SciTech Culture: Recent Episodes
Digicosm
Hosted by Steve Kern and Ben Warner, this podcast offers content that examines science, technology and culture in our modern, 21st century world and the way they are changing our lives.
The Matildas made their country proud by reaching fourth place in the FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup, cementing themselves in the Australian sporting lexicon as one of the greatest sporting achievements Australia has ever had. Steve and Ben discuss the Matildas’ performance in the world cup and its impact on women’s sport in Australia. Steve and Ben also discuss Donald Trump and the four indictments he is now facing as the 2024 US Presidential Election season is soon to commence, as well as the recent controversies surrounding YouTuber Linus Sebastian and its impact on standards YouTuber content creators may need to consider when producing content.
In what seems one of the most baffling brand name changes of all time, billionaire Elon Musk just unilaterally decided to rebrand Twitter to the letter X. Will this spell the end of Twitter and its social media dominance? Steve and Ben discuss Elon Musk’s decision to make such a radical change to one of the most recognised social media brands, and they also discuss their views on the new season of Star Trek Strange New Worlds, including its infamous musical episode.
Has Mark Zuckerberg discovered an opportunity to steal some of Elon’s Twitter thunder with Threads? Steve and Ben discuss the extraordinary entry of Threads in to the social media sphere and how it may have a shot at taking the crown given Meta’s overall user base and market position. Steve and Ben also discuss the cancellation of the 2026 Commonwealth Games by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, as well as the opening of the new Christopher Nolan film, Oppenheimer.
Between Taylor Swift concert tickets going on a frenzied sale and a 4.6 magnitude earthquake hitting near the city, Melbourne experienced some drama recently. Steve and Ben discuss how earthquakes in Australia have been increasing in frequency in the past few years with a few earthquakes occurring on the East Coast, as well as the issue of scalping at major concert events with many Taylor Swift fans missing out on her concerts. Steve and Ben also discuss the recent news that the WHO may announce that artificial sweetener aspartame may be linked to cancer risks.
The world was shocked to learn this week of the catastrophic implosion in the deep ocean of OceanGate’s Titan submersible vehicle as it was taking the company’s CEO and four passengers to view the wreck of the Titanic. However, with the mainstream media broadcasting wall to wall coverage of the story turning it in to a meme-able narrative, is the media actually doing its job with the news? Steve and Ben discuss the media’s slide in to clickbait and narrative-driven material, while also discussing how social media and search algorithms are driving our behaviour in a way that has seen the hallowing out of news, media, and popular culture.
Apple’s AirTags were intended to be used to keep track of car keys, luggage, and other personal items, but they have also been used for more nefarious purposes, such as stalking individuals, with the tech giant coming under fire for not doing more to alert users of unknown AirTags within their vicinity. Steve and Ben discuss how technology likes this can be used for nasty purposes and how tech giants have a responsibility to solve the ensuing problems if they want to be in the position to write the rules on how tech influences our lives. Steve and Ben also discuss ex-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s hilarious 80s ad for Windows 1, the discovery of phosphorous on Saturn’s moon of Enceladus and its implications for life beyond Earth, as well as the battle between Christopher Nolan and Tom Cruise for IMAX screens for their respective films Oppenheimer and Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part I.
After years of rumour and speculation, Apple announced the VisionPro, the tech giant’s first foray in to the virtual and augmented reality headset space. With a slew of incredible technical breakthroughs that set the VisionPro apart from its competition, Apple may have successfully delivered on its one more thing heritage in style, but does the VisionPro fundamentally solve the issues that have plagued VR and AR headsets? Steve and Ben discuss the Apple VisionPro as well as the Mac hardware announcements from WWDC 2023. Steve and Ben also discuss the story of a YouTuber who intentionally crashed in plane for more views, but was charged by authorities for the trouble.
After years of speculation, Apple surprised everyone by announcing through a press release that Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro would be coming to the iPad, and designed specifically for tablet use. Steve and Ben discuss their impressions of this announcement as Final Cut users on the Mac ,and the use cases for this powerful app on the iPad. Steve and Ben also discuss Google’s entry in to the folding phone space with the new Pixel Fold device, the new Pixel 7A, and the Pixel Tablet which appears to offer a different use case to Apple’s market-dominated iPad.
Sleep is one the most fundamental biological activities that humans engage with in their life that is vital and necessary to good health. However sleep patterns have changed over time, with humans living in the pre-industrialised age having bi-phasic sleep patterns which contrast with the current eight hours of sleep model recommended for good health. Steve and Ben discuss the importance of sleep and the change in sleep patterns over time. Steve and Ben also discuss the announcement by the WHO to end the emergency status on the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the development of mind reading machines powered by AI technology.
A television show called Now On My Way To Meet You is a popular program in South Korea, and draws the ire of the North Korean regime given it features North Korean defectors talking about their experiences. Steve and Ben discuss the show and the concept of how radically different life must be for those living under such an oppressive regime. Steve and Ben also discuss the recent SpaceX rocket launch that ended with it exploding minutes after impact, the big drop in sales figures notes for PCs and Macs, as well as the best way to watch the highly acclaimed third season of Star Trek Picard.
The finale of Star Trek Picard Season 3 stuck the landing on an impression reunion show for the cast of Star Trek The Next Generation, providing a satisfying story interwoven with numerous fan service moments that will delight those who enjoyed watching the original show. Steve and Ben give their take on Star Trek Picard Season 3 and how it stands against other long standing franchises attempting to recapture the magic of their glory days. Steve and Ben also discuss the return of app icon labels to the taskbar in Windows 11, and how the production of cement is a larger contributor to greenhouse gas emissions than one might think.
Star Wars Celebration was recently held by Disney, with the announcement that three new Star Wars movies are on the way, set in completely different eras of the Star Wars universe, stirring predictable reactions from the internet given the course Disney has taken with the franchise to date. Steve and Ben examine Disney’s announcement of more Star Wars movies, and how Disney is running the risk of killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Steve and Ben also discuss how to handle iPhone upgrade cycles and when to upgrade your iPhone, as well as the curious behaviour of certain YouTube content creators who are behaving more like egotistical movie producers when dealing with their talent and collaborators.
Well, it finally happened, Former President Donald Trump has been indicted. What will the next chapter of Trump’s impact on US politics bring? Steve and Ben examine the latest on the indictment of Donald Trump and how this is the first time in US history that an ex-President has been indicted on criminal charges. Steve and Ben also discuss Apple’s rumoured plans for a mixed reality headset expected to be launched at WWDC 2023, as well as taking another look at Avatar The Way Of Water now that it has been released for digital download.
Some clever users have discovered that the photos of the moon captured via space zoom on Samsung Galaxy phones are faked using software algorithms. Is this a problem, or could it have been marketed as a very clever feature? Steve and Ben discuss the controversy of Samsung’s fake moon photos, and discuss the issues around computational photography in smartphones, and asking what is a real photo in today’s world. Steve and Ben also discuss the latest startling images from the James Webb Space Telescope, as well as the media response to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
Avatar The Way Of Water has settled in to the number three spot on the top highest grossing films of all time list. James Cameron has done it again with his epic sci-fi sequel to the 2009 smash hit, with audiences attending cinemas in droves to watch the world of Pandora unfold in spectacular fashion, but is the film as great as the hype? Steve and Ben discuss the Avatar sequel through the lens of how modern Hollywood movies are made, and that just because a film has great technical skill, does not mean that it is a great film. Steve and Ben also discuss a new discovery of using an enzyme from bacteria that can turn hydrogen from the air in to electricity, and they also discuss the truth behind smartphone reviews as they battle to be seen by YouTube’s omnipresent algorithm.
In a rare January drop of new products, Apple has released the new M2 Pro and M2 Max updates for the 14 and 16 inch MacBook Pros and the Mac Mini. With such powerful machines now available at reasonable price points, particularly for the Mac mini, the era of spending lots of money on a powerful workstation or laptop are effectively over. Steve and Ben discuss the new MacBook Pros and Mac mini options and how the future of the Mac has never looked brighter. Steve and Ben also discuss the unequaled triumph of James Cameron having three of the top five worldwide highest grossing movies of all time with Avatar The Way Of Water continuing to rake in box office, and they also discuss the truck-sized asteroid that swung past the Earth in the past week.
Apple has seemingly started off 2023 with a bang with a slew of rumours of new products for this year, including a curious story about how Apple is finally going to bring touchscreens to their Mac line. Will they do this, especially given their legendary founder Steve Jobs stated back in the day that touchscreens do not want to be vertical? Steve and Ben discuss the latest Apple rumours as well as the story of ChatGPT, an open language AI that is demonstrating impressive abilities to communicate in very human ways when asked the right questions.
With approximately 30,000 hours being uploaded every hour to YouTube, we are living in a world where content creation has become extremely ubiquitous and easy to access to everyone. With this has been an increased change in to the type of content being created. It’s not enough to produce a show any more, the creator has to put themselves online as much as possible to stay relevant. Steve and Ben kick off 2023 examining content creation and its relationship to narcissistic behaviour by creators, as well as having a quick look at the Lenovo Yoga 9i dual screen laptop, and stepping back to look at all the topics they covered in 2022.
Breaking an addiction to your phone is likely to be at the top of many people’s New Year’s resolutions lists, but is it easier said than done? What are the best strategies to limit the time you spend on your phone, your screen on time, and not to be distracted by the latest post or notification that constantly pops up on the device you carry with you every day? Steve and Ben discuss their strategies for how to best handle your smartphone usage, including deleting all social media apps and disabling almost all notifications. They also discuss the disturbing impacts that smartphone use is having on us as humans, and the impacts on society as a whole.
Australia has received an unprecedented level of rainfall across the eastern side of the country, causing serious flooding events across four states on multiple occasions in 2022 alone. With residual consequences such as additional insect breeding, increased pollen issues and more, these events have re-focused the debate on climate change given the real world impacts on so many lives. Steve and Ben discuss the impacts of the floods in Australia. They also discuss the progressing nature of online attacks and how to deal with them, as well as a nostalgic cinematic trip via Steven Spielberg’s upcoming film, The Fabelmans.
The turmoil continues at Twitter as Elon Musk locks out employees from the main company headquarters following an ultimatum to stay but only if they put out exceptional levels of performance. Meanwhile, Deliveroo announces they are exiting the Australian market, with local restaurants now removing their menus entirely from a range of delivery apps. Steve and Ben discuss the turmoil across Twitter and the gig economy, as well as the seeming reemergence of BlackBerry as a supplier of software for cars.
Returning after a month off, Ben discusses his recent sarcoma diagnosis on his left middle finger and the outcome. Steve and Ben also discuss Elon Musk’s turbulent approach to changes at social media platform Twitter, and they also talk through Apple’s confusing 2022 iPad line-up and how Apple may have inadvertently pushed its customers to purchase older models when considering the value proposition of the new models.
New iPhone season has arrived, and with that, is a traditional unboxing, this time of the Space Black iPhone 14 Pro Max. Steve and Ben discuss the new iPhone 14 Pro Max and using it to record the SciTech Culture podcast in 4K cinematic mode. Steve and Ben also discuss the Apple Watch Ultra and its place in the world of endurance sports and extreme activities, as well as tech trends for the future leading to a technological revolution that will radically change the way we live and move on this planet.
Tis the season to buy new iPhones! Like clockwork, Apple has announced its new iPhone line up at its September 2022 event. The regular iPhones now feature a plus sized model, the iPhone 14 Plus, while the Pro models saw the most attention with both the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max receiving a big camera upgrade, a nifty user interface feature called Dynamic Island, crash detection, and more. Apple also announced new Apple Watches, including the new Apple Watch Ultra for extreme users in harsh environments, as well as the second generation AirPods Pro 2 with improved noise cancellation and transparency modes. Steve and Ben examine the announcements from this year’s Apple September event, and they also discuss National Cinema Day in the US where Jaws became a blockbuster hit again 47 years after its release.
Fantasy genre fans have a bounty of riches on offer at the moment with the close releases of The Lord Of The Rings The Rings Of Power and the Game of Thrones prequel House Of The Dragon. Steve and Ben discuss how high profile streaming content like these two series are now the modern replacement of the exciting Hollywood blockbuster of yesteryear, and how both shows do a great job at executing on their respective source material. Steve and Ben also discuss the faster transfer speeds offered by the new spec for USB4 Version 2, as well as the long gestating retirement of the floppy disk in Japan.
With the world turning its attention to renewable sources of energy, the conversation has also started to include how long term storage of electricity in the form of batteries factors in to the mix. With traditional lithium ion batteries not suitable for larger scale requirements while also presenting sustainability issues, alternative battery technologies are being explored including those based in salt and sand, amongst others. Steve and Ben discuss the potential for new battery technologies, as well as tech giant Apple facing resistance from its employees to return to work in the office, as well as the post-covid outlook for the tourism industry and the challenges it faces returning to business with a cautious public not rushing back to travel.
Dogs truly are our best friends, displaying an empathy and intelligence that are truly incredible, leading to a wonderful and depth-filled relationship between the two species. Steve and Ben discuss intelligence in dogs and how we should treat dogs with the respect they deserve given their blind devotion to us as humans and owners. Steve and Ben also discuss the urgent patching of iOS and macOS by Apple to address a significant security flaw in these operating systems, as well as Liz Cheney’s loss in the Wyoming Republican Primary race and potential 2024 Presidential Run, and how the new film Prey finally brings audiences a sequel in the long running science fiction Predator franchise that lives up to the quality of the original 1986 film.
One of the biggest challenges in tackling climate change and environmental sustainability is how to generate clean, renewable energy for the entire world that is sustainable and does not negatively impact the environment. Global supergrids could be the answer, with its network of connector cables and high volage direct current providing the possibility of transferring electricity from where it is generated to where it is needed. Steve and Ben discuss the potential for global supergrids, as well as Trump making it back in to the news with the FBI raid on his Florida home at Mar-a-lago, and the recent Samsung Unpacked event where the Galaxy Fold 4 and Galaxy Flip 4 were announced.
The CSIRO recently released a megatrends report outlining seven key trends that will have a major impact on the world and society in the coming decades, covering health, sustainability, climate change, automation and AI, digital and data economies, and geopolitical shifts. Steve and Ben discuss the report and these seven key megatrends as they pertain to the world in the 21st century, especially as compared to events from the previous century.
Mark Zuckerberg turned up the heat on his employees in a recent conference call, claiming some of them should not be at Meta and that should those employees come to the conclusion that his company was not the place to be for them, that self-selection would be okay with him. With that frank admission, as well as scrutiny over Meta’s future and direction, is the Zuck feeling the pressure? Steve and Ben discuss Meta’s current prospects and its future direction. Steve and Ben also discuss myths around COVID as well as a recent study supporting the Wuhan Market origin of COVID, as well as trialing Apple’s iOS16 Beta, and issues with Amazon Prime Video incorrectly identifying VPN issues with user setup.
For most knowledge and information workers, their employers will supply a laptop and or a smartphone in order to work. With this in mind, is it wise to use your work devices for personal use so you can save the money and hassle with purchasing and maintaining separate personal devices, or should you keep your work and personal tech separate? As always, the answer lies in what your actual needs and use cases are. Steve and Ben discuss how to handle your work and personal devices and setups. Steve and Ben also discuss the requirements for those editing videos with their devices, and how you may not need top tier expensive hardware to successfully edit high quality videos as you may have needed in the past.
We are living in a world where it is impossible to be bored given the never-ending distractions on offer, from social media feeds, endless streaming possibilities, and other content sources available on demand at every hour of the day. Without room to pause and be bored, we are sapping our collective ability to allow space for creativity and free thought. Steve and Ben examine why we all need boredom in our lives.
With the arrival of Apple’s new M2 chip, a swirl of controversy has erupted online around the MacBook Pro 13 base model and its slower SSD speeds and apparent overheating issues. Steve and Ben examine the apparent controversy and whether or not this is a result of click-baiting headlines, and if real world users will even care or notice. Steve and Ben also discuss how digital twins are being used to monitor wind farms and their environments, a study that shows many people want credit cards that lessen their environmental impact on the planet, and Elon Musk’s withdrawal from purchasing Twitter.
Managers and Leaders are crucial to the success or failure of a task, a small business, an organisation, a corporation, or any activity seeking an end result, or outcome. What are the qualities of good management and good leadership, how do they compare, and how do they feed in to each other to achieve quality outcomes for all? Steve and Ben examine the qualities of management and leadership and how both are vital for success when achieving outcomes in any activity, from the smallest groups to the largest organisations.
Outlook for Mac has recently been updated to a brand new version with an appealing visual look and a streamlined interface but it does have some issues with basic functionality. Steve and Ben discuss the missing move to folder function between accounts that is causing workflow issues. Steve and Ben also discuss the recent and unprecedented move to suspend the Australian wholesale energy market by the Australian Energy Mark Operator due to widespread instability in the market, and the very real risk of the Australian public experiencing rolling blackouts caused by market instability rather than supply.
WWDC 2022 has come and gone, with Apple making a slew of announcements including the debut of the next generation of Apple Silicon in the M2 Chip, the new M2 MacBook Air and MacBook Pros, as well as the latest operating system announcements of iOS 16, iPadOS 16, watchOS 9, and macOS Ventura. Steve and Ben discuss the announcements that stood out to them, including issues with the Mac line’s pricing structure and considerations for purchase, and the long awaited external display support feature for iPads. They also discuss the downsides of choosing to be a YouTuber as a profession versus podcasting.
Steve and Ben discuss the historic result for the 2022 Australian federal election, the advent of monkeypox, bioreactors generating meat and other animal food products, as well as the reports of delays for the upcoming iPhone 14 due to lockdowns in China, and the exciting announcement of Project Volterra by Microsoft as the tech giant begins the transition to ARM processors.
After two tumultuous years living through lockdowns and other measures to counter the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, many countries have now transitioned to a policy of living with the virus. With soaring case numbers due to the spread of the omicron variant, numbers that would have shocked people just a year earlier, living with the virus is bringing a whole host of new challenges. Steve and Ben examine the concept of living with the virus, and how with the exception of a new variant of concern causing further measures to be explored, that this policy is an attempt by governments to return life back to some semblance of normal, particularly in an environment where harsh measures to counter the coronavirus are unlikely to be tolerated by a weary public.
Elon Musk has made his move to purchase Twitter, sending the internet and mainstream media in to a frenzy of commentary as to what his presence will do to Twitter and its current place in the social media landscape, particularly in his comments on reforming the platform to reflect a true public square for the masses. Steve and Ben discuss this historic purchase and its implications, as well as the recent incident of comedian Dave Chapelle being attacked on stage by an audience member and reaching 250 episodes of SciTech Culture.
The Batman is the new film in the iconic comic book character's franchise of films, and it has opened to stellar reviews and box office. However, is the film actually good given its lifting of elements from other works? Steve and Ben discuss The Batman and the continuing trend of big budget Hollywood films recycling older works as an attempt to play it safe while sustaining success in the current cinema environment. Steve and Ben also discuss the release of Unreal Engine 5 to the public, the role of the media in the current Australian Federal Election, and the continuing concerns that the world is facing through COVID, inflation, and other elements leading to perceived instability in the world.
It was the infamous slap that was heard around the world. The fallout from that moment at the Oscars when Will Smith slapped host, Chris Rock, across the face for making a joke about Smith’s wife Jada-Pinkett Smith, has generated a lot of discussion and mainstream media coverage. Steve and Ben examine the fallout from Will Smith’s actions, how the Academy and Hollywood elite reacted to it in the room and afterwards, what precedent it set, and how this all feeds in to the dwindling nature of celebrity culture and whether or not celebrities should be venerated, as well as the continuing fall of Hollywood’s cultural relevance.
Apple had made another splash announcement with its new Mac Studio desktop, the first new Mac form factor it has introduced in many years, and simultaneously introducing the new M1 Ultra chip which fuses two M1 Max chips together for the system to recognise as one super-charged chip. With Apple course-correcting back to the desires of the Pro community, and notwithstanding the impressive achievements of the M1 line and Apple Silicon in general, has the Apple product line become too diverse and confusing? Steve and Ben discuss the announcement of the new Mac Studio, and they also discuss Vimeo’s recent announcement of increasing charges for high-bandwidth users, the startling first test image from the James Webb Telescope, Microsoft’s confounding play to introduce ads in to Windows File Explorer, as well as Ben’s latest iPhone camera tests and post-production workflow on the iPad Pro.
The AMC cinema chain in the US has announced that they will experiment with variable ticket pricing for the release of The Batman in to cinemas this month. Will this prove to be a new innovation in cinema pricing that will entice more people to venture to the cinema on the promise of better experiences, or is this another attempt to stave off the inevitable competition from streaming and other entertainment options? Steve and Ben examine the variable cinema pricing experiment, touch on the new The Batman film and its place in the series, as well as covering a number of other topics including the expansion of basement approvals for rich households in London, the near catastrophic attack in Ukraine by Russia near a nuclear plant, and the ongoing flooding disaster in Australian states Queensland and New South Wales.
The unthinkable occurred when Russian President Vladimir Putin took the extraordinary step of ordering the Russian invasion of Ukraine after several tense weeks of diplomatic talks between himself and the West. With Putin calling it a special military operation, the invasion has shocked the world and led the West to immediately impose crippling sanctions, whilst the Ukrainian people, led by their stoic President Volodymyr Zelensky, are standing in defiance against the Russian army to defend their country. Steve and Ben discuss the disturbing events as they have unfolded, including a look at the historical outlook and parallels, as well as how fake news, propaganda, and cyber warfare tools are being used in this fight.
Volvo has released a new line of electric vehicles, but even with more auto-makers manufacturing more electric vehicles, question marks still arise over EVs range and practicality in a world still addicted to fuel cars. Steve and Ben examine the current state of electric vehicles, while also discussed the announcement of the early closure of Australia’s biggest coal-fired power station in Eraring, as well as the successful fusion technology test in the UK which could yield enormous potential for sustainable nuclear fusion reactors for electricity generation in the coming decades.
With deepening polarisation and decentralisation of messaging in a much more interconnected world thanks to technology, it can lead one to think that the world is slowly going insane given how much we see and consume about what is going on in the world via all forms of media, whether it be traditional, mainstream, social, or other. Is the world going insane, or is the insanity just more visible than before because of technology? Steve and Ben discuss the current state of the world, as well as their experiences editing on M1 Macbooks, Apple updating its FaceID tech for iPhone to recognise mask wearers, as well as Facebook’s historic one day stock price dive that set records.
It’s early 2022, and with Apple more than half way through its transition to Apple Silicon on its Macs and a slew of iPhones, iPads and other products to choose from in the Apple line-up, how does one decide what to buy? Steve and Ben browse through the Apple Store app and give their views on which products are worth the purchase in early 2022. Steve and Ben also discuss the recent spat at Spotify with Neil Young removing his music from the platform in a stance against vaccine misinformation propagated on juggernaut podcast show, The Joe Rogan Experience.
In what could turn out to be one of the biggest tech acquisitions to date, Microsoft recently announced that they would be acquiring Activision Blizzard, a deal which would see a stable of high profile game franchises come to Microsoft and possibly be incorporated in to their Xbox gaming platform. Steve and Ben examine the announcement of this acquisition, and the reported coverage that this deal is just as much about gaining a foothold in the current metaverse discussion as it is about bolstering Microsoft's place in the gaming space. Steve and Ben also discuss the new Netflix film, Don't Look Up, and what it represents in terms of cinematic and box office success when it comes to films exclusively premiering to streaming platforms.
Ghostbusters Afterlife and The Matrix Resurrections both represent the fourth entries in their respective franchises and both rely on audience nostalgia for their original entries for their respective successes. With Hollywood not only exclusively green lighting endless sequels and existing intellectual property, but also re-making old content, will this endless pursuit of unoriginal content harm it long term success? Steve and Ben examine Hollywood’s current focus on exploiting audience nostalgia for profit. Steve and Ben also discuss how social media influencers are starting to take the place of celebrities within the broader culture, and how being a celebrity is not as glamorous a goal to achieve in society as it once was.
2022 has kicked off in a wave of pandemic uncertainty with the Omicron wave of outbreaks around the world accelerating at breakneck speed, and governments attempting to find ways to navigate through it now that populations have been vaccinated. Steve and Ben discuss how the Omicron wave is impacting the world and any attempt to establish post-pandemic certainty. They also discuss their impressions of the iPhone 13 mini, Netflix raising its monthly subscription fees, the January 6 capitol attack anniversary and Trump’s 2024 presidential run, and the latest from CES 2022 including the new Dell XPS 13 Plus.
Steve and Ben wrap up 2021 with a look back at the topics covered for the year, from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its intersection with a number of technology topics. They also have a look forward to 2022, with the prospect of the pandemic being re-written by the new Omicron variant.
In the lead up to the release of the fourth entry in the Matrix franchise, The Matrix Resurrections, a new demo of Unreal Engine’s impressive capabilities has been released called The Matrix Awakens, which simulates photo-realistic environments and replacement digital avatars for the actors playing iconic characters. Steve and Ben discuss the amazing achievements of the Unreal Engine in creating characters and environments that are indistinguishable from reality. Steve and Ben also discuss the M1 MacBook Pro’s place in Apple’s line up, testing Filmic Pro and LumaFusion workflows on the iPhone, and how NFTs are ingeniously being put to use to allow for virtual reality horse racing that is indistinguishable from the real thing.
Bitcoin’s wild ride on the markets is showing no signs of stabilizing, with the infamous cryptocurrency surging in value through various peaks and troughs in market trading. With Charlie Munger weighing in saying that he wished they had never been invented given the speculation attached to crypto trading, the question of where cryptocurrency will go in the future is a live one. Steve and Ben discuss the future of cryptocurrency, as well as the news that Bill Gates is investing in a nuclear fusion start-up, and another look at the place of the iPad in Apple’s tech line up given the roaring success of the M1 chips for the MacBook line.
News spread fast of the recently announced coronavirus variant of concern, Omicron, in the past week, with the World Health Organisation raising red flags around this variant, and countries taking swift action to close off travel from the country it was first reported in, South Africa. Steve and Ben discuss how the new variant was always a possibility and how the world is reacting to it, as well as the recent announcement of South Australia easing border restrictions with COVID-affected states in Australia. Steve and Ben also discuss the decision by Paramount Plus to bring forward the international release of its flagship show, Star Trek Discovery.
Star Trek Discovery’s international home outside of North America in terms of streaming has historically been Netflix, but thanks to a deal where Paramount Pictures bought out Netflix’s stake in the high profile show, Star Trek Discovery has disappeared off Netflix just before the fourth season premiere, all in an attempt to drive subscription growth to Paramount Plus. Steve and Ben examine the continual fragmenting of the streaming market, and the audience’s tolerance for maintaining multiple streaming options. Steve and Ben also discuss what life may be like post pandemic and lockdowns, and how the old school life from 2019 may never come back.
The onset of the pandemic has led people in many countries to become reliant on their technology to connect, communicate, and work, leading to a dramatic change in lifestyle and ways of working that will continue on beyond the end of the pandemic. The hybrid working models that have emerged as a result have led to new working environments for people, with introverts and extroverts provided with the opportunity to work in a way that best suits them. Steve and Ben discuss how work has changed during the pandemic, and the impacts of those changes on introverts and extroverts in this environment. They also discuss Microsoft’s entry in to the meta-verse discussion.
After a week of rumours, Mark Zuckerberg finally made it official by unveiling the new name of the corporation that would sit as the umbrella company for Facebook and its related subsidiaries, Meta. Calling from science fiction tropes of a digital world in which people can interact through avatars, the announcement of Meta was presented by Zuckerberg as the future of social media and the web in which users would interact with their digital content through a virtual and augmented reality environment, promising to open up a new world of possibilities for everyone. Steve and Ben examine the announcement of Meta and its potential implications for society. They also discuss the tragedy on the film set of Rust, and the fallout from the accidental shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
It’s October again and as is custom for this time of the year, there’s plenty of tech news to cover. Facebook appears to be positioning itself for a re-branding of its core business, the Microsoft Surface Duo 2 is making the rounds to mixed reactions, Google finally released it’s new high-end Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro phones with two tone colour options and exclusive Android 12 features, and Apple announced the MacBooks that Pros all over have been waiting for, the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros that can be configured with either the new M1 Pro or M1 Max chips that promise to deliver unprecedented levels of performance. Steve and Ben discuss all of these big tech stories in this week’s episode of SciTech Culture.
It was only a matter of time before a Star Trek actor made it to space, but in what can only be described as a press release that writes itself, Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner, became the oldest person to go in to space courtesy of Blue Origin. The iconic Star Trek actor had a moving experience, spending 10 minutes floating above the Earth. In more space news, a new planet has been discovered with an unusual slingshot orbit and properties such as aluminium rain. Steve and Ben discuss this week in space news, as well as returning to the topic of COVID, and Australia’s plans to re-open its borders now that vaccination rates have hit very high levels amongst the local population.
Facebook had a bad week, starting off with its biggest ever, world-wide, outage that lasted for six hours, and then followed by damning US Congressional testimony provided by whistleblower and former Facebook product manager, Frances Haugen, detailing a culture of prioritising profit over civil responsibility at the social media giant that fuels societal division and hurts kids and teenagers through its algorithms. Steve and Ben discuss Facebook’s extraordinary week, and whether or not Facebook is capable of reforming its ways to overcome these systemic issues.
Recent metrics out of the UK and US suggest that TikTok is fast encroaching on YouTube’s dominance in the video platform stakes, with its mobile-first, short-form content platform pulling in hundreds of millions of users across the globe, forcing YouTube to start offering its own short-form content option. Steve and Ben discuss the competition between TikTok and YouTube, as well as the longer term impacts on content creation. Steve and Ben also discuss YouTube’s announcement that they will be pulling all anti-vaccination misinformation videos of its platform.
Victoria experienced an extraordinary week of events. With metropolitan Melbourne still in lockdown, ongoing protests that became violent exploded on to the city streets in the past week, and to top it all off, a 5.9 magnitude earthquake was registered at the height of this activity. Steve and Ben examine Victoria’s extraordinary, anxiety-fuelled week, as well as Microsoft’s unveiling of new Surface devices, the announcement by Netflix of a Tiger King sequel, and the creation of coronavirus statistics website, CovidBaseAU, by three industrious teenagers.
Steve and Ben cover a range of topics this week, from Microsoft saying no to Windows On Arm Support on M1 Macs, Apple unveiling its latest iPhones and more at its annual September launch event, the latest Indiana Jones film production being derailed by a virus outbreak that is not COVID related, SpaceX launching a rocket capsule in to Earth Orbit with an all civilian crew, and the UN calling for an immediate halt to the use of facial recognition technology until the impacts on human rights are fully understood from its use.
Faith in the mainstream media is at an all time low, with social media and other alternative platforms providing voices with different narratives on the truth. Steve and Ben examine the impacts of how the centralised mainstream media model is crumbling under the weight of decentralised platforms online, while also discussing the impacts of blockchain technologies as a new system to provide accountability and regulation in a decentralised world, that current centralised institutions set up last century are having trouble managing. Steve and Ben also provide an update on Windows 11 compatibility issues they covered last week with M1 Macs, as well as their reflections on the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
Arguably the biggest podcaster in the world, Joe Rogan, recently announced that he had contracted the coronavirus. Media outlets carrying the story called attention to some of his controversial COVID comments on his podcast, and to his diagnosis and treatment, given the potential impact on his millions of listeners who follow his podcast. Steve and Ben discuss Rogan’s announcement in light of online commentary around COVID. They also discuss ABBA’s virtual reunion concert, Microsoft’s announcement of Windows 11 availability on October 5 and issues with incompatible PCs and virtual machines, as well as the alluring mysteries of black holes, and the amazing work that physicists have done over time to try and understand these mysterious objects in our universe at a deeper level.
Exploding from nowhere as a short term social media phenomenon is the milk crate challenge, where people attempt to walk over scaled milk crates, mostly with mixed success and causing injury. Where and why did this online activity come from and start? Steve and Ben examine the milk crate challenge and attempts by people to up their online view counts. Steve and Ben also discuss the case of the exploding phone battery of a Samsung Galaxy A21 on an Alaska Airlines flight, and they also discuss the increased focus on children being affected in the coronavirus pandemic thanks to the rapid advance of the Delta Variant, which is infecting a lot more children compared to the initial waves of spread of the coronavirus.
Boston Dynamics recently demonstrated its Atlas Robots successfully navigating a parkour obstacle course with remarkable dexterity and fluidity after much trial and effort from its engineers and development team. Is this the beginning of true, fully functional robots that can interact with us just as we do with each other? Steve and Ben examine this remarkable development, as well as Google’s announcement of the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro adopting a high-end smartphone design, and modelling in Australia that is being relied on to open up the country once COVID vaccination rates reach levels as outlined by the Doherty Institute.
The long term effects of having COVID-19 are being studied as more people who have been infected have reported that they are still dealing with symptoms and lingering effects after having had the disease. Studies have focused on the long-term effects on the brain, and while it appears the virus itself does not infect brain cells, the associated inflammatory response does cause longer term problems. Steve and Ben re-examine long COVID, as well as the recent announcement of Canberra and the ACT going in to a seven day lockdown, New Zealand’s recently announced strategy on vaccination and strategy for opening their borders to international travellers, and Samsung’s latest foldable phones, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3.
The Delta Variant is continuing to cause problems in Australia across its three largest states, leading to newly announced national vaccination targets, and a rolling lockdown policy, becoming the established approach to fighting the coronavirus. This has led to new waves of anti-lockdown protests, which have surprising similarities to behaviours that occurred during the Spanish Flu pandemic a century earlier. Steve and Ben examine these similarities and the recently announced vaccination targets. They also cover a letter Ben received in the mail which leverages the anxiety produced by the pandemic as an attempt to convert any receiver of this type of letter to the sender’s ideology.
The Tokyo Olympics have finally commenced after a controversial lead up with most of the Japanese public sharing their angst and protest against running the games in the middle of a global pandemic and rising case numbers in Tokyo. Steve and Ben discuss the Tokyo Olympics, as well as their current experiences in lockdown in both Melbourne and Adelaide. They also discuss the achievement of Wally Funk finally achieving her dream of space travel through Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space trip, as well as a fun story about how clever cockatoos have been observed teaching each other tips and tricks such as opening rubbish bin lids to forage for food.
Australia is once again facing lockdowns to prevent the spread of the delta strain of the coronavirus, with Melbourne entering a snap lockdown to contain an outbreak that spread from Sydney, a city which itself is in a protracted lockdown to prevent its own outbreak. Steve and Ben discuss the recent outbreaks and its impact on almost half the population of Australia, the importance of vaccinations, and the recent chatter about what constitutes herd immunity. Steve and Ben also discuss Richard Branson's trip to space and the seemingly controversial story of his bike ride to the launchpad being faked, as well as a continuing discussion on Microsoft Windows with the tech giant announcing Windows 365 and a new update for Windows 10 in Version 21H2.
The Delta strain of the coronavirus has gained a foothold in New South Wales, particularly in metropolitan areas with numbers continuing to increase despite rapidly increasing lockdown restrictions imposed by the state government. The outbreak, and recent smaller outbreaks in other states in Australia, has reignited issues around complacency, with escalating calls for vaccination rates to be dramatically increased. Steve and Ben examine the fallout of the Delta outbreak in New South Wales, have a discussion around side effects of vaccines and their own experiences, as well as a discussion on how powerful and fast do you really need your computer to be.
Windows 11 is now official, having been announced at Microsoft’s recently streamed even on the future of Windows. Sporting a new look and promising to be the platform for those that want choice and openness, Windows 11 appears to be an attempt to re-focus Microsoft’s perennial operating system for the 2020s. Steve and Ben discuss the interesting new focus for Windows with this latest release. Steve and Ben also discuss the advent of space balloons for space tourism, and Friendlyjordies, a YouTube channel focusing on political content, that recently made headlines when one of its creators was arrested for stalking the Deputy Premier of New South Wales.
Whether intentionally or not, Microsoft’s upcoming late June event that was due to cover the future of its perennial operating system, Windows, was spoiled by a leaked build of what is purported to be Windows 11, featuring a centred icon taskbar and an overhauled visual look. As usual, the internet exploded with conversation about the leak, with many users installing the build and trying it out. Steve and Ben discuss the Windows 11 leaked build, and if a true build, its implications for the future of Windows. Steve and Ben also discuss the appeal of misinformation and fake news, and discuss HBO’s documentary series, Q In To The Storm.
Smartphones, tablets, laptops, and mobile devices in general, have become a ubiquitous part of our lives with many having multiple devices in their tech setups. Having so many mobile devices has necessitated consideration of how to charge them, not only in keeping them charged up to ensure they are functional for daily use, but also to ensure the batteries that power these devices last for as long as possible, both in the daily cycle, and across the lifespan of those batteries. Steve and Ben discuss the best ways to charge your devices and to ensure longevity of the batteries that power them. Steve and Ben also discuss the pervasiveness of sensational content on the internet, and how content creators are incentivised to be more and more sensational, as this is a guaranteed route to attract more eyeballs and the flow on revenue that comes from those viewers.
The state of Victoria in Australia has once again entered lockdown with a new cluster of coronavirus cases spreading through the community following a breach in hotel quarantine. Authorities are concerned as the outbreak involves one of the Indian variants of the virus which is more transmissible. With the state now entering its fourth lockdown in a year, the shift has focused to vaccination strategies and getting shots in to people’s arms as quickly as possible to avoid future possible lockdowns. Steve and Ben discuss the latest coronavirus outbreak in Victoria, as well as the arrival of Apple’s new re-designed, 24-inch iMac, and the impressive performance results it is producing when compared to much more expensive machines.
With the rise of disinformation and the fake news culture, one might be forgiven for believing in the wildly different interpretations and outright lies that are present in our media culture. Given the deep rabbit holes that conspiracy theorists would have us be dragged in to, and the general lack of faith in traditional news media given political biases they have incorporated in to their programming, is it time to switch off the news and social media? Steve and Ben discuss surviving the media landscape in the new decade of the 2020s, how it is here to stay, and how we all have to learn how to deal with it while maintaining a level of rationality and common sense.
With news of debris from a left over Chinese rocket making an uncontrolled re-entry in to the Earth’s atmosphere and Elon Musk’s SpaceX successfully landing one of their re-usable rockets for the first time, the spotlight has shone back on to the race to space in the new century, with a focus on staying out in space by both public and private entities alike, a far cry from last century’s cold war space race whose goal was to compete to simply get in to space in the first place. Steve and Ben discuss the new era’s race to space and how space travel and colonisation may very well be routine by the end of this century.
Joe Biden has now passed 100 days of his presidency, marking the occasion with an address to a socially distanced Congress. Inevitable comparisons to Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office are making the rounds, contrasting Trump’s bombastic, tweet fuelled and noisy start to his Presidency to Biden’s low-key, get on with it in the background, approach. Steve and Ben revisit US politics to discuss this comparison, while also discussing anti-trust action being taken against Apple over airtags and the Find My Network, and two YouTube influencers being deported from Indonesia due to a YouTube video prank that went viral showing them mocking local face mask rules.
Hustle culture has permeated our culture for some time as a way to measure and achieve success in life on financial and stature terms, but at the potential cost of mental health. Should you devote every waking minute of your life to working as hard as possible to achieve financial and material success? Steve and Ben examine this topic, as well as the online discussion around hustle culture, starting with those that promote it is a good thing, and the reaction against it as being toxic to your mental health. Steve and Ben also discuss their impressions and reactions to the products Apple announced at the tech giant’s recent Spring Loaded event, including the new colourful iMacs and the desktop class M1 processor being included in the new iPad Pro.
Although the coronavirus appeared in late 2019, the true global impact of the pandemic it unleashed did not hit until March 2020 where one by one, countries began to lock down in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus. One year later, and with vaccines slowly starting to roll out, the world is still in a period of heightened alert and stasis, anxiously awaiting a time when freedom of movement and activity can be restored to safe levels. Steve and Ben examine the coronavirus pandemic situation one year later, and how all of our lives have changed as a result.
Former US CDC Director, Robert Redfield, in an upcoming interview series for CNN, states his opinion that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus originated in a lab in Wuhan, countering the established narrative that the virus likely jumped from a bat, to an intermediary animal host, and then to humans. The World Health Organisation has labelled this theory as highly unlikely, but does Redfield have substantiated reasoning to back up his opinion on the origins of the virus? Steve and Ben examine Redfield’s claims, as well as look at Ben’s recent purchase of the Keychron K2 Version 2 mechanical keyboard, and a story about NASA ruling at an asteroid impact in this century.
After years of campaigning, and significant further investment, filmmaker Zack Snyder has finally unveiled his highly anticipated and requested cut of Justice League, which is vastly different to the 2017 Joss Whedon version of the film. Providing a unique, high profile example of how the same script can result in two very different films from two very different directors, the Snyder Cut has met higher critical acclaim than the original and is uniquely suited to the world of streaming in terms of its justification for existing at all. Steve and Ben examine this unique Hollywood production and why this occurred. They also discuss Justin Long, from I’m A Mac fame, lending his acting services to Intel to promote Intel’s chips as a counter point to Apple’s M1 chip.
Are we living in a simulation? Many have postulated the theory that our world, and everything we can sense and know around us, is nothing more than an elaborate computer simulation, one that is so detailed and rich, that we are unable to determine that it is simulated. From popular movies to science communicators, simulation theory has pervaded in our culture for some time, but is it a convincing theory? Steve and Ben discuss simulation theory, those who have discussed it, and what their own opinions are on the idea that we are living in a computer-generated dream world.
Outrage culture was once again on fully display with the announcement by Dr Seuss Enterprises that it was pulling six Dr Seuss books from publication due to their racist and insensitive imagery that are no longer appropriate in today’s world, with people taking sides almost immediately to the extreme and blowing the decision out of all proportion. Steve and Ben discuss the reactions to the pulling of these books from publication, as well as Google’s decision to tweak Chromium to remove some features available to other browsers based on the open source platform, and the latest re-usable rocket test from Space X that successfully landed momentarily before exploding.
The coronavirus pandemic has had significant impacts on supply chains around the world, with particular concern currently focused on the production and supply of semiconductors, the chips that form the basis for the vast majority of electronics, computers and systems around the world. The supply chain disruption has forced governments and corporations who rely on them to re-think their strategies in relation to those supply chains and where they are set up with a focus on regional diversification, given they have been so reliant on specific sources up until this point. Steve and Ben discuss the issue of shortages of supply of semiconductor chips, and they also reflect on the lifting of the Facebook news ban in Australia and how the SciTech Culture Facebook page was also blocked when Facebook put the ban in place.
Facebook chose to employ the nuclear option in its response to the Australian Government’s proposed new media code by pulling Australian news off of its platform. The response from the Government and media outlets was immediate, with Facebook receiving widespread backlash at not only doing this, but by inadvertently removing non-related material by mistake. With Google deciding to cut deals with media outlets as an alternative solution, will the Australian Government’s fight with Facebook ever be resolved? Steve and Ben examine Facebook’s actions, and how the world is keenly watching the outcome of this battle for the eventual precedents set and will likely occur in other countries. Steve and Ben also discuss the successful landing of the Mars rover Perseverance.
The UK variant of the coronavirus has caused problems in Melbourne with the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announcing a snap, five-day lockdown for the whole state to stop an outbreak that leaked from hotel quarantine. Do public health measures need to change to deal with variants going forward? Steve and Ben discuss the various coronavirus variants now presenting a challenge to the world and the measures implemented to combat them. They also discuss exciting news in the exploration of space, with probes from three different countries arriving on Mars to further study the red planet, including the examination of potential microbial life on the surface.
Virtual and Augmented Reality has been swirling around in the tech space for many years now, but has not made any significant breakthroughs as mass-market, mainstream products among consumers. With Apple rumoured to be worked on an ultra expensive headset with dual 8K screens for each eye, and a slew of more proof of concept technologies displayed at CES 2021 last month, are these technologies any closer to breaking through? For episode 200 of SciTech Culture, Steve and Ben discuss the status of VR and AR in the world of mobile device technologies, linking back to their very first episode of SciTech Culture from 2014 where they discussed mobile and wearable technologies as that space existed over six years ago.
In a classic David vs Goliath story for the internet age, big Wall Street hedge funds received a rude shock this week when a group of redditors bandied together to fight against the shorting of stock for fledging game retailer Gamestop, with the redditors coming out on top when their combined purchasing activity pushed the stock price to record highs which resulted in big losses by the hedge funds who shorted the stock expecting the price to drop. Steve and Ben discuss this extraordinary story of the little guy pulling one over the financial elite, as well as another ongoing story of the spat between Apple and Facebook over the former’s introduction of ad tracking and blocking functions in iOS.
In the wake of Twitter banning Trump from its platform, with follow-on bans from Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and more, big tech is now back in the spotlight as discussion is now centred on their role in society and what responsibility they have in providing appropriate content moderation on their platforms. Was banning Trump outright, and at this present moment, the right way to do it? How does the reasoning for doing so apply to others who use social media platforms, and who is in the best position to make those decisions? Steve and Ben discuss how social media censorship is an active and fraught discussion at this time. They also touch on Google’s recent threat to withdraw from Australia over proposed changes to media laws, and how Apple’s recent decision to scale back iPhone 12 mini production could mean the small flagship may be a one off product.
The world has finally entered 2021 and seemingly put 2020 in the rearview mirror, or has it? With so many of us wanting to put the previous year behind us, it seems there are still some lingering after-effects from such a tumultuous year that are still present, including the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Donald Trump’s escalating attempts to overturn last November’s presidential election culminating in the Capital Riot and more. Steve and Ben examine the start of 2021, while also covering some tech news with their experiences using the iPhone 12 Pro Max camera and the new M1 MacBook Pro, news of Apple entering the car market and a new 135W charger from Huawei.
The year 2020 will go down in history as a significant one for the modern era thanks in large part to the sweeping coronavirus pandemic which kicked off proper in late February and has caused widespread upheaval to everyone’s lives, from the trivial upending of day to day minutia of life to the very real devastation of sickness and death caused by the spread of the virus. For their final episode of SciTech Culture for the year, Steve and Ben take a long look back at what was an exceptional year in our lives, the topics that were covered, and how looking forward to 2021 will not be the same as previous look forwards from previous years given the uncertainty and unpredictability in our lives at the moment.
The recent coronavirus outbreak on the New South Wales Northern Beaches has reminded everyone in Australia again that the coronavirus is still a present threat in an ongoing pandemic. With Christmas travel plans thrown in to disarray and other states beginning to impose escalating restrictions on travellers entering their states from New South Wales, the public has been reminded to stay vigilant, get tested and to maintain public health measures and advice, even in circumstances where there is an appearance of safety. Steve and Ben discuss the impacts of the new cluster, as well as the latest on vaccines from the United States, and a review of how governments respond in a climate of uncertainty and unpredictability.
Warner Bros. shocked the film industry recently when it announced that its entire 2021 film schedule would simultaneously launch on its streaming service HBO Max for 31 days alongside the standard theatrical release for each tentpole movie. Citing the pandemic as a causal factor in keeping people out of theatres with prospects for big box office grim, Warner Bros. has been criticized severely by its own inhouse talent, such as acclaimed film director Christopher Nolan who vented publicly by saying that filmmakers went to be one night believing they were working for the best studio in the world and woke up the next morning to discover they were working for the worst streaming service. Steve and Ben examine the landmark decision, and how this could be the beginning of a titanic shift for Hollywood film distribution.
In a recent, but limited study, scientists have claimed to successfully reversed ageing in a group of elderly adults using oxygen therapy delivered through hyperbaric chambers. The study claims to show that this therapy successfully shortened telomeres, the holy grail for scientists in their search for preventing biological ageing. Steve and Ben discuss the study, as well as a number of other topics related to human biology including why humans lost all their fur, how artificial intelligence is being used to predict the complex biological process of protein folding, and how a three decade old embryo was successfully used to birth a healthy baby girl via in vitro fertilisation.
The coronavirus pandemic has delivered major impacts to society, shattering norms around how we go about our everyday lives. Will these trends be permanent, temporary, or some combination of both depending on the particular circumstances or activity? Steve and Ben discuss a range of these impacts, including the booming of digital payments and demise of cash, how education and the classroom has changed, the broad adoption of flexible working arrangements for work and the office including how workers are monitored, and to other areas such as the demise of celebrity culture.
The new Apple M1 MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac mini are out in the wild now with reviewers testing all machines out and reporting incredible benchmark results compared to their immediately preceding models, as well as some astonishing comparisons to Apple’s current Pro machines. Steve and Ben continue their discussion of the M1 chip from last week to analyse these results. In other tech news, Microsoft announced its new Pluton processor being made through a support agreement with Intel, AMD and Qualcomm to deliver better security for Windows PCs. Through a support agreement between these chip makers and Microsoft to embed the Pluton in to the chips they make, the promise is to further enhance security beyond their existing TPM security chips and to block attacks like those seen in recent years, such as Spectre and Meltdown, which exposed flaws in the existing design.
Apple held its One More Thing event announcing its first Macs running custom Apple Silicon in the form of a new MacBook Air, Macbook Pro and Mac Mini. Heralding a new era of significantly faster performance, much better battery life, and tighter integration between hardware and software, these news Macs are a leap forward for the platform, with Apple still to release more Mac products in the coming years based on these new custom silicon chips. Steve and Ben examine the first generation of this new Mac hardware and how they have made the Mac platform exciting again in an era where mobile devices such as the iPhone and iPad have taken centre stage for the past decade.
US Election Day has come and gone and it has turned out to be a nail-biter as votes in several crucial key states continued to be counted for several days after the election. With Joe Biden calling for calm as the votes were counted, and Donald Trump making claims of widespread fraud and corruption, the state of anxiety in the United States has reached critical levels with partisanship still a critical issue within the electorate. Steve and Ben revisit their predictions for the election from the previous week through the lens of the aftermath of the election and the results, with commentary on what it all means from the accuracy of the polling to what America has said to the world with the way they voted in the 2020 Presidential election.
Well, the wait is almost over and the verdict on the first term of the Trump Presidency is about to be handed down by the US electorate in the 2020 presidential election. With the memory of the 2016 election still firmly in everyone’s minds, which was an abnormal election cycle due to the unpopularity of the candidates and the errors in poling, the 2020 election is shaping up to be one like no other as well, with two wildly contrasting candidates in Trump and Biden fighting it out for votes, while set against the backdrop of a global pandemic, racial tensions, hyper partisanship and a wildly divided populace. Steve and Ben examine the upcoming 2020 election and make their predictions on who will win.
Standard definition digital video production became affordable for the enthusiasts in the mid-1990s which led to a boom of digital filmmakers entering the field in a more accessible way, but it was limited to enthusiasts as the costs were still astronomical for the mainstream user. Fast forward to today and anyone who owns even a mid-tier smartphone will not only have in-built cameras capable of recording 4K, eight times the resolution of SD, but also the ability to edit, sound-mix and upload straight to the internet for broadcast in 4K, all from the smartphone itself. Steve and Ben discuss the changes in video production capabilities in the past few decades, and how despite all the barriers to high end production to the mainstream user falling away, many content creators are still choosing to splurge on high-end set ups for their podcasts and other productions.
Although arriving a month later than usual due to delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the new iPhones have been announced by Apple in the form of the iPhone 12 series, with four different models being announced in the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Sporting a return to a classic design with flat edges reminiscent of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 5 line, and the inclusion of 5G across the line up, Apple has promised these are the best iPhones, yet again, that they have ever made. Steve and Ben discuss the new iPhone line-up, whether or not they are worth purchasing based on your needs, and their place in the overall Apple ecosystem.
The reality TV show of the Trump Presidency went in to overdrive yet again recently beginning with the first Presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, and continuing with Trump testing positive for the coronavirus. With pundits claiming Trump either dominated his opponent in the debate to debasing the debating medium, to Trump’s double-down response for the cameras that he was in great shape despite contracting the coronavirus, the past two weeks have hit new levels of hysteria across the board as to the state of US politics in 2020. Steve and Ben discuss recent events from the Trump Presidency and how more is likely to occur between now, the election and beyond.
In an era of an abundance of technology and households with multiple screens, it can be a challenge for parents to get their kids to put down their screens and go outside to enjoy some fresh air and play in the yard, or outside with friends. But is it over-use of screen time that is causing potential issues with youth mental health, or is it something else? Steve and Ben examine the management of screen time in the family and how outside time is beneficial for anyone’s overall mental health. They also discuss Apple’s latest announcements of a new iPad Air and Apple Watch, as well as a new underground market for hair dressing during the Stage 4 coronavirus restrictions currently in place in Melbourne.
Work on the coronavirus vaccine trial by Oxford-AstraZeneca was put on hold recently when one of the participants in the trial had a serious adverse reaction to the trial vaccine in testing. Steve and Ben examine this story through the lens of typical vaccine developments and how this is nothing unusual. They also discuss other science topics this week including the upcoming September equinox, Australia signing a deal with Germany for future hydrogen exports, and how Australian barley has potentially nine times more flavour than US barley.
Folding phones were thrust in to the spotlight recently with both Microsoft and Samsung announcing the Surface Duo and Galaxy Fold 2 respectively. Both devices offer very different interpretations of the folding phone form factor and intended use cases, with Microsoft aiming for a dual screen book-like experience, while Samsung double downed its concept of a phone that can also be a tablet when unfolded. Steve and Ben discuss these devices and the possible potential for them in the smartphone world. They also discuss an update on the Australian Government’s proposed media code which has now seen Facebook provide a strong response against it by suggesting they will pull news from its Australian sites.
The Democrats spent four days at the Democratic National Convention pressing their case about how the Trump Presidency has been a disaster for the United States, and that Joe Biden is the man for the moment who will heal the wounds of American society should he win November’s US Presidential Election. After four days of stirring speeches from Democratic leaders of yesteryear, Biden took centre stage and delivered a strong speech to highlight this narrative, but also to dispel notions that he was a bumbling old man who may have issues with his mental health. Steve and Ben discuss the takeaways from this year’s Democratic National Convention, and whether or not Joe Biden has become the man for the moment and has a shot at beating Donald Trump in November. Steve and Ben also discuss the new draft code raised by the Australian Government against Google to force the tech giant to pay for hosting news content.
The coronavirus pandemic has had a dramatic impact on the world, but it has also fed aspects of society that indulge in conspiracy theory thinking with a range of baseless claims being made about the origins and reasons behind the cause of the pandemic. Everything from 5G, to Bill Gates to plots against Donald Trump being raised as the reasons for the pandemic, there is no shortage of misinformation about what has caused the most serious public health issue in generations. Steve and Ben examine the COVID-19 conspiracy theories currently making the rounds, as well as touching on the latest cluster that has developed in New Zealand, a country that had enjoyed 102 days free of the coronavirus but is now scrambling to contain an unexpected outbreak in Auckland.
President Donald Trump sat down with Jonathan Swan from Axios for an unedited interview covering numerous topics from the coronavirus pandemic to the passing of civil rights icon John Lewis. The interview has fast become infamous for the endless memes it has generated of Trump’s comments, but on a more serious level, it has also laid bare Trump’s seeming tone deafness to current events. Steve and Ben examine the interview and how journalist Jonathan Swan may have found a way for all journalists to tackle Trump in the era of fake news. Steve and Ben also discuss Trump’s upcoming 2020 election prospects, with a leading history professor who has correctly predicted each election since 1984 stating that Trump will lose this November.
Big Tech faced the US Congress at an anti-trust hearing, with Apple’s Tim Cook, Google’s Sundar Pichai, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg facing questioning over the behaviour of their companies to corner their respective markets and potentially leading to anti-competitive behaviour and shutting out smaller start-ups and companies from innovation and survival. Big Tech argued in response that they are the engine of the economy and have provided huge benefits to people and society. Steve and Ben examine the conversation around big tech’s behaviour, position, size and impact on society, as well as revisiting Microsoft’s own anti-trust experience back at the turn of the century.
The coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating effect on cinemas given they have been forced to close for health and safety concerns to prevent the spread of the virus. Streaming services have boomed during the pandemic as people have been in lockdown, which has led to the thought that the public will no longer desire, or feel comfortable watching movies in public arenas such as cinemas once the pandemic has passed. Exacerbating the issue is Hollywood’s accelerated examination of bypassing cinema chains entirely for straight to streaming releases, thus cutting out the fees they would have to pay them for traditional releases. Steve and Ben examine the future of cinema and whether or not the industry will recover, especially in light of so many big releases being pushed back as much as a year.
Japan's Fugaku supercomputer recently claimed the top spot in the TOP500 list of supercomputers as the world’s most powerful computer. With USA and China locked in a battle for dominance in this field, Japan’s recent success with the Fugaku came from left field and is yet another example of the raw power this technology yields at 415 petaflops running a custom ARM chip, and has been put to work fighting the coronavirus. Steve and Ben discuss the Fugaku and supercomputers, as well as discussing the latest updates on the fight to suppress the coronavirus in Australia, and specifically the state of Victoria.
After an initial cluster of outbreaks followed by localised lockdowns, the whole of metropolitan Melbourne has returned to Stage 3 restrictions as coronavirus case numbers continued to increase on a daily basis. With the vast majority of people doing the right thing, but with still examples of people flouting the rules in some clear areas, the hope is that the current six week lockdown will drive coronavirus numbers down and return Melbourne back to a safe state. Steve and Ben discuss the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak in Melbourne and Australia, as well as a new COVID-19 drug treatment recently approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration. They also touch on a cognitive test recently taken by US President Donald Trump who is proud of the results even though the White House refuses to release them.
Australia’s second largest state, Victoria, had the toughest lockdowns in the country to combat the coronavirus, but recently, it has seen a new upsurge in cases that has taken everyone by surprise and has reinforced the message that apparent success breads complacency which leads to negative outcomes. With the state’s premier Daniel Andrews ordering the lockdown of affected suburbs in an attempt to keep numbers under control, many Victorians are going back to Stage 3 restriction life, with police effectively ring-fencing affected suburbs. Steve and Ben discuss the latest on the coronavirus pandemic in Australia, as well as taking a look at the latest updates from America where the largest one-day total of confirmed cases was recorded, and in states previously thought to only have had mild outbreaks.
After years of speculation, Apple has announced that it will begin a two year transition for the Macintosh away from Intel based chips to its own inhouse, custom-built Apple Silicon chips, a move that will unify all of their platforms, mobile and desktop, under the same architecture. The move will allow apps across Apple’s entire ecosystem to run on any device, while still providing high end performance that pro users expect from their Macs. Steve and Ben discuss Apple’s plan to move to their own SoCs for the Mac and the implications for their ecosystem.
One of the biggest podcasters in the world, Joe Rogan, recently made headlines by announcing he had reached an exclusive licensing deal with Spotify to make his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, only available on that platform. This decision set off a range of reactions, with concerns raised that this deal could potentially set a precedent of big money infiltrating a medium that has traditionally been the last free bastion for content creators to control their product, and potentially leading to a tiered class system for podcasts. Is this the case? Steve and Ben examine the issue of podcasts being licensed or bought by corporations, as well as an overview of the importance of decluttering your digital lifestyle.
The death of George Floyd in Minnesota at the hands of police officer Derek Chauvin has become the catalyst for widespread protesting across all fifty states in America about police brutality and targeting of African Americans, including in many case, their deaths at the hands of police. There has also been rioting and looting in the streets, which combined with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, has led to scenes of violence, tragedy, further police brutality and seemingly apocalyptic scenes one might expect from a dystopian piece of science fiction. Steve and Ben discuss the current State of America, and how one tragic event lit the spark of protest by the public against the various inequities that are still at the heart of American society.
After the past three years of President Donald Trump using Twitter as a means to broadcast his populist and often misleading messaging, Twitter has now responded by adding fact-check guidance links and other disclaimers to Trump’s most recent tweets advising users of their misleading content. In the most recent case, Twitter hid one of Trump’s tweets they said violated their new Civic Integrity Policy. Steve and Ben discuss Twitter’s latest actions and Trump’s subsequent Executive Order to retaliate against Twitter, while also discussing how this all affects the balance between free speech and responsibility in an age where truth and fact do not seem to resonate any more with the voting public.
The scope of the coronavirus pandemic is most felt in the United States with the global superpower far exceeding all our countries in terms of positive cases and overall deaths. Partisan politics, blame games and escalating rhetoric over the handling of the crisis has been a feature of the US response, with President Trump himself adding fuel to the fire with comments about bleach and ultraviolet light as a treatment, and recently, a quizzical description of himself being tested as positively towards negative which could be seen as done in sarcastically poor taste given the current situation. Steve and Ben discuss the latest happenings in the US and how the pandemic seems to have exacerbated divisions within their country. In tech news, they discuss reports of Apple Glass coming to the Apple line-up of products, as well as the delayed merger of Skype in to Microsoft Teams.
With the gradual easing of restrictions in Australia, and other parts of the world, people are facing the issue of how to consciously navigate life after lockdown. Yes, we can gather in slightly larger groups and eat out as long as social distancing is followed, but does this mean that this process will be easy or comfortable psychologically when we know the coronavirus is still out there? Steve and Ben examine the strange, new world we now face as we begin to intermingle again as a broader society, including the very real possibility that should the coronavirus flare up in the form of a second wave of cases and clusters in the community, we may all be heading right back in to lockdown to fight its spread.
One of the lesser reported aspects of the novel coronavirus is that it has already been mutating as it spreads around the globe. The NextStrain website has a detailed graphic providing an overview of this as the virus has travelled to different countries, while some researchers has reported that the virus mutated to a second strain some time in January which may potentially undermine immunity in those who gained the infection by the original strain. Steve and Ben examine the path of the virus based on this reporting, as well as coverage of the Australian Government’s recent announcement of a three step plan to return to normal life with a gradual reopening of the economy.
The Australian Government launched its new COVIDSafe app this week, encouraging the public to download it as soon as possible to enable accurate and efficient contact tracing for the coronavirus, likening it to putting on sunscreen when going to the beach on a sunny day. Millions of Australians have downloaded the app, while many others have expressed concerns around privacy and the issues of Government tracking citizens. Steve and Ben examine the new app and the discussion it has generated, as well as other pandemic technology such as drones being used to check temperatures of vast groups of people in public spaces. They also discuss the issue of consumer wastage in the coronavirus era following the wave of panic buying in recent months, and Ben discusses his experiences using LumaFusion on the iPad Pro to edit a SciTech Culture episode.
As the number of coronavirus cases and deaths soars in the United States, President Donald Trump has recently taken his signature argumentative style to a new level with the press, with very long press briefings designed to combat the media with familiar sound bites of fake news and hoax rhetoric while at the same time deflecting attention away from any criticism he and his administration are receiving on their response to the coronavirus pandemic so far. Steve and Ben examine Trump’s recent performances at the podium and how not even a global pandemic was enough to stop the toxic bipartisanship still playing at the heart of American politics.
The strong message from Governments during the Easter break has been to urge everyone to stay in their homes while the coronavirus pandemic is still a real health emergency, particularly as there is a concern that people will still flout the social distancing rules despite the risks. At the same time, there are signs of the curve flattening with some case numbers dropping in various locales around the globe. Collective thoughts have now turned to the post-coronavirus environment and what that will look given the level of disruption the virus has caused to society. Steve and Ben examine the potential issues for the short term future, particularly until a working vaccine is produced and made readily available. They also discuss post-producing videos on the iPad, now with cursor support, while using the only viable iOS app capable of an efficient workflow to rival desktop equivalent software, LumaFusion.
With various shutdowns of various degrees now being employed in most Western countries around the world to combat the spread of the coronavirus, the intention on those restrictions on daily life is to flatten the curve or slow the spread of the virus. In Australia, there are early signs the curve may be flattening after the federal and state government introduced strong restrictions which essentially limit people’s activity to staying at home and only going out where it is essential. Steve and Ben discuss the flattening of the curve and how living under effective stage 3 lockdowns has become the new norm, as well as a line of commentary beginning to emerge that there is a danger our civil liberties could be violated if these restrictions are not completely wound back when the current crisis is over.
The Coronavirus Pandemic has now started to wreak havoc throughout the Western world with multiple countries announcing various draconian measures from shutdowns of non-essential parts of the economy to complete lockdowns where citizens are being instructed to stay at home and only to leave to get basic supplies. Australia and New Zealand are a study in contrasts in terms of approach, with the former undertaking a staged shutdown of the economy while the latter has enforced a full lockdown. With both options having their own pros and cons, will either turn out to be the right approach? Or is it a case of the right approach for the right situation? Steve and Ben delve deeper in to the ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic and its implication for the world, but also take the time to touch on the release of the new iPad Pro, MacBook Air and the release of iOS 13.4 with cursor support.
The impacts of the Coronavirus Pandemic are starting to impact the daily lives of billions around the globe as governments begin to slowly shut or lock down their respective jurisdictions in an attempt to slow down the spread of the virus. With numbers jumping at an alarming rate from day to day, more drastic measures are required to combat the spread of COVID-19, and as a community, whether at the local, state, national or global level, we all need to pull together and do our part to protect our collective health and well being through social distancing, practicing good hygiene, and not engaging in activities that contravene these measures. Steve and Ben examine the containment measures starting to be implemented to stop the spread of coronavirus, as well as the community response to it and how our daily lives are likely to never be the same once we get through this unprecedented event in recent modern history.
The Coronavirus Pandemic is causing significant disruptions and impacts across the world with Western countries beginning to restrict or lockdown their borders, enforce tough restrictions on daily life by banning mass gatherings, and encouraging social distancing to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. Unfortunately, this situation is exposing the selfish underbelly of a certain portion of the population who are panic buying essential items at the expense of others, and not showing courtesy and respect to their fellow citizens. Steve and Ben examine the growing public hysteria caused by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Coming off a strong victory in the South Carolina primary, former Vice President Joe Biden was able to parlay this success in to a commanding performance on Super Tuesday where in one day he wrestled away Democratic nomination front runner status from rival Bernie Sanders while simultaneously consolidating the moderate vote behind his campaign. Can Bernie come back? Steve and Ben examine the latest on the race for the Democratic nomination, as well as the latest developments on the spread of the coronavirus, the jump in numbers across a number of countries, and the various responses to try and contain the virus before the spread becomes worse.
Michael Bloomberg finally took to the debate stage for the first time in Nevada in the Democratic Primary Race and by all accounts his performance was disappointing, with his opponents on the debate stage attacking him mercilessly throughout the debate on his stop and frisk record, as well as charges of inappropriate behaviour towards women and NDAs in place as highlighted by Elizabeth Warren. Steve and Ben discuss Bloomberg’s trajectory and how Bernie Sanders is now in the box seat to take the nomination. They also discuss the future of smartphones, whether or not they can get any smarter, and how the next device to replace the smartphone may not be a device at all but a collection of ancillary devices that as a group all become smarter to create an improved user experience.
Trends in tech for 2020 and the decade to come look exciting and interesting on multiple fronts. Microsoft is working on the next generation of its operating system with Windows 10X, Apple is attempting to re-steer the ship back in to a strategy that makes sense for its product line and customers, Samsung releases a multitude of new smartphones with high price tags to match, while future trends revolving around tech security, 5G networks and artificial intelligence to name a few promise a progression to the next level that science fiction could have only dreamed of. Steve and Ben examine the tech trends for the coming year and decade while reflecting on the ubiquitous nature of technology in our current day to day lives.
American politics had a spectacular week to kick off the month of February with President Trump being acquitted in his impeachment trial shortly after his reality TV show performance at the State of the Union address. Meanwhile, the Democrats handed the Republicans a hand grenade to use against them in the coming election cycle with the debacle of the voting systems in the Iowa Caucuses failing to produce results as they should have due to the implementation of ill-advised and poorly tested technology that was potentially unnecessary given the live debate over the integrity of elections in the US political system. Steve and Ben examine this landmark week in American politics and what it says for the remainder of 2020 and the lead up to the US Presidential Election in November.
The novel coronavirus has caused widespread concern throughout the world since it first spread out from Wuhan in China in late 2019. With approximately ten thousand people infected so far, the majority of which are in China, health authorities are working diligently to try and isolate and contain the virus to stop it from spreading, including quarantine lockdowns of the cities in China that are at the epicentre of the outbreak. This outbreak has led to widespread coverage and is having impacts on everything from tourism to diplomatic relations, particularly between China and the rest of the world. Steve and Ben examine the story of the outbreak of this virus, as well as the various reactions to it in the media, the authorities and the public.
Australia ended 2019 and opened 2020 experiencing one of the earliest and deadliest bushfire seasons on record. With reports of over 12 million acres having burned, a billion animals being killed as well as widespread destruction and the generation of the worst air quality in the world, the current Australian bushfires have reignited the debate, if there ever was one, on the imperatives of dealing with climate change and how such a seemingly obscure topic that many still do not take seriously is having a very real impact on the lives and environment of a nation. Steve and Ben discuss the recent bushfire crisis and its potential implications in relation to climate change, and they also discuss Microsoft's new version of Edge based on Chromium.
Welcome to 2020! President Donald Trump kicks off the year with a surgical strike taking out General Soleimani, Iran’s top military official, and Iran struck back at American sites in Iraq. Thankfully the crisis has now been averted thanks to Trump deciding to enforce economic sanctions rather than pursuing further military retaliation, but it proved to be an explosive start to Season 4 of the Trump Presidency following the cliffhanger ending of Season 3 with Trump’s impeachment in the House. Steve and Ben discuss the latest in Trump world, as well as an intriguing story about Israel’s food tech scene experimenting with insects and computer designed sweeteners in an attempt to solve the medium term problem of how to feed the world’s population as its projected to hit ten billion by 2050.
2019 has been quite the year. Steve and Ben recap the topics they covered in this tumultuous year including Donald Trump’s continually escalating outlandishness while being the US President culminating with his impeachment, Apple saying goodbye to Jony Ive and re-embracing their pro roots, how social media has changed the substance of conversation and everyday behaviour, and how technology has changed the way we behave and go about our daily lives. Steve and Ben also spend some time reviewing the latest movie in the Star Wars sage, The Rise Of Skywalker.
Apple has finally announced pre-orders for its new Mac Pro, the machine intended to address criticisms from the Pro market that Apple had forgotten its core constituency in recent years in favour of the mass market, but it comes at an extremely hefty price tag and is definitely not for the average person in the street looking for a computer. Steve and Ben discuss the expense of the new Mac Pro and a brief history of Apple pricing from their perspectives of buying and using Apple products over the years. They also discuss the recent news of a Pac-Man satellite that has been designed to address the issue of the vast multitude of space junk in Earth’s orbit that humans have placed there over the past seventy years, with a unique method of gobbling up that space junk in order to make space in low-Earth orbit safer to travel through.
The online world is a haven for anonymous creatives who may want to express their talents without necessarily gaining specific personal recognition for their efforts, aside from positive reinforcement and feedback from the online community. Steve and Ben examine the world of anonymous online creative expression, discussing the user and subreddits related to the user Poem For Your Sprog who responds to questions and comments online in the form of exquisite poetry.
Life in space has been a practical consideration for scientists since the 1960s, with popular culture focusing on the more sensational aspects of life in space such as the incredible vistas, the apparent fun of zero gravity situations, and the sensational and riveting dangers of life off this planet. But what about the mundane? A recent news story regarding toilets on the International Space Station failing and the contingency plans and complexities for astronauts to take care of their business during the repair work, it is important to also remember that much thought has been dedicated to taking care of all the day-to-day aspects of life in outer space that has not been as widely discussed. Steve and Ben examine the mundane of life in outer space and how it can be just as significant as dealing with the dangers of such a hostile environment.
Nicotine has historically, and still to do this, been associated with smoking, cigarettes and now e-cigarettes and vaping. The association has led it to be linked with the harmful effects on health of smoking in the minds of the public, but is nicotine on its own really as harmful as the consumable products it has been used with? Steve and Ben examine nicotine and its effects on the human brain and body, and whether or not the substance has been given a fair or unfair wrap given its uses over time.
The Joker is arguably the most celebrated and infamous comic book villain, if not outright villain, in all entertainment history, with the character attracting some serious acting talent to portray him cinematically from Jack Nicholson, to Heath Ledger and now to Joaquin Phoenix whose current portrayal in the film Joker has been lauded as brilliant and the film itself a masterpiece. The film has also courted controversy amid its themes of lone wolf violence associated with mental illness, and the overall dire statement of the corruption of society that the film leaves the audience with as they exit the cinema. Steve and Ben examine Joker and its current impact on the world, and discuss the film against the age-old debate of whether or not a film can actually inspire the right type of person to follow the ideas it presents in the real world.
The coming of mobile technology and the internet in the form of smartphones and social media held the underpinnings of a new age of connecting all of us across the globe, yet instead we are finding ourselves more and more disconnected from each other than ever before on a human-to-human level. We might be able to tweet our favourite celebrities and world leaders directly, technology has encouraged us to indulge in picking up our phones and communicating through likes and messaging rather meeting people face to face and investing in relationships with other people. Steve and Ben discuss the impacts of technology on human interaction.
In a fake news environment, where is on to source reliable, unbiased news? The rise of community driven sites such as Reddit have established a new environment in which to consume news, with the argument growing stronger that these community driven sites are more dynamic and responsive in terms of engaging and debating the news, and often being ahead in delivering the news in progress over traditional news outlets which are continuing to struggle under the existing business model in the modern, digital world in which we live. Steve and Ben examine Reddit as an example of this new type of news delivery, as well as touching on specific news stories covered in it from the recent mass shootings in the United States and Trump’s recent hospital visit where he chose to discuss his inauguration crowd size while visiting victims of the El Paso mass shooting.
With the widespread expansion of messaging functions and apps on mobile devices over the internet, and the subsequent decision of telcos to make messaging on their own services free, the use case for old school email as a personal communication tool has dwindled to the point of non-existence. And it has only taken a decade to reach this point, particularly as in the 2000s, email was still the primary and free method to stay in contact. Steve and Ben examine how communications technology has changed over the past decade and how the options available now have enhanced and changed our own behaviours in terms of how we communicate with each other, even in the professional space where email still plays a role as a way of keeping official records on business undertaken at work.
Do you know your personality type? The Myers-Briggs Personality Test is one of the better known tests which will allocate you one of 16 personality type after you take a 40 question survey designed to cover multiple aspects of your behaviours and preferences and then determine the various shades of your personality within the type you have been allocated. Do tests like these have any merit or is just a con? Steve and Ben examine personality testing, as well as the potential future of this testing including artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Jony Ive is as synonymous with Apple’s success since the late 90s as Steve Jobs as chief designer of the products Apple has become famous for in recent decades from the original iMac, to the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. With Steve Jobs passing away in 2011, and Apple’s products become more evolutionary than revolutionary, the time has now come for Jony Ive to move on, but not too far with his new startup signing up Apple as its first customer. Steve and Ben discuss this momentous retirement in Apple history, and what Jony Ive’s departure will mean for Apple moving forward without its iconic designer.
Yet another big week in Trump world with the fallout from the release of the Mueller Report seemingly becoming louder and worse for Donald Trump. His attorney-general William Barr has been charged with contempt by the Democrats in the House of Representatives, the White House exerting executive priviledge over the Mueller Report, the New York times reported that Trump lost 1.17 billion dollars during his business hey-days of the late 80s and 90s, a group of 800 strong attorneys signing an open letter that Trump would have been indicted on obstruction if he were not present, and a renewed push by Democrats and others to obtain his tax returns. Surging crisis, or just another week of the Trump Presidency? Steve and Ben examine the latest developments in Trump World from this past week.
The recent announcement of the Star Wars Episode IX title, The Rise Of Skywalker, caused ripples of delight through Star Wars fandom, particularly with the enigmatic trailer suggesting an unexpected return by Emperor Palpatine in some capacity as his signature cackle closed out the exclusive preview. With Disney CEO Bob Iger stating that the Star Wars franchise will be taking a break to plan and re-group following the release of the final film in the sequel trilogy, much debate has occurred online around the notion that Disney and Lucasfilm CEO Kathleen Kennedy have mis-managed the franchise by not having a plan in place when Star Wars creator George Lucas sold the franchise to Disney, particularly with the fallout on the previous film The Last Jedi. Is there merit to this claim? Steve and Ben discuss the Star Wars franchise as it exists under Disney, the fandom, and whether or not we should be expecting anything at all given the franchise has gone well beyond Lucas’ original Star Wars outline.
An entire sub-industry has developed on the Chinese social media landscape in the form of praise groups, where Chinese netizens can pay others to give them compliments and likes online, costing anywhere from one to thirty dollars depending on the praise service required. Praise groups are particularly popular with university students who are facing immense pressure and stress and need some relief and positivity in their lives. Although the long term positive psychological effect is questionable, the rise of such a business is a peculiar scenario in the online world that is proving to be a great money-maker. Steve and Ben examine the phenomenon of praise groups, as well as recapping Facebook’s continuing woes and asking the general question whether the social media giant still has its act together.
Apple has announced it’s first event for 2019, set for 25th March. The event is expected to focus on announcements relating to new television and news subscription offerrings, building off of Apple Music, as well as the possible introduction of new hardware in the form of new iPads, iPods and in particular, a refreshed iPad Mini which has been long clamoured for by customers but has not been refreshed since 2014. Steve and Ben examine the potential impact of Apple’s entry in to media and streaming subscription services, and the current, fragmented state of streaming services in general.
Humanity has only been alive and kicking for a very brief period in the history of the Earth and a tiny fraction of the history of the Universe. Given this, is it possible that advanced civilisations existed on Earth prior to our arrival, but that they were so long ago that all evidence of their existence has disappeared? Will this fate befall humanity in the future? And regardless of either scenario, is the rise of intelligent life on Earth a way for the Universe to understand itself? Steve and Ben examine the concept of past advanced civilisations and how it may give a glimpse in to our own existence and fate.
With Democrats jumping in early to stake their claim as the next Democratic candidate for President of the United States, Donald Trump is reportedly reviewing his potential rivals and salivating at the thought of jumping in to a new campaign where he can do what he does best, attack his opponents, sow division and cause chaos, with himself appearing to rise above it all as the guy that can still fix it. This is all against a backdrop of further bad news for Trump in the Mueller probe with Roger Stone being indicted and causing a ruckus all on his own by seeming to suggest a violent end for the judge in his trial via a social media post. Steve and Ben examine the latest developments with Donald Trump, the Democratic field of presidential candidates and his latest battles with the Mueller probe, as well as the latest news from across the pond in the UK where that country is careening towards a no-Brexit deal and there appears to be nothing that anyone can do to stop it.
Jussie Smollett made headlines recently for being the victim of an alleged hate crime when it was reported he was bashed by two assailants due to his sexual orientation. It has now transpired that the whole incident was an alleged hoax organised by Smollett himself, involving his payment by cheque to two Nigerian brothers to make it happen according to his instructions according to evidence collated by the Chicago Police Department. Much has been said about how the media and broader culture has reacted to this story, both when it was being treated as a real hate crime and then when it was revealed to be a hoax. Steve and Ben examine the incident and subsequent media follow up, including what it says about the current state of our culture and its reactions to such incidents.
The third season of the Trump Presidency kicked off with a big in 2019 with Trump forcing a government shutdown over Congress’ refusal to give him money for his core campaign promise of building the Border Wall, despite the fact that the original promise involved Mexico paying for it. With many government workers facing financial crises of their own due to not being paid, Congressional Democrats not budging an inch on the Border Wall and the Republicans refusing to bring on further votes because their leader will likewise not budge on a deal, the American Government is now at a stand still with no end in sight. Steve and Ben continue their coverage of the Trump Presidency and what this latest episode may mean in an historical context.
CES, or the Consumer Electronics Show, returned for another year in January. The 2019 edition saw a resurgence of the humble laptop with a general excitement being generated for a number of models, but it also saw the usual crazy and out there prototypes that generate headlines but are not likely to see the light of the day in the marketplace. Steve and Ben discuss CES 2019 and the various new technologies and gadgets that were debuted at the show in Las Vegas.
For years we have been told through fact and fiction that future was coming, but what if it is already here? With the democratization of technology, finding its way in to the hands of more and more people around the world, connecting us in ways that we never imagined possible before, have we already arrived at the future that was so often discussed in discourses from previous decades? Steve and Ben wrap up 2018 discussing the possibility that the future that we have all been imagining may in fact already be here.
Steve and Ben discuss a range of tech topics in this episode of SciTech Culture including a review of the 2018 MacBook Pro which has become Ben’s main podcasting machine, the controversy surrounding the arrest of one of Huawei’s topic executives in Canada, an exploration of Facebook’s monetization practices as it pertains to whitelisting and blacklisting favoured or unfavoured companies, as well as the future of email and whether or not it will become extinct any time soon.
The Trump Reality Show kicked itself in to an even higher gear with the Michael Cohen case hitting the headlines again, this time putting the heat on Donald Trump and his entourage and the Special Counsel Robert Mueller putting more pieces on the board to build his case against any wrongdoings from the 2016 Presidential Campaign. Steve and Ben weigh in on Trump World again, as well as covering the local Victorian State Election and the potential generational wipeout faced by Australian Liberal Party, scientists witnessing a spectacular supernova explosion that crossed two stars, and Microsoft becoming more valuable than Apple again, albeit briefly, making the headlines.
From Trump’s erratic behaviour to the Democratic Blue Wave that occurred during the midterm elections, to the re-emergence of Brexit in to the headlines, as well as Facebook’s PR troubles and questionable corporate behavior, and everyone questioning Apple’s sales figures and health, it’s been a big month of news stories that have been recurring all year. Steve and Ben discuss all of these topics and more in this episode in an attempt to understand if any progress or real changes have occurred in the progress of these news stories compared to earlier in 2018.
Belonging in the category of it being impossible to make this stuff up, the latest episode of the Trump Presidency went to brand new, insane territory this week when rapper and fervent Trump supporter Kanye West met with Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House. Kanye spoke uninterrupted for sections at a time with a smiling and nodding Donald Trump looking on, and before a packed scrum of media eager to capture this spectacle for their respective organisations, all the while ignoring Hurricane Michael causing untold devastation on the people of Florida, with Mexico Beach taking the brunt of the storm. Steve and Ben discuss the latest example of the Trump administration jumping the shark and asks the question again, what is it going to take before the collective consciousness of the American public decide to call time on all this behavior and nonsense. And for Kanye, was it really a good idea for him to be played so badly in front of the cameras and the world?
Is your morning wake-up ritual of coffee making you fat? For those that partake in the dark brown liquid as a daily wake up routine, gaining unexpected and unwanted calories may be part of the bargain as it could be messing with your taste buds. Aside from adding too many additional calories to coffee such as milk, sugar and other sweet additivies, there is a colloquial urge to reach for more food after drinking coffee, particularly sweet treats. Challenging the popular notion that caffeine restricts appetite when it in fact may be doing the exact opposite, is it possible to drink coffee and resist the urge to over-eat? Steve and Ben re-visit the coffee conundrum, and also examine the countless conflicting advice given by many a pundit on the internet, including themselves!
Many a creative individual have attested to the use of psychedelics to enhance their creativity, often claiming that their best work was achieved while under the influence. There also claims by users of how the beneficial effects of psychedelics on mood, attitude and thought in their daily lives, but how true is this from a scientific perspective? Steve and Ben discuss the mind-bending nature of psychedelic drugs and their effect on the mind, creative pursuits and general well being, particularly in contrast to others who treat it more as a blight on wider society.
Apple has released its new slate of iPhones, replacing the iPhone X with three new X phones in the line up with the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR. Along with the new phones is a bump in the pricing, with the iPhone XS Max in particular setting a new benchmark for how much a smartphone should cost. The iPhone XR was a surprise in the line-up and may end up being the volume model that most people will choose given its combination of lower pricing with the iPhone X level experience. Steve and Ben discuss the latest iPhones, their cost, and Apple’s challenges with branding their flagship product.
Its September, which means it’s time for Apple’s yearly iPhone event. With the iPhone X lineup to be updated and expanded to include a revised iPhone Xs, the introduction of the iPhone Xc or Xr, depending on the latest rumour, and the larger iPhone Xs Max, this year’s offerings will offer more on Apple’s drive to remove as much complexity from the device as possible to deliver an all screen experience. With the rumours of new iPads featuring a similar design, a slimmer Apple Watch, and possibly more Macs on the way, Apple is poised to make a lot of money in the latter half of 2018 with these products. Steve and Ben give a quick preview of the 2018 iPhone event and reflect on how their own requirements for tech have changed over the years, with the advent of the smartphone becoming a PC replacement.
Just when you thought it could not get any crazier, along comes another set of events that has sent the Trump Administration straight in to Crazy Town. Beginning with John McCain’s funeral and Trump’s no show, Bob Woodward’s new book Fear which details how the inside of the Trump White House is a case of welcome to Crazy Town, to the anonymous New York Times Op Ed piece which singularly takes aim at Trump from inside the White House, and how some supposed insiders are keeping the United States and the world safe from Trump’s worst impulses. Steve and Ben analyse the latest from Trump World with an eye to how all of this activity is irrevocably changing US politics and its impact on the world.
Trump World keeps delivering on all counts and is showing no signs of slowing down on its controversy, intrigue, and downright craziness. Space Force 2020, Michael Avenatti considering a presidential run, Paul Manafort on trial for bank fraud and tales of extravagant spending, Rick Gates stealing from Manafort while working for him and inching closer to the White House, Robert Mueller going after Roger Stone, and the White House finally giving up on explaining Trump’s tweets. This week’s episode has it all! Steve and Ben discuss the latest happenings from Trump World with a continued sense of disbelief, and the fact that just when you think they have jumped the shark, these cast of characters always somehow manage to top it.
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. And so it follows that a new movement of long form discussion through podcasting has begun to capture the minds of many people on the internet as a reaction to the sound-bite social media culture led by Twitter that has taken a hold of mainstream news and media outlets as they compete to get ahead of each other in the news cycle. Steve and Ben examine how new technology is enabling longer form discussion on deep-dive topics that engage our minds and souls, and how this shift to a different medium could very well end up being disruptive for existing media outlets, but also for new mediums such as Twitter which is continuing to deal with the unintended consequences of an abusive online trolling culture that has surfaced on the platform in recent years.
In today’s ever polarising world, it’s harder than ever to have a civilized discussion with a person who may not agree with everything you say. With technology enabling the tribalisation of specific like-minded groups who reinforce their own beliefs, are we rapidly approaching the point where we can never find common ground with each other? Steve and Ben examine the disturbing trends of tribal behavior and identity politics, and how what we all really need to do is to start listening to each other instead of refusing to hear what others have to say and believe.
YouTube has provided a platform for anyone to become a star while circumventing the traditional means to get there. One group of these new stars are the intellectuals, a group of very smart people who spend their time mounting intelligent discussions and debates for the public discourse, and who had previously only been confined to institutions such as universities, or if successful, have written books or gone on speaking tours. Jordan Peterson is the exemplar of these new YouTube intellectuals who have found a huge audience online that they otherwise would never have gained at University, but likewise, have also courted controversy. Steve and Ben examine intellectuals and their discussions in the YouTube and social media era, how they debate and argue with each other, and whether or not they are more evangelical in their pursuit of their own arguments than they are likely to admit.
For many years now, a tension has existed in the software development world between propriety apps and browser-based apps for the creation and execution of content and services for the end user. Steve Jobs famously attempted to go with the web apps option for the original release of the iPhone before reversing course with the second generation iPhone by introducing a proprietary App Store and allowing third-party developers to create apps specific to the iPhone platform. Which system serves the end user best, and would the big tech companies ever veer away from proprietary apps given this approach yields better economic results? Steve and Ben examine propriety versus browser apps, including their own use cases such as their experiences of using Skype versus WebRTC to create their podcasts.
Just when you thought the President Trump reality show could not get any more sensational, along comes another bombshell with Trump’s new lawyer and former New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani, revealing that Trump knew about the hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels and that he reimbursed that payment to his fixer, Michael Cohen. With their stories flip-flopping all over the place, a genuine question how now arisen around whether or not Trump realises that his brash, media savvy tactics, that served him so well in the past, may actually be giving federal prosecutors exactly what they need to use against Trump when they are ready to bring indictments to the court. Steve and Ben examine the latest level of crazy in Trump world, as well as cover the potential for Trump’s tweets to be used against him from defamation and other legal perspectives.
Billionaire and tech visionary Elon Musk has been quoted as saying that if you are in a meeting and it’s turning out to be a waste of time, you should just walk out. For anyone working in big organisations, and for those set in office environments in particular, we have all attended meetings that have not been a good use of our time, but what is the best way to handle such an occurrence? Should we listen to Elon and walk out of a useless meeting, or should we speak up at the meeting and point the issue out? Steve and Ben examine Elon Musk’s opinion about how to handle bad work meetings, and speak to their own experiences working in large organisations that can have these issues.
Two fascinating announcements from Microsoft recently have the potential to re-shape everything we know about Microsoft and its future direction, including the cornerstone of its success, Windows. With the head of Windows, Terry Myerson, leaving the company leading to a re-structure that sees Windows not have a direct head, and the announcement of a new linux-based operating system for internet-of-things devices called Azure Sphere, Microsoft appears to be demoting the importance of its titanic operating system in Windows. Steve and Ben examine both of these stories in the context of a world where Microsoft is changing to stay relevant, and that the company’s biggest success, Microsoft Windows, may ironically become one of its least important products.
Facebook is facing its greatest scrutiny yet following the story of Cambridge Analytica harvesting the personal data of millions of Facebook users, with the social media giant seemingly unable or unwilling to appropriately address this type of problem within its own framework of algorithms. Mark Zuckerberg testified in front of US congress as a show of faith that he was personally looking in to the problem, but can he be trusted? Steve and Ben examine the latest problems that Facebook has to deal with, including the fundamental question of whether or not the business model it was founded on actually works in an environment where it is beholden to stockholders.
The news cycle under Donald Trump’s presidency has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride, but the multiple revelations and stories that appeared over the past week seems to have turbo-charged that ride to the extreme. Between James Comey’s tell-all book and interview, the stunning raid of the offices and residences of Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen, to the ongoing saga of pornstar Stormy Daniels’ hush money agreement, the early announcement of Paul Ryan’s retirement, all of which are a backdrop to the bombing of Syria in response to a chemical weapons attack, there is more packed in this week than a normal presidency would spread out over a year. Steve and Ben examine the latest from Trump-land, and ask the question, what is going to cause the manic fever of the Trump presidency to finally break?
With the increasing amount of smart and mobile devices we are adding in to our daily lives, have you ever wondered if those devices could be used against you in some way, particularly in the form of a court proceeding? There is much myth and conjecture about what today’s devices are capable of recording about us, but it must be tempered with the notion that this type of potential surveillance is nothing new, and in fact, may not even be as technically sophisticated as conspiracy theorists would have you believe. Steve and Ben examine how our smart devices catalogue certain actions we take when we interact with them, and discuss whether or not there are any serious implications involved.
Stephen Hawking led a remarkable life, providing all of us with glimpses in to the inner most workings of the universe in a relatable and humorous way. The news of his recent passing prompted an outpouring of tributes from not only the scientific community, but also world leaders and the wider culture. His life was made all the more remarkable by the fact that he outlived his ALS prognosis by at least five decades, an astounding feat of survival. Steve and Ben examine the life and legacy of Stephen Hawking, and how he will be missed and irreplaceable.
Apple has been known to prioritise form over function with its founder Steve Jobs infusing this approach in to the company’s DNA. However, this approach has its drawbacks when that form interferes with proper functionality, with a recent example being the news that employees at Apple Park have sustained minor injuries at Apple’s new spaceship campus headquarters in Cupertino by walking straight in to the pristine glass walls that are a feature of the building’s impressive design. Although stickers and well-positioned partial frosting of the glass may fix this issue, it would work against Apple’s pristine design concept for the building with management already removing temporary sticky notes employees have put on the glass to warn others of its presence. Steve and Ben discuss Apple’s strict adherence to form over function, and how it may be time for Apple to let go of some of the concepts from the Steve Jobs era of the company if it is to grow and mature in to the future.
Humans and dogs have had a connection and relationship for thousands of years, with dogs being able to understand and respond to certain basic words and commands from their owners. A recent, unscientific study has suggested that dogs respond more to the types of communication that people use when speaking to babies than regular people, as the higher-pitch and longer tones of this speech resonate better emotionally in a dog's brain than normal speech. Steve and Ben examine this idea of dog-directed speech, and whether or not it has any foundation in the real world.
We use them every day and we cannot imagine a time when we did not have them as part of our lives. Smartphones have added much capability and functionality to our lives to get things done while on the go, but are we using them in a way that is not healthy to the point of addiction? Steve and Ben examine the issues with smartphone over-use, whether or not its an addiction, or if it's just a simple case of learning to put the phone down when we do not actually have to use them.
The recent Parkland school mass shooting highlighted once again that the United States of America is still grappling with how to handle gun rights, gun control and the rights for ordinary citizens to be safe in public spaces. Previous attempts to deal with mass shootings in America have yielded little results, but this may change with the Parkland shootings as a new movement spurred on by school students has yielded some initial results, with some corporations beginning to cut ties with the immensely powerful and influential National Rifle Association, the gun lobby which has stifled all previous attempts to enact meaningful gun control legislation. Steve and Ben examine this movement and how it is using social media to further its cause.
Tech giant Apple makes product to last, but how much life can you squeeze out of an iPhone? Scouring the internet via Google will yield varying results with different sites and forums claiming different success with getting the most of their iPhones. Apple appears to be on a support path from a software perspective of four to five years for iPhones which is the best in the industry, with iPhones still being usable beyond the time if they are taken care of. Steve and Ben discuss the real world life cycle of an iPhone, including Ben's own experiment in making his 2010 iPhone 4 last all the way to 2018.
The latest shoe to drop in the Robert Mueller investigation of Russia's meddling in the 2016 US Presidential Election dropped in the last few days with the stunning indictment of thirteen Russian nationals on various charges, the most interesting of which being that they utilized social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter as intended for their nefarious purposes. Steve and Ben examine this latest update in the case and how social media platforms were so brazenly used and taken advantage of for potentially criminal purposes, and whether or not any response to these actions could compromise the future functionality of these platforms themselves should extensive regulation of their services be required.
In the past two decades, and particularly in the last decade, tech giants Amazon, Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft and more have had major impacts on society and its behavior through the hardware and software services they have created and provide to the public. Although all of these innovations have yielded enormous benefits for consumers, professionals, companies, governments and more, all of them came without a rule book or guide for safe and effective use. Between Facebook being accused of fostering divisions in society, to Amazon destroying the retail experience, to Google invading your privacy, discussions are now focusing on what responsibility these tech giants have with assisting their customers in using their technology wisely against what the consumer should be able to self-regulate. Steve and Ben examine these issues more closely and how there may not be a simple answer to this growing problem.
It may have been a great publicity stunt, but the decision by Elon Musk and his team at Tesla to switch a required dummy weight for the top of their new rocket for a Tesla Roadster instantly made news around the world and generated a number of memorable images of the vehicle against the stunning backdrop of the Earth. Steve and Ben examine this moment and its impact on space travel, particularly with the private sector now stepping in to the void left by government-funded space programs by funding this century's further attempts at space travel.
When was the last song that captured your heart? When was the last movie that generated broad discussion of its themes, characters and stories? Why did it take the rise of Netflix and streaming services to bring back strong television shows rather than relying on pointless reality TV escapades? Steve and Ben examine the long degrade in the product distributed by the entertainment industry over time and pose the question of whether or not it will ever be like it used to be.
The second season of the Trump Presidency had an explosive start with a barrage of tweets from the main star Donald Trump, a new book which while lite on the facts paints an extraordinary depiction of the activities within the White House that rings truer than those facts, the revelation of Trump's affair with a pornstar, and Trump's art of the deal leading the government in to shut down - and that's all in the first episode. What more will this season have in store for us? Steve and Ben begin the year examining the ongoing saga and dramas of the Trump Presidency, asking the important question, where is this going in the long run? Nobody knows!
From a review of Star Wars The Last Jedi to dealing with the growing cultural anxiety of 2017 through Trump, Brexit and more, Steve and Ben wrap up 2017 in their final show for the year, as well as reflecting on the 100th episode of SciTech Culture and the end of seven full years of podcasting.
From its nebulous origins to its volatile trading and valuations, Bitcoin has always had an aura of Wild West mystery attached to its existence which have led many to consider it as either the next big invention in currency technology or an elaborate Ponzi scheme. What has been undeniable is the skyrocketing price of Bitcoin in 2017, which saw it begin the year at one thousand dollars and ending the year at an astonishing fifteen thousand dollars, with most of those gains occurring in November and December alone. Steve and Ben examine Bitcoin and its meteoric rise in valuation throughout the course of 2017, as well as the mysteries surrounding the virtual currency, including an examination of its intrinsic value and the technology that underpins its workings.
Will your smartphone cause a plane to crash if you don’t switch on flight mode? Will the petrol bowser explode if you use a smartphone in the near vicinity? Does prolonged use of calls while on a smartphone cause cancer? Steve and Ben examine the various myths around smartphones and their potential effect on people and the environment in certain scenarios and whether or not there is any truth to these myths. They also examine the future of the smartphone, both over the next decade and beyond with what would potentially replace this all important gadget that has become so central to our daily lives.
What do you do with your old mobile phones? Do you sell them, hand them down, gift them to others? Or do they collect dust in the bottom of a drawer somewhere in your home? If it’s the latter, recycling your old mobile phone, and any other tech devices you have is the answer. Not only will it free up space in your drawer, it will more importantly be beneficial for the environment. With advances in recycling practices and techniques in recent decades, as well as the manufacture of new devices geared towards an eventual recycling process, there is now no excuse to not recycle your old technology. Steve and Ben discuss the importance of recycling your old phones and devices, particularly in an age where we are encouraged to use and own more tech devices than ever before.
Years in the making, and with almost two months of anticipation since Apple first announced it in September, the tech giant’s high profile new iPhone X is finally out for sale and shipping as of the beginning of this month. Sales point to a blockbuster release for the iPhone X and Apple. Many customers appear very happy with the new design and the forward-thinking changes, while critics have pointed to the fact that competitors have already released bezel-less phones in the past, that some of the new technologies like Face-ID could improve, and the price point is on the high side for a smartphone. Steve and Ben give their take on the release of the iPhone X, where it sits in Apple’s line up, and whether or not they will be obtaining one themselves.
The reality show of the Trump Presidency continues to roll on, with several big episodes being run recently including the first indictments in the Robert Mueller Russian investigation of ex-Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, and the guilty plea of Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos, the Democrats winning big in recent mayor and governor races in an apparent anti-Trump protest vote, and Trump’s sojourn to Asia where he has met with various leaders of Asian countries generating some interesting and awkward moments. Steve and Ben discuss this and more in today’s latest installment of all things Trump, as the show continues on in a manner that appears unsustainable but is still managing to move forward.
Facial recognition technology is becoming ever more present and used in our day-to-day lives, whether it be by law enforcement and governments through CCTV networks and other camera systems, to tight integration in our smart devices, with the most recent high profile example of this being Apple’s recently announced iPhone X smartphone. What are the implications of using this technology? What are the benefits, and what are the potential drawbacks and concerns? Steve and Ben examine this rapidly improving biometric technology that has become so pervasive in our society.
The city of London has determined that Uber is unfit to run its unique-style taxi service within the city, sighting a lack of corporate responsibility in relation to a number of issues which have potential public safety and security implications. In what will undoubtedly be a major blow to the tech company’s expansion in to the city as well as its over three million users. Will this determination by London spread to other cities around the globe, and what are the implications for Uber? Steve and Ben review Uber’s ups and downs in London and other cities around the world, particularly in its attempts to up-end existing services such as taxis while simultaneously needing to adhere to certain public safety standards in delivering its service.
It’s September, which means Apple is rolling out the latest updates to its flagship product, the iPhone. 2017 is the tenth anniversary of the original iPhone, and in acknowledging this, Apple released the iPhone X, a new all-screen, no home button iPhone which it says will set the standard for the next decade of iPhone. Alongside the iPhone X were the announcements of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus which further refined the 2014 design introduced with the iPhone 6. Apple also announced a revised Apple Watch with LTE capabilities, as well as a 4K HDR capable Apple TV. Steve and Ben review these latest product announcements, as well as explore whether recent criticism of Apple’s products and direction is valid and fair, and whether or not Apple is still capable of being the technology leader that Steve Jobs intended it to be when he first created the company in the 1970s, and when he returned in the late 1990s to lead it back from the edge of bankruptcy to the financial powerhouse that it is today.
The operating system that sold the graphical user interface to the mainstream masses was Microsoft’s very own Windows 95 operating system, released twenty-two years ago to huge fanfare and supported by a brilliant marketing campaign that got many every day users excited about using a computer. Two decades on, Windows 95 may appear very old fashioned with its utilitarian look, but it still holds its place in the pantheon of PC software development, especially given that Windows is still going strong with its latest version, Windows 10. Steve and Ben recall their time using Windows 95 and how the computing experience of that era pales in comparison to today where most computers and devices just work they way they should.
For the past 13 years, the Cassini probe has been exploring the system of Saturn, but Cassini's historic mission is about come to a dramatic end. With its fuel dwindling, NASA decided to crash the seven metre spacecraft into the ringed planet's atmosphere, lest it smash into one of Saturn's moons and contaminate a scientifically pristine site with something Cassini might have brought from Earth. Steve and Ben examine the Cassini probe, its accomplishments, and the future of exploring space through probes.
Food Discoveries, the online TV series produced by Shirl Yang and Ben Warner back in 2009-2011 is making a comeback via Instagram, and integrated in to the SciTech Culture platform. Whereas the original series of 61 episodes were produced with a more traditional workflow from pre-production, production to post-production with dedicated cameras, microphones and more, the revised show beginning now will be more fluid and flexible in its approach, being produced and distributed entirely from smartphones, and videos will be better integrated with the food photography occasionally displayed on the SciTech Culture general Instagram account. Steve and Ben discuss the return of Food Discoveries, as well as how content creation has so radically changed in the past decade.
In the wake of the violent and disturbing events that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia between groups of protestors, with some bearing neo-Nazi flags and logos and other white supremacist slogans, Donald Trump stunned just about everyone with his response and comments to the American Public and the world. First, he didn’t outright condemn the white supremacists and neo-Nazis, in a second statement he did condemn them, and then thirdly, he turned a seemingly routine press conference in to rebuke of his second statement and launching an off-the-cuff question-and-answer session with journalists that fanned the flame of white supremacy. How far can Donald Trump push the boundaries of what is reasonable for the US Presidency before something breaks? Steve and Ben examine Trump’s latest antics and behaviour, and how this latest incident, although claimed as a turning point, has still not managed to turn Trump’s supporters and enablers against him.
The 21st Century has seen an explosion of urban populations around the world as more and more people are choosing to leave outer-urban and rural areas for inner city and city centre living, even trading larger living spaces for smaller apartment-style dwellings to gain the advantages of living closer to workplaces, schools and more. These moves have forced councils and governments to re-evaluate their long term infrastructure planning, with particular focuses on the construction of higher density dwellings and major upgrades to infrastructure such as public transportation. Steve and Ben examine the complexities and problems posed by booming population in urban areas, and the challenges city planners need to solve to ensure that everyone’s quality of life is maintained in a sustainable manner.
In a world rapidly adapting to fast technological progress, work places are delving more in to achieving outcomes through virtual teams where workers may collaborate on projects but be geographically dispersed. With continually improving communications through powerful apps, better hardware and faster networking and internet connections, working in a virtual team has never been more useful for businesses and organisations as a tool to get more work done. Despite technology improving how virtual teams work, there are still some fundamental issues around managing teams that are geographically dispersed that need to be addressed to ensure successful outcomes from the team. Steve and Ben examine virtual teams against the backdrop of rapidly evolving technology and the importance of maintaining engagement and connection between team members that are not sharing the same office space.
10 years ago on 29 June 2007, the original iPhone was released to the public. Although that initial phone was not as functional as later iterations became, that initial model changed the entire smartphone industry as it had existed to that point. Seemingly overnight, smartphones required multi-touch, no hardware keyboards, and required the superior software capabilities that the iPhone introduced. 10 years later, the iPhone and its ilk has arguably replaced the personal computer as the primary computing device for most people in most situations. Steve and Ben review the 10 year anniversary of the iPhone, where it began, how far it has come, what it inspired, and how it changed an entire industry.
In what can only be described as a new low, Donald Trump tweeted some of his most outrageous comments yet against Morning Joe news hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, prompting a backlash from everyone in Washington and the media. The cable news hosts responded by questioning Trump’s mental capacity, and went one further by revealing an alleged attempt by Trump and his top aides to force an apology from Joe for their consistent criticism of Trump otherwise he would not stop a negative story being run in the Enquirer about the hosts. Even with all this occurring, Republicans on the hill are still not calling Trump to account, only offering rhetoric instead of action. Steve and Ben continue to discuss the ongoing issues surrounding Trump and his rhetoric, how the office of the Presidency is being degraded by his actions, and how Trump may be his own worst enemy.
Driverless car technology has been progressing in leaps and bounds in previous years, however, a unique problem has emerged in Australia when developing the software in that kangaroos, with their hopping movements, are throwing out the driverless cars’ animal detection software. Unlike a four-legged animal like a cow or a dog which is easier for the detection software to read, the randomness of a kangaroo’s hop is proving to be too difficult to manage for the current generation of driverless car software. Steve and Ben discuss this unique problem in the development of working driverless cars, and how this and other problems still need to be resolved before the technology can go mainstream.
Although the science has been in on the effects of climate change for some time, there is still a raging political fight occurring between those who have accepted that it is happening, and those that insist it is not. If the science is unable to convince a climate change denier, what about using economics to try and change their minds? Steve and Ben discuss the thorny issue of finding political consensus on climate change and how finding common ground, no matter what the issue, is of paramount importance in tackling the world’s problems, particularly in the hyper-partisan echo chambers that have arisen in the past decade.
We are over five months in to the Trump Presidency and the Donald has already made his presence felt in every aspect of political life in the United States and around the world. His brash rhetoric and prolific use of Twitter has led to a tumultuous period in American politics, but has Trump pushed things so far that we may never go back to the business as usual politics we had known prior to Trump? Will the next candidates for President adopt his strategies, or be more like the old school politicians we used to know? Can a life long politician win in American politics, or has it now become the preserve of rich celebrities with a strong social media following? Steve and Ben examine the effect that Donald Trump has had on the American political landscape and if the system will ever return to what it was prior to 20th January 2017.
Apple’s WWDC 2017 software and hardware announcements was for more extensive than expected. In addition to the introduction of iOS 11, macOS High Sierra, watchOS 4 and tvOS 11, Apple chose to unveil a slew of new hardware including a new 10.5 inch iPad Pro, a dark grey iMac Pro for pro and demanding users, as well as across the updates to the MacBook and iMac lines. These announcements proved to be a more consistent line of products than in previous years, but did Apple do enough to give the Pros what they wanted with their Mac announcements, and did they do enough to make the iPad a true productivity device with the latest updates in iOS 11? Steve and Ben examine Apple’s WWDC announcements, including a review of their own personal setups with Apple hardware and software.
Donald Trump cannot seem to help himself when it comes to staying quiet on the Russia investigation. What started out as an investigation in to Russian meddling in the 2016 US Presidential election has now become a wider probe in to Trump’s subsequent actions to apparently obstruct the investigation from proceeding. Would Robert Mueller have been hired as special counsel for this investigation if Trump had kept his mouth shut and stepped back from all the noise being generated from this investigation? Is Trump’s combative style and propensity to contort facts which served him well as a real estate developer come back to bite him as a public official? Steve and Ben examine the past fortnight’s coverage of the Russia investigation and Trump’s antics, discussing whether or not we would be where we are if Trump has simply kept himself out of it.
So much of our data and business is held and conducted online and in the cloud these days. Having strong passwords and backing them up with two factor authentication options is mandatory for anyone looking to make their online data and information as secure as possible. With so many hacking stories infiltrating our collective psyches, it is more important than ever that the public is educated on the use of strong passwords and other security measures. Steve and Ben discuss the important of strong passwords and two factor authentication in securing your data, as well as tools that can help you keep track of it all, such as password managers.
Trump’s most auspicious and significant act since becoming President of the United States occurred late last week when he announced he would be pulling the US out of the Paris Climate Accords, generating widespread condemnation and dismay amongst just about everyone except for Trump’s core base of supporters and the nationalists working for his administration. Leaders from around the world expressed diplomatic dismay and disappointment, but newly elected French President Emmanual Macron took the prize for the most direct response, speaking in English to the American public and paraphrasing Trump’s own campaign slogan by saying Make Our Planet Great Again. Although this decision has implications for the climate change agenda, it has larger implications for America’s role in the world going forward, with everyone seeing it as a reckless retreat. Steve and Ben discuss Trump’s remarkable announcement and what it could mean for the world going forward.
The rise of the smartphone has led to apps taking over our experience of interacting with various aspects of the internet and the world. Dating, sex and relationships are no different, with prominent apps such as Tinder and Bumble providing instantaneous access and seemingly unlimited choice to anyone looking to hook up or find something more meaningful. But are these apps fostering a culture of superficial, and short-lived relationships? If things go south when you are dating someone, is swiping right to move on to the next person really the answer we want to encourage people to do? Steve and Ben look at the dating app phenomenon, as well as the Netflix documentary series, Hot Girls Wanted, which has an episode which focuses on this very subject.
The 2016 MacBook Pros proved to be more controversial than Apple may have intended, with a backlash against the devices focusing on the removal of ports, the much lamented new butterfly switch keyboard and issues that have plagued these laptops from wildly varying battery life to graphics cards issues leading to crashes. Did Apple create a dud product in the 2016 MacBook Pro, were they misguided in the direction they took with their latest and greatest laptop, or will they eventually be vindicated by the design choices that they made with these machines? Steve and Ben discuss the 2016 MacBook Pros and whether or not they would choose these devices themselves when upgrading their IT setups and workflow.
Alien: Covenant is the latest entry in the long running and iconic Alien series, and the third to be directed by the franchise’s originator Ridley Scott. With Scott at the helm it should have been safe to assume a return to the early glory days of the franchise but alas, Alien Covenant is another example of Hollywood turning on its recycling machine and punching out a film that re-uses structure, plots and scenes taken from earlier films to deliver a familiar but very bland film. If Ridley Scott cannot make something fresh in a Hollywood environment with material that has worked so well in the past, can great films be made in Hollywood any more? Steve and Ben discuss Alien: Covenant and the issues with the film, including their love of the franchise and disappointment at where this latest entry has placed the franchise.
Sally Yates testifies, Trump fires Comey, White House lackies dish out spin to explain the goings-on, the media goes nuts, Jared Kushner tried to set up a back channel to the Russians, where will this seemingly never ending slate of stories about the Trump-Russia connection end? Is this smoke leading to a big fire, is it all fake news, or is it a bizarro combination of both? Steve and Ben attempt to decode recent stories and connections around Russia and the people in Trump’s orbit in what could turn out to be the freak reality show that we warned about before Trump took office as President of the United States of America.
Could the 21st century herald a new era of unlimited access to goods and services as opposed to the 20th century concept of buying and owning these same goods and services? Ten years ago you would buy a physical copy of a movie on DVD if you wanted to watch it again and again; now it’s just available to you 24/7 as part of a subscription to Netflix. What about on demand technology, from smartphones to cars being accessed via a subscription? It’s foreseeable, could yield greater benefits for our environment with resources only being used by those who actually need to use it at any given time, and it could divorce us from the notion that we could only find our standing in society based on how much we own. Steve and Ben look at this changing trend in ownership versus access, as well as the news that Amazon Retail will be coming to Australia.
DNA repair is essential for cell vitality, cell survival and cancer prevention, yet cells' ability to patch up damaged DNA declines with age for reasons not fully understood. Now, new medical research is revealing exactly what and why cells mend and heal broken DNA, and how this could potentially lead to dealing with the effects of ageing on the human body. Steve and Ben discuss the human fight against ageing, why we are so concerned with this question, and whether or not it is a good idea for humans to strive for immortality.
The holy grail for online content creators is making one of their posts go viral with thousands or millions of views. Doing a simple Google search on this topic will yield many results of companies offering the service of making your content go viral, but is it possible to do it yourself? How easy is it to deliberately drive traffic to your site or content with the right topic, photo or post? Steve and Ben discuss their recent unexpected spike in web traffic from their “Battery Power For All” episode which crashed their server. Steve and Ben also discuss the annoyance of advertisements showing up in Windows 10 as well as their first experience recording SciTech Culture with WebRTC.
Elon Musk has offered to set up battery farms in South Australia to address that states recent significant power outages. The Grattan Institute says this idea should not be dismissed out of hand, with the state’s energy minister stating the government is up for the discussion as long as the private sector puts up the cash to make it happen. With Elon Musk, via Tesla, delivering a battery farm in Southern California recently, could this be the answer to not only South Australia’s power woes, but for the rest of Australia and the world as well? Steve and Ben discuss this extraordinary idea to solve baseload power issues, including the issues of why this was not brought up sooner, and why it took significant failures in the SA power grid to bring this idea to the table.
Apple CEO Tim Cook recently went on the record to claim that we will see them do more in the Pro area. With longtime Apple pro users feeling increasingly frustrated with the company’s apparent drift away from pro products and software, highlighted by the most recent Macbook Pro refresh and the lack of updates to their pro lines, will Tim Cook’s remarks keep these users satisfied or has Apple gone too far and pushed these users away from Macs? Steve and Ben discuss Apple’s current focus on the consumer and prosumer markets as opposed to high-end pros and whether they need to continue serving the high-end pro market. They also discuss the amusing return of the dumb phone in the Nokia 3310, and what it says about a society that is excited at the prospect of returning to a simpler, less connected age.
The great digital disruption of this century has yielded many positive benefits yet there have been some negative consequences to this revolution with many millions and millions of people being displaced from traditional manufacturing and other jobs that have been replaced through robotics, automation and other technologies, both hardware and software based. Donald Trump came to power as President of the United States on a platform of promising to bring those jobs back to all those people who feel angry and left behind, but is it an empty promise? Mark Cuban think so! Steve and Ben discuss the issues around the great digital disruption of our time and how the jobs of the future will require more free and creative thinking rather than repetition.
Fake news has become an unfortunate and dangerous new paradigm in the world today, grown out of the Trump presidential election campaign and now a staple of the Trump presidency. One area that fake news has made its mark is in science, where people are using fake stories about science to further their agendas, with climate change being an obvious example. Steve and Ben discuss how to spot fake news, as well as the recent Trump solo media conference that Jake Tapper from CNN described as unhinged. Steve and Ben also discuss the Bose QC25 noise-cancelling headphones and Ben’s experience using them.
We’ve all been there, whether it be at a family gathering, a work or office environment, or friends at a bar arguing the finer points of something and wanting to be the one to win the argument. At what point does one know when to walk away from an argument? Is it necessary to have the last say in any given argument? Is it necessary to feel as if you have to win the argument? Do you really come out on top by winning the argument work when you can’t walk away from your dignity intact? Steve and Ben discuss this everyday cultural problem that all of us find ourselves in on a regular basis, a problem that no one can avoid unless you choose to avoid all people, or surrounded yourself with ‘Yes’ people.
We are only a few days away from Donald Trump assuming command of the United States of America. In a blistering press conference last week, his first since being elected, Trump showed off many of the traits that he brought throughout the campaign, including attacking reporters and anyone else that reported negatively on him. With this new era now upon us, and Trump clearly taking such a combative approach to the press, one thing is for certain, the Trump era will be an astonishing one to watch in both its rhetoric and action. Will it be a farce driven by someone who does not know what he is doing, a reality show that is masterfully choreographed by someone who knows how to play that game, or will it be both? Steve and Ben discuss the impending Trump era and its implications for the United States and the world.
Welcome to a new year of SciTech Culture! Steve and Ben discuss some highlights from the annual Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas, including Intel’s tiny Compute Card, the Kaby Lake processor release, the latest in TVs, laptops and more. They also discuss the disturbing story of a hate crime perpetrated in Chicago that was streamed live to Facebook, Apple being sued in a case where a driver was using Facetime in a hit and run car accident, long form writing on an iPad, as well as the growing environmental story concerning the amount of space junk orbiting the Earth.
Steve and Ben wrap up 2016 in Science, Technology Culture, covering a number of stories and experiences that they have had in no particular order including the latest Yahoo Hack, the epidemic of fake news and online reviews, tech giants and our privacy, the Brexit and Trump phenomena, whether or not we value the content we consume from movies, television, and the like, and a brief look forward to 2017 in SciTech Culture.
Tis the season to be jolly, but what if retailers are starting that season as early as August or September? Christmas, the festive season, has always been a time for many of us to spend time with family and friends, to rest as the year winds up, and to engage in shopping sprees to ensure we can all give each other presents on Christmas Day, much to the delight of retailers. But when did this season become so commercial, and why is it now starting so early? Steve and Ben take a look at the cultural phenomenon of Christmas, whether or not retailers are jumping in too early to make more money, and to spare a thought for those who do not enjoy this time of year as much as the rest of us.
With our data being pushed further in to cloud services and other portable digital storage mediums such as solid state drives, the question of what to do with that draw full of DVDs, CDs and tapes is one we may need to answer, especially given that some of these mediums can degrade with time, and even if they do not degrade, the ability to read these mediums may disappear as old legacy players become obsolete and no longer available. Steve and Ben look at the question of how we handle our data through transitions of mediums, and how to ensure that you do not lose any of that precious data.
Samsung’s Galaxy Gear VR headsets provide an example of how virtual reality can be made accessible to the masses, and providing experiences that could potentially open up previously inaccessible experiences for many, and potentially replace others, particularly in the entertainment sphere. Steve and Ben discuss virtual reality and its future and more, including the impact of a recent breach of resident data at Kingston Council and what to see in the November night sky, whether with your own eyes or through virtual reality.
What started out as a seemingly funny joke, relentlessly compounded by the media and late night comedians as something that could never seriously happen, has officially happened: Donald J Trump, reality TV star and brash billionaire is now the President-elect of the United States. White, working class America turned their backs on the Democrats and voted in droves for Trump as a rebuke to the political establishment that has largely forgotten them, while the liberal and diverse side of America is terrified at the prospect of what Trump will do in office and what he will inspire in the electorate, particularly in light of the darkly racist and misogynistic messages of his campaign. Steve and Ben examine the 2016 US election and its impact, as well as how everyone seemed to get it all so wrong in terms of predicting the outcome. They also discuss the latest MacBook Pros and the associated uproar they have generated among the professional audience they supposedly serve.
South Australia experienced a major power outage recently when a severe weather event destroyed three elements of critical infrastructure, which led to the power system protecting itself with a shutdown. The ability to achieve baseload power for a city, state and country is a piece of critical infrastructure that should not fail, and in the fallout of this power outage, many are blaming the shut down of Port Augusta’s Alinta coal fire plant in May and a focus on renewables. What does this mean going forward? Steve and Ben look at this issue caused by an extreme weather event and how the importance of redundancy and back-up systems when it comes to providing power to everyone.
Two of the most popular elements of the Star Trek phenomenon has been the use of teleportation and time travel in its story telling. Scientists have focused their attention on these areas and have offered some interesting thoughts and breakthroughs and both topics. The teleportation of light particles has now become a technological breakthrough, although the beaming of humans between locations as shown in Star Trek may be beyond us. Time travel on the other hand is already possible in to the future, and can be argued, that we are constantly travelling in to the future at the rate of one second per second. Steve and Ben discuss these two popular science fiction motifs and their potential, or otherwise, applications in the real world.
Another September, another Apple iPhone event. On September 7th, Apple will unveil the latest generation iPhone to the world. Rumours of dual camera lens and the loss of the headphone jack are driving the media frenzy this year, but most important of all is the notion that this year’s iPhone may not be that exciting. What does this mean for Apple, particularly in the light of a drop in overall sales year-on-year? Steve and Ben discuss Apple and the iPhone in context of where the smartphone business is today, and whether or not Apple is right to force its customers to interact with their devices the way they want to.
Neil deGrasse Tyson’s successful follow up to the Carl Sagan original series, Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey, serves very well in illuminating the audience on the vastness and mysteries of space-time, the universe, the cosmos, our world, our solar system and more, including our place as humans in the grand scheme of things and the effects we have had on our planet in such a short space of time. Steve and Ben discuss the series, as well as leading a general discussion on space-time and its mysteries, as well as a look at the importance of science communicators such as Neil deGrasse Tyson in enlightening the public on the world and universe around us.
Successfully navigating privacy settings on platforms, services and devices is a potential nightmare for the lay person, yet most of us don’t even give this very important issue a second thought. Steve and Ben discuss the importance of successfully navigating all the privacy settings in the apps, platforms, systems and devices we use, and how it is potentially easier to leave your privacy exposed than it is to keep it locked down due to the nature and design of all those apps, platforms, systems and devices that we all love to use on a daily basis.
Air travel has never been more affordable and accessible. Formerly only available to the affluent and elite, the introduction of new technologies as well as flexible and budget pricing models have opened up stand air travel to anyone who wants to fly. Airlines have not slacked off on first class travel however, with many airlines offering very luxurious first class and business class features to those willing and able to pay for it. Steve and Ben take a look at the increasing affordability of air travel, how airlines are offering more impressive high-end seats and facilities, and have a look back to flights of yesteryear and how the affluent used to travel in the skies.
Seemingly overnight, the new augmented reality game Pokemon Go has become a worldwide sensation, encouraging millions to wander through the streets to track down pokemon on their smartphones in real locations. Steve and Ben discuss Pokemon Go’s meteoric rise to the top of the app charts, the benefits of its augmented reality experience, and whether or not the game is actually causing major unintended issues for end users.
YouTubers and other online content creators are under constant pressure to continually produce content with no downtime in order to maintain the interest of their audience. Some have even felt the need to push the envelope of their content to maintain audience attention, often to the detriment of their reputation and personal well-being. For their fiftieth episode of SciTech Culture, Steve and Ben examine the issue of no downtime for online content creators and how their own personal experience producing online content has changed over the years in order to find the right balance between producing content, maintaining quality, and taking the time to step away from creating that content to reflect and recharge.
The advent of social media and its rise in our culture has led to a simultaneous explosion of channels for promoting one’s voice to the world while at the same time overloading our minds with too many decisions to make and distractions. Overusing social media, spending too much time on tweets and posts can not only take its toll on one’s psychological well-being, it can also lead to a feeling of the whole process becoming dull and uninteresting, the latter of which could explain the disengagement of younger users with a platform such as Facebook. Steve and Ben explore the issues around social media burnout. They also touch on the 2016 Australian Election, the extraordinary result of a second hung parliament within a decade, and a trend in voting patterns away from established parties and orthodoxy, as seen in the recent Brexit vote and the rise of Donald Trump.
The referendum held in the UK which asked its citizens to leave or remain in the European Union generated a result that caused shockwaves around the world with the significant political and economic consequences of the successful leave vote still to be realised. Brexit, as it has become known for the benefit of Twitter users, was a political roll of the dice for British Prime Minster David Cameron, and he has come out on the losing side. Steve and Ben discuss this historic referendum, its result and the reaction. They also discuss the recent blasts of cold weather that have hit southern and eastern Australia, and examine how global warming actually can cause cooling trends and harsher winters in different parts of the world.
Expectations around Apple’s announcements for WWDC 2016 have again reached fever-pitched, with rumours foreshadowing the latest updates in Apple’s software platforms macOS, tvOS, iOS and watchOS, to the more wishful thinking rumours around brand new hardware, particularly with new MacBook Pros and the often requested, but never announced 5K Thunderbolt Display. Steve and Ben discuss the issues surrounding expectations for Apple in 2016, where most of Apple’s products have matured to the point where there is little they can do to improve them beyond evolutionary updates, and the fact that expectations of Apple to come up with a wow moment in every single presentation they make have now become unrealistic.
Dealing with allergic reactions to the foods we eat is a common problem for many of us. Avoiding foods because our bodies are incapable of processing them properly leading to unwanted side effects can be a cumbersome prospect, and takes the fun out of eating when one has to carefully scrutinize any food they want to enjoy. Steve and Ben take a look at the story of how researchers are close to identifying the genetic code that will make allergy-free peanuts, and then continue in to a wider discussion on how science is helping us to deal with food allergies.
Want to launch a nuclear missile? You'll need a floppy disk. The Pentagon is still using 1970s-era computing systems that require floppy disks. U.S. government departments spend upwards of $60 billion a year on operating and maintaining out-of-date technologies, three times the investment on modern IT systems. This is due to change in the next few years thanks to the tech-saavy Obama administration shocking established culture by putting all departments on notice to upgrade their systems. Steve and Ben discuss this amazing story and contrast it with an example of the latest in technological advances being worked on today, IBM’s artificial intelligence solution, Watson.
Changing smartphone platforms can either be a relatively straight forward affair or a nightmare depending on how heavily invested you are in the platform you are moving away from. There are plenty of self-help guides on the web dedicated to assisting you in moving from one platform to another. Steve and Ben recall their current experiences in this area, particularly with Steve moving away from Apple’s iOS last year to take up Android on his then new Sony Xperia phone. Steve and Ben also discuss whether or not Apple has become the new Microsoft, as well as options around computing options for personal and professional users in today’s world, including an answer to the question, how much computer power do you actually need today?
We are living at the dawn of the digital age which has opened our worlds to more content, news, software and more than ever before. The democratisation of so many products and services through the internet is exposing our culture to an exponentially growing amount of content and services, but it is also potentially creating a huge user base that does not want to pay for those content and services like previous generations had. Do content and services have the same value as they used to? Steve and Ben discuss the pros and cons of this new world and how the amount of new options available to us may be devaluing the products and services available to us, whether they be apps, movies, novels, news, software and more. Steve and Ben also discuss the continuing fallout of the Apple vs FBI encryption case, the latest from Facebook's F8 Conference, the downward spiral of Bitcoin Exchange Igot, and SpaceX successfully launching a rocket that landed on an ocean drone platform.
Finding a suitable career choice can be difficult for those people who have multiple interests and passions. We live in a society that places a focus on finding your one true calling, but as Emilie Wapnick asks in her Ted Talk, what if you don’t have just one true calling? Steve and Ben explore the notion of the multipotentialite; a person that has multiple career paths due to their varying interests, and how changing careers to follow these passions may be the new norm in the 21st Century. Steve and Ben also take a look at the critical lashing of Batman V Superman, Microsoft Tay’s erratic tweets, the luck of an amateur astronomer capturing an asteroid hitting Jupitier, and using Google Cardboard.
Technology and Culture fed in to each other this week on two fronts; the first being Google DeepMind’s AI technology beating human Grandmasters of the Game of Go, and the second being how a rally of organised violence was recently perpetrated in Melbourne’s CBD over the weekend to the horror of police and families attending the Labor Day long weekend Moomba festival as they came under attack by over 200 youths. Steve and Ben have a look at both of these stories and their cultural impact. They also take a look at the seemingly unlikely, but now unstoppable rise of Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for the 2016 US Presidential Election.
With a vast array of topics this week, Steve and Ben delve in to a number of stories covering Science, Technology and Culture. In science, astronomers have confirmed a previously identified galaxy at 13.2 billion light years away, the most distant galaxy observed on record, and one of the first galaxies ever formed. In technology, Google has experienced a mishap of sorts with its self-driving test car inadvertently crashing in to a bus. And in culture, social media and the internet have provided the ultimate platform for anonymous bullying and harassment, but is it any different to what used to happen in the past with anonymous notes, threatening phone calls and the like? Steve and Ben discuss all these topics and more in this week’s episode.
Much of the tension between nations in this world occurs over resources, such as oil, gas, land and the like. One resource that is starting to appear on the radar in an environment of climate change and global warming is water. This precious resource is essential to human life, and with areas of the planet starting to dry up, could we see tensions escalate between countries over water? Steve and Ben have a look at the importance of water for everyone on this planet and the potential problems we could face if we don’t all work together to secure its long term future.
What would happen if we woke up tomorrow and there was no way to go online? What if someone pulled the master switch on the internet, and we were forced back to a world that existed prior to the early 90s? Would we cope, or have we become too dependent on the benefits of the internet to deal with this problem? Steve and Ben talk about their direct experiences being cut off from the internet and its effects. They also discuss the growing fight between Apple and the FBI, with the former wanting to safeguard the security and encryption of the iPhone, while the latter wants Apple to build a backdoor in to iOS which could potentially render security on all iPhones broken. Can a backdoor be created to a smartphone for just a single occasion, or will doing so break security on all these types of devices? Steve and Ben discuss the issues at stake in this important, landmark case.
Star Wars The Force Awakens has shattered box office records left, right and centre, reigniting the audience’s passion for this cultural franchise icon that still succeeds regardless of how well it is made. Critics have labelled it derivative and unoriginal. Fans love the fact that it is just like the original films. Similar to the other uber-blockbuster of 2015, Jurassic World, the new Star Wars film is coasting on the positive memories when their originals captured the cultural zeitgeist when they were first released. But is that good enough? And why has the culture now become content with having the same old thing rather than the new? Steve and Ben take a look at the state of play in cinema and its relationship with today’s audience, specifically through the lens of these two huge blockbusters, and whether or not they are creating truly memorable experiences that qualify as hitting the cultural zeitgeist.
We live in a world of on demand content and online purchasing. This has had a direct effect on physical retail stores, particularly those that sell physical copies of content and electronics. Although companies like Apple have a strong retail presence, it is only larger and more impersonal companies that have a hope of competing in this space, not the smaller businesses that often had an expert or two you could always rely on. Australian company Dick Smith recently went in to receivership on the back of poor sales, and controversy over their worthless gift card sale. Steve and Ben discuss the benefits of instantaneous online content and purchasing versus the good old days of walking in to a store, picking up physical copies of media that you could hold in your hands, and the ability to talk to experts in a physical retail store when making your next purchase.
For their first episode of 2016, Steve and Ben kick off on a philosophical note, examining why our culture pushes us to view the direction our lives take in terms of a straight line. Is it really a straight line or do our lives go in cycles? Does one thing lead to another, or do we try something, let it naturally complete itself, then move on to the next thing? Or is it a combination of both happening at the same time in some strange mystical way? Understanding these concepts may assist us all in leading happier lives and not feel pressured to live life a certain way.
Steve and Ben wrap up 2015 in Science, Technology Culture, covering a number of stories and experiences that they have had in no particular order including travel, highlights of Japan, taking caution with illness,how viruses can spread so easily, the latest devices such as the iPad Pro and Sony Xperia Z5, the latest science-fiction offerings,TV cord-cutting,the smartphone replacing your PC and more!
We all have our own relationships with technology; some good, some bad and some in the middle. Technology enables us to accomplish more tasks faster, and it can be as frustrating as hell when it crashes and doesn’t work properly. On the one hand we completely trust our washing machines to clean our clothes properly and planes to fly us to our destinations without incident, yet on the other hand we never trust that a Powerpoint presentation will work properly in front a group of people, or for our IT servers to keep us connected without incident. Steve and Ben discuss our relationship and trust of technology, and how consumer technology in particular has become more reliable than ever while still having a long way to go to be foolproof.
It seems like a year can’t go by without Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook making headlines with a new feature on the social media platform that sets back user privacy. The latest feature is a post search function labelled Search FYI, which Facebook claims will allow users to better search current and trending events. However, the new feature will comb through every single public post on Facebook, which could potentially bring up old and awkward user posts from the past and make them available for viewing to strangers. Steve and Ben take another look at Facebook, its obsession with making your data not private, and why the social media platform is not the cool thing it once was when Zuckerberg was coding it himself out of his Harvard Dorm Room.
Marty McFly and Doc Brown travelled to October 21st, 2015 in the classic film, Back To The Future Part 2. Made back in 1989, this film made all sorts of wild predictions of the future, even if most were actually jokes, like Jaws 19. What happened to the flying cars, hoverboards and power laces? Steve and Ben discuss how predicting the future can be a difficult exercise, and how Toyota is looking to capitalise on the event with a unique campaign highlighting their new technologies. They also discuss Tesla and its forward thinking in motoring and energy storage.
Microsoft and Google have made their new tech announcements for late 2015. From Google announcing it has reached 1.4 billion people with Android to Microsoft surprising everyone by pushing further in to the premium device market with their new Surface Book, the tech giants have made some interesting and exciting contributions to the tech space for this year. Steve and Ben discuss the 2015 tech announcements from Microsoft and Google, and offer their own thoughts on their new devices.
Our collective fascination with Mars was kicked in to overdrive last week with new findings from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) providing the strongest evidence yet that liquid water flows intermittently on present-day Mars. Using an imaging spectrometer on MRO, researchers detected signatures of hydrated minerals on slopes where mysterious streaks are seen on the Red Planet. These darkish streaks appear to ebb and flow over time. And this past weekend, Ridley Scott’s new film The Martian with Matt Damon playing a stranded astronaut has debuted to solid box office and great reviews, providing our first good film about the red planet. Steve and Ben discuss Mars and how we may not be that far away from a manned mission to our neighbour planet.
Choosing the right food to eat, and the way to prepare it before we eat, are decisions that can have serious effects on our health, both in positive and negative ways depending on how we do it. Suzana Herculano-Houzel gave a TED Talk in 2013 arguing that what caused humans to evolve away from apes and develop large brains is that we started to cook our food, which increased the efficiency in which we consumed our calories. On the other hand, the 2008 documentary Food Matters argues that raw food is the way to go, and that cooked food could in fact be poisoning your body. Steve and Ben talk a look at both sides of this argument on cooked vs raw food, attempting to dispel some myths about what we actually need from our food on a daily basis.
With PC sales growth flatlining, and now with mobile devices such as the iPad experiencing the same problem, the question can now be asked, did PC and device performance become good enough for most mainstream users some years back? The average person is content to use a computer to browse the web, create or edit the occasional document or spreadsheet, catch up with people on social media and watch the occasional YouTube video. All of these tasks are arguably more than covered by a smartphone and/or tablet, even ones that are a few years old. Steve and Ben ask these questions and more, including how improved battery life and value-adding features like graphics performance rather than raw performance are the new benchmark for advancement in computers and devices. They also discuss this through the prism of Apple’s recent hardware event, where they announced the iPhone 6s, iPad Pro and Apple TV.
Thanks to improvements in technology, creative people have the ability to produce professional quality content from their homes or when their out and about with their mobile devices. These advancements have led to a new dilemma of how to monetise the content the creative people put directly on to the internet. Online advertisements, pop-ups, thirty second videos, donations and crowd-source funding all provide opportunities for creative people to make a living, but do they actually work? Steve and Ben take a look at how creatives can successfully make money online, and the issues surrounding some of the existing forms of online monetisation.
The power of Twitter to organise a campaign at short notice was on display in Melbourne in recent days when an operation conducted by the Australian Border Force, in conjunction with Melbourne police, was cancelled following a huge storm of protests in the city. The Border Force sent out a press release announcing the operation to randomly intercept citizens in Melbourne for visa checks this weekend, Twitter caught fire upon hearing this, and the rest was history, forcing the Border Force in to an embarrassing back down. Steve and Ben discuss this incredible story of the power of Twitter, as well as an exploration of claims by author and journalist Jon Ronson that Twitter has gone from a place of curiosity and empathy to a place of cold, hard, instant judgment.
Would you ever fly again if you found out that it was possible for someone to remotely hack a plane’s flight controls and take control of the plane? US hacker Chris Roberts may have demonstrated this, exploiting vulnerabilities in in-flight entertainment systems 15-20 times in the last few years, and had on at least one occasion successfully hacked into flight controls to make a plane, briefly, move sideways. Steve and Ben take a look at this potentially dangerous form of cyber attack, as well as the implications of this same type of attack on cars, which like planes, have become very reliant on built in computers and wireless technologies.
Windows 10 is finally here, and from all reports, Microsoft has finally got the balance right between the traditional Windows desktop experience and the new world of mobile interfaces that was so badly handled in Windows 8. Steve and Ben discuss Windows 10 and their overall experiences using Windows over the years. They also have a look at the Thunderstrike worm that could do serious damage to Macs, and how computers and devices have evolved to the point where they are now more capable and personal than they have ever been.
Mobile devices and computers may have been with us for a while now, but their capabilities have exponentially increased in the past few years. Today’s smartphone is truly a computer in your pocket, which some might say is all the computing you’ll ever need. Tablet sales may be on the decline, but that isn’t stopping their proliferation within a multitude of use cases, while the big tech companies are now pursuing the health and wearable craze with devices like Fitbit, Apple Watch, Samsung Gear and virtual and/or augmented reality headsets such as the Oculus Rift and Hololens starting to come through. Steve and Ben take a look at where mobile devices stand in 2015, give some of their impressions on current generation devices and more.
YouTube Turns 10! It’s hard to believe that the perennial video sharing website of the world has turned 10 years old this year, and it’s even harder to imagine a time before YouTube when most people had no interest in making and sharing videos with the world. Now, everyone is a filmmaker and everyone has something to say. Steve and Ben take a look at the extraordinary video sharing site that is YouTube, their own experiences with it including their transition from traditional filmmaking to internet broadcasting, and whether or not it has brought authenticity to the moving images that captivate us.
Having an appliance in our house that keeps various food and drinks cold is a basic facility in every household, but it is very easy to take it for granted so we don’t know of a time before refrigeration. Not only did the humble refrigerator allow us to store food and other items for longer, it totally transformed our lives and society in ways that are very profound. Steve and Ben take a look at the history of refrigeration, as well as what it has in store for us in the future.
The merits of vaccinating children has recently come back in to the spotlight recently in Australia with the Federal Government pushing to withdraw welfare payments from families that refuse to vaccinate their children: parents who conscientiously object to vaccination. Are parents putting their kids at risk by not vaccinating them, or is the politicians in Canberra overplaying the issue? Steve and Ben take a look at the importance of vaccinations and the role it plays in health and longevity in all of our lives.
By some strange twist of fate, have humans unwittingly crafted a living that is not in line with how we are wired, both physically and mentally? Are we too distracted by our gadgets and constant need to be connected that we have no way to unplug ourselves from it, to the point where we can exist as we should? And on the flip side, are we getting so healthy that the age of 60 will become the new median age for the industrialised world? Steve and Ben take a look at all these questions and try to fashion some answers of their own.
We had the expose of Belle Gibson and The Whole Pantry recently, now American health blogger Vani Hari, The Food Babe, has been called out for making pseudoscientific claims in an article written by California-based scientist Yvette d’Entremont. Steve and Ben discuss this latest story of a blogging sensation being exposed as a potential fraud and the dangers in the messages given to the public. The guys also discuss the concept of fast dieting, and whether or not abstaining from food for a short period can be helpful in losing weight.
Internet providers must hand over contact details of Australian customers accused of illegally downloading The Dallas Buyers Club, the Federal Court has ruled. Steve and Ben discuss the wider implications of the landmark ruling by the Federal Court that will allow the owners of the film Dallas Buyers Club to send letters to individuals they have identified as having illegally downloaded their movie and thus infringing their copyright, or stealing the film.
The team at CERN, using the sophisticated Large Hadron Collider, made history in 2012 with the confirmed discovery of the Higgs-Boson particle. All those years of work, investment and doubt over its function and capabilities, the LHC finally delivered with this amazing discovery. It’s also amusing to remember that there were many people who believed that the LHC would destroy by unravelling the fabric of the universe! However, three years later, what can the LHC now discover? Steve and Ben re-visit the topic of CERN and the Large Hadron Collider, covering topics such as Dark Matter, Anti-Matter, Other Dimensions, Black Holes and Killer Strangelets.
The extraordinary story of Belle Gibson and her battle to overcome significant health battles became extraordinary for a different reason when serious doubts were cast over her story and whether or not she used her cancer battle as a front to sell her wellness app and book, The Whole Pantry. Now her book publishers have shelved her book, and Apple has pulled her successful app from the app store, with many calling for her to be made accountable for misleading the public. Steve and Ben take a look at this new form of con artistry, and whether or not today’s technology and platforms has made it easier for people like Belle Gibson to get away with this sort of fraud.
A new round of gadgets have been announced, from the Apple Watch, MacBook, Chromebook Pixel, Samsung Galaxy S6 and Edge phones, and the recent announcements at Mobile World Congress, it’s been a busy month for the big tech giants in Silicon Valley. How do they stack up against each other, and how well will they integrate in to the lives of consumers? Steve and Ben take an overall look at these tech announcements of the latest gadgets, how they like them, if they’ll get them and whether or not they are relevant for everyone.
Will today’s data formats be retrievable and usable in a hundred years time? Or even fifty years time? Will your data ever degrade? What do you need to do to protect the longevity of your digital information? These are all pertinent questions in the cloud-based, digital data age we are living in where so many of us are creating and storing so much data that one must wonder if it is possible to preserve it for the long term when standards and formats could easily change from one decade to the next. Steve and Ben take a look at the importance of ensuring that our data is preserved for the long term.
Most of us now carry around a smartphone, and many of us also use tablets. The app market has exploded since 2008 when the app store was introduced for the iPhone, so much so that it can seem like trying to find a needle in a haystack when it comes to finding good, usable apps that help you use your device to its full potential. Steve and Ben discuss their top 5 apps that they use on their devices, as well as how these apps have improved their workflow and daily lives. They also discuss the passing of legendary entertainment and sci-fi geek icon, Leonard Nimoy.
Humans believe that they are the dominant species on this planet given how much of the planet we have taken over and how little we are at threat from other species. But is this actually the case? Steve and Ben discuss the study and the overall impact that such small species could have on our world, as well as a look at how life on Earth may have flourished a lot earlier than we ever imagined.
The spoken word and touch are two incredible powerful languages that we all use every day to communicate with each other and the world. Steve and Ben take a look at the development of language, its importance, how its changed and how we are using it in today’s world with the most sophisticated digital communications tools we’ve ever seen. They also have a quick discussion on the 10-year anniversary of Google Maps and the latest Windows 10 Technical Preview and new Office preview.
Microsoft may have potentially started 2015 on the right foot with not only very promising announcements around Windows 10, the next version of its venerable operating system, but some truly futuristic technologies, with the Hololens being the stand out: it paints PC-based 3D UI on real world objects around you so you can interact with them, and has the potential multiple practical applications. The technology looks exciting, and feeds in to what Google Chairman Eric Schmidt refers to as The Internet Of Things, where the internet as we know it will become so pervasive in our daily lives that it will disappear. Steve and Ben take a look at Microsoft’s announcements and how they fit in to The Internet Of Things.
The future of jobs and employment is occurring right now. With technology developing at a rapid pace, and in many cases displacing many blue collar assembly line jobs, society faces a strong challenge in finding suitable employment for an ever increasing global population. Will this mean the end of repetitive work, the end of the 8-hour work day, and the introduction of non-standard, unscheduled work patterns where we engage in high level operations? Steve and Ben take a look at the future of work and how our society will change as a result over the next century.
As we approach the end of 2014, the world is on the edge of some exciting discoveries and announcements in science and technology, which will impact our culture at large. Steve and Ben take a look at these stories and more as they wrap up 2014 and look towards 2015 in Science, Technology and Culture.
Steve and Ben discuss the impact of companies such as Netflix on how we consume content and the way it is changing our cultural behaviours and attitudes towards our entertainment. Is television really television any more? When we watch movies on iPads and TV series on cinema screens, is it really all just content now as opposed to discreet mediums?
Christopher Nolan’s new film Interstellar has raised many ideas around space travel, our place in the Universe, the practical effects of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity and the dangers of black holes. Steve and Ben examine the topics of space exploration, black holes, relativity and Interstellar in the broader context of what we can realistically expect when we eventually head out in to the Universe. They also look at the landing of the Philae probe on a comet, the first time this has been done in human history, Google’s leasing of a NASA airbase for space exploration, and Brian Cox’s claim that we are alone.
Travelling to other countries all over the world can be both an exciting and daunting experience. It is exciting to see new places and experience new cultures, but it is daunting in that you are in unfamiliar places and having access to the right information to help you navigate the new environments you are travelling through is crucial to the success of your trip. In today’s world, smartphones and tablets allow you to carry everything you need with you in a light, convenient package, and they have the capacity to dynamically update that information as well as make suggestions of things to do and see based on your current location. Steve and Ben discuss the world of travel in 2014, their tips on getting the most of our mobile tech while staying secure, and how technology is having an impact on how we travel in today’s world.
Has technology had a positive or negative impact on political discourse over the last decade? With many bemoaning the loss of true leadership at the government level, it has been suggested that the increasing pace of our lives, including the development of instantaneous and sound-byte exchanges courtesy of social media and other platforms, has led to politicians being unable to tackle big reforms because they cannot control how the message is delivered to the public. Is this the fault of the rapidly developing technology, or have politicians been unable to adjust to the new communications environment to get their beliefs through? Steve and Ben take a look at social media, communications and developing technologies against the backdrop of the current political landscape.
Mobile and wearable technology is becoming, and in some case has already become, an intrinsic part of daily life. And with the big tech giants getting in to the wearable and health tech device markets, we are about to see a range of wearable devices and clothing that will not only integrate with our existing smartphones but will also be able to track information about our daily lives in more convenient formats for our own review, whether they come in the form of a watch, a shirt or a pair of high tech shoes. Steve and Ben examine the role of the new devices and mobile technologies in day to day life in 2014, and how their presence has the potential to transform our behaviours and habits in the years ahead, just as touchscreen modern smartphones have done in the past seven years.