Just assume it ends in doom
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| Just assume it ends in doom | |
| Number | 2682 |
| Broadcast Date | FEBRUARY 5, 2016 |
| Episode Length | 39:44 |
| Hosts | Scott Johnson |
| Guests | Molly Wood, Len Peralta |
Scott Johnson and Molly Wood fill in for Tom Merritt and talk VR and Len Peralta illustrates the day.
Guest
Headlines
- Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima announced that the company will NOT move forward with its planned sleep monitoring device. Wired reports that the monitor has been in development since 2014 as part of Nintendo’s "Quality of Life" program. It was designed to track and analyze the sleep habits of users, with the data presented in a "fun Nintendo-like fashion". Kimishima did not rule out other "QOL" products in the future.
- According to Marc Gurman at 9 to 5 Mac, Apple plans to upgrade its iPhone trade-in program to give credit for iPhones with damaged screens, cameras, and buttons. Sources say the users could receive $50 credit for iPhone 5’s, $200 for 6's, and $250 for a 6 Plus. Apple hopes this will encourage new iPhone purchases instead of repairs. Apple Stores will also start to offer official plastic screen protector installations on iPhones in the coming weeks, using a dedicated Belkin machine located in the back of the store.
- Speaking of broken iPhones, the Guardian reports that if an iPhone 6 owner has had their home button or internal cable replaced by a unauthorized repair provider, and then installs iOS 9, that user will get an "Error 53 message" that bricks their phone. An Apple spokesperson said that this a security measure designed to prevent a compromise of the touch ID sensor, which could lead to release of stored fingerprint ID or Apple Pay information. Users encountering "Error 53" should contact Apple support. But when freelance photographer Antonio Olmos went to an Apple store with his bricked phone, all the staff could do was replace it with a new one. So back up that data everyone!
- Google Chrome can now support security improvements added to Windows 10 last Nov. According to Ars Technica the support covers: enabling non-system font blocking on as needed basis, process restrictions to prevent the creation of non-sandboxed child processes, and prevent the loading of “low integrity” executables and non-local DLLs. In layman’s terms stopping malicious code from using Fonts, non-local program libraries and un-sandboxed processes from screwing with your machine.
- Last week we told you that Google’s machine intelligence program "AlphaGo" had defeated a top player in the ancient game of Go. Now there's a date set for the next challenge. Engadget reports that on March 9th, DeepMind's "AlphaGo" program will take on the top-ranked Go player in the world -- South Korea's Lee Sedol. The $1 million dollar match will be broadcast live on YouTube from Seoul. Lee said, "I have heard that Google DeepMind's AI is surprisingly strong and getting stronger, but I am confident that I can win... at least this time."
- Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou said Friday that his company plans to seal a deal to buy troubled Japanese electronics provider Sharp Corp. by the end of the month. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Foxconn, based in Taiwan, has reached agreement on most deal points. Foxconn would invest 659 billion yen ($5.6 billion US) in Sharp, making this Foxconn's biggest deal to date and the largest acquisition by a foreign company in Japan's tech sector.
- This weekend is the final game in the American football season, known as The Superbowl. Mecha-gobbler flagged us to a Wired article about Carolina Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis, whose right arm was injured in a playoff game two weeks ago. Davis had a 5.5-inch plate and a dozen screws put in his arm, but still REALLY wanted to play in The Superbowl. So the Panthers found Whiteclouds, the world’s largest full-color 3-D printing facility in Utah. They're the people who make those face scanning action figure kiosks in Target. Whiteclouds put a bunch of designers together to come up with a customized arm brace that was light, breathable, NFL legal and of course, orthopedically correct. The printing process took 30 hours, and Davis has already tried on the brace in a practice. No word on whether he'll actually play, but he could become the first player to use a 3-D printed brace in "The Big Game."
- Submitted by mechagobbler
- TechCrunch has confirmed that Instagram is indeed testing the ability for its iOS users to...wait for it... SWITCH BETWEEN MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS. Instagram has been testing this feature in its Android app since November, but adding another platform would increase likelihood that this will become an officially supported feature in the near future. So get those "Finstagram's" ready to roll, people! (In case you're not a millenial, that stands for Fake Instagram.)
- Finally, the Internet Archive has launched a collection of old software from the 1980's and 1990's called The Malware Museum. That's right, it's a collection classic viruses that used to infect your computer and show a colorful animation or message informing you that you'd been infected. The Malware Museum is of course using emulations with the destructive routines removed, allowing you to safely experience politely threatening messages from skynet.com and the little rainbow rectangles of kuku.com.
- Submitted by acedtect
Discussion
- The Unreal Engine now lets you build games inside virtual reality
- Watch legendary Disney animator Glen Keane draw in virtual reality
- Dear Angelica is Oculus' third virtual reality film, and it's being made in VR
- Building VR in VR with Unreal Engine 4 - Early Preview
Pick of the Day
- You mentioned in passing on yesterday's show that computers had mastered Checkers decades ago. There's a really good book about this, called "One Jump Ahead". It's written by Jonathan Schaeffer, who led development team for the computer program.
It's a fascinating story, and the descriptions of the software's games against world champion Dr Marion Tinsley are particularly gripping. Dr Tinsley was probably the greatest Checkers player ever (over the course of his 45 year playing career, he only ever lost seven games!) - Submitted by Will from Maidenhead
- You mentioned in passing on yesterday's show that computers had mastered Checkers decades ago. There's a really good book about this, called "One Jump Ahead". It's written by Jonathan Schaeffer, who led development team for the computer program.
Messages
- My cousin works for Sears' and we were talking one time about how they missed the internet by a couple of years with their network of small town catalog stores that they eliminated. How cool would they have been to someone in a rural area? Go on line, order the item and have it at the store in a day or two, perfect!
- Sent by Dave
- Amsterdam is changing, fast — there’s e-vehicle charge points all over the city, I passed at least a dozen of them on a 20min tram ride this afternoon, and they were ALL being used. eGo mini pure electric rental cars are a very common site, and Schipol airport, in all its deathly glory is getting more and more ‘executive travel’ scooter things that look like Segways with stools on top. I’ll try and get more details on those next time I am flying thru and see one! :)
In reference to your recent news about the raptors and the drones, Amsterdam has reputation for doing things a bit different — the road sweepers here still use ‘witches brooms’ and a non-small portion of some of the city repairs in the Bos (city forest) are still done with old school twine, etc. It doesn’t surprise me to see a city that uses nature to its advantage (almost every food serving business has a resident cat, and unlike London and Glasgow I’ve never seen a rentokill advert, or rat-trap…) is just doing it again, even the evCharger stations are a sign of that, I guess, a greener way forward for a city bursting under the weight of its own population and traffic… - Sent by D & Sarah in the land of Whisky & the land of Weed
- Amsterdam is changing, fast — there’s e-vehicle charge points all over the city, I passed at least a dozen of them on a 20min tram ride this afternoon, and they were ALL being used. eGo mini pure electric rental cars are a very common site, and Schipol airport, in all its deathly glory is getting more and more ‘executive travel’ scooter things that look like Segways with stools on top. I’ll try and get more details on those next time I am flying thru and see one! :)
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| Preceded by: "We Don’t Need Another Hero" |
Just assume it ends in doom |
Followed by: "with Pelle Eklund" |