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
Glenn Greenwald's Pulse-Pounding Tale of Breaking the Snowden Leaks
In June 2013, Edward Snowden was sitting in his room at the Mira hotel in Hong Kong, watching the world react to the first of his explosive leaks about the NSA's...
From ACM Opinion
Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook's Future, From Virtual Reality to Anonymity
No one ever accused Mark Zuckerberg of standing pat.
From ACM Opinion
Michael Lewis on Exposing Wall Street's Biggest High-Tech Swindle
Flash Boys explores the world of high-frequency trading, a scheme in which traders use ultra-fast network connections to sniff out the intentions of other, slower...
From ACM Opinion
It's Time to Encrypt the Entire Internet
The Heartbleed bug crushed our faith in the secure Web, but a world without the encryption software that Heartbleed exploited would be even worse.
From ACM Opinion
900 Years of Tree Diagrams, the Most Important Data Viz Tool in History
You'd be excused for thinking infographics are a modern invention.
From ACM Opinion
10 Years On, Gmail Has Transformed the Web as We Know It
Google loves to unveil a good gag product on April Fool's Day.
From ACM Opinion
A Close Look at the Nsa's Most Powerful Internet Attack Tool
We already knew that the NSA has weaponized the Internet, enabling it to "shoot" exploits at anyone it desires.
From ACM Opinion
Why You Should Embrace Surveillance, Not Fight It
I once worked with Steven Spielberg on the development of Minority Report, derived from the short story by Philip K. Dick featuring a future society that uses surveillance...
From ACM Opinion
At Sxsw, the Next Big Thing May Be No Thing at All
Every year, just before South by Southwest Interactive starts, the froth starts churning. Everybody begins wondering what this year’s breakout hit app will be.
From ACM Opinion
Why Copyrighted Coffee May Cripple the Internet of Things
With its single-serving coffee pods, Green Mountain Coffee has transformed the business of brew.
From ACM Opinion
This Ingenious Touchscreen i Should Be in Every Car
There may be no greater design crime today than putting a touchscreen in an automobile.
From ACM Opinion
Jawbone Is Now the Startup Apple Should Fear Most
Jawbone is ascending into the top echelon of tech startups, joining the likes of Uber, Dropbox, and Square.
From ACM Opinion
The Strange, Deadly Effects Mars Would Have on Your Body
We've imagined sending people to Mars since well before Gagarin's first spaceflight.
From ACM Opinion
Why Startups Should Steal Ideas and Hire Weirdos
The most consistently creative and insightful people are explorers.
From ACM Opinion
Tim Berners-Lee: We Need to Re-Decentralise the Web
Twenty-five years on from the web's inception, its creator has urged the public to re-engage with its original design: a decentralised internet that at its very...
From ACM Opinion
How to Create the Perfect Online Dating Profile, in 25 Infographics
Every day, millions of singles crawl dating sites and apps, flipping through photos and profiles of potential matches.
From ACM Opinion
Judges Poised to Hand .s. Spies the Keys to the Internet
How does the NSA get the private crypto keys that allow it to bulk eavesdrop on some email providers and social networking sites?
From ACM Opinion
I Spent Two Hours Talking With the Nsa's Bigwigs. Here's What Has Them Mad
My expectations were low when I asked the National Security Agency to cooperate with my story on the impact of Edward Snowden’s leaks on the tech industry.
From ACM Opinion