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What James Damore Got Wrong About Gender Bias in Computer Science
From ACM Opinion

What James Damore Got Wrong About Gender Bias in Computer Science

In August Google employee James Damore made the news and even Wikipedia by publishing his speculation that female software engineers are underrepresented due to...

What I Learned at Gerrymandering Summer Camp
From ACM Opinion

What I Learned at Gerrymandering Summer Camp

At 6'5", Aaron Dennis towers over the whiteboard beside him.

The Myth of the Skills Gap
From ACM Opinion

The Myth of the Skills Gap

The contention that America's workers lack the skills employers demand is an article of faith among analysts, politicians, and pundits of every stripe, from conservative...

How the Voyager Golden Record Was Made
From ACM Opinion

How the Voyager Golden Record Was Made

We inhabit a small planet orbiting a medium-sized star about two-thirds of the way out from the center of the Milky Way galaxy—around where Track 2 on an LP record...

Digitocracy
From Communications of the ACM

Digitocracy

Considering law and governance in the digital age.

When Does Law Enforcement's Demand to Read Your Data Become a Demand to Read Your Mind?
From Communications of the ACM

When Does Law Enforcement's Demand to Read Your Data Become a Demand to Read Your Mind?

On cryptographic backdoors and prosthetic intelligence.

A Hunt For Ways to Combat Online Radicalization
From ACM Opinion

A Hunt For Ways to Combat Online Radicalization

Law enforcement officials, technology companies and lawmakers have long tried to limit what they call the "radicalization" of young people over the internet.

The Enduring Legacy of Zork
From ACM Opinion

The Enduring Legacy of Zork

In 1977, four recent MIT graduates who'd met at MIT's Laboratory for Computer Science used the lab's PDP-10 mainframe to develop a computer game that captivated...

Everyone Thinks That Automation Will Take Our Jobs. The Evidence Disagrees
From ACM Opinion

Everyone Thinks That Automation Will Take Our Jobs. The Evidence Disagrees

Last year, the Japanese company SoftBank opened a cell phone store in Tokyo and staffed it entirely with sales associates named Pepper. This wasn't as hard as it...

Kids Should Know How to Code
From ACM Opinion

Kids Should Know How to Code

During a recent White House meeting with President Donald Trump, Apple CEO Tim Cook remarked that "coding should be a requirement in every public school." 

Better Business Through Sci-Fi
From ACM Opinion

Better Business Through Sci-Fi

About five years ago, Ari Popper enrolled in a course on science-fiction writing at the University of California, Los Angeles, hoping to distract himself from the...

Metrology Is Key to Reproducing Results
From ACM Opinion

Metrology Is Key to Reproducing Results

Imagine you are a policymaker who needs to know how much carbon is stored in the South American forest.

Prophets, Seers, and Pioneers
From Communications of the ACM

Prophets, Seers, and Pioneers

Reflections on historical prognostications for the future.

From Communications of the ACM

The Natural Science of Computing

As unconventional computing comes of age, we believe a revolution is needed in our view of computer science.

How China Tames Dissent on the Internet
From ACM Opinion

How China Tames Dissent on the Internet

Chinese government leaders, subtle masters of propaganda, seem to have discovered a Sun Tzu formula for taming dissent on the Internet: The best strategy may not...

Information Technology: A Digital Genius at Play
From ACM Opinion

Information Technology: A Digital Genius at Play

The US mathematician and electrical engineer Claude Shannon, whose life spanned the tumultuous, technologically explosive twentieth century, is often called the...

Why Haven't Reporters Mass-Adopted Secure Tools For Communicating With Sources?
From ACM Opinion

Why Haven't Reporters Mass-Adopted Secure Tools For Communicating With Sources?

In the months since Donald Trump took office, Washington has been leaking like a sieve.

Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom
From ACM Opinion

Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom

As recent high school graduates prepare for their migration to college in the fall, one item is sure to top most students' shopping wish lists: a laptop computer...

Image Doctoring Must Be Halted
From ACM Opinion

Image Doctoring Must Be Halted

Seven years ago, a cover of The Economist showed Barack Obama, head down on a Louisiana beach in front of an oil rig—the picture of lonely despair.

It's Too Late to Stop China from Becoming an AI Superpower
From ACM Opinion

It's Too Late to Stop China from Becoming an AI Superpower

Last Thursday, Texas senior senator John Cornyn stood before an audience of wonks at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, DC, and warned that America's...
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