Communications of the ACM
The opinion archive provides access to past opinion stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
June 2013
From ACM Opinion
The Prism
An extraordinary fuss about eavesdropping started in the spring of 1844, when Giuseppe Mazzini, an Italian exile in London, became convinced that the British government was opening his mail.
From ACM Opinion
Will the NSA Rethink Its Data Collection System?
Weekend Edition Sunday Host Rachel Martin talks to Joel Brenner, former senior counsel at the National Security Agency, about whether the NSA can protect Americans' privacy while also collecting foreign intelligence through its
…From ACM Opinion
Microsoft's U.S. Law Enforcement and National Security Requests for Last Half of 2012
This afternoon we are publishing additional information about the volume of law enforcement and national security orders served on Microsoft. For the first time, we are permitted to include the total volume of national security
…From ACM Opinion
Connecting the Dots on PRISM, Phone Surveillance, and the NSA's Massive Spy Center
Physically, the NSA has always been well protected by miles of high fences and electrified wire, thousands of cameras, and gun-toting guards.
From ACM Careers
The Secret to a Video-Game Phenomenon
All video-game makers are minor gods.
From ACM Opinion
Why Google Is the Big Data Company That Matters Most
Every now and then, someone asks "Who’ll be the Google of big data?"
From ACM Opinion
It's Time to Rewrite the Internet to Give Us Better Privacy, and Security
Almost 15 years ago, as I was just finishing a book about the relationship between the Net (we called it "cyberspace" then) and civil liberties, a few ideas seemed so obvious as to be banal...
From ACM Opinion
Balancing Security and Liberty in the Age of Big Data
A very large Internet company once had the noble impulse to share some of its data with the research community.
From ACM Opinion
Blowing a Whistle
I'm glad I live in a country with people who are vigilant in defending civil liberties.
From ACM Opinion
Fixing the Digital Economy
Two big trends in the world appear to contradict each other.
From ACM Opinion
Let's Rescue Metadata From the Spy Agencies
Once the civil libertarians have had their say, let's hope the really interesting questions start being asked.
From ACM Opinion
What Would Happen If All Satellites Stopped Working?
We may not always realise it, but we depend on space technology orbiting the Earth.
From ACM Opinion
'We Will Be Amazed By the Diversity of Exoplanets'
The Kepler space telescope's search may be at an end, but Didier Queloz, who found the first world around a sunlike star, says more planet hunts are afoot.
From ACM Opinion
Apple's New Mobile OS Is All about Ive
For Apple, there's a lot riding on iOS 7, the newest version of its mobile software and the first refresh overseen by veteran industrial design head Jonathan Ive.
From ACM Opinion
Why Americans Don't Fear the NSA
Cybersnooping was always scheduled to be an important topic during President Obama’s meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
From ACM Opinion
How to Protect Yourself from the Online Axis of Evil
North Korea and Iran are viewed as threats to the world because of their potential to field weapons of mass destruction, but they are far more likely to focus their malfeasance on "mass disruption" via cyber attacks.
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.
From ACM Opinion
Who's Watching You? Not Just the NSA.
While you were tweeting an Instagram of your home-cooked tikka masala last night, we learned that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been collecting data on millions of Verizon customers.
From ACM Opinion
Opening Dropbox
If you walk the halls at MIT, you may notice a lot of students wearing T-shirts bearing the Dropbox logo. It's a simple design—an opened box—but one that carries outsize significance at the Institute: Alumnus Drew Houston '05
…From ACM Opinion
Would You Go Full Cyborg?
It's only a matter of time, really. Google Glass, Epson's Movierio, the Oculus Rift, and similar technologies are at the cutting edge of wearable technologies. Sci-fi has certainly given us a glimpse at the potential future:
…From ACM Opinion
Make Patent Trolls Pay in Court
From an early age we are taught the importance of fighting fairly.
From ACM Opinion
Our Guts May Hate Mars
Eighty thousand people recently applied for a trip to Mars, an excursion that will allegedly be funded by selling reality-TV show rights for the voyage.
From ACM Opinion
MIT's Magic Bag Of Sand
The camera pushes in. And there, near the meridian line, you see a faint scattering of red lights. Something is in the tar. And it's glowing.
From ACM Opinion
Patent Trolls Are a Serious Threat to U.S. Innovation
At last, some good news about America's dysfunctional patent system: the White House has noticed there's a problem.
From ACM Opinion
As Facebook Grows Up, Grand Ambitions Get Reality Check
Facebook, which once seemed poised to take over the Internet, is showing its limitations: a host of newer services are gaining ground among trend-setting youth; a much-hyped smartphone app has received a tepid response; and grand
…From ACM Opinion
The Trouble With Neuroscience
No crevice of the human experience is safe.
From ACM Opinion
Wearable Computing Pioneer Says Google Glass Offers 'Killer Existence'
Few gadgets have generated as much excitement and hostility as Google Glass, a voice-activated computer-monitor combo worn on eyeglass frames.
From ACM Opinion
Google+ Isn't a Social Network; It's The Matrix
Pretty much everyone (myself included) has been reading Google+ wrongly.
From ACM Opinion
Senator Rand Paul Talks Tech, Civil Liberties, and Keeping the Government Out of Your Email
Rand Paul is having some problems with the jerks back at the office. So today he's bypassing them on a road trip through Silicon Valley.
From ACM Opinion
Forget Google Glass. These Are the Interfaces of the Future
When we talk about design nowadays, the focus has been on the lures (or dangers) of flat design and skeumorphism; whether there should be (or really are any) intuitive interfaces; and wearable, maybe "disappearing" interfaces
…
Coping With Linux Distro Fragmentation (Visualized in One Giant Diagram)
05.30.2013I describe software incompatibility problems caused by fragmentation in Linux-based operating systems and present one potential solution.
On the Pleasures of Teaching Computer Science Students
05.23.2013A short reflection on the rewarding experience of teaching students at the time of year when students' degrees are awarded.