By Todd Feathers In 2018, the New York City Council created a task force to study the city’s use of automated decision systems (ADS). The concern: Algorithms, not just in New York but around the country, were increasingly being employed by government agencies to do everything from informing criminal sentencing and detecting unemployment fraud to prioritizing child abuse cases and distributing health benefits. And lawmakers, let alone the people governed by the automated decisions, knew little ab
When we think about space exploration, we tend to think of astronauts, rockets, or the International Space Station. Maybe we also think about a team of experts sitting in the office of a Chinese or American space agency, breaking out into fits of joy as they successfully land a new rover on Mars. What we tend to miss is all the people who write the software that keeps the satellites orbiting and the rockets on track. Large numbers of people sift through data from satellite sensors or simulate ro
My main gig is writing marketing content, but I also wear lots of hats for an independent media criticism site called Unwinnable. I’ve been managing their social media, writing articles for them, and serving as an editor for five years now. At Unwinnable, we use a classic-turned-modern publishing model. We have online articles, but our main operation is our magazine: a monthly PDF that you subscribe to like a print magazine. So we’re always looking for ways to make our subscribers’ experience be
Imagine you’re responsible for implementing an app that shows you swanky cafés in your city. Dave, your product designer, has created a beautiful wireframe, and he wants the prototype to be ready within three weeks. You know how Dave ticks, and you know how this type of request usually ends. With a tight timeline and a few sketchy instructions to go with, you’re definitely not going to impress him. But hey, this is your job, so you do your best anyway. Three weeks later, you go back to Dave with
It’s 2016. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are standing across from one another on stage as NBC’s Lester Holt prepares to kick off the first of four presidential debates. The event starts off per tradition, and the first few moments are filled with pleasantries and introductions. But then Trump answers the first official question. The crowd is stunned by what they hear. Trump’s dropped all pretense and said he’s going to “build a wall” and that “Mexico is going to pay for it.” In rebuttal, Secr
By: Colin Lecher and Leon Yin Even as rioters were storming the United States Capitol one year ago, the seeds of two different narratives of Jan. 6 were already forming on social media. In one, seen by Facebook users who voted for Joe Biden and covered by mainstream news outlets like The New York Times, a mob spurred by President Trump was incensed at what they falsely believed to be a stolen election, striking at the heart of the nation in a failed insurrection. For Trump voters on the platform
As people look for greener ways to travel, the mobility industry is evolving — and one of the success stories in recent times is electric skateboarding. Or eskateboarding, as the kids say. Don’t know your truck from your deck? Well, this guide will get you started. In fact, much of the information comes from eskaters themselves, who kindly shared their knowledge with me. What is an electric skateboard and how do they work? The bottom specs of an eskateboard. Image source. Electric skateboards,
The UK car industry might have been hit hard during the pandemic, but fortunately, there’s a bright spark: new EV registrations nearly doubled in 2021, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). This is a rare bit of good news for the auto world. In its annual sales snapshot, SMMT reported that the ongoing pandemic — in combination with the semiconductor chip shortage — continued to have a negative impact on the UK’s car industry. Specifically, 2021 new car registration
Google Maps is best known for finding places, but the service is also proving adept at locating criminals. Gioacchino Gammino learned this the hard way. The mafioso had been on the run for 20 years when he got a surprise visit from the police. “How did you manage to find me? I haven’t even called my family for 10 years,” Gammino reportedly told the cops. According to an anti-mafia investigator, they found him on Google Maps. Mapping a murderer Gammino was one of Italy’s 100 most-wanted criminals
Every year, the CES show floor is filled with the most bizarre gadgets and concepts you can imagine. Sure, big corporations announce big TVs, flashy monitors, and fast CPUs — but for me, weird stuff is the best part of CES. Even though few people are attending the event in person, the joy of technology means we can still enjoy the strangest things on show. LG’s OLED fitness bike Can’t go on a bike ride? Worry not. LG’s new system has a gigantic 55-inch OLED display in front of your bike. Just ta