Episode #11 – Should Apple Crack their own security? And VR goes big.

Its time for a fresh podcast as I can’t stay silent for too long!

Apple is challenged by the FBI to weaken the security of the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhones, but it could set a dangerous precident for both privacy and security for all Apple customers going forward. And on the VR and AR front everyone throws the kitchen sink into changing your reality with big expensive goggles.

The FBI’s legal backing? A law written in 1789 before even the concept of computers existed.

Google, Microsoft, Facebook and a lot of other players prepare to square off and throw down with headsets and software of their own.

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Episode #10 – Star Wars, SpaceX, Netflix Algorithms… and more

I give my numerical review of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, discuss the implications of the FAA’s Drone Registration rules on privacy, Netflix rolls out new compression algorithms to deliver more entertainment with less bandwidth, Dating sites get hacked (no a different one this time), someone develops metal that is 99% air by volume and it has very cool commercial implications, and CISA comes back with a vengeance in the latest Congressional Budget Bill…

and someone develops something that looks a lot like a VR headset, but is in fact, just a regular screen.

All this and more on episode #10.

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Episode #9 – Billion Dollar AI, Climate Consensus, and Virtual Tom Hanks

It has been entirely too long since I last recorded a podcast… that’s been for various reasons, safe to say none of the excuses are quite that good, but seeing all the people listening while I was away encouraged me to start again. So here’s a fresh one for you

Elon Musk and several Silicon Valley big shots set aside a Billion dollars for public AI research, The University of Washington cracks into the lucrative field of Virtual Tom Hanks, Paris Climate talks reach an actual resolution, and acting gets an auto-tune boost from Disney Research Labs.

And this podcast returns from a quite long hiatus…

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Want to read more?

What Makes Tom Hanks Look Like Tom Hanks [Research Abstract]

The Paris Climate Agreement Would Be A Great First Step If This Were 1995 [FiveThirtyEight]

The world just agreed to a major climate deal in Paris. [Vox]

How Elon Musk and Y Combinator Plan to Stop Computers From Taking Over [Backchannel]

FaceDirector: Continuous Control of Facial Performance in Video [Youtube]

Episode #8 – Water on Mars? Android on Blackberry? And other impossible things…

NASA announces the discover of flowing water on Mars with High Resolution photos from its orbiting satellite, Amazon announces delivering-packages-as-a-service with Amazon FLEX, Twitter considers cutting loose its 140 character limit to boost its flagging innovation, Apple makes $25 Billion off the Enterprise, and Blackberry announces an Android phone… also news: Blackberry still exists. All that and more on this week’s episode.

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Want to read more?

Twitter reconsiders 140 Character limit [ReCode]

Edward Snowden Joins Twitter [Ars Technica]

Salty water moistens Mars [Ars Technica]

Android + Blackberry together at last? [CNET]

Episode #7: Is ad-blocking ethical? …and Facebook tracks you even more than before.

Is it Monday again already? Well, sure as heck-fire i’ve got a Podcast for you then. In this episode:

The ethics of ad blocking now that iOS 9 has unleashed ad blocking apps on the world and enabled them on Safari, VW risks up to $18 Billion in fines for deceiving the EPA with its software that artificially turns down car emissions on thousands of its US models, and Facebook rolls back its 2011 promise to not track you with the like buttons that you DON’T click… opening you up to tracking in all kinds of sordid places.

Listen below or download the episode on iTunes

Podcast #6: Apple builds a Trojan Horse, Android gets secure-ish, and more…

Happy Monday! Must mean its another podcast, this time #6 in an infinite part series…

In this Episode: Apple aims at Productivity with the iPad Pro, but the chip inside (the A9X) may be more important… Android gets scared into monthly updates by the StageFright exploit, the DOJ wrongfully accuses a Professor of espionage after never actually looking at the file he sent to China, Stripe becomes the middleman for mobile commerce with their new Relay service, and an MIT study thinks your Twitter feed could be making you more creative (if you curate it right).

And a twitter account you might find interesting: @censusAmericans

Listen to a stream below or catch the podcast on iTunes right here.

Podcast Episode 5: Uber Delivers, Drone Crashes, Car Recalls and warrants for Stingrays

I’m releasing a special [?] short Labor Day episode where we still manage to discuss Stingray devices (Fake cell towers) needing Federal warrants when used by the FBI/DEA and others, Fiat-Chrysler recalling 8k cars for hacking risk, a Drone crash at the US Open that got a New York City teacher arrested, and Uber eyeing the delivery market for jet-setting shopper.

Or catch it on iTunes here

Podcast Episode 4! Facebook’s Digital Assistant, Uber’s Security Hires, and Twitter’s Diversity push.

Another week, another podcast:

Facebook gets into the virtual assistant game with “M” a new feature of Messenger, Textio tells companies what demographics their job posts actually entice, Uber hires security researchers to beef up their self driving car program, and finally Instagram gets wide and vertical with its images and videos.

All in this weeks episode!

Or check it out on iTunes.