Someday, we’ll be surrounded by an invisible network of our own, data constantly streaming into our devices, from our embedded sensors, and from the Internet. Personal Area Network technology seemed to stagnate, but now gets a new lease on life with wearables, connected sensors, and IoT. Eric and I try to make sense of the new PAN revolution. We also talk about a lot of tools, gaming, good books, great television, and not-so-great film. Join us for the ride.
Meaning
Bluetooth, Zigbee, 6LowPAN, Mesh networks… all of these technologies are in the process of converging. These represent the tech behind personal area networks, or PANs. With Bluetooth 5 set to become a standard by year’s end, PANs will continue to reshape how we compute and gather information. Eric and I talk about how these techs interact (or don’t), the problems with connectivity, terrible user interfaces, and what the heck are we going to do with all that data?
Tools
I’ve got a lot of tools on tap… an ergonomic keyboard with mechanical key mechanisms, a decent set of cheap PC speakers, a Garmin VivoActive HR update, and new mobile Nvidia GPUs. Eric defers most of his tooltalk to fun, because, well, you’ll have to listen…
Fun
I talk about my early experience with No Man’s Sky, the polarizing new space exploration game set in a fully procedural universe. What I’m really waiting for, though, is next week’s release of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. I also talk about Guns of Empire, the newest release in Django Wexler’s Shadow Campaign series. Also, have you seen Stranger Things, the new Netflix semi-horror series set in the 80s? If you have a Netflix subscription, you should. It’s amazing.
Eric talks up his recent drone flying experiences, ranging from crashing a starter drone to the ease of flying his new DJI Phantom.
We close with a discussion of recent movies, including Suicide Squad and Ghostbusters.
