Alle afleveringen
121 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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We’ve only just begun...
1 maart 2023 · 31 min
It’s the last bonus episode of the season and we are letting you in on an exclusive chat on what we have in mind for season two of For Tech’s Sake, including our dream guest list (Pedro Pascal, hello!) and tech topics not yet tackled. We also reflect on the first 10 episodes and what we learned from the experience so far. Lees meer
For Tech’s Sake also wants to hear from you, the listener, about what you’d like to hear in season two. Be sure to let us know via fortechssakepod@gmail.com or find us @fortechssakepod on your preferred social network. We’ll be back!
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An open and shut case
22 februari 2023 · 40 min
Do you realise how much of the tech we rely on is maintained by volunteer coders? This isn't just Wikipedia. A plethora of everyday tech would collapse if not for the noble commitment of open source developers. And they are beginning to show their force in the form of protest, sabotaging their own code to send a message to the Big Tech corporations that profit from it. Lees meer
We brought in Dr Colin Keogh to tell us about about open source in both software and hardware, as he helped to build out a team to design and develop open-source ventilators during Covid-19. He is also the co-founder of the consultancy Sapien Innovation and co-founder of the Rapid Foundation, a social enterprise which aims to disperse 3D printing technology to third world locations.
You can follow Colin @ColinJ_Keog on Twitter and you can also read more about open source on Silicon Republic. Here are some links to get you started:
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/topics/open-source/](https://www.siliconrepublic.com/topics/open-source/
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/start-ups/open-source-ventilator-project-coronavirus]
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/nearform-cian-o-maidin-open-source]
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/github-marak-squires-colors-faker-npm-corrupt-open-source]
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/log4shell-flaw-ncsc-advice-cybersecurity]
And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.
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Sorting through the rubbish
15 februari 2023 · 23 min
We follow up our For Tech’s Sake episode on tech waste with a closer look at what sustainability really means to tech companies, from explaining what a B Corp is to having a rant about the planned obsolescence of devices, which are designed to break down so that we just keep buying! Lees meer
You can also read more about B Corps here: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/what-is-a-b-corp-company-benefits
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A waste of space
8 februari 2023 · 1 uur 5 min
In this episode of For Tech’s Sake, we dive into the landfill of digital waste to turn up some nuggets of information we hope you’ll re-use. Tech waste involves more than just devices getting dumped, too. We also lose the precious and finite materials these devices contain. And, though it’s not apparent to us, our digital detritus of messages, selfies and endless streams of data has a physical footprint. Lees meer
To understand more, we spoke to Gerry McGovern, author of World Wide Waste and host of the podcast of the same name.
You can follow Gerry on Mastodon at @gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green. We’ve also included a link his previous interview with Jenny on SiliconRepublic.com, as well as some other links listeners might find useful.
https://gerrymcgovern.com/
Silicon Republic interview: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/gerry-mcgovern-digital-pollution-e-waste
World Wide Waste podcast episode with Josh Lepawsky: https://www.thisishcd.com/episode/josh-lepawsky-pernicious-myth-of-digital-as-ethereal
Dublin’s Tog Hackerspace, which sometimes hosts a Repair Café: https://www.tog.ie/
Ireland’s repair and reuse directory: http://www.repairmystuff.ie/
And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.
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The great singularity
1 februari 2023 · 22 min
We follow up our For Tech’s Sake episode on dark patterns with our musings on the copycat patterns we see across the tech we use, where every app just steals – or buys – from other apps, and then inevitably makes it worse because of advertiser demands for engagement. This is why we can't have nice things! Lees meer
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Hello dark patterns, my old friend
25 januari 2023 · 1 uur 11 min
‘Dark patterns’ are design techniques used to weaponise user behaviour and manipulate us into delivering on a company’s goals. They have become so common that they are even namechecked in the EU’s new legislation to clamp down on nefarious user design in tech. Even though understanding them won’t make you impervious to their influence, we certainly think it’s best to know when your taking action for your sake, or for tech’s sake. Lees meer
In this episode, we also spoke to Prof Owen Conlan, a research lead at Adapt, the Science Foundation Ireland research centre for AI-driven digital content technology. He told us what he thinks about dark patterns, as well as how they might be amped up with AI.
You can follow Owen @oconlan on Twitter and the Adapt centre at @AdaptCentre. You can also read more about Empushy on SiliconRepublic.com: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/careers/empushy-notifications-productivity
All of Silicon Republic’s fascinating AI coverage can be found here:
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/topics/ai/
And you can learn a lot more about the EUs Digital Services Act here:
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/eu-digital-services-act-illegal-content-moderation
And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.
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You drive me lazy
18 januari 2023 · 33 min
We follow up our For Tech’s Sake episode on the power behind our tech, with a teardown of the electric vehicle industry and, in particular, self-driving cars. We’re not saying driverless cars will never be on the roads, but it’s not likely to happen in our lifetime what with the current tech confusing yellow moonlight with traffic lights and suffering from a comical ‘Zoolander problem’. Lees meer
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Max power
11 januari 2023 · 37 min
We have an energy crisis, and it's not the one you think. To move to a more sustainable future we need to figure out how to power mass electrification, and source and store energy responsibly. Lees meer
Scientists around the world are working on fascinating battery technologies to help, and Ireland is no exception. For example, Dr Valeria Nico is a postdoctoral research fellow in the area of energy harvesting at the Bernal Institute, University of Limerick, and she told us all about her work developing tech that can generate energy for small devices from vibrations in their environment.
It's powerful stuff, so get ready to strap yourself in and feel the Gs!
Read more about Valeria's work, the EU's new battery rules, and Codema's project to heat homes with waste energy from data centres on SiliconRepublic.com:
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/good-vibrations-developing-new-tech-for-energy-harvesting
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/eu-batteries-sustainable-european-green-deal
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/codema-equinix-waste-data-centre-heat-project-dublin
And follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.
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A glass case of emojis
21 december 2022 · 28 min
Listeners, an update to the Microsoft Teams platform since the recording of this episode can only lead us to believe that Satya Nadella has bugged our podcast studio. Our prayers for a multiplicity of emoji reactions have been answered – they're still ugly though! Lees meer
Emojis are essential to communication across distributed workforces but – as we discuss in this episode – just because we have communication tools doesn't mean we are communicating.
In this episode, we also discussed...
Karen Church's emoji research at Intercom: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/search-notifications-emoji-data-research
Jenny's interview with emoji master Jennifer Daniel: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/jennifer-daniel-emojis-unicode
And Google's holographic video calling booth: https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/13/23400870/google-project-starline-3d-chat-booth-impressions
Thanks for listening and subscribing!
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Working not-so nine-to-five
14 december 2022 · 40 min
A robot might steal your job, but it might also make it better. And some platforms make it easier to communicate remotely, while others enable micromanagers to keep tabs on you. Lees meer
As we enter a new era of working, Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody want to examine how technology is used in work and how it can affect us, but also the ways in which it can help transform the way we work for the better, if only we’d allow it to do so.
To find out more, we also spoke to James Milligan, global head of technology solutions at recruitment company, Hays.
Read more about what the future of work looks like on SiliconRepublic.com: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/series/future-of-work-week/
Follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.
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It’s AI-live!
7 december 2022 · 23 min
Sentient AI is not a thing, but why do some people believe that it is? Following our AI-focused episode of For Tech’s Sake, we look at some of the astoundingly advanced AI released recently that gives the impression computers are starting to think, create and feel, like humans. We’ve got laughing AI, text-to-art image generators, deepfake porn, voice modulators and simulated girlfriends competing for the title of The Worst in AI. (Though the winner might just be Warren from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.) Lees meer
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AI & U
30 november 2022 · 1 uur
Claims of sentient AI have been largely debunked by experts, but there are still plenty of unsettling aspects of this technology that raise ethical questions. Lees meer
In this episode of For Tech’s Sake, Abeba Birhane, an expert in AI and cognitive science, helps us to better understand this fast-spreading technology and its limitations. We find out how AI can be at best unhelpful and annoying, and at worst prejudiced, powerful and completely opaque, particularly when the building blocks it's based on contain toxic materials.
Read more about Abeba Birhane, the Gender Shades project, Blake Lemoine, and why sentient AI claims can be damaging on SiliconRepublic.com:
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/mit-database-racist-misogynist-discovery-abeba-birhane
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/abeba-birhane-ucd-digital-colonialism
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/microsoft-facial-recognition
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/timnit-gebru-google-ai-scientist-fired-for-highlighting-bias
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/google-engineer-ai-sentient-lamda-chatbot
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/sentient-ai-google-lamda-research-development-ireland-insight
Follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.
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The Elon-phant in the room
23 november 2022 · 51 min
Following our For Tech’s Sake episode on health-tech, we decided it was time to take the temperature of the tech industry itself, as it's not doing so well lately. More specifically, we examine the disease eating away at it: tech bro-itis. Twitter is now infected with a severe dose, Elon Musk, and some are convinced the platform is on its deathbed. Jenny Darmody and Elaine Burke put him under the microscope for a closer look. Lees meer
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Does an app a day keep the doctor away?
16 november 2022 · 45 min
Medical technologists are racing to fix all of our ills – even our inevitable death! But in the rush to embed technology into healthcare, are we thinking about all of the unintended consequences that may come with it? Is our health data really safe for example? Can medical devices be hacked? And how accessible will this health-tech be in the future? Lees meer
Listen as Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody explore all of these questions and differentiate the needless from the necessary when it comes to technology in healthcare. To find out more, we also spoke to Ita Richardson, a co-principal investigator at the software engineering research centre, Lero and a professor at University of Limerick.
Read more about what the future holds for health-tech on SiliconRepublic.com: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/series/future-health-week/
Follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.
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The tech is coming from inside the house
9 november 2022 · 17 min
Following our For Tech’s Sake episode on tech-facilitated abuse, we got chatting about the fact that while humans can be terrible, sometimes the tech itself is the problem. From glasses with hidden cameras to the tech giant that’s watching you sleep, maybe we’ve all gone a little OTT with IoT. Lees meer
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Tech-facilitated abuse
2 november 2022 · 26 min
While plenty of technology has been designed to make the world a safer place, it can also introduce a whole new way to abuse and exploit others. Lees meer
From stalker apps to location trackers, tech has given many abusers the opportunity to track, monitor and control others. While other seemingly innocuous devices such as smart doorbells and virtual assistants can have their settings manipulated for nefarious actions.
Listen as Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody discuss how these devices work, and how they can be misused. We also spoke to Louise O’Hagan, co-founder of Cyber Awareness Ireland, about the growing trend of tech-facilitated abuse and how easily our everyday devices can be used against us.
For more information on this topic, check out:
CyberAwarenessIreland.com
SafeIreland.ie
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/safe-ireland-digital-domestic-abuse-technology-guide
Online safety booklet: https://www.safeireland.ie/lets-talk-tech-online-safety-tips/
Follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.
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When tech goes too far
26 oktober 2022 · 13 min
Following our For Tech’s Sake episode on digital transformation, we got talking about the things that have just gone too far, from tractors that have become too tech-ified to be easily repairable to the monumentally annoying aspects of the modern printer. Lees meer
For those who want to enjoy the nerdy long-read we mention, check out “Why paper jams persist” by Joshua Rothman: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/02/12/why-paper-jams-persist
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Digitise, disrupt, destroy
19 oktober 2022 · 35 min
Digital transformation is a buzzword in all business right now, and some businesses are deciding to push ahead with new tech adoption without consideration for the people it will impact. Lees meer
While some elements of digital transformation can lead to better operations, some of it is truly tech for tech's sake, and lead to job displacement and bad service.
Listen as Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody dissect what digital transformation actually means beyond the buzzword. To find out more, we also spoke to Joan Mulvihill, the digitalisation and sustainability lead at Siemens.
Read more about Joan Mulvihill and her thoughts on digital transformation on SiliconRepublic.com: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/digital-transformation-joan-mulvihill-siemens
You can also check out Silicon Republic’s Digital Transformation Week, which covers this topic in more detail: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/series/digital-transformation-week/
Follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.
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Billionaire space bros
12 oktober 2022 · 16 min
Following our For Tech’s Sake episode on space-tech, we got talking about billionaire space bros, space junk, and the commercialisation of space. Apparently, it’s not enough that we have traffic, pollution and capitalism on one planet, we’re sending it out into the universe too. Lees meer
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Space is ace
5 oktober 2022 · 50 min
It’s been 60 years since John F Kennedy famously said, “We choose to go to the moon.” But why? Lees meer
Space exploration comes at the cost of billions and on the back of some stellar innovation spanning decades in development. Is it all really worth it?
Listen as Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody peer into space-tech and marvel at our fascination with whatever truths are out there. To find out more, we also spoke to Prof Tom Ray and Dr Patrick Kavanagh, two Irish scientists who worked on the James Webb Space Telescope.
Read more about their work at DIAS and the JWST on SiliconRepublic.com: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/james-webb-telescope-irish-scientists-dias-nasa
Follow us @fortechssakepod on your platform of choice.
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For Tech's Sake - Coming Soon!
21 september 2022 · 1 min
Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody have been writing about tech for a long time. Now they’re talking about it in For Tech’s Sake, a co-production from Silicon Republic and The Headstuff Podcast Network. Lees meer
Silicon Republic is a leading source of technology news and views and editors Jenny and Elaine are always learning about fascinating and infuriating new developments. They take a side-eye view of tech, not evangelising or demonising it, but definitely throwing a bit of shade when it’s deserved.
Join them as they take a look under the hood of both emerging and everyday tech to examine the good parts, the bad parts, and everything in between. Each episode also features a tech expert to help answer their probing questions.
Listen in as they hash out what’s just tech for tech’s sake, and find them online @fortechssakepod to join the conversation.
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