Public Radio For Eastern North Carolina 89.3 WTEB New Bern 88.5 WZNB New Bern 91.5 WBJD Atlantic Beach 90.3 WKNS Kinston 88.5 WHYC Swan Quarter 89.9 W210CF Greenville
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
US

Tech Week That Was: Bezos' Buy, Twitter Abuse, Scary Alerts

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who purchased <em>The Washington Post</em>, is the latest big-name tech entrepreneur to buy a struggling media company.
Rick Wilking
/
Reuters/Landov
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who purchased The Washington Post, is the latest big-name tech entrepreneur to buy a struggling media company.

Each Friday we round up the big conversations in tech and culture during the week that was. We also revisit the work that appeared on this blog, and highlight what we're reading from our fellow technology writers and observers at other organizations.

ICYMI

In case you missed it ... here on All Tech, we looked at how Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' $250 million purchase of The Washington Post is the latest sign that the tech and media worlds are melding. Speaking of Amazon, Laura Sydell says the online retailer's foray into fine art doesn't have traditional galleries too worried. Elise Hu took a look at efforts by several states to write laws to cover what happens to your digital life after you die. And Laura noted how Apple is increasingly in Washington's sights.

Tom Bowman reported on technology being developed to give special ops troops Iron Man-like suits to protect them in battle. Elise followed up on the hackable Japanese toilet and learned that its app collects perhaps a bit TMI. Steve Henn examined the backlash against Twitter after threats and abusive messages targeted prominent women in the U.K. And Steve says another backlash is feared — this one against the new wireless emergency alert system after Amber Alerts startled millions of mobile phone users.

Daniel Hajek reported on advertisers looking for an audience, six seconds at a time, on the Vine video app. Leslie Bradshaw, chief operating officer at the startup Guide, wrote about how women are having a bigger influence at the top of the tech industry, in their own way. And, finally, our weekly innovation pick was the Kite Patch, a sticker that hopefully makes you invisible to mosquitoes.

What's Catching Our Eye

In no particular order:

Fast Company: This Tooth Sensor Puts Wearable Computing In Your Mouth

Say aaaah. A researcher in Taiwan has developed an embeddable tooth sensor that can track your eating habits. Of course, a Bluetooth connection to smartphones is being contemplated so that people could monitor their diet through a health app.

The New York Times Bits Blog: YouTube's Founders Challenge Vine and Instagram With New Video App

The latest mash-up toy is here. Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, who brought YouTube to the world, have launched MixBit, an app that looks to do Vine and Instagram videos one better. Their new app lets you mix, edit and collaborate on videos — even those who didn't shoot — to create and share stories.

BBC: Confused Xerox copiers rewrite scanned documents, expert finds

That's right, blame the machine. Some Xerox copiers are changing numbers on documents, according to a German computer scientist who found that scans he made of construction plans had altered room dimensions. Xerox said the problem is limited to scans made under a certain setting.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

US