acm-header
Sign In

Communications of the ACM

Recent Opinion


bg-corner

A Beginner's Guide to Invisibility
From ACM Opinion

A Beginner's Guide to Invisibility

It is possible, according to many sources, to become invisible, but you must be patient, methodical, and willing to eat almost anything.

The Government Needs to Work with Silicon Valley to Create Our Military Future
From ACM Opinion

The Government Needs to Work with Silicon Valley to Create Our Military Future

In 1931, the city fathers of Sunnyvale, California, came up with a unique plan to rescue their town from the doldrums of the Great Depression.

Nine Real Nasa Technologies in 'the Martian'
From ACM News

Nine Real Nasa Technologies in 'the Martian'

Mars has held a central place in human imagination and culture for millennia.

In Search of the Keys to the Virtual City
From ACM Opinion

In Search of the Keys to the Virtual City

I'm not the first man to believe that he might fix London.

Why Neuroscience Needs Hackers
From ACM Opinion

Why Neuroscience Needs Hackers

There was a time when neuroscientists could only dream of having such a problem.

The ­pside of a Downturn in Silicon Valley
From ACM Careers

The ­pside of a Downturn in Silicon Valley

In October 2008, in the early days of the last economic collapse, Sequoia Capital invited founders of technology companies to a frank meeting outlining the new...

Psychiatry Is Reinventing Itself Thanks to Advances in Biology
From ACM Opinion

Psychiatry Is Reinventing Itself Thanks to Advances in Biology

A revolution is under way in psychiatry. The science underpinning this discipline has in the past shifted from psychology to pharmacology, and now it is changing...

How Close Are We Really to a Robot-Run Society?
From ACM Opinion

How Close Are We Really to a Robot-Run Society?

From Rosie, the Jetsons' robot maid, to Arnold Schwarzenegger's cyborg in The Terminator, popular culture has frequently conceived of robots as having a human-like...

The Pros and Cons of the 'PACM' Proposal
From Communications of the ACM

The Pros and Cons of the 'PACM' Proposal: Point

In "Should Conferences Meet Journals and Where?" ACM Publications Board co-chairs Joseph A. Konstan and Jack W. Davidson introduce a proposal that would interweave...

Move Over, Siri—the Next Generation of Virtual Assistants Is Almost Here
From ACM Opinion

Move Over, Siri—the Next Generation of Virtual Assistants Is Almost Here

Virtual voice-controlled assistants such as Siri, Cortana and Google Now are magical.

It's Operating Systems Vs. Messaging Apps In The Battle For Tech's Next Frontier
From ACM Opinion

It's Operating Systems Vs. Messaging Apps In The Battle For Tech's Next Frontier

As mobile devices continue to explore and colonize the technology landscape, their conquests are leading us to a new era, beyond search and apps.

The Amazingly Accurate Futurism of 2001: A Space Odyssey
From ACM Opinion

The Amazingly Accurate Futurism of 2001: A Space Odyssey

The Making of Stanley Kubrick’s "2001: A Space Odyssey" documents in nearly scientific detail exactly that: the story of how the iconic science-fiction film came...

The End of the Internet Dream
From ACM Opinion

The End of the Internet Dream

Twenty years ago I attended my first Def Con. I believed in a free, open, reliable, interoperable Internet: a place where anyone can say anything, and anyone who...

We Flew a Simulated 747 at Nasa and Didn't Crash or Barf
From ACM Opinion

We Flew a Simulated 747 at Nasa and Didn't Crash or Barf

From a viewing spot in a high bay room at NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, I peer through a glass window at a cab that simulates the cockpit of a commercial...

Apple Carplay Review: Siri's Finally on the Right Road
From ACM Opinion

Apple Carplay Review: Siri's Finally on the Right Road

I take back all—OK most—of the expletives I’ve ever hurled at Siri.

Why Is Blue Light Before Bedtime Bad For Sleep?
From ACM Opinion

Why Is Blue Light Before Bedtime Bad For Sleep?

In the modern age of technology it is not uncommon to come home after a long day at work or school and blow off steam by reading an e-book or watching television...

Robot Weapons: What's the Harm?
From ACM Opinion

Robot Weapons: What's the Harm?

Last month over a thousand scientists and tech-world luminaries, including Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking and Steve Wozniak, released an open letter calling for a global...

Humans, Not Robots, Are the Real Reason Artificial Intelligence Is Scary
From ACM Opinion

Humans, Not Robots, Are the Real Reason Artificial Intelligence Is Scary

Unfortunately, much of the recent outcry against artificial-intelligence weapons has been confused, conjuring robot takeovers of mankind.

Will Artificial Intelligence Surpass Our Own?
From ACM Opinion

Will Artificial Intelligence Surpass Our Own?

Famed science-fiction writer Fredric Brown (1906–1972) delighted in creating the shortest of short stories. "Answer," published in 1954, encapsulated a prescient...

Palmer Luckey: Making Virtual Reality a Reality
From ACM Opinion

Palmer Luckey: Making Virtual Reality a Reality

"Why shouldn't people be able to teleport wherever they want?" asks Palmer Luckey, the 22-year-old founder of Oculus VR, the virtual-reality company that Facebook...
Sign In for Full Access
» Forgot Password? » Create an ACM Web Account