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The Peril of Knowledge Everywhere
From ACM Opinion

The Peril of Knowledge Everywhere

Thanks to advances in technology, we may soon revisit a question raised four centuries ago: Are there things we should try not to know?

A World Digital Library Is Coming True!
From ACM Opinion

A World Digital Library Is Coming True!

In the scramble to gain market share in cyberspace, something is getting lost: the public interest.

The Not-So-Distant Future When We Can All ­pgrade Our Brains
From ACM Opinion

The Not-So-Distant Future When We Can All ­pgrade Our Brains

In a decade, cognitive enhancement may have gone mainstream.

Cassini Revisited
From ACM Opinion

Cassini Revisited

When its handlers finally steer it into a collision course with Saturn in 2017, the spacecraft Cassini will have been in space for two decades, 13 of those years...

Here's How to Learn How Much Your Data Is Worth to Facebook and Google
From ACM Opinion

Here's How to Learn How Much Your Data Is Worth to Facebook and Google

The anti-virus software company AVG has created PrivacyFix, an app to help you get a handle on just how much you're worth to big-time data players Facebook and...

The Move Toward Computing That Reads Your Mind
From ACM Opinion

The Move Toward Computing That Reads Your Mind

Like many people in this modern world, I struggle with the tension between the conveniences offered by the latest technology and the loss of privacy that comes...

Computer Mice: Still a Thing
From ACM Opinion

Computer Mice: Still a Thing

For decades, the mouse was a key component of how one interacted with a computer.

4 Ways the Political Elite Try (and Fail) to Avoid Leaving a Trail of Incriminating Messages
From ACM Opinion

4 Ways the Political Elite Try (and Fail) to Avoid Leaving a Trail of Incriminating Messages

The most powerful people in the country are just not as good as teenagers when it comes to being discreet. Mostly that’s by design—there are freedom of information...

Can an Algorithm Solve Twitter's Credibility Problem?
From ACM Opinion

Can an Algorithm Solve Twitter's Credibility Problem?

On October 29, 2012, when Hurricane Sandy made landfall, I was in my Brooklyn apartment, refreshing Twitter.

The White House Big Data Report: The Good, The Bad, and The Missing
From ACM Opinion

The White House Big Data Report: The Good, The Bad, and The Missing

Last week, the White House released its report on big data and its privacy implications, the result of a 90-day study commissioned by President Obama during his...

The Secret Messages Inside Chinese ­rls
From ACM Opinion

The Secret Messages Inside Chinese ­rls

An American friend living in Beijing once said she refused to communicate with anyone whose email address consisted of a string of numbers, such as 62718298454@163...

'transcendence Looks at the Implications of Artificial Intelligence, but Are We Taking AI Seriously Enough?'
From ACM Opinion

'transcendence Looks at the Implications of Artificial Intelligence, but Are We Taking AI Seriously Enough?'

With the Hollywood blockbuster Transcendence playing in cinemas, with Johnny Depp and Morgan Freeman showcasing clashing visions for the future of humanity, it's...

How Cloud Storage Complicates the Supreme Court Debate Over Cell Phone Privacy
From ACM News

How Cloud Storage Complicates the Supreme Court Debate Over Cell Phone Privacy

Should police be able to search the contents of your smartphone without a warrant?

Cyborg Angst: 5 Ways Computers Will Perplex ­S in 2039
From ACM News

Cyborg Angst: 5 Ways Computers Will Perplex ­S in 2039

Brain chips mean we are struggling to distinguish our own thoughts from ideas implanted by advertisers.

One ­niverse, One Life: A Conjecture
From ACM Opinion

One ­niverse, One Life: A Conjecture

Opening Disclaimer 1: Although there may be more than one universe, as per the hypothetical multiverse, we will humbly submit to our own bubble of information,...

How to Build a Gesture-Controlled Web Game with Leap Motion
From ACM Opinion

How to Build a Gesture-Controlled Web Game with Leap Motion

Modern smartphones have helped shed a light on the power of user interfaces that are driven by gesture and touch. It’s increasingly clear that touch will play a...

Maths Spying: The Quandary of Working For the Spooks
From ACM Opinion

Maths Spying: The Quandary of Working For the Spooks

For the past 10 months, a major international scandal has engulfed some of the world's largest employers of mathematicians.

Warp Drive Research Key to Interstellar Travel
From ACM Opinion

Warp Drive Research Key to Interstellar Travel

As any avid Star Trek fan can tell you, the eccentric physicist Zefram Cochrane invented the warp-drive engine in the year 2063.

Farewell Nokia: The Rise and Fall of a Mobile Pioneer
From ACM Opinion

Farewell Nokia: The Rise and Fall of a Mobile Pioneer

You never forget your first cellphone.

Putin's Fear of the Internet
From ACM Opinion

Putin's Fear of the Internet

In the mid-nineteen-sixties, Brezhnev's Soviet Union introduced a law aimed at stifling ideological dissent.
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