Communications of the ACM
Why All Cryptocurrency Should "Die in a Fire"
Computer scientist Nicholas Weaver thinks cryptocurrency is a terrible idea that will end in disaster.
From ACM Opinion
The Flattening of Design
It might sound audacious to think that Microsoft, the arbiter of uncool, was at the forefront of design a few years ago. But it was.
From ACM Opinion
More Cracks ndermine the Citadel of Tv Profits
For the longest time in the media business, the concept of the bundle has been foundational.
From ACM Opinion
Mark Pincus Thinks Angry Birds Won't Hurt Your Kids
You are the founder and C.E.O. of Zynga, a company responsible for addictive games like FarmVille and the forthcoming Draw Something 2. You know, every time I see...
From ACM Opinion
The Child, the Tablet, and the Developing Mind
I recently watched my sister perform an act of magic.
From ACM Opinion
The Era of Deep Archiving Begins
As a Dartmouth student in the early 1970s, William McDonough went, somewhat casually, to hear a lecture by a visiting celebrity. Mr. McDonough had little idea beforehand...
From ACM Opinion
Googling You
The settlement last week between a group of state attorneys general and Google over the company’s improper data collection from home wireless networks shows the...
From ACM Opinion
A Museum's Games Are Not on Pedestals
Video games, as their name suggests, combine the ancient human practice of formal play with moving pictures, a younger form.
From ACM Opinion
With Playstation 4, Sony Aims For Return to Glory
For the Sony Corporation, a tech industry also-ran, the moment of reckoning is here.
From ACM Opinion
The Boy Wonder of Buzzfeed
"BenSmithing is now an official term!" shouted Michael Hastings, a BuzzFeed reporter and author, at his book release party in Chelsea on a subfreezing night in...
From ACM Opinion
A Fuzzy and Shifting Line Between Hacker and Criminal
In January 2011, I was assigned to cover a hearing in Newark, where Daniel Spitler, then 26, stood accused of breaching AT&T's servers and stealing 114,000 email...
From ACM Opinion
Sneaky Apps That Track Cellphones
A perversion of smartphone technology called "stalking apps"—precise, secretive trackings of the movements of cellphone users—is increasingly a matter of national...
From ACM Opinion
Planning His Legacy, Cisco Chief Maps an Expansion
John T. Chambers has readied his last great act as the leader of Cisco Systems, fearing major changes in the technology business that could doom his company.
From ACM Opinion
How to Devise Passwords That Drive Hackers Away
Not long after I began writing about cybersecurity, I became a paranoid caricature of my former self.
From ACM Opinion
Fresh Windows, but Where’s the Start Button?
Over the years, Keith McCarthy has become used to a certain way of doing things on his personal computers, which, like most others on the planet, have long run...
From ACM Opinion
And the Firewalls Came Tumbling Down
There's much to like about "This Machine Kills Secrets," Andy Greenberg's well-reported history of WikiLeaks and the many projects it has inspired, but one unintentionally...
From ACM Opinion
What Makes Google's Maps So Good
Wow. Nothing makes you appreciate something like losing it.
From ACM Opinion
The Internet? We Built That
Who created the Internet and why should we care? These questions, so often raised during the Bush-Gore election in 2000, have found their way back into the political...
From ACM Opinion
Why Wi-Fi Is Often So Slow
A number of Internet service providers, including Comcast Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc., have recently upped the maximum speeds of broadband they offer...
From ACM Opinion