Business, Spoken

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Google’s Dueling Neural Networks Spar to Get Smarter, No Humans Required Apr 12, 2017

Show notes

The day Richard Feynman died, the blackboard in his classroom read: “What I cannot create, I do not understand.” When Ian Goodfellow explains the research he’s doing at Google Brain, the central artificial intelligence lab at the internet’s most powerful company, he points to this aphorism from the iconic physicist, Caltech professor, and best-selling author. But Goodfellow isn’t referring to himself—or any other human being inside Google.

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Comcast’s New Mobile Service Is a Good Deal, But Maybe Not Good Enough Apr 11, 2017

Show notes

Comcast thinks it has an answer to cord-cutting: getting into the wireless mobile network business. But that alone might not be enough to stop its traditional cable customers from flocking to online video. Today the company announced that it will launch its own mobile phone and internet service called Xfinity Mobile.

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YouTube TV Goes Live in Google’s Biggest Swipe at Comcast Yet Apr 10, 2017

Show notes

YouTube TV has arrived, and with it the potential to change how television works. Google-owned YouTube’s first foray into true cable-like television takes to the internet equivalent of the airwaves in select cities today: 40-plus channels of entertainment, news and sports for $35 per month, the so-called skinny bundle. So far, the service is still a little wonky.

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Arduino’s New CEO, Federico Musto, May Have Fabricated His Academic Record Apr 07, 2017

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For years, the humble Arduino microcontroller—a cheap, open source, midnight-blue circuit board emblazoned with a tiny white infinity loop—has been a favorite tool of the DIY electronics crowd.

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Hey Tech Giants: How About Action on Diversity, Not Just Reports? Apr 06, 2017

Show notes

Uber just released its first diversity report. For years, the ride-hailing giantshunnedthe practice adopted by most other major Silicon Valley companies. But Uber’s scandals have snowballed. Multiple claims of misogyny and sexual harassment suggest a company that doesn’t just have isolated problems but a pervasive culture of sexism. Uber’s responses have included a much-hyped conference call led by board member Arianna Huffington and this week the diversity report.

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Tech’s Wealthy Enclaves Hurt the Country—and Tech Itself Apr 05, 2017

Show notes

On a dreary Thursday afternoon in March, the halls of the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, DC, swelled with people who spend their lives trying to salvage the economies of America’s forgotten towns. Hailing from across the country, they hurried past Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office in their sharp suits and jewel-toned dresses, each one carrying a different proposal for how to keep their cities and states afloat.

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Trump Has Done Nothing to Fix America’s Tech Talent Shortage Apr 04, 2017

Show notes

President Trump’s long-promised changes to the country’s high-skilled worker visa program may have to wait another year. The H-1B visa application process begins today, and the requirements for companies looking to hire foreign talent, have gone unchanged, despite President Trump’s repeated threats to reform a program he says undermines American workers.

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A Silicon Valley Lawmaker’s $1 Trillion Plan to Save Trump Country Apr 03, 2017

Show notes

The Trump administration may not believe that automation threatens today’s American workforce, but try telling that to a travel agent or a truck driver or a factory worker or an accountant. One recent study found that for every one robot introduced to the workforce, six related human jobs disappear. But those six humans still need to get by.

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YouTube’s Ad Problems Finally Blow Up in Google’s Face Mar 31, 2017

Show notes

Late last year, Israel-based entrepreneur Matan Uziel saw a notification he’d never seen before pop up on YouTube’s backend—the part of the site where creators upload their videos. “I saw a yellow dollar sign. At first I didn’t understand what it was,” Uziel says. “Then I moved my cursor over it. I saw it meant my video was not advertiser-friendly.

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A Plan to Save Blockchain Democracy From Bitcoin’s Civil War Mar 30, 2017

Show notes

On the surface, bitcoin is having a very good year. The price of the digital currency reached record highs well over $1,000 after years of stagnation following a major crash. But if you pull back the curtain, the civil war rages. The global community of companies, coders, and opportunists who control the bitcoin network is now on the verge of revolt after more than two years of infighting.

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