Getting teens – and in particular, young women – interested in coding is a challenge a number of companies and organizations today have been tackling in recent years. But a newer startup called Vidcode is taking a different approach. Instead of online courses aimed only at teaching coding basics, Vidcode is appealing to teens by having them learn to create things they’re… Read More
It’s time: We need a drone with automated follow features that not only includes a camera for cataloging your many feats, but also has an on-board voice assistant to and a cellular connection to get stuff done for you while you’re out and about. It’s time for friendly flyers; it’s time we each had a companion ship. I don’t know who gets this done –… Read More
As the Internet of Things becomes more widespread, consumers must demand better security and privacy protections that don’t leave them vulnerable to corporate surveillance and data breaches. But before consumers can demand change, they must be informed — which requires companies to be more transparent. Read More
Niantic Labs, a small gaming company previously owned by Google, has gone from a somewhat obscure gaming shop to one of the most prominent developers overnight. The company launched Pokémon Go in July 2016, the first very long-awaited smartphone version of a Pokémon game. After holding out for nearly a decade, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have finally unleashed one of its most… Read More
Need a tiny, $5 computer to build a robot that will bring you your slippers, initiate a massage chair session, and pour out your daily dose of bourbon? The Onion Omega2 can do all that and more. This tiny board is Arduino-compatible but also runs Linux natively. This means you can plug it in and get a command line or access the system via a desktop-like web interface. It has Wi-Fi built in and… Read More
In the year 2000, the music business was still strong. Record companies produced albums and shipped these physical objects to the stores that sold them. The internet was slowly becoming a system of mass consumption and distribution, but the majority of consumers still purchased physical media. And while the record industry was aware of piracy online, the threat seemed minimal. Then came Napster. Read More
If you’re a big fan of wine but still want to run a startup, there may not be that much innovation you can get away with on the product side. Wine, when all is said and done, is still wine. That doesn’t mean you can’t turn the industry inside out by turning the traditional winery business model on its head — and that’s exactly what Naked Wines did. I decided to have… Read More
With an incredibly important national election coming up, it’s more critical than ever that everyone who can vote does — and is able to. Election tech firm Free and Fair is hoping to help avoid overflowing voting locations with a simple, open source device that automatically monitors waiting times and keeps voters and officials informed. Read More
Growing up, I can remember spending a lot of time thinking about what it would be like to be frozen in carbonite, the way Han Solo was after being betrayed by Lando on Bespin in The Empire Strikes Back. I never imagined it might feel like you were a fridge, but a new video on Adam Savage’s Tested YouTube channel has me thinking differently. The concept of the video is simple enough: Can… Read More
Pay-per-article journalism startup Blendle, which aggregates the written work of different publishers onto a single, ad-free platform where readers can pick and choose which stories to consume, paying a few cents per article, is touting passing one million registered users. Read More
