Episode 353 – Apple, Reallly?

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Apple Relay, Super Cookies, Steam Decks, and Games – all this, and more!

Photo by Zach Lucero on Unsplashed

Hosts Andy P. and Michael R. enjoy a deep dive on these topics and a whole lot more.


We kick off the show with Andy providing an update on his Steam Deck order, which Valve assures us will start shipping late February. Andy has been keeping up with the impressions of the development kits, and we can’t wait for the un-embargoed reviews to come out. More conversations around Steam and gaming.

Next up, we take a good long look at the situation surrounding Apple’s Private Relay privacy feature (is it being blocked, buggy, what do the network operators think about VPNs in general?). Lots to think about here, including some side hits on Pi Hole, user privacy, app data usage, network management, and more. Many questions about the networks / carriers. Some side conversations about mobile package bundles and SMS costs in the US, and also, are Apple being as clever as they say on app privacy? We get close to becoming a security podcast, but jump back just before going over the edge! What do you think is likely to happen in this space?

We turn to talk about the metaverse, and wonder whether the (surprise?) return of Philip Rosedale as an adviser to Linden Lab could see a resurgence for Second Life. Some fun reminiscing about what the team built in Second Life “back in the day”, and how the time for digital twins may finally have come.

The last segment of the show this week talks all about games. Are the big games getting too big, and too long? (both Michael and Andy admit to giving up on a bunch of them!) An esports athlete graduates from digital Formula One to real world Formula 2. Finally, why not enjoy the original Prince of Persia in JavaScript… on an Apple Watch? Let us know if you try it out!

What have you been playing lately? We would love to hear from you, over at @gamesatwork_biz – and, thanks for listening!  

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Selected Article Links

Episode 352 — Looking Forward, Looking Back

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looking out to the future, using something from the past
Photo by Shane Hauser on Unsplash

Innovations from #CES2022: @BMW iX Flow, tmsuk’s Pedia_Roid, GAF Energy’s Timberline Solar, @owogameofficial OWOGame, @yukaikk AMAGAMI HAM HAM.  multiple retail metaverse examples, @GameStop & @_phzn speech to text wearable.

It’s January 2022, and that means it’s time for CES in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Or kind of.  Or mostly remote.  Well, in any case, there are many interesting consumer technologies showcased at the consumer electronics show.  Michael, Andy and Michael start of with BMW’s E Ink, where the driver can change the exterior color of the iX Flow to any color they desire, as long as it is black.  Or white.  Or a shade in-between.  

Next up is a robot called Pedia_Roid from tmsuk, which is designed to provide a realistic adolescent for training healthcare workers.  Since children can be less predictable than adult patients, this robot can squirm around, change eye and skin color, and otherwise replicate how a frightened child might present in a healthcare setting.  

Another innovation that caught the co-hosts’ attention was GEF Energy’s Timberline Solar.  GEF Energy’s solar shingles can be nailed like ordinary roofing and because of their smaller size can be better leveraged than larger solar panels.  

Next up is OWO’s haptic jacket, which works with games such as Fortnite, League of Legends and more to provide tactile sensations for the in-game experience.  OWO provides a full  sensations library with fast driving, insects, and a series of haptic representations of in-game damage such as punch, dagger and severe abdominal wound.  Ow!

Last up is another robot, this time from Yukai Engineering called AMAGAMI HAM HAM.  This plush robotic nemu nemu cat or dog will gently nibble on your finger in a comforting way.

Switching gears to the metaverse, the cohosts react to the recent stories/buzz around the Walmart experience.  Michael R remembers the Circuit City retail experience in Second Life, and Andy references a Sainsbury’s virtual experience in the 1990s.  Everything old is new again!  

The brick and mortar GameStop company has made an interesting pivot, opening up their own NFT marketplace.  Michael M is intrigued by this move, and can see how a company so attuned to gaming may be the right place to create a marketplace for digital goods.

Wrapping up this episode, Andy shares an intriguing post by Kevin Lewis who has made an AI speech to text wearable to help people understand him better when he is speaking with a mask on.   Kind of subtitles as a wearable.

What’s on your list of cool consumer electronics?  Contemplating opening up your own NFT marketplace?  Let us know over at @gamesatwork_biz ! 

Thanks for listening!  

Selected Article Links

The Verge article: BMW, IBM, Panasonic, and Mercedes to skip planned in-person events at CES 2022 — https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/30/22850502/ces-2022-exhibitors-dropping-bmw-ibm-mercedes 

The Verge article: BMW debuts its new color-changing paint technology at CES: E Ink — https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/5/22867090/bmw-color-changing-paint-electric-car-ces 

BMW iX Flow with E Ink — https://www.bmw.com/en/events/ces2022/ixflow.html 

Input Magazine article: The road to hell is paved with well-intentioned robots — https://www.inputmag.com/tech/ces-2022-tmsuk-pedia-roid-robot-child-healthcare 

tmsuk (maker of the Pedia-Roid, among other robots) — https://www.tmsuk.co.jp/en/ 

The Verge article: The solar roof could finally become a reality thanks to GAF Energy’s nailable solar shingles — https://www.theverge.com/22865603/gaf-energy-timberline-solar-shingle-panel-roof-ul-tesla 

GEF Energy Timberline Solar — https://www.gaf.energy/timberline-solar/ 

Tesla Solar Roof — https://www.tesla.com/solarroof 

OWO — https://owogame.com

OWO Sensations Library — https://owogame.com/sensations/

Yukai Engineering’s AMAGAMI HAM HAM — https://www.ux-xu.com/news/20211230_en 

Liv Heart’s Nemu Nemu plush animals — https://livheart.com/product/series/nemunemu/ 

Gizmodo article: Walmart’s 5-Year-Old Vision for the Metaverse Hasn’t Aged a Day — https://gizmodo.com/walmart-s-5-year-old-vision-for-the-metaverse-hasn-t-ag-1848309854 

Vice article: Company Behind Viral Walmart VR Demo Is ‘Grateful’ for Your Hate — https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxdxp5/company-behind-viral-walmart-vr-demo-is-grateful-for-your-hate 

GameStop NFT Marketplace — https://nft.gamestop.com 

ThinkGeek — https://www.gamestop.com/toys-games/thinkgeek

You Got This — https://yougotthis.io 

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Episode 351 – Christmas Crossover

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WeeksEnd x Gamesatwork.biz crossover hosts
x @Gamesatwork.biz crossover

A very special Christmas crossover with @theRAB & @graemeknows of on audio & video! Movies, tech and a whole lot more.

Ryan, Grame, Andy, Michael and Michael get together for a first ever video crossover holiday special to talk about movies, technology and a whole lot more.  Set your festive nerd phasers to ‘fun’ as they zip through their favorite holiday shows, deal with some controversy (surprisingly they all agree), and highlight their tech selections from 2021. 

Subscribe to the — https://beacons.ai/therab/ 

What’s on your list of holiday movies?  Could it be Tolkien?  Does it rival @TheRAB’s?  Let us know over at @gamesatwork_biz ! 

Thanks for listening!  And for watching!  

Selected Article Links

The Atlantic article: Is [REDACTED] a Christmas Movie? — https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/12/is-die-hard-christmas-movie/620926/ 

Digital Trends article: Watch ‘Shatner in Space’ Trailer for new Prime Video Documentary — https://www.digitaltrends.com/movies/watch-shatner-in-space-trailer-for-prime-video-documentary/ 

Polygon article: Mel Brooks explains why George Lucas signed off on Spaceballs — with one giant caveat — https://www.polygon.com/22845048/mel-brooks-book-spaceballs-george-lucas 

stackoverflow The Key Macropad — http://dro.ps/b/3n43VOlnZ8zO/l 

Adafruit Macropad RP2040 — https://www.adafruit.com/product/5128 

Matrix Computer Side Panel — https://www.instructables.com/Matrix-Computer-Side-Panel/ 

Maui Jim sunglasses — https://www.mauijim.com/ 

Movies / Film / Specials / Shorts 

Spider Man — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10872600/ 

The Matrix Resurrections — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10838180/ 

2010: The Year We Make Contact — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086837/ 

Jupiter Ascending — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1617661/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 

Space Balls — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094012/ 

Christmas at Belmont — https://www.pbs.org/video/christmas-at-belmont-2021-dnjbrv/ 

Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas — https://dreamingofajewishchristmas.com 

Hebrew Hammer — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317640/ 

Rare Exports — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1401143/ 

Jedi House — http://www.theforce.net/fanfilms/shortfilms/jedihouse/index.asp 

The Rab’s extended Christmas list (checked, not once, but twice!)

Christmas with the Kranks

Gremlins

Die Hard

The Shining

Dead End

Bad Santa

Pottersville

Deep Red

Trading Places

Mothman Diaries

Silent Night 2012

Cobra

Krampus

Black Christmas

Silent Night, Deadly Night

Hebrew Hammer

The Night Before

A Nasty Piece of Work

Eyes Wide Shut

Pooka

Lethal Weapon

Better Off Dead

Batman Returns

In Bruges

Die Hard 2

The Long Kiss Goodnight

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Reindeer Games

Movern Callar

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

Surviving Christmas

Office Christmas Party

Anna and the Apocalypse

Spider-man: Into the Spider Verse

Mean Girls

Prometheus

Dial Code Santa Claus (French)

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Episode 350 – Fobbing off games

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car fob and keys
Image: Pixabay

Subscription start-up services from non-startups, Memojis & Sim-ifying avatars, assisted reality, letterlocking, Epic games, @TedLasso ’s mustache & @colbertlateshow ’s 20 year cinematic celebration of LoTR Fellowship of the Ring

This week’s episode begins with a story about Toyota’s subscription service for remote start.  Toyota cars that are 2018 or newer will require a monthly subscription after the free trial is over for the fob to trigger the remote start.  The length of the trial period depends on which audio package was installed in the vehicle.

Next up is a continuation of the Apple rumors, with the ‘hiding in plain sight’ evidence of Memoji, SharePlay and spatial audio to show how the state of the art set of technology can be unified in an augmented or virtual space.  The recent addition of arms to Memoji stickers coupled with the advances in the TrueDepth and LiDAR cameras could point to where things are going.  EA secures a patent for ‘simifying’ people to more easily facilitate getting an avatar set up that looks like the player.  Oppo showcases their new Air Glass ‘assisted reality’ monocle which magnetically (MagSafe, anyone?) to a metal glasses frame.  

What’s letterlocking and spiral locking, you say?  Have a look at the show notes below and experience the intricate efforts to ensure that there would be zero chance of paper packet sniffers in the 16th century.  

Games abound in this episode.  First up is battle Scrabble, otherwise known as Babble Royale, which Andy approvingly notes begins with a letter parachuting onto a Scrabble board.  Then, the co-hosts turn their attention to Epic’s 15 game giveaway, which starts with Shenmue III.  

Wrapping up this week’s episode are a couple of short videos well worth watching.  Fans of Ted Lasso well know the main character’s trademark mustache as much as his folksy sayings.  This stop-action Christmas special has all the characters working together (kind of) to find his missing facial hair.  And, Stephen Colbert, the major Tolkien fan that he is, celebrates the 20th anniversary of Fellowship of the Ring motion picture debut with an amazing rap.  Aglar melyanna menal!, which is Elvish for “brilliance dear gift from the heavens”.

What starts you up and gets you going?  Could it be Tolkien?  Let us know over at @gamesatwork_biz ! 

Thanks for listening!

Selected Links

The Verge article: Toyota is going to make you pay to start your car with your key fob — https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/12/22831105/toyota-subscription-remote-start-key-fob 

AutoBlog article: Toyota’s key-fob remote-start function will require a subscription fee — https://www.autoblog.com/2021/12/13/toyota-remote-start-subscription-key-fob/

MacWorld article: 3 features that prove Apple’s headset is hiding right in front of our eyes — https://www.macworld.com/article/558669/ar-vr-headset-animoji-shareplay-spatial-audio.html 

Use Memoji on your iPhone or iPad Pro — https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208986 

SimsCommunity article: EA wants to introduce a new way of creating characters in The Sims — https://simscommunity.info/2021/12/16/ea-wants-to-introduce-a-new-way-of-creating-characters-in-the-sims/ 

The Verge article: Swift Playgrounds 4 is live on the App Store — https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/15/22838251/apple-swift-playgrounds-4-ipad-apps-coding-xcode 

The Verge article: Oppo announces Air Glass ‘assisted reality’ device — https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/14/22833796/oppo-air-glass-ar-glasses-announced-china-release-date 

Digital Trends article: Find N, Air Glass, MariSilicon X NPU, and everything announced at Oppo Inno Day 2021 — https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/oppo-inno-day-2021-everything-announced-day-1-2/

NPR article: Experts crack the secret to last letter of Mary, Queen of Scots before her execution — https://www.npr.org/2021/12/14/1062790520/mary-queen-of-scots-letterlocking-spiral-lock

The Verge article: Babble Royale turns Scrabble into Fortnite — https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/16/22839745/babble-royale-scrabble-fortnite 

The Verge article: Epic is giving away 15 free games during its holiday sale, and the first is Shenmue III — https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/16/22840143/epic-games-store-holiday-sale-free-games-coupon-shenmue-iii-3 

Slashfilm article: Ted Lasso Loses His Mustache In A Stop-Motion Animated Christmas Short — Watch It Now — https://www.slashfilm.com/708754/ted-lasso-loses-his-mustache-in-a-stop-motion-animated-christmas-short-watch-it-now/

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