Articles
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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May 10, 2021
The Pipeline That Stopped: Colonial and the Anatomy of a Ransomware Attack
There is a pipeline that is shut down this week, and the pipeline is the lifeline: the largest fuel pipeline in the United States, the system that feeds the eastern seaboard, the target of a ransomware attack, the shutdown that triggered the panic at the pumps, the moment that cybercrime hit the physical world. The Colonial Pipeline is the May 2021 story: the attack that was discovered on the Friday, the systems that were taken offline, the fuel that stopped flowing, the states that declared the emergencies, the consumers who lined up for the gasoline. The attack is the subject of this article: what happened, how it worked, and what it means for the critical infrastructure.
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April 21, 2021
The AI Act: Europe's First Attempt to Regulate the Machine
There is a proposal that was unveiled today, and the proposal is the first: the law that would regulate the artificial intelligence, that would set the rules for the machines that decide, that would be the most comprehensive attempt in the world, that would shape the industry for the years to come. The AI Act is the April 2021 story: the proposal from the European Commission, the risk-based framework that sorts the applications, the fines that would reach the billions, the standard that Europe hopes the world will follow. The proposal is the subject of this article: what it says, why it matters, and what it means for the companies that build and use the AI.
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April 14, 2021
Coinbase Goes Public: The Crypto Economy's Coming-Out Party
There is a listing that happened today, and the listing is the milestone: the cryptocurrency exchange that debuted on the Nasdaq, that became the first major crypto company to go public, that opened at the valuation that rivaled the established giants, that marked the moment the crypto economy came of age. Coinbase is the April 2021 story: the direct listing that was watched by the whole industry, the ticker COIN that flashed across the screens, the bitcoin that was booming, the mainstream that was arriving. The listing is the subject of this article: what it means, how it happened, and what it says about the future of finance.
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March 24, 2021
The Ship That Blocked the World: Suez and the Fragility of Supply Chains
There is a ship that is stuck in the canal this week, and the ship is the bottleneck: the giant container vessel that ran aground in the Suez Canal, that is blocking the waterway in both directions, that is holding up the billions of dollars of the trade, that is showing the world how fragile the supply chains have become. The Ever Given is the March 2021 story: the four hundred meter ship that wedged itself across the canal, the dredgers and the tugs that are trying to free it, the backlog that is growing by the hour, the global economy that is waiting. The blockage is the subject of this article: what happened, why it matters, and what it teaches about the way the world moves.
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March 11, 2021
The NFT Moment: When Digital Art Sold for $69 Million
There is a sale that stunned the art world today, and the sale is the shift: the digital artwork that was auctioned by the auction house, that sold for the sixty-nine million dollars, that became the third most expensive work by a living artist, that changed the definition of the art market. The NFT moment is the March 2021 story: the collage by the digital artist known as Beeple, the certificate of ownership on the blockchain, the sale at Christie's that legitimized the new medium, the moment that the digital art went mainstream. The NFT is the subject of this article: what it is, why it happened, and what it means.
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February 18, 2021
Perseverance: The Landing That Brought Mars Closer
There is a rover that landed on Mars today, and the rover is the triumph: the robot that survived the seven minutes of terror, that touched down in the ancient crater, that sent back the first images of the new home, that began the search for the signs of the past life. Perseverance is the February 2021 story: the landing that was the hardest ever attempted, the mission that is the most ambitious in the history of the Mars exploration, the step that brings the samples home a little closer. The landing is the subject of this article: how it happened, what the rover will do, and why it matters.
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