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
How To Charge Your Laptop
Whether they're in our computers, cell phones, or cars, the only time we think about batteries is when they're almost dead and we need to find some place to charge...
From ACM Opinion
This Real-Life Pixar Lamp Cutely Refuses to Let You Turn It Off
Design-class projects have come a long way. That's the only conclusion I can draw from this brilliant video of a robotic desk lamp that squeaks, swivels, and mugs...
From ACM Opinion
Was a Texas Student Really Expelled for Refusing To Wear an RFID Chip?
The Texas school district that began requiring its students to wear RFID tracking chips this year is now facing a fight in federal court.
From ACM Opinion
The Real Threat to Internet Freedom Isn't the nited Nations
The Internet is often seen as a place of chaos and disorder, a borderless world in which anonymous trolls roam free and vigilante hackers wreak havoc.
From ACM Opinion
This Is Your Brain on Neural Implants
You are in the future with technologies more advanced than today's.
From ACM Opinion
Instead of 'dead Dropping,' Petraeus and Broadwell Should Have sed These Email Security Tricks
Having an extramarital affair in 2012 is not an easy task if you’re the chief of the world’s most renowned spy agency.
From ACM Opinion
Should a Calendar App Look Like a Calendar?
This week, Apple fired Scott Forstall, its longtime chief of mobile software. In the wake of the shake-up—which reportedly had to do with Forstall's refusal to for...
From ACM Opinion
The Flop That Saved Microsoft
It wasn't very easy to get my hands on a Zune. After Microsoft's long-pitied music player wonSlate's Reader Takeover poll—in which I'd promised to reassess an overlooked...
From ACM Opinion
Can We Trust Voting Machines?
Last week, a congressional report claimed that using Chinese telecommunications companies’ goods and services in the United States could threaten national security...
From ACM Opinion
The Chinese Steve Jobs Is Probably a Pirate
When discussing innovation, the Chinese like to tout the country’s "Four Great Inventions"—paper, gunpowder, the compass, and woodblock printing—and their enormous...
From ACM Opinion
The Supreme Court Needs To Weigh In on Warrantless Cell Phone Tracking By Law Enforcement
Americans should have no reasonable expectation of privacy over the location data stored by their mobile phone.
From ACM Opinion
Could the Internet Ever 'Wake Up'?
In the world of sci-fi movie geekdom, Aug. 29, 1997, was a turning point for humanity: On that day, according to the Terminator films, the network of U.S. defense...
From ACM News
How Apple Really Invented the Iphone
Like many of Apple's inventions, the iPhone began not with a vision, but with a problem.
From ACM Opinion
Samsung Defeats Apple (in South Korea and Japan)
Did Samsung really steal Apple’s innovations? It all depends on where you live.
From ACM Opinion
Why You Should Probably Disable Java on Your Browser Right Now
Hackers have found a flaw in Oracle's Java software that allows them to break into users' computers and install nasty malware, security experts report.
From ACM Opinion
The ncanny Valley of Internet Advertising
If you ask an Internet ad guy to defend himself—to explain why you, dear Web surfer, should feel comfortable letting him serve you ads based on everything you do...
From ACM Opinion
Forget the Desktop
Every morning I wake up too early, reach for my iPad, and scan the morning's tech headlines. This is a pathetic enough existence, but the Web sites I frequent aren't...
From ACM Opinion
Why Drone Pilots Deserve Medals
The escalating dependence on drone pilots, as Maj. Dave Blair agonized in the May-June issue ofAir & Space Power Journal, is undercutting the ability to award combat...
From ACM Opinion