Episode 191 – Return of the Piper

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We welcome Andy Piper @andypiper back on the show, part of the original Games At Work dot Biz trio – back together kicking off a detailed discussion of voice assistants, following last week’s discussion on Google Home, Amazon Alexa and Apple HomePod.

We then look at some of the more interesting things that came out at CES last week, and how tech seems to be looking for very niche problems to solve – are they worth it? Or are they so menial and trivial -causing more time to automate them then you save by using the automation. Would you were an airbag for your hip? While washing dishes for two? Before heading to your voice controlled toilet seat?

We wrap the show with a quick analysis of is it right for people to use the blockchain to lock in permission for sex – this is wrong on so many levels. And finally a bunch of great game recommendations for wasting your weekend

Show Links:
Follow-up from last week:
39 Million Americans now own a smart speaker – https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/12/39-million-americans-now-own-a-smart-speaker-report-claims/

CES Links:
Smart Dishwasher for two – https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/12/16882558/tetra-heatworks-frog-smart-dishwasher-chores-clothes-iot-ces-2018
Less ‘whoa’, more ‘no’! Tech fails to lean from its mistakes at annual pageant – https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan/10/consumer-electonrics-show-ces-2018-lack-of-innovation
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106697/

Not again: Men try to create a blockchain-based app for sexual consent – http://mashable.com/2018/01/11/sexual-consent-legalfling-app-blockchain/

Games We are Playing
Michael R. – Geting ready to delete – AdVenture Communist – https://www.hyperhippo.ca/adventure-communist
Has to be based off of the Freemium game model from South Park – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4duJdeKTwHY
Michael M. – Deleting Star Trek Timelines
Andy P. – Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp – https://ac-pocketcamp.com/
On Mobile – Dots & Co. – https://www.dots.co/dotsandco/
On the switch – Super Mario Odyssey – https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/super-mario-odyssey-switch
On Xbox – Battlefront 2 – https://www.ea.com/games/starwars/battlefront/battlefront-2

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:01 — 38.0MB) | Embed

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Episode 190 – Crazy to the Macs

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The Michael’s welcome in the new year with a philosophical discussion on why do we need a dedicated speaker for a digital assistant? What’s the secret sauce as to why a dedicated device is worth it verses just using the one on your phone? We also tweeted out a quick poll on which device do you use?

We then discuss Magic Leap’s finally announced Developer kit. Are you getting your’s? What do you think about it’s form factor? Is it the next great dev kit, or will it just be another Google Glass like launch? We look at the design and Michael R. appreciates how people got the tethered part wrong (as they usually do from early prototypes).

Going from AR we look back at virtual assistants with two apps, Fin and Filld, which help people with a busy life get mundane things done. Is it just Task Rabbit or something more? Is it within the reach of average consumers? Not yet, but who knows.

We then look at unrolling tweet storms and turning them into a blog post, via a google chrome plug in. An finally we go back to a few old favorites with Civilizations and the Animaniacs.

What will you do this year? We plan on doing the same thing we do every year, Try and take over the world!!!

Happy new year!

Show Links:
There’s no place like HomePod –
https://www.macworld.com/article/3245730/home-tech/theres-no-place-like-homepod.html#tk.rss_all
Multi-Timer by Persapps – http://www.persapps.com – Direct link:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/multitimer-multiple-timers/id973421278?mt=8
A quick tweet about which device do you own? https://twitter.com/GamesAtWork_Biz/status/949363822560768006

Magic Leap Finally Reveals AR Headset – https://uploadvr.com/magic-leap-finally-reveals-ar-headset-magic-leap-one/
The Fin Assistant – https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/22/fin-assistant/
Fill Your Tank with Filld – https://www.filld.com/

Amazon will deliver to the trunk of your car – http://fortune.com/2017/10/10/amazon-phrame/

Unroll your Tweet Storms – https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/04/thread-reader-app-twitter/

Civilizations VI is now on the iPad – https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/12/the-full-real-actual-civilization-vi-just-came-out-on-ipad/
Animaniacs are back for another season on Hulu – http://www.slashfilm.com/animaniacs-reboot/

What are we playing:
Michael R. InstaSaber – http://instasaber.com
Michael M. – Doing yearly time-suck cleanup of apps on his phone.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:08 — 37.0MB) | Embed

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Episode 189 – Year End Tech Blues

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Did you know if you play In the Air Tonight from the Secret Policeman’s Ball starting at any time before midnight on the 31st of December, you won’t hear the drum solo at all?  Well, we did.

As we wrap up the last episode of 2017, we have several examples of tech you may find as intriguing as we did.

First, non-powered, non-battery operated devices that can communicate with WiFi, simply explained by sound waves.   Michael R highlights the DTNS show where the concept of transmission over a wet string is explained.  Michael M remembers the Monty Python String sketch with Mr. Adrian Wapcaplet.

Then, for the new Pixel phones, you can place augmented reality stickers of stormtroopers in your pictures & videos.  This thread (ha) leads to the Instasaber site, where you can create light sabers, once the app is released.

Later, a discussion on jobs & the workplace of the future, specifically around bots and legal work.

Then, a conversation about Apple’s recently announced iMac Pro.

From all of us at Games at Work, we wish you a very happy new year, with health, happiness, prosperity and augmented goodness in 2018!

Selected Links

In the Air Tonight from The Secret Policeman’s Ball — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOuKgVR3Xeo

Digital Trends article:  Scientists create unpowered 3D-printed objects that can communicate via WiFi — https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/3d-printed-wi-fi/

Monty Python Sting sketch — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qNj-QFZbew & http://www.montypython.net/scripts/string.php

DTNS 3178 – Broadstrand Inter-Wet — http://www.dailytechnewsshow.com/dtns-3178-broadstrand-inter-wet/

Digital Trends article:  Insert Stormtroopers into your life with Google’s new AR stickers for Pixel — https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/google-launches-ar-stickers-for-pixel/

Instasaber — http://instasaber.com

MIT Technology Review article:  Apps That Hint at a Fanciful Fake Future — https://www.technologyreview.com/s/609235/apps-that-hint-at-a-fanciful-fake-future/

MIT Technology Review article: Lawyer-Bots Are Shaking Up Jobs — https://www.technologyreview.com/s/609556/lawyer-bots-are-shaking-up-jobs/

Apple’s iMac Pro — https://www.apple.com/imac-pro/

MIT Technology Review article: Your Next Password May Be Stored in Your Shirt Cuff — https://www.technologyreview.com/s/609264/your-next-password-may-be-stored-in-your-shirt-cuff/

Smallball — http://smallball.com

What games are the hosts playing?

Michael M:  Retro Soccer by EightPixelsSquare — http://www.eightpixelssquare.com/retrosoccer/

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:31 — 37.4MB) | Embed

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Episode 188 – Star Wars Bucks

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With the opening of the latest installation of the Star Wars saga this weekend, Michael and Michael start off this episode, recorded a week earlier, with the new AR capabilities of the Star Wars app.  Michael M, being the enterprising person that he is, boldly managed to try this out by loading up the image on a website to allow the AR experience to work.

The newest Starbucks opened in Shanghai and in addition to being the largest in the world, coming in at 30,000 sq ft, is also AR-enabled.  Visitors to this Starbucks can walk around with their AR-enabled phone to learn more about the inner workings of this Starbucks, earning badges to receive a custom roastery photo filter when all the badges are collected.

Michael M was fascinated by the way the Kuri robot emotes by changing the shape of the eyes using “eyelids” that come up from the bottom of the eyes, as well as from the top.  Michael R shared an intriguing app that reads audio waveforms, which the PhonoPaper app describes as “the 2D audio barcode (by analogy with the QR-code)”

Selected Links

The First Order Arrives… In The Star Wars App — http://www.starwars.com/news/the-first-order-arrives-in-the-star-wars-app

The Star Wars App — http://www.starwars.com/games-apps/star-wars-app

Mashable article:  The world’s biggest Starbucks outlet is also AR-enhanced — http://mashable.com/2017/12/05/starbucks-shanghai-outlet

Wired article:  The Genesis of Kuri, the Friendly Home Robot — https://www.wired.com/story/the-genesis-of-kuri/

Rosie the robot from the Jetsons — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Jetsons_characters#Rosie

Twiki the robot from Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century — http://buckrogers.wikia.com/wiki/Twiki

IEEE Spectrum article:  New Carbon Nanotube Sheets Claim World’s Top Heat-Sink Performance — https://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/semiconductors/nanotechnology/new-carbon-nanotube-sheets-claim-worlds-top-heatsink-performance

Handbrake — https://handbrake.fr

Apple App Store article:  From Hit Game to Arcade Sensation — https://itunes.apple.com/us/story/id1309536407

Kate Bush’s album Ariel — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerial_(album)

PhonoPaper app — https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/phonopaper/id865947553?mt=8

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:17 — 37.1MB) | Embed

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