William Shatner AI, drinkable Peeps, tech old and new – boot from a vinyl disk & use LEGO Toy Pad as NFC reader, Douglas Adams, and dice to roll a 42.
Michael, Michael and Andy are all together again for a tremendous show, starting off with the one of the most popular Easter confections on this side of the Atlantic, Peeps. The hosts debate the merits and potential taste of the Pepsi + Peep mashup.
For those of you who are interested in building a steampunk computer, consider following Jozef Bogin’s lead and boot off of a vinyl record.
Next, an intriguing discussion about William Shatner’s work with Storyfile to create an interactive storytelling experience for people to interact with his AI agent. Intermingled with a retrospective of selected elements in his career, the team reflects on the digital immortality such an experience could create. Boston’s Leonard Nemoy day is a natural bookend to the Storyfile story, and reminds Michael R of his kickstarter support for The Love of Spock, a documentary about Leonard Nemoy. Check out the show notes below for links.
Powered flight takes control of the next few stories, from the drone footage of the volcano near Reykjavik to NASA’s martian helicopter. Ingenuity, as the copter is named, carries with it a piece of fabric from the Wright brothers’ flyer and will hopefully will have a similar successful flight on Mars in the coming days.
Another kickstarter of note deals with the writings of Douglas Adams, who in addition to his humor was able to envision the future in so many ways. Michael M shares his excitement about supporting this upcoming book, and is looking forward to reading it. Could it be the the Infinitie Improbability Drive may somehow become real?
Wrapping up this week’s episode, the team takes a look at the impending launch of another space vehicle, namely LEGO’s rendition of the Space Shuttle Discovery and Dennis Mellican’s NFC jukebox reader using the Dimensions toy pad to trigger what music is played. The Daft Punk minifigs are particularly good.
And for the saving throw, Andy found a cool Etsy potion of healing comprised of d4, and Michael R shares one more kickstarter – the Pixels electronic dice. Check them out, and see if you can roll a 42!
Selected Links
.@Pepsi and @PeepsBrand have delivered 2021’s most unexpected collaboration.https://t.co/Fbh6ePFEiK
— POPSUGAR (@POPSUGAR) March 25, 2021
People article: Pepsi and Peeps Have Joined Forces to Create Marshmallow Soda — https://people.com/food/pepsi-and-peeps-have-joined-forces-to-create-marshmallow-soda
Peeps — https://www.peepsbrand.com
Bogin, Jr post: Booting from a vinyl record — http://boginjr.com/it/sw/dev/vinyl-boot/
Entertainment article: William Shatner celebrates 90th birthday by creating an AI version of himself for future generations — https://ew.com/tv/william-shatner-90th-birthday-ai-storyfile-video/
Storyfile — https://storyfile.com
Games at Work Episode 26 — Business Process Management and Immortality — https://gamesatwork.biz/2012/11/04/episode26/
Star Trek: Generations — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_Generations
T.J. Hooker Full Cast & Crew — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083486/fullcredits
The UnXplained — https://www.history.com/shows/the-unxplained
Warp 11 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warp_11
Slashfilm article: The City of Boston Declares March 26 to Be Leonard Nimoy Day — https://www.slashfilm.com/the-city-of-boston-declares-march-26-to-be-leonard-nimoy-day/
For the Love of Spock — https://fortheloveofspock.com
The Verge article: Amazon delivery drivers have to consent to AI surveillance in their vans or lose their jobs — https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/24/22347945/amazon-delivery-drivers-ai-surveillance-cameras-vans-consent-form
A drone pilot has captured incredible footage of a volcano erupting in Iceland.
— Channel 5 News (@5_News) March 22, 2021
Bjorn Steinbekk risked losing his FPV drone as he flew the camera directly over the lava as it continued to shoot and spill from the Fagradalsfjall volcano near Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik. pic.twitter.com/Uo3swR3q63
TechCrunch article: NASA plans first flight of Mars helicopter Ingenuity on April 8 — https://techcrunch.com/2021/03/23/nasa-plans-first-flight-of-mars-helicopter-ingenuity-on-april-8/
The Verge article: NASA’s new Mars rover is about to spawn a tiny helicopter — https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/22/22345034/nasa-mars-rover-perseverance-ingenuity-helicopter
CNet article: NASA helicopter brought a piece of the Wright brothers’ plane to Mars — https://www.cnet.com/news/nasa-helicopter-brought-a-piece-of-the-wright-brothers-historic-plane-to-mars/
The Verge article: YouTube is testing automatic product detection in videos — https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/22/22344553/youtube-shopping-recommendation-products-instagram
42: The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams — https://galactichitchhikers.com/2021/03/22/42-the-wildly-improbable-ideas-of-douglas-adams/
Kickstarter for 42 — https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/unbounders/42-the-wildly-improbable-ideas-of-douglas-adams
Infinite Improbability Drive — https://hitchhikers.fandom.com/wiki/Infinite_Improbability_Drive
The Verge article: LEGO announces its biggest and most detailed Space Shuttle set yet — https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/22/22345026/lego-space-shuttle-nasa-discovery-columbia-hubble-telescope
Raspberry Pi makes LEGO minifigures play their own music — https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/raspberry-pi-makes-lego-minifigures-play-their-own-music/
Etsy Potion of Healing dice shaker — https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/974451127/potion-of-healing-dice-shaker-with-d4
Kickstarter: Pixels – The Electronic Dice — https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pixels-dice/pixels-the-electronic-dice
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