acm-header
Sign In

Communications of the ACM

Recent Opinion


bg-corner

Becoming Biohackers: Learning the Game
From ACM Careers

Becoming Biohackers: Learning the Game

When you have lunch courtesy of the FBI, you are offered chicken Caesar salad, hamburger, or fish.

From ACM Opinion

Google's Approach to Government Requests For ­ser Data

Today, January 28, is Data Privacy Day, when the world recognizes the importance of preserving your online privacy and security.

Innovation Is Messy Business
From ACM Opinion

Innovation Is Messy Business

Nine years ago, Boeing Co. BA executives decided to take the biggest leap in airliner technology in a generation and develop the 787 Dreamliner.

Ito: Think Twice About Immortality and the Singularity
From ACM Opinion

Ito: Think Twice About Immortality and the Singularity

Ray Kurzweil's vision of the "singularity"—when nanobots make humans immortal and computer progress is so fast that the future becomes profoundly unknowable—is...

Don't Divorce Design from Manufacturing
From ACM Opinion

Don't Divorce Design from Manufacturing

The software company Autodesk doesn't manufacture anything.

Neil Degrasse Tyson: Science Funding Can 'guarantee Your Economic Future'
From ACM Opinion

Neil Degrasse Tyson: Science Funding Can 'guarantee Your Economic Future'

Neil deGrasse Tyson came to Washington on Wednesday to deliver the science-specific version of President Barack Obama's second inaugural address.

IBM Predicts Cognitive Systems As New Computing Wave
From ACM Opinion

IBM Predicts Cognitive Systems As New Computing Wave

At year's end, IBM selects a new innovation that has the potential to change the world.

Crapware Won't Crap Out
From ACM Opinion

Crapware Won't Crap Out

For a few years now, I've been expecting to write an obituary for crapware. Or not an obit, exactly—I was hoping to dance on its grave.

Apple Shouldn't Make Software Look Like Real Objects
From ACM Opinion

Apple Shouldn't Make Software Look Like Real Objects

Last fall Apple fired executive Scott Forstall, considered by many to be a Steve Jobs protégé.

Hacktivism: Civil Disobedience or Cyber Crime?
From ACM Opinion

Hacktivism: Civil Disobedience or Cyber Crime?

When Reddit co-founder and internet freedom activist Aaron Swartz committed suicide, he was facing up to 13 felony counts, 50 years in prison, and millions of dollars...

The Trouble With Tinkering Time
From ACM Careers

The Trouble With Tinkering Time

It's the latest R&D trend: penciling in tinkering time on the company clock.

Samsung's Secret Weapon in the Mobile Wars: Tizen
From ACM Opinion

Samsung's Secret Weapon in the Mobile Wars: Tizen

You've probably never heard of Tizen, but the companies behind it are some of the most recognizable brands in the tech industry.

Many Hands Make Fractals Tactile
From ACM Opinion

Many Hands Make Fractals Tactile

Human beings are born with an innate capacity to learn languages. Yet while mathematics is the language of pattern and form, many people struggle to acquire even...

The Fbi Needs Hackers, Not Backdoors
From ACM Opinion

The Fbi Needs Hackers, Not Backdoors

Just imagine if all the applications and services you saw or heard about at CES earlier this month had to be designed to be "wiretap ready" before they could be...

For Amusement Only: The Life and Death of the American Arcade
From ACM Opinion

For Amusement Only: The Life and Death of the American Arcade

If you’ve never been inside a "real" arcade, it could be hard to distinguish one from say, oh, a Dave & Buster's. Authenticity is a hard nut to crack, but there...

Chipmaker Races to Save Stephen Hawking's Speech as His Condition Deteriorates
From ACM Opinion

Chipmaker Races to Save Stephen Hawking's Speech as His Condition Deteriorates

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has long relied on technology to help him connect with the outside world despite the degenerative motor neuron disease he has...

What the Fbi Doesn't Want You To Know About Its 'secret' Surveillance Techniques
From ACM Opinion

What the Fbi Doesn't Want You To Know About Its 'secret' Surveillance Techniques

The FBI had to rewrite the book on its domestic surveillance activities in the wake of last January’s landmark Supreme Court decision in United States v. Jones.

Forget Oracle's Latest Java Patch. Just Kill the Program in Your Browser For Good
From ACM Opinion

Forget Oracle's Latest Java Patch. Just Kill the Program in Your Browser For Good

After months of inaction and even a warning from the Department of Homeland Security, Oracle has finally released a fix for yet another security vulnerability in...

Google's Kurzweil on Teaching Human Language to Computers
From ACM Opinion

Google's Kurzweil on Teaching Human Language to Computers

Famed inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil joined Google last month to work on "some of the hardest problems in computer science," specifically machine learning and...

From ACM Opinion

Where Is Lt. Zuckerberg?

I often wonder how General Billy Mitchell must have felt as he relentlessly advocated for the use of strategic airpower while surrounded by leadership who did not...
Sign In for Full Access
» Forgot Password? » Create an ACM Web Account