Episode 281 — The Sound of the Present

clock and speaker
Photo by Michael Martine, 2020

Michael and Michael start things off with a discussion on time, taking time, spending time, passing time, spending time and the myriad ways of measuring time.  A kickstarter launched by Scott Thrift is bringing back “The Present”, a design of a clock that shows the cycles of a day, the moon or a year in a novel way, not by seconds, minutes and hours, but rather by colors.  This design was in the Museum of Modern Art in New York for a long time, and now you have a chance to own one of your own.  After a side trip from NY to the Long Now Foundation, the co-hosts turn toward the arctic, where GitHub is storing a copy of the entire code archive using digital archive film reels expected to last 1,000 years.  

Another crowdfunded project, this time on Indiegogo, enables the wearer to pair the Mudra band with their Apple Watch, and interpret gestures to control the user experience on the watch, from answering or dismissing phone calls to skipping song tracks and more.  Staying on the Apple topic for a moment, MacRumors had a point (ha!) to make about how the Apple Pencil could be used to sample colors from the real world, which could be a great way to use the stylus as a physical version of the software eyedropper.

Michael and Michael then talk about an innovation that operates like noise cancelling headphones, but on a building level, where the device is placed over an open window — important for ventilation and masks environmental noise without impeding airflow.  This reminded Michael R of his ‘retirement app’.  

The pair round things up for this episode with a gaming chair from Logitech & Herman Miller, a personal air conditioner from Sony, AI enhanced video of the Apollo moon landings, the new Star Wars: Squadrons game coming to a PC or platform near you, and an amazing LEGO Ideas grand piano.  Spend a little time with us to listen into the podcast and check out the links below.

Selected Links

Kickstarter: The Present – Day Moon Year — https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/scottthrift/the-present-day-moon-year 

MoMA Design Store — https://store.moma.org 

The Long Now Foundation — http://longnow.org 

Gizmodo article: GitHub Has Stored Its Code in an Arctic Vault It Hopes Will Last 1,000 Years — https://gizmodo.com/github-has-stored-its-code-in-an-arctic-vault-it-hopes-1844420340 

Wasted Time — https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wasted-time/id1489255219?mt=12 

Indiegogo: Mudra Band — https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mudra-band-touch-free-control-for-apple-watch#/ 

MacRumors article: Future Apple Pencil Could Have Sensor to Sample Color From the Real World — https://www.macrumors.com/2020/07/17/apple-pencil-color-sensor-patent/ 

Scientific American article: Speaker System Blocks City Noise — https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/speaker-system-blocks-city-noise/ 

Nature article: Active control of broadband sound though the open aperture of a full-sized domestic window — https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-66563-z 

The Verge article: Logitech and Herman Miller Team Up to Make the Embody Gaming Chair — https://www.theverge.com/21331603/logitech-herman-miller-embody-gaming-pc-chair-comfort-price-design 

The Verge article: Sony’s wearable air conditioner is pretty cool — https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/22/21333837/sony-reon-pocket-hands-on-wearable-air-conditioner-japan 

Science Alert article: Historic Moon Landing Footage Has Been Enhanced by AI, and the Results Are Incredible — https://www.sciencealert.com/watch-this-old-apollo-footage-get-upgraded-into-a-60-fps-masterpiece 

The Verge article: EA announces Star Wars: Squadrons, a new first-person starfighter dogfighting game — https://www.theverge.com/21289266/star-wars-squadrons-game-trailer-multiplayer-team-x-wing 

Star Wars: Squadrons — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars%3A_Squadrons 

LEGO Ideas Grand Piano — https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/grand-piano-21323 

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