TechStuff listener Niel asked that we take a look at eBay. How did a Mac programmer get the idea for the auction web site? What was the first thing sold? And how did it take off? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 06, 2018•31 min
Several TechStuff listeners have asked me to do an episode about radar. In this episode, we take a quick look at several of the people responsible for the design and deployment of radar and how it works. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 05, 2018•32 min
After producing two critically acclaimed but low-selling games, what did Tim Schafer and his Double Fine Production company do next? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 04, 2018•29 min
Area 51 factors into stories about everything from weather-control devices to aliens. Ben Bowlin joins the show to look at the mythology of Area 51. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 01, 2018•56 min
TechStuff listener Juan asked that we talk about Tim Schafer, a computer game designer famous for making clever, quirky adventure games. In this first episode, we look at his years working for LucasArts games and the early days of his own Double Fine Productions. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
May 31, 2018•28 min
Where did the WiFi standard come from? What are the differences of the various flavors of WiFi? And why should you care? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 30, 2018•31 min
Shortly after Instagram launched, Facebook moved to acquire the company for a billion dollars. What made the photo sharing service so valuable and what's happened to it since? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 29, 2018•31 min
Listener Nelly asked me to look into the story of Instagram. In this episode, we learn about the co-founders and the abandoned app that ended up spawning the popular photo-sharing service. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 28, 2018•31 min
How did hackers take over a television signal in the late 1980s? Stuff You Should Know's Chuck Bryant joins the show to talk about the Max Headroom Incident. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 25, 2018•54 min
Dr. Robert N. Hall died in 2016 at the age of 96. The New York Times published an obituary two years later. What were Dr. Hall's contributions to technology? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 24, 2018•29 min
A popular gadget in science fiction is the cloaking device, a technology capable of rendering entire vehicles invisible. Recently, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania created what some call a cloaking device. What's going on? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 23, 2018•34 min
A project dedicated to bringing artificial intelligence into military operations in a real combat theater has prompted more than a dozen Google employees to resign and 4,000 more to sign a petition urging the company to get out of the project. What's going on? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
May 22, 2018•29 min
Alfred Loomis created the long range navigation system called LORAN. How did it work? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 21, 2018•33 min
How do toilets work? What's the secret behind using a Japanese toilet? And can you enter a toilet race? Josh Clark joins the show. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 18, 2018•54 min
Listener Kris asked that I do a profile on Alfred Lee Loomis, an inventor and philanthropist who had a huge impact on world history and the funding of scientific research. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 17, 2018•33 min
Listener Carter asked us to take a look at the technology behind the humble baseball bat. Is it just a stick or is there more to it? From manufacturing to the regulations that define a bat's performance, we find out. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 16, 2018•40 min
A century after its founding, the Finnish company Nokia entered the world of electronics. How did Nokia come to dominate the cellular phone industry and why did it lose enough ground to sell off its mobile division to Microsoft? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 15, 2018•35 min
Marcus asked me to look into Nokia, and so this episode is about how the company started and grew over several decades. Did you know Nokia is more than 100 years old? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 14, 2018•31 min
Holly Frey from Stuff You Missed in History Class joins the show to talk about the sewing machine and how it shaped patent law. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 12, 2018•56 min
By the 1960s, Gibson was well established as a premier electric guitar manufacturing company. But the following decades brought strife to Gibson, and in 2018 the company declared bankruptcy. What went wrong? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 11, 2018•44 min
From a humble luthier in Kalamzoo michigan to the introduction of the Les Paul signatue guitar, we take a look at the early days of Gibson. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 10, 2018•36 min
How does a speaker generate sound? What does an amplifier do and how does it work? We learn more about the science and tech behind our audio equipment. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 09, 2018•30 min
Where did the loudspeaker come from? How did we go from acoustic horns to electronic speakers? We learn about the inventors who made speakers possible. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 08, 2018•28 min
How did the Death Star's superlaser work? Is such a weapon even possible? And what the heck was up with that ventilation shaft? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 07, 2018•31 min
Recently, a year-long isolation experiment simulating a mission to Mars concluded. What were the results? And why did it happen in Hawaii? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 05, 2018•1 hr 4 min
From its propulsion systems to artificial gravity, we explore the greatest weapon in the galaxy. May the 4th be with you! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 04, 2018•38 min
In part three of our series, we explore what kept the database software company called Oracle busy between 2000 and 2018. Learn about the acquisitions, the executive shuffling and the controversies! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 02, 2018•49 min
In the early 1990s, Oracle found itself teetering on the edge of disaster. What nearly sunk the company and how did it recover? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 01, 2018•38 min
Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison has earned himself a flamboyant reputation among the tech elite. How did a self-taught programmer help start the second-biggest software company in the world? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 30, 2018•37 min
How does a computer program decide which bits of an audio file to keep and which to ditch during compression? We learn about the mp3 algorithm and Jonathan talks about math a lot. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 28, 2018•39 min