“To me, an algorithm is any piece of automated code that accepts some number of variables and data, [then] uses those variables and data to make decisions. But that’s the boring computer science ...

A formula used to turn ordinary data, or "plaintext," into a secret coded message known as "ciphertext." The ciphertext can reside in storage or travel over unsecure networks without its contents ...

In the age of Facebook and Netflix, the word “algorithm” has become so ubiquitous, and its connotation so amorphous, that it’s verging on jargon—maybe even cliché. The Atlantic’s Ian Bogost has ...