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This Week in Tech with Jeanne Destro

Jeanne Destro

WAKR's Jeanne Destro discusses a new tech topic each week!

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26 episodes
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Avg 17 min
English

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Friday · 17 min
Data Centers, Hackers, and AI: Oh My!
This week, high stakes political fallout, and concern about data centers in Ohio, an AI-based dispute between Meta and Amazon, and a major hack on the FBI, which exposed confidential information of thousands of applicants, agents, and even–reportedly–FBI Director, Kash Patel. To find out more, I talked with two ABC Radio News national correspondents; Technology Reporter, Mike Dobuski, and Former FBI Agent and Profiler, Brad Garrett, who is now working with ABC News as a Crime & Terrorism Analys
September 4 · 12 min
There’s No Place Like Drone
Pharmacies make it pretty easy these days to pick up a prescription, with convenient options like drive-through pickup windows, and mail order delivery. But, what if you’re too sick, injured, or disabled to stop by the drugstore, or need your prescription more quickly than you can get it by mail? Well, now you can get it by drone, if you live within five miles of the Cleveland Clinic’s Beachwood Family Health and Surgery Center, in Northeast Ohio. Listen now as we talk about their first in t
August 28 · 9 min
Big Tech, Big Money, Big Consequences, Big Dreams
This week it is all about big tech, big money, and big consequences, as Meta agreed to a nearly $18 billion dollar settlement with Attorneys General from dozens of States and four US territories, who sued over claims that their social media platforms were hooking and harming children and teens. $318 million dollars of that settlement, which will be paid in installments over the next ten years, is coming to the State of Ohio, where Attorney General Andy Wilson says it “marks a significant step t
August 21 · 14 min
Grab The Pitchforks! AI Backlash Targets Flock Cameras & Data Centers
Turns out people don't like being spied on, having their jobs threatened, or having to pay more for electricity to support technology and infrastructure that is both powered by, and necessary to support AI. Huh. So, while we both celebrate Ohio as a great place to do business–particularly with regard to advanced manufacturing technology–we're also hearing that the natives are restless here, when it comes to police illegally using Flock license plate reader data to stalk and surveil citizens, a
August 14 · 7 min
If You Don't Wanna Love Me; Somebody Else Will: States Step Up To Protect Kids
Honestly, I'm beginning to sound like a broken record. I can't even tell you how many stories I've written over the past few years about how social media is harming kids. On the other hand, it's not like it is my imagination. Everybody has been talking about it for a long time, and now finally; somebody is doing something about it. Well, a whole group of "somebodies"; i.e., Attorneys General from states nationwide. Why, you might ask? Well, it's because the federal government isn't doing squ
August 7 · 15 min
Critical Minerals, Space Junk, and A MySpace Reboot
The federal government is committing more than $5 billion dollars to a national effort to expand the Genesis Mission, which is aimed at harnessing AI for science. Part of that effort involves seeking domestic sources for critical and rare earth minerals that are vital for a wide range of industries, including aerospace, health care, and defense. According to the US Department of Energy (DOE), these minerals are also key inputs to many clean energy technologies, including solar panels, wind tu
July 31 · 13 min
Sci-Fi Scenario Gets Real As AI Goes Rogue-Twice!
From soft-spoken but creepily bossy HAL on 2001 a Space Odyssey, to Arnold Schwarzenegger's killer robot on The Terminator, we've long been worried about out of control artificial intelligence. But so far, at least until this month; we never saw any actual evidence that what we feared could happen, actually did happen. Now, however; it has, twice--from our nation's two top AI companies--Open AI, the maker of ChatGPT, and Anthropic, the maker of Claude. So today, we're going to talk about how s
July 25 · 20 min
Super Sensors: Next-Gen Quantum Research Gets Big Boost At Ohio State University
From the relatively low-tech thermostat that tells your home HVAC system when to turn up the AC, to the incredibly complex strategic early warning systems that help keep our nation safe from nuclear missiles; sensors are a vital part of our daily lives. In fact, they are so ubiquitous that you just take them for granted, from the motion sensor that opens the door at the grocery store, to the GPS chip built into your phone. But what if there was something so mind-bindingly different and fantas
July 10 · 28 min
There Ought To Be A Law!: Why Congress Needs To Regulate AI
While there is no doubt that AI is a transformative and extremely useful technology; there is also a lot to well-founded concern about how it is being deployed, where the resources needed to support its proliferation are coming from, and who is in charge of ensuring that it won’t destroy our economy, democracy, and global security. In Ohio, a number of cities in our area, including Cleveland, Berea, Twinsburg, and North Ridgeville, have put a moratorium on the construction of new data centers,
June 28 · 42 min
Federal Court Affirms Ohio’s Social Media Parental Notification Act: Now What?
Ohio lawmakers made it very clear they wanted to protect children from online harms back in 2023, when they passed a law mandating that minors under the age of 16 could not use social media unless they obtained parental consent. But just one month after the new law went into effect in 2024; a big tech advocacy group called NetChoice went to federal court and obtained a preliminary injunction keeping the law from going into effect, because, they argued; it violated children’s First Amendment rig
June 21 · 12 min
Goliath V. Goliath: Big Tech and Big Government Duke It Out
This week, we’re looking at the profound impact that technology is having on all of our lives; sometimes, in very unexpected ways. From a social media ban for children under 16 in the UK, to President Trump’s order aimed at keeping foreign nationals from having access too Anthropic’s newest and most powerful AI models; we’re once again talking about people all over the globe are trying to grapple with tech forces seemingly beyond anyone’s control–including the people who make it. We’ll also t
June 12 · 33 min
Lady Madonna, Who Will Pay the Rent?: The Looming AI Jobpocalpyse
I was inspired to write this story by the tumultuous events at CBS News last week, which resulted in the high profile firings of several key members of the 60 Minutes staff, including longtime correspondent, Scott Pelley. The internal intrigue spilled out onto the world stage, when details leaked about the fiery staff meeting in which Pelley told his new boss that he wasn't qualified to run their team. Then, he did a lengthy podcast interview with the New York Times, in which he disputed the ne
June 7 · 14 min
One Thing Leads To Another: How Ohio Tech and Energy Concerns Reflect Global Disruption
This week's story is about the interconnected web of global technology and energy production, disruption, and politics. But more than that; it is about how Ohioans are caught up in that web, pushing back against it, trying to navigate it, and worrying about how it is affecting their everyday lives. Listen now to hear about how the lack of oil flowing from the Middle East because of the war with Iran, is affecting Ohioans with higher gas prices, and the possibility that if state and federal pol
May 22 · 21 min
Drones Are The New Black
You can dress them up, you can dress them down, and you can use them anywhere. Drones are technology's new little black dress; delivering everything from bombs, to life-saving medicine, and this week we're going to talk to some experts from Northeast Ohio who are helping train the students who will be the backbone of tomorrow's professional drone workforce. Our featured guests are Dr. Manigandan "Mani" Kannan, who is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Akron,
May 18 · 11 min
Small Particles, Big Results: Quantum Cybersecurity Breakthrough At Ohio State University
While the US Government mends fences with Anthropic, which recently introduced an AI tool known as "Mythos",which they claim is so powerful it can punch holes in even the most powerful cybersecurity safeguards today; we're heading down an entirely new path with even faster, stronger, and better technology. That's because it is based on quantum physics, and as such; is capable of computational speed and complex operations that can run circles around every kind of system and program that we have
May 18 · 11 min
Small Particles, Big Results: Quantum Cybersecurity Breakthrough At Ohio State University
While the US Government mends fences with Anthropic, which recently introduced an AI tool known as "Mythos", which they claim is so powerful it can punch holes in even the most powerful cybersecurity safeguards today; we're heading down an entirely new path with even faster, stronger, and better technology. That's because it is based on quantum physics, and as such; is capable of computational speed and complex operations that can run circles around every kind of system and program that we hav
May 15 · 11 min
Small Particles, Big Results: Quantum Cybersecurity Breakthrough At OSU
While the US Government mends fences with Anthropic, which recently introduced an AI tool known as "Mythos", which they claim is so powerful it can punch holes in even the most powerful cybersecurity safeguards today; we're heading down an entirely new path with even faster, stronger, and better technology. That's because it is based on quantum physics, and as such; is capable of computational speed and complex operations that can run circles around every kind of system and program that we hav
May 8 · 18 min
I Just Want To Bang The (3-D Printed) Drum All Day!
Hats off to Todd Rundgren, who inspired today's headline with his ever-popular 1982 classic hit, "Bang The Drum", because that's certainly what I'm doing (at least in my head) today, thinking about a unique fusion of art, music, and technology that's happening right here in Northeast Ohio. While Akron used to be known as the "Rubber Capital of The World"; it is now considered the nation's premier polymer tech hub, with millions of dollars pouring in from both the federal government and private
May 2 · 15 min
AI Battle Royale: Who Will Win?
In what could be a weeks-long trial; the world's richest man, Elon Musk, is squaring off against Open AI CEO, Sam Altman, over whether or not Musk, who voluntarily walked away from a seat on the Open AI Board in 2018, deserves $134 billion dollars in compensation for alleged harm. That is a big ask, and according to reports this week, including by NBC News, is also leading to bigger questions such as "Will AI lead to the extinction of the human race?". But, as you'll hear now in my conversatio
April 24 · 18 min
Beam Me Up!: Killing Cancer With Rays Of Light
The next time you apply sunscreen to project your skin from potentially cancer-inducing Ultraviolet rays from the sun; consider this: rays of light are actually being used right now to kill skin cancer, and may one day be used on other forms of cancer deep inside the body. This promising new development is being explored by a research team at the Cleveland Clinic, headed by Dr. Vijay Krishna, who tells us all about their ground-breaking research, in this week's edition of This Week In Tech With

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