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The Obscene Coupling Known as Spaghetti Code
From Communications of the ACM

The Obscene Coupling Known as Spaghetti Code

Teach your junior programmers how to read code.

Paper-Based Electronics Could Fold, Biodegrade and Be the Basis for the Next Generation of Devices
From ACM Opinion

Paper-Based Electronics Could Fold, Biodegrade and Be the Basis for the Next Generation of Devices

It seems like every few months there's a new cellphone, laptop or tablet that is so exciting people line up around the block to get their hands on it.

How America Could Lose the Quantum-Computing Race
From ACM Opinion

How America Could Lose the Quantum-Computing Race

There's an arms race underway to develop the next generation of computers—known as "quantum" computers—and there's no guarantee that the United States is going...

How Bots Ruined Clicktivism
From ACM Opinion

How Bots Ruined Clicktivism

I recently came across two tweets—or rather, thousands of tweets sharing the same two ideas over and over again.

Safe Artificial Intelligence Requires Cultural Intelligence
From ACM Opinion

Safe Artificial Intelligence Requires Cultural Intelligence

Knowledge, to paraphrase British journalist Miles Kington, is knowing a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing there's a norm against putting it in a fruit salad....

Ten Years of Large Hadron Collider Discoveries Are Just the Start of Decoding the ­niverse
From ACM Opinion

Ten Years of Large Hadron Collider Discoveries Are Just the Start of Decoding the ­niverse

Ten years! Ten years since the start of operations for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), one of the most complex machines ever created.

How Will Google's Innovation Continue Beyond Its 20th Year?
From ACM Opinion

How Will Google's Innovation Continue Beyond Its 20th Year?

As millions of people came online in the late 1990s they needed help figuring out what each webpage was about, and how to find what they were looking for.

Google Chrome's Biggest Challenge at Age 10 Might Just Be Its Own Success
From ACM Opinion

Google Chrome's Biggest Challenge at Age 10 Might Just Be Its Own Success

Exactly 10 years ago Tuesday, a newly promoted vice president named Sundar Pichai stood before a group of tech reporters in a conference room at Google's Mountain...

Are We Ready for the Future of Warfare?
From ACM Opinion

Are We Ready for the Future of Warfare?

Warfare has always been about exerting political will.

Why the Future of Data Storage is (Still) Magnetic Tape
From ACM Opinion

Why the Future of Data Storage is (Still) Magnetic Tape

It should come as no surprise that recent advances in big-data analytics and artificial intelligence have created strong incentives for enterprises to amass information...

Overtrust in the Robotic Age
From Communications of the ACM

Overtrust in the Robotic Age

A contemporary ethical challenge.

When Machine Learning is Facially Invalid
From Communications of the ACM

When Machine Learning is Facially Invalid

Observations on the use of machine learning and facial inferences to classify people using inexplicable data.

Navigating with Accelerating Technology Change
From Communications of the ACM

Navigating with Accelerating Technology Change

Mathematical tools such as S-curves locate inflection points in technology-accelerated social spaces; where we move next depends on our navigational skills.

An Academic's Observations from a Sabbatical at Google
From Communications of the ACM

An Academic's Observations from a Sabbatical at Google

How experiences gained in industry can improve academic research and teaching.

Is Software the Result of Top-Down Intelligent Design or Evolution?
From Communications of the ACM

Is Software the Result of Top-Down Intelligent Design or Evolution?

Considering the potential danger to individuals of rapid coevolution.

I Just Hacked a State Election. I'm 17. And I'm Not Even a Very Good Hacker.
From ACM Opinion

I Just Hacked a State Election. I'm 17. And I'm Not Even a Very Good Hacker.

It took me around 10 minutes to crash the upcoming midterm elections.

What Went Wrong With IBM's Watson
From ACM Opinion

What Went Wrong With IBM's Watson

What if artificial intelligence can't cure cancer after all?

Are Blockchains the Answer for Secure Elections? Probably Not
From ACM Opinion

Are Blockchains the Answer for Secure Elections? Probably Not

With the U.S. heading into a pivotal midterm election, little progress has been made on ensuring the integrity of voting systems—a concern that retook the spotlight...

AI for Cybersecurity Is a Hot New Thing, and a Dangerous Gamble
From ACM Opinion

AI for Cybersecurity Is a Hot New Thing, and a Dangerous Gamble

When I walked around the exhibition floor at this week's massive Black Hat cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas, I was struck by the number of companies boasting...

Programmers Need Ethics When Designing the Technologies that Influence People's Lives
From ACM Opinion

Programmers Need Ethics When Designing the Technologies that Influence People's Lives

Computing professionals are on the front lines of almost every aspect of the modern world.
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