TechStuff

A fire in 1836 wiped out nearly every patent on file in the United States. How did the patent office rebuild, and how did a second fire in 1877 change things even more?

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US founding father Thomas Jefferson gets the credit for establishing the first process in the US for filing and granting patents. But how did patent law change in those early years, and why does Jonathan say the patent office was like the Game of Thrones? 

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Jonathan sits down with Sudhin Shahani of Surf Air Mobility, who recently went public to talk about the future of travel. What is Regional Air Mobility? Why is Surf Air Mobility electrifying planes? And how might this affect how you handle short-range travel in the future?

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It was once the computing conference to attend. Today, it's rapidly fading from memory. How did Comdex begin and what happened to it?

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Apple's iPhone 15 reveal fails to impress my producer Tari. Google's antitrust trial is underway. The government starts to ask questions about AI. And much more! 

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A blog site called Simplicable outlines several "fundamental principles" of technology. We take a look at a few of them, talk about what they mean, and how they relate not just to tech but how we incorporate tech into our lives.

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Today, the US Department of Justice begins its anti-trust case against Google. Should it matter if Google commands more than 90% of the web search market share? Plus, a cybersecurity issue creates a huge headache for MGM Resorts and a former Apple employee brings RICO charges against the company.

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Figuring out if artificial intelligence wrote a block of text can be tricky. Some companies have created tools that claim to determine if text was likely the product of a human author or AI. But as we have learned, these tools aren't reliable. What makes it so difficult to tell who wrote what?

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Joe McCormick and Jonathan continue their discussion about radio waves, transmitters and radio direction finding. How can you locate a transmitter and what is fox hunting?

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How were hackers able to access important email systems belonging to big targets like the US Department of State? It turns out it was a perfect set of circumstances that Microsoft failed to address. Plus, we have a bunch of AI news, the FAA okays delivery drones flying beyond line of sight, and lots more! 

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Before the World Wide Web, savvy computer users were flocking to USENET to participate in discussions on everything from the latest advance in computing to the worst jokes you could imagine. USENET is still around today. So what the heck is it?

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Are robots and automated systems going to replace human workers? And if so, what then? The fear about automation has a long history and it's not an irrational fear.

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Joe McCormick and Jonathan continue their discussion about radio waves, transmitters and radio direction finding. How can you locate a transmitter and what is fox hunting?

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We've all been there. It's a hot day and all we want is a cone of soft serve ice cream. But the person behind the cash register solemnly informs us the ice cream machine is out of order. What's going on? We learn about the ice cream machines used at McDonald's franchises and how service agreements, bad technical manuals and copyright law mess everything up.

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As US Senator Chuck Schumer prepares to hold a forum on the risks and benefits of artificial intelligence, the US Army and Air Force are each seeking to incorporate AI and robotics in combat operations. Plus, Elon Musk livestreams himself showing off the latest build of Tesla's FSD mode to mixed results.

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Smart Talks with IBM returns this September 5th. This season, host Malcolm Gladwell and a team of correspondents from Pushkin Industries explore how businesses can integrate AI into their workflows — to help them do exponentially more — drive real change, and thrive in this new era of AI.

This is a paid advertisement from IBM.

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