Author Archive
Digital Government
Why the Pandemic Experts Failed
We're still thinking about the pandemic data in wrong ways.
Ideas
The Official Coronavirus Numbers Are Wrong, and Everyone Knows It
Because the U.S. data on coronavirus infections are so deeply flawed, the quantification of the outbreak obscures more than it illuminates.
Ideas
Coronavirus Is a Data Time Bomb
It will be a long time before we understand what the outbreak did to the global economy.
Emerging Tech
Your Smart Toaster Can’t Hold a Candle to the Apollo Computer
Despite what everyone says about the power of modern devices, they’re nowhere near as capable as the landmark early NASA system.
Artificial Intelligence
Mark Zuckerberg Is Rethinking Deepfakes
In an interview, the Facebook CEO hinted that the company is trying a new approach to misleading videos created through artificial intelligence.
Emerging Tech
The ‘Platform’ Excuse Is Dying
For years, tech companies have relied on a rhetorical sleight of hand. It’s not working anymore.
Ideas
The Coalition Out to Kill Tech as We Know It
With enemies like these, the industry is going to need some friends.
Digital Government
President Trump Is Collecting Social-Media Grievances
The sitting president just released a new tool in his war of words with tech companies.
Emerging Tech
The Most Exciting Thing About Smartphones Isn’t Here Yet
5G is the next wave of wireless technology—but it might take a while.
Ideas
The End of Cyberspace
Internet theorists and companies once declared themselves free of nations and governance, but that’s all over now.
Ideas
Twitter Is Not America
A new Pew study finds a gulf between the general population and Twitter users.
Featured eBooks
Policy
Facebook Does Have to Respect Civil-Rights Legislation, After All
Activists just won a landmark case against the social network.
Modernization
The FAA Rigorously Tested the Boeing 737’s Software
So how did a problem slip through?
Digital Government
What Mark Zuckerberg Thinks People Want
The Facebook CEO had a change of heart that could recast the future of the internet.
Emerging Tech
The Servant Economy
Ten years after Uber inaugurated a new era for Silicon Valley, we checked back in on 105 on-demand businesses.
Digital Government
The Reason Conspiracy Videos Work So Well on YouTube
It’s the paranoid style, mutated for platform politics.
Digital Government
When Amazon Went From Big to Unbelievably Big
The data on the company’s real-estate holdings reveal a remarkable inflection point.
Digital Government
The Peaceful Transition of Government Twitter Accounts
House Republicans are taking the fruits of Twitter’s growth with them into the minority.
Artificial Intelligence
How AI Found Flint’s Lead Pipes, and Then Humans Lost Them
A machine-learning model showed promising results, but city officials and their engineering contractor abandoned it.
Emerging Tech