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The Child, the Tablet, and the Developing Mind
From ACM Opinion

The Child, the Tablet, and the Developing Mind

I recently watched my sister perform an act of magic.

The Story of My App
From ACM Opinion

The Story of My App

Recently, I created an app called Petting Zoo. It is an interactive app for iPhones and iPads, and creating it was a difficult but interesting process.

Bitcoin May Be the Global Economy's Last Safe Haven
From ACM News

Bitcoin May Be the Global Economy's Last Safe Haven

One of the oddest bits of news to emerge from the economic collapse of Cyprus is a corresponding rise in the value of Bitcoin, the Internet’s favorite, media-friendly...

The Chilling Effects of the Dmca
From ACM Opinion

The Chilling Effects of the Dmca

It was hard to believe, but the student insisted it was true.

What Next For the 'quantified Self'?
From ACM Opinion

What Next For the 'quantified Self'?

The quantified self movement—the idea that tracking metrics about yourself can lead to self-improvement—appears to be gathering steam.

Google's Self-Driving Robot Cars Are Ruining My Commute
From ACM Opinion

Google's Self-Driving Robot Cars Are Ruining My Commute

My hometown, Mountain View, Calif., has become the unofficial capital of the robotic car revolution.

The Great Smartphone Conundrum
From ACM Opinion

The Great Smartphone Conundrum

Smartphones keep getting faster.

The Promise and Perils of a Datafied World
From ACM Opinion

The Promise and Perils of a Datafied World

In a former life I was a research assistant. After painstaking weeks spent gathering data, I was tasked with putting the numbers into a statistics application that...

From ACM Opinion

Stop Pagination Now

This weekend’s New York Times Magazine features a fascinating, 7,200-word epic profile of Metropolitan Opera General Manager Peter Gelb. Like most NYT Magazine...

The Problem with Hands-Free Dashboard Cellphones
From Communications of the ACM

The Problem with Hands-Free Dashboard Cellphones

Lawmakers misunderstand user experience of technology interface.

How Relying on Algorithms and Bots Can Be Really, Really Dangerous
From ACM Opinion

How Relying on Algorithms and Bots Can Be Really, Really Dangerous

So you can’t wait for a self-driving car to take away the drudgery of driving? Me neither! But consider this scenario, recently posed by neuroscientist Gary Marcus...

Why All Reporters (not Just J-School Students) Should Learn to Fly Drones
From ACM Opinion

Why All Reporters (not Just J-School Students) Should Learn to Fly Drones

These days the future of journalism may look cloudy. But one thing about the future of the business is clear, according to ABC News. It will be full of drones.

Brogrammers Making Sex Jokes and Other Reasons Startups Need Hr Departments
From ACM Opinion

Brogrammers Making Sex Jokes and Other Reasons Startups Need Hr Departments

When I worked at a startup, we jokingly referred to our "HR department"—a cardboard box that held resumes, NDAs, tax forms, whatever.

The Future of Twitter Is Robots Tweeting at Each Other
From ACM Opinion

The Future of Twitter Is Robots Tweeting at Each Other

Twitter is full of weird stuff none of us ever notice because it mostly just looks like spam or nonsense.

Why It's Time For Our Devices to ­nderstand What We Mean, Not Just What We Say
From ACM Opinion

Why It's Time For Our Devices to ­nderstand What We Mean, Not Just What We Say

It wasn’t just cost and Moore’s law. The graphical user interface—now known as the GUI ("gooey")—is what really made computing widespread, personal and ubiquitous...

The Touch-Screen Generation
From ACM Opinion

The Touch-Screen Generation

On a chilly day last spring, a few dozen developers of children’s apps for phones and tablets gathered at an old beach resort in Monterey, California, to show off...

From ACM Opinion

Googling You

The settlement last week between a group of state attorneys general and Google over the company’s improper data collection from home wireless networks shows the...

10 Companies Chasing Innovations That Really Matter
From ACM Careers

10 Companies Chasing Innovations That Really Matter

PayPal co-founder Max Levchin faced some flak recently when he announced he was starting a new company in the already crowded field of digital payments.

Qwerty Keyboards: Time For a Rethink?
From ACM Opinion

Qwerty Keyboards: Time For a Rethink?

Q-W-E-R-T-Y. Six letters that define so much of our waking lives.

Why We'll Never Make an ­npickable Lock
From ACM Opinion

Why We'll Never Make an ­npickable Lock

It would be roughly accurate to say that there have been locks as long as there have been things humans wanted to guard.
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