Business, Spoken

Latest Episodes:

The Millions Silicon Valley Spends on Security for Execs Jan 18, 2019

Show notes

Prominent Silicon Valley companies spend liberally to protect their intellectual property. Some also shell out considerable amounts to protect their executives. Apple’s most recent proxy statement, filed earlier this month, shows the company spent $310,000 on personal security for CEO Tim Cook. But that’s a fraction of other tech giants’ expenditures. Amazon and Oracle spent about $1.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Huawei's Many Troubles: Bans, Alleged Spies, and Backdoors Jan 18, 2019

Show notes

Bad news keeps piling up for Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei. Last week an employee was arrested in Poland on espionage charges. This week, the company's products, which include both phones and network gear, were banned from Taiwanese government systems, the South China Morning Post reported, over concerns that Huawei could build backdoors into its products on behalf of the Chinese government.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Unbearable Untidiness of Our Digital Lives Jan 17, 2019

Show notes

Earlier this month, I spent my last days of notification-free vacation by KonMari-ing my closets. The sun was hiding, burnout was in the air, and the winds of change shoved me toward self-optimization---pack light for the apocalypse, purge my way to an uncluttered mind. Marie Kondo’s maxim---keep only items that spark joy–promised a sense of agency. Unlike anxiety baking, bath bombs, sheet masks, it was a not retreat from the world, but a chance to prep for some inevitable fight.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Anti-TrumpActivists Defend Fake-Washington Post Stunt Jan 17, 2019

Show notes

On Wednesday, a group of hoaxsters affiliated with the progressive non-profit group The Yes Men circulated fake versions of The Washington Post, dated May 1, 2019, imagining a world in which President Trump has suddenly left office. Throughout the morning, the activists distributed print copies of the edition in front of the White House and debuted a website called My-WashingtonPost.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A Poker-Playing Robot Goes to Work for the Pentagon Jan 16, 2019

Show notes

In 2017, a poker bot called Libratus made headlines when it roundly defeated four top human players at no-limit Texas Hold ‘Em. Now, Libratus’s technology is being adapted to take on opponents of a different kind—in service of the US military. Libratus—Latin for balanced—was created by researchers from Carnegie Mellon University to test ideas for automated decision-making based on game theory.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Virtual Reality’s Latest Use? Diagnosing Mental Illness Jan 16, 2019

Show notes

Diagnosing psychiatric and neurological conditions is tricky. Physicians have long reported that diagnoses are fraught with complications and subtleties. Anywhere from 35 percent to 85 percent of mental health conditions go undetected and undiagnosed, according to the World Health Organization, depending on where you live in the world. Needless to say, in order to treat depression, Alzheimer's, or autism, it must first be detected.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tech Workers Unite to Fight Forced Arbitration Jan 15, 2019

Show notes

Tech workers may be new to labor organizing, but they’re learning quickly. When a November walkout by 20,000 Google employees protesting the company’s mishandling of sexual harassment claims led to small changes that fell short of the organizers’ demands, some activists inside Google decided to broaden the fight.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

MacKenzie Bezos and the Myth of the Lone Genius Founder Jan 15, 2019

Show notes

When award-winning novelist MacKenzie Bezos and her husband Jeff Bezos, the chief executive and founder of Amazon, announced on Twitter Wednesday they were getting divorced, public discussion over the uncoupling quickly centered on the impact it might have on Jeff’s company, and on each sides’ net worth.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The FTC Thinks You Pay Too Much for Smartphones. Here’s Why Jan 14, 2019

Show notes

The Federal Trade Commission thinks you're paying too much for smartphones. But it doesn’t blame handset makers like Apple and Samsung or wireless carriers. Instead, the agency blames Qualcomm, which owns key wireless-technology patents and makes chips that can be can be found in most high-end Android phones and many iPhones.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Attack on an Ethereum Currency Highlights a Crypto Weakness Jan 10, 2019

Show notes

The promise of digital cryptocurrencies like bitcoin is that you don't need to trust the people you send or receive money from because the software makes it technically impossible for anyone to cheat the system. Instead of relying on humans and their flawed judgment, you rely on the laws of mathematics. But a recent attack on the cryptocurrency Ethereum Classic---not to be confused with the original Ethereum project---shows once again how hard it is to remove human frailty from digital systems.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected