Techstination

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.  I’m Fred Fishkin.  With many students still learning from home…at least part time….and many parents working from home too…creating ergonomic work spaces can be a big help.  Kensington has created a line of affordable accessories….that can really make a difference.  The company’s Easy Riser Laptop Stand…combined with a wireless ergonomic keyboard and SureTrack mouse…prevents the familiar scene of having to hunch over to use a laptop.  And I really like the versatility of the OfficeAssist Multi-Function Copyholder.  Kensington’s Lisa Schuiteboer…

“My daughter, personally, actually puts her iPad on the Copyholder.  But she can also flip that to use a white board.  Or if she wants to post a picture on there, you can also remove the white board and it becomes a phone stand, there’s a pen holder.”

It can hold books open as well.  Find more at www.kensington.com.

You can find us at Techstination.com.  I’m Fred Fishkin.

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.  I’m Fred Fishkin.  IBM is making use of Watson and Artificial Intelligence to help employees…where appropriate….return to the office.  VP of Enterprise Operations Joanne Wright says the technology steps in before the employee leaves home…

“First they can do a complete self health check to make sure they are feeling good, feeling well, ready to return.  It then also allows them to reserve their space in the office.  So are they going to be there individually working or do they want to meet with perhaps some of their team members.  And we really have completely retrofitted our locations.”

To provide for the  separation of workers.  The Watson Works technology also ensures there are adequate numbers of masks and hand sanitizers available.  There’s more info at www.IBM.com.

You can find us at Techstination.com.  I’m Fred Fishkin.

Techstination Week is a compilation of this week's Techstination reports with tech journalist and host Fred Fishkin.

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.  I’m Fred Fishkin.  It has been a very busy summer for the team at Roblox…the online game and game creation platform that has a following in the many millions around the world.  And education has become a big part of what the company does…helping young people learn to create games…as well as play them.  Genevieve Johnson, senior instruction designer at the company…says a big part of what is going on today…has to do with being able to connect with each other..and collaborate…through Build it Play it challenges.  And teachers are involved too..

“I mean right now, you can just say, people are really, really hungry for ways in which their students can learn remotely and connect.  We’re currently working with about two hundred educational partners and coding camps in about forty countries worldwide.”

And it is free to learn or play.  Find more at www.education.roblox.com.

You can find us at Techstination.com.  I’m Fred Fishkin.

Panasonic's new full frame mirrorless camera: Lumix S5 takes spotlight.  Panasonic's Matt Frazer chats with Techstination.

UK researchers out with longevity calculator: Prof. Elena Kulinskaya chats with Techstination about www.mylongevity.org

Philips Hue unveils new TV lightstrip and more: CTO George Yianni in Techstination interview.

Techstination, your destination for gadgets and gear.  I’m Fred Fishkin.  Whether it is on Zoom or other video conferencing platforms…lots of us are making use of online video connections like never before.  At MIT, Professor Thomas Malone, founding director of the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence, says we’ve reached a tipping point…and are in a new era for video conferencing.  And he has led a team of researchers in developing a new tool…Minglr…free and open source…to allow personal video interactions….by selecting the person or persons you would like to talk to..

“You can talk for a minute or for five minutes or for as long or as short as you want.  So in a way, it’s a kind of online version of the kind of online mingling you would have in the hallway or around the coffee machine or whatever.”

It holds lots of promise.  You can check it out at www.minglr.info.

You can find us at Techstination.com.  I’m Fred Fishkin.

Xanadu's photon quantum computing platform arrives: CEO Christian Weedbrook chats with Techstination.