Vinton G. Cerf – Page 7 – Communications of the ACM

Opinion May 1 2017

Online social media have provided a megaphone for voices that might not have been heard except in limited circles. The amplifying effect, however, gives visibility to deliberate (or ignorant) misinformation, hate speech, incitement to violence, and advocacy of terrorism.

Computing Applications

Google Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist Vinton G. Cerf

Opinion Apr 1 2017

A Genetic Theory of the Silicon Valley Phenomenon

What is it about the residents of Silicon Valley that encourages risk taking? I have often wondered about that and have reached an interesting, if possibly controversial conclusion.

Computing Profession

Opinion Mar 1 2017

Grumpy Old Cells

I am going way out on a limb in this column into an area where I really know very little but am completely fascinated by what I am learning. The tenuous linkage to our discipline is what I will call programmed cell self-destruction or maybe cell suicide.

Computing Applications

Opinion Feb 1 2017

Social and Ethical Behavior in the Internet of Things

"Denial-of-service" cyberattacks require us to up our technical game in Internet security and safety. They also expose the need to frame and enforce social and ethical behavior, privacy, and appropriate use in Internet environments.

Computing Profession

Opinion Jan 1 2017

Information and Misinformation on the Internet

The Internet influenced the decisions of voters in both the June 2016 U.K. referendum on European Union membership and the November 2016 U.S. elections. The disturbing aspect of these is the quantity of poor-quality content, the production of deliberately false information, and the reinforcement of bad information through the social media.

Computing Profession

Opinion Dec 1 2016

When Email Isn’t Private

Is email ever private? It seems clear that we need standards and agreements to protect email while in transit between mail transfer agents and between users and transfer agents.

Computing Applications

Opinion Nov 1 2016

Heidelberg Anew

We are reaching an exciting period in scientific discovery in which computation is as important as laboratory experiment and observation.

Computing Profession

Opinion Oct 1 2016

‘We’re Going Backward!’

The Greeks and the Romans carved letters in stone and these are still eminently readable over 2,000 years later. Newer media have not been around as long but I think it is arguable that the more recent media do not have the resilience of stone or baked clay.

Computing Applications

Opinion Sep 1 2016

Keeping the Internet Open

To those who have spoken for and who espouse an open and welcoming Internet now falls the task of keeping it that way. To do so will require more than words and argument.

Computing Profession

Opinion Aug 1 2016

Star Struck in Lindau

Since 1951, there has been an annual meeting of Nobel laureates. It was decided last year to have a Nobel laureate address the participants of the Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF) and to have an HLF laureate address the participants of the Nobel annual meeting.

Computing Profession

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