Tech Report Blog
More from Tech Report Blog
Most Recent
5
On Facebook, you are what you like?
Researchers have been playing with Facebook to see if they can figure out personal traits based on what people prefer online. Turns out, their algorithm predicted gender very well, same with Democrat versus Republican, gay or straight -- and smart people, according to the research, tended to like science, curly fries and The Colbert Report. Researchers allow you to try this at home by linking their algorithm to your Facebook profile. The analysis of mine said I was shy and reserved, calm and relaxed, and well-organized -- zero for five.
0
Don't teach your kid to use Microsoft Word, huh?
Did Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, really say parents shouldn't teach their children to use Microsoft Word? At the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Marketplace Tech host David Brancaccio got some quality time with Berners-Lee, who mainly talked about online openness and network neutrality, but he also explained what he really meant about Microsoft Word: "When you are explaining to a kid, when you are talking to them about a computer and you are teaching them, don't just teach them to use it, teach them that it can be programmed. There are two digital divides today. There is the digital divide between the people who don't have any connectivity and the people who use the web. There is another digital divide between the people who program and the people who can't. They need to learn early on that anything they can imagine the computer doing, they should be able to program."
0
Michael Dell on his first computer and the dawn of PC's
A photo showed up in my phone the other day. It was an image of a blue screen where I could just make out the letters: “Commodore 64 Basic V2, 64 K Ram System.” The subject line of the accompanying text: “It’s Alive.” The Commodore 64 was one of earliest mass produced personal computers. My 23-year-old son, Nick, had apparently obtained two broken Commodores from 1982 and put them together to make one working model. After an interview on more substantive matters with Michael Dell, the chairman and CEO of Dell, on Friday, I asked him about his first computer -- and no, it was not the C64. What was your first computer? Tell us in a comment below.
0
#WomenInTech get the hashtag treatment
We're looking at a question that Marketplace Tech will visit regularly: Who is tech? This week we're talking with women in the tech world, learning about the issues they face and the changing landscape of the tech workplace. Of course, we're far from the first people to start this conversation. Last November, the hashtag #1reasonwhy started an international conversation on Twitter about sexism in the video game industry. Soon after, today's guest on our show, Rhianna Pratchett, a veteran video game writer who has just finished an overhaul of "Tomb Raider", started the hashtag #1reasontobe. And if you're looking for even more inspiration, check out hashtag #1reasonmentors. Do you work in the tech world? If so, could you distill the issues facing women in your industry into one tweet or one hashtag? Tell us in a comment below.
6
What's the big deal? Working from home stinks
Feb 27, 2013
What do you think? Is working from home a dream, or a daymare?
0
I <3 U: Best and worst romantic texts and tweets
Feb 14, 2013
To celebrate this day of wine and roses, Marketplace Tech wants to know the most romantic -- or least romantic -- text, tweet or social media message you've ever received.
1
Zombies attack Montana, wait, what?
And, this fall marks the 75th anniversary of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds broadcast that caused people coast to coast to freak, believing the drama was real. The question becomes whether people would fall for something like that today. No way, my friends argue, people are so media literate, you'd never fool 'em now. Hackers this week got into the computers of a Montana TV station and put out a fake emergency broadcast alert warning of a zombie attack. Fake fake fakety fake, right? Yet, here in 2013, some alarmed viewers called Channel 3 in Great Falls just to check if zombies were attacking. Guess it never hurts to check.
0
Wake 'N Shake, the merciless alarm clock app
Take the principle of multiplayer online games and use it to get your sorry tush out of bed. The app is called Wake 'N Shake, and its victims can accumulate points by competing with other snoozers in a race to shut off their smartphone's alarm. Not just any alarm. One of the choice is a profoundly disturbing, funhouse-style maniacal laugh. Thing is, with this app, you have to shake the phone repeatedly like its a spray paint can to turn it off Just the way to start your day: out of your mind.
0
Pope Benedict XVI is following 7 versions of himself on Twitter and no one else
Yes yes, we all know, the Pope will officially start tweeting today. But who does he follow? Not God -- not on Twitter at least. (Must...not...make..."direct messages from God" joke....here). The Pope follows only seven people, which are actually seven other versions of himself. It's part of the Vatican's strategy -- explained in part to me for today's show by the company's Claire Diaz-Ortiz -- to get the message out in 8 different languages. Maybe the non Italian or non English-speaking versions of the Pope all retweet the original? Or they want people like me to look at the users that the Pope is following (which totally worked), and follow some of the Pople clones (which didn't work). We can assume different popular Twitter users take entirely different approaches when it comes to choosing who to follow. I find it interesting that the Pope follows no one but other versions of himself. At least he's more discerning than President Barack Obama, right? In all seriousness, it'll be interesting to watch how one of the most famous religious leaders of the world -- and his people -- take to the social media. I hope even the Holy Father gets to toss out some good Pope jokes in the stream.
0
Petition to White House: Please build a Death Star like the one in 'Star Wars'
A few thousand people have signed a White House petition to get the government to build a Death Star that blows up entire planets, like in 'Star Wars.' It's one of many petitions on the We the People website where the Obama Adminstration encourages people to get their voices heard. Texas secession after the presidential election is a popular one with more than 100,00 signatures. Immediately deport anyone who signed an online secession petition has 25,000 supporters.Most Commented
5
On Facebook, you are what you like?
Researchers have been playing with Facebook to see if they can figure out personal traits based on what people prefer online. Turns out, their algorithm predicted gender very well, same with Democrat versus Republican, gay or straight -- and smart people, according to the research, tended to like science, curly fries and The Colbert Report. Researchers allow you to try this at home by linking their algorithm to your Facebook profile. The analysis of mine said I was shy and reserved, calm and relaxed, and well-organized -- zero for five.
0
Don't teach your kid to use Microsoft Word, huh?
Did Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, really say parents shouldn't teach their children to use Microsoft Word? At the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Marketplace Tech host David Brancaccio got some quality time with Berners-Lee, who mainly talked about online openness and network neutrality, but he also explained what he really meant about Microsoft Word: "When you are explaining to a kid, when you are talking to them about a computer and you are teaching them, don't just teach them to use it, teach them that it can be programmed. There are two digital divides today. There is the digital divide between the people who don't have any connectivity and the people who use the web. There is another digital divide between the people who program and the people who can't. They need to learn early on that anything they can imagine the computer doing, they should be able to program."Trending
5
On Facebook, you are what you like?
Researchers have been playing with Facebook to see if they can figure out personal traits based on what people prefer online. Turns out, their algorithm predicted gender very well, same with Democrat versus Republican, gay or straight -- and smart people, according to the research, tended to like science, curly fries and The Colbert Report. Researchers allow you to try this at home by linking their algorithm to your Facebook profile. The analysis of mine said I was shy and reserved, calm and relaxed, and well-organized -- zero for five.
0
Don't teach your kid to use Microsoft Word, huh?
Did Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, really say parents shouldn't teach their children to use Microsoft Word? At the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Marketplace Tech host David Brancaccio got some quality time with Berners-Lee, who mainly talked about online openness and network neutrality, but he also explained what he really meant about Microsoft Word: "When you are explaining to a kid, when you are talking to them about a computer and you are teaching them, don't just teach them to use it, teach them that it can be programmed. There are two digital divides today. There is the digital divide between the people who don't have any connectivity and the people who use the web. There is another digital divide between the people who program and the people who can't. They need to learn early on that anything they can imagine the computer doing, they should be able to program."
Your guide to technology and the modern world
Buzzworthy
Recent comments on our stories..
Race on your resume: An invitation for discrimination?
You didn't mention the elephant in the room: age discrimination. Online applications are used to filter applicants for most openings. While...
pegordon | Apr 8, 2013 Moleskine notebooks seek growth in digital age
Listening to this segment on Marketplace put me in mind of a blog post I had posted in June, 2009. I feel compelled to post it here. It was...
sherril987 | Apr 2, 2013 Mind Games & Money: A guide to exploring your emotions in personal finance
I sign up today to let you know this article was great! It looked like a lot of work went in to building this one. In the past year this program...
rsnelso | Apr 1, 2013 The nurse practitioner will see you now
In my 33 years as a family physician I have taught nurse practitioners (NP’s) and have worked alongside of NP’s almost the entire time. It is...
jmessmer | Mar 25, 2013
