Join Steve and Ben as they engage in insightful discussions, retrospectives and arguments in the fields of film, science and technology. Hosted by Scientist-Filmmaker Stephan Kern and Filmmaker-Web Content Developer Ben Warner. http://www.fistchat.com This work is Copyright SMALL WAVE FILMS. All Rights Reserved. info@smallwavefilms.com.au (Ben Warner) info@smallwavefilms.com.au (Ben Warner) http://www.fistchat.com http://www.digicosm.com.au/fistchat/icon-itunes.jpg Android has become the dominant operating system for mobile devices on the planet thanks largely to its openness and the drive of several tech companies led by Samsung to use Android to sell huge amounts of mobile devices to the masses. It is also popular for its flexibility and customisation. Steve and Ben focus their attention on Android and Samsung, discussing the pros and cons of the system, as well as their own preferences. They also take a look at how dominant Samsung has become and how the Android vs iOS battle so closely mirrors the Windows vs Mac battle of the 1980s. http://www.digicosm.com.au/fistchat/fc120.mp3 Microsoft released the radically different Windows 8 last year and has received a backlash from its customer base over the new user interface designed for mobile devices and the removal of the start menu. Now a year later and the first update coming in Windows Blue, Microsoft is poised to return the start button, if not the start menu, back to the desktop in Windows 8. Steve and Ben discuss this incredible turn of events for Microsoft who in trying to take a leap forward and stay relevant in the face of stiff competition from Apple and Google in the mobile space, they may have just alienated many of their customers in the process who like things just the way they are. http://www.digicosm.com.au/fistchat/fc119.mp3 The recent release of Marvel’s latest blockbuster Iron Man 3 has revealed Hollywood’s closer ties with the Chinese film industry, with the film including extra scenes specific for the Chinese audience. With Hollywood chasing Chinese dollars to help boost its floundering business model, one can expect this trend to continue. Steve and Ben discuss Hollywood’s attempts to continue its seemingly unsustainable business model with efforts like these. Also on the show, the 66th Cannes Film Festival gets underway this month, scientists have manufactured a lightweight and reusable material that can absorb up to 33 times its weight in certain chemicals, and engineers have built a camera using stretchable electronics that scans the world like a fly's compound eye with a wide field of view and no distortion. http://www.digicosm.com.au/fistchat/fc118.mp3 Apple and its CEO Tim Cook have been under criticism of late for not coming up with any market disrupting products as was done under the tenure of Steve Jobs, with critics pointing to Apple’s falling stock price as an indicator of this problem. Is this a fair criticism or has Apple really lost its mojo? Steve and Ben take a look at Apple’s current state of affairs, including a look at how things are not as bad as they seem when taking a long-term view of the company and its trajectory. http://www.digicosm.com.au/fistchat/fc117.mp3 The dangers of social media and hacked accounts came to the forefront last week when hackers took control of the Associated Press Twitter account and sent a false tweet about two explosions at the White House that briefly sent US financial markets reeling. Is this a rare event or an example of things to come? Steve and Ben discuss the dangers of fake social media posts and their effects. Also on the show, a sharp reality check on how to become a film director, an incoming comet Could Blast Earth with a weird meteor shower, and Windows 8.1 Start button may not offer actual Start menu. http://www.digicosm.com.au/fistchat/fc116.mp3 Citizen Reporting reached an apex during the recent tragedy in Boston with the bombings at the world famous Boston marathon which killed three and injured many others. Carrying high definition cameras in their pocket, people on the street captured much of the event as it occurred, with a subsequent explosion of reporting on social media that was ahead of traditional news outlets. What does this mean for the future of reporting? Also on the show this week, 4K cameras are within reach of the consumer, an island in the Coral Sea disappears, and a solar-powered stadium in France, fuelled by algae, begins construction. http://www.digicosm.com.au/fistchat/fc115.mp3 What’s wrong with Skype these days? Since becoming a pillar of Microsoft’s new communications strategy, Skype has seemed largely unchanged. Steve and Ben discuss their use of Skype for FiST Chat and their recent issues with it, as well as alternatives to Skype and the pertinent question, why doesn’t a single, easy-to-use, cross-platform solution exist for video calls? Also on the show, the Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign passes 5 million dollars, a new chemical treatment can turn organs transparent for study, and searches for mental illnesses increase during the winter according to research done on Google searches. http://www.digicosm.com.au/fistchat/fc114.mp3 Scientists have figured out how to scan the brain and read your dreams. Steve and Ben discuss the amazing breakthroughs in this area, as well as the wider implications involved with technology, the brain and the body. Also on the show, Brad Pitt bumps up against Chinese censors, the trailer for iSteve released starring Justin Long, why the male Y chromosome is doomed, the mobile phone turns 40, and the Kepler telescope discovers a white dwarf warping space-time. http://www.digicosm.com.au/fistchat/fc113.mp3 Rob Rhinehart is following a radical diet of high-nutrient shakes with no food. He claims you can lose weight and save time in food preparation. Steve and Ben discuss this story, including the cons associated with such a risky diet. Also on the show, YouTube pulls a big April Fool’s joke, a US film festival cancels an award for a film made as a tax scam, human doomsday survival improves, multi-million dollar pay day for teen app designer from Yahoo, and world’s largest cyber-attack slowing down internet use. http://www.digicosm.com.au/fistchat/fc112.mp3 The Climate Change Debate has been like a roller-coaster ride in the past two decades. It gained huge momentum in the mid-2000s, then dissipated with the arrival of the GFC. Steve and Ben take a look at the current state of the debate, while discussing a curious new initiative called Reality Drop which appears to crowd-source public opinion. Also on the show, crowd-sourcing Veronica Mars to a film, state of support for science in Australia, Jony Ive to give iOS software a flatter design and the discovery of a rare 1984 video of Steve Wozniak. http://www.digicosm.com.au/fistchat/fc111.mp3 It's a super-sized episode of FiST Chat, and Steve and Ben's first on Google Hangouts! The guys discuss communications technology and the future, including a review of voice vs data technologies, social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus, as well as the bevy of devices we use in our every day lives. Also on the show this week, Iran to sue Hollywood over cultural stereotypes, the Mars Rover finds that the red planet could have supported life, the Higgs Boson is definitively found, Beijing jamming Radio Australia and the new Pope facing challenges with new media platforms such as Twitter. http://www.digicosm.com.au/fistchat/fc110.mp3 Being able to grow and replace organs and body parts is the new wave in medicine for this century. Steve and Ben discuss the potential benefits and effects of regenerative medicine, and the impact on our longevity and society. Also on the show, Hollywood sees growth potential in China with its new leadership, heat waves hit southern Australia, and Murdoch concedes defeat with the failure of his online paywalls. http://www.digicosm.com.au/fistchat/fc109.mp3 NASA's space shuttle missions may have ended but that does not mean space travel is going away. With various other nations, privateers and billionaires all wanting to get a piece of space travel action, it may not be inconceivable that in the short term, humanity will be heading up in to space to do more than just conduct ultra expensive scientific exploration. Steve and Ben discuss what it takes to be an astronaut and the impact it can have the body, as well as the impact that future space travel will have on humanity. Also on the show this week, new films Gravity and Upside Down, the discovery of Saturn's birth place, and multi-millionaire Dennis Tito planning a mission to Mars. http://www.digicosm.com.au/fistchat/fc108.mp3 The Sun is vital to the health of us all. Getting the right amount of sunlight every day ensures that our bodies achieve the right levels of vitamin D, and it also impacts on our psychological well-being. But can you have too much sunlight? Can the Sun tire you out if you spend too much time under its light? Steve and Ben discuss the Sun and its impact on your Health and on the body. Also on the show, film recommendation Run Fatboy Run starring Simon Pegg, brain scans can predict your political ideology, and with recent rumours of the iWatch and Apple Television, are the pundits getting carried away with what they expect Apple to deliver next? http://www.digicosm.com.au/fistchat/fc107.mp3 It seems that performance enhancing drugs have always played a part in professional sport, and with several recent high profile media cases such as the Lance Armstrong confession and others, it never seems as if it will ever go away. Steve and Ben discuss the presence of drugs in professional sport and their impact, including the health risks on the bodies of athletes. Also on the show this week, Steve and Ben share their favourite sports films, war declared on Australian sports scientists accused of injected substances in to AFL players in Australia, and how performance enhancing drugs are freely available to buy on online. http://www.digicosm.com.au/fistchat/fc106.mp3 Much of what is said about social media follows the line of how it connects people over vast distances and allows instant communication between your friends 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But if you are to define the word social, is the activity encouraged on social media sites actually fitting that definition? Steve and Ben discuss the definition of social and how it applies to social media. Also on the show, the great Star Wars Vs Star Trek debate comes in to sharp focus with JJ Abrams taking over the franchise, 3D printers creating stem cells and Apple's recent Java block has unintended consequences for customers. http://www.digicosm.com.au/fistchat/fc105.mp3 Today, it is easy than ever before for anyone to shoot a film thanks to cheap, high quality cameras and post production software. The internet has given those filmmakers a voice with direct distribution to a global audience. So in this world, is film school still necessary? Steve and Ben discuss the pros and cons of film school for filmmakers, and Steve gives an overview of his experiences with the GoPro Hero 3 cameras. Also on the show, TV show Entourage to be turned in to a feature film, the actual cost of going to and living on Mars, the world's first 3D printed building to arrive in 2014, and the film Flight from Robert Zemeckis and starring Denzel Washington. http://www.digicosm.com.au/fistchat/fc104.mp3 Ever since the historic original moon landing in 1969, a persistent conspiracy theory has developed that suggests that NASA staged the whole event because it was impossible to do it for real. Steve and Ben discuss this conspiracy theory and have fun poking holes in it, as well as the great YouTube video Moon Hoax Not by Collins who goes in to great detail about how it was harder to fake the moon landing than to actually go there in 1969. Also on the show, Stanley Kubrick's connection to this conspiracy theory with 2001 and The Shining, installing a large asteriod in orbit around the moon, and NASA scientists beaming the Mona Lisa to the Moon via laser. http://www.digicosm.com.au/fistchat/fc103.mp3 In today's world of 24/7 business-ness and distractions, it can seem almost impossible to find even ten minutes to relax your mind. But this simple relief task for your brain is essential for you health and well being in keeping it together in today's fast moving world. Steve and Ben discuss the importance of relaxing your mind and Andy Puddicombe's Ted Talk on the topic. Also on the show, the film Hot Tub Time Machine to get a sequel, 16-year old science student Yaya Lu has the idea for a voice controlled technology for wheelchairs and shoppers to be tracked via mobile phone technology. http://www.digicosm.com.au/fistchat/fc102.mp3 When you buy a device these days, you are really buying in to an ecosystem. Which one should you pick? iOS with Apple? Amazon? Google? Microsoft? Steve and Ben look at these ecosystems and how the nature of consuming content has changed forever by the way these companies dictate the use of this content. Also on the show, Spielberg shuts down Robopocalypse for now, the Australian Bureau Of Meteorology adds two new colours to its temperature chart to represent extreme temperatures, and Samsung introduces its newly designed flexible screens. http://www.digicosm.com.au/fistchat/fc101.mp3