Digitizing vinyl, early VR & AR from UNC, Matrix-esque open world generation, App and AirTag tracking, Starship landing success, Loki & Boba Fett on the silver screen.
Michael and Michael start things off with stacks of wax – in this case, a quarter million 78 R.P.M. vinyl that the Internet Archive has digitized. Check out the show notes for how this was done. In other, but more recent, digitization, check out the VHS recording of UNC’s Department of Computer Science research into virtual reality and augmented reality from the 1990s. Michael and Michael marvel at how far we’ve come, and how much things have stayed largely the same in this field.
A recent Sony patent gives sparks the co-hosts on a conversation about dynamically generating virtual world content. This innovation creates house interiors via AI. Following this story is one about the experience of Oculus Home users having all of their interior decorations and furniture go missing. Backing up, as discussed in the prior week’s episode looms large yet again!
Next, the co-hosts get into tracking, starting with the news about the iOS 14.5 App Tracking Transparency option. The default option has this functionality turned on, and a whopping 96% of users leave the option turned on. For more stories on tracking, Michael and Michael turn to AirTags, with a couple of stories of people changing the form factor of the tags to make them more useful. In the first case, iFixit drills a hole in the case to allow the AirTag to be affixed to a keychain without an extra holder. In the second case, the AirTag is completely disassembled to make it skinnier so it may be more easily inserted into a wallet. Last, in this segment, the interesting hidden AirTag developer menu is shown to provide details on locating AirTags.
For more on intriguing data, the co-hosts discuss an article where a future Apple Watch may have additional sensor information. Another story is about information your car’s infotainment system could serve up to law enforcement.
In the ‘space is hard’ arena, Michael and Michael celebrate SpaceX’s successful landing of a Starship. They also celebrate Andy’s inclusion in the May 2021 issue of Linux Format magazine.
The co-hosts round out this week’s episode with a couple of Slashfilm articles about Loki and Boba Fett.
Selected Links
Open Culture article: How the Internet Archive Has Digitized More than 250,000 78 R.P.M. Records: See the Painstaking Process Up-Close — https://www.openculture.com/2021/05/how-the-internet-archive-has-digitized-more-than-250000-78-r-p-m-records.html
Newly digitized! This video looks at an early virtual reality headset developed at the UNC Dept. of Computer Science in the early 1990s. https://t.co/tTNO3v6xVJ
— UNC Archives (@uncarchives) May 5, 2021
PlayStation Patents Technology That Could Change Open-World Games one for @GamesAtWork_Biz https://t.co/wJ8QHbWa1l
— Ian Hughes/epredator (@epredator) May 7, 2021
The Matrix — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/
Gaming Bible article: PlayStation Patents Technology That Could Completely Change Open-World Games — https://www.gamingbible.co.uk/news/playstation-playstation-patents-technology-that-could-change-open-world-games-20210505
Kotaku article: Oculus Homes Ransacked — https://kotaku.com/oculus-homes-ransacked-1846822987
Games at Work episode 318: Virtually Floating — https://gamesatwork.biz/2021/05/03/episode-318-virtually-floating/
MacRumors article: Analytics Suggest 96% of Users Leave App Tracking Disabled in iOS 14.5 — https://www.macrumors.com/2021/05/07/most-iphone-users-app-tracking-opt-out/
The Verge article: iFixit drilled a key ring hole into one of Apple’s AirTags in its latest teardown — https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/2/22415831/ifixit-drilled-key-ring-hole-apple-airtag-tile-teardown
TechCrunch article: Someone already turned Apple’s AirTag into a slim, wallet-friendly card — https://techcrunch.com/2021/05/06/someone-already-turned-apples-airtag-into-a-slim-wallet-friendly-card/
The Verge article: Apple’s AirTags have a hidden developer menu — https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/6/22422696/apple-airtags-hidden-developer-menu-back-end-data-how-to-access
Cult of Mac article: New sensor could turn 2022 Apple Watch into a doctor on your wrist — https://www.cultofmac.com/741467/2022-apple-watch-sensor-blood-sugar-pressure-alcohol/
The Verge article: Go read this report on how law enforcement can extract sensitive data from your car — https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/5/22420674/go-read-this-intercept-report-vehicle-forensics-infotainment-personal-sensitive-data-law-enforcement
The Verge article: SpaceX successfully landed a Starship prototype for the first time — https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/5/22421845/spacex-starship-sn15-successful-landing
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Data_Protection_Regulation
Oh hello, is that me on page 46 of Linux Format this month? #PiUser #RaspberryPi #fanboy #ThankYouChief @biglesp 😀 pic.twitter.com/XNI3Qspl5i
— Andy Piper (@andypiper) May 4, 2021
Slashfilm article: ‘Loki’ Special Look: Tom Hiddleston is Burdened With Glorious Purpose (Again) — https://www.slashfilm.com/loki-special-look-glorious-purpose/
Slashfilm article: The Morning Watch: Updated 2021 ‘Star Wars’ Canon Timeline, Boba Fett Returns in Animated LEGO Fight & More — https://www.slashfilm.com/the-morning-watch-updated-2021-star-wars-canon-timeline-boba-fett-returns-in-animated-lego-fight-more/
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Such a fun episode, Michael & Andy! Loved your discussion on Life by You.