Episode 333 — Space LARP

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astronauts on Mars
Photo by Mike Kiev on Unsplash

NASA & Star Wars space simulations, immersive Minecraft & Fortnight experience, metaverse musings and a smorgasbord of stories.

Michael and Michael start off this episode with stories about space.   NASA is recruiting for people to live in a 1,700 square foot 3D printed habitat to simulate year-long stays on Mars.  Instructions for people to register to be considered for the crew of these missions is in the show notes below.  

Another example of earthbound space simulations comes from Disney.  A family of four can spend the weekend in an immersive Star Wars experience at the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser for only $5,999.  

Speaking of immersive experiences, check out the fantastic Minecraft builds, many of which have taken years to construct.  Also worth noting is the Ariana Grande concert in Fortnight.  Metaverse musings from Michael and Michael continue, inspired by a Niantic Labs blog post.  

A smorgasbord of stories capture the co-hosts’ attention including Nvidia Canvas AI to build lush landscapes, how AirTags have been used to find stolen scooters, giant dragon-like fossils in Australia, cool car tech such as the Mazda swing button, and Razer’s new mask.

Winding things up for this week, Michael and Michael touch on how 3D animation informs costume creation, make a spoiler-free point about The Bad Batch, and get excited about Season 2 of the Animaniacs and Star Trek: Lower Decks.  

Been playing any LARPs?  Making massive Minecraft builds?  Let us know over at @gamesatwork_biz ! 

Thanks for listening!

Selected Links

NASA CHAPEA How to apply — https://www.nasa.gov/chapea/participate 

Gizmodo article: It’ll Cost $6,000 to Star Wars LARP With Your Family at Disney World — https://gizmodo.com/it-ll-cost-6-000-to-star-wars-larp-with-your-family-at-1847420860 

Live action role-playing game (LARP) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_action_role-playing_game 

Wired article: These Astonishing Minecraft Builds Were Years in the Making — https://www.wired.com/story/best-minecraft-builds/ 

TechCrunch article: Contact, a platform for creatives backed by Maisie Williams, raises $1.9M seed led by Founders Fund — https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/12/contact-a-platform-for-creatives-backed-by-maisie-williams-raises-1-9m-seed-led-by-founders-fund/ 

9 to 5 Mac article: Hidden AirTags enable cybersecurity CEO to recover stolen electric scooter — https://9to5mac.com/2021/08/12/hidden-airtags-stolen-electric-scooter/ 

Smithsonian Magazine article: Giant, Dragon-Like, Flying Reptile Fossil Discovered in Australia — https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/giant-dragon-flying-reptile-fossil-discovered-australia-180978411/ 

Jalopnik article: What’s The Coolest Car Tech That Never Went Mainstream? — https://jalopnik.com/whats-the-coolest-car-tech-that-never-went-mainstream-1847472450 

The Verge article: Razer will let you sign up to beta test its RGB face mask — https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/6/22613139/razer-zephyr-n95-rgb-mask-project-hazel 

Slashfilm article: The Morning Watch: How Pixar Movies Advanced 3D Animation (Part 2), Making ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Costumes & More — https://www.slashfilm.com/the-morning-watch-evolution-of-pixar-animation-part-2-making-star-trek-discovery-costumes-and-more/ 

Dorkside article: The Bad Batch: Why Crosshair doesn’t deserve a redemption arc — https://dorksideoftheforce.com/2021/08/11/the-bad-batch-crosshair-doesnt-deserve-redemption/ 

Slashfilm article: ‘Animaniacs’ Season 2 Will Keep Things Totally Insane with New Episodes in November — https://www.slashfilm.com/animaniacs-season-2-is-going-totally-insaney-with-new-episodes-in-november/ 

Star Trek: Lower Decks — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_Lower_Decks 

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Episode 332 — Telephone Lines

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rotary telephone
Photo by Compare Fibre on Unsplash

Andy starts things off this episode with the GPi CASE, a way to play games using a Raspberry Pi with a Game Boy form factor.  He then turns to a book he’s been enjoying, “Hey! Listen! by Steve McNeil, not coincidentally about games and gaming.  

After an article about the Telegram app expanding video calls to up to 1,000 viewers, the team turn their attention to ringtones, and how NASA provides mission audio that you can use straight away.  

Then, the co-hosts talk about the EV 1000 (see how that number keeps cropping up?), an electric vehicle race in the United States.  A good example for how the availability and convenience of recharging stations play a major role in the uptake of electric vehicles.  

A ZD Net article inspires an interesting discussion on journalism, repurposing articles and security related to a recent Black Hat bug.  Then an article from Duke University, Michael R’s alma mater, puts an important focus on diversity in computing.

Last, the team wrap things up with an article on corporate-speak, and how the work from home situation many people have done over the past pandemic months have had corporate phrases creep into their communications.  

What have you been playing?  Or reading?  Let us know over at @gamesatwork_biz ! 

Thanks for listening!

Selected Links

Retroflag GPi CASE — https://www.retroflag.com/GPi-CASE.html 

Hey! Listen! by Steve McNeil — https://www.stevemcneil.co.uk/my-book/ 

Dara O Briain’s Go 8 Bit — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dara_O_Briain%27s_Go_8_Bit 

TV Nation Episodes — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_TV_Nation_episodes 

The Verge article: Telegram’s group video calls can now have up to 1,000 viewers — https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/31/22603331/telegram-group-video-calls-1000-viewers-new-features 

9 to 5 Mac article: How to set NASA mission audio as your iPhone ringtone — https://9to5mac.com/2021/08/02/how-to-set-nasa-mission-audio-as-your-iphone-ringtone/ 

Car and Driver article: The EV 1000: 11 EVs Face Off in a Long-Distance Race — https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a36877585/ev-1000-11-electric-cars-long-distance-race/

ZD Net article: Security — https://www.zdnet.com/topic/security/

saved search results for article

ThreatsHub.org article: Black Hat: BadAlloc Bugs Expose Millions of IoT Devices to Hijack — https://www.threatshub.org/blog/black-hat-badalloc-bugs-expose-millions-of-iot-devices-to-hijack/ 

Duke University article: Duke Professors to Lead Nationwide Effort to Diversity Participation in Computing — https://trinity.duke.edu/news/duke-professors-lead-nationwide-effort-diversify-participation-computing 

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Episode 331 — The Metaverse is so new

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Some of our Cohosts meeting in SecondLife in 2007
Some of our Cohosts meeting in SecondLife in 2007

Andy and Michael R have a detailed discussions of the week’s tech topics, including robots, iOS security topics, the Lord of the Rings Gollum stealth game, and of course the Metaverse. Our co-host Michael M. is out this week, on a mystery trip, but we attempt to keep the show going without him.

By now, many of our Apple product using listeners have updated their devices to address the security vulnerabilities addressed by the list recent iOS, macOS, and watchOS updates. We hope you help your friends and family do the same.

Michael R. talks about how cool the new stealth Gollum game looks, while Andy recounts all the Lord of the Rings games that he has played on various platform.

We then dive deep into Newzoo’s Intro to the Metaverse analyst report, discussing what is missing in the true metaverse. We look at how you can build the metaverse, but it certainly requires a set of common standards with interoperatability across platforms.

Show Links:
9to5Mac – Speculation that yesterday’s iOS security fix was for NSO exploit (https://9to5mac.com/2021/07/27/ios-security-fix-14-7-1/)

MacRumors – Apple Says Don’t Buy AirTag Replacement Batteries With Bitter Coating (https://www.macrumors.com/2021/07/28/airtag-replacement-batteries-no-bitter-coating/)

/Film – ‘The Lord of the Rings: Gollum’ Trailer Shows Off What It’s Like to Play as the Saddest Villain in Middle-earth (https://www.slashfilm.com/the-lord-of-the-rings-gollum-trailer-shows-off-what-its-like-to-play-as-the-saddest-villain-in-middle-earth/)

The Verge – Could you beat this bipedal robot’s 5K run time? (https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/28/22597655/biped-robot-cassie-runs-first-robotic-outdoors-5k)

The Verge – Robot arranges 100,000 dominoes into a Super Mario Bros. mural in one day (https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/29/22599111/mark-rober-domino-robot-super-mario-bros-mural-single-day)

OSU Blog – Bipedal robot developed at Oregon State makes history by learning to run, completing 5k (https://today.oregonstate.edu/news/bipedal-robot-developed-oregon-state-makes-history-learning-run-completing-5k)

Record Breakers BBC Show (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Record_Breakers)

NewZoo’s Merverse Report (https://resources.newzoo.com/hubfs/Reports/Free_Metaverse_Report_Newzoo.pdf)

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Episode 330 — Pegasus Confidential

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pegasus statue
Photo by Pixabay from Pexels

Pegasus, Roadrunner, Abraham Lincoln, right to repair, open source, electric sweat and hiding Oreos in plain sight.  

Michael and Michael start things off with the serious topic of security for this week’s episode.  The recent news about the Pegasus exploit, and implications for activists, journalists and those concerned about personal security are very concerning.  The co-hosts discuss how concerned the show listeners should be given the articles in the press, and actions they are taking (or not taking!)

What’s also concerning to the cohosts is the use of AI to create deepfakes and voiceovers that never happened.  Such is the case of the ‘Roadrunner’ documentary where AI was used to create a model of Anthony Bourdain’s voice and read text that he never actually said.  This reminds Michael M of the famous Abraham Lincoln quote included in the links below.  

Trust continues to be a leitmotif throughout this episode, with stories on the FTC right to repair, and more directly with open source software.  Is knowing the who has made edits to the open source code enough?  You be the judge! 

Michael and Michael wrap up the show with an innovation from UC San Diego for creating power from your keystrokes and even your sweat, a funny video about what happens when you have a really good turn in a card game, and how to hide your Oreo cookies in plain sight.

How do you keep your snacks safe?  What’s been your greatest turn in a game?  Let us know over at @gamesatwork_biz ! 

Thanks for listening!

Selected Links

Six Colors article: How concerned should you be about Pegasus, the latest iOS spyware? — https://sixcolors.com/post/2021/07/how-concerned-should-you-be-about-pegasus-the-latest-ios-spyware/ 

Washington Post article: Despite the hype, iPhone security no match for NSO spyware — https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/07/19/apple-iphone-nso/ 

Schneier on Security podcast: NSO Group Hacked — https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2021/07/nso-group-hacked.html 

Slashfilm article: ‘Roadrunner’ Features Some Anthony Bourdain Voiceovers Created Using Artificial Intelligence [Interview] — https://www.slashfilm.com/roadrunner-interview-bourdain-voiceovers/ 

Kitchen Confidential book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33313.Kitchen_Confidential 

goodreads: Abraham Lincoln > Quotes > Quotable Quote: “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.” — https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/10095224-don-t-believe-everything-you-read-on-the-internet 

New York Times article: The F.T.C. votes to use its leverage to make it easier for consumers to repair their phones — https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/21/us/politics/phones-right-to-repair-FTC.html 

TechCrunch article: The end of open source? — https://techcrunch.com/2021/07/18/the-end-of-open-source/ 

The Verge article: Google Meet is getting a wider rollout on Google Glass — https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/15/22578691/google-meet-glass-ar-remote-assistance-rollout-open-beta 

Mashable article: You can now power electronics… with your finger — Future Blink — https://mashable.com/video/wearable-uc-san-diego-research 

University of California news: Calling all couch potatoes: This finger wrap can let you power electronics while you sleep — https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/calling-all-couch-potatoes-finger-wrap-can-let-you-power-electronics-while-you-sleep

Fast Company article: This ingenious Oreo packaging makes it easy to hide your cookies from your kids — https://www.fastcompany.com/90656210/this-ingenious-oreo-packaging-makes-it-easy-to-hide-your-cookies-from-your-kids 

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