Trends With Benefits

No game has been more of a phenomenon during the time of coronavirus, than Animal Crossing: New Horizons. From holding graduations and birthday parties in it, to even interacting with celebrities, it has helped a lot of people feel 'normal' during quarantine. But...there is also a seedy underbelly popping up with a sort-of black market, including scammers, bouncers, and villager traders. Whether you play the game, or not, it is a fascinating study of our times.

Do you have boxes of cables lying around to old printers? What about 100s if not 1000s of unread emails in your inbox? If you have anything remotely like this then you're probably in need of a solid spring cleaning of your tech. On today's episode we'll walk through some good tips, have a little 'old tech show and tell' and hopefully help you go into summer a lot more 'digitally slimmer'.

The 15th anniversary of YouTube is almost upon us and today we cover exactly how influential that is. From inspiring creators, to changing the way we view entertainment, there is a lot to cover in one episode. We have a Top 5 from Adrien, the history from Professor Prindle, the influence of YouTube from Caleb, and Greg provides a little context of where we are now.

Working from home has a lot of people turning to technology to help them cook their meals. On today's show our experts discuss what tech they use, how they apply it and what some of the options are out there to make your cooking experience easier and more enjoyable. 

There has never been a shortage of conspiracies theories in the world, but it is fascinating how they are propagating now in the era of the pandemic. Does 5G cause COVID-19? NO. But somehow this rumor and many others are prolific on social media. On this episode we'll examine the role that tech has in it and what is being done to help stem the tide of misinformation. 

With coronavirus shutting down all events, including sports, it's an interesting time to see how things are adapting. Traditional athletic leagues are turning to Esports to provide entertainment and keep engagement going. It leads to the question of what is the future of 'sports'? Basically we all want mech-battles, but until then we cover what is happening, and what is happening in this constantly evolving world. 

As we all transition to working from home, the taxation on our internet infrastructure grows steadily. Is it strong enough to handle all of the streaming TV, movies, concerts, and gaming we're now adapting to? We'll discuss that and of course what we're watching and how we're handling isolation, while still maintaining an internet connection.

On today's episode we take a look at how data is being utilized in this day and age of coronavirus affecting our entire world. Drew gives us a bit of the history, we talk about misinformation, and generally discuss the state of life right now, from a tech angle. There are some great ways to connect and we encourage you to do so!

Augmented Reality has been around for a while, but you may not have even realized you were using it. Google Maps, Lens, and even star maps are already on our phones. On this episode, we'll cover some of the current developments in AR and look to the future, where 5G and even contact lenses could make our realities much more augmented.

How long until we’re all living in a Ready Player One virtual world? Well, we’re not quite there yet, but there are still really fascinating use cases for VR and I think you’ll be surprised about some of the developments of its capabilities.

The goal of taking humanity beyond Earth isn't new, but it has received a well-needed resurgence in the last few years. Lead largely by the emerging private space industry, the possibilities are endless, from space tourism, to living on Mars. We'll discuss what is in the works and what we could look forward to in the near future.

As we see the proliferation of space tech in the commercial sector, there are a lot of advancements being made in the launching of satellites. This is great for a lot of reasons, but does also cause a problem....space junk! How we will manage the thousands of dead satellites that could be orbiting earth soon? We'll walk through some of the unique and interesting ideas being proposed.

The Coronavirus (now known as COVID-19) is a disaster on many levels. There is obviously the humanitarian side and those suffering directly, plus the threat of a global pandemic. There are also further reaching implications, like MWC. On this episode we'll walk through what is happening currently, how technology is being affected by, and also utilized to fight, the coronavirus and what the ramifications could mean.

The continuing evolution of Visual Effects never ceases to amaze, when it comes to the Academy Awards nominees. On this episode we will be covering the Oscar nominees of 2020, The Lion King, Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker, The Irishman, Avengers: Endgame, and 1917.

With Super Bowl LIV on it's way, we take a look at the actual technology behind the broadcast. From 4K UHD, to the on field graphics, to drone displays, we'll cover where it was before, what to expect now, and where the technology is headed in the future.

Wearable technology is advancing rapidly, from the Fitbit of years ago, to advanced health trackers to the future of smart contact lenses. They can track our fitness goals, and in some cases possibly save lives. We'll cover the evolution of wearable technology, through today, and beyond.

Fast Food has been a part of our culture for a long time, but it also tends to be on the cutting edge of technology. Today we'll examine the ways it is changing from alternative food sources, to robots cooking your food, to even dating via KFC. It's a strange world, and we'll dive in to a just a bit of it.

In a special edition from CES, we'll cover what we thought was the Best of CES! From the awards, to exoskeletons, Impossible Foods, and so much more, there is a lot to cover. We'll get the opinions from show floor and beyond, about the tech that will effect our lives in the next year and more. 

CES 2020 is on the way! On this episode we'll give a preview of some of the big tech like TVs, but also take a look at some of the other aspects of the big event. From Automotive technology, to food tech, to tech designed for....other purposes. There is a lot happening and we'll provide a slice of the world's largest technology conference on this episode.

On this episode we take a look at a small portion of some of the achievements in tech from the last decade. From a tech company inventing a holiday, to a Tesla in space, there has been a lot to celebrate and marvel at in the last 10 years.