Photo by Gilles Desjardins on Unsplash

One of the big news stories from this week was the newly announced Tesla Cybertruck, which caught the eyes of our cohosts Michael and Michael.  The pair discuss the design aesthetics, how it may appeal to the prototypical truck buyer (Michael R reveals he is a past truck owner!), and opportunities to extend the range of the vehicle by loading up the truck bed with Tesla Powerwalls as Michael M suggests.  Over the weekend, there are plenty of memes snared about the Cybertruck, and an amazing number of orders placed.

Tesla is not the only electric vehicle company, and the cohosts talk about, the new Mercedes EQC, and the amazing engineering efforts from Boeing to complete a prototype flying car in only a year.  Check out the podcast for the futuristic challenges that flying cars will bring.

Turning to AI, and how interaction with a chatbot could be ideally suited to the task, Michael and Michael discuss Roo, Planned Parenthood’s chatbot for helping young people learn more about sex education on their own terms, and with privacy being a major factor.  The pair also marvel at the sophisticated technological leaps that Reallusion have made with their new Headshot capability.  

Selected Links

TechCrunch article: What we learned on our Tesla Cyberetruck ride — https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/22/what-we-learned-on-our-tesla-cybertruck-ride/ 

Family Handyman article: 10 Vintage Trucks That Never Went Out of Style — https://www.familyhandyman.com/automotive/10-vintage-trucks-that-never-went-out-of-style/ 

BBC News article: Cybertruck: Tesla truck gets 150,000 orders despite launch gaffe — https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50536200 

I want a new duck 

Techcrunch article: Mercedes prices it’s all-electric EQC crossover at $67,900 — https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/20/mercedes-prices-its-all-electric-eqc-crossover-at-67900/ 

Mercedes-Benz EQC SUV —  https://www.mbusa.com/en/vehicles/class/eqc/suv 

Boeing’s flying cars

The flying cars are coming. Expect many different models and dropping prices… https://t.co/h7Ad07W0Vz— Vivek Wadhwa (@wadhwa) November 18, 2019

Vox article: America’s sex education system is broken.  This chatbot wants to be the solution. — https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/11/17/20965326/sex-education-planned-parenthood-chatbot-roo-reset-podcast 

Roo by Planned Parenthood — https://roo.plannedparenthood.org/ 

Headshot by Reallusion — https://www.reallusion.