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When John Doerr Brought a 'Gift' to Google's Founders
From ACM Opinion

When John Doerr Brought a 'Gift' to Google's Founders

On a fall day in 1999, in the heart of Silicon Valley, I arrived at a two-story, L-shaped structure off the 101 freeway. It was young Google's headquarters, and...

Is the Law Ready for Driverless Cars?
From Communications of the ACM

Is the Law Ready for Driverless Cars?

Yes, with one big exception.

Scale or Fail
From Communications of the ACM

Scale or Fail

Moving beyond self-selected computer science education in Switzerland.

The March Into the Black Hole of Complexity
From Communications of the ACM

The March Into the Black Hole of Complexity

Addressing the root causes of rapidly increasing software complexity.

'2001: A Space Odyssey': What It Means, and How It Was Made
From ACM Opinion

'2001: A Space Odyssey': What It Means, and How It Was Made

Fifty years ago this spring, Stanley Kubrick's confounding sci-fi masterpiece, "2001: A Space Odyssey," had its premières across the country.

If (Virtual) Reality Feels Almost Right, It's Exactly Wrong
From ACM Opinion

If (Virtual) Reality Feels Almost Right, It's Exactly Wrong

We can all remember the crisply beveled edges of our cheery-yellow No. 2 pencil, the cool, smooth feel of a chalk-powdered blackboard, the gritty red bricks of...

Why Silicon Valley Shouldn't Work With the Pentagon
From ACM Opinion

Why Silicon Valley Shouldn't Work With the Pentagon

Is Silicon Valley going to war?

Here's How Hackers Could Cause Chaos in This Year's ­S Midterm Elections
From ACM Opinion

Here's How Hackers Could Cause Chaos in This Year's ­S Midterm Elections

On November 6, Americans will head to the polls to vote in the congressional midterm elections. In the months before the contest, hordes of foreign hackers will...

Regulate Artificial Intelligence to Avert Cyber Arms Race
From ACM Opinion

Regulate Artificial Intelligence to Avert Cyber Arms Race

Cyberattacks are becoming more frequent, sophisticated and destructive. Each day in 2017, the United States suffered, on average, more than 4,000 ransomware attacks...

We May Own Our Data, But Facebook Has a Duty to Protect It
From ACM Opinion

We May Own Our Data, But Facebook Has a Duty to Protect It

Two years ago, Jack M. Balkin, a constitutional-law professor at Yale, published a fifty-page article in the U.C. Davis Law Review examining what he called problems...

The Era of Fake Video Begins
From ACM Opinion

The Era of Fake Video Begins

In a dank corner of the internet, it is possible to find actresses from Game of Thrones or Harry Potter engaged in all manner of sex acts. Or at least to the world...

What '2001' Got Right
From ACM Opinion

What '2001' Got Right

It's a testament to the lasting influence of Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke's film "2001: A Space Odyssey," which turns 50 this week, that the disc-shaped...

The Ageless Appeal of 2001: A Space Odyssey 
From ACM Opinion

The Ageless Appeal of 2001: A Space Odyssey 

In 1968, film-maker Stanley Kubrick and his screenwriting colleague, science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, presented 2001: A Space Odyssey. Half a century later...

It's Not My Fault, My Brain Implant Made Me Do It
From ACM Opinion

It's Not My Fault, My Brain Implant Made Me Do It

Mr. B loves Johnny Cash, except when he doesn't. Mr. X has watched his doctors morph into Italian chefs right before his eyes.

Enough With the Trolley Problem
From ACM Opinion

Enough With the Trolley Problem

You know the drill by now: A runaway trolley is careening down a track. There are five workers ahead, sure to be killed if the trolley reaches them.

How Cambridge Analytica's Facebook Targeting Model Really Worked, According to the Person Who Built It
From ACM Opinion

How Cambridge Analytica's Facebook Targeting Model Really Worked, According to the Person Who Built It

The researcher whose work is at the center of the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data analysis and political advertising uproar has revealed that his method worked...

Popping Kernels
From Communications of the ACM

Popping Kernels

Choosing between programming in the kernel or in user space.

Fourier's Transformational Thinking
From ACM Opinion

Fourier's Transformational Thinking

When you listen to digital music, the harmonies and chords that you hear have probably been reconstructed from a file that stored them as components of different...

The FCC Should ­se Blockchain to Manage Wireless Spectrum
From ACM Opinion

The FCC Should ­se Blockchain to Manage Wireless Spectrum

The technology at the heart of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin—blockchain—has captured the world's attention, much as the internet, peer-to-peer file transfers, apps...

Med Students Are Getting Terrible Training in Robotic Surgery
From ACM Opinion

Med Students Are Getting Terrible Training in Robotic Surgery

If you think your on-the-job training was tough, imagine what life is like for newbie surgeons.
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