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 Communications of the ACM
Beyond Blocks: Syntax and Semantics
How the future of general-purpose programming tools could include blocks-based structured editing, and how we should study students transitioning to text-based...
From Communications of the ACM
The Internet of Things We Don't Own?
Who will control the 'ordinary pursuits of life' in the digital economy?
From ACM Opinion
Europe's Web Privacy Rules: Bad For Google, Bad For Everyone
It's been a rough few months for Google in Europe.
From ACM Opinion
New Encryption Technology Is Aiding Terrorists, Intelligence Director Says
The Edward Snowden leaks have accelerated the sophistication of encryption technologies by "about seven years," Director of National Intelligence James Clapper...
From ACM Opinion
Scott Aaronson Answers Every Ridiculously Big Question I Throw at Him
Scott Aaronson has one of the highest intelligence/pretension ratios I’ve ever encountered.
From ACM Opinion
What Cyberwar Against Isis Should Look Like
Pentagon officials have publicly said, in recent weeks, that they're hitting ISIS not only with bullets and bombs but also with cyberoffensive operations.
From ACM Opinion
Who's Responsible When a Self-Driving Car Crashes?
Valentine's Day was a bummer in Mountain View, Calif. For the first time, one of Google's self-driving cars, a modified Lexus SUV, caused a crash.
From ACM Opinion
Reinvent Yourself: The Playboy Interview with Ray Kurzweil
Many think author, inventor and data scientist Ray Kurzweil is a prophet for our digital age. A few say he's completely nuts.
From ACM Opinion
700 Million People Just Got Encryption That Congress Can't Touch
Last month, WhatsApp, the hugely popular messaging service that Facebook owns, made end-to-end encryption the default for its 1 billion users. On Tuesday, Viber...
From ACM Opinion
You Pay to Read Research You Fund. That's Ludicrous
In 2011, developer and researcher Alexandra Elbakyan launched Sci-Hub, an online archive that shares research articles freely and openly without paywalls or restrictions...
From ACM Opinion
Have Comment Sections on News Media Websites Failed?
Many newspapers and online media companies have begun disabling comment sections because of widespread abuse and obscenity.
From ACM Opinion
All Hail Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, King of the Bots
Mark Zuckerberg was once the boy king of Silicon Valley. Now he wants to be the bot king of Silicon Valley.
From ACM Opinion
A Court Is About to Make One of the Most Important Decisions in the History of the Internet
If you thought the battle over net neutrality ended when the Federal Communications Commission slapped a series of unprecedented rules on Internet providers last...
From ACM Opinion
How Early Computer Games Influenced Internet Culture
Sometimes it seems the Internet is, at its core, a tremendous nostalgia machine.
From ACM Opinion
Intelligence Committee Leaders Release Discussion Draft of Encryption Bill
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Vice Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today released the Compliance with Court Orders...
From ACM Opinion
I'm the First Quadriplegic Person to Regain Thought-Control of My Arm
I'm the first quadriplegic person in the world to use my own thoughts to control my own arm. It's a pretty neat experience.
From ACM Opinion
The Internet Archive, Bricks and Mortar Version
A heavily rusted cast iron ring sits on a bookshelf inside a neoclassical church a few blocks north of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. The ring is about an inch...
From ACM Opinion
Synthetic Biology Is … Complex. But This Exhibit Makes It a Blast
It takes at least a master's degree to fully understand synthetic biology, but grasping its importance requires far less.
From ACM Opinion
Why The Fbi Director Puts Tape Over His Webcam
FBI Director James Comey gave a speech this week about encryption and privacy, repeating his argument that "absolute privacy" hampers law enforcement. But it was...
From ACM Opinion