Episode 264 — Cancellations

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empty chairs
Photo by Jonas Kakaroto from Pexels

Seems wherever you turn for news these days, the stories about COVID-19 abound.  This week’s episode has several stories on the impacts and implications of the virus, whether on pollution, event cancellations, collaboration tools for remote engagement and mapping of the evolution of the virus genome.

Michael and Michael take some time to reminisce about SETI@home, starting with the screensaver from way back when.  SETI@home will stop distributing work and “go into hibernation” on March 31st.

Rounding out the episode includes stories on indoor solar power for IoT devices, DuckDuckGo’s identification of trackers to block, a year long smartphone sabbatical as well as the revival of The Kids in The Hall.

Selected Links

Macworld article: What happens if (and when) Apple cancels WWDC 2020 — https://www.macworld.com/article/3530298/what-happens-if-and-when-apple-cancels-wwdc-2020.html 

Random Thoughts blog post: WWDC Day 1 – Awesome Woes — http://michaelrowe01.com/index.php/2019/06/03/wwdc-day-1-awesome-woes/ 

Random Thoughts blog post: WWDC Day Two (early morning) — http://michaelrowe01.com/index.php/2019/06/04/wwdc-day-two-early-morning/ 

The Verge article: Google and Microsoft are giving away enterprise conferencing tools due to coronavirus — https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/3/21163744/google-microsoft-free-access-coronavirus-google-hangouts-meet-teams 

MIT article: Gene sleuths are tracking the coronavirus outbreak as it happens — https://www.technologyreview.com/s/615317/gene-sleuths-are-tracking-the-coronavirus-outbreak-as-it-happens/ 

Nextstrain — https://nextstrain.org 

Wired article: SETI@home Is Over.  But the Search for Alien Life Continues — https://www.wired.com/story/setihome-is-over-but-the-search-for-alien-life-continues/ 

Ars Technica article: The grandfather of distributed computing projects, SETI@home shuts down — https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/03/the-grandfather-of-distributed-computing-projects-setihome-shuts-down/ 

SETI@home — https://setiathome.berkeley.edu 

BOINC — https://boinc.berkeley.edu 

World Community Grid — https://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/discover.action 

Science Daily article: New type of indoor solar cells for smart connected devices — https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/03/200304141441.htm 

TechCrunch article: DuckDuckGo now crawls the web regularly to create a free list of trackers to block — https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/05/duckduckgo-now-crawls-the-web-regularly-to-create-a-free-list-of-trackers-to-block/ 

Inside Edition article:  She Ditched Her Smartphone for $100,000.  But Taking a Year-Long Technology Break Gave Her So Much More — https://www.insideedition.com/she-ditched-her-smartphone-for-100000-but-taking-a-year-long-technology-break-gave-her-so-much-more 

Slashfilm article: ‘The Kids in the Hall’ Revival Headed to Amazon — https://www.slashfilm.com/kids-in-the-hall-revival/

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Episode 263 — Bionic Hawkeye Jellyfish

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jellyfish
Photo by Michael Martine, 2018

Concert goers unite in VR, perhaps even with virtual lighters.  The opener for this week’s episode is all about virtual concerts — following on the cohosts’ recent conversations on virtual conventions.  MelodyVR is the company mentioned in the article — Michael and Michael discuss how this recurring refrain has come back, and remember the example of the Marshmello concert in Fortnite last year.  

Harkening back to the Second Life days and the catalog of digital objects from a variety of companies, Sketchfab is brining forward a way for cultural organizations to contribute their models to the public domain for users to download, reuse and remix.  Very cool.

Speaking of cool, friend of the podcast Andy Piper suggested Michael and Michael have a look at the Hawkeye capability to monitor eye tracking, and control of your iOS and macOS environment.  This subject lent itself well to an article focused on a recent Apple patent for a “bionic virtual meeting room”, which uses EEG to use as input to the VR world.  The experiences of the cohosts with the Emotiv headset as well.

For the data visualization fans — and you know who you are — there are some intriguing maps of the United States from Ranker that are well worth checking out.  As this is an audio podcast, you’ll have to hit the links below to see the visualizations for yourself.

And for another example of something that is worth seeing, a collaboration between City University of New York and Harvard developed six tentacled micro robot that can gently capture a jellyfish for scientific marine biological observation & measurement without harming the jellyfish.  This is an incredible video that you have to see to understand how it works.  

The closing stanza for this episode features a French startup with a novel idea for combating electric vehicle range anxiety with a battery trailer that you can tow, and swap out.

Selected Links

CNN Business article:  How virtual reality is changing the live music experience — https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/27/tech/vr-live-music-intl/index.html 

MelodyVR — https://melodyvr.com 

BBC News article: Fortnite: ‘Millions attend’ virtual Marshmello concert — https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-47116429 

Sketchfab article: Public Domain Cultural Heritage — https://sketchfab.com/blogs/community/sketchfab-launches-public-domain-dedication-for-3d-cultural-heritage 

Hawkeye Access — https://www.usehawkeye.com/accessibility 

Hawkeye Access on Youtube

Hawkeye Access app on Apple App Store — https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hawkeye-access/id1492668476?mt=12 

Hawk-eye Innovations — https://www.hawkeyeinnovations.com 

Protocol article: Ready for bionic virtual reality meetings? Apple thinks so — https://www.protocol.com/apple-bionic-electrodes-virtual-reality 

Ranker article: 17 Maps Of The United States That Made Us Say “Whoa” — https://www.ranker.com/list/whoa-usa-maps/jtdesaulnier 

Gizmodo article: This Noodle-Fingered Robot Is a Friend to Jellyfish — https://gizmodo.com/this-noodle-fingered-robot-is-a-friend-to-jellyfish-1841887528 

Jalopnik article: This French Start Up Has A Solution To Range Anxiety — https://jalopnik.com/this-french-start-up-has-a-solution-to-range-anxiety-1841894084 

EP Tender — http://eptender.com/en/

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Episode 262 — Dialing for Dollars

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rotary dial phone
Photo by Mike Meyers on Unsplash

Michael and Michael do not ‘phone it in’ for this episode, even through there are lots to do with phones and (unwanted) phone calls.  Starting off with an exchange on whether in-person conferences are passé, the co-hosts then turn their attention to the world of mixed reality, and the reporting around the U.S. Army’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System.  

Ring – ring!  No, I don’t need to extend the warranty on my car that expired years ago.  If you’ve received a call like this — or calls like this every day, help is on the way.  A new service from DoNotPay provides relief by making it easier to sue the robocall companies.  Michael R remembered that we talked about this company before, and it was back in 2018, on episode 215 to be precise.  

After putting this topic on hold, Michael and Michael marvel at a DYI kit to create your very own rotary dial cellphone, complete with a dial from a Western Electric Trimline phone.  

Last, Michael and Michael get the 411 on the Tesla Anti-Handbook Handbook directly from the images on Scribd.

Selected Links

TechCrunch article: Do Trade shows still matter in the age of online business — https://techcrunch.com/2020/02/18/do-trade-shows-still-matter-in-the-age-of-online-business/ 

Popular Mechanics article: ‘Mixed Reality’ Goggles Will Give U.S. Army Soldiers Super Vision — https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a30898514/mixed-reality-goggles-army/ 

Gizmodo article: Hate Those Robocalls?  This Service Lets You Sue Them for Up to $3,000 Per Annoying Call — https://gizmodo.com/hate-those-robocalls-this-service-lets-you-sue-them-fo-1841730699 

Boy Genius Report article: Finally, here’s a secret weapon to use against all those despicable robocallers — https://bgr.com/2020/02/17/robocall-app-lets-you-sue-robocallers/ 

DoNotPay website — https://donotpay.com 

DoNotPay on Apple App Store — https://apps.apple.com/app/id1427999657 

Games At Work episode 215 — Great Jumpin Robots: https://gamesatwork.biz/2018/10/15/episode-215-great-jumpin-robots/ 

Engadget article: You can make your own rotary cellphone — https://www.engadget.com/2020/02/17/rotary-cellphone-kit-available/  

Scribd Tesla Anti-Handbook Handbook — https://www.scribd.com/document/446927426/Tesla-Anti-Handbook-Handbook

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Episode 261 — Flippin’ Phones

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multi exposure of a skier flipping
Photo by Riccardo Bresciani from Pexels

Starting off on a Valentine’s Day theme, the co-hosts talk about a Ford survey of 1,000 US adults that found that 75% are more likely to date someone if they own an EV.

Switching gears to the intersection of global events and tech conferences, Michael and Michael talk about the impact of the coronavirus, now named COVID-19 on conferences such as Mobile World Congress.  At the time of the recording, some major corporations were pulling out of the conference, but the conference was still scheduled to take place.  That changed on February 12th with the announcement that MWC would be cancelled this year.  The continuing story of the outbreak ripples throughout the globe, with implications to the supply chain for appropriate supplies and food, as well as significant technology implications and privacy challenges.  Our sympathies are with those affected in China and all over the world.

Winding up this episode, Michael and Michael talk about the next set of innovative phones coming from Samsung in the form of the Galaxy Z Flip and the interesting possibilities for the user experience that such a multi-screen foldable phone could unlock.

Selected Links

Mashable article: Going electric could be good for your love life — https://mashable.com/article/electric-vehicle-love-attraction-survey/ 

TechCrunch article: MWC hangs by a thread after Nokia, DT and other big names back out — https://techcrunch.com/2020/02/12/nokia-pulls-out-of-mwc-over-coronavirus-concerns/ 

GSMA MWC Barcelona — https://www.mwcbarcelona.com 

BusinessWire article:  GSMA Statement on MWC Barcelona 2020 from John Hoffman, CEO GSMA Limited — https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200212005755/en/ 

Reuters article: Coronavirus brings China’s surveillance state out of the shadows — https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-surveillance/coronavirus-brings-chinas-surveillance-state-out-of-the-shadows-idUSKBN2011HO 

Business Insider article: Officials in Hong Kong are using wristbands to track families that are under Wuhan coronavirus quarantine — https://www.businessinsider.com/hong-kong-wristbands-tracking-people-in-coronavirus-quarantine-2020-2?op=1 

Medpage Today article: Track the Coronavirus Outbreak on Johns Hopkins Live Dashboard — https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/publichealth/84698 

TechCrunch article: WhatsApp hits 2 billion users, up from 1.5 billion 2 years ago — https://techcrunch.com/2020/02/12/whatsapp-hits-2-billion-users-up-from-1-5-billion-2-years-ago/ 

TechCrunch article: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip hands-on: This is more like it — https://techcrunch.com/2020/02/11/samsung-galaxy-z-flip-hands-on-this-is-more-like-it/ 

ZDNet article: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip available Feb. 14 for $1,380 in limited quantities — https://www.zdnet.com/article/samsung-galaxy-z-flip-available-feb-14-for-1380-in-limited-quantities-here-are-the-specs/ 

Cnet download article: LCARS interface for Windows 10 — https://download.cnet.com/LCARS-Interface-for-Windows-10/3000-31711_4-77571542.html 

TechCrunch article: Microsoft launches new dev tools for building Windows 10X dual-screen experiences — https://techcrunch.com/2020/02/11/microsoft-launches-new-dev-tools-for-building-windows-10x-dual-screen-experiences/ 

Games At Work on Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/GamesAtWorkBiz/ 

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