This week and last, I'm joined by singer-songwriter Rachel Kiel to talk about Shazam: the massive data analytics platform that occasionally tells you the names of songs. Find out:

• How they use computers to turn all your favorite songs into constellations
• What other things you can Shazam, if you're not a music person
• What Shazam likes to do in its spare time, when you think it's not listening anymore

References:

• https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/11/24/shazam-for-ios-will-listen-to-songs-for-longer-before-giving-up
• https://appleinsider.com/articles/24/05/22/shazam-can-now-run-in-the-background-with-live-activities
• https://daniellenewnham.medium.com/fostering-innovation-and-choosing-the-right-founding-team-6287f7eed9f
• https://d3.harvard.edu/platform-digit/submission/shazam-predictive-analysis-for-the-music-industry/
• https://patents.justia.com/inventor/avery-li-chun-wang
• https://profwurzer.com/shazams-ip-fortress-layered-protection-built-a-billion-dollar-app/
• http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/12/the-shazam-effect/382237/
• https://venturebeat.com/social/shazam-american-idol/
• https://www.cnbc.com/2015/06/14/shazam-names-that-tune-drawing-in-money-and-users.html
• https://www.computerweekly.com/news/450409644/How-Shazam-handles-its-data-reserves
• https://www.ee.columbia.edu/~dpwe/papers/Wang03-shazam.pdf
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/averywang08/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/s/uX3Gjl7FUm
• https://www.seti.org/people/avery-wang/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3hNkU03sLA
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0m-G6iwrCw

This week and next, I'm joined by singer-songwriter Rachel Kiel to talk about Shazam: the massive data analytics platform that occasionally tells you the names of songs. Find out:

• How they use computers to turn all your favorite songs into constellations
• What other things you can Shazam, if you're not a music person
• What Shazam likes to do in its spare time, when you think it's not listening anymore

References:

• https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/11/24/shazam-for-ios-will-listen-to-songs-for-longer-before-giving-up
• https://appleinsider.com/articles/24/05/22/shazam-can-now-run-in-the-background-with-live-activities
• https://daniellenewnham.medium.com/fostering-innovation-and-choosing-the-right-founding-team-6287f7eed9f
• https://d3.harvard.edu/platform-digit/submission/shazam-predictive-analysis-for-the-music-industry/
• https://patents.justia.com/inventor/avery-li-chun-wang
• https://profwurzer.com/shazams-ip-fortress-layered-protection-built-a-billion-dollar-app/
• http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/12/the-shazam-effect/382237/
• https://venturebeat.com/social/shazam-american-idol/
• https://www.cnbc.com/2015/06/14/shazam-names-that-tune-drawing-in-money-and-users.html
• https://www.computerweekly.com/news/450409644/How-Shazam-handles-its-data-reserves
• https://www.ee.columbia.edu/~dpwe/papers/Wang03-shazam.pdf
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/averywang08/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/s/uX3Gjl7FUm
• https://www.seti.org/people/avery-wang/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3hNkU03sLA
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0m-G6iwrCw

It looks like you're trying to listen to a podcast. Would you like some help with that? Join me and my guest Dana Vannen Anderson for the bizarre and frequently cringe story of Clippy, the paperclip that us helped write a thousand letters. Find out:

• Where we got the notion that your computer should act like a person
• Why Microsoft ditched the idea of Clippy ever shutting the fuck up
• What celebrated actor brought the paperclip to life for Office XP's mortifying launch campaign

References:

• https://arxiv.org/pdf/1301.7385
• https://jesse.cafe/blog/packard-bell-navigator/
• https://guidebookgallery.org/tutorials/packardbellnavigator39/gettingstarted
• https://web.archive.org/web/20110504005120/https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2008/04/-quot-clippy-quot-update-now-with-organizational-anthropology/8006/
• https://web.archive.org/web/20110124023627/http://blogs.msdn.com/b/chris_pratley/archive/2004/01/31/65479.aspx
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHgzgbLwhKM#t=1m41s
• https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/nov/07/chatgpt-lawsuit-suicide-coach
• https://web.archive.org/web/20070212204645/http://lis.dickinson.edu/Technology/Training/Tutorials/MsOffice/assistant.htm
• https://web.archive.org/web/20010812061222/http://www.microsoft.com/office/clippy/
• https://web.archive.org/web/20190214194638/https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/techtalk/2005/12/16/pm-at-microsoft/
• https://web.archive.org/web/20121024125147/http://news.cnet.com/2100-1001-255671.html
• https://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-city-life/2022/08/origin-story-of-clippy-the-microsoft-office-assistant
• https://magnus919.com/2025/05/the-rise-and-fall-of-clippy-from-microsofts-bold-vision-to-internet-legend/
• https://spir.aoir.org/ojs/index.php/spir/article/view/10923/9596
• https://www.newspapers.com/image/1143853682/
• https://www.newspapers.com/image/295620970/
• https://www.newspapers.com/image/770293367/
• https://www.newspapers.com/image/658114957/
• https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/2001-05-03-clippy-campaign.htm
• https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/191666.191703
• https://archive.org/details/g4tv.com-video4080
• https://hardcoresoftware.learningbyshipping.com/p/042-clippy-the-fcking-clown