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The Nsa's Cyber-King Goes Corporate
From ACM Opinion

The Nsa's Cyber-King Goes Corporate

Keith Alexander, the recently retired director of the National Security Agency, left many in Washington slack-jawed when it was reported that he might charge companies...

The Weird Reasons Why People Make ­p False Identities on the Internet
From ACM Opinion

The Weird Reasons Why People Make ­p False Identities on the Internet

Sockpuppetry—using false identities for deception—is centuries old, but the advent of the web has made creating sockpuppets, and falling for their tricks, easier...

Why Is Science Fiction So Hard to Define?
From ACM Opinion

Why Is Science Fiction So Hard to Define?

Time Out, the weekly listings magazine, recently ranked the 100 best sci-fi movies of all time.

How to Invent a Person Online
From ACM Opinion

How to Invent a Person Online

On April 8, 2013, I received an envelope in the mail from a nonexistent return address in Toledo, Ohio.

When Robots Come For Our Jobs, Will We Be Ready to Outsmart Them?
From ACM Opinion

When Robots Come For Our Jobs, Will We Be Ready to Outsmart Them?

Non-human employees are filling positions in all sorts of workplaces, and they are proving themselves to be fast, accurate, and reliable—more so than their human...

How the ­.s. Stumbled Into the Drone Era
From ACM Opinion

How the ­.s. Stumbled Into the Drone Era

On Sept. 7, 2000, in the waning days of the Clinton administration, a U.S. Predator drone flew over Afghanistan for the first time.

How to Talk About Blowing Things ­p in Cyberspace, According to the Military
From ACM Opinion

How to Talk About Blowing Things ­p in Cyberspace, According to the Military

Bombs are relatively simple, when you boil everything down.

Bletchley Park's Rebirth and Why It Matters
From ACM Opinion

Bletchley Park's Rebirth and Why It Matters

Twenty five years ago, the historic World War II codebreaking center Bletchley Park faced demolition.

Calling All Hackers: Help ­S Build an Open Wireless Router
From ACM Opinion

Calling All Hackers: Help ­S Build an Open Wireless Router

EFF is releasing an experimental hacker alpha release of wireless router software specifically designed to support secure, shareable Open Wireless networks.

The Hazards of Probing the Internet's Dark Side
From ACM Opinion

The Hazards of Probing the Internet's Dark Side

Late last year, hackers breached Target's data security and stole information from millions of credit cards.

Stop Complaining About the Facebook Study. It's a Golden Age For Research
From ACM Opinion

Stop Complaining About the Facebook Study. It's a Golden Age For Research

Several years ago, my student and I studied anonymous email server data from 40,000 students, faculty and staff at a large university.

Seeker, Doer, Giver, Ponderer
From ACM Opinion

Seeker, Doer, Giver, Ponderer

James H. Simons likes to play against type.

Keeping Time By Rubidium at the Naval Observatory
From ACM Careers

Keeping Time By Rubidium at the Naval Observatory

You know when you dial a number, and a man reads you the exact time at the tone? That precise timekeeping starts at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C.

7 Things You Should Know About Tor
From ACM Opinion

7 Things You Should Know About Tor

We posted last week about the Tor Challenge and why everyone should use Tor.

Snowden Asylum in Germany?
From ACM Opinion

Snowden Asylum in Germany?

Revelations by Edward Snowden about U.S. surveillance continue to shake Germany more than one year after he came forward as a National Security Agency whistleblower...

The Troubling Truth of Why It's Still So Hard to Share Files Directly
From ACM Opinion

The Troubling Truth of Why It's Still So Hard to Share Files Directly

It's not always easy to spot the compromises in the technology we use, where we've allowed corporate interests to trump public ideals like privacy and press freedom...

New N.s.a. Chief Calls Damage From Snowden Leaks Manageable
From ACM Opinion

New N.s.a. Chief Calls Damage From Snowden Leaks Manageable

The newly installed director of the National Security Agency says that while he has seen some terrorist groups alter their communications to avoid surveillance...

Larry Page on Google's Many Arms
From ACM Opinion

Larry Page on Google's Many Arms

One way to think of Google is as an extremely helpful, all-knowing, hyper-intelligent executive assistant.

The Beautiful, Invisible Game
From ACM Opinion

The Beautiful, Invisible Game

The first goal of the 2014 World Cup was Brazilian, and it was an own goal.

Google's Sundar Pichai Is the Most Powerful Man in Mobile
From ACM Opinion

Google's Sundar Pichai Is the Most Powerful Man in Mobile

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, Samsung introduced new software for its tablets, called the Magazine UX.
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