On this episode of Spark: Phone Fonts, POV video, and Long-distance Love Tech. Click below to listen to the whole show, or download the MP3 (runs 54:00).
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 54:40 — 50.2MB)
You can also listen to individual stories below.
Game CAPTCHAs
We’ve all encountered those squiggly distorted letters on websites that you have decipher in order to prove you are, in fact, a person. But what if instead, you could play a short little game to prove you’re not a bot? Nora speaks with Reid Tatoris, co-founder of Are You a Human – a company that’s developed a game-based human verification system. (Runs 7:45)
Play audio:
- Are You a Human
- PlayThru demo
- You might also like this Spark interview with Louis von Ahn the guy who invented CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA
POV Video…In a Pair of Glasses
The trend toward sophisticated and easy-to-use point of view technology is heating up, and Spark contributor Cathi Bond stops by with a pair of POV video glasses to show Nora how you can now make high definition movies while walking around…and what the implications for privacy are. (Runs 6:40)
Play audio:
Robots Love Film Fests, too!
A lot is going on in New York City in the summer, but nothing quite like the second annual Robot Film Festival on July 14 and 15, a celebration of robots on film. Heather Knight is co-founder of the fest (she was on Spark a few weeks back about her robot comedian) and she tells us about the festivals goal to seek insight into robot character through storytelling and showing the positive side of robots on film. (Runs 6:23)
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Copyright and Bill C-11
This week, Bill C-11, the copyright reform bill, came out of committee and now awaits third reading. We thought it was a good time to check up on what’s happened since the bill was originally introduced in the fall. And that’s where David Fewer, Director of the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, comes in. (Runs 5:34)
Play audio:
- David Fewer
- Full Interview with David Fewer
- CIPPIC
- Bill C-11
- David Fewer on Spark in November 2010 talking about Bill C-32
Long Distance Love Tech
In some ways, being in an “LDR” or Long Distance Relationship, has never been easier. From webcams to instant messaging, it’s cheap and easy to keep in constant touch. Researcher Carman Neustaedter has been looking into how couples use technology to stay in touch, and whether it can ever truly be as good as actual physical presence. (Runs 9:25)
Play audio:
- Carman Neustaedter
- You might also like this Spark story about Personal Connections in the Digital Age
The Secret to Designing Phone Fonts
How do you design typeface that is easy to read on the small screens of our portable tech? Just ask Steve Matteson! He’s designed successful fonts for Android phones and the Nook ereader. Nora talks with him about what it takes to make a font that really fits. (Runs 8:50)
Play audio:
- Steve Matteson & the many fonts he’s created
- Full uncut version of interview with Steve Matteson
- You might also like this Spark story about the history of word processing
Additional Links
- APM music used in this episode
- Main page photo courtesy of areyouahuman.com
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I really enjoyed this week's episode, especially the "Long Distance Love Tech" segment. This really resonated with me. I met my now partner using Skype. Prior to meeting her, I was learning to speak Spanish through a language teacher living in Canada who was originally from Colombia. Through Skype, he had me work on improving my conversational Spanish by talking with his friends and family in his native country as well as other countries in Latin America. In return, they would work on improving their conversational English with me. It was a very clever idea on my teacher's part that was very effective. He eventually introduced me to a friend of his that wanted to learn English. We "met" on Skype and started helping one another learn the other's language. With time, we started to explore much more than the other's mother tongue. We learned about each other's lives, culture, families and connections all through the languages we were trying to learn. This added a richness to learning that was powerful for both of us. Our connection with each other was strengthening in a way that I never thought possible nor did I see ever happening for me. I eventually went to visit Colombia to meet her. Our relationship has continued to grow and I have returned to Colombia subsequently and now, she is coming to visit me in Canada.
Video chat was pivotal in the development and discovery of our unique relationship. While, at times, I often thought to myself " Am I over idealizing the strength of our connection?" I learned with time, that determining whether their was an exaggerated romanticizing of our relationship wasn't so important. Rather, being thankful of having the other person in our life was much more valuable; this would not have been made possible without video chat.
Listening to this show, I am interested in the PVO glasses as I would like to use them for both her and I to gain added perspectives into both our lives in ways that we were unable to do before. Things like a walk in the park, or spending time in the market are now that much more in reach through technologies such as these.
Thank you for such an enjoyable episode!
Great show Nora. Thanks. My comment is about the increasingly annoying captchas. The game captchas are a great idea. My suggestion to the creators is to give people a choice of captcha — Do you want to play a captcha game or do a captcha that actually helps to accomplish a practical purpose as well? My bet is that at least half of us would choose b).
I was definitely pleased to hear from my guest that CAPTCHAS are getting harder as character recognition gets more sophisticated. I'd noticed I was having more trouble, but wasn't sure if it was just that I was getting worse at it!
So where is the link for the font downloads that I heard on the radio would be available if I signed into cbc.ca/spark?
Hi Joe B.
I was wondering the same thing myself.
NP
Hi Norman and Joe B.,
If you click the first related link under The Secret to Designing Phone Fonts, you’ll go to Steve Matteson’s page which has links to some of the fonts he’s created (look on the right hand side). I’ll update the link so it’s more clear that’s where you can see some of his fonts.
And if you visit the page featuring his full interview with Nora (also under related links), you’ll see links to check out his Windows Segoe, Xbox 360 and Android Droid fonts.