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
Taking the Cyberattack Threat Seriously
Last month I convened an emergency meeting of my cabinet and top homeland security, intelligence and defense officials. Across the country trains had derailed,...
From ACM Opinion
The Sun Shines on 'the Cloud'
What's the real lesson to be learned from Amazon's cloud computing failure two weeks ago, the one that knocked Netflix and other Websites offline?
From ACM News
Google Fights Back in China
Two giants on the world stage are battling over the future of information.
From ACM Opinion
Human Evolution Isn't What It sed to Be
If you write about genetics and evolution, one of the commonest questions you are likely to be asked at public events is whether human evolution has stopped.
From ACM Opinion
The .n. Threat to Internet Freedom
On Feb. 27, a diplomatic process will begin in Geneva that could result in a new treaty giving the United Nations unprecedented powers over the Internet.
From ACM Opinion
The Delivery Guy Who Saw Jeremy Lin Coming
The morning after Jeremy Lin sank a thrilling, last-second three-pointer that lifted the New York Knicks over the Toronto Raptors and gave "Linsanity" its latest...
From ACM Opinion
Confessions of an Iphone Data Hog
I'm not on the run yet. But I've been warned. AT&T doesn't like what I'm doing.
From ACM Opinion
10 Tech Wishes For 2012
2011 was top-notch gadget-wise, but there's always room for improvement. Here, some hopes and wants for the new year.
From ACM Opinion
The New Einsteins Will Be Scientists Who Share
In January 2009, a mathematician at Cambridge University named Tim Gowers decided to use his blog to run an unusual social experiment. He picked out a difficult...
From ACM Opinion
Jobs's Legacy: Changing How We Live
Steve Jobs's resignation as Chief Executive Officer of Apple is the end of an extraordinary era, not just for Apple, but for the global technology industry in...
From ACM Opinion
The Cop on the Cyber Beat
Homeland Security's Bruce McConnell on the government's role in helping companies fight online attacks.
From ACM Opinion
China's Cyberassault on America
In justifying U.S. involvement in Libya, the Obama administration cited the "responsibility to protect" citizens of other countries when their governments engage...
From ACM News
Security 'tokens' Take Hit
RSA Security is offering to provide security monitoring or replace its well-known SecurID tokens—devices used by millions of corporate workers to securely log...
From ACM Opinion
Reply All: The Button Everyone Loves to Hate
I answered my phone recently to hear a friend shrieking in my ear. "Check your inbox for the email I just sent you," he wailed. "And please, please tell me I...
From ACM News
Google Goes to the Cloud For New Idea in Pc System
In the personal-computer industry, where things change fast, one fact has been a constant for years: There are two major, mainstream operating systems for consumers...
From ACM Opinion
Prosecute Assange nder the Espionage Act
Just as the First Amendment is not a license to yell 'Fire!' in a crowded theater, it is also not a license to jeopardize national security.
From ACM Opinion
On the Threshold of the Avatar Era
In a garage in Palo Alto, Calif., in the 1980s, some friends and I were the first humans to experience becoming avatars—that is, movable representations of ourselves...
From ACM Opinion
Crisis in Computing
It may not be obvious, but if you’ve checked the weather today, ridden in a car or an airplane, made a phone call, or used any number of consumer products, down...
From ACM Opinion
Now Can We Have Instant Replay?
Two horrendous calls at the World Cup show the need for technology—but don't tell the 'slippery slopers'
From ACM Opinion