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From ACM Opinion

Eff and Bitcoin

For several months, EFF has been following the movement around Bitcoin, an electronic payment system that touts itself as "the first decentralized digital currency...

Values in Design
From Communications of the ACM

Values in Design

Focusing on socio-technical design with values as a critical component in the design process.

Driving Power in Global Supply Chains
From Communications of the ACM

Driving Power in Global Supply Chains

Supply chains are increasingly global. We pour energy into managing them efficiently, with their risks and rewards...

Computer Science Can Use More Science
From Communications of the ACM

Computer Science Can Use More Science

Software developers should use empirical methods to analyze their designs to predict how working systems will behave.

Think Before You Fork
From Communications of the ACM

Think Before You Fork

Kode Vicious's thoughts on forking, config files, and using internal wikis.

The Risks of Stopping Too Soon
From Communications of the ACM

The Risks of Stopping Too Soon

Good software design is never easy, but stopping too soon makes the job more difficult.

Practical Application of Theoretical Estimation
From Communications of the ACM

Practical Application of Theoretical Estimation

One of the most popular and successful approaches to estimating software projects is the Putnam model. Developed in the 1970s by...

Who Are We - Now?
From Communications of the ACM

Who Are We - Now?

Considerable progress has been made toward the formation of a computing profession since we started tracking it in this column a decade ago.

Open Science: A Future Shaped By Shared Experience
From ACM Opinion

Open Science: A Future Shaped By Shared Experience

Mapping the human genome showed how the Internet can play a vital part in collective scientific research. Now more scientists are collaborating—and inviting amateurs...

One on One: Jaron Lanier
From ACM Opinion

One on One: Jaron Lanier

Jaron Lanier, a partner architect at Microsoft Research, has had a long and varied career in technology. Mr. Lanier popularized the term "virtual reality" in...

How Computers Got US Into Space
From ACM News

How Computers Got US Into Space

When you look back at the past 50 years of human spaceflight, don't forget the computer scientists who helped make it possible.

The Importance of Reviewing the Code
From Communications of the ACM

The Importance of Reviewing the Code

Highlighting the significance of the often overlooked underlying software used to produce research results.

Patently Obvious
From ACM Opinion

Patently Obvious

On Monday the Supreme Court will consider whether to fundamentally alter the way American patent law is litigated. Specifically, in the context of an otherwise...

Forget Space Travel: It's Just a Dream
From ACM Opinion

Forget Space Travel: It's Just a Dream

The clash of two titans—physics and chemistry—are major barriers to human space travel to Mars and beyond, and may well make it impossible... at least with current...

From ACM Opinion

Patents and Innovation

The tech world has recently seen an explosion in patent litigation, often involving low-quality software patents, which threatens to stifle innovation.

From ACM Opinion

China's War in Cyberspace, August

Strategic theorists frequently lament that military planners are very effective at preparing for the last war, not the next one. Planners today must cope with...

Coder's Block
From Communications of the ACM

Coder's Block

Programming is a creative endeavor, and therefore there is such a thing as coder's block. What does it take to clear the blockage?

Managing Global IT Teams: Considering Cultural Dynamics
From Communications of the ACM

Managing Global IT Teams: Considering Cultural Dynamics

Successful global IT team managers combine general distributed team management skills enhanced with cultural sensitivity.

The Future of Things "cyber"
From ACM Opinion

The Future of Things "cyber"

Years ago, when I was an ROTC instructor, the first unit of instruction for rising juniors dealt with communication skills. Near the beginning of the unit, I...

Another Win For Artificial Intelligence: The Turing Award
From ACM Opinion

Another Win For Artificial Intelligence: The Turing Award

It's been a banner year or so for artificial intelligence, from the recent triumph of I.B.M.'s Jeopardy-winning supercomputer to a wave of news coverage of the...
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