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To Keep America Safe, Embrace Drone Warfare
From ACM Opinion

To Keep America Safe, Embrace Drone Warfare

"Are you sure they're there?" the decision maker asks. "They" are Qaeda operatives who have been planning attacks against the United States.

Telegraph to the Iphone: A Short History of Corporate Defiance
From ACM Opinion

Telegraph to the Iphone: A Short History of Corporate Defiance

The high-stakes stalemate between Apple and the Justice Department isn’t the first time that Washington and Silicon Valley have come to a showdown over security...

Apple's Fbi Battle Is Complicated. Here's What's Really Going On
From ACM News

Apple's Fbi Battle Is Complicated. Here's What's Really Going On

The news this week that a magistrate ordered Apple to help the FBI hack an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooter suspects has polarized the nation—and...

The Apple Fight Isn't About Encryption
From ACM Opinion

The Apple Fight Isn't About Encryption

The most striking aspect of Apple's message to customers on Tuesday wasn't the rejection of U.S. authorities' demand that the company help them break the encryption...

Eff to Support Apple in Encryption Battle
From ACM Opinion

Eff to Support Apple in Encryption Battle

We learned on Tuesday evening that a U.S. federal magistrate judge ordered Apple to backdoor an iPhone that was used by one of the perpetrators of the San Bernardino...

Is D-Wave's Quantum Processor Really 10⁸ Times Faster Than a Normal Computer?
From ACM Opinion

Is D-Wave's Quantum Processor Really 10⁸ Times Faster Than a Normal Computer?

We have been following D-Wave's claims about its quantum hardware at Ars for a number of years. Over that time, my impression has oscillated between skepticism,...

Why Robots and Smart Thermostats Keep America's Spy Chief ­p at Night
From ACM Opinion

Why Robots and Smart Thermostats Keep America's Spy Chief ­p at Night

Some people are already used to having their personal information exposed in massive data breaches.

Moore's Law Really Is Dead This Time
From ACM Opinion

Moore's Law Really Is Dead This Time

Moore's law has died at the age of 51 after an extended illness.

How the Microscope Redefined the Fact
From ACM Opinion

How the Microscope Redefined the Fact

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but the inverse is also true: A word is worth a thousand pictures.

Y'all Have a Texas Accent? Siri (and the World) Might Be Slowly Killing It
From ACM Opinion

Y'all Have a Texas Accent? Siri (and the World) Might Be Slowly Killing It

It was a simple enough question, at least in this part of the world.

Obama's Cybersecurity Plan Is Meant to Secure His Legacy
From ACM Opinion

Obama's Cybersecurity Plan Is Meant to Secure His Legacy

The end of White House terms are often about trying to shape historic legacies, and President Obama is out to build his in the new area of cybersecurity.

Congress Starts to Get Serious About Online Privacy
From ACM Opinion

Congress Starts to Get Serious About Online Privacy

Congress could soon vote on a bill that would require law enforcement agencies to get a search warrant from a judge to obtain emails, photographs and other documents...

Your Next New Best Friend Might Be a Robot
From ACM Opinion

Your Next New Best Friend Might Be a Robot

One night in late July 2014, a journalist from the Chinese newspaper Southern Weeklyinterviewed a 17-year-old Chinese girl named Xiaoice (pronounced Shao-ice).

To Keep AI Safe—use AI
From ACM Opinion

To Keep AI Safe—use AI

Software is already pervasive in our society, but artificial intelligence software raises unique concerns even among the technological elite.

The Embarrassing, Destructive Fight Over Biotech's Big Breakthrough
From ACM Opinion

The Embarrassing, Destructive Fight Over Biotech's Big Breakthrough

A defining moment in modern biology occurred on July 24, 1978, when biotechnology pioneer Robert Swanson, who had recently co-founded Genentech, brought two young...

AI Is Transforming Google Search. The Rest of the Web Is Next
From ACM Opinion

AI Is Transforming Google Search. The Rest of the Web Is Next

Yesterday, the 46-year-old Google veteran who oversees its search engine, Amit Singhal, announced his retirement. And in short order, Google revealed that Singhal's...

Crosstown Traffic: The Bedbug Genome
From ACM Opinion

Crosstown Traffic: The Bedbug Genome

In the great contest that is life, the common bedbug, Cimex lectularius, qualifies as a winner.

When Will We Be Able to Vote Online?
From ACM Opinion

When Will We Be Able to Vote Online?

Sooner or later everything seems to go online. Newspapers. TV. Radio. Shopping. Banking. Dating.

The Step Needed to Make Virtual Reality More Real
From ACM Opinion

The Step Needed to Make Virtual Reality More Real

It's one thing to play the arcade game Whac-A-Mole by swinging around an oversized mallet; it's far easier to whack those moles virtually, controlling the mallet...

Proposed State Bans on Phone Encryption Make Zero Sense
From ACM Opinion

Proposed State Bans on Phone Encryption Make Zero Sense

American politics has long accepted the strange notion that just a pair of states—namely Iowa and New Hampshire—get an outsize vote in choosing America’s next president...
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