acm-header
Sign In

Communications of the ACM

Recent Opinion


bg-corner

Three Questions For Eugene Kaspersky
From ACM Opinion

Three Questions For Eugene Kaspersky

The Moscow-based computer security firm Kaspersky Lab has analyzed major new kinds of malware, including Stuxnet, which four years ago was revealed to have damaged...

Bruce Schneier: Technology Magnifies Power in Survellance Era
From ACM Opinion

Bruce Schneier: Technology Magnifies Power in Survellance Era

History is not entirely kind to those responsible for the Industrial Age in the 19th century.

Steve Matteson: Fonts in the Time of Wearables
From ACM Opinion

Steve Matteson: Fonts in the Time of Wearables

As gadgets get smaller, and mobile manufacturers find new ways to shrink their devices to fit on a user's wrist, people like Steve Matteson are focused on keeping...

The Lewis Effect
From ACM Opinion

The Lewis Effect

Michael Lewis couldn't have timed it better if he'd tried.

A Veteran Programmer Explains How the Stock Market Became "Rigged"
From ACM Opinion

A Veteran Programmer Explains How the Stock Market Became "Rigged"

A small group of financial firms are using their technological superiority to skim the top off the market, Michael Lewis claims in his new book "Flash Boys."

If You Like Immersion, You'll Love This Reality
From ACM Opinion

If You Like Immersion, You'll Love This Reality

The news that Facebook paid $2 billion for a virtual reality start-up, Oculus VR, might strike you as a bit zany.

The Story of Cortana, Microsoft's Siri Killer
From ACM Opinion

The Story of Cortana, Microsoft's Siri Killer

Technically, Cortana isn't supposed to exist for at least another 500 years, but that's not stopping Microsoft from bringing her to life this week.

Vint Cerf: CS Changes Needed To Address Iot Security, Privacy
From ACM Opinion

Vint Cerf: CS Changes Needed To Address Iot Security, Privacy

The Internet of Things has tremendous potential but also poses a tremendous risk if the underlying security of Internet of Things devices is not taken into account...

How a Secret iOS Feature Could Change the Internet
From ACM Opinion

How a Secret iOS Feature Could Change the Internet

A few weeks ago, a messaging app called FireChat launched.

Why the Black Box on Airplanes Needs to Go Away
From ACM Opinion

Why the Black Box on Airplanes Needs to Go Away

In another 10 years, the very idea of a "black box" flight data recorder on an airliner will seem as naive and outdated as a smoking section.

3 Ways to Make Software Patents Suck Less (without Abolishing Them Altogether)
From ACM Opinion

3 Ways to Make Software Patents Suck Less (without Abolishing Them Altogether)

This week, the Supreme Court tackled one of the thorniest problems in tech policy: software patents.

Hey, Robot: Which Cat Is Cuter?
From ACM Opinion

Hey, Robot: Which Cat Is Cuter?

One recent morning, while contemplating writing this column, I scrolled through thousands and thousands of listings for mundane microgigs on Mechanical Turk, or...

10 Years On, Gmail Has Transformed the Web as We Know It
From ACM Opinion

10 Years On, Gmail Has Transformed the Web as We Know It

Google loves to unveil a good gag product on April Fool's Day.

The Dream of Intelligent Robot Friends
From ACM Opinion

The Dream of Intelligent Robot Friends

Karotz is an Internet-enabled console in the shape of an abstracted rabbit.

What Oculus's $2 Billion Payday Teaches ­S About Innovation
From ACM Opinion

What Oculus's $2 Billion Payday Teaches ­S About Innovation

Tuesday's announcement that Facebook is buying the virtual-reality start-up Oculus for $2 billion no doubt left many people scratching their heads.

A Conversation With Danah Boyd, Author of 'it's Complicated,' About Teenagers Online
From ACM Opinion

A Conversation With Danah Boyd, Author of 'it's Complicated,' About Teenagers Online

Danah Boyd is a principal researcher at Microsoft Research, a research assistant professor in Media, Culture and Communication at New York University, and a fellow...

Small Data, Where N = Me
From Communications of the ACM

Small Data, Where N = Me

Seeking personalized data-derived insights from analysis of our digital traces.

Anger on Weibo Over Flight 370
From ACM Opinion

Anger on Weibo Over Flight 370

Tragedy, when its cause and the fate of its victims are still unknown, is supposed to occasion solidarity.

Discovering Two Screens Aren't Better Than One
From ACM Opinion

Discovering Two Screens Aren't Better Than One

For years, techies have argued that getting an extra monitor or two for your desktop computer is an especially effective way to increase personal productivity.

Facebook's Security Chief Talks Encryption Plan
From ACM Opinion

Facebook's Security Chief Talks Encryption Plan

Facebook has built its business upon the sharing of content between people worldwide, but protecting that data is a gargantuan responsibility—one that demands an...
Sign In for Full Access
» Forgot Password? » Create an ACM Web Account