Very lively episode with a great conversation about the new SyFy series “Warehouse 13” and my misadventures trying to enter the registration key for Office 2009 on my iMac.

Rocky but entertaining start as we struggle to bring Peter online via Skype from San Antonio.

This weeks episode features a 30 minute interview with Craig Nelson, author of Rocket Men. Surprising and little known facts of the Apollo 11 moon landing!

The Introduction to Arduino Class sponsored by TX Rx Labs will be held in the meeting room of the Caroline Collective, located at 4820 Caroline St., Houston, TX 77004 (map), on Sunday, July 26th from 2 to 6pm.

Cost of the class is $50 and seating is limited. Please sign up online if you wish to attend!

This is an introduction to the physical computing platform known as the Arduino. In this class we will be assembling our own Arduino clone on a standard hobby breadboard and doing several simple coding examples. Examples will include blinking LEDs, piezo speakers, Pulse Wave Modulation, switch debouncing and reading analog signals.

This is the first class in a series of classes using the Arduino platform. All students will receive a set of parts upon arrival that are theirs to keep. These parts, once assembled, will be a fully functional Arduino clone that will be used in future lessons such as motor/servo control and advanced programming.

A laptop is required for this course. In order to speed up the beginning of class, please make sure you have downloaded and installed the following item that pertains to your operating system

Windows

Linux

Mac OS X

Technology Bytes host Jay Lee discusses the dangers of Twitter with Jeff Ehling on ABC 13

Interview with Bob White at about 25 minutes into the show.

On Wednesday, June 24th we’ll be speaking with Robert White, Sr. Scientist for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory – National Center for Photovoltaics and former Technical Staff member and now guest Scientist with Los Alamos National Laboratory, Space Sciences and Astrophysics group.

Robert is currently working on solar cell development and improving solar cell efficiencies by exploring different types of technologies (thin films vs. crystalline silicone). For more information about the section of the lab his is responsible for chck out www.nrel.gov/pv/pdil

Robert is also working at the Los Alamos National Laboratory creating robotic observatories that can search the night sky for changes (both new things and unusual changes in old objects) and initiate world wide follow ups by large scale instrumentation…all without humans in the loop. These also perform automated follow-ups from satellite triggers for gamma-ray bursts – the largest explosions in the universe other than the Big Bang.To quote Robert “Makes supernovae look like matches” For information about this project check out www.thinkingtelescopes.lanl.gov

Aside from his current projects we’ll also be discussing the history, myths and reality of Los Alamos National Laboratory from the development of the atom bomb all the way up to the most modern, cutting edge science the laboratory is currently involved in.

Robert White is also a software programmer and spent time at Ion Storm where he designed the game Deux Ex and prior to that worked with Richard Garriot on the Ultima series of games.

This should be an interesting and informative discussion and we hope you have the opportunity to tune in and listen.

We’ll be broadcasting this live on KPFT 90.1 FM in Houston and streaming via the World Wide Web here at geekradio.com

Robert Wallace is the co-author of SPYCRAFT: THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE CIA’S SPY TECHNOLOGY and was our guest on Technology Bytes. This interview runs about 30 minutes and is quite fascinating.

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Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA’s Spytechs, from Communism to al-Qaeda