Episode #418 – Stick this in your Tree! The Tech Ornament

In this Week’s TechtalkRadio Show, Andy and Shawn discussed their shared interest in tech-themed Christmas decorations, particularly ornaments and sweaters. Shawn does an Open Box on the Radio of his recent purchase of an original Xbox Christmas ornament that plays sounds from the game Halo: Combat Evolved. While we can’t really hear the Ornament – Video has now been posted on our blog. After seeing the Apple Pencil in the News, Andy asks Shawn what it is all about. Shawn explained that his mother uses it for drawing and work, and it offers features such as precision, pressure sensitivity, tilt sensitivity, low latency, and palm rejection and works great with various iPad models, including older ones, and the second generation can be charged by attaching it to the side of the iPad.

While on the subject of Apple, Andy discussed the immersive video experience created by Edward Berger, now available on the Apple TV app, and a short film called Submerged. Andy also introduced a website, AI.meta.com, where users can create short videos using AI-generated photos. Shawn shared his recent experience with Chat GPT, initially skeptical but now finding it useful for various tasks, including rebuilding his Plex server using Linux Mint, where Chat GPT provided detailed step-by-step instructions for mounting a drive and to learn Linux commands and emphasized the importance of effective prompting for better results.


Andy and Shawn reminisced about their experiences with technology in their teenage years, with Shawn sharing his knowledge of bypassing internet restrictions imposed by his parents. Wikipedia, AI and Google Search did not exist, instead educational resources like Encarta and the Dewey decimal system at the library were the solution.

Andy and Shawn wrapped the show with the discussion of the implications of AI-generated voices and the potential for AI to replace human hosts in podcasting. They shared their experience with the “notebooklm.google experimental page” AI, which they found unsettling and not quite human. In Audio which had a lot of people talking, The NotebookLM model was tested with the AI told they were AI. As Shawn and Andy note, A Downer.

This Week’s Episode Now Posted! Episode #366 – Is Resistance Futile?

In this week’s show, Shawn and Andy discuss recent issues they had with Streaming while on with the Metacast Podcast earlier in the Week which works into a discussion on Tech Support and how easy it is to troubleshoot new Tech versus what we had to do 15 years ago. Andy tells the story of how phone calls came into Radio Shows and got on the air compared to tech today from VoxPro and other companies. Shawn and Andy talk about how technology in Education changed from Mac systems to PC’s. Some employers are looking for workers that understand AI and how to work with it. Andy talks about how we could see AI used in Radio Broadcasting and even Television Newscasting and points out Synthesia at https://www.synthesia.io and how training videos could all be done using that platform. How will sports be influenced by AI and the predictability of plays viewed by opposing teams.

Andy talks about some products he featured on KMSB Fox 11. Kingston sent over an Ironkey 200 Flash drive with AES 256 Encryption and Military Grade Security to protect the device from prying eyes or in the event of a loss of the drive. After 10 Attempts to enter a password incorrectly, the drive will wipe its data off the drive and make it unrecoverable. Sizes vary from 8GB to 128GB. This also serves as a good reminder to never plug in a USB Flash Drive that you “find.” as it could compromise your system or even damage circuitry. Andy also shared a USB diskette Reader from Tandek that he shared on the Segment. Shawn feels there may at some point a Digital Revolution with consumers wanted content.

Shawn looks at the new Adobe Photoshop Beta with Generative Fill which uses AI to fill a background or part of an Adobe stock image with artificial intelligence and is very impressed with the results. What’s also nice is that while some programs use AI to complete images, this will stay within the Adobe Family pulling images only from Adobe Stock Images.

Shawn and Andy share a great website for learning more about working with Photoshop and Graphics programs. https://www.phlearn.com The host also goes into a more in depth discussion on the Generative Fill Tool.

Connect and subscribe with us on social media

YouTube @techtalkradio
Facebook @techtalkers
Twitter @TechtalkRadio
Instagram techtalkradio
Web: TechtalkRadio.Com

Subscribe and Like TechtalkRadio on iTunes, Spreaker, iHeart, Audacy, Amazon Music, Spotify, Pod Bean!