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 Head of Google X Thinks We're All Too Risk-Averse
Google X is responsible for some of Google's most literally fantastic projects: Google Glass, self-driving cars, gigantic inflatable balloons that beam Internet...
From ACM Opinion
A Stronger 'online Eraser' Law Would Be a Mistake
Excited teenagers—in other words normal teenagers—have never been famous for consistently wise decisions, nor should they be.
From ACM Opinion
No, Bitcoin Isn't Broken
"Bitcoin Is Broken," proclaimed Ittay Eyal and Emin Gun Sirer, two Cornell computer scientists.
From ACM Opinion
Bitcoin Is Broken
And not just superficially so, but fundamentally, at the core protocol level.
From ACM Opinion
Markus 'notch' Persson: The Mind Behind Minecraft
Markus Persson, known also by the online handle "Notch," is an indie game success story like no other.
From ACM Opinion
Is Google Autocomplete Evil?
"Women shouldn't have rights." "Women shouldn't vote." "Women shouldn't work."
From ACM Opinion
Report on Government Information Requests
We believe that our customers have a right to understand how their personal information is handled, and we consider it our responsibility to provide them with the...
From ACM Opinion
Tim Berners-Lee: Encryption Cracking By Spy Agencies 'appalling and Foolish'
Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the computer scientist who created the World Wide Web, has called for a "full and frank public debate" over Internet surveillance by the National...
From ACM Opinion
Should We Believe More in Big Data or in Magic?
One year I spent a lot of time with professional magicians.
From ACM Opinion
What Is 4d Printing?
The biggest breakthroughs in how we make things lie not in the technology to manipulate materials but in the materials themselves.
From ACM Opinion
Why the Googlification of Obamacare Really Matters
The Internet is piling yet more vitriol on the shoddy Obamacare rollout in response to a report, by Bloomberg's Alex Wayne, that the administration has recruited...
From ACM Opinion
Fifth Amendment Prohibits Compelled Decryption, New EFF Brief Argues
Encryption is one of the most important ways to safeguard data from prying eyes.
From ACM Opinion
Merkel Balks at E Privacy Push
Chancellor Merkel has put on a good show of being outraged by American spying.
From ACM Opinion
Driverless Cars Are Further Away Than You Think
A silver BMW 5 Series is weaving through traffic at roughly 120 kilometers per hour (75 mph) on a freeway that cuts northeast through Bavaria between Munich and...
From ACM News
Intelligence Chief Clapper Cites 'casablanca' in Dismissing Merkel Mess
You must remember this: A kiss is just a kiss, a spy is just a spy.
From ACM Opinion
Don Boroson on Nasa's Record-Breaking se of Laser Communications
Last week, NASA announced that the Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD) on its Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft had made...
From ACM Opinion
Craig Venter: Why I Put My Name in Synthetic Genomes
How has the definition of life changed during your lifetime?
From ACM Opinion
Lavabit Founder Says He Fought Feds to Protect the Constitution
Like a story straight out of the universe of Franz Kafka, Lavabit founder Ladar Levison found himself before a judge in Washington, representing himself against...
From ACM Opinion