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One-Hit Wonders
From ACM Opinion

One-Hit Wonders

For more than a year now, tens of millions of Americans have found time each day to devote themselves to an essential task: swiping at their phones and tablets...

There's No Real Difference Between Online Espionage and Online Attack
From ACM Opinion

There's No Real Difference Between Online Espionage and Online Attack

Back when we first started getting reports of the Chinese breaking into U.S. computer networks for espionage purposes, we described it in some very strong language...

Language Barriers
From ACM Opinion

Language Barriers

The British scientist and polymath Stephen Wolfram has always had big ambitions.

Why Copyrighted Coffee May Cripple the Internet of Things
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.

Social Physics
From ACM Opinion

Social Physics

Since 2001, the Human Dynamics Laboratory at the MIT Media Lab has used digital technologies—from home-brewed portable sensors to cellphone call records—to try...

Ballmer: Microsoft Missed the Mobile Market Over Last Decade
From ACM Opinion

Ballmer: Microsoft Missed the Mobile Market Over Last Decade

Microsoft Corp largely missed the mobile market in the last decade, its recently departed chief executive officer said Tuesday.

Remembering Mit, When There Were Just 50 Women in a Class of 1,000
From ACM Opinion

Remembering Mit, When There Were Just 50 Women in a Class of 1,000

When Radia Perlman attended MIT in the late '60s and '70s, she was one of just a few dozen women (about 50) out of a class of 1,000.

Encryption Would Have Stopped Snowden From ­sing Secrets
From ACM Opinion

Encryption Would Have Stopped Snowden From ­sing Secrets

Edward Snowden could have been thwarted from leaking classified U.S. documents if the National Security Agency encrypted the information to make it unreadable,...

The Job After Steve Jobs: Tim Cook and Apple
From ACM Opinion

The Job After Steve Jobs: Tim Cook and Apple

Shortly after Tim Cook succeeded Steve Jobs as CEO of Apple in August 2011, he told a confidant that he got up every morning reminding himself just to do the right...

What Do Data Brokers Know About Me?
From ACM Opinion

What Do Data Brokers Know About Me?

I once ran into a friend and her husband at the playground in our neighborhood in Manhattan.

Hackers Allegedly Stole $400 Million in Bitcoins. Here's How to Catch Them.
From ACM Opinion

Hackers Allegedly Stole $400 Million in Bitcoins. Here's How to Catch Them.

On Friday, what had been the world's leading Bitcoin exchange declared bankrutpcy, claiming that hackers had exploited a technical issue called "transaction malleability...

Futurist Says We'll ­se Lasers to Beam Our Minds Into Space Someday Soon
From ACM Opinion

Futurist Says We'll ­se Lasers to Beam Our Minds Into Space Someday Soon

The idea of erasing and implanting memories is a common feature of science fiction films such as Total Recall and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

From ACM Opinion

Bitcoin Mania Worse Than Tulip Craze

The global bitcoin community was rocked this week by a pair of tragic mishaps.

A Four-Minute Explanation of Why Innovation Is So Important to the ­nited States
From ACM Opinion

A Four-Minute Explanation of Why Innovation Is So Important to the ­nited States

What makes America great?

How Movies and Tv Give Life to the Mundane Text Message
From ACM Opinion

How Movies and Tv Give Life to the Mundane Text Message

In the last decade, movies and television have sprouted a new plot weakness: if tension hinged in any way on a situation that could have been solved by a simple...

The Weirdest Thing About the Apple Security Bug Is How Simple It Was
From ACM Opinion

The Weirdest Thing About the Apple Security Bug Is How Simple It Was

So for the past 18 months, there has been a horrific security hole in many of Apple's products that has allowed "man in the middle" attacks on supposedly secure...

Good Riddance to Mt. Gox
From ACM Opinion

Good Riddance to Mt. Gox

It is over. Mt. Gox, bitcoin’s oldest—and once its most popular—exchange, was taken offline Monday night, leaving behind angry customers and acrimonious debate...

How to Build a Bad Research Center
From Communications of the ACM

How to Build a Bad Research Center

Sharing lessons learned from experiences creating successful multidisciplinary research centers.

The Impact of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
From Communications of the ACM

The Impact of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Codifying human rights and inclusiveness in a technical context for people with disabilities.

'Surfing Toward the Future'
From Communications of the ACM

'Surfing Toward the Future'

A new report from Chile about improving economic competitiveness advances a novel interpretation of innovation. Timing is everything.
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