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Human-Like Programs Abuse Our Empathy
From ACM Opinion

Human-Like Programs Abuse Our Empathy

It is easy to be fooled by the mimicry, but consumers need transparency about how such systems are used.

My Nightmare Trip into the Metaverse
From ACM Opinion

My Nightmare Trip into the Metaverse

A reporter dons a VR headset, heads into the metaverse, and witnesses the most disturbing sights of her life.

'The Goal Is to Automate ­s': Welcome to the Age of Surveillance Capitalism
From ACM Opinion

'The Goal Is to Automate ­s': Welcome to the Age of Surveillance Capitalism

We're living through the most profound transformation in our information environment since Johannes Gutenberg's invention of printing in circa 1439.

Cyberwar: An ­rgent Problem
From ACM Opinion

Cyberwar: An ­rgent Problem

In the desperate scramble to rearm before the second world war there was always an undercurrent of pessimism.

Tim Berners-Lee on the Future of the Web: 'the System Is Failing'
From ACM Opinion

Tim Berners-Lee on the Future of the Web: 'the System Is Failing'

Sir Tim Berners-Lee's optimism about the future of the web is starting to wane in the face of a "nasty storm" of issues including the rollback of net neutrality...

The Guardian View on the Future of Crime: It Will Be Online
From ACM Opinion

The Guardian View on the Future of Crime: It Will Be Online

When software gets smarter, the first effect is to empower the already powerful.

Google, Democracy and the Truth About Internet Search
From ACM News

Google, Democracy and the Truth About Internet Search

Here's what you don’t want to do late on a Sunday night. You do not want to type seven letters into Google. That's all I did.

Why Data Is the New Coal
From ACM Opinion

Why Data Is the New Coal

"Is data the new oil?" asked proponents of big data back in 2012 in Forbes magazine. By 2016, and the rise of big data's turbo-powered cousin deep learning, westated Fortune...

Is Blockchain the Most Important It Invention of Our Age?
From ACM Opinion

Is Blockchain the Most Important It Invention of Our Age?

There are not many occasions when one can give an unqualified thumbs-up to something the government does, but this is one such occasion.

Is Blockchain the Most Important It Invention of Our Age?
From ACM News

Is Blockchain the Most Important It Invention of Our Age?

There are not many occasions when one can give an unqualified thumbs-up to something the government does, but this is one such occasion.

Ad Tech Is Killing the Online Experience
From ACM Opinion

Ad Tech Is Killing the Online Experience

There's something so wonderfully easy about reading this column in a physical newspaper.

Secrets, Lies and Snowden's Email: Why I Was Forced to Shut Down Lavabit
From ACM Opinion

Secrets, Lies and Snowden's Email: Why I Was Forced to Shut Down Lavabit

My legal saga started last summer with a knock at the door, behind which stood two federal agents ready to to serve me with a court order requiring the installation...

Eugene Kaspersky: Major Cyberterrorist Attack Is Only Matter of Time
From ACM Opinion

Eugene Kaspersky: Major Cyberterrorist Attack Is Only Matter of Time

A major, global cyberterrorist attack has long been the stuff of fiction, the threat that a malevolent hacker could bring down businesses, sabotage power plants...

Heartbleed: Developer Who Introduced the Error Regrets 'oversight'
From ACM Opinion

Heartbleed: Developer Who Introduced the Error Regrets 'oversight'

The developer who introduced the "Heartbleed" vulnerability to the open-source code used by thousands of websites has told the Guardian it was an "oversight"—but...

Tim Berners-Lee: Encryption Cracking By Spy Agencies 'appalling and Foolish'
From ACM Opinion

Tim Berners-Lee: Encryption Cracking By Spy Agencies 'appalling and Foolish'

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the computer scientist who created the World Wide Web, has called for a "full and frank public debate" over Internet surveillance by the National...

Nsa Surveillance: A Guide to Staying Secure
From ACM Opinion

Nsa Surveillance: A Guide to Staying Secure

Now that we have enough details about how the NSA eavesdrops on the Internet, including today's disclosures of the NSA's deliberate weakening of cryptographic systems...

Bradley Manning 'aiding the Enemy' Charge Is a Threat to Journalism
From ACM Opinion

Bradley Manning 'aiding the Enemy' Charge Is a Threat to Journalism

Thursday, Colonel Denise Lind, the judge in the Bradley Manning court martial, refused to dismiss the "aiding the enemy" charge.

Google's Chief Legal Officer: Eight Things We Learned
From ACM Opinion

Google's Chief Legal Officer: Eight Things We Learned

David Drummond, Google's senior vice president of corporate development and chief legal officer, took part in a live Q&A on Wednesday to answer questions about...

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.
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