Spark from CBC Radio

2009-07-01 - Spark in the Summer: Ed Burtynsky on 10,000 year old photos

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Extended interview with Ed Burtynsky.

2009-06-24 - Episode 83: Corrupted files, what I wore, and email sabbaticals

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Scott Jaschik on trust and digital cheating in the classroom, Dan Misener looks at "What I Wore"-style blogs, Jenny Carpenter investigates forensic linguistics and sentiment analysis, and danah boyd takes an email sabbatical

2009-06-17 - Episode 82: Teen texting tales, accessible technology, and viral culture

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Spark listeners call in with their terrifying teen texting tales, Al Rae tries to send and receive 80 texts in one day, Nora visits the Adaptive Technology Resource Centre at the University of Toronto, and Bill Wasik on how the internet is changing culture

2009-06-10 - Episode 81: Canadian broadband, Twaiku poetry, Cigarette vending machines, and Bookcamp

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:00:00 GMT

CANARIE's Bill St. Arnaud explains the current state of Canadian broadband, and comments on the OECD's recent broadband report, Rayat Deonandan writes Twitter haiku poems, Michael Keferl of CScout Japan explains Taspo, the Japanese RFID-enabled "tabacco passport," and Hugh McGuire explores the future of books and publishing in the digital age at BookCamp Toronto.

2009-06-03 - Episode 80: Social Translation, Mapmaking 2.0, Drunk Dialing, and Open Cities

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Ethan Zuckerman explains social translation and the multilingual web, Cyrus Farivar reports back from the Where 2.0 conference, Nora mentions Bad Decision Blocker iPhone app, and Gmail's Mail Goggles feature, and Andrea Reimer explains Vancouver's plan to open up municipal data

2009-05-27 - Episode 79: Digital preservation, Exclamation Marks (!!!) and SPIN Farming

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 27 May 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Seamus Ross, Dean of the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto, explains digital preservation, Mignon Fogarty (AKA Grammar Girl) talks about exclamation marks and interrobangs, and Wally Satzewich starts a web-powered, veggie growing revolution called SPIN Farming

2009-05-20 - Episode 78: Soaking dishes, driving tech innovation with porn, and cultural laziness

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Stef and Luigi disagree about soaking dishes online with Sidetaker.com, Peter Nowak explains how the business of pornography fuels the business of technology, Kate Rich runs Feral Trade, a "freight network outside of commercial systems," and Cyrus Farivar admits his cultural laziness.

2009-05-13 - Episode 77: QWERTY, Objectified, and Last Year's Model

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 13 May 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Nora delves into the deep, dark history of the QWERTY keyboard layout (guests include: Martin Howard, Bill Buxton, Stan Liebowitz, Philip Steadman, and Jared Spool), Gary Hustwit interviews industrial design heavyweights for his documentary Objectified and Anil Dash and Gina Trapani want you to buy great gadgets, then keep them with LastYearsModel.org

2009-05-06 - Episode 76: Online activism, lurking, mashups, and APIs

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 06 May 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Anders Colding-Jørgensen created a real Facebook group about a fictitious cause: "No to the demolition of the Stork Fountain," Evgeny Morozov on Slactivism and the role social media can play in political activism, Jim Lebans defends lurking, Jer Thorp uses the NYT NewsWire API to control a smoke detector called the NewsAlarm, and explains the importance of APIs.

2009-04-22 - Episode 75: Self-monitoring, interactive magazines, and a Twittering cat door

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Gus and Penny (who are cats) use a Twittering Cat Door, Nicholas Felton on self-monitoring and Daytum.com, Nora and Elizabeth review some of the messy desktop contest entries submitted so far, Anand Agarwala explains human-computer action, and shows Nora Bumptop, and Tim Devin publishes I Left This Here for You to Read.

2008-04-15 - Episode 74: Religion in a digital age, WiFi t-shirts, and curating the web

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Rachel Wagner researches the intersection of digital culture and religion, and what it means for how we understand the sacred, Liane Balaban reads her poem "Wireless Networks," Nora and Jesse Wente try out the WiFi t-shirt, and Jason Kottke curates the web

2009-04-10 - Hour-long Spark Special

CBC Radio: Spark — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 08:00:00 GMT

As part of CBC's special programming on April 10, we put together a one hour-long "best of" program, featuring some of our favorite guests and items from past seasons, including: Ben Terrett's Things Our Friends Have Written On The Internet, David McCallum's Warbike, Christian Payne’s grandmother on Twitter, Dan James's shingling, Tom Howell's Techiquette, Celeste McWhorter's gamedar, and Jenova Chen's video games with a sophisticated emotional palette.

2009-04-08 - Episode 73: Copyright, the public domain, and remix culture

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Kutiman remixes YouTube on THRU YOU, Teru remixes Nora's full interview with Kutiman to win Spark's remix contest, James Boyle tries to balance intellectual property rights and the public domain, and Jean Dryden demystifies Canadian copyright law.

2009-04-01 - Episode 72: Roombas, Goodbye Emails and Facebook Mea Culpas

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Paul Saulnier hacks a Roomba vacuum cleaner so that it moves away from you when you're angry.Saul Greenberg explains why it's hard for computers to understand what humans are feeling.Sean Prpick tells the story of how a Roomba brought pain to his marriage.Futurist Jamais Cascio looks at how we relate to robots, and why we treat them like pets.Megan Hustad wonders wonders why we're compelled to send out goodbye emails. Al Rae is using Facebook to find old friends and say he's sorry.

2009-03-25 - Episode 71: Music & Technology

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Pat and Patrick Costello organize The Ukulele Project to make instructional videos for Tom White's ukulele club in Ogoki Post, Ontario, Jonathan Berger explains why some people prefer the sizzling sound of MP3s, Carl Wilson on how technology influences the aesthetic of pop music, Nora tries out the Emotichair, a chair designed to give deaf people a richer experience of music, and Richard Cytowic studies synaesthesia, a "crossing of the senses"

2008-03-18 - Episode 70: e-Fidgeting, road trip mixtapes, LIFT, and the return of aspic

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Dan Misener fidgets with technology. James Levine and Chris Noessel explain why that might be a good thing. Grant Lawrence from CBC Radio 3 makes a road trip mixtape using Harmon Kardon's Amplified Journeys, Cyrus Farivar explores where the future went at the LIFT Conference, and Cathi Bond enjoys the gelatinous food that's all the retro rage: aspic

2009-03-11 - Episode 69: Springboard, Metropath(ologies), and CRTC hearings

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Cristina Matei designs Springboard, a social network for public transit, Judith Donath explores information overload through Metropath(ologies), Anil Dash unplugged for two weeks, and didn't miss anything, and Peter Nowak explains the current CRTC hearings

2009-03-04 - Episode 68: Greener gadgets, the end of solitude, and becoming the master of your domain

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Allan Chochinov of Core77 explains the Greener Gadgets Design Competition 2009, William Deresiewicz on The End of Solitude, Rhonda McEwen researches how university students use mobile phones and social networks to manage feelings of loneliness, Elizabeth Bowie discovers that ElizabethBowie.com is taken, then buys ElizabethBowie.ca, Peter Rukavina explains why everyone should get their own domain for their email, and Spark listeners own a lot of domains

2009-02-25 - Episode 67: Twittering Grandma, Digital Legacy, and Ageism in Design

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Christian Payne's grandmother is on Twitter, Paul Taylor combines genealogy and social networking with Arcalife, and Glen Hougan teaches his students to design for an aging population

2009-02-11 - Episode 66: The tech gap in relationships, meta-movie reviews, and spatial intelligence

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Bill Buxton and Elizabeth Russ explain the technology gap in their relationship, Twanna A. Hines on the importance of technological compatibility, Bill Buxton explains how a computer is unlike a pencil, David Edelstein explains how review aggregators are affecting film criticism, Nora tries her hand at the Rubik's 360, Will Shortz explains why our love affair with puzzles persists, Philip Servos on spatial intelligence and Rubik's puzzles, and 9 year-old Callum Moseley solves the Rubik's 360

2009-02-04 - Episode 65: Laptops in the Kitchen, Games for Grownups, and ChangeCamp

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 08:00:00 GMT

On this episode of Spark, Hannah Classen brings tech into the kitchen to splatter-proof your internet recipes, Jenova Chen designs video games with a sophisticated emotional palette, Gerjon Zomer saves ink with the Ecofont, and Mark Kuznicki brings people together to re-imagine government and citizenship at ChangeCamp

2009-01-28 - Episode 64: Blogs get unplugged, photos get real, and government gets visible

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Ben Terrett prints blog posts on newsprint in Things Our Friends Have Written On The Internet, Dan Pacheco enabled citizen publishers with Printcasting, Liz explains print-on-demand photo technology like this photo frame from Prinics, Andy Kaplan-Myrth promotes government transparency through visiblegovernment.ca

2009-01-21 - Episode 63: Whoppers, Facebookgate, and Leadership 2.0

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Nora wonders what Burger King's Whopper Sacrifice campaign says about the nature of Facebook friendship, Brad J Ward investigates Facebookgate, Mitch Joel on social media, ethics and marketing, Andy Kaplan-Myrth promotes online tools for government transparency at VisibleGovernment.ca, and Seth Godin explains how the internet is changing leadership

2009-01-14 - Episode 62: Laptops vs. Desktops, iPosture, Ethan Zuckerman and computer viruses in Sierra Leone

CBC Radio: Spark — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 08:00:00 GMT

As laptops overtake desktops, ergonomist Rabiya Lallani explains the effect computers can have on our bodies. Rabiya and Nora make a video to explain how to set up your laptop for proper ergonomics Nora asks for your ideas on redesigning laptops Ethan Zuckerman explains why the big wide world of the Web may actually be limiting the kind of information you get. Craig Desson reports on Sierra Leone's computer virus pandemic

2009-01-10 - Episode 61B: CES, Xenophiles, and what if gamers ran the world?

CBC Radio: Spark — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 08:00:00 GMT

EPISODE 61 UPDATED W/ NEW CES CONTENT ON JAN 10, 2009 -- Nora checks in with Peter Nowak at CES 2009, Tom Armitage wonders What if Gamers Ran the World to discuss what video games can teach the leaders of tomorrow, Ethan Zuckerman on xenophiles, bridge figures, and third-culture kids, Update on Mitch Kapor's idea of a CTO for the USA

2009-01-07 - Episode 61: CES, Xenophiles, and what if gamers ran the world?

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Nora checks in with Peter Nowak at CES 2009, Tom Armitage wonders What if Gamers Ran the World to discuss what video games can teach the leaders of tomorrow, Ethan Zuckerman on xenophiles, bridge figures, and third-culture kids, Update on Mitch Kapor's idea of a CTO for the USA

2008-12-30 - Episode 60: 27 Ideas in 27 Minutes

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 08:00:00 GMT

This week, Spark tried something a little different. Producer Jane Farrow put together a special episode chock-full of fresh ideas for 2009.

2008-12-24 - Episode 59: Clay Shirky on your cognitive surplus

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 08:00:00 GMT

This week on Spark, a feature interview with Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations. Clay and host Nora Young talk about the pros and cons of social media, new online business models online, and how big change comes from human motivation, not shiny new technologies.

2008-12-17 - Episode 58: Memory, Wikipedia,and Sewing 2.0

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Angela Troyer explains why ballroom dancing can help improve your memory, Gary Small says you can teach an old brain new tricks, Cathi Bond explores sewing's resurgence (pun intended), and Chris Jensen assigns his students Wikipedia homework

2008-12-10 - Episode 57: Government transparency, blogs, and vlogs

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Rahaf Harfoush explains what Obama's campaign and change.gov can teach Canadian politicians about transparency, Tom Steinberg makes it easy to track elected officials using They Work for You, Merlin Mann answers your questions about blogging, and Heather Gold bridges the geek/non-geek divide to explain vlogging

2008-12-03 - Episode 56: Boot-up Times and Iconoclasts

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 08:00:00 GMT

On this episode of Spark: David Schlesinger represents call centre employees who are suing over long boot-up and login times, Matt Richtel explains the future of quick-booting computers, Andy Hertzfeld tells the story of saving lives by reducing boot times, and Gregory Berns on Iconoclasts

2008-11-26 - Episode 55

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 08:00:00 GMT

On this episode of Spark, Tony Hsieh blogs about the layoffs at his company, Zappos.com, Don Tapscott explains the Net Generation's new expectations for work, Dan James of silverorange divides his time between CEOing and shingling, and Vincent Lam explains how to be a writer and a doctor.

2008-11-19 - Episode 54

CBC Radio: Spark — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Gavin O'Carroll sends postcards to his relatives using Send With Peggy, Don Tapscott explains how the "Net Generation" thinks differently, Pete Nowak explains what system access fees are and why they're disappearing, and Merlin Mann helps build an audience for your blog without alienating the people you admire

2008-11-12 - Episode 53

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 08:00:00 GMT

On this episode of Spark: Jackie Sharkey explains internet use in Nunavut, Spark listeners do their best dial-up impressions, Nora introduces Spark Lite, our low-bandwidth podcast, Laurence Ashworth explains marketing electronics to women, Ying Cheng develops technology for women, and started the No More Pink Phone movement, Nora tries out the GenderAnalyzer, and Merlin Mann encourages bloggers to get better.

2008-11-05 - Episode 52

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 08:00:00 GMT

On this episode of Spark, small design decisions with big consequences: Bill Gauley tests toilets for efficiency, Raphael Grignani designs mobile phones for billions of people, Spark listeners weigh in on the future of the phone book, and Dan signs up and signs on with OpenID.

2008-10-29 - Episode 51

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Twanna A. Hines explains the group dating trend, Merlin Mann talks about managing expectations on your blog, Dan asks "How am I supposed to use this phone with my mittens on?" Duncan Elliott explains capacitive touchscreens, Spark listeners call 1-877-34-SPARK, and Alex (Sandy) Pentland sends out Honest Signals.

2008-10-15 - Episode 49

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Jean Snow looks back at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show, Peter Nowak visits the Brookhaven Lab to learn about Tennis for Two, Merlin Mann teaches Nora to think about her blog audience, Nora falls asleep, Tapani Salmi wakes Nora up to explain HappyWakeUp, and Quinn Norton reflects on the human-robot interfaces and the HAL exoskeleton.

2008-10-08 - Episode 48

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Dan talks to Ilona Dougherty, Richard Akerman, and Grace Lake about voting online, Nora introduces our new toll-free number: 1-877-34-SPARK, Spark listeners talk about their workplace computer woes, Lisagaye Tomlinson and Paul Martine BYOC (Bring Your Own Computer), Nora talks to Merlin Mann about his upcoming series, and Jane McGonigal explains Superstruct, and gaming for the greater good.

2008-10-01 - Episode 47

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Bill Parry's tale of two laptops, Nathan Eagle empowers people in the Dominican Republic and Kenya through text messages with txteagle, Ken Njoroge sells ringtones to Kenyans, Canada's Digital Wish List: Lynn Sutherland, Charles Zamaria and Sylvain Grand’Maison on the French-English digital divide in Canada.

2008-09-24 - Episode 46

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 08:00:00 GMT

On this episode of Spark, Stephen Baker introduces Nora to The Numerati, Canada's Digital Wish List: Ron Deibert, director of the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab, Spark listeners Ed Shaw and Stuart Croall add their wishes to the Digital Wish List, Gina Trapani talks to Nora while riding her solar powered, GPS enabled, picture-taking Flickr Bike, and Terry O'Reilly looks at the resurgence of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, and the delicate art of marketing to urban hipsters.

2008-09-17 - Episode 45

CBC Radio: Spark — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 08:00:00 GMT

On this episode of Spark, Matt Richtel writes a Twiller - a thriller novel on Twitter, Merlin Mann tells Nora what makes a good blog, Heather Creech talks about her Digital Wish List for the upcoming election, Mitch Kapoor thinks countries should have CTOs - Chief Technology Officers.

2008-09-10 - Episode 44

CBC Radio: Spark — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Brewster Kahle, of Internet Archive and the Wayback Machine, talks about why, for the sake of our culture, we need to digitize works of print, audio and video. You do your best impressions of a dial-up connection. Katherine Monk weighs in on when movie CGI works and when it just seems fake and creepy. Photographer Ed Burtynsky proposes the Gallery of the Long Now, and photographs that will last 10,000 years.

2008-09-03 - Episode 43

CBC Radio: Spark — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Nora escapes from phone tree hell to host a new season of Spark. Shai Berger makes calling big business easier with Fonolo.com. Richard Rose explains what's new in speech recognition research. Pete Nowak gives Nora the 411 on Canadian data plans and consumer discontent.Elísabet Gunnarsdóttir is in Dale, Norway and listening to the world via the Telemegaphone project. Chemistry teachers Jon Bergmann and Aaron Sams send their students home with podcasts, not homework.

Spark in the Summer 10 - Telemegaphone Project

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:00:00 GMT

A sneak peak at an upcoming item for our first show of Season 2 about a very loud phone on top of a mountain in Norway.

Spark in the Summer 9 - We're Back!

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Spark is back and gearing up for Season 2.

Spark in the Summer 8 - Clay Shirky

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 08:00:00 GMT

From May 2008, Nora Young's full interview with Clay Shirky

Spark in the Summer 7 - Malle Vallik

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 08:00:00 GMT

From May 2008, Nora Young's full interview with Malle Vallik.

Spark in the Summer 6 - Derek K. Miller

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 08:00:00 GMT

From April 2008, Nora Young's full interview with Derek K. Miller.

Spark in the Summer 5 - Microcelebrities

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:00:00 GMT

From March 2008, Nora Young's full panel with Theresa Senft, Sarah Meyers, and Merlin Mann on Microcelebrity

Spark in the Summer 4 - danah boyd & Marc Fisher

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 08:00:00 GMT

From March 2008, Nora Young talks to danah boyd and Marc Fisher.

Spark in the Summer 3 - Xiaochang Li

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 08:00:00 GMT

From November 2007, Nora Young's conversation with Xiaochang Li.

Spark in the Summer 2 - Alex Steffen

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:00:00 GMT

From January 2008, Nora Young's full interview with Alex Steffen.

2008-06-18 - Episode 42

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Chris Higgins discovers Hugh Crawford and Betsy Reid's digital version of Jamie Livingston's 'Polaroid a Day' project, Nora gives an update on Spark's Grandma Dinner, Nora mentions her full interview with Jonathan Zittrain, and Ken Banks explains what the west can learn from cell phone use in Africa

2008-06-11 - Episode 41

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Valérie Lamontagne tells the story of Peau d'Âne, and talks about her Sun, Moon, and Sky dresses, Roel Vertegaal reshapes computers, Merlin Mann explains how to deal with Turkey Bacn: those unwanted email forwards that clog up your inbox, and Paolo Prandoni builds "billboards that look back."

2008-06-04 - Episode 40

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Eugene Potapov helps deer blog, Steven Johnson on the state of the Geoweb, Justin Hall explains PMOG, the Passively Multiplayer Online Game, and Ron Baecker develops memory prosthetics for seniors, amnesics, and Alzheimer's patients

2008-05-28 - Episode 39

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 28 May 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Harlequin's Malle Vallik publishes romance 2.0, Amber Mac explains what the US switch to digital broadcasting in 2009 means for Canadians, Nora introduces Elena, star of Spark's upcoming Grandma Dinner, and Bill Buxton on webcams, telepresence, and if location matters anymore. Go to cbc.ca/spark for links, information, full interviews, and contests.

2008-05-21 - Episode 38

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 21 May 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Clay Shirky talks about our cognitive surplus. Merlin Mann helps Nora cringe-bust her TODO list with 3 easy tips. Spark listeners share their tips too. Nora thinks voicemail is obsolete, and you fill our inbox with your opinions. Kate Raynes-Goldie reports back from ROFLCon with her take on internet memes.And I Can Has Reuseable Grocery Bag? Enter Spark's lolcat contest.

2008-05-14 - Podcast repeats?

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 14 May 2008 08:00:00 GMT

The on-air version of Spark is a repeat this week. Instead of replaying it, Nora talks to Raj Patel about podcast repeats. If you're looking for the episode that went to air this week, see http://www.cbc.ca/spark/blog/2008/02/show_notes_february_13_2008.html

2008-05-07 - Episode 36

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 07 May 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom closes its doors, Beth Coleman on participation, ownership and identity in online virtual worlds, Spark listeners share their "off the grid" stories, John Sanderson tries to keep large trucks from getting stuck in Wedmore, England, and Michael Feir gives Nora a tour of the internet from the perspective of a blind person.

2008-04-30 - Episode 35

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Derek K. Miller wonders if he needs a digital executor, Amber Mac explains Creative Commons, Catherine tells the story of losing her digital photos when her Powerbook died, Merlin Mann of 43Folders.com builds a Disaster Preparedness Kit for your digital life, The Guardian's Charles Arthur explains Phorm's partnership with UK ISP to deliver targeted advertising and Lauren Weinstein thinks ISPs shouldn't have right to intercept users' internet communications.

2008-04-23 - Episode 34

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Patrick Griffin designs fonts and sells them online at MyFonts, Virginia Postrel explains the cultural currency of type, Jeff MacIntyre uses zenware to focus on his writing, Dane Watkins tests small communities for their collective dysfunctions through his art project Disorder and Naomi S. Baron on how digital technology affects the way we read and write.

2008-04-16 - Episode 33

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Jenny Sparrow learns that her "unlimited" internet plan actually has some limitations, Bill St. Arnaud on how Canada's broadband access compares to the rest of the world, Spark introduces new video columns, Amber Mac explains Net Neutrality, and why you should care, and Bell's Mirko Bibic on traffic shaping and net neutrality.

2008-04-09 - Episode 32

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Robert Scoble and Brad Kellett document obsolete skills, Peter Hirschberg shares his love of games through his own personal arcade, Tom Lucier on people who have never dealt a physical hand of solitaire, Jayant Agarwalla and John Chew on the popular and controversial digital Scrabble game Scrabulous, and Sam Flemming on the Chinese trend of Tuangou ("team-buying")

2008-04-02 - Episode 31

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Ian Usher sells his life on eBay, Michael Sikorsky crowdsources through Cambrian House, Amber Mac explains why Canadians often can't watch TV online, Nora mentions Hector Serrano's Reduced Carbon Footprint Souvenir concept, Adrian Bowyer on the new manufacturing model that the 3D printer might create, and a panel: Theresa Senft, Sarah Meyers, and Merlin Mann on microcelebrity

2008-03-26 - Episode 30

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Spark listeners are geeks, Craig Desson joins the Dork Army, a group of Canadian professional video gamers, Celeste McWhorter defines gamedar, André Meadows is a self-professed "proud certified black nerd," Raafi Rivero on the rise of the black nerd, and Ivan Bowman uses a robot to telecommute from Halifax to Waterloo.

2008-03-19 - Episode 29

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Lee LeFever explains technology In Plain English, Laurent Haug bridges the divide in the kitchen through grandma dinners, and André Caron explains the mobile digital divide.

2008-03-12 - Episode 28

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Eszter Hargittai uses her camera to remember the cheese she likes, Saul Greenberg on how technology has changed the way we remember, Clive Thompson asks if an outboard brain makes you stupid, Patrick Davidson on the cognitive neuroscience of memory, danah boyd shares her algorithms for dumb security questions, Tom Lucier on spilled beer and Barilliant, and Genevieve Bell on keeping track of your digital lies

2008-03-05 - Episode 27

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Nora tells the story of the Virginia Snow Day, Marc Fisher and danah boyd on what the snow day story says about digital culture right now, Dr. Brian Goldman reveals the correct diagnoses in our cyberchondriacs contest, Steven Skolne invents a new sport: speedcabling, and Nora challenges cable wizard Keith Murray to a speedcabling match.

2008-02-27 - Episode 26

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 08:00:00 GMT

A repeat podcast from January 9, 2008: Nora needs to pee, and consults MizPee, Carlo Ratti maps the Wikicity, Joe Pompei beams sound with the Audio Spotlight, Kristen Nauth explains multisensory marketing, Dan Ackerman Greenberg greases the wheels of viral video, Jean Burgess on the viral nature of the web, and Nora introduces the Spark Wiki, then asks for your questions for her interview with Howard Rheingold.

2008-02-20 - Episode 25

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 08:00:00 GMT

The top health searches of 2007, Steve Lohr on Google Health and the consumerization of health information, Spark and White Coat, Black Art team up to give two listeners medical conditions, Keith Laycock explains why you can't use cell phones in the hospital, and Judy Illes on the ethics of cognitive enhancement drugs.

2008-02-13 - Episode 24

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Dan Misener accidentally receives someone else's email, a Spark listener uncovers digital evidence for divorce cases, David Paccioco explains on how the law treats digital evidence, Lawyer Lou Brzezinski carries a blank laptop, Clive Thompson keeps the his most important information on his laptop, not in his head, Nora mentions Spark's self-diagnosis contest, and Nick Carr explains the big switch in computing.

2008-02-06 - Episode 23

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Kevin Lawver and Saffron write very short stories called Ficlets, Tom Howell defends idiosyncrasy, Michael Kinsley tells the story of the LA Times Wikitorial, Calendar Girl makes a collaborative record through Calendar Songs, and Howard Rheingold on collaborative technology and collective action.

2008-01-30 - Episode 22

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Nora builds a Virtual Nora with My Virtual Model, Ian McCarthy explains mass customization, Julien Smith says the web is built for text, Jim Glass searches audio with the MIT Lecture Browser, James Graham harvests the energy of human movement with crowd farms, and Dan Misener bundles up.

2008-01-23 - Episode 21

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Luke Closs measures his energy use with his Kill-a-watt, Michael Bhardwaj fights vampire power, Alex Steffen blogs bright green at Worldchanging, Bruce MacDougall poses an energy riddle, Tom Howell investigates obsolete armoires, and Bill St. Arnaud explains how the Internet causes carbon emissions.

2008-01-16 - Episode 20

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Alex Pang on "Googling your stuff" with RFID tags, Justin Langois turns RSS feeds into art in With Love, RSS, Virginia Heffernan defends lurking, Maddy Janse builds the connected house of the future with the Amigo Project, and Alex Pang returns to explore the future of RFID

2008-01-09 - Episode 19

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Nora needs to pee, and consults MizPee, Carlo Ratti maps the Wikicity, Joe Pompei beams sound with the Audio Spotlight, Kristen Nauth explains multisensory marketing, Dan Ackerman Greenberg greases the wheels of viral video, Jean Burgess on the viral nature of the web, and Nora introduces the Spark Wiki, then asks for your questions for her interview with Howard Rheingold.

2008-01-02 - Episode 18

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Spark listeners share their technological New Year's resolutions, Gina Trapani boosts her productivity with some New Year's life hacks, Spark producer Elizabeth de-clutters by donating her CD-ROMs to MOOT, the Museum of Obsolete Technologies, Rick Prelinger archives ephemeral films, and students at George Brown College resolve to learn to type

2007-12-26 - Episode 17

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 08:00:00 GMT

Spark listeners watch TV on demand, Matthew Cashmore on the shared experience of television, Nora and Cathi Bond watch a giant outdoor television, Peter Rukavina explains living with a Nabaztag WiFi-enabled rabbit, and Anand Giridharadas explains outsourcing 2.0.

2007-12-19 - Episode 16

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:00:00 GMT

Frank Branham explains why so many board games come with DVDs, Tom Lucier has a love/hate relationship with USB gadgets as Christmas gifts, Darsha Hewitt turns electronic toys into circuit bent instruments, Jay Baydala wants to eliminate extreme poverty through ChristmasFuture, Techiquette: Tom Howell asks if it's ethical to upgrade to the latest power-hungry electronics

2007-12-12 - Episode 15

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 08:00:00 GMT

George Norman Lippert writes Harry Potter fan fiction, Denis McGrath on fan fiction, Daniel Gervais on the legal implications of fan fiction and remix culture, Rick Prelinger on the peaceful co-existence of fee and free (full interview, Spark listeners confess their love for old technology, the University of Manitoba holds a funeral for its mainframe, and Mitch Joel on online reputation management.

2007-12-05 - Episode 14

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 08:00:00 GMT

What the heck is my kid doing? Technology that parents just don't understand, high school students Rose and Brad from Spartan Youth Radio explain how they use technology, Barbara Coloroso on parenting in the age of surveillance, Emily Want on Anne's Diary, a social networking site for girls, kids explain the technology their parents just don't understand, Tom Lucier is a paper man, and students from Spartan Youth Radio explain their relationships with technology.

2007-11-28 - Episode 13

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 08:00:00 GMT

(Some) Spark listeners are geeks, Craig Desson joins the Dork Army, a group of Canadian professional video gamers, Celeste McWhorter defines gamedar, André Meadows is a self-professed "proud certified black nerd," Raafi Rivero on the rise of the black nerd, and Anand Giridharadas explains outsourcing 2.0.

2007-11-21 - Episode 12

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 08:00:00 GMT

Matthew Cashmore on the shared experience of television, Nora and Cathi Bond watch a giant outdoor television, Peter Rukavina explains living with a Nabaztag WiFi-enabled rabbit, Techiquette: Tom Howell investigates the ethics of personal outsourcing, and Anand Giridharadas explains outsourcing 2.0

2007-11-14 - Episode 11

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 08:00:00 GMT

Elizabeth Bowie admits her WiFi is unsecure, Rob Burbach explains the latest trends in credit card fraud, Tracey Black explains the next generation of payment systems -- the chip card, Roger Ball measures Chinese head and face shapes for the SizeChina project, Robert Beggs helps Elizabeth secure her WiFi, Darin Myman on the BigString self-destructing email service, and Robert Ransick explains his artwork Casa Segura.

2007-11-07 - Episode 10

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 08:00:00 GMT

Lorraine Gauthier gives John Van Dusen's wartime house a green makeover as part of the Now House project, John Moralee and Tom Steinberg improve their neighbourhoods using FixMyStreet , Techiquette: Tom Howell investigates the legalities and ethics of using your neighbour's WiFi, the grade five class at Market Lane Public School cranks dat Soulja Boy, and Xiaochang Li explains the success of Soulja Boy and how internet trends cross over into the mainstream.

2007-10-31 - Episode 9

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 08:00:00 GMT

Are advertisements becoming smarter than we are? Nick Prigioniero explains marketing through narrowcasting, Anastasia Goodstein on marketing to kids in virtual worlds, John Furneaux tells us how Life Brand tissue boxes got their stripes, Allen Adamson on product repackaging trends, and Tom Howell spins hybrid vinyl CDs right round, baby, right round.

2007-10-24 - Episode 8

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 08:00:00 GMT

Adrian Bowyer prints in 3D with RepRap, Richard Harper demystifies the paperless office, Jeff Bilmes controls a mouse pointer with the vocal joystick, Jamais Cascio and William Gibson on the future of the 3D Web, and Cory Kidd and Amna Carreiro on Autom: A Robotic Weight Loss Coach

2007-10-17 - Episode 7

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 08:00:00 GMT

Matthew Seiler brews some do-it-yourself root beer, Sherry Huss on Maker Faire and the DIY movement, Jamais Cascio and William Gibson on smart environments and the future of the Internet, Journalism student Catherine Rolfsen interviews Andrew Keen and Rahaf Harfoursh about the future of newspapers, your reactions to cell phones on airplanes,and Nora and Tom Howell try to change traffic lights using magnets

2007-10-10 - Episode 6

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 08:00:00 GMT

Nora rides David McCallum's Warbike, Jesse Wente unwires his house with Internet over Power Lines, William Kamkwamba builds a windmill to bring electricity to his home, Ory Okolloh on the power of blogging in Africa, Nora mentions Afrigator, an African blog aggregator, Promo for next episode: William Gibson interview, Techiquette: Is it OK to use your cell phone on an airplane?

2007-10-03 - Episode 5

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 08:00:00 GMT

On this episode of Spark: Nora drops her cellphone in the sink, the toilet, and the pool, Karen Ryan on Trash Luxe, design that finds "beauty in unexpected and unwanted materials,"CScout Japan's Michael Keferl explains QR codes, Ivan Bowman answers questions about his robot IvanAnywhere, Lane Becker and Patti Roll on crowdsourced customer service with Satisfaction, and Khoi Vinh on designed deterioration.

2007-09-26 - Episode 4

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 08:00:00 GMT

Mike Partridge explains his cochlear implant, Kevin Englehart on the new wave of artificial limbs, Ryan Knighton on computer screen reader monotony, Spark visits a German-style games night at Drexoll Games in Vancouver, is it OK to look at someone else's browser history?, David Sky writes a sequencer plugin for Audacity, Pedro Mendes on Digital camera hacks, and Andy Thompson and Patrick Condon on the return of the trailer park.

2007-09-05 - Episode 1

CBC Radio: Spark — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 08:00:00 GMT

On the first episode of Spark, Nora Young explores Plagiarism 2.0, cleaning your keyboard in the dishwasher, interactive film, and Omlet.