e393 — Federated Fun

By | |
Comments Off on e393 — Federated Fun
Mastodon on a laptop keyboard - crAIyon generated image
Generated with crAIyon with phrase “mastodon with a mac” 20 Nov 2022

Andy and Michael get things started with a discussion about Mastodon and the Fediverse in this week’s episode.  They discuss the onboarding experience, what the feed is like, and different types of Fediverse services.  Andy is moving instances and references a post by Josh Justice with pro tips on how to migrate a Mastodon account.  Terrence Eden is working on a number of tools like conversation explorers.  Check out the show notes for a link to a post on Mastodon’s Conversations API.

Michael and Andy wrap up with a story on Mastodon being ported to an IBM PC and the re-entry of LightSail 2 into Earth’s atmosphere.

What hardware would you most like to see a Mastodon port to?  Perhaps a Timex Sinclair?  Drop us a line at @gamesatwork_biz and let us know! 

Selected Article Links

Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration (OSLC)

OSLC Fest 

Wired article: How to Get Started on Mastodon 

✨ Join our TestFlight beta!

testflight.apple.com/join/5HpH

— pixelfed (@pixelfed) 2022-10-08T16:31:28.659Z

BookWyrm

v4.3 is out! 😍😍😍
▪ automatic import of videos from a remote channel
▪ UI improvements
▪ better integration of videos and live streams
▪ more instances customizations

Discover improvements and new features of this latest version on : joinpeertube.org/news#release-

— PeerTube (@peertube) 2022-09-21T09:46:06.835Z

ActivityPub

CodingItWrong.com post: Migrating a Mastodon Account

Terrence Eden blog post: Getting Started with Mastodon’s Conversations API

Hackaday article: Mastodon Comes to the IBM PC

The Planetary Society article: LightSail 2 completes mission with atmospheric reentry

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 39:12 — 45.0MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | Podcast Index | Youtube Music | RSS | More

e392 – Take Note

By | |
Comments Off on e392 – Take Note
sheet music
Photo by Marius Masalar on Unsplash

Michael, Andy and Michael get things started with a follow on discussion from a prior episode with a VR experience from Immersed.  This experience demos not only multiple VR screens but also a transparency between the real world and the virtual.  

Then, moving from taking notes, to conducting those creating notes, the co-hosts turn to a VR experience called Maestro: Masterclass.  In this example, you are the conductor working with a virtual orchestra, including gestures such as holding section for a fermata, to cueing a section to crescendo and much more.  The co-hosts speculate that Maestro could be used in conjunction with Trombone Champ or other music playing software in the future.

From this week’s listener links, Ian Hughes (epredator) shares a blog post about the how variations in avatar size can communicate rich information about a shared MR experience.  Alexis (@Lxs) points to a BBC article on how billions are being spent in the metaverse land grab, and the challenge of knowing which land to grab for your “meta-shop”.  This subject provides a virtual springboard for the co-hosts – reminding them of the Entrepreneur’s Guide to Second Life book and the Million Dollar Homepage.

Wrapping things up for this week are stories of niche museums, a Raspberry Pi enablement of LCARS, a USB hack of an IBM model F keyboard and some musing about version 3.x being a good release number.

What piece would you most like to conduct in Maestro? Drop us a line at @gamesatwork_biz and let us know! 

Selected Article Links

immersed.com 

Maestro: The Masterclass on oculus.com 

Trombone Champ

The Feeding Edge blog post: Communicating through avatar size

BBC article: Billions being spent in metaverse land grab

The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Second Life

Immersed medium article: The World’s 1st Professional Metaverse

Million Dollar Homepage

Games at Work e365 – Pixel Perfect (for Million Dollar Homepage)

Niche Museums

Tom’s Hardware post: Raspberry Pi Takes Star Trek UI To Red Alert

Project Ritos:  LCARS for the U.S.S. Cerritos / California Class

Star Trek: Lower Decks

hackster.io article: Jeff Epler’s Quick-and-Easy CircuitPython Adapter Brings an Old IBM Model F Keyboard to USB PCs

Jeff Epler’s Github

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:51 — 30.9MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | Podcast Index | Youtube Music | RSS | More

e391 – FAIL Whale

By | |
Comments Off on e391 – FAIL Whale
whale coming out of the water
Photo by Todd Cravens on Unsplash

Michael and Michael begin this episode with Ben Evans’ provocative article on ways to think about a metaverse.  The co-hosts bring up interesting points on the mobile, social and cloud transformations over the years, and how that may – or does not – really fit within the discussion on the metaverse. They also consider an article about how VR can be used to immersively simulate near death experiences. 

Then Michael and Michael switch over to all things AI.  Unmesh Dinda shows how to generate a fake person in a selfie with amazing fidelity leveraging Dall-E and GFPGAN – check out the video to see how simple he makes it.  Anslo demonstrates serious generative design chops with SlowRoads.io “endless driving zen”.  Choose your mode of transportation, weather, time of day, and then drive, or let the autopilot drive for you.  If you’d like to simply walk faster, Shift Robotics has a kickstarter that you need to see.  The Moonwalkers are easy to step into with any shoes, and using AI for stabilization and speed, will allow you to naturally walk at double your usual speed.

Michael and Michael then discuss Rewind.ai and the pros and cons of life logging on your laptop.  The Museum of Failure makes an appearance, reminding of the importance of failure in the innovation process. 

The team notes, along with most of social media, that Mastodon has shown amazing growth over the past week.  You can find the Games At Work presence over on https://botsin.space/@gamesatwork_biz .

What is your prediction for the next AI innovation? Drop us a line at @gamesatwork_biz and let us know! 

Selected Article Links

Benedict Evans’ blog post: Ways to think about a metaverse

dilbert.com metaverse comic strips

The Daily Beast article: One Man’s Quest to Build the Perfect Near-Death Simulation

My Modern Met article: Man Fools Relatives Into He Has a Girlfriend but She’s Actually AI

Unmesh Dinda’s PiXimperfect YouTube channel

anslo’s medium post: Slow Roads 

Slow Roads

PC Mag article: Shift Robotics Used AI to Create the ‘World’s Fastest Shoes’

Kickstarter: Shift Moonwalkers

Shift Robotics

Games At Work e205 – Fashionable AR (for the Segway Drift product)

Rewind.ai

Museum of Failure 

TechCrunch article: Mastodon’s microblogging app saw a record number of downloads after Musk’s Twitter takeover

Our new Mastodon account – https://botsin.space/@gamesatwork_biz

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 35:01 — 40.2MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | Podcast Index | Youtube Music | RSS | More

e390 – Also Available in Black

By | |
Comments Off on e390 – Also Available in Black
watercolor palate

Happy Halloween!

Andy, Michael and Michael start off this episode with a discussion on color subscriptions.  This topic was also addressed in a blog by Cory Doctorow on his Pluralistic site.  Paint colors, fonts and sounds (such as the Harley-Davidson sound) also come up in the conversation.

Then the hosts turn to an article from the Atlantic on Halloween and the importance of play in adult lives.  Something that this podcast knows a little something about.  Speaking of play, next up is Alex Shakespeare’s “Alternative Flight Simulator”.  Unlike flight simulators that simulate the player in the role of a pilot, Alex built a life-size replica of an economy airplane cabin, complete with a monitor in the window where the “passenger” may watch their flight landing in various airports around the world.  

The co-hosts then explore a handheld 3D printer and close the episode with a trailer for the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which includes Kevin Bacon for the six degrees of separation fans.

What are you doing for your Halloween fun?  Drop us a line at @gamesatwork_biz and let us know! 

Selected Article Links

Kotaku article: You’re Going To Have To Pay To Use Some Fancy Colors In Photoshop Now

Pluralistic blog post: 28 Oct 2022 Adobe steals your color

Cory Doctorow’s Chokepoint Capitalism 

Acelerando by Charles Stross references Games At Work e306 – Weak Ties 

The Atlantic article: Adult Halloween Is Stupid, Embarrassing, and Very Important

Hackaday article: Flight Simulator Focuses on the Other Side of the Cockpit Door

Alex Shakespeare blog post: Alternative Flight Simulator

All3DP article: A Palm-sized 3D Printer That Can Run on a Powerbank

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:49 — 33.1MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | Podcast Index | Youtube Music | RSS | More