Photo by Michael Martine, 2020

The game is afoot with this week’s episode!  Michael and Michael start things off with a tale of two feet – specifically, how this unit of measure has had two definitions for a long time in the United States, and is finally gaining full resolution, per an article from the New York Times.  

Tales of derring do continue with a story about how a super-secret iPod geiger counter was developed by a couple of Apple engineers and the US government.  After having a discussion on some of the Bondesque spy gadgets, the co-hosts turn their attention to a method for divining a physical key, all from a surreptitiously captured audio of the tumblers falling into place, which could then be used to manufacture a key to open the lock.  

Maps feature once again in the discussion – this time from the new Google Maps topographic improvements starting to roll out, to map oopses such as the 212 story obelisk in the new Microsoft Flight Simulator.  Michael R is excited about the VR aspects of Flight Simulator, but not quite so much about the Facebook account requirement that Oculus now brings.  A story about a 16 hour real time experience of a team flying from LA to Dubai 

Wrapping things up with a weekend camping opportunity for the sure footed, both co-hosts agree that this is something for others to enjoy.

If you’ve come across a story you’ve enjoyed, share it with the Games At Work team!  It’s fun and easy to do so — a quick tweet to @GamesAtWork_biz will do the trick.

Selected Links

New York Times article: America Has Two Feet. It’s About to Lose One of Them — https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/18/science/foot-surveying-metrology-dennis.html 

The Verge article: Go read how the US government built a top-secret iPod right under Steve Jobs’ nose — https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/18/21374491/go-read-this-apple-us-government-secret-custom-ipod-david-shayer 

Q (James Bond) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_(James_Bond) 

Mashable article: Hackers can now clone your keys just by listening to them with a smartphone — https://mashable.com/article/spikey-house-keys-listening-smartphone/ 

MacRumors article: Google Maps Gaining More Detail With New Color-Mapping Algorithmic Technique — https://www.macrumors.com/2020/08/18/google-maps-gaining-more-detail/ 

The Verge article: An innocent typo led to a giant 212-story obelisk in Microsoft Flight Simulator — https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/21/21395084/microsoft-flight-simulator-melbourne-obelish-openstreetmap-bing-maps-data-glitch 

The Verge article: Facebook is making Oculus’ worst feature unavoidable — https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/19/21375118/oculus-facebook-account-login-data-privacy-controversy-developers-competition 

Kotaku article: Flight Simulator Pilots Make 16-Hour Flight From LA to Dubai in Real Time ...