acm-header
Sign In

Communications of the ACM

Recent Opinion


bg-corner

I Had My Dna Picture Taken, With Varying Results
From ACM Opinion

I Had My Dna Picture Taken, With Varying Results

I like to plan ahead; that much I knew about myself before I plunged into exploring my genetic code.

7 Gadgets to Watch For in 2014
From ACM Opinion

7 Gadgets to Watch For in 2014

Turn an ordinary table into a touch screen, monitor your kids' whereabouts, and place the power of 3D printing in the palm of your hand—and there’s more.

Correcting the Record on the Nsa Review
From ACM Opinion

Correcting the Record on the Nsa Review

One of the dangers of a 304 -page report on a complex subject is that everyone gets to choose what he or she thinks is the bottom line.

How Microsoft's 1 Percenters Balance Basic Research with Short-Term Success
From ACM Opinion

How Microsoft's 1 Percenters Balance Basic Research with Short-Term Success

When Microsoft launched its research labs in 1991, the personal computer was just beginning to blossom into a worldwide phenomenon, thanks in no small part to Windows...

The Great Ideas Hiding ­nder the Invisibility Cloak
From ACM Opinion

The Great Ideas Hiding ­nder the Invisibility Cloak

Physicist John Pendry talks about the profound physics obscured by his invisibility cloak and how metamaterials could help realise the perfect lens.

The One Big Question About Rsa and Its Relationship With the Nsa
From ACM News

The One Big Question About Rsa and Its Relationship With the Nsa

Last week, the Internet security world was jolted by a Reuters report detailing a secret $10 million payment to the security company RSA from the National Security...

The Dollar Will Never Fall to Bitcoin
From ACM Opinion

The Dollar Will Never Fall to Bitcoin

Last month, several people appeared before a U.S. Senate committee to defend bitcoin, among them Patrick Murck, general counsel of the Bitcoin Foundation...

From ACM Opinion

Bits and Barbarism

This is a tale of three money pits.

Stanford Researchers: It Is Trivially Easy to Match Metadata to Real People
From ACM Opinion

Stanford Researchers: It Is Trivially Easy to Match Metadata to Real People

In defending the NSA's telephony metadata collection efforts, government officials have repeatedly resorted to one seemingly significant detail: This is just metadata—numbers...

Do We Want an Erasable Internet?
From ACM Opinion

Do We Want an Erasable Internet?

This is going to sound silly, but I think Snapchat was the most important technology of 2013.

Whither Net Neutrality?
From ACM Opinion

Whither Net Neutrality?

As the new Federal Communications Commission chairman, Tom Wheeler, has kicked up some dust in the tech community by laying the groundwork for a grand vision for...

James Kuffner, Google Robotics Researcher
From ACM Opinion

James Kuffner, Google Robotics Researcher

At a racetrack in Florida this weekend, 16 robots competed to complete a series of tasks inspired by challenges faced in cleaning up the destroyed Fukushima-Daiichi...

The Predictive Power of Big Data
From ACM Opinion

The Predictive Power of Big Data

Right now, the average person's data footprint—the annual amount of data produced worldwide, per capita—is just a little short of one terabyte.

Edward Snowden, After Months of Nsa Rvelations, Says His Mission's Accomplished
From ACM Opinion

Edward Snowden, After Months of Nsa Rvelations, Says His Mission's Accomplished

The familiar voice on the hotel room phone did not waste words.

Nsa Debate Shifts in Favor of Surveillance Limits
From ACM Opinion

Nsa Debate Shifts in Favor of Surveillance Limits

In a sharp and unexpected shift, the national debate over U.S. government surveillance seems to be turning in favor of reining in the National Security Agency's...

Publish Now, Judge Later
From Communications of the ACM

Publish Now, Judge Later

A proposal to address the problem of too many conference submissions and not enough time for reviewers to carefully evaluate each one.

Estimation Is Not Evil
From Communications of the ACM

Estimation Is Not Evil

Reconciling agile approaches and project estimates.

Actually, Turing Did Not Invent the Computer
From Communications of the ACM

Actually, Turing Did Not Invent the Computer

Separating the origins of computer science and technology.

Toward a Closer Integration of Law and Computer Science
From Communications of the ACM

Toward a Closer Integration of Law and Computer Science

Seeking better integration of the insights from the fields of law and technology.

The Legacy of Steve Ballmer
From Communications of the ACM

The Legacy of Steve Ballmer

Assessing the positive and negative components of the second Microsoft CEO's tenure.
Sign In for Full Access
» Forgot Password? » Create an ACM Web Account