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dateMore Than a Year Ago
subjectSoftware
authorScientific American
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Why We Don't Trust Technology Companies
From ACM Opinion

Why We Don't Trust Technology Companies

Last October, T-Mobile made an astonishing announcement: from now on, when you travel internationally with a T-Mobile phone, you get free unlimited text messages...

7 Gadgets to Watch For in 2014
From ACM Opinion

7 Gadgets to Watch For in 2014

Turn an ordinary table into a touch screen, monitor your kids' whereabouts, and place the power of 3D printing in the palm of your hand—and there’s more.

How Microsoft's 1 Percenters Balance Basic Research with Short-Term Success
From ACM Opinion

How Microsoft's 1 Percenters Balance Basic Research with Short-Term Success

When Microsoft launched its research labs in 1991, the personal computer was just beginning to blossom into a worldwide phenomenon, thanks in no small part to Windows...

23andme Is Terrifying, But Not For the Reasons the Fda Thinks
From ACM Opinion

23andme Is Terrifying, But Not For the Reasons the Fda Thinks

If there's a gene for hubris, the 23andMe crew has certainly got it.

Will Ibm's Watson ­sher in a New Era of Cognitive Computing?
From ACM Opinion

Will Ibm's Watson ­sher in a New Era of Cognitive Computing?

Computers as we know them have are close to reaching an inflection point—the next generation is in sight but not quite within our grasp.

What Is 4d Printing?
From ACM Opinion

What Is 4d Printing?

The biggest breakthroughs in how we make things lie not in the technology to manipulate materials but in the materials themselves.

Intel Sees a Future Where We Will Form 'relationships' with Our Gadgets
From ACM Opinion

Intel Sees a Future Where We Will Form 'relationships' with Our Gadgets

Rugged individualists aside, many people find themselves increasingly connected not just to one another but also to the devices that make those connections possible...

How to Manage Your Digital Afterlife
From ACM Opinion

How to Manage Your Digital Afterlife

After their son's suicide, one Wisconsin couple was desperate for answers.

It's Time to Reform the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
From ACM Opinion

It's Time to Reform the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

This year the U.S. Congress is considering changes to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), the primary law that governs cyber crime and fraud on the Internet...

Smart Phones Mean You Will No Longer Have to Memorize Facts
From ACM Opinion

Smart Phones Mean You Will No Longer Have to Memorize Facts

When my father was growing up, his father offered him 25 cents to memorize the complete list of U.S. presidents. "Number one, George Washington. Number two, John...

How to Be an Email Survivalist
From ACM Opinion

How to Be an Email Survivalist

In the early 2000s it was the height of geek fashion to run your own email server—then along came Gmail with two gigabytes of free storage and excellent spam filtering...

Software Recognition Technology Is Amazing, but Not Amazing Enough
From ACM Opinion

Software Recognition Technology Is Amazing, but Not Amazing Enough

The gadget blogs may work themselves into a frenzy over megapixels and processor speed. But if you want to know what really dazzles the masses, consider a feature...

Dave Farber, Internet's "grandfather," Seeks to Cut Through Fog of Cyberwar
From ACM Opinion

Dave Farber, Internet's "grandfather," Seeks to Cut Through Fog of Cyberwar

Over the last few years, the rhetoric if not the actuality of cyberwarfare has been escalating.

Can Patents Keep ­p with Technology?
From ACM Opinion

Can Patents Keep ­p with Technology?


When Will Smartglasses and Other Wearable Computers Hit the Mainstream?
From ACM Opinion

When Will Smartglasses and Other Wearable Computers Hit the Mainstream?

Google has stoked our collective imagination via relentless promotion of its Google Glass wearable computer in recent months.

Is High-Tech Security at Public Events Counterproductive?
From ACM Opinion

Is High-Tech Security at Public Events Counterproductive?

Which is more intrusive: security screening and metal detectors every few blocks, or a drone flying high above it taking video of every little thing you do?

Why Retina Displays and 4k Tvs May Not Be Worth the Trouble
From ACM Opinion

Why Retina Displays and 4k Tvs May Not Be Worth the Trouble

When Apple unveiled its Retina screen on the iPhone 4, the world gasped.

When Will the Internet Reach Its Limit (and How Do We Stop It from Happening)?
From ACM Opinion

When Will the Internet Reach Its Limit (and How Do We Stop It from Happening)?

The number of smartphones, tablets and other network-connected gadgets will outnumber humans by the end of the year.

Apple Shouldn't Make Software Look Like Real Objects
From ACM Opinion

Apple Shouldn't Make Software Look Like Real Objects

Last fall Apple fired executive Scott Forstall, considered by many to be a Steve Jobs protégé.

Chipmaker Races to Save Stephen Hawking's Speech as His Condition Deteriorates
From ACM Opinion

Chipmaker Races to Save Stephen Hawking's Speech as His Condition Deteriorates

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has long relied on technology to help him connect with the outside world despite the degenerative motor neuron disease he has...
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