The Walrus: How BlackBerry Staged a Comeback by Winning Over Car Companies

Dubbed “Crackberry” by ardent users—Webster’s New World College Dictionary proclaimed it the Word of the Year in 2006—the impact and influence of the BlackBerry device in the early 2000s could be found everywhere. It featured in pop song titles and explicit rap lyrics; Kim Kardashian was a loyal user; former United States president Barack Obama famously said he was “clinging” to his BlackBerry and that they would have to “pry it out of [his] hands” when he entered office.

In this explainer piece for The Walrus, I trace the history of BlackBerry and delve into why everyone’s talking about this company — once left for dead — again.

Business, Canada, Culture, Technology, The WalrusS HoJune 26, 2026BlackBerry, Crackberry, Research In Motion, RIM, QNX, EVs, RTOS, Microkernel, AI, Physical AIComment

Artificial Intelligence Arrives in Long COVID Diagnostic and Treatment Fight

As healthcare systems continue to grapple with identifying and managing long COVID, artificial intelligence (AI) is showing promise as an important tool that could one day expand scientists’ understanding and even lead to new diagnostics for the condition. Three recent studies demonstrated how machine learning and AI algorithms can be leveraged to process vast amounts of complex clinical notes, hospital data, and patient data.

NüVoices Podcast: Wenchi Yu, a Career in Diplomacy, Influence and Impact

In this episode of the NüVoices podcast, my co-host Chenni Xu and I speak with Wenchi Yu on the current landscape of the US-China-Taiwan relationship and working as a bridge-builder in this arena. Wenchi, whose storied career includes working at the State Department under Hillary Clinton, discusses how her identity is the throughline of her career in labour rights, civil rights, diplomacy, media and non-profit leadership from being Hakka in Taiwan, to the US, to Mainland China and back to the US again.

Bridge RNAs: ‘Holy Grail’ in Next-Gen Gene Editing Tech?

The breakthrough discovery of a powerful new gene editing tool called bridge RNAs has the potential to significantly advance gene therapy and usher in a new frontier in genome design, researchers say. Discovered by a team of scientists at the Arc Institute and led by Patrick Hsu, PhD, a University of California, Berkeley, assistant professor of bioengineering, bridge RNAs provide precise control over large-scale DNA rearrangements and make the editing process possible in a single step.

Health, Medscape, Science, Technology, WebMDS HoJanuary 16, 2025Bridge RNAs, Gene Editing, Genome Editing, Arc Institute, Patrick Hsu, CRISPRComment

NüVoices Podcast: What the West Gets Wrong about TikTok with Zeyi Yang

China, Culture, NuVoices, Podcast, Politics, Society, U.S., World, TechnologyS HoApril 12, 2023MIT Tech Review, Zeyi Yang, TikTok, ChatGPT, Bytedance, MIT Technology ReviewComment