Not A Thing!

Episode 217

Infrequent Flyer: A short collection of tips for flying that even regular folks can enjoy. Short form: seatguru.com for seats, chelsea boots for max style and easy TSA passage, and asking for a “side shot” with a beer.

Jørgen brings us through a spirited discussion of Blade Runner 2049 including the short films bridging the original movie and this one, and a behind-the-scenes clip emphasizing practical effects.

Alan and Jørgen talked to AI Chatbot ReplikaAI for a week. Possibly more fascinating is the story of its origin.

Brendan speaks to agrobiodiversity and there’s some hope from the UN’s Convention on BioDiversity.

Spoiler Alert:
Did we mention WE’RE BACK! (again)

Episode 216

We are back! You can’t keep a good podcast down. We even picked up a new co-host! A hearty podcast-welcome to Jørgen!

Alan’s Resident Expertise: Intermittent Fasting

Brendan details The BFR (Big “Falcon” [aka “Fucking”] Rocket) from Elon “tony stark” Musk with bonus video.

In Jørgen’s first gig at co-hosting, he visits LEGO as it reinvents itself… again!

Alan ate the Impossible Burger.

Jørgen also brings us the joy of the Blade Runner press junket.

Brendan noticed a musical trend in this year’s movies.

Spoiler Alert:
Did we mention WE’RE BACK!

Episode 215

Baktun in Review!

We talk (mostly) movies including Brendan’s top 10 of 2016.

We also will be taking a break to review the podcast and look forward to where we can take it.

Spoiler Alert:
James Bond… Douglas MacArthur… The Not A Thing! Podcast will return.

Episode 214

Star Trek Fan Film Axanar settles out of court with Paramount.

The return to TV for Star Trek is delayed again.

Western Union admits to not doing enough to prevent money laundering.

American Airlines announces “Economy Basic” to compete with low cost airlines.
Supersonic jet company Boom moves out of the wind tunnel and into working prototypes.

DARPA makes a “one-way drone” for deliveries that biodegrades after use.

Researchers prototype a soft robotic pump for people at risk of heart failure.

Encrypted email company Lavabit relaunches.

SF Sketchfest has been happening!

Spoiler Alert:
American Airlines Middle Seat is a better name.

Episode 213
Norway to shut off FM broadcasts.

Google moves to shut off the Hangouts API.

TOR browser for iOS is now free.

A Crowdsource group raises enough money to fight the UK Snooper’s Charter.

In France they are legislating the right to disconnect.

The Augury AI listens to your machines to tell when they will break.

Bonus: the Peep “Network Auralizer” to monitor your computer via sound.

Researchers uses stem cells to rebuild teeth.

Spoiler Alert:
We talked about Norway without a Norwegian present.

Episode 212
Fan film Star Trek Axanar gets held up in a copyright infringement trial.
Bonus: Chief O’Brien at work!

The FTC sues D-Link over insecure routers.

Oakland passes laws to limit surveillance capabilities of police department.

CES was this week and the @internetofshit was there.

The Classic NES is “jailbroken” to allow playing games beyond the built in ones.

Barcelona looks to implement Superblocks to reduce traffic and pollution and increase open space.

Researchers look to elevate the mesentery to the status of a human organ.

Mark Hamil records a reading of a Donald Trump tweet as The Joker.
Bonus: Billy West reads Trump tweets as Zap Branigan.
Bonus 2: Trump tweets rewritten presidentially from @MatureTrumpTwts

Spoiler Alert:
There are FOUR lights.

Episode 211
House of Representatives GOP members look to limit photos and video from chambers.

The US sanctions Russia for meddling in electoral affairs.

The CRTC (Canada’s FCC) claims high speed internet as an essential resource.

An X-Prize is being sought for a real Tricorder.

The price of solar is going down.

In France a road that generates solar power is being tested.

Spoiler Alert:
There are TWO microphones involved on this show.
We talk La La Land, Assassin’s Creed, and Rogue One.

Episode 210
British police mug suspect to access unlocked phone.

Thieves can guess credit card number details in minutes.

Amazon unveils cashier-less grocery store.

Trend alert – Rage Rooms for taking out anger on physical things.

800 scientists sign open letter to Trump on climate change.

The Elysium project opens source of legacy WoW servers.

Fitbit buys (and shuts down) Pebble watch.

Biocrude fuel can be refined from sewage.

Researchers 3d-print laser-goggles for a bird. Pics included. Adorbs.

Spoiler Alert:
We Are Stargate Nerds.

Episode 209
Hacker ransoms MUNI in San Francisco.

The Mirai botnet is now over 400,000 nodes and is available for rent for DDoS attacks.

Google’s Deepmind is better at reading lips than a person.

Google and Blizzard are collaborating to train the Deepmind AI on Starcraft.

SpaceX is looking to launch 3x the number of satellites around Earth for internet access.

The internet archive (archive.org) is creating an offsite backup in Canada.

A hospital in Australia is dedicating two floors for onsite bioprinting.
Spoiler Alert:
This episode was real short!

Episode 208
A Very Special Episode of the podcast. We talked a lot about the Election.

Highly recommended to watch the season finale of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

We had a lot to say, and it was mostly a cathartic show. We hope to be somewhat back to normal next week.

Bonus link: Donald Trump Buttplug.

Spoiler Alert:
2016 is Not A Thing.