TechStuff

Latest Episodes:

Affirm and Max Levchin Aug 15, 2022

Show notes

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.

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TechStuff Classic: TechStuff Takes Manhattan (Project) Aug 12, 2022

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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.

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Tech News: Cisco Gets Hacked Aug 11, 2022

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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.

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Super Soakers and Rocket Science Aug 10, 2022

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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.

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Tech News: How do you Google is Google Down when Google is Down? Aug 09, 2022

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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.

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What does Google X do? Aug 08, 2022

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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.

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TechStuff Classic: The Manhattan Project Part One Aug 05, 2022

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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?

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Tech News: Virtual Real Estate Values Plummet in the Metaverse Aug 04, 2022

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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.

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Why Facebook Might Leave the EU Aug 03, 2022

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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.

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Tech News: The Sun is Angry Aug 02, 2022

Show notes

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.

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