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My New Special, "HUNTING THE ELEMENTS," on PBS

In case you missed my PBS "Elements" special this week, it's now online and free!

"Hunting the Elements"--a fast, funny journey through the 118 elements that make up us and our universe. I poured gold, I grabbed sharks, I went to Russia to see where they've created the latest man-made elements by smashing atoms...it's a great show. And it's your tax dollars at work, so you should see what you've bought! :)

(My 2011 NOVA miniseries, "Making Stuff," is available online. To watch, click the show you want: "Making Stuff: Stronger", "Making Stuff: Smaller", "Making Stuff: Cleaner", "Making Stuff: Smarter".

This week's New York Times column

Taking Beats Anywhere, by Bluetooth

Even though thousands of consumer electronics products blanket the earth, from remote-controlled helicopters to MP3 toothbrushes, you probably have the same Must Have list as most people: computer, phone and TV.

But there’s also a Nice to Have list. It includes GPS units, cameras and e-book readers.

Now, these lists don’t expand often. But in 2012, a new object of desire officially joined the Nice to Have list: wireless Bluetooth room speakers.

If you’re not immediately nodding in recognition, that’s the point: it’s a new category...more

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This week's email column

How to Track Your Smartphone Data Usage

As more and more cellphone owners are herded from unlimited data plans into the capped data plans, keeping tabs on how much you’ve used your phone this month is an increasingly urgent task. If you go over any of your monthly limits — calling minutes, text messages or data — you’ll pay overage charges.

Now, I’ve always believed that part of the carriers’ scheme is opacity. They don’t want you to know how many minutes you’ve used of your monthly allotment, how many texts you’ve sent or how much data you’ve used. After all: If you knew where you stood, you’d be less likely to go over your limits and pay extra.

Of course, your usage information is available — if you’re willing to burrow into a Web site and log in with some password you made up the day you bought the phone, or memorize a special dialing code that generates a cryptic text-message usage report.

The trouble is, these techniques require you to remember to do them. I’d guess that very few people have made it a habit to use them. (Besides, the text-message code — #DATA* or whatever — reveals only your data for the month, not calling minutes.)

But the other day, I stumbled onto the My Verizon app for iPhone. There it is, on a single screen: crystal-clear bar graphs for Calls, Texts and Data. If you’re on a family plan, as I am, you can swipe your finger across the screen to flip to each other family member’s information...more

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Recent video

Energy from lasers: Sure shot or dead end?

The National Ignition Facility opened its doors to their control room for "Sunday Morning" to witness a laser shot for tests that may change how the U.S. may some day get its energy. David Pogue reports.

Click here to see older archived videos or here to subscribe to Pogue videos via the iTunes Music Store!

Special interest - Scientific American Column

Check out my monthly column in Scientific American magazine! Each month, I take a broader look at what's going on with consumer tech and society….

What Wi-Fi Stands for—and Other Wireless Questions Answered

Inside information from the bigwigs of the wireless world...more

The Trouble with Wi-Fi

Impossible connections, dropped signals, phantom networks—why wireless Internet still seems stuck in the Stone Age...more

Use It Better: 8 Alternatives to the Hated Captcha

Programmers hope that humans can jump through these hoops better than bots...more