Games At Work dot Biz

Published 26 May 2025

e515 with Andy, Michael and Michael – the Fortnite Darth Vader NPC, IO, both from Google and Open AI, AI hardware, an intriguing Vision Pro use case, infrared contact lenses, Car Play Ultra, Microsoft’s GamePass set of retro classic games (Pitfall said to be coming!), and a Warhammer typing game.

Andy, Michael and Michael start off with stories about Darth Vader in Fortnite.  One article deals with how players have gotten the Darth Vader NPC AI (non-player character) to say questionable things and another on the rights Fortnite secured to do so.

The team then turned to a summary of the top 15 announcements from Google’s I/O 2025.  The cohosts were impressed by the fact that Google created a NotebookLM from the content of the conference.  Less impressive was how interacting with the NotebookLM did not create the personalized results expected.  Moving along to a different IO; the OpenAI acquisition of Jony Ive’s company, the cohosts note that reimagining what it means to use a computer (AI or otherwise) is an enormous undertaking. 

Rethinking how spatial computing could be used, Michael R walked Andy and Michael through a  use case to see through walls, floors and ceilings in an intuitive and easy way.  Another example of superhuman visual powers are contact lenses that provide the wearer with infrared vision.  According to the article, these lenses work even better when the wearer closes their eyelids to help block out more of the (previously) visual spectrum to allow for the infrared to be more easily discerned.

Rounding out this episode, the cohosts take a slightly deeper look at Car Play Ultra beyond the Aston Martin experience described last week, enjoy the Microsoft Game Pass offering for retro classic games, as well as the Warhammer typing experience.  Perhaps some of these user experience and interaction mechanisms from such games will surface in the IO AI computing device. 

What do you think is the next computing paradigm – both in hardware and software?  How will the user experience become so transparent, that all that is left is creativity, augmented in the flow of the creative process? Have your bots 🤖 drop our bots 🤖 a line at @[email protected] (our home for now) and let us know! 

These show notes were lovingly hand crafted by a real human, and not by a bot.  All rights reserved.  That’s our story and we’re sticking to it.

Wired article: Fortnite Players Are Already Making AI Darth Vader Swear

Kotaku article: Fortnite In Legal Trouble After Adding AI Darth Vader

The Verge article: The 15 biggest announcements at Google I/O 2025

Google I/O: About I/O

Google created a NotebookLM notebook with everything they announced at Google I/O. So instead of slogging through thousands of hours of video and other content, you can just ask NotebookLM questions, listen to a podcast, or get a FAQ, etc. https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/953b658a-579b-4b3c-b280-43b3781babf3

— Mike Elgan (@[email protected])2025-05-21T03:29:11.088Z

Wall Street Journal article: What Sam Altman Told OpenAI About the Secret Device He’s Making With Jony Ive

OpenAI post: Sam and Jony introduce io

Cafe Zoetrope – where the io introduction video was made

HP IQ

Games at Work e371: Legacy Games & New UX (for early discussion on Humane in 2022)

Reddit post: How I use my Apple Vision Pro to retrofit Unifi Access Points in finished homes

The Guardian article: Seeing infrared: scientists create contact lenses that grant ‘super-vision’

The Verge article: Microsoft adds over 50 ‘Retro Classics’ to Game Pass

The Verge article: Warhammer’s free new game makes typing grimdark

Web 11.0 mashup junkie, and co-founder / co-host of the GamesAtWork.biz podcast. My views are my own.

Michael Martine

Published 19 May 2025

e514 with Michael R and Andy – generative ads & LEGO, Aston Martin x Apple CarPlay Ultra, new Vision Pro UX, an Internet Roadtrip, Leroy Jenkins and so much more.

While Michael M is away, Michael R and Andy start off with some generative AI topics: advertisements and LEGO.  Per the Ars Technica article, Netflix has announced it has created GenAI advertising that it will show during streaming video in 2026.  And some exciting news in the GenAI space for LEGO – a model that generates stable (not diffuse!) LEGO structures from text prompts.

Next up: several Apple stories, starting with Aston Martin working with Apple’s CarPlay Ultra, which combines data and visualizations from the car as well as from the iPhone. Then, some articles on Apple’s Vision Pro, since the launch, and new capabilities allowing scrolling in a new way.

Then, Michael R and Andy share a cornucopia of fun.  A website with the first few of 10,000 drum machines.  A fixer of broken QR codes.  A web-based team driving game called Internet Roadtrip, reminiscent of Twitch Plays Pokemon, and a little like Desert Bus too.  And especially a reflection on the 20th anniversary of Leroy Jenkins.  Do check out the article in the show notes  below, and see also the embedded story from 20 years ago.

What’s your favorite Leroy Jenkins story?  Have your bots 🤖 drop our bots 🤖 a line at @[email protected] (our home for now) and let us know! 

These show notes were lovingly hand crafted by a real human, and not by a bot.  All rights reserved.  That’s our story and we’re sticking to it.

Netflix will show generative AI ads midway through streams in 2026
Netflix is trying to grow ad revenue quickly.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/05/netflix-will-show-generative-ai-ads-midway-through-streams-in-2026/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

— Ars Technica (@[email protected])2025-05-14T20:49:34.591Z

Ars Technica article: Netflix will show generative AI ads midway through streams in 2026

PC Mag article: LegoGPT Eliminates AI Weirdness, Creates Brick Designs You Can Actually Build

arXiv paper: Generating Physically Stable and Buildable LEGO Designs from Text

Huggingface: LegoGPT Demo

Wall Street Journal article: They Paid $3,500 for Apple’s Vision Pro. A Year Later, It Still Hurts.

Bloomberg article: Apple Readies Feature That Lets Vision Pro Users Scroll With Their Eyes

The Verge article: Apple will let the Vision Pro ‘see’ for you

10k Drum Machines

HumanQR

Adafruit blog post: Need to get away? Take an Internet Roadtrip!

Neal.Fun Internet Road Trip

Games at Work e77: (Hive)Mind Blowing for multiplayer Pokemon

NPR All Tech Considered article: Here’s What Happens When Thousands Play Pokemon Together

Desert Bus Express 2025

PC Gamer article: WoW’s Leeroy Jenkins, one of the internet’s oldest memes, turns 20 years old—and after looking back on what we wrote in 2005, I feel like we’ve failed Leeroys everywhere

Rock Paper Shotgun article: Doom: The Dark Ages review

Web 11.0 mashup junkie, and co-founder / co-host of the GamesAtWork.biz podcast. My views are my own.

Michael Martine

Published 12 May 2025

e513 with Michael and Michael – Clippy + LLMs, social AI, first person video, Duck, Pong & other games, and so much more.

While Andy is away, Michael and Michael start off this episode with good friend Clippy, the Microsoft Office Assistant from the early 2000s.  Felix Reiseberg has made a version of Clippy that can use a variety of LLMs while retaining the look and feel of the 2000s user experience.  Meta has enabled or borrowed – you pick your favorite – the capability of making user interactions with it’s AI app public, in much the same way you can browse other people’s exchanges on Venmo.  And for the sports fans, there is a new AI capability that produces play by play and color commentary.  This example highlights the thrill of victory in a match of Pong.

The Games at Work switches gears to the automotive world, where an article examines the (triumphant) return of the Yugo.  Michael R remembers the Adobe parody from Saturday Night Live, and also shares news of the return of the Karman Ghia with Michael M.  The story of the return of physical buttons from Wired reminds the cohosts of an earlier Games at Work episode where this comeback has been in the making since at least 2023.

A comedic triumph turns 50 years old this year – Monty Python’s Holy Grail, and somehow, we’re not quite sure how, Michael and Michael refrain from going through all of the quotable quotes from the movie.  After this amazing restraint, the pair turn to the Apple Vision Pro Adventure series, with an in-depth article about the making of these feats of moviemaking.  Michael R has experienced them on the Vision Pro, and describes how he felt while viewing them.  The Pike’s Peak race takes Michael M back to a 1972 film about a race through the streets of Paris called C’etait un Rendezvous.

After a discussion about the games of Duck, Eco Dolphin, and Minecraft removing support for VR, the co-hosts reflect on a Wired article about how industry is keeping the metaverse and 3D Internet dream alive through digital twinning.  

The team wraps up this episode with a reflection on the end of support for Windows 10 – or is that really the case?

Clippy, the Yugo, the Holy Grail and Windows 10 are among the things that are not dead yet.

Are you more excited about the return of the Yugo or the Karman Ghia?  Is there a vehicle you would dearly love to see come back in a new form?  Have your bots 🤖 drop our bots 🤖 a line at @[email protected] (our home for now) and let us know! 

These show notes were lovingly hand crafted by a real human, and not by a bot.  All rights reserved.  That’s our story and we’re sticking to it.

Clippy

Wikipedia entry: Office Assistant (Clippy)

Business Insider article: Meta has a new stand-alone AI app. It lets you see what other people are asking. I’m confused.

Garbage Day article: Meta has a cool new slop feed

Venmo article: Who can see my Venmo payments?

Hackaday article: AI Brings Play-By-Play Commentary to Pong

Google NotebookLM

Motortrend article: The Yugo—One of the Worst Cars Ever—Is Attempting a Comeback

Wired article: Rejoice! Carmakers Are Embracing Physical Buttons Again

Games at Work e415: Pushing Our Buttons

Wall Street Journal article: Coconuts Still Clopping, ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ Turns 50

IMDb: Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Digital Camera World article: “I very much believe that the future of entertainment will be immersive!” – We speak to award-winning filmmaker and series director of Apple TV’s ‘Adventure’, Charlotte Mikkelborg

AppleTV Press release: Apple Original Films announces groundbreaking new documentary event “Bono: Stories of Surrender,” premiering globally on May 30 on Apple TV+

RadioEins Global Solutions Summit – World Policy Forum interview with Felix Hlatky, Finanzvorstand der Social Plattform Mastodon

Duck, the game

Duck, the North Carolina Outer Banks town

Go, the game

DuckDuckGo, the search engine and browser

Polygon article: Ecco the Dolphin is getting two remasters and one new title from its original creators

The Verge article: Minecraft’s VR support is now gone

Wired article: The Dream of the Metaverse Is Dying. Manufacturing Is Keeping It Alive

End of 10

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Web 11.0 mashup junkie, and co-founder / co-host of the GamesAtWork.biz podcast. My views are my own.

Michael Martine

Published 5 May 2025

e512 with Andy and Michael – E Ink monitors, Agent run companies & towns, winning arguments with AI assistants, pixellating reality and much more.

While Michael R is away, Andy and Michael start off this episode continuing the E Ink theme from last week before shifting to AI and wrapping up with several cool makes.  

It seems that there was a great deal of discussion on E Ink in the past couple of days, and the team touch on the BOOX Mira and Dashing Paperlike displays.  Andy also mentions being on a recent episode of the Bootloader podcast, where he talked about Glance – see the links below for more.  

Moving along to AI, the co-hosts talk through the multiple themes embedded in the TechCrunch article dealing with Perplexity, the divestiture of Chrome, and the business of advertising.  Andy brings up a phrase giving a different name for AI, namely, Computational Text Generation Devices, and Michael shares a link to the Crystal Knows service he heard about during a recent interview.  Then, the co-hosts have a spirited, while still family friendly, conversation spurred on by an automobile journalist’s frustrating experience with a car’s assistant.  Next up was an article about how Carnegie Mellon professors staffed a virtual company solely with AI agents, which reminded Michael about Smallville – check out e428 and e412 from 2023 for more on AI agent interaction in a town setting.  Then, Andy touches on the Meta Ray-Bans story from Gizmodo.

Wrapping up the show for this week, Andy and Michael take a look at a couple of really intriguing makes: PixLens for pixellating reality using a specifically machined acrylic lens, a cassette emulator, and a Sony Watchman brought back to life by a Raspberry Pi.

What would you like to pixellate with the PixLens?  Have your bots 🤖 drop our bots 🤖 a line at @[email protected] (our home for now) and let us know! 

These show notes were lovingly hand crafted by a real human, and not by a bot.  All rights reserved.  That’s our story and we’re sticking to it.

The Verge article: Boox launches its first color E Ink monitor

BOOX Mira Pro E Ink Monitor

Liliputing article: Dasung Paperlike 13K is a 13.3 inch E Ink color monitor

Dasung Paperlike 13K E Ink Monitor

The Bootloader podcast, e19 Welcome Andy Piper for Glance

Glance

TechCrunch article: Perplexity CEO says its browser will track everything users do online to sell ‘hyper personalized’ ads

Amardeep Singh blog post: Humanities AI in 2025: Brief Reflections After a Conference

CrystalKnows.com 

USA Today article: Scolded by a car? My battle with an EV assistant going rogue

Futurism article: Professors Staffed a Fake Company Entirely With AI Agents, and You’ll Never Guess What Happened

Games at Work e428: Is you is, or is you AIn’t my AI? For Smallville

ARXIV paper: Generative Agents: Interactive Simulacra of Human Behavior

Games at Work e412: 3D or not 3D also for Smallville and NPCs

Gizmodo article: Meta Is Turning Its Ray-Bans Into a Surveillance Machine for AI

AdaFruit blog post: PixLens: Reality into 8-bit

PixLens

I've adorned my cassette emulator device with a hand whittled label. The top panel has some bumps from through-board solder pads, so nothing I can do about that. But overall it's alright, if you don't look too closely and/or judge too harshly.

#ZXSpectrum

— electron.greg (@[email protected])2025-04-29T19:51:00.721Z

hackster.io post: A Sony Watchman Lives Again as the Display for a Dinky Raspberry Pi 3 Cyberdeck

Wikipedia article: Sony Watchman

GOG Dreamlist

The Verge article: GOG is adding some classic Star Wars games to its preservation program

Web 11.0 mashup junkie, and co-founder / co-host of the GamesAtWork.biz podcast. My views are my own.

Michael Martine

Published 28 April 2025

e511 with Michael, Andy and Michael – Vibe coding with the Vision Pro, E Ink, ePaper, multi and single player MMORPGs, Minecraft London and much more.

Michael, Andy and Michael get things off to a fast start continuing the vibe coding conversation.  The Vision Pro features prominently, with the idea that Siri was intended to allow for calling virtual objects into being in the Vision Pro environment without requiring the user to write code.  Then, the team discusses the different algorithms used by quantified self devices such as the Oura Ring and Apple Watch.  Next up, an intriguing concept of storing deleted data, with timestamps and user information for future potential use.

Then the co-hosts take the Figment E Ink hardware and run with it on a journey of other E Ink devices.  While the Kindle provides an easy launch point, other E Ink / ePaper devices such as the Daylight computer, the ePaper Name Badge, the Remarkable 2, Air Lab, the Poem/1 (hail poetry!) and even grocery store price displays get their proverbial day in the sun.

Switching gears to massive multi (and single) player games, Andy shares a story about the Minecraft digital twin of London built over the past 5 years.  In an MMORPG twist, the co-hosts discuss the simulated players in Erenshor, a single player version of an MMO.  

Wrapping things up for the week, the team concludes with a couple of Nintendo stories repurposing older GameBoy and Wii hardware for fun experiments.

If you could have a Windows enabled GameBoy, what would you most like to run on it?  Have your bots 🤖 drop our bots 🤖 a line at @[email protected] (our home for now) and let us know! 

These show notes were lovingly hand crafted by a real human, and not by a bot.  All rights reserved.  That’s our story and we’re sticking to it.

9 to 5 Mac article: Apple wanted people to vibe code Vision Pro apps with Siri

The Information article: Apple Devising Software to Help Anyone Build AR Apps, to Drive Headset Sales

Tom’s Guide article: I wore my Oura Ring vs Apple Watch 10 to track my steps for a week — and this device was way off

Scott Antipa blog post: YAGRI: You are gonna read it

Wikipedia article: YAGNI

Liliputing article: Figment is another E Ink handheld game console made for text adventures (and maybe more)

Games at Work article: e467- Total Recall for the Daylight computer and slow computing

Daylight Computer

Terrence Eden blog post: Gadget Review: 6-Colour ePaper Name Badge

Remarkable 2

CrowdSupply post: Air Lab – A playful and portable air quality measuring device

Kickstarter project: Poem/1: AI rhyming clock

Poem/1 AI rhyming clock

Wikipedia article: E Ink

Games at Work e453 – Vision Pro a Pro-Pro for the Poem/1

BBC article: Minecraft: ‘We’ve spent five years rebuilding London’

Build the Earth

GamesRadar article: “I’ve had this idea for 25 years”: Solo dev behind single-player MMO with fake simulated players insists “I do not plan to add multiplayer” as it soars on Steam

GamesRadar article: Erenshor, the ‘MMORPG’ with fake players that’s not actually an MMO at all, gets an imminent release date

Erenshor on Steam

Time Extension article: Someone Has Created A Version Of Windows For Game Boy, And Yes, It Includes Minesweeper

Alex Haydock blog post: This blog is hosted on a Nintendo Wii

Web 11.0 mashup junkie, and co-founder / co-host of the GamesAtWork.biz podcast. My views are my own.

Michael Martine