Technology

EcoATM kiosks dispense cash in exchange for used cellphones, MP3 players and tablets.

National

Baltimore Officials Want To Unplug Phones-For-Cash Kiosks

5:10pm September 07, 2013

by Kenneth Burns

The machines allow people to turn their old cellphones and other electronic devices into instant cash. But these ecoATMs could be banned in Baltimore, where at least one lawmaker believes the machines are a magnet for electronics thieves.

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Goldkamp also keeps an index card file of choice words to integrate into his poem when he has trouble finding the right words.

Forget Twitter. In St. Louis, Bare Your Soul Via Typewriter

8:10pm September 05, 2013

by Erin Williams

With more than 300,000 residents, St. Louis has a lot on its mind. Local poet Henry Goldkamp hopes to find out just what makes the city tick with his new public art project. He's installed 37 typewriters citywide, asking for answers to the question, "What The Hell Is St. Louis Thinking?"

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Data Marketing Critics Check Out What's Written About Them

9:34am September 05, 2013

by Martin Kaste

Companies that collect and sell information about you are usually pretty secretive. But one of the biggest is now allowing consumers to look themselves up. Acxiom Corporation has set up the website: AboutTheData.com.

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One Amish family in Lancaster County, Pa., has three horse-pulled buggies they store in a barn. They all have electric lights powered by rechargeable batteries. One of the buggies even has battery-powered windshield wipers.

Religion

Amish Community Not Anti-Technology, Just More Thoughtful

7:11pm September 02, 2013

by Jeff Brady

The Amish are perceived as shunning technology, but it's more complicated than that. Many Amish communities embrace newer technologies such as power tools and word processors, but only after determining they won't harm the community or disrupt family life.

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If you're planning that last summer road trip, you might want to pull those maps out of the attic.

National

In Maine, Even With A GPS, You Can't Get There From Here

10:58am September 02, 2013

by Jennifer Mitchell

Once a standard fixture at every gas station, paper maps have all but folded in the digital age. But there are places that can baffle your high-tech gadgets. In Maine, weekend explorers might want to take along a map in addition to their GPS unit.

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Mark Malkoff makes a Skype call to Belgium.

Call Me, Haiti? One Man's Quest To Skype Around The World

11:59am August 31, 2013

by NPR Staff

Mark Malkoff has lived inside of an IKEA store, consumed beverages at 171 Starbucks in Manhattan in less than 24 hours and proved that his kid's Big Wheel bike could beat a New York City bus. Now, the comedian has video chatted with people in 162 different countries — including North Korea.

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A group of technology and retail groups is beginning a national ad campaign targeting so-called patent trolls.

National

Taking The Battle Against Patent Trolls To The Public

7:01pm August 30, 2013

by Laura Sydell

Radio and print ads launched this week warn of damage wrought by so-called patent trolls. Business groups and software developers say patents are being used as legal weapons in a tactic that costs the economy tens of billions of dollars a year.

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Economy

High-tech Workers Are Target of Triad's Talent War

3:27pm August 30, 2013

In practices reminiscent of the late-'90's dot-com bubble, high-tech workers are being poached by competing employers.

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One Historic March, Countless Striking Moments

7:26pm August 28, 2013

by Kat Chow

What if Twitter existed 50 years ago, on this monumental anniversary of the March on Washington? Our answer: @TodayIn1963. We've been reporting events of the summer of '63 as if they were happening now, in real-time, through this Twitter account.

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Economy

Mayer Shines At Yahoo After Spotlight Dimmed At Google

12:33pm August 28, 2013

Yahoo has redesign some of its major sites — the latest step in CEO Marissa Mayer's dramatic turnaround of the Internet company. Before Mayer interviewed for the job at Yahoo, her career at Google appeared to have stalled. Renee Montagne discusses this with Nicholas Carlson, who wrote a profile of Mayer for the news website Business Insider.

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