Technology

An all-plastic gun fires a bullet in this screenshot from a video made by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

National

Plastic Guns Made With 3-D Printers Pose New Security Concerns

12:30pm November 14, 2013

by Carrie Johnson

Agents at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have spent months testing new plastic weapons, and report that the guns can be lethal and hard to detect. The findings come just as a federal law that requires guns to be composed of at least some metal to help people in schools and airports detect them is set to expire.

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Todd Park, the U.S. chief technology officer, testifies before the House oversight committee about problems implementing the health care program.

National

The Tech Stats We Now Know About HealthCare.gov

8:01pm November 13, 2013

by Elise Hu

Government's top tech officials — including U.S. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park — showed up on Capitol Hill to give a status report of the troubled HealthCare.gov system. As the administration unveils enrollment numbers, the tech officials outlined technology metrics of progress.

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Even visitors to the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., can't see the Gunboat Philadelphia from every angle. But online, viewers can flip the boat in every possible direction using the Smithsonian Institution's new 3-D viewer.

Print Your Own Revolutionary War Boat, In 3-D

8:01pm November 13, 2013

by April Fehling

The Smithsonian Institution has millions of fossils, sculptures and other historic artifacts in its vast collections. Twenty of them are now available for 3-D printing — and viewing from every conceivable angle — online.

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What Today's Online Sharing Companies Can Learn From Napster

9:02pm November 11, 2013

by Laura Sydell

Perhaps no company showed how the Internet could turn sharing into a global phenomenon more than Napster. The music-sharing site upended the record industry. But the industry ultimately survived and free-music Napster did not. What are new businesses doing to avoid the same fate?

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Kansas City is one of the cities making technology a bigger priority in its procurement processes.

National

A Few Places Where Government Tech Procurement Works

5:52pm November 11, 2013

by Elise Hu

HealthCare.gov's troubled rollout highlights a systemic problem — the way governments purchase and plan for tech projects. Even President Obama is now calling for procurement reform. But a handful of places are finding ways to solve the problem.

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Ms. James' class at St. Patrick's Episcopal Day School in Washington, D.C. wrote in to Morning Edition with their reactions to a story.

Third-Graders React To Video Games Tracking Their Play

10:17am November 08, 2013

Last week's story about what video game companies are doing to make their games more addictive made an impression on some Washington, D.C., third-graders. They wrote in with their thoughts.

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Twitter Goes Public And Its Stock Price Soars

6:51pm November 07, 2013

Trading in shares of the social-networking site Twitter began Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. It's been the best year for initial public offerings since 2007. And the Twitter IPO was the most eagerly awaited of the year.

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National

Twitter Makes Market Debut

10:10am November 07, 2013

The New York Stock Exchange is at the center of attention Thursday morning as Twitter goes public at $26 per share. That means company is expected to raise almost $2 billion. For the latest on this highly anticipated IPO, NPR's Zoe Chace talks with host David Greene.

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Economy

iPhone Users Face Dilemma Of When To Upgrade

5:28pm November 04, 2013

David Greene talks to Bloomberg technology columnist Rich Jaroslovsky about when to update an Apple smartphone. Jaroslovsky explains why if you own an older model iPhone and upgrade to the new operating system, your experience can be much slower than if you have the newest iPhone.

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BlackBerry Abandons Plans To Sell Itself, Replaces CEO

5:28pm November 04, 2013

by David Greene

A few weeks ago, the smartphone maker announced it had signed a letter of intent to sell the company valued at $4.7 billion to Fairfax Financial Holdings. Instead, in a statement released Monday, BlackBerry announced it will receive a $1 billion investment from Fairfax Financial and others. BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins will step down and be replaced by interim CEO John Chen.

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