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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.

From 'wargames' to Aaron Swartz: How ­.s. Anti-Hacking Law Went Astray
From ACM Opinion

From 'wargames' to Aaron Swartz: How ­.s. Anti-Hacking Law Went Astray

Aaron Swartz, the Internet activist who committed suicide while facing the possibility of a felony criminal conviction, was prosecuted under a law that was never...

Steve Mann: My 'augmediated' Life
From ACM Opinion

Steve Mann: My 'augmediated' Life

Back in 2004, I was awakened early one morning by a loud clatter. I ran outside, only to discover that a car had smashed into the corner of my house.

Can Your Boss Read Your Email?
From ACM Opinion

Can Your Boss Read Your Email?

Harvard faculty members responded with shock after the Boston Globe revealed that theuniversity’s administration had searched 16 faculty deans’ email accounts to...

Everything We Know About What Data Brokers Know About You
From ACM News

Everything We Know About What Data Brokers Know About You

Data companies are scooping up enormous amounts of information about almost every American. They sell information about whether you're pregnant or divorced or trying...

Why Private Companies Won't Make ­p For Cuts in Government Science Funding
From ACM Opinion

Why Private Companies Won't Make ­p For Cuts in Government Science Funding

The budget cuts that took effect last week could wipe out as much as $54 billion in federal funding of science, research, and innovation over the next five years...

Google Glass: Is It a Threat to Our Privacy?
From ACM Opinion

Google Glass: Is It a Threat to Our Privacy?

If you haven't heard about the excitement around Google Glass—the head-mounted glasses that can shoot video, take pictures, and broadcast what you're seeing to...

From ACM Opinion

Shedding More Light on National Security Letters

Our users trust Google with a lot of very important data, whether it’s emails, photos, documents, posts or videos.

Are We Really Facing Cyberwar?
From ACM Opinion

Are We Really Facing Cyberwar?

A few weeks ago I was standing by a railway track in the small town of Gaithersburg in Maryland as a CSX freight train blasted through the level crossing; its horn...

What to Do After You've Been Hacked
From ACM Opinion

What to Do After You've Been Hacked

Evernote became the latest member of the "we’ve been hacked" club. And the thing is, what was once a pretty exclusive club now lets just about everyone in these...

The Best Books About Biotechnology
From ACM Opinion

The Best Books About Biotechnology

I've spent the last few weeks creating a syllabus for myself on the world—people, techniques, theory, history—of biotechnology. I've talked with some scholars,...

The Dangerous Logic of the Bradley Manning Case
From ACM Opinion

The Dangerous Logic of the Bradley Manning Case

After 1,000 days in pretrial detention, Private Bradley Manning offered a modified guilty plea for passing classified materials to WikiLeaks. But his case is far...

Why Teens Are Tiring of Facebook
From ACM Opinion

Why Teens Are Tiring of Facebook

To understand where teens like to spend their virtual time nowadways, just watch them on their smartphones.

Boing Boing's Cory Doctorow on 'homeland,' Printed Guns, and Heart Hacking
From ACM Opinion

Boing Boing's Cory Doctorow on 'homeland,' Printed Guns, and Heart Hacking

I had the pleasure of spending some time with Cory Doctorow on Feb. 25 at the Jefferson Hotel here in the nation's capital.

On Today's Battlefield, Is Information More Important Than Firepower?
From ACM Opinion

On Today's Battlefield, Is Information More Important Than Firepower?

Halo, Borderlands, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Battlefield, Metal Gear Solid—these kinds of games taught a generation to see enemies as red dots on a mini-map...

The Art of Cyberwar
From ACM Opinion

The Art of Cyberwar

The New York Times’ front-page report last week that the Chinese army is hacking into America's most sensitive computer networks from a 12-story building outside...

What China's Hackers Get Wrong About Washington
From ACM Opinion

What China's Hackers Get Wrong About Washington

"Start asking security experts which powerful Washington institutions have been penetrated by Chinese cyberspies," report my colleagues Craig Timberg and Ellen...

How Google Did the Right Thing with the Nascar Crash Video, and Why It Matters
From ACM Opinion

How Google Did the Right Thing with the Nascar Crash Video, and Why It Matters

At a NASCAR event on Saturday, debris created by a serious crash flew into the stands and injured a number of fans.

Calling Out the Robocaller
From ACM Opinion

Calling Out the Robocaller

Last month, the Haggler was sitting at home when the phone rang.

The Mystery of Google Street View's Blurred Brooklyn Brownstone
From ACM Opinion

The Mystery of Google Street View's Blurred Brooklyn Brownstone

We've all had shifty neighbors.
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