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dateMore Than a Year Ago
subjectSoftware
authorThe Atlantic
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Beware the Listening Machines
From ACM Opinion

Beware the Listening Machines

One of my great pleasures in life is attending conferences on fields I'm intrigued by, but know nothing about.

The Myth of a Borderless Internet
From ACM Opinion

The Myth of a Borderless Internet

Almost a decade ago now, McDonald's made a seemingly innocuous decision.

The Military Origins of Wearable Tech, a Century Before the Apple Watch
From ACM Opinion

The Military Origins of Wearable Tech, a Century Before the Apple Watch

On July 9, 1916, The New York Times puzzled over a fashion trend: Europeans were starting to wear bracelets with clocks on them.

Immortal But Damned to Hell on Earth
From ACM Opinion

Immortal But Damned to Hell on Earth

Imagine a supercomputer so advanced that it could hold the contents of a human brain.

Hacking the Brain
From ACM Opinion

Hacking the Brain

The perfectibility of the human mind is a theme that has captured our imagination for centuries—the notion that, with the right tools, the right approach, the right...

Facebook Is Eating the Internet
From ACM Careers

Facebook Is Eating the Internet

Facebook, it seems, is unstoppable. The social publishing site, just 11 years old, is now the dominant force in American media.

Even Computers Are ­nsure About Their March Madness Brackets
From ACM Opinion

Even Computers Are ­nsure About Their March Madness Brackets

By this point of March Madness, with three games left in the men's NCAA basketball tournament, most brackets are busted.

How Isis Succeeds on Social Media Where #stopkony Fails
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...

Finding Out What the Past Smelled Like
From ACM Opinion

Finding Out What the Past Smelled Like

It was the smell that hit me first, a heady mixture of roasting meat, woodsmoke, and farmyard manure.

Jet Lag Is Worse on Mars
From ACM Opinion

Jet Lag Is Worse on Mars

What would you do with an extra 40 minutes in a day?

The Robot That Knows When to Swipe Right
From ACM Opinion

The Robot That Knows When to Swipe Right

I have come to think of Tinder as a sort algorithm for the mind.

Televised Football Is Looking More Like a Video Game—in Subtle Ways
From ACM Opinion

Televised Football Is Looking More Like a Video Game—in Subtle Ways

It is impossible to consider American football without considering television.

The Cathedral of Computation
From ACM Opinion

The Cathedral of Computation

Algorithms are everywhere, supposedly.

The Voice-Activated Video Game
From ACM Opinion

The Voice-Activated Video Game

When he was in grad school, the roboticist Daniel Wilson installed 150 binary sensors in his house.

The Adultery Arms Race
From ACM Opinion

The Adultery Arms Race

Jay's wife, Ann, was supposed to be out of town on business.

When Everything Works Like Your Cell Phone
From ACM Opinion

When Everything Works Like Your Cell Phone

Everyone understands what it means to own a plunger.

The Internet Is Losing Interest in Computers
From ACM Opinion

The Internet Is Losing Interest in Computers

You may know Google Trends.

Want to Reform the Nsa? Give Edward Snowden Immunity
From ACM Opinion

Want to Reform the Nsa? Give Edward Snowden Immunity

In 1970, Christopher Pyle disclosed in public writing that the U.S. Army was running a domestic intelligence program aimed at anti-war and civil-rights activists...

The Coming Age of the Internet Naturalist
From ACM Careers

The Coming Age of the Internet Naturalist

Three years ago, Shaun Winterton was looking at photos of bugs on Flickr.

The New Editors of the Internet
From ACM Opinion

The New Editors of the Internet

Bowing to their better civic natures, and the pleas of James Foley's family, Twitter and YouTube have pulled down videos and photos of his murder.
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