Show notes and links:
Twitter says it’s building a feature that lets you hide replies to your tweets (theverge.com)
YouTube CEO: Disabling comments on minor videos was ‘trade-off’ for child safety (cnet.com)
A Child Explains Why He Built a Nuclear Reactor in His Playroom (vice.com)
Bowser will replace Reggie Fils-Aimé as Nintendo of America president (arstechnica.com)
Rumor: Microsoft Bringing Game Pass And Published Titles To Switch (gameinformer.com)
Americans Are Literally Flushing Canada’s Forests Down the Toilet (vice.com)
It seems every episode begins with an excuse for why we’re late, so here goes… Sorry about this; I really thought we’d be on time this time around! We had our lineup of stories ready on Saturday, Breki had done his initial read-through on Sunday and was happy with how everything looked, but – come Monday – he started getting a nasty cold and couldn’t do his read… So, until we’ve perfected the artificial intelligences that will replace him, that kind of a thing is pretty much a showstopper. Anyway, we’re back on track and here’s the episode for this past week!
Show notes and links:
An AI that writes convincing prose risks mass-producing fake news (technologyreview.com)
This Website Uses AI to Generate the Faces of People Who Don’t Exist (vice.com)
This Person Does Not Exist (thispersondoesnotexist.com)
Behold, the Facebook phishing scam that could dupe even vigilant users (arstechnica.com)
With the best air pressure sensor ever on Mars, scientists find a mystery (arstechnica.com)
Samsung’s foldable phone is the $1,980 Galaxy Fold (theverge.com)
We’re late, I know, but like anything good in your life – we’re worth waiting for. Yeah, we’re that confident in ourselves and the quality of our show that we’re going to go out on a limb and say that even when we release an episode almost in time for next week’s episode, you’re still going to enjoy it.
… Please don’t tell us we’re wrong about our inflated self-confidence?
Show notes and links:
Troubled Bitcoin trader QuadrigaCX takes another bizarre turn (vancouversun.com)
Is This Your USB Stick Found Buried in Seal Poop? Scientists Want to Know (sciencealert.com)
Target changes app after KARE 11 investigation (kare11.com)
YouTube announces it will no longer recommend conspiracy videos (nbcnews.com)
It’s another week, so we have another episode of Geekdays. Enjoy the stories and figure out how Jeff handles things when the time machine breaks down.
Show notes and links:
Online Piracy Can Be Good for Business, Researchers Find (vice.com)
Hulu will soon show users ads when videos are paused (theverge.com)
Netflix usage surpassed cable and satellite TV for the first time in 2018 – BGR (bgr.com)
Mastering Jenga taught this robot real-world physics (engadget.com)
Digital exchange loses $137 million as founder takes passwords to the grave (arstechnica.com)
NASA Discovered a ‘Disturbing’ Glacier Hole Two-Thirds the Size of Manhattan (vice.com)
Another week, another delayed episode. Sorry to those of you who caught this on the Coffee With Jeff feed earlier, looks like we made a mistake in publication and put it in the wrong place.
Show notes and links:
Doomsday Clock frozen at two minutes to apocalypse (bbc.com)
The mystery tracks being ‘forced’ on Spotify users (bbc.com)
Amazon made a vest to keep robots from pummeling humans (engadget.com)
KFC Announces Major Plastics Pledge, Achievement Of Antibiotics Goal (forbes.com)
While we can’t boast the same beautiful transition from poo to peep like in last week’s show, we do have several things that speak for the consumption of this auditory geek-themed news programming. Most notably, of course, is that Breki … “Sings”. Kind of.
Show notes and links:
Massive Collection #1 Breach Exposes 773 Million Emails (gizmodo.com)
Fortnite made $2.4 billion in 2018 as free-to-play and mobile games dominated the market (techspot.com)
Fortnite V-Bucks Used by Criminals for Money Laundering Schemes (digitaltrends.com)
Twins get some ‘mystifying’ results when they put 5 DNA ancestry kits to the test (cbc.ca)
The Government’s Secret UFO Program Funded Research on Wormholes and Extra Dimensions (vice.com)
This week’s episode starts with poops and ends with peeps. We couldn’t have planned it better even if we tried.
Show notes and links:
Poop research might get a more polite name (theverge.com)
People older than 65 share the most fake news, a new study finds (theverge.com)
Olay’s electromagnetic face wand turns skincare into a mobile game (engadget.com)
Costco sells out of 27-lb. bucket of mac and cheese (usatoday.com)
Peeps-flavored coffee creamer does, in fact, taste like Peeps (mashable.com)
Oh, hi. I’m Breki. You might remember me from the last time I made a joke like this.
Show notes and links:
This link has no title (phys.org)
Bizarre ‘dark fluid’ with negative mass could dominate the universe – what my research suggests (theconversation.com)
The lies Comcast allegedly told customers to hide full cost of service (arstechnica.com)
AI-equipped cameras will spot poachers in Africa before they can kill (theverge.com)
Google’s Year in Search – Google Trends (g.co)
Worst passwords of 2018 revealed, ‘123456’ retains top spot (techspot.com)
Sorry for the missing week, but here we go!
Show notes and links:
This link has no title (adweek.com)
Six people swallowed LEGOs and pored through their own poo for science (arstechnica.com)
Scientists Have Found The Funniest Words in The English Language (sciencealert.com)
This link has no title (news.com.au)
Here’s the Truth Behind a NASA Document on Aliens Visiting Earth (livescience.com)
2 Milly files a lawsuit against Fortnite maker Epic Games over dance move – TechCrunch (techcrunch.com)
It’s that time of year – things are slowing down as people begin to wind down before Christmas, but we’re not at the point where all of the major releases for the Christmas season are coming out… In other words, a perfect time for stories about wombat poop, global warming and scanning the human body … with technology!
Show notes and links:
A Scanner That Can See Inside The Entire Human Body at Once Just Took Its First Images (sciencealert.com)
We Finally Know How Wombats Produce Their Distinctly Cube-Shaped Poop (gizmodo.com)
Surging Seas: Risk Zone Map (climatecentral.org)
Greenhouse Gas Levels at Record High, UN Report Warns (vice.com)
Controversial spraying method aims to curb global warming (wivb.com)
This link has no title (cnn.com)
This tiny Oreo record player is the most delicious gift of the season (mashable.com)
How embarrassing. I’d recorded this episode and prepared the shownotes, but forgotten to publish it. It wasn’t until I realized that Geekdays wasn’t showing up in my own feed that I realized that I hadn’t actually published it… So here it is, better late than never!
Show notes and links:
This link has no title (cnn.com)
Former NASA administrator says Lunar Gateway is “a stupid architecture” (arstechnica.com)
Police Think Amazon’s Alexa May Have Witnessed a Double Murder (people.com)
PlayStation is skipping E3 2019 (theverge.com)
Microsoft is said to be building an Xbox with no disc drive (cnet.com)
Nintendo dashes hopes of an N64 Classic (theverge.com)
A bit late, but it’s worth it. I promise.
Show notes and links:
Stan Lee – Wikipedia (wikipedia.org)
The Vast Majority of YouTube Users Hit the Site for How-to Videos (digitaltrends.com)
Remnants of Earth’s Oldest Dirt May Have Been Found in Greenland (gizmodo.com)
Threatin’s Fake Fanbase Fails To Show Up For European Tour (stereogum.com)
Another week, another Geekdays. Sometimes I wonder if we should rename the show now that we’re weekly. The old gimmick was that we publish on weekdays, hence Geekdays. But now that we publish weekly, maybe the show should be called Geekly instead? … Only, that sounds like a terrible “Web 2.0” name and I’m sure the domain name geek.ly is already taken…
Show notes and links:
‘Test tube trees’: An insurance policy against extinction? (bbc.com)
Lime and Segway Can’t Agree Over Alleged Flaming Scooters (gizmodo.com)
KFC Gives $11,000 to Parents Who Named Baby After Colonel Sanders (people.com)
Mario Segale, Inspiration For Nintendo’s Hero Plumber, Has Died : NPR (npr.org)
While we do manage to start this show with a semblance of theme and topic, it rapidly devolves into … not that.
Show notes and links:
Here’s what’s really going on in red planet ‘explosion’ IMAGES — RT World News (rt.com)
Boba Fett spin-off Star Wars movie is no longer happening, apparently (mashable.com)
We might be able to rate future films with a sniff test, study says (arstechnica.com)
California strikes deal with FCC to delay state net neutrality law (theverge.com)
‘The Blowjob Paper:’ Scientists Processed 109 Hours of Oral Sex to Develop an AI that Sucks Dick (vice.com)
A new Pokémon Go clone lets players collect Catholic saints instead of monsters (theverge.com)
We’re back with another episode, presenting you with the hard-hitting facts about NASA, Apple, Bloomberg, eBay, Amazon, and – of course – Taco Bell. Enjoy!
Show notes and links:
NASA Unveils 21 New Constellations Invisible to The Naked Eye (sciencealert.com)
“ Something is wrong. Blanket denials from companies, NCSC and DHS are v. unusual. The only precedent for this is a 2014 Bloomberg article, by the same author, which claimed NSA exploited Heartbleed, and was vigorously knocked down with zero follow up by Bloomberg or correction.… https://t.co/GJiSMq1wQP” (twitter.com)
Apple CEO Tim Cook Is Calling For Bloomberg To Retract Its Chinese Spy Chip Story (buzzfeednews.com)
eBay is suing Amazon over allegedly poaching its third-party sellers (theverge.com)
Unboxing Taco Bell’s Awesome Xbox One X Platinum Limited Edition Bundle (forbes.com)
Is your Google Pixel 3 not saving every photo? (androidcentral.com)
We’re finally back from our hiatus! Sorry it took so long, but we’re going to make up for it! Twice the excitment! Twice the fluctuation in pitch in Breki’s voice! Twice the amount of unsuitable sexual references! Twice the amount of Tom!
… No, wait, sorry. Still just the one Tom.
Show notes and links:
4K upgrades could be coming soon to Google Play Movies, and they might be free (androidcentral.com)
Is Your Orgasm Face The Same as Your Pain Face? Researchers Ask The Ultimate Question (sciencealert.com)
Astronomers Wonder: Can Moons Have Moons? (gizmodo.com)
This link has no title (knowyourmeme.com)
A hospital made a Spotify playlist of hot jams to help you perform CPR (mashable.com)
a.) Confirm additional reporting is coming
b.) Announce the articles are under review
c.) Retract the articles in entirety” (twitter.com)
The Cybersecurity World Is Debating WTF Is Going on With Bloomberg’s Chinese Microchip Stories (vice.com)
‘Be careful what you read’ (cnbc.com)
What Businessweek got wrong about Apple (apple.com)
Elon Musk plunges Tesla into Nevada’s housing problems (rgj.com)
Elon Musk’s Tesla files for a trademark of ‘Teslaquila’ (cnbc.com)
It’s another Geekdays – but it’s also the last Geekdays you’ll be hearing in a while. After this one, we’re taking the rest of September off. And this has nothing to do with the rumors that the Health and Safety people heard our writers shouting from the basement when they were doing a routine inspection… Despite the efforts that we put into soundproofing that place so that we wouldn’t have to hear them … Amazing, really. Anyway – it has nothing at all to do with that.
Show notes and links:
Balloons Are Bad—Should We Ban Them? (gizmodo.com)
Woman: My iPhone was seized at border, then imaged—feds must now delete data (arstechnica.com)
New facial recognition security system used in US airports identifies first imposter (techspot.com)
The Monstrous ‘Fatbergs’ Lurking Below Cities Might Have a Surprisingly Important Benefit (sciencealert.com)
It almost didn’t happen – but then it happened! A new episode of Geekdays, for your listening pleasure!
Show notes and links:
HBO’s Watchmen Is Coming in 2019 (gizmodo.com)
End of the Rainbow? New Map Scale Is More Readable by People Who Are Color Blind (scientificamerican.com)
Blue light from phone screens accelerates blindness, study finds | Society (theguardian.com)
The Drive-Thru Speaker at a Dunkin’ Donuts Broke. So Employees Did Something Truly Brilliant (inc.com)
Sorry about the lost week! I wish there was some way we could make it up to you that isn’t just … being on time and doing six stories as we’ve promised all along. But hey, hopefully we’ll be better at that. Maybe. You know – if fate wills it, etc.
Show notes and links:
Superbugs Are Growing More Resistant to Hand Sanitizer, Scientists Warn (sciencealert.com)
Condoms shouldn’t be washed or reused, according to CDC (businessinsider.com)
Massive study finds nearly no increase to diversity in popular films (mashable.com)
Activists aren’t happy after Facebook removes phony protest rally (thenextweb.com)
This tweet contains an entirely playable, retro-style arcade game (theverge.com)
Confirmed: Fortnite on Android will drive its bus past Google’s 30% cut [Updated] (arstechnica.com)
It’s another late episode, but if you’re waiting for something good; you’re never let down when an episode of Geekdays appears in your inbox. And don’t worry – we’re getting back on track with the schedule soon enough, as work in other spheres of our lives is finally settling down.
Show notes and links:
Tommy Hilfiger tracks, rewards you for wearing its smart clothes (engadget.com)
Orlando Bloom stops play twice to scold audience member he thinks is using an iPad (9to5mac.com)
Google Says It Will Stop Android Phones From Suggesting “My Face” When Users Type “Sit On” (buzzfeednews.com)
Terms of Service Violation (bloomberg.com)
The future of search-and-rescue robots might be centaur, not human (theverge.com)