Happy spring, folks! This time, Cathi Bond talks about Beacon, a room disinfectant that uses far-UVC, and comes in a variety of sizes for different spaces (via Fast Company).Nora Young talks about this article by New York Times tech writer, Brian X. Chen. With so much influencer, branded, and sponsored content on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, is it time to think of niche social media that's more truly social? Cathi is still an avid Facebook user, and shares thoughts on its value as a political tool.

The Sniffer

Unsocial Media and Room Disinfection

Greetings! This time, Nora talks about this MIT Technology Review article on classrooms using mood-tracking software for students in Denmark.Cathi has written a new novel, and she's looking for an agent and a publisher. That means lots of 'paperwork'. She's been experimenting with using text generators like Jasper  for the more formulaic parts of this process: query letters, synopses, etc. She walks us through her experiments.Nora mentions this fascinating essay on GPT-4 

Kids and Self-Tracking, and Experiments with Generative AI

Thanks for checking out the show! This time, architecture aficionado Cathi talks about Neom, a highly ambitious megaproject in Saudi Arabia, which includes multiple regions, with different purposes. Read more and see images here. Also, check out Cathi's previous discussion of The Line, one part of the Neom project, here.  Nora  talks about Panera food chain's plan to use (optional) hand scanning to pay and sync your purchases to your loyalty cards (via NPR). Biometric chat ensues!Thank you for listening!

Megaproject Architecture and Biometric Shopping

Hello and thanks for joining us! This time, we dig into some of the limitations, as well as exciting creative possibilities, of generative AI such as ChatGPT. Along the way, we mention this generative AI explainer from Vox, and Cathi recommends Reedsy for authors.Also, check out the visuals of this beautiful, almost biomimetic house called Chuzhi House (which means whirlpool in Malayalam).

ChatGPT Chat and Hobbit House

Hi friends,This time, as cameras in public places become all the more pervasive, Cathi Bond looks at a company called Capable. Their Manifesto Collection of clothing is designed to elude iris scans. Dystopian sci fi future discussion ensues!Nora Young talks about this Pew study on the online dating habits of Americans. Read more on the results here.

Evading Facial Recognition and Trying Online Dating

Hello! This time, Nora Young talks about this article in Time about the potential use of generative AI such as ChatGPT in design for virtual environments in the metaverse.Cathi Bond discusses this intriguing research into a smart walking stick for blind and visually impaired users. The goal is to use cameras and image recognition to improve navigation. For more on related technology, here's Nora's Spark interview with Chancey Fleet. 

AI in the metaverse and new assistive tech

Hello! Welcome to a new year and a new Sniffer ep!This time, Amazon's Astro home robot was at CES this month, though it's still invitation-only. That got Cathi Bond thinking about both the approachable design, and possible future implications of bots in the home. Watch Amazon's promotional video here. Read a detailed review here.Nora Young came across this article about one author's encounter with AI-generated, rip-off "summaries" of his memoir. With more and more machine learning-generated music, images, and text, it has her thinking about a possible future of automated culture, where human-created work sits alongside a slush pile of automated knock-offs. She mentions this excellent article about the IP implications. You might also be interested in Nick Cave's response to a Cave-esque Chat GPT-generated lyric.All good wishes for 2023! 

Cute humanoid home robots and AI and creativity

Hello! It's time for that annual Sniffer tradition of surprising and often completely impractical holiday gifts!Nora talks about the resurgence of interest in cassette tapes. Check out this Wired how-to article. You may also be interested in this recent episode of Nora's show, Spark, on the long range impact of the Sony Walkman.Cathi's gift pick, should you care to buy it for her, is this Nemo personal submarine.She also has an update on The Line megacity. You can see drone images here. Read one of the critiques of the project here. Cathi has concerns that these sorts of projects are a sign of a climate crisis future.Thank you for listening! We hope you have a lovely, restful holiday, and all good wishes for 2023 

Annual Holiday Special!

Hello! Thanks for checking out the episode! This time, Cathi Bond looks at this story out of the University of Waterloo on how simple, inexpensive drones and hardware can remotely pinpoint smart devices. Nora Young talks about this excellent article exploring how e-commerce giant Shein has ridden to success, and some of the sustainability problems it poses. She recommends checking out Rest of World.

Spying on Smart Devices and Inside Shein

Thanks for checking out the latest episode! This time, Nora Young talks about a range of technologies (discussed in this excellent article) that aim to create a virtual presence of people after they die, some based on interviews with people while they're still alive, some based on taking their writing to construct a 'presence'.  Cathi Bond has long raved about the 'tiny house' movement; however having spent part of her summer holiday in a (surprisingly) tiny house, now she's not so sure. She looks at this very cool example of a 20 foot long home.

Talking with the Dead; Future of Tiny Houses?

This time around, Cathi Bond talks about this proposal for Downtown Circle: a super ambitious residence/shopping/cultural/public hub high above Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Future of urban life with interior green space, or future of gated communities?Nora Young talks about this great Rob Walker article about Minoan and the idea of IRL product placement. 

Futuristic Architecture and Next Gen Product Placement

Hi! Welcome back to a new season of The Sniffer! Thanks for subscribing.This time, Nora talks about this Wired article on 'rurbanization': growing more food in urban spaces. What would it take to make it actually work? Cathi has an idea or two!And, interested in cool-n-costly personal transportation? Cathi talks about the SkyFly Axe personal quadcopter/plane/flying car 

Bridging the Rural Urban Divide; Cool Personal Plane

Hello podcast friends! This is the last Sniffer episode of the season! This time, Cathi Bond found this fascinating interview with  Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games (the Fortnite folks). Cathi and Nora speculate about what it would really take to launch a re-imagined version of wild and wooly early internet culture. Nora Young talks about The Verge's look at Rouge Sur Mesure, Yves Saint Laurent's take on customizable lipstick shades you 'print out' in your own home. Why not do this for more products, especially for perishable items?We recorded this episode a little while ago, so we added an 'end-of-season' tag at the end.Have a great summer, and as always, thanks for listening. Your pals, Nora and Cathi

Epic Talks Metaverse and Customized Cosmetics

Hi again podcast fans! This time, Nora Young looks at this story detailing Meta's experiments with a retail outlet. What's their end game? Cathi Bond looks at Create Structure, a plan for emergency housing in natural disasters that aims to be cheap to make and ship, but more durable than tents.

Meta gets into retail and homes for disaster relief

This time, with lots of businesses moving towards workers returning to the workplace at least some of the time, how do we get better at managing our productivity working from home, AND working with colleagues again. Project management tool, Harvest, has some handy tips. If you have productivity tips that work for you, share them in the comments! Meanwhile, Cathi Bond looks at these cool, flexible, stretchable screens. Minority Report aesthetic in our future?  

Productivity Tips and Cool Flexible Screens

Listen to writer/broadcasters Nora Young and Cathi Bond as they freak over the future. They can't believe it. Neither will you.

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