IT Conversations

Episode 36 - StackOverflow

Wed, 7 Jan 2009 00:00:00 CST

Joel and Jeff, with special guest Eric Sink of SourceGear, discuss source control present and future, why writing a compiler is an important rite of passage for programmers, and how budding software engineers should be educated.

Bill Burger - Copyright in a New Light

Tue, 6 Jan 2009 00:00:00 CST

Bill Burger describes the social disruption happening in the publishing industry because of new technologies and business models for content distribution. He shares several examples of these disruptive new models for content publishing and gives advice to publishers on staying relevant in these changing times when people value the technology that brings them the content they want as much as the content itself.

Panel Discussion - Mobile Voice Mashups

Mon, 5 Jan 2009 00:00:00 CST

While some believe that the Web 2.0 wave is winding down, in this panel discussion from the 2008 Emerging Communications Conference, there are clear signs that Web 2.0 is spreading and reaching new markets and users. As it spreads, it is moving into new industries and encompassing more applications. In this session, Jon Arnold, a leading VoIP blogger, moderates a diverse panel of experts on the evolution of Web 2.0 into voice and mobile voice mashups.

Jeff Jonas - IBM Entity Analytics

Fri, 2 Jan 2009 00:00:00 CST

On this edition of Interview with Innovators, host Jon Udell speaks with the Chief Scientist of IBM Entity Analytics, Jeff Jonas, who discusses a set of themes woven through his work, explored on his blog, and captured in a series of evocative phrases: perpetual analytics, non-obvious relationship awareness, sequence neutrality, "data finds data", and anonymous resolution.

Maria Giudice - Human Centered Design

Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00:00 CST

Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with Maria Giudice, CEO and founder of Hot Studio, about the democratization of the internet, and the principles of human centered design.

Jesse Schell - Video Game Design

Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00:00 CST

Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with Professor Jesse Schell, from the Entertainment Technology Center, about the serious task of designing video games.

San Diego Biotech Cluster - BioTech Nation

Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00:00 CST

Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with various leaders of industry of the biotech industry in the San Diego BioTech Cluster and asks them how to attract biotech venture capital in a place where the venture capitalists don't live.

Episode 35 - StackOverflow

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:00:00 CST

Joel and Jeff discuss the mysteries of server hardware, anomalous voting patterns, change fatigue, and whether or not Joel is the Martha Stewart of the software industry.

Steve Jurvetson - Dichotomy of Designed and Evolutionary Paths to AI Futures

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:00:00 CST

Design or evolution? In building complex, artificial intelligence systems, is it best to use top down design, a gradual evolutionary process, or a combination of the two in order to maintain some level of control? Steve Jurvetson, Managing Director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, is placing his money on iterative evolutionary algorithms as the best path to the future of artificial intelligence.

Steve Jelley, Eric Lindstrom, Matt Locke, Jeremy Silver - The Future of Media

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:00:00 CST

Steve Jelley, Eric Lindstrom, Matt Locke, and Jeremy Silver discuss digital media in the context of teen social networking, books, activism, and predictions of what the digital future will look like. Because we are a social race and need to communicate, content will remain even when platforms mutate and we create and talk about content in new ways. Each panelist gives his predictions of the dramatic changes which will define the digital world just ten years from now.

Mark Jacobstein - Operator-Friendly VoIP: No Longer an Oxymoron

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:00:00 CST

Mark Jacobstein discusses a solution that brings together VoIP and mobile like peanut butter and chocolate. Mobile voice does not mean running VoIP over the cellular data channel. Instead Jacobstein reveals how the iSkoot solution uses the voice-optimized, circuit-switched network for delivery of voice communication to a mobile device, bringing IP telephony to mobile. He describes the huge success of the "3 Skypephone", powered by iSkoot, in a handful of countries so far.

Tim O'Reilly - The O'Reilly Radar

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 00:00:00 CST

Bionic people, facial scanners, and artificial organisms: What do these things all have in common? They're all on "the edge" - new territory just waiting to be explored, and they might be closer than you think. That's exactly what O'Reilly Radar is all about.

Chris Anderson - DIY Drones: Making Minimum UAVs

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 00:00:00 CST

What do you get when you apply Moore's law to robotics and GPS? Chris Anderson, of Wired magazine, explains what you get in this Where 2.0 presentation. Cheap and ubiquitous location technologies combined with robotic toys have given birth to a thriving amateur Unmanned Aerial Vehicles community. Though these sophisticated spy toys, which are powered by open source software, are usually flying just for the fun of it, the federal regulators are trying to figure out what is even legal, in this brave new little world.

Craig Burton - Innovation and the Secret Sauce

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 00:00:00 CST

Craig Burton discusses innovation by reviewing three of his essays on the topic. He talks about how to distinguish innovation myths from realities, reviews how technology companies make mistakes with customer demographics, and how Novell created software infrastructure as a new software category.

Elizabeth Churchill - Place Matters: Social Encounters between the Physical and Digital

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 00:00:00 CST

Elizabeth Churchill, researcher at Yahoo, discusses a project to connect online community activity with offline community activity in the physical world toward a goal of building relationships and trust between two groups of colleagues in different time zones. She shares observations about people's behaviors around the project, challenges faced, and ponderings about what the future business success of such installations might be.

Anna Domyancic & Darren Gerber - Nintendo Wii as Therapeutic Tool

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:00:00 CST

Although host Jon Udell isn't an avid gamer, and neither is his wife Luann, he was intrigued when she came home from a physical therapy session raving about the Nintendo Wii. In this episode Luann talks about how the Wii, the Balance Board, and the Wii Fit application are helping her retrain the proprioceptors in her legs. Then we'll hear from Anna Domyancic who, with Darren Gerber, runs Keene Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine. Like other physical therapists, they're finding that the Wii can be a valuable therapeutic tool.

Herbert Needleman - Lead Poisoning in Children

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 CST

Herbert Needleman has received numerous awards for his work in documenting the effects of lead poisoning in children. Dr. Moira Gunn asks Needleman why we have unleaded paints and gasoline, and how neuro-developmental changes are caused by lead poisoning.

Wayne Pisano - Flu Vaccines

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 CST

Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with Wayne Pisano, the CEO of the world's largest flu vaccine producer Sanofi Pasteur, and asks him whether Americans receive the same vaccination as Europeans do, and how you can prepare for a global flu epidemic.

Episode 34 - StackOverflow

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:00 CST

Joel and Jeff discuss whether programmers should spend time working with customers, the value of easter eggs, and how to define elegant code.

Eric Norlin - The Implicit Web

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:00:00 CST

Eric Norlin is an expert on how social networking data from one source is broken down and being reaggregated in other ways. He talks about how tools and websites, such as Twitter and Zemanta, are being used to create new concepts and how this new information is being used.

Brough Turner - Own the Network

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:00:00 CST

Brough Turner describes residential internet speeds of 100 MB per sec for only 16 dollars a month in Sweden as illustration of how we are falling behind in the United States. Turner, a telecommunications expert, believes there is only one thing we should fight for - owning the dark fiber ourselves or controlling who lights the dark fiber that comes into our homes. He gives three examples of this model from Quebec and Sweden as what we can fight for and why.

Mark Shuttleworth - Ubuntu Expands Its Vision

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 00:00:00 CST

Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Ubuntu, discusses the growth of commerce around Ubuntu and the key drivers and themes for the coming year. Shuttleworth makes announcements and delivers commitments from Ubuntu in the commercial ecosystem, the consumer market, and the developer community. Their goal is to build a new model for the entire industry.

Kathy Sierra - How to Kick Ass

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 00:00:00 CST

Kathy Sierra talks about expertise and neuroscience. The study of the differences between the world class performer and the average performer reveals something more important than genetics. Sierra shares several tips on how everyone can improve their performance and the most important factors in getting really good at something.

Judy Estrin - Closing the Innovation Gap

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:00:00 CST

Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with Judy Estrin, author of "Closing the Innovation Gap" and Cisco's CTO, about the state of the innovation ecosystem in the United States following the dot-com bust.

Robert Walsh - Renewable Petroleum

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:00:00 CST

Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with Robert Walsh, the president of LS9 Inc., about their innovative new process of turning any kind of biomass into biodiesel.

Episode 33 - StackOverflow

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:00:00 CST

Joel and Jeff sit down with special guest Babak Ghahremanpour, the lead developer for FogBugz.

Jeremy Silver - Music and the Future of New Media

Mon, 8 Dec 2008 00:00:00 CST

Jeremy Silver discusses why the world of music in the internet age is on the edge of enormous change, but not on the edge of disaster. Silver reviews the recent difficult history of the music industry since the growth of the internet. He sees positive signs in the many areas of experimentation in music activity. Although the new business models are not proven, there is tremendous energy at work.

Tyler Whitaker, Dion Almaer - Travels, Trials, and Browser Tribulations

Mon, 8 Dec 2008 00:00:00 CST

Mozilla is developing new open web tools for developers that will make it easier to deal with browser differences. Dion Almaer and Ben Galbraith discuss their new jobs with the company and what they hope to achieve both short-term and long-term. Tyler Whitaker also talks about his internet troubles and Scott Lemon reviews his travel problems and how a website helped him better understand the airplane issue.

John Hanke - The State of the Geoweb

Sun, 7 Dec 2008 00:00:00 CST

Five years from now, chances are you'll be dependent upon web-based GIS applications at home and in the office. And it's likely that those GIS applications will evolve from the work of John Hanke. In this session from the 2008 O'Reilly Where 2.0 conference, Hanke discusses the progress and tremendous growth of the Geoweb. In describing Google's response to this growth, Hanke introduces a new partnership with ESRI. The new initiative will allow developers to pull data from even more GIS servers.

Stephen O'Grady - Ubuntu's Unique Strengths

Sat, 6 Dec 2008 00:00:00 CST

Ubuntu has emerged in the last few years as the most popular Linux distribution, but despite its potential, it is a long way from being a dominant presence. In this keynote from the 2007 O'Reilly Ubuntu Live conference, Stephen O'Grady, principal analyst at RedMonk, describes some of the opportunities and futures for Ubuntu in coming years.