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Google+ Isn't a Social Network; It's The Matrix
From ACM Opinion

Google+ Isn't a Social Network; It's The Matrix

Pretty much everyone (myself included) has been reading Google+ wrongly.

Search Me: Online Reputation Management
From ACM Opinion

Search Me: Online Reputation Management

A few weeks ago, I Googled a pub to find out where it was.

Will Giving the Internet Eyes and Ears Mean the End of Privacy?
From ACM Opinion

Will Giving the Internet Eyes and Ears Mean the End of Privacy?

The Internet has turned into a massive surveillance tool.

Are All Telephone Calls Recorded and Accessible to the ­.s. Government?
From ACM Opinion

Are All Telephone Calls Recorded and Accessible to the ­.s. Government?

The real capabilities and behavior of the U.S. surveillance state are almost entirely unknown to the American public because, like most things of significance done...

Bill For Compulsory Science Fiction in West Virginia Schools
From ACM Opinion

Bill For Compulsory Science Fiction in West Virginia Schools

A bill calling for science fiction to be made compulsory reading in schools has been proposed by a politician in West Virginia in order to "stimulate interest in...

Google Chief ­rges Action to Regulate Mini-Drones
From ACM Opinion

Google Chief ­rges Action to Regulate Mini-Drones

The influential head of Google, Eric Schmidt, has called for civilian drone technology to be regulated, warning about privacy and security concerns.

Google's Eric Schmidt Warns on China's Attempts to Control the Internet
From ACM Opinion

Google's Eric Schmidt Warns on China's Attempts to Control the Internet

Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, has described China as "the most egregious" example of a nation attempting to control the Internet, as he issued...

Jaron Lanier: The Digital Pioneer Who Became a Web Rebel
From ACM Opinion

Jaron Lanier: The Digital Pioneer Who Became a Web Rebel

Jaron Lanier is that rarest of rare birds—an uber-geek who is highly critical of the world created by the technology he helped to create.

Google Glass: Is It a Threat to Our Privacy?
From ACM Opinion

Google Glass: Is It a Threat to Our Privacy?

If you haven't heard about the excitement around Google Glass—the head-mounted glasses that can shoot video, take pictures, and broadcast what you're seeing to...

Google's Eric Schmidt: Drone Wars, Virtual Kidnaps, and Privacy For Kids
From ACM Opinion

Google's Eric Schmidt: Drone Wars, Virtual Kidnaps, and Privacy For Kids

Google's chairman has sketched out a future world in which cyberterrorists are targeted by government drone strikes, online identities are taken hostage and held...

Is It Time For the Internet to Get the Plumber In?
From ACM Opinion

Is It Time For the Internet to Get the Plumber In?

The strange thing about the Internet is that it went from being something exotic to something mundane almost without us noticing it.

Twitter: Who Do the Politicians Follow?
From ACM Opinion

Twitter: Who Do the Politicians Follow?

You can tell a lot about a politician's priorities from who they deign to follow on Twitter. When David Cameron joined the service on Saturday, he started out following...

How Flame Virus Has Changed Everything For Online Security Firms
From ACM Opinion

How Flame Virus Has Changed Everything For Online Security Firms

Here's a question: if you connect an unprotected Windows computer to the Internet, how long will it take before it is infected by malicious software?

Now 4 Billion People Know the Joy of Txt
From ACM Opinion

Now 4 Billion People Know the Joy of Txt

Here's a question: What's bigger and far more important than Facebook? Hint: it's very low-tech and doesn't need a smartphone or even an Internet connection.

How Much Do the Internet Giants Really Know?
From ACM Opinion

How Much Do the Internet Giants Really Know?

To briefly state the obvious, the Internet giants are seriously big: Google is not only the world's largest search engine, it's one of the top three email providers...

Web Freedom Faces Geatest Threat Ever, Warns Google's Sergey Brin
From ACM Opinion

Web Freedom Faces Geatest Threat Ever, Warns Google's Sergey Brin

The principles of openness and universal access that underpinned the creation of the Internet three decades ago are under greater threat than ever, according to...

How Will the New Law on Cookies Affect Internet Browsing?
From ACM Opinion

How Will the New Law on Cookies Affect Internet Browsing?

We are being watched.

The Mathematical Equation that Caused the Banks to Crash
From ACM Opinion

The Mathematical Equation that Caused the Banks to Crash

It was the holy grail of investors. The Black-Scholes equation, brainchild of economists Fischer Black and Myron Scholes, provided a rational way to price a financial...

From ACM Opinion

Tides Are Changing For Web Surfers

David Weinberger has a new book out entitled Too Big to Know in which he argues that one of the implications of a comprehensively networked society is that the...

Five Predictions For the Communications World in 2012
From ACM Opinion

Five Predictions For the Communications World in 2012

In the coming year, mobile Internet devices and in particular smartphones will continue to bring the biggest changes to the way we communicate. For the first...
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