IT Conversations

Brewster Kahle - A Future for Books: BookServer

Wed, 1 Sep 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Brewster Kahle offers a tour of present and proposed uses for the open architecture BookServer ecosystem. This project is part of Kahle's quest to provide universal access to all knowledge. As digital librarian and co-founder of the acclaimed Internet Archive, Kahle works for worldwide, distributed publishing environments because he sees them as essential to a rich and democratic digital future.

Skip Prichard - Are Ebooks Dead?

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Skip Prichard's discussion of the future of the publishing industry uses a jar of jam, an NFL running back, and a jazz musician to offer lessons for the publishing industry. He discusses how the lines between print and electronic publishing have blurred and this has huge ramifications for the publishing industry. In handling this increased pressure, Skip explores three suggestions for publishers: simplify, connect, and conquer.

Vik Chaudhary - From Browsers to Mobile Devices

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Vic Chaudhary introduces MITE 2.0, currently available in beta, which offers expanded capability to test web page presentation for thousands of different client devices in real time anywhere in the world from your desktop. The software is useful for developers, QA and test professionals, and web operations personnel.

Aaron Blackledge - Social Media and Medicine

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Dr. Moria Gunn talks with Dr. Aaron Blackledge, Medical Director for Care Practice, who's medical practice is driven thru social media.

Carl Malamud - "By the People..."

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Carl Malamud, president of Public.Resource.Org, describes observations which indicate how the internet wave, created in the private sector, has triggered success and could be extremely beneficial in the public sector in the future. He suggests that access to information and public documents may lead to more efficient government, more economic activity and better democracy.

James Hamilton - Datacenter Infrastructure Innovation

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 00:00:00 CDT

James Hamilton of Amazon Web Services talks about some of the innovations emerging in data center infrastructure and how the scale of the Web and the competition are pushing technology forward. Speed equals money and he describes how advances in power efficiency, server loading, and temperature management practice can speed up websites and make more more money for their owners.

Urs Hölzle - Speed Matters

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Speed should be feature #1 on any website. Urs Holzle of Google lists some of the ways that individual websites and the Internet as a whole could be sped up. Google's effort range from advancing browser technology to hosting fast versions of public resources like DNS. They have also studied how websites could be sped up by updating key protocols like TCP. Every website could be sped up by 30-200% without changing any application code.

Nicholas Carr - What the Internet is doing to our Brains

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Dr. Moira Gunn sits down with author, Nicholas Carr, to discuss the weird, new, artificial world in which we now live, through the pages of his new book, The Shallows: What is the Internet Doing to Our Brains.

Jason Bobe - Our Need for Genomes

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Dr. Moira Gunn talks with the Director of Community for Harvard Medical School, Jason Bobe, about the Personal Genomes Project and "Do It Yourself" Biotech.

Sheeri K. Cabral - Time Zones and MySQL

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Describing the codes used throughout MySQL and explaining their limitations, Sheeri K. Cabral -- founder of the MySQL user group in Boston, Massachusetts -- discusses the use of time zones by that data system. The majority of her lecture is technical, but her concepts are easy to follow and she offers a variety of methods to recording precise times and mending the system's failure to hold time zones.

Ben Huh - Becoming One with Internet Culture

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Ben Huh of the website I Can Has Cheezburger, speaks about the Internet as a global trend that allows people to share what they have on their minds. People use the Internet every day and never stop to think that this can be called a "cultural action". What would happen if absolutely everyone could be given a computer? How would the world and human culture change in this case?

William Patry - Law Is Not a Business Solution

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 00:00:00 CDT

William Patry has been working with copyright law for 25 years and has a number of observations on this continuously evolving challenge. He says we lose respect for the legal system when we use it to solve business problems. Exploring regulatory capitalism as a tool to shield and protect incumbents and the status quo from competition, he says copyright law doesn't create economic value. Paley sees instead a big need for managerial imagination.

Matt Ridley - How Prosperity Evolves

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Dr. Moira Gunn catches up with science journalist and author, Matt Ridley, to talk about his new book, The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves' and explain why he believes it is probable that humanity will be better off in the next century than it is today, and so will the ecology of our planet.

Glenn Kelly - How the Body Manages CO2

Thu, 5 Aug 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Dr. Moira Gunn talks about CO2 with President and CEO, Glenn Kelly,how the human body manages CO2, and how his cleantech company, CO2 Solutions, copies it.

Steve Gillmor - The Client-side Revolution: What's Next

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Steve Gillmor muses about the present and possible futures like a "blind man at the toes of an elephant". He makes insightful comments on the death of RSS, the next wave of value, and the need for gestures. Steve explores harnessing Social Cloud Dynamics, the challenges of collaboration and the iPad, in the context in which these changes are happening. He also comments on the trouble with current business models as he shows how affinity groups will become powerful economic engines.

Glenn Fleishman - WiFi Holes, iPhone Jailbreaking, and DMCA

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Technology reporter Glenn Fleishman discusses a number of current networking and mobile issues. Beginning with an examination of a newly found hole in the 802.11 standard, he also discusses WiFi security issues and how both enterprises and the personal users are dealing with them. Glenn also reviews such topics as location data, the now legal ability to jailbreak the iPhone, and his objections to the DMCA.

Michael Widenius - MariaDB

Sat, 7 Aug 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Beginning with a bit of history, Michael Widenius, co-founder and CTO of MySQL AB, gives a lecture on MySQL, MariaDB, and the purpose of his company. The topics branch to include developments and improvements in the MariaDB, as well as the general direction of the company.

Carleen Hawn, James Heywood - Rapid Fire: Healthcare

Fri, 6 Aug 2010 00:00:00 CDT

These rapid fire talks feature two innovations in healthcare. Founder Carleen Hawn discusses some of the stories from Healthspottr, a website that showcases innovative patient technologies from around the world. Also PatientsLikeMe co-founder James Heywood explains how the platform creates communities around medical conditions, and puts patients in control of their data.

Ray Kurzweil - The Future is Near

Thu, 5 Aug 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Dr. Moira Gunn talks about the future with inventor, author, filmmaker and futurist, Ray Kurzweil. He tells us what science and technology have in store over the next 10, 20, 30 years.

David Duncan - Flawed Science

Thu, 5 Aug 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Dr. Moria Gunn talks with columnist and author David Ewing Duncan about what happens and who suffers when a prestigious journal publishes flawed science.