Technology

Video game technology and design has seen explosive development and innovation over the last decade. We look at how game design impacts our brains, how it has changed our relationships and perceptions, and how we study these impacts.

If you hike up Mount Kearsarge you are likely to see several names carved into the granite. One carving is a square with seven names and the initials USCS and the date 1872. That carving was done by a team known as the United States coastal survey and it's meant to memorialize the work they were doing, which was to build an early modern map of New Hampshire.

For more on this we turn to Granite geek David Brooks who has been writing about this for the Concord Monitor.

  This is All Things Considered on NHPR. I'm Peter Biello. Photos are easy to fake given how common programs like Photoshop are now. New technology is making it easy to fake videos. That is, it is becoming very easy for video editors to graft the image of your face onto someone else's body. And that is problematic, especially if your face ends up on the body of someone doing something offensive or illegal.

It's no accident many Americans are obsessed with their screens - whether it's social media, video games, or plain old email, they're designed to keep us playing, looking, and checking.  In his book, Irresistible, marketing professor Adam Alter say that we’re just beginning to understand the epidemic of behavioral addiction gripping society and lays out options we have to address the problem before it consumes us. 

This program was originally broadcast on April 3, 2017.

It’s a Saturday night in at the Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth. Hundreds of people are here to experience some vintage Christmas charm at the annual Candlelight Stroll.

Gene Lavoie, dressed in her puffy white coat, is eager to join them. But first, she puts on a pair of futuristic looking glasses.

Lavoie is visually impaired. She has some sight, but not enough to get around on her own. She’s hoping the new glasses she just put on will help that.

***This story has lots of sound -- we highly recommend listening.***

A New Hampshire software developer is working on a way to protect household devices that are connected to the internet, the latest in a broader, nationwide push to keep the devices in our homes safe from hackers.

David Brooks, who writes the Granite Geek column at the Concord Monitor, has been keeping a close eye on this topic—and he’s pretty worried. Brooks spoke with NHPR’s Peter Biello.

This is all about the Internet of Things (IoT), so bring us up to speed: What is that?

Since the inception of the internet and the computer, society has been challenged with balancing technologies’ benefits and demerits.

On June 12, 2017, The Exchange held a discussion on cyberethics. This session discussed crimes captured on video and posted online. The program examined viewers’ and digital platforms’ responsibilities when coming across online crime videos; and how the excitement and potential celebrity status is an incentive for people to perform malicious acts.

On today's show:

• Civics 101: Political Speechwriting
• When English teacher David McCullough, Jr. addressed 2012 graduates from the public high school in Wellesley, Massachusetts, he told them, "You are not special." He addresses that and more in his book You Are Not Special...And Other Encouragements. 
• "George Carlin: Class Clown" from producer Devon Strolovitch. You can listen to this story again at PRX.org.
• A Series of Tubes with Rob Fleischman

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On today's show:

• Civics 101: Overturning a Supreme Court Ruling
• "Back to the Middle East" from Radio Rookie Alexis Gordon. You can listen to this story again PRX.org.
• Annalee Newitz is Tech Culture Editor at Ars Technica, the site where the AI-written short  films Sunspring and It's No Game debuted. She wrote about them here: "Movie Written By Algorithm Turns Out to be Hilarious and Intense."
• Scott McCloud is the author of Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. First published in 1993, it is one of the seminal volumes for comic book writers and a fascinating guide for anyone interested in the creative process. 

On today's show: 

• James Longhurst is associate professor of history at the University of Wisconsin, Lacrosse – in his book Bike Battles: A History of Sharing the American Road, he reveals how the social and legal status of bicycles was debated even in the years before the automobile.  
• "The Bike Knight" from producer Sophie Nikitas. You can listen to this story again at PRX.org. 
• Steve Featherstone is a writer and photographer from upstate New York who made the journey to Green Bank, West Virginia where local skeptics are living alongside refugees from the electromagnetic age. He wrote about it for Popular Science “This West Virginia Town Has Gone Radio Silent.”
• Brett Berk is author of the article "How iPhones Ruined Summer Camp" for Vanity Fair, and the book "A Gay Uncle's Guide To Parenting."

Technology is developing more quickly than the security to protect it, leaving the personal information of millions at risk. Your health records, schedule, shopping habits, and more are  vulnerable to potential hackers. As the "Internet of things" grows, and more companies collect information on their customers, called big data, how can you protect yourself?

On today's show: 

• We spoke to Wesley Lowery about his experience reporting on race and activism, and the myth of objectivity. His recent book is They Can't Kill Us All.
• "Oil, Water" from Nate DiMeo and The Memory Palace. Listen again at prx.org
• Civics 101: The Nuclear Codes
• A Series of Tubes with Rob Fleischman
• "Cycling 101 for Adults" from producer Sarah Elzas and Radio Farnce International. Listen again at prx. org. 

At 19 years old, I am certainly a product of the digital age. All of my school writing pieces, from simple grammar assignments in elementary school to research papers at college, have been created, edited, and finished off on various computers. I can honestly say that I have never used a typewriter. In fact, I’m not entirely sure where I would find one, should I want to recreate the atmosphere of a 1980s newsroom that Robbie Hoenig evoked in her report about UNH’s purchase of new computers for their writing lab in 1987.

Since it's early days, hip hop have critiqued oppressions both political and economic - while flashing their own wealth and bravado. Donald Trump became a symbol of the latter, but recent mentions of him in hip hop have become much less positive during his campaign for president in the 2016 election. 

And, we’ll talk with a computer scientist who will forever be remembered not for his AI research, but as inventor of the emoticon. Plus, a writer attends her first autopsy, and says Hollywood gets it all wrong.

Here at Word of Mouth, we spend a lot of time researching, recording, and listening to wonderful – and sometimes weird – audio. Today, a new installment of “Overheard.” This time we pull in some NHPR colleagues to share some of the best examples of sound the internet has to offer – some healthy curiosity required.

Then, a Pokebattle for the ages. Two teams duke it out over whether Pokémon go helps or hinders the experience of being in the natural world – and tussle over who has the right to decide that.  

These days just about every coffee shop, bookstore, and restaurant touts offers free wi-fi to its customers - but at what cost? Today, we'll find out the hidden dangers of public wi-fi.

Later, the road to become a professional wine sommelier is tough – it’s filled with endless taste-tests, and requires an expansive understanding of geography, and an incredibly sensitive palate. But how exactly does one become a water sommelier? We'll meet America's only one and talk about his restaurant, which features a 44-page water menu.

Dueling was once a common part of the American experience. Today, we’ll learn more about this history and some popular dueling spots that that public can still visit today.

And what if we're wrong about everything? Pop culture critic Chuck Klosterman takes on the difficult task of predicting how our present will be viewed hundreds of years from now. We'll talk about the next great American novelist, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and the improbable factor that kept Hamilton on the ten dollar bill.

In July, nutrition fact labels  will see their first major overhaul in twenty years. Among the changes, a jumbo version of the calorie number - three times bigger than the rest of the listed information. Today, if we focus too much on calories, do we miss the bigger problem?

And what if we're wrong about everything? Pop culture critic Chuck Klosterman takes on the difficult task of predicting how our present will be viewed hundreds of years from now. We'll talk about the next great American novelist, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and the improbable factor that kept Hamilton on the ten dollar bill.

Radio broadcast news from the front during World War II. Vietnam was captured on television. Today, uncensored scenes from Syria's civil war are uploaded onto YouTube by the thousands.  Now, we’re learning what amateur videos reveal about Syria's brutal war.

Then we’ll talk to an author who decided to do what no one has done in more than a century: cross the Oregon Trail in a covered wagon. Along the way he found not only the forgotten history of our country but also the emerging present.

You can't confront the horror that was the Holocaust without facing inescapable questions of America's role. What did the United States know about the Holocaust and how did it respond? Today, the United States Holocaust Museum is asking the public to help uncover how the American press covered the genocide of millions of Jews - and whether or not anyone was listening.

Then, Google and other companies are betting than autonomous vehicles will be safer than they're human led counterparts...but proving it won't be easy.

New Hampshire is among many states attempting to navigate the brave new world of these unmanned flying machines, addressing privacy and safety concerns.  Meanwhile, the federal government could swoop in and make all these measures moot as lawmakers on Capitol Hill consider legislation that would allow the FAA to trump state laws.

Facial recognition software is now everywhere - in airports, stores, on our gadgets and on social media. The goal is improving security and improving public safety, but along with our growing dependency on biometrics comes a problem: not all faces are treated equally. Today, the inherent bias of facial recognition software.

Plus, are we at the end of the app bubble? We'll hear why, less than ten years after the app store launched, small and medium sized developers are getting squeezed out. 

Facial recognition software is now everywhere - in airports, stores, on our gadgets and on social media. The goal is improving security and improving public safety, but along with our growing dependency on biometrics comes a problem: not all faces are treated equally. Today, the inherent bias of facial recognition software.

Plus, once the drug of choice for dropping out of the rat race, LSD is now being touted as a "hot new business trend".  We'll talk to a journalist who tried out the new Silicon Valley method of taking tiny doses of acid to improve performance at work. 

While Trump leads in delegates, the Republican Party has yet to coalesce around him as nominee...and many are predicting a contested convention...which is what exactly? Today, we'll talk to a political scientist about the nuts and bolts of how a contested convention might go down. 

Also today, a philosopher on why, despite historically unprecedented access to information and knowledge, we'll never be able to Google our way to the truth.

Plus, are we at the end of the app bubble? We'll hear why, less than ten years after the app store launched, small and medium sized developers are getting squeezed out. 

Bullying, R-rated topics and shouting matches during presidential debates have left some Americans wondering whatever happened to civility in politics?  But in the British Parliament, being rude is a long-standing tradition. Today, a history of Parliament's bad manners.

Also, while we usher in spring with a last minute nor'easter, we’re looking back at the most devastating storm in New England history: the hurricane of 1938. 

Plus, a tech reviewer looks at a hot new item in the world of consumer drones.

We're talking with the author of a new book on the unlikely ways in which inventors think up groundbreaking ideas.