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The Case Against Quantum Computing
From ACM Opinion

The Case Against Quantum Computing

Quantum computing is all the rage. It seems like hardly a day goes by without some news outlet describing the extraordinary things this technology promises.

Sci-Fi Movies Are the Secret Weapon that Could Help Silicon Valley Grow Up
From ACM Opinion

Sci-Fi Movies Are the Secret Weapon that Could Help Silicon Valley Grow Up

If there's one line that stands the test of time in Steven Spielbergs 1993 classic "Jurassic Park," it's probably Jeff Goldblum's exclamation, "Your scientists...

Your Smartphone Photos Are Totally Fake, and You Love It
From ACM Opinion

Your Smartphone Photos Are Totally Fake, and You Love It

The little camera on this phone has a superpower: It can see things our eyes cannot.

Fake News: Can Teenagers Spot It?
From ACM Opinion

Fake News: Can Teenagers Spot It?

If we are to make it less of a threat to democracy, that effort is going to need to start in schools.

At China’s Internet Conference, a Darker Side of Tech Emerges
From ACM Opinion

At China’s Internet Conference, a Darker Side of Tech Emerges

Every year at the World Internet Conference, held since 2014 in the photogenic canal town of Wuzhen near Shanghai, companies and government officials have convened ...

What the Midterm Election Results Mean for Big Tech
From ACM Opinion

What the Midterm Election Results Mean for Big Tech

It may not have been the tsunami some expected, but the Democrat's long-promised blue wave was enough to carry the party to a majority in the House of Representatives ...

Colonizing Mars Means Contaminating Mars, and Never Knowing for Sure If It Had Its Own Native Life
From ACM Opinion

Colonizing Mars Means Contaminating Mars, and Never Knowing for Sure If It Had Its Own Native Life

The closest place in the universe where extraterrestrial life might exist is Mars, and human beings are poised to attempt to colonize this planetary neighbor within...

Even a Few Bots Can Shift Public Opinion in Big Ways
From ACM Opinion

Even a Few Bots Can Shift Public Opinion in Big Ways

Nearly two-thirds of the social media bots with political activity on Twitter before the 2016 U.S. presidential election supported Donald Trump.

What the Boston School Bus Schedule Can Teach ­s About AI
From ACM Opinion

What the Boston School Bus Schedule Can Teach ­s About AI

When the Boston public school system announced new start times last December, some parents found the schedules unacceptable and pushed back.

The Real Houseguest of the Ecuadorian Embassy
From ACM Opinion

The Real Houseguest of the Ecuadorian Embassy

If Julian Assange of WikiLeaks denies the Ecuadorian government's stinging charge that he's a disgusting houseguest, he'd do well not to deny that charge "categorically...

Nobody's Cellphone Is Really That Secure
From ACM Opinion

Nobody's Cellphone Is Really That Secure

Earlier this week, The New York Times reported that the Russians and the Chinese were eavesdropping on President Donald Trump's personal cellphone and using the...

The Russia Investigations: The U.S. Launches a Digital Offensive, Gently
From ACM Opinion

The Russia Investigations: The U.S. Launches a Digital Offensive, Gently

Everyone knows how to picture the special operations troopers of, for example, the Army's elite Delta Force: Rough-looking customers with custom carbines and advanced...

My Thoughts Are My Password, Because My Brain Reactions Are ­nique
From ACM Opinion

My Thoughts Are My Password, Because My Brain Reactions Are ­nique

Your brain is an inexhaustible source of secure passwords—but you might not have to remember anything. Passwords and PINs with letters and numbers are relatively...

'This Is How Donald Trump Stays President for Four More Years'
From ACM Opinion

'This Is How Donald Trump Stays President for Four More Years'

Donald Trump often claims Facebook and Google are "rigged" to favor the political left. Now he's building a 2020 campaign infrastructure that can circumvent them...

Paper and the Case for Going Low-Tech in the Voting Booth
From ACM Opinion

Paper and the Case for Going Low-Tech in the Voting Booth

In September 2017, barely two months before Virginians went to the polls to pick a new governor, the state's board of elections convened an emergency session. The...

Brain Implants: Will They Be ­sed to Heal or for Control?
From ACM Opinion

Brain Implants: Will They Be ­sed to Heal or for Control?

Would you trust a Manchurian Candidate or a Terminator to heal you? Shouldn't you automatically distrust anyone who has received a brain implant by the military...

Blockchains Won't Fix Internet Voting Security, and Could Make It Worse
From ACM Opinion

Blockchains Won't Fix Internet Voting Security, and Could Make It Worse

Looking to modernize voting practices, speed waiting times at the polls, increase voter turnout and generally make voting more convenient, many government officials—and...

Evolution Is at Work in Computers as well as Life Sciences
From ACM Opinion

Evolution Is at Work in Computers as well as Life Sciences

Artificial intelligence research has a lot to learn from nature.

You're Expecting Too Much Out of Boston Dynamics' Robots
From ACM Opinion

You're Expecting Too Much Out of Boston Dynamics' Robots

At the WIRED25 festival in San Francisco Sunday evening, Boston Dynamics' SpotMini robot got onstage and did what no other quadruped robot has done before: It danced...

A Future Where Everything Becomes a Computer Is as Creepy as You Feared
From ACM Opinion

A Future Where Everything Becomes a Computer Is as Creepy as You Feared

More than 40 years ago, Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft with a vision for putting a personal computer on every desk.
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