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Why Jakob Nielsen's Windows 8 Critique Is Old-School Thinking
From ACM Opinion

Why Jakob Nielsen's Windows 8 Critique Is Old-School Thinking

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was once asked what market research went into the creation of the iPad. 

Windows 8—Disappointing ­sability for Both Novice and Power ­sers
From ACM Opinion

Windows 8—Disappointing ­sability for Both Novice and Power ­sers

With the recent launch of Windows 8 and the Surface tablets, Microsoft has reversed its user interface strategy.

Siri Versus Google Voice Search: Fight!
From ACM Opinion

Siri Versus Google Voice Search: Fight!

Voice-controlled smartphone searches are slowly becoming all the rage, thanks to tools like Apple's Siri and Google's "enhanced" voice search.

Blue Waters Opts Out of Top500
From ACM News

Blue Waters Opts Out of Top500

The NCSA Blue Waters system is one of the fastest supercomputers in the world, but it won't appear on the TOP500 list—nor will it be taking part in the HPC Challenge...

From ACM Opinion

Clear Need to Define Cyberweapons and Cyberwar

The term cyberwar has become a catch-all used by politicians, talking heads and others to encompass just about any online threat, regardless of the attacker or...

This Is Your Brain on Neural Implants
From ACM Opinion

This Is Your Brain on Neural Implants

You are in the future with technologies more advanced than today's.

Otellini's Legacy of Intel Profit Marred By Arm Competition
From ACM Opinion

Otellini's Legacy of Intel Profit Marred By Arm Competition

When Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini retires in May, he'll leave a mixed record.

Kill the Password: Why a String of Characters Can't Protect ­S Anymore
From ACM Opinion

Kill the Password: Why a String of Characters Can't Protect ­S Anymore

You have a secret that can ruin your life.

From ACM Opinion

Was Petraeus Borked?

In 1987, when Judge Robert Bork was enmeshed in a partisan struggle over his Supreme Court nomination, a reporter for an alternative weekly in Washington, D.C.,...

Bluebrain: Noah Hutton's 10-Year Documentary About the Mission to Reverse Engineer the Human Brain
From ACM Opinion

Bluebrain: Noah Hutton's 10-Year Documentary About the Mission to Reverse Engineer the Human Brain

"Nothing quite like it exists yet, but we have begun building it," Henry Markram wrote in the June 2012 issue of Scientific American. He was referring to a "fantastic...

Instead of 'dead Dropping,' Petraeus and Broadwell Should Have ­sed These Email Security Tricks
From ACM Opinion

Instead of 'dead Dropping,' Petraeus and Broadwell Should Have ­sed These Email Security Tricks

Having an extramarital affair in 2012 is not an easy task if you’re the chief of the world’s most renowned spy agency.

Will We Ever ­nderstand How Our Brains Work?
From ACM News

Will We Ever ­nderstand How Our Brains Work?

When it comes to the human brain, many scientists believe that we are incapable of understanding how it works because we lack the tools and intelligence to measure...

The Greatest Bond Villain of All: Technology
From ACM Opinion

The Greatest Bond Villain of All: Technology

Tech has always played a prominent role in the Bond franchise; it's a key element of the plot formula: Bond opens with a chase scene, the core mission is revealed...

Moore's Law Is Becoming Irrelevant
From ACM Opinion

Moore's Law Is Becoming Irrelevant

Companies like Apple and Samsung are the public face of the smartphone and tablet boom, but they all rely on ARM, the British company that licenses the energy-efficient...

Data Doesn't Belong to the Democrats
From ACM Opinion

Data Doesn't Belong to the Democrats

One of the leading narratives of the 2012 campaign is that data trumped all.

Eye Am a Camera: Surveillance and Sousveillance in the Glassage
From ACM Opinion

Eye Am a Camera: Surveillance and Sousveillance in the Glassage

Digital eye glasses like Google’s Project Glass, and my earlier Digital Eye Glass, will transform society because they introduce a two-sided surveillance and sousveillance...

How Star Wars Tech Changed Silicon Valley
From ACM Opinion

How Star Wars Tech Changed Silicon Valley

When Oren Jacob was a teenager, he hung up Star Wars posters on his bedroom wall. In his early 20s at a college dorm at Berkeley, he replaced them with a smallPixar...

Long Day For a Professor Who Puts Elections ­nder a Microscope
From ACM Opinion

Long Day For a Professor Who Puts Elections ­nder a Microscope

Monday afternoon, just half a day before the polls opened, Prof. Mark Crispin Miller was feeling pessimistic about the electoral process.

Why Nate Silver and Others Predicted the Election Perfectly
From ACM Opinion

Why Nate Silver and Others Predicted the Election Perfectly

Guess what, accurately predicting the outcomes of elections really isn't a partisan affair.

From ACM Opinion

A Sample Security Agenda For Obama's Second Term

When Barack Obama was sworn in four years ago for his first term, there was genuine optimism that he would make meaningful improvements to the security of the nation's...
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