Accessibility links
Laura Sydell
Stories By

Laura Sydell

Monday

Hot On YouTube: Videos About Video Games, And Science, Too

A screengrab of a YouTube video of the game Walking Dead from the Swedish gamer known as PewDiePie. Videos of people offering commentary while playing video games are wildly popular on YouTube. YouTube/PewDiePie hide caption

toggle caption
YouTube/PewDiePie

All Tech Considered

Hot On YouTube: Videos About Video Games, And Science, Too

Many people watched other people playing video games on the video-sharing site in 2013. But it wasn't all about games; educational videos, particularly those that explain science concepts or use fun animation, were also big hits.

Hot On YouTube: Videos About Video Games, And Science, Too

Listen · 3:56
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/257552199/258301669" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

What It's Like To Live On Low Pay In A Land Of Plenty

Manny Cardenas, seen here with his 5-year-old daughter Zoe, has earned $16 an hour as a part-time security guard at Google. Laura Sydell/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Laura Sydell/NPR

All Tech Considered

What It's Like To Live On Low Pay In A Land Of Plenty

Employees at Silicon Valley companies such as Apple, Google and Facebook are highly paid and enjoy a wide range of perks on the job. The security guards who watch over their workplaces earn around $16 an hour, a tough wage to get by on in the high-priced San Francisco Bay Area.

What It's Like To Live On Low Pay In A Land Of Plenty

Listen · 4:58
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/251992536/252117881" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Amid Cuts And Tax Hikes, Tech Companies Get Love in Ireland

Tech companies around the world have set up shop in the financial district in Dublin, Ireland. Peter Muhly/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Peter Muhly/AFP/Getty Images

All Tech Considered

Amid Cuts And Tax Hikes, Tech Companies Get Love in Ireland

Ireland has made a concerted effort to grow its tech industry, through tax incentives and development programs. Officials credit the initiative with helping uplift the country's economy. But the country has also faces local and international criticism for its approach.

Amid Cuts And Tax Hikes, Tech Companies Get Love in Ireland

Listen · 5:25
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/250305565/250396535" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

For Advocacy Groups, Video Games Are The Next Frontier

A screenshot of Half the Sky, where virtual successes sometimes lead to real-life donations. Games For Change hide caption

toggle caption
Games For Change

All Tech Considered

For Advocacy Groups, Video Games Are The Next Frontier

As video games become more mainstream, some social action organizations are using them to raise awareness or raise funds. They advocate for a range of causes, from the struggles of women in the developing world to the effects of power in Congress.

For Advocacy Groups, Video Games Are The Next Frontier

Listen · 5:32
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/247515389/247765478" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Will New PlayStation, Xbox Click Beyond The Hard-Core Gamer?

The Sony PlayStation 4 sells for $399. Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images

All Tech Considered

Will New PlayStation, Xbox Click Beyond The Hard-Core Gamer?

More than seven years since their previous releases, Sony and Microsoft are debuting new versions of their popular game consoles — PlayStation and Xbox. Hard-core gamers are excited, but once that initial rush is over, Sony and Microsoft will have to work a lot harder to expand beyond that market.

Will New PlayStation, Xbox Click Beyond The Hard-Core Gamer?

Listen · 4:36
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/245387937/245468317" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Business

Judge: Google's Book Copying Doesn't Violate Copyright Law

Google has prevailed in a long-running lawsuit over the millions of books the company has digitally scanned without permission from authors and publishers. A U.S. Circuit Court judge has ruled that it's "fair use" when Google scans portions of books for public to use.

Judge: Google's Book Copying Doesn't Violate Copyright Law

Listen · 1:36
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/245343043/245358665" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

What Today's Online Sharing Companies Can Learn From Napster

Napster founder Shawn Fanning in February 2001, after a ruling that the free Internet-based service must stop allowing copyrighted material to be shared. Paul Sakuma/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Paul Sakuma/AP

All Tech Considered

What Today's Online Sharing Companies Can Learn From Napster

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?

What Today's Online Sharing Companies Can Learn From Napster

Listen · 4:50
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/244568849/244580705" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Raising Social Media Teens Means Constant Parental Learning

The Ask.fm website has been linked to two bullying cases that led to suicides. Danny E. Martindale/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Danny E. Martindale/Getty Images

All Tech Considered

Raising Social Media Teens Means Constant Parental Learning

For parents of teens in the fast-changing social media landscape, which includes sites such as Ask.fm, it can be tough to figure out the balance between giving your children freedom and protecting them from danger. That dilemma was illustrated by the suicide of a 12-year-old Florida girl who reportedly was cyberbullied.

Raising Social Media Teens Means Constant Parental Learning

Listen · 6:02
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/241605525/241667340" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Business

AOL Takes No. 1 Spot For Online Video Ads

AOL, an online company many had given up for dead, is making a comeback. It recently acquired Adap.TV, a company that automates the purchase of video ads. And in September, it topped Google in one category: it had the most video ads watched, with 3.7 billion views.

AOL Takes No. 1 Spot For Online Video Ads

Listen · 1:17
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/236696995/236696980" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

3-D Printing A Masterwork For Your Living Room

Cosmo Wenman generated this 3-D model of the Ares Borghese, based on hundreds of photos, from the Basel Sculpture Hall. Wenman publishes the scans online, so that anyone can use them to 3-D print a replica of the masterpiece. Courtesy of Cosmo Wenman hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of Cosmo Wenman

All Tech Considered

3-D Printing A Masterwork For Your Living Room

It's now possible to create an impressive copy of Michelangelo's David or Rodin's The Thinker with a 3-D printer. Rather than object, some museum curators see this high-tech replication as a way to bring near-real versions of classic works to the masses.

3-D Printing A Masterwork For Your Living Room

Listen · 4:54
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/231450884/231900747" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Business

Ad Dollars Follow Consumer Eyeballs To Smartphones, Tablets

Mobile advertising nearly tripled in first half of year — reaching $3 billion, according to a report released Wednesday. Advertisers have been trying to find ways to adapt to the mobile environment.

Ad Dollars Follow Consumer Eyeballs To Smartphones, Tablets

Listen · 1:19
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/231205348/231250041" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

All Tech Considered

Calif. Bans Jilted Lovers From Posting 'Revenge Porn' Online

After a breakup, some have taken to posting intimate pictures of their ex on the Internet. California's new law punishes those who do, but some critics say the law isn't specific enough and could inhibit free speech.

Calif. Bans Jilted Lovers From Posting 'Revenge Porn' Online

Listen · 4:37
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/228551353/228554581" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Record Label Picks Copyright Fight — With The Wrong Guy

Law professor Lawrence Lessig, shown here in 2009, is suing an Australian record label for threatening to sue him over an alleged YouTube copyright violation. Neilson Barnard/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

All Tech Considered

Record Label Picks Copyright Fight — With The Wrong Guy

Lawrence Lessig was not pleased when Liberation Music persuaded YouTube to take down one of his online lectures because of an alleged copyright violation. So Lessig, one of the most famous copyright attorneys in the world, decided to take a stand against broad, intimidating takedown notices.

Record Label Picks Copyright Fight — With The Wrong Guy

Listen · 4:30
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/226834651/226902358" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

Fake Reviewers Get Zero Stars From New York Attorney General

Some reputation management companies required that its writers have a certain number of Yelp friends. Yelp says it welcomed the New York attorney general's crackdown on fake reviewers. iStockphoto.com hide caption

toggle caption
iStockphoto.com

All Tech Considered

Fake Reviewers Get Zero Stars From New York Attorney General

Nineteen companies agreed to pay more than $350,000 in penalties to settle accusations that they wrote or bought phony online reviews of their products, services or restaurants.

Fake Reviewers Get Zero Stars From New York Attorney General

Listen · 3:11
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/225455596/225483676" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript