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
The Social Security Number's Insecurities
In both the Anthem insurance hack and the two Office of Personnel Management hacks this year, attackers gained access to Social Security numbers, affecting 80 million...
From ACM Opinion
Google Search Chief Amit Singhal Talks Searching Apps
Amit Singhal, Google's search chief, has spent the past 15 years creating the miracle that is the Google search box.
From ACM Opinion
The Rise of the New Crypto War
James B. Comey, Jr., the seventh director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is afraid of the dark.
From ACM Opinion
Here Are the 12 Most Influential Programmers Working Today
The apps and games you use every day don't exist in a vacuum—someone, somewhere, wrote the code.
From ACM Opinion
There May Be Infinite niverses—and Infinite Versions of You
In another universe you might have become the president of Micronesia. Or a pauper, subsisting on ketchup.
From ACM Opinion
Moxie Marlinspike: The Coder Who Encrypted Your Texts
In the past decade, Moxie Marlinspike has squatted on an abandoned island, toured the U.S. by hopping trains, he says, and earned the enmity of government officials...
From ACM Opinion
The End of Encryption? Nsa & Fbi Seek New Backdoors Against Advice from Leading Security Experts
FBI Director James Comey is set to testify against encryption before the Senate Intelligence Committee today, as the United States and Britain push for "exceptional...
From ACM Opinion
Encryption, Public Safety, and 'going Dark'
I am worried we are talking past each other with respect to "Going Dark," so let me try to frame it in a way that I hope is fair-minded and provides a basis for...
From ACM Opinion
Saving Fuel with Software
Energy efficiency isn't just a good idea from an environmental perspective; it makes business sense as well.
From ACM Opinion
The Very Best Ideas For Preventing Artificial Intelligence from Wrecking the Planet
The Boston-based Future of Life Institute, backed by a $10 million donation from Elon Musk, recently announced its list of 37 winners of research grants in the....
From ACM News
Leap Motion's Augmented-Reality Computing Looks Stupid Cool
We have a habit of filling new technologies with old ideas.
From ACM Opinion
Meet Our Future Robosimian Heroes
Not all robots are built for war and destruction.
From ACM Opinion
Failure of New .s. Weapons Systems May Be More Than Science Fiction
A war between China and America is a favorite subject of armchair military analysts. Why would it happen? How would it play out?
From ACM Opinion
Calculating Pluto's Mass With Snapshots From New Horizons
As the New Horizons spacecraft is approaching Pluto, it's getting some great shots.
From ACM Opinion
Stephen Hawking Asks a Big Question of Mark Zuckerberg
Stephen Hawking woke up Tuesday morning and immediately summoned his handlers.
From ACM Opinion
Technology and The Evolution of Storytelling
It is such an exciting time to be a filmmaker.
From ACM Opinion
We Should Drop the Leap Second Before It Causes Real Damage
The latest leap second couldn’t have come at a worse time.
From ACM Opinion
How to Write About World War Iii
One of us first fought World War III from the backseat of a station wagon headed toward Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. For the other, it was at an island cabin on...
From ACM Opinion
Does a Multiverse Fermi Paradox Disprove the Multiverse?
Having just orbited our way through another summer solstice, it feels like time to let slip some more speculative ideas before the hot days of the northern hemisphere...
From ACM Opinion