Digital Life

National

How To Keep Your Smartphone Secure

10:59am June 22, 2013

In light of all the snooping by the government on individuals, it seems that it's not that difficult for anyone with the know-how to find out what you're doing. Bill Supernor, CTO of security company Koolspan, speaks to Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon about how to keep your smartphone safe.

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Science

Beaming Internet to the Boondocks, Via Balloon

11:17am June 21, 2013

Rather than relying on cell towers, phone lines, or fiber optics, Google plans to beam 3G-speed Internet to the world's most inaccessible corners using helium balloons. The experiment is called "Project Loon." Leader Mike Cassidy talks about the project's first step: providing balloon Internet to New Zealand and the 40th parallel south.

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Breaking Bad News To Kids: How Media Has Tweaked The Process

2:05pm June 18, 2013

Parents have always had to break hard news to kids, from family hardships to national tragedies. Now there are more ways for children to learn about news faster — through 24 hour news and social media. So, what's changed in how parents broach these subjects? How can media help, or hurt?

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When you need to illustrate a story about proliferating social-media platforms, it's good to know that an enterprising stock photographer has probably thought about it already.

Arts

Teens Find The Right Tools For Their Social-Media Jobs

5:45pm June 17, 2013

by Trey Graham

There was a time — a time long, long ago — when MySpace dominated the teen social-media world. Not anymore. NPR's Sami Yenigun looks at how teenagers use various social platforms in today's increasingly segmented online universe.

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Blake Morgan's songs were played some 28,000 times over a 90-day period on Pandora, earning $1.62 in royalties.

Music & Culture

Pandora Buys A Radio Station, Songwriters' Group Calls It A 'Stunt'

4:40pm June 15, 2013

by Laura Sydell

This week, the Internet radio broadcaster bought a radio station in Rapid City, S.D., in an effort to get the more favorable royalty rates given to terrestrial broadcasters. But the move has songwriters and composers up in arms.

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Jerry Seinfeld won a 2013 Webby Award for Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

Arts

From Seinfeld, A Second Season Of 'Coffee' Talk

11:01am June 13, 2013

by NPR Staff

The stand-up is back with another run of his Webby-winning online series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. He tells NPR's Linda Wertheimer the project still feels like a personal outing with friends from the business.

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Google Acquires Israeli Mapping Service Waze

5:53am June 13, 2013

by Wendy Kaufman

Waze makes a crowds-sourced traffic app that uses input from drivers. It will complement Google's mapping capability. The deal is seen by many as a defensive move by Google to keep Waze from being acquired by Apple or Facebook.

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Google, like Facebook, Microsoft and other Internet companies, is concerned that data requests from U.S. surveillance agencies could ultimately damage its reputation in the U.S. and overseas.

National

Net Giants Try To Quell Users' Jitters About Their Data

7:00pm June 12, 2013

by Jim Zarroli

Tech companies that field National Security Agency data requests are currently barred from sharing those requests publicly. But Google, Microsoft and Facebook all have a financial interest in showing their users that the NSA does not enjoy unfettered access to their data.

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Residents of the Estonian capital of Tallinn can use public transportation for free after purchasing a special card for 2 euros.

World News

Tallinn: The Former Soviet City That Gave Birth To Skype

6:20pm June 12, 2013

by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

The Estonian capital is dotted with medieval towers and Soviet architecture that belie its status as one of the world's most technologically advanced cities. Residents use a smart card to ride the bus, and mail packages and pay for parking with their phones.

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'Internship': A Love Story To Nooglers

12:42pm June 10, 2013

by Steve Henn

The movie, The Internship, tells the story of two 40-year-old, down-on-their-luck watch salesmen, who land an unlikely summer internship at Google. Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson star as the older interns who will have to compete for a full-time gig. Meanwhile, more than a thousand new Google interns — or Nooglers, as they're called — have shown up on the company's campuses across the country.

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