So Close, Yet So Far

Obligatory wingtip pic

In case you don't already know, I'm currently away from my familiar Alberta stomping grounds as I spend a couple days away at a training course. This involved stuffing a carry-on roller bag on Wednesday night (what, you really think I'm going to trust baggage carriers to get a checked bag to me through a connecting flight?) and taking a cab to the airport at 4:30 AM yesterday morning with nothing but my pairs of socks and undies and the anticipation of a productive couple of days getting my learnin' on.

How is this related to technology you ask? Well let me tell you! Not only did Google Now reap my itinerary information from the document I received from my email and let me know when I had to leave my house to make my flight, tell me the weather in Houston and Dallas, and present to me my hotel info - but to my great delight, my flights offered in-flight WiFi! Man, I have never seen a 4-hour travel day go so quickly! $10.95 bought me all-day access to all the cat videos and doge pictures I could ask for at blazing-fast 0.5 Mbps upload/download speeds.

Okay so the connection speed wasn't breaking any records, but it beat thumbing through the SkyMall catalog and wondering if the life-size bronze bald eagle statue would fit in my living room.

Not only did the flights have WiFi, but the hotel has complimentary WiFi as well! This meant I could check in with the wifey once I arrived using Google Hangouts video chat, and was able to say goodnight to my baby daughter before going to sleep. I don't believe there has ever been a time in the history of our civilization when we've had this kind of opportunity to stay so connected even while being (and whilst traveling) hundreds (even thousands) of kilometers apart.

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!

Future Tech Chat #12: Net Neutrality

This week's Future Tech Chat will feature +Mike Attrell and I (+Rob Attrell), along with special guest and one of the biggest proponents of Net Neutrality, +Keegan on.

We'll be discussing Net Neutrality this week, an issue that is hugely important for our time, with Sen. Al Franken equating it to free speech in the constitution in the US. In case you're not up to speed on what that could mean for you, check out these videos:

In case you're interested in learning more about Net Neutrality, here are a few links to get you started on the discussion this last week:

http://www.businessinsider.com/fcc-net-neutrality-decision-2014-5
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2014/05/network_neutrality_dinosaurs_like_time_warner_and_at_t_have_nothing_to_worry.html

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAxMyTwmu_M - Vi Hart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtt2aSV8wdw - CGP Grey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc2aso6W7jQ - Vlogbrothers (Hank Green)
There's a ton to know about net neutrality, but this (and watching this episode of +Future Tech Chat), is a good start!

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And some great news this week, this webcast is officially also a podcast! You can find the podcast version of the show on iTunes! (what!?) so if you find you don't have time to watch the video, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or at http://feeds.feedburner.com/FutureTechBlog for anybody without an Apple device. Obviously, the format of the show will stay visual since it's a live webcast, but we will try to be mindful of the fact that some people won't be able to see what's going on, and there will always be a link to the video in the podcast description.

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I hope you'll tune in live at 12:30 PM EDT on Saturday, May 17th 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 in the event page (https://plus.google.com/events/c97l6m7ofqsu21rqhuipfj4qbgk) on Facebook, Twitter and Google+, or by email at futuretechchat@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!

Future Tech Chat #11: Mother's Day Q&A Special

This week's Future Tech Chat features a fun conversation between +Mike Attrell and I, along with very special guest and my own mother +Kathy Attrell. We recorded this conversation last week, and I hope you'll learn a little something about the difficulties of hosting a live Q&A, and maybe see a little of your own conversations with loved ones in our chat.

I hope you'll tune in 12:30 PM EDT on Saturday, May 10th for the episode, and you'll be able to watch it in full right here at that time.

As usual, you can ask us any questions you might have on Facebook, Twitter and Google+, or by email at futuretechchat@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 tomorrow!

Future Tech Chat #10: Smart TVs

Well, we made it! We're into the double-digit numbers and more than excited to be getting into this topic we all love so much.

This week's Future Tech Chat will feature +Mike Attrell and I, along with special guest and world's greatest beard grower +Nick Maddox.

In the episode, we will be discussing the ins and outs of Smart TVs (or really any screen that is capable to being connected to a computer really, as we will get in to. There are a bevy of available options for making your TV smart (usually inferring internet-connected), and there are certain advantages to some and certainly many disadvantages to lots of them. We'll discuss successes, missteps and where we'd like to see the future of the smart TV head in the years to come.

This week has been chock-full of TV-related news! Here is a quick preview of what you have to look forward to for this week's episode:

New TV Technology Can Be a Hard Sell: Samsung is enticing the masses with eight more reasons to pick up a shiny new Ultra HD (4K) TV with a promotion giving away eight UHD movies with the purchase of a curved 4K TV. This is on top of their existing promotion to give away a $300 1TB hard drive with three UHD documentaries. Sony has a similar promotion with the sales of their Ultra HD TVs. If you didn't think you'd have anything to watch in your brand new mind-blowing screen resolution, at least Ben Stiller will be able to tide you over until we start seeing 4K content more widespread.

TV Content Is A-Changing: We saw multiple moves and shakes from both cable and internet content providers this week; Netflix is trying to reach more people faster, Microsoft and Yahoo! are making their way onto your TV screen, Hulu went from blocking VPN traffic to making mobile content free to access in the same week, and there are rumours of AT&T purchasing DirectTV to keep up with the Joneses within the industry.

If you thought the age of the TV was over, it looks like we're only just beginning a new chapter in the content and product wars.

I hope you'll tune in live at 12:30 PM EDT on Saturday, May 3rd 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/cmancl8pfdc6t6q00bcm2k1naa8) on Facebook, Twitter and Google+, or by email at futuretechchat@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 tomorrow!

Written by: +Rob Attrell and +Mike Attrell