The Connect2 Podcast

Porn has changed dramatically over the decades and the money involved has skyrocketed.  Porn has been the silent engine for change for the internet as it represents a huge amount of money despite being mostly not discussed in public.  Mark and Jeff discuss the impact that porn has had on shaping the internet.

A research group is predicting the rise of Superhuman AI and what the implications are for the world.  There are two paths, a dystopian one and a utopian one.  The timing is closer than everyone thinks and the consequences will reshape our world.  What's more disturbing is that this group has a track record for their predictions previously and most of them were correct.  Mark and Jeff discuss this...

Carol Cadwalladr is an investigative journalist that published information about the Cambridge Analytics data breach and reporting related to Brexit.  She was hit with a SLAPP (Strategic lawsuits against public participation) lawsuit, about her Brexit reporting, specifically related to a TED talk she did.  Although she won most of the case, she did lose an aspect on appeal and ended up having to p...

Purchasing a new car is a large and tricky investment that people do relatively infrequently but it is a lot of money and there is a lot of sales pressure from the various dealerships.  Right now with all the new US tariffs, this makes things even trickier for the manufacturers and trying to find the cars can be a challenge depending upon where they are made.  Mark is in the process of buying a ca...

The world is going through an epochal event and the trauma from the constant stream of bad news from ever changing world events is difficult to manage.  This is especially true with all the significant self inflicted damage that the US is currently doing to its own population.  It may be the fall of the American Empire.  This is a pretty difficult thing to watch because there are negative conseque...

Mark took several Waymo rides (self driving cabs) in Los Angeles.  It was an awesome experience.  Mark and Jeff discuss the state of Autonomous self-driving taxis

Mark just returned from travelling to the USA and times are difficult between the two nations.  The current administration is also very tough on many visitors with some visitors being detained or deported from the USA for limited reasons and with little due process.  As it stands is it not hostile to Canadians yet... but that might change if things get difficult in the US and they are looking for...

Mark and Jeff discuss the importance of storytelling to conveying concepts, engaging people, and helping to remember life events.  Stories change how your brain works and is critical to connecting to the information being conveyed.

Mark and Jeff discuss the current outbreaks of measles, a disease that was considered eradicated decades ago in Canada.  This is particularly relevant to travellers and to individuals that were originally vaccinated in the 1960's

Mark and Jeff discuss something as far away as possible from politics.... Antarctica!

In this episode, Mark and Jeff discuss the unique bond between humans and dogs and compares them to humans and cats as well as humans and horses.  The differences might surprise you

Have you ever gone to a meeting, taken written notes only to find you can't read your own notes and can't remember what you committed to?  Well, there are AI notetaking apps to help you with your meetings.  Mark and Jeff discuss AI notetaking apps

In this episode, Mark and Jeff look at stats for Cannabis useage in Canada and how it has changed since Cannabis was legalized in Canada.  

Mark has been attending clown school and has learned a lot about clowning and himself. In this episode, we discuss how clowning works in Canada and what you can learn about yourself when taking clown school

Trump has been inaugurated and the daily chaos has begun!  Just like last time.  Hold on to your hats!  Mark and Jeff discuss the implications of the new Trump administration for Canada/US relations.  They are pretty sure Americans will not get cheaper eggs.  Welcome to the Tech Bro Oligarchy

Mark and Jeff, discuss US and Canadian politics just prior to the inauguration of Donald Trump.  This episode will come out just after he is inaugurated but the discussion is more far reaching about the differences between Canada and the US, between US protectionist tactics and the implications of his proposed threats.  The political uncertainty will have lots of implications for both countries wi...

Mark and Jeff discuss their predictions from a year ago for 2024 to see how things turned out.  They also discuss what their predictions for 2025 are.  They are broken down into high confidence, medium confidence and low confidence.  They also discuss what they learned in the past week, sample some coffee and discuss what media they are consuming right now.

Mark and Jeff get ready for a short break over the Christmas holidays and discuss things that they are grateful for in the past year.  As usual, they discuss what they learned in the past week as well as what media they are consuming.

Mark and Jeff continue their discussion about making meaningful connections in the modern world.  We also discuss the new Spotify Wrapped results for 2024, what we learned this week, taste some great coffee and discuss what media they are consuming

Mark and Jeff explore how to make meaningful connections with people in a time of digital communications.  We have never has such great methods of communication but have also never felt lonelier.  Why is that?  Mark and Jeff explore this over a multipart series to discuss and connect with one another.

Mark, as a pet photographer is familiar with some dog sports and competitions, but recently learned about more and decided to dig a little deeper and there were over 45 recognized dog sports and dog competitions.  In this episode we go through them and discuss each of them (briefly).  As usual we also discuss what media we are consuming and what we learned in the past week

Mark and Jeff discuss the facets that form the foundation of a friendship and how that works as you age as well as what the differences are between acquantances, casual friends, close friends and long term friends.  As usual, they also discuss what they learned this week and what media they are consuming

In this episode, Mark and Jeff discuss the decision making process for evaluating when the time has come to let your dog pass.  It all flows from quality of life issues.  Mark and Jeff discuss what has happened in the past in their experiences and what values should dictate your approach to helping understand when it is time to let go.  Often a dog's suffering is related to late decisions and the...

Our political landscape is incredibly fractured and the recent US election has left many people not understanding what is going on and for many on the losing side there is a lot of grief over the results from the election.  In this episode, we talk about the Overton window, what it is and what is means, as well as how to deal with loss (political or otherwise).  Loss is a big thing that people can...

Social media ads are often touted as a great way to reach clients but does it work?  Mark and Jeff exam the realities of marketing through social media, what it takes to succeed and what success looks like.  Many people only do half-hearted efforts on social media and are surprised when it doesn't work.  The need to be known, trusted and liked are key factors to leveraging reach through social med...