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
The Language Barrier Is About to Fall
It used to be the case when I traveled abroad that I would take a little pocket dictionary that provided translations for commonly used phrases and words.
From ACM Careers
Sarah Parcak, Space Archaeologist
Sarah Parcak can see looting at ancient sites—from space.
From ACM Opinion
'crispr' Breaks Out Of the Lab
A new gene-editing technology has been relentlessly hyped over the past year, and it goes by a catchy if rather incongruous acronym: Crispr.
From ACM Opinion
Max Levchin Wants to School Lawmakers on Encryption
PayPal Inc. co-founder Max Levchin wants to make sure lawmakers know "what the hell they're talking about" when they talk about encryption.
From ACM Opinion
Learning to Apply Data Science to Business Problems
One of the most exciting parts of data science is that it can be applied to many domains of knowledge, given our newfound ability to gather valuable data on almost...
From ACM Opinion
How the Science in 'star Wars’ Is Actually Real
For a story that takes place "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" a great deal of the technology in the "Star Wars" series actually has parallels today on...
From ACM Opinion
Get Ready For Your Digital Model
Entrusting your money to a bank once seemed strange and risky.
From ACM Opinion
Why Google Is Willing to Give Away Its Latest Machine-Learning Software
Google's move to give away its latest machine-learning software, key to its speech- and photo-recognition programs, isn’t as crazy as it may appear.
From ACM Opinion
Wendell Brooks on Preparing to Lead Intel Capital
In an exclusive interview, he spoke to reporter Deborah Gage in San Diego, where about 1,200 of Intel's executives, portfolio companies, partners and customers...
From ACM Opinion
The Myth of Basic Science
Innovation is a mysteriously difficult thing to dictate. Technology seems to change by a sort of inexorable, evolutionary progress, which we probably cannot stop—or...
From ACM Opinion
Max Schrems, Who Torpedoed Safe Harbor 1, Sees No Safe Harbor 2
He's just helped bring down a longstanding trans-Atlantic data-transfer pact used by thousands of businesses and Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems is already...
From ACM Opinion
What Celebrities Can Teach Companies About Social Media
Let's face it: Corporate America's social presence could use a celebrity makeover.
From ACM Opinion
Review: Littlebits Makes Robot Building Easier For Junior Engineers
In the recent surge of electronic building toys, my early favorite was LittleBits. The individual pieces each have a specific job, and they magnetically interlock...
From ACM Opinion
Apple Carplay Review: Siri's Finally on the Right Road
I take back all—OK most—of the expletives I’ve ever hurled at Siri.
From ACM Opinion
Palmer Luckey: Making Virtual Reality a Reality
"Why shouldn't people be able to teleport wherever they want?" asks Palmer Luckey, the 22-year-old founder of Oculus VR, the virtual-reality company that Facebook...
From ACM Opinion
Pluto Is Just a Baby Step For Humankind
As it advances now beyond Pluto, the New Horizons spacecraft is sending back data from its historic encounter with the dwarf planet like a long sigh of relief.
From ACM Opinion
Moxie Marlinspike: The Coder Who Encrypted Your Texts
In the past decade, Moxie Marlinspike has squatted on an abandoned island, toured the U.S. by hopping trains, he says, and earned the enmity of government officials...
From ACM Opinion
A Social Network For Talkers
No group needs social network software more than the elderly.
From ACM Opinion
What's It Like at a Top-Tier Conservatory? There's an App For That
The world of education has become a rapidly expanding universe.
From ACM Opinion