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dateMore Than a Year Ago
subjectComputers And Society
authorThe New York Times
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Modern Explorers Seek a Place in a Gps World
From ACM Opinion

Modern Explorers Seek a Place in a Gps World

Eric Larsen seemed ill at ease in his tuxedo.

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...

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.

Here's What Will Truly Change Higher Education: Online Degrees That Are Seen as Official
From ACM Opinion

Here's What Will Truly Change Higher Education: Online Degrees That Are Seen as Official

Three years ago, technology was going to transform higher education. What happened?

Outing A.I.: Beyond the Turing Test
From ACM Opinion

Outing A.I.: Beyond the Turing Test

Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) is having a moment, albeit one marked by crucial ambiguities.

Google, Mighty Now, but Not Forever
From ACM Opinion

Google, Mighty Now, but Not Forever

Technology giants often meet their end not with a bang but a whimper, a slow, imperceptible descent into irrelevancy that may not immediately be reflected in the...

A Future Segregated By Science?
From ACM Opinion

A Future Segregated By Science?

Few women and minorities are getting STEM degrees, although STEM jobs are multiplying and pay more than many other careers. Will our future be delineated by who...

A Retreat For Google Glass and a Case Study in the Perils of Making Hardware
From ACM Opinion

A Retreat For Google Glass and a Case Study in the Perils of Making Hardware

You won't have Glass to kick around anymore. At least not for a while.

Death By Robot
From ACM Opinion

Death By Robot

Imagine it's a Sunday in the not-too-distant future.

Do Aliens Know It's Christmas?
From ACM Opinion

Do Aliens Know It's Christmas?

A star appeared in the East.

The Lesson of the Sony Hack: We Should All Jump to the 'erasable Internet'
From ACM Opinion

The Lesson of the Sony Hack: We Should All Jump to the 'erasable Internet'

This month's news provides yet another occasion for a friendly public-service reminder to anyone who uses a digital device to say anything to anyone, ever.

Turing's Spirit Hovers at a Restored Estate
From ACM Opinion

Turing's Spirit Hovers at a Restored Estate

When "Captain Ridley's shooting party" gathered here in late August 1938 as weekend guests at Bletchley Park, a Buckinghamshire country house, they were accompanied...

­ber, a Start-­p Going So Fast It Could Miss a Turn
From ACM Opinion

­ber, a Start-­p Going So Fast It Could Miss a Turn

In just four years of operation, Uber has ignited a new global ride-sharing industry with the promise of transforming urban transportation and helping many people...

Artificial Intelligence as a Threat
From ACM Opinion

Artificial Intelligence as a Threat

Ebola sounds like the stuff of nightmares. Bird flu and SARS also send shivers down my spine.

Demystifying the Mooc
From ACM Opinion

Demystifying the Mooc

When massive open online courses first grabbed the spotlight in 2011, many saw in them promise of a revolutionary force that would disrupt traditional higher education...

When Iphones Ring, the Economy Listens
From ACM Opinion

When Iphones Ring, the Economy Listens

Gloomy economic news and the wild swings of the stock market may be getting you down. But at least you can count on this: We’ve entered the sweet spot of the ...

Christine Kenneally's 'invisible History of the Human Race'
From ACM Opinion

Christine Kenneally's 'invisible History of the Human Race'

Of Christine Kenneally’s father’s father—a man neither Kenneally nor her father ever knew, a man who did the deed requisite to reproduction and promptly vanished—she...

To Siri, With Love
From ACM Opinion

To Siri, With Love

Just how bad a mother am I? I wondered, as I watched my 13-year-old son deep in conversation with Siri.

Why Germans Are Afraid of Google
From ACM Opinion

Why Germans Are Afraid of Google

These days Germany is known for being many things: a leader in clean technology, a manufacturing powerhouse, Europe's foreign policy center.

Every Computer System Can Be Compromised
From ACM Opinion

Every Computer System Can Be Compromised

Unfortunately, there are many risks inherent in online banking and debit cards.
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