The World Videos

Dubai is one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates. It is rather like an independent city-state and is the most modern and progressive emirate in the UAE, developing at an unbelievable pace in the tourist and trade sectors especially. A relatively new tourist destination, Dubai was gaining popularity in recent years until the global economic crash of 2009. Dubai is essentially a desert city with superb infrastructure, liberal policies (by regional standards), that became popular for its excellent tourist amenities. Just 5 hrs from Europe and 3 hrs from most parts of the Middle East, the Near East, and the sub-continent of India, Dubai makes a great short break for shopping, partying, sunbathing, fine dining, sporting events, and even a few sinful pleasures. It is a city of superlatives: for the fastest, biggest, tallest, largest and highest, Dubai is the destination. The weekly day off is on Friday. Note that, since September 2006, a harmonised weekend of Friday and Saturday has been adopted for the public sector and schools. Government departments, multi-national companies, and most schools and universities are now off on Friday and Saturday (after years of a mixed bag of Friday/Saturday and Thursday/Friday weekends). Some local companies still work a half day on Thursday with a full-day on Saturday, but larger companies tend to permit relaxation and time off work for their employees on Friday and Saturday.

Great show this week. Find out how students in Japan are using 3D technology and people's memories to recreate pre-war Nagasaki. Also, we take you to Linz, Austria for the Ars Electronica 2009 festival. We hear about a wind-up vibrator. Yes, you read that correctly. And we'll explore a way to turn your urine into fertilizer. We end with a tech podcast listener who imparts some serious knowledge about GPS drawing on your host.

No More Whining, that's our motto. This week: we meet a history teacher who is letting his students fully embrace the tech that they are carrying around. Also, we revisit the British steam car team trying to break a 100 plus year old record. We have an interview with Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales on new editing guidelines, and we hear about the trade in conflict minerals in Congo. We end, of course, with artificial trees.

No one's listening anyway, so let's have some fun. We talk about attempts to get international law to catch up with botnets. Also, a study details last year's cyberspat between Russia and Georgia. We hear about a seriously fast steam-powered car, and also about a flamenco and hip-hop mash-up that's got a real creative commons feel about it. We end with zombies. How much more do you want? Oh yeah, Dan Deacon and Quincy Jones provide light entertainment.

We start with a tribute to the pioneer of that outstanding piece of technology, the single body electric guitar. RIP Les Paul. Then, some builders in France use 13th century tools and technology to build a castle from scratch. Also, Bertrand Piccard and his quest to fly a solar powered plane around the world. Then, driverless cars may be coming to Heathrow Airport. And we end by featuring podcast stalwart Vicente Montelongo, who makes, well, some very Atari-like art out of his San Francisco bike rides.

We start with a geek's audio tribute to the late John Hughes, director of Weird Science. Then, architect Magnus Larsson wants to build sand dunes out of bacteria. Not just any sand dunes. We're talking thousands of miles long in the Sahara. Whoah. Also, countries try to enhance their borders with, wait for it, technology. And we end with an interview with Dr. Laura Stachel of WE CARE Solar.

Briton Gary McKinnon stands accused by the US government of committing the biggest military computer hack of all time. McKinnon's been fighting extradition to the US for three years. Today, we have an update on the case. Also, the US Army tries out some new military technology in Afghanistan. We explore the rise of Pirate Parties worldwide, and we hear about how outdated Japanese political campaign laws are hampering Obama style elections.

Vertigo is now gone, so back to your regularly scheduled technology podcast. We've got a great story on the computers used 40 years ago on the Apollo 11 mission. Also, a series of fiber-optic cables go live in Africa, bringing hope that affordable high-speed Internet access will be coming soon. And also, a Zambian company starts to export its bamboo bicycles.

The Chinese government's trying to control information, especially online information, coming from the city of Urumqi, which has been the scene of violence this week. Also, global geeks try to help Iranians keep the flow of information coming. We check in on the search for the black boxes for Air France flight 447. Next, an ancient Bible finds a new home on the Internet, which also happens to be the ONLY place the band Hal and the Big 5 have ever jammed together.

Updates on two stories we've been following in recent weeks. First, the Iranian government continues to try to control the flow of on-line information out of the country. We try to sort out Twitter fact from fiction with regard to Iran. Also, China's new Internet filtering plan gets delayed. Then, we have an extended conversation with Ken Banks, founder of FrontlineSMS. We end with a Skype-enabled wedding ceremony between someone in China, and someone in Denver. Cool.

Three stories today: the first is a look at an impressive piece of engineering – a cooker that its makers claim reduces carbon emissions by a staggering degree.

It's all Iran this week, folks. Violence and protests have flaired in Iran following last week's disputed election results. The government moved quickly to shut down the flow of information out of, and into, the country. But Twitter and other social media tools are keeping that flow of information going. In fact, it's not a flow, but a flood. We'll take an in-depth look at how vital social media tools have become in Iran in the wake of the elections. Show notes, links and pics at tinyurl.com/wtpblog.

China announced new rules regarding PCs this week. Starting July 1, all PCs sold in China must contain a government mandated piece of software designed to "protect Chinese youth" from pornography and violent content. Rights groups are calling foul, and Internet experts say it's ripe for exploitation by hackers and criminals. Also, we answer your calls for a segment on the use of video technology in sports. And we end with a look at how a discovery on Google Earth may help save a rain forest in Mozambique. Show notes, links and pics at tinyurl.com/wtpblog.

For this week's podcast, we look at how Iran's presidential candidates are taking to the Internet to win votes. Also, President Obama's plans to beef up America's cybersecurity. We check-in with ICT emergency responders in Pakistan, and then we hear about just how many surveillance cameras will be trained on Chinese students during their national exams this weekend. Music by The Hold Steady. Show notes, links and pics at tinyurl.com/wtpblog.

A special "vacation" episode this week. We have two tech stories to start. The first is out of Antarctica, where the Belgians have built a base camp that produces all of its own energy by using a Scottish company's wind turbines. Then, an online movement to commemorate the life and death of Iranian blogger Omid Reza Mirsayafi. In honor of vacation, we take a break from tech. We talk about the enduring legacy of Sherlock Holmes, and we hear about an amazing new graphic novel that charts the journey of one photographer into war-torn Afghanistan in the mid-1980s. Show notes, links and pics at tinyurl.com/wtpblog.

We start this week with a look at how, and why, the European Union leveled a world of financial hurt on US chip-maker Intel. Wow, the EU dislikes someone more than it dislikes Microsoft! Also, journalist Roxana Saberi is released from prison in Iran, the Persian language blogs are buzzing. We'll have a sample. Then, Google Oceans tries to bring mapping help to endangered coral reefs. And finally, a very interesting MIT Media Lab project called SixthSense. No, it's not about seeing dead people. But it will display your email on an airport wall. Show notes, links and pics at tinyurl.com/wtpblog.

We start the show with three projects that have been chosen as the winners of Vodafone's Wireless Innovation Project. All three harness the power of wireless technologies in pursuit of social good. Then, an in-depth look at the UK's DNA database, and what America's plans are for a similar database. Also, we try to answer some of the great questions you sent in about the swine flu virus. And we end with another competition; Airbus wants to know if you can figure out how to use engineering to make flights cheaper. Show notes, links and pics at tinyurl.com/wtpblog.

We start out all bookish this week. We hear about Google's plan to digitally scan every book in the world, and make those books available to everyone with an internet connection. Also, UNESCO wants in on that action too, with a project called The World Digital Library. Then, an in-depth look at e-publishing; are paper books a thing of the past? Then, we hear about some Internet filtering circumvention technology called Psiphon. And we end with Yahoo's bid to trick out bikes with net cams and geo-location software. Show notes, links and pics at tinyurl.com/wtpblog.

Sorry we're a couple of days late, but so it goes. First, we look at the Swedish court ruling against the founders of The Pirate Bay. We have an explainer and analysis on that. Also, how is Barack Obama's embrace of new technologies during the campaign playing out now that his administration is in power? And we end with a segment on robots. Lovely. Show notes, links and pics at tinyurl.com/wtpblog.