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GeekWire’s app of the week: Super Pac

Oct 13, 2012, 8:20 AM | Updated: Oct 14, 2012, 2:16 pm

Super Pac allows listeners to identify people and organizations behind political ads just by holdin...

Super Pac allows listeners to identify people and organizations behind political ads just by holding the app up to a television or radio. (Photo: SuperPacApp.com)

(Photo: SuperPacApp.com)

In the last month before election day, even the tech world is paying attention to politics, so GeekWire’s Todd Bishop and John Cook decided to review an application designed to help voters find the truth behind political attack ads.

The application, called Super Pac, works to identify ads and searches for a range of sources that provide background about the claims.

“It’s essentially Shazam for political ads,” says John.

Much like Shazam, Super Pac detects audio when holding a smartphone next to speakers and can identify what that audio is.

“You hold up the phone within earshot of the TV,” says John. “and it says, ‘this is the ad, here’s who funded it, and here are links to FactCheck.org and other sites that have actually analyzed his ad and told you whether or not it’s true.”

The app, available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod, can also detect audio from radio and YouTube political ads.

GeekWire can be heard on 97.3 KIRO FM on Saturdays at 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. on Sunday at 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Available anytime ON DEMAND at MyNorthwest.com.

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GeekWire’s app of the week: Super Pac