I always thought it was the exact opposite, that we anticipated the speed of technology and were actually impatient for it.  While we might be impressed with the latest technological advancement, we still look at it and say, "Is that all it can do?  Can it go faster?"

To answer your questions:

1. Yes, we did broadcast this over the summer of our break in the first and second season.  I can't find a record of when exactly, so I saved it until the end of the summer, prior to the start of the second season to get things going.  Oddly enough, the Cyberpunk episode is getting more downloads than the Nebula Awards coverage.

2. I'd have to go back to look at that spot and see.  My first guess is that it was a glitch.

3.  We didn't meet Asimov that night, but Keith and I did meet him in November the year before as we were covering the Creation convention.  You can see Keith talking to the man briefly in the episode, but it's part of a musical montage.  Sadly, we didn't have proper mic technology and so you really couldn't hear the two and so it was consigned to a montage.