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 ncanny Valley of Internet Advertising
If you ask an Internet ad guy to defend himself—to explain why you, dear Web surfer, should feel comfortable letting him serve you ads based on everything you do...
From ACM Opinion
Giving In to the Surveillance State
In March 2002, John M. Poindexter, a former national security adviser to President Ronald Reagan, sat down with Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the director of the National...
From ACM Opinion
Our Favorite 'forgotten Tech'—from Beos to Zip Drives
We all know about the gadgets that get showered with constant praise—the icons, the segment leaders, and the game changers. Tech history will never forget the Altair...
From ACM Opinion
Christopher Soghoian
Christopher Soghoian sniffs out security holes and privacy shortcomings on the Web. Then he urges companies that are responsible—Google, AT&T, and Dropbox have...
From ACM Opinion
New Guide from Eff: Keeping Your Site Alive
Denial of service attacks—flooding Web sites with traffic in order to make them unavailable to the public—have become an increasingly popular way to take down or...
From Communications of the ACM
Author Order: What Science Can Learn from the Arts
Some thoughts about author order in research papers.
From ACM TechNews
The Big Apple's Big Data Advantage
Microsoft's new research lab in Manhattan will focus on big data analysis, examining massive amounts of information created by the world's digital users, says lab...
From ACM Opinion
Why Apple Might Be Better Off Losing Its Patent Lawsuit
Could it be in Apple’s self-interest to lose its bitter court battle with Samsung?
From ACM Opinion
Forget the Desktop
Every morning I wake up too early, reach for my iPad, and scan the morning's tech headlines. This is a pathetic enough existence, but the Web sites I frequent aren't...
From ACM Opinion
Plagiarism, Defamation, and the Power of Hyperlinks
What do Fareed Zakaria, Jonah Lehrer, and Gawker Media have in common? In different ways, the incidents that have thrust all three into the news recently help to...
From ACM Opinion
Will the Next Election Be Hacked?
Two years ago, hackers gained access to an online voting system created by the District of Columbia and altered every ballot on behalf of their own preferred candidates...
From ACM Opinion
Five Things I've Learned from 20 Years of Email
It's been 20 years since I got my first-ever email address. Back then, I read email with a 2,400 bps modem. Today, emails reach me instantaneously on my phone whereever...
From ACM Opinion
Epic Mickey Creator Wants to 'shame' Doom and nreal Makers: Why He's Not Wrong
I never got around to playing Epic Mickey, and that’s a shame, because I’ve played nearly everything else by game design luminary Warren Spector.
From ACM TechNews
Climate Science Triggers Torrent of Big Data Challenges
ORNL supercomputers running models to assess climate change ramifications and mitigation tactics are rapidly generating a wide variety of big data in vast volumes...
From ACM Opinion
Exploring the Planets Enriches S at Home
NASA's newest marvel, a one-ton rover named Curiosity, has been set down with all the delicacy of a carton of eggs on the surface of Mars.
From ACM Opinion
There's Only One Truly Open Platform: The Web
As Twitter and Facebook continue to fight a variety of skirmishes in the ongoing "platform wars," with both companies trying to control as much of their networks...
From ACM Opinion
Why High-Frequency Trading Doesn't Compute
Wall Street is no autobahn. Traders pushing pedal to the metal risk hurtling into the Buttonwood Trees.
From ACM TechNews
Developer Interview: How Haiku Is Building a Better Beos
BeOS, an operating system that was originally designed for Apple hardware but was passed over for NeXT's OpenStep, has found a new life thanks to Haiku.
From ACM Opinion
15 Technologies of Today We'll Still Be sing in 2030
Sure, we now have faster, smaller computers, smartphones that talk back to you, and smart TVs, but in so many areas of technology the pace of change is slower than ...
From ACM Opinion