Former TechStuff co-host Lauren Vogelbaum comes back to TechStuff to talk about the chaotic, absurd, and sometimes infuriating world of food delivery apps. Are they good for restaurants? (No). Are they good for drivers? (Nope). Are they good for the companies themselves? (Not really).

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How did a pair of 19th-century brothers hack into a government-controlled communications system? And what did they do with it? 

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For some people, a simple string of Christmas lights on a tree in the yard just isn't enough. How do those impressive Christmas light displays work? 

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Mysterious drones flying over New Jersey have raised fears and questions. Plus, big tech companies start to court Donald Trump, the FTC is likely going to reverse positions in the new administration and the Game Awards names the Game of the Year.

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2024 has been a huge year for AI. But why should we focus only on the enormous companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Amazon? We look at three startups that hope to make it huge in the AI space. 

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To deploy responsible AI and build trust with customers, businesses need to prioritize AI governance. In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Malcolm Gladwell and Laurie Santos discuss AI accountability with Christina Montgomery, Chief Privacy and Trust Officer at IBM. They chat about AI regulation, what compliance means in the AI age, and why transparent AI governance is good for business.

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Explore watsonx.governance: https://www.ibm.com/products/watsonx-governance

This is a paid advertisement from IBM.

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NASA is soliciting applications for its astronaut program in anticipation of sending men and women to the Moon. Learn all about the Artemis program, its goals and what comes next!

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The shooting of UnitedHealthCare's CEO Brian Thompson has prompted some dark, disturbing reactions online -- including misinformation. Plus, we have stories about the wealthy designing bunkers to hide from the coming "Event", China's Salt Typhoon operation compromising US telecommunications companies, and more. Woof. It's rough, y'all. 

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Did you know one company has the monopoly on the .com top level domain? How did Verisign become the one DNS registry for .com, and why did some politicians recently challenge the company's practices?

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The world of tech is nuanced, complex, and filled with jargon. That makes it the perfect breeding ground for scams and hoaxes. How can we defend ourselves from snake oil salespeople? Through the powers of critical thinking!

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Over the years, many people have contributed to our little technology podcast to make it what it is today. In this episode, Jonathan spends some time thanking those who have made their mark on TechStuff.

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Scientists and hosts of Daniel and Kelly?s Extraordinary Universe join the show to talk about media depictions of science, the importance of STEAM education and funding, and why exploratory science benefits us in ways we can?t anticipate.

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Financial analyst Josh Jalinski joins the show to talk about cryptocurrency from an investment point of view. We discuss concerns about crypto, opportunities that may exist, and why it is always important to use critical thinking and research before dedicating your hard earned money to an investment.

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The Department of Justice has a list of proposed actions Google must take to end anticompetitive practices, and Google is not happy about it. Apple probably isn't thrilled either. But the matter still has to head to court next year, so nothing is decided just yet. Plus, Microsoft makes some questionable choices and an AI expert leans a bit too hard on AI. 

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After 16 and a half years, I will be stepping down from being the host of TechStuff. We'll talk more about the future of the show soon, but today's episode is all about the history and evolution of the little podcast that tried to demystify technology, critically examine the industry, and make tons of puns in the process.

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We look at the history of auto-tune, how it works, and how it impacted music and culture in general.

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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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What's the difference between a capacitive and a resistive touchscreen? Which came first? And are there other types of touchscreen technologies?

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A little more than a decade ago, mobile computing revolutionized how we access software and the internet. It's about to happen again.

At the top of my holiday wish list is an AI-augmented laptop powered by the Snapdragon X Elite processor for lightning-fast performance.

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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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When developing the mp3 compression algorithm, engineer Karlheinz Brandenburg used a specific song to tweak settings and get them just right. What was that song? And why does Jonathan not like it?

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When Craig Rupp left Iowa in the 80s, he never wanted to step foot on a farm again. A whirlwind career as an engineer took him to some of the biggest companies - Motorola, Apple, Samsung - but he always felt a strong connection to his roots. He had an idea he couldn?t shake - an opportunity to change farming forever. Introducing Sabanto and its best-in-class Autonomous Operator, Steward. On the day of their first big test, the tractor froze, stuck in a field in a blizzard - no planting, no company, no future. If Craig wanted this to work, he had to find a solution - and fast. 

Ben is back with a series of episodes celebrating businesses from across America, starting with the great state of Iowa and Sabanto Agriculture. Joining Ben is Sachin Seghal Founder of Elevate Digital Marketing in Des Moines and Brian Lamb, Northeast segment head for Middle Market at JPMorgan Chase. Together they discuss the developments in Artificial Intelligence and its importance for small businesses while sharing insights on how small businesses can effectively transition to mid-sized enterprises and beyond. 

The Unshakeables is brought to you by Chase for Business and Ruby Studio by iHeartMedia

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In 2009, Microsoft announced a new search engine called Bing. What was Microsoft's strategy, how is Bing different from the dominant search engine Google, and what's next?

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We knew that the 2024 election season in the US would include some tough stories involving tech and potential election interference. In this episode, we look at a few headlines of how tech may have already played a role in misinforming voters either on purpose or by accident. Plus many more headlines in this jumbo news episode!

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What does an REM Pod do? How does it work? And why is Jonathan such a darn party pooper when it comes to ghost hunting?

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In the 19th century, some enterprising and unscrupulous photographers convinced vulnerable people that they had developed (pun intended) a way to photograph the spirits of the dearly departed. But what was really going on?

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Description: The former senior advisor for OpenAI's now dissolved AGI Readiness division warns that no one, not even OpenAI, is actually ready for artificial general intelligence. Plus, the US unveils some "guardrails" about using AI tools, Montana's Attorney General files a new lawsuit against TikTok, and Norway increases the minimum age for social media users to 15. And more!

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Cybersecurity company Kaspersky has a list of the most notorious hackers of all time. We look at three of the entries, from the loose confederation of hackers called Anonymous to a hacker responsible for stealing millions of credit and debit card numbers.

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In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Malcolm Gladwell speaks with Jason Kelley, GM, Strategic Partners and Ecosystems at IBM, and Kristy Friedrichs, SVP and Chief Partnership Officer at Palo Alto Networks. They discuss the challenges and opportunities that the rapid development of AI brings to the cybersecurity space. Jason and Kristy also underscore how implementing a zero trust strategy can help enterprises enhance cyber resiliency and simplify operations. Together, IBM and Palo Alto Networks are delivering fully integrated, open, end-to-end security solutions to enterprises.

This is a paid advertisement from IBM. The conversations on this podcast don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

Visit us at https://ibm.com/smarttalks

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In celebration of Halloween, we take a look at an article from HowStuffWorks titled 10 Scary Modern Technologies. From drones to voices coming out of thin air, we peek under the big scary bed that is technology.

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X, formerly known as Twitter, makes a major change to the block feature that has some users switching to alternatives. Plus, Meta holds layoffs across multiple departments, some filmmakers experiment with generative AI, and SpaceX uses a giant metal claw to catch a rocket booster. And more!

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In 2018, more than 200 cities competed to become the site for Amazon's second headquarters. Late that year, Amazon would choose two locations. A year later, it would pull out of one of those two sites. And today, the HQ2 sits nearly half empty. What happened?

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Tesla showed off the Optimus humanoid robots recently. What's the history behind bipedal, humanoid robots? Why are they so hard to get right? Why would you want to design such a robot in the first place? We explore the history, science and evolution of humanoid robots.

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This week, Elon Musk held his delayed Cybercab event while also showing off a new Robovan concept and Optimus humanoid robots. Investors, however, remain concerned that the event was more show than business. Also, Chinese hackers exploited backdoor access points to major Internet Service Providers in the US. And more!

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From LRADs to the dreaded "brown noise," we look at attempts to weaponize sound. Is it possible? What effects can sound have on the body? And how much do we not know? (Hint: The answer is "A lot.")

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In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Jacob Goldstein speaks with Rebecca Finlay, CEO of Partnership on AI, about the importance of advancing AI innovation with openness and ethics at the forefront. Rebecca discusses how guardrails ? such as risk management ? can advance efficiency in AI development. They explore the AI Alliance?s focus on open data and technology, and the importance of collaboration. Rebecca also underscores how diverse perspectives and open-mindedness can drive AI progress responsibly.

This is a paid advertisement from IBM. The conversations on this podcast don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

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There's nothing like wearing noise cancelling headphones while on a noisy flight. But what technology lets you listen to your sweet tunes while eliminating the loud hum of an aircraft?

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Earlier this year, analysts predicted that OpenAI would need a large injection of investments to stay afloat. This week, OpenAI closed on a 6.6 billion dollar investment round. What's next? Plus, Elon Musk holds a recruitment event for xAI, the governor of California vetoes an AI safety bill and more.

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AI is hard. How hard? Your company can hit a valuation of more than one billion dollars one moment and you're out of business the next. We look at two digital health companies that went from the highest highs to the lowest lows.

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Hydroelectric power harnesses the energy of water to generate electricity, but how? From turbine design to dynamos, we look at the components that make hydropower work.

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Meta held its Connect conference this week and showed off some chonky augmented reality glasses, among other things. Plus, OpenAI shakes things up and DoNotPay agrees to, well, Pay.

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Time named the Sony Walkman number 47 on a list of the 50 most influential gadgets of all time. How did the Walkman become a thing, and what influence has it had on how we experience music? 

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As the scale of artificial intelligence continues to evolve, open technology like many of IBM?s Granite models are helping enhance transparency in AI and improve efficiency across businesses. In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Jacob Goldstein sat down with Maryam Ashoori, the Director of Product Management and Head of Product for IBM?s watsonx.ai, where she spearheads the product strategy and delivery of IBM?s watsonx Foundation Models. Together, they explored the shift from large general-purpose AI models to smaller, customizable models tailored to specific needs.

This is a paid advertisement from IBM. The conversations on this podcast don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

Visit us at https://ibm.com/smarttalks

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Where did CAPTCHAs come from? What purpose do they serve? How do they relate to artificial intelligence? And why are some of them so doggone hard?

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Israel is allegedly behind an attack on Hezbollah involving exploding pagers. How did that happen? In other news, Microsoft wants to reopen a nuclear power plant to supply electricity to power-hungry AI data centers. Plus much more! 

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Is there a link between social media use and mental health challenges? We look at a meta-analysis and use some critical thinking to tackle the issue. 

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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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We've got a lot of stories about artificial intelligence to talk about this week. Plus, Xbox holds more layoffs, Sony announces a new PS5 model, and for the first time, private citizens go on a space walk. Plus much more! 

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What happened to plasma televisions? Where did they come from? Let's learn how plasma TVs work and why the industry abandoned this technology. 

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The role of AI in the classroom is evolving rapidly. When students and teachers embrace this technology, it has the ability to democratize access to education through programs like IBM SkillsBuild. In this episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Dr. Laurie Santos, host of Pushkin?s The Happiness Lab podcast, spoke with two innovators in the space. Justina Nixon-Saintil is Vice President and Chief Impact Officer, IBM Corporate Social Responsibility, and April Dawson is an Associate Dean of Technology and Innovation and a professor of law. They discuss the importance of lifelong learning, upskilling, and the ethical implications of AI in education.

This is a paid advertisement from IBM. The conversations on this podcast don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

Visit us at https://ibm.com/smarttalks

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