DevNews

56 minutes 29 seconds

S8:E9 - Diablo Immortal and Video Game Accessibility, The Challenges of Creating an AR System, The Recent Wave of Tech Layoffs, and More

This week we’re talking about the recent wave of tech layoffs, and React Eurasia’s controversial decision to locate this year's conference in Dubai. Then we speak with Steven Spohn, senior director of development at The AbleGamers Charity Foundation about Diablo Immortal’s native voice chat transcription and speech-to-text accessibility feature, and where we are in terms of accessible design in the video game industry as a whole. Finally, we speak with Jeri Ellsworth, co-founder and CEO of Tilt Five about what some of the inherent challenges are with creating AR devices that might be making it difficult for both Apple and Google to launch the glasses they’ve been talking about for years.

Show Notes

Steven Spohn

Steven Spohn is an expert in the field of technology and disability.

Jeri Ellsworth

Jeri Ellsworth's love for invention began with building race cars before working with hardware design, creating a complete Commodore 64 system on a chip housed within a joystick, called C64 Direct-to-TV. In 2011, she was hired by Valve Software to build and run their R&D team and was a key contributor to the technology used in the popular HTC Vive virtual reality headset. While at Valve, she began work on the AR technology that would become the basis for the technology behind Tilt Five. Her vision for the future of gaming is driving innovation for the entire Tilt Five team.

9 June 2022, 3:00 am

47 minutes 28 seconds

S8:E8 - Can Open-Source Exist in China, Apple Unveils New Accessibility Features, Salesforce Employees vs. the NRA, and More

In this episode, we talk about Salesforce employees calling for an end of the company working with the National Rifle Association. Then we speak with Zeyi Yang, reporter at the MIT Technology Review about a recent piece he wrote titled, "How censoring China’s open-source coders might backfire." Finally, we speak with Sarah Fossheim, independent accessibility engineer and creator and maintainer of the Ethical Design guide, about the new accessibility features Apple is bringing to its products.

Show Notes

Zeyi Yang

Zeyi Yang covers Chinese tech companies, products, communities, and how they interact with the world. He also tweets about Pokemon frequently. Title: China and East Asia Tech reporter, MIT Technology Review.

Sarah Fossheim

Sarah Fossheim is a multidisciplinary developer, designer and accessibility specialist. They have a strong focus on dataviz accessibility and usability. Currently Sarah is working as an independent consultant, educator and advisor, helping companies create more accessible and inclusive solutions.

2 June 2022, 3:00 am

45 minutes 27 seconds

S8:E7 - Faking DEI Efforts, Ruby at Scale, and Diving Into PyScript

In this episode, we speak with Tara Robertson, a diversity and inclusion consultant about some of the ways the tech industry has continued to fail when it comes to DEI, which is a topic spurred by a recent piece in the New York Times titled, At Wells Fargo, a Quest to Increase Diversity Leads to Fake Job Interviews. Then we speak with Stefan Marr, researcher and Senior Lecturer at the University of Kent’s School of Computing about Shopify’s investment into Ruby at Scale, and the research he will be doing for them. And finally we speak with Fabio Pliger, Principal Software Architect at Anaconda, Inc. and creator of PyScript about, you guessed it, PyScript! Which was unveiled at PyCon US 2022.

Show Notes

Tara Robertson

Tara Robertson partners with leaders eager to make their organizations more diverse, equitable, and inclusive through systemic change. She previously led Diversity and Inclusion at Mozilla and her work has been included in Harvard Business Review, Forbes and other publications.

Stefan Marr

Stefan does research on how we can make dynamic language interpreters faster. These days, he is particularly interested in speeding up TruffleRuby’s interpreter.

Fabio Pliger

Fabio Pliger is Principal Architect at Anaconda, where he spearheaded the creation and development of PyScript—a framework that allows users to create rich Python applications in the browser using HTML's interface and the power of Pyodide, WASM, and modern web technologies.

26 May 2022, 3:00 am

35 minutes 17 seconds

S8:E6 - DevDiscuss: You Too Can Create Beautiful Data-Driven Essays Like The Pudding

This week, we feature one of our favorite episodes of our sister podcast, DevDiscuss, where hosts Ben Halpern and Julianna Tetreault talk about creating beautiful data-driven essays with Michelle McGhee and Russell Goldenberg, Journalist-Engineers at The Pudding.

Show Notes

Russell Goldenberg

Russell Goldenberg is a Scorpio. He makes stories with data and code at The Pudding. Nowadays coding mostly in Svelte.

Michelle McGhee

Michelle McGhee makes visual stories at The Pudding. She also enjoys making delicious food and 3-pointers at pickup basketball.

19 May 2022, 3:00 am

37 minutes 36 seconds

S8:E5 - Big Tech Goes All-In On Passwordless Sign-In, Apple’s Gatekeeping of Web-Based AR, Apple Mail’s Nifty Email Tracking Blocker, and More

In this episode, we talk about Apple's gatekeeping of web-based AR on the iPhone, a neat feature added to Apple Mail that blocks email tracking, and we say goodbye to the iPod. Then we talk about Apple, Google, and Microsoft’s plan to implement passwordless sign-in on all major platforms with Jackie Singh, former senior incident response and threat analyst at Biden For President, who currently is the director of an anti-surveillance nonprofit, which advocates and litigates against government use of mass surveillance.

Show Notes

Jackie Singh

Jackie Singh is the former senior incident response and threat analyst at Biden For President, who currently is the director of an anti-surveillance nonprofit, which advocates and litigates against government use of mass surveillance.

12 May 2022, 3:00 am

55 minutes 39 seconds

S8:E4 - A Surge In Hacks Against Russia, Privacy Concerns With Mental Health Apps, and Lego’s Big Move Into the Digital Space

In this episode, we talk about Lego expanding its online ambitions and its plans to triple the number of software engineers on staff. Then we’ll speak with Joseph Menn, author of the book, Cult of the Dead Cow, and technology reporter at The Washington Post, about a piece he wrote titled, “Hacking Russia was off-limits. The Ukraine war made it a free-for-all.” Finally, we’ll speak with Jen Caltrider, who leads Mozilla’s Privacy Not Included guide, about their research which found that the vast majority of mental health and prayer apps are severely lacking in privacy protections.

Show Notes

Joseph Menn

Joseph Menn is a security journalist for more than two decades, Joseph Menn is the author of the bestseller "Cult of the Dead Cow: How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World," named one of the 10 best nonfiction works of the year by Hudson Booksellers as well as one of the five cybersecurity books everyone should read by the Wall Street Journal. His previous book “Fatal System Error” was the first journalism tying Russian intelligence to organized criminal hacking groups.

Jen Caltrider

Jen Caltrider is just your average do-gooder privacy nerd. She lives on a mountain in Colorado with her wife, four dogs, and one cat. When she's not reading privacy policies she's probably reading something much more interesting like fantasy or crime thrillers. She loves technology even if she dreams daily of owning a farm and never logging onto a computer ever again.

4 May 2022, 3:00 am

55 minutes 8 seconds

S8:E3 - Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover, Security Vulnerabilities in Web3, and Experimenting With the TikTok Algorithm

In this episode, we talk about Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover and the Twitter storm it created, especially amongst Twitter employees. Then we speak with Dipanjan Das, system security researcher at UC Santa Barbara, about various large scale hacks in the blockchain space, and how companies and individuals can better protect themselves in the growing Web3 space. Finally, we speak with senior software engineer and popular Tiktoker feleciaforthewin, about how she experimented with the TikTok algorithm and ended up gaining over 300-thousand followers.

Show Notes

Dipanjan Das

Dipanjan Das is a PhD student in the SecLab at University of California, Santa Barbara. His current research focuses on different aspects of cryptoeconomics, with an emphasis on the security of blockchain and smart contracts. He also has a strong passion to develop automated vulnerability analysis techniques for low-level systems like operating system kernel, IoT devices, and Android.

Felecia Dunmore (feleciaforthewin)

Felecia Dunmore is a software engineer, designer, and content creator with keen interests in social constructionism, sociology, philosophy, and technology. The aim of her content is to deliver awe-inspiring stories that cause us to have a deeper understanding of the society we live in.

28 April 2022, 3:00 am

45 minutes 33 seconds

S8:E2 - AI Regulation In Different Cities, A GitHub Snafu, and Crypto-Miners Wreck a Town’s Power

In this episode, we talk about how a developer irreversibly lost a community of 54-thousand stars and watchers built up over the past 10 years on GitHub, and how unregulated crypto-mining wrecked the power of an entire New York town. Then we speak with Vidushi Marda, senior program officer at Article 19, where she leads the research and engagement on the human rights implications of machine learning, to get her perspective on the Artificial Intelligence regulations and systems different cities around the world are implementing.

Show Notes

Vidushi Marda

Vidushi Marda leads ARTICLE 19's global research, engagement and strategy on machine learning and human rights.

21 April 2022, 3:00 am

44 minutes 3 seconds

S8:E1 - Coding Under Bombing

In this episode, we talk about Elon Musk buying the largest share of Twitter and then flip flopping on being on the board. Then we speak with Alex Lebedev, software engineer at HotJar, about his experience living in Ukraine under the horrific conditions of its war with Russia, and about his blog post titled, “Coding Under Bombing.”

Show Notes

Alexander Lebedev

Alexander Lebedev is a backend developer from Ukraine. He loves data and analytics systems and making blog posts and videos about how to improve quality of life.

14 April 2022, 3:00 am

43 minutes 51 seconds

S7:E8 - Battling Russian Disinformation, Big Tech Lends a Hand to Ukraine, and IBM's Persistent Ageism Problem

In this episode, we talk about various ways in which big tech has lent a hand to Ukraine in their war with Russia. Then we talk about Russian disinformation efforts with Dr. Jeffery Blevins, professor in the Journalism Department at the University of Cincinnati and co-author of the book, Social Media, Social Justice and the Political Economy of Online Networks. Then we talk about leaked IBM documents that show the company’s persistent ageism problem with Peter Gosselin, former investigative reporter at ProPublica who co-penned the piece, Cutting ‘Old Heads’ at IBM.

Show Notes

Dr. Jeffrey Blevins

Dr. Jeffrey Layne Blevins is a Professor in the Department of Journalism at the University of Cincinnati. His recent book (with Dr. James Jaehoon Lee), "Social Media, Social Justice and the Political Economy of Online Networks" (University of Cincinnati Press, 2022).

Peter Gosselin

Peter Gosselin was a contributing reporter at ProPublica covering aging. In more than three decades as a journalist, he has covered the U.S. and global economies for, among others, the Los Angeles Times and The Boston Globe, focusing on the lived experiences of working people. He is the author of “High Wire: The Precarious Financial Lives of American Families,” for which he devised new data techniques to show that economic risks were being shifted from the broad shoulders of business and government to the backs of working households. In addition to reporting, he has been a visiting fellow at the Urban Institute in Washington, chief speechwriter to the treasury secretary and an economic adviser to the original Department of Health and Human Services team implementing the Affordable Care Act.

3 March 2022, 3:00 am

55 minutes

S7:E7 - Lack of Foresight Leads to a Loss of Sight, Tech Recruitment Challenges, Which Vendors Are Fastest at Fixing Bugs, and More

In this episode, we talk about another major hack on Ukraine, a report from Google’s Project Zero about which tech vendors are the fastest at fixing security bugs, and we also chat about injecting old computers with Chrome OS Flex. Then we speak with Pariss Athena, founder and CEO of Black Tech Pipeline about the challenges that tech recruiters are having in the current job landscape. And finally, we speak with Dr. Calvin Roberts, president and CEO of Lighthouse Guild International and clinical professor of ophthalmology at Weill (While) Cornell Medical College, a charitable organization devoted to the visually impaired, about the issue of certain bionic eye technologies becoming obsolete and unsupported.

Show Notes

Pariss 'Athena' Chandler

Pariss 'Athena' Chandler is Founder & CEO of Black Tech Pipeline, and creator of the hashtag, movement, and community #BlackTechTwitter.

Dr. Calvin Roberts

Lighthouse Guild President and CEO, Calvin W. Roberts, MD, is a Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at Weill Cornell Medical College. He was formerly Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Eye Care, at Bausch Health Companies where he coordinated global development and research efforts across their vision care, pharmaceutical and surgical business units. As a one-time practicing ophthalmologist, he performed more than 10,000 cataract surgeries as well as 5,000 refractive and other corneal surgeries.

24 February 2022, 3:00 am