Episode 310 — Electric PotterVision

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old television
Photo by Ajeet Mestry on Unsplash

The co-hosts get together to marvel at the newest videos from NASA’s successful landing on Mars, and the secret message encoded into the Perseverance parachute.  Going from the extraterrestrial to the augmented (or artificial) reality, team considers an Apple II plus emulated in the Unreal Engine 4.

An AR diorama museum experience brings people together to see extinct animals in their own habitat on your kitchen table, narrated by Sir David Attenborough.  Gamification then takes center stage with the Harbor emergency prep startup, which tells you what you should do when an emergency strikes, and helps you get ready beforehand.  

Reminiscent of the Daily Prophet from Harry Potter, MyHeritage uses “deepfakery” to animate pictures of your relatives and allow you to see the people move in a natural way.

A sleek solar battery powered car which looks much like the Batmobile captures the team’s attention.  Speaking of batteries, a new invention allows wearables to be powered by people, which is shocking to the cohosts.  

And to bookend this episode with another diorama, the Guinness Book of World Records award for the “Largest Interlocking Plastic Brick Diorama” is given to an amazing Lord of the Rings build in Shenzhen, China that you have to see the video to believe.  

Selected Links

The Verge article: NASA’s Perseverance rover beams back first images from its wild landing — https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/19/22291412/nasa-perseverance-rover-first-images-landing-skycrane 

TechCrunch article: Watch Perseverance’s harrowing descent to the surface of Mars — https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/22/watch-perseverances-harrowing-descent-to-the-surface-of-mars/ 

Sixcolors article: Secret Binary Message Embedded In Mars Perseverance Parachute — https://sixcolors.com/link/2021/02/secret-binary-message-embedded-in-mars-perseverance-parachute/ 

Input Mag article: The Apple II has been emulated inside Unreal Engine 4 — https://www.inputmag.com/gaming/someone-emulated-the-apple-ii-inside-unreal-engine-4 

Choplifter — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choplifter 

The Verge article: Museum Alive is dioramas but AR, with narration by David Attenborough — https://www.theverge.com/22299611/museum-alive-iphone-app-david-attenborough-augmented-reality 

The Blue Planet — https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008044n 

Tech Crunch article: Gamified emergency prep startup Harbor inks ADT partnership — https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/24/harbor-adt/ 

Harbor — https://www.helloharbor.com 

TechCrunch article: MyHeritage now lets you animate old family photos using deepfakery — https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/26/myheritage-now-lets-you-animate-old-family-photos-using-deepfakery/ 

The Verge article: The Framework Laptop is an upgradeable, customizable 13-inch notebook coming this spring — https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/25/22299938/framework-laptop-features-upgrade-release-date-price 

Washington Post article: It looks like the Batmobile, works on solar energy, and could be the future of cars — https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/interactive/2021/solar-car/ 

Boy Genius Report article: Scientists invented a wearable that recharges in the most incredible way — https://bgr.com/2021/02/25/wearable-battery-power-generator/ 

Futurism article: Boston Dynamics Mad Someone Used Their Terrifying RoboDog as Intended — https://wordpress.futurism.com/boston-dynamics-mad-someone-using-terrifying-robodog-as-intended 

Slashfilm article: VOTD: This Massive ‘Lord of the Rings’ LEGO Diorama Set a Guinness World Record — https://www.slashfilm.com/guinness-world-record-setting-lord-of-the-rings-lego-diorama-set/

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Episode 309 — Cardboard Doom to Khazad-dûm

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Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Andy and Michael M. geek out on NASA’s latest rover sticking the landing on Mars.  And the rover Perseverance brought the helicopter drone Ingenuity along for the ride.  If all goes well, this will be the first controlled flight on another planet, reminiscent of the Wright Brothers’ flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.  

In soundscape news, Andy shares the “I Miss My Bar” audio experience to remind you of what it was like to be in your local.  This reminds Michael of the I Miss the Office soundscape.  Andy and Michael then take a look at Andy Baio’s Skittish, where the virtual reality environment also includes a spatial audio component to the experience.  Both Andy and Michael have signed up and can’t wait to give this world a spin.  Going back briefly to last week’s episode, Michael shares his excitement to participate in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s upcoming VR production of Dream.

News of vehicles being used for generators and batteries in Texas features in the next couple of articles.  Ford’s newest F-150 truck provides an onboard generator for heavy duty electrical equipment at a job site and is very useful to provide power during the massive outages in Texas.  Likewise, Tesla owners take advantage of their cars’ battery to power their homes during the outage.  Speaking of batteries, check out the super cute Battery Buddy.

Returning to the running set of examples of what can run Doom, the cohosts share a story of Doom running on cardboard.  Check out the video below for all the deets.

In a crossover between LEGO, AR and reality, Universal Music Group signs L.L.A.M.A. to the label.  And in the world of tv shows and film, the full compliment of co-hosts talk Tolkien and D&D to round out this week’s episode, showing the full range of topics, from cardboard Doom to Khazad-dûm.

Selected Links

NASA Mars 2020 — https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/mars2020/#/home?time=2021-02-18T15:44:05.046-05:00&rate=0&id=surface_operations 

IEEE Spectrum article: How NASA Designed a Helicopter That Could Fly Autonomously on Mars — https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/aerospace/robotic-exploration/nasa-designed-perseverance-helicopter-rover-fly-autonomously-mars 

CNN article: Ingenuity helicopter phones home from Mars — https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/20/world/mars-ingenuity-helicopter-update-scn-trnd/index.html 

National Park Service Wight Brother’s National Memorial in North Carolina — https://www.nps.gov/wrbr/index.htm 

The Verge article: I Miss My Bar is like audio therapy for barflies — https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/11/22278889/i-miss-my-bar-maverick-site-sounds-playlist-people-talking 

Games At Work episode 270: Virtual Bricks — https://gamesatwork.biz/2020/04/27/episode-270-virtual-bricks/ 

Apartment Therapy article: Miss Going to the Office? This Site Simulates Work Noises — https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/virtual-work-noises-sounds-36745545 

I Miss the Office — https://imisstheoffice.eu 

The Verge article: Skittish is a virtual event space built from the lessons of the pandemic — https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/17/22286520/skittish-virtual-event-space-online-andy-baio 

Skittish — https://skittish.com 

Andy Baio — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Baio 

Dream — https://dream.online 

CNBC article: Some Texans use 2021 Ford F-150 hybrid pickup trucks to power homes amid winter storm — https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/18/some-texans-use-2021-ford-f-150-hybrids-to-power-homes-amid-winter-storm.html 

Vice article: Texas Tesla Owners Are Drawing Power From Their Cars During Blackouts — https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7vyvk/texas-tesla-owners-are-drawing-power-from-their-cars-during-blackouts 

Product Hunt article: Battery Buddy — https://www.producthunt.com/posts/battery-buddy 

Battery Buddy — https://batterybuddy.app/?ref=gamesatwork.biz 

The Verge TL;DR article: Can a cardboard box run Doom II? Yes — https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2021/2/16/22285300/doom-2-games-made-of-cardboard-video-john-romero 

Brick Fanatics article: Universal Music Group signs LEGO VIDIYO artist — https://www.brickfanatics.com/universal-music-group-signs-lego-vidiyo-artist/ 

Brick Fanatics article: Every song and artist available on LEGO VIDIYO right now — https://www.brickfanatics.com/every-song-and-artist-available-on-lego-vidiyo-right-now/ 

LEGO VIDIYO Party Llama Beat Box — https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/party-llama-beatbox-43105 

Slashfilm article: Elijah Wood Thinks Amazon’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ Series Should Be Renamed — https://www.slashfilm.com/elijah-wood-amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-title/ 

Slashfilm article: ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Adds Breakout ‘Bridgerton’ Star Regé-Jean Page to the Ensemble Cast — https://www.slashfilm.com/new-dungeons-and-dragons-movie-cast-adds-rege-jean-page/ 

Dungeons & Dragons (TV Series) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons_(TV_series) 

Kitty Letter game — https://theoatmeal.com/blog/free_game 

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Episode 308 — Feline Filters

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Foster Kitten, December 2020

Michael, Michael and Andy start off this week’s episode with the intersection of AR & VR in performances and games.  Apple does a nice AR tie in with it’s For All Mankind AppleTV+, and the Royal Shakespeare Company plans for a VR show in March where the audience can guide Puck from their remote viewing link.  After taking a look at the uncannily good MetaHuman technology from Epic Games, the trio immerse themselves in a version of Edvard Munch’s painting, and then moving along to Van Gogh in Activeworlds and LEGO.

A side-by-side video showcases the creative reuse of Disney animators.  And, of course, the feline filter.  An attorney participating in a Zoom hearing is visually represented as a cat, and as you might expect, hilarity ensues.

For this week’s moment of zen, frozen clothing as percussion instruments.  Given that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, there’s still a few more weeks of winter to come, so perhaps the Frozen Clothes Band will make another encore appearance.    

Selected Links

TechCrunch article: Apple launches a new AR experience tied to ‘For All Mankind’ — https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/11/for-all-mankind-time-capsule 

For All Mankind — https://tv.apple.com/us/show/for-all-mankind/umc.cmc.6wsi780sz5tdbqcf11k76mkp7?itscg=10000&itsct=atv-0-tv_ovp-carousel-apl-200528 

BBC article: Royal Shakespeare Company to stage virtual reality show — https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-55969712 

Royal Shakespeare Company’s performance of Dream — https://dream.online

Uncanny Valley — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley 

Games At Work episode 197 Looking for AR — https://gamesatwork.biz/2018/04/09/episode-197-looking-for-ar/

A Fantastic Animated Version of Edvard Munch’s Painting ‘The Scream’ Set to a Pink Floyd Soundtrack — https://laughingsquid.com/animated-edvard-munch-the-scream/ 

Activeworlds — https://www.activeworlds.com/index.php 

Nerdist article: Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night Is the Newest LEGO Set — https://nerdist.com/article/vincent-van-gogh-starry-night-lego-set/ 

The Verge TL;DR article: Zoom filter traps this lawyer as a cute cat during live court hearing — https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2021/2/9/22274865/zoom-hearing-cat-filter-lawyer-texas-live-court-hearing 

The Verge article: VLC 4.0 coming this year with new interface for the popular video player — https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/12/22279750/vlc-4-0-new-user-interface-videolan-media-player-video-music-movie-database-web-player 

The Verge article: Microsoft’s foldable Surface Duo price drops to $999, arrives in Europe next week — https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/11/22278035/microsoft-surface-duo-uk-release-date-price-features 

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Episode 307 — Remember What’s Important

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Windows Swap Budapest Hungary
WindowSwap Budapest, Hungary

Andy and Michael M remember what’s important.  Developing community.  Connecting with people.  Helping.  An intriguing article about Elite Dangerous gameplay and scenarios that some unscrupulous players use to take advantage of new players.  And how groups of players band together to help and rescue those new players.  Software such as Range and the newly announced Microsoft Viva bring community building to work teams, and provide terrific fodder for Andy and Michael to discuss.

AI takes center stage with specialized photo filters.  And so does the Advertising Standards Authority.  AI also features in MMORPGs, as is the case with Latitude.  

Wrapping up this week, spinach that sends email, Nike’s new GoFlyEase shoes and Windows Swap round out the show. 

Selected Links

dev.to post: Super Mario World Restored Original Soundtrack: Great Coding Music! — https://dev.to/ben/super-mario-world-restored-original-soundtrack-great-coding-music-4alf 

Ben Halpern’s Nerd Bowl 2017 — https://github.com/benhalpern/benhalpern.github.io/blob/master/nerdbowl.json 

Polygon article: Elite Dangerous players say they’re being scammed, trapped in space, and forced to work — https://www.polygon.com/features/2021/2/4/22264605/elite-dangerous-newbies-trapped-forced-labor 

BBC News article: Influencers told not to use ‘misleading’ beauty filters — https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-55824936 

TechCrunch article: AI Dungeon-maker Latitude raises $3.3M to build games with ‘infinite’ story possibilities — https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/04/latitude-seed-funding/ 

Rogue — https://apps.apple.com/us/app/rogue/id298113808 

The Verge article: Pixel phones will be able to read your heart rate with their cameras — https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/4/22265004/google-pixel-camera-heart-rate-breathing-rate-sensor 

MacStories article: Apple Releases Betas with Face ID Plus Apple Watch iPhone Unlocking, App Tracking Transparency, and Other New Features — https://www.macstories.net/news/apple-releases-betas-with-face-id-plus-apple-watch-iphone-unlocking-app-tracking-transparency-and-other-new-features/ 

Range — https://www.range.co 

Microsoft Viva — https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-viva 

The Verge article: Nike’s hands-free Go FlyEase shoes look very comfy and just the right amount of ridiculous — https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2021/2/1/22260179/nike-go-flyease-shoes-hands-free-pricing-release-day 

Window Swap — https://window-swap.com  

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