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
Marc Maiffret: The Quick Rise of a Teen Hacker
For Marc Maiffret, the turning point in his life came when—at the age of 17—he woke up to an FBI agent pointing a gun at his head. A runaway and high school dropout...
From ACM Opinion
Get Prepared For the Html5 Revolution
HTML5 promises to revolutionize the way you build Web sites. Check out what fantastic new features are in store in the forthcoming Web standard.
From Communications of the ACM
Q&A: Systematic Thinking
Andrew S. Tanenbaum talks about MINIX, microkernels, and electronic voting systems.
From Communications of the ACM
The Data-Structure Canon
Data structures are part of the foundation of computer science. It pays to revisit them from time to time.
From Communications of the ACM
Cloud Computing and SaaS as New Computing Platforms
To become an industry platform, vendors must open their infrastructure technology to other product companies.
From Communications of the ACM
Be Careful What You Wish For
Reflections on the decline of mathematical tables.
From ACM Opinion
A Tale of 20 Interns, One Project and One Fiery Debate
Few geeks are unfamiliar with the concept of the "Mythical Man-Month" from Fred Brooks' classic software engineering tome by the same name. It's a classic for good...
From ACM Opinion
Braking Bad
The Obama administration has said that it may require automakers to install “smart pedals” on all new cars. This kind of system—already used in BMWs, Chryslers...
From ACM Opinion
Apple's Multitouch Lawsuit Is Both Dumb and Dangerous
When Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone at 2007's Macworld conference, he began by describing the device's groundbreaking user interface. "We have invented...
From Communications of the ACM
Orchestrating Coordination in Pluralistic Networks
Learning to build virtual teams of people of diverse backgrounds is an urgent challenge.
From Communications of the ACM
Gaming Will Save Us All
How gaming, as the first media market to successfully transition toward media-as-a-service, is an exemplar for a similar evolutionary transition of content and...
From ACM Opinion
Nhtsa Has No Software Engineers or Ees To Analyze Toyotas
A report in The Washington Post on the Congressional investigation of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's response to multiple reports of Toyota...
From ACM Opinion
Google's Diplomatic Alliance with .s. Carries Risks
Google Inc.'s mastery of Internet search technology is unrivaled, but the high-tech pioneer is in uncharted territory as it finds itself embroiled in U.S. diplomatic...
From ACM Opinion
Humobots in Space
Despite the cancellation of NASA's back-to-the-moon program, the next steps on the moon will likely be taken sometime in the next decade under human control. It's...
From ACM Opinion
Can Silicon Valley Write Software For the 'normal'?
Apple gets a fair amount of criticism for its supposed elitism, but Apple products reveal the opposite: they're made for normal people who generally don't obsess...
From ACM Opinion
I'm Sorry, Dave, I'm Afraid I Can't Make a -Turn
When Toyota Prius owners take their cars to the dealer under the company's latest recall, they'll likely be out of the shop in about 30 minutes. Even though the...
From ACM Opinion
Why Google Wants a Faster Internet
There was no lack of, well, buzz about Google's new Buzz social-media platform last week, but more important were a series of moves that suggest the search giant...
From ACM Opinion
Lost in #haiti
If Iran's post-election uprising last summer was the world's first "Twitter revolution," the massive Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti was the first "Twitter disaster...
From ACM Opinion
Estimating Programming Time
Accurately estimating programming time is, in part, a process of defining limitations—experience, domain knowledge, speed vs. quality. It is also about thinking...
From ACM Opinion