Dylan Tweney
[science|technology] [writer|editor]
I’m Dylan Tweney, a San Mateo, California-based writer and editor. I focus on technology and science, and I work in print, online, audio, and video.
On this website, you can learn more about Dylan Tweney, read my blog, check out the acts of journalism I've committed, or find out what writing and editing services I offer.
Below are links to some of the work I’ve produced lately.
- Scribd Pushes Content to Smartphones, E-Readers | Epicenter | Wired.com
Document-sharing service (like Flickr for PDFs) adds support for mobile devices - Microsoft Touts Home Entertainment at CES Keynote | Gadget Lab | Wired.com
My coverage of the Steve Ballmer keynote at CES - Sprint Leapfrogs Verizon With Fast 4G Hot-Spot Device | Gadget Lab | Wired.com
Sprint's Overdrive looks promising: It takes 4G signals from Sprint's network and turns them into a Wi-Fi hotspot that up to 5 devices can connect to. - Siri Launches Voice-Powered iPhone ‘Assistant’ | Gadget Lab | Wired.com
Voice commands for your iPhone, via this app - Just How Fast Is Cisco’s New Router? Really Freaking Fast | Gadget Lab | Wired.com
322 terabits per second is fast enough to download the entire Library of Congress in 1 second -- or 4 billion MP3 files in a minute. - Blunt Umbrella | Wired.com Product Reviews
Sturdier than your average bumbershoot - How OK Go’s Amazing Rube Goldberg Machine Was Built | Gadget Lab | Wired.com
Awesome contraption by LA-based Syyn Labs goes along with a four-minute song by OK Go. - Feb. 25, 1837: Davenport Electric Motor Gets Plugged In | This Day In Tech | Wired.com
Thomas Davenport, inventor of the electric motor, got a patent for his invention on this day in 1837. - Kayland Zephyr Hiking Boots | Wired.com Product Reviews
Hikers usually have to choose between boots that are lightweight and boots that are protective and supportive. Kayland's Zephyrs override that dilemma with a polyurethane exoskeleton that gives the boots leatherlike rigidity, while keeping them lightweight (about 2.5 pounds for the pair) and relatively breathable. - In the Future, One CF Card Will Hold 200 Years’ Worth of Porn | Gadget Lab | Wired.com
CompactFlash 5.0 allows a theoretical maximum capacity of 188 petabytes. Whoa! This story gives a variety of explanations of exactly how much data that is. - The Future of the Internet IV | Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project
I'm quoted a couple of times in this survey on the future of the internet and its impact on human intelligence - FORA.tv - A Conversation with Your Phone
Hourlong panel discussion about voice recognition interfaces that I moderated at Swissnex in January 2010
- Apple’s Next Revolutionary Product: iTunes
Apple announced the iPad Wednesday, and with it added e-books to the menu of content it’s selling via iTunes. But I can’t believe that Steve Jobs is going to stop there. Brian X. Chen and I predicted on Tuesday evening that Apple’s big announcement would go beyond the iPad, and include the announcement of a major, multi-platform [...] - Reading and web standards
This week brought the pleasing news that people are reading more than ever, thanks to the internet. In fact, the amount people read tripled from 1980 to 2008. That’s amazing considering it had previously been undergoing decades of steady decline. Suddenly people stopped watching so much television, and started reading again. They’re just reading on the screen [...] - in conversation with norbert blei
From my own experience, and the experience of friends who had spent months to years to a lifetime devoted to little magazines and small presses, I knew in my bones that tinywords had become overwhelming. This stuff eats you alive. But I also knew, it’s damn hard to let go once you made your mark. [...] - Embargo Is Latin for “F*** You”
A couple of weeks ago I took part in a discussion about press embargoes, with Tom Foremski, Damon Darlin and Mark Glaser, skillfully moderated by Sam Whitmore. Also in the audience, and contributing worthy comments, were Rafe Needleman, Paul Boutin, and other members of the press and PR corps. I kicked things off (and got a [...] - Are we having fun yet?
The collective intelligence poured into inventing new portable games over the past several centuries is equivalent, scientists estimate, to the outpouring of genius from a whole year’s worth of Nobel prize winners. Except instead of curing cancer, we’re making toys for kids who have trouble paying attention in school! Read more: Pocket Players: 13 Great Portable [...] - This Day in Tech: CompuServe Debuts
Sept. 24, 1979: First Online Service for Consumers Debuts - FCC Position May Spell the End of Unlimited Internet
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s unsurprising affirmation of support for network neutrality is a victory for the high-minded principle of open, unfettered internet access. Too bad it means the days of all-you-can-eat, flat-rate internet access are probably over. Net neutrality sounds like a good idea. After all, it’s the internet’s openness to any and all users, applications [...] - Big Money in Journalism
I’ll admit it: I got into journalism for the money. Columbia Journalism School dean Nicholas Lemann has said: “I’ve never met a single person in 35 years who went into journalism out of pure economic reason.” He never met me. While my motivation wasn’t purely financial, I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t the primary reason [...] - Blind photographers
Brian X. Chen wrote a moving story about how three professional photographers are continuing to pursue their art even though they’re almost totally blind. One of them went blind after he’d become a photographer, but has found a way to continue working using a Nokia N82 and an iPhone 3GS. This piece shows the potential [...] - News lessons from TMZ and Michael Jackson
Los Angeles gossip site TMZ got the scoop that Michael Jackson died. They had it about half an hour after paramedics arrived, and about 15 minutes ahead of the LA Times. When the LA Times blog was just reporting that MJ was in the hospital, and then in a coma, TMZ already had a headline [...]