Inside The Box: Xiaomi Mi Band

"Come to Mi"

Frequenters of the show and/or blog may be aware that the last unboxing post done was for the Google Chromecast I had ordered approximately a year ago. I know I promised to follow up with a review of sorts for the actual use/operation of the device, however I (clearly) have not gotten around to that as of yet. Long story short, I actually haven't used it all that much because it doesn't tend to like remembering my WiFi network credentials (for whatever reason) and I have to continually set it up each time I want to use it if it had been unplugged/shut off from a power source between uses. This tends to take away from my excitement and inclination to utilize it, and I will more often than not just watch YouTube on my phone and Netflix through my LG SmartTV app.

But this post is not about the Chromecast. Not even a little bit. THIS post is about something *far* more new and exciting - the Xiaomi Mi Band! Now, I know what you're thinking. "What the heck is a "Mi Band", and why would anybody ever want one?"

#52 - Ceres, Get It Together

In this episode, we discuss Canadian Open Source science research, updates to nuclear fusion, and dwarf planets. And much, much more!

This is the last full Future Chat episode until April, when we begin Season 2, so buckle up!

Download mp3

Links:

• NSERC & SSHRC Open Access
• Hilary Clinton Emails
• New Fusion Reactor
• Bill Nye on GMOs
• Dawn at Ceres
• Curiosity Short Circuit
• J-Law Movie Streaming Pre-Theatre Release
• K-Cup Regrets
• Sugar Intake 5-10% of Calories
• MOBEO: The Game We Were Talking About

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This episode of Future Chat is also brought to you in part by Audible.com. Visit audible.futurechat.me today and get a free audiobook and free 30-day trial, and help support the show.

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You can also WATCH the chat if that's your thing!

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Subscribe to the podcast (for the audio version of the show) here: http://feeds.feedblitz.com/futurechat/all or find us on iTunes or Stitcher Radio.

#42 - Happy Saturnalia, Everyone!

This week, we wrapped up the year in a neat little bow, learned a little bit more about solar power, and mourned Mike's mauling from the wild Alberta bear.

Links:

• Long Range Induction Charging
• Poison Beer - Reddit
• Intelligence Squared US: GMO debate
• Fat's not bad for you

Subscribe to the podcast (for the higher-quality audio version of the show) here: http://feeds.feedblitz.com/futurechat/all.

Seriously, by the end of the year, all your feeds will automatically update to this version, so if you don't want to subscribe to the new format of the show, now is your chance to get away! You have been warned!

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Be sure to direct any questions you might have before, during, and after the show to Google+, Facebook or Twitter, or send them via email to mail@futurechat.me.

#41 - That'll Cook Your Phone

We discuss the science and tech movies and trailers that have come out in the last few weeks, get into the nitty-gritty of magnetic induction, and Nick finally gets Teksavvy internet hooked up!

Links:

• Cafe of the Future
• Seawater Powered Model Plane
• Gangnam Style 32-bits of views
• XKCD on 32-bit Y2K
• Sokal Affair
• Crazy scientific publications
• Stuff You Should Know - Terraforming
• Solar Cell Efficiency

Subscribe to the podcast (for the higher-quality audio version of the show) here: http://feeds.feedblitz.com/futurechat/all.

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Be sure to direct any questions you might have before, during, and after the show to Google+, Facebook or Twitter, or send them via email to mail@futurechat.me.

Future Chat #40: Well That Went Well

This week on Future Chat, we did an experiment, ran into a few bumps along the way, but overall had a great conversation.
**FYI, as you will hear, we had some audio issues in this episode (hence the delay from the usual weekend posting). I have cleaned it up as much as I could, but that's what you're hearing.**

Links:

• Wireless Code of Conduct (Simplified)
• New subatomic particles
• Higgs Hunters
• Premium Milk by Coca Cola
• Blu-Ray Solar Panels
• Graphene Hybrid Proton Filter
• Dry Hopping Beer Tap

Subscribe to the podcast here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/futurechat/all.

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Be sure to direct any questions you might have before, during, and after the show to Google+, Facebook or Twitter, or send them via email to mail@futurechat.me.

Future Chat #39: Light

This week's show is a special science AND technology extravaganza. We talked about some scientific and technical applications of light of all energy, from radio waves to gamma rays.

Links:

• The Ad Hominem Fallacy - PBS Idea Channel
• Why Everything Wireless is 2.4 GHz - Gizmodo
• Nocebo - CGP Grey
• Stoichiometry - Crash Course
• NMR Facility Closing (La Presse)

Subscribe to both science AND tech episodes of the podcast here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/futurechat/all.

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Be sure to direct any questions you might have before, during, and after the show to Google+, Facebook or Twitter, or send them via email to futurechats@gmail.com.

Future Tech Chat #26: Automation

We had a great time this week with the help of Alex from the UK talking about automation. We also had a heated discussion about political science and voting systems. +CGP Grey would be proud of this episode, and you can find links to several of his projects below.

Links:

• Teaching programs to program
• Humans Need Not Apply
• Hello Internet about Humans Need Not Apply
• Top Gear Self-Driving Rig Race
• Solar Learning TED talk
• BoxCar 2D
• Genetic Algorithm for walking
• CGP Grey Animal Kingdom Voting (Honestly, just watch all of them!)

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You can also check out the next episode of Future Sci Chat, live on YouTube next Saturday at 12:30 PM Eastern. We'll be discussing transportation and engine science, it will be an excellent episode.

Be sure to direct any questions you might have before, during, and after the show to Google+, Facebook or Twitter, or send them via email to futurechats@gmail.com.

Future Tech Chat #25: Social Media in Crisis

On Future Chat this week, we talked about how social media and the Internet can be used and abused during crises and emergencies. We discussed how social media was important to us during the 100 year flood in Calgary last year, and during the Ottawa shooting this past week, as well as in the protests going on in Hong Kong right now.

Links:
http://blog.robattrell.com/2012/10/the-future-of-morality.html
We talk about this in the aftershow, weirdly it was written 2 years ago today.

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You can also check out the next episode of Future Sci Chat, live on YouTube next Saturday at 12:30 PM Eastern. We'll be discussing transportation and engine science, it will be an excellent episode.

Be sure to direct any questions you might have before, during, and after the show to Google+, Facebook or Twitter, or send them via email to futurechats@gmail.com.

Future Tech Chat #24: Google Y

This week on Future Chat, we chatted about Google 2.0, the BIG projects wing of Google Inc. responsible for things as big as building model cities and more efficient airports. We talked a lot about those projects, as well as some big projects that we think they could be working on to improve everybody's life!

**The podcast version of the show will be up later today.

Links:
Google 2.0

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You can also check out the next episode of Future Sci Chat, live on YouTube next Saturday at 12:30 PM Eastern. We'll be discussing transportation and engine science, it will be an excellent episode.

Be sure to direct any questions you might have before, during, and after the show to Google+, Facebook or Twitter, or send them via email to futurechats@gmail.com.

Future Tech Chat #23: Computing

This week on Future Chat, we had a really fun chat about computing. We talked about fanboyism, early adoption of technologies, open source software and so much more. Enjoy the episode!

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You can also check out the next episode of Future Sci Chat, live on YouTube next Saturday at 12:30 PM Eastern. We'll be discussing transportation and engine science, it will be an excellent episode.

Be sure to direct any questions you might have before, during, and after the show to Google+, Facebook or Twitter, or send them via email to futurechats@gmail.com.

Future Tech Chat #22: Gadgets Wrap-up

This week on Future Chat, we talked all about this season's worth of gadgets. From virtual reality, smartwatches and trackers coming out this fall, to futuristic technologies like flexible screens and shape-shifting smartphones.

Links:

Also, we have a special request for you to give some feedback on +Nick Maddox's post about graffiti in the washroom walls of academic institutions, so go check that out too!

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You can also check out the next episode of Future Sci Chat, live on YouTube next Saturday at 12:30 PM Eastern. We'll be discussing nutrition and food science, it will be a VERY enlightening episode.

Be sure to direct any questions you might have before, during, and after the show to Google+, Facebook or Twitter, or send them via email to futurechats@gmail.com

Future Tech Chat #21: Bicycles

In this episode, we talked about bicycles, making it seem like our episode is sponsored by Trek bikes, which it is not. We chatted all about materials used to make bikes, interesting designs, and how the city of the future will incorporate bicycles much better. Enjoy the episode!

Links:
http://www.trekbikes.com/ca/en/bikes/road/performance_race/

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Check out the next episode of Future Sci Chat, live on YouTube next Saturday at 12:30 PM Eastern. We'll be discussing government funding of science, it should be a VERY interesting episode.

Be sure to direct any questions you might have before, during, and after the show to Google+, Facebook or Twitter, or send them via email to futurechats@gmail.com

Future Tech Chat #20: Music

This week on Future Chat featured a special guest musician, the great +Damien Broomes! He's a member of +Sons of Pluto, and we discussed some of his experiences with live shows and technology triumphs and malfunctions. We also talked about streaming music vs. downloading or buying CDs, the resurgence of vinyl records, and how concerts have evolved over the years as music technology improves. We also touched on the music piracy discussion from the point of view of a young artist trying to break into the music industry.

There's a lot of technology that goes into the music we all love, and I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did!

You can learn more about Damien and Sons of Pluto at http://sonsofpluto.com.

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Check out the next episode of Future Sci Chat, live on YouTube next Saturday at 12:30 PM Eastern.

Be sure to direct any questions you might have before, during, and after the show to Google+, Facebook or Twitter, or send them via email to futurechats@gmail.com

Future Tech Chat #19: Activity Tracking

This week, we talked about different ways our technology uses sensors to track our activity. We talked about location services and how apps know where you are, running and cycling apps that help you keep track of distances and calories burned, as well as sleep monitoring apps to make sure you're getting a good night's sleep and waking up rested. I hope you enjoy the show!

Apps we talked about:

Withings Aura - http://www.withings.com/us/withings-aura.html
Strava - http://www.strava.com/
Azumio Sleep Time - www.azumio.com/apps/sleep
Sleep as Android - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.urbandroid.sleep

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Check out the next episode of Future Sci Chat, live on YouTube next Saturday at 12:30 PM Eastern.

Be sure to direct any questions you might have before, during, and after the show to Google+, Facebook or Twitter, or send them via email to futurechats@gmail.com

Future Tech Chat #18: Sports Tech

Starts live at 12:30 PM EDT on Saturday, July 12th, 2014!

This week on Future Tech Chat, we will be taking it to the pitch, as we discuss the world of sports and all the technology used in professional and amateur sports alike.

Starting with slow motion cameras, going all the way through the FoxTrax puck to the goal-line system used in the World Cup going on right at this moment. We will take a look into the possibility of future technological upgrades to your favourite sports, and I'm sure we'll also get into wishful thinking about tech advances in our favourite sports.

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I hope you'll tune in live at 12:30 PM EDT on Saturday, July 12th for the episode, and you'll be able to watch it in full above live or after it's aired.

You can direct any questions you might have to the Q&A on the event page (https://plus.google.com/events/c8idnr8qeghbvialb9ll82gnlms), or on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. We look forward to seeing you here live!

Future Tech Chat #17: Sunday News Edition

Starts live at 12:30 PM EDT on Sunday, June 29th, 2014!

This week on Future Tech Chat, we will be slowing down a little bit, taking some time to relax. This week has featured a TON of news from Google Inc. (as we discussed in the I/O predictions episode), so we will definitely reflect on what we saw from I/O, and how our predictions fared.

We'll also be taking a look at some of the biggest news stories of the year from Microsoft, Apple and others, and how they might affect the tech world over the next 6 months. May/June is technology conference season, so there have been quite a few different announcements about new products and features. This week is also a great opportunity to answer a few questions from viewers and talk a little bit about our technology backgrounds. It's going to be a great episode!

News stories

• Google makes “Cardboard” available: low-cost VR alternative
• http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/25/google-vr-cardboard/
• Verizon adds streaming music services to the “free data” part of your plan.
• http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/digital-and-mobile/6121645/t-mobile-to-make-customers-data-free-when-streaming
• Google shows “working” Ara prototype
• http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/06/26/io-2014-googles-atap-shows-off-a-semi-working-ara-prototype-plus-prizes-and-boards-for-aspiring-developers/
• Google developing faster 3D printing for Ara to anticipate scale in production, working on allowing for more space for developer modules
• http://androidcommunity.com/project-ara-at-google-io-faster-3d-printing-more-space-20140626/
• Supreme court rules on cellphone privacy - says contents of phone cannot be searched upon seizure
• http://www.vox.com/2014/6/25/5841936/supreme-court-cell-phone-privacy-wurie-riley-roberts-decision-nsa
• Indications suggest Nexus hardware not going away, despite announcement of Android Silver
• http://9to5google.com/2014/06/26/google-exec-says-nexus-program-isnt-going-away-android-silver-wont-interfere/
• Nokia announces new Android phone
• http://9to5google.com/2014/06/24/nokia-announces-the-x2-a-quasi-android-smartphone-with-mid-range-specs/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+9to5Google+%289to5+Google+-+Beyond+Good+and+Evil%29
• Google rolling out domain registration service - won’t include hosting
• http://thenextweb.com/google/2014/06/23/google-begins-testing-domain-registration-service/
• South Florida college now offering drone borrowing service for student projects
• http://mobile.theverge.com/2014/6/23/5836724/borrow-a-drone-from-university-of-south-florida-library

• Nest announces developer program, “Works with Nest” certification
• http://www.slashgear.com/nest-developer-program-aims-to-connect-all-your-things-23334829/
• Microsoft still pushing to take piece of Apple pie, offering Macbook trade-in program for Surface Pro 3 credit
• http://www.slashgear.com/microsoft-trade-in-your-macbook-air-get-surface-pro-3-credit-23334838/
• Google Hangouts goes plugin-free!
• http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/27/google-hangouts-will-no-longer-require-a-plugin-for-chrome-users/

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I hope you'll tune in live at 12:30 PM EDT on Sunday, June 29th for the episode, and you'll be able to watch it in full above live or after it's aired.

You can direct any questions you might have to the Q&A on the event page (https://plus.google.com/events/c03kvc0burjbci0jitev73ug5fs), or on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. We look forward to seeing you here live!

FTC Special Edition #16: Google I/O 2014

Tune in live for a special 30-minute episode

9:00 PM EDT on Thursday June 19th, 2014!

Ahhhh it's that time of year again! The flowers are blooming, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and Google is holding its annual I/O conference! The conference runs next week starting on June 25th, and we'll all have our eyes glued to the tech news sites to see what is announced.

This week's Future Tech Chat mini-episode will feature +Rob Attrell and myself, along with special guests +Carolyn Higman and +Ross May!

These types of corporate events are greatly anticipated forums for product releases and company developments, and it is a time-honoured tradition to make predictions and wish lists of what we'd like to see come out of them. In this week's special edition mini-episode, we will be sharing these predictions and thoughts with each other and all of you!

Apple recently held its WWDC event and made big splashes with the iOS 8 developments and features they announced, along with the health-conscious app and functionality integration they will begin focusing on. We still haven't seen much in the way of Apple-branded wearables, so the time is ripe for Google to be first-to-market with a Google watch and possibly expanding the Google Glass Explorer program to a geographically broader customer base.

Links to stuff we talked about:

• http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/05/alleged-new-gmail-interface-leaks-shows-continued-project-hera-stylings.html
• http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/23/5643774/google-is-testing-stars-an-attempt-to-make-bookmarking-actually-useful
• http://www.android.com/wear/
• https://www.google.com/events/io
• http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/29/5664702/google-nexus-to-be-replaced-by-android-silver

The ball is in Google's court, let's keep our fingers crossed for a slam dunk!

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I hope you'll tune in live at our special mid-week time slot of 9:00 PM EDT on Thursday, June 19th for the episode, and you'll be able to watch it in full below live or after it's aired.

As usual, you can ask us any questions you might have on the Q&A in the event page (https://plus.google.com/events/ckl1neak16gksfkmkgudn1ne6g8) on Facebook, Twitter and Google+, or by email at futurechats@gmail.com. So far we have answered or addressed every question submitted, and you can expect that trend to continue!

We look forward to seeing you there live on Thursday!

Future Tech Chat #15: Parenting (Father's Day Special)

Starts live at 12:30 PM EDT on Saturday June 14th, 2014!

In this special Father's Day episode of Future Tech Chat, we will be talking about the technology that goes in to all aspects of modern parenting. From watching TV with toddlers, to giving teens tablets, we will discuss all varieties of electronics that can be involved in the child rearing process.

This is a topic that should be relevant to most people in their 20s, as technology has become an integral part of all of our lives. I, for one, am very interested to find out what raising a child will be like given the huge increase in technology that is available while raising a child, and how parents are now expected to be tracking their child and knowing their whereabouts 24/7, when my childhood was such a free experience and all the generations up to mine were all fine with the more "laissez-faire" parenting.

Should be a good one!

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I hope you'll tune in live at 12:30 PM EDT on Saturday, June 14th for the episode, and you'll be able to watch it in full above live or after it's aired.

You can direct any questions you might have to the Q&A on the event page (https://plus.google.com/events/csgv3crtinj971cahd48rsuknn4), or on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. We look forward to seeing you here live!

Future Tech Chat #14: Tablets

This episode of Future Tech Chat will cover tablets and e-readers, and discuss their implications on reading, learning, and media consumption in general.

Brand new teacher +Keegan on will be joining the show for an inside view of technology in education, among many other things. Blackberry Playbook fans should definitely tune in for this one!

I hope we can discuss the new Microsoft Surface Pro 3, and what we can expect tablets to be able to do for us in the near future.

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I hope you'll tune in live at 12:30 PM EDT on Saturday, May 31st for the episode, and you'll be able to watch it in full below live or after it's aired.

As always, you can ask us any questions you might have on the Q&A on the event page (https://plus.google.com/events/ch5433rt3i7e5sdkfhdl6f37qu0), or on Facebook, Twitter and Google+, or by email at futuretechchat@gmail.com. We look forward to seeing you there live!

Future Tech Chat #13: WWDC Predictions/Apple Inc.

This week's Future Tech Chat features +Carolyn Higman and I (+Rob Attrell). In this episode, we'll be discussing Apple's WorldWide Developer Conference, a yearly event for developers and media where Apple shows the world the software updates it has been working on for the last year, and usually a platform for them to launch new product lines.

There are always a LOT of rumours about Apple products this time of year, and it's typical that there is a lot of baseless nonsense thrown into the mix. In this episode we will try to cut through that and make sense of what you can expect at WWDC. There will be lots of interesting questions to deal with this time.

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I hope you'll tune in live at 12:30 PM EDT on Saturday, May 24th for the episode, and you'll be able to watch it in full below live or after it's aired.

As always, you can ask us any questions you might have on the Q&A on the event page (https://plus.google.com/events/c614t8rhfpcn5aloeptn9oehr24), or on Facebook, Twitter and Google+, or by email at futuretechchat@gmail.com. We look forward to seeing you there live!