Podcasts about technology podcast

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Sorg and Dave Podnar are back for another AwesomeCast packed with Pittsburgh tech, gaming, streaming, photography, AI, retro media, and a surprisingly practical app for finding a bathroom when you really need one. The episode starts locally with Dave highlighting Stormfreak, a Pittsburgh-area weather enthusiast who has built a following on Reddit by offering practical, level-headed forecasts without the sensationalism that often accompanies severe weather coverage. That leads into a bigger conversation about how Reddit, YouTube, and independent creators increasingly fill information gaps once occupied by traditional specialty television. Sorg then takes a trip back to the video-store era with Binge Buster, a web experience that lets users browse movies available on their existing streaming subscriptions in an interface inspired by wandering through the shelves of a physical rental store. Gaming takes over a large part of the conversation, including EA going private in a massive Saudi-backed deal, Netflix getting an extended GTA 6 preview, Atari showing signs of financial improvement, the possibility of accessing Xbox and PC Game Pass titles on Linux and Mac through the XODUS project, new content for the original Quake, and Sorg's experience comparing Xbox cloud gaming with NVIDIA GeForce NOW. Then things get weird in the best possible way: Diablo is heading to amusement-park Halloween events, while a permanent Freddy Fazbear's Pizza experience complete with animatronics is planned for American Dream. Dave also shares his latest experience with Adobe Project Indigo, including computational photography, AI photo critiques, and the increasingly blurry line between traditional editing and generative AI. The episode wraps with two ideas that bring physical experiences back into a digital world: Pittsburgh's Lost Lizard renting VHS, DVD, and even Betamax tapes, and Nature Calls Run, an upcoming crowdsourced app designed to help runners, cyclists, travelers, and people with medical needs locate bathrooms, water, and other resources. Stories, Gadgets & Topics Discussed 300–600mm iPhone zoom lens — Dave points listeners toward iPhonography Podcast co-host Greg McMillan's detailed look at an enormous telephoto solution for iPhone photography. Stormfreak and Pittsburgh weather on Reddit — Dave highlights the local forecaster's calm, practical approach to Pittsburgh weather and the community that has formed around his posts. They discuss how independent online weather coverage can sometimes be more useful than national television coverage when people need highly local information. The changing role of specialty media — Sorg and Dave compare today's creator-driven information sources with the original promise of channels like The Weather Channel, Discovery, TLC, and Food Network. Binge Buster — Sorg tries a streaming discovery site that recreates some of the experience of browsing a video store. Users select the streaming services they already subscribe to and browse movies through virtual box art, descriptions, genres, trailers, staff picks, and more. https://bingebuster.net/ Awesome Person of the Week: Lewis Latimer — Dave profiles the inventor, draftsman, engineer, and patent expert whose work intersected with both Alexander Graham Bell's telephone patent and the development of more durable electric-light filaments. Slice on Broadway pizza sauce — Dave discovers jars of Slice on Broadway's original pizza sauce while shopping at Labriola's Italian Market. EA goes private — Chachi's Video Game Minute covers EA completing its reported $55 billion sale to a Saudi-backed buyer and what private ownership might mean for the future of EA's games and monetization. Netflix and GTA 6 — Netflix is set to feature an extended look at Grand Theft Auto VI on August 27, prompting discussion about whether GTA really needs any additional publicity. Atari's financial comeback — Atari reports its strongest annual revenue in roughly a decade, giving Sorg and Dave an opportunity to talk about the strange history of the Atari name, its changing ownership, and the collection of gaming properties associated with it over the years. Xbox games potentially coming to Linux and Mac through XODUS — Sorg discusses an open-source reverse-engineering project designed to make compatible Xbox and PC titles accessible beyond Windows, including the possibility of accessing portions of a user's existing Microsoft gaming library. Xbox backward compatibility — The conversation touches on original Xbox and Xbox 360 games potentially becoming increasingly accessible through Microsoft's PC ecosystem. New Quake content decades later — Quake continues receiving new content around its 30th anniversary, giving players another reason to revisit the classic first-person shooter. NVIDIA GeForce NOW vs. Xbox cloud gaming — Sorg compares his experience streaming games like Doom: The Dark Ages and Forza Horizon, finding GeForce NOW's higher-end hardware particularly impressive for demanding, fast-moving games. Do you still need a gaming PC? — Cloud gaming raises a bigger question: if a service already supports hundreds of games in your library and provides continuously upgraded hardware, does spending thousands on a dedicated gaming PC still make sense? Diablo invades Cedar Point and Six Flags — Blizzard's Diablo becomes part of the Halloween amusement-park experience, leading to a conversation about licensed haunted attractions and the changing amusement-park industry. Cedar Fair/Six Flags consolidation and disappearing amusement parks — Dave looks back at the history of older amusement parks, including Pittsburgh-area memories of White Swan Park and the larger trend of parks disappearing as land was redeveloped. Freddy Fazbear's Pizza becomes real — A permanent Freddy Fazbear's Pizza experience featuring animatronic stage shows is planned for American Dream in 2027. Naturally, Sorg and Dave wonder whether anybody involved has actually learned the lesson of Five Nights at Freddy's. American Dream as the modern destination mall — The conversation expands into how malls are evolving from shopping centers into entertainment destinations with theme parks, water parks, skiing, restaurants, attractions, wrestling events, and other experiences. Adobe Project Indigo — Dave continues experimenting with Adobe's computational photography app, particularly challenging lighting situations and shooting directly toward a sunset. AI-powered photography reviews — Project Indigo can analyze a photo and provide feedback, giving photographers another way to evaluate composition and possible improvements. When an AI edit becomes a different photograph — Dave demonstrates an AI edit that substantially changes clouds and the sky, prompting an important conversation about the difference between enhancing a photograph and generating new visual information. AI quietly becoming another editing tool — Sorg shares his experience using AI to quickly create client graphics and discusses how generative tools increasingly feel less like a separate novelty and more like another part of a production workflow. Lost Lizard brings video rentals back to Pittsburgh — A Lawrenceville business is renting VHS tapes, DVDs, Betamax tapes, and even retro video games. The concept triggers plenty of nostalgia for independent video stores and their wonderfully strange horror collections. Physical media versus digital ownership — Reports of purchased digital movies disappearing from user libraries lead to a larger discussion about what consumers actually own when they "buy" a digital movie. Movies Anywhere and fragmented digital libraries — Sorg discusses the usefulness of synchronizing eligible purchases across services while acknowledging that licensing can still make digital ownership complicated. Maybe it's time to buy DVDs again — The uncertainty of digital licenses gives physical media another unexpected advantage: nobody can remotely remove a disc from your shelf. Nature Calls Run — An upcoming Pittsburgh-created app will crowdsource public restrooms, water sources, and other useful resources for runners, cyclists, travelers, parents, and anyone suddenly asking the most important question of the day: "Where can I go?" https://naturecallsapp.com/ Restroom access as an accessibility and medical issue — The app also plans to educate users about restroom-access laws affecting people with conditions including Crohn's disease and IBS. GCXC running events — Dave also discusses upcoming Pittsburgh-area races and the community surrounding GCXC events. https://gcxc.com/events-pa Support AwesomeCast: https://www.patreon.com/awesomecast

Episode Summary:Brandt and Will trade war stories on the gap between AI hype and AI reality: Brandt's saga of nursing a decade-old, server-killed Oculus Go back to life with Claude Code, the "caveman concept" for cutting token waste, and why Claude keeps giving up and trying to open Chrome. Will breaks down Anthropic's new (and deliberately withheld) Mythos model, plus his own iMessage-agent setup via BlueBubbles. They wrap with confidently-wrong AI moments and this week's Things of the Episode.Discussions Include:• Claude Cowork vs. Claude Code vs. Claude chat, and when to reach for each• The "caveman concept": talking to your AI simply to burn fewer tokens• Resurrecting a 10-year-old, server-bricked Oculus Go using Claude Code, ADB, and a custom APK• Anthropic's Mythos model, its bug-hunting/exploit-chaining chops, and Project Glasswing• When AI is confidently wrong (and how to stop it defaulting to "just open Chrome")Quotable Quotes (Should you choose to share):     "It is so stupid sometimes... but at the same time, it is also still really, REALLY stupid sometimes." - Brandt Krueger     "There's two types of people in this world: people who use AI to learn everything, and people who use AI to learn nothing." - Will Curran     "It flippin' writes its own APK... " - Brandt Krueger     "Definitely the power is on the code side of things. It's much smarter." - Will CurranThing of the Episode (TOTE):     Brandt: Oculus Go hacking project - https://www.ebay.com/b/Oculus-Go-VR-Headsets/183068/bn_7115189259     Will: BlueBubbles - https://bluebubbles.app/

Sorg and Dave Podnar are back for another AwesomeCast packed with Pittsburgh tech, gaming, streaming, photography, AI, retro media, and a surprisingly practical app for finding a bathroom when you really need one. The episode starts locally with Dave highlighting Stormfreak, a Pittsburgh-area weather enthusiast who has built a following on Reddit by offering practical, level-headed forecasts without the sensationalism that often accompanies severe weather coverage. That leads into a bigger conversation about how Reddit, YouTube, and independent creators increasingly fill information gaps once occupied by traditional specialty television. Sorg then takes a trip back to the video-store era with Binge Buster, a web experience that lets users browse movies available on their existing streaming subscriptions in an interface inspired by wandering through the shelves of a physical rental store. Gaming takes over a large part of the conversation, including EA going private in a massive Saudi-backed deal, Netflix getting an extended GTA 6 preview, Atari showing signs of financial improvement, the possibility of accessing Xbox and PC Game Pass titles on Linux and Mac through the XODUS project, new content for the original Quake, and Sorg's experience comparing Xbox cloud gaming with NVIDIA GeForce NOW. Then things get weird in the best possible way: Diablo is heading to amusement-park Halloween events, while a permanent Freddy Fazbear's Pizza experience complete with animatronics is planned for American Dream. Dave also shares his latest experience with Adobe Project Indigo, including computational photography, AI photo critiques, and the increasingly blurry line between traditional editing and generative AI. The episode wraps with two ideas that bring physical experiences back into a digital world: Pittsburgh's Lost Lizard renting VHS, DVD, and even Betamax tapes, and Nature Calls Run, an upcoming crowdsourced app designed to help runners, cyclists, travelers, and people with medical needs locate bathrooms, water, and other resources. Stories, Gadgets & Topics Discussed 300–600mm iPhone zoom lens — Dave points listeners toward iPhonography Podcast co-host Greg McMillan's detailed look at an enormous telephoto solution for iPhone photography. Stormfreak and Pittsburgh weather on Reddit — Dave highlights the local forecaster's calm, practical approach to Pittsburgh weather and the community that has formed around his posts. They discuss how independent online weather coverage can sometimes be more useful than national television coverage when people need highly local information. The changing role of specialty media — Sorg and Dave compare today's creator-driven information sources with the original promise of channels like The Weather Channel, Discovery, TLC, and Food Network. Binge Buster — Sorg tries a streaming discovery site that recreates some of the experience of browsing a video store. Users select the streaming services they already subscribe to and browse movies through virtual box art, descriptions, genres, trailers, staff picks, and more. https://bingebuster.net/ Awesome Person of the Week: Lewis Latimer — Dave profiles the inventor, draftsman, engineer, and patent expert whose work intersected with both Alexander Graham Bell's telephone patent and the development of more durable electric-light filaments. Slice on Broadway pizza sauce — Dave discovers jars of Slice on Broadway's original pizza sauce while shopping at Labriola's Italian Market. EA goes private — Chachi's Video Game Minute covers EA completing its reported $55 billion sale to a Saudi-backed buyer and what private ownership might mean for the future of EA's games and monetization. Netflix and GTA 6 — Netflix is set to feature an extended look at Grand Theft Auto VI on August 27, prompting discussion about whether GTA really needs any additional publicity. Atari's financial comeback — Atari reports its strongest annual revenue in roughly a decade, giving Sorg and Dave an opportunity to talk about the strange history of the Atari name, its changing ownership, and the collection of gaming properties associated with it over the years. Xbox games potentially coming to Linux and Mac through XODUS — Sorg discusses an open-source reverse-engineering project designed to make compatible Xbox and PC titles accessible beyond Windows, including the possibility of accessing portions of a user's existing Microsoft gaming library. Xbox backward compatibility — The conversation touches on original Xbox and Xbox 360 games potentially becoming increasingly accessible through Microsoft's PC ecosystem. New Quake content decades later — Quake continues receiving new content around its 30th anniversary, giving players another reason to revisit the classic first-person shooter. NVIDIA GeForce NOW vs. Xbox cloud gaming — Sorg compares his experience streaming games like Doom: The Dark Ages and Forza Horizon, finding GeForce NOW's higher-end hardware particularly impressive for demanding, fast-moving games. Do you still need a gaming PC? — Cloud gaming raises a bigger question: if a service already supports hundreds of games in your library and provides continuously upgraded hardware, does spending thousands on a dedicated gaming PC still make sense? Diablo invades Cedar Point and Six Flags — Blizzard's Diablo becomes part of the Halloween amusement-park experience, leading to a conversation about licensed haunted attractions and the changing amusement-park industry. Cedar Fair/Six Flags consolidation and disappearing amusement parks — Dave looks back at the history of older amusement parks, including Pittsburgh-area memories of White Swan Park and the larger trend of parks disappearing as land was redeveloped. Freddy Fazbear's Pizza becomes real — A permanent Freddy Fazbear's Pizza experience featuring animatronic stage shows is planned for American Dream in 2027. Naturally, Sorg and Dave wonder whether anybody involved has actually learned the lesson of Five Nights at Freddy's. American Dream as the modern destination mall — The conversation expands into how malls are evolving from shopping centers into entertainment destinations with theme parks, water parks, skiing, restaurants, attractions, wrestling events, and other experiences. Adobe Project Indigo — Dave continues experimenting with Adobe's computational photography app, particularly challenging lighting situations and shooting directly toward a sunset. AI-powered photography reviews — Project Indigo can analyze a photo and provide feedback, giving photographers another way to evaluate composition and possible improvements. When an AI edit becomes a different photograph — Dave demonstrates an AI edit that substantially changes clouds and the sky, prompting an important conversation about the difference between enhancing a photograph and generating new visual information. AI quietly becoming another editing tool — Sorg shares his experience using AI to quickly create client graphics and discusses how generative tools increasingly feel less like a separate novelty and more like another part of a production workflow. Lost Lizard brings video rentals back to Pittsburgh — A Lawrenceville business is renting VHS tapes, DVDs, Betamax tapes, and even retro video games. The concept triggers plenty of nostalgia for independent video stores and their wonderfully strange horror collections. Physical media versus digital ownership — Reports of purchased digital movies disappearing from user libraries lead to a larger discussion about what consumers actually own when they "buy" a digital movie. Movies Anywhere and fragmented digital libraries — Sorg discusses the usefulness of synchronizing eligible purchases across services while acknowledging that licensing can still make digital ownership complicated. Maybe it's time to buy DVDs again — The uncertainty of digital licenses gives physical media another unexpected advantage: nobody can remotely remove a disc from your shelf. Nature Calls Run — An upcoming Pittsburgh-created app will crowdsource public restrooms, water sources, and other useful resources for runners, cyclists, travelers, parents, and anyone suddenly asking the most important question of the day: "Where can I go?" https://naturecallsapp.com/ Restroom access as an accessibility and medical issue — The app also plans to educate users about restroom-access laws affecting people with conditions including Crohn's disease and IBS. GCXC running events — Dave also discusses upcoming Pittsburgh-area races and the community surrounding GCXC events. https://gcxc.com/events-pa Support AwesomeCast: https://www.patreon.com/awesomecast

Harness engineering is still a new concept, but already we've noticed a challenge being consistently faced by technology leaders: how can a harness be used at scale across an organization to ensure consistency and controllability without undermining autonomy? To some extent it's a discussion that's reminiscent of platform engineering and, before that, DevOps, but, given the nature of AI agents, it's also unique to this particular moment. On this episode of the Technology Podcast, host Ken Mugrage is joined by guests Thomas Squeo (Chief Technology Officer and Head of Advisory for the Americas) and Matt Kamelman (Innovation Choreographer) to explore why it's so important to scale harnesses effectively and the steps and processes that will allow you to do just that. Thomas and Matt recently wrote an article outlining how organizations should think about what they call 'enterprise harness engineering'; here, they unpack their ideas and explore what's required of engineering leaders and their teams. Read Thomas' and Matt's article: https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/articles/operating-system-enterprise-ai

What happens when a PC gamer turns downloadable Steam games into physical cartridges? Sorg, Katie Dudas and Dave Podnar explore that inventive project alongside an AI-generated reality show starring romantic fruits, Xbox's possible plan for preserving physical game collections, Fitbit's long-awaited Apple Health support and a 9,000-pound rocket stage headed for the Moon. The crew also discusses a travel app that automatically tells stories based on your location, the staggering first imagery from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, Kevin Mitnick's legacy in cybersecurity and several troubling decisions from the video game industry. Stories, Gadgets and Topics Discussed Katie's Brother P-touch label maker: Katie shows how she is using built-in symbols—including cameras, computers and warning icons—to organize and identify equipment, drives and other technology. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory reveals an enormous view of the universe: Dave follows up on the observatory's 3.2-gigapixel LSST camera and an image containing approximately 650,000 galaxies. The hosts discuss the astonishing detail available when zooming into tiny sections of the image, the observatory's planned decade of data collection and how AI could help scientists examine datasets too large for humans to process manually. See the Vera C. Rubin Observatory imagery Wrinkles turns city exploration into a location-aware audio tour: Katie introduces Wrinkles, a travel app that automatically shares historical facts, local stories and hidden details as users walk through supported cities. The app uses AI-generated voices, but its information is drawn from curated sources such as historians, museums and local organizations. Creators and tourism groups may also be able to build their own tours and experiences. Explore the Wrinkles travel app A PC gamer creates physical Steam cartridges: Sorg examines a DIY project that stores individual Steam games on inexpensive 128GB, 2.5-inch SSDs. A script detects the drive when it is inserted, connects the game to the owner's Steam library and launches the title—creating something close to a modern PC game cartridge. The discussion considers storage costs, portability and whether physical presentation can make digital collections feel more permanent. See the DIY Steam cartridge project Kevin Mitnick and National Social Engineering Day: Dave looks back at famed hacker-turned-security-consultant Kevin Mitnick, whose birthday on August 6 inspired National Social Engineering Day. The hosts explain how attackers can bypass strong technology by manipulating employees, customer-service representatives and other people into revealing passwords, resetting accounts or granting access. Learn about National Social Engineering Day Read Kevin Mitnick's congressional testimony ChachiSays Video Game Minute—“Doubling Down on Dumb Decisions”: Sony acknowledges the backlash surrounding its move away from physical PlayStation discs but plans to continue moving in that direction. Read the Sony physical-media story Electronic Arts reportedly rewarded its CEO with a major compensation increase following the success of Battlefield 6 while developers responsible for the game faced layoffs. Read about the EA compensation and layoffs August Interactive is working with NASA on Moonbase Y, a game designed to encourage children to plan, collaborate and invent solutions for a future lunar colony. Learn about Moonbase Y Xbox considers converting physical games into digital licenses: A reported Xbox disc-to-digital program could allow owners of original Xbox and Xbox 360 discs to access compatible digital copies on newer hardware or PC. The hosts discuss game preservation, license transfer, resale and whether Microsoft's approach inspires more confidence in the long-term future of an Xbox library. Read about Xbox's reported disc-to-digital plan Fitbit data can finally sync with Apple Health: Fitbit users can now consolidate more of their fitness information inside Apple Health. The hosts discuss the convenience of keeping activity, blood-pressure readings and medical information in one location, while noting that some measurements—including heart-rate variability—may not transfer yet. Learn how to sync Fitbit with Apple Health A SpaceX rocket stage is headed for the Moon: A roughly 9,000-pound piece of space hardware is expected to strike the lunar surface. Although the collision is accidental and likely will not be visible to the naked eye, lunar orbiters may be able to document the crater and debris, turning the impact into an unexpected scientific experiment. Read about the lunar impact Fruit Love Island and the strange appeal of AI reality television: Sorg introduces an AI-generated dating show starring anthropomorphic fruits and vegetables. The hosts examine its bizarre character designs, inconsistent AI visuals, audience voting, reality-show storytelling and surprisingly organized production workflow. They also debate whether projects like this are disposable “AI slop” or useful experiments in storyboarding, character consistency and accessible video production. Watch Hasan Minhaj react to Fruit Love Island Visit Fruit Love Island Watch the Fruit Love Island video Support AwesomeCast and receive the ad-free edition at Patreon.com/AwesomeCast. AwesomeCast is supported by Slice on Broadway, serving Pittsburgh podcasting with the perfect pepperoni pizza for more than a decade. Visit SliceOnBroadway.com.

What happens when a PC gamer turns downloadable Steam games into physical cartridges? Sorg, Katie Dudas and Dave Podnar explore that inventive project alongside an AI-generated reality show starring romantic fruits, Xbox's possible plan for preserving physical game collections, Fitbit's long-awaited Apple Health support and a 9,000-pound rocket stage headed for the Moon. The crew also discusses a travel app that automatically tells stories based on your location, the staggering first imagery from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, Kevin Mitnick's legacy in cybersecurity and several troubling decisions from the video game industry. Stories, Gadgets and Topics Discussed Katie's Brother P-touch label maker: Katie shows how she is using built-in symbols—including cameras, computers and warning icons—to organize and identify equipment, drives and other technology. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory reveals an enormous view of the universe: Dave follows up on the observatory's 3.2-gigapixel LSST camera and an image containing approximately 650,000 galaxies. The hosts discuss the astonishing detail available when zooming into tiny sections of the image, the observatory's planned decade of data collection and how AI could help scientists examine datasets too large for humans to process manually. See the Vera C. Rubin Observatory imagery Wrinkles turns city exploration into a location-aware audio tour: Katie introduces Wrinkles, a travel app that automatically shares historical facts, local stories and hidden details as users walk through supported cities. The app uses AI-generated voices, but its information is drawn from curated sources such as historians, museums and local organizations. Creators and tourism groups may also be able to build their own tours and experiences. Explore the Wrinkles travel app A PC gamer creates physical Steam cartridges: Sorg examines a DIY project that stores individual Steam games on inexpensive 128GB, 2.5-inch SSDs. A script detects the drive when it is inserted, connects the game to the owner's Steam library and launches the title—creating something close to a modern PC game cartridge. The discussion considers storage costs, portability and whether physical presentation can make digital collections feel more permanent. See the DIY Steam cartridge project Kevin Mitnick and National Social Engineering Day: Dave looks back at famed hacker-turned-security-consultant Kevin Mitnick, whose birthday on August 6 inspired National Social Engineering Day. The hosts explain how attackers can bypass strong technology by manipulating employees, customer-service representatives and other people into revealing passwords, resetting accounts or granting access. Learn about National Social Engineering Day Read Kevin Mitnick's congressional testimony ChachiSays Video Game Minute—“Doubling Down on Dumb Decisions”: Sony acknowledges the backlash surrounding its move away from physical PlayStation discs but plans to continue moving in that direction. Read the Sony physical-media story Electronic Arts reportedly rewarded its CEO with a major compensation increase following the success of Battlefield 6 while developers responsible for the game faced layoffs. Read about the EA compensation and layoffs August Interactive is working with NASA on Moonbase Y, a game designed to encourage children to plan, collaborate and invent solutions for a future lunar colony. Learn about Moonbase Y Xbox considers converting physical games into digital licenses: A reported Xbox disc-to-digital program could allow owners of original Xbox and Xbox 360 discs to access compatible digital copies on newer hardware or PC. The hosts discuss game preservation, license transfer, resale and whether Microsoft's approach inspires more confidence in the long-term future of an Xbox library. Read about Xbox's reported disc-to-digital plan Fitbit data can finally sync with Apple Health: Fitbit users can now consolidate more of their fitness information inside Apple Health. The hosts discuss the convenience of keeping activity, blood-pressure readings and medical information in one location, while noting that some measurements—including heart-rate variability—may not transfer yet. Learn how to sync Fitbit with Apple Health A SpaceX rocket stage is headed for the Moon: A roughly 9,000-pound piece of space hardware is expected to strike the lunar surface. Although the collision is accidental and likely will not be visible to the naked eye, lunar orbiters may be able to document the crater and debris, turning the impact into an unexpected scientific experiment. Read about the lunar impact Fruit Love Island and the strange appeal of AI reality television: Sorg introduces an AI-generated dating show starring anthropomorphic fruits and vegetables. The hosts examine its bizarre character designs, inconsistent AI visuals, audience voting, reality-show storytelling and surprisingly organized production workflow. They also debate whether projects like this are disposable “AI slop” or useful experiments in storyboarding, character consistency and accessible video production. Watch Hasan Minhaj react to Fruit Love Island Visit Fruit Love Island Watch the Fruit Love Island video Support AwesomeCast and receive the ad-free edition at Patreon.com/AwesomeCast. AwesomeCast is supported by Slice on Broadway, serving Pittsburgh podcasting with the perfect pepperoni pizza for more than a decade. Visit SliceOnBroadway.com.

How do I decide which supplements and health technologies are worth my time and money? Discover the 10 questions I ask before I use or recommend anything. When you're a parent searching for ways to support your child's health, it can be overwhelming. There are supplements, therapies, devices, technologies, practitioners, protocols, and products everywhere you look. Each one may come with impressive testimonials, promising research, or claims that it could make a difference. But how do you know what is truly worth your time, money, and attention? As an autism specialist with decades of experience in holistic health and working with families, I have learned that I can't simply look at a product and ask, “Does this sound good?” Before I consider adding a supplement, health technology, or other product to my program, I do my own research and evaluation. I look at the science. I investigate the company. I look at how the product is made. I consider safety, quality, cost, ease of use, and whether it is genuinely practical for the families I serve.  Because something can be innovative, popular, or expensive—and still not be the right quality or the right fit for every individual and their unique needs. Most importantly, I ask whether it makes sense. And I don't just recommend something and send families on their way. When I believe in a product or technology, I use it myself and share it with my family so I can have firsthand experience with it and understand how it fits into real life. I like to approach anything in life with an open mind. I can't even count how many potentially valuable options I may have missed if I hadn't been open to looking into it further and trying them for myself, because first-hand experience is important to me too.  Here are 10 of the questions I ask before I trust  Is There a Scientific Rationale Behind It? The first question I ask is: Does this make scientific and biological sense? I have a very curious mind. I'm interested in understanding how something is supposed to work. What is the proposed mechanism? What biological pathway or process is involved? Is there credible research supporting the underlying science? I don't believe that one study or one testimonial is enough to make a decision. I want to look at the bigger picture. I also consider what type of evidence exists. Is there peer-reviewed research? Human research? Laboratory research? Research on the specific product or technology? Or is the evidence primarily based on anecdotal reports? These are all different levels of evidence, and I believe it's important to understand the difference. When I evaluate something new, I want to know not only what the company says it does, but also whether the science behind the concept is reasonable and supported by evidence...   Click Here or Click the link below for more details! https://naturallyrecoveringautism.com/251

Can AI make you better at Photoshop instead of replacing Photoshop? Sorg, Katie Dudas, and Dave Podnar explore that question on AwesomeCast 789 as Sorg shares a workflow for turning AI-generated concepts into editable graphics while keeping control of the final design. The crew also gets into Pittsburgh technology history with plans to preserve Westinghouse's Atom Smasher, the impressive Commercial Street Bridge replacement, and the accessibility origins of the modern audiobook. Then the geekery kicks into high gear: Xbox expands its classic-game preservation efforts to PC, Hasbro combines Transformers with Jem and the Holograms, LEGO brings Smart Play to Star Trek, Robosen releases an Optimus Prime robot designed to reopen childhood wounds, and Universal plans movies based on ten Atari properties. Plus, Chachi has gaming headlines involving Hasbro, Steam Deck and Atari, and the crew discusses the backlash surrounding a $58,000 humanoid robot proposed for use in a New York school district. It's Pittsburgh technology, AI creativity, retro gaming, accessibility, robots and pop-culture nostalgia on AwesomeCast 789.

Cloud was one of the main drivers of the early waves of AI adoption. However, as AI has become more and more embedded in systems and devices — in both consumer and enterprise contexts — it's becoming a bottleneck. This isn't just about costs (although yes, that issue is certainly surging up the agenda), it's also about how we optimize our architectures and improve device performance. This is why conversation is turning to hybrid AI: embracing a hybrid approach that combines proprietary cloud services with local or on-device AI can help organizations deliver better experiences for users, whether they're consumers, other businesses or internal teams. One company exploring this space is electronics giant Lenovo. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, host Prem Chandrasekaran is joined by Girish Hoogar, Lenovo's Global Head of Technology for Cloud and Software, to discuss why the company is embracing hybrid AI, how it's approaching implementation and what the implications are for other technologists. As industry attention turns to local AI, listen for a first-hand perspective on what the trend actually means for engineering teams and their organizations.

This week on AwesomeCast 788, Sorg, Katie Dudas, and Dave Podnar explore the growing appeal of retro technology, screen-free devices, customizable gadgets, and digital tools that give users more control. Katie begins with Mama's Night Off, a browser game inspired by Dungeon Crawler Carl and the Maeve Chocolate Dirty Shirley bar. Dave introduces Garmin's new screenless fitness tracker, an alternative to smartwatches and subscription-heavy wearables. Sorg shares his experience setting up RetroArch on Apple TV, including its wide range of supported systems, open-source games, ROM management, controllers, and the tinkering required to make everything work. The conversation expands into the tension between digital convenience and physical ownership. The hosts discuss GameStop's response to Sony's physical-media decisions, the rapid progress of PlayStation 5 emulation, and why consumers are returning to CDs, vinyl, cassettes, retro games, and other physical formats. They also have an extended discussion about generative AI, creative production, AI-assisted image editing, automation tools, corporate responsibility, electrical-grid pressures, and the rapid construction of data centers. The hosts examine the difference between rejecting AI entirely and learning how to use it responsibly while still demanding accountability from businesses and government. Later, the show looks at NASA's Psyche spacecraft capturing a Mars flyby, Pittsburgh movie history through the Pastfinders app, a minimalist flip phone for people who want fewer distractions, a development board that turns old Nintendo Wii Remotes into customizable controllers, and Google Photos restoring a traditional search option alongside Ask Photos. Stories and Gadgets Discussed Awesome Things of the Week Mama's Night Off and the Maeve Chocolate Dirty Shirley Bar Katie shares a browser-based game connected to Dungeon Crawler Carl. Players fire magical projectiles at cherries to help create Mama's Dirty Shirley. The hosts discuss the game's intentionally retro presentation and voice work by Jeff Hays. Play the game and view the chocolate bar: https://maevechocolate.com/products/virgin-dirty-shirley/?game Garmin's Screenless Fitness Tracker Dave introduces Garmin's wearable fitness tracker designed without a screen. The device offers health and activity tracking without requiring users to wear a full smartwatch. The hosts discuss its approximately ten-day battery life, Garmin Connect compatibility, optional Garmin Connect+ subscription, and Garmin's reputation for durable hardware and direct fitness feedback. Engadget: https://www.engadget.com/2219713/garmin-finally-made-a-screenless-fitness-tracker/ Garmin product information: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1989182/#specs RetroArch on Apple TV Sorg explains how RetroArch can turn an Apple TV into a multi-system retro-gaming device. The software supports numerous systems, including Nintendo, Sega, arcade, PlayStation-era platforms, and older computer games. The hosts discuss Bluetooth controllers, open-source games, shareware versions of Doom and Wolfenstein, storage limitations, organizing ROM libraries, and troubleshooting incompatible files. Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/retroarch/id6499539433 Supported platforms: https://www.retroarch.com/?page=platforms Awesome Person of the Week Ralph Teetor and the Invention of Cruise Control Dave highlights engineer Ralph Teetor, who became blind as a child and later earned engineering degrees. Frustrated by the repeated acceleration and deceleration of drivers, Teetor developed an early version of cruise control. The hosts discuss the evolution from basic speed control to adaptive cruise control and its relationship to modern driver-assistance systems. Teetor later served as president of the Society of Automotive Engineers, and an SAE award for educators bears his name. Automotive Hall of Fame: https://automotivehalloffame.org/honoree/ralph-r-teetor/ Chachi Says Video Game Minute Playing GTA III and Vice City Inside GTA: San Andreas A PC mod allows players controlling CJ in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to walk up to an in-game television and launch GTA III or Vice City. The hosts compare the concept to a video-game version of Inception. https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/pc-gaming/gta-3-and-vice-city-are-now-playable-inside-san-andreas-a-mod-lets-you-revisit-liberty-city-and-vice-city-without-leaving-san-andreas GameStop's CEO Responds to the Decline of Physical Games GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen argues that Sony reducing physical-disc support will not significantly hurt the company because new video-game sales represent a relatively small portion of its business. The discussion includes GameStop's continued interest in eBay and the changing economics of physical game retail. https://www.ign.com/articles/gamestop-ceo-ryan-cohen-insists-sony-killing-physical-discs-doesnt-matter-at-all-because-video-game-sales-make-up-so-little-of-his-business PlayStation 5 Emulation Progress Developers are making progress booting PlayStation 5 titles through multiple emulation projects. Two-dimensional games are advancing more quickly, while fully rendering complex three-dimensional games remains a significant challenge. The story sparks a broader conversation about game preservation, physical ownership, digital licensing, and consumer distrust. https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/playstation/ps5-emulation-ramps-up-in-wake-of-sonys-end-to-physical-media-ps5-titles-now-booting-across-different-emulators-with-rapid-community-development-for-both-2d-and-3d-games AI, Creative Work and Data Centers The hosts discuss the growing use of AI-assisted tools in image editing, video production, business documents, email, captions, background extension, and design mockups. Sorg explains how AI can help reformat posters for different social-media dimensions without replacing the original creative work. The discussion distinguishes generative AI from other machine-learning tools, such as automated transcription, rotoscoping, search, and image organization. Dave raises concerns about social-media challenges potentially being used to gather free voice-training data. The group discusses how Google, Adobe, Canva, and other platforms increasingly build AI functions directly into existing software. The hosts argue that professionals cannot simply ignore the technology, but they should evaluate where it is appropriate and disclose its use when needed. The discussion also addresses the electrical demands of new data centers, corporate incentives, local government decisions, environmental protections, grid capacity, and the disproportionate placement of industrial infrastructure near lower-income communities. Their central argument is that rapid technological growth must be accompanied by accountability, regulation, public representation, and responsible development. NASA Psyche Mars Flyby NASA's Psyche spacecraft used a Mars flyby as a gravitational assist while traveling deeper into the solar system. The mission captured detailed images and a time-lapse view of Mars during the maneuver. Dave highlights the value of scientific exploration driven by curiosity and the desire to understand more about the universe. https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/psyche/2026/07/17/nasas-psyche-mission-delivers-mars-flyby-data-time-lapse-video/ Pittsburgh Bridges on Film and Pastfinders Sorg highlights a collaboration between Pastfinders and the Pittsburgh Film Office focused on Pittsburgh bridges featured in movies and television. Examples discussed include locations connected to Mayor of Kingstown, Sweet Girl, Jack Reacher, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Dark Knight Rises, Dogma, The Silence of the Lambs, and Mindhunter. The hosts discuss how the Pastfinders app sends location-based notifications about historical sites, movie locations, landmarks, and unusual local stories. Pastfinders: https://www.pastfinders.app/ Pittsburgh Film Office bridge-tour post: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1458603939638716&set=pcb.1458603999638710 The Light Flip Minimalist Phone The hosts examine a modern minimalist flip phone inspired by classic designs. It uses physical buttons, T9-style typing, a small screen, and a dedicated operating system rather than standard Android. The group discusses the appeal for people who want calls, messages, navigation, and limited apps without carrying a high-powered smartphone. They also consider whether younger users might adopt simpler phones to reduce social-media use and screen time. https://9to5google.com/2026/07/21/light-flip-minimalist-phone-announcement/ OpenMote: Repurposing the Nintendo Wii Remote Sorg introduces OpenMote, a drop-in development board that turns a Nintendo Wii Remote into a customizable controller. Demonstrations include pointing the remote at lamps to control them. The hosts brainstorm uses for smart-home controls, games, production equipment, lighting effects, custom 3D-printed controllers, and event technology. OpenMote: https://openmote.io/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio Instagram demonstration: https://www.instagram.com/reels/Da8p5B7PNKP/ OpenMote Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/openmote.io/ Google Photos Restores Classic Search Google Photos is adding an option that lets users choose between the newer Gemini-powered Ask Photos experience and a more traditional search interface. The hosts discuss why some users prefer entering straightforward terms rather than asking an AI-generated question. The change becomes an example of why providing a choice can reduce frustration when companies add AI to familiar products. https://9to5google.com/2026/07/20/google-photos-classic-search-toggle/ Also Discussed The return of CDs, vinyl records, cassettes, retro games, and physical media. The difference between owning digital media and licensing access to it. Consumer distrust of large technology companies. The space required to store large physical-media collections. Using Gemini to interpret business acronyms and generate a first draft of a statement of work. Severe-weather alerts and Katie briefly leaving the podcast during a tornado warning. Dave's upcoming races, including the Two-Face Race and Trick or Trot 5K. The next AwesomeCast interview with Spotter Global and its technology for detecting drones and identifying operators. Support the show at: https://www.patreon.com/awesomecast Discover more from the Sorgatron Media Podcast Network: https://sorgatronmedia.com

This week on AwesomeCast 788, Sorg, Katie Dudas, and Dave Podnar explore the growing appeal of retro technology, screen-free devices, customizable gadgets, and digital tools that give users more control. Katie begins with Mama's Night Off, a browser game inspired by Dungeon Crawler Carl and the Maeve Chocolate Dirty Shirley bar. Dave introduces Garmin's new screenless fitness tracker, an alternative to smartwatches and subscription-heavy wearables. Sorg shares his experience setting up RetroArch on Apple TV, including its wide range of supported systems, open-source games, ROM management, controllers, and the tinkering required to make everything work. The conversation expands into the tension between digital convenience and physical ownership. The hosts discuss GameStop's response to Sony's physical-media decisions, the rapid progress of PlayStation 5 emulation, and why consumers are returning to CDs, vinyl, cassettes, retro games, and other physical formats. They also have an extended discussion about generative AI, creative production, AI-assisted image editing, automation tools, corporate responsibility, electrical-grid pressures, and the rapid construction of data centers. The hosts examine the difference between rejecting AI entirely and learning how to use it responsibly while still demanding accountability from businesses and government. Later, the show looks at NASA's Psyche spacecraft capturing a Mars flyby, Pittsburgh movie history through the Pastfinders app, a minimalist flip phone for people who want fewer distractions, a development board that turns old Nintendo Wii Remotes into customizable controllers, and Google Photos restoring a traditional search option alongside Ask Photos. Stories and Gadgets Discussed Awesome Things of the Week Mama's Night Off and the Maeve Chocolate Dirty Shirley Bar Katie shares a browser-based game connected to Dungeon Crawler Carl. Players fire magical projectiles at cherries to help create Mama's Dirty Shirley. The hosts discuss the game's intentionally retro presentation and voice work by Jeff Hays. Play the game and view the chocolate bar: https://maevechocolate.com/products/virgin-dirty-shirley/?game Garmin's Screenless Fitness Tracker Dave introduces Garmin's wearable fitness tracker designed without a screen. The device offers health and activity tracking without requiring users to wear a full smartwatch. The hosts discuss its approximately ten-day battery life, Garmin Connect compatibility, optional Garmin Connect+ subscription, and Garmin's reputation for durable hardware and direct fitness feedback. Engadget: https://www.engadget.com/2219713/garmin-finally-made-a-screenless-fitness-tracker/ Garmin product information: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1989182/#specs RetroArch on Apple TV Sorg explains how RetroArch can turn an Apple TV into a multi-system retro-gaming device. The software supports numerous systems, including Nintendo, Sega, arcade, PlayStation-era platforms, and older computer games. The hosts discuss Bluetooth controllers, open-source games, shareware versions of Doom and Wolfenstein, storage limitations, organizing ROM libraries, and troubleshooting incompatible files. Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/retroarch/id6499539433 Supported platforms: https://www.retroarch.com/?page=platforms Awesome Person of the Week Ralph Teetor and the Invention of Cruise Control Dave highlights engineer Ralph Teetor, who became blind as a child and later earned engineering degrees. Frustrated by the repeated acceleration and deceleration of drivers, Teetor developed an early version of cruise control. The hosts discuss the evolution from basic speed control to adaptive cruise control and its relationship to modern driver-assistance systems. Teetor later served as president of the Society of Automotive Engineers, and an SAE award for educators bears his name. Automotive Hall of Fame: https://automotivehalloffame.org/honoree/ralph-r-teetor/ Chachi Says Video Game Minute Playing GTA III and Vice City Inside GTA: San Andreas A PC mod allows players controlling CJ in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to walk up to an in-game television and launch GTA III or Vice City. The hosts compare the concept to a video-game version of Inception. https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/pc-gaming/gta-3-and-vice-city-are-now-playable-inside-san-andreas-a-mod-lets-you-revisit-liberty-city-and-vice-city-without-leaving-san-andreas GameStop's CEO Responds to the Decline of Physical Games GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen argues that Sony reducing physical-disc support will not significantly hurt the company because new video-game sales represent a relatively small portion of its business. The discussion includes GameStop's continued interest in eBay and the changing economics of physical game retail. https://www.ign.com/articles/gamestop-ceo-ryan-cohen-insists-sony-killing-physical-discs-doesnt-matter-at-all-because-video-game-sales-make-up-so-little-of-his-business PlayStation 5 Emulation Progress Developers are making progress booting PlayStation 5 titles through multiple emulation projects. Two-dimensional games are advancing more quickly, while fully rendering complex three-dimensional games remains a significant challenge. The story sparks a broader conversation about game preservation, physical ownership, digital licensing, and consumer distrust. https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/playstation/ps5-emulation-ramps-up-in-wake-of-sonys-end-to-physical-media-ps5-titles-now-booting-across-different-emulators-with-rapid-community-development-for-both-2d-and-3d-games AI, Creative Work and Data Centers The hosts discuss the growing use of AI-assisted tools in image editing, video production, business documents, email, captions, background extension, and design mockups. Sorg explains how AI can help reformat posters for different social-media dimensions without replacing the original creative work. The discussion distinguishes generative AI from other machine-learning tools, such as automated transcription, rotoscoping, search, and image organization. Dave raises concerns about social-media challenges potentially being used to gather free voice-training data. The group discusses how Google, Adobe, Canva, and other platforms increasingly build AI functions directly into existing software. The hosts argue that professionals cannot simply ignore the technology, but they should evaluate where it is appropriate and disclose its use when needed. The discussion also addresses the electrical demands of new data centers, corporate incentives, local government decisions, environmental protections, grid capacity, and the disproportionate placement of industrial infrastructure near lower-income communities. Their central argument is that rapid technological growth must be accompanied by accountability, regulation, public representation, and responsible development. NASA Psyche Mars Flyby NASA's Psyche spacecraft used a Mars flyby as a gravitational assist while traveling deeper into the solar system. The mission captured detailed images and a time-lapse view of Mars during the maneuver. Dave highlights the value of scientific exploration driven by curiosity and the desire to understand more about the universe. https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/psyche/2026/07/17/nasas-psyche-mission-delivers-mars-flyby-data-time-lapse-video/ Pittsburgh Bridges on Film and Pastfinders Sorg highlights a collaboration between Pastfinders and the Pittsburgh Film Office focused on Pittsburgh bridges featured in movies and television. Examples discussed include locations connected to Mayor of Kingstown, Sweet Girl, Jack Reacher, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Dark Knight Rises, Dogma, The Silence of the Lambs, and Mindhunter. The hosts discuss how the Pastfinders app sends location-based notifications about historical sites, movie locations, landmarks, and unusual local stories. Pastfinders: https://www.pastfinders.app/ Pittsburgh Film Office bridge-tour post: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1458603939638716&set=pcb.1458603999638710 The Light Flip Minimalist Phone The hosts examine a modern minimalist flip phone inspired by classic designs. It uses physical buttons, T9-style typing, a small screen, and a dedicated operating system rather than standard Android. The group discusses the appeal for people who want calls, messages, navigation, and limited apps without carrying a high-powered smartphone. They also consider whether younger users might adopt simpler phones to reduce social-media use and screen time. https://9to5google.com/2026/07/21/light-flip-minimalist-phone-announcement/ OpenMote: Repurposing the Nintendo Wii Remote Sorg introduces OpenMote, a drop-in development board that turns a Nintendo Wii Remote into a customizable controller. Demonstrations include pointing the remote at lamps to control them. The hosts brainstorm uses for smart-home controls, games, production equipment, lighting effects, custom 3D-printed controllers, and event technology. OpenMote: https://openmote.io/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio Instagram demonstration: https://www.instagram.com/reels/Da8p5B7PNKP/ OpenMote Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/openmote.io/ Google Photos Restores Classic Search Google Photos is adding an option that lets users choose between the newer Gemini-powered Ask Photos experience and a more traditional search interface. The hosts discuss why some users prefer entering straightforward terms rather than asking an AI-generated question. The change becomes an example of why providing a choice can reduce frustration when companies add AI to familiar products. https://9to5google.com/2026/07/20/google-photos-classic-search-toggle/ Also Discussed The return of CDs, vinyl records, cassettes, retro games, and physical media. The difference between owning digital media and licensing access to it. Consumer distrust of large technology companies. The space required to store large physical-media collections. Using Gemini to interpret business acronyms and generate a first draft of a statement of work. Severe-weather alerts and Katie briefly leaving the podcast during a tornado warning. Dave's upcoming races, including the Two-Face Race and Trick or Trot 5K. The next AwesomeCast interview with Spotter Global and its technology for detecting drones and identifying operators. Support the show at: https://www.patreon.com/awesomecast Discover more from the Sorgatron Media Podcast Network: https://sorgatronmedia.com

AwesomeCast 787 gets practical, futuristic and increasingly strange as Sorg, Katie Dudas and Dave Podnar explore family-safe phones, connected health gadgets, USB-C mysteries, robotic limbs, Instagram's latest AI privacy controversy and Fortnite's revealing new take on the DC Universe. Sorg also begins downloading the iOS 27 public beta during the show, despite Katie's warnings and a few concerns being saved for the Patreon aftertalk. Stories and Gadgets Discussed A wireless microphone saves the podcast: When Dave's regular microphone setup breaks, he switches to a compact dual wireless microphone system that connects through USB-C. The plug-and-play backup works with phones and laptops without a complicated setup. Omron 7 Series Bluetooth blood pressure monitor: Dave reviews a new connected blood pressure monitor after getting inconsistent readings from an older device. He highlights its larger arm cuff, support for two users, storage for multiple readings, three-reading averages, Apple Health integration and the ability to export results for a doctor. https://amzn.to/4yncwxY Pinwheel phones, watches and home phones for kids: Katie introduces Pinwheel's managed technology ecosystem for children and teenagers. Parents and caregivers can control approved contacts, monitor texts, restrict social media, set bedtime schedules, review locations and gradually unlock features as a child gets older. The company also offers a standalone smartwatch and a Wi-Fi-powered corded home phone that brings back the satisfaction of dramatically hanging up. https://www.pinwheel.com Kennywood's reopening and the mystery bag gamble: Sorg recounts a delayed visit to Kennywood after a water-main break interrupted opening day. His $5 mystery merchandise bag produced a Kennywood gaiter, a vintage postcard and a Jack Rabbit 100th-anniversary pin. Awesome Person of the Week — Rory Cooper: For Disability Pride Month, Dave profiles inventor, engineer and Paralympic medalist Rory Cooper. After becoming paralyzed while serving in the military, Cooper designed a lighter wheelchair and built a career improving mobility technology. His Pittsburgh work includes the Human Engineering Research Laboratories, a collaboration involving the University of Pittsburgh and the Department of Veterans Affairs. https://www.invent.org/inductees/rory-cooper WhatCable diagnoses confusing USB-C connections: Sorg tests a free Mac utility that reveals what connected USB-C cables, chargers, docks and ports can actually do. The app displays negotiated speeds, charging details, supported USB standards and potential bottlenecks—useful for anyone wondering why a drive, monitor or video device is underperforming. https://www.whatcable.uk/ LEGO's Fast & Furious Toyota Supra MK4: Katie finds a new LEGO Speed Champions version of Brian O'Conner's Toyota Supra from The Fast and the Furious. The set includes the bright orange movie car and a Brian O'Conner minifigure in his signature T-shirt and jeans. https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/the-fast-and-the-furious-toyota-supra-mk4-77260 Speed and racing technology at the Carnegie Science Center: The hosts preview an upcoming speed-focused exhibit featuring an interactive track and specialized vehicles connected to the Petersen Automotive Museum. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1PZqTmHP4J/?mibextid=wwXIfr Using AI to teach respectful sports camera work: The team examines guidelines designed to prevent women athletes from being sexualized through revealing angles and unnecessary slow-motion replays. Sorg discusses turning the concept into an AI-generated pro wrestling camera guide that can help videographers recognize respectful framing, understand consent and avoid exploitative shots. https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/1uwaxzx/some_of_the_new_guidelines_that_have_been/ Instagram reverses its public-profile AI remix feature: Dave explains the backlash surrounding a Meta AI feature that could use images from public Instagram profiles in AI creations without first requiring users to opt in. The hosts discuss predictable abuse, privacy risks and why technology companies need more diverse voices involved before launching features like this. Meta subsequently disabled the feature. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2026/07/13/meta-disables-ai-feature-instagram-backlash/90899917007/ Jizai Arms bring Doctor Octopus technology closer to reality: A Japanese research project demonstrates wearable robotic arms that can be attached, removed and exchanged between users. The hosts debate whether the project represents meaningful cyborg research, performance art or technology created without enough consideration for how the public will interpret it. https://jizai-arms.com/ Additional commentary: https://www.instagram.com/refashionedhippie/ Fortnite launches “Hot Bat Summer”: Batman, Harley Quinn, Catwoman and Poison Ivy receive beach-ready DC skins in Fortnite. The discussion naturally turns toward the absurdity of a game where swimsuit Batman can share a battlefield with Bugs Bunny, Homer Simpson and an armed dog in a bee costume. https://www.polygon.com/fortnite-hot-bat-summer-skins-dc-batman-harley-quinn-catwoman-poison-ivy/ A shirtless protester attacks a Waymo vehicle: Video of a man climbing onto and damaging a Waymo in East Hollywood launches a wider conversation about autonomous vehicles, public surveillance, camera networks and the lack of privacy in modern public spaces. The hosts also discuss how easily hacked or deleted accounts can remove years of digital purchases. https://kotaku.com/shirtless-man-starts-butlerian-jihad-against-waymo-in-east-hollywood-2000715911 Support AwesomeCast and receive the Patreon aftertalk at: https://www.patreon.com/awesomecast AwesomeCast is part of the Sorgatron Media Podcast Network: https://www.sorgatronmedia.com Production services provided by Sidekick Media Services: https://www.sidekickmediaservices.com Supporting Pittsburgh podcasting with the perfect pepperoni pizza: https://www.sliceonbroadway.com

AwesomeCast 787 gets practical, futuristic and increasingly strange as Sorg, Katie Dudas and Dave Podnar explore family-safe phones, connected health gadgets, USB-C mysteries, robotic limbs, Instagram's latest AI privacy controversy and Fortnite's revealing new take on the DC Universe. Sorg also begins downloading the iOS 27 public beta during the show, despite Katie's warnings and a few concerns being saved for the Patreon aftertalk. Stories and Gadgets Discussed A wireless microphone saves the podcast: When Dave's regular microphone setup breaks, he switches to a compact dual wireless microphone system that connects through USB-C. The plug-and-play backup works with phones and laptops without a complicated setup. Omron 7 Series Bluetooth blood pressure monitor: Dave reviews a new connected blood pressure monitor after getting inconsistent readings from an older device. He highlights its larger arm cuff, support for two users, storage for multiple readings, three-reading averages, Apple Health integration and the ability to export results for a doctor. https://amzn.to/4yncwxY Pinwheel phones, watches and home phones for kids: Katie introduces Pinwheel's managed technology ecosystem for children and teenagers. Parents and caregivers can control approved contacts, monitor texts, restrict social media, set bedtime schedules, review locations and gradually unlock features as a child gets older. The company also offers a standalone smartwatch and a Wi-Fi-powered corded home phone that brings back the satisfaction of dramatically hanging up. https://www.pinwheel.com Kennywood's reopening and the mystery bag gamble: Sorg recounts a delayed visit to Kennywood after a water-main break interrupted opening day. His $5 mystery merchandise bag produced a Kennywood gaiter, a vintage postcard and a Jack Rabbit 100th-anniversary pin. Awesome Person of the Week — Rory Cooper: For Disability Pride Month, Dave profiles inventor, engineer and Paralympic medalist Rory Cooper. After becoming paralyzed while serving in the military, Cooper designed a lighter wheelchair and built a career improving mobility technology. His Pittsburgh work includes the Human Engineering Research Laboratories, a collaboration involving the University of Pittsburgh and the Department of Veterans Affairs. https://www.invent.org/inductees/rory-cooper WhatCable diagnoses confusing USB-C connections: Sorg tests a free Mac utility that reveals what connected USB-C cables, chargers, docks and ports can actually do. The app displays negotiated speeds, charging details, supported USB standards and potential bottlenecks—useful for anyone wondering why a drive, monitor or video device is underperforming. https://www.whatcable.uk/ LEGO's Fast & Furious Toyota Supra MK4: Katie finds a new LEGO Speed Champions version of Brian O'Conner's Toyota Supra from The Fast and the Furious. The set includes the bright orange movie car and a Brian O'Conner minifigure in his signature T-shirt and jeans. https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/the-fast-and-the-furious-toyota-supra-mk4-77260 Speed and racing technology at the Carnegie Science Center: The hosts preview an upcoming speed-focused exhibit featuring an interactive track and specialized vehicles connected to the Petersen Automotive Museum. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1PZqTmHP4J/?mibextid=wwXIfr Using AI to teach respectful sports camera work: The team examines guidelines designed to prevent women athletes from being sexualized through revealing angles and unnecessary slow-motion replays. Sorg discusses turning the concept into an AI-generated pro wrestling camera guide that can help videographers recognize respectful framing, understand consent and avoid exploitative shots. https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/1uwaxzx/some_of_the_new_guidelines_that_have_been/ Instagram reverses its public-profile AI remix feature: Dave explains the backlash surrounding a Meta AI feature that could use images from public Instagram profiles in AI creations without first requiring users to opt in. The hosts discuss predictable abuse, privacy risks and why technology companies need more diverse voices involved before launching features like this. Meta subsequently disabled the feature. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2026/07/13/meta-disables-ai-feature-instagram-backlash/90899917007/ Jizai Arms bring Doctor Octopus technology closer to reality: A Japanese research project demonstrates wearable robotic arms that can be attached, removed and exchanged between users. The hosts debate whether the project represents meaningful cyborg research, performance art or technology created without enough consideration for how the public will interpret it. https://jizai-arms.com/ Additional commentary: https://www.instagram.com/refashionedhippie/ Fortnite launches “Hot Bat Summer”: Batman, Harley Quinn, Catwoman and Poison Ivy receive beach-ready DC skins in Fortnite. The discussion naturally turns toward the absurdity of a game where swimsuit Batman can share a battlefield with Bugs Bunny, Homer Simpson and an armed dog in a bee costume. https://www.polygon.com/fortnite-hot-bat-summer-skins-dc-batman-harley-quinn-catwoman-poison-ivy/ A shirtless protester attacks a Waymo vehicle: Video of a man climbing onto and damaging a Waymo in East Hollywood launches a wider conversation about autonomous vehicles, public surveillance, camera networks and the lack of privacy in modern public spaces. The hosts also discuss how easily hacked or deleted accounts can remove years of digital purchases. https://kotaku.com/shirtless-man-starts-butlerian-jihad-against-waymo-in-east-hollywood-2000715911 Support AwesomeCast and receive the Patreon aftertalk at: https://www.patreon.com/awesomecast AwesomeCast is part of the Sorgatron Media Podcast Network: https://www.sorgatronmedia.com Production services provided by Sidekick Media Services: https://www.sidekickmediaservices.com Supporting Pittsburgh podcasting with the perfect pepperoni pizza: https://www.sliceonbroadway.com

When a recommendation system pushes child sexual abuse material to a user, who answers for it: the algorithm or the company behind it? Host Anirban Chowdhury speaks with Supreme Court of India lawyer Sajan Poovayya, who breaks down India's evolving liability framework for platforms, from the strict liability standard around CSAM ( Child Sexual Abuse Material) to the tricky question of proving corporate intent through POCSO, the IT Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. He unpacks the Supreme Court's take on constructive possession, why safe harbor may not apply when engagement-driven design pushes harmful content, and how India's dark pattern penalties could offer a blueprint for regulating platform accountability.You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media: X and LinkedinCheck out other interesting episodes like: Mythos Blocked: When AI Becomes a Weapon of State, India wants manufacturing at 25% of GDP — will AI in factories help?, The Gold That Wasn't There: Inside SEBI's Case Against Rajesh Exports, Hills of Brew, Semaglutide Goes Generic: Big Pharma’s Moat Breaks and much more. Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

AwesomeChat welcomes Frédéric Guitton of iTargetGolf to talk about the future of interactive golf technology and how driving ranges are becoming more social, competitive, and game-like. Frédéric explains how iTargetGolf uses interactive targets, animated lights, in-bay feedback, and integrations with systems like Toptracer, TrackMan, and Inrange to make golf practice feel more like a real-life video game. We also discuss Cash Cup Golf, a new hole-in-one skills game using RFID-enabled balls and video validation to create prize-based golf challenges. This episode explores gamified sports, golf entertainment, customer engagement, worldwide virtual competitions, and the business of building technology for outdoor venues. Learn more about iTargetGolf at www.ITargetGolf.com

AwesomeChat welcomes Frédéric Guitton of iTargetGolf to talk about the future of interactive golf technology and how driving ranges are becoming more social, competitive, and game-like. Frédéric explains how iTargetGolf uses interactive targets, animated lights, in-bay feedback, and integrations with systems like Toptracer, TrackMan, and Inrange to make golf practice feel more like a real-life video game. We also discuss Cash Cup Golf, a new hole-in-one skills game using RFID-enabled balls and video validation to create prize-based golf challenges. This episode explores gamified sports, golf entertainment, customer engagement, worldwide virtual competitions, and the business of building technology for outdoor venues. Learn more about iTargetGolf at www.ITargetGolf.com

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Send us Fan MailAshley Pyle joins Joey Pinz for a deep conversation on leadership, AI adoption, competitive drive, systems thinking, and what it really takes to scale both people and organizations.

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What is code? It might sound obvious, but if you scratch the surface it becomes more difficult to articulate precisely what we mean. AI is complicating the picture further and changing the relationship developers have with code: when large amounts of executable code can be generated from high-level descriptions, what does it even mean to write code?  On this episode of the Technology Podcast, host Alexey Boas is joined by Thoughworks Distinguished Engineer Unmesh Joshi to discuss what code actually is and what it means to write, test, review and maintain code today. Building on Unmesh's recent article 'What is Code?' for martinfowler.com, this discussion dives into one of the fundamental building blocks of software while also thinking through the implications for 2026's engineering challenges. Read Unmesh's article on martinfowler.com: https://martinfowler.com/articles/what-is-code.html

This week on AwesomeCast, Sorg is joined by Dave Podnar while Katie is on assignment. The crew digs into practical tech, gaming platforms, open-source operating systems, sports broadcast innovation, retro-inspired phones, and one very funny automated social media mistake involving DoorDash, soccer, and T-Pain. Stories and gadgets discussed: Dave's Awesome Thing of the Week: Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 headphones Dave finally upgrades from cheap running headphones to the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2, praising the open-ear / bone-conduction-style design for running safety, comfort, sweat management, USB-C charging, and situational awareness. Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D2HKCMBP?maas=maas_adg_api_582366218564361552_static_9_129&ref_=aa_maas&tag=maas&aa_campaignid=lv_IGvrl5TTBxiweexlXK&aa_adgroupid=lv_fdLHIcjvJhpJZvQxFb&aa_creativeid=lv_MMLFRb8MTdZvGlnqFv&gad_campaignid=23921418215&gbraid=0AAAABDw_RJg26Vr6MY-sVAPsmwCxwK4mX&gclid=CjwKCAjw3ejRBhAdEiwADkqPn36qoEfzRElmQ3e9OXSxZdGKjw0DyckEdeqo82D8qqlMdTFDyLXuXhoCVn8QAvD_BwE&th=1 Valve opens the door to SteamOS installs on AMD PCs Sorg talks about Valve allowing SteamOS installs on normal PCs with AMD GPUs, giving PC gamers a way to build their own living-room Steam Machine instead of buying Valve's new box. The conversation also touches on Steam Deck, Linux gaming, Proton, GPU costs, tariffs, and the economics of gaming hardware. Link: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/steam-machines/valve-greenlights-steamos-installs-on-normal-pcs-with-amd-gpus-so-you-can-go-make-your-own-steam-machine-if-you-dont-wanna-fork-over-usd1-049/?brid=YWdncwFV2uAIYy2jMECl21FxWfGS Bazzite as an open-source SteamOS-style alternative Sorg brings up Brother Sorg's recommendation of Bazzite, a Linux-based gaming OS with Steam gaming mode and support for launchers like Xbox Game Pass, Battle.net, EA, Epic Games Store, GOG, Rockstar, and Ubisoft Connect. Link: https://bazzite.gg/ Pride Month tech history: Jon “maddog” Hall Dave spotlights Jon “maddog” Hall, a major Linux and Unix figure, sharing stories about Hall's long programming history, his connection to Linus Torvalds, and the importance of recognizing LGBTQ contributors in technology history. Article: https://www.lpi.org/blog/2025/09/10/a-lifetime-in-code-jon-maddog-hall-reflects-at-linuxfest-northwest/ Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=758QuvXrttM Chachi Says Video Game Minute: GTA 6, Nex Playground, and Ubisoft news Chachi covers three gaming stories: GTA 6 cover art and pre-orders, the Nex Playground motion-based console for kids, and the death of Claude Guillemot, co-founder of Ubisoft. GTA 6: https://www.ign.com/articles/gta-6-cover-artwork-revealed-pre-orders-begin-june-25 Nex Playground: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czx50rrz7zro Claude Guillemot: https://apnews.com/article/france-assassins-creed-ubisoft-plane-crash-2df2ea469c3fca0a45c38ae8805a6033 Baja SAE filmed on a “gas station camera” Sorg highlights a low-fi, retro-looking Baja SAE reel from Fairfield University, celebrating the charm of VHS-style and “bad camera” aesthetics in modern social media content. Link: https://www.instagram.com/reels/DZ6BjfCtzo-/ World Cup referee technology, digital twins, sensors, and 3D body scans Sorg discusses advanced soccer officiating tech, including camera sensors, player tracking, digital twins, and automated offside detection that can help reduce blown calls and give officials faster alerts. Link: https://apple.news/ABeSFqwyjRpehEy0x8Nc9nQ Ribbie turns MLB games into pixel-art broadcasts Dave shares Ribbie, a fan-built project that uses real-time Major League Baseball data to recreate live games as a retro 16-bit-style baseball broadcast. The conversation connects it to vibe coding, AI-assisted development, and new ways fans can build creative sports experiences. Link: https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/23/ribbie-turns-real-time-baseball-stats-into-arcade-like-pixel-art-broadcasts/ Commodore phone brings retro branding to a distraction-light flip phone Dave and Sorg look at the Commodore phone, a Sailfish OS-based flip phone designed as a step above a dumbphone, with calls, texting, maps, music apps, Uber/Lyft, classic Commodore games, and limited/no social media access. Link: https://order.commodore.net/callback-audio/?brid=YWdncwHwIXnsUg8Nsyh9q_45Lj2C DoorDash accidentally tags T-Pain in soccer posts The episode wraps with a funny social media fail where DoorDash appears to tag T-Pain instead of soccer player Tim Payne during World Cup-related posts. Sorg and Dave discuss automation, agency workflows, social scheduling, and why T-Pain's response made the whole situation better. Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/DZ56tKCnedX/?brid=YWdncwG5YHkt5InxWn1IZ1Apa3Gc&img_index=2

This week on AwesomeCast, Sorg is joined by Dave Podnar while Katie is on assignment. The crew digs into practical tech, gaming platforms, open-source operating systems, sports broadcast innovation, retro-inspired phones, and one very funny automated social media mistake involving DoorDash, soccer, and T-Pain. Stories and gadgets discussed: Dave's Awesome Thing of the Week: Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 headphones Dave finally upgrades from cheap running headphones to the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2, praising the open-ear / bone-conduction-style design for running safety, comfort, sweat management, USB-C charging, and situational awareness. Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D2HKCMBP?maas=maas_adg_api_582366218564361552_static_9_129&ref_=aa_maas&tag=maas&aa_campaignid=lv_IGvrl5TTBxiweexlXK&aa_adgroupid=lv_fdLHIcjvJhpJZvQxFb&aa_creativeid=lv_MMLFRb8MTdZvGlnqFv&gad_campaignid=23921418215&gbraid=0AAAABDw_RJg26Vr6MY-sVAPsmwCxwK4mX&gclid=CjwKCAjw3ejRBhAdEiwADkqPn36qoEfzRElmQ3e9OXSxZdGKjw0DyckEdeqo82D8qqlMdTFDyLXuXhoCVn8QAvD_BwE&th=1 Valve opens the door to SteamOS installs on AMD PCs Sorg talks about Valve allowing SteamOS installs on normal PCs with AMD GPUs, giving PC gamers a way to build their own living-room Steam Machine instead of buying Valve's new box. The conversation also touches on Steam Deck, Linux gaming, Proton, GPU costs, tariffs, and the economics of gaming hardware. Link: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/steam-machines/valve-greenlights-steamos-installs-on-normal-pcs-with-amd-gpus-so-you-can-go-make-your-own-steam-machine-if-you-dont-wanna-fork-over-usd1-049/?brid=YWdncwFV2uAIYy2jMECl21FxWfGS Bazzite as an open-source SteamOS-style alternative Sorg brings up Brother Sorg's recommendation of Bazzite, a Linux-based gaming OS with Steam gaming mode and support for launchers like Xbox Game Pass, Battle.net, EA, Epic Games Store, GOG, Rockstar, and Ubisoft Connect. Link: https://bazzite.gg/ Pride Month tech history: Jon “maddog” Hall Dave spotlights Jon “maddog” Hall, a major Linux and Unix figure, sharing stories about Hall's long programming history, his connection to Linus Torvalds, and the importance of recognizing LGBTQ contributors in technology history. Article: https://www.lpi.org/blog/2025/09/10/a-lifetime-in-code-jon-maddog-hall-reflects-at-linuxfest-northwest/ Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=758QuvXrttM Chachi Says Video Game Minute: GTA 6, Nex Playground, and Ubisoft news Chachi covers three gaming stories: GTA 6 cover art and pre-orders, the Nex Playground motion-based console for kids, and the death of Claude Guillemot, co-founder of Ubisoft. GTA 6: https://www.ign.com/articles/gta-6-cover-artwork-revealed-pre-orders-begin-june-25 Nex Playground: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czx50rrz7zro Claude Guillemot: https://apnews.com/article/france-assassins-creed-ubisoft-plane-crash-2df2ea469c3fca0a45c38ae8805a6033 Baja SAE filmed on a “gas station camera” Sorg highlights a low-fi, retro-looking Baja SAE reel from Fairfield University, celebrating the charm of VHS-style and “bad camera” aesthetics in modern social media content. Link: https://www.instagram.com/reels/DZ6BjfCtzo-/ World Cup referee technology, digital twins, sensors, and 3D body scans Sorg discusses advanced soccer officiating tech, including camera sensors, player tracking, digital twins, and automated offside detection that can help reduce blown calls and give officials faster alerts. Link: https://apple.news/ABeSFqwyjRpehEy0x8Nc9nQ Ribbie turns MLB games into pixel-art broadcasts Dave shares Ribbie, a fan-built project that uses real-time Major League Baseball data to recreate live games as a retro 16-bit-style baseball broadcast. The conversation connects it to vibe coding, AI-assisted development, and new ways fans can build creative sports experiences. Link: https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/23/ribbie-turns-real-time-baseball-stats-into-arcade-like-pixel-art-broadcasts/ Commodore phone brings retro branding to a distraction-light flip phone Dave and Sorg look at the Commodore phone, a Sailfish OS-based flip phone designed as a step above a dumbphone, with calls, texting, maps, music apps, Uber/Lyft, classic Commodore games, and limited/no social media access. Link: https://order.commodore.net/callback-audio/?brid=YWdncwHwIXnsUg8Nsyh9q_45Lj2C DoorDash accidentally tags T-Pain in soccer posts The episode wraps with a funny social media fail where DoorDash appears to tag T-Pain instead of soccer player Tim Payne during World Cup-related posts. Sorg and Dave discuss automation, agency workflows, social scheduling, and why T-Pain's response made the whole situation better. Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/DZ56tKCnedX/?brid=YWdncwG5YHkt5InxWn1IZ1Apa3Gc&img_index=2

You asked, we answered!

Shane Tews — Non-Resident Senior Fellow at AEI and the person who explained the internet to Capitol Hill No Password Required Season 7: Episode 7 – Shane Tews Shane Tews is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where she focuses on cybersecurity, privacy, artificial intelligence, and internet governance. She is also President of Logan Circle Strategies, a strategic advisory firm working at the intersection of technology and policy. Before her think tank work, Shane helped introduce modems to the George H.W. Bush White House, walked the halls of Capitol Hill explaining the internet to blank-staring legislators, and spent years at VeriSign helping shape the foundational frameworks of how the internet would be governed. In this episode, Shane traces her unlikely path from the Bush administration to becoming one of Washington's most trusted voices on tech policy. She breaks down why regulating outcomes rather than inputs is the only sensible approach to technology governance, why the US and EU are operating from fundamentally different innovation philosophies, and why a national privacy bill is long overdue. She also explains why most organizations and individuals are far less protected than they think and why nobody knows who to call when something goes wrong. Jack Clabby and co-host Kayley Melton talk with Shane about legacy system vulnerabilities, the cybersecurity implications of agentic AI, and what policymakers absolutely must get right over the next decade. She also reflects on what the CISA reauthorization limbo means for companies that don't even know they've lost liability protection. In the Lifestyle Polygraph, Shane reveals she has 20,000 emails across eight accounts, admits she fakes laughs at bad jokes out of Midwestern politeness, shares her obsession with The Bear and Peaky Blinders, and tells us about her children's book project using Google Omni called "Shane on a Train." Follow Shane on LinkedIn and on X at @ShaneTews. Find her work at AEI.org and TechPolicyDaily.com. No Password Required is presented by ThreatLocker   In this episode: Shane's path from the George H.W. Bush White House to becoming Capitol Hill's go-to internet explainer (00:34 - 02:22) Why the Clinton-era multi-stakeholder model got internet governance right and what that means for policy today (04:40 - 06:13) The case for a national privacy bill and why 50 state standards aren't working (07:24 - 09:27) What AEI covers and how Shane thinks about riding the top of the wave across the entire tech policy stack (09:35 - 11:23) Legacy systems, vendor debt, and why outdated software is the easiest entry point for bad actors (11:30 - 13:34) The gap between how protected people think they are and how exposed they actually are, including a generational perspective on MFA (14:07 - 16:25) The biggest disconnect between everyday cyber reality and the policy world (16:59 - 20:35) Government readiness for a major cyber attack and why most people don't have a plan (20:54 - 22:32) How the US and EU innovation philosophies differ and why Europe's banking system is the real tech problem (22:41 - 25:38) The DeepSeek false narrative and where the US is leading vs. reacting on AI (25:45 - 29:21) The shift from AI features to AI coordination and what agentic AI means for cybersecurity permissions (29:28 - 32:16) What policymakers must get right on AI over the next 10 years (32:25 - 34:11) The Lifestyle Polygraph: inbox chaos, fake laughs, The Bear, and Shane on a Train (00:04 - 12:48)   Timestamp Highlights: (00:34) Shane's origin story: modems at the White House and blank stares on the Hill (04:40) Why the internet got policy right early on and what we can learn from it (07:24) The case for harmonizing breach standards with a national framework (11:30) Legacy systems and vendor debt as the easiest attack vectors (14:07) The real gap between how protected people think they are and how exposed they actually are (20:54) Government cyber readiness: do you know who to call when something goes wrong? (22:41) US vs. EU innovation: why Europe's banking system is the real tech problem (29:28) Agentic AI and the cybersecurity risks of permissions you forgot you gave (32:25) What policymakers must get right on AI over the next decade (06:44) Shane on a Train: using Google Omni to write a children's book series   Resources & Links: AEI.org — Shane's think tank home base TechPolicyDaily.com — Daily tech policy coverage ThreatLocker — Supporter of this podcast Cyber Florida — The Mother Ship  

Database branching has, for a long time, been a troublesome piece in the modern developer workflow puzzle: a good idea in principle but in practice a slow and often expensive challenge. Get it right and you can accelerate productivity and remove bottlenecks; get it wrong and you're potentially creating all sorts of trouble for yourself, from privacy risks to additional complexity. However, things are changing. Thanks to the emergence of new platforms such as Neon, Supabase and Databricks Lakebase, branching a database can become as familiar to developers as managing code branches and multiple environments with, say, Git and Terraform.  On this episode of the Technology Podcast, host Ken Mugrage is joined by his Thoughtworks colleague Cam Casher and Databricks' Kevin Hartman to discuss the work Thoughtworks and Databricks have been doing together on Lakebase. They discuss the platform, their experience using it with Spotify's Backstage and the opportunities database branching can offer software engineering teams in an increasingly AI-assisted and agentic world. Read Cam and Kevin's recent series on using Databricks Lakebase with Backstage: https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/blog/data-engineering/backstage-lakebase-databricks

Anyone can build software with AI now, and millions of people are giving it a try. But when AI can spin up an app in minutes, are security risks slipping through the cracks?

Semantic diffusion, combined with the pace of technology change, makes talking about AI-adjacent practices and techniques incredibly diffficult. There are few better examples of this issue than the term 'spec-driven development'. Although it's not new — its coinage precedes our current AI moment — it has become ubiquitous over the last six months or so as software professionals attempt to develop a vocabulary for talking about how they're developing methods for working successfully with coding agents. On this episode of the Technology Podcast, Birgitta Böckeler is joined by Laura Tacho — Developer Experience at AWS — to discuss all things spec-driven development. From competing definitions to different interpretations, implementations and workflows, the discussion provides a frank and grounded look at one of the most discussed and debated terms in modern software engineering. Learn more about Laura's work by visiting her website: https://lauratacho.com/ Read Birgitta's article on spec-driven development on Martin Fowler's website: https://martinfowler.com/articles/exploring-gen-ai/sdd-3-tools.html Learn more about The Future of Software Development Retreat discussed on this episode and explore some of the key insights: https://www.thoughtworks.com/about-us/events/the-future-of-software-development

In Elixir Wizards S15E04, Charles Suggs and Emma Whamond are joined by Somtochi Onyekwere, a software engineer at Fly.io and contributor to the Corrosion distributed database project, to talk about distributed systems, infrastructure resilience, and the growing fragility of centralized cloud platforms.   We discuss what recent outages across major providers reveal about modern infrastructure and why more teams are starting to rethink assumptions around reliability, failover, and system design. Somtochi explains how Fly.io approaches geographic distribution, eventual consistency, and replication across nodes, along with the trade-offs that come with building systems this way.   The conversation explores CRDTs (Conflict-free Replicated Data Types), consensus, split-brain prevention, and what actually happens when distributed systems fail in production. We also talk about testing strategies, rollback planning, property-based testing tools, and how teams can reduce blast radius when things inevitably go wrong.   Along the way, we discuss AI infrastructure, sandboxing AI agents, and how newer workloads may add pressure to already centralized systems. The episode closes with practical advice for developers who want to build more resilient applications without over-complicating their architecture. Topics Discussed in this Episode: Corrosion and distributed database replication Centralized cloud fragility and recent outage patterns Distributed systems versus traditional cloud architectures Multi-region deployment strategies for Phoenix applications CRDTs and conflict resolution in distributed systems Eventual consistency versus strict consistency tradeoffs Consensus, leader election, and split-brain prevention Testing failover and recovery scenarios Property-based testing and Antithesis Rollback planning for database schema migrations Reducing blast radius through system isolation Health checks and blue-green deployment strategies Fly Proxy request routing and replay behavior Cross-region synchronization and replication challenges Single points of failure inside “redundant” systems Backup restoration testing and disaster recovery planning Network partitions and failure handling in production Infrastructure monitoring and operational visibility AI infrastructure workloads and operational strain Sandboxing and securing AI agents Sprites and AI workflows at Fly.io Latency improvements from geographic distribution Distributed systems tradeoffs in real-world environments Transitive dependency failures across cloud providers Practical resilience strategies for modern engineering teams Links Mentioned: https://fly.io https://github.com/superfly/corrosion https://docs.gitops.weaveworks.org/ FluxCD https://fluxcd.io/ Fly.io Stateful Sandbox Environments https://sprites.dev/ Cloudflare Workers AI Inference Platform https://www.cloudflare.com/products/workers-ai/ “An AI Agent Just Destroyed Our Production Data. It Confessed in Writing” Twitter post from PocketOS founder: https://x.com/lifeof_jer/status/2048103471019434248 Oct 2025 AWS Outage https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/oct/24/amazon-reveals-cause-of-aws-outage Dec 2025 Cloudflare Outage https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/dec/05/another-cloudflare-outage-takes-down-websites-linkedin-zoom July 2025 Crowdstrike Outage https://www.ibm.com/think/news/recent-crowdstrike-outage-what-you-should-know March 2026 Stryker Cyber Attack https://www.stryker.com/us/en/about/news/2026/a-message-to-our-customers-03-2026.html https://aws.amazon.com/ https://cloud.google.com/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us https://fly.io/docs/elixir/ CRDTs!! https://smartlogic.io/podcast/elixir-wizards/s13-e03-local-first-liveview-svelte-pwa/ https://antithesis.com/docs/resources/property_based_testing/ https://hex.pm/packages/proper

'Harness engineering' is one of the most significant terms to emerge in software engineering in 2026. Broadly referring to the work done to control unpredictable AI agents and coding assistants, its use signals growing attention on what needs to be done to make agents reliable and consistent enough for production software in the real-world. On this episode of the Technology Podcast, Birgitta Böckeler joins hosts Prem Chandrasekaran and Nate Schutta to explore what harness engineering actually is, how it should be done and why it should matter to software engineers working today. Having written a number of articles on harness engineering for martinfowler.com based on her experiences with AI-assistance, Birgitta is well-placed to explain the core concepts and implications. Taking in everything from the practices and ideas that pre-date and inform harness engineering to integrating harness engineering into existing workflows, listen for a conversation that will provide much needed clarity on what's an essential topic in the industry. Read Birgitta's article on harness engineering on martinfowler.com: https://martinfowler.com/articles/harness-engineering.html Watch Birgitta's video on harness engineering beyond skills on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLWOLmeHOSE 

What if the next great advertising frontier isn't on Earth—but in the skies above it? In this imaginative and thought-provoking episode, Robert Barrows explores the bold concept of Advertising on the Moon, examining how branding, technology, and human ambition could one day extend beyond our planet. Drawing from his ideas and media background, Robert discusses the possibilities—and controversies—surrounding space-based advertising. From projected logos and lunar displays to the ethics of commercializing the night sky, the conversation explores how innovation and marketing continue to push boundaries once thought impossible. This episode invites listeners to think about the future of media and human expansion into space. Should there be limits to advertising in outer space? How would such technology impact culture, astronomy, and public perception? And what does the idea of “advertising on the moon” reveal about humanity's drive to innovate and monetize new frontiers? Join us for a fascinating and futuristic conversation that blends imagination, technology, and debate—where the moon itself may become the next billboard in the sky.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-x-zone-radio-tv-show--1078348/support.Please note that all XZBN radio and/or television shows are Copyright © REL-MAR McConnell Meda Company, Niagara, Ontario, Canada – www.rel-mar.com. For more Episodes of this show and all shows produced, broadcasted and syndicated from REL-MAR McConell Media Company and The 'X' Zone Broadcast Network and the 'X' Zone TV Channell, visit www.xzbn.net. For programming, distribution, and syndication inquiries, email programming@xzbn.net.We are proud to announce the we have launched TWATNews.com, launched in August 2025.TWATNews.com is an independent online news platform dedicated to uncovering the truth about Donald Trump and his ongoing influence in politics, business, and society. Unlike mainstream outlets that often sanitize, soften, or ignore stories that challenge Trump and his allies, TWATNews digs deeper to deliver hard-hitting articles, investigative features, and sharp commentary that mainstream media won't touch.These are stories and articles that you will not read anywhere else.Our mission is simple: to expose corruption, lies, and authoritarian tendencies while giving voice to the perspectives and evidence that are often marginalized or buried by corporate-controlled media

In our World Password Day Special, we're digging into credentials, identity, and authentication  — and where security is  heading next.

Before streaming, downloads, and digital playlists, there was a revolutionary invention that transformed the way the world experienced music—the compact disc player. In this fascinating episode, Mac Chaney shares insights from his role as the man who headed the team that helped develop the CD player, one of the most influential consumer technologies of its time. Drawing from firsthand experience in technology development and innovation, Mac discusses the challenges and breakthroughs involved in creating a device that would redefine audio quality, convenience, and the future of the music industry. He reflects on the excitement of pushing technological boundaries during a pivotal era in consumer electronics. This episode goes beyond nostalgia, exploring the impact of innovation on culture and everyday life. How did the CD player change the music industry forever? What obstacles did developers face in bringing new technology to market? And what lessons can today's innovators learn from one of the most successful technological transitions in modern history? Join us for an engaging and insightful conversation that looks back at a groundbreaking moment in audio technology—where creativity and engineering came together to change the sound of the world.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-x-zone-radio-tv-show--1078348/support.Please note that all XZBN radio and/or television shows are Copyright © REL-MAR McConnell Meda Company, Niagara, Ontario, Canada – www.rel-mar.com. For more Episodes of this show and all shows produced, broadcasted and syndicated from REL-MAR McConell Media Company and The 'X' Zone Broadcast Network and the 'X' Zone TV Channell, visit www.xzbn.net. For programming, distribution, and syndication inquiries, email programming@xzbn.net.We are proud to announce the we have launched TWATNews.com, launched in August 2025.TWATNews.com is an independent online news platform dedicated to uncovering the truth about Donald Trump and his ongoing influence in politics, business, and society. Unlike mainstream outlets that often sanitize, soften, or ignore stories that challenge Trump and his allies, TWATNews digs deeper to deliver hard-hitting articles, investigative features, and sharp commentary that mainstream media won't touch.These are stories and articles that you will not read anywhere else.Our mission is simple: to expose corruption, lies, and authoritarian tendencies while giving voice to the perspectives and evidence that are often marginalized or buried by corporate-controlled media

Anthropic Mythos garnered significant attention when it was launched in mid-April 2026. Yet despite it apparently presenting an unprecedented threat to global software, you don't have to look to closely to see that this was an effective product launch as much as a story about the grave security risks of today's AI models.  But this isn't to say there aren't important implications for software developers, security professionals and other technologists. In this episode of the Technology Podcast, one of our new hosts Nate Schutta is joined by Chris Kramer to discuss Anthropic Mythos and Project Glasswing, unpacking what's hype and what really matters. A few links for this episode: Some more information about Project Glasswing: https://www.anthropic.com/glasswing A story about how a small Discord group briefly had access to Mythos: https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/04/23/discord-group-has-claude-mythos-access How Mozilla used Mythos to discover Firefox bugs: https://www.wired.com/story/mozilla-used-anthropics-mythos-to-find-271-bugs-in-firefox/

Episode Summary:Will and Brandt continue to dig into the rapidly evolving world of agentic AI, with Will sharing hard-won lessons from burning through his OpenAI Codex quota and the growing appeal of Claude Cowork's new ability to run and manage tasks remotely from your phone. They also cover NVIDIA's OpenClaw announcement (NemoClaw), debate the rising anti-AI movement, and draw parallels between today's AI shift and the early days of the internet.Discussions Include:Managing AI credit quotas and the real cost of letting autonomous agents run unsupervisedClaude Cowork's remote phone control and what it means for agentic AI reaching everyday usersNVIDIA's OpenClaw fork and why a trusted brand name accelerates enterprise adoptionHow AI is changing the way we write, type, and interact with technology, including the death of the emdashThe anti-AI movement, AI slop, and why ignoring this technology may not be a long-term optionQuotable Quotes (Should you choose to share):     "My OpenClaw setup is a very capable executive assistant with the knowledge of the entire internet. And it runs 24/7." - Will Curran     "Nvidia wants to be the Levi's of the gold rush providing the picks and shovels and blue jeans." - Brandt Krueger     "It's like saying you're against the calculator when the calculator is sitting right there and can do the math problem for you." - Will Curran     "It's a paradigm shift. It is a big deal. It's not just a hype train. It's really changing the way that people are working." - Brandt Krueger     (note that "paradigm shift" was said in a snotty tone and not seriously)Thing of the Episode (TOTE):      Brandt: Rhino USA Folding Survival Shovel with Pick - rhinousainc.com/products/rhino-usa-survival-shovel      Will: Project Nomad - projectnomad.us

In April 2026 we published a new edition of the Thoughtworks Technology Radar — volume 34. Like many recent volumes, this one was dominated by AI. However, while editions over the last couple of years have illustrated the dizzying proliferation of AI-related technologies, vol.34 indicates a degree of evolution in the field, demonstrated by a focus on consistency, reliability and mitigating the collaborative and individual challenges of working with AI. This is reflected in the four themes identified for this Radar: the challenge of evaluating technology in an agentic world; retaining principles, relinquishing patterns; securing permission-hungry agents; putting coding agents on a leash. On this special Technology Radar episode of the Technology Podcast, host Ken Mugrage is joined by Alessio Ferri and Jim Gumbley to discuss the key themes in Technology Radar Vol.34. Diving into topics ranging from cognitive debt, harness engineering and the lethal trifecta, listen to gain a deeper understanding not just of the latest Radar but, more importantly, what AI-assisted and agentic software engineering really look like today. Read the latest Thoughtworks Technology Radar: https://www.thoughtworks.com/radar

Sharing information with AI has quickly become second nature. But what are you really giving away?

There's been a lot of discussion and debate in recent months about exactly how software engineering will be reshaped by AI. While it remains to be seen what the discipline will look like once things quieten down (if they ever do), one thing has been somewhat neglected: what does software engineering actually feel like in this AI-intensive environment? If we're no longer writing code, or even interfacing with it in the way we're used to, what does that mean for our professional experience? On this episode of the Technology Podcast, host Ken Mugrage is joined by Nate Schutta to discuss the software engineering experience today and to dig deep into what the work feels like when AI agents change our relationship with code. Nate is one of the authors of Fundamentals of Software Engineering (alongside Dan Vega) and appeared on the podcast in May 2025 to discuss the book; with so much change having taken place since then, Nate is perfectly placed to offer a perspective on what software engineering means today for an industry navigating significant change.  Learn more about The Fundamentals of Software Engineering: https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/books/fundamentals-software-engineering-book Listen to Nate discuss the book on an earlier episode of the Technology Podcast: https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/podcasts/technology-podcasts/exploring-fundamentals-software-engineering

Supply chains, server crashes, and building break-ins. Our latest episode is a reminder that cybersecurity doesn't stop at the screen.

Managing distributed systems and complex workflows can be challenging. What happens when something fails? If a task isn't executed to completion, that can lead to serious problems. From transaction and billing failures to deploying software, even small issues can have significant consequences. This is one of the reasons for durable computing. Designed to isolate code from crashes, it preserves state so a task is completed even when something fails. To discuss durable computing, explore why it matters today and how we've been using it at Thoughtworks, Brandon Cook and John Coleman join host Alexey Boas on the Technology Podcast. They dive into the current platform ecosystem and what it means for developers — and requires of them. They also talk about the value of durable computing for AI, explaining why the concept of 'durable agents' offers an important of avenue of investigation in a world eager to embrace agentic systems.  Learn more about durable computing in this blog post from July 2025: https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/blog/cloud/durable-computing-making-easier-resilience-distributed-systems  

New Book: Climate Capital — Investing in the Tools for a Regenerative Future | An Interview with Tom Chi | An Analog Brain In A Digital Age With Marco Ciappelli What if the economy isn't broken — just badly designed? Tom Chi, Google X founding member, inventor of 77 patents, and venture capitalist at At One Ventures, joined me on An Analog Brain In A Digital Age to discuss his new book Climate Capital: Investing in the Tools for a Regenerative Future. From the streets of Florence to the strip malls of Silicon Valley, from the mechanics of attention capture to the physics of ecological economics, this conversation goes far beyond climate. It's about how we design the systems we live inside — and whether we have the will to redesign them before it's too late.

New Book: Lost in Time — Our Forgotten and Vanishing Knowledge | An Interview with Jack R. Bialik | An Analog Brain In A Digital Age With Marco Ciappelli There's a particular arrogance embedded in how we talk about progress. We speak about innovation as if it moves in one direction only — forward, upward, smarter, faster. But what if the line isn't straight? What if it loops, doubles back, and occasionally vanishes entirely? That's the uncomfortable question at the center of my conversation with Jack R. Bialik. His book Lost in Time: Our Forgotten and Vanishing Knowledge doesn't read like a history lesson. It reads like a case file — evidence, example by example, that the civilization we assume is the most advanced in human history is also, in some critical ways, deeply amnesiac. Take cataract surgery. We learned it in the 1700s, right? Except we didn't. Indians were performing it in 800 BC. The ancient Egyptians and Babylonians had diagrams of the procedure dating back to 2,400 BCE. The knowledge existed, worked, and then — somewhere in the chaos of collapsing empires and burning libraries — it vanished. We didn't progress past it. We forgot it, and then reinvented it from scratch, centuries later, convinced we were doing something new. Or the Baghdad Battery: clay pots, 2,000 years old, that when filled with acid can generate 1.1 volts of electricity. We don't know what they used them for. We don't know who figured it out. We just know it worked, it existed, and then it didn't anymore. This is what Bialik calls the pattern of loss — and it's not random. It follows catastrophe: the Library of Alexandria, the systematic destruction of Mayan records, the slow erosion of oral traditions as writing systems took over. Knowledge disappears when the systems that carry it collapse. And here's where the conversation gets uncomfortably relevant: we are building those systems right now, and we are not thinking about how long they'll last. The curator at the Computer History Museum told Bialik that to preserve the data from early IBM PCs and Macintosh computers, they had to print it on paper. The floppy drives had become brittle. The formats were unreadable. The digital archive was failing — and the only solution was to go analog. A vinyl record from the 1920s still plays. A CD from the 1980s may not survive another decade. I've been thinking about this since we recorded. My brain is analog — that's not just a podcast title, it's a philosophy. I grew up in Florence, surrounded by things that had survived centuries because they were made to last: stone, fresco, manuscript. Then I jumped on the digital train like everyone else, seduced by infinite libraries on my phone, music on demand, knowledge at my fingertips. But what Bialik is pointing out is that fingertips are fragile. And so are hard drives. The deeper issue isn't storage format. It's the distinction Bialik draws between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is the data — the cataract surgery technique, the battery design, the pyramid engineering. Wisdom is knowing why it matters, when to use it, and what the consequences might be. We've gotten extraordinarily good at accumulating knowledge. We are considerably worse at transmitting wisdom. And wisdom, Bialik argues, doesn't live in databases. It lives in the space between people — in stories, in teaching, in the slow transmission of judgment across generations. That's why oral tradition survived when everything else failed. Not because it was more sophisticated, but because it was more human. It didn't require a device to run on. I don't know how to solve the digital longevity problem. Neither does Bialik — not yet. But I think the first step is admitting we have one. That's actually one of the quietest, most powerful arguments in the book: be humble. We don't know everything. We never did. And some of the things we've lost might be exactly what we need right now. The question isn't just what we've forgotten. It's what we're forgetting today, while we're too busy scrolling to notice. Grab Lost in Time: Our Forgotten and Vanishing Knowledge — link below — and spend some time with a perspective that goes very, very far back. Which is maybe the only way to see very, very far forward.   And if this kind of conversation is what you come here for, subscribe to the newsletter at marcociappelli.com.  More of this. Less noise. — Marco Ciappelli Co-Founder ITSPmagazine & Studio C60 | Creative Director | Branding & Marketing Advisor | Personal Branding Coach | Journalist | Writer | Podcast: An Analog Brain In A Digital Age ⚠️ Beware: Pigs May Fly |

In January 2026, Thoughtworks launched AI/works™, an agentic development platform. It promises to make the capabilities of AI agents a reality for the enterprise, helping in areas including understanding complex legacy code, forward engineering new software solutions and agent governance. How, though, does it actually work in practice? And what does it mean for the organizations and teams Thoughtworks works with? In this episode of the Technology Podcast, new host Rickey Zachary is joined by Bharani Subramaniam (CTO for Thoughtworks India and the Middle East) and Shodhan Sheth (Head of Enterprise Modernization, Platforms and Cloud) to discuss AI/works™, taking in how the platform emerged from a number of recent Thoughtworks projects to how it's delivering value to businesses today.  As well as an inside perspective on Thoughtworks' new platform, the episode also offers a deep and timely exploration of questions and challenges the rapid rise of AI agents in software engineering has surfaced across every part across industry. Learn more about AI/works™: https://www.thoughtworks.com/ai/works

How can you help your loved ones navigate and securely adopt AI tools ? Will Gardner, CEO of Childnet joins the show for a vital conversation about helping families use AI safely. We talk about Childnet's latest research and the practical ways you can become a digital role model and start better AI conversations at home.

None of Your Goddamn BusinessJohn Morgan Salomon said something during our conversation that I haven't stopped thinking about. We were discussing encryption, privacy laws, the usual terrain — and he cut through all of it with five words: "It's none of your goddamn business."Not elegant. Not diplomatic. But exactly right.John has spent 30 years in information security. He's Swiss, lives in Spain, advises governments and startups, and uses his real name on social media despite spending his career thinking about privacy. When someone like that tells you he's worried, you should probably pay attention.The immediate concern is something called "Chat Control" — a proposed EU law that would mandate access to encrypted communications on your phone. It's failed twice. It's now in its third iteration. The Danish Information Commissioner is pushing it. Germany and Poland are resisting. The European Parliament is next.The justification is familiar: child abuse materials, terrorism, drug trafficking. These are the straw man arguments that appear every time someone wants to break encryption. And John walked me through the pattern: tragedy strikes, laws pass in the emotional fervor, and those laws never go away. The Patriot Act. RIPA in the UK. The Clipper Chip the FBI tried to push in the 1990s. Same playbook, different decade.Here's the rhetorical trap: "Do you support terrorism? Do you support child abuse?" There's only one acceptable answer. And once you give it, you've already conceded the frame. You're now arguing about implementation rather than principle.But the principle matters. John calls it the panopticon — the Victorian-era prison design where all cells face inward toward a central guard tower. No walls. Total visibility. The transparent citizen. If you can see what everyone is doing, you can spot evil early. That's the theory.The reality is different. Once you build the infrastructure to monitor everyone, the question becomes: who decides what "evil" looks like? Child pornographers, sure. Terrorists, obviously. But what about LGBTQ individuals in countries where their existence is criminalized? John told me about visiting Chile in 2006, where his gay neighbor could only hold his partner's hand inside a hidden bar. That was a democracy. It was also a place where being yourself was punishable by prison.The targets expand. They always do. Catholics in 1960s America. Migrants today. Anyone who thinks differently from whoever holds power at any given moment. These laws don't just catch criminals — they set precedents. And precedents outlive the people who set them.John made another point that landed hard: the privacy we've already lost probably isn't coming back. Supermarket loyalty cards. Surveillance cameras. Social media profiles. Cookie consent dialogs we click through without reading. That version of privacy is dead. But there's another kind — the kind that prevents all that ambient data from being weaponized against you as an individual. The kind that stops your encrypted messages from becoming evidence of thought crimes. That privacy still exists. For now.Technology won't save us. John was clear about that. Neither will it destroy us. Technology is just an element in a much larger equation that includes human nature, greed, apathy, and the willingness of citizens to actually engage. He sent emails to 40 Spanish members of European Parliament about Chat Control. One responded.That's the real problem. Not the law. Not the technology. The apathy.Republic comes from "res publica" — the thing of the people. Benjamin Franklin supposedly said it best: "A republic, if you can keep it." Keeping it requires attention. Requires understanding what's at stake. Requires saying, when necessary: this is none of your goddamn business.Stay curious. Stay Human. Subscribe to the podcast. And if you have thoughts, drop them in the comments — I actually read them.Marco CiappelliSubscribe to the Redefining Society and Technology podcast. Stay curious. Stay human.> https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7079849705156870144/Marco Ciappelli: https://www.marcociappelli.com/John Salomon Experienced, international information security leader. vCISO, board & startup advisor, strategist.https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnsalomon/  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's a brand new season of Random but Memorable — and we're kicking things off with practical security for the people you care about most.

At the Guitar Center Foundation, music is treated as a shared resource rather than a luxury. During this conversation at the NAMM Show 2026, Michelle Wolff, representing the Foundation, explains how access to real instruments can change the trajectory of a student, a patient, or a veteran simply by making music possible in the first place.The Foundation's work centers on donating thousands of instruments to schools, hospitals, and veteran centers, with a focus on communities where funding for music programs is often the first thing cut. Through a structured grant process, organizations apply for instruments quarterly, with roughly 150 requests reviewed each cycle. About 30 of those requests are fulfilled, helping sustain programs that might otherwise disappear.Beyond instrument donations, the Foundation is expanding how it shows up in communities. Plans include live donation events that bring instruments directly into schools and hospitals, often paired with artist participation to create meaningful, memorable moments. New donor and ambassador programs are also taking shape, designed to broaden awareness and bring more voices into the mission.Partnerships play a major role in that effort. The conversation highlights recent collaboration tied to the 100 Billion Meals initiative, where music, visual art, and social impact intersect to amplify multiple causes at once. These partnerships extend the Foundation's reach while reinforcing the idea that music can support broader humanitarian goals.Wolff also shares a personal connection to the mission. As a former vocal performance major at the University of Texas Butler School of Music, she understands how deeply musicians identify with their craft. After experiencing vocal injury herself, she speaks to the importance of supporting musicians through change and helping them build identities that extend beyond a single instrument, without losing music as a core part of who they are.That perspective brings the Foundation's work full circle. Access to instruments is not only about creating future professionals. It is about expression, resilience, and giving people the chance to discover what music can mean in their own lives.Part of ITSPmagazine's On Location Coverage at NAMM 2026.

The Last Touch: Why AI Will Never Be an ArtistI had one of those conversations... the kind where you're nodding along, then suddenly stop because someone just articulated something you've been feeling but couldn't quite name.Andrea Isoni is a Chief AI Officer. He builds and delivers AI solutions for a living. And yet, sitting across from him (virtually, but still), I heard something I rarely hear from people deep in the AI industry: a clear, unromantic take on what this technology actually is — and what it isn't.His argument is elegant in its simplicity. Think about Michelangelo. We picture him alone with a chisel, carving David from marble. But that's not how it worked. Michelangelo ran a workshop. He had apprentices — skilled craftspeople who did the bulk of the work. The master would look at a semi-finished piece, decide what needed refinement, and add the final touch.That final touch is everything.Andrea draws the same line with chefs. A Michelin-starred kitchen isn't one person cooking. It's a team executing the chef's vision. But the chef decides what's on the menu. The chef check the dish before it leaves. The chef adds that last adjustment that transforms good into memorable.AI, in this framework, is the newest apprentice. It can do the bulk work. It can generate drafts, produce code, create images. But it cannot — and here's the key — provide that final touch. Because that touch comes from somewhere AI doesn't have access to: lived experience, suffering, joy, the accumulated weight of being human in a particular time and place.This matters beyond art. Andrea calls it the "hacker economy" — a future where AI handles the volume, but humans handle the value. Think about code generation. Yes, AI can write software. But code with a bug doesn't work. Period. Someone has to fix that last bug. And in a world where AI produces most of the code, the value of fixing that one critical bug increases exponentially. The work becomes rarer but more valuable. Less frequent, but essential.We went somewhere unexpected in our conversation — to electricity. What does AI "need"? Not food. Not warmth. Electricity. So if AI ever developed something like feelings, they wouldn't be tied to hunger or cold or human vulnerability. They'd be tied to power supply. The most important being to an AI wouldn't be a human — it would be whoever controls the electricity grid.That's not a being we can relate to. And that's the point.Andrea brought up Guernica. Picasso's masterpiece isn't just innovative in style — it captures something society was feeling in 1937, the horror of the Spanish Civil War. Great art does two things: it innovates, and it expresses something the collective needs expressed. AI might be able to generate the first. It cannot do the second. It doesn't know what we feel. It doesn't know what moment we're living through. It doesn't have that weight of context.The research community calls this "world models" — the attempt to give AI some built-in understanding of reality. A dog doesn't need to be taught to swim; it's born knowing. Humans have similar innate knowledge, layered with everything we learn from family, culture, experience. AI starts from zero. Every time.Andrea put it simply: AI contextualization today is close to zero.I left the conversation thinking about what we protect when we acknowledge AI's limits. Not anti-technology. Not fear. Just clarity. The "last touch" isn't a romantic notion — it's what makes something resonate. And that resonance comes from us.Stay curious. Subscribe to the podcast. And if you have thoughts, drop them in the comments — I actually read them.Marco CiappelliSubscribe to the Redefining Society and Technology podcast. Stay curious. Stay human.> https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7079849705156870144/Marco Ciappelli: https://www.marcociappelli.com/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

CES 2026 Just Showed Us the Future. It's More Practical Than You Think.CES has always been part crystal ball, part carnival. But something shifted this year.I caught up with Brian Comiskey—Senior Director of Innovation and Trends at CTA and a futurist by trade—days after 148,000 people walked the Las Vegas floor. What he described wasn't the usual parade of flashy prototypes destined for tech graveyards. This was different. This was technology getting serious about actually being useful.Three mega trends defined the show: intelligent transformation, longevity, and engineering tomorrow. Fancy terms, but they translate to something concrete: AI that works, health tech that extends lives, and innovations that move us, power us, and feed us. Not technology for its own sake. Technology with a job to do.The AI conversation has matured. A year ago, generative AI was the headline—impressive demos, uncertain applications. Now the use cases are landing. Industrial AI is optimizing factory operations through digital twins. Agentic AI is handling enterprise workflows autonomously. And physical AI—robotics—is getting genuinely capable. Brian pointed to robotic vacuums that now have arms, wash floors, and mop. Not revolutionary in isolation, but symbolic of something larger: AI escaping the screen and entering the physical world.Humanoid robots took a visible leap. Companies like Sharpa and Real Hand showcased machines folding laundry, picking up papers, playing ping pong. The movement is becoming fluid, dexterous, human-like. LG even introduced a consumer-facing humanoid. We're past the novelty phase. The question now is integration—how these machines will collaborate, cowork, and coexist with humans.Then there's energy—the quiet enabler hiding behind the AI headlines.Korea Hydro Nuclear Power demonstrated small modular reactors. Next-generation nuclear that could cleanly power cities with minimal waste. A company called Flint Paper Battery showcased recyclable batteries using zinc instead of lithium and cobalt. These aren't sexy announcements. They're foundational.Brian framed it well: AI demands energy. Quantum computing demands energy. The future demands energy. Without solving that equation, everything else stalls. The good news? AI itself is being deployed for grid modernization, load balancing, and optimizing renewable cycles. The technologies aren't competing—they're converging.Quantum made the leap from theory to presence. CES launched a new area called Foundry this year, featuring innovations from D-Wave and Quantum Computing Inc. Brian still sees quantum as a 2030s defining technology, but we're in the back half of the 2020s now. The runway is shorter than we thought.His predictions for 2026: quantum goes more mainstream, humanoid robotics moves beyond enterprise into consumer markets, and space technologies start playing a bigger role in connectivity and research. The threads are weaving together.Technology conversations often drift toward dystopia—job displacement, surveillance, environmental cost. Brian sees it differently. The convergence of AI, quantum, and clean energy could push things toward something better. The pieces exist. The question is whether we assemble them wisely.CES is a snapshot. One moment in the relentless march. But this year's snapshot suggests technology is entering a phase where substance wins over spectacle.That's a future worth watching.This episode is part of the Redefining Society and Technology podcast's CES 2026 coverage. Subscribe to stay informed as technology and humanity continue to intersect.Subscribe to the Redefining Society and Technology podcast. Stay curious. Stay human.> https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7079849705156870144/Marco Ciappelli: https://www.marcociappelli.com/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Happy New Year!