Tech Tea 031: For All I Know He’s A Pole Dancer

Tea: Qimen Caixia (“Sunrise Keemun”) black tea. Damon discusses tech that makes cochlear implants more versatile.  Michael looks at methodologies of language learning.  Also: little black worms, high quality science from Jurassic Park, listener assignments, taking a break, the new update for No Man’s Sky, Damon’s lack of impulse control, personal bankruptcy, going off script, the risks of playing a game in alpha, librarian glasses, Russian greetings, shout outs to San Francisco, taking business trips to ancient Rome, the new Doctor, the importance of context, and early-season Halloween costumes.

This episode was brought to you by:

  • Seven Cups Fine Tea: Get 20% off Qimen Caixia (Sunrise Keemun) with the coupon code: techtea  (expires in 6 months)
  • Harden your website against attackers and have easier cleanup if they do get in by signing up for Sucuri

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm and find our social media and newsletter subscription information as well.

Tech Tea 030: The Episode of Titles Episode

Tea: Dian Hong Jin Ya (“Golden Buds”) black tea. Damon talks about shoe technology.  Michael tackles the basics of blockchain.  Also: ice cream and bitterness, asparagus, Latin problems, the Pope, building a base, gas masks, extra bones, cylons vs. Knight Rider, pop culture of the 1980s, prosthetics and keeping body parts around the house, survival lip-syncing, imagining with your hands, voting abnormalities, and some social media site trivia.

This episode was brought to you by:

  • Seven Cups Fine Tea: Get 20% off Dian Hong Jin Ya 2017 with the coupon code: techtea  (expires in 6 months)
  • Dreamhost: whether you need simple WordPress hosting or a dedicated server, Dreamhost has options for you!

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm and find our social media and newsletter subscription information as well.

Tech Tea 029: The Spirit of Tea

Tea: Meng Ding Mao Feng green tea. Damon explores his own DNA and also covers new technology for the visually impaired.  Michael ponders how the future we envisioned in the 1980s differs from the future we’re living now.  Also: Finnish vs. Latin, the Spirit of Tea, spicy Chinese food, how Michael knows how long to brew tea, Mystcraft for Minecraft, external GPUs, mutants are not zombies, driving around town in a police vehicle, playing video games in a small hole, sending spit through the mail, caffeine metabolism, keeping the Milky Way in California, soulless eyes, the Jetsons, and Spiderman.

This episode was brought to you by:

  • Seven Cups Fine Tea: Get 20% off Meng Ding Mao Feng 2016 with the coupon code: techtea  (expires in 6 months)
  • Fotolia: for all your photo needs for print or online use

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm and find our social media and newsletter subscription information as well.

Tech Tea 028: Happy Day Between Independence Days

Tea: Fo Mei (Buddha’s Eyebrow) green tea. Damon talks about his experience making something in augmented reality. Michael shares his thoughts as a non-driver on autonomous vehicles.  Also: getting the date wrong, throwing tea into the lake, breaking news 100 years in the making, two brides for two brothers, machine learning on Pokemon data, being unable to turn down a free zombie, living in a closet under the stairs, boring cars, lifelong bets, moose, five stupid people standing on a track, psychopaths, hand signals, and building a wall around your bed.

This episode was brought to you by:

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm and find our social media and newsletter subscription information as well.

Tech Tea 027: Happy Birthday To Us

Tea: Jun Shan Yin Zhen yellow tea. Damon describes recent photography projects he was involved in. Michael talks about his Father’s Day “miracle.” Also: getting confused about geography, tea prices, GitHub, making movies with strong female leads, brand impressions, seat belts from the 1970s, messenger bags, drag queens, the Vietnam memorial, talking to Thomas Jefferson, clever fundraising strategies, hearing too much about Apple, jokes getting old at different speeds for different people, name changes, genetic testing surprises, online research technology, the Y-chromosome, and a couple of shout outs.

This episode was brought to you by:

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm and find our social media and newsletter subscription information as well.

Tech Tea 026: It’s Morning Somewhere

Tea: Gu Zhu Zi Sun (Purple Bamboo Shoot) green tea.  Damon recaps the keynote from Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference.  Michael takes a hard look at Facebook’s corporate ethics.  Also: pouring boiling water on things, getting grossed out by surgery pictures, confusing WWDC and WWJD, trying to watch videos in class, movies (especially Wonder Woman) and comic books, e-ink screens, Galaxy Quest and American Gods, and moderating comments on Google Plus.

This episode was brought to you by:

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm and find our social media and newsletter subscription information as well.

Tech Tea 025: Jazz Musicians We Are Not

Tea: Bi Luo Chun green tea.  Damon reviews the WannaCry virus and its brethren.  Michael summarizes the news out of the Google I/O conference.  Also: quitting caffeine (and color vision), bad water, the need for tea tasting vocabulary, the Saga Street Song, scooping reality with a melon-baller, the importance of listening to our advice, the darker side of encryption, bad Arnold Schwarzenegger impressions, not partnering with criminals, getting developers to go outside, olives for dessert, Damon says “Alexa” out loud, and the first step to Skynet.

This episode was brought to you by:

  • Seven Cups Fine Tea: Get 20% off Bi Luo Chun 2017 with the coupon code: techtea  (expires in 6 months)
  • Fotolia, a great place to find royalty free art and photos

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm and find our social media and newsletter subscription information as well.

Tech Tea 024: Bag of Words

Tea: Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe) wulong.  Damon explores land line phones and the WeChat app.  Michael takes on the episode title: the bag of words technique.  Also: embossing printers, rubber fingers, another trip down Saga Street, a mea culpa, knowing how to read, land line phones, blanking the names of things or people, convenient noodles, dangerous tongue twisters, spam filters, and the retro-cool of mid-century tech.

This episode was brought to you by:

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm and find our social media and newsletter subscription information as well.

Tech Tea 023: The March for Science

Tea: Da Shan Tian (Sweet Mountain) sheng puer.  Damon and Michael head off to the March for Science to interview people about their favorite science and technology topics.  Also: being cool, fingerprint readers, Apple ripping off a Google design, hand size, new phone rumors, naming evil hacker groups, transportation for villains, and the new CenturyLink Saga.

This episode was brought to you by:

  • Seven Cups Fine Tea: Get 20% off Da Shan Tian 2015 with the coupon code: HIGHLANDS    

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm and find our social media and newsletter subscription information as well.

Tech Tea 022: 50 Shades of Yellow

Tea: Meng Ding Huang Ya (Mt. Mengding Yellow Buds) yellow tea.  Damon plays with wires as he automates his home.  Michael finds the previous week’s news pulling him back to discussions of government-grade privacy.  Also: describing something vs. experiencing something, nib creep, the Turkish Crime-Mobile, “G” is for “Power” (or maybe “Fan”), Santa the thermostat, alien technology, and hunter-gatherer eBay.

This episode was brought to you by:

  • Seven Cups Fine Tea: Get 20% off Meng Ding Huang Ya with the coupon code: YELLOW    
  • Sign up for Sucuri‘s website sucrity monitoring and hacked-website cleanup services, and also show your support for Tech Tea!

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm and find our social media and newsletter subscription information as well.

Tech Tea 021: Tea Drunk

Tea: Liu An Gua Pian (“Melon Slice” or “Sunflower Seed”) green tea.  Damon talks about the developing drama around a purported iCloud ransom.  Michael touches on where you can and where you can’t make choices about your information online.  Also: Sichuan spicy dry green beans, a Sprint Saga update, bad predictions of male pregnancies, another kind of fountain pen technology, ballpoint ink accidents, Leonard Nimoy and Tennessee Williams and Robert Frost, the world’s best playlist, Applebee’s gift cards, extortion strategies, 13 email addresses, PR for crime, more tea, herd immunity, virtual private networks, El Chapo, selling eyeballs, and searching for underwear.

This episode was brought to you by:

  • Seven Cups Fine Tea: Get 20% off Liu An Gua Pian 2016 with the coupon code: sunflower    
  • Register your domain name and get hosting at Dreamhost (and keep some of your personal information off the internet for no additional charge)

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm and find our social media and newsletter subscription information as well.

Tech Tea 020: Spider-Mike

Tea: Golden Peacock (Jin Kong Que) black tea.  Damon talks about automating work.  Michael looks at different fountain pen technologies.  Also: second floor windows, daylight saving time, tea farm ownership structures, confusing Mandarin and Spanish, getting lost in interstellar space, being rude, phone keyboards, bullets vs. bullets, therapists, Michael’s ancestral home, wax cylinders and vinyl records, drawing on the walls, Kodachrome, geoducks and oysters, old museum-goers, dynamiting boats, and being invaded.

This episode was brought to you by:

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm

Tech Tea 019: Fuzzy Bits from the Misty Mountains

Tea: Meng Ding Mao Feng green tea.  Damon covers the “Cloudbleed” vulnerability that’s in the tech news recently.  Michael considers cybernetics and machine learning.  Also: hobbit feet, paper and pens in the news, being insecure, passing out, fifty (or more) shades of grey, The Goonies, turning green, being a beginner vs. being a wizard, and Candy Crush.

This episode was brought to you by:

  • Seven Cups Fine Tea: Get 20% off Meng Ding May Feng 2016 with the coupon code: 4rivers    
  • Make your website beautiful or add functions to it with themes, plugins, and other code from Themeforest

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm

Tech Tea 018: Green Granola

Tea: Golden Guan Yin wulong.  Damon talks about full drive encryption and encrypted chat apps.  Michael considers encryption and security from a behavioral perspective.  Also: water boiling technique, rhyming, sniffing microphones, automated reminder spam, Michael’s parents, 13 different operating systems, protecting your Justin Bieber collection, password managers, fast food, malicious encryption (ransom ware), going through your recycling, privacy vs. marketing, and making informed choices.

This episode was brought to you by:

  • Seven Cups Fine Tea: Get 20% off Golden Guan Yin with the coupon code: anxi    
  • Sign up with Sucuri to have a partner that will help protect your website from hackers and other malicious code

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael (and even pass along a message to Lisa if you’d like her to make some music for you) by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm

Tech Tea 017: A Bag of Mice

Tea: Emperor’s Orchid (Wang  Zhe Zhi Xiang) green tea.  Damon talks about permission concerns in the hot new app, Meitu.  Michael considers the friction between different levels of technology.  Also: brown towels, InCoWriMo, Sprinting, the planet Baltimore, laptop touch screens, cutting arguments, never using Bluetooth, dongle reprogramming, putting stupid things on your face, Mahler and Mozart, video rental stores that still exist, game nights, favored tin foil brands for making hats, a monster orchid voice, and a topic for our next episode!

This episode was brought to you by:

  • Seven Cups Fine Tea: Get 20% off Emperor’s Orchid with the coupon code: orchid    
  • Dreamhost, which provides unlimited emails, announcement lists, discussion lists, anti-spam, and email autoresponders with all their hosting accounts.

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael (and even pass along a message to Lisa if you’d like her to make some music for you) by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm

Tech Tea 016: The Miscellaneous Sounds Episode

Tea: Qimen Caixia (“Sunrise Keemun”).  Damon talks about the shift to a new studio.  Both discuss public information as a security risk.  Michael looks at a new VR experience coming in early 2017.  Also: buzzing phones, dripping rain, spilling hot water, table bumps, echoes, rustling paper, last minute adjustments, winging it, physics, photography, sniffling, and more!

This episode was brought to you by:

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael (and even pass along a message to Lisa if you’d like her to make some music for you) by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm

Tech Tea 015: My Tasty Strips

Tea: Palace (Gong Ting) Puer. Damon discusses some problems with ebooks and other cloud-storage solutions. Michael talks machine learning, language, and translation. Also: inappropriate names for digital assistants, cellphone problems and improvements, making fudge, Michael’s crowded desktop, job loss to automation, basic universal income, and of course a reference to Skynet.

This episode was brought to you by:

Show notes

 

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

Contact Damon and Michael on TechTea.fm to let us know what you think, and please leave a review on the sites where you find your podcasts!

Tech Tea 014: It’s a Five not a 7

Tea: Yellow Sprig (Huang Zhi Xiang) Dan Cong.  Damon discusses the innovations of 2016.  Michael covers web projects that make people safer.   Also: Hacks and hacking, confused assistants, searching in Latin or when you don’t know how to spell, visualizing words, Michael dissecting Damon’s brain, Nerf, fear of VR pink-eye, language translation…and it’s our last episode of 2016!

This episode was brought to you by:

  • Seven Cups Fine Chinese Tea.  Use coupon code singlebush for 20% off Yellow Sprig Dan Cong 2016 wulong tea.
  • Sign up for hosting at Dreamhost for your next website, podcast, or other online project

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

Contact Damon and Michael on TechTea.fm to let us know what you think, and please leave a review on the sites where you find your podcasts!

Tech Tea 013: These Tea Balls Smell Good

Tea: Silver Dragon Jasmine Pearls.  Michael differentiates between “scented” and “flavored.”  Damon describes his week in Vegas learning about Amazon’s AI services. Also: helicopters coming to get us, watermelons, getting a lei in Hawai’i, cranky old men, the first movie Michael ever saw a second time, the Amazon Echo Dot, Damon’s preferences on comic book adaptations, getting Twitter love, genealogy in the age of Skynet, and definitely not hiding a military base.  And, at the 40-minute mark, we start our spoiler-filled discussion of the film Arrival.  

This episode was brought to you by:

  • Seven Cups Fine Chinese Tea.  Use coupon code sambac for 20% off Silver Dragon Jasmine Pearls tea.
  • Sign up for Sucuri Security for a more secure website (even if you’re not hiding a military base) and support Tech Tea

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

Contact Damon and Michael on TechTea.fm to let us know what you think, and please leave a review on the sites where you find your podcasts!

Tech Tea 012: The Jet Lag Is Real

Tea: Qi Dan (Da Hong Pao). Damon talks about his recent trip to Japan and Michael talks about taking the long view of technology and language. Also: tea and mental powers, sources of aftertastes, empathising with old plants, getting tongue-tied, sneaking into public spaces, derailed trains (of thought), the inconvenience of having your house burn down after an EMP pulse, an ASSIGNMENT for listeners (watch the film Arrival before listening to the next episode), and sending and receiving mail.

This episode was brought to you by:

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael (and even pass along a message to Lisa if you’d like her to make some music for you) by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm

Tech Tea 011: Mistakes and Bad People

Tea: Bai Hao Yin Zhen (“White Hair Silver Needle”), a white tea. Damon talks about a sea change in internet usage and recent attempts by bad folks to take down the web.  Michael goes over the basic ideas of machine learning and how you may already be using it.  Also: brussel sprouts, clean barns, the flavor of missing children, emotional buying, the slow motion vision in a moment of horror, the Facebook Pixel, violations of the Fair Housing Act, smart devices and the Internet of Things, installing antivirus software on your refrigerator, the start of Skynet, face recognition, figuring out who your “sweetheart” is, Westworld, and rabbit holes.

This episode was brought to you by:

  • Seven Cups Fine Tea: Get 20% off the 2016 Bai Hao Yin Zhen (“White Hair Silver Needle”) with the coupon code hardwither
  • Tea: A User’sGuide by Tony Gebely of WorldofTea.org:  Get 5% off the PDF version of the book with the coupon code worldoftea

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael (and even pass along a message to Lisa if you’d like her to make some music for you) by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm

Tech Tea 010: The Google Dreamcatcher

Tea:  Shi Feng Long Jing (“Lion Peak Dragonwell”).  Damon covers fresh water from thin air.  Michael talks about Google’s recent hardware launch event, including the new Google Pixel phone.  Also:  talking in binary, tourist traps, the difficulty in moving a hole to a new home, predicting the year of the zombie apocalypse, a follow up on differential privacy (Google did it first), how to say “desalinization plant” in German, the hands on a hummingbird’s tongue, and the danger of having your fingers stolen.

This episode was brought to you by:

  • Seven Cups Fine Chinese Tea.  Use coupon code westlake for Shi Feng Longjing 2016.
  • Dreamhost web hosting and domain registration

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm

Tech Tea 009: Secret Tea Machine

Tea: Zi Juan Purple Leaf Sheng Puer.  Damon and Michael change things up and take a field trip to the Northwest Tea Festival.  Technology mentioned includes drain tables, steaming vs. wok-fired processing methods, non-drip teapots, matcha grinders, gaiwans, mulch, superabsorbent materials, mini tea factories, remote-controlled tea farming …and a secret tea machine!  Also: appearances by Friday Elliott, Jason Chen, Michael’s students Asher and Sarah, Cinnabar Wright, Elyse Petersen, James Norwood Pratt, Rajah Banerjee, and Nigel Melican.

This episode was brought to you by:
Seven Cups Fine Tea: use coupon code ‘purple’ to get 25% off Zi Juan Purple Leaf 2008 and Zi Juan Purple Leaf 2011 (The 2009 lot sold out!)

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm

Tech Tea 008: The Time Travel Episode

Tea:  Que She Sparrow’s Tongue 2016.  Damon talks about the new iPhone.  Michael talks about technological approaches to reduce sexism and racism.  Also:  Time travel, payment systems, Damon threatens violence, Michael holds his tongue, scientists holding Peeps races in the lab, robots that can prove they’re not a robot, cow privacy, the latest Twitter updates, machine learning, and suspicious activity.

This episode was brought to you by:

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm

Tech Tea 007: Shaken, Not Stirred

Tea: Yiwu Sheng Puer.  Damon talks about going to PAX.  Michael talks about spy technology.  Also: Michael calls Damon a lush, Damon threatens to slap Michael, Kenny G, nuns, D&D, liquids on electrical equipment, not knowing how to speak languages, gamification, fake movies, carbon paper, technology in the US presidential election, encryption, and Leonard Nimoy’s birthday.

This episode was brought to you by:

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael (and even pass along a message to Lisa if you’d like her to make some music for you) by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm

Tech Tea 006: Polkamon GO!

Tea: Mo Gan Huang Ya. Damon talks about Pokemon shennanigans, and Michael talks technology in education. Also: plant genetics, glabrous vs. pubescent, playing style, dark social, UTM and hash fragments, bagpipes and accordions, Ingress, day camp, GPS, geocaching, the Dewey Decimal System, learning math, and room temperature.

This episode was brought to you by:

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael (and even pass along a message to Lisa if you’d like her to make some music for you) by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm

Tech Tea 005: The Channel Master

Tea: Ming Qian Anji Bai Cha, a green tea called “white tea.” Damon talked about his experience as a new cable cord-cutter.  Michael dives into the many ways you are tracked beyond search engines and ads leaving browser cookies.  Also: Drinking tea for health and weight loss tea, launching stuff with a VCR, pop-up ads in physical books, trying to sell things people can get for free, lawsuits, new forms of light, and Michael being impressed when Damon made a choice rationally.

This episode was brought to you by:

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm

Tech Tea 004: The Justice Pitcher

Tea:  Lao Shu Dian Hong.  Damon and Michael make corrections and talk about motion sickness.  Damon covers the growing issue of counterfeits on Amazon, and Michael takes a swing at tech journalists who aren’t good at tech or at journalism.  Plus: Triangles in photography and tea, pens that don’t work, and some Tech Tea news!

This episode was brought to you by:

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy.

You can contact Damon and Michael (and even Lisa!) by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm

Tech Tea 003: My Cup Is Bigger On The Inside

Tea: Doctor’s Blend.  Damon and Michael touch on virtual reality again, then discuss their mutual love of Myst and what games they’re playing these days or anticipating in the coming months.  Michael tells when he’d rather have analog tools over technology, and Damon reports on how his analog and digital photography compare.  Plus: Godzilla, questionable TV choices, conspiracy and collusion, alien critters trying to find mates, and the release date for ancient game of Go.

This episode was brought to you by Friday Afternoon Tea.  Use coupon code TechTeaTime for “buy two, get one free” on 2-ounce bags of loose tea.  They’ve got lots of themed blends, so even if you’re not a Doctor Who fan, you can find other blends:

  • TV/film blends (e.g., “Cylons for Breakfast”)
  • Gamer/Geek culture (maybe Damon should drink “Ranger Blend” while he plays World of Warcraft or Overwatch), or
  • Literature (“Darcy’s Blend”)
  • …as well as un-blended teas of various types.  Perhaps you’d rather have Makaibari Estate Darjeeling with nothing mixed in.  That’s covered by the coupon code, too!

Show notes

Our theme music was written by Lisa Purdy. You can contact Damon and Michael (and even pass along a message to Lisa if you’d like her to make some music for you) by visiting the Contact Us page on TechTea.fm