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dateMore Than a Year Ago
subjectHardware
authorThe Atlantic
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How Electronic Voting Could ­ndermine the Election
From ACM Opinion

How Electronic Voting Could ­ndermine the Election

It's 2016: What possible reason is there to vote on paper? When we use touchscreens to communicate, work, and shop, why can't we use similar technology to vote?

The Lopsided Geography of Wikipedia
From ACM Opinion

The Lopsided Geography of Wikipedia

Think about how often, in the course of a week, you visit Wikipedia.

What Happens If Gps Fails?
From ACM Opinion

What Happens If Gps Fails?

In only took thirteen millionths of a second to cause a whole lot of problems.

Will the Constitution Protect Your Next Smartphone?
From ACM Opinion

Will the Constitution Protect Your Next Smartphone?

More than a decade ago, the keynote speaker at a major annual cybersecurity conference strode into the spotlight and predicted the death of the password.

Elegy For the Capital-I Internet
From ACM Opinion

Elegy For the Capital-I Internet

We've long stopped referring to the Internet as "the information superhighway," but there was a reason for the metaphor.

The Privacy Problem with Digital Assistants
From ACM Opinion

The Privacy Problem with Digital Assistants

For the last century, we've imagined a future where we're surrounded by robotic butlers that are classy, smart, and discreet.

The Seven Deadly Social Networks
From ACM Opinion

The Seven Deadly Social Networks

Almost five years ago, in a soliloquy transcribed by The Wall Street Journal, Reid Hoffman suggested a comprehensive theory of social-network success.

You Can't Escape Data Surveillance In America
From ACM Opinion

You Can't Escape Data Surveillance In America

In America, surveillance has always played an outsized role in the relationship between creditors and debtors.

One Easy Way to Make Wikipedia Better
From ACM Opinion

One Easy Way to Make Wikipedia Better

The Pacific Northwest tree octopus existed years before Wikipedia was founded. I’m using "existed" loosely here, of course, because there's no such thing as a Pacific...

How Early Computer Games Influenced Internet Culture
From ACM Opinion

How Early Computer Games Influenced Internet Culture

Sometimes it seems the Internet is, at its core, a tremendous nostalgia machine.

Why Technological Innovation Relies on Government Support
From ACM Opinion

Why Technological Innovation Relies on Government Support

Andy Grove, the Silicon Valley pioneer who died last week at age 79, was many things: a survivor of the Nazi occupation of Hungary and refugee of Cold War Eastern...

How Self-Driving Cars Will Threaten Privacy
From ACM Opinion

How Self-Driving Cars Will Threaten Privacy

Allow me to join you, if I may, on your morning commute sometime in the indeterminate future.

Toward the End of Pilots
From ACM Opinion

Toward the End of Pilots

A memory that’s stayed with me from my stint in the military nearly 50 years ago is a sign that my supply sergeant kept on his desk: "We’ve been working with less...

Can Google's Driverless Car Project Survive a Fatal Accident?
From ACM Opinion

Can Google's Driverless Car Project Survive a Fatal Accident?

Everybody knew this day would come.

How to Build an ­nbeatable Poker-Playing Robot
From ACM Opinion

How to Build an ­nbeatable Poker-Playing Robot

Each summer, the computer-science researchers behind the world's best poker-playing robots bring their creations together for a tournament.

How the Microscope Redefined the Fact
From ACM Opinion

How the Microscope Redefined the Fact

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but the inverse is also true: A word is worth a thousand pictures.

A New and Stunning Way to See the Whole Earth
From ACM Opinion

A New and Stunning Way to See the Whole Earth

The Japanese weather satellite Himawari-8 sits 22,000 miles from Earth in orbit. On August 5, 2015, it peered down at the half of Earth that it can see, a hemisphere...

Planet Nine May Help ­S Slingshot Our Way to Interstellar Space
From ACM Opinion

Planet Nine May Help ­S Slingshot Our Way to Interstellar Space

In his famous sonnet, On First Looking into Chapman's Homer, John Keats describes the moment he first came to appreciate some of the great works of classical antiquity...

The Long and Winding History of Encryption
From ACM Opinion

The Long and Winding History of Encryption

Never in history have more people had access to advanced encryption in their homes, offices, and pockets.

How the Internet of Things Limits Consumer Choice
From ACM Opinion

How the Internet of Things Limits Consumer Choice

In theory, the Internet of Things—the connected network of tiny computers inside home appliances, household objects, even clothing—promises to make your life easier...
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