TechStuff

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...

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? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's been an Event. What sort of tech can you rely upon after the zombie outbreak? Or solar flares? Or whatever? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's been an Event. What sort of tech can you rely upon after the zombie outbreak? Or solar flares? Or whatever? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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?  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What exactly is a disruptive technology? Jonathan explains the term and gives examples of how technology can really shake things up. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.