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Over the past couple years web security has become a staple of the nightly news. The stories usually hinge on government leaks, foreign hackers, or web encryption. There’s  menacing subtext that practically everything put online is vulnerable to “cyber attacks.” Though one might wonder what steps are being taken to protect not just the government and giant corporations, but you, the individual. What keeps you safe when you stumble your way into a Wikipedia hole or click a strange link sent from a friend? 

To find out, I invited my colleague Russell Brandom to talk about web security, and particularly HTTPS. As Russell explains, while your information isn’t necessarily less vulnerable, websites themselves are becoming safer. This is a dense topic, but fortunately Russell brought a helpful metaphor. It involves pie.

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How HTTPS is slowly but surely making the internet safer

In the early 2000s, the digital photography revolution made it possible for miniaturized camera hardware and image sensors to be packed into cell phones without adding a significant amount of weight. Then the iPhone was announced. As the smartphone war began, the camera became an important part of the ongoing spec race. Competitors tried to beat Apple in making an excellent camera (and app) that was easy to use — and it took until this year for that to start happening.

Now, two-thirds of adults in the US own a smartphone. The average smartphone user takes at least 150 photos per month. Instagram has half a billion monthly users. Even if it’s just selfies or pictures of lunch — nothing has familiarized people with photography like smartphone cameras. It’s now a part of our everyday lives.

I joined Chris on this week’s What’s Tech to talk about my first camera phones, why the newest smartphones have such equally excellent shooters, and where it all goes from here.

How smartphone cameras took over the world

50 Second News Package - Nano-technology discovery at HMRI

Barcelona had back to back tech conferences the past few weeks. First, VMworld, then OpenStack Summit. We talk with Keith Norbie (@KeithNorbie) and Andrew Sullivan, who were able to attend both events.

Episode 64: VMworld & OpenStack Summit Recaps

This week, the Tech ONTAP Podcast team was very fortunate to corral the godfather of DevOps and author of the Phoenix Project, Gene Kim! We talk about all things DevOps, as well as Gene’s new book, The DevOps Handbook

Episode 65: DevOps with Gene Kim

About a month ago, my colleague Dan Seifert admitted on Twitter that he basically does not understand me as a person:
"i will never understand the fascination with watching other people play video games"
Instead of lashing out in his mentions, I sat on that information until the other day, when I finally connected with Dan over Skype to hash it all out. Now you can enjoy our conversation in podcast form, thanks to the Verge Extras feed, which you should definitely subscribe to if you haven't already.
For reference, here are a few of the Twitch streamers I mention in our conversation: Kripparian, Seagull, Bacon Donut, Giant Waffle, Bjergsen. Also, if you want to watch USA defeat New Zealand in the Overwatch World Cup, that’s over on YouTube, or you can dig through the Twitch archives for the rest of the matches.

Why watch people play video games?

We live in the future, where drones skim the sky, corporations enter the space race, and smart watches track our every movement. But how? And why? What's Tech invites experts to explain the technology bit by bit, in clear, brief, enjoyable audio nuggets. These days, technology is everywhere. Let's make sense of what's around us.

How HTTPS is slowly but surely making the internet safer

What's Tech?