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How Robots Can Trick You Into Loving Them
From ACM Opinion

How Robots Can Trick You Into Loving Them

I like to think of my Roomba as cute and industrious.

If 'e.t.' Finds Voyager 1, Will It Phone Earth?
From ACM Opinion

If 'e.t.' Finds Voyager 1, Will It Phone Earth?

In 1519, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan launched the expedition that completed the first circumnavigation of the globe. And so humanity learned the full...

Grand Theft Auto V Lives ­p to Hype, Steals Its Car, Sets House on Fire
From ACM Opinion

Grand Theft Auto V Lives ­p to Hype, Steals Its Car, Sets House on Fire

I'm trying to put into words how difficult a situation it is attempting to summarize my thoughts on a game that I've only been playing for two weeks when I know...

The Message Voyager 1 Carries For Alien Civilizations
From ACM Opinion

The Message Voyager 1 Carries For Alien Civilizations

The year was 1977.

Grand Theft Auto 5: Inside the Creative Process with Dan Houser
From ACM Opinion

Grand Theft Auto 5: Inside the Creative Process with Dan Houser

We're four days away now. After a year of pre-publicity and a five-year wait since GTA IV, the latest instalment in Rockstar's gangland opus is almost upon us.

Trigger Finger: Apple Fires Biometrics Into the Mainstream
From ACM Opinion

Trigger Finger: Apple Fires Biometrics Into the Mainstream

By adding a fingerprint scanner to its newest mobile phone, Apple Inc. is offering a tantalizing glimpse of a future where your favorite gadget might become a biometric...

The Real Reasons Apple's 64-Bit A7 Chip Makes Sense
From ACM Opinion

The Real Reasons Apple's 64-Bit A7 Chip Makes Sense

Apple injected a lot of marketing hyperbole into its claims about the wonders of 64-bit computing when it showed off the A7 processor at the heart of the new ...

VCs Doerr and Khosla on Gov't Snooping: It's a Tradeoff
From ACM Opinion

VCs Doerr and Khosla on Gov't Snooping: It's a Tradeoff

Two of the most influential venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, John Doerr and Vinod Khosla, weighed in on the current controversy government surveillance, contending...

How Facebook Makes ­s ­nhappy
From ACM Opinion

How Facebook Makes ­s ­nhappy

No one joins Facebook to be sad and lonely.

Google Security Exec: 'passwords Are Dead'
From ACM Opinion

Google Security Exec: 'passwords Are Dead'

New startups looking for ways to keep their users secure should know one thing, a top Google security executive said Tuesday: "Passwords are dead."

Apple's New Iphone 'touch Id' Makes Fingerprint Scans Easy, But Don't Ditch Passcodes Yet
From ACM Opinion

Apple's New Iphone 'touch Id' Makes Fingerprint Scans Easy, But Don't Ditch Passcodes Yet

The latest iPhone has arrived, and along with it what may be the slickest integration of biometric security yet: A fingerprint scanner built seamlessly into the...

Imagining a Cyberattack on the Power Grid
From ACM Opinion

Imagining a Cyberattack on the Power Grid

It's electrifying.

Should Students ­se a Laptop in Class?
From ACM Opinion

Should Students ­se a Laptop in Class?

There's a widely shared image on the Internet of a teacher's note that says: "Dear students, I know when you're texting in class. Seriously, no one just looks down...

Why a Cyberwar Won't Happen
From ACM Opinion

Why a Cyberwar Won't Happen

Exactly two decades ago, the RAND Corporation, an influential think tank, proclaimed that "cyberwar is coming!"

Nsa Surveillance Makes For Strange Bedfellows
From ACM Opinion

Nsa Surveillance Makes For Strange Bedfellows

The controversy over U.S. government surveillance has produced a king-size collection of strange bedfellows. Beneath the covers one finds both amusing ironies and...

A Peek ­nder the Hood at the Brains of Self-Driving Cars
From ACM Opinion

A Peek ­nder the Hood at the Brains of Self-Driving Cars

What car maker today doesn't seem to have an autonomous car bumbling around its test lot?

If the New Iphone Has Fingerprint Authentication, Can It Be Hacked?
From ACM Opinion

If the New Iphone Has Fingerprint Authentication, Can It Be Hacked?

When Apple bought AuthenTec for its biometrics technology—reported as one of its most expensive purchases—there was a lot of speculation about how the company would...

From ACM Opinion

Online Data Brokers Know You—surprisingly Well

I'm a middle-aged guy who lives in a house that was built more than 50 years ago.

From ACM Opinion

Online Data Brokers Know You—Surprisingly Well

I'm a middle-aged guy who lives in a house that was built more than 50 years ago.

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...
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