Dr. Moira Gunn meets with two of the founding members of R.E.M. Michel Stipe and Mike Mills, who share their technology insights on music, creativity and modern life.

Dr. Moira Gunn talks with Genomic Health President, Kim Popovits about cancer diagnosis and then catches up with Chris Garabedian, CEO of A-V-I, regarding new hope in the area of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

A strut-based deforming system underlies the Odin system of self-reconfiguring modular robotics discussed by Andreas Lyder. In this audio interview, Lyder shows how different systems, such as Odin, M-Tran and Thor, offer different advantages to his colleagues as they research self-reconfiguring modular robotics. Odin provides fast, high-resolution actuation. In the Thor system, each unit has a different function.

Peter Michalek is leading the the oX/OpenLynx effort, a scalable and comprehensive conceptual solution to support the needs of this next wave of computing. As described by Toby Considine, "plug'ins are used for each new control protocol (BACnet, ModBus, DNP, …) to be exposed in the oX server. This model distinguishes between the low level low voltage protocol used for each system and the information harvesting that one wishes to do in the wide world." Peter discusses the project and its current status and use.

Why are researchers in the United States accepting money from the government of China, in exchange for improving their surveillance ability? This is one of many uncomfortable questions Evgeny Morozov submits for consideration. He reminds us that although China may be the elephant in the room among obviously repressive governments, the role played by Western policymakers, corporations, and institutions which trade with them, make excuses for them, and profit from business with them is a more immediate peril to us all.

Vik Chaudhary, VP of Product Management & Corporate Development at Keynote Systems, Inc., talks about the increasing popularity of apps on a variety of smartphones and the corresponding importance of testing those apps for optimal efficiency. Presenting both the challenges and goals of testing mobile apps, as well as demonstrating remote testing of apps, Chaudhary emphasizes testing and data collection as key to mobile app creation.

Jay Phillips is technical lead and project manager of Adhearsion, an open source Ruby framework designed to make building voice- and telephony-enabled applications as straightforward as building web applications. He discusses a handful of technology trends that have paved the way for small and mid-sized development teams to create phone-enabled applications in a matter of days or weeks, not months.

According to the Supermechanical website, "Twine is a wireless module tightly integrated with a cloud-based service. The module has WiFi, on-board temperature and vibration sensors, and an expansion connector for other sensors." Developer John Kestner describes the device and its development. He reviews how it works, what decisions were made in its design, and how It allows you to connect things to the Internet. He also discusses the community that is working to make the product better.

Gabe Zichermann shares tips on how to use gamification techniques to increase end-user engagement in open source software. Gamification is the process of using game design techniques to solve problems in other domains that are not game related. Gabe is an entrepreneur, a blogger, an author and a gamification thought leader.

Our long-term interaction with the web will be defined by six trends. These trends will will involve dramatic changes that will make computing more like what we are used to seeing in many of today's movies. Kevin Kelly explains why he believes that soon the internet will beneficially surround us in ways that most users don't imagine today.

It is hard to imagine getting advice on the future of publishing from the Cheezburger Network. Then again, questioning the status quo, and delivering what people really want, is exactly what Ben Huh has done. By using unconventional practices, he has built a group of very popular websites. So maybe it isn't such a surprise that they have published several hit books. In this keynote Huh discusses how they they engineered their books to be best-sellers.

Linking information technology management to popular public technology and physics, Cfengine's Mark Burgess describes the fluidity and diversity necessary to keep up with changes in information technology. Rather than the standardization and bureaucracy that globalization tends to bring, Burgess advocates cultural diversity and human input in IT management but with a universal focus on speed and predictability.

In discussing the economic value of Google, Hal Varian focuses on the impact of Google Search in terms of time saved, and advertisements on Google in terms of profit, publicity, and communication. Presenting gains and losses with mathematical equations, social norms, and increasing use of technology, Google's Chief Economist presents Google's impact on the world at large and for specific demographics.

Brains have bugs. Our memories can be faulty, emotions are hard to judge, and we're terrible at rating the value of anything. All in all, Paul Fenwick says, human minds make a lot of mistakes, and we're all easy to manipulate. Listing a number of studies, experiments, and business plans, Fenwick dives into how the mind works, where the mind goes wrong, and how businesses can influence people into buying their products.

Dr. Moira Gunn talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Steven Naifeh, about new insights into biology from the pages of his new book, Van Gogh: The Life.

Dr. Moira Gunn learns how the war against cancer has moved from the microscope to the computer from University of California at Santa Cruz professor, David Haussler.

As stated on the MQTT website, MQ Telemetry Transport "is a machine-to-machine (M2M)/"Internet of Things" connectivity protocol." Meant to be used remotely particularly when bandwidth is at a premium, it can be used in both mobile and dial-up situations. Developed as part of his work at IBM, Andy Piper discusses the project, including its concepts and background. He also reviews examples of its use and reviews future development plans.

The disruption of innovation has yielded as many opportunities for those prepared to take advantage as it has brought disruption for those unprepared to adjust. New businesses have been able to profit with solutions that solve problems or enable previously excluded people to participate on their own terms. Michael Jackson explores some history and characteristics of disruptive technology.

Many young professionals apply for positions based on what they studied without much experience actually working in the real world. Instead of considering themselves to be experts in many areas, Theo Schlossnagle of OnmiIT argues that professionals "must treat what you do as a craft". He discusses how his experience with both software development as well as running a company gives him a unique view on how tech professionals can be successful in a career.

Dr. Moira Gunn gets a glimpse into cabinet meetings at #10 Downing street from UK Minister of State for Universities and Science, David Willetts, and then hosts the annual biotech industry wrap-up with CEO of Burrill & Co, Steve Burrill.

In a time when iPad apps may become as popular as the Barbie dolls or Hot Wheels toy cars of the past, there are only a few that rise to the notoriety worthy of a closer look. Peter Myers briefly interviews two people associated with unique successes on the tablet and touch-device landscape.