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The Next Big Os War Is in Your Dashboard
From ACM Opinion

The Next Big Os War Is in Your Dashboard

Competition in automotive technology has long been about who's got the most horsepower, the best towing capacity or the fastest acceleration. These days, though...

How to Make Almost Anything
From ACM Opinion

How to Make Almost Anything

A new digital revolution is coming, this time in fabrication. It draws on the same insights that led to the earlier digitizations of communication and computation...

James Bond Fails the Tech Test in Skyfall
From ACM Opinion

James Bond Fails the Tech Test in Skyfall

As a self-confessed technology geek, there have been numerous occasions when my enjoyment of a movie has been marred by technological impossibilities.

9 Wishes For Microsoft's Next Xbox, Whatever It's Called
From ACM Opinion

9 Wishes For Microsoft's Next Xbox, Whatever It's Called

Citing the usual sources-who-shall-remain-nameless, Bloomberg reports what everyone's been assuming all year—that Microsoft's going to launch its next game system...

Was a Texas Student Really Expelled for Refusing To Wear an RFID Chip?
From ACM Opinion

Was a Texas Student Really Expelled for Refusing To Wear an RFID Chip?

The Texas school district that began requiring its students to wear RFID tracking chips this year is now facing a fight in federal court.

From ACM Opinion

How to ­se Technology to Make You Smarter

Can a calculator make you smarter?

Can Schools Survive in the Age of the Web?
From ACM Opinion

Can Schools Survive in the Age of the Web?

If you fancy a top-class education but can't afford the fee or the time, there is now an alternative.

The Real Threat to Internet Freedom Isn't the ­nited Nations
From ACM Opinion

The Real Threat to Internet Freedom Isn't the ­nited Nations

The Internet is often seen as a place of chaos and disorder, a borderless world in which anonymous trolls roam free and vigilante hackers wreak havoc.

In China, 25 Million People ­se Only Their Cell Phones to Read Books
From ACM Opinion

In China, 25 Million People ­se Only Their Cell Phones to Read Books

On vacation in China earlier this month, I stopped by Shanghai's seven-story downtown "Book City," bustling with activity on a weekday afternoon that, as a publisher...

Moral Machines
From ACM Opinion

Moral Machines

Google's driver-less cars are already street-legal in three states, California, Florida, and Nevada, and some day similar devices may not just be possible but mandatory...

The Giant ­nderground Machinery That Runs San Francisco's Famous Cable Cars
From ACM Opinion

The Giant ­nderground Machinery That Runs San Francisco's Famous Cable Cars

Every day and night, beneath the streets of San Francisco, huge wheels turn, pulling cable cars to their far-flung destinations and back again, as if weaving them...

What Sinofsky's Departure Suggests About the Current State, and Likely Future, of Microsoft
From ACM Opinion

What Sinofsky's Departure Suggests About the Current State, and Likely Future, of Microsoft

Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows division, abruptly left the company on November 12, shortly after introducing the latest version of the company's...

How Far Away Is Mind-Machine Integration?
From ACM Opinion

How Far Away Is Mind-Machine Integration?

Okay, great: we can control our phones with speech recognition and our television sets with gesture recognition.

A Touch Literate World: The Global Tablet Craze
From ACM Opinion

A Touch Literate World: The Global Tablet Craze

I haven't been shy about expressing my belief that tablets represent the reinvention of the personal computer.

A Short To-Do List For Intel's Next Ceo
From ACM News

A Short To-Do List For Intel's Next Ceo

With Paul Otellini heading in May to the nearest 18-hole course, speculation is rampant about who will replace him.

Why Jakob Nielsen's Windows 8 Critique Is Old-School Thinking
From ACM Opinion

Why Jakob Nielsen's Windows 8 Critique Is Old-School Thinking

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was once asked what market research went into the creation of the iPad. 

Windows 8—Disappointing ­sability for Both Novice and Power ­sers
From ACM Opinion

Windows 8—Disappointing ­sability for Both Novice and Power ­sers

With the recent launch of Windows 8 and the Surface tablets, Microsoft has reversed its user interface strategy.

Siri Versus Google Voice Search: Fight!
From ACM Opinion

Siri Versus Google Voice Search: Fight!

Voice-controlled smartphone searches are slowly becoming all the rage, thanks to tools like Apple's Siri and Google's "enhanced" voice search.

From ACM Opinion

Clear Need to Define Cyberweapons and Cyberwar

The term cyberwar has become a catch-all used by politicians, talking heads and others to encompass just about any online threat, regardless of the attacker or...

This Is Your Brain on Neural Implants
From ACM Opinion

This Is Your Brain on Neural Implants

You are in the future with technologies more advanced than today's.
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