Episode 157 – Through the 2016 Looking Glass

In their final episode of 2016, Michael and Michael explore themes where sci-fi blends with reality. In the TechCrunch IoT Redux article, Michael and Michael kick off the discussion with the state of affairs on all the data emitted from the things on the internet, and quickly go into the realm of the British Channel 4 television show Black Mirror (available on Netflix). It is simultaneously possible to have so much of your life available to you at your fingertips, and what could go wrong with such technical capability — the Kingsman movie being another example from the entertainment world.

Turning to the skies, the pair talks about a recent patent from Amazon on a creative approach to the last mile logistics of delivery — drones delivering from a platform attached to a zeppelin. Interesting to consider the example of Duracell’s battery delivery in the midwest states — providing over one ton of batteries to prevent the dreaded “batteries not included” scenario from spoiling (or delaying gratification – you pick), and how useful something like a flying drone warehouse could be. One of the commenters on the Twitter stream for this compared this story to the recent movie Storks.

Periscope announced a new 360 degree broadcasting capability — provided of course, you have a 360 degree camera — yet the functionality on the viewing side was fantastic. Panning or swiping, you can see all the way around.

Both Michaels were happy that our Android friends will get their hands on Mario Run, and Michael R was especially pleased with the earlier than anticipated delivery of the AirPods.

We are thrilled to be back for another year, and look forward to engaging with you.

selected links
TechCrunch article: IoT Redux — https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/28/iot-redux-this-time-its-personal/
Black Mirror episode Entire History of You — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Entire_History_of_You
Wikipedia: Steve Mann — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Mann
SingularityHub article: Lifelogging — https://singularityhub.com/2014/02/09/lifeblogging-gear-is-small-cheap-and-powerful-so-like-it-or-not-youre-going-to-be-recorded/
New York Times Bits Blog: One on One: Steve Mann, Wearable Computing Pioneer — http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/07/one-on-one-steve-mann-wearable-computing-pioneer/
Independent article: Gamifying Obedience to the State — http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-has-made-obedience-to-the-state-a-game-a6783841.html
Black Mirror episode Nosedive — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosedive
Kingsman — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingsman:_The_Secret_Service
Zoe Leavitt “Death Star of #ecommerce” tweet — https://mobile.twitter.com/zoe_leavitt/status/814212767041331202
United States Patent: 9305280 — http://patft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=9305280.PN.&OS=PN/9305280&RS=PN/9305280
Ad Week article: Duracell Express — http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/duracell-saved-lot-tears-delivering-free-batteries-midwest-families-christmas-eve-175309
Storks — http://www.storksmovie.com
MacRumors article: Twitter’s Periscope Now Supports 360-Degree Live Videos — http://www.macrumors.com/2016/12/28/periscope-360-degree-live-videos/
@Feynwoman’s 360 degree tour of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum — https://www.periscope.tv/w/azUYdjFEWUtYYk5iYXZFZ0x8MWRSS1pYcVpEd1ZKQo71GNCpXWNOcwF2Pj8lTX25w3MNUmA56MLO1oXdSEhq
TechCrunch article: Super Mario on Android — https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/29/you-can-now-register-to-find-out-when-super-mario-run-hits-android
MacRumors article: AirPods Supplier Increasing Production Capacity Due to Strong Demand — http://www.macrumors.com/2016/12/30/airpods-increasing-production/

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