The Connect2 Podcast

While Mark was away, Jeff had the opportunity to talk with a childhood friend Daniel St. Onge to discuss Quebec Culture.  Daniel still lives in Quebec and Jeff moved away when he was in his mid 20's

The world has been radically disrupted by regional conflicts, political realignments, global warming and supply chain disruptions (e.g. fuel).  What does that actually mean for travel in 2026 and moving forward.  Mark and Jeff discuss the changes in approaches to global travel as a result of these factors and what is actually happening 

How did we become a society that successfully used Vaccines to eradicate several types of diseases only to now have a significant portion of the population distrusting vaccines as a whole?  Where and when did it start?  Mark and Jeff explore the origins of the fabricated study that launched then entire anti-vaxx movement.  Previously it was very fringe and although the origin has been proven to be...

Many people pay off their credit cards monthly, so how do the banks make money off of lending you money to pay for your purchases when they don't charge you interest unless you are late with payments?  Mark and Jeff discuss how the credit card companies (and in Canada the banks) make money off your purchasing habits

As people age, their brain starts to be a little less sharp.  Despite this there are things one can do to try to keep your mental acuity as sharp as possible.  Mark and Jeff discuss those techniques as well as the usual review of coffee, things they learned this week as well as media consumed.

Currently there is an ongoing disinformation campaign about Alberta Separation going on that is getting a lot of views +40 million.  Why is it disinformation?  Because is it mostly AI generated, often using actors pretending to be someone with inside information, and the people generating it don't really care about the politics, they are more interested in the emotional spin and how that can trans...

As a dog photographer, Mark sees lots of dogs.  As he is currently about to start looking for a new puppy for his family, Mark discusses with Jeff considerations on types of breeds and where you should get puppies from.  

As the podcast and online creation systems are getting mature, some creators are getting burned out or exhausted.  They started with a great idea, things started generating content that got eyeballs watching.... but its a grind and they need to keep up with content creation or their revenue slips as the algorithm rewards you less.  Mark and Jeff discuss burnout.

Ozempic or GLP-1 is a drug people are taking to reduce weight, but did you know that it is a peptide?  There are other, less studied peptide out there that are being taken for a wide variety of benefits and symptoms.  Do they work and how much do we know about them

Women's sports are definitely on the upswing.  Even though this is the case, people in the manosphere sometimes suggest that women's sport is an afterthought.  Clearly this is not true, but are there some sports where women's sport dominates over men's?  How would you even measure that?  Money? Fame? Performance?  Mark and Jeff discuss their thoughts on the status of women's sport

In this episode, Mark and Jeff compare AI models and how agentic work will fundamentally change how we use LLM's as tools

Mark and Jeff discuss Mark's trip to India, what he learned, what he enjoyed and what he found challenging.

Today we have a travelling episode with Mark in Delhi India, we have a special guest for the podcast, Kayla Gordon a renowned photographer based in Winnipeg and a former theatre producer.  They talk about the trip they have been on that is coming to a close.

There are very few guardrails for AI agents and as they develop more autonomy, they pose a real risk of damaging and eventually destroying the usefulness of the internet.  AI agents can attack people and they don't sleep, which means they can keep breaking things on the internet if left unchecked.

AI's breakthrough for LLMs was dependent upon an unanticipated result when additional computing power was added to the base algorithms.  A great deal of money and effort has been invested into the next generation of AI with the anticipation that the first company to develop Artificial General Intelligence will dominate the landscape.  Mark and Jeff discuss why there may be a significant problem wi...

The Unfavourable Semi-circle was a mysterious Youtube channel that appeared in 2015.  Mark and Jeff discuss what it was and what is known about it.  To this day it is still a mystery.

Many young people are very fearful of the advent of AI particularly because it may make all kinds of work redundant.  AI tools do help leverage time but are AI agents ready to come in an replace workers entirely?  if not, how far away are they?

One of Mark's dogs passed away recently and in this episode we discuss the process of dealing with an elderly dog's passing and their journey over the rainbow bridge.

David Graeber did some research on jobs and found that a lot of people thought their jobs were meaningless.  He classified these jobs as Bulls&%t! jobs and even classified them.  In this episode Mark and Jeff dive into what makes a job a BS job

We're back!  After a few weeks of conflicting schedules and travel, we are back in business baby.  Today we are talking about the enshitification of the internet (a term coined by Cory Doctorow) and take a closer look at what it means and examples of it.

At this time of year we contemplate where we have been and where we are going.  In the gap between Christmas and New Year's Jeff and Mark discuss their wishes for countries, individuals and people in general for 2026.... Have a Happy New Year!

Today's episode explores a bit about different types of vaccinations, how they work and what benefit we get from them.  Mark is traveling in a few months and had to get some vaccinations to travel.

Most people can lose weight by using intermittent fasting to help manage their caloric intake.  In this episode, Mark and Jeff discuss the benefits of fasting and how it helps you manage your weight.  It doesn't work for everyone but it does work for many.

Everyone sleeps, but how much do you need and how much do you know about it.  Do you get enough sleep?  Do you get enough good quality sleep?  Mark and Jeff explore this as well as our usual segments

Nobody gets out of this reality alive.... everyone eventually dies.  Some younger than others.  Better to make the most of your time on this planet.  In this episode, Mark and Jeff discuss the appreciation for the time we have an what we see as we get older.  Not depressing but more an appreciation of the time we have - Carpe Diem!