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 Communications of the ACM
The Goldilocks Estimate
Balancing two extremes in project estimation.
From Communications of the ACM
Reflecting on the Facebook IPO
Exploring some factors that reflect a company's worth.
From ACM Opinion
Lessons from an Iranian War Game
Perhaps it was the "fog of simulation." But the scariest aspect of a U.S.-Iran war game staged this week was the way each side miscalculated the other’s responses—and...
From ACM Opinion
Air Force Video Compares Facebook, Iphone to Atom Bombs
The world of tomorrow is going to be a dark and sinister place, according to a group of Air Force futurists. One reason why it'll be so scary: Facebook.
From ACM Opinion
Arturo Bejar, Facebook Director of Engineering
Facebook engineering director Arturo Bejar is a numbers guy by training. But he's also in charge of the giant social network's foray into what it calls "compassion...
From ACM Opinion
Breaking p the Echo
It is well known that when like-minded people get together, they tend to end up thinking a more extreme version of what they thought before they started to talk...
From ACM TechNews
Intel Seeks to Eliminate Computer Passwords With Wave of Hand
Intel researchers recently demonstrated a system that has the potential to do away with computer passwords.
From ACM Opinion
Should Google Be Censoring Videos Just Because They Are Linked to Violence?
After violent attacks on Americans in both Egypt and Libya—including an attack in Libya on Tuesday that killed the American ambassador to that country—Google said...
From ACM News
Difference Engine: The Pc All Over Again?
What could well be the next great technological disruption is fermenting away, out of sight, in small workshops, college labs, garages, and basements. Tinkerers...
From ACM Opinion
William Gibson on Why Sci-Fi Writers Are (thankfully) Almost Always Wrong
William Gibson, one of science fiction's most visionary and distinctive voices, maintains that he and his fellow writers don't possess some mystical ability to...
From ACM Opinion
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Says Mobile Efforts Will 'Make a Lot More Money' than Website
In his first public appearance since Facebook's trouble-plagued Wall Street debut, CEO Mark Zuckerberg conceded Tuesday the company's stock performance "has obviously...
From ACM Opinion
Top Tech Hurdles Facing Next President, Congress
With the U.S. in high political season, partisan rhetoric is in no short supply. But one area of agreement stands out: both parties have put solid endorsements...
From ACM Opinion
How Smartphones Make S Superhuman
Both men lit themselves on fire in protest. But only one of them is credited with starting a revolution.
From ACM Opinion
A New Kind of Warfare
Cybersecurity efforts in the United States have largely centered on defending computer networks against attacks by hackers, criminals, and foreign governments,...
From ACM Opinion
Why Your Cellphone Could Be Called a 'tracker'
Your cellphone is a tracking device collecting a lot more information about you than you may think, says ProPublica investigative reporter Peter Maass.
From ACM Opinion
A Handy Way to Foil Atm Skimmer Scams
I spent several hours this past week watching video footage from hidden cameras that skimmer thieves placed at ATMs to surreptitiously record customers entering...
From ACM Opinion
10 Things We'd Like to See Tim Cook Do in His Next Year at Apple
It's officially the anniversary of the day Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple and let Tim Cook take the reins.
From ACM Opinion
Why You Should Probably Disable Java on Your Browser Right Now
Hackers have found a flaw in Oracle's Java software that allows them to break into users' computers and install nasty malware, security experts report.
From ACM News
Massive Cyberattack: Act 1 of Israeli Strike on Iran?
Talk in Israel of a military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities has reached a fever pitch.
From ACM Opinion