WEBVTT STYLE ::cue(v[voice="F839567C-D1DD-41C1-93EA-04B8EC261754"]) { color: #6D7CFF; } ::cue(v[voice="E7F071DC-7780-4EF9-A8A4-4B7601D80ECE"]) { color: #FF4245; } ::cue(v[voice="26117C1A-ECC9-497E-8EFE-A0EBD2D1EF27"]) { color: #00D2E0; } ::cue(v[voice="657C958D-F3B7-4544-8704-5E53AE4E9B10"]) { color: #DB34F2; } ::cue(v[voice="33BF619F-73D5-4A38-8994-740B263167EC"]) { color: #DB34F2; } 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:20.000 [Music] 2 00:00:10.500 --> 00:00:15.800 This is GamesItWork.biz, your weekly podcast about gaming, technology and play. 3 00:00:15.800 --> 00:00:19.199 Your hosts are Michael Martine, Andy Piper, and Michael Rowe. 4 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:22.800 The thoughts and opinions on this podcast are those of the hosts and guests alone, 5 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:28.500 and are not the opinions of any organization which they have been, are or may be, affiliated with. 6 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:35.500 This is episode 536. 7 00:00:35.500 --> 00:00:37.500 Can we skip all AI this time? 8 00:00:38.500 --> 00:00:41.079 [upbeat music] 9 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:52.679 Hello, welcome again to Games at Work.biz, your weekly technology podcast. I'm Andy Piper, 10 00:00:52.679 --> 00:00:58.039 and with me today are one of the Michaels, and I guess I will pass straight over to Mr. Michael 11 00:00:59.500 --> 00:01:05.420 I am well and a great to hear you, and sorry I missed last week's show, a little under the weather. 12 00:01:05.420 --> 00:01:10.620 So thanks for you and Michael, keep you going quite well. I enjoyed it. 13 00:01:08.500 --> 00:01:15.299 We pulled something out of the hat, we made some words happen. 14 00:01:12.140 --> 00:01:16.539 Yeah, threw some crap on the wall and said, "That'll stick." 15 00:01:17.340 --> 00:01:21.900 And as you said, we have a guest, Ian. Ian Hughes, welcome. 16 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:26.200 Hello, it's good to be back once again and 17 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:30.400 It's good to be bad, it's good to be. 18 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:34.640 I think that's an oasis line anyway. 19 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:35.980 Yes, good to have you. 20 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:42.459 It's an auspicious occasion for having you too. 21 00:01:35.500 --> 00:01:37.500 Thank you. 22 00:01:42.459 --> 00:01:46.739 We understand you're on to having new fun, new and exciting fun coming up. 23 00:01:46.500 --> 00:01:51.819 Certainly I am and yes, so today is my first day of my official retirement 24 00:01:53.019 --> 00:02:00.180 So I have I have plenty of things lined up, but I am actually retired so I I'm not 25 00:02:00.500 --> 00:02:07.980 Have you-- are you playing any-- 26 00:02:01.219 --> 00:02:06.500 All these words in my own and it doesn't have to be anything to do an employer. I don't have to mention that 27 00:02:07.980 --> 00:02:13.099 are you playing any interesting games since we're going to kick off into the gaming world? 28 00:02:11.939 --> 00:02:16.379 Well I I was sitting playing the new... 29 00:02:17.340 --> 00:02:45.500 the new version of Demiow that we talked about I think back in October didn't we because it was just it was scheduled to come out and so I finally got around to playing it and it's battle marked and it's called battle marked and it's officially a D&D branded and themed experience and they've jazzed the whole thing out it's I mean Demiow was good anyway but it's much much better now and it was a wonderful sitting playing it. 30 00:02:45.500 --> 00:02:53.259 awesome. Cool, cool. Andy, any games you're playing? 31 00:02:54.000 --> 00:03:01.560 One of my playing at the moment, I discovered that there's an open source port of the game engine for cannon fodder from 32 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:04.000 Yay! (laughs) 33 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:06.439 Back in the day. So I've been playing that the last couple of days 34 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:10.120 Are on the in the evenings on the on the Linux machine 35 00:03:11.079 --> 00:03:17.360 You can obviously run on Steamberg and it's a lot of fun just to go back to it's a little bit 36 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:23.879 archaic because there's lots of references to things 37 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:53.960 that you know are so old now that you know nobody really thinks about them and yeah I was just kind of blown away just to have another poke at it after gosh 20-30 years but that's one thing and I also got my steam in review my steam year in review it was much more interesting than my Xbox year in review because I've barely been able to get on the Xbox this year and yeah there was I do a lot of dipping in and out of indie games so it was quite fun to see I think 40 of it. 38 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:57.439 50 odd games across the year that I've been playing around on. 39 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:01.840 Wow, awesome. Yeah, I've spent a little bit of time 40 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:08.960 Had some time to play a little bit of wow, and they've got this mechanism going on right now where you can 41 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:12.080 restart the game 42 00:04:12.719 --> 00:04:22.319 In one of the timelines one of the expansions as a beginning and level up a character from zero to current level max fairly quickly 43 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:25.000 So I'm I'm reliving the Legion 44 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:33.360 Which is kind of cool cuz there's there's this magical group of 45 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:37.519 Night elves no not night elves 46 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:43.600 I guess they are kind of elven looking anyway these magic creatures there are magic nuts 47 00:04:45.839 --> 00:04:49.040 On on a big island and there's lots of really bizarre 48 00:04:50.319 --> 00:04:53.759 magical quests with with cool graphics and 49 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:57.920 evil bad guys, you know typical wild stuff but having fun with 50 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:22.639 that when I when I have time to play lately but I'm looking well I'm I'm I'm actually looking forward to and I think the beta comes out early next year the expanse game. I I am very much looking forward to that so if that were available right now I would probably be playing the beta. 51 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:02.560 So I was like, I'm the only one playing a new game then. 52 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:05.199 Well... 53 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:06.399 So, and he's doing retro, you're doing wow, you know. 54 00:05:22.500 --> 00:05:27.500 But the Steam replay, I believe, and I'm just trying to find the reference for this story. 55 00:05:27.500 --> 00:05:37.500 They showed that it was more older games that people were playing than the AAA brand new ones over the course of the year, 56 00:05:37.500 --> 00:05:44.500 which I find really fascinating. I think either it reflects the state of the games industry with new releases, 57 00:05:44.500 --> 00:05:51.500 and/or the cost, and/or the economy, and/or lots of different factors that could be impacting that. 58 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:51.240 [laughs] 59 00:05:51.500 --> 00:05:59.899 Well, there is that that ability to dive in or to have a quick game of something rather than having to devote your life to it. Obviously, where is a longer one, 60 00:05:59.899 --> 00:06:04.180 but these, you know, social media is all about snippets, 61 00:06:04.180 --> 00:06:07.819 is all about tiny little short things that you're experiencing. 62 00:06:07.819 --> 00:06:12.100 So, going to an older game, you only get to play it for a little while because then you're dead. 63 00:06:12.100 --> 00:06:17.420 And then you play again if you want to, but you can kind of skip through a load. 64 00:06:13.500 --> 00:06:15.500 Right. (laughs) 65 00:06:17.420 --> 00:06:21.480 And it's nice that it's all still there, isn't it? 66 00:06:21.500 --> 00:06:33.500 That's the, and, and coming back, you mentioned the zork thing the other week as well, so things, things like that are, are nice to see, for the kids, and for us. 67 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:29.000 Yes 68 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:45.399 I mean I'm looking at my I just put my steam replay in the show notes for later, but I yeah, 40 40 games played This is just on steam with 31 of which listed as new as in games. I hadn't played before I'm assuming 69 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:53.480 Only three days longer streak I played a lot of 12 is better than six. That was quite fun a lot of vampire survivors as well 70 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:55.000 Now, yes, of course. 71 00:06:55.600 --> 00:06:56.759 There's a load of that. 72 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:08.680 I've got some Nomine Sky in there, but it's still not that much compared to what you were saying a number of weeks ago. 73 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:20.720 Yeah, so I've spent an awful lot of time a moment ago, and across every single platform you can possibly imagine, because now there's lots more cross-platform saving and stuff, 74 00:07:08.680 --> 00:07:10.439 Did enjoy it, though. 75 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:33.319 so that's been intriguing, because I've got a bunch of lives effectively, they've been lived, and I don't know which one to pick as the main one to play across all of them. 76 00:07:32.500 --> 00:07:44.019 Yeah my steam replay is horrible. I definitely have not played enough of this like four games 77 00:07:38.500 --> 00:07:50.660 So the story, the story I've managed to find the reference to the thing I was talking about, 78 00:07:50.660 --> 00:08:02.259 which is a steam replay showing that only 14% of all the user playtime was spent playing new PC games in the last year, 2025. 79 00:07:59.500 --> 00:08:21.100 So speaking of years in review, I know this is way out of sequence, there was a hilarious thing on Sarah Knight Live the other day that was a spoof of the years in review doing a year in review for your Uber Eats, which evidently, according to this story, Uber then did. 80 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:16.839 - Yes. 81 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:18.259 [laughing] 82 00:08:21.259 --> 00:08:27.860 I haven't, yeah, I went back and actually re-downloaded and installed UberEats on my phone, 83 00:08:27.860 --> 00:08:29.540 which had uninstalled itself, 84 00:08:29.540 --> 00:08:32.659 just to see if I had that option available to me, 85 00:08:32.659 --> 00:08:33.899 which I didn't, because I don't, 86 00:08:33.899 --> 00:08:35.580 and I don't remember the last time I used UberEats, 87 00:08:35.580 --> 00:08:37.580 so that may make sense there, but, 88 00:08:37.580 --> 00:08:44.940 so I don't know whether they've even released that feature in the UK, but the sketch on Saturday and I live was quite funny, I have to say. 89 00:08:44.000 --> 00:09:13.919 Yeah, I don't use your Uber Eats at all, but for work this year, I had to set up an Uber account because they prefer Uber over getting a cab, and ever since then, every week, sometimes multiple times a week, I get the, hey, here's a $25 credit to try out Uber Eats, it's going to run out, it's going to run out, and every week they redo it, it's like just Stop! Just stop! I'm not gonna use- 90 00:09:07.500 --> 00:09:09.740 [laughing] 91 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:16.000 you! 92 00:09:14.500 --> 00:09:31.899 So the first actual link we've got to talk about is going back to our retro-ish section there where we just talk about games and we've got this old C64 quick shot joystick being re-released for the modern era. 93 00:09:33.500 --> 00:09:47.500 I, this is exciting to me only because I've, I've actually seen somebody in my mastodon feet and like, I can't remember who it was, but they got their new C64 in the mail today. 94 00:09:45.500 --> 00:09:54.100 So that was the other thing that I've added into the show notes, which was the other the 64 ultimate that's just been 95 00:09:54.379 --> 00:10:01.840 Just come out under the under the various legal ranglings that are going on between the two organizations with bits of the Commodore brand which is 96 00:10:02.419 --> 00:10:14.940 quite sad and entertaining. I actually said to the author of this story on Hackster Gareth Halfaker He was talking about it or mastered on and I said oh well, I hope the keyboard is better than it was was worth 97 00:10:15.539 --> 00:10:18.659 putting up with because it was out. I've got a c64 that I was 98 00:10:19.139 --> 00:10:25.240 gifted Five or six years ago probably longer than that now by a former colleague of mine, which I 99 00:10:25.639 --> 00:10:35.700 Contaped used a kit to convert it into a USB keyboard that you can just plug into any other machine It's reversible. So it's just a little thing where you use basically plug it plug in the the keyboard 100 00:10:36.460 --> 00:10:45.419 Because the challenge was to get it to to post a tweet. So the easiest way to do that was to just have it there people are USB keyboard instead of actually hacking around with the network. 101 00:10:45.500 --> 00:10:53.500 But the keyboard is not good on those machines by comparison to what we have today. 102 00:10:53.500 --> 00:10:57.500 Gareth Halfacre was saying it's pretty nice on the new ones. 103 00:10:57.500 --> 00:11:08.500 I think the blinged out version that they came out with though is the ultimate ultimate, which is transparent case RGB lighting, all kinds of stuff. 104 00:11:08.500 --> 00:11:15.500 I struggle with that. I mean, I like my art LED lighting and things, but yeah, it's a bit too much. 105 00:11:15.500 --> 00:11:17.500 I feel like that particular version. 106 00:11:17.500 --> 00:11:20.580 when I built my gaming rig some years ago, 107 00:11:20.580 --> 00:11:29.159 they put memory with lights on it and the fans had lights on it and I am immediately disabled all that crap. 108 00:11:29.159 --> 00:11:30.139 [laughs] 109 00:11:30.139 --> 00:11:31.820 I don't want lights on that. 110 00:11:31.820 --> 00:11:35.899 I want really good lights on my monitor doing content. 111 00:11:35.500 --> 00:12:05.419 I, Andy, what you're saying about the keyboard on 64, I don't, I don't remember it being bad because it was compared to the spectrum. Because they wrote at the same time. And the spectrum was rubber keys. Obviously, it was a step up from ZX81. And these were full stroke keys. And most people hadn't even used a typewriter or anything. It kind of our, our age at the time. So to have these, even just looking at the pictures of it, taken back to my... 112 00:11:35.899 --> 00:11:36.879 [laughs] 113 00:11:46.500 --> 00:11:48.500 Right. Oh, yes. 114 00:11:46.500 --> 00:11:50.419 Yes, fair, fair, fair, fair, fair. 115 00:11:50.419 --> 00:11:51.379 Yes. 116 00:12:05.500 --> 00:12:21.419 much 64. I mean, that's what, that was my first, my first programming gig was I wrote a lunar lander on the C64 that was published in computer and video games. And they sent me £10. Oh, there's a spectrum keyboard. Yes. 117 00:12:21.500 --> 00:12:22.960 [laughs] 118 00:12:21.500 --> 00:12:42.500 Well, this is not as, I'm holding up, I'm holding up my, my ESP32 rainbow, which is like a spectrum like machine, which I is, it's got a bit dusty because I've had to put it aside for various other reasons this the last few months, but I want to get back to this. This is a, it was a crowd funded device. 119 00:12:42.500 --> 00:12:51.500 The keys on this are, it's basically a circuit board with capacitive keys rather than rubber ones and it's got a screen built into it with a small. 120 00:12:45.500 --> 00:12:47.820 Oh yes, so it just looks like one, yes. 121 00:12:51.500 --> 00:13:06.500 But you can play all the old games on it under emulation. It's not FPGA like the new Commodore. He said you turning his head away from the microphone and ruining Michael's editing as he tells the story. 122 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:03.259 [laughs] 123 00:13:03.000 --> 00:13:15.399 - Well, yeah, I remember my C64 SX and those function keys on the side, right? 124 00:13:15.399 --> 00:13:18.500 That was just the weirdest thing. 125 00:13:18.500 --> 00:13:24.799 They were cool at the time because you didn't have a lot of function keys unless you had like an IBM keyboard, right? 126 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:32.960 But everybody else, I had the TimeX Sinclair, which is basically similar to the one that you showed with the little bubble keys. 127 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:37.200 Which was a pain and when I got these keys these were awesome right there are very tacked 128 00:13:36.000 --> 00:14:31.639 Yeah. Well, the nice thing about the C64 Altima is that they, you know, because they've gone down the FPGA route and they've got essentially a real capable device there rather than emulation that you can use almost all of the expansions. So in fact, that's what the article on Haxter Dersie goes through and starts plugging in his old 129 00:13:38.279 --> 00:13:42.080 Andy would love them because they would also ruin a podcast because you'd hear 130 00:13:43.500 --> 00:13:45.740 [laughing] 131 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:35.000 devices to essentially mention the spectrum, the there are some quite neat devices now that let you plug in your spectrum expansion boards to some not to the one I have to the SP 32 rainbow, but some of the the spectrum next and other devices. So yeah, there's some very clever stuff going on and probably one of my holiday. Well, I know that one of my holiday projects is to soldered together what's called a Pico six. 132 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:53.000 So basically it's going to recreate a 6502 based old machine, but I've also got some Z80 ones which I'm still sitting around in kit form that I haven't put together. So I'm looking forward to doing a bit of tinkering with some of that stuff as well as some more modern things as well. 133 00:14:54.500 --> 00:15:03.500 Well, in you speaking of gaming and you had put a link in the show notes around ready player me 134 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:24.120 Yeah, so at the time of recording, like now, just now, Netflix has bought Ready Player Me, and Ready Player Me has been for a number of years now, a cross-platform avatar provider. 135 00:15:24.120 --> 00:15:33.960 So you can be in VR chat and pull in a version of your avatar that you can see centrally create an avatar or set by guitars and then then these 136 00:15:34.000 --> 00:16:04.000 avatars are delivered in in the appropriate form to various platforms and so whether it's on spatial or I mean there are hundreds of platforms it supported and it would even do things if it's if it's not even a full 3D platform you end up with the picture of the avatar you created and the thing that was really interesting was that because they were available on all these platforms if someone like L'Oreal for instance or Someone like, uh, 137 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:10.500 the producers that do move, you wanted to promote something, you just put the stuff for the avatars in ready play a me. 138 00:16:10.500 --> 00:16:18.000 And then that content would appear everywhere. You know, we've talked about that sort of thing needing to happen for a long while. 139 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:23.000 And so Netflix have decided to buy it. There's only 20 people in the company, but they bought it. 140 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:31.000 And, uh, on January the 26th, it won't be working anymore or January 2026, it won't be working anymore. 141 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:34.000 So they've not said it's a gearing concern. 142 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:41.000 They've bought it and they're going to try and do whatever Netflix is now trying to do with gaming, and who knows. 143 00:16:41.500 --> 00:16:45.600 So are they really just hiring the resources? 144 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:51.000 I think they are hiring resources, but there's only all the stuff they've built. 145 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:53.000 They want to rebrand, don't they? 146 00:16:53.000 --> 00:17:00.000 And they want to take it and make it so that it works well in whatever the Netflix worlds going to be. 147 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:09.880 Uh, so, so, so they're killing the distribution mechanism that is there, uh, um, but... 148 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:07.000 Yes, it would appear to be that. 149 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:11.000 Yes, even though it will work in their ecosystems. 150 00:17:09.880 --> 00:17:15.799 Yeah. 151 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:14.000 So it's kind of everything needs to... 152 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:18.000 So the complete opposite of what it was trying to do, everything needs to belong to me. 153 00:17:15.799 --> 00:17:17.400 [chuckles] 154 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:22.000 And it's a shame, I think, really. 155 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:27.000 Especially as it got its way into VR chat and places like that as well. 156 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:29.000 But we'll see. 157 00:17:29.000 --> 00:17:32.000 I've just not put it in any more of my presentations. 158 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:30.500 Yeah. 159 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:40.160 Well, I thought it is interesting that I also picked up on the fact that they're shutting it straight, basically shutting it straight down. 160 00:17:40.160 --> 00:18:01.279 They Netflix hired somebody formally from Epic as their new VP for gaming last year, and it looks like they are making a serious shift in that direction rather than just kind of still fiddling around on the edges of it with the mobile game subscription packaging thing that they've been doing. 161 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:04.000 I've noticed as well I've missed a lot of this stuff, I have. 162 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:17.000 I haven't literally not played used the Netflix subscription for gaming at all, but I've seen things like mention of Red Dead Redemption being available on iOS through that now means that I'll probably have another look at it. 163 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:30.000 It's a bit of a shame though, if the technology was as cool as you would describing, unless it's just to shut the rest of the market out of that opportunity. 164 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:34.000 I know that there continue to be a lot of cross-brand promotions. 165 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:53.000 Especially between movie studios and games studios, obviously, but all kinds of other ways, the big one that I'm aware of at the moment is the current SpongeBob movie that's being released is forced its way into the Sims, which is really annoyed a lot of Sims people because they just simply don't want the SpongeBob content at all. 166 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:55.960 Well, I mean, they're up against, they're up against Fortnite and roadblocks. 167 00:18:55.960 --> 00:19:11.759 I mean, roadblocks, obviously, the biggie Fortnite is the one that you see them all recognizable things turn up in, so, you know, they've got, and they've got like K-pop demon hunters in Fortnite, which is kind of a Netflix thing. 168 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:17.920 So, I think they're going, oh, hang on, we'll maybe try and... 169 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:25.960 all that back and try and control it, but that seems a weird thing, unless you know, I don't know, maybe we're just going to go and buy that. 170 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:31.920 I... Yeah, I guess the reason that they have to shut it down is they never supported Club Penguin. 171 00:19:32.500 --> 00:19:42.220 Well, you say that, they probably would be able to have an appropriate shaped avatar for that. 172 00:19:42.220 --> 00:19:53.940 I mean, Fortnite tries to kind of, does it with a shared avatar and some types of the avatar that and the customizations to go into different environments. 173 00:19:53.940 --> 00:20:02.480 So you end up, so Fortnite ends up with a Lego version of the avatar that you might be using or whatever so you can go into the leg of your environment. 174 00:20:02.500 --> 00:20:10.400 But yeah, it's weird news, I'm coming to terms with it, but it'll be alright. 175 00:20:10.400 --> 00:20:13.400 I'm retired now so I don't have to write about it so that's alright. 176 00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:22.359 Well they hired James, they hired James Watley to do a lot of the stuff with Legated to do a lot of that Fortnite collaboration stuff, which is very cool. 177 00:20:19.500 --> 00:20:23.319 Yeah, it's very good. 178 00:20:23.500 --> 00:20:49.819 Cool. Well, yeah, so I saw this article this week, and I know in the past we've talked about art restoration, and I just thought this was a really cool article and some great video content on how it's actually supposed to work. 179 00:20:23.559 --> 00:20:28.440 Alright, what's next? We're moving on to makers, I guess. 180 00:20:49.819 --> 00:20:53.400 I know, when was it three years ago or more were the one 181 00:21:05.500 --> 00:21:18.500 It is interesting, and this particular one is a fantastic-looking piece of art, kind of classical painting. 182 00:21:18.500 --> 00:21:21.500 And I'm not sure, it does mention that it's put on canvas. 183 00:21:21.500 --> 00:21:28.500 It doesn't look like canvas from the way that it's on the table in the images that he's working on it. 184 00:21:28.500 --> 00:21:34.500 I have to say, I do watch a lot of shows like there's an organisation in the UK, 185 00:21:35.500 --> 00:21:38.500 so there's a TV show behind the scenes, a secret of the National Trust, 186 00:21:38.500 --> 00:21:47.500 where they do a lot of this kind of work on, sorry, US friends, but considerably older. 187 00:21:47.500 --> 00:21:54.500 That's right, yeah, no exactly. 188 00:21:48.500 --> 00:21:52.500 You mean, you mean it's not like ancient from the 1890s? 189 00:21:54.500 --> 00:21:56.500 It goes back a bit further, quite often. 190 00:21:56.500 --> 00:22:03.500 And they employ their own conservators, and then they also work with organisations like the Victoria and Albert Museum, 191 00:22:03.500 --> 00:22:05.500 who's also got conservative. 192 00:22:05.500 --> 00:22:30.500 It is really interesting, almost always they'll start off by taking off all of the existing varnish and figuring out why it's all gone discolored and then retouching it all underneath by flake by flake, but yeah, you can get some really interesting results from this and it's interesting to see this sort of content showing up on YouTube. I can imagine it's the kind of thing that a lot of people get quite absorbed by. 193 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:13.680 This is removing. 194 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:59.839 it does look very popular because playing through the video, I mean A, there's a advert every 25 seconds it seems or two adverts, but also at the start of it he is promoting a product as an influence of wood and then goes on to do this restoration, but it's also a very long process and hence a very long video, which is the other surprising things. If you look at how many dots there are for the adverts. He's doing quite well for himself. 195 00:22:52.000 --> 00:23:21.839 Yes. But then you're getting all of the detail. As part from the fact that he's monetizing it as he goes and getting all of those views and clicks, if you're looking at it in a TV show, then typically you're seeing maybe it's a 30 minute or 45 minute show and you'll get three four minute segments of the 196 00:22:56.500 --> 00:22:57.339 - Yeah. 197 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:08.160 I've been another monetising scraping paint. Yeah. Yeah. 198 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:45.200 server to doing a little bit of work in each and then oh then magically at the end you get this beautiful yeah exactly where whereas this is obviously doing the much more detailed full thing that you can follow it along and that's that's quite quite fun yes that's right 199 00:23:23.500 --> 00:23:27.980 Yeah, wavy wavy line. 200 00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:29.160 And the rest is describing what they did. 201 00:23:36.500 --> 00:23:40.180 We've also got the repair shop over here in the UK TV show, 202 00:23:40.180 --> 00:23:44.140 which is set at the world and down Open Air Museum, 203 00:23:44.140 --> 00:23:51.940 which is itself where a lot of old buildings have been put and are kept loads of Tudor things and really nice place. 204 00:23:51.940 --> 00:23:57.339 And that one, people bring in a cherished item of some sort, which is usually completely destroyed. 205 00:23:57.339 --> 00:24:01.259 I mean, it is like pots in bits and leather bags, 206 00:24:01.259 --> 00:24:03.740 falling apart and paintings and books and stuff. 207 00:24:03.740 --> 00:24:05.539 And then they have specific conservators 208 00:24:06.579 --> 00:24:10.339 deal with that and watchmakers and things like that. 209 00:24:10.339 --> 00:24:12.700 And they interspersed between each, 210 00:24:12.700 --> 00:24:22.140 you know, several items were brought in and then there's this big reveal at the end and everybody cries, which is good because it's a very emotional show, but it's fascinating. 211 00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:17.839 - Yeah. 212 00:24:21.740 --> 00:24:27.039 Well, and that's also on the publicly funded BBC with no ads in. 213 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:36.599 So Michael, what we're saying is welcome to the future where we get to watch these kind of things and learn about these processes on our national broadcaster without advertising. 214 00:24:36.500 --> 00:24:40.680 - Yeah, we don't have national support of the arts, 215 00:24:40.680 --> 00:24:43.339 the media, or journalism anymore. 216 00:24:43.339 --> 00:24:51.819 One of the things I fascinates me again by seeing these types of restorations is one, 217 00:24:51.819 --> 00:24:56.839 just how stunning some original art was that's deteriorated over the years, 218 00:24:56.839 --> 00:24:59.059 gotten covered in cigarette smoke and other crap. 219 00:24:59.059 --> 00:25:01.619 And it reminds me of a co-worker of mine. 220 00:25:02.940 --> 00:25:05.619 He gave a presentation, 221 00:25:06.700 --> 00:25:10.019 he describes himself as an ITSM expert. 222 00:25:10.019 --> 00:25:13.940 And he goes, "And I've been working with computer "since the entire world was in sepia." 223 00:25:13.500 --> 00:25:15.740 [laughing] 224 00:25:16.259 --> 00:25:17.940 Which I love that phrase, 'cause it says, 225 00:25:17.940 --> 00:25:19.099 you know, I've been around a while. 226 00:25:19.099 --> 00:25:20.460 It was basically what he's saying. 227 00:25:20.460 --> 00:25:21.859 And then you look at this and you go, 228 00:25:21.859 --> 00:25:26.140 "Yeah, but if you actually go back "and look at the art now, once it's restored, 229 00:25:26.140 --> 00:25:27.980 "it wasn't really in sepia, back then, 230 00:25:27.500 --> 00:25:29.920 [laughing] 231 00:25:27.980 --> 00:25:30.019 "it really was very colorful." 232 00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:30.839 - Excellent. 233 00:25:30.019 --> 00:25:32.420 [laughing] 234 00:25:34.339 --> 00:25:36.480 So, no, this, this, I, 235 00:25:36.500 --> 00:25:52.500 like I said, I think this is, this is fantastic and, and there are, there are shows like this on PBS and, and stuff here too, but I just found this one giving the maker section that we usually try to do it fit quite nicely in that even though he's not making anything new, he's just restoring something made. 236 00:25:50.500 --> 00:25:54.940 Well, on the other end of the maker spectrum, 237 00:25:54.940 --> 00:26:01.339 the more modern things I'm rebooting are local maker group on Sunday. 238 00:26:01.339 --> 00:26:03.339 And so two days after we record this, 239 00:26:03.339 --> 00:26:04.660 we're getting back together, 240 00:26:04.660 --> 00:26:09.539 we lost the founder person that started the group unfortunately this year. 241 00:26:09.539 --> 00:26:12.259 And so we've had a bit of a pause, 242 00:26:12.259 --> 00:26:17.059 but we're gonna get together and have a bit of a Christmas pre-Christmas gathering and talk about what people want to do next year. 243 00:26:17.059 --> 00:26:19.259 So hopefully we'll start to do some fun things. 244 00:26:19.259 --> 00:26:20.500 that's another element. 245 00:26:20.500 --> 00:26:29.299 of my building old retro things from Z80s and 6502 processes and stuff I guess, so yeah, it should be fun. 246 00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:29.160 I might have to do some of that in my retirement. 247 00:26:29.299 --> 00:26:31.500 Yeah, you go, exactly. 248 00:26:30.500 --> 00:26:32.339 [laughter] 249 00:26:32.339 --> 00:26:33.099 Quit pragging. 250 00:26:33.099 --> 00:26:37.140 [laughter] 251 00:26:37.140 --> 00:26:42.180 Well, speaking of making or we should say unmaking things, 252 00:26:42.180 --> 00:26:54.700 there is an article this week in futurism.com about the meta-smart glasses usage on subways. 253 00:26:54.700 --> 00:27:00.539 And years ago-- and I still have my pair of go. 254 00:27:00.500 --> 00:27:35.460 on my door back there, which you can all see in this audio podcast and that's when people were called glass holes and evidently somebody on a subway in New York, I think it was shoes in New York, got tired of somebody wearing his glasses and just being a pain, so she walked up and broke them. Now, I know for a fact, I'm talking to two people who have made a glass, and I want to get your perspective on this. 255 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:32.500 Yes. 256 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:38.240 I was thinking about this this morning. 257 00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:53.000 I haven't worn mine for quite some time for multitude of reasons and very strongly to do with what my current line of work and interest. 258 00:27:53.000 --> 00:28:01.519 I think they are interesting and I think that the ones with the screen that display that they've just announced look really cool. 259 00:28:01.519 --> 00:28:05.400 I found mine quite fun to wear and use for a period of time. 260 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:11.599 I haven't found them, didn't find them super useful from a day-to-day perspective. 261 00:28:11.599 --> 00:28:15.480 And that's another reason why I've stopped wearing them. 262 00:28:15.480 --> 00:28:22.880 I did think to myself, as I was looking at this story this morning, that it's about the Overton window. 263 00:28:22.880 --> 00:28:31.359 It's about the idea that this is a new norm that people should become accustomed to. 264 00:28:31.359 --> 00:28:35.279 And I think that when you start to go down the route, which we've discussed in the past, 265 00:28:36.480 --> 00:28:42.160 always on recordings with no indication that you are being recorded by other people, 266 00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:47.680 we know that the UK is the most highly surveilled country in the world in terms of like 267 00:28:49.680 --> 00:28:54.480 close circuit TV cameras per head, right? So almost wherever I go outside my house, 268 00:28:54.480 --> 00:28:58.799 I'll be on some kind of CCTV camera, and there's not something I think about all the time. 269 00:28:58.799 --> 00:29:05.440 What I do notice is if I'm in a space with people who are wearing glasses with lights on them, 270 00:29:06.559 --> 00:29:14.240 I'm more likely to see that. And I'm a lot more suspicious or cautious, I should say, 271 00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:18.480 not suspicious of the individuals, but cautious about what that might be being used for. 272 00:29:19.200 --> 00:29:24.640 I was never challenged about wearing the meta smart glasses, 273 00:29:24.640 --> 00:29:34.319 Raybound when I was out with them. Many people didn't notice, unless they were making a noise because I was listening to podcasts or whatever, and I had the sound up a bit too loud, 274 00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:36.960 and and people would 275 00:29:36.000 --> 00:30:05.920 make them look at me a bit strangely because presumably they could hear mumbling but I am not sure that it's okay that we keep pushing the overton or the overton window is pushed in this direction in the same way that it is happening with the thing that we said we were going to skip at the top of the show. We the expectation is that people will become used to it because it's become so widespread and widely used in everybody's doing it but doesn't necessarily 276 00:29:54.000 --> 00:29:56.000 We're not even talking about it 277 00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:35.720 make it okay, especially not without consent, and that is the consent piece which bothers me the most, and equally I am frustrated that it presumably seemed okay for somebody to break something that belonged to another person that seems upsetting as well, but I'm certainly not going to defend that person for whose item has been. 278 00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:39.440 Broken, without knowing more of the context. 279 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:44.119 Yeah, I think on both sides of the equation, right? 280 00:30:44.119 --> 00:30:48.059 You know, if you're recording without permission, that's bad. 281 00:30:48.059 --> 00:30:52.180 And if you're breaking somebody else's stuff, that's bad. 282 00:30:51.500 --> 00:31:03.599 Well, it's it's the typical reaction both sides. I mean, we don't know what I don't actually know what the guy was doing about it. And so I've just put mine on as as listeners will be able to hear or not. 283 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:54.000 Yeah 284 00:30:52.180 --> 00:30:53.220 It's not yours. 285 00:30:56.440 --> 00:30:58.440 Yes 286 00:31:03.599 --> 00:31:10.819 I've had mine about six months and I use them almost every day at some point. 287 00:31:10.500 --> 00:31:18.339 Hmm. Definitely. 288 00:31:10.819 --> 00:31:21.440 Whether it's for listening to some because it's nice to have the bone conduction to listen to something and shove the things in my ears. And if we go for a walk, 289 00:31:21.500 --> 00:31:51.400 hang in the country, which do every regularly, then I get to take photos and stuff like that, I've never run me drowned and pick my it's rather than pick my phone out of my pocket. But I do know that when I've been somewhere and had to go like to the lures or something like that, if we're out somewhere, I actually I always have my other glass with my take these off because I 290 00:31:47.500 --> 00:31:50.259 Right. 291 00:31:51.500 --> 00:32:07.299 want to even begin to think where the people think I'm doing anything so that's the problem isn't it it's it most people don't don't know it's especially when they turn to shade you can't you can't really see the camera 292 00:31:56.500 --> 00:31:58.500 Yeah, I 293 00:32:05.500 --> 00:32:11.579 In my case I also bought two other pairs of glasses this year for branding purposes. 294 00:32:12.779 --> 00:32:19.980 I went, I got colourful frames to match my company's brand, I am that much of a marketing geek, 295 00:32:19.500 --> 00:32:24.500 Yeah. 296 00:32:19.980 --> 00:32:35.500 and then I changed my lenses because I needed to go to any prescription, and it all got a bit complicated with the meta as well. So yes, I think it's that recording thing that it's definitely and they can send it. 297 00:32:35.500 --> 00:33:04.940 The other thing we wanted to quickly hit on, just to wrap up was this year's Public Domain Day. This is the last show that we're recording in 2025 and by the time we recorded gain, we would have passed January 1st, 2026, which is Public Domain Day. What are we excited about in the titles or characters that are going into the Public Domain this year? Well, I get the Chris, he's not a, not a character. 298 00:32:59.500 --> 00:33:01.500 Betteboo 299 00:33:00.500 --> 00:33:13.859 Agatha Christie. I know, but her murder at the vicarage. I know we actually have I think downstairs, 300 00:33:02.500 --> 00:33:04.500 Betteboo 301 00:33:05.500 --> 00:33:10.940 Yep. 302 00:33:13.859 --> 00:33:30.259 a group of the Nancy Drew books probably have the first four in there. One of my favorite classes in college was a philosophy class on ethics. So philosophers, Bertard Russell, might be interesting 303 00:33:30.500 --> 00:34:00.500 to go back and read. Three Stooges soup to nuts. Love it. Yeah. Betty Boop. Actually, I bought a copy of that years ago, so I'll probably just watch it again. But it's, I think it's good that this is finally starting to happen. And the story in here from Cory Doc. 304 00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:42.640 What are you going to do with it now that it's public domain? What are you going to do with it? They're going to remix it? You're going to rewrite it? You're going to 305 00:33:47.500 --> 00:33:49.740 [laughing] 306 00:34:00.500 --> 00:34:25.780 I talked about the the Duke professors who started tracking all this some years back. I live in the town of Duke University. And it's now something that actually is every year. There's something interesting happening now. We've gotten past that 75 year plus the lifetime of the creator crap in the US. 307 00:34:21.500 --> 00:34:40.219 Yeah, it's weird, isn't it, that the dichotomy of worrying about copyright and people's work not being misused by the things that we're not talking about, that the top of the show, 308 00:34:40.219 --> 00:34:57.500 and that we're also celebrating the fact that Maltese Falcon is open to be able to be messed with in whatever way you want. It's just because of some time limit that some random made up one day in the court of law. 309 00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:59.639 Well, yeah, but that time limit is exceptionally long. 310 00:34:59.639 --> 00:35:06.920 I was extended aggressively by corporations and copyright is broken, 311 00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:02.880 Yeah, many times. 312 00:35:06.920 --> 00:35:11.480 so which we know, I mean, I have the EFFT share that says that and I agree. 313 00:35:07.500 --> 00:35:08.340 - Yeah. 314 00:35:11.000 --> 00:35:13.000 [laughter] 315 00:35:12.679 --> 00:35:18.199 I'm not saying that everybody's, you know, current creative work should be consumed by 316 00:35:19.400 --> 00:35:24.679 things, and sold back to them, but I do think that there is value 317 00:35:25.159 --> 00:35:30.840 in having the opportunity to share and remix content after a period of time as a lapse. 318 00:35:29.000 --> 00:35:50.960 up. There is, I'm all for it for almost everything. So let's say almost everything. Just not mine. Thank you very much. Excellent. 319 00:35:37.500 --> 00:35:50.179 Right, well on that note, it's been a pleasure to have you with us in and this has been the end of our 2025 run of recording. 320 00:35:38.500 --> 00:35:43.500 [laughs] 321 00:35:43.500 --> 00:35:50.500 Well, yes, Ian. 322 00:35:50.500 --> 00:35:54.500 Yes, we would love to hear from our listeners. 323 00:35:54.500 --> 00:36:04.500 So if you want, you can ping us over on Mastodon or go to our website, which has links to every way that you can contact us and get in touch with us, etc. 324 00:36:04.500 --> 00:36:08.280 over at Games@Work.biz. 325 00:36:08.500 --> 00:36:09.139 See ya! 326 00:36:09.500 --> 00:36:11.500 Bye! 327 00:36:09.500 --> 00:36:12.079 [upbeat music] 328 00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:10.840 Tarrah. 329 00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:17.599 You've been listening to Games@Work.biz, the podcast about gaming technology and play. 330 00:36:17.599 --> 00:36:21.119 We are part of the Blueberry podcasting network, and we'd like to thank the band, 331 00:36:18.500 --> 00:36:21.079 [upbeat music] 332 00:36:21.119 --> 00:36:24.119 Random Encounters for their song, Big Blue. 333 00:36:24.119 --> 00:36:27.800 You can follow us at our website at Games@Work.biz. 334 00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:30.579 [upbeat music] 335 00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:53.260 [music playing]