Tech Tea

Tea: Qimen Caixia (“Sunrise Keemun”) black tea. Damon discusses tech that makes cochlear implants more versatile.  Michael looks at methodologies of language learning.  Also: little black worms, high quality science from Jurassic Park, listener assignments, taking a break, the new update for No Man’s Sky, Damon’s lack of impulse control, personal bankruptcy, going off script, … Continue reading "Tech Tea 031: For All I Know He’s A Pole Dancer" The post Tech Tea 031: For All I Know He’s A Pole Dancer appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Dian Hong Jin Ya (“Golden Buds”) black tea. Damon talks about shoe technology.  Michael tackles the basics of blockchain.  Also: ice cream and bitterness, asparagus, Latin problems, the Pope, building a base, gas masks, extra bones, cylons vs. Knight Rider, pop culture of the 1980s, prosthetics and keeping body parts around the house, survival … Continue reading "Tech Tea 030: The Episode of Titles Episode" The post Tech Tea 030: The Episode of Titles Episode appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Meng Ding Mao Feng green tea. Damon explores his own DNA and also covers new technology for the visually impaired.  Michael ponders how the future we envisioned in the 1980s differs from the future we’re living now.  Also: Finnish vs. Latin, the Spirit of Tea, spicy Chinese food, how Michael knows how long to … Continue reading "Tech Tea 029: The Spirit of Tea" The post Tech Tea 029: The Spirit of Tea appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Fo Mei (Buddha’s Eyebrow) green tea. Damon talks about his experience making something in augmented reality. Michael shares his thoughts as a non-driver on autonomous vehicles.  Also: getting the date wrong, throwing tea into the lake, breaking news 100 years in the making, two brides for two brothers, machine learning on Pokemon data, being … Continue reading "Tech Tea 028: Happy Day Between Independence Days" The post Tech Tea 028: Happy Day Between Independence Days appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Jun Shan Yin Zhen yellow tea. Damon describes recent photography projects he was involved in. Michael talks about his Father’s Day “miracle.” Also: getting confused about geography, tea prices, GitHub, making movies with strong female leads, brand impressions, seat belts from the 1970s, messenger bags, drag queens, the Vietnam memorial, talking to Thomas Jefferson, … Continue reading "Tech Tea 027: Happy Birthday To Us" The post Tech Tea 027: Happy Birthday To Us appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Gu Zhu Zi Sun (Purple Bamboo Shoot) green tea.  Damon recaps the keynote from Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference.  Michael takes a hard look at Facebook’s corporate ethics.  Also: pouring boiling water on things, getting grossed out by surgery pictures, confusing WWDC and WWJD, trying to watch videos in class, movies (especially Wonder Woman) and … Continue reading "Tech Tea 026: It’s Morning Somewhere" The post Tech Tea 026: It’s Morning Somewhere appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Bi Luo Chun green tea.  Damon reviews the WannaCry virus and its brethren.  Michael summarizes the news out of the Google I/O conference.  Also: quitting caffeine (and color vision), bad water, the need for tea tasting vocabulary, the Saga Street Song, scooping reality with a melon-baller, the importance of listening to our advice, the … Continue reading "Tech Tea 025: Jazz Musicians We Are Not" The post Tech Tea 025: Jazz Musicians We Are Not appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe) wulong.  Damon explores land line phones and the WeChat app.  Michael takes on the episode title: the bag of words technique.  Also: embossing printers, rubber fingers, another trip down Saga Street, a mea culpa, knowing how to read, land line phones, blanking the names of things or people, convenient … Continue reading "Tech Tea 024: Bag of Words" The post Tech Tea 024: Bag of Words appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Da Shan Tian (Sweet Mountain) sheng puer.  Damon and Michael head off to the March for Science to interview people about their favorite science and technology topics.  Also: being cool, fingerprint readers, Apple ripping off a Google design, hand size, new phone rumors, naming evil hacker groups, transportation for villains, and the new CenturyLink Saga. This … Continue reading "Tech Tea 023: The March for Science" The post Tech Tea 023: The March for Science appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Meng Ding Huang Ya (Mt. Mengding Yellow Buds) yellow tea.  Damon plays with wires as he automates his home.  Michael finds the previous week’s news pulling him back to discussions of government-grade privacy.  Also: describing something vs. experiencing something, nib creep, the Turkish Crime-Mobile, “G” is for “Power” (or maybe “Fan”), Santa the thermostat, alien … Continue reading "Tech Tea 022: 50 Shades of Yellow" The post Tech Tea 022: 50 Shades of Yellow appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Liu An Gua Pian (“Melon Slice” or “Sunflower Seed”) green tea.  Damon talks about the developing drama around a purported iCloud ransom.  Michael touches on where you can and where you can’t make choices about your information online.  Also: Sichuan spicy dry green beans, a Sprint Saga update, bad predictions of male pregnancies, another … Continue reading "Tech Tea 021: Tea Drunk" The post Tech Tea 021: Tea Drunk appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Golden Peacock (Jin Kong Que) black tea.  Damon talks about automating work.  Michael looks at different fountain pen technologies.  Also: second floor windows, daylight saving time, tea farm ownership structures, confusing Mandarin and Spanish, getting lost in interstellar space, being rude, phone keyboards, bullets vs. bullets, therapists, Michael’s ancestral home, wax cylinders and vinyl records, drawing … Continue reading "Tech Tea 020: Spider-Mike" The post Tech Tea 020: Spider-Mike appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Meng Ding Mao Feng green tea.  Damon covers the “Cloudbleed” vulnerability that’s in the tech news recently.  Michael considers cybernetics and machine learning.  Also: hobbit feet, paper and pens in the news, being insecure, passing out, fifty (or more) shades of grey, The Goonies, turning green, being a beginner vs. being a wizard, and Candy Crush. This … Continue reading "Tech Tea 019: Fuzzy Bits from the Misty Mountains" The post Tech Tea 019: Fuzzy Bits from the Misty Mountains appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Golden Guan Yin wulong.  Damon talks about full drive encryption and encrypted chat apps.  Michael considers encryption and security from a behavioral perspective.  Also: water boiling technique, rhyming, sniffing microphones, automated reminder spam, Michael’s parents, 13 different operating systems, protecting your Justin Bieber collection, password managers, fast food, malicious encryption (ransom ware), going through your … Continue reading "Tech Tea 018: Green Granola" The post Tech Tea 018: Green Granola appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Emperor’s Orchid (Wang  Zhe Zhi Xiang) green tea.  Damon talks about permission concerns in the hot new app, Meitu.  Michael considers the friction between different levels of technology.  Also: brown towels, InCoWriMo, Sprinting, the planet Baltimore, laptop touch screens, cutting arguments, never using Bluetooth, dongle reprogramming, putting stupid things on your face, Mahler and … Continue reading "Tech Tea 017: A Bag of Mice" The post Tech Tea 017: A Bag of Mice appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Qimen Caixia (“Sunrise Keemun”).  Damon talks about the shift to a new studio.  Both discuss public information as a security risk.  Michael looks at a new VR experience coming in early 2017.  Also: buzzing phones, dripping rain, spilling hot water, table bumps, echoes, rustling paper, last minute adjustments, winging it, physics, photography, sniffling, and more! … Continue reading "Tech Tea 016: The Miscellaneous Sounds Episode" The post Tech Tea 016: The Miscellaneous Sounds Episode appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Palace (Gong Ting) Puer. Damon discusses some problems with ebooks and other cloud-storage solutions. Michael talks machine learning, language, and translation. Also: inappropriate names for digital assistants, cellphone problems and improvements, making fudge, Michael’s crowded desktop, job loss to automation, basic universal income, and of course a reference to Skynet. This episode was brought … Continue reading "Tech Tea 015: My Tasty Strips" The post Tech Tea 015: My Tasty Strips appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Yellow Sprig (Huang Zhi Xiang) Dan Cong.  Damon discusses the innovations of 2016.  Michael covers web projects that make people safer.   Also: Hacks and hacking, confused assistants, searching in Latin or when you don’t know how to spell, visualizing words, Michael dissecting Damon’s brain, Nerf, fear of VR pink-eye, language translation…and it’s our last … Continue reading "Tech Tea 014: It’s a Five not a 7" The post Tech Tea 014: It’s a Five not a 7 appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Silver Dragon Jasmine Pearls.  Michael differentiates between “scented” and “flavored.”  Damon describes his week in Vegas learning about Amazon’s AI services. Also: helicopters coming to get us, watermelons, getting a lei in Hawai’i, cranky old men, the first movie Michael ever saw a second time, the Amazon Echo Dot, Damon’s preferences on comic book adaptations, getting Twitter love, genealogy … Continue reading "Tech Tea 013: These Tea Balls Smell Good" The post Tech Tea 013: These Tea Balls Smell Good appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Qi Dan (Da Hong Pao). Damon talks about his recent trip to Japan and Michael talks about taking the long view of technology and language. Also: tea and mental powers, sources of aftertastes, empathising with old plants, getting tongue-tied, sneaking into public spaces, derailed trains (of thought), the inconvenience of having your house burn down … Continue reading "Tech Tea 012: The Jet Lag Is Real" The post Tech Tea 012: The Jet Lag Is Real appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Bai Hao Yin Zhen (“White Hair Silver Needle”), a white tea. Damon talks about a sea change in internet usage and recent attempts by bad folks to take down the web.  Michael goes over the basic ideas of machine learning and how you may already be using it.  Also: brussel sprouts, clean barns, the … Continue reading "Tech Tea 011: Mistakes and Bad People" The post Tech Tea 011: Mistakes and Bad People appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea:  Shi Feng Long Jing (“Lion Peak Dragonwell”).  Damon covers fresh water from thin air.  Michael talks about Google’s recent hardware launch event, including the new Google Pixel phone.  Also:  talking in binary, tourist traps, the difficulty in moving a hole to a new home, predicting the year of the zombie apocalypse, a follow up on … Continue reading "Tech Tea 010: The Google Dreamcatcher" The post Tech Tea 010: The Google Dreamcatcher appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Zi Juan Purple Leaf Sheng Puer.  Damon and Michael change things up and take a field trip to the Northwest Tea Festival.  Technology mentioned includes drain tables, steaming vs. wok-fired processing methods, non-drip teapots, matcha grinders, gaiwans, mulch, superabsorbent materials, mini tea factories, remote-controlled tea farming …and a secret tea machine!  Also: appearances by Friday … Continue reading "Tech Tea 009: Secret Tea Machine" The post Tech Tea 009: Secret Tea Machine appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea:  Que She Sparrow’s Tongue 2016.  Damon talks about the new iPhone.  Michael talks about technological approaches to reduce sexism and racism.  Also:  Time travel, payment systems, Damon threatens violence, Michael holds his tongue, scientists holding Peeps races in the lab, robots that can prove they’re not a robot, cow privacy, the latest Twitter updates, … Continue reading "Tech Tea 008: The Time Travel Episode" The post Tech Tea 008: The Time Travel Episode appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Yiwu Sheng Puer.  Damon talks about going to PAX.  Michael talks about spy technology.  Also: Michael calls Damon a lush, Damon threatens to slap Michael, Kenny G, nuns, D&D, liquids on electrical equipment, not knowing how to speak languages, gamification, fake movies, carbon paper, technology in the US presidential election, encryption, and Leonard Nimoy’s birthday. This … Continue reading "Tech Tea 007: Shaken, Not Stirred" The post Tech Tea 007: Shaken, Not Stirred appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Mo Gan Huang Ya. Damon talks about Pokemon shennanigans, and Michael talks technology in education. Also: plant genetics, glabrous vs. pubescent, playing style, dark social, UTM and hash fragments, bagpipes and accordions, Ingress, day camp, GPS, geocaching, the Dewey Decimal System, learning math, and room temperature. This episode was brought to you by: Seven … Continue reading "Tech Tea 006: Polkamon GO!" The post Tech Tea 006: Polkamon GO! appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Ming Qian Anji Bai Cha, a green tea called “white tea.” Damon talked about his experience as a new cable cord-cutter.  Michael dives into the many ways you are tracked beyond search engines and ads leaving browser cookies.  Also: Drinking tea for health and weight loss tea, launching stuff with a VCR, pop-up ads … Continue reading "Tech Tea 005: The Channel Master" The post Tech Tea 005: The Channel Master appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea:  Lao Shu Dian Hong.  Damon and Michael make corrections and talk about motion sickness.  Damon covers the growing issue of counterfeits on Amazon, and Michael takes a swing at tech journalists who aren’t good at tech or at journalism.  Plus: Triangles in photography and tea, pens that don’t work, and some Tech Tea news! … Continue reading "Tech Tea 004: The Justice Pitcher" The post Tech Tea 004: The Justice Pitcher appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Doctor’s Blend.  Damon and Michael touch on virtual reality again, then discuss their mutual love of Myst and what games they’re playing these days or anticipating in the coming months.  Michael tells when he’d rather have analog tools over technology, and Damon reports on how his analog and digital photography compare.  Plus: Godzilla, questionable TV choices, … Continue reading "Tech Tea 003: My Cup Is Bigger On The Inside" The post Tech Tea 003: My Cup Is Bigger On The Inside appeared first on Tech Tea.

Tea: Bai Hao/Oriental Beauty.  Damon talks differential privacy and tracking.  Michael mentions the Raspberry Pi and its use in a couple of open-source style alternatives to home assistant devices.  Both show off their knowledge of sports and play the “which social media site is best” game.  Plus: shout outs, virtual reality (VR), games, and more! … Continue reading "Tech Tea 002: Raspberry Pi" The post Tech Tea 002: Raspberry Pi appeared first on Tech Tea.

In this episode, Michael introduces Damon to “hot spearmint juice,” explaining why some things that are called tea really aren’t.  Damon recaps the keynote of Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC16).  Both discuss aspects of the new and upcoming “home AI” devices like the Amazon Echo, and the announced purchase of LinkedIn by Microsoft. Show … Continue reading "Tech Tea 001: Hot Spearmint Juice" The post Tech Tea 001: Hot Spearmint Juice appeared first on Tech Tea.