The Sniffer

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 t...

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.

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...

Hiya! This time, Cathi Bond talks about this stunner of a virtual house for all your metaverse needs.  Nora Young talks about this thought-provoking article in The Atlantic about our nature deprivation.

This time, Nora and Cathi talk about the popularity of Wordle. Nora wonders if it might be a harbinger of future trends online. One thing people seem to really like about it is that it's limited to one short puzzle per day. Could there be an appetite for more limited content in an era of non-stop Feeds? Cathi talks about this company, which uses drones to harvest fruit. Are we likely to see ever m...

Happy New Year all! A little before the holidays, Cathi and Nora recorded our first ep for 2022. This time, Cathi talks about the news, initially reported by Politico, that facial recognition company Clearview AI received patent approval for what's being dubbed a 'search engine for faces'. Read Gizmodo's account of the details here . Nora talks about Technology Review's look at the possibility of...

It's our traditional Christmas wish list ep! Nora would like a home robot. Product Hunt's newsletter recently touted some cool examples of home robots. She wonders whether home robots are ready for prime time. Cathi would like... lab-grown meat for Christmas. Nora doesn't eat meat and Cathi's a hard-core carnivore. What will they make of it? Hope you have a wonderful holiday, and here's hoping thi...

Hello! This time on the podcast, Cathi Bond talks about social commerce, which has taken off in China, and is growing elsewhere in Asia (via Fast Company ) Fast Company talks in particular a company called Pinduoduo, which is a sort of group buying platform.  Nora talks about Gobble, a meal kit delivery service that uses AI to learn more about customers' tastes, and customize food. Check out the a...

This time on the podcast, Cathi Bond and Nora Young talk about interesting responses to two pandemic developments. Nora talks about this plan to attract so-called 'digital nomads' to work in small villages in Spain. After a year and half of remote work, will (former) office workers opt to work wherever they want? What's the role for the face-to-face in the future? Cathi talks about this intriguing...

Hi there! On this episode, a couple of thoughts on the importance of access to nature. Cathi Bond talks about "farmscrapers": giant skyscrapers that incorporate organic-looking podlike structures and lots of trees and greenery to help with pollution. Check out the photos here . Nora Young talks about this thought-provoking article on virtual exploration through walking simulations in game environm...

Woo hoo! It's been a looonnnnng time, but we launch a new season of The Sniffer! Thanks for sticking with us.  This time, Cathi and Nora talk about the potential commercial future of deepfakes and related technologies. Could we see a future of more manufactured images take jobs formerly done by real individuals? Would you sell your image for use in deepfakes? (story via Technology Review ) Meanwhi...

Happy summer, all! Back in late June, Cathi and Nora connected virtually in the middle of a scorching heatwave to talk sustainable futures in retail and materials. Cathi brings you a plan by Ralph Lauren to let shoppers customize their own clothes, which would then be created on demand. The plan is also to disburse manufacturing more broadly, so clothes would be created closer to where they're pur...

Hey there, Cathi Bond and Nora Young meet again virtually with a look at some intriguing retail trends.  Cathi got a Uline catalogue delivered in the mail. It's basically a company that will ship you...shipping materials. It's got her wondering if more regular individuals will be developing their own retail side gigs, and whether she should open "Cathi's Shed". Nora talks about Levi's Buy Better W...

Hello! Hope you are safe and healthy. Cathi Bond and Nora Young connect over video chat for another ep. Nora talks about this great Guardian article by Rhik Samadder on how we've lost the art of small talk in our socially isolated pods, and why the pandemic-imposed isolation has just sped up our tech-driven communication problems. Cathi talks about this article on the therapeutic uses for psilocyb...

This time on the podcast, Nora Young talks about Adam Grant's new book, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You don't Know. Great article and summary here . Cathi Bond looks at a pilot project to use pre-existing natural gas pipelines to transport hydrogen for use in vehicles (via New Atlas ). 

We are back! Cathi Bond and Nora Young got together (virtually!) to talk future of retail and carbon footprint. Cathi talks about Showfields , a digital/physical hybrid store in New York, and their new Magic Wand app (via PSFK ).  Nora talks about this article from two Université de Montréal professor/researchers on the 'hidden infrastructure' required for machine learning: the carbon footprint of...

This time, Cathi Bond and Nora Young "get together" virtually from their respective homes for a pandemic-appropriate recording. Nora talks about Zoox, the Amazon-owned autonomous vehicle company (check out the details and images at Fast Company ). The shuttle design reminded Nora that Toyota is aiming at a similar shuttle application , and that autonomous vehicles supported by LIDAR technology was...

Before the December deep chill set in Cathi Bond and Nora Young got together in Nora's backyard to talk tech. Cathi Bond talks about Oceanbird, a huge, wind-powered shipping vessel that relies on very innovative technology. It's being designed by Wallenius Marine out of Sweden. Check out the images at Dezeen . Meanwhile, Nora Young talks about this Guardian article about a pilot project in the Net...

On this podcast, Nora and Cathi continue from Nora's backyard with a couple of contemporary robotics stories. Nora mentions fire fighting robots rolling out for use in Los Angeles (via Core77 ). As we've seen during the pandemic, there are plenty of roles for robots to work in dangerous situations, but is it time for international rules to govern the uses robots can be put to? Cathi has an innovat...

Hey there! This time, Nora Young talks about the news that Amazon-owned Ring home security company is releasing the Ring Always Home camera and drone to patrol your house. Cathi Bond talks about the news that they are also planning a car cam which you can engage when you're pulled over by police . Cathi Bond talks about this fascinating research into tiny power generators that harness the breezes...

Cathi Bond and Nora Young are back in Nora's COVID-compliant backyard with looonnng mic cables! This time, Nora talks about this Scientific American article on research into noise cancelling tech for bigger spaces, so you can open the windows (amen!) in urban environments and still have peace and quiet. Meanwhile, Cathi talks about speculation that Major League Baseball will use drones to police m...

Cathi and Nora are in Nora's backyard again for a couple of takes on how to enjoy summer vacation when many of our conventional travel plans have been disrupted by the pandemic. Cathi Bond brings you the Luno Air Mattress , an inflatable mattress designed to fit in the back of your vehicle, so you can camp in your car in comfort. Cathi and Nora reminisce about old timey camping with terrible gear!...

Cathi Bond and Nora Young are back for another physically distant podcast in Nora's backyard.  This time, Cathi has an update on architect Moshe Safdie's eight skyscraper development in Chongqing, topped by a horizontal skyscraper called The Crystal. Now you can go and tour the development and take a 50 second ride to the top. See Cathi's previous look at Raffles City Chongqing here . Find renderi...

This time, Cathi drops by Nora's backyard for a physically distant recording. Nora mentions this survey suggesting, unsurprisingly, how much take up there's been for online shopping during the pandemic. Nora talks about how COVID is changing tech habits, including hers. Cathi argues for the value of in-person shopping for community. Cathi has been a hard core gym rat for many years...like, *many*...

This time on our remote podcast, Cathi Bond talks about Boston Dynamics' work to bring robotics into front line health care . Nora Young talks about Jukebox , Open AI's neural net that aims to create pop songs in the style of popular artists. She also mentions Spark's coverage of the impact of Spotify on music.