MSP [] MATTSPLAINED [] MSPx

Could a giant wall of ice be all that stands between us and falling off the edge of our planet? Does the sun shine down on us like a Hollywood spotlight. Probably not, reckons Matt. But he’ll try it out, anyway.

Bladerunner, Altered Carbon and Humans outline very different visions of a future where machines have replaced human workers. Which of those futures are we headed for, asks Matt, as he gets ready for the Thunderdome.

Air conditioning has had an enormous impact on modern society, from population migration to architecture to the warehouses that store The Cloud. But is it time we swapped energy intensive a/c for microclimate technologies?

Attitudes towards Silicon Valley are changing, with an angry sea of voices raging at their tone deaf behaviour and seeming inability to understand or tame the epidemic of fake news. Now is not the time to turn our backs on tech, argues Matt.

On the show Matt looks at a very simple question: Will the future be easier or harder for the next generation of jobseekers? Automation, robots and artificial and machine intelligence are doing incredible things for us as a species. But will they leave any jobs for the boys [and girls]?

On the show Matt & Polly ask: should we be sending junk into space, even if they are giant disco balls and convertible roadsters? What can you do when software breaks your car and no one can fix it? And is your email provider a window into your soul?

Episode Transcript:


Matt
Hey Polly. I’m good. What have we got for everyone this week?

Polly
Well, Matt. Sometimes it can be a struggle to find the right stories but this week it’s been pretty easy. I’m really happy with what we have today.

We’re going to be talking about satellites and the new space start up industry.

You have a story about our dependence on software; whatever that means.

And finally, we'll be talking about hotmail, a technology that is making humans, obsolete.


Matt
Thanks Polly. We’ll be hearing more from Polly later in the show. After the break, I’ll be coming at you with the giant disco ball from space. Here on MX. 









Show
MEX0002
Jan. 26, 18
Segment
1

Item
Shiny Disco Satellites
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/26/space-graffiti-astronomers-angry-over-launch-of-fake-star-into-sky?CMP=share_btn_link



I really don’t know what to think about this next story. Sometimes it’s easy to get carried away with the shininess of new technology and forget all those old homilies like all that glitters is not gold. Or in this case, all that glitters is not silver.

The story itself is quite a nice one about national pride earlier this month the company in New Zealand called rocket lab launched a rocket into space. It had a payload of the usual commercial satellites and it was a big deal for the country, marking a successful first foray into the space business.

They’ve since come under a lot of criticism for including a large geodesic sphere amongst the cargo.

As I said I’m a little bit unsure about this story. On the face of it it’s quite cool, the sphere is called the humanity start, it’s about a metre across, it’s made out of carbon fibre and it’s designed to reflect light. And they’ve let it out into whatever part of the outer atmosphere it is that satellites inhabit.

So in effect it’s an artificial star. Which gets everyone’s Star Wars fantasies excited, even though it’s not a death Star. It has been designed to reflect so much light that it will be the brightest star visible in the night sky for the next nine months until its orbit finally decays and breaks up.

As I said the idea of having a giant disco ball in space is a pretty cool one and maybe one that can get the international space station going into party mode.

The problem with stories like this is that they really don’t stand up to closer scrutiny. Astronomers are up in arms because they’re already struggling with light pollution. And while they acknowledge that one little sphere won’t make a huge amount of difference, it sets a precedent for sending other silly things into space.Which is really something we have to avoid. There has been an explosion in Space tech start-ups over the last five years. There is so much investor money going into the field that it’s in danger of creating the classic tech bubble. It’s quite astonishing that companies are being founded on the basis of building satellites and paying for them to be delivered into space despite having no clear idea of what they’re going to be for and if they’re ever going to earn their money back.

It’s like we’re back in the early days of the.com boom. the Ethos is very much building first and find an audience later. The area of space surrounding our planet is already incredibly conges

Getting in shape can be a maze of pseudoscience, fads and frenzy. Matt’s Magic Diet won’t make you fit or healthy but it will make him a very rich man. Which would you choose, expert advice or the expertly chosen words of a flimflam merchant?

Could the era of free content be coming to an end? The tech companies may be close to harvesting all the data they need to power their AI-charged evolution. What will our role be in their information creating utopia, wonders Matt Armitage?

The weekend is nearly here. A tiny spot of optimism in a sea of workaday drudgery. And what better way to extinguish even those small hopes than to talk to Matt Armitage? Feeling Punked? Then it’s time to Mattsplain?

Check out the Mattsplained FB page for more information on the shows. If you have a start up or an SME and you think that Matt can help you, head over to his website, www.kulturpop.com where you’ll find information on Kulturpop’s consulting and mentoring programs.

It's time for another Mattsplained and this time, Matt Armitage wants to go where the sun don't shine. He promises that this show is purely X-Rated.