Articles
October 4, 2021
The Day Facebook Went Dark: What a Six-Hour Outage Taught the World
There is a silence that fell over the internet today, and the silence was the outage: the social network and its apps that went dark, the WhatsApp and the Instagram that stopped, the billions of users who could not connect, the six hours that felt like an eternity, the reminder of how much the world depends on one company. The Facebook outage is the October 2021 story: the services that went down around the world, the internal tools that failed too, the businesses that were cut off from their customers, the questions that were asked about the concentration of the internet. The outage is the subject of this article: what happened, why it matters, and what it teaches about the infrastructure.
Read →
September 22, 2021
Evergrande: The $300 Billion Question in China's Property Market
There is a developer that is shaking the markets this week, and the developer is the question: the Chinese property giant that is drowning in the debt, that is facing the payments it cannot make, that is the largest in its industry, that is threatening the global markets, that is the test of the Chinese model. Evergrande is the September 2021 story: the missed payments and the grace periods, the shares that plunged, the selloff that swept the world, the government that is watching, the contagion that is feared. The crisis is the subject of this article: how it happened, why it matters, and what it means for the global economy.
Read →
September 16, 2021
Inspiration4: The First All-Civilian Mission to Orbit
There is a crew that is orbiting the Earth tonight, and the crew is the first: the four civilians who launched into orbit, who are circling the planet in the capsule, who have no professional astronauts among them, who are the pioneers of the new era, who are living the dream that was always private. Inspiration4 is the September 2021 story: the launch that happened yesterday, the first all-civilian mission to orbit, the flight that was funded by the entrepreneur, that is raising the money for the children's hospital, that is opening the space to the civilians. The mission is the subject of this article: who is on board, what they are doing, and what it means.
Read →
August 31, 2021
Hurricane Ida: When Energy and Logistics Meet the Storm
There is a storm that is still moving this week, and the storm is the test: the hurricane that hit the Louisiana coast, that struck the heart of the American energy industry, that shut the refineries and the platforms, that knocked out the power for the millions, that is the latest reminder of the fragile systems. Hurricane Ida is the August 2021 story: the Category Four that made landfall on the anniversary of the Katrina, the energy coast that took the direct hit, the ninety-five percent of the Gulf production that was shut in, the recovery that will take the weeks. The storm is the subject of this article: what it hit, what it broke, and what it teaches about the energy and the logistics.
Read →
August 19, 2021
Common Prosperity: China's Crackdown on Big Tech
There is a speech that shook the markets this week, and the speech was the doctrine: the leader who called for the common prosperity, who made the redistribution the goal, who set the tone for the era, who sent the message to the giants, who changed the rules of the game. Common prosperity is the August 2021 story: the meeting where the direction was set, the crackdown that was already underway, the platform companies that are in the crosshairs, the investors who are fleeing, the model that is being rewritten. The crackdown is the subject of this article: what is happening, why it is happening, and what it means for the world's biggest internet market.
Read →
July 23, 2021
The Games Without a Crowd: Operations Lessons from Tokyo 2020
There is a ceremony that is happening tonight, and the ceremony is the paradox: the opening of the Olympic Games that were postponed, that are being held without the spectators, that are the most complex operation in the world, that are taking place in the middle of the pandemic, that are the show that must go on. The Tokyo Games are the July 2021 story: the eleven thousand athletes who are gathered, the venues that are empty, the protocols that are strict, the cost that is enormous, the operation that is unprecedented. The Games are the subject of this article: what it takes to run them, what went wrong, and what the world can learn.
Read →
July 20, 2021
The Billionaire Space Race: Branson, Bezos, and the New Space Age
There is a race that climaxed this week, and the race is the spectacle: the two billionaires who flew to the edge of space in the nine days, the first who beat the second by the margin of the week, the flights that were watched by the millions, the new space age that is being opened by the founders. The billionaire space race is the July 2021 story: Richard Branson on the eleventh, Jeff Bezos on the twentieth, the suborbital hops that were the beginning, the tourism that is the business, the critics and the dreamers, the debate that followed. The race is the subject of this article: what happened, what it means, and where the industry is going.
Read →
June 30, 2021
GitHub Copilot: The AI That Writes Code
There is a tool that was released this week, and the tool is the glimpse: the artificial intelligence that writes the code, that suggests the functions and the loops and the whole programs, that sits next to the developer like the pair programmer, that is the first time the AI is doing the job, not just the autocomplete. GitHub Copilot is the June 2021 story: the extension for the code editor, the model that was trained on the billions of lines, the preview that was opened to the developers, the debate that erupted about the future of the programming. Copilot is the subject of this article: what it does, how it works, and what it means for the engineers.
Read →
June 9, 2021
El Salvador's Bitcoin Bet: A Country Adopts a Cryptocurrency
There is a law that was passed this week, and the law is the first: the country that made bitcoin its legal tender, that put the cryptocurrency on the same footing as the dollar, that became the first nation in the world to take the step, that turned the theory into the policy. El Salvador is the June 2021 story: the vote in the Legislative Assembly, the eighty-four votes in favor, the law that will take effect in ninety days, the experiment that the whole world is watching. The decision is the subject of this article: why the country did it, how it will work, and what it means for the rest of the world.
Read →
May 13, 2021
The Great Resignation: When Workers Started Walking Out
There is a number that stunned the economists this week, and the number is the exodus: the four million Americans who quit their jobs in a single month, the record that was broken, the openings that went unfilled, the workers who decided that they had enough, the resignation that became a movement. The Great Resignation is the May 2021 story: the labor report that showed the quits at the record, the term that was coined by the professor, the phenomenon that is reshaping the workplace, the power that has shifted to the employees. The resignation is the subject of this article: what is happening, why it is happening, and what it means for the companies.
Read →