Temple University scientists have found a new way to improve chocolate and it involves electric fields. Learn about the technology and physics behind improving a nearly perfect food.

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Twitter hit some technical snags yesterday while Presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis announced his 2024 campaign. OpenAI's CEO issues a bit of a warning to the EU regarding AI regulation. And Sony has a new gaming peripheral on the horizon.

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Microsoft jumped into the mp3 player space a little late. Apple had been producing iPods for five years when the first Zune hit shelves. But that was just the beginning of a series of problems Microsoft encountered. We explore the sad (and short) story of the Zune.

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Meta sells Giphy for a fraction of what it paid just a few years ago. Spain's government has it out for end-to-end encryption. And the US Surgeon General advises families about the potential dangers of social media. Plus more!

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While the streaming media landscape is crowded, it could be worse. In this episode, we look at some streaming services that didn't stand the test of time. From platforms that were a bad idea from the start to ones that were victims of corporate mergers, we find out what went wrong.

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After my recent (tenth) cruise on the Disney Cruise line, I decided to look into what makes the ship work.How does it steady itself in rough seas? How much is automated?

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The state of Montana has said that, starting January 1st of next year, the app TikTok is banned statewide. How will the state enforce the rules? Is this an overreaction to TikTok? And will the law stand up to legal challenges? Plus lots of news about AI because why not?

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Screen resolution can be confusing. What do all those numbers mean, and is bigger necessarily better? We go over some of the more common screen resolutions out there and talk about how (and when) they make a difference.

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Last week, Elon Musk revealed he had tapped Linda Yaccarino to be the next Twitter CEO. But Musk won't be leaving Twitter completely. And now Tesla shareholders want him to create a succession plan at that company. Plus we get a bunch of updates on AI news, as well as some good news for Microsoft.

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The idea behind net neutrality is pretty simple -- fair access to legal content for all consumers regardless of what ISP they use. But how do you implement this idea? That's become the focus of a massive political battle in the United States that's been going on for two decades.

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From Amazon to Google to Apple, companies are creating digital assistants to make our lives easier. What's the technology behind them and are they safe to use?

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Google has announced a ton of stuff at the 2023 I/O event, including how AI will show up in future Google searches if you opt into it. We also learn how Microsoft's deal to buy Activision is going, how YouTube is discouraging ad-blockers and how one influencer is using AI to make clones of herself for people to date. For a fee, of course.

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Dr. Geoffrey Hinton recently retired from Google, saying that he wanted to be able to speak freely about his concerns regarding artificial intelligence without having to consider the impact to his employer. So what is the Godfather of AI worried about? 

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Defendants in court cases are trying the deepfake defense and judges are not having it. Think twice before you commit a huge investment into AI companies. SBF is asking courts to throw out most of the charges against him. And Peter Thiel has some icy plans after his demise. 

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Special guest Jack Pattillo joins the show to talk about the former Disney Hollywood Studios attraction, The Great Movie Ride. From immersive storytelling to the implementation of a new kind of animatronic, Jack and Jonathan explore this long-gone ride.

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That Moment with Daymond John is the ultimate resource for never-before-told stories and valuable lessons that listeners can incorporate into their own lives.

Listen here and subscribe to That Moment with Daymond John on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts!

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The Kepler Telescope has detected hundreds of exoplanets in our galaxy. What's the story behind it and how does it work?

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Sadly, we don't have any Star Wars news today. But we do have tons about AI, Meta facing governmental scrutiny, Microsoft making a questionable decision with regard to Edge and lots more!

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Recently, I mentioned in a Tech News episode that the FBI and the FCC are warning folks to stay away from public charging stations for mobile devices. But it turns out that warning by be like a certain Shakespearean comedy: Much Ado About Nothing.

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IBM's CEO reveals that the company has paused on hiring approximately 7,800 people in order to consider AI for those roles instead. A pioneer in deep learning is concerned about the potential dangers of AI. And the Web celebrates 30 years of being in the public domain.

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What process does Nissan follow when designing a new vehicle? We dive into the complicated process of going from concept to finished vehicle and learn how Nissan combines cutting edge technology with traditional artistic expression to get there.

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Producer Noel Brown joins the show to talk about the science, theory and practice of soundproofing. How does sound work? How can you protect a room from sound?

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A man in Thailand claims that, with a little coaxing, ChatGPT helped him pick winning numbers for the lottery. Plus we hear a lot of other stories about AI, how Meta had a very good first quarter after laying off 21,000 people, and why Netflix might be worried after rolling out a password sharing crackdown initiative in Spain.

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What is a quantum bit, and how is it different from a normal bit? What kinds of problems are quantum computers good at solving? And how many dumb jokes can Jonathan shove into this episode?

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In less than a week, Twitter's blue checkmark went from a desired status symbol to a mark people want to avoid at all costs. What happened? Plus, news on GM phasing out the Chevy Bolt, Google abandoning a mega campus project and an update on the Apple vs Epic legal battle.

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What is an AI hallucination? What causes a chatbot to go off script and invent stuff? And is AI's tendency to rewrite history a bug or a feature?

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Jonathan and Ben continue their conversation about online ads. Is it wrong to use ad blockers? Or is it wrong to block people who block ads?

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The test launch of SpaceX's Starship was a success despite the fact that the launch vehicle later exploded high above the Gulf of Mexico. There are more battles happening around the subject of artificial intelligence. And if you used Facebook between 2007 and 2022, you can file a claim to get a share in a massive class action lawsuit.

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Vinyl sales were on the decline from the 1980s to the mid 2000s, but since 2006 sales have been on the rise. What's the history of vinyl, and what makes this format special?

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Is Elon Musk working on a kinder, gentler AI? Could Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI take a huge chunk out of Google? And how do artists protect themselves against deepfakes?

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Over the weekend, Google rolled out a patch to Google Chrome. It addresses a zero-day vulnerability. But what are zero-day vulnerabilities and zero-day attacks? We learn about the definition and history of this powerful type of hacker attack.

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Online advertising has been a bit of a problem for a long time. Join Jonathan and Ben as they talk about ads, ad blockers and malware.

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China's Cyberspace Administration recommends regulations that would prevent AI from upsetting the country's political apple cart. Plus, why did Elon Musk buy 10,000 GPUs? And Meta employees are having a real morale issue for lots of reasons.

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What does a CPU do? What is clock speed? What does it mean to overclock a CPU? And are FLOPS a good thing?

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We've got stories about top secret US documents showing up on Discord servers and how Meta's verification system is putting people in danger, but to be honest a LOT of this episode ends up being about the chaos going on over at Twitter.

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What is a dark ride? What's the oldest dark ride still in operation? How do dark rides use technology to tell stories? And whatever happened to the Tunnel of Love?

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Hak5 Host Shannon Morse joins the show to talk about hacking as a profession. From white hats to black hats, how do hackers make money?

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Meta has plans to launch a commercialized AI product by the end of this year. Apple might have picked the wrong year to get into XR. Binance closes derivative businesses in Australia due to an investigation. And rich lonely people may soon be able to avoid the rest of us on Tinder.

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Razer makes pretty much everything, but this episode is about some of the concepts, prototypes and (arguably) vaporware the company has teased that never became a commercial product. From modular computers to futuristic gaming chairs, we look at some crazy concept hardware that you absolutely cannot buy.

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Germany looks to block ChatGPT out of privacy concerns. Samsung Semiconductor adjusts its own stance on ChatGPT as employees share a bit too much information with the chatbot. And a ChatGPT detector might flag a student's legitimate work as AI material. Plus lots more!

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Not that long ago, tech companies would fall over themselves to participate in gags and jokes on April 1st. Things have calmed down a bit over the last few years, but we're starting to see shenanigans poke through again. We look at a few examples from this year.

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CarStuff's Scott Benjamin comes on to talk about Google's self-driving car causing its first car accident. What happened? And how will Google prevent future accidents?

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A pair of letters signed by more than 1,000 people (maybe) argue that we need to slow down before developing more advanced artificial intelligence models. Plus, did Google cheat off OpenAI's work to build out Bard? And SBF stands accused of bribing Chinese officials to the tune of 40 million dollars.

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Gordon Moore, the man behind Moore's Law, passed away on March 24, 2023. We look at his life and contributions to tech.

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An analyst predicts that there's a 90% chance the US will ban TikTok unless there are drastic changes at the company. A legend in the tech industry passes away. And why does NVidia's CTO say that cryptocurrencies serve no use in society? 

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We learn who invented the lawnmower, how lawnmowers evolved, and why we even have lawns in the first place. Hint: it has to do with castles in the Middle Ages.

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How are weather predictions made? How does the tech used in meteorology work? And can we control the weather?

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Google Bard admitted that it took data from an article in Tom's Hardware without attribution. ChatGPT and Bard both prove they can't tell the difference between real news and a joke. And TikTok's CEO appears before Congress to answer some tough questions.

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How do tech entrepreneurs go from having an idea to turning it into a successful business? We look at the process of funding a tech startup and what might convince someone to invest in a long shot.

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Vulnerabilities in Samsung-produced chipsets may require you to remove the phone from your smartphone. Plus we learn about a bunch of new AI stories, including a company that can generate video based off text input. Plus a watchdog group in Germany brings accusations against Meta and German politicians. And more!

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From a pair of generals paralyzed by bad communication to a trolley hurtling out of control, we look at some classic thought experiments and how they pertain to technology. Plus, are we living in a simulation?

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How are weather predictions made? How does the tech used in meteorology work? And can we control the weather?

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There's a new version of GPT out in the wild and it has some interesting new features (and familiar problems). Chinese company Baidu's version of a chatbot fails to inspire investors. And TikTok faces new demands that it sever all ties with its Chinese parent company. Plus more!

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While modern flight simulators can be incredibly complicated and rely on powerful computer systems, the very first flight simulator didn't have any computers at all. Instead, it relied on stuff you'd normally find in a pipe organ. We learn about Edwin Link and his incredible flight simulator.

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We've got a lot of updates for ongoing news stories in tech. Meta plans more layoffs, New South Wales debates banning TikTok on government devices, Sony argues that Microsoft is untrustworthy, and more.

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Silicon Valley Bank, or SVB, was a financial pillar in the tech sector. So how did a company that helped countless startups launch fail in less than two days? We look at the history of SVB, what happened, and how it relates to banks like Silvergate and Signature failing. 

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What are solar towers? How do they generate electricity? What's the future of solar power?

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Senators show concern about how the FBI collected geolocation data without going through normal procedures. Google pays out a large settlement relating to how the company handled location tracking. Plus we have stories about facial recognition tech, how Tesla is under scrutiny for accidents (and for steering wheels popping off of SUVs) and more.

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Bridget Todd host of There Are No Girls on the Internet steps in for Jonathan to celebrate women in tech for International Women's Day.

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The US Senate introduces a bill that could give the President the power to ban TikTok (and other foreign tech products and services). Microsoft introduces an AI platform for enterprises. Cambridge Analytica resurfaces in the news down under. And Meta plans to hold more layoffs soon. Plus more!

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The Ponzi scheme is a classic high-stakes con game that can net a scammer a lot of money, but at considerable risk. We take a look at the Terraform Labs collapse of 2022 and learn what factors led to its downfall and why its co-founder is on the run.

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What does the FBI want Apple to do and why do so many tech experts oppose it? Ben Bowlin joins the show to talk about it.

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There seems to be a lack of consensus regarding whether or not AI is about to change everything or if it's more hype than substance. We explore several news items that look into this. Plus, the ACLU doesn't think the US should ban TikTok. Airbnb might ban you based on who you hang out with. And DARPA is looking for some new aircraft designs.

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Getting into space is hard, which is why it might surprise you to learn about some of the weird, wild and goofy stuff we've sent up there. From action figures to salmonella to Elon Musk's personal Tesla Roadster, we look at a collection of weird things we've sent to space.

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We've got a ton of stories relating to AI to talk about today. Plus, VW's Car-Net service refuses to help detectives track down a stolen car (with a toddler inside it) unless they first pay the $150 reactivation fee. Ford proposes a future where cars repossess themselves. And everyone is banning TikTok.

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In early February, 2023, the US shot down a Chinese balloon. The US says the balloon was gathering intelligence while the Chinese claimed it was a weather balloon. We look at the history of spy balloons and how they've evolved over time, as well as the dilemma these balloons put leaders in. 

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What is LIGO and how did it detect gravitational waves? We explain!

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The US Supreme Court admits it isn't qualified to make a judgment call on Section 230, which provides protection to online platforms regarding user content. Plus Apple's iOS 17 is rumored to allow users to sideload apps for the first time. And Elon Musk continues to shake things up at Twitter. And more!

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Listener Nathan asked me to explain why the hacktivist group Anonymous would promote SovereignDAO, so in this epic episode we learn about the origins and evolution of Anonymous, how DAOs work, and whether the components of a DAO align with the philosophy of Anonymous. 

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We've got a bunch of AI-related stories to chat about today, and most of them are bad. From AI deciding who gets laid off to a university leaning on AI to craft a sensitive message to students and beyond, we see how artificial intelligence is creating real problems. Plus, today Microsoft attempts to convince EU regulators to let it purchase Activision Blizzard, an old iPhone sells for an astronomical price and movie studios want redditor names and addresses. 

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In the late 19th century, a French experiment demonstrated the power of stereo sound. A century later, experiments in binaural audio would help create rich soundscapes that could immerse the listener in audio environments. We learn about the evolution and tech of 3D audio.

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Scott Benjamin from CarStuff joins the show to talk about some of the latest tech making its way into cars. What does he think of autonomous vehicles and gesture controls?

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Are you ready for a Bing fling? Journalists report that Microsoft's AI-boosted Bing service can get a little weird. Or a lot weird. From gaslighting to personal attacks to acting like a stalker, Bing illustrates how AI chatbots might not always be the right tool for the job. Plus news about US politicians going after Big Tech, Lufthansa having a very bad Wednesday and AI taking the controls of an F-16 fighter jet.

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It's time once again to revisit the hype cycle and figure out where along the path we might find Web3. And what is Web3? And what the heck is it supposed to do and how is it supposed to work? And why is Jonathan skeptical about the whole thing?

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After a historic 355 days in orbit, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei returned to Earth on March 30, 2022, breaking the record for the longest single spaceflight by an American. In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Malcolm Gladwell and Mark Vande Hei discuss conducting experiments in space, the impact of extended spaceflight on humans, and the spiciness of space chili peppers.

This is a paid advertisement from IBM.

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Invisibility cloaks have long been featured in science fiction, but where are we when it comes to science fact? We look at the science behind bending light in interesting ways, and learn how metamaterials could play a part in making something invisible.

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What is a MOOG synthesizer? How does it work? And did people really say synthesizers didn't make real music?

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Microsoft and Google went head to head with their AI-powered chatbot demonstrations, and Google stumbled. No, Google Bard, the James Webb Space Telescope did not take the first picture of an exoplanet. Plus, some hackers receive sanctions from the US and UK and Nintendo gives us our first look at the new Legend of Zelda game.

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We credit Alessandro Volta with the invention of the battery, the man who identified electromotive force, and a dude who was interested in swamp bubbles, among other things. We learn a bit about the life and contributions of Volta.

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It sounds like Microsoft is about to throw down the chatbot gauntlet and Google is responding with its own AI-powered chat program. China isn't going to be left out either. What's in store for the rest of us? Plus news about Big Tech's earnings calls last week and more layoffs in the industry.

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How did a music festival become one of the biggest tech events in the US? We look at the history of SxSW, explore some of the notable (and sometimes disastrous) things that happened there and Jonathan relives one of his worst memories as a professional.

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What is a MOOG synthesizer? How does it work? And did people really say synthesizers didn't make real music?

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Senator Michael Bennet is asking Google and Apple to dump TikTok from their app stores. Snap and Meta held their Q4 2022 earnings calls this week with very different results. Plus stories about Google, why AMD's chip prices haven't gone down despite a decline in demand, and how Netflix plans to crack down on account sharing.

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Only Benjamin Franklin would listen to a musician playing wine glasses and think "I bet I could use technology to make this easier." And he did by inventing the Glass Armonica, an instrument that gained a peculiar reputation for producing ethereal music and . . . health problems?

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Several of the major tech companies have earnings calls this week, which will tell us more about how they're doing and where we go from here. Plus, we learn more about the affects of layoffs in tech companies, a paralegal investigates DoNotPay's AI claims and how the three big companies in video games are skipping E3 this year.

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How do scam artists disguise their phone numbers when setting up robocalls? We look at Caller ID and spoofing and learn how companies and government agencies are trying to fight back.

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What happened to the Philips company during World War II? How did Philips diversify over the decades? What's next for the company?

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An academic publisher says that it will not publish academic papers written by ChatGPT. Futurism uncovers more problems with CNET's use of AI to write articles. India pressures Twitter and Google to censor a BBC documentary. And researchers in Hong Kong show off a cool melting robot!

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Diodes are key components in modern electronics, but what are they and what do they do? We take a few minutes to describe diodes and their function.

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A business school professor says that ChatGPT passed the final exam needed to earn an MBA. Microsoft announces a commitment to a multi-year, multibillion dollar relationship with OpenAI. And Elon Musk says that Twitter will offer an ad-free subscription level in the future. Plus more!

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With ChatGPT in the news, I thought it was high time we take a look at OpenAI -- the company behind the controversial chatbot. From its founding in 2015 to its shift to a "capped-profit" company, we look at the organization founded with the goal of creating AI that's beneficial for humanity.

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Who founded the electronics company Philips? Why did it nearly go bankrupt in less than five years? And who saved it?

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Cybersecurity researchers discover that, with a little bullying, they could convince ChatGPT to make some nasty malware. Plus workers in Kenya suffered to make ChatGPT less toxic. Meta faces fines in the EU for WhatsApp. And Microsoft is gearing up for layoffs. Plus more.

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Faced with challenging engineering problems, Apple has reportedly shelved its augmented reality glasses project. We look at the history and evolution of AR, and why it's so hard to create a pair of glasses with AR capabilities. 

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Artists, musicians and even stock photography companies are starting to fire shots at generative artificial intelligence systems. Will we see lawmakers create new legislation that creates a legal framework for generative AI? At what point can you say a machine plagiarized an artistic work? Plus, Meta sues an Israeli company for scraping user data and Google has plans for all those Stadia controllers once the service shuts off tomorrow.

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In this episode from 2021, we look at the thorny issues of copyright and how fair use isn't some proactive safety play to avoid those pesky copyright strikes.

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Codebreaker's Ben Johnson joins the show to talk about data tracking. What is it used for? What's the best case scenario? And what happens when it goes wrong?

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A corrupt file in the FAA's systems forced all flights in the US to hold, leading to thousands of delays and hundreds of cancellations. Plus, CNET has been using AI to write articles and no one really noticed. Parler laid off about 75% of its staff. And the James Webb Space Telescope finds its first new exoplanet. Plus more!

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In 2022, Apple rolled out a self repair service shop. New York state passed a bill meant to give consumers more options when repairing their tech. And John Deere recently signed a memorandum of understanding with farmers loosening repair restrictions. Has the US embraced the Right to Repair? Not quite.

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Artificial intelligence is going to be a big topic this year, and we have several stories to prove it. Plus, more about some of the stuff shown off at CES and how a school system is taking social media companies to court.

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The world of startups is already a risky one, but it gets even worse when the "move fast and break things" philosophy extends to the law. We cover some examples of startups and VC firms that made headlines for all the wrong reasons.

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How did Sputnik change the world? What do satellites do? And what keeps them in orbit?

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From Sony’s electric vehicle to Alienware’s new 500 Hz gaming monitor, we look at a few of the early announcements out of CES. Plus an update on how Meta is facing opposition in the EU, more security experts warn that TikTok is bad news and how companies like Amazon and Salesforce will be downsizing in the new year.

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Just like parents, machines just don't understand. At least, not without first compiling data into 0s and 1s. So how can systems like ChatGPT seemingly understand what we want and present results? We take a look at natural language processing and how it can create the illusion of comprehension.

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Could the US government issue a ban on TikTok? A landlord sues Twitter for failing to pay rent. Nearly 80% of all new car sales in Norway last year were electric vehicles. Plus much more!

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In this episode from the distant past of 2021, Jonathan goes over some of the products that companies showed off at the CES trade show that never made it to market.

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In the conclusion of our series on the Industrial Revolution, we'll look at other industries that changed along with iron and textiles. We'll also learn about the living and work conditions of laborers and how that transformed our notions about work.

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When is a predictions episode not a predictions episode? When Jonathan says so! We look at some of the things we expect to see happen in tech next year, from Apple's AR headset to how Meta handles the metaverse.

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NASA launched Artemis I, the James Webb Space Telescope is already sending back phenomenal astronomical images, and Russia's hostilities in Ukraine force massive changes. Plus we learn about advancements in fusion, quantum computing and more!

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From the war in Ukraine to tech companies encountering challenges in China, we look at how global politics and tech intersected and conflicted in 2022.

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We look at the history of incorporating lights in winter holidays like Christmas and Hanukkah and how electricity changed things dramatically. We'll also dive into those over the top displays that sequence lights with sound and talk about why it was such a challenge for the electrician on Stranger Things to make lights blink a specific way.

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As we continue to explore the Industrial Revolution, we look at how iron helped shape the modern world. It's time to explore iron, steam engines and more!

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Twitter tells Meta "Hold my beer" as the company has a dramatic, chaotic year thanks to the former world's richest man, Elon Musk. From corporate maneuvers to brutal layoffs to nonsensical policy changes, we look at how Twitter struggled this past year. Plus, we take a moment to talk about Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani getting prison sentences.

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2022 was a tough year for Meta. From historic earnings calls to increased regulatory scrutiny to skepticism surrounding the metaverse, the company has faltered a bit over the last 12 months. We look back on some of the big stories involving Meta in 2022. Plus, we chat briefly about streaming!

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Cryptocurrencies (and blockchain and NFTs and Web3) had a rough year. Things started with a boom and then went bust. What happened? What led to the collapse of FTX? Where is crypto going from here? And is Web3 ever going to be anything more than hype?

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We're going to look back over the big stories in tech this past year, and we're starting off with the trend of governments and regulators pushing back against big tech companies like Meta, Google, Apple, and more. Should Big Tech companies be worried?

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The Industrial Revolution transformed the world. Cities grew, new jobs were created and technology transformed the world. In part one, we take a close look at the textile industry.

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Senators voted to ban federal employees from loading TikTok on government-owned devices -- the vote now goes to the US House of Representatives. Plus Sam Bankman-Friend could face more than a century in jail if convicted. And Twitter stopped paying rent on its office space?

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We conclude the epic series of episodes about the history of social networks by rushing through 2011 to present day. We look at Google+ and its failure, the rise and growth of Twitch, the arrival of Discord and Mastodon, and the emergence of far-right social networks like Gab, Parler and Truth Social.

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Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has been arrested in the Bahamas. It turns out a lot of people are very interested in speaking with him about the collapse of FTX. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice is also asking FTX competitor Binance some tough questions as customers pull their money from the exchange. Plus more!

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After the wave of microblogs, social networks started turning to some interesting places. You had image-oriented networks like Pinterest and Instagram. And you had Snapchat, which introduced the idea of content that only stays online temporarily before disappearing. Plus more!

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How did Comcast become such a huge, powerful company? What happened with the doomed Time Warner deal? And where does the company go next?

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Apple's security plans have upset the FBI. The EU rules that Google is legally obligated to remove links to sites if users can prove the sites host misinformation. And Dyson has some super expensive headphones that have an interesting peripheral.

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From 2006 to 2008, the trend in social networks was short and sweet: the micro-blog. Learn how Twitter, Jaiku, Plurk and Tumblr all took different approaches to micro-blogging.

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Meta threatens to pull news feeds off Facebook if the US passes a proposal giving media outlets collective bargaining power. Tesla is having a hard time filling positions in Germany. And Chinese hackers were able to steal millions of US dollars meant for Covid relief. Plus more.

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We continue our trip through the history of social networks. This time we look at Flickr, Orkut, Bebo, YouTube and Reddit. Two of those don't exist anymore! 

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Comcast is a powerful player in the cable and Internet space. How did the company get its start? And how did cable television take off in the first place?

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Cybersecurity researchers find that only 13% of defense contractors in the US pass a basic set of cybersecurity regulations. Elon Musk wants to put a chip in someone's brain within six months. And could hydrogen fuel your next trip on a jet?

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Our profile on the history of social networks continues with two of the big competitors in the mid 2000s -- Myspace and Facebook. From the infamous News Corp buyout of Myspace for 580 million bucks to the even more infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal at Facebook, we take a look at how these networks shaped the web.

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The Salesforce platform can empower businesspeople to create digital solutions without writing code. In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Malcolm Gladwell takes on this topic with Jacob Goldstein, host of What’s Your Problem?, and guest Phil Weinmeister, Head of Product, Salesforce Americas, at IBM. They discuss human-centric design, the low-code/no-code approach, and how IBM Consulting powers digital transformations with the Salesforce platform.

This is a paid advertisement from IBM.

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Twitter and Facebook are struggling right now, but both have outlasted many other social networks. In this retrospective, we look at early attempts to bring people together online. Some are gone, some remain, and some transformed into something else entirely.

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What's the story with Volkswagen and emissions testing? How did the car manufacturer hide vehicle emissions? Scott Benjamin of CarStuff joins us to talk about it.

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Do companies really implement planned obsolescence to get you to buy more stuff? (Spoiler: yes). And do they really resist giving you the option to repair gadgets? (Spoiler: Also yes).

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Numbers stations are mysterious, creepy and part of the world of espionage. We learn how shortwave radio works, why it's used for numbers stations and how you might tune in to find one yourself.

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Even as Twitter headcount dwindles, Elon Musk announces an ambitious vision for the service's future. Alphabet is gearing up for layoffs. Tax prep services have been sending Americans' financial info to Meta. And more!

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No copyright infringement intended. Does that matter? Does it even mean anything? We look at the complicated issues of copyright and fair use.

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With the holiday season coming up, it's time to look at some gift ideas for the filthy rich. From ridiculous watches to a multimillion dollar mobile home, we explore some of the most ridiculously expensive tech out there.

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Elon Musk allegedly fires Twitter employees who criticize his decisions. A billionaire is calling for Google to stop paying its employees so darn much. Amazon gears up for corporate layoffs. And Chinese gamers will soon lose access to games like World of Warcraft and Hearthstone. Plus more!

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Malware has come a long way since the humble computer virus. We look at the seven types of malware (as defined by Cisco) and learn what they do and how they work, as well as how to protect your computer devices from malicious code.

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Having a good data strategy can streamline the way a company does business. In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Malcolm Gladwell takes on this topic with Ronald Young Jr., host of Solvable, and guest Nicholas Renotte, Data Science and AI Technical Specialist at IBM. They discuss how data literacy can help make a business more efficient, the fundamentals of data management, and why data is step one to AI solutions.

A study quoted by Nicholas and referenced in this episode can be found here. Some of Nicholas’ guidance on machine learning can be found here.

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Cryptocurrency exchange FTX spectacularly imploded over the last two weeks. What happened? How did SBF go from crypto wunderkind billionaire to having assets in the neighborhood of $0? Is Binance CEO CZ the Lex Luthor to FTX's Clark Kent? Plus more!

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Once upon a time, a buzz term called Web 2.0 dominated discussions about web sites. What did Web 2.0 really mean? Or does it mean nothing?

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Mark Zuckerberg oversees more than 11,000 job cuts across Meta. Twitter continues its bumpy ride post Musk acquisition. And IBM breaks a quantum processing record.

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The dumpster fire that is Twitter continues this week as we learn about Twitter reps scrambling to re-hire some of the employees let go in last week's layoffs. Elon Musk toys with putting Twitter behind a paywall. Meta may be holding layoffs of its own this week. And the creator of the Oculus makes a VR headset that kills you for real if you die in a game.

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The Internet of Things (IoT) can bring with it a ton of benefits, but it can also introduce security and privacy vulnerabilities. In this episode, Jonathan describes a few notable cases where IoT devices caused some massive headaches.

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Ben Bowlin of Stuff They Don't Want You to Know joins the show to talk about DNA forensics, cold cases and science. How reliable is DNA evidence?

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Pantone's licensing agreement with Adobe means that designers will have to cough up fifteen bucks a month to access certain colors. Twitter continues to have a tumultuous week. Meta is testing out NFTs in Instagram. And TikTok is facing scrutiny around the world.

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With rumors that the video app Vine is set to return, we look at Vine's history. Where did it come from? Where did it go? Did Cotton Eye Joe have anything to do with it?

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Last week, Elon Musk completed his Twitter acquisition and began to clean house, firing multiple executives. This week, he continues with launching projects and planning future layoffs. Plus news about Meta, Google, Microsoft and Sony!

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Why did Einstein refer to quantum entanglement as "spooky action at a distance?" What is locality? Could quantum systems allow for faster than light communication? Could that violate causality? It's a spooky quantum episode of TechStuff!

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How has the Internet fueled a return to the old system of patronage? This episode explores crowdfunding resources like Indiegogo and patronage services like Patreon. Can they work for anybody?

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The EU will require Apple to switch to a USB-C port on iPhones starting in late 2024 and the company isn't happy about it. Plus Elon Musk is on the verge of closing his deal for Twitter, the US Department of Justice is reportedly investigating Tesla and gamers might be shocked to learn that physical copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II have no game on the physical disk.

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What is the uncanny valley? What causes that feeling of uneasiness we get when we see certain robots or CGI characters? What makes them creepy?

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Intelligent automation can help combat the human biases that can lead to discriminatory hiring practices. In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Malcolm Gladwell takes on this topic with Jacob Goldstein, host of What’s Your Problem?, and guest Angela Hood, founder and CEO of ThisWay Global. They discuss how intelligent automation can accelerate inclusive hiring practices, why machines can mitigate bias but not remove it, and why diverse companies are more competitive.

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What does "the ghost in the machine" mean? From philosophy to artificial intelligence, we explore this idiom to understand what it means, how it's used and if the dream of strong AI is realistic.

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It's time to tackle Tinder. Where did the app come from? Do people use it for more than just hooking up? And what do you get when you go premium?

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Netflix has a plan for all those households that share login credentials. Uber is going to advertise to you, a lot. A mysterious GPS interference affected air travel in Texas. And did physicists uncover the cheat code to the universe?

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What is vampire power? Why do electronic devices pull power even when they're not on? And what are some ways to stop it?

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Less than a year after its relaunch, G4TV once again goes dark. Plus online entertainment company Rooster Teeth faces harsh criticism in the wake of a former employee's accusations. And Parler is getting a new owner.

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Modern ghost hunting relies heavily on the use -- or misuse -- of technology. Learn about EMF meters, what constitutes electronic voice phenomena, and why your "ghost host" thinks it's all a misunderstanding. 

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What does Google's restructuring mean for the company?

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At the Meta Connect event, the company showed off the new, more advanced and very expensive VR headset formerly known as Project Cambria. Plus we learn about what soldiers think of Microsoft's HoloLens.

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What is a zombie computer? What is a botnet? And what the heck is a DDoS attack? We look at a common tactic used by hackers to silence or inconvenience a target, how it works, and the measures companies like Cloudflare take to mitigate them.

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Meta is holding its Connected conference today and we expect to see the new VR high-end headset codenamed Project Cambria, plus updates on the metaverse. In other news, CNN dumps NFTs, Delta invests in air taxis, and the US government might redefine the gig economy. 

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Nothing Technology, Ltd released the Nothing Phone (1) in July 2022. What sets this phone apart, and is it really going to transform smartphones forever? (Spoiler: No it is not).

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Dylan is back to talk about the post-digital age of photo manipulation, when Photoshop and other programs began to allow more people to change images. Learn about famous disasters in photo edits and funny uses of Photoshop.

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Elon Musk, Twitter, Tesla, ultrasonic, autonomous, self-driving, China, Great Firewall of China, TLS, nuclear fusion, social media, depression, critical thinking, Activizion Blizzard, Blizzard, Overwatch 2, quantum computing, Intel, Uber, Amazon, union

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It pays to think critically about claims folks make about technology. In this episode, we look at how the sunk cost fallacy can lead people to make very bad decisions, how cryptocurrency resembles an MLM and how to temper enthusiasm for tech with careful consideration.

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The US Supreme Court agreed to look at a case that involves Section 230, a rule that protects internet platform from being held liable for stuff posted by users. Plus news about Google Translate in China, a supertanker that is using sails to offset fuel consumption and whether a deepfake company really did purchase the likeness rights of Bruce Willis. 

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Google announced that Stadia, its cloud-based gaming service, is shutting down in January, 2023. What does that mean for Stadia customers? Are there Stadia customers? And could Google's own history of abandoning products be the root of the problem? 

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HowStuffWorks photo editor Dylan joins the show to talk about the pre-digital age of photo manipulation. Learn about airbrushing, composite photos, double exposure and more!

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How do the theories of special relativity and general relativity apply to satellites? Why is the speed of light constant, but time and distance are not? We get all Einstein up in here!

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Being left-handed in a world primarily shaped by and for right-handed people can be a challenge, particularly with technology. In this episode, we look at how a right-handed bias can create frustrations for left handers, and how bias in tech can take on more sinister aspects. That was a pun.

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Sustainable supply chains are good for the planet and good for business. In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Malcolm Gladwell takes on this topic with Tim Harford, host of Cautionary Tales, and guest Sheri Hinish, IBM’s Global Sustainability Services Leader and Offering Leader for Sustainable Supply Chain, known as the “supply-chain queen.” They discuss the supply-chain crisis and why transparent, responsible supply chains are imperative for our future.

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What's a Generative Adversarial Network? How can a program create a deepfake video? And how do we tell the difference between what's real and what's computer-generated?

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What is Periscope? What's the technology behind the company? And did Jonathan livestream a podcast?

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The makers of Grand Theft Auto are responding to a hacker who leaked dozens of videos of the next title in the series. Russia implies it might shoot down Starlink satellites. And Iran cracks down on the Internet in the wake of civil protests.

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What is the ping tool, what is it used for, and where did it come from? We learn about the man who first created ping, why it's not an acronym for anything, and why gamers care about it.

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An appeals court is preparing to hear arguments from Epic, Apple, the State of California and even the US Department of Justice in the ongoing battle between developers and Apple. Hackers gained access to Uber's systems and we're not sure how bad it was yet. And Nvidia is announcing new GPUs today! 

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The promise of autonomous vehicles and machinery has been on the minds of industries, consumers and science fiction writers for many years. While advancements in AI, Robotics, Edge Computing and 5G Connectivity have gotten us closer to that vision, we are still quite far from computers solely running the show. The brain’s ability to compute and react to real-life situations is still a critical component to most operations, and companies such as Phantom Auto are working hard to combine these two forces - the advancements in machine learning  and the power of human decision making, opening entire sectors of the labor force previously unseen. 

In this episode of The Restless Ones, I had the pleasure of sitting with the founding partners of Phantom Auto, Elliot Katz and Shai Magzimof who are actively merging the world’s needs for autonomous machine operation and dynamic employment opportunities. With skilled labor as a key problem for their clients, Phantom specializes in creating remote controlled solutions for everything from forklifts, to factory and warehouse vehicles and more, all made possible through connecting the power of technology and human intelligence. Their work is also bridging the worker divide, allowing blue collar workers to enjoy the benefits of remote work that their counterparts enjoy, avoiding the hazardous and other physical challenges typically associated with their work. 

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The Fairphone company's mission is to make smartphones that are repairable, rely on sustainable and recycled materials, and that aren't contributing to troublesome operations in your typical electronics supply chain. So we take this opportunity to turn a critical eye to the tech industry to understand why Fairphone's mission is so important.

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What was HitchBot all about and what happened to it? From hitchhiking across Canada to a violent end in Philadelphia, we tell the robot's story. Scott Benjamin guest hosts.

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Twitter shareholders voted to approve Elon Musk's acquisition bid for Twitter even as a whistleblower testified in front of Congress that Twitter has terrible security practices. Plus Senators put social media in the hot seat, California sues Amazon and EA's anti-cheat strategy is scary. 

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Listener Ryan Barrier asked how advertising works in podcasting, and how even old episodes can have current ads in them. So in this episode, we look at dynamic ad insertion and the tricky challenge of balancing business with content.

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Twitter's shareholders are expected to approve Elon Musk's proposed Twitter acquisition even as Musk continues to try and extricate himself from the deal. Meta spins off the PyTorch project into a new, independent foundation. Square Enix announces that a computer game is going to shut down prematurely. And much more!

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One challenge with data preservation is that the way we store information changes rapidly. In this episode, we look at some media formats that are now obsolete, including some that Jonathan had never heard about before!

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Is Google Plus heading off into the sunset? What happened? In this update to a classic episode, TechStuff looks at what went wrong.

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Apple held its Far Out event and unveiled new iPhones, Apple Watches and Airpods. Google is telling employees to cut back on company travel. Microsoft has invested in Travis Kalanick's next company. And Twitter is going to let a subset of users finally edit their tweets.

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Way back in 1939, GM proposed a highway system that would allow cars to travel rapidly down highways with no danger of traffic congestion or accidents. What would it take to create an automated highway system, and why is the focus instead on making vehicles themselves autonomous? 

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We'll have to wait a while longer before the first of NASA's missions to return us to the Moon takes off. Plus, Brazil tells Apple to include phone chargers or else, a human rights group tells Meta to step up against Brazilian President Bolsonaro's misinformation campaign, and the hardware chief who oversaw the development of the PS5 is retiring. And more!

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Special guest Jack Pattillo joins the show to talk about the former Disney Hollywood Studios attraction, The Great Movie Ride. From immersive storytelling to the implementation of a new kind of animatronic, Jack and Jonathan explore this long-gone ride.

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How does radiocarbon dating work? And why might it be less reliable in the future? Learn about carbon-14 and how it can be used to guess when ancient things were alive.

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NASA is going to try again with the Artemis I launch, part of the program to return humans to the Moon's surface. Microsoft faces potential resistance to its acquisition of Activision Blizzard among UK regulators. And Dungeons & Dragons sends a D20 to space. Kind of.

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What is a cam? How do cams fit into mechanical systems, and why do we use them? 

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The world’s first autonomous vessel to cross the Atlantic Ocean is signaling a new era in maritime technology. In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Malcolm Gladwell takes on this topic with Lauren Ober, host of The Loudest Girl in the World, and guests Brett Phaneuf and Don Scott, the engineers behind the Mayflower Autonomous Ship project. The two explain how automation and AI allowed them to reimagine the design and use of a ship at sea and their implications beyond maritime navigation.

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A listener asked to learn more about the Facebook/Meta Pixel, an ad tool that is incredibly powerful (and invasive). What is the Pixel, how does it work, and is there any escape from it?

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There's been an Event. What sort of tech can you rely upon after the zombie outbreak? Or solar flares? Or whatever?

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Facebook and Twitter have been shutting down fake accounts spreading pro-US narratives in the Middle East and Asia. Google warns us of a hacking tool that can download your entire email inbox. And in most of the world it's about to get more expensive to buy a new PS5.

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How could a music video's audio shutdown a computer? Why did the Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse in 1940? And did Nikola Tesla build an earthquake machine?

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Apple's 3 nm chips are on the way. A former Apple employee pleads guilty to industrial espionage. Oracle allegedly knows everything about you. And Sony announced its new VR hardware will be out in early 2023.

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Televisions weren't always smart. You might argue they still aren't. But there's a surprisingly long history behind them and of the effort to bring extra information to televisions. 

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There's been an Event. What sort of tech can you rely upon after the zombie outbreak? Or solar flares? Or whatever?

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Tanzania has installed high-speed internet on Mt. Kilimanjaro, providing more resources to mountain climbers and influencers alike. Facebook and TikTok are cracking down on political misinformation in the lead up to US elections. And a Janet Jackson music video was once the scourge of laptop hard drives.

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In this episode, we look at some of the issues with VR that could act as a stumbling block on the journey to the metaverse. How will VR play a part in the metaverse, and will it create a new and more dramatic digital divide?

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Apple reportedly has a new deadline requiring corporate employees to come back to the office. Some Signal users had their phone numbers exposed in a phishing attack. And a hacker partnered with a Doom modder to bring the first person shooter to tractors. Plus more

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How does the fintech company Affirm work? And what's the story behind its founder, Max Levchin? From Chernobyl to Peloton, our story takes some pretty crazy twists and turns.

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What was the Manhattan Project all about? What went on during the Manhattan Project and who were the influential people involved? Ben Bowlin joins the show to talk about it.

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Ransomware hackers got access to some Cisco systems but forgot to actually do the ransom part. Streaming services are grappling with the problem of managing costs and becoming profitable. And SpaceX's Starlink won't be getting hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid after all. Plus more. 

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How did a nuclear engineer end up inventing the Super Soaker water gun? This is the story of Lonnie Johnson, an inventor and engineer who, among many other things, revolutionized the backyard water pistol fight.

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Google's software update caused a brief but widespread outage of services. The US government stalls on passing an antitrust bill that would have a massive effect on the tech sector. And the semiconductor shortage continues to disrupt the automotive industry, plus more.

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Listener Charlie wants to know about X, the Alphabet subsidiary where Google engineers conduct super secret research and development on everything from jetpacks to augmented reality headsets. We learn about its history and some of its successes and failures.

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In this episode, Ben Bowlin joins the show to talk about the scientific and political landscape that made the Manhattan Project possible. What was Einstein's role? Who first discovered nuclear fission?

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Late last year, speculation around the metaverse fed into a crazy market for virtual real estate. Six months later, values have dropped 80%. What happened? Plus an update on Apple's battle with Ericsson and how some researchers were able to defeat a next-generation encryption strategy. 

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Mark Zuckerberg has said that Facebook and Instagram might have to shut down operations if there's not a change to EU privacy requirements. It turns out that's not a threat, it's a cry for help. We learn about what might force these platforms out of the EU.

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A solar storm is heading toward Earth but it's nothing to worry about. Plus, Apple says its human rights were violated and the Chairman of TSMC states the obvious. 

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Franchises like Star Wars and Star Trek have recently received a filmmaking upgrade in the form of The Volume and The AR Wall (respectively). What do these systems do and how could they change filmmaking? 

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What exactly is a disruptive technology? Jonathan explains the term and gives examples of how technology can really shake things up.

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Meta held its Q2 2022 earnings call and we learned a lot about what's going on with the company. We also learned that soon Meta will charge more for VR hardware and that it might be easing off on its misinformation policy. Plus news about Samsung, Google, Apple making a car and the next Grand Theft Auto game.

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Concluding our epic series about Jony Ive and his influence at Apple, we find out how Steve Jobs's death affected the designer, the projects he worked on over the last decade, and why he stepped away from the company.

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The headlines tell us cyberattacks are a big, consistent threat to business data – and ours. In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Malcolm Gladwell takes on this topic with Tim Harford, host of Cautionary Tales, and Stephanie “Snow” Carruthers, Chief People Hacker for X-Force, IBM. Snow and her team are finding creative solutions to test their clients’ security, including hacking into their systems before criminal hackers do.

This is a paid advertisement from IBM.

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Steve Jobs, Jony Ive and others at Apple were able to make huge changes, going from the brink of bankruptcy toward success. What would come next would be an incredible era of innovation and success at the company, from iPods to iPads.

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Stuff You Should Know's Josh Clark and Jonathan continue their discussion about achieving immortality through technology. What are the philosophical problems and will it ever happen?

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Mark Zuckerberg is going to have to appear in a federal court to answer questions about his alleged involvement in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Meanwhile, an art installation company is also suing Meta for being a copycat. Plus lots more!

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Upon the return of Steve Jobs to Apple, Jony Ive found his role transformed. Given more freedom and authority to have innovative designs find their way into products, Ive and Jobs set out to restore Apple's reputation in the industry.

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Twitter wants to bring its case against Elon Musk's refusal to go through with his acquisition of the company, and it wants that case to happen in September. Musk argues that the case should be pushed to February of next year. Plus we learn about another Russia fining Google, Apple being sued for being anticompetitive (again) and more!

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Jony Ive, the genius designer who helped redefine Apple's identity, has recently cut ties with the company. Here we learn about his origins and journey to Apple during the company's most chaotic era.

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Could technology let us live forever? Stuff You Should Know's Josh Clark joins the show to talk about the possibility of digital immortality.

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Apple and Jony Ive's design company have chosen not to extend a contract, meaning for the first time in 30 years Apple will be without Ive's influence in design. Also, more than 500 women sue Uber over the violence they experienced from drivers. 

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Why is the preservation of video games such a complicated mess? And what's the big deal with preserving them in the first place? We look at how enthusiasts and historians are trying to find ways to prevent old games from being forgotten.

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A lobbyist who formerly worked for Uber has dumped more than 100,000 internal documents recording various questionable practices Uber used between 2013 and 2017. It's worse than what we thought. Also, are you ready to pay a subscription fee to access your car's options?

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In 2014, TechStuff did The Twitter Story, but a lot has happened in the following 8 years. We look at what has happened to the company, including its current mess involving Elon Musk.

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What is the history of the sword? What are they made from and what is an alloy? Special guest Ariel Kasten joins the show to talk about pointy things.

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Intelligence and law enforcement agencies warn that hackers from China and North Korea are causing massive problems. A former Facebook employee claims the company is able to undelete user data despite claiming otherwise. And is the video game industry in for a bad year?

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When Kris Straub uploaded a creepy animated short to YouTube in 2018, he indicated that it was for audiences 18 and older. So why did YouTube's AI overrule Straub to say the video is suitable for kids? We look at COPPA and how it has affected YouTube.

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Where does the color come from in fireworks? How are those giant displays choreographed? We conclude our discussion on fireworks.

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How do fireworks work? From the basics to fully choreographed displays, we take a look at the tech of making stuff go boom.

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Agriculture has come a long way since the invention of the plow. Learn about how high-tech gadgets are revolutionizing agriculture!

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A controversial ruling by the US Supreme Court has had a big impact on the country as a whole and the tech industry is no exception. Plus, one FCC commissioner wants Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores. And Major League Baseball might be fed up with human umpires.

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By listener request, here's an episode about flash drives and flash memory. What makes it different from RAM and hard drives? How does it store information?

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Advocating for artificial intelligence to be built and deployed ethically is no longer just a compliance issue but more of a business imperative. In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Malcolm Gladwell takes on this topic with Dr. Laurie Santos, host of The Happiness Lab, and Phaedra Boinodiris, Trust in AI Practice Leader within IBM Consulting. Phaedra’s team at IBM is creatively tackling the global need to build trustworthy AI by approaching the challenge holistically, implementing design thinking to address problems before they arise.

This is a paid advertisement from IBM.

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Sometimes, the folks who invent important (or at least popular) tech end up being left out when it's time to collect the cash. We look at invention, ingenuity, patents and profit in this episode.

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The URL is a handy way to navigate to a specific web page. But where did it come from? How does it work and why are they almost always in English?

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Could the future of electronics be the human body? We explore efforts to turn your body into a technological interface.

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In the world of cryptocurrency, there's a need for algorithms to create a consensus for validating transactions. Bitcoin uses Proof of Work. Ethereum 2.0 will use Proof of Stake. What the heck is the difference?

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An outage in Cloudflare's content delivery network disrupts multiple services across the Internet. Plus, Meta shows off some mixed reality headset prototypes, former Tesla employees sue Tesla, and South Korea successfully puts a satellite into orbit.

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It was once a powerful video game company that many thought would challenge Nintendo for dominance. So what happened to Sega to make it fall so far?

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All's fair in love and tech, so they say. In this episode, we look back on some of the famous rivalries in technology.

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TV reviewers suspect that Samsung is using a cheating algorithm to boost TV benchmark scores. Is Tesla's Autopilot dangerous? And did Chinese scientists really pick up an alien radio signal?

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For years, E3 served as the video game industry's platform to promote video games and video game hardware. But some setbacks, including canceled shows due to COVID, lead to the question: is E3 dead?

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This week, we're seeing Microsoft's browser Internet Explorer come to an end as Google pulls the plug (officially) on Google Talk. Plus we learn about Apples second-generation mixed reality hardware even before the company announces the first one, and more!  

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A Google engineer was suspended after sharing a document suggesting that Google's LaMDA conversation model may be sentient. But if a machine was sentient, how could we tell? What does the Turing Test have to do with it? And can machines think?

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What are Stingrays and how are they used in surveillance? Jonathan brings in the guys from Stuff They Don't Want You To Know to find out.

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The committee investigating the January 6th insurrection reportedly wants Twitter to hand over more internal communications about what folks in the company knew about the planned event. Tesla is facing some opposition for its required office attendance in Germany. And the James Webb Space Telescope gets hit by a micrometeoroid.

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The word algorithm pops up a lot in tech discussions, but what the heck is an algorithm? From learning about an Arabic genius to discovering a way to figure out what day of the week falls on any given date, we look at algorithms.

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We get an update on Elon Musk and his quest to own or walk away from Twitter. We also learn what Apple unveiled at WWDC 2022. And we hear about an AI-piloted ship crossing the Atlantic.

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Why is it so hard to define concepts like artificial intelligence and machine learning? What do those even mean? And how does it work? We take a very high level look at AI and machine learning.

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What did the teams competing in the DARPA Robotics Challenge have to do? Who won? And what does this mean for the future of robotics?

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Apple is facing pressure from regulatory agencies around the world to allow developers to use payment systems outside of Apple's own. You could say the battle with Epic is where that got started. 

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By listener request, we learn about the history of the Onkyo company and brand. From its humble beginnings in 1946 to the declaration of bankruptcy in 2022, we learn how this company fit into the hi-fi audio equipment landscape.

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Historically, there have been cultural biases that have complicated the home buying process and made home ownership difficult. In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Malcolm takes on this subject with Jacob Goldstein, host of What’s Your Problem?, and Bryan Young and Steven Better, the co-founders of Home Lending Pal. These two visionaries are using IBM technology including AI, blockchain and cloud to create a home loan process that’s more transparent, secure, and equitable.This is a paid advertisement from IBM.

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It's Memorial Day in the United States, and so we're on holiday. We're bringing to you an episode from Business on the Brink back in 2019, where Ariel and I chat about a famous Kickstarter Campaign that ultimately led to frustration and disappointment.

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It's time for Electronics 101. What are the basic components of electronic circuits and what do they do? Jonathan explains.

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Smart Talks with IBM returns May 31. This season, host Malcolm Gladwell and a team of correspondents from Pushkin Industries meet with New Creators who are creatively applying technology in business to drive change. 
This is a paid advertisement from IBM. 

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We often think of technology as stuff that keeps us sitting at home, wired to our phones or computers or game systems. But there's an entire world of technology designed to inspire you to get outside and go exploring. We look at how tech can play a part in getting back to nature.

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Listener Greg used the Talkback feature on the iHeartRadio app to ask an interesting question: does Full Self Driving do what Tesla says it does? We take a look at the capabilities and limitations of Full Self Driving and ask tough questions like "Who is responsible when a Tesla crashes while in Full Self Driving mode?"

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The Attorney General for Washington DC has sued Mark Zuckerberg over the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Airbnb shuts down rentals in China. And a Florida law that would allow politicians to sue social networks over content moderation remains blocked.

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Listener The Gregolas asked if I might explain The Illegal Number. What makes a number illegal? Can numbers actually be illegal? Isn't that absurd? YES!

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Could your car be hacked remotely? We take a look at claims and explore the possibilities of wireless car hacking.

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Lots of news to cover today, including an update on Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, Meta is scaling back on some departments within the company, and Google's Russian subsidiary declares bankruptcy. Plus, learn how some engineers created a scientific breakthrough meant to make your burritos better.

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What gives those classic video games like Super Mario Bros and Legend of Zelda their unique sound? We look at what makes 8-bit audio special, and why the 8-bit part isn't really the important, uh, bit.

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Elon Musk says unless Twitter can prove its claim that less than 5% of all monetizable accounts are bots, the acquisition deal won't progress. A security researcher shows it's possible to unlock and start a Tesla vehicle through hacking. And how many times is your data traded online every day?

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Not all self-driving cars are made equal. We take a look at the various levels of autonomous driving and speculate on how long it might be until we have a truly autonomous car on the roads.

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Is there a kill switch for the Internet? Is that legal or ethical? Ben Bowlin joins the show to talk about it.

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All right, stop! Collaborate and listen; ICE is back with invasive digital surveillance covering essentially all US residents. Plus the SEC is after Elon Musk (again), the EU might outlaw end to end encryption and we learn what Google has announced at its I/O event.

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On May 10th, 2022, Apple announced it was discontinuing the iPod Touch, the last in the line of iPod products. We look back on the debut, evolution and impact of the iconic iPod.

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DRM, or digital rights management, can cause far more problems than what it was meant to solve. And it doesn't even solve the problem it was designed to do. In this episode, we look at several cases where DRM caused problems for legitimate customers.

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The last couple of years have been hard, but they've also pushed businesses to adapt quickly and innovate. We look at the technologies that power work.

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Nate Lanxon from Bloomberg joins the show to talk about the history of Internet Explorer and the future of Project Spartan.

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In this episode sponsored by Nissan, we take a look at the technologies being developed right now that will reshape the web and how we interact online. From Web3 to the metaverse to, yes, NFTs, we look at what's good, what's bad and what could define our future.

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In the late 90s, a man calling himself Michael Fenne had a radical idea: why not create a 1,000-channel online video network? The result was PIxelon, a company that in its short history had one of the craziest journeys in tech history.

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The US invests in electric vehicle batteries. Meta decides to shut down its podcasting platform. And Spotify is in Roblox now!

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It's hard to hold onto information. Paradoxically, it can also be hard to get rid of it. In this episode, we look at why long-term data preservation is a challenge, and the lengths people will go to in order to clear out digital information.

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Nate Lanxon from Bloomberg joins the show to talk about the history of Internet Explorer and the future of Project Spartan.

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Meta saw more users join its services, giving investors more confidence in the company. Amazon is in a tussle with the Australian government. And the UK plans to fine streaming services that display "harmful content." 

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Some researchers in the UK made a breakthrough that could have a dramatic impact on the cost of fuel cell technology. But how do fuel cells work anyway, and what's holding us back from using them?

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Despite all the back and forth, it looks like Elon Musk's bid for Twitter will be a success. And as you can expect, the Internet reacted with measured rationality and decorum. 

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In a continuation of last week's episode about tech and the music biz, we look at how different media had a huge impact and how digital downloads and streaming would change everything. 

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What's the story behind the Air Force's X-37B space plane? What is it doing on its super-long missions? Ben Bowlin joins the show to make wild speculations with me.

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The earnings call for Netflix led to a very bad day for the company. Tesla did booming business in the first quarter of 2022. And net neutrality proponents in California are celebrating. Plus more!

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Today we look at the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator software, which does so much more than emulate classic arcade machines. What is MAME's actual purpose, and is it legal?

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Twitter's Board of Directors have initiated a poison pill strategy in an effort to fend off Elon Musk's bid to acquire the platform. In other news, Amazon is getting into the mixed reality game and holographic doctors visited the International Space Station.

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The tech and business of music have evolved together, creating an enormous industry. We learn how recording technology, radio and more have shaped business.

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Our history lesson about the implementation of pneumatic tube systems continues. We also explore how pneumatic tubes are used currently.

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Remember on Tuesday when we heard analysts wonder if Elon Musk turned down a seat on Twitter's Board of Directors because he wanted to make a move on Twitter? Well, he wants to make a move on Twitter. Plus, Meta plans to take a huge chunk out of every transaction in the metaverse and more.

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This tidbits episode rapidly got out of hand. We take a look at big format wars in history and why they are important. We also look at how format wars can cause confusion and frustration for consumers. 

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Elon Musk won't be joining Twitter's Board of Directors after all. Plus, what happens when cops pull over a driverless car? And we learn about a gorilla who is spending too much time looking at smartphones.

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What is the Raspberry Pi? Who came up with the idea? What can the Raspberry Pi do? Listen in as your favorite tech gurus break down Raspberry Pi.

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How do pneumatic tubes work? Lauren Vogelbaum joins the show to talk about the physics and history of pneumatic tube systems.

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Meta ditched Diem but still plans to introduce a digital currency that employees call "Zuck Bucks." Some of Mark Zuckerberg's employees refer to him as the "Eye of Sauron" and somehow he doesn't think that's a bad thing. And we hear about a lawsuit that claims IBM fudged numbers on its revenue filings.

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Take a close look at the electromagnetic spectrum and you'll notice there's a span of frequencies we don't seem to use very much. Why is that?

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Employees at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island pass a vote to unionize. Elon Musk becomes Twitter's newest board member. And scientists have created a new message to tell aliens where to find us. 

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Advocate, technologist and comedian Baratunde Thurston joins the show to talk about his podcast How to Citizen and how, with a little work, we can make tech live up to its potential as a tool for positive social change.

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How can you hide a message so that no one knows you're even communicating? Use steganography! Ariel Kasten joins the show to talk about the art of hiding messages.

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Today's news covers a lot of important problems cropping up around Big Tech, from anticompetitive practices to deceptive lobbying strategies to the spread of misinformation on social networking platforms. Plus learn how researchers were able to hack into a Canadian broadcast satellite.

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What are the different kinds of satellite orbits, and what purpose do they serve? From low Earth orbits to Lagrange points, we take a high-level view. From space.

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Sony is combining two existing services into something new. Plus the supply chain problems we've been having are likely going to get worse. And we hear about AI-generated LinkedIn profiles. Could your coworker be a robot?

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Since its formation, the Facebook Oversight Board has reviewed some important content moderation cases on Facebook. In some cases it upheld Facebook's initial decision, in more cases the board overturned Facebook's actions. But why does the board exist in the first place and how does it work? Dex Hunter-Torricke joins the show to explain.

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CNET's Iyaz Akhtar joins the show to talk about lawsuits. What are some of the biggest lawsuits in gaming and how have they shaped our world?

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Cybersecurity researchers say that a 16-year-old boy in England is the ringleader of the Lapsus$ hacker group that compromised Okta and other companies earlier this week. We learn which big tech companies are the most ethical, sort of. And lots more! 

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As the buzz around Web3 grows, I thought it would be good to revisit the concepts of Web 1.0 and Web 2.0. What do those terms actually mean? And does Web3 have any connection to them? 

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In an effort to protect high-profile Facebook users, Facebook locked those users out of their own accounts. Sort of. Plus news about Google, Tesla and how the US SEC wants to hold companies accountable for greenhouse gas emissions. 

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Pete Morrison from Bohemia Interactive Simulations joins the show to talk about what goes into creating simulated worlds for military training and how that work could be part of the foundation for the metaverse.

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Jonathan and Scott look back on the history of aircraft carriers and how they evolved in the US Navy. From the Enterprise to the Nimitz and beyond!

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Between chasing rainbows and warding off banshees, Jonathan spends this St. Patrick's Day talking about numerous lawsuits and proposed pieces of legislation that could have enormous impacts on the tech industry. Plus Amazon picks up MGM and the James Webb Space Telescope takes its first fully-focused image. 

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Today, using streaming services is how most folks access music. But how did that get started? We look at the early history that set the stage for today's music industry.

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The Russian government has banned Instagram. A COVID outbreak in China could create more supply chain woes down the line. And Google employees indicate their displeasure in an internal survey. Plus more!

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We've all heard how the chip shortage has hit the automotive industry hard, but when did cars begin incorporating electronics in the first place? We look at the history of computerization in vehicles.

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CarStuff's Scott Benjamin joins this listener requested show about aircraft carriers. How do they work and what does it take to keep one operational?

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Special guest Ariel Kasten is back and we talk about some more sci-fi stuff, including the various means of getting from point A to point B. Hyperspace, warp speed and teleportation - how much is science and how much is fiction?

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This is the story of a video game console that tried to make a big change in the market but failed, and the man who dreamed it all up.

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How did IBM define computer graphics standards for the PC? What's the difference between the different standards? And why did the company get out of the graphics game?

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Beena Ammanath is an Executive Director at Deloitte with a focus on AI, including how to make artificial intelligence "trustworthy." In this episode, Jonathan and Beena talk about artificial intelligence in general, what it means to be trustworthy and why you can't use a single example to cover all AI applications.

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Lauren Vogelbaum joins the show to talk about coffee machines. What's the history of coffee and how do the various gadgets work? Coffee!

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The President of the United States called on Congress to create laws to protect children online. McDonald's doesn't want an add on gadget to fix ice cream machines. And you'll be able to order virtual fast food in the metaverse for some reason.

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What is SWIFT, and what does a SWIFT ban actually mean? We learn about the communications system and how it facilitates the movement of large amounts of money all around the world.

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The tech world has clamped down on Russia in the wake of the country's invasion of Ukraine. A cryptocurrency exchange founder is going to stand trial on charges of wire fraud and money laundering. And we say farewell to a man who co-developed Ethernet technology.

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Scott Benjamin joins the show to talk about the history and tech behind Formula 1 race cars. What sets them apart?

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How do scientists retrieve ice core samples? What can we learn from them? Joe McCormick joins the show to talk about really cool historical records.

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How is Russia's invasion of Ukraine affecting the tech world? Why did an American hacker decide to take down North Korea's Internet? And why is Facebook developing a universal translator?

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Audiophiles want the best listening experience from their sound systems. The only thing in the way is the tech. We explore why getting the perfect system is such a huge challenge (and why you don't necessarily need to break the bank while doing it).

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Security researchers find that TikTok gives its Chinese parent company full access to user data. A consumer advocacy group in the EU thinks users should be able to sue big tech companies under the Digital Markets Act. And White Castle hires some robots.

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Sansui was a Japanese company that, for a brief period, produced audio equipment that serious audiophiles still seek out to this day. We learn how the company began and we puzzle out what went wrong.

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How do toilets work? What's the secret behind using a Japanese toilet? And can you enter a toilet race? Josh Clark joins the show.

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Meta employees are now Metamates and I'm sorry. Also, we learn about how Russian hackers have stolen top US military secrets. And the US is looking at more ways to protect children from Big Tech.

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When tech goes obsolete, it can cause problems. Sometimes they are relatively minor -- you bought into HDDVD when you should have gone Blu-ray. But sometimes it gets much more serious. We take a big picture look at the problems of tech going obsolete.

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The state of Texas goes after Meta/Facebook over data privacy. The US Senate might effectively end encrypted communication in the states. And a certain time machine might be opening its gull-wing doors to new customers soon.

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How does a speaker generate sound? What does an amplifier do and how does it work? We learn more about the science and tech behind our audio equipment.

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How did broadcast radio get its start? What were the challenges and controversies? And how did the golden age fade into history?

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Nintendo held one of its Nintendo Direct events yesterday and we look at a few announcements. Meanwhile, Peloton continues to have a rough week as laid off employees crash an all hands meeting. And Tesla opts to turn off a function that Jonathan finds obnoxious.

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What is jailbreaking? Why would you want to jailbreak a device? And how could court decisions make jailbreaking a thing of the past?

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Nvidia's plan to acquire Arm falls through. The IRS backpedals on requiring facial recognition for online users. And we hear about how Meta and Apple are both facing challenges on multiple fronts.

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It's time to revisit the Hyperloop. What is the proposal, and how will it work? And what's up with Elon Musk's Boring Company?

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In our final part in our Atari series, Chuck and Jonathan talk about the sad decline of Atari and what's left of the company today.

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Yesterday, Meta/Facebook held an earnings call and things went poorly right out of the gate. By the time the call was over, the company was poised to shed 200 billion dollars in value. What happened? Plus, more news in tech.

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What's the difference between bits and bytes? Has a byte always been 8 bits (no, it has not)? And is a kilobyte 1,000 bytes, or 1,024 bytes? It depends! Let's all get confused with this refresher course in bits and bytes!

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Acquisitions are in the tech news this week, from updates on Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard to the New York Times scooping up a viral online game. We also look at how hackers made more than 80 million bucks from insider trading and a group of engineers who proved da Vinci's flying machine could work.

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Diem, formerly known as the Libra Association behind Facebook's Libra currency, is kaput. Learn about how folks at Facebook attempted to launch a digital currency and the problems they encountered along the way.

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In Part Two of this series, Chuck and Jonathan talk about how Atari dominated video games until the crash of 1983.

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LG's announcement to advertisers might mean connected televisions learn more about us than we would like. Anti-vax groups were spreading lies about COVID vaccines before the US even announced a vaccine program. And the IRS wants a good look at your face. Plus more!

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From Moore's Law to the Laws of Robotics, we take a look at some famous "laws" about technology.

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The recent decline in cryptocurrency value might be good news for folks looking to buy a GPU. Attorneys want to hold Google accountable for what they say are misleading location tracking practices. And hackers have hit the Belarus railway system with ransomware in an effort to prevent Russian troops from amassing near Ukraine. Plus more!

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Peloton seems to be moving backward, which is bad news for a company known for its stationary bikes. We look at the history of Peloton, the company's business model, and how recent events have convinced at least one activist investor to call for the CEO's resignation.

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What's the story behind Atari? Stuff You Should Know's Chuck Bryant joins the podcast to answer this listener question.

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An issue with Roku's systems on the back end caused user devices to fail for several hours on Wednesday. Plus, news about the metaverse, crypto criminals and a movie studio in spaaaaace.

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What are patents for? How long do they last? And what's a patent troll? We give a quick overview about patents and why they're such a big deal in tech.

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We're on the eve of AT&T and Verizon switching on their C-Band 5G networks and several airlines warn that the tech could cause a "catastrophic event" in the form of delays and cancellations. What's going on? Plus HUGE news about Activision Blizzard and more.

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The semiconductor chip shortage continues to be a huge problem for multiple industries around the world and has brought new attention to Taiwan, the manufacturing capital of semiconductors. But how did it get that way?

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What are the six simple machines and why are they so important? Joe McCormick joins the show to explain.

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The tech news today is filled with stories about lawsuits and scams, from Apple paying employees for the time they spent being searched to Kim Kardashian getting name dropped in a lawsuit about an alleged cryptocurrency scam. Plus, Disney files an interesting (and potentially creepy) patent.

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What are/were content farms, and what conditions allowed them to flourish? And what changed? From junk articles to clickbait, we look at how web sites would try to gamify the system to get more views.

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A law in South Korea forces Apple and Google to offer alternatives to their respective in-app payment systems. A former Amazon employee will testify to lawmakers that the company's employee review system is incomprehensible. And Razer changes up how it markets its new Zephyr masks.

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Digital Rights Management has a bad reputation. Is it earned? (Yes, yes it is). We look at the history and evolution of DRM and why critics say it's broken.

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