This Way Up for Saturday 23 July 2016

This Way Up 23 July 2016 Part 1

Dan Lyons' 'Disrupted', next generation medical testing, and tech news with Peter Griffin.

Misadventures in tech startup land

Dan Lyons was a senior tech journalist who lost his job and joined a tech startup run by people half his age; and that's where the fun really began!

Dan Lyons author of Disrupted Photo: Max Jeffrey

"The offices bear a striking resemblance to the Montessori preschool that my kids attended: lots of bright basic colors, plenty of toys, and a nap room with a hammock and soothing palm tree murals on the wall."- Dan Lyons

Teased by a crew of narcissistic, ping-pong playing millennials, spouting management speak and corporate gobbledegook, the experience confirmed some of his worst fears about flaws in the tech startup sector.

"HubSpotters talk about being "superstars with superpowers" whose mission is to "inspire people" and "be leaders." They talk about engaging in "delightion," which is a made-up word...that means delighting our customers."

On the plus side it gave him plenty of material to use when he became a writer on the hit TV show Silicon Valley and forms the basis of his book Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble (Hachette).

Next generation medical testing using aptamers

Jeremy Jones of Auramer Bio is aiming to shake up traditional medical testing technology, using short lengths of DNA called aptamers.

Prototype of Auramer Bio's aptamer-based testing system Photo: (Supplied)

Tech news with Peter Griffin

Peter Griffin Photo: Supplied

Peter Griffin on Pokemon Go!; the game's now banned in many countries over concerns about US-sponsored surveillance. Meanwhile a Pokemon-based dating app lets players hook up in real life. Plus what will you do with all those home videos now, as the last VHS VCR rolls off the production line?

Location based AR games alternatives: Ingress, NZ-based GEO AR Games and its Sharks in the Park app.

This Way Up 23 July 2016 Part 2

The secrets of the honeyguide bird, unclogging arteries, teenagers' tech use, a smartphone for children and why the French tyre maker Michelin started rating restaurants.

Teenagers' tech use

Teen tech Photo: Odilon Dimier AltoPress PhotoAlto

Sonia Livingstone is interested in young people's technology use, and how this is affecting friendships, family and learning in the digital age.

She's a Professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and in her new book 'The Class: Living and Learning in the Digital Age' (NYU Press) she looks at how a group of 13-year-olds are using technology at home and in the classroom.

A smartphone for children

The Octopus Smartwatch Photo: Supplied

Wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush teeth, brush hair, feed the chickens, pack a bag, put shoes on, find a coat and walk to school; and it's still only 8:30am!

Teaching kids to manage themselves and develope a routine can be a real challenge. Sam Hickmann has 2 children aged 4 and 12 and he was finding it tough to juggle work and parenting. His answer? A brightly coloured smartwatch called the Octopus that's targeted at children and designed to prompt and nag them into doing what they should.

The Kickstarter campaign to build the Octopus watch has just closed and it's raised more than a million dollars, about $930,000 more than the original goal.
 

Science news: honeyguide secrets and unclogging arteries

Lesser honeyguide Indicator minor Photo: (Flickr user Derek Keats CC BY 2.0)

Dr Chris Smith with the latest science news and a chemical key that could be used to unclog arteries and fight heart disease. Also the secrets of the honeyguide bird and a new way to store data using chlorine atoms.

Michelin guide history

How on earth did a French tyre company get into rating restaurants?!

A Michelin star translates into major bucks for any restaurant and losing them can be a disaster. And it's not just top end eateries that get them either.

Two hawker street stalls in Singapore have just been awarded a Michelin star, the first time in the famous culinary guide's history that Asian street stalls have got the award.

But how did a French tyre company get interested in rating restaurants? Alex Mayyasi's written a history of the Michelin guides on priceonomics.com.