Episode 87 – Squeezing out some value

Attempting to get back into a bit of a pattern for recording shows, we return with the Michaels to talk about tech, games and innovation. We go deep on how social networks are being gamed to provide deep data for businesses to sell to you. Is it appropriate for developers to leverage social games to pull data from users for advertising or nefarious purposes? Has Microsoft gotten it write with Cortana? Has FourSquare lost it’s game with Swarm? Do you accept random friend requests in your social checkin applications? Does sharing everything solve the problem? (Are we really that naive to believe it works? Isn’t that what big data is all about?)

Foursquare can uniquely identify you with only four checkins!!!

Google makes glass available in the United Kingdom. How long will you hold out? Does google have the privacy aspect appropriately addressed to expand into Europe? We discuss glass and it’s tie to privacy. Is there a game here?

Home automation has been around for a long time, does Nest and iOS HomeKit change the game? How about tying it to wearables and augmented reality? What does Nest’s data sharing policy mean for Google? Have they gotten it right? We discuss how opt in should be the right way to drive privacy and transparency, is this good enough? Michael tries to drive a “fun” business game for home automation. How about a bidding war that squeezes out some value, if a business can identify your patterns? How much are you worth as a consumer?

We also define a games as something you voluntarily agree to play. We end with a bit of discussion on the games we are currently playing – Michael R. Is playing the Powerpoint game, do you play it???

Show Links:
Family Guy – Quest for Stuff
Simpsons Tapped Out
Outer Limits
Google Privacy Settings
Continuity in OS X and iOS8
Random Mac Address
FourSquare Swarm
Cortana – Microsoft Windows Phone Assistant
Google Glass available in UK
Node Red
Node-Red on Github
Nest shares limited data with Google
Nest buys Dropcam
Alex’s tweet on automobile manufacturers compose sounds

Videos from Innovate “Cool verses Creepy” with @Veronica:


Episode 86 – App Granularity & Gamification

App Granularity & Gamifcation

Sandy, Phaedra and Michael R. are traveling, on vacation or otherwise engaged in important work, so Michael M. takes a shot at a solo show to explore some thinking on how a number of major apps are breaking down their function into smaller bite sized bits and deploying them as individual apps.

Examples of this are FourSquare, with its Swarm app, Facebook, with the Messenger app, alongside some of the recent acquisitions like Instragam and WhatsApp.

Linking to the Gamification theme of this podcast, Michael muses on how this application functionality breakdown allows for smaller component pieces of functionality can be recombined in a way to allow for games and play — how quickly the same exact functions can be reorderd and recombined to create innovative ways to deliver new sets of function from the same component parts.

Michael thanks @AltonBrown for his ‘unitasker’ design language, and Berke Breathed for giving us Opus and the Turnip Twaddler.

A very happy Father’s Day to all the Dads listening in to the podcast!

selected links
Turnip Twaddler vs Swiss Army Knife twitter post — https://twitter.com/carolinabigblue/status/475941050901876737
Berke Breathed —http://berkeleybreathed.com
Berke Breathed / Opus on Turnip Twaddlers — http://www.gocomics.com/bloomcounty/2010/05/08
Alton Brown — http://altonbrown.com
Alton Brown on unitaskers — http://gizmodo.com/5347140/alton-brown-kitchen-gadget-judgment-calls—yea-or-nay
Swarm — https://www.swarmapp.com
Foursquare — https://foursquare.com
Facebook — https://www.facebook.com
Facebook Messenger — https://www.facebook.com/about/messenger
Instagram — http://instagram.com
WhatsApp — http://www.whatsapp.com
Flight Track — http://www.mobiata.com/apps/flighttrack

Episode 85 – SoundScapes

This week we welcome the “Jamie and Adam Savage of Audio” – Scott Looney and Steve Horowitz from the Game Audio Institute to the show. We discuss the importance of sound in game design, as well as have a ton of fun talking the technology of sound. Your co-hosts Sandy Kearney, Michael Martine, and Michael Rowe all chime in on how sound influences the experience of games and learning (We miss you Phaedra!). We also discuss some of the games we are playing. Sandy takes us into the CAVE at Villanova to discuss how sound impacts our emotional impact in a virtual space.

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Show Links:
Steve Horowitz
Scott Looney and Metaphysical Media
Game Audio Institute
Learning to do sound design for games
Neuromantic Productions
Interactive Audio Special Interest Group
Sonic Scoop – Review of Scott and Steve’s new book
The Sound Architect – Review
HRTF
Dolby ATMOS
Emotiv
Made Fire
Bit Trip Runner
Fract
Farmville 2 – Country Escape
Star Wars Pinball
King of the Road