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
Are You Too Paranoid About Digital Privacy, or Not Paranoid Enough?
Let's start with one thing you hear over and over again when interviewing people about privacy: "I've got nothing to hide."
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...
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
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,...
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.
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...
From ACM Opinion
Bitcoin Mania Worse Than Tulip Craze
The global bitcoin community was rocked this week by a pair of tragic mishaps.
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...
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...
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...
From Communications of the ACM
How to Build a Bad Research Center
Sharing lessons learned from experiences creating successful multidisciplinary research centers.
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.
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.
From Communications of the ACM
Why Software Engineering Courses Should Include Ethics Coverage
Encouraging students to become comfortable exercising ethical discernment in a professional context with their peers.
From Communications of the ACM
Mass Digitization as Fair Use
Considering the implications of the late-2013 ruling in favor of Google in the Authors Guild case.
From ACM Opinion
Everything You Need to Know About the Latest Bitcoin Crisis
The once-popular Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox has gone dark.
From ACM Opinion
How I Quit Google
I think it was the search for "pink glitter tiny toms" that finally prompted me to quit Google.
From ACM Opinion
Social Media, a Trove of Clues and Confessions
It seems as if every week there's a news story about someone committing a crime and confessing to it on Facebook, bragging about it on Twitter or sharing photos...
From ACM Opinion
Bitcoin's Crisis Is Turning Point For Currency
Many bitcoin users are probably too young to remember the Notorious B.I.G.'s 1997 rap hit "Mo Money Mo Problems."
From ACM Opinion