Episode 334 — Robux – NoBux

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in-game currency
Photo by Suzy Hazelwood from Pexels

Challenges with in-game currency exchange, ROMs, creating real-life webshooters, and HBD number 100 to Gene Roddenberry!

Michael and Michael start off this week’s episode with some happy birthday wishes for Gene Roddenberry and a story about how NASA is transmitting his voice into space. 

Next up, an article about RomUniverse and a court decision requiring the site to shut down because of mass copyright infringement.  

Then, a story about how video games are used for health benefits, which is right in the wheelhouse of this podcast.  This reminded the cohosts about the virtual snow world (called SnowWorld) that helps burn victims cope with their pain using the game, instead of drugs.  The BrainQ story is also reminiscent of the Emotiv headset, which both Michaels have used.  

The cohosts then turn to a story from SixColors about the People Make Games video about Roblox.  This video spells out in detail how digital content creators in the Roblox world have the opportunity to create in-world experiences that other Roblox players may participate in, and pay for using in-world Roblox currency.  The trick is getting the in-world currency out of the virtual world and available outside of the virtual world.  Michael R compares and contrasts with other virtual world currency (Linden dollars, etc) in his summary of the video and highly recommends the Games At Work audience watches the video.

Stories about real-life Spider-Man webshooters innovations, robbers using an Apple Watch to track their mark, an autonomous sub by Bedrock, Tesla’s AI day, and the team winds up with the recent update to Skyrim.

Speaking of Bedrock, several of the Hanna-Barbera characters surfaced in this week’s episode!

What’s your favorited Hanna-Barbera character?  Let us know over at @gamesatwork_biz ! 

Thanks for listening!

Selected Links

Slashfilm article: ‘Star Trek’ Creator Gene Roddenberry Would’ve Turned 100 Today, and NASA is Transmitting His Voice Into Space — https://www.slashfilm.com/star-trek-creator-gene-roddenberry-wouldve-turned-100-today-and-nasa-is-transmitting-his-voice-into-space/ 

Techdirt article: Court Orders Injunction Against RomUniverse To Permanently Shut Down, Destroy Nintendo ROMs — https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20210817/11120647378/court-urders-injunction-against-romuniverse-to-permanently-shut-down-destroy-nintendo-roms.shtml 

Techdirt article: Video Games, Once Demonized, More Regularly Utilized For Positive Health Benefits — https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20210818/10062947382/video-games-once-demonized-more-regularly-utilized-positive-health-benefits.shtml 

TechCrunch article: BrainQ raises $40m to transform stroke patient rehabilitation with its home therapy device — https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/16/brainq-raises-40m-to-transform-stroke-patient-rehabilitation-with-its-home-therapy-device/ 

Games at Work Episode 213 — Solar Heartbeat — https://gamesatwork.biz/2018/10/01/episode-213-solar-heartbeat/ 

R&D Mag article: Virtual “SnowWorld” Help Burn Victims Cope with Extreme Pain — https://www.rdmag.com/article/2017/08/virtual-snowworld-helps-burn-victims-cope-extreme-pain 

SixColors article: How Roblox Exploits Young Developers — https://sixcolors.com/link/2021/08/how-roblox-exploits-young-developers/ 

Second Life Community: Buying and selling Linden dollars — https://community.secondlife.com/knowledgebase/english/buying-and-selling-linden-dollars-r46/

iMore article: Robbers use Apple Watch to tail their victim before taking $500,000 in cash — https://www.imore.com/robbers-use-apple-watch-tail-their-victim-taking-500000-cash 

TechCrunch article: Bedrock modernizes seafloor mapping with autonomous sub and cloud-based data — https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/19/bedrock-modernizes-seafloor-mapping-with-autonomous-sub-and-cloud-based-data/ 

iRobot Scooba — https://store.irobot.com/default/scooba-floor-scrubbing/irobot-scooba-450/S450020.html

TechCrunch article: Top four highlights of Elon Musk’s Tesla AI Day — https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/19/top-five-highlights-of-elon-musks-tesla-ai-day/ 

The Verge article: Skyrim is getting a next-gen upgrade exactly 10 years after its original release — https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/19/22633130/skyrim-next-gen-upgrade-update-anniversary-special-edition-bethesda 

Hanna-Barbera — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanna-Barbera 

Scooby-Doo — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooby-Doo 

Yogi Bear — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogi_Bear 

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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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