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Was Cameron's Deep Dive as ­seless as Manned Space Flight?
From ACM Opinion

Was Cameron's Deep Dive as ­seless as Manned Space Flight?

Ninety-nine percent of what we know about the solar system came to us from unmanned probes.  

A National Id Card that Protects Voting Rights
From ACM Opinion

A National Id Card that Protects Voting Rights

In December, the U.S. Department of Justice intervened under the Voting Rights Act to stay a South Carolina voter ID law.

Apps Could Be Overtaking the Web
From ACM Opinion

Apps Could Be Overtaking the Web

An app for weather. An app for banking. An app for news, for sports, for games, for travel, for department stores, for insurance companies, for ….wait: Who needs...

Robotics Trends For 2012
From ACM TechNews

Robotics Trends For 2012

IEEE's Erico Guizzo and Hizook.com founder Travis Deyle make several predictions regarding what will be big news in robotics this year.

Is Human Mobility Tracking a Good Idea?
From Communications of the ACM

Is Human Mobility Tracking a Good Idea?

Considering the trade-offs associated with human mobility tracking.

Dangerously Vague Cybersecurity Legislation Threatens Civil Liberties
From ACM Opinion

Dangerously Vague Cybersecurity Legislation Threatens Civil Liberties

There is a spate of proposed cybersecurity legislation working its way through the House and Senate. The bills are aimed primarily at facilitating cooperation regarding...

Can Speech-Recognition Software Work in Mandarin?
From ACM Opinion

Can Speech-Recognition Software Work in Mandarin?

In anticipation of Apple’s introduction of Siri in Chinese this year, I decided to try Dragon, a line of smartphone voice apps by Nuance Communications—the company...

Data Mining and Kids: Thank Goodness She Didn't Pay Cash!
From ACM Opinion

Data Mining and Kids: Thank Goodness She Didn't Pay Cash!

Remember the movie The Minority Report? It is based upon a Philip K. Dick novel of the same name. Well, the movie is supposed to portray an implausible dystopian...

The 4g Fakeout
From ACM Opinion

The 4g Fakeout

Not long ago, when desktops and laptops were the main computers we used every day, PC makers peddled what's known as the megahertz myth.

The Personalized Web Is Just an Interest Graph Away
From ACM Opinion

The Personalized Web Is Just an Interest Graph Away

You know how our social graphs are creeping into every aspect of our Web lives, from search results to coupons? Well, get ready for something a lot more personal...

Safecast Geiger Counter Reference Design
From ACM Opinion

Safecast Geiger Counter Reference Design

This past weekend marked the anniversary of the Tohoku-Oki earthquake that devastated Japan.

Was Our Interview with Lulzsec Hacker an Fbi Set-­p?
From ACM Opinion

Was Our Interview with Lulzsec Hacker an Fbi Set-­p?

In the early hours of 30 June last year, my time spent monitoring the Anonymous chat room finally paid off: "Sabu" would grant me an interview. 

From ACM Opinion

The Technology of a Better Footnote

Footnotes—or endnotes, or just notes; whatever you want to call them—are a problem. They're a problem for writers and a problem for readers and a problem for typesetters...

Tv Makers Ignore Apps at Their Own Peril
From ACM Opinion

Tv Makers Ignore Apps at Their Own Peril

Every night, I get home from work, drop onto the couch and sit there surfing the Web or watching videos on my 3 1/2-inch iPhone screen. My big-screen HDTV sits...

The iPad Is ­nbeatable
From ACM Opinion

The iPad Is ­nbeatable

Imagine you run a large technology company not named Apple.

From ACM Opinion

Reading Over Your Shoulder: Social Readers and Privacy Law

My friends, who are generally well educated and intelligent, read a lot of garbage.

Cyberwar Is Already ­pon ­S
From ACM Opinion

Cyberwar Is Already ­pon ­S

In the nearly 20 years since David Ronfeldt and I introduced our concept of cyberwar, this new mode of conflict has become a reality.

The Personal Analytics of My Life
From ACM Opinion

The Personal Analytics of My Life

One day I'm sure everyone will routinely collect all sorts of data about themselves. But because I've been interested in data for a very long time, I started doing...

Your Kinect Is Watching You
From ACM News

Your Kinect Is Watching You

There is a wave of concern—completely justified, to my mind—over the privacy implications of our increasing reliance on Facebook and Google. What most people don’t...

International Reactions to Google's New Privacy Policy
From ACM Opinion

International Reactions to Google's New Privacy Policy

Google's new privacy policy took effect last Thursday, following several weeks campaigning to educate users on the changes. The policy will allow them to consolidate...
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