Communications of the ACM
Innovation Is Overrated: A Provocation
Digital innovation is not working in the interest of the whole of society. It is time to radically rethink its purpose without…
From ACM Opinion
Fake News: Can Teenagers Spot It?
If we are to make it less of a threat to democracy, that effort is going to need to start in schools.
From ACM Opinion
Why Video Games Are Obsessed With the Apocalypse
Video games are, in a way, the perfect medium through which to depict the post-apocalypse. If we assume that after the collapse of civilisation everyone will revert...
From ACM Opinion
Defending Tor, Gateway to the Dark Web
When Roger Dingledine talks about the dark web, he waves his hands in the air, as if not quite convinced of its existence.
From ACM Opinion
Tracking Terrorists Online Might Invade Your Privacy
Remember that picture you sent to your family of your children playing in the paddling pool? Or that private text you sent to someone trusted? Or when you searched...
From ACM Opinion
What If the Internet Stopped Working For a Day?
Jeff Hancock likes to give his Stanford University students weekend assignments that let them experience concepts discussed in class for themselves.
From ACM Opinion
The New Words That Expose Our Smartphone Obsessions
New words sometimes skewer a trend so perfectly you wonder how you survived without them. One of the most delightfully apt new phrases I've found in the last few...
From ACM Opinion
Facebook Fake News Row: Mark Zuckerberg Is a Politician Now
I've long suspected that Mark Zuckerberg, who often refers to himself as the "leader" of Facebook, has dreams of high office.
From ACM Opinion
How Will Virtual Reality Change Our Lives?
And it's not just gamers who are benefiting from the immersive possibilities it offers.
From ACM Opinion
Google's Vint Cerf Warns of 'digital Dark Age'
Vint Cerf, a "father of the internet", says he is worried that all the images and documents we have been saving on computers will eventually be lost.
From ACM Opinion
How to Conquer the Galaxy on a Computer
Space is big. Really big. And not just in terms of the mind-boggingly vast distances between the stars and planets out there in the Universe at large.
From ACM Opinion
North Korea: Surfing the Net in the World's Most Isolated Nation
What's the point of a computer in a hermit country sealed off from the internet?
From ACM Opinion
Could Robots Become Too Cute For Comfort?
Would you share your innermost secret with a robot?
From ACM Opinion
Cyborgs: The Truth About Human Augmentation
At the height of summer, when London was baking in unseasonable heat, I made an ill-fated trip to the Serpentine lido in central London.
From ACM Opinion
The Defenders of Anonymity on the Internet
You may not realise it, but every time you open up your laptop or switch on your phone, you are at the heart of one of the greatest battles now taking place in...
From ACM Opinion
Tor Project's Struggle to Keep the Dark Net in the Shadows
The BBC has interviewed Andrew Lewman, executive director of the Tor Project.
From ACM Opinion
James Foley: Extremists Battle with Social Media
Just as Islamic State (IS) has swept across Iraq, so too has it swarmed over social media—using the platform with a sophistication never before witnessed in this...
From ACM Opinion
Robots: Can We Trust Them with Our Privacy?
Joss Wright is training a robot to freak people out.
From ACM Opinion