Roger’s a Dad. Repeat. Roger’s a Dad. Why your baby’s crying is like the lottery. Why baby’s are like skydiving. A little about why we laugh. How humans can get better at estimating chances. Do cities make you literally crazy? Why do we live in cities anyway?
Download the episode at this link.
Today, on current geek, MCU gets spidey. Armstrong’s Closet. Wheel of Time pilot is BAD. Matell and Google team-up! 10k timelapse is fantastic! Facebook wants you happy when dead. Samsung TV finds its voice. Fourcast, emails and more!
Justin Young is here to help us avoid losing our entire generation’s history in a digital black hole. But who can save us? Vint Cerf? Archive.org? Some people at Carnegie Mellon? We will tell you. And Len Peralta will draw it.
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Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit
Show Notes
Today’s guests: Justin Robert Young and Len Peralta
Check out Len’s amazing artprov of the week “Ye Olde Digital Dark Ages”
http://lenperaltastore.com/products/ye-olde-digital-dark-ages-dtns-2-13-15-print
Headlines:
USA Today reports that the View-Master stereoscopic photo viewer is going digital. The old View-Master was a red plastic viewer that you held up to your face and viewed cardboard “reels” with small color slides in simulated 3-D. Mattel has teamed up with Google to make a new virtual reality View-Master based on Google’s Cardboard VR form factor. Instead of sliding in a cardboard reel, you slide in an Android smartphone. New reels are placed in front of the viewer to add augmented reality 3D interfaces to the experience you get from the Mattel app, though you don’t NEED the reels. The new viewer will cost $29.99 and include a sample reel. Additional three-pack reels will cost $14.99. Coming this autumn.
CNET reports US President Barack Obama signed an executive order to create a framework to allow better communication between tech, finance, energy and health care industries and the US government for the purpose of cybersecurity.The President is hosting the White House’s first summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection at Stanford University today. Financial and retail executives and Apple CEO Tim Cook are attending. Facebook, Google, and Microsoft all sent less senior executives.
So what did the one CEO who attended to the Cybersecurity Conference have to say? Well CNET reports you’ll now be able to use Apple Pay to enter US National Parks. Hooray! Cybersecurity problems solved. Let’s go home boys! OH wait. Apparently the government and tech companies need to work together to protect the rights of customers and citizens who Cook pointed out, are actually the same people. Cook said:”If those of us in positions of responsibility fail to do everything in our power to protect the right of privacy, we risk something far more valuable than money. We risk our way of life.”
9 to 5mac notes that Apple seems to have hired former Mercedes-Benz Research and Development president and CEO Johann Jungworth as the Director of Mac Systems Engineering. According to a story in the Financial Times Apple’s recent hirings in the automotive industry are for a new research lab where iPhone unit managers are researching automotive products.But… why? The hiring follows a week’s worth of rumors about Apple’s desire to get into the automotive market. But also, we don’t know anything. At all. Beep beep.
TechCrunch reports that Apple is OK with pot but no longer OK with visible weapons. Devs and advocacy groups, including social networking app MassRoots, have been petitioning Apple to change its stance on banning drug-themed apps. As of Friday the MassRoots app is back, but it must perform a location check that prevents users outside of the 23 states where marijuana use is legal from accessing its network. As for the guns, a developer named OrangePixel noted last month that Apple made him blur out guns from screenshots of his game Gunslugs 2 because otherwise it violtaed policy against showing “violence against human beings.” Pocketgamer dug into it and found that Apple is as Marco Arment pointed out, enforcing the policy that all screenshots must be OK for ages 4 and up.
VentureBeat reports Pinterest is stripping out affiliate referral codes from all links on the service. Companies like RewardStyle and Hello Society help users make money when people click their pinned images but Pinterest claims it’s led to spammy behavior and broken links. However Pinterest might want to roll out their own in house referral program. IN the meantime Pinterest recommends more wholesome way for pinners to make money, like “participate in paid social media marketing.”
The Next Web reports Line has launched the Line@, which connects brands to fans, clients and customers. The iOS and Android app lets brands send messages, chat one on one, and share posts to followers. The free plan allows up to 1,000 messages per month, the paid plan at $50 per month allows for 50,000 messages, images and links with the option to send additional messages for a penny each. Brands can also pay $24 for a personalized premium ID for a year, which then costs $12 every year after.
GigaOm passes along a report from The Information that Google wants to exempt Android developer’s services from data charges in some markets, starting with ecommerce and transportation apps in India. Google wouldn’t zero-rate its own apps, just act as a middleman between carriers and developers who want to pay the cost of data for its customers.
News From You:
KAPT_Kipper posted the Ars Technica article that Lior Shamir, a computer scientist at Lawrence Technological University, has shown that a series of image analysis algorithms can discriminate between real Jackson Pollock paintings and pieces that mimic his style 100% of the time. So no, Dad. Sadly the computer has proven that you can’t dip a monkey’s tail in a bucket of paint and get the same result. Shamir has placed the source code for this analysis package, termed “Wnd-charm,” online. You can read more in the International Journal of Art and Technology.
Habichuelacondulce pointed out the posting at Crain’s about a Brooklyn company bringing Gigabit Fiber to the Industry City complex in Sunset Park. Yes it’s only a small tech-savvy Brooklyn development is getting symmetrical Gigabit. And yes it’s going to cost $500 a month. But until now if you were a post-production company or some other tech company that needed high bandwidth gigabit was going to cost you $3,000 a month. So this will make service accessible to startups and artists. And Brooklyn Fiber hopes to expand to Red Hook next.
Discussion Section Links: Digital Dark Age
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-31450389
http://www.cmu.edu/silicon-valley/news-events/dls/2015/cerf-news.html
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/13/what-is-bit-rot-and-is-vint-cerf-right-to-be-worried
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/13/google-boss-warns-forgotten-century-email-photos-vint-cerf
https://www.google.com/search?q=vint+cerf+archive.org&oq=vint+cerf+archive.org&aqs=chrome..69i57.2799j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=119&ie=UTF-8#q=vint+cerf+archive.org&tbm=nws
https://archive.org/about/
http://longnow.org/people/board/danny0/
https://archive.org/about/contact.php
https://olivearchive.org/about/
http://isr.cmu.edu/
https://olivearchive.org/docs/collection/
https://archive.org/details/internetarcade
Pick of the Day:
Hi DTNS crew,
I was listening to Monday’s show on my drive home today and heard Brian mention running a test of his internet connection using speedtest.net. While I do occasionally use this as well I find that www.speedof.me to be a more accurate test and it runs on html5 to boot! Keep up the great work and please remember to put the new cover sheets on your TPS reports.
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/five-apps/checking-your-bandwidth-five-html5-apps-to-try/
One of your many bosses,
Jason Z.
Monday’s show is headlines only due to a US Holiday
When I drafted my new novella, Rise of Hypnodrome, which takes place in 2039, I couldn’t decide whether the main character, Grady Tenderbath, should order a male or female robot from Amazon.
Mired in a slump at work, Grady is impressed by online reviews about personal robots. They’re praised for their ability to help humans grow as professionals and realize their potential. His robot can be programmed as a man or woman, depending on which gender he thinks he’ll work better with.
Grady’s feelings of self-worth are riding on this robot. The job at his publishing house is the central focus of his life, yet he can’t seem to unlock his creative potential. He is plagued by the sense that he’s underachieving.
I wanted to make things right for my fictional main character. But I have to admit, I wasn’t only thinking about Grady’s creative potential. I was thinking about myself as a male writer. Did I have it in me to create a compelling character out of a female robot?
It’s hard enough to succeed at writing a human of the opposite gender. I know all about this. Before Hypnodrome, I wrote a novel from a woman’s perspective. According to my writer’s workshop, I missed the mark. When my female character had casual sex and said “dude,” she was too bold and assertive – “not believable.” When she cried, she was too meek – “not likeable.” Ultimately her character wasn’t “rounded enough.”
I defended my writer ego by imagining my readers were biased. They simply refused to believe a guy could sufficiently understand women to write from the female perspective. Unfortunately for my writer ego, other male authors have succeeded where I failed, and the folks in my writer’s workshops were more than happy to point them out.
Concluding that writing female characters wasn’t a strength of mine, I decided that Grady would ask for his robot to be programmed as a male. This robot, named Andy, was going to be a very helpful colleague and nurturer of Grady’s talent.
At least, that’s what I planned to have happen in my story outline. The funny thing is, when I actually wrote the scenes, I immediately sabotaged their relationship. Andy lasts only about a week in the Tenderbath household. He’s too aggressive. He thinks in terms of short-term rewards at the expense of strategic, long-term benefits. He’s a male robot in a China shop.
What happened? Looking back, I think Grady’s frustration with Andy had as much to do with me trying to fulfill my own creative potential, as it did with Grady fulfilling his. I knew it was relatively easy for me to make the robot believable and entertaining if the character was male instead of female.
Too easy. I sabotaged Andy because, deep-down, I wanted to push myself.
Luckily there was a quick fix, one that didn’t require Grady to mail back his robot in exchange for another, and didn’t require me to go back and rewrite the whole story.
Andy would have a sex change.
Andy the robot becomes Ashley the robot – no surgery is required, you just press a few buttons. Ashley is more intuitive and strategic than her male predecessor. She could be considered Grady’s “office wife,” a term that carries a connotation of subordinance. But Ashley knows she’s not subordinate as a female, and she doesn’t believe she’s inferior as a robot, either.
She supports Grady and is vulnerable with him, but she’s also incredibly ambitious. Ashley is no one’s office wife.
When I returned to the same workshop, my readers thought I struck a nice balance of traits with my robot, crafting a more believable portrayal of a female than the one from my previous novel. Not only did Ashley help Grady at his publishing company, she helped me as a writer.
But for my next novel, do I dare take another shot at telling a story from the perspective of a human female? Was there something about Ashley being a robot, some extra margin of error that freed me and my readers to connect with her as a character?
Perhaps, in the sequel, Ashley becomes a woman.
ABOUT MATT FUCHS
att Fuchs grew up in Nashville, TN, lived in Baltimore and currently resides in Silver Spring, Maryland, with his wife, Marcy. He majored in the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins. Matt has been a freelance food writer; co-founded H&H Creative Ventures, the entertainment production company; and serves on the leadership team at CREATE Arts Center in Silver Spring. “Rise of Hypnodrome” is his first novella.
ABOUT RISE OF HYPNODROME
It’s 2039, and a political faction called the Lifestyle Party has risen to power under the Presidency of Deepak Chopra. The new government bans scientific innovation and introduces a set of policies focused entirely on maximizing personal happiness. So why is Grady Tenderbath so unhappy? Believing that he’s fallen short of his professional potential, he buys a personal robot muse to nurture his talent and ego, while his wife Karen, a genetic scientist, becomes more entrenched in her lab. But just when Grady seems on track to solve his career crisis, he discovers a new problem: he’s swooning for the empathetic yet artificial Ashley. Not only that, he’s distracted by haunting visions of Karen transforming into…something else. “Rise of Hypnodrome” explores how future generations might draw from the realm of epigenetic engineering to eventually control their own biology. Whether human or robot, the characters in this cutting-edge science-fiction novella have one thing in common: an irrepressible desire to evolve.
Sarah Lane is on the show and we’ll talk about Facebook’s new options for managing your Facebook account after you’re dead. How much should you plan for your post-mortem social life?
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A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.
If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!
Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!
Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!
Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit
Show Notes
Recently we were introduced to author Nalo Hopkinson, who was kind enough to answer some questions for us here on the blog. Two of her books, The Salt Roads and short story collection Skin Folk, are being published as e-books for the first time through Open Road Media. Editor Betsy Mitchell tells us, “I had the pleasure of introducing Nalo’s wondrously imaginative work to the world when her Brown Girl in the Ring won the Warner Aspect First Novel Contest. It’s a delight to be able to bring out the first-ever ebook editions of The Salt Roads and Skin Folk.”
Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, Nalo! When did you start writing?
NH: You’re most welcome. Thanks for asking me. I believe I began writing in my mid-30s. But I’d been an avid reader since I was three years old. Author Samuel R. Delany has said that one learns more about how to write by reading a lot and internalizing models for good writing. I agree. I always have a book or seven on the go. I also watch a lot of fantasy and science fiction media, and read comics, graphic novels, and literary criticism in science fiction and fantasy.
Was fantasy always a genre you were interested in writing in? Who were some early favorites for you?
NH: Yes, fantasy and science fiction about equally. Early favourites (I’m Jamaican-Canadian; I use British spelling conventions) include Samuel R. Delany, Ursula K. Le Guin, Theodore Sturgeon, Terri Windling, Emma Bull.
Tell us about your book, The Salt Roads! What are some of the themes you explore? How would you classify the novel?
NH: In some ways, it’s a time travel novel. It’s written in four voices in three different times and locations and one timeless place. In some ways, it’s the coming-of-age story of an Afro-Caribbean goddess. An exploration of the challenges faced by mixed race Black women throughout history. An honouring of women and men who do sex work, whether by choice or through lack of it. A thank you to the queers and transfolk of colour who fought for freedom during Stonewall. A praise song to Black people’s survival despite, oh, everything.
It’s really refreshing to hear about something outside the box of typical fantasy. Do you feel like genre fiction is beginning to move away from the Eurocentric, male point of view?
NH: I don’t. And it needn’t. I lurves me some Neil Gaiman, some China Mieville, some Ian Macdonald. Orson Scott Card should by all means keep writing fiction about smart, misunderstood white boys. He writes them well. (Though I fervently wish he would stop writing irrational and inaccurate hate screeds against queer folk. It’s both bad science and a poor way to profess love for one’s neighbour.) I don’t want fewer white, male voices in the genre. I do want more centrisms, greater inclusion, a larger world view. Fantasy and science fiction are full of good stories. I want more.
Another book of yours coming out on ebook via Open Road is Skin Folk. What are some of your personal favorite short stories from this collection?
NH: You know how many parents don’t like to tell you which is their favourite amongst their children? That’s how I feel about my stories.
Hah, fair enough! What are you working on these days?
NH: Working on a new novel that my agent is currently shopping around. Collaborating on a short story with Nisi Shawl. If all goes well, it’ll appear in a tribute anthology for Samuel R. Delany. Making Black mermaids, boudoir and fantasy dolls in various media: stuffed and painted fabric; plaster; and fabric design. Trying to perfect my skills at macaron-making and baking gluten-free bread. Teaching Creative Writing at the University of California Riverside, which has perhaps the most lovable student body in the world.
Where can people follow you online?
NH: I’m most frequently on Twitter, where my handle is nalo_hopkinson. My website is nalohopkinson.com.
Scott Johnson joins the show and we’ll have a good old fashioned talk about wearable fitness trackers, and why science says we don’t need ‘em!
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A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.
If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!
Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!
Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!
Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit
Show Notes
Today’s guest: Scott Johnson, of the place with the pants on the frogs.
Headlines:
Ars Technica reports that some users of Samsung TVs say a Pepsi ad with no audio is being inserted into their movies every 20-30 minutes when using Plex or Foxtel TV apps. One redditor reported the ads went away if you disagreed with the Yahoo Privacy Notice in the TVs smart hub settings. Samsung has a partnership with Yahoo to serve pop-up ads. Samsun told Business Insider in January that the ads would be opt-in.
Reuters reports that stolen iPhones dropped 40% in San Francisco, 25% in New York and50% in London after Apple added a kill switch to the phones in September 2013. London Mayor Boris Johnson, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon and New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman have all called for laws mandating the kill switches. California passed such a law which has yet to go into effect.
Bloomberg Business reports that according to the usual suspects, I mean, the people with direct knowledge of the matter, Samsung plans to release two new versions of its Galaxy smartphone next month at Mobile World Congress. One of the phones will have a display that wraps around both edges. Similar to the Note Edge but on both sides. Both phones will use Samsung chips, have all metal bodies and have 5.1 inch screens.
The Verge passes along a report from “the Information” that Square is working on an Android tablet to replace the current iPad based Square Registers. The project is in its early stages and may not go through to production. In addition The Information also claims Google is testing out a new mobile payment system, called Plaso, that would let customers pay by confirming their name or initials at the register.
GigaOM reports Facebook has launched a collaborative threat detection framework called ThreatExchange. ThreatExchange is a hub where organizations can share data on attacks and malicious activity. Facebook’s graph-database correlates the data points together and figures out new relationships like malware targeting specific domains or IP addresses. The idea is to stop attacks before the occur. Current participants include Pinterest, Tumblr, Twitter, Yahoo, Bitly and Dropbox. ThreatExchange is available now in beta.
TechCrunch passes along details from a report by Ernst & Young that shows China, India, Russia and Mexico will have 2 billion broadband connections by 2016, twice that of more mature markets. Smartphone shipments will double in those countries between 2014 and 2018. China will have 500 million wireless broadband connections by 2016. India will have the youngest average age by 2020. Russia has the higest penetration rates for broadband services. And Mexico’s population has the highest per capita consumer spending of the four at $11,000 per person.
Reuters reports that China’s Potevio will begin selling YotaPhone 2 later this quarter. Its the first mass market distribution deal for YotaPhone. The Yota Phone has one screen for calls and apps and a second always-on display for notifications and e-reading.
Wired reports that US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, AKA the people who brought you Internet, have a project called Memex to index pages ignored by commercial search engines as well as sites on TOR network’s Hidden Services. The ones with .onion addresses that are only accessible through the TOR browser. They want to look for hidden relationships int he content that would be useful to law enforcement, military and private sector entities.
We previously mentioned BitTorrent’s partnership with Rapid Eye Studios to launch an original sci-fi show called Children of the Machine. Today BitTorrent announced a revised distribution plan. Children of the machine will launch in “late 2015″ as a free ad-supported video through BitTorrent Bundles. You can also pay $9.95 for no ads and bonus features. ALSO BitTorrent’s chief content officer and his team are moving from San Francisco to LA to work with the Rapid Eye team. The partners intend to launch shows with a 30-60 day exclusive window.
News From You:
spsheridan sent us the ArsTechnica story announcing that all major wireless carriers in the US must start unlocking paid off phones today. The FCC and the carriers agreed in 2013 to unlock devices upon fulfillment of contract terms por payment of an early termination fee. Prepaid users can get their phones unlocked after a year of.
habichuelacondulce sent us the Reuters report that the UK will make it legal to test driverless cars on British roads next summer, as long as a person is present and able to take control of the car if necessary. The British Department for Transport is working on a ‘code of practise’ for driverless cars which will be published this spring.
Discussion Section Links:
https://gigaom.com/2015/02/11/study-says-dont-buy-a-fitness-tracker-just-use-your-phone/
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2108876
http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2015/02/case/
https://gigaom.com/2014/12/08/insurance-provider-oscar-will-reward-you-if-you-hit-your-step-goal/
http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/11/android-wear-2014-shipments/?ncid=rss_truncated
Pick of the Day:
I wanted to share this awesome PC building resource to all my fellow DTNS listeners who want to be able to build the best system for their budget.
Logical Increments provides you a list of the best components at several price levels starting at destitute for $200, up to a monstrous system for $4000. Each tier will give you a choice of 3 for each component, the price, and a link where you can purchase it. All items in each tier are also designed to work best with other items in that tier. A great resource for anyone wanting to build their own system, especially a hardcore gaming machine.
Thanks and love the show!
Jamie in beautiful BC
I’d like to submit howtoreplaceyourpc.com as a listener pick. The site is meant for people who are not listeners of DTNS, who just use a computer, and occasionally they need to get a new one. The site covers Mac and Windows, desktops and tablets and phones. If someone comes asking what computer to buy, and they are not an immediate family member, this is where I send them. The site was made by one of the managers at a UK company providing home tech support.
The site does heavily push for Apple products, but does not focus on them exclusively, and Mr. Hutton does provide explanations for why he suggests what he does. Also, he does use Amazon referral links.
Thanks for the read, and insert generic closing message here.
~ A. Karl Kornel – [email protected]
Wednesday’s guest: Sarah Lane of Tech Crunch
Best Shield episode yet? Is Saul breaking bad? Marco Polo gets in trouble and being nice at restaurants is a great idea.
The Shield (410) – 2:08
Better Call Saul – 8:21
Marco Polo (Ep. 9) – 20:25
Hacking the System – 25:25
When you rule the world of powder mages you can do what you want. Brian McClellan wields his powder for good. In addition to delivering us the complete Powder Mage trilogy with the third book The Autumn Republic, Brian is going to bring us a second trilogy in the same universe, all while growing his own spaghetti sauce and keeping bees. Impressive. Most impressive.
Patrick Beja is with us today to talk about Google’s new health facts surfacing in search. Can Google claim to be unbiased while curating facts?
Using a Screen Reader? click here
Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.
Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.
A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.
If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!
Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the headlines music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!
Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!
Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit
Show Notes
