Y. Karp? Why Not!

Yossi tries VR goggles and gives you a blow-by-blow description of the experience.

We've all worked for free at some point. Why do we do it? Should we do it? Why do we work unpaid overtime hours and feel good about it?

Our modern lifestyle can be toxic. Listen to this mind-blowing interview with Dr. Reuven Rosenberg - it will change the way you live for the better. Learn several easy things that you can do that will have a profound impact on your health today and in years to come. This is the real deal.

What is a postliterate society and are we living in one? I dive into this question and include some of your thoughts on this in this episode of Y. Karp? Why Not!

Getting the right amount of sleep, and good quality sleep is so important for your mental and physical well-being. The only way to know how to fix our sleep habits is to first measure them. Luckily, there’s a lot you can do at home with consumer sleep tech.

When you work for someone else, you never really know if when you get to work, the boss will call you into his office and tell you that you’re being let go. It can happen to anyone. Here are some of your stories about being fired.

The unveiling of Google’s Duplex technology at Google I/O last week was so amazing and so controversial, I can’t stop thinking about it. Here's my take and how it might affect you.

Hacking attempts occur all the time. Are you protecting your customer's personal information? Does your business comply with GDPR? As a consumer, how do you minimize the risk of long-term damage caused by data breaches?

What kind of motivation is good for you? What's the difference between motivation and manipulation? Is giving up always a bad thing? How do tech companies motivate and manipulate us?

Completely immersing yourself in a task or activity can be difficult - but satisfying, and a little unnerving. What goes on in your brain when you concentrate and how can you train yourself to concentrate better? The answer will surprise you!

From the buggy whip to interstellar travel, we are always thinking of new, different, and faster ways to get places. So here are four transportation-related inventions that didn’t quite make it into mainstream life.

If some of the most important skills you need to be a professional are not your core technical skills, what are they?

Money makes the world go 'round. The cashless society is upon us, but what's in it for you?

What is quantum computing and why do we need it?

"Mars" is the title of a TV series that dramatizes the challenges of colonizing the Red Planet, mixed with true-to-life interviews with experts in the field. This is my review of National Geographic's "Mars".

We live in a face-down generation where everyone seems to be addicted to their phones. I tested myself to see how I would manage without my smartphone on a three-day vacation. How did I fare?

"The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two" is a psychology paper by George Miller published in 1956. It contends that the human brain can only store up to seven chunks of information at a time. Therefore, says the theory, all information design must be based around this rule. Fact or fiction?

There are times that you really want technology to step in and improve your life. Bio-Hacking isn’t something new. In fact, augmenting the body with technology has been around for centuries: Captain Hook’s hook, for example, or prosthetic limbs, eyeglasses and pacemakers. But would I implant a chip into my body for something other than medical reasons?

What's next in text-to-speech? In December 2017, Google presented a paper that showed a new technological advance in text-to-speech. Until now, Google says, pre-recorded words stitched together doesn’t do the trick. The computerized voice comes off sounding fake. No kidding. The new approach that Google took resulted in Tacotron 2 - a new method of parsing text to speech that can replicate many of the nuances of human speech.

The problem with money is that it affects everything in our lives - from the food we eat, to the clothes w e wear, to the places we visit, and to the education we get. So I think that the truth is: Without a plan, you’re sunk. Here's a plan that just might help.

Months ago, researchers discovered two exploits that affect billions of computers, tablets, and mobile phones. These vulnerabilities were only recently announced. Find out about the two supervillains of hacks: Meltdown and Spectre.

Kodak announced at the recent CES exhibition that they are getting into the cryptocurrency game. It’s hard to know if this initiative by Kodak to ride the wave of cryptocurrency frenzy will drag the company back into the modern era, but they just might be getting some of their once-enviable mojo back. Here's the story of George Eastman, inventor, innovator, and founder of Kodak.

Do you stay up late? There’s always something interesting to do or important to take care of that you convince yourself has to be done right now. There’s that tweet that you have to read before it gets washed away. Facebook calls you to react to a post, and there are those videos of stupid people falling over that you need to watch so that you can be grateful that you aren’t one of them. All of these fascinating reasons for staying up far too late are seriously damaging to you and your brain.

Should we be polite to our digital assistants? It’s a question that has become more and more important to answer as artificial intelligence continues to become a large part of our daily lives. This episode features special contributions from some of our listeners!

How do you turn technical writing from a necessary evil into a valuable asset? This is where we separate out the very average technical writers from the best ones.

Now that Bitcoin has reached astronomical value (over $19,000 per coin as of today) the entire idea of cryptocurrencies - decentralized digital currencies - is once again a hot topic. Here's a bit about the most famous of all cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin.

The one-hour challenge: Write a short story in one hour or less and then narrate it. I did, and here it is! Cold Beer and Hot Sun. Enjoy.

Which jobs will still be around in 50 to 100 years? It’s really hard to know. Almost every profession out there has a technological doppelganger. Writers, coders, technicians, drivers, construction workers, you name it. But what's the one profession that will absolutely never disappear?

Today I want to explore the idea of bringing modern technology into classrooms. It would seem that in the modern world, where Internet, computers, and connectedness are growing as important parts of our lives, we would want to give our children a head start and gear-up their schools with technology. Is that what we really want for our kids?

One of my favorite science fiction themes is time travel. There’s something fascinating about being able to travel through time. So, as a self-proclaimed expert in time-travel, basically, from watching way too many sci-fi flicks, here’s my community service to the entire timeline: 4 things you absolutely need to know about time travel.

Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking have come out strongly in favor of regulating artificial intelligence R&D. Their main fear is that we’ll create autonomous weapons that will become self-aware and eventually destroy all of humanity. So today we are going to scratch the surface of the huge subject of AI and figure out whether or not this technology is going to kill us all.

If you are thinking of writing your own app, engaging a developer to write an app for you, or if you have ever used an app, you’ll love this super-interesting interview with app developer Gershon Kagan. Our conversation takes you on an inside look into developing apps for iOS and Android. We discuss the development process, the differences between developing for iOS and Android, tools, testing methods, how to get your app into the AppStore, and how to make money from your app.

Technologists are already wondering what’s next - what technology is being developed now that is on the cusp of changing our lives? Many agree that the Internet of Things - networked devices that send and receive data (like your internet connected fridge, doorbell, baby monitor, thermostat or family car) - is the next big thing. Imagine a world where all of your devices are connected to each other and to the Internet. The possibilities are almost endless.

Akai came out with an affordable electronic saxophone called Ewi that connects to a computer. You blow into it, much like any woodwind instrument, and you can set the keys to mimic those from a flute, saxophone, clarinet, and many other instruments. You could also play a large number of sounds - trumpet, saxophone, violin, clarinet, and so on. The best part was that since it was completely electronic, I could plug in headphones and nobody would even know that I was practicing.

This is a special episode featuring my interview with author Shaul Behr. During our conversation, Shaul dropped a number of really good hints and tips for getting through the entire novel-writing process, from inspiration to finished book. His book-writing journey is fascinating.

When I was growing up, my grandfather used to cut my hair. I had no concept of fashion or style, of course, but I’m sure he did a good job of it. At least for a while when I was a kid, my grandfather used to cut my hair and it was alright for me. So when my boys were born and needed haircuts, I had no trouble getting out the electric hair trimmer and cutting their hair.

Welcome to the Y Karp? Why Not! Podcast. This is episode 2: Out There Somewhere. With the recent launch of the new Star Trek television series “Discovery”, my mind has been wandering again to the idea of whether we are actually alone in the universe. My family will tell you that this is one of my favorite topics because I just can’t believe that out of the 200 billion star systems in this galaxy alone, that there is no other life out there.

As the world becomes more and more technology-centric, we become more and more reliant on tech companies to bring us the goods and services that we think we need. Tech companies will rule the world.

Technology, writing, gadgets, gizmos, and the stuff of life that makes it interesting!