TechStuff

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Technology Tech News

What's TechStuff about?

TechStuff is a show about technology. And it’s not just how technology works. Join host Jonathan Strickland as he explores the people behind the tech, the companies that market it and how technology affects our lives and culture.

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The Origin and Impact of De...

06.08.2023

Deepfakes create a dangerous situation -- how can we trust that a recording is the real McCoy when machines can make such convincing fakes? From the history of deepfake technology to the liar's dividend, we learn about the evolution of ...

TechStuff episodes:

06.08.2023 The Origin and Impact of Deepfake Technology Deepfakes create a dangerous situation -- how can we trust that a recording is the real McCoy when machines can make such convincing fakes? From the history of deepfake technology to the liar's dividend, we learn about the evolution of ...
06.07.2023 What was the first mp3? When developing the mp3 compression algorithm, engineer Karlheinz Brandenburg used a specific song to tweak settings and get them just right. What was that song? And why does Jonathan not like it? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
06.07.2023 Tech News: Apple Shares Its (Very Expensive) Vision Yesterday, Apple finally unveiled its mixed reality headset, the Vision Pro, which will set you back $3,500 in 2024. Plus, we learn about some new challenges in the crypto world as well as reports about whether or not aliens have ...
06.06.2023 The Epic Origins of Teddy Ruxpin In late 1985, a company called Worlds of Wonder introduced a new toy -- a teddy bear that could tell stories and sing. It could blink and move its mouth. And it turned out not to be a teddy bear ...
06.02.2023 TechStuff Classic: The Pixar Story: Part 1 How did the Pixar studio get started? How did it evolve from a small operation to a power player in the Disney empire? And how has the company led innovation in animation? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
06.01.2023 Tech News: Why You Shouldn't Use AI Instead of People for Your Hotline An organization in charge of a hotline to help people with eating disorders finds out that chatbots aren't a good substitute for a human operator. A judge in Texas explains that generative AI has no place in his courtroom. And ...
05.31.2023 Getting in Touch with Touchscreens What's the difference between a capacitive and a resistive touchscreen? Which came first? And are there other types of touchscreen technologies? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
05.30.2023 Tech News: ChatGPT Lands Lawyer in Legal Trouble A lawyer finds out the hard way that ChatGPT isn't a reliable legal assistant. Nvidia's CEO says that, with the help of AI, anyone can be a programmer now. And China plans to send astronauts to the Moon by 2030. ...
05.29.2023 TechStuff Remembers Grace Hopper Grace Hopper was a Navy officer, a teacher, a computer programmer and a legend in the tech field. We look back on her life and achievements. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
05.26.2023 TechStuff Classic: How Tech Could Make Better Chocolate Temple University scientists have found a new way to improve chocolate and it involves electric fields. Learn about the technology and physics behind improving a nearly perfect food. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
05.25.2023 Twitter Serves as a Shaky Stage for a Presidential Campaign Announcement Twitter hit some technical snags yesterday while Presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis announced his 2024 campaign. OpenAI's CEO issues a bit of a warning to the EU regarding AI regulation. And Sony has a new gaming peripheral on the horizon. See ...
05.24.2023 The Sad Tale of Microsoft Zune Microsoft jumped into the mp3 player space a little late. Apple had been producing iPods for five years when the first Zune hit shelves. But that was just the beginning of a series of problems Microsoft encountered. We explore the ...
05.24.2023 Tech News: Meta Takes a Loss on Giphy Meta sells Giphy for a fraction of what it paid just a few years ago. Spain's government has it out for end-to-end encryption. And the US Surgeon General advises families about the potential dangers of social media. Plus more! See ...
05.22.2023 Streaming Services that Sunk While the streaming media landscape is crowded, it could be worse. In this episode, we look at some streaming services that didn't stand the test of time. From platforms that were a bad idea from the start to ones that ...
05.20.2023 TechStuff Classic: How the Disney Magic Works After my recent (tenth) cruise on the Disney Cruise line, I decided to look into what makes the ship work.How does it steady itself in rough seas? How much is automated? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
05.19.2023 Tech News: Montana Bans TikTok But Will It Work? The state of Montana has said that, starting January 1st of next year, the app TikTok is banned statewide. How will the state enforce the rules? Is this an overreaction to TikTok? And will the law stand up to legal ...
05.17.2023 Reflecting on Resolutions Screen resolution can be confusing. What do all those numbers mean, and is bigger necessarily better? We go over some of the more common screen resolutions out there and talk about how (and when) they make a difference. See omnystudio.com/listener ...
05.16.2023 Tech News: Elon Musk Names His Twitter Successor Last week, Elon Musk revealed he had tapped Linda Yaccarino to be the next Twitter CEO. But Musk won't be leaving Twitter completely. And now Tesla shareholders want him to create a succession plan at that company. Plus we get ...
05.15.2023 The Net Neutrality War The idea behind net neutrality is pretty simple -- fair access to legal content for all consumers regardless of what ISP they use. But how do you implement this idea? That's become the focus of a massive political battle in ...
05.12.2023 TechStuff Classic: AI Assistants and You From Amazon to Google to Apple, companies are creating digital assistants to make our lives easier. What's the technology behind them and are they safe to use? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
05.11.2023 Tech News: You Got AI On My Google Search Google has announced a ton of stuff at the 2023 I/O event, including how AI will show up in future Google searches if you opt into it. We also learn how Microsoft's deal to buy Activision is going, how YouTube ...
05.10.2023 The Godfather of AI is Worried About AI Dr. Geoffrey Hinton recently retired from Google, saying that he wanted to be able to speak freely about his concerns regarding artificial intelligence without having to consider the impact to his employer. So what is the Godfather of AI worried ...
05.09.2023 Tech News: Faking the Deepfakes Defendants in court cases are trying the deepfake defense and judges are not having it. Think twice before you commit a huge investment into AI companies. SBF is asking courts to throw out most of the charges against him. And ...
05.08.2023 Rerun: How the Great Movie Ride Worked Special guest Jack Pattillo joins the show to talk about the former Disney Hollywood Studios attraction, The Great Movie Ride. From immersive storytelling to the implementation of a new kind of animatronic, Jack and Jonathan explore this long-gone ride. See ...
05.06.2023 Introducing: That Moment with Daymond John That Moment with Daymond John is the ultimate resource for never-before-told stories and valuable lessons that listeners can incorporate into their own lives. Listen here and subscribe to That Moment with Daymond John on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you ...
05.05.2023 TechStuff Classic: How the Kepler Telescope Works The Kepler Telescope has detected hundreds of exoplanets in our galaxy. What's the story behind it and how does it work? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
05.04.2023 Tech News: May the Fourth be With You Sadly, we don't have any Star Wars news today. But we do have tons about AI, Meta facing governmental scrutiny, Microsoft making a questionable decision with regard to Edge and lots more! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
05.03.2023 TechStuff Tidbits: I Got Got Recently, I mentioned in a Tech News episode that the FBI and the FCC are warning folks to stay away from public charging stations for mobile devices. But it turns out that warning by be like a certain Shakespearean comedy: ...
05.02.2023 Tech News: IBM Considers AI Over New Hires IBM's CEO reveals that the company has paused on hiring approximately 7,800 people in order to consider AI for those roles instead. A pioneer in deep learning is concerned about the potential dangers of AI. And the Web celebrates 30 ...
05.01.2023 The Art and Science of Designing a Car What process does Nissan follow when designing a new vehicle? We dive into the complicated process of going from concept to finished vehicle and learn how Nissan combines cutting edge technology with traditional artistic expression to get there. See omnystudio.com/listener ...
04.28.2023 TechStuff Classic: Shh! How Soundproofing Works Producer Noel Brown joins the show to talk about the science, theory and practice of soundproofing. How does sound work? How can you protect a room from sound? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
04.27.2023 Tech News: Using ChatGPT to Win the Lottery A man in Thailand claims that, with a little coaxing, ChatGPT helped him pick winning numbers for the lottery. Plus we hear a lot of other stories about AI, how Meta had a very good first quarter after laying off ...
04.26.2023 TechStuff Tidbits: What the Heck is a Qubit? What is a quantum bit, and how is it different from a normal bit? What kinds of problems are quantum computers good at solving? And how many dumb jokes can Jonathan shove into this episode? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
04.25.2023 Tech News: The Blue Badge of Dishonor In less than a week, Twitter's blue checkmark went from a desired status symbol to a mark people want to avoid at all costs. What happened? Plus, news on GM phasing out the Chevy Bolt, Google abandoning a mega campus ...
04.24.2023 Hallucinating with AI What is an AI hallucination? What causes a chatbot to go off script and invent stuff? And is AI's tendency to rewrite history a bug or a feature? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
04.21.2023 TechStuff Classic: The Problem With Ads Part Two Jonathan and Ben continue their conversation about online ads. Is it wrong to use ad blockers? Or is it wrong to block people who block ads? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
04.20.2023 Tech News: SpaceX's Starship Gets Off the Ground, Then Explodes The test launch of SpaceX's Starship was a success despite the fact that the launch vehicle later exploded high above the Gulf of Mexico. There are more battles happening around the subject of artificial intelligence. And if you used Facebook ...
04.20.2023 The Rebirth of Vinyl Vinyl sales were on the decline from the 1980s to the mid 2000s, but since 2006 sales have been on the rise. What's the history of vinyl, and what makes this format special? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
04.18.2023 Tech News: The AI Headlines Keep On Coming Is Elon Musk working on a kinder, gentler AI? Could Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI take a huge chunk out of Google? And how do artists protect themselves against deepfakes? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
04.17.2023 What Are Zero Day Attacks? Over the weekend, Google rolled out a patch to Google Chrome. It addresses a zero-day vulnerability. But what are zero-day vulnerabilities and zero-day attacks? We learn about the definition and history of this powerful type of hacker attack. See omnystudio.com/listener ...
04.14.2023 TechStuff Classic: The Problem with Ads Part One Online advertising has been a bit of a problem for a long time. Join Jonathan and Ben as they talk about ads, ad blockers and malware. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
04.14.2023 Tech News: China Tells AI to Tow the Party Line China's Cyberspace Administration recommends regulations that would prevent AI from upsetting the country's political apple cart. Plus, why did Elon Musk buy 10,000 GPUs? And Meta employees are having a real morale issue for lots of reasons. See omnystudio.com/listener for ...
04.12.2023 TechStuff Tidbits: CPU Basics What does a CPU do? What is clock speed? What does it mean to overclock a CPU? And are FLOPS a good thing? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
04.11.2023 Tech News: All a Twitter about Tech News We've got stories about top secret US documents showing up on Discord servers and how Meta's verification system is putting people in danger, but to be honest a LOT of this episode ends up being about the chaos going on ...
04.10.2023 Dark Rides 101 What is a dark ride? What's the oldest dark ride still in operation? How do dark rides use technology to tell stories? And whatever happened to the Tunnel of Love? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
04.07.2023 TechStuff Classic: Hacking for Dollars Hak5 Host Shannon Morse joins the show to talk about hacking as a profession. From white hats to black hats, how do hackers make money? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
04.06.2023 Tech News: Meta is working on an AI to make ads better Meta has plans to launch a commercialized AI product by the end of this year. Apple might have picked the wrong year to get into XR. Binance closes derivative businesses in Australia due to an investigation. And rich lonely people ...
04.06.2023 Razer's Concepts and Vaporware Razer makes pretty much everything, but this episode is about some of the concepts, prototypes and (arguably) vaporware the company has teased that never became a commercial product. From modular computers to futuristic gaming chairs, we look at some crazy ...
04.04.2023 Tech News: Is ChatGPT Talking About You Behind Your Back? Germany looks to block ChatGPT out of privacy concerns. Samsung Semiconductor adjusts its own stance on ChatGPT as employees share a bit too much information with the chatbot. And a ChatGPT detector might flag a student's legitimate work as AI ...
04.03.2023 April Fools' in 2023 Was Pretty Quiet Not that long ago, tech companies would fall over themselves to participate in gags and jokes on April 1st. Things have calmed down a bit over the last few years, but we're starting to see shenanigans poke through again. We ...

Older episodes

TechStuff

What's TechStuff about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

TechStuff episodes:

The Origin and Impact of Deepfake Technology

What was the first mp3?

Tech News: Apple Shares Its (Very Expensive) Vision

The Epic Origins of Teddy Ruxpin

TechStuff Classic: The Pixar Story: Part 1

Tech News: Why You Shouldn't Use AI Instead of People for Your Hotline

Getting in Touch with Touchscreens

Tech News: ChatGPT Lands Lawyer in Legal Trouble

TechStuff Remembers Grace Hopper

TechStuff Classic: How Tech Could Make Better Chocolate

Twitter Serves as a Shaky Stage for a Presidential Campaign Announcement

The Sad Tale of Microsoft Zune

Tech News: Meta Takes a Loss on Giphy

Streaming Services that Sunk

TechStuff Classic: How the Disney Magic Works

Tech News: Montana Bans TikTok But Will It Work?

Reflecting on Resolutions

Tech News: Elon Musk Names His Twitter Successor

The Net Neutrality War

TechStuff Classic: AI Assistants and You

Tech News: You Got AI On My Google Search

The Godfather of AI is Worried About AI

Tech News: Faking the Deepfakes

Rerun: How the Great Movie Ride Worked

Introducing: That Moment with Daymond John

TechStuff Classic: How the Kepler Telescope Works

Tech News: May the Fourth be With You

TechStuff Tidbits: I Got Got

Tech News: IBM Considers AI Over New Hires

The Art and Science of Designing a Car

TechStuff Classic: Shh! How Soundproofing Works

Tech News: Using ChatGPT to Win the Lottery

TechStuff Tidbits: What the Heck is a Qubit?

Tech News: The Blue Badge of Dishonor

Hallucinating with AI

TechStuff Classic: The Problem With Ads Part Two

Tech News: SpaceX's Starship Gets Off the Ground, Then Explodes

The Rebirth of Vinyl

Tech News: The AI Headlines Keep On Coming

What Are Zero Day Attacks?

TechStuff Classic: The Problem with Ads Part One

Tech News: China Tells AI to Tow the Party Line

TechStuff Tidbits: CPU Basics

Tech News: All a Twitter about Tech News

Dark Rides 101

TechStuff Classic: Hacking for Dollars

Tech News: Meta is working on an AI to make ads better

Razer's Concepts and Vaporware

Tech News: Is ChatGPT Talking About You Behind Your Back?

April Fools' in 2023 Was Pretty Quiet