For the Record (MP3)

Maker Faire CEO: Rockets and robots instead of pigs and pies (podcast)

podcast@cnet.com (CNET.com) — Fri, 17 May 2013 09:42:24 PDT

Maker Faire gets underway this weekend in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Since 2006, San Francisco Bay Area maker movement aficionados have been making an annual pilgrimage to the San Mateo Event Center (the county fair grounds), to attend the Maker Faire. Self-described as "part science fair, part county fair, and part something entirely new," the Faire attracts a broad swath of attendees, not just in the Bay Area, but in other Maker Faires that are popping up around the world.

Last year 165,000 people attended the flagship events in the Bay Area and New York. There were also Maker Faires in Minneapolis, Detroit, and other cities around the world, according to the Faire's sponsor Maker Media (which also publishes Make magazine) .

What strikes me about the event is the mixture of high-tech, low-tech, and products that are a combination of both. You'll find robots and 3D printers, but also doily making, arts and crafts, and decidedly 20th century tools with 21st century twist, like an engraving machine that's controlled by a smartphone.

I've been to several Maker Faires and have always been impressed with the passion of the maker attendees, whether they're showing off an experimental new piece of tech hardware or beautiful things you can do with a needle and thread.

Maker Media Founder and CEO Dale Dougherty

(Credit: Maker Media)

To find out more about the Maker Faire, I sat down with Maker Media Founder and CEO Dale Dougherty, who said that the Maker Faire is "kind of reinventing the fair." He said he "wanted to take many of the good sides of it, but instead of pigs and pies, we have rockets and robots." He added that the Faire is a chance for makers to "share with their friends and family and the whole community."

"We are creators and producers and makers of things," said Dougherty. "We don't just buy stuff. We have this desire and ability to create things."

For more, click below to listen to the 5 minute interview:

Listen Now: Download Today's Podcast
Subscribe now: iTunes (audio) | RSS (audio)

Justin Kitch launches 'Curious' learning network (podcast)

podcast@cnet.com (CNET.com) — Wed, 01 May 2013 05:30:00 PDT

A Curious.com class on eye makeup illustrates teaching tools.

(Credit: Screenshot by Larry Magid)

It's called a "marketplace for online learning" and its goal is to connect students and teachers in a wide variety of subjects from salsa dancing to knife sharpening. If there is something you can teach or want to learn, Curious.com could be the place to start.

The $3 it costs to take this class is cheaper than a beer in most bars.

(Credit: Screen shot by Larry Magid)

Co-founded by Justin Kitch, a former Intuit executive who founded Homestead, Curious.com empowers teachers to not only post video lessons but use other tools such as exercises, projects, discussion boards, and the ability to attach files. Teachers decide if their classes are free or if there is a charge -- typically between $1 and $3 per lesson.

Teachers can use the company's "Curious Lesson Builder" to build, publish, and market their lessons. Learners can submit "Curious Cards" to share their achievements and interact with teachers, according to Kitch.

Curious CEO Justin Kitch

(Credit: Ron Hemphill)

In our interview (scroll down to listen) Kitch said he was inspired by YouTube which, he acknowledges, is a place where people post educational videos. But, he added, YouTube lacks many of the important features necessary for a good learning experience, including the ability to easily contact the instructor. Curious.com, said Kitch, started "with the idea of what we call a short format video-based lesson but added all these other things that we found to be really critical to creating a learning experience."

Click below to listen:

Listen Now: Download Today's Podcast
Subscribe now: iTunes (audio) | RSS (audio)

Does Facebook's new 'Home' put too much Facebook in your face? (podcast)

podcast@cnet.com (CNET.com) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 10:28:06 PDT

Facebook's new Home software on Android means still more ways to interact with people whom you're not actually with at the time. Is that always a good thing?

Originally posted at Safe and Secure

Rep. Eshoo on House's student app competition (podcast)

podcast@cnet.com (CNET.com) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 04:28:30 PST

U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) discusses a House resolution calling for a student app competition to encourage science, technology, engineering, and math education.

RSA sees 'big data' as key to corporate security (podcast)

podcast@cnet.com (CNET.com) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 07:03:51 PST

RSA Vice President Brian Fitzgerald discusses why analyzing a company's stores of data can help spot abnormalities that could identify an ongoing attack.

Originally posted at Safe and Secure

Expert advice for online dating (podcast)

podcast@cnet.com (CNET.com) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 04:03:00 PST

Julie Spira

(Credit: Cyberdatingexpert.com)

"It's never been easier to find a date," says CyberDatingExpert.com publisher Julie Spira. And when it comes to online dating, she adds, the "stigma is gone."

She credits Facebook with helping to make people feel comfortable about sharing online and about joining an online dating site. Thousands of online dating sites exist, including niche sites aimed at Democrats and Republicans, as well as different religions and even vegans and vegetarians.

Spira is a fan of "truth in advertising" and recommends that people be authentic about their age, photos, and what they enjoy. If you're looking for marriage and children, "don't be afraid to say so," said Spira. "Sometimes they think that they'll be scaring a guy away thinking he's going to have to go ring shopping immediately, and I absolutely disagree." Instead, she added, "you're chasing away the guys that could be the players that would be wasting your time anyway."

She said to be "very specific and avoid the cliches" like "I want to go on a romantic beach walk and like watching sunsets." She said to come up with a catchy screen name and something "very specific about what your favorite song is rather than 'I like music.'" She also said it's best to post three to five photos of yourself, including a close-up shot, a full-length body shot, and an activity shot such as "hiking, a travel trip where you have the Eiffel Tower behind you, sailing, anything that makes you unique to show that you have an interesting life."

For more, click below to listen to my podcast interview with Spira.

Listen Now: Download Today's Podcast

Subscribe now: iTunes (audio) | RSS (audio)

Originally posted at Safe and Secure

U.S. just getting on board Safer Internet Day (podcast)

podcast@cnet.com (CNET.com) — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 17:33:25 PST

A mostly European event to educate youth on safer Internet practices is starting to get attention in the U.S.

Originally posted at Safe and Secure

Google Maps chief on ideas behind new iPhone version (podcast)

podcast@cnet.com (CNET.com) — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 17:22:28 PST

Daniel Graf, Google's director of Google Maps for mobile.

(Credit: Google)

Google Maps for iPhone is getting off to a very good start. It quickly became the No. 1 free iPhone app with lots of five star user reviews.

To find out a bit more about what Google was thinking when it developed the app -- and to get some tech support on how to use its swiping features -- I spoke with Daniel Graf, Google's director of Google Maps for mobile (scroll down to listen to the podcast).

Graf said it was always Google's intention to "be present on all platforms" and that "we wanted to make sure that we had a beautiful Google Maps experience on iOS as well." He said Google "started from scratch," in developing its iOS maps and that it "was important to us to have no cluttered user interface and that it's use-case driven. Things show up when you need them. They're not always in your face." He said Google "focused on the core use cases: What are people doing the most, like finding a restaurant, seeing how traffic is,..." looking inside the restaurant, and so on.

For more, click below for my five-minute interview with Graf plus a cameo appearance by Apple's Siri.

Listen Now: Download Today's Podcast
Subscribe now: iTunes (audio) | RSS (audio)

Ford CTO on New Ford Fusion

podcast@cnet.com (CNET.com) — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 19:25:58 PDT

(Credit: 2013 Ford Fusion (Credit: Ford Motor Company))

Paul Mascarenas, Ford's chief technology and VP of research, was in San Francisco showing off the new Ford Fusion, which now comes with a choice of engines including a 47mpg hybrid and a gasoline engine that shuts the engine off when stopped at a light or a traffic jam. CNET's Wayne Cunningham got a brief test drive and wrote some "fun facts" about the car.

In a telephone interview (scroll down to listen) Mascarenas talked about the fuel efficiency features including a "start/stop system" in its 1.6 litre "EcoBoost" gasoline engine, "which actually stops the engine when the vehicle comes to a stand still for example in a traffic jam." That model gets 37 mpg, but there is also a hybrid model which, according to Mascarenas, gets 47 mpg in both the city and highway driving, which is very close the the EPA mileage estimates for the Toyota Prius.

As you might expect from a modern car, there is plenty of new technology packed into the Fusion, including some safety features (some are optional) that "assist the driver and help them avoid having an accident in the first place." One example of Ford's active safety technologies includes sensors on the vehicle including forward looking cameras, radar and ultrasonic sensors that warn you if you drift in your lane. There is also forward collision warning that detects if you're likely to run into a vehicle up ahead and adaptive cruise control that uses radar to disable cruise control if you're approaching a vehicle. My favorite is blind spot monitoring that uses radar in the rear of the car to detect if another vehicle is moving into your mirror's blind spots.

Click below for the full 14-minute interview with Ford CTO Paul Mascarenas.

Ford CTO Paul Mascarenas, photographed at the IFA tech trade show in Berlin in September 2011 (Credit: Larry Magid/CNET)

Listen Now: Download Today's Podcast
Subscribe now: iTunes (audio) | RSS (audio)

Web site presents 'all sides' of election news (podcast)

podcast@cnet.com (CNET.com) — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 15:26:02 PDT

A new site, Allsides.com, provides visitors with a view of election news stories from the left, right, and center.