The TechTalk show where I blather briefly about mobile devices

On my latest TechTalk radio appearance, I discuss some rather banal issues with mobile device usage among the elderly before dropping a question about Einstein's most famous (and famously misunderstood) equation. Luckily Paul Ulreich from Verizon is there to clean up my mess -- at least on the phone front.

If you're curious about age-based accessibility for mobile phones, this is actually a very fine episode to give listen -- so long as you mute the parts where I'm talking. You know, the usual.

As always, my complete archive of podcasted misdeeds is available here

Related articles

• Mobile Apps Can Equip Android Devices for Blue Collar Field Work
• The Market Ticker - Google Is Shooting Itself In The Head
• Briefly: Remote lock in Android Device Manager CyanogenMod updates
• Important Facts You Need To Know About Mobile Advertising
• The Thinking Mobile Device - Be Very Afraid

The TechTalk episode where I talk about the secret history of Steve Ballmer

In this TechTalk radio episode, I reveal what dark history Steve Ballmer lived out between his days at Harvard and his illustrious run as a minion of Microsoft. Here's a hint: it involved a midwestern state, pastries and another legendary Fortune 100 CEO. No foolin'.

Mercifully, we spent much more of the episode discussing Oyster and its "Netflix for ebooks" pitch, as well as the future of the prose-for-pay industry. The parts when I'm not talking are definitely worth a listen.

As always, my complete archive of podcasted misdeeds is available here.

Related articles

• Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months (Microsoft)
• Steve Ballmer and the Art of Managing a Monopoly (John Cassidy/The New Yorker)
• Why Steve Ballmer Failed
• 56 Steve Ballmer Photoshops In Honor Of His Retirement
• 3 Valley execs that could replace Microsoft's Steve Ballmer

I am returned to Techtalk Radio, discuss the end of the Space Shuttle program

After weeks of missed connections and conflicts, I'm finally back to dragging down the quality of TechTalk Radio. This week, I throw out a quick missive on smartwatches, some trivia on the last cargo item the Space Shuttle placed into orbit, and lay down a challenge about the secret history of Steve Ballmer.

More importantly, Mike and Dave go deep on Google Maps tech with Daniel Seiberg. You can fast-forward past my drivel to the good stuff, no worries.

Listen to the TechTalk podcast here.

Why the 2013 crop of summer blockbusters has sucked

A sign of the times: the new Man of Steel (Photo credit: Ed Yourdon)

Once again, I am called upon by my fellow SF Signal podcast irregulars to snark my way through a topic better left to professionals: What's up with the not-so-hot lineup of 2013 summer movie blockbusters?

Fortunately, Jeff Patterson, Patrick Hester and actual honest-to-Grodd film critic Derek Johnson are on hand to wrangle my even-more-nerdy-than-usual snivelings about film and genre. (How these guys got nominated for a Hugo with me on the line is beyond explanation.)

In the course of the podcast, we go deep on the flagship blockbuster of the season -- Man of Steel -- and sort of back into a treatise on why the "midlist movie" is so desperately necessary to save Hollywood from itself. There are worse ways to spend an hour of your time, especially if you fast forward through all my speaking parts. Those of you that tuned into my appearance on Shooting the WISB wherein I savaged Star Trek Into Darkness have heard most it already, anyway.

You can listen to the complete SF Signal podcast here.

As always, the chronicle of my previous SF Signal podcast atrocities is available here.

Related articles

• Superman is coming back and this time with Batman
• The 2005 screenwriting book that's taken over Hollywood
• For Movie Industry, an Epic Summer for Blockbuster Flops
• 15 Indie Film Alternatives to 2013's Blockbusters
• Cine-Files: Why Pacific Rim Needs To Be A Box Office Hit

Augmented reality advertising: Why Google should buy Cafepress

Google Glass (Photo credit: Stuck in Customs)

Because I am strange and my brain does not work the way most leading neuroscientists contend it should, I was of late pondering the long-term fallout of a failed 2002 lawsuit against Sony Pictures on the eventual revenue model for augmented reality applications. This led me to conclude that Google will eventually have to buy Cafepress, or something like it.

Deep breaths; I can explain.