Say Hello to Your New Editor, Motherboard Canada

It's a new year, which feels curiously similar to the previous year, except for one thing—I'm the new editor of Motherboard Canada.

As outgoing editor Ben Makuch moves on to VICE News—please, wish him well!—I've been tapped to edit the Canadian Motherboard website in his place. And while this is only my first week, rest assured, there are some big things to come. Exciting things. We're going to have some fun.

Some of you might already know me. I freelanced for a few different outlets—I wrote about  shipwrec​ks and surve​illance and dea​d pigs and the w​eird, early internet—and before that I was a business and technology reporter at a Canadian newspaper, the National Post.

But hey, more importantly, I've done some great work for Motherboard too this past year. You might remember some of my stories: about  the global cellular network that's used to track phones; the failed plan to build a commercial spaceport in northern Canada; our terrible, no-good year in hacks, attacks and vulnerabilities; the thousands of unreported wiretaps conducted by Canadian cops; how a spacecraft like Orion survives the harsh radiation of orbit; the insecurity of secure messaging software; and Canada's long-lost 46-Meter telescope in the middle of the woods.

What's next? There are so many fascinating things happening in Canada in the realm of science and technology that aren't being reported anywhere else. Finding those things and telling those stories—and telling them better than anyone else—is my primary goal.

I want to read about bleeding edge biotech research being done in little-known labs, and efforts to wire up our country's North with undersea cables and internet connectivity. I want to learn more about our country's surveillance activities, of which we know so little about. Most of all, I want to explain why the latest advancements in science and technology matter, why they're happening here, and how they might change our lives—whether you live in Canada or not, now and in the future.

Over the coming weeks, months, and hopefully, years, I'll be looking for writers across the country and beyond to help us find these stories and bring them to the world. If you have ideas, pitches, I'd love to hear them. Rates are competitive, and I'm a benevolent editor. Send me an email at matthe​w.braga@vice.com.