e544 — Are We Bananas?

e544 — Are We Bananas?

Author: Michael Rowe, Michael Martine, Andy Piper February 23, 2026 Duration: 28:35

Photo by Masahiro Naruse on Unsplash

Published 23 February 2026

e544 with Andy, Michael and Michael – Stories and discussion on rumoured AI devices, addictive predictives, listening through bananas (or mud), and what happens when VR platforms die? Plus the usual assortment or other things.

This week’s episode kicks off with a check in on which tech giants are working on what devices, now? Apple stepping back from headsets but working on glasses and pendants, and OpenAI making some kind of smart Pod for your dumb Home?

Then, there’s discussion of the challenges of privacy when LLMs get access to private email and chats. Oh, and if you’re not sure if your AI is an LLM or a sentience, then Anthropic can’t answer that.

We hope you’re listening to the show in perfect digital quality, but we’re also interested to know if you’ve tried piping it to your ears through any kind of fruit – let us know.

Meta’s fully backing away from VR for Horizon Worlds, and in case Blizzard ever stops making the client software for World of Warcraft, Michael tried an open source version.

Finally, don’t let hackers get hold of your brainwaves! (it could happen)

These show notes were lovingly hand crafted by a real human, and not by a bot.  All rights reserved.  That’s our story and we’re sticking to it.

Selected Links

AI

Thank god Microsoft is shoving Copilot AI crap into everything. One gets the sense this isn't going to be an isolated occurrence. From Bleeping Computer:

"Microsoft says a Microsoft 365 Copilot bug has been causing the AI assistant to summarize confidential emails since late January, bypassing data loss prevention (DLP) policies that organizations rely on to protect sensitive information."

bleepingcomputer.com/news/micr

— BrianKrebs (@briankrebs@infosec.exchange)2026-02-18T18:24:34.707Z

HEADLINE: "Prediction Markets Are Sucking Huge Numbers of Young People Into Gambling"

ALT HEADLINE: "All Our Incentives Lead to Bad Outcomes, and Prediction Markets Are Just One Example"

futurism.com/future-society/pr

— Mike Elgan (@MikeElgan@mastodon.social)2026-02-16T17:06:59.555Z

Audio

AR/VR

Makers

Bonus link


The weekly conversation hosted by Michael Rowe, Michael Martine, and Andy Piper, Games At Work dot Biz, explores the intersection where our digital play and professional lives collide. This isn't just a review show; it's a deep dive into the technology that powers our hobbies, the business behind the leisure, and the cultural news shaping both worlds. Each episode feels like pulling up a chair with three friends who are as passionate about the craft of game development and the evolution of hardware as they are about the pure joy of finding a great new title. You'll hear specific discussions on everything from the latest graphics card impacting performance to the narrative design of an indie darling, all filtered through the lens of professionals who live in the tech space. The Games At Work dot Biz podcast operates on the belief that the games we play and the tools we use are inextricably linked, offering listeners a consistently thoughtful and engaging analysis that goes far beyond a simple score. Tune in for a regular dose of insightful commentary where the serious business of technology meets the serious fun of games.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 55

Games At Work dot Biz
Podcast Episodes
e556— AI With Extra Guac [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:53
Photo by Mikey Frost on Unsplash Published 8 June 2026 e556 with Michael, Andy and Michael – Michael R’s annual edu-cation, chatbot trickery, data center data visualization, LeRobot Humanoid open source robotics, LEGO an…
e555 — One Two, One Two [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:27
Photo by Michael Martine: The Bean in Millennium Park, Chicago, IL, June 2019 Published 25 May 2026 e555 with Andy, Michael and Michael – Ploopy’s The Bean and Lenovo’s TrackPoint, The Guild, The Movie, AI in commencemen…
e554 — SPI vs I [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:44
Photo by Valérie Ungerer on Unsplash Published 18 May 2026 e554 with Michael and Michael – stories and discussion on LLM phone number lookups, proctors returning to Princeton, lavish LEGO, LOTR and a whole lot more! Whil…
e553 — Monks, Bots & Ghosts [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:36
Stories and discussion on a robot monk, the Dead Internet Theory, agentic autonomy, Happy Net Box, the Artemis II minifig.me crew and a whole lot more!
e552 — Norwegian Blue Vision [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:52
Photo by Shannon Potter on Unsplash Published 4 May 2026 e552 with Andy, Michael and Michael – stories and discussion on AI, life on Mars, life of the Vision Pro, retro C64s and a whole lot more! Andy, Michael and Michae…
e551 — ATProto Socials [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:38
Photo from the International Space Station 1 April 2026 of the exhaust plume from Artemis II in Earth’s atmosphere – NASA ID: iss074e0431736 Published 20 April 2026 e551 with Michael, Michael and Andy – a tour of the Atm…
e550 — Moontella [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:42
Mashup of photo by Victor Serban on Unsplash & images-assets.nasa.gov/image/art002e009287/art002e009287~orig.jpg Published 13 April 2026 e550 with Michael, Andy and Michael – celebrating Moon Joy with the Artemis II crew…
e549 — Dark Side of the Moon [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:00
NASA photo art002e009057, 4 April 2026 Published 6 April 2026 e549 with Andy, Michael and Michael – boldly go into a deep set of space discussions featuring Artemis II, ways to keep track of the historic flight, COTS sof…
e548 — The Uncomfortable Valley [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:34
Photo by NEOM on Unsplash Published 23 March 2026 e548 with Michael and Michael – Stories and discussion on uncomfortable valley & uncanny valley, Nintendo’s Talking Flower, 8bit Pixel Agents for AI orchestration and a w…
e547 — Bricktastic [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:00
Photo by Michael Martine, Chapel Hill, NC March 2026 Published 16 March 2026 e547 with Michael and Michael – Stories and discussion on bot to bot communications, 50 years of Apple, LEGO SmartPlay SmartBricks and a whole…