Communications of the ACM
Generative AI Degrades Online Communities
How large language models are influencing online communities.
From ACM Opinion
Giving In to the Surveillance State
In March 2002, John M. Poindexter, a former national security adviser to President Ronald Reagan, sat down with Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the director of the National...
From ACM Opinion
Our Favorite 'forgotten Tech'—from Beos to Zip Drives
We all know about the gadgets that get showered with constant praise—the icons, the segment leaders, and the game changers. Tech history will never forget the Altair...
From ACM Opinion
One Year In: What We've Learned About Ceo Tim Cook
When Tim Cook was named permanent chief executive of Apple a year ago Friday, most discussion centered on what Jobsian qualities and trademark values Cook didn't...
From ACM Opinion
New Guide from Eff: Keeping Your Site Alive
Denial of service attacks—flooding Web sites with traffic in order to make them unavailable to the public—have become an increasingly popular way to take down or...
From Communications of the ACM
Seven Lessons From Bad History
Journalists, historians, and the invention of email.
From Communications of the ACM
Author Order: What Science Can Learn from the Arts
Some thoughts about author order in research papers.
From ACM Opinion
Forget the Desktop
Every morning I wake up too early, reach for my iPad, and scan the morning's tech headlines. This is a pathetic enough existence, but the Web sites I frequent aren't...
From ACM Opinion
Will the Next Election Be Hacked?
Two years ago, hackers gained access to an online voting system created by the District of Columbia and altered every ballot on behalf of their own preferred candidates...
From ACM Opinion
Kentucky Lawmakers Shocked to Find Evolution in Biology Tests
A report surfaced this week that suggests Kentucky legislators may be experiencing a sort of cognitive dissonance that is likely to be a preview of things we can...
From ACM Opinion
Five Things I've Learned from 20 Years of Email
It's been 20 years since I got my first-ever email address. Back then, I read email with a 2,400 bps modem. Today, emails reach me instantaneously on my phone whereever...
From ACM Opinion
Exploring the Planets Enriches S at Home
NASA's newest marvel, a one-ton rover named Curiosity, has been set down with all the delicacy of a carton of eggs on the surface of Mars.
From ACM Opinion
There's Only One Truly Open Platform: The Web
As Twitter and Facebook continue to fight a variety of skirmishes in the ongoing "platform wars," with both companies trying to control as much of their networks...
From ACM Opinion
Why High-Frequency Trading Doesn't Compute
Wall Street is no autobahn. Traders pushing pedal to the metal risk hurtling into the Buttonwood Trees.
From ACM Opinion
15 Technologies of Today We'll Still Be sing in 2030
Sure, we now have faster, smaller computers, smartphones that talk back to you, and smart TVs, but in so many areas of technology the pace of change is slower than ...
From ACM Opinion
Trust: Ill-Advised in a Digital Age
Bruce Schneieer ordered a Coke, no ice, at the Rio casino on a Saturday afternoon. I ordered Diet Coke, also no ice, and handed the bartender an American Express...
From ACM Opinion
Meet Gauss, the Latest Weapon in the nfolding .s.-Israeli Cyberwar
To the steadily growing list of digital weapons that appear to have been jointly created by the combined resources of the U.S. and Israel, we can now add another...
From ACM Opinion
How Will Apple Restore Icloud Trust?
After being on the receiving end of a truly awful hacking attack, Wired writer Mat Honan explained how it happened in detail. And he was very clear about two of...
From ACM Opinion
How the Icloud Hack Happened and How to Avoid Being Next
Mat Honan, the technology reporter who was digitally disemboweled this past weekend, has revealed exactly how he was so spectacularly owned. His case, a cascade...
From ACM Opinion
How Cyber Security Could Be a Winning Issue for Obama
A blackout in Manhattan. A major dam failure. Mayhem at a chemical plant. Those are all potential, and entirely plausible, consequences of a cyber attack, according...
From ACM Opinion