BillCast: Recent Episodes
Bill Thompson
This is Bill Thompson's space for audio, including the podcasts made for the Cambridge Film Festival from 2006 onwards.
And that's a wrap.. Gareth and Bill wind up the GBCast with a conversation about generative reality recorded at the Digital Planet meetup that took place in March, with special guest Ghislaine Boddington. Thanks for all the downloads, and we both look forward to sharing time together elsewhere on the interwebs.
To celebrate/commemorate a year since the last World Service broadcast of Digital Planet Gareth, Bill, Ghislaine, Angelica (online) and Ania are meeting up in a wine bar in central London on the evening of March 28 and we'd love to see old listeners and new friends there. Sign up on Eventbrite (search Digital Planet). And Gareth wants to tell you all about it..
In this final episode of the series (we'll be back in the new year) Gareth and Bill muse on the ways generative AI can be used to fake experimental data, the uses of synthetic data, and we pick up the online conversation about 'computational imaging'.
In this episode we reflect on SpaceX's latest mission and OpenAI's apparent implosion, muse on the nature of photography in an age of computational imaging, and discuss how the Super Pressure Balloon Imaging Telescope managed to get its data safely back to earth using Raspberry Pi computers.
In this episode Gareth eulogises the radio-based LORAN navigation system, and Bill wonders if GPT-4 is pulling a fast one. Or not. With an accelerated sketch and quite a lot of self-referential wittering.
In this episode Gareth picks up on a survey showing british people worry about wifi security in pubs - but is it just lazy marketing of VPNs? And our take on the UK AI Safety Summit. Plus more input from our esteemed listeners!
In this episode we discuss cars,tractors, smartphone and laptops, and why the right to repair the stuff you own matters, practically and philosophically. We find time to read out some comments from listeners, while the Gazmotron continues to wreak havoc.
This week, once you're through the 'sketch', Gareth discusses a novel approach to countering light pollution by making LEDs flicker 150 times per second, and Bill looks forward to this year's Lumiere festival in Durham, England which will feature Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's Pulse Topology and brings back memories of the Venice Biennale in 2007 (the photo is Gareth and Colin interviewing Rafael)
This week Bill reflects on the progress made using transformer networks to integrate language and visual processing with robotic control, particularly in Google DeepMinds RT-2, and whether we're heading for embodied awareness, while Gareth speaks out for the special place well-crafted audio has in the cultural landscape - who needs pictures? And we go purple about the Vesuvius Challenge. (Image of cocktail making robots taken at the Barbican 'AI: More than Human' exhibition in 2019. The Negroni was acceptable.)
In this first episide of our second series, Gareth and Bill look at the progress being made in quantum computing, developing systems that use the properties of entangled 'qbits' instead of binary bits to carry out calculations. How can we be quantum-ready?
Gareth found a fascinating site on his recent holiday in Lefkada, and you get to hear about it because he couldn't resist recording his impressions.
As we move into summer, Gareth has been thinking about the how we experirence art and nature of our auditory experience, following a conference he attended in Krakow.
This week Bill is thinking out loud about libraries, having just spoken at a conference of librarians. It's all about liminal spaces, apparently.
Just to keep the interwebs alert to our presence, here's a few minutes of Bill talking about Apple's Vision Pro, Metaphysics in the Metaverse, and AI Regulation.
In this final episode of our first series, Gareth and Bill look at interesting research using satellite signals to geolocate, as an alternative to GPS. And Bill muses on his current thinking on the state of AI, and in particular why LLMs don't play language games and can't be part of the community of language users, since they don't have an inner life. (References the book Metaphysical Animals) The Gareth and BillCast will return in a few weeks.
Gareth and Bill are back, talking about the legal case against Twitter/XCorp from former employees, and the wider issue of how we create good online spaces. And we consider the dangers created when law enforcement agencies auction of seized phones without wiping them. Plus a short meditation on an alternative history and some comments from listeners.
In this week's episode Gareth and Bill speculuate about what makes someone crash a plane for YouTube likes and discuss passkeys, a way to replace passwords that should be simpler and more secure - eventually. Plus a pointless sketch and some delighful comments from listeners. (And Gowri - you can find Dan Goodin's articles on Passkeys in Ars Technica)
Bill and Gareth talk about new research using thermal cameras to crack passwords, and the old tired tropes about superintelligent AI taking over the world, and why Bill's had enough of it all. Plus comments from listeners and the inevitable opening sketch.
In this episode Gareth and Bill look at the way the JUICE mission to Jupiter will look for signs of life using a magnetometer, Bill reflects on the early days of the Web and draws parallels to the growth of generative AI - and we reflect on the environmental damage caused by SpaceX's recent launch. And there are listener comments and a (briefer) sketch.
In this episode, Bill looks at Apple's plans to use only recycled cobalt in iPhone batteries, and the wider context of recovering and recycling metals for use in consumer electronics and batteries. Gareth has found another use for graphene, but this one seems like it might actually make it into widespread use. And we discuss rapid unscheduled disassemblies.
In this episode Gareth and Bill discuss how modern cars are being stolen using electronic devices that 'spoof' the internal control networks, and bemoan the passing of many small bots because Twitter has started charging for API access. Plus some feedback from listeners, for which we are always grateful.
In this first episode Gareth and Bill talk about why they're starting a podcast, explore the world of generative AI and why the machines keep making stuff up, and worry about how easy it is to get your smart speakers to do things without asking you first. Plus some banter and chat.
After years of talking tech, Gareth Mitchell and Bill Thompson just can't seem to break the habit... first episode published Monday April 10.
A reflection on why twenty years of live radio helps when you're managing an online presentation. With added mic noise
A radio programme and a photo memory, and the usefulness of synchronicity. (Image shows artist Sophie Calle outside the French Pavilion at the 2007 Venice Biennale)
I've always listened to the radio. It's become more important in these pandemical times.
We've been making Digital Planet (Go Digital / Click) for twenty years, but do it differently now
cycled to a pub. I ate and drank and talked and we were wonderfully indiscreet.
And it was special because it was with people I like but who are not precious to me. And for the last year I have carefully preserved my in person time for those I love.
Felt good
It's June 30 and the last day of #AudioMo, so I thought I'd talk about the process and the people and the joys of random chat.
For the penulimate day of #AudioMo, June 29, I'm thinking about how language shapes thought, and how the words we use and the metaphors we choose can affect the ways we engage with others, especially when it comes to military metaphors.
June 28, Sunday #AudioMo is a shoutout to the people who keep me informed about the world. You might find them interesting too…
Dan Hon: @hondanhon
https://danhon.substack.com/
Ira Bolychevsky: @shevski
https://redecentralize.org/
Azeem Azhar: @azeem
https://www.exponentialview.co/
Christian Payne: @documentally
http://documentally.com/
David Finnigan: @davidfinig
https://davidfinnigan.substack.com/
June 27, and today's #AudioMo finds me missing that peculiar state of being together that we call 'an audience' and worrying about the future of live venues here in the UK.
It's June 26 and the final stretch for #AudioMo, where I am reflecting on how I tell the story of my life, and what I don't say in the process.
Ninety days on a boat and in my #AudioMo for June 25 I reflect on how good we are at ignoring the enormity of what's going on. With added cat sounds.
Wednesday June 24 and another #AudioMo, this time about filming, and being a councillor.
My #AudioMo for June 23 is something I wrote in 2017, about a group of young people playing Plague, Inc. and what I thought about it at the time.
My #AudioMo for June 22, and I'm looking at pieces of paper and reflecting on what they mean, with memories of those distant and lost.
More about Beatie Wolfe https://beatiewolfe.com/
June 21, and my #AudioMo tonight is a remembrance of Hugh Mellor, the philosopher and a former teacher of mine, who died today. With passing boats.
A solstice day on the river and the riverbank, involving turning boats, ducks, and the way joy pushes out despair
Erland Cooper's A Nightingale Sings Outside Our Window is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIGcK0X2vf4
On June 19, as we head towards the solstice, my #AudioMo is a reflection on the week, and lockdown, and the importance of understanding how the pandemic is experienced elsewhere.
It's June 18 but I have little to say for today's #AudioMo. I'll read Cheryl Misak's Frank Ramsay biography instead
For my #AudioMo for June 17 I've disinterred a fairly random note from over a year ago about time travel and jewel thefts. It came from a time when I travelled on trains.
In my #AudioMo for June 16 I'm reflecting on #Bloomsday and the summer to come, and wondering what will happen to holidays and travel in 2020 - and what this means for those of us who are used to the summer being a slow time in the office.
It's June 15 and a change of topic for me in #AudioMo - away from space, and into time as I reflect on the small object that sits on my desk and keeps me company as I write.
Heading into #AudioMo for June 14 and I'm picking up on the extended conversation about presence and space in our blended world, with @katesparkle to @Omaniblog @willsh & @diva_diplomatic - but this time from the beach
In my #AudioMo for June 13 I reflect on the ways we can reconfigure public space as we adapt to Covid-19, and how we need those who own private space to adapt.
My AudioMo contribution for June 12 is a reflection on commuting - or its absence. And a realisation that it'll never go back to the way it was before.
My #AudioMo post for June 11 is a meditation on how hard it can seem to change systems.
Here's my #AudioMo for June 10. I wrote a thing and recorded it for @marcusromer's ShedX and so I'm playing the first part of it here and you can listen to the rest via Marcus
The text
http://www.astickadogandaboxwithsomethinginit.com/paying-off-our-ecological-debt/
The ShedX version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BRnUrirIO0
Day 9 of #AudioMo and I've been on air for @digitalplanet - and I'm reflecting on the importance of context and location, and how to make a space feel different when we many of us are spending so much time in one location.
On Day 8 of #AudioMo things are a bit pressured as it's a long work day, but I have the Reflection app to keep me calm, with generative ambient music and imagery courtesy of Peter Chilvers and Brian Eno. Stay safe.
The weft of our daily lives has been unwound for many of us since SARS-COV-2 found its human hosts. Do we take this opportunity to rethink the warp, too, or are we content to weave the fabric on the same pattern.
For today's #AudioMo I'm reflecting on a new book I'm reading, Cheryl Misak's life of the philosopher Frank Ramsay, and why deep reading matters in these turbulent times.
Day Five of #AudioMo, back on the boat. Another day, another recording, this one is less good quality audio but I hope the ideas are sound as I reflect on the nature of the network we all rely on.
Day Four of #AudioMo and I'm outside Relevant Record Cafe on Mill Road with a coffee and a sandwich talking about masks and plugging the new book @GearsForQueers which you should read!
Day three of #AudioMo and I'm reflecting on the difficulties facing people at the start of their careers in a 'socially distanced' world.
Today's #AudioMo recording finds me on the roof of a boat thinking about cinema and remembering the Pixel Palace at Tyneside Cinema in 2008. As I was recording this Mark Cosgrove (@msc45) was posting his excellent meditation on the same topic - so listen to me, read him, and rethink cinema https://www.the-bigger-picture.com/articles/transformative-impact-of-arts/
AudioMo is a month long audio challenge created by @ernmander that takes part in June. Record an audio a day, tweet the link using #AudioMo.
I'm in
At the closing party for the 2017 Encounters Film Festival in Bristol, Catherine Allen and Bill Thompson discuss Second Date, Nairobi Berries and Blind Vaysha, all screened as part of the Immersive Encounters strand.
A preview of all the day's events for the 4th day of the Festival, Sunday 19th September.
A look ahead to all the happenings of the Cambridge Film Festival on Saturday 18th September.
A podcast previewing all the films at the Cambridge Film Festival for the evening of the 17th of September.
We're pleased to announce that a number of Festival films will be screened at an extra Festival venue over the next two days - the Cambridge Drama Centre on Covent Garden (the one off Mill Road in Cambridge)
The Q&A from the Berlin Films collection at the Cambridge Film Festival. Features the director of 'The Last Wash' - Ville Jankeri
A review and highlights of the Q&A from the film 'The First Day of the Rest of Your Life'.
A preview of all the sights and sounds for the Festival for September 19 brought to you in an audio report.
Highlights of the exclusive Q&A session with THE ARMY OF CRIME director Robert Guidiguian.
A preview of all the big goings-on for the second day of the 2009 Cambridge Film Festival.
Festival director Tony Jones kicks off the 29th Cambridge Film Festival and introduces ARMY OF CRIME director Robert Guediguian.
It's the opening night of the 29th Cambridge Film Festival and this podcast will tell you about some of the highlights and preview tomorrow's screenings.
The 29th Festival is fast approaching and Matt, our online intern for this year's Festival, is here to bring you a special taster podcast so you know what to expect from the Festival this year.
Lindsay Brand, Lucy Newman and Max Thompson brave the festival bar to gather some final thoughts and feelings from the 28th Cambridge film festival. Please be away that the following podcast may contain some moderate language.
Lindsay Brand and Alex Fraiser explore the Machinima talks from the cambridge film festival, focusing particularly on game-based machinima from the 'Play's the thing' discussion.
We were delighted to welcome director Ulrich Seidl to the screening of Import/Export after which he took part in a Q&A.
Both confrontational and compassionate, Seidl’s tale of migration and social borders weaves its way through contemporary Europe as it interrogates the political, cultural and economic forces which shape life here. Moving in diametrically opposed directions, the film traces two of its citizens’ peripatetic journeys toward a better life: nurse Olga leaves the poverty of the Ukraine for a new start in Austria, while unemployed Austrian Paul heads to the Ukraine in search of work and meaning.
On Saturday September 20 noted actor Tilda Swinton came to Cambridge for the screening of JULIA, one of several films in this year's Festival with which she is associated.
In this first extract from the Q&A session which followed the screening Tilda talks about JULIA and about the state of independent cinema in the UK.
Set in a thriving town in the midlands of Ireland, EDEN tells the story of a week in the lives of Billy and Breda Farrell as they approach their 10th wedding anniversary. Breda is determined that the milestone will re-ignite the passion in their marriage. Billy’s got other plans. He’s become infatuated with the unobtainable Imelda Egan and has convinced himself that they will be lovers by the weekend.
As the date draws closer, Billy's behaviour becomes more and more chaotic, while Breda's frustrations crystalise and find more mature, high-risk expression. EDEN is the screen adaptation of Eugene O'Brien's critically acclaimed, award-winning play of the same name, marking the second collaboration by director Declan Recks, Eugene O’Brien and RTÉ Television.
We were delighted that lead actor Aidan Kelley was able to be present for the screening on Friday 19 September. EDEN is screened again on Saturday 20 September.
Festival Director Tony Jones introduces the 2008 Cambridge Film Festival, and namechecks Tilda Swinton, Peter Greenaway, Werner Herzog, Neil Brand and of course Emily Boldy.
Followed by Walter Salles' introduction to his film LINHA DE PASSE.
For more film festival news go to www.cambridgefilmfestival.org.uk or subscribe to this podcast on iTunes - via http://bit.ly/2pfRuG
The Festival kicked off with two open-air screenings of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY in front of the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge, and we were there to talk to the audience and the organisers of this extraordinary event.
Producer: Bill Thompson
Our opening night film is LINHA DE PASSE.
Sao Paulo. 20 million inhabitants, 200 kilometres of traffic, 300,000 messengers on motorcycles. At the heart of one of the toughest, most chaotic cities in the world, four brothers try to reinvent themselves in different ways. With the backdrop of Brazil in a state of emergency, each one is looking for a way out…
This effort from Walter Salles (THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES) and his frequent collaborator Daniela Thomas (MIDNIGHT) is a characteristically humane and intelligent work. Steadfast in its refusal to glamourise violence and the extremity of the environment which the film’s characters are forced to inhabit, LINHA DE PASSE exudes compassion, drama and insight.
Jan Gilbert chats to local filmmaker Peter Harmer about the Cambridgeshire Film Consortium's recent World War Two reminiscence project which brought together primary school children and local care home residents.
Jan Gilbert talks to April Mullen and Tim Doiron, writers-producers-directors and stars of "Rock, Paper, Scissors: The Way of the Tosser", the runaway cult hit of this year's CFF.
Jan Gilbert interviews accompanist Neil Brand about his work and the films he is performing to at this year's Festival.
Kenneth Branagh's 'As You Like It' is one of the most popular films at this year's Festival. Here Jan Gilbert talks to the director about Shakespeare, Japan, and future projects.
The 27th Cambridge Film Festival kicked off in grand style last night with a performance from Michael Nyman. Bill Thompson was there to hear his accompaniment to Vertov and Vigo - and here he introduces this year's festival programme.
Jan Gilbert talks to John Naughton, chair of the 'Future Space' session at the ENTER_ conference
Jan Gilbert talks to Mark Dixon, creator of the spectacular LED lightshow, Network, which illuminates Parker's Piece each night of the festival.
Over the next few days we are going to be podcasting from the ENTER_UNKNOWN TERRITORIES festival and conference taking place here in Cambridge
Jan Gilbert presents the final festival podcast - for now at least - which includes an interview with Terry Gilliam as he visits Cambridge for the closing night screening of Tideland, and an exclusive interview with Dan Owen.
It's the final day of the festival, with special guest Terry Gilliam here for the screening of his new film, Tideland. On the podcast today we have audience reaction to Cars and some of the other animations in the Festival, more from Friday's video Q&A with Bruce Weber, and news of the Cambridge Film Trust from Isabelle McNeill.
It's the final weekend of the festival, so what better way to add to the enjoyment than with a piano and violin accompaniment - hear how Daniel Brand and Gunther Brunwald added sound to the Open Road. And we have Bruce Weber, live via Internet from Long Island, discussing Chet Baker and Let's Get Lost.
Another film-packed show today, including an interview with German director Fred Kelerman, Trish Sheil discussing the education programme and Mike Figgis talking dirty - and not forgetting manga robot Tetsujin 28.
Published slightly later than planned thanks to technical problems - details on application - today's podcast includes an interview with the director of Visit Palestine, audience response to Projecting Britain and a feature on The Gigolos.
In the second part of todays podcast guest presenter Rowan Pelling discusses the festivals erotic season. We hear from collector Jack Stevenson about varying attitudes towards nudity and find out the views of some Cambridge sixth form students on classification and censorhip after attending a session with the British Board of film Classification.