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Science

Interviews: Ask Malcolm Gladwell a Question 111

Malcolm Gladwell is a speaker, author, and staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996. Gladwell's writing often focuses on research in the social sciences and the unexpected connections or theories made from such research. His books: The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, Outliers: The Story of Success, and David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants are all New York Times best sellers. Malcolm has agreed to give us some of his time to answer any question you may have. As usual, ask as many as you'd like, but please, one per post.
Sci-Fi

Interviews: Warren Ellis Answers Your Questions 15

Recently you had a chance to ask acclaimed author of comics, novels, and television, Warren Ellis, about his work and sci-fi in general. Below you'll find his answers to your questions.
Science

Interviews: Ask Rachel Sussman About Photography and the Oldest Living Things 35

samzenpus writes Rachel Sussman is a photographer whose work covers the junction of art, science, and philosophy. Perhaps her most famous work is the "Oldest Living Things in the World" project. Working with biologists, she traveled all over the world to find and photograph organisms that are 2,000 years old and older. Sussman gave a TED talk highlighting parts of the project including a clonal colony of quaking aspen 80,000-years-old and 2,000-year-old brain coral off Tobago's coast. Rachel has agreed to put down her camera and answer any questions you may have about photography or any of her projects. As usual, ask as many as you'd like, but please, one per post.
Privacy

Interviews: Ask Executive Director Andrew Lewman About Tor and Privacy 61

samzenpus writes Andrew Lewman wears many hats: biologist, advocate against domestic violence, programmer, Executive Director of the Tor project and a member of the board of directors. He works to preserve the right to speak and read freely online by fighting laws and technology that threaten anonymity. Just how hard that has become is much clearer now that the NSA's interest in Tor has become public. Andrew has agreed to give us some of his time and answer any questions you might have. As usual, ask as many as you'd like, but please, one per post.
Education

Interviews: Ask Robert Ballard About Ocean Exploration 40

samzenpus writes A former Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, Robert Ballard is one of the most famous ocean explorers in the world. He is best known for his discoveries of hydrothermal vents, the Titanic, and the German battleship the Bismarck. Ballard is the "Explorer-in-Residence" for the National Geographic Society. He works extensively on exploration through telepresence capabilities and distance learning programs including the JASON Project, which reaches more than 1 million students. His latest work involves the Ocean Exploration Trust, the organization that manages his exploration ship the E/V Nautilus. The ship carries with it two ROVs named Hercules and Argus that explore the seafloor in real-time online. Dr. Ballard has just concluded the 2014 season and has agreed to answer your questions. As usual, ask as many as you'd like, but please, one per post.
Books

Interviews: Ask Warren Ellis a Question 58

samzenpus writes "Warren Ellis is an acclaimed British author of comics, novels, and television who is well known for his sociocultural commentary. The movies Red and Iron Man 3 are based on his graphic novels. In addition to numerous other comic titles, he started a personal favorite, Transmetropolitan. Ellis has written for Vice, Wired UK, and Reuters on technological and cultural matters, and is co-writing a video project called Wastelanders with Joss Whedon. Warren has agreed to give us some of his time to answer any questions you may have. As usual, ask as many as you'd like, but please, one per post."
Patents

Interviews: Ask Florian Mueller About Software Patents and Copyrights 187

Florian Mueller is a blogger, software developer and former consultant who writes about software patents and copyright issues on his FOSSPatents blog. In 2004 he founded the NoSoftwarePatents campaign, and has written about Microsoft's multi-billion-dollar Android patent licensing business and Google's appeal of Oracle's Android-Java copyright case to the Supreme Court. Florian has agreed to give us some of his time in order to answer your questions. As usual, ask as many as you'd like, but please, one per post.
Security

Interviews: Ask Reuben Paul What Hackers Can Learn From an 8-Year-Old 44

Reuben A. Paul, aka RAPstar, has something of a head-start when it comes to learning about computer security: his father, Mano Paul, has been a security researcher (and instructor) for many years. So Reuben grew up around computers, seeing firsthand that they're neither mysterious nor impregnable. Reuben, though, has a curious mind and his own computer security interests, and a knack for telling others about them; last month, he became the youngest-ever speaker at DerbyCon, and explained some of what he's picked up so far on what kids can learn about security, as well as what the security field can learn from kids. (One hard to dispute nugget: "Kids are the best social engineers, followed by puppies.") Ask of Reuben whatever you'd like, below (please, one question per post), and we'll get answers to selected questions when we catch up with him at next week's Houston Security Conference. (This year's conference is sold out, but there's always 2015.)
Medicine

Professor Kevin Fu Answers Your Questions About Medical Device Security 21

Almost a year ago you had a chance to ask professor Kevin Fu about medical device security. A number of events (including the collapse of his house) conspired to delay the answering of those questions. Professor Fu has finally found respite from calamity, coincidentally at a time when the FDA has issued guidance on the security of medical devices. Below you'll find his answers to your old but not forgotten questions.
Television

Interviews: David Saltzberg Answers Your Questions About The Big Bang Theory 106

As the science consultant for The Big Bang Theory for the past seven seasons, Dr. David Saltzberg makes sure the show gets its science right. A few weeks ago, you had the chance to ask him about his work on the show and his personal scientific endeavors. Below you'll find his answers to those questions.
Social Networks

Interview: Ask Christopher "moot" Poole About 4chan and Social Media 220

Having started 4chan when he was 15, Christopher Poole, better known as "moot", is indirectly responsible for almost every meme you've ever seen. The group "Anonymous" originated on 4chan and has since engaged in a number of well-publicized publicity stunts and distributed denial-of-service attacks. Thanks to users gaming the system, moot was famously voted the world's most influential person of 2008 in an open internet poll conducted by Time magazine. He is an advocate of online anonymity and speaks on the importance of privacy online to foster creativity and open discussion. moot has agreed to answer your questions about 4chan, social media, and privacy. As usual, ask as many as you'd like, but please, one per post.
Programming

Interviews: Ask Bjarne Stroustrup About Programming and C++ 427

In addition to being the creator of C++, Bjarne Stroustrup is a Managing Director in the technology division of Morgan Stanley, a Visiting Professor in Computer Science at Columbia University, and a Distinguished Research Professor in Computer Science at Texas A&M University. Bjarne has written a number of books and was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He will be doing a live Google + Q & A within the C++ community on August 20th, 2014 at 12:30pm EST, but has agreed to answer your questions first. As usual, ask as many as you'd like, but please, one per post.
Books

Interviews: Ask Tim O'Reilly About a Life Steeped In Technology 39

Today's interview guest is literally a household name: If you look at the shelves in nearly any programmer's house, developer shop or hackerspace, you'll probably see a stretch of books from O'Reilly Media (or O'Reilly & Associates, depending on how old the books are). Tim O'Reilly started out publishing a few technical manuals in the late '70s, branching from there into well-received technical reference and instructional books, notably ones covering open source languages and operating systems (how many people learned to install and run a new OS from Matt Walsh's Running Linux?), but neither Tim O'Reilly nor the company has gotten stuck in one place for long. As a publisher, he was early to make electronic editions available, in step with the increasing capabilities of electronic readers. Make Magazine (later spun off as part of Maker Media, which also produces Maker Faires around the world) started as an O'Reilly project; the company's conferences like OSCON, Fluent, and this year's Solid are just as much a manifestation of O'Reilly's proclivity for spreading knowledge as the books are, and those are only part of the picture, being joined with seminars, video presentations, and more. Tim O'Reilly is often hailed as a futurist and an activist (he was an early proponent of 3-D printing and hardware hacking, and a loud voice for patent reform) and he's got his eye on trends from global (how the Internet functions) to more personal -- like ways that physical goods can be produced, customized, and networked. So please go ahead and ask O'Reilly about what it's been like to be a publisher of paper books in an ever-more electronic world, as well as a visionary in the world of DIY and fabrication, or anything else on your mind. As usual, ask as many questions as you'd like, but please, one per post.
Movies

Interviews: Ask James Cameron About The Deepsea Challenge 3D Movie 45

Starting at 5:15 am local time on March 26, 2012, James Cameron piloted the Deepsea Challenger to the east depression of the Challenger Deep, the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. He spent three hours exploring the sea floor. Later analysis of the specimens Cameron collected during this and other dives in the submersible revealed many life forms, with at least 100 of them identified as new species. One shrimp-like amphipod was found to produce a compound that was already in clinical trials to treat Alzheimer’s disease. The Deepsea Challenger submersible and science platform was donated to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on March 26, 2013, the one-year anniversary of the historic dive. A new National Geographic film chronicling the project from the beginning called, Deepsea Challenge 3D, is coming out August 8th in select theaters. Here's your chance to ask James Cameron and director John Bruno about the film, the dive, and the submersible. As usual, ask as many questions as you'd like, but please, one per post.
AI

Interviews: Ask Dr. Andy Chun About Artificial Intelligence 71

samzenpus (5) writes "Dr. Andy Chun is the CIO for the City University of Hong Kong, and is instrumental in transforming the school to be one of the most technology-progressive in the region. He serves as an adviser on many government boards including the Digital 21 Strategy Advisory Committee, which oversees Hong Kong's long-term information technology strategies. His research work on the use of Artificial Intelligence has been honored with numerous awards, and his AI system keeps the subway in Hong Kong running and repaired with an amazing 99.9% uptime. Dr. Chun has agreed to give us some of his time in order to answer your questions. As usual, ask as many as you'd like, but please, one question per post."

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