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 Data Brokers: Selling Your Personal Information
Over the past six months or so, a huge amount of attention has been paid to government snooping, and the bulk collection and storage of vast amounts of raw data...
From ACM Opinion
The Future of Internet Freedom
Over the next decade, approximately five billion people will become connected to the Internet.
From ACM Opinion
Why You Should Embrace Surveillance, Not Fight It
I once worked with Steven Spielberg on the development of Minority Report, derived from the short story by Philip K. Dick featuring a future society that uses surveillance...
From ACM Opinion
Oscar-Winning Visual Effects Mastermind Behind Gravity, Talks Physics Lessons, Nasa Imagery, and Defining the Art of Cg 'weightlessness' in Space
Tim Webber is a visual effects supervisor who has worked on an array of critically acclaimed blockbusters.
From ACM Opinion
At Sxsw, the Next Big Thing May Be No Thing at All
Every year, just before South by Southwest Interactive starts, the froth starts churning. Everybody begins wondering what this year’s breakout hit app will be.
From ACM Opinion
One-Hit Wonders
For more than a year now, tens of millions of Americans have found time each day to devote themselves to an essential task: swiping at their phones and tablets...
From ACM Opinion
Futurist Says We'll se Lasers to Beam Our Minds Into Space Someday Soon
The idea of erasing and implanting memories is a common feature of science fiction films such as Total Recall and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
From ACM Opinion
The Weirdest Thing About the Apple Security Bug Is How Simple It Was
So for the past 18 months, there has been a horrific security hole in many of Apple's products that has allowed "man in the middle" attacks on supposedly secure...
From Communications of the ACM
How to Build a Bad Research Center
Sharing lessons learned from experiences creating successful multidisciplinary research centers.
From Communications of the ACM
The Impact of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Codifying human rights and inclusiveness in a technical context for people with disabilities.
From Communications of the ACM
'Surfing Toward the Future'
A new report from Chile about improving economic competitiveness advances a novel interpretation of innovation. Timing is everything.
From Communications of the ACM
Why Software Engineering Courses Should Include Ethics Coverage
Encouraging students to become comfortable exercising ethical discernment in a professional context with their peers.
From Communications of the ACM
Mass Digitization as Fair Use
Considering the implications of the late-2013 ruling in favor of Google in the Authors Guild case.
From ACM Opinion
Asimov's Predictions from 1964: A Brief Report Card
Predictions about technology's future are almost always doomed.
From ACM Opinion
How I Quit Google
I think it was the search for "pink glitter tiny toms" that finally prompted me to quit Google.
From ACM Opinion
Comcast's Deal with Netflix Makes Network Neutrality Obsolete
For the past two decades, the Internet has operated as an unregulated, competitive free market.
From ACM Opinion
The Interstellar Contract
Last September, the Times reported that Voyager 1, the hardy spacecraft launched in 1977, had exited the solar system and entered the interstellar void.
From ACM Opinion
Social Media, a Trove of Clues and Confessions
It seems as if every week there's a news story about someone committing a crime and confessing to it on Facebook, bragging about it on Twitter or sharing photos...
From ACM Opinion
This Ingenious Touchscreen i Should Be in Every Car
There may be no greater design crime today than putting a touchscreen in an automobile.
From ACM Opinion