March 2018 - Vol. 61 No. 3

Features

Opinion Editor's letter Mar 1 2018

Here Comes Everybody . . . to Communications

I am pleased to announce a new Communications of the ACM initiative with the ambitious goal of expanding the Communications community globally to include important voices and perspectives in the conversation about the present and future of computing.

Andrew A. Chien

Computing Profession

Opinion Cerf's up Mar 1 2018

Unintended Consequences

The Internet as we know it today has driven the barrier to the generation and sharing of information to nearly zero. But there are consequences of the reduced threshold for access to the Internet.

Vinton G. Cerf

Computing Profession

Opinion Vardi's insights Mar 1 2018

A Declaration of the Dependence of Cyberspace

Just as you cannot separate the mind and the body, you cannot separate cyberspace and physical space. It is time to accept this dependence and act accordingly.

Moshe Y. Vardi

Computing Applications

Opinion Letters to the editor Mar 1 2018

Keep the ACM Code of Ethics As It Is

The proposed changes to the ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct as discussed in "ACM Code of Ethics: A Guide for Positive Action" (Digital Edition, Jan. 2018), are generally misguided and should be rejected by the ACM membership.

CACM Staff

Computing Profession

BLOG@CACM Mar 1 2018

The Costs and Pleasures of a Computer Science Teacher

Mark Guzdial considers the enormous opportunity costs of computer science teachers, while Bertrand Meyer ponders the pleasures of arguing with graduate students.

Mark Guzdial and Bertrand Meyer

Computing Profession

News Mar 1 2018

In Pursuit of Virtual Life

Scientists are simulating biological organisms and replicating evolution in the lab. How far can they expand the boundaries of virtual life?

Samuel Greengard

Architecture and Hardware

digital reconstruction of neocortical microcircuitry

News Mar 1 2018

The Construction Industry in the 21st Century

Three-dimensional printing and other new technologies are revitalizing the business of building buildings.

Keith Kirkpatrick

Computing Profession

The Construction Industry in the 21st Century, illustrative photo

News Mar 1 2018

The State of Fakery

How digital media could be authenticated, from computational, legal, and ethical points of view.

Esther Shein

Computing Profession

Opinion Privacy and security Mar 1 2018

Making Security Sustainable

Can there be an Internet of durable goods?

Ross Anderson

Security and Privacy

Making Security Sustainable, illustration

Opinion Legally speaking Mar 1 2018

Will the Supreme Court Nix Reviews of Bad Patents?

Considering the longer-term implications of a soon-to-be-decided U.S. Supreme Court case.

Pamela Samuelson

Computing Profession

Opinion Computing ethics Mar 1 2018

Ethics Omission Increases Gases Emission

A look in the rearview mirror at Volkswagon software engineering.

Simon Rogerson

Computing Profession

Opinion The profession of IT Mar 1 2018

The Computing Profession

Taking stock of progress toward a computing profession since this column started in 2001.

Peter J. Denning

Computing Profession

Opinion Viewpoint Mar 1 2018

Impediments with Policy Interventions to Foster Cybersecurity

A call for discussion of governmental investment and intervention in support of cybersecurity.

Fred B. Schneider

Computing Profession

Impediments with Policy Interventions to Foster Cybersecurity, illustration

Opinion Viewpoint Mar 1 2018

Responsible Research with Crowds: Pay Crowdworkers at Least Minimum Wage

High-level guidelines for the treatment of crowdworkers.

Computing Profession

Opinion Viewpoint Mar 1 2018

Computational Social Science ≠ Computer Science + Social Data

The important intersection of computer science and social science.

Hanna Wallach

Computing Profession

Computational Social Science, illustration

Practice Mar 1 2018

Bitcoin’s Underlying Incentives

The unseen economic forces that govern the Bitcoin protocol.

Yonatan Sompolinsky and Aviv Zohar

Computing Applications

Bitcoin's Underlying Incentives, illustration

Practice Mar 1 2018

Operational Excellence in April Fools’ Pranks

Being funny is serious work.

Thomas A. Limoncelli

Computing Applications

Dance Dance Authenication, screen capture

Practice Mar 1 2018

Monitoring in a DevOps World

Perfect should never be the enemy of better.

Theo Schlossnagle

Computing Applications

Monitoring in a DevOps World, illustration

Research and Advances Contributed articles Mar 1 2018

A Programmable Programming Language

As the software industry enters the era of language-oriented programming, it needs programmable programming languages.

Computing Applications

A Programmable Programming Language, illustration

Research and Advances Contributed articles Mar 1 2018

The Wisdom of Older Technology (Non)Users

Older adults consistently reject digital technology even when designed to be accessible and trustworthy.

Bran Knowles and Vicki L. Hanson

Architecture and Hardware

The Wisdom of Older Technology (Non)Users, illustrative photo

Research and Advances Contributed articles Mar 1 2018

Evolution Toward Soft(er) Products

As software becomes a larger part of all products, traditional (hardware) manufacturers are becoming, in essence, software companies.

Tony Gorschek

Architecture and Hardware

Evolution Toward Soft(er) Products, illustration

Research and Advances Review articles Mar 1 2018

How Can We Trust a Robot?

If intelligent robots take on a larger role in our society, what basis will humans have for trusting them?

Benjamin Kuipers

Architecture and Hardware

Research and Advances Research highlights Mar 1 2018

Technical Perspective: A Graph-Theoretic Framework Traces Task Planning

In "Time-Inconsistent Planning: A Computational Problem in Behavioral Economics," Kleinberg and Oren describe a graph-theoretic framework for task planning with quasi-hyperbolic discounting.

Nicole Immorlica

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Research highlights Mar 1 2018

Time-Inconsistent Planning: A Computational Problem in Behavioral Economics

We propose a graph-theoretic model of tasks and goals, in which dependencies among actions are represented by a directed graph, and a time-inconsistent agent constructs a path through this graph.

Jon Kleinberg and Sigal Oren

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Research highlights Mar 1 2018

Technical Perspective: On Heartbleed: A Hard Beginnyng Makth a Good Endyng

When a serious security vulnerability is discovered in the SSL/TLS protocol, one would naturally expect a rapid response. "Analysis of SSL Certificate Reissues and Revocations in the Wake of Heartbleed," by Zhang et al., paints a very different picture in the context of the famous Heartbleed vulnerability.

Kenny Paterson

Computing Profession

Research and Advances Research highlights Mar 1 2018

Analysis of SSL Certificate Reissues and Revocations in the Wake of Heartbleed

We use Heartbleed, a widespread OpenSSL vulnerability from 2014, as a natural experiment to determine whether administrators are properly managing their X.509 certificates.

Computing Profession

Opinion Last byte Mar 1 2018

Q&A: The Network Effect

The developer of convolutional neural networks looks at their impact, today and in the long run.

Leah Hoffmann

Architecture and Hardware

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