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
Fcc Chief's Painstaking Approach Earns Mixed Reviews in Turbulent Times For Telecom Industry
When he isn't chairing the Federal Communications Commission, Julius Genachowski enjoys a seat at a poker table.
From ACM Opinion
Lessons from an Iranian War Game
Perhaps it was the "fog of simulation." But the scariest aspect of a U.S.-Iran war game staged this week was the way each side miscalculated the other’s responses—and...
From ACM Opinion
Technology Can Be Harnessed to Fight Drug Cartels in Mexico
A couple of months ago we visited Juarez, Mexico, a city right across our border—yet so far away.
From ACM Opinion
A Cyber Risk to the .s.
In a recent briefing to Congress about worldwide threats, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III said that the danger of cyberattacks will equal or surpass the danger...
From ACM Opinion
Apple
In his recent biography of Steve Jobs, author Walter Isaacson says the Apple visionary revealed to him that he had finally "cracked" the problem with TV and was...
From ACM Opinion
A Hint of Deterrence in .s. Drone-War Strategy
Here’s the trickiest counterterrorism puzzle for U.S. policymakers: How do you stop al-Qaeda from attacking the American homeland without getting bogged down...
From ACM News
.s. Cyber Approach 'too Predictable' For One Top General
The nation’s second-ranking military official said Thursday that the U.S. approach to protecting its computer systems was "too predictable" and failed to penalize...
From ACM Opinion
A Gold Standard in Cyber-Defense
The history of Internet security is both worrisome and instructive. When the first virus — the "Morris worm"—was launched in 1988, the Internet was a closed system...
From ACM Opinion
Can Tech Experts Save the .s. Postal Service?
Some of the folks responsible for developing and promoting the technologies that have undermined the U.S. Postal Service are banding together in an attempt to save...
From ACM Opinion
Why I Don't Own a Kindle
I've done my part to prop up the consumer-electronics industry in recent years: a flat-panel TV downstairs and one upstairs, his and hers smartphones, not-too...
From ACM Opinion
Time to Loosen Google's Grip?
In case you hadn't noticed, Google isn't just a Web search company any longer. In addition to online advertising, it's moving into operating system and application...
From ACM Opinion
Administration Internet-Wiretap Proposals Forget History
Any headline that uses the phrase "wiretap the Internet" is likely to make people on the Internet cranky. When this wiretapping scheme comes from an administration...
From ACM Opinion
Buzz on Lie Detectors Is All a Lie, Nsa Video Says
The National Security Agency wants job applicants to know that its polygraph test is nothing to sweat. The eavesdropping and code-breaking organization has produced...
From ACM TechNews
The Cybersecurity Changes We Need
The Obama administration's progress toward the goal of making the U.S. digital infrastructure "secure, trustworthy, and resilient" has been sluggish due to the...
From ACM Opinion
From Facebook, Answering Privacy Concerns with New Settings
Six years ago, we built Facebook around a few simple ideas. People want to share and stay connected with their friends and the people around them. If we give people...
From ACM Opinion
App Rejected? There's a Rule For That.
The story could have been programmed to draw media coverage, were it not for its implausibility: Apple (a reader magnet) banned a future Pulitzer Prize winner's...
From ACM Opinion
The Fcc's Visible Hand
By the Federal Communications Commission's own account, broadband use in the United States has exploded over the past decade: "Fueled primarily by private sector...
From ACM Opinion
Why It's So Hard For Toyota to Find Out What's Wrong
I won't lie to you: I was not a good engineering student. That's one of the reasons I went into journalism. But I managed to acquire a bachelor of sciences in mechanical...
From ACM Opinion
Mike Mcconnell on How to Win the Cyber-War We're Losing
The United States is fighting a cyber-war today, and we are losing. It's that simple. As the most wired nation on Earth, we offer the most targets of significance...
From ACM TechNews