Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio broadcasting out of Montreal (home base). It’s not a long segment – about 5 to 10 minutes every week – about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly to SoundCloud, if you’re interested in hearing more of me blathering away. I’m really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up on listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry and Heather B. morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.
This week we discussed:
I was not able to make it to the studio this week, but figured that I would share the stories that I wanted to discuss with Pierre Landry, who sat in for Terry and Heather B. I’ll be back on air next Monday at 7:10 am with Terry and Heather B.
Is you car about to become KITT from Knight Rider? While AmazonEcho‘s amazing voice-activated assistant, Alexa, is still not available in Canada, the technology is going to change how we interact with technology. Say goodbye to clicking, swiping and those greasy fingers you use on your iPhone. It’s all going to be voice. BMWjust announced that they are soon going to open up control of its cars to Alexa, as it looks to increase the tech in their vehicles (and compete against Tesla). You’ll soon be able to speak to your car, and find out how much fuel is left, to unlock the doors and much more. Voice will be the way we navigate our technology in the not-to-distant future. So, imagine yourself as Captain Kirk hailing your computers for everything.
If using your voice to control your tech (“Hello, Siri”) still seems too weird, how about a smart tattoo? A group of PhD students from the MIT Media Lab and researchers from Microsoft Research have come up with a new kind of wearable: a temporary tattoo, that can turn into a touchpad, remotely control your smartphone, or share data. The technology, which will be presented at a wearables conference next month, is called DuoSkin. The researchers say you can design a circuit, using any graphic software, stamp out the tattoo in gold leaf (which is conductive to electricity), and then apply other commodity materials and components that would make the tattoo interactive. Who doesn’t like to touch themselves?
Posting almost anything to Facebook can make you look like a narcissist in this day and age. Well, check this out: Researchers from the Brunel University in London have conducted a study on why so many people share every workout on social media. While your body may look great, the results of this study are less flattering. “People who are always keen on documenting their gym activities (or every time you simply go for a good, old-fashioned run) tend to be narcissists. According to the researchers, the primary goal is to boast about how much time you invest in your looks. Apparently these status updates also earn more Facebook likes than other kinds of posts.” So, if you post about it your a narcissist. If I like it, I’m just fuelling your deep-seeded issues.