Season 2 kicks off with a bang and the topic this time is Loot Boxes.

Is it gambling? Can we extapolate from adult research to children? Can we as researchers talk about legal issues where we find correlational behaviours that look like those legally defined terms? Moreover what is a loot box and how does it differ from a card pack? Are they the same and what about non monetary gains within games? Listen in for more than just this overview.

As is the way with Cybersynapse this topic is only a part of the whole conversation and David and I will take on you on a tangent around other cyber realted issues too discussing a variety of topics including becoming an Australian researcher thanks to the media, computer science, big data and some handy hints from simple wikapedia. (Which I did not know about, so there you go you can learn new stuff everyday).

As is discussed in the intro theres a number of edits and whilst watching back through the chat I spent an inordinate time laughing, it was such a fun interview to conduct. Expect David to be back at some point as I had a blast chatting with him.

Dont forget to head over to www.patreon.com/cybersynaspe and sign up to hear reflective peices only available to patreons. You can sign up for apprximetely a pound a month!

David is on twitter @davidzendle and you can find out more about him from York St John University

Okay so I am beginning to bring a little more of my personal interests inot the podcast based on feedback about the biohacking episode with my friend Pete. This time I bring you Paula Eggers who is a great friend, Yoga teacher and also a fellow biohacker and today she tells her story of (in her words) going from the scrapheap to health and using the internet, technology and the Superbetter game- yes this is another episode with gaming in and this time its for the many facets of health and wellbeing. Paula is a well versed and educated biohacking compliment to this epsisode and as a friend. I really loved this episode as this felt just like we were chatting on the phone. Fasten your seat-belts as we name drop (a lot) to give you the biggest episode on how you can optimise your own health and progress in life, how you can now read/listen and watch all of these fantastic resources and biohack your own way to optimal performance. Come and join us on this cram packed episode where we talk m

This week I'm joined by Adam Lobel PhD, a games user researcher at Ubisoft. Adam describes what user experience is as games user researcher is possibly just as confusing for those not in the industry. Even I introduced him incorrectly as I was too keen to get started on the discussion. We discuss emotional regulation and how games can be good for children. Yes this is another episode where I have found another games for good approach. Huzzah! Listen to how we discuss the way in which Adam designed; wait for it... card games first before we discuss video games. You might be seeing a trend right now towards gaming for good and theres a good reason why. Adam explains about the research and herein lies another episode where we talk all things good about games. Here are the links to his work, YouTube channel and social media links. Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrowingUpGaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/GrowingUpGaming PhD Dissertation: https://www.publicatie-online.nl/publicati

When gaming becomes a distraction of life in order to manage illness or distress this might be seen as a helpful way for games to be present in hospitals, hospices and homes.

Todays guest is Jonny Miree whose son tragically died earlier this year from an inoperable brain tumour. Jonny explains how the ability to engage in playing games is the distraction his son Reece needed and how the family managed this with him. We discuss gaming for palliative care and how Jonny and his wife Carol have set up a charity to bring gaming consoles to children who are in hospitals, hospice or home where children are ill, disabled, undergoing treatment or incarcerated/immobile.

The episode is heartwarming as well as heartbreaking to listen to and really highlights how gaming can be a force for good in a situation that is difficult for families.

The RockinR charity can be found here: https://therockinr.org.uk

Adoptive children and the impact of social media contact: Today I’m joined by Trainer, Coach, Author, Adoptive parent and personal friend Helen Oakwater. We discuss Helens book from 2012 called Bubble Wrapped Children; which is as relevant now if not more so in 2018 than ever before with many more ways for families to connect unexpectedly. This episode is jam packed and will be a great addition to parents, teachers and professionals as the team around the child is paramount in these circumstances! Helens book can be found here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bubble-Wrapped-Children-Networking-Transforming/dp/1780920970/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1534708755&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=bubble+wrapped+children&dpPl=1&dpID=51QhQcFuNDL&ref=plSrch Helen can be found here: https://www.fabparents.co.uk

This week I'm joined by a clinician and author Dr Anthony Bean. This episode is such a good one in terms of deconstructing games and their use, their benefits and the big WHY people use computer games. We look at Anthony's book "Working with video gamers and games in therapy; a clinicians guide" and look at some of the chapters that I am endlessly telling people about.  This episode is awesome in terms of why the (still ongoing) debate around the W.H.O. classification of gaming disorder is/has been produced by researchers with little or no understanding of WHAT GAMERS DO AND WHY. For those of you who are regular listeners and viewers you'll see this as a great explanation of the difference between the kind of work Anthony and I engage in and the research that is currently pathologising children, young people and adults too regarding this (ahem) "disorder" (I think you know my views on this loud and clear if you've listened to the other episodes, if not go back and listen there is a pl

Today I'm joined by freelance journalist, gamer and Dad Andy Roberston. He's helping parents understand why their children play games and what is really going on and how parents can become involved with their children and have conversations.

Todays episode is one where Jocelyn Brewer is my guest and we discuss what healthy habits really mean when it comes to digital devices and children, however there is a slight twist as this episode covers some handy information for parents too. Really want to know whats in your food; you look at the label so what if we could do this with apps and devices? How can we help parents in the 24/7 demands of todays world? Listen here and find out!

Today I'm joined by Dr Chris Fullwood who is a cyber psychology academic an the University of Wolverhampton.
In this packed episode we begin to explore online presentations and the why's and how's of this phenomena and behaviours online.

We look at the forms of self, the proteus effect and avatar embodiment. want to know more then you'll have to listen to entire episode and wait for the second as we only just scraped the surface today.

Chris can be found at www.wlv.ac.uk in the department of CRUW where there is now an MSc in Cyberpsycholgy, as I have said before we need more research in the Cyber world so maybe sign up here for this postgrad!

Today Im joined by Joanna Fortune who is an attachment specialist and Psychotherapist. Joanna and I discuss one of our favourite subjects attachment and early development. We delve into the intricacies of how we connect with our children through conversation and play and how this can often be disrupted by our own distractions of technology and not the way that is currently portrayed in the media of 'blaming' young people for being addicted.