LPX

LPX
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Journalist and Liliputing.com editor Brad Linder holds in-depth discussions with people using tech in innovative ways.

  1. 12/20/2016

    LPX Episode 14: Adapted (Kaomi Goetz on Korean international adoptees returning to Korea)

    About 200,000 Korean children have been adopted internationally since the end of the Korean War in 1953. Most were taken in by American families, but some were raised in Europe, Australia, and other nations. As those children  have become adults, many have struggled with questions  of identity and belonging... and many have come together in online communities and formed real-world groups to share their experiences. In recent years, a number of Korean adoptees have traveled back to the country of their birth, sometimes for a brief visit and sometimes to stay. Journalist Kaomi Goetz is documenting the experiences of adoptees who have returned to Korea in a podcast called Adapted. It features a series of fascinating interviews with a group of individuals who have been living in two worlds. Kaomi is a Korean-American adoptee herself, and in our interview for the LPX podcast, she gives us a little history of international adoption from the country, insight she's gained from talking to other adoptees, and a bit of her own experience of living in South Korea. You can find more information and listen to Kaomi's podcast at the Adapted Podcast website. And you can find more of Kaomi's radio reporting at her website.

    33 min

  2. 11/21/2016

    LPX Episode 13: Someone is wrong on the internet! (Snopes editor Brooke Binkowski on fake news & real journalism)

    In the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election in the United States, we heard a lot about "fake news" and its proliferation on social media, where millions of people get much of their news... and where many people like, share, or just scan through a sea of made-up headlines and news stories that can be tough to distinguish from factual reporting. We've heard even more about the issue after the election, with Google and Facebook both promising to ban their ad networks from running on fake news sites, among other things. But while there may be more fake news in our social media feeds than in the past, this is hardly the first time misinformation has been published online. And some people view it as their duty to correct bad information. For the past two decades, Snopes.com has been debunking myths, hoaxes, and other false information: Want to know if there's real evidence of Bigfoot's existence? Check Snopes. Want to know if Bill Gates is really giving away money to people who share a post on Snopes? Snopes to the rescue. And want to know if Marijuana can make you smarter? Snopes is on it. The answers to those questions, by the way are no, nope, and... maybe? Recently a lot of the stories Snopes have been investigating have been political... and a lot of them can be traced back to fake news sites. Brooke Binkowski is managing editor of Snopes.com, and she's my guest for the LPX Show episode 13. Binkowski has an interesting take on fake news: the way to fight it is by producing better real news. A few notes about this episode: There's some explicit language. One idea that's brought up is that fact-checking articles don't get viewed nearly as much as the original misinformation. There's some data backing that up. Another is that liberals are more likely than conservaties to block or "unfriend" someone either in real life or on a social network because of differing political views. That's based on a 2014 study from the Pew Research Center. Want to hear more from Brooke Binkowski? You can follow her on Twitter, check out her Facebook page, and read her work on Snopes,

    43 min

  3. 09/08/2016

    LPX Episode 12: Superbook turns your smartphone into a laptop

    Smartphones are useful for a lot of things. You can read the news, watch videos, play games, keep up on your email, and even write a novel on a smartphone. Oh yeah, you can also make phone calls and send text messages. But sometimes you want a larger screen, a bigger keyboard, or some of the other features you get from a laptop or desktop computer. Today most of us probably have at least two devices: a smartphone and a PC (or Mac... which is technically a PC, but whatever). Andromium CEO Andrew Jiang envisions a world where you only need one: your phone. Want more screen space? Just plug in a peripheral... like the company's Superbook. On the latest episode of the LPX Show, I speak with Andromium CEO Andrew Jiang about the idea behind the Superbook, why he thinks the idea has resonated, and how it differs from previous laptop docks, such as the ill-fated Palm Foleo and Motorola Atrix Lapdock. The Superbook looks like a laptop. It has an 11.6 inch display, a full-sized keyboard, a battery, and USB ports. But it doesn't have a processor, memory, storage, or an operating system. Instead, you can plug an Android phone into the Superbook and your apps will show up on the large screen while the Superbook's big battery charges your phone. There's also an Andromium OS app which makes Google's Android operating system look a little more like Windows. Fire it up and you get a taskbar and multi-window features that allow you to view more than one app at a time (even if you're not running Android 7.0). Andromium launched a Kickstarter campaign in July, hoping to raise $50,000 to turn a prototype into a real product that would ship in early 2017. The idea was pretty popular: the campaign raised almost $3 million from 16,000 backers. The Superbook is designed to work with Android phones, but it can also be used with other devices such as a Raspberry Pi or Intel Compute Stick. Or you can connect it to a laptop for use as a portable secondary display, and Jiang says a lot of early adopters are tinkerers who want to see what they can do with a device that's basically a laptop shell stripped of its processor and other internal components. Eventually Jiang says Andromium hopes to ship Superbooks in emerging markets where many people's first, and possibly only, experience with computers comes in the form of Android smartphones. The Superbook would give those people a chance to use the same apps they're familiar with in a new way... and for a lower price than you'd typically spend to buy a Windows laptop. While the Kickstarter campaign is over, you can still pre-order a Superbook for $109 and up.

    31 min

  4. 08/10/2016

    LPX Episode 11: FreeDOS keeps classic computing alive, decades after MS-DOS is retired

    A generation of computer users grew up using Microsoft DOS in the 80s and 90s, but Microsoft started to phase out the operating system with the launch of Windows 95. Decades later, there are still people playing DOS-based games and even corporations using DOS-based software. Writer George R.R. Martin famously said in 2014 that he was still using a DOS-based word processor to compose his books. Don't have your stack of 3.5 inch floppies with DOS handy? That's OK... because for more than two decades the developers of FreeDOS have been offering a free and open source alternative to Microsoft's defunct operating system. Since 2006, FreeDOS has been able to support virtually every game or program developed for MS-DOS. But project founder and coordinator Jim Hall continues to work on the operating system. Upcoming changes could include a change in the utilities bundled with the operating system and a simpler installer. Remarkably, FreeDOS is completely reverse engineered: the developers have never seen any of the code used in Microsoft's operating system. Instead, the group of all-volunteer developers have worked backward: knowing which software needs to run on the operating system, they were able to create something that looks very different under the hood, but which is still compatible. I wanted to get a sense of why anyone would want to run DOS programs in 2016... and why someone would want to continue developing for the classic platform. So I reached out to Jim Hall for a conversation about freeDOS, classic computing, and free software.

    37 min

  5. 06/17/2016

    LPX Episode 10: BLOCKS modular smartwatch

    Dozens of smartwatches have hit the market in the past few years. Apple has one. Samsung has half a dozen. Pebble has a few. And companies ranging from Motorola to TAG Heuer have gotten in the action. The idea is to put an internet-connected device on your wrist that looks as good as a traditional watch, but which can also show your smartphone notifications and in some cases, do much more. Some models can monitor your heart rate and track your run. Others let you make phone calls without taking your phone out of your pocket. And many can respond to voice requests. But it's hard to fit every possible feature into a single watch -- and that's where BLOCKS comes in. Founded by Serge Didenko and Alireza Tahmasebzadeh when they were students at Imperial College in London, the company has designed a modular smartwatch that lets you change the watch's hardware without buying a whole new watch. The team raised $1.6 million through a Kickstarter campaign in 2015, has secured additional funding, and now has a team of about 20 people working on the watch. The hardware designs have been finalized and the first BLOCKS watches and modules are expected to ship in September, 2016 to customers who have pre-ordered  watch plus 4 modules for $330. I recorded an interview with Didenko using Zencastr while he was visiting the company's engineering team in Taiwan. The core of the system has the guts of a basic smartwatch: A 1.4 inch, 400 x 400 pixel round AMOLED touchscreen display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage, motion sensors, a vibration motor, WiFi, Bluetooth, and a microphone. But the watch strap is made up of a series of modules that clip together. Each one can house additional hardware that extends the functionality of the watch, such as a GPS receiver, extra battery, flashlight, heart rate monitor, or barometer. Not only does this allow you to choose exactly what features you want when designing a custom BLOCKS watch... it also lets you swap out modules on the fly. Need as much battery life as you can get? Go ahead and put four or five batteries together. Want to use GPS when you're traveling, but not when you're at home? Just pop out the module when it's not in use and put in a different block. This could also make the BLOCKS smartwatch a little more future-proof than many other models. We recently learned that the LG G Watch and first-gen Motorola Moto 360 wouldn't support Android Wear 2.0, because they don't have the hardware necessary for the new version of Google's OS. Wouldn't it be nice if you could add hardware to those watches without buying a whole new device? The BLOCKS watch, by the way, doesn't run Android Wear. It runs a customized version of the same Android software you'd use on a phone or tablet. I have to admit that I'm still not exactly sold on the idea of a smartwatch. Right now they seem like expensive devices that largely duplicate the functions of smartphones. But Didenko makes the case that wearable gadgets like these could become more useful over time as voice recognition and voice control technology improves. They can also be used as gesture controls for your other computers and smart home gadgets and they're already pretty useful as activity trackers (although I prefer a fitness tracker I can clip to my belt, since I work at a treadmill desk... which means I don't move my arms much while I walk). Anyway, while I'm not entirely convinced I need expensive wearable gadgets in my life, I am a big fan of the idea of modularity as a method for making devices more versatile and possibly giving them a longer life span. You can pre-order a BLOCKS watch plus four modules for $330 from ChooseBlocks.com. Extra modules are $35 each and there are six module types to choose from at launch (extra battery, heart rate, GPS, flashlight, programmable button, and an "adventure" module with humidity, pressure, and temperature sensors). Future models are expected to offer features like a SIM card slot, NFC, a fingerprint scanner, camera, and electrocardiograph.

    31 min

  6. 05/17/2016

    LPX Episode 9: Funeral for an Atom (processor)

    Intel's Atom processors have been powering low-cost computers since 2008. The first models were used in netbooks, but these days you can find Atom chips in Chromebooks, Windows and Android tablets, tiny desktop computers, and even a handful of smartphones. But Intel never really made much headway in the smartphone space, where companies like Apple and Samsung typically use ARM-based processors for their devices. So maybe it shouldn't have been a huge surprise when Intel announced in April that it was scrapping plans to launch next-gen Atom chips code-named "Broxton" and "SoFIA" for phones, tablets, and other low-power devices. That means 2015's Intel Atom "Cherry Trail" processors are likely to be the end of the line... at least for a while. The company isn't exiting the low-power space altogether. Intel will continue to ship Cherry Trail processors for a little while. Intel will also launch its first Celeron and Pentium chips based on the "Apollo Lake" platform soon. These are low-cost, low-power chips that are cousins to Broxton processors that have been canceled. But they'll use a little more power and cost a little more money than the discontinued Atom/Broxton family. Some folks are happy to see Atom go. Others are disappointed that this could mean the end of Intel's investment in the 5-10 inch tablet space. I started writing about affordable, portable computers at Liliputing.com shortly before the first Atom processor launched. A lot has changed since then: the rise and fall of netbooks, the rise and stagnation of tablets, and the rise and rise of smartphones. But I wasn't the only person documenting the changing mobile space. In order to properly mourn the demise of Intel's Atom processor lineup, I decided to record a conversation with my friends and colleagues Sascha Pallenberg, Nicole Scott, and Steve "Chippy," Paine. Sascha and Nicole are co-founders of mobile tech blogs MobileGeeks.com and MobileGeeks.de, and Chippy runs a number of mobile-focused websites including UMPC Portal and CarryPad. You can help support the LPX podcast by contributing to our Patreon campaign.

    48 min

  7. 05/06/2016

    LPX Episode 8: Designing the DragonBox Pyra handheld computer

    The DragonBox Pyra has a 5 inch screen and a dual-core ARM-based processor. But it's not a smartphone. In fact, this handheld computer looks more like a cross between a tiny laptop and a Nintendo DS game system. It has a physical keyboard, a bunch of storage and input/output options, dedicated buttons for playing games, and Debian Linux software which allows you to play games or run desktop software including LibreOffice and Firefox. The DragonBox Pyra is developed by a team led by Michael Mrozek, who wanted to create a system that not only runs open source software, but which also features open designs: anybody can open up the case and replace the parts or download the schematics to design their own case for the hardware... or design their own CPU board and insert it into the case. Mrozek began taking pre-orders for the DragonBox Pyra on May 1st, 2016 and I reached out to him to discuss the project in more detail. The Pyra is the spiritual successor to another project Mrozek had been involved with. The Pandora game console/computer had a similar design, but much less powerful hardware (because it was first designed nearly 10 years ago). That project was plagued with financial problems and shipping delays, but Mrozek eventually took over the production and distribution of Pandora devices and says he doesn't anticipate the same sort of problems with the Pyra. Under the hood, the Pyra is powered by a TI OMAP 5 dual-core ARM Cortex-A15 processor and supports 2GB or 4GB of RAM. It has a 5 inch, 1280 x 720 pixel touchscreen display and 32GB of eMMC flash storage. There are also two full-sized SDXC card slots for removable storage, as well as an internal microSDXC card. There's a 6,000 mAh removable battery, two full-sized USB 2.0 ports, a micro USB 3.0 port and another micro USB port for charging or debugging the device. And the system supports dual-band 802.11b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0. Mrozek says the Pyra has a modular design, which should make it easy to upgrade or repair. There are CPU and display boards that are separate from the main system board. So while the Pyra's 500 Euro ($575) price tag might seem kind of high, it should be possible to buy a new CPU board or other hardware in the future for a fraction of the full price. Want to know more about the price, hardware selection, and philosophy behind the DragonBox Pyra? Then listen to LPX episode 8 for the full conversation with Michael Mrozek. Here are some links to projects mentioned in this episode: DragonBox Pyra Pandora Game Park GP32 (Wikipedia) Neo900 You can also follow Michael Mrozek on Twitter and YouTube. And if you want to help support the LPX podcast, please consider making a donation to our Patreon campaign.

    35 min

  8. 04/25/2016

    LPX Episode 7: Are chatbots the new apps?

    Are chatbots the new apps? A lot of developers seem to think so. Facebook and Microsoft have both rolled out tools that make it easy for coders to create bots that you can chat with on Facebook Messenger, Skype, and other platforms including plain old SMS text messaging. I wanted to get a better sense of what chatbots are, what they can do, and why we should use them. So for this episode of the LPX Show, I interviews Robert Stephens. He's founder of the Geek Squad, he was chief technology officer for Best Buy after that company acquired Geek Squad, and now he's co-founder of a new chatbot service called Assist. Stephens says today's chatbots are pretty simple. But eventually they could change the way we interact with businesses. Why? The idea is to let you interact with services without downloading and installing an app and without having to learn a new user interface. Just type to the bot the same way you would if you were sending a message to a friend. You can use chatbots to get weather forecasts, book a car ride, receive news updates, or send flowers. As more developers adopt the platform, you may be able to do even more things. Chatbots are still in their infancy in the US and Europe. But they're big in China, where hundreds of millions of people use the popular messaging service WeChat, and many interact with chatbots on a daily basis. I still don't get it... why? Right now, there's not really a lot of reason for most people to use chatbots. Typing out a conversation with a chatbot isn't necessarily easier or faster than opening an app or web page and tapping a few buttons to order a pizza or read the latest news. But they do make sense from a developer perspective... because they could solve a problem: app overload. Right now you probably don't want to download different apps for every news source, every airline, every restaurant, and every financial institution you use. But if you can get the same information without installing an app, just by opening a message window and typing a question, then maybe you'll be more likely to interact with those institutions. So developers are hoping that by jumping on the chatbot wagon, they'll make it more likely that you'll use their services. Businesses also see promise in chatbots, because they could save companies money by handling a lot of customer requests that currently require a person. The problem is that right now chatbots can be clunky and dumb. They might not be able to understand your questions. And you still might need to open a new chat window for every service you want to interact with... so instead of app overload, you might feel bot overload. Will they get better? Maybe. There are a number of new technologies that could make chatbots smarter, faster, and more fun to use. Natural language processing techniques allow you to communicate with a bot without having to learn which words or phrases it can or cannot understand. Machine learning means that the more you (or other people) interact with a chatbot, the better it will get at anticipating your needs. Eventually you might not need to go out of your way to send a message to a chatbot at all. Instead you could have a personal bot that works on your behalf, and which communicates with third-party bots as needed. Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana, or Google Now/Voice Search could basically act as your personal assistant: tell your assistant that you want to make travel plans, and it can automatically initiate a conversation with airline, hotel, and car rental bots asking if you'd like to confirm a price, book a reservation, or even make a payment. But all of that only works if people actually want to use today's chatbots... and right now that's kind of a tough sell. It can be fun to check one out for a few minutes. But the novelty usually wears off once you realize just how limited they are. What are some chatbots I can try? 1-800-Flowers (Facebook Messenger) Assist (multi-platform) CNN (Facebook Messenger) HealthTap (Facebook Messenger) HP Print Bot (Facebook Messenger) Operator (Facebook Messenger) Poncho (multi-platform) Sequel Stories (multi-platform Spring (Facebook Messenger) Quartz (iPhone) Wall Street Journal (Facebook Messenger) Zork (Facebook Messenger) Website Botlist.co is also creating a directory of chatbots for multiple platforms. Where can I find more information about chatbots? There's been a lot of talk about bots recently. But here's a good place to get started if you're looking for a reading list to better understand what bots are and why everybody seems to be chatting about chatbots in 2016: Bots, explained (Recode) Bots won't replace apps. Better apps will replace apps. (Dan Grover) Chat bots, conversation, and AI as an interface (Benedict Evans) Deep Learning for Chatbots, Part 1 (WildML) Why the Facebook chatbots are totally underwhelming (ComputerWorld) The humans hiding behind the chatbots (Bloomberg) What chatbots reveal about our own shortcomings (New York Times) More podcasts about chatbots Why bots are the new big things, and what that means for ordering pizza (What's Tech) Bots and Beyond (a16z) You can help support the LPX podcast by making a donation to our Patreon campaign.

    28 min
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About

Journalist and Liliputing.com editor Brad Linder holds in-depth discussions with people using tech in innovative ways.

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  • Creator
    LPX
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    14
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    © 2025 LPX
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