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
Neal Stephenson on Tall Towers and Nsa Cyber-Spies
Neal Stephenson is thinking big—20km (12.4 miles) big, to be precise.
From ACM Opinion
Forget Moocs
For a year or two there, free online classes seemed like they just might be the future of higher education.
From ACM Opinion
Cryptographers Have an Ethics Problem
Last week, I visited the MIT computer science department looking for a very famous cryptographer.
From ACM Opinion
How Robots Can Trick You Into Loving Them
I like to think of my Roomba as cute and industrious.
From ACM Opinion
If 'e.t.' Finds Voyager 1, Will It Phone Earth?
In 1519, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan launched the expedition that completed the first circumnavigation of the globe. And so humanity learned the full...
From ACM Opinion
Grand Theft Auto V Lives p to Hype, Steals Its Car, Sets House on Fire
I'm trying to put into words how difficult a situation it is attempting to summarize my thoughts on a game that I've only been playing for two weeks when I know...
From ACM Opinion
Grand Theft Auto 5: Inside the Creative Process with Dan Houser
We're four days away now. After a year of pre-publicity and a five-year wait since GTA IV, the latest instalment in Rockstar's gangland opus is almost upon us.
From ACM Opinion
Trigger Finger: Apple Fires Biometrics Into the Mainstream
By adding a fingerprint scanner to its newest mobile phone, Apple Inc. is offering a tantalizing glimpse of a future where your favorite gadget might become a biometric...
From ACM Opinion
The Real Reasons Apple's 64-Bit A7 Chip Makes Sense
Apple injected a lot of marketing hyperbole into its claims about the wonders of 64-bit computing when it showed off the A7 processor at the heart of the new ...
From ACM Opinion
VCs Doerr and Khosla on Gov't Snooping: It's a Tradeoff
Two of the most influential venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, John Doerr and Vinod Khosla, weighed in on the current controversy government surveillance, contending...
From ACM Opinion
How Startup Culture Is Killing Innovation
Far from being the measure of disgrace it once was, failure now seems to be a sort of badge of honor. Somewhere along the way, it got to be uncool to reduce one's...
From ACM Opinion
Google Security Exec: 'passwords Are Dead'
New startups looking for ways to keep their users secure should know one thing, a top Google security executive said Tuesday: "Passwords are dead."
From ACM Opinion
Apple's New Iphone 'touch Id' Makes Fingerprint Scans Easy, But Don't Ditch Passcodes Yet
The latest iPhone has arrived, and along with it what may be the slickest integration of biometric security yet: A fingerprint scanner built seamlessly into the...
From ACM Opinion
Should Students se a Laptop in Class?
There's a widely shared image on the Internet of a teacher's note that says: "Dear students, I know when you're texting in class. Seriously, no one just looks down...
From ACM Opinion
Why a Cyberwar Won't Happen
Exactly two decades ago, the RAND Corporation, an influential think tank, proclaimed that "cyberwar is coming!"
From ACM Opinion
Nsa Surveillance Makes For Strange Bedfellows
The controversy over U.S. government surveillance has produced a king-size collection of strange bedfellows. Beneath the covers one finds both amusing ironies and...
From ACM Opinion