Photo by Julie Ricard on Unsplash

For the first episode of 2021, Michael and Michael start off with a couple of technology and gaming focused articles related to the attack on the US Congress on the 6th.  The Washington Post article focuses on what is being done to preserve the live streams, both for posterity and as evidence, and a Mashable post draws similarities to alternate reality games (ARGs).  The cybersecurity breach via SolarWinds appears to be even worse than originally thought.  For more details, check out Steve Gibson’s Security Now podcast link in the show notes below.

There is a bevy of AR topics, starting with Looking Glass, which takes advantage of your phone to capture holographic imagery.  The DC Metro includes a full map of the metro in augmented reality on every Metro card.  And, there is a concept of macOS in AR that looks just fantastic. Between these examples and the new art installation at LaGuardia’s airport, we can truly say that AR imitates life.  Don’t miss the combination of Mario Kart Live with LEGO Super Mario – what a great concept. 

Speaking of concepts, an intriguing idea for wireless recharging is expressed in an Apple patent “Inductive charging between electronic devices” whereby a MacBook or iPad could provide power to other devices like phones or watches.  

Screens get some air time during this podcast as well – the OLEDs from LG as well as the new Mercedes Hyperscreen.

Before closing out this week’s episode with a new video of Boston Dynamics dancing robots, Michael and Michael muse on the idea of immortality that could be afforded by machine learning engines ingesting text, audio and video of a loved one in such a way that would allow post mortem interaction with the trained AI model.  Much to think about – and a cool flashback to Games At Work episode 26 from 2012 on this subject.

Selected Links

Washington Post article: The Capitol mob recorded its own history. Now, volunteers are trying to preserve the record. — https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/07/capitol-mob-recorded-its-own-history-now-volunteers-are-trying-preserve-record/ 

Curiouser Institute post: A Game Designer’s Analysis of QAnon — https://medium.com/curiouserinstitute/a-game-designers-analysis-of-qanon-580972548be5 

The Verge article: SolarWinds hack may be much worse than originally feared — https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/2/22210667/solarwinds-hack-worse-government-microsoft-cybersecurity 

Security Now episode 800 Solarblizzard — https://twit.tv/shows/security-now/episodes/800?autostart=false 

TechCrunch article: Looking Glass is launching 3D photo software for its holographic tech — https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/06/looking-glass-is-launching-3d-photo-software-for-its-holographic-tech/