Devin Coldewey
Writer & Photographer
The Latest from Devin Coldewey
ShapeMeasure’s smart tool and robotic cutter let contractors measure once and cut never
As much as we’d all like to believe that our houses are built with perfectly square angles and other highly regular measurements, that’s rarely the case — which makes remodeling complex
‘Konami Code’ creator Kazuhisa Hashimoto has died
Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, then start. Sound familiar? The Konami Code, as this sequence came to be known, is one of the most recognizable artifacts of an earlier era of gamin
Relativity Space CEO Tim Ellis talks 3D-printed rockets at TC Sessions: Space in LA
The launch industry is undergoing a number of major changes, among them the shift from traditional manufacturing to 3D printing — which Relativity Space is spearheading. The company plans to build 9
When that ‘AI company’ isn’t really an AI company
Artificial intelligence is one of the most important fields in technology right now, which makes it ripe for buzzword-savvy startups to leverage for attention. But while machine learning and related t
Forensic Architecture redeploys surveillance-state tech to combat state-sponsored violence
The specter of constant surveillance hangs over all of us in ways we don't even fully understand, but it is also possible to turn the tools of the watchers against them. Forensic Architecture is exhib
Katherine Johnson, legendary NASA mathematician and ‘hidden figure,’ dies at 101
Katherine Johnson, a mathematician who defied prejudice in the ’50s and ’60s to help NASA send the first men to the moon, has died at the age of 101. Only recently famous after the film &#
An Adidas experiment and whole new exterior facility head to ISS next month
March 2 is the planned launch date for SpaceX’s 20th ISS resupply mission, which is bringing the usual supplies and goodies, plus a payload of interesting experiments from partners and paying cu
How ‘The Mandalorian’ and ILM invisibly reinvented film and TV production
“The Mandalorian” was a pretty good show. On that most people seem to agree. But while a successful live-action Star Wars TV series is important in its own right, the way this particular s
Astronomers warn of ‘worrisome’ light pollution from satellite constellations
The International Astronomical Union has issued the preliminary results from a study on the potential effects of multi-thousand satellite constellations like that being built by StarLink. Finding that
Class action suit against Clearview AI cites Illinois law that cost Facebook $550M
Just two weeks ago Facebook settled a lawsuit alleging violations of privacy laws in Illinois for the considerable sum of $550 million. Now controversial startup Clearview AI, which has gleefully admi
Surprise! Audit finds automated license plate reader programs are a privacy nightmare
Automated license plate readers, ALPRs, would be controversial even if they were responsibly employed by the governments that run them. Unfortunately, and to no one’s surprise, the way they actu
Fiddler Labs, SRI and Berkeley experts open up the black box of machine learning at TC Sessions: Robotics+AI
As AI permeates the home, work and public life, it’s increasingly important to be able to understand why and how it makes its decisions. Explainable AI isn’t just a matter of hitting a swi
White House requests $15 billion to establish Space Force
The Space Force will be taking one giant leap towards reality if the Department of Defense’s proposed budget and operations go through. The $15 billion budget request would fund a number of miss
Why your next TV needs ‘filmmaker mode’
TVs this year will ship with a new feature called "filmmaker mode," but unlike the last dozen things the display industry has tried to foist on consumers, this one actually matters. It doesn't magical
White House reportedly aims to double AI research budget to $2B
The White House is pushing to dedicate an additional billion dollars to fund artificial intelligence research, effectively the budget for that purpose outside of Defense Department spending, Reuters r
Senators attempt to force Twitter to ban Iranian leadership
Four senators, including Ted Cruz (R-TX), have asserted that, as a consequence of sanctions placed on Iran, Twitter must cease providing its services to Ayatollah Khamenei and other leaders in the cou
After Iowa caucus flub, can tech be trusted in elections?
An app intended to speed up reporting of election results for the Iowa caucuses has failed spectacularly, not only confusing the electorate but perhaps poisoning their feelings toward making any techn
How Microsoft runs its $40M ‘AI for Health’ initiative
Last week, Microsoft announced the latest news in its ongoing “AI for Good” program: a $40M effort to apply data science and AI to difficult and comparatively under-studied conditions like
Fujifilm’s X100V strengthens the case for owning a compact camera
The cameras on our phones are getting good enough that it's becoming hard to justify having a dedicated picture-taking device. Fujifilm's X100 series has always made one of the strongest cases for it,
Twitter suspends ‘large network’ of fake accounts used to match phone numbers to users
Twitter announced today that over the holidays it identified and shut down “a large network of fake accounts,” as well as many others “located in a wide range of countries,” co