Tech's Message

This week on the regular version of TECH'S MESSAGE Nate and Ian discuss:

- UK banning stores from charging debit/credit card & Apple Pay fees starting this month

- Brits are paying more for music streaming than ever before

- DISCUSSION: Powermat gives in to Qi, and wireless charging moves closer to uniformity

- Trial of laser beams to scare sea eagles from lambs

Patreon supporters have access to our longer version of the show, which includes the above as well as additional discussions about:

- EXTRA BUMPER STORY: CES, 8K and moderate excitement about VR!

- Massively extended discussion around streaming music trends

- Many outtakes and more! 

Please support us on Patreon at www.patreon.com/uktech for access to our exclusive ad-free extended version of the show, live-streaming, access to Discord member’s club, weekly columns from Nate, higher quality MP3s, and much more.

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This week we're still on our Christmas and new year break and will return next weekend all being well, so instead we've got something a bit fun for you. Over 2017 Ian and I got pretty good and doing the show as if it were live -- and in fact we do let our Patreon backers listen to us record the show live -- so very little gets cut out of the final edit. But some things do get cut, and they're often quite amusing.

Rather than leave these clips on the cutting room floor, we stitch some of them each week to the end of our extended Patreon show. So this week, we've made a little digest of some, but not all, of our favourites. In addition, at the end of the episode, there's an entire discussion that was cut from a recent episode for reasons of time, so nobody's heard that. I decided it was too much of a side point compared to the main topic, which was already only loosely a tech story -- the one about dating sites in the UK using real names -- but it was Christmas and we'd had a beer and it seemed like a good idea. So that's in here too.

Also in here, you'll hear my brother, CNET's Andy Hoyle, discover a handmade poster I'd created as a child when I was trying to form a boy band. We were recording the episode at our parent's house, and the cubby hole we used to tape in turned out to be a treasure trove of our old possessions.

So if this is the first episode of ours you're discovering, maybe listen to one of the last two or three shows instead first. We're a lot more professional than we sound on this episode -- or at least we try to be.

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For this special science, astronomy and sci-fi themed episode of Tech's Message, we're joined by three very knowledgeable guests to discuss the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, interplanetary travel, and the science behind science fiction, based on the themes raised in Carl Sagan's book and film Contact:

Dr Pamela Gay: Astrophysicist and Director of Technology and Citizen Science at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Director of CosmoQuest and co-host of science podcast Astronomy Cast. On Twitter at @starstryder.

Veronica Belmont: Sci-fi expert and Product Manager at Growbot.io., host of Mozilla's IRL podcast and science fiction and fantasy-themed book club Sword & Laser. On Twitter at @Veronica.

Tom Merritt: Sci-fi expert and author, host of Sword & Laser as well as the host of Daily Tech News Show. On Twitter at @acedtect.

Contact

In a nutshell, the story of Contact focussed on a scientist named Dr Ellie Arroway, working within the SETI facility at the Arecibo Observatory, who discovers a mysterious signal apparently coming from the star system Vega. It turns out the signal is being received as a repeating set of pulses that follows an ascending pattern of prime numbers - 2 pulses, then 3, then 5, 7, 11, and so on. Within the signal was an encoded message, which ultimately translated into being schematics for an inter-stellar transport vessel.

The film and the book differ on a few points but huge parts of both book and film detail the political, religious, financial, personal and existential issues surrounding first contact, and we'll discuss some of those themes across this 45-minute special episode. 

Along with many other topics, we discuss:

• Is there any consensus in the scientific community about what form any first contact might take, and is Sagan's idea of a prime number sequence containing encoded schematics a reasonable theory?
• What do you think would make a good candidate for being the first to speak to extraterrestrial life?
• What other books, films or TV shows do you think do a good job at dealing with the topic of humans meeting extraterrestrials?
• We've not had any proof yet that we're anything other than alone, but what exciting theories have been discussed?
• Do we send signals into space to try and make deliberate contact?
• Could we even build the machine described in Contact?
• The science behind The Martian, Star Trek, The Sparrow, Arrival, Red Dwarf and more.
• Let's assume Earth is contacted over the next few years in a way that makes it irrefutable that we're not alone in the universe. How might it play out and did Sagan's depiction seem realistic?
• Where might the next big discovery in cosmology come from and what might it be to do with?
• Bots and artificial intelligence, how good appearances of this tech in sci-fi as well as potential future applications of these systems could be seen in interstellar communication and translation

Watch or buy Contact from iTunes or Amazon or other providers.

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Please support us on Patreon at www.patreon.com/uktech for access to our exclusive ad-free extended version of the show, live-streaming, access to Discord member’s club, weekly columns from Nate, higher quality MP3s, and much more.

GET IN TOUCH using [email protected]. All messages sent will be read and considered for inclusion on a future show. 

This week on the regular version of TECH'S MESSAGE Nate and Ian are joined by CNET.com senior editor Andy Hoyle to discuss:

- OkCupid begins enforcing real-name rules

- UK homes to get faster broadband by 2020

- SPECIAL FEATURE: The tech of the year, from 4K to Huawei to surprise successes

- The future of shoehorn technology

- Your emails and questions answered!

Patreon supporters have access to our longer version of the show, which includes the above as well as additional discussions about:

- EXTRA STORY: Switching mobile operators could soon begin with a text

- Explanation of recent Patreon changes (again - sorry)

- Extended discussion around the solutions to rural broadband

- Additional tech of the year segment about high-end games consoles and gaming tech

- Outtakes and more!

Please support us on Patreon at www.patreon.com/uktech for access to our exclusive ad-free extended version of the show, live-streaming, access to Discord member’s club, weekly columns from Nate, higher quality MP3s, and much more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’ve been using the iPhone X for a number of weeks now and while it’s easy to wax lyrical about how wonderful it is — and indeed, many reviewers have almost resorted to poetry to describe it — it’s not without its drawbacks. It’s the first model released in a new era of Apple’s industrial design theory and as such there are teething issues. Despite them, I believe Apple has delivered something special and its many pros outweigh the small number of cons, and that epic £1,000 price tag.

I’ve focussed this review on things that can’t be garnered from YouTube videos or looking at the product in a shop. We all know it looks lovely, you can go and see how it feels like, you can watch YouTube videos of how games run on it. So I’m going to look at the things that aren’t immediately obvious from watching videos or playing with it in a shop.

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Please support us on Patreon at www.patreon.com/uktech for access to our exclusive ad-free extended version of the show, live-streaming, access to Discord member’s club, weekly columns from Nate, higher quality MP3s, and much more.

GET IN TOUCH using [email protected]. All messages sent will be read and considered for inclusion on a future show. 

This week on the regular version of TECH'S MESSAGE Nate and Ian discuss:

- Vodafone customers given green light by Ofcom to ditch contracts

- York refuses to renew Uber's license in new regulatory setback

- France will ban kids from using their phones during school until they're 15

- FEATURE: Interview with Patrick Beja regarding the French phone ban

- With America's net neutrality decision causing a storm, how might the UK deal with the issue? 

- Your emails and questions answered!

- Jason's blog about Xbox One game sharing

Patreon supporters have access to our longer version of the show, which includes the above as well as additional discussions about:

- EXTRA STORY: Apple confirms it will buy Shazam music-recognition app

- EXTRA STORY: Video game prices contribute to UK inflation

- Update on the Patreon fiasco and how it affects you

- Expanded section about Ian and Nate's views on phones in school

- Ian uses Twitter far too much

- Several outtakes and more!

Please support us on Patreon at www.patreon.com/uktech for access to our exclusive ad-free extended version of the show, live-streaming, access to Discord member’s club, weekly columns from Nate, higher quality MP3s, and much more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Please support us on Patreon at www.patreon.com/uktech for access to our exclusive ad-free extended version of the show, live-streaming, access to Discord member’s club, weekly columns from Nate, higher quality MP3s, and much more.

GET IN TOUCH using [email protected]. All messages sent will be read and considered for inclusion on a future show. 

This week on the regular version of TECH'S MESSAGE Nate and Ian discuss:

- GAME hooks up with Three to sell more smartphones

- Uber Loses Its Operating License in Sheffield

- Sad poop emoji gets flushed after row

- BBC iPlayer Goes 4K This Weekend With Blue Planet 2 (plus bonus nerd facts!

- Your emails and questions answered!

Patreon supporters have access to our longer version of the show, which includes the above as well as additional discussions about:

- EXTRA STORY: Neil Young's Stream service and what it could mean for record labels

- EXTRA STORY: Amazon Prime launch for The Grand Tour season 2

- Explanation of Patreon's new fees and how Tech's Message will offer you an OPT-OUT option

- Discussion of favourite Nintendo Switch games, and "Skyrim on the toilet"

- Why Ian is ditching Chrome and moving to the new Firefox on Windows

- What's up with the 4K remaster of Terminator 2: Judgement Day!?

- Outtakes and more!

Please support us on Patreon at www.patreon.com/uktech for access to our exclusive ad-free extended version of the show, live-streaming, access to Discord member’s club, weekly columns from Nate, higher quality MP3s, and much more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Please support us on Patreon at www.patreon.com/uktech for access to our exclusive ad-free extended version of the show, weekly columns from Nate, higher quality MP3s, and much more.

GET IN TOUCH using [email protected]. All messages sent will be read and considered for inclusion on a future show. 

This week on the regular version of TECH'S MESSAGE Nate and Ian discuss:

- This is how Transport for London will bring mobile signal to the Tube

- Uber says 2.7 million in UK were affected by security breach

- Another UK Company Hit By Apple's Move to Make Its Own Chips

- Your emails and questions answered!

Patreon supporters have access to our longer version of the show, which includes the above as well as additional discussions about:

- EXTRA STORY: Under-age social media use 'on the rise', says Ofcom

- EXTRA STORY: Nintendo Switch online vs physical sales are madness

- Extended discussion about password security

- Several minutes of outtakes and more!

Please support us on Patreon for access to our exclusive ad-free extended version of the show, weekly columns from Nate, higher quality MP3s, and much more www.patreon.com/uktech.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Please support us on Patreon at www.patreon.com/uktech for access to our exclusive extended ad-free version of the show, weekly columns from Nate, and much more.

GET IN TOUCH using [email protected]. All messages sent will be read and considered for inclusion on a future show. 

This week on the regular version of TECH'S MESSAGE Nate and Ian discuss:

- UK drone users to sit safety tests under new law

- Broadband firms must ditch 'misleading' speed ads

- UK government issues advice on what makes 'Kodi boxes’ illegal

- SPECIAL FEATURE: UK Gambling Commission weighs in on loot crate legality discussed with Dungeon Crawler Network's Aggelos

Patreon supporters have access to our longer version of the show, which includes the above as well as additional discussions about:

- EXTRA STORY: Automated checkouts 'miserable' for elderly shoppers

- EXTRA STORY: Ultra-fast £190m broadband fund up for grabs

- Discussion around the HQ game craze Ian has been a part of (see embed below)

- Outtakes and more!

Access our exclusive ad-free versions and bonus content, and support Nate and Ian's podcasting by becoming a Patron at www.patreon.com/uktech.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Please support us on Patreon at www.patreon.com/uktech for access to our exclusive extended version of the show, weekly columns from Nate, and much more.

GET IN TOUCH using [email protected]. All messages sent will be read and considered for inclusion on a future show. 

This week on the regular version of TECH'S MESSAGE Nate and Ian discuss:

- Forthcoming Tech's Message book club!

- Ofcom raps Virgin Media over three-year iPhone contracts

- UK supermarkets try face-based ID and payment system

- INTERVIEW WITH @MattKamen: Five years on, how does Candy Crush keep on crushing it?

- Your emails and tweets answered!

Patreon supporters have access to our longer version of the show, which includes the above as well as additional discussions about:

- EXTRA STORY: Deezer brings lossless audio to the desktop with a new app

- EXTRA STORY: Amazon’s Echo with a screen hits the UK for £200

- Lengthy discussion around lossless streaming and audio

- Experience with grilling a Virgin Mobile sales agent on 36-month contracts

- Theories behind the delay of Apple's HomePod

- Large explanation of how lossless vs. lossy audio formats work, in relation to the Deezer story

- How Ian and Nate manage their music playlists and how it ties them into Spotify or Apple

- Smart speakers are delayed in Apple Land and smart earbuds aren't working in Android World

- Almost five minutes of possibly our funniest ever outtakes!

Access our exclusive content and support Nate and Ian's podcasting by becoming a Patron at www.patreon.com/uktech.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.