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Communications of the ACM

Opinion Archive


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The opinion archive provides access to past opinion stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.

July 2013


From ACM Careers

The Brains Behind Research on the Brain

The Brains Behind Research on the Brain

While studying physics and electrical engineering as an MIT undergraduate in the late 1990s, Mehmet Fatih Yanik managed to avoid taking any biology classes until his final semester, when he was forced to sign up for a course.


From ACM Opinion

Ex-­saf Chief Scientist Likens ­.s. Cybersecurity Challenge to Whac-A-Mole

Ex-­saf Chief Scientist Likens ­.s. Cybersecurity Challenge to Whac-A-Mole

From his vantage point as chief scientist of the U.S. Air Force, Mark Maybury had a bird’s-eye view of myriad advantages and challenges that modern technology presents not only to the military but also to society as a whole.


From ACM TechNews

Q&a: Tiffani Williams, Computer Scientist, on Creating an Open Source Tree of Life

Q&a: Tiffani Williams, Computer Scientist, on Creating an Open Source Tree of Life

The Open Tree of Life project aims to develop an open source compendium of existing knowledge on thousands of plant and animal species. 


From ACM Opinion

A Day in the Life of My Iphone

A Day in the Life of My Iphone

Each morning at 7 a.m., I am awakened by the sound of a spaceship next to my bed.


From ACM Opinion

Mail from the (velvet) Cybercrime ­nderground

Mail from the (velvet) Cybercrime ­nderground

Over the past six months, "fans" of this Web site and its author have shown their affection in some curious ways.


From ACM Opinion

Ars Speaks with Vocal Nsa Critic Sen. Ron Wyden

Ars Speaks with Vocal Nsa Critic Sen. Ron Wyden

As a series of top-secret NSA documents have been leaked over the past several weeks, the issue of widespread government surveillance has been front-and-center in the public eye.


From ACM Opinion

Software-Defined Data Centers Could Change the It Landscape

Software-Defined Data Centers Could Change the It Landscape

IT vendors like VMware, Red Hat and Citrix are close to realizing a decades-old vision of virtualized data centers, which could usher in an era of commoditized hardware and self-service IT.


From ACM Opinion

Justice For Alan Turing?

Justice For Alan Turing?

What do we do with the knowledge that people not all that different from ourselves have behaved with astounding stupidity and cruelty, over and over again, in the recent past?


From ACM Opinion

Quantum Computers Will Give Artificial Intelligence Big Boost, Studies Suggest

Quantum Computers Will Give Artificial Intelligence Big Boost, Studies Suggest

Quantum computers of the future will have the potential to give artificial intelligence a major boost, a series of studies suggests.


From ACM Opinion

Eff to Court: Forced Decryption ­nconstitutional

Eff to Court: Forced Decryption ­nconstitutional

You shouldn't have to surrender your constitutional rights in order to safeguard your electronic privacy.


From ACM Opinion

Could the Government Get a Search Warrant For Your Thoughts?

Could the Government Get a Search Warrant For Your Thoughts?

We don't have a mind reading machine.


From ACM Opinion

I'm Still Waiting For My Phone to Become My Wallet

I'm Still Waiting For My Phone to Become My Wallet

During the sweltering heat wave earlier this month, it seemed too hot to wear much, carry much or do much of anything at all.


From ACM TechNews

Ajay Bhatt: Intel's Rock-Star Inventor

Ajay Bhatt: Intel's Rock-Star Inventor

Intel engineer Ajay Bhatt invented the universal serial bus (USB) port about 25 years ago. He currently is analyzing PC architecture to provide portable computers with the power efficiency required to last all day.  


From ACM Opinion

The Mooc Racket

The Mooc Racket

The word mooc sounds a bit like slang from Goodfellas or the affectionate shortening of the already-affectionate name of a former outfielder for the New York Mets. In fact, a MOOC is a new kind of college-like experience that…


From ACM Opinion

The Immigrant Brain Drain: How America Is Losing Its High-Tech Talent

The Immigrant Brain Drain: How America Is Losing Its High-Tech Talent

Vivek Wadhwa of Duke University questions the claim that competition from high-tech guest workers in the United States is keeping domestic workers' wages low and making it harder for native STEM graduates to find jobs in…


From ACM Opinion

The Youtube Tutor

The Youtube Tutor

In 2006 Salman Khan logged on to YouTube and uploaded a handful of videos he had made to help his cousins with their homework. Today six million students visit the Khan Academy each mont.


From ACM Opinion

To Develop Tomorrow's Engineers, Start Before They Can Tie Their Shoes

To Develop Tomorrow's Engineers, Start Before They Can Tie Their Shoes

Think "student engineers" and you probably have visions of high school or college students.


From ACM Opinion

Technology to Protect Against Mass Surveillance

Technology to Protect Against Mass Surveillance

In the past several weeks, EFF has received many requests for advice about privacy tools that provide technological shields against mass surveillance.


From ACM Opinion

How Protecting Your Privacy Could Make You the Bad Guy

How Protecting Your Privacy Could Make You the Bad Guy

There's a funny catch-22 when it comes to privacy best practices.


From ACM Opinion

Smart Phones Mean You Will No Longer Have to Memorize Facts

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 Adams …"


From ACM Opinion

The Paradox of Wearable Technologies

The Paradox of Wearable Technologies

Ever talk to someone at a party or conference reception only to discover that the person you are talking to is constantly scanning the room, looking this way and that, perhaps finding you boring, perhaps looking for someone more…


From ACM Opinion

Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales Explains Its Mission to Be Mainstream

Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales Explains Its Mission to Be Mainstream

Wikipedia is expanding its major new "open data" initiative, expanding tools that allow developers to use its content on other websites and simplifying its editing tools to appeal to more mainstream web users.


From ACM Opinion

Did Facebook Miss a Massive Opportunity By Building a Walled Garden Instead of a Truly Open Platform?

Did Facebook Miss a Massive Opportunity By Building a Walled Garden Instead of a Truly Open Platform?

When Facebook first launched its platform strategy in 2007, it seemed as though a new world of opportunity had opened up for anyone interested in the social web—a kind of social operating system that they could build on and extend…


From ACM Opinion

Microsoft Is Doomed, But First It's Going to Make a Ton of Money

Microsoft Is Doomed, But First It's Going to Make a Ton of Money

Microsoft stock lost about 10 percent of its value in the wake of a quarterly earnings report on Thursday that investors deemed sub-par. Yet revenue for the second quarter was up 10 percent, to $19.9 billion.


From ACM Opinion

Hands On the Wheel, Mind On the Road–not Cyberspace

Hands On the Wheel, Mind On the Road–not Cyberspace

Makers of cars and mobile electronics are pushing a tempting vision of the future. It is one in which you can stay fully connected while driving.


From ACM Opinion

E-Book Vs. P-Book

E-Book Vs. P-Book

When Barnes & Noble announced, a couple of weeks ago, that its Nook division lost almost five hundred million dollars last year and that its C.E.O. was resigning, there was one obvious conclusion: the company was doomed.


From ACM Opinion

Douglas Engelbart’s ­nfinished Revolution

Douglas Engelbart’s ­nfinished Revolution

Doug Engelbart knew that his obituaries would laud him as "Inventor of the Mouse."


From ACM Opinion

Nsa Can Reportedly Track Phones Even When They're Turned Off

Nsa Can Reportedly Track Phones Even When They're Turned Off

The NSA has a diverse range of surveillance capabilities—from monitoring Google Maps use to sifting through millions of phone call records and spying on Web searches.


From ACM Opinion

Your Creative, Open Hackathon Is Ripe For Legal Challenges

Your Creative, Open Hackathon Is Ripe For Legal Challenges

NASA's Space Apps Challenge recently became the world's largest open hackathon, with over 8,000 participants spanning 44 countries.


From ACM Opinion

Shutterstock's Chris Fischer: Making the Most of Open Source's 'huge Tech Edge'

Shutterstock's Chris Fischer: Making the Most of Open Source's 'huge Tech Edge'

"Some of the most mature databases have been open-source-based. Also, the most mature Web servers in the market are open source software. Considering the . . . capabilities of the technology, I would take open source over any…

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