Imaginative Kid Projectors And YouTube Science Series The Brain Scoop
Skip to the 1:27 mark to listen. This week Kris Abel introduces What She Said’s Christine Bentley, Sharon Caddy, and Kate Wheeler to… Meg “Rabbit” Athavale who is leading a indiegogo project group in Winnipeg, Manitoba in developing an interactive projector for kids called the Lumo. Armed with motion sensors it can turn any floor... Read More
Metro Reviews: The Trace, Bloodborne, Steve jobs
Here’s my Metro News reviews for the week of Mar. 31st The Trace: Murder Mystery Game iPhone/iPad $5.79 This proper, hands-on detective adventure offers elaborate crime scenes you can step through, clues you can pick up and scan, and a trail of grisly murder mysteries to solve using a helpful decision tree of nagging questions... Read More
Haptic Fashion, Designing Clothes That Stimulate
Skip to the 1:25 mark to listen. This week Kris Abel introduces What She Said’s Christine Bentley, Sharon Caddy, and Kate Wheeler to… Billie Whitehouse, founder of Wearable Experiments (We:eX) and the self-described Haptic Fashionista designer behind Fundawear, a line of vibrating underwear. Her company is exploring the possibilities of stimulating clothes including a sports shirt... Read More
Metro Reviews: Terry Pratchett, Code Name S.T.E.A.M., Poco Eco
Here’s my Metro News reviews for the week of Mar. 23rd A Slip Of The Keyboard By Terry Pratchett Kindle/iBooks/Kobo Four Stars In this collection of musings, speeches, and essays, Pratchett aims his insightful and oft-quoted humour at Nuclear power stations, floppy hats, Alzheimer’s, Orangutans, computers, and others things unrelated to his much-loved DiscWorld fantasy... Read More
HTC CEO Cher Wang, 3D Printed Noses, And The Web’s Very First Photo
Skip to the 1:27 mark to listen. This week Kris Abel introduces What She Said’s Christine Bentley, Sharon Caddy, and Kate Wheeler to… Cher Wang, co-founder of smartphone maker HTC who has just taken over the company as its new CEO in order to guide it to recovery. Her new leadership starts off with some... Read More
Legend of Zelda Given Concert Live Experience By Windsor Symphony
It says something about video games as a culture that fans are willing to pack a theatre and patiently listen to a symphony play a soundtrack for two hours. It speaks to the powerful role music has in video games where it not only has to survive endless repetition, but often convey the story and... Read More
Metro Reviews: H is for Hawk, Ori and the Blind Forest
Here’s my Metro News reviews for the week of Mar. 16th H is for Hawk By Helen MacDonald Kindle/iBooks/Kobo Four Stars In grieving for her father Helen turns to Falconry to process her feelings. Training a Goshawk to fly and kill may seem an odd choice, but the draw is an emotional complexity and discipline.... Read More
First Live Birth Using Virtual Reality And Pop-Up book Machines
Skip to the 1:26 mark to listen. This week Kris Abel introduces What She Said’s Christine Bentley, Sharon Caddy, and Kate Wheeler to… Kelli Anderson, a digital paper designer who working on a pop-up book full of working paper machines including a planetarium, a phonograph, and musical instrument. Alison and Jayce Larke who have... Read More
Metro Reviews: The Martian, ScreamRide, Disney Side
Here’s my Metro News reviews for the week of Mar. 9th The Martian By Andy Weir Kindle/iBooks/Kobo Five Stars Stranded on Mars, astronaut Mark Watney can’t stop laughing. His life expectancy is dire, his isolation is bleak, yet he perseveres in this well-researched survival thriller where NASA transcripts and maps craft a problem-solving adventure of... Read More
Mind-Controlled Fighter Jets And Apple Watches
Skip to the 1:24 mark to listen. This week Kris Abel introduces What She Said’s Christine Bentley, Sharon Caddy, and Kate Wheeler to… Jan Scheuermann, a woman with quadriplegia working on neurosignaling experiments under DARPA at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She is pioneering the use of brain-computer interfaces to control robotic arms for... Read More
Metro Reviews: The Order: 1886, Alto’s Adventure, Pry
Here’s my Metro News reviews for the week of Feb. 23rd Pry By Danny Cannizzaro & Samantha Gorman iPad/iPhone Two Stars Pry asks you to read between its lines by opening tears within its pages that reveal passages of text, hidden videos, and sentences encoded with braille. It’s an intentionally disjointed way of recounting the... Read More
Team-Building Exercises To Mars, Shark Lady Eugenie Clark, And 3D Printed Eco Food
Skip to the 1:27 mark to listen. This week Kris Abel introduces What She Said’s Christine Bentley, Sharon Caddy, and Kate Wheeler to… Eugenie Clark who died at age 92 was a pioneering diving biologist and founder of the Mote Marine Lab. Known as the “Shark Lady” for her incredible breakthroughs with the ocean predators... Read More
Cognitive Computer Cooking. My Interview With IBM Watson Engineer Alexa Swainson
Since winning on Jeopardy, IBM’s Watson computer has learned how to cook. In fact it has learned how to create recipes no human chef has ever considered before. Here’s our much longer interview with IBM Watson engineer and vice-president of product, Alexa Swainson where she explains what it means when a computer can start to... Read More
Learning Code With Robotic Flower Gardens And Cooking With Watson
Skip to the 1:25 mark to listen. This week Kris Abel introduces What She Said’s Christine Bentley, Sharon Caddy, and Kate Wheeler to… Alexa Swainson is VP of broduct for IBM’s Watson, the cognitive computer best known for winning on Jeopardy, but is turning heads these days be creating it’s own recipes. Alexa explains how... Read More
Metro Reviews: Ruby, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, JFK Challenge
Here’s my Metro News reviews for the week of Feb. 16th Ruby By Cynthia Bond Kindle/iBooks/Kobo Two Stars This tale of two adults trying to overcome childhood abuses during the time of Jim Crow is so vividly driven by its setting and character actions that it feels like a comic book in expression, which is... Read More
Creating Smart Bras And Connecting With Nature Through Outer Space
To listen skip to the 1:27 mark. This week Kris Abel introduces What She Said’s Christine Bentley, Sharon Caddy, and Kate Wheeler to… Genna Guberstein is a heliophysics media specialist at NASA who wants to use the inspirational imagery of science to create public exhibitions that she hopes will increase our connection with nature. Her first... Read More
Metro Reviews: Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask, Guantanamo Diary
Here’s my Metro Reviews for the week of Feb. 9th Guantanamo Diary By Mohamedou Ould Slahi Kindle/iBooks/Kobo Three Stars A former member of Al Qaeda who maintained dangerous friendships, it’s easy to see why Mohamedou was picked up by US intelligence 12 years ago, but navigate through the scanned pages and heavily redacted text of... Read More
New Movie Celebrates Computing Pioneer Grace Hopper
Skip to the 1:26 mark to listen This week Kris Abel introduces What She Said’s Christine Bentley, Sharon Caddy, and Kate Wheeler to… Gillian Jacobs, best known for her role on TV series community, has directed an entertaining and fascinating documentary on computing pioneer Grace Hopper which you can watch below.
The Order 1886 Conspiracies & Obsessions – An Interview With Director Dana Jan
In my conversation with game director Dana Jan, we discuss the cultural and literary obsessions present in the upcoming PlayStation 4 video game The Order 1886, an alternate history action-adventure that blends the Knights of the Round Table with Nikola Tesla in a Steampunk Victorian England.
Metro Reviews: Trigger Warning, Dying Light, Sons of Anarchy
Here’s my Metro News reviews for the week of Feb. 2nd. Trigger Warning By Neil Gaiman Kindle/iBooks/Kobo Five Stars Trigger Warning is an internet term used to identify web links that may lead to unsettling content and indeed this collection of strange and intriguing poems, adventures, and remembrances all unfold with nightmarish costs. Even when... Read More
Exploring Issues Of Rape Through VR, Managing Relationships With Wearables
Skip to the 1:25 mark to listen. This week Kris Abel introduces What She Said’s Christine Bentley, Sharon Caddy, and Kate Wheeler to… Film director Rose Troche who kicked off a new Oculus Rift Virtual Reality series called Perspective that will place viewers into the bodies of two people on either side of a contentious... Read More
Metro Reviews: American Sniper, The Swapper, MSN Food
Here are my Metro News reviews for the week of Jan. 26th American Sniper Enhanced Edition By Chris Kyle Kindle/iBooks Three Stars Conversational video interviews and pop-up gun profiles only add to this book’s extraordinary access to Navy Seal techniques, yet it’s Kyle’s friendly story-telling that stands-out as he captures the way his drive to... Read More
Sharing Your Story Through Action Cams & Combating Online Hate
Skip to the 1:27 mark to listen. This week Kris Abel introduces What She Said’s Christine Bentley, Sharon Caddy, and Kate Wheeler to… Shauna Ireland and Canadian actress Kearstin Plemel who are part of Twenty2b’s Project Portrait, a series of action cam selfie videos by women around the world to demonstrate the creativity that’s possible... Read More
Metro Reviews: Patton Oswalt, New Nintendo 3DS, Shadowmatic
Here’s my Metro News reviews for the week of Jan. 19th Silver Screen Fiend By Patton Oswalt Kindle/iBooks/Kobo Three Stars For four years Patton compulsively watched art-house films, seeking guidance to his artistic ambitions. Now reflecting on his immaturity, he uses lists of movies both real and imagined along with calendars tied to much-loved indie... Read More
A Dino Hunt In Canada, My Interview With Palaeontologist Lisa Buckley
How do you know where to look for dinosaurs in Canada? Is it likely you’ll discover a new species of dinosaur if you grow up to be a palaeontologist? Here’s my extended What She Said interview with Peace Region Palaeontology Research Centre curator Lisa Buckley who is among several scientists working dinosaur digs across the... Read More
Cooki The Robot Chef And History Channel’s Dino Hunt
Skip to the 1:26 mark to listen. This week Kris Abel introduces What She Said’s Christine Bentley, Sharon Caddy, and Kate Wheeler to… Haidee and Helen Chen are 18 year-old twin inventors from Atlanta who are readying to launch a robotic chef called Cooki that can be programmed to make a variety of meals using... Read More
Metro Reviews: The Book of Negroes, The Princess Bride, Captain Toad
Here’s my Metro News reviews for the week of Jan. 11th The Book Of Negroes By Lawrence Hill Kindle/iBooks/Kobo Five Stars Society at its worst will bend a person to its most base needs. Hill’s historical drama captures with astonishing insight the way this happens from one stage of life to the next. Now a... Read More
Swarovski Tracking Crystals & The Royal Institution Lectrures
Skip to the 1:26 mark to listen. This week Kris Abel introduces What She Said’s Christine Bentley, Sharon Caddy, and Kate Wheeler to… Stanford neuroscientist and algorithm engineer Rachel Kalmer who works for wearable tech company Misfit as their data scientist. At this year’s CES the company turned heads with a new Swarovski partnership for... Read More
Metro Reviews: BFI Sci-Fi, Seabeard, The Secret Life Of Books
Here’s my Metro News reviews for the week of Jan. 5th The Life of Books By The Open University iPad Four Stars This is a rewarding chance to explore the original handwritten manuscripts and first editions from six literary classics including the novels of Jane Eyre, Charles Dickens, Mary Shelley, Virginia Wolfe, and William Shakespeare.... Read More
Doggy Prosthetics, Flying Pizza Drones, And Reprogrammed Moss
Skip to the 1:26 mark to listen This week Kris Abel introduces What She Said’s Christine Bentley, Sharon Caddy, and Kate Wheeler to… When Tara Anderson, Project Manager at 3D Systems, read about Derby a dog up for adoption born with malformed front paws, she offered to foster the dog and recruit her company’s expertise... Read More
Metro Reviews: Wild Cheryl Strayed, Indoor Cycling, Little Big Planet 3
Here’s my Metro News reviews for the week of Dec. 22nd. Wild By Cheryl Strayed Kindle/iBooks/Kobo Four Stars Strayed’s skillfully described account of her 2,663 mile wilderness trek along the Californian coast is a proper journey, full of interesting characters and self-made calamity, one that captures the adventurous landscape enough to transport you to her... Read More
Metro Reviews: Dragon Age Inquisition, Frozen, Elf On The Shelf
Here are my Metro News reviews for the week of Dec. 15th Frozen: The Cinestory By Robert Simpson, Erik Burnham, & Josh Elder Kindle/iBooks Three Stars Fans have long been using movie screengrabs to tell their own stories on Tumblr. Here Disney adopts the practice to transform Frozen into a beautiful graphic novel, adding a... Read More
A Growling Moose, Sea Lampreys, And Electrofishing. My Interview With Great Lakes Wild Creator Amanda Buckiewicz
Great Lakes Wild is a new television series that explores fascinating wildlife stories around our planet’s largest freshwater system. Below is my full, uncut interview with the show’s writer and producer Amanda Buckiewicz where she shares her insights on some of the Great Lakes strangest creatures including Asian carp, sea lampreys, and a moose that... Read More
Practical 3D Printed Dresses and Great Lakes Wild Invasive Species Tech
Jump to the 1:27 mark to listen. This week Kris Abel introduces What She Said’s Christine Bentley, Sharon Caddy, and Kate Wheeler to… Jessica Rosenkrantz is the Creative Director of New York-based Nervous System where she and Jesse Louis-Rosenberg have developed a 4D dress design that when 3D printed results in a nylon dress that can... Read More
Metro Reviews: Sailor’s Dream, FarmVille Recipes, Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire
Here’s my Metro News reviews for the week of Dec. 8th. The Sailor’s Dream By Jonas Tarestad & Jonathan Eng iPad/iPhone Three Stars Time passes in this novella when you’re not reading it. Open it again after an hour or even a day and new pages will appear. Hidden within interactive illustrations of light houses... Read More
Tech Controls For Dogs, Solar Panel Stickers, And Celebrating Hour of Code
Jump to the 1:31 mark to listen. This week Kris Abel introduces What She Said’s Christine Bentley, Sharon Caddy, and Kate Wheeler to… Clara Manicini is head of the Open University’s Animal-Computer Interaction Lab where she is studying the kinds of buttons, switches, and other controls that work best for dogs. Sniffer dogs, rescue dogs,... Read More
Metro Reviews: Wonder Woman, Far Cry 4, Monty the Penguin
Here’s my Metro News reviews for the week of Dec. 1st The Secret History of Wonder Woman By Jill Lepore Kindle/iBooks/Kobo Three Stars Wonder Woman is the culmination of creator William Marston’s life. She reflects his involvement in the suffragette and feminist movements, the self-described Amazons he lived with, and his invention of the lie... Read More
Reporting Trolls To Mom, Subconscious Pizza, and Minikoff’s Magic Mirrors
Skip to the 1:26 mark to listen. This week Kris Abel introduces What She Said’s Christine Bentley, Sharon Caddy, and Kate Wheeler to… Alanah Pearce is a video game reviewer for 4zzz radio 102.1 fm, Brisbane Australia who managed to do what many have only dreamed – to track down the mothers of four boys... Read More
Metro Reviews: Unbroken, LEGO Batman 3, Dark Hearts
Here’s my Metro News reviews for the week of Nov. 24th. Unbroken By Laura Hillenbrand Kindle/iBooks/Kobo Five Stars In this factual, but astonishing life account of Louis Zamperini, we follow him first as a thieving rapscallion, then as an Olympic hopeful, then as a WWII bombardier, and on through harrowing, yet uplifting adventures. Hillendbrand (Seabiscuit)... Read More
Maker Faire Toronto Highlights & Exploring The Brain With Possibility Engineering
Skip to the 1:28 mark to listen. This week Kris Abel introduces What She Said’s Christine Bentley, Sharon Caddy, and Kate Wheeler to… Izzie Colpitts_Campbell is a software and electronics artists with the Social Body Lab at OCAD University. She caught my eye at this year’s Maker Faire in Toronto with clothing that can move... Read More