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 New Academic Celebrity
From ACM Careers

The New Academic Celebrity

Back in 1991, a New York Times Magazine writer, Anne Matthews, described Andrew Ross, a doyen of American studies, strolling through the Modern Language Association...

4 Amazing Things Nasa Invented, and 4 You Think It Did
From ACM Opinion

4 Amazing Things Nasa Invented, and 4 You Think It Did

NASA is everywhere.

Bruce Schneier: Technology Magnifies Power in Survellance Era
From ACM Opinion

Bruce Schneier: Technology Magnifies Power in Survellance Era

History is not entirely kind to those responsible for the Industrial Age in the 19th century.

The Lewis Effect
From ACM Opinion

The Lewis Effect

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

If You Like Immersion, You'll Love This Reality
From ACM Opinion

If You Like Immersion, You'll Love This Reality

The news that Facebook paid $2 billion for a virtual reality start-up, Oculus VR, might strike you as a bit zany.

How a Secret iOS Feature Could Change the Internet
From ACM Opinion

How a Secret iOS Feature Could Change the Internet

A few weeks ago, a messaging app called FireChat launched.

Why the Black Box on Airplanes Needs to Go Away
From ACM Opinion

Why the Black Box on Airplanes Needs to Go Away

In another 10 years, the very idea of a "black box" flight data recorder on an airliner will seem as naive and outdated as a smoking section.

3 Ways to Make Software Patents Suck Less (without Abolishing Them Altogether)
From ACM Opinion

3 Ways to Make Software Patents Suck Less (without Abolishing Them Altogether)

This week, the Supreme Court tackled one of the thorniest problems in tech policy: software patents.

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...

Hey, Robot: Which Cat Is Cuter?
From ACM Opinion

Hey, Robot: Which Cat Is Cuter?

One recent morning, while contemplating writing this column, I scrolled through thousands and thousands of listings for mundane microgigs on Mechanical Turk, or...

10 Years On, Gmail Has Transformed the Web as We Know It
From ACM Opinion

10 Years On, Gmail Has Transformed the Web as We Know It

Google loves to unveil a good gag product on April Fool's Day.

From ACM Opinion

Abstract Ideas Don't Deserve Patents

The Constitution gives Congress the power to grant inventors a temporary monopoly over their creations to "promote the progress of science and useful arts."

Five Ways to Make Sure We Never Lose a Plane Again
From ACM Opinion

Five Ways to Make Sure We Never Lose a Plane Again

For the past few weeks the world's attention has been focussed on the lost Malaysia Airlines plane and its 239 passengers and crew that has apparently crashed in...

What Oculus's $2 Billion Payday Teaches ­S About Innovation
From ACM Opinion

What Oculus's $2 Billion Payday Teaches ­S About Innovation

Tuesday's announcement that Facebook is buying the virtual-reality start-up Oculus for $2 billion no doubt left many people scratching their heads.

Will We Ever Travel in Wormholes?
From ACM News

Will We Ever Travel in Wormholes?

The universe is huge.

Who's Afraid of Nate Silver?
From ACM Opinion

Who's Afraid of Nate Silver?

Nate Silver doesn't look very threatening.
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