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A New Way to Navigate the Streets of Google Maps
From ACM Opinion

A New Way to Navigate the Streets of Google Maps

Today we're introducing our most ambitious update yet: PAC-Maps.

Germanwings Flight 9525, Technology, and the Question of Trust
From ACM Opinion

Germanwings Flight 9525, Technology, and the Question of Trust

Shortly before the dreadful crash of Germanwings Flight 9525, I happened to be reading part of "The Second Machine Age," a book by two academics at M.I.T., Erik...

First White House Data Chief Discusses His Top Priorities
From ACM Opinion

First White House Data Chief Discusses His Top Priorities

Data science is not entirely new to Washington, D.C.—nor is DJ Patil, who was recently named as the U.S.'s first chief data scientist.

David and Goliath: What Do We Do About Surveillance?
From ACM Opinion

David and Goliath: What Do We Do About Surveillance?

"Dear subscriber, you have been registered as a participant in a mass disturbance."

How Facebook's Chief Geek Will Meld Reality with the Oculus
From ACM Opinion

How Facebook's Chief Geek Will Meld Reality with the Oculus

Facebook chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer turned 40 last month. He (just barely) blew out a row of 40 candles during a mini-celebration at company headquarters...

Nsa Doesn't Need to Spy on Your Calls to Learn Your Secrets
From ACM Opinion

Nsa Doesn't Need to Spy on Your Calls to Learn Your Secrets

Governments and corporations gather, store, and analyze the tremendous amount of data we chuff out as we move through our digitized lives.

What If Web Search Results Were Based on Accuracy?
From ACM Opinion

What If Web Search Results Were Based on Accuracy?

Imagine, for a moment, that every Web search gave only accurate, verified information.

Toward More Secure Software
From Communications of the ACM

Toward More Secure Software

Two proposals intended to reduce flaws in software use two very different approaches for software security.

The Math of March Madness
From ACM Opinion

The Math of March Madness

The N.C.A.A. men's basketball tournament started Thursday, but for most Americans the real action began days before, as they pored over brackets, competing to make...

Reality Check: Comparing Hololens and Magic Leap
From ACM Opinion

Reality Check: Comparing Hololens and Magic Leap

I've seen two competing visions for a future in which virtual objects are merged seamlessly with the real world.

Dj Patil Talks Nerdy to ­S
From ACM Opinion

Dj Patil Talks Nerdy to ­S

DJ Patil was recently named the White House's deputy chief technology officer for data policy and chief data scientist, making him the first-ever national datacoined...

Edward Snowden Issues 'call to Arms' For Tech Companies in Secret Sxsw Meeting
From ACM Opinion

Edward Snowden Issues 'call to Arms' For Tech Companies in Secret Sxsw Meeting

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was a highlight of last year's SXSW, where he gave one of his first public speeches. This year, Snowden was back at SXSW—but only...

How Isis Succeeds on Social Media Where #stopkony Fails
From ACM Opinion

How Isis Succeeds on Social Media Where #stopkony Fails

Social networks offer an incredible tool for tapping into the collective unconscious, a virtual Jungian arena in which competition might be expected to amplify...

Don't Want Nsa to Spy on Your Email? 5 Things You Can Do
From ACM Opinion

Don't Want Nsa to Spy on Your Email? 5 Things You Can Do

More than half of Americans are worried about the U.S. government's digital spies prying into their emails, texts, search requests and other online information,...

So Sayeth Google
From ACM Opinion

So Sayeth Google

Search for "vaccines." At least within our filter bubble, the top item in Google's "In the news" section earlier this week was an anti-vax column about the "feds'...

Data and Goliath: Bruce Schneier on the Hidden Battles to Collect Your Data and Control Your World
From ACM Opinion

Data and Goliath: Bruce Schneier on the Hidden Battles to Collect Your Data and Control Your World

The book chronicles how governments and corporation have built an unprecedented surveillance state.

Teaching Robots to Be Moral
From ACM Opinion

Teaching Robots to Be Moral

"Chappie," the highest-grossing movie in America last weekend, is, to put it mildly, not a great film; the critics have given it a twenty-nine on Rotten Tomatoes...

Don't Edit the Human Germ Line
From ACM Opinion

Don't Edit the Human Germ Line

It is thought that studies involving the use of genome-editing tools to modify the DNA of human embryos will be published shortly.

The Disastrous Events That Would Break the Internet
From ACM Opinion

The Disastrous Events That Would Break the Internet

The Internet is unbreakable. At least, we think it is.

If an Algorithm Wrote This, How Would You Even Know?
From ACM Opinion

If an Algorithm Wrote This, How Would You Even Know?

Let me hazard a guess that you think a real person has written what you're reading. Maybe you're right. Maybe not.
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