Technology

Education

App Allows Shy Students To Ask Questions Anonymously

6:28pm November 06, 2015

by Steve Henn

Close to a million college kids use Piazza. Pooja Sankar, the apps' creator, says her company can't solve all the problems for women in computer science but she hopes it's making a difference.

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If I log that milkshake do the calories still count?

Weight-Loss App Doesn't Help Young Adults Shed Pounds

5:25pm November 06, 2015

by Lynne Shallcross

We love apps. We'd love to lose weight. So weight-loss apps sound like a win. But tech-savvy young adults using an app didn't do any better than those trying to control weight the old-fashioned way.

Leslie Miley, former software engineer at Twitter

Economy

Q&A With The Black Twitter Engineer Who Left Over Diversity Problems

1:06pm November 06, 2015

by Karen Grigsby Bates

Leslie Miley says the company keeps an internal list of colleges and universities it wants to hire from — Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon — and says messaging like that is part of the problem.

Surge In Cyberattacks Signals Strength Of Iran's Hard-Liners

8:05pm November 05, 2015

by Michele Kelemen

The U.S. has noticed an uptick in cyberattacks from Iran. The hacks seem to be from hard-liners in Iran hoping to undermine better relations with the West, possibly in backlash to the nuclear deal.

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The Details Of Drones, From A Pilot Who Flew Them

7:51pm November 05, 2015

NPR's Kelly McEvers talks with Lt. Col. T. Mark McCurley, a retired drone pilot who wrote the tactical manual for the Predator. His new memoir is called Hunter Killer.

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There was a lot of excitement in 2012, when the Hiriko car was unveiled at this event at European Union headquarters in Brussels. At the time, the then-president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, hailed the car as a trans-Atlantic "exchange

How A Folding Electric Vehicle Went From Car Of The Future To 'Obsolete'

7:44pm November 05, 2015

by Lauren Frayer

Engineers at MIT developed an electric, shareable car that would fold to conserve parking spaces. A prototype was made for production in Europe. But why did this promising auto never hit the road?

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Music & Culture

Since Adele Said 'Hello,' The Internet Just Can't Quit Her

7:31pm November 05, 2015

Adele's new video for "Hello" has broken records in its first weeks since release. It's also led to countless Internet memes and mashups.

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Education

As New Tools Bust Down Barriers For The Blind, Schools Struggle To Keep Up

7:30pm November 05, 2015

by Steve Henn

Apps can read a book aloud, and screen readers can translate websites into spoken language. These technologies have created opportunities for blind people, but many institutions have been slow to open up.

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Until now, Donald Trump has relied on traditional media to cover his campaign, like this book launch earlier this week.

Politics & Government

In First Radio Ads, Donald Trump Promises 'You'll Never Be Disappointed'

2:39pm November 05, 2015

by Sam Sanders

The bold ads will air in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. In one of them, a woman's voice says Trump, once president, will brutally and quickly cut the head off of ISIS.

A credit history form appears on a tablet screen sitting on top of paperwork.

Could Your Social Media Footprint Step On Your Credit History?

8:06pm November 04, 2015

by Alina Selyukh

The head of a credit scoring firm says Facebook posts can offer an insight into creditworthiness. If your online presence becomes a financial health gauge, there are legal protections to know about.