Devin Coldewey
Writer & Photographer
The Latest from Devin Coldewey
No tears, only launches now: Virgin Galactic heads back to space as Virgin Orbit goes under
Update: The flight, launch, and glide were all successful and the crew is back Earthside. 🙌 Touchdown, VSS Unity! Our crew and spaceship are back on Earth after landing smoothly at Spaceport Americ
28 years later, Windows finally supports RAR files
It’s 1999, and my friends and I are surfing warez sites using Internet Explorer on our 98SE gaming rig. Finally we push past the scams and porn to find an FTP server with a list of files labeled
Kenya’s Tawi takes on auditory processing disorder to win Microsoft Imagine Cup
Microsoft’s student tech-for-good competition, the Imagine Cup, has crowned this year’s winner: Tawi, a team from Kenya that applied machine learning tools to help kids with auditory proce
OpenAI leaders propose international regulatory body for AI
AI is developing rapidly enough and the dangers it may pose are clear enough that OpenAI’s leadership believes that the world needs an international regulatory body akin to that governing nuclea
From root to crown, Mast Reforestation is regrowing the tree economy for the 21st century
Here’s the problem: The planet is burning, and there’s not much we can do about it. Forests are in peril not just because of the ravages of climate change, but because the industries that
The week in AI: Google goes all out at I/O as regulations creep up
Keeping up with an industry as fast-moving as AI is a tall order. So until an AI can do it for you, here’s a handy roundup of the last week’s stories in the world of machine learning, along with
SLAIT pivots from translating sign language to AI-powered interactive lessons
Millions of people use sign language, but the methods of teaching this complex and subtle skill haven’t evolved as quickly as those for written and spoken languages. SLAIT School aims to change
AI2 Incubator’s new $30M fund triples down on early-stage AI startups
The AI startup world may be getting hotter by the day, but there’s a difference between a startup that uses AI and an AI-first startup — and the Allen Institute for AI prides itself on fosteri
Acapela lets anyone back up their own voice for free in minutes — just in case
Synthetic speech can be a fearful object these days when paired with deepfakes and other AI deceptions, but it’s also an indispensable tool for anyone who can no longer speak on their own. Acape
Optery using its new funding to evolve from data broker opt-outs to personal info platform
We can all agree that data brokers are creepy and bad, and that in this age they have feasted upon our personal information like never before. Opting out is hard enough — which is why Optery is ther
Navier’s hydrofoiling electric boat cruises West Coast waterways to line up first pilot programs
Electric boats are still a rarity on America’s waterways, but everyone seems to agree they represent a cleaner, quieter future for our lakes, rivers and coastal waters. Navier has moved impressi
Google and OpenAI are Walmarts besieged by fruit stands
OpenAI may be synonymous with machine learning now and Google is doing its best to pick itself up off the floor, but both may soon face a new threat: rapidly multiplying open source projects that push
Vint Cerf on the ‘exhilarating mix’ of thrill and hazard at the frontiers of tech
Vint Cerf has been a near-constant influence on the internet since the days when he was helping create it in the first place. Today he wears many hats, among them VP and chief internet evangelist at G
Why is Discord making you change your name?
Popular chat and streaming app Discord is making every single one of its users change their names, and you could be forgiven for wondering why make such a disruptive move at all. But the platform̵
FTC moves to completely prohibit Meta from monetizing kids
The Federal Trade Commission alleges that Meta has “repeatedly violated” privacy rules and proposes to tighten the agency’s 2020 order against the company, completely barring it from
Satellite-to-phone race heats up with voice calls and cross-Canada access
The prospect of contacting a satellite to send a text or contact emergency services may soon be an effortless reality as startups move from proof of concept to actual product. Canadians on the Rogers
Why ChatGPT lies in some languages more than others
AI is very much a work in progress, and we should all be wary of its potential for confidently spouting misinformation. But it seems to be more likely to do so in some languages than others. Why is th
Colorado’s new right-to-repair law ensures tractor and wheelchair owners get the parts they need
Colorado’s governor signed a refreshingly straightforward “right-to-repair” bill into law this afternoon, requiring companies to provide resources like parts, firmware and manuals fo
ispace loses contact with lunar lander seconds before touchdown
Japanese company ispace lost communication with its Hakuto-R lander just moments before it was supposed to touch down on the lunar surface. “At this moment, we have not been able to confirm succ
The week in AI: OpenAI attracts deep-pocketed rivals in Anthropic and Musk
Keeping up with an industry as fast-moving as AI is a tall order. So until an AI can do it for you, here’s a handy roundup of the last week’s stories in the world of machine learning, along with n