Jeanne Destro
WAKR's Jeanne Destro discusses a new tech topic each week!
This week, we're doing a roundup of some of the most interesting tech-related stories that have occurred over the past week. Find out more about a wide variety of topics including election-related social media disinformation, AI enabled deep-fake child porn, driverless vehicles, robocalls, and possible NASA landing sites on the moon. Listen now.
Consumers have been complaining loud and long about how when they try to cancel subscriptions, they either can't do it at all; or they get such a big run-around, that it takes a lot of time, effort, and money to make it happen, That's why this week's news that the FTC's new "Click to Cancel" rule is in effect, which make It easier for consumers to end recurring subscriptions and memberships, is such a big deal. Of course, no good deed goes unpunished, and that new rule is now under fire fromt h
Ice, Ice, Baby!: NASA's New Europa Clipper Mission It was a big week for NASA, as they launched their largest ever planetary spacecraft, which is now headed toward Jupiter's moon, Europa. The goal, they say, is to determine whether there are places below the surface that could support life, and the reason they suspect it is possible; is that there is a vast ocean of water beneath Europa's icy surface. To find out more, we talked to the Principal Technologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laborato
The University of Akron has joined with Summit County, and The City of Akron to install a new high-tech security system aimed at keeping students safe off-campus. 33 security cameras connected to the County's new high-speed fiber optic network, have been installed in neighborhoods near campus. They are hooked into both the Akron and Campus police departments, and are monitored 24/7 by Artificial Intelligence (AI) which can notify officers to respond in the event of an emergency, crime in progre
Recycling made both national and local headlines this week, with the State of California suing Exxon-Mobil for promoting the "myth" of recycling, and Akron city officials celebrating the fact that they're finally making money on recycling, because residents have gotten so good at keeping trash out of their recycling bins. The two competing narratives; i.e.; "Recycling doesn't work, and it is all part of a money-grubbing plot on the part of oil companies", and "Hey this stuff really works and it
Another day, another data breach–or so I thought. But even though there have been a lot of other really big data breaches over the past few years; hearing about the one perpetrated recently by a hacker called USDoD, gave me pause. As reported by Bloomberg Law; it is possible they stole the Social Security numbers of every American, along with other personally sensitive information from a total of nearly 3 billion people in the US, UK, and Canada. This occurred in December 2023, when they crac
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the time when I decided to upcycle my old, obsolete MacBook Pro, and turn it into something useful with a free, open-source Linux operating system. The good news is; it works! I had some glitches along the way, and the journey from old to "new" was a little frustrating. But honestly; the main reason it was a problem for me is that I decided to mess with it after I already had it up and running. It really was one of those deals where "
The depth and breadth of cyberattacks and data breaches in the past few years is breathtaking, and as a result; it's fairly likely that pretty much everybody in this country has had at least some their personal information stolen. Some examples of extremely serious recent incidents include the March 2024 AT& T breach, which resulted the dark web dissemination of data from 7.6 million current account holders and approximately 65.4 million former account holders, last year's MOVEit breach, which
Size really does matter, when it comes to Akron-based electronics firm, Tiny Circuits, where they're doing a big Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a new product launch. Find out how they're keeping it real with a small team of engineers and fabricators, creating programmable game consoles the size of your thumb, and twee little TV's with working knobs and remotes, where you can watch pre-loaded shows, or even your own cat videos. The sky's the limit as we explore the maxi details of thei
Senior citizens who need and want to be connected to the internet, but can't afford to do so, have the opportunity to possibly get a free tablet and/or WiFi service, through Direction Home, The Akron-Canton Area Agency on Aging and Disabilities. Their Digital Inclusion program has been around for a few years now, but as you'll hear from today's guest, Matt Reed, who is Direction Home's Senior Vice President for Community Engagement, they now have funding to help an underserved group they simply
As technology companies spend billions to produce newer, better, and more powerful Artificial Intelligence tools; leaders in other types of business are scrambling to decide whether or not it would be worthwhile to use them. The pressure is on, and as you'll hear from our special guest today, Northeastern University Business School Dean, and Author, David DeCremer; the jury is still out for most types of business, as to whether or not AI is the real deal or just hype. Listen now, as DeCremer, w
Wouldn't it be great if all the plastic that clogs our landfills and oceans could be easily and cheaply recycled, and then turned into new plastic that is just as strong and useful as the original? That's what scientists at the University of Akron have been wondering, and now one of them has come up with a new way to recycle plastic using just light, air, and an easily obtainable and abundant chemical catalyst. We'll hear today from Associate Professor of Polymer Science, Dr. Junpen Wang, alon
Scammers are using AI to clone voices and trick people into giving up their personal banking information, leading to disastrous results. Find out how you can protect yourself from these fraudsters, with TrustedSec President and CEO, David Kennedy. We talked to him recently. Listen now.
Seniors are often the targets of increasingly sophisticated scams. Find out why, and what you can do to protect yourself and your loved ones from scammers who prey on some of our most vulnerable citizens. Listen now, to our conversation with Sam McCoy, Senior Vice President for Elder Rights at Direction Home, the Akron-Canton Area Agency on Aging.
This past Friday's worldwide Microsoft computer meltdown, will likely go down in history as one of the most epic tech failures...ever. Airlines, hospitals, banks, retailers, government agencies; you name it–all dead in the water for hours, with everybody staring at the dreaded blue screen of death, repeatedly trying to reboot their systems, and wondering how long it would take to fix. Luckily, the problem, caused by a faulty CrowdStrike cybersecurity update, has been resolved for many users.
There's probably no better day than today, while we're in the midst of a global Microsoft outage caused by a faulty CrowdStrike cybersecurity update, to talk about how big, high tech systems can, and do, fail. That's why County is now hosting Summit County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) equipment on its radio tower at Summit Emergency Communications Center. They're doing so in an effort to ensure reliable communication throughout the county, and with state partners in the event of an eme
They're not quite as cute and friendly as Rosey from The Jetsons, or R2-D2 from Star Wars, but the robots being used to help ease worker shortages at several nursing homes in Summit County are a big hit, and a big help for both residents and employees. That's the word from Julie Esak, who is the Quality Improvement Ombudsman with Direction Home, the Akron Canton Area Agency on Aging & Disabilities. Listen now, as she explains how the their robot pilot program has been working over the past yea
The Recording Industry is up in arms again, this time, alleging that two companies using AI to generate music, are illegally using copyrighted material. The lawsuit was filed in federal court this week in Boston, by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), representing record labels including SonySony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Records, alleges that Suno AI and Udio AI. This lawsuit is just the latest in a serious of AI-related legal actions, such as tha
Imagine getting a call late at night from someone telling you your child had been kidnapped, and will be killed unless you give up all your banking information. Would you do it? Or, what if your "bank" fraud services department calls to let you know there's been some suspcious activity on your account, and they just need you to confirm a few facts before they can let you in on all the details. Of course, you figure because they say they're from your bank, and they sound like they're from your
What if you found out there are chemicals so toxic and dangerous that even just 10 barrels full of it could pollute all of Lake Erie? Well, it turns out; there are, and they're in our environment, pretty much everywhere–from your Teflon coated frying pan, to the grease-resistant pizza box sitting on your kitchen counter. Oh, and speaking of kitchen counters; you know that stuff you use to seal the granite every year or so? Yeah, they're in that too. But, the type of chemicals that are used to