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Little Green Men Might Not Be So 'green'
From ACM Opinion

Little Green Men Might Not Be So 'green'

Humans are affecting the Earth’s systems on a global scale. Industrial pollutants are accumulating in our atmosphere with the potential for long-term impact on...

Security Secrets, Dated but Real
From ACM Opinion

Security Secrets, Dated but Real

Was the National Cryptologic Museum designed using a code of some kind?

The Data Centers of Tomorrow Will ­se the Same Tech Our Phones Do
From ACM Opinion

The Data Centers of Tomorrow Will ­se the Same Tech Our Phones Do

The mobile revolution has spread beyond the mini supercomputers in our hands all the way to the data center.

The Weird Reasons Why People Make ­p False Identities on the Internet
From ACM Opinion

The Weird Reasons Why People Make ­p False Identities on the Internet

Sockpuppetry—using false identities for deception—is centuries old, but the advent of the web has made creating sockpuppets, and falling for their tricks, easier...

Why Is Science Fiction So Hard to Define?
From ACM Opinion

Why Is Science Fiction So Hard to Define?

Time Out, the weekly listings magazine, recently ranked the 100 best sci-fi movies of all time.

How to Invent a Person Online
From ACM Opinion

How to Invent a Person Online

On April 8, 2013, I received an envelope in the mail from a nonexistent return address in Toledo, Ohio.

When Robots Come For Our Jobs, Will We Be Ready to Outsmart Them?
From ACM Opinion

When Robots Come For Our Jobs, Will We Be Ready to Outsmart Them?

Non-human employees are filling positions in all sorts of workplaces, and they are proving themselves to be fast, accurate, and reliable—more so than their human...

How the ­.s. Stumbled Into the Drone Era
From ACM Opinion

How the ­.s. Stumbled Into the Drone Era

On Sept. 7, 2000, in the waning days of the Clinton administration, a U.S. Predator drone flew over Afghanistan for the first time.

How to Talk About Blowing Things ­p in Cyberspace, According to the Military
From ACM Opinion

How to Talk About Blowing Things ­p in Cyberspace, According to the Military

Bombs are relatively simple, when you boil everything down.

Bletchley Park's Rebirth and Why It Matters
From ACM Opinion

Bletchley Park's Rebirth and Why It Matters

Twenty five years ago, the historic World War II codebreaking center Bletchley Park faced demolition.

Calling All Hackers: Help ­S Build an Open Wireless Router
From ACM Opinion

Calling All Hackers: Help ­S Build an Open Wireless Router

EFF is releasing an experimental hacker alpha release of wireless router software specifically designed to support secure, shareable Open Wireless networks.

Stop Complaining About the Facebook Study. It's a Golden Age For Research
From ACM Opinion

Stop Complaining About the Facebook Study. It's a Golden Age For Research

Several years ago, my student and I studied anonymous email server data from 40,000 students, faculty and staff at a large university.

7 Things You Should Know About Tor
From ACM Opinion

7 Things You Should Know About Tor

We posted last week about the Tor Challenge and why everyone should use Tor.

The Troubling Truth of Why It's Still So Hard to Share Files Directly
From ACM Opinion

The Troubling Truth of Why It's Still So Hard to Share Files Directly

It's not always easy to spot the compromises in the technology we use, where we've allowed corporate interests to trump public ideals like privacy and press freedom...

The Beautiful, Invisible Game
From ACM Opinion

The Beautiful, Invisible Game

The first goal of the 2014 World Cup was Brazilian, and it was an own goal.

Quantum Chaos: After a Failed Speed Test, the D-Wave Debate Continues
From ACM Opinion

Quantum Chaos: After a Failed Speed Test, the D-Wave Debate Continues

How hard can it be to determine whether a computer works as promised?

What Everyone Gets Wrong in the Debate Over Net Neutrality
From ACM Opinion

What Everyone Gets Wrong in the Debate Over Net Neutrality

Even Sunday night HBO watchers are worried the Federal Communications Commission will soon put an end to net neutrality.

Coder's High
From ACM Opinion

Coder's High

These days I write more than I code, but one of the things I miss about programming is the coder's high: those times when, for hours on end, I would lock my vision...

Google's Eyes in the Sky
From ACM Opinion

Google's Eyes in the Sky

When Sergey Brin and Larry Page built the search engine that would become Google, they started by making maps.

The Eccentric Genius Whose Time May Have Finally Come (again)
From ACM Opinion

The Eccentric Genius Whose Time May Have Finally Come (again)

I've been preoccupied lately with thoughts of marauding broomsticks, genies in bottles, and monkey's paws.
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