TechStuff

Tech News: Brazil Ditches X and Russia Buys Some Influencers

06 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Brazil's Supreme Court has shut down access to X after Elon Musk defied some questionable court orders. The US Department of Justice says that an Amer...

Abandoned Tech Projects

05 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

From Microsoft's dual-screened tablet concept to a holographic video game system, we take a look at some tech projects that died on the vine.See omnys...

What happened to Facebook's digital currency?

02 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 2019, Facebook (now Meta) announced it was developing a digital currency called Libra. Just a couple of years later, the project was dead in the wa...

Elon Musk Gets a Lot of Bad News

30 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

From X to Tesla to SpaceX to xAI, we've got a bunch of stories about various Elon Musk companies and the challenges they face this week. Plus, the MPA...

Sending Telegram's CEO to Court

28 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

French authorities arrested Telegram's CEO on Saturday, August 24th, 2024. What did he do? What is Telegram? And can a balance be struck between secur...

Smart Talks with IBM: How open source can democratize AI

27 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In a rapidly evolving AI landscape, open-source models can further accelerate the pace of progress and help expand access to all. In this episode of S...

Rerun: How Podcasting Works

26 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this podtastic episode, Jonathan and Chris explore how podcasting works. Tune in as they touch on everything from how TechStuff got its start to ti...

Tech News: Augmenting (Or Outright Replacing) Reality

23 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Meta and Snap each plan to introduce new AR glasses, but you probably won't be able to get your hands on them. Plus, Cruise strikes up a partnership w...

Disney's Multiplane Camera

21 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

While tackling a project that could have bankrupted the company, Walt Disney's engineers created a new method to add depth to two-dimensional animatio...

Rerun: Space Suit Evolution

19 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A lack of new space suits is going to push back the Artemis Program. Where did space suits come from? What were the early ones like? We look at flight...

A Bad Hack and a Great Guest

16 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Shannon Morse joins the show to talk about how a data breach might impact you, as well as to clear up a few things the media tends to get wrong about ...

AI and Price Fixing

14 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Business leaders understand that AI can help increase revenue and profit margins. But is using AI to control pricing going to lead to bad outcomes for...

Smart Talks with IBM: An AI advantage for the US Open

13 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As AI technology progresses, its impact on our daily lives—including how we consume our favorite sports— will grow alongside it. In this episode o...

The Tale of the RCA VideoDisc

12 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 1981, RCA released a new media format on the market. It was the CED -- the Capacitance Electronic Disc, and it was meant to compete with Betamax, V...

It's Just a Matter of (Anti)trust

09 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Google and Amazon are the subject of antitrust proceedings, while an antitrust lawsuit from Elon Musk's X has prompted an organization to disband. Tru...

Hitting the Road with GPS

07 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How does GPS work? How can satellites tell you where you are? And what does Einstein have to do with all of this? See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

The Global Economy and the Hype on Artificial Intelligence

06 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As the US teeters on the brink of a recession, we're seeing economies around the world take a hit. What role, if any, did the hype around AI play? We ...

Tech News: Is the Honeymoon Over for AI?

02 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Some folks are getting impatient while waiting on AI to transform the world (or at the very least their investment portfolio). Plus, we learn about ho...

This Episode Was Written By AI (Sort Of)

01 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Can generative AI write a good episode for a technology podcast? We find out with this experiment about airbags written by ChatGPT. What worked, what ...

Jamming the Signal

29 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What does it mean when a signal is "jammed?" From radar to radio to some cheeky broadcast TV signal intrusions, we look at how signal jamming works. ...

AI is Smart At Math But Stupid With Love

26 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Meta and Google both brag on how their respective AI models are good at math. Meanwhile, OpenAI unveils its prototype AI-enhanced search engine. Plus,...

Pinball: From Electromechanical Machines to Solid State Tables

25 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We continue to explore the evolution of pinball and learn how the humble solenoid powers so much of the game. Plus, what happens when transistors, int...

The Southern Fried Gaming Expo and Pinball

22 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

After attending the 2024 Southern Fried Gaming Expo, TechStuff looks into the origins and evolution of pinball machines. See omnystudio.com/listener ...

Tech News: A Software Update Crashed Computer Systems Around the World

19 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A company called CrowdStrike pushed out a software update to Windows-based systems. But the update had a defect, bringing computer systems around the ...

How a medieval king influenced a modern technology

17 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

King Harald of Denmark had a little quirk that would, centuries later, provide inspiration for the naming of a modern technology. We learn how his lac...

Smart Talks with IBM - Transformations in Al: why foundation models are the future

16 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Major breakthroughs in artificial intelligence research often reshape the design and utility of Al in both business and society. In this special rebro...

AI Model Collapse and the Dangers of AI-Generated Content

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

An AI image of a devious banker with way too many fingers can be entertaining, but could it also be a warning sign for the future of the Internet? We ...

Tech News: The Death of Physical Media

12 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sony will stop producing rewritable Blu-rays and a DVD rental service went belly up. Are we looking at the end of physical media? Plus, AI causes more...

What are AI Chips?

10 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As chip manufacturers rush to meet the needs of all this artificial intelligence work going on, we're left to ask the question "What the heck is an AI...

Artificial Artificial Intelligence

08 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The AI startup scene is bonkers. Investors are pouring so much money into AI startup companies that some of those businesses are making unsubstantiate...

Tech News: What a hack!

05 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There's a lot of hacker news this week, with updates on the severity of the Ticketmaster hack, a credit union in California is doing its best to resto...

Rerun: Machine Learning and Catastrophic Forgetting

03 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

While an elephant may never forget, the same cannot be said for artificial neural networks. What is catastrophic forgetting, how does it affect artifi...

Big Recalls: When Tech Goes Wrong

01 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes, a tech company pushes out a product that has a flaw bad enough to prompt that company to issue a recall. From television antennas to the Te...

No Australian News is Good News for Facebook

28 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Meta says it may start blocking links to Australian news sites on Facebook -- again. Hackers create a massive headache for US automobile dealerships. ...

More Startups that Died in 2023

26 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A couple of grocery delivery services, a neobank catering to the LGBTQ+ company and a company that used robots to make pizza walk into 2023. No one ge...

Smart Talks with IBM: AI & the Productivity Paradox

25 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In a rapidly evolving world, we need to balance the fear surrounding AI and its role in the workplace with its potential to drive productivity growth....

Tech Startups that Died in 2023

24 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

From cybersecurity companies to a business that provided telehealth services for pets, we look at some of the tech startups that had to close up shop ...

Tech News: Apple Cancels Plans for Vision Pro II

21 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Apple still plans to launch a more affordable mixed reality headset before the end of next year, but the Vision Pro sounds like a one off. Plus, Nvidi...

Rerun: Super Soakers and Rocket Science

19 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

New Season of Smart Talks with IBM Coming Soon

18 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Smart Talks with IBM returns with a new season on Tuesday, June 25th. This season, we’re diving back into the world of artificial intelligence, but ...

GMDs and EMPs

17 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Geomagnetic disturbances and electromagnetic pulses have the potential to cause a lot of problems for us. We learn what causes these events and how th...

Tech News: Elon Musk Rants About Apple Intelligence

14 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Elon Musk says he'll ban Apple products from his company following the announcement that Apple is partnering with OpenAI. Plus, Microsoft recalls Wind...

Intellivision and the Blue Sky Rangers

13 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Back in the late 1970s, toy company Mattel waded into the video game console market with the launch of the Intellivision. This year, Atari SA purchase...

The Origins of Tesla

10 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

While Elon Musk owes much of his wealth to Tesla, the truth is that he's not the company's founder. That honor goes to a pair of engineers named Marti...

Tech News: AI Might Not Be Ready for Prime Time

07 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Two different consumer products with AI integration have flopped recently, and even big companies like Google have had to backtrack on AI implementati...

The Largest Data Breaches in US History: Part II

05 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We've got more data breaches and leaks to talk about. From an attack that targeted Microsoft corporate customers to one affecting three billion accoun...

The Largest Data Breaches in US History: Part I

03 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

TicketMaster recently acknowledged a massive data breach that has affected more than half a billion customers. Where would it fall on a list of the wo...

Tech News: TikTok Might Be Working on a Contingency Plan

31 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Reuters reports that TikTok is developing a US-only version of its recommendation algorithm, but the company disputes the report's accuracy. Plus, cou...

Rerun: How 3D Audio Works

29 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the late 19th century, a French experiment demonstrated the power of stereo sound. A century later, experiments in binaural audio would help create...

Rerun: How Medieval Warfare Led to the Lawnmower

27 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 Mid...

Tech News: AI Oh No

24 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

OpenAI is in the hot seat. Scarlet Johansson thinks OpenAI might have used her voice without her permission. Former employees are compelled to sign no...

The Dramatic Evolution of Hulu

22 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

After a tumultuous 2013, Hulu would enter the next phase of its evolution. But corporate maneuvers in huge media empires and growing competition in th...

The Origins of Hulu

20 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 2007, News Corp and NBCUniversal announced a joint venture. It would be a video streaming service that would deliver film and broadcast TV content ...

Tech News: The Future of Search is AI

18 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Both OpenAI and Google dominated the tech news this week with announcements relating to AI, and like it or not it seems like AI is bound to become dee...

The Problem With Live Service Games

15 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

From always-on DRM to the heartbreak of online games getting shut down, we look at the issues gamers encounter with the live service game model.See om...

Could Live Service Games Kill the Games Industry?

13 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Recently, Microsoft shut down four video game studios. The industry as a whole has seen major disruption this year. And some worry that a shift toward...

Tech News: Microsoft Shuts Down Multiple Video Game Studios

10 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Microsoft announced that game studios like Austin Arkane and Tango Gameworks are closing their doors. Google and Tesla are both dealing wit...

The Diffusion of Innovation Theory

08 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What are early adopters, and why are they important? In this episode, we look at Everett Rogers theory of the diffusion of innovation and how new idea...

The Internet Archive

06 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

TechStuff gets in the Wayback Machine to look at the origins of the Internet Archive, which preserves information stored on the Internet. How does it ...

Tech News: Tesla Gets Downsized

03 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Elon Musk starts making drastic cuts at Tesla -- is he trying to salvage his enormous compensation package? Plus, Microsoft tells the cops that they a...

Technically Speaking (An Intel Podcast): A Safer World With AI Digital Twins

02 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Advancements in AI technology have made it possible to create virtual representations of our real-world environments, and these digital twins could ch...

The Most Hated Buzzwords in Tech

01 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The tech industry has no shortage of buzzwords and jargon. Some of the terms common in tech are ones that people have come to hate for various reasons...

High Frame Rates and the Soap Opera Effect

29 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Why do some films shot in higher frame rates look so weird? We explore the history of the 24 frames per second standard, the filmmakers who are pushin...

Tech News: Tesla and Meta Investors are Not the Same

26 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Several tech companies held Q1 earnings calls this week, with wildly different reactions from investors. Tesla profits are down, but investor hopes ar...

The US Passes the Anti-TikTok Bill

25 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The thing I said probably wouldn't happened did happen -- the US Senate voted in favor of a bill that will force the Chinese company ByteDance to dive...

The Broken Arrow Episode

22 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Officially, the United States has lost nuclear weapons in six incidents in which the nation couldn't retrieve or destroy them. We look at these six in...

Tech News: Anti TikTok Bill Inches Closer to Becoming Law

19 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Some tweaks to the bill that would require TikTok parent company to divest itself of the app or face a US-wide ban could be closer to becoming a law. ...

It's Time to Light the Lights

17 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How do theatrical lighting control systems work? From early attempts to automate lighting through mechanical systems to sleek computer-controlled rigs...

TechStuff Classic: TechStuff Shreds on the Electric Guitar

15 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

While Jonathan works on a new episode about stage lighting systems, take a listen to this classic episode in which he and his old cohost Chris Pollett...

Tech News: Crime, Punishment, and Generative AI

12 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Our news stories today include SBF filing an appeal on his recent sentencing, a UK court denies Apple's request to dismiss a huge lawsuit and Microsof...

Smart Talks with IBM - The Power of Collaboration: How IBM Teams Up with Microsoft

11 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Entire industries are being reshaped around the new capabilities of generative AI. In this specialbonus episode of Smart Talks with IBM, Tim Harford l...

Faking a DMCA Takedown to Boost Search Rankings

10 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist Ernie Smith got an odd DMCA takedown notice for a picture he included in his tech newsletter. It turns out that the notice was a ploy to tr...

The Sad Tale of Virtual Boy

09 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Nintendo Virtual Boy was one of the company's infamous flops, but why? Why did the system fail so hard that Nintendo killed it off after just one ...

Tech News: The FCC Will Vote in Favor of Net Neutrality. Again.

05 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Net neutrality goes through another flip in the flip-flop history with the FCC announcing it plans to vote to reinstate some of the rules established ...

My Test Image is the Centerfold

03 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

My blood runs cold, my computer memory has just been sold -- my test image is the centerfold! Today, we look at the story of the "Lenna image," a scan...

Corporate Espionage in the Tech Sector

01 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes, folks want to take a short cut. And sometimes that shortcut is illegal. This episode is about companies, managers, employees and others who...

Tech News: TikTok Strikes Back, AI Poses Threats, and Butts!

29 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

TikTok is turning up the heat on the US Senate to get a proposed bill that would ban the service tossed out. The US government announces new policies ...

Did In-N-Out invent the Intercom?

27 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Is it true Harry Snyder, founder of In-N-Out, invented the intercom? Not quite. But he was the first credited with using a system to create what would...

The Weaponization of EULAs

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The End User License Agreement is that thing you click "I agree" to without having read the whole thing. But you can be forgiven -- some companies mak...

Tech News: Tech Companies in the Hot Seat

22 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The US government is cracking down on Big Tech. From a House bill that would make it illegal for data brokers to sell American citizen info to foreign...

The Rooster Teeth Story: The End?

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

After navigating numerous controversies and setbacks, Rooster Teeth attempted to return to a more stable existence. But it was not to be. The corporat...

Smart Talks with IBM - AI in Healthcare: How Generative AI Is Expanding Fertility Treatment

19 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As artificial intelligence progresses, healthcare providers are exploring how the technology can be used to offer personalized care at scale. In this ...

The Rooster Teeth Story: The Middle Bits

18 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Fullscreen's acquisition of Rooster Teeth would bring with it new challenges, including corporate bureaucracy, a push for new kinds of monetization, a...

Tech News: US House of Reps Votes to Ban TikTok

15 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week, the House of Representatives in the US voted overwhelmingly in support of a bill that would force TikTok owner ByteDance to divest itself o...

The Rooster Teeth Story: The Beginning

13 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Warner Bros Discovery is shutting down the online media company Rooster Teeth just as it nears its 21st anniversary. We look back on the history of th...

Better Offline: A conversation with Ed Zitron

11 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ed Zitron of the Better Offline podcast joins the show, and boy is he mad! Ed and Jonathan get angry over the state of the tech industry, the focus on...

Tech News: OpenAI Spills the Tea on Elon Musk

09 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

OpenAI said they didn't wanna do it, but they're sharing emails written by Elon Musk that imply he was totally okay with OpenAI making a ton of money ...

A Holographic Wedding

06 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Artist Alicia Framis plans to wed an AI "hologram" this summer. Before the wedding bells chime, we have some questions. We explore holograms, artifici...

What's Your Problem? with Jacob Goldstein: Using AI to Help Doctors Save Lives

04 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Every year in the U.S., tens of thousands of hospital patients die of preventable causes. For many of these patients, warning signs are subtle and eas...

The Tech Pioneers

01 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes, an invention comes along that defines a new function, form factor, or fashion. In this episode, we celebrate some of these inventions by ex...

Big Apps that Flopped

28 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Silicon Valley dream is to come up with an app and make a billion dollars. But not every app hits such heights. And some briefly touch the stars b...

The History of the Digital Camera

26 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Once upon a time, there were no digital cameras. Who invented them, and how did they become so common that even the most basic smartphone has one? We ...

Tech News: Google's AI Pushes Diversity Too Far

23 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In what I can only describe as an overcorrection, Google's Gemini AI has tried to promote diversity in situations where it's not appropriate, such as ...

A Conversation with Jacob Goldstein

21 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist Jacob Goldstein joins the show to talk about the challenges of communicating technology topics to the public, how to sort through the promi...

TechStuff Classic: The Intel Story Part One

19 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How did the co-founders of Intel go from being "traitors" to two of the early pioneers of Silicon Valley? We learn about Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore...

TechStuff Classic: History of Electricity Part Two

16 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As the 20th century loomed ever closer, the battle waged to determine how we would transmit electricity. Learn about the current wars and why AC ultim...

Invented by Accident

14 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Not all inventions are the product of careful experimentation. Sometimes, someone pulls a whoopsie and learns something new. This episode is all about...

When Did Google Stop Being a Search Company?

12 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For a couple of years in Google's early history, it was a real search company. But that would change in 2000 as Google would embrace advertising. Lear...

Tech News: Power-Hungry AI and Malicious Toothbrushes

09 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sam Altman of OpenAI wants to see a huge investment in new semiconductor fabrication plants to support AI implementations. The FTC hopes to reverse th...

Pivot to Video

08 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Back in 2015, Facebook made a claim that would lead advertisers and content creators to shift focus to online video. There was one problem -- the clai...