Month: July 2017

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African Tech Roundup - Uber Drivers In South Africa Are Now Considered Employees Of The Ride-hailing Service

According to a ruling made by South Africa's Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), an employer-employee relationship does, in fact, exist between Uber and driver-partners. This follows Uber being dragged to the CCMA several months ago by seven driver-partners who alleged that they were unfairly deactivated by the service. The ride-hailing service has long contended that it is simply a virtual marketplace that connects drivers and passengers and not an employer-- citing the fact that Uber doesn't own cars or have drivers on their payroll. In this African Tech Round-up episode, Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga discuss some of the legal implications of this ruling, and how they might compromise Uber's business model. Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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More or Less: Behind the Stats - Calling the shots at Wimbledon

Using statistics to prove or disprove the wisdom of tennis is the theme this week. In this digital age we are used to information at our fingertips. This week More or Less finds out how every rally, every shot at this tennis championship is counted and makes its way to our phones, desktops and TV screens. And once you have this information ? what can you do with it? Is it useful for players and coaches? Traditionally, players will take a risk on their first chance to serve, and hit the ball as fast as they can, knowing that they have a second chance. On their second attempt, players tend to serve more slowly and carefully to make sure it goes in. But could the statistics show they might as well take a risk again?

(Venus Williams plays a backhand during the Ladies Singles first round match against Elise Mertens at Wimbledon. Credit: Getty Images)

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Serious Inquiries Only - SIO59: Alix Jules

Joining me on the show is Alix Jules! Alix is a super fascinating guy, and we talked for several hours, half of which is captured in today's episode. We definitely did not have the time to get to everything, or even a significant portion, but don't worry! We are already booked for another interview. In this iteration, we discuss his background, some of his activism, and he lends his perspectives to many of the ongoing themes of SIO lately! Here are some links Alix discussed: Lawsuit for Valedictorian: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2017/06/30/white-student-made-co-valedictorian-with-black-student-despite-having-lower-gpa-lawsuit-claims/?utm_term=.4013f6aec165 Mississippi School Desegregates (2016): https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/03/a-mississippi-school-district-is-finally-getting-desegregated/519573/ Mississippi School District Drops Challenge on desegregation (2017): https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/mississippi-school-district-drops-challenge-to-desegregation-order/2017/01/31/8480177e-e7f4-11e6-bf6f-301b6b443624_story.html?utm_term=.29c750d2f9fb Leave Thomas a voicemail! (916) 750-4746, remember short and to the point! Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/seriouspod Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com Direct Download
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The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe - The Skeptics Guide #627 – Jul 15 2017

Live from NECSS 2017; Guest Rogue: Richard Saunders; Greetings from the ISS; News Items: The One Law of Robotics, Eusaurophargis dalsassoi, Gravitational Waves and Extra Dimensions, Homeopathy Ban from Pharmacies, Illness from Placentophagy, Planck's Constant, Cleaver Therapy, Disrupting Microphones; What's the Word: Portmanteau; Dumbest Thing of the Week: Sex and DNA; Science or Fiction
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50 Things That Made the Modern Economy - Dynamo

You might think electricity had an immediate and transformative impact on economic productivity. But you would be wrong. Thirty years after the invention of the useable light bulb, almost all American factories still relied on steam. Factory owners simply couldn’t see the advantage of electric power when their steam systems – in which they had invested a great deal of capital – worked just fine. Simply replacing a steam engine with an electric dynamo did little to improve efficiency. But the thing about a revolutionary technology is that it changes everything. And changing everything takes imagination. Instead of replacing their steam engines with electric dynamos, company bosses needed to re-design the whole factory. Only then would electric power leave steam behind. As Tim Harford explains, the same lag has applied to subsequent technological leaps – including computers. That revolution might be just beginning. Producer: Ben Crighton Editors: Richard Knight and Richard Vadon (Image: Dynamo AC exciter Siemens, Credit: Igor Golovniov/Shutterstock)