Communications of the ACM
From ACM Opinion
The Anti-Predictor: A Chat with Mathematical Sociologist Duncan Watts
The Yahoo! Labs scientist and author explains why the "law of the few" is bunk, why history is full of failed hedgehogs, and why we can't make good predictions...
From ACM News
How Did a British Polytechnic Graduate Become the Design Genius Behind
Few Westerners have ever seen the forging of a Japanese samurai sword. It's considered a sacred practice in Japan; one of the few traditional arts that has yet...
From Communications of the ACM
Q&A: The Chief Computer
Kelly Gotlieb recalls the early days of computer science in Canada.
From ACM Opinion
Cell Phones Are 'stalin's Dream,' Says Free Software Movement Founder
Nearly three decades into his quest to rid the world of proprietary software, Richard Stallman sees a new threat to user freedom: smartphones.
From ACM Opinion
New Ceo Wants Faster, More Relevant W3c
Jeff Jaffe's job requires both patience and impatience. Patience, because the World Wide Web Consortium—of which he's been chief executive for nearly a year—is...
From ACM Opinion
Factcheck.org's Brooks Jackson on Overcoming Motivated Skepticism
Once upon a time, before the age of the Internet, we lived in a world of "many economists." If a newspaper reporter was writing a story on inflation, for instance...
From ACM Opinion
Social Media: 'essential Tool' In .s. Foreign Policy
What role do social media and other non-state actors play in foreign policy? James Lewis, director of technology and public policy at the Center for Strategic...
From ACM News
The 'Panda' That Hates Farms: A Q&A With Google
Google's new update to its search engine addressed the growing complaint that low-quality content sites (derisively referred to as content farms) were ranked higher...
From ACM Opinion
Twitter's Biz Stone On Starting A Revolution
In March, Twitter turns five years old. The microblogging service—which now has an estimated 200 million users worldwide—has been used by heads of state, astronauts...
From ACM Opinion
Paul Buchheit, Creator of Gmail, Venture Capitalist
Soon after Paul Buchheit joined Google in 1999, he coined the phrase "Don't be evil," which along with profit and loss, remains the yardstick by which Google...
From ACM Opinion
Vint Cerf Re-Thinks the Internet in Stanford Talk
To most, a wine cellar is just a cool place to keep some vintage vino. For Vint Cerf, the revered former Stanford engineering professor and graduate of the university...
From ACM Opinion
Susan Wojcicki: The Most Important Googler You've Never Heard Of
Yes, Google started in Susan Wojcicki's rented garage. But in her mind, that might be the single least important fact about her long and deep relationship with...
From ACM News
The American Wikileaks Hacker
Jacob Appelbaum fights repressive regimes around the world—including his own.
From ACM Opinion
Android Programming's ps and Downs
As smartphones using Google's Android operating system become mainstream, James Steele and Nelson To are in a pretty good position.
From Communications of the ACM
An Interview with Frances E. Allen
Frances E. Allen, recipient of the 2006 ACM A.M. Turing Award, reflects on her career.
From ACM News
The Brainy Learning Algorithms of Numenta
How the inventor of the PalmPilot studied the workings of the human brain to help companies turn a deluge of data into business intelligence.
From ACM News
Multitouch Pioneer Jeff Han Starts to Think Small (devices)
For years now, Jeff Han has been working on large-screen multitouch displays. Han and his company, Perceptive Pixel, are best known for creating the giant touch...
From ACM Opinion
Primal Rage: A Conversation with John Carmack, and a Look at Id's Latest
If there were a Mt. Rushmore of computer gaming, John Carmack's head would not only be on it, it would have the highest polygon count.
From ACM Opinion
Assange on Secrecy, China, and Wikileaks' Growth
"Secrecy is important for many things," said WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in an interview with Time over Skype on Monday. Managing editor Richard Stengel...
From ACM Opinion