acm-header
Sign In

Communications of the ACM

Recent Opinion


bg-corner

Keeping Technology Promises
From Communications of the ACM

Keeping Technology Promises

Considering new models for educational technology and methods.

Societal Implications of the Emerging Smart Grid
From Communications of the ACM

Societal Implications of the Emerging Smart Grid

Seeking solutions to concerns that go beyond the engineering of the smart grid.

Learning to Teach Computer Science
From Communications of the ACM

Learning to Teach Computer Science: The Need For a Methods Course

A multipronged approach to preparing computer science teachers is critical to success.

Decentralization Versus Centralization in IT Governance
From Communications of the ACM

Decentralization Versus Centralization in IT Governance

It's not as simple as you might think.

Oracle v. Google
From Communications of the ACM

Oracle v. Google: Are APIs Copyrightable?

Assessing the first phase of the trial based on claims that Google's Android platform infringes Oracle's Java-related copyrights and patents.

The Research Value of Publishing Attacks
From Communications of the ACM

The Research Value of Publishing Attacks

Security research can be improved by more effectively sharing what is learned from attacks on information systems.

Capitol Hill Rhetoric Takes Aim at Wrong Cybersecurity Targets
From ACM Opinion

Capitol Hill Rhetoric Takes Aim at Wrong Cybersecurity Targets

Defense secretary Leon Panetta couldn't resist, could he? He couldn't fight the urge to dig deep into the information security cliché handbook and yank out that...

Science in an Election Year
From ACM Opinion

Science in an Election Year

More than a dozen science and engineering organizations worked with ScienceDebate.org to draft 14 top science questions to ask the two main presidential candidates...

Meet a Science Committee that Doesn't Get Science
From ACM Opinion

Meet a Science Committee that Doesn't Get Science

In general, we only become aware of a politician's position on scientific issues during the campaign season. And, with a few exceptions like energy and climate...

And the Firewalls Came Tumbling Down
From ACM Opinion

And the Firewalls Came Tumbling Down

There's much to like about "This Machine Kills Secrets," Andy Greenberg's well-reported history of WikiLeaks and the many projects it has inspired, but one unintentionally...

Craig Venter Imagines a World with Printable Life Forms
From ACM Opinion

Craig Venter Imagines a World with Printable Life Forms

Craig Venter imagines a future where you can download software, print a vaccine, inject it, and presto! Contagion averted.

Jack Dorsey: Leadership Secrets Of Twitter And Square
From ACM Careers

Jack Dorsey: Leadership Secrets Of Twitter And Square

You cover a lot of ground hanging out with Jack Dorsey.

Will Neuroscience Radically Transform the Legal System?
From ACM Opinion

Will Neuroscience Radically Transform the Legal System?

Although academic fields will often enjoy more than Andy Warhol's famous 15 minutes of fame, they too are subject to today's ever-hungry machinery of hype. Like...

Why Is This Man Running For President of the Internet?
From ACM Opinion

Why Is This Man Running For President of the Internet?

It's an unseasonably cold early October evening in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian is giving his elevator pitch to a flustered but rapt...

Technology Helps Track a Terrorist in 'the Finish'
From ACM Opinion

Technology Helps Track a Terrorist in 'the Finish'

In late summer 2010, at the end of a morning briefing, one of President Obama's security advisers said, "Mr. President, Leon and the guys at Langley think they...

Patent Could Shackle 3D Printers with Drm
From ACM Opinion

Patent Could Shackle 3D Printers with Drm

One of the greatest benefits of 3D printing technology—the ability to make replacements or parts for household objects like toys, utensils and gadgets—may be denied...

How I Accidentally Helped Compromise the Secret Keys of High-Security Handcuffs
From ACM Opinion

How I Accidentally Helped Compromise the Secret Keys of High-Security Handcuffs

In the age of freely available modeling software, laser cutters and 3D printers, shapes that must stay secret for security's sake don't stay secret for long. Especially...

In Digital War, Patents Are the Weapon of Choice
From ACM Opinion

In Digital War, Patents Are the Weapon of Choice

If you don't think of patents as a particularly exciting or interesting field, consider a point Charles Duhigg makes in his recent New York Times article, "...

Where's the Discussion of Trojan Horses?
From ACM Opinion

Where's the Discussion of Trojan Horses?

The Mykonos Vase, discovered in 1961 in the Cyclades, is one of the earliest accounts of the Trojan Horse, used as a subterfuge by the Greeks to enter the city...

The Limits of Big Data
From ACM Opinion

The Limits of Big Data

Stop me if you've heard this one: Three statisticians go rabbit hunting.
Sign In for Full Access
» Forgot Password? » Create an ACM Web Account