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The Many Shades of Bad Physics
From ACM Opinion

The Many Shades of Bad Physics

What happens when you see bad physics in the world? Does it make you angry? Does it make you laugh?

How Fortnite Captured Teens' Hearts and Minds
From ACM Opinion

How Fortnite Captured Teens' Hearts and Minds

It was getting late in Tomato Town. The storm was closing in, and meteors pelted the ground.

'2001: A Space Odyssey' Is Still the '­ltimate Trip'
From ACM Opinion

'2001: A Space Odyssey' Is Still the '­ltimate Trip'

In the spring of 1964 the filmmaker Stanley Kubrick was very worried. NASA was about to fly the Mariner 4 space probe past Mars.

Nazis Pressed Ham Radio Hobbyists to Serve the Third Reich, but Surviving Came at a Price
From ACM Opinion

Nazis Pressed Ham Radio Hobbyists to Serve the Third Reich, but Surviving Came at a Price

When people have free and unfettered choices of activities, they both entertain and express themselves through their pastimes—whether stamp or coin collecting,...

Is the Law Ready for Driverless Cars?
From Communications of the ACM

Is the Law Ready for Driverless Cars?

Yes, with one big exception.

Scale or Fail
From Communications of the ACM

Scale or Fail

Moving beyond self-selected computer science education in Switzerland.

'2001: A Space Odyssey': What It Means, and How It Was Made
From ACM Opinion

'2001: A Space Odyssey': What It Means, and How It Was Made

Fifty years ago this spring, Stanley Kubrick's confounding sci-fi masterpiece, "2001: A Space Odyssey," had its premières across the country.

The Era of Fake Video Begins
From ACM Opinion

The Era of Fake Video Begins

In a dank corner of the internet, it is possible to find actresses from Game of Thrones or Harry Potter engaged in all manner of sex acts. Or at least to the world...

Tom Lehrer at 90: A Life of Scientific Satire
From ACM Careers

Tom Lehrer at 90: A Life of Scientific Satire

In 1959, the mathematician and satirist Tom Lehrer—who turns 90 this month—performed what he characteristically called a "completely pointless" scientific song...

How Mark Zuckerberg Protects His Own Privacy Online
From ACM Opinion

How Mark Zuckerberg Protects His Own Privacy Online

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg held a rare conference call with reporters on Wednesday as part of the company's newfound spirit of openness with the media in the...

What '2001' Got Right
From ACM Opinion

What '2001' Got Right

It's a testament to the lasting influence of Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke's film "2001: A Space Odyssey," which turns 50 this week, that the disc-shaped...

It's Not Just Facebook. Thousands of Companies Are Spying on You 
From ACM Opinion

It's Not Just Facebook. Thousands of Companies Are Spying on You 

In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, news articles and commentators have focused on what Facebook knows about us. A lot, it turns out.

My Cow Game Extracted Your Facebook Data
From ACM Opinion

My Cow Game Extracted Your Facebook Data

For a spell during 2010 and 2011, I was a virtual rancher of clickable cattle on Facebook.

Ready Player One: We Are Surprisingly Close to Realizing Just Such a VR Dystopia
From ACM Opinion

Ready Player One: We Are Surprisingly Close to Realizing Just Such a VR Dystopia

I was fortunate enough to catch a preview screening of Ready Player One, Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Ernest Cline's futuristic novel.

To Illustrate the Dangers of Cyberwarfare, the Army Is Turning to Sci-Fi
From ACM Opinion

To Illustrate the Dangers of Cyberwarfare, the Army Is Turning to Sci-Fi

At first glance, Dark Hammer looks a lot like any other science fiction comic book: On the front cover, a drone flies over a river dividing a city with damaged...

Enough About Cryptocurrency. Let's Talk About Virtual Cats
From ACM Opinion

Enough About Cryptocurrency. Let's Talk About Virtual Cats

We spend way too much time talking about digital currencies and not nearly enough time on digital cats.

Has Dopamine Got ­s Hooked on Tech?
From ACM News

Has Dopamine Got ­s Hooked on Tech?

In an unprecedented attack of candour, Sean Parker, the 38-year-old founding president of Facebook, recently admitted that the social network was founded not to...

Welcome to the Post-Text Future
From ACM Opinion

Welcome to the Post-Text Future

I'll make this short: The thing you're doing now, reading prose on a screen, is going out of fashion.

Mourning John Perry Barlow, the Bard of the Internet
From ACM Opinion

Mourning John Perry Barlow, the Bard of the Internet

When I first met John Perry Barlow, we became instant soulmates. While that sentence is true for me, it also applies to probably 10,000 other people.

Tackling the Internet's Central Villain: The Advertising Business
From ACM Opinion

Tackling the Internet's Central Villain: The Advertising Business

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