Vulgar Tech

Oh, snap! A Big Hack! Yes, yes, of COURSE we talk in-depth about the huge multi-country, multi-target WannaCry / WannaCrypt / WannaCrypt0r hack. In fact, we even discuss motives, methods, history, and resolution of the hack by way of Mitcz over-explaining boring technical details of the code involved. But, like any good sandwich, the meat is in the middle where we talk about security, Artificial Intelligence, Apple, Amazon, our boyfriend Elon Musk, Netflix, and a whole lot more weird news in and around the tech world.

Also, for the first time ever, this one features a “coming up next time on Vulgar Tech…” teaser. There’s just so much going on!

We kick things off this week with some exciting Riffopolis Network news, before delving into Amazon’s latest whacky Echo product : a style assistant? Yes, an AI Style Assistant in a webcam. Alex gets very upset about it and rants and raves wildly. We discuss a new software API for artificial voiceover creation – and debating the merits of such a tool. Moving into one of our favorite topics, we discuss the new Arlan Robotics “Service Droid” (which is just a fancy way of saying it’s a robot that sucks your… well, you get the idea) and get into very detailed and lewd discussion of technique and enjoyment.

Other topics include : Larry Page (of Google)’s new “flying car” project, why Mark Zuckerberg is insane, commercials that utilize voice-based assistant tech to advertise on their behalf, and rounding out with an in-depth discussion of the nascent Lab Grown Meat industry.

Hey look! We’re kinda keeping something of a schedule here! Okay, let’s talk about the episode…

We start off with tangents about Amazon’s Alexa, then move into a proposed “pinball for rent” business idea while also discussing tech that only the uber-rich have (and can afford). From there, we discuss why Lyft doesn’t understand April Fools’ Day (aka “Internet Douchebag Day”) before delving into a discussion about a hacked camera-dildo device, which leads to Alex defining a new term : “Mandelberg’s Law” which, distilled to its core, is “any device with a computer inside of it will inspire someone to hack it”, while Mitcz tries to propose an easy and secure solution for the lackluster security standards for the Internet of Things.

We also discuss the maybe-devil of internet startups (seriously, you might punch something when you hear about it), some exciting Apple news (they pretend to care again about their pro users), before delving into two of our favorite topics : Elon Musk and the growing industry of self-driving vehicles.

It’s a long, but — we think — entertaining and perhaps fascinating episode that’ll keep you busy until we stop being lazy long enough to do this again. But we’re getting better! Let us know what YOU wanna hear about and maybe we’ll talk about it.

We’re baaaaack! Hello 2017! This being our first podcast in the new year, we kick things off with our weird tech predictions (spoiler : Mitcz’s predictions are weird and nerdy, Alex’s are lofty). We  also discuss other company’s predictions like Uber’s master plan for flying cars, and Amazon’s master plan for automated grocery stores. We explore Twitter and Facebook’s tech reactions to the 2016 U.S. Elections (and what Twitter is doing about trolls), before moving into our favorite discussions of morality and utility as we learn about the first planned head transplant to take place this December, 2017.

To round it all out, we touch on Alex’s favorite topic – SPORTS! – by way of exploring the world of dating apps and Mitcz blows Alex’s mind by showing him the private, invite-only “Tinder for Celebrities” (that both of them aren’t allowed to be on).

Since we finally started doing new VT episodes again, we’re doing time-relevant tech updates and speculation again! And almost none of them are Apple-related! We discuss the restaurant industry, Alex’s fascinating theory on McDonalds, Netflix, Snapchat’s weird new hardware device that will usher in the acceptance of a loss of privacy, how shitty Yahoo is – was – and continues to be, a rat birth control product, and SO much about self-driving & autonomous cars.

Finally, we end on a discussion of madman (and suspected robot) Elon Musk, and his plans to bring SpaceX to Mars and just WTF that means for humanity, space exploration, technology, and the human race.

The Apple iPhone 7 / Watch 2 event went down the day before this episode was recorded and we sat down to discuss it. Mitcz makes his attempt at an impassioned case for the removal of the headphone jack, while Alex gets pissy about the price on the AirBuds. We also talk a lot about Alex’s recent switch from a Samsung Android phone to an iPhone 6. Tesla Autopilot saves a man’s life, so… of course we talk about self-driving cars.

This is posted much later than it was recorded because we didn’t like the audio quality of it, but after recording another take a week later, we realized the content was more important than the audio quality. Sorry.

We’re back after a two week hiatus – sorry! But we’ve got a lot of little tech morsels — some of them vulgar — for you. From the “Uber for Gas” and “Uber for Tailoring” to Google’s proposed new OS for the Internet of Things, to IKEA’s official Hack system, to Nintendo’s curious VP of Sales. We also clear the air about the rumor of Netflix running ads, while Alex goes off on a rant about the importance of advertising, which leads to Twitter’s terrible advertising system (and their sheer idiocy in auto-approving Promoted Tweets).

We delve into the world of teledildonics and VR porn. Mitcz says “yawn”, Alex says “wait and see…” as we debate the merits and pitfalls of various futuristic sex devices. We round out the show with a discussion about Ross Ulbricht’s life sentence, a discussion of Silk Road, and whether or not the sentence was fair.

Sorry we were late this week. It’s been crazy around here. We start off with a correction, and a couple of quick news items — like the fall of the House of Keurig (okay.. “fall” is a little strong. The weakening?), and some Amazon Echo enhancements. With Google finally testing its self-driving cars on public roads, we re-visit the world of self-driving cars, which somehow leads into a an in-depth discussion of road-head, masturbation, sex toys, and cunnilingus.

We end the episode talking about Oculus Rift and other Virtual Reality headsets and technologies, the future of videogames, a quick review of “Mortal Kombat X”, and compare our favorite party games of all time.

Mitcz is pleased that he successfully predicted (with some caveats) two stories that are tackled this week. We talk about Tesla’s new home battery, why it’s worthwhile, and whether it’s useful beyond its intended target. We also discuss self-driving semi trucks, and what the future holds, debate about what laws should be made, and the efficacy of computer-driven driving machines. In addition to several new products hitting the market — both of which entice Alex — we also discuss Microsoft’s plans for the upcoming Windows 10 roll-out.

We discuss Tesla’s secret-but-not-secret upcoming home battery project, which evolves into discussing their vehicles and vehicles in general. Alex gets an education about what The Singularity actually entails, and we discuss the morality of becoming “one”. After running through some recent tech news, we settle into a discussion about Google’s hope for defeating patent trolls, and debate the utility of patents in general.

Our final story is about John Deere’s DMCA bullying of farmers trying to work on their own tractors, which John Deere claims their customers no longer own outright, leading to a discussion and debate about what is ownership, and whether or not companies have a right to enforce limits on software in the hands of end-users.