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
David and Goliath: What Do We Do About Surveillance?
"Dear subscriber, you have been registered as a participant in a mass disturbance."
From ACM Opinion
Learning to See Data
For the past year or so genetic scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York have been collaborating with a specialist from another universe...
From ACM Opinion
How Facebook's Chief Geek Will Meld Reality with the Oculus
Facebook chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer turned 40 last month. He (just barely) blew out a row of 40 candles during a mini-celebration at company headquarters...
From ACM Opinion
How Technology Is Making S Tip More Than Ever
By now, you've probably experienced it: After grabbing a cup of espresso, buying some ice cream or taking a cab, you swipe your credit card and prepare to sign—but...
From ACM Opinion
Apple's Tim Cook Leads Different
Tim Cook assumed he was ready for the harsh glare that shines on Apple's CEO.
From ACM Opinion
Nsa Doesn't Need to Spy on Your Calls to Learn Your Secrets
Governments and corporations gather, store, and analyze the tremendous amount of data we chuff out as we move through our digitized lives.
From ACM Opinion
Why the Tsarnaev Juror Questionnaire Screened For Computer Scientists
As we approach the second anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing, many of us here in Massachusetts and beyond are riveted by the ongoing trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev...
From ACM Opinion
What If Web Search Results Were Based on Accuracy?
Imagine, for a moment, that every Web search gave only accurate, verified information.
From ACM Opinion
Best Medical Science Images of 2015
The Wellcome Trust has announced the 20 winners of its 2015 Image Awards for medical science images. Here are our favourites.
From ACM Opinion
Mathematicians of the Future?
Herbert Simon, the Nobel-prize winning economist, was a techno-enthusiast. In 1956 he predicted that, "within 10 years, computers would beat the world chess champion...
From ACM Opinion
The War Over Who Steve Jobs Was
On October 16, 2011, the early evening weather on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto, California, was almost unspeakably gorgeous—mild as a warm bath,...
From ACM Opinion
The Math of March Madness
The N.C.A.A. men's basketball tournament started Thursday, but for most Americans the real action began days before, as they pored over brackets, competing to make...
From ACM Opinion
Reality Check: Comparing Hololens and Magic Leap
I've seen two competing visions for a future in which virtual objects are merged seamlessly with the real world.
From ACM Opinion
Why Some of Google's Coolest Projects Flop Badly
In public, companies try to trot out any hint of a success story—real or imagined. At SXSW this week, Google took a different tack: It talked all about its failures...
From ACM Opinion
Dj Patil Talks Nerdy to S
DJ Patil was recently named the White House's deputy chief technology officer for data policy and chief data scientist, making him the first-ever national datacoined...
From ACM Opinion
Edward Snowden Issues 'call to Arms' For Tech Companies in Secret Sxsw Meeting
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was a highlight of last year's SXSW, where he gave one of his first public speeches. This year, Snowden was back at SXSW—but only...
From ACM Opinion
Virtual Zombie Apocalypse Can Prepare S For Disaster
Why use online games to study our responses to catastrophic events?
From ACM Opinion
Love in the Time of Bots
Convincing people to have a romantic relationship with a computer might be easier than it sounds.
From ACM Opinion
How Isis Succeeds on Social Media Where #stopkony Fails
Social networks offer an incredible tool for tapping into the collective unconscious, a virtual Jungian arena in which competition might be expected to amplify...
From ACM Opinion