Digital Life

National

Amazon's Second Headquarters: Cities Make Their Final Pitches

4:17pm October 19, 2017

Cities across the U.S. and Canada will be making their final pitches Thursday to Amazon - begging for a chance to become the new second headquarters. The prize winner will get 50,000 high-paying jobs.

Barbara J. King explores the use of personal technology in the classroom.

Should College Professors Give 'Tech Breaks' In Class?

1:35pm October 19, 2017

by Barbara J. King

Is it necessary coddling or just good science to give college students breaks to check their phones? Anthropologist Barbara J. King takes a look.

Education

Young Children Are Spending Much More Time In Front Of Small Screens

11:31am October 19, 2017

by Anya Kamenetz

A new national survey of parents suggests mobile device use by children under 8 has increased tenfold in the past six years.

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If A Pile Of Poo Has An Emoji, Shouldn't A Mosquito Have One Too?

10:29am October 18, 2017

by Courtney Columbus

There are 2,666 emojis for tweeting and texting. A mosquito is not one of them. Global health campaigners are trying to change that.

Arts

Tristan Harris: Do Our Devices Control More Than We Think?

9:40am October 13, 2017

by NPR/TED Staff

When Tristan Harris worked in Silicon Valley, his job was to direct users online to a particular website or service. Now, he speaks out against tech companies who manipulate their users' attention.

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National

Elite Golden Keys Concierges Try To Stay Relevant Amid Growing Automation

4:50pm October 10, 2017

by Bobby Allyn

The fraternal organization of high-end hotel workers met recently in Washington to discuss ways of staying relevant in an age when apps are replacing most traditional concierge services.

An announcement from Oath Inc., the Verizon Communications subsidiary that owns AOL and Yahoo, that AOL Instant Messenger will cease in December.

National

Once Its AIM Was True, But Soon AOL's Instant Messenger Will Be No More

6:41pm October 06, 2017

by Scott Neuman

AOL Instant Messenger, with 100 million users at its peak in 2001, was overtaken by mobile text messaging and social media platforms such as Twitter. It will be shut down in December.

The essence of the technology that Affectiva pioneers is the ability of computers to recognize human emotions based on the "activation" of muscles in the face.

Science

Should You Leave Grandma With The Robot?

2:33pm October 06, 2017

by Adam Frank

Once a technology that treats emotions as data becomes pervasive, we may soon find that data is the only aspect of emotion we come to recognize or value, says astrophysicist Adam Frank.

As former Equifax CEO Richard Smith prepares to testify before the Senate Banking Committee on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, activist Amanda Werner looks on through a monocle.

Politics & Government

How Monopoly Man Won The Internet

1:02pm October 06, 2017

by Vanessa Romo

Donning a mustache, top hat and giant bag full of money, a consumer rights activist became a social media sensation for protesting an Equifax hearing on Capitol Hill. Here is how it happened.

Politics & Government

Sen. Amy Klobuchar On Social Media Political Ad Disclosure

8:13am October 05, 2017

Lawmakers are pushing for new legislation that would require greater disclosure of political ads that run on social media. Sen. Amy Klobuchar is the co-author and talks with NPR's David Greene.

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