Technology

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Trivial Interviews
11:41 am
Mon April 8, 2013

Overheard In The Green Room: Ken Jenning's Kryptonite

Credit Flickr Photo/Phil Konstantin
Ken Jennings.

In 2011, you were chosen as one of the two humans to be play against IBM's Watson supercomputer. What was it like playing against a robot?

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Tech Fashion
10:39 am
Wed April 3, 2013

Technology You Can Wear

There’s been a lot of buzz about wearable technology — computing capabilities you can wear — for at least a decade. Digital wrist bands that monitor physical activity are becoming more common. Products like Google Glass, Apple iWatch and Nike+ FuelBand are in the pipeline. The problem is, in terms of fashion, wearable tech has always been a little too geeky. But that may be changing.

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Live Performance
9:00 am
Fri March 29, 2013

The Maldives' Jason Dodson Live In Studio

Credit Photo Credit/Haley Young Photography
The Maldives.

The local folk/rock band The Maldives have performed everywhere from the back of a flatbed truck to the stages of Sasquatch, Bumbershoot, Capitol Hill Block Party and SXSW.

The Maldives are a seven-member band that started with lead singer and guitarist Jason Dodson over six years ago, and have established themselves as a quintessential band in the Northwest music scene. Jason Dodson joins us in studio to talk and perform live.

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Crowd Sourcing Labor
12:04 pm
Wed March 20, 2013

What In The World Is Turkopticon?

Credit Flickr Photo/Matt Wetzler

When we think of crowd sourcing, we often think about Wikipedia or Youtube, but  Amazon's Mechanical Turk is a different type of crowd sourcing.

Mechanical Turk is an online marketplace where employers can hire thousands of workers to complete tiny tasks such as identifying objects in a photo or editing a description.  Workers are offered no benefits and are not protected by minimum wage laws. They are paid per task, often as little as 20 cents, occasionally as much as $5. But sometimes, they aren’t paid at all.

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News & Analysis
10:00 am
Wed March 20, 2013

Canada, Culture And Commerce

Credit KUOW Photo/Jason Pagano
Vaughn Palmer in the KUOW studio.

Vancouver Sun political correspondent Vaughn Palmer brings us the latest news from Canada, film critic Robert Horton looks at what's happening at the movies, and Geekwire's Todd Bishop reviews the latest in tech.

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Drug Distribution
12:33 pm
Mon March 18, 2013

Mechanized Marijuana Dispenser Offers One Regulation Solution

Now that Washington has approved legalized marijuana, the state faces logistical challenges regarding marijuana dispensing, including defining consumer limits and determining business regulations. Weekday spoke with consultant and Medbox CEO Dr. Bruce Bedrick who shared his advice about marijuana dispensing.

Interview has been edited for clarity.

Why does legal marijuana need different controls than alcohol?

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Relaunching The 787
3:44 pm
Fri March 15, 2013

Boeing Says It Can Install A Better Battery

Credit Boeing
Boeing presented a graphic to the public to demonstrate proposed improvements to the 787 battery.

The Boeing Co. unveiled what executives called a "proposed permanent solution to the 787 battery issue" Thursday  night. The company’s 787 fleet has been grounded for two months because of safety concerns over the plane’s lithium-ion batteries. Two batteries in the fleet’s first 50 planes have had smoke and fire incidents.

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Employment Future
12:13 pm
Thu March 14, 2013

Will Your Job Be Terminated By A Robot?

Credit Flickr Photo/Eirik Newth
The helpful robotic vacuum. The cat is not so convinced.

Earlier this year IBM’s supercomputer, Watson, took a job with health care company WellPoint. Watson isn’t the only robot taking our jobs. By the end of the century, an estimated 70 percent of current occupations will be replaced by automation. Digital labor will take over assembly lines, write articles and even give legal advice. Where will that leave humans? 

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Biotech
12:07 pm
Thu March 14, 2013

Bionic Bulldogs And Spider Goats: The Future Of Biotech's New Beasts

Credit Flickr Photo/Adam Brandejs
Artistic interpretation of the future of pets, the Genpet by Adam Brendejs.

How is biotechnology changing our pets, our livestock and other wild things? Ross Reynolds talks with Emily Anthes, the author of "Frankenstein’s Cat: Cuddling up to Biotech’s Brave New Beasts," about how biotech will change our pets and livestock.

Inventions
12:12 pm
Wed March 13, 2013

Shining Light On The Age Of Edison

Credit Flickr Photo/terren in Virginia
An original carbon-filament Edison lightbulb from 1879.

When Thomas Edison displayed the first lightbulbs the reaction was utter amazement. University of Tennessee history professor Ernest Freeberg talks with Ross Reynolds about how Edison’s wonder invented modern America.

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