Episode 24 - Is it ok to tweet 'fire' in a crowded chat room?

Yeah we know, it has been a long time... Heck, Ken and I went to PAB 2010, did our panel with the Dude and Tom and never talked about it. Suffice it to say, that was fun.

Anyway, we are back, and when we decided to get back into the podcasting scene we needed a topic. Robin mentioned to Ken and I that there was a guy that got in a lot of trouble for posting on twitter that he was going to blow up an airport. This has lead to a grass roots campaign in support of him (not in support of airport bombing, in support of the guy...)

This story lead us into talking about various things, including the echo chamber of social media, the effects that changes in communication type have had on communication, and of course, the holodeck on Star Trek...

We hope you like the show, and we are glad to be back.



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Episode 23 - Zuck you...

We got together before the Stargate Universe season finale to discuss facebook and Mark Zuckerberg's awesome performance at the D8 conference (you have to watch the video, seriously).

Overall we pretty much agreed that there is little privacy on facebook, but Isabelle and I had less problem with that than Ken and Robin did, indeed, I always figured I would only put stuff up there that I would say to someone's face, and Isabelle seems to be of the opinion that we live in a post privacy world. Robin, on the other hand, would like to live as some sort of hermit...

We discusses a bit of stuff about 1984 and A Brave New World as well, which of course make sense considers how the state in those dystopias knew everything about you.

Ken and I will be at Podcasters Across Borders 2010 on a panel with Tom Merritt of TWiT.tv and the Scarborough Dude called "What If My Boss Find Out" so if you are in Ottawa in June, look us up!



Enjoy episode 23.

Episode 22 - We're here, like exactly right here...

We got together before Caprica to talk about location based apps. You know like Foursquare and Gowalla. This came about because I bought a new iPhone, and found out that the pics you take get geotagged automatically. This was a bit of a surprise, but also maybe a tad creepy.

Robin was pretty sure it was creepy, and said that he would never use it. Ken said it was not that different from sending a letter with a return address on it.

We talked a lot about the historical and science fiction aspects of location too.

We did our best to improve the audio this time, hope it helps.

Direct download link.

Episode 21 - When the Red Red Robin Comes Goo Goo Googling Along

The whole Google vs. China in an out and out war of err, something or other inspired this episode. I made the point that this was Google, in essence, acting like a state level actor and this seemed somewhat novel. Well, both Ken and Robin pointed out that say the British East India Company and the Hudson Bay Company were in essence states within states, even having their own armed forces. I said this was different because Google does not have a royal charter or anything.

This of course lead us into a discussion of Corporatism, which is in a way a lot like medieval guilds, and well, a lot like the fascism of Italy or Portugal.

Corporations taking over the world eh, how about Rollerball!

Robin also gave us his most recent views on google wave and I talked about my most recent appearances on Fourcast with Tom Merritt and Scott Johnson.



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Episode 20 - But You're My Mom!

You will have to listen to the episode to get the title..

Anyway, Ken, Robin and I welcomed a few guests to the monumental episode 20, Alanna, Dwayne, Isabelle and Madeleine joined s this time out. Ken and Robin have been working getting an ebook platform ready for the U library. This initiative is Ontario wide and that is cool. Apparently there will even be an iPhone app. This made Dwayne happy, as he is obsessed with his new iPhone. Alanna also likes the iPhone and used one in Europe recently.

Robin pointed out that while to the average user the most important thing is the UI, there is a huge backbone there, and people literally risk their lives putting in that infrastructure. He then told us that cars are silly, and a lively debate ensued.

It was great to have Ken and Robin back together for the show, and the guests made it even better. Thanks to everyone.

We all hope you like episode 20.