Weekend America Voices
John Moe
Recent Stories
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Technology to make shopping easier and less painful
Even if you're not hitting the malls for those crazy doorbuster sales today, chances are pretty good you'll need to do some holiday shopping between now and the end of the year. Given that technology is supposed to be making our lives easier, we're offering some ways to leverage the digital age to make your shopping fruitful and easier.
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The unpaid army behind Wikipedia
Wikipedia is one of the top 10 most popular websites in the world. Looking through some of the massive entries and their histories of meticulous editing, one wonders who the people are who create and maintain the site. In large part, they are volunteers, driven to create and improve the site.
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Algorithm could lead to many more kidney transplants
The process of waiting for a new kidney can be agonizing for patients in need of one. But there's new hope thanks to computer science and math. A team at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh thinks they've found an algorithm that can make a huge difference.
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Is there a way to be both safe AND private at airport security?
It's a busy travel week and many passengers are facing a choice in security screenings between scanners many see as a violation of their privacy or a physical pat down search that could violate their privacy in different ways. Today, we're looking into just how effective the scanners are and whether a better system could be found.
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Border dispute involves Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Google Maps
A Nicaraguan general looks on Google Maps, sees that some nearby land is marked as belonging to his country but is currently flying a Costa Rican flag. So he marches in, has the flag taken down, and claims the land. If it was a movie, he'd be played by Steve Carrell. But the reality of the situation is more complex and thought-provoking.
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Same-sex couple in Texas gets married via Skype
Mark Reed and Dante Walkup have been together for 10 years and decided to get married. But they live in Dallas where same-sex marriage is not legal. After doing a little research, they found that the District of Columbia, where same-sex marriages are recognized, does not have clear laws forbidding what are called proxy weddings. So they got married via Skype.
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Why was 15 percent of the world's internet traffic routed through China for 18 minutes?
Short answer? We don't know. Slightly longer answer: It's kind of strange that we don't know. The incident occurred last April and was recently reported by the security firm McAfee. The Chinese government says the sudden traffic reroute was an accident but little is known about what happened to the data when it was there.
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Do you trust Facebook enough to let it handle your email?
Facebook announced a new messaging system that incorporates email, texts, instant messaging, and the Facebook messaging people are already using. But given the privacy concerns that have dogged the social media giant for years, are users going to be willing to trust Facebook enough to use it for all their personal communications?
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CELEBRITY APP REVIEW: Julia Sweeney tries to Lose It
Julia Sweeney has an eclectic resume. She's been an accountant, sketch comedy performer on Saturday Night Live, movie actress in projects ranging from Pulp Fiction to It's Pat, and the star of several acclaimed solo stage shows. We've asked her to step into a somewhat different role: iPhone app reviewer.
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New prosthetic arms are wired directly to the human brain
A new breakthrough in the field of prosthetic limbs could make available a new generation of arms that are more nimble and dexterous than ever before. And not only do they resemble a natural arm in shape, size, weight, and strength, they have much more sophisticated wiring, letting the wearer operate the arm with brain signals.
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Facebook launches email service, would you use it?
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a next-generation messaging service today that does more than just email. He said it turns your Facebook experience into a "social inbox." Now the real question is, will you use it?
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Amazon.com removes controversial book but controversies may return
Amazon.com has removed an especially controversial title from its Kindle electronic book store. Amazon initially defended its own carrying of the book, saying that to remove it would be censorship, and then they yanked it anyway. But given the way Amazon stocks the virtual shelves of its online store, isn't this issue likely to come up again?
