Communications of the ACM
Generative AI Degrades Online Communities
How large language models are influencing online communities.
From ACM Opinion
5 Wishes For the Next Generation of Consoles
So what do Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have in store for us with the next generation of consoles? When will we see the Xbox 720, the PS4, and the Wii-2, and...
From ACM Opinion
Web Security Expert Warns Of Cyber World War
Eugene Kaspersky is not given to easy hyperbole. But the Russian maths genius who founded an internet security empire with a global reach, clutched at his thick...
From ACM Opinion
The Joke's on Your Computer: The Latest Humor Coded Into Software
In Google Maps, the distance-measuring tool offers a choice of three unit systems: Metric, English or "I’m Feeling Geeky." If you click the third one, you’re...
From ACM Opinion
Why Your Next Phone Might Be Bendable
As we enter the final months of 2011, the thoughts of tech watchers like me are turning to what we can expect in 2012. Voice recognition in all our devices? Touch...
From ACM Opinion
The New Einsteins Will Be Scientists Who Share
In January 2009, a mathematician at Cambridge University named Tim Gowers decided to use his blog to run an unusual social experiment. He picked out a difficult...
From ACM Opinion
The Genius of Jobs
One of the questions I wrestled with when writing about Steve Jobs was how smart he was. On the surface, this should not have been much of an issue.
From ACM Opinion
Why Steve Jobs Is Right About Android
Over the weekend I wrote, "What If Steve Jobs Is Right?" As the title implies, the post was a hypothetical look at the possibility that Steve Jobs' assertion...
From ACM Opinion
Patriot Act Turns 10, With No Signs of Retirement
The USA Patriot Act, the law granting the government vast surveillance powers that was adopted in the wake of September 11, turns a decade old Wednesday. But...
From ACM News
Animators Distill Steve Jobs's Bio Into 90 Seconds
Animators from NMA.TV have reached a new high in campy 3D synthesis of real-world events, boiling down all 630 pages of Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs bio into...
From ACM News
11 Most Startling Revelations in 'steve Jobs'
Full disclosure: Steve Jobs was my white whale, the interview I wanted more than any other and the day he died I fashioned a black band across the Apple logo...
From ACM Opinion
The Shocking Strangeness of Our 25-Year-Old Digital Privacy Law
The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) was signed into law on October 21, 1986. Although it was forward-looking at the time, ECPA's privacy protections...
From ACM Opinion
Running Out of Bandwidth
At a time of slow economic growth and declining competitiveness, wireless technology remains a shining example of innovation. In the last 10 years, wireless communications...
From Communications of the ACM
Information Seeking: Convergence of Search, Recommendations, and Advertising
How to address user information needs amidst a preponderance of data.
From ACM Opinion
Don't nderestimate the Singularity
Although Paul Allen paraphrases my 2005 book, The Singularity Is Near, in the title of his essay (cowritten with his colleague Mark Greaves), it appears that he...
From ACM Opinion
The Scary Prospect of Global Drone Warfare
Drone technology is spreading rapidly. As many as 50 countries are developing or purchasing these systems, including China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and Iran. Even...
From ACM Opinion
Ballmer: Android sers Need To Be 'computer Scientists'
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Speaking at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, said that people need to be 'computer scientists' to be able to use Android smartphones...
From ACM Opinion
The Importance of Word Choice: Terms with Multiple Meanings For Scientists and the Public
If you haven't seen the excellent post on Mountain Beltway—Words matter—you should head over there and take a look. The post brought up some interesting ideas about...
From ACM Opinion
Dennis Ritchie: The Other Man Inside Your Iphone
The groundbreaking work he did with Ken Thompson led to the operating system behind everything from set-top boxes to the iPhone, but who sings the praises of...
From ACM Opinion
With Siri, Apple Could Eventually Build A Real AI
As iPhone 4S's flood into the hands of the public, users are coming face-to-face with something they weren't quite expecting: Apple's new voice interface, Siri...
From ACM Opinion