The Two Vague Podcast

This week Dr. Tahnee is back to discuss the word translation, but first we call up Aunt Norah!  She has 3 questions that are perfect for our guest’s chosen profession / field of expertise.  Discussion topics include: gender pronouns, learning languages, discriminatory tendencies in AI, and linguist centric humor
00:00:22 - Many hellos to / from Norah, and Ben’s “hot take” on media reviewers today00:02:07 - How are gender non-specific concepts being handled in gendered languages?00:07:23 - What happens in the brain when a child learns 2 languages simultaneously?00:09:15 - When does it become more difficult to learn new languages?00:11:39 - Ben has no book bag, Norah isn’t feeling well … both in German! 00:13:25 - When translating a book, who is best suited to “accurately” translate it?00:16:15 - Global awareness, translations, time, and changing customs00:19:23 - The word translation, and the different meanings in different cultures00:22:26 - The work of linguists: haves, has, peruse, Peru, and Peru00:24:43 - A discussion about how translation will work in the metaverse00:26:57 - The open AI artist DALL-E 2 is currently showing racial and gender biased output00:32:37 - The Twitter bot Tay and how she became EVIL!00:38:14 - Thinking about computational linguistics, artificial intelligence, and morphology00:43:21 - Norah tell a linguist joke, and we say goodbye

The one and only Aunt Norah is in town this week to see her favorite (?) nephew Ben, or perhaps it’s just to record a show about the word metaverse?  Who’s to say?  They do have differing views on what it is and what it could be; however, it’s a very interesting discussion from a generation X-er and a Baby Boomer just trying to make sense of it all.
00:00:21 - It’s a dry heat, and starting off the show with TWO questions from my Aunt!00:01:30 - “What makes NFTs bad for the environment?”00:04:05 - “What is augmented reality, and how is different from virtual reality?”00:06:30 - Norah starts the metaverse conversation00:08:30 - What does a successful metaverse look like?00:11:15 - Origin of the Snow Crash book title 00:13:35 - Was Norah listening?  You decide!00:15:25 - E-Bay experiences, Beanie Babies, and Norah says, “on point!”00:19:00 - Auction houses for real art in the metaverse00:21:05 - Embedding chips in humans, DNA, and disengaging from VR00:27:00 - “Kids, don’t bring your guns to amusement parks,” the word meta, and Don Quixote 00:31:00 - In Hebrew meta means dead, and Ben says “the dog’s bollocks”00:33:30 - Second Life, and facial expressions, emotes, and “don’t F with me…”00:37:35 - Leveraging data mining in the metaverse, and Ben definitely wants those cat ears00:40:05 - Unwieldy hardware, and is a conflict-free metaverse possible?00:43:00 - Concerns about the development of the metaverse, and the evolution of bullying00:47:55 - Will the development of the metaverse make humanity exponentially worse?00:50:40 - Will the metaverse ever become the “real” world?00:53:20 - The “Benaverse,” game evolution, and will Norah try VR?00:57:10 - Ben’s concerns about crime, and Norah thinks the metaverse will alway be pretend01:00:00 - “AI means artificial intelligence,” be careful, and favorite nephew… question mark?

This week Paul joins Ben to discuss the word virtual.  Topics covered include: virtual experiences present and future, programming languages, virtual software environments, pioneers of the home computing industry, pondering the uses of virtual reality in the future, and envisioning improvements to VR hardware.
00:00:30 - “Jinx, you owe me a coke”00:03:01 - “Does technology make us more or less virtuous?”00:05:55 - The game Ben can’t remember is Kung Fu Rider 00:07:50 - Paul describes some programming languages and concepts for Ben 00:12:40 - Ben has questions about object oriented programming for Paul00:16:01 - Representing everyday objects as code, databases, and going wireless00:19:01 - The effects of VR on the body and brain00:24:05 - Ben’s experience with Mass VR in Chicago00:29:03 - Semantics of live simulations and virtual ones00:32:35 - What can virtual reality contribute to experiences other than games 00:37:03 - Experiencing television programs and movies in virtual reality… present and future00:41:23 - Thinking about non-entertainment uses for VR00:43:07 - Bill Gates’ and Steve Jobs’ visions of the future of computers00:46:18 - Watch the “Fantastic Voyage” trailer, and what experiences do consumers want00:48:28 - Envisioning educational uses for virtual reality00:53:01 - Adding other senses to virtual reality, and Ben talks about the movie Brainstorm 00:56:46 - Stinky Weasel 2812 and Butt Tickler 8700:57:31 - Paul and Ben’s thoughts on what the future holds for virtual experiences01:01:25 - “An amplified version of the things that are wrong with us”

Andrew is back in Tucson with Ben this week, and it’s about time… figuratively AND literally!  Andrew shares stories about teaching, inspirations for his novel, his favorite authors, riding the light rail in Portland, and dreaming about acronyms.  Ben talks about Choose Your Own Adventure books, a mildly disappointing reality show, a favorite time loop movie filmed near his home town, and the arcade game “Time Killers.”
00:00:21 - Ben and Andrew (and maybe Bash and Mango) are this week’s hosts.00:03:00 - Time gets funny for Andrew, the perception of time, and Andrew’s new novel 00:06:40 - What inspired Andrew to write about the horrible time travelers 00:13:50 - “The Beast Beyond Time,” and writing around the pandemic00:15:45 - The second coming of Frank Zappa, and public stock manipulation00:20:00 - Not familiar with the band, another recess story, and more perception00:23:46 - The origin of “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, remembering InfoCom games00:27:40 - Don’t say “fanny pack” in AU, Andrew’s light rail story, and Prius stigma 00:34:20 - Andrew’s spacetime explanation, and not enough hallucinogens00:37:20 - A teachable moment for Norah, acronyms, and “Kiss of Death” 00:40:37 - Lego Masters and… Domino Masters?00:43:07 - Ben’s reality show idea, and a cool short story Andrew read00:46:50 - Many spider mans, the Marvel Multiverse, and other time travel movies 00:50:04 - Andrew has issues with Christopher Nolan 00:54:01 - Groundhog Day movie trivia00:58:10 - One time travel themed fighting arcade game history segment01:00:47 - TV series Russian Doll, and a discussion on “straight to streaming” projects01:04:30 - Time travel in Star Trek, and Andrew’s favorite time travel movie01:07:52 - Shut… it… down… and goodbye.

Philosophy student Jenna and Generation X-er Ben are talking about the word morality this week, but before they get started on this thought provoking topic… they have a “warmup chat” with Norah.  After the official show introduction Ben and Jenna dive in to the discussion… and it goes to some unexpected places.  Video games mentioned include the GTA franchise, Call of Duty, Dante’s Inferno, the Mass Effect franchise, Fallout 3, and Detroit: Become Human.
00:00:21 - The Ben, Jenna, and Norah with the (depressing?) morality warmup00:01:40 - Alan Turing, Oscar Wilde, ferries, and Staten Island 00:06:00 - Morality threshold, scorecards, a literal “Hail Mary”, and moral friction00:09:23 - Morels, the Dead Milkmen, and Jenna is bringing the theory 00:12:03 - The official start of the show, “only hot girls get IBS,” and Jenna’s college courses 00:16:10 - The other side of coin, and looking at things from the marginalized viewpoint 00:19:05 - People’s ignorance about feminism, and the shared human experience00:22:23 - Truth, emotions, and being open to different perspectives00:24:45 - Religion’s impact on morality, “grey areas,” and s’mores   00:28:35 - A disagreement about chocolate, marshmallows, and crispy rice treats00:31:00 - Jenna does not like Abraham Lincoln in copper form, and Ben’s strip club story00:34:20 - The “nudie bucket,” and the morality of the sex / service industry 00:37:01 - The difference between ethics and morals, and further discussion about sex work00:42:00 - Nel Noddings and the ethics of care, unconscious bias, and the Bechdel test00:48:15 - Ben’s oil scenario, and the “fluidity” of people’s morals 00:51:36 - Jenna wants to play Dungeons and Dragons, and Ben explains some D&D nuances 00:55:02 - Alignment and the “black and white” nature of morality mechanics in games01:02:29 - Jenna reflects on law, chaos, and being a member of the LBGTQ+ community  01:05:00 - Ben’s Fallout 3 scenario, game narrative, choice, and Detroit: Become Human01:12:11 - Jenna is a s’mores advocate and has hope for the future01:13:42 - Ben closes the show with a Blue Thunder quote

Ben is excited to tell you about Two Vague’s work on their “Only Fans” page!  Additional topics include a brief summary of the OnlyFans platform, some interesting facts about fans, (maybe fictional) details about 2VPs “Only Fans” page, one of Ben’s favorite commercials, his time with a sequel in the Horizon franchise, and some trivia about… “April Fools Day!”
00:00:40 - Some information about OnlyFans, and our announcement00:02:00 - A brief history of fans, our new fan-centric content, and protect your oscillating fan00:04:10 - Ben talks about his experience with Horizon: Forbidden West00:06:45 - New mission types in Forbidden West00:08:46 - Aloy’s story arc, and an impactful death on the horizon (pun intended)00:10:39 - Morality, time, and metaverse are upcoming words00:11:25 - April Fools’ Day history, and derrière based humor  00:13:15 - Media based pranks, and the moon is made of cheese00:15:20 - Thank you for your support!

For this week’s discussion, Ben (and an incredibly vocal Mango who presumably was confused with Ben appearing like he was talking to himself for an hour and a half) is joined by Aunt Norah for a somewhat unfamiliar word to both of them, but it’s nothing that can’t be cured by some research and questioning of Chicago restaurant waitstaff.  Topics of discussion include Lunchables, Economics, “The Problem with Jon Stewart”, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, a Michael Jordan story, and in-game collections. 
00:01:05 - “When was the first time you heard the word fungible?”00:04:10 - A brief history of Lunchables, and Norah’s advertising experience 00:08:50 - Charcuter-Easy … (soon to be trademarked?) 00:11:10 - The lunchmeat exchange rate, cryptocurrency, fiat money, and Norah is not new00:14:50 - Grandpa preferred paying with a physical thing00:18:05 - Ben thinks Jon Stewart needs to invest in a comma 00:22:35 - Is a stock market a mechanism for gambling?00:28:45 - The 2 items in Norah’s top 3 things she learned in economics class00:30:45 - Ben’s cryptocurrency research and glossary of terms 00:36:50 - Ben’s NFT research and glossary of terms00:42:15 - OpenSea is the largest NFT marketplace, pizza, and pizza NFTs00:45:45 - Norah asks, “Is this a new form or art?”00:49:00 - Ben’s Non-Fungible Tolkien creation example, and Norah gets the reference 00:52:50 - The inter-Met(-ropolitan Museum of Art), and the high-class version of the pet rock00:57:20 - Ben’s Chicago Bulls Michael Jordan slam dunk story00:59:20 - LimeWire... is it music, malware, or hardcore porn? 01:01:15 - Taxes, NFTs, and the first time Ben has uttered a particular sentence01:06:05 - Thoughts on digital collections in games, loot crates, and the value of cosmetics01:08:30 - Again with the GameStop desperation tactics, and the Warframe in-game economy01:12:12 - Norah’s cat suit, and the evils of micro-transactions01:13:30 - Closing the show with Norah’s unintentional AOL style goodbye.

Paul joins Ben this week to discuss the word drive.  The conversation focuses mostly on professional racing due to Paul’s enthusiasm about the topic, but Ben has a few trick questions, some trivia, and maybe a golf club up his sleeve.  Paul shares his knowledge of Formula 1 and NASCAR racing with Ben, and they both reflect upon their favorite console driving games. 
00:00:35 - Paul gets right to the point… “speed run” and F100:05:27 - Ben talks about the BMW commercial series “The Hire”00:07:45 - Vehicle movies: Fast and the Furious, Drive, and “Die Hard on a Bus” a.k.a. Speed00:11:00 - Ben’s rankings website idea, and he explains the original Speed Racer cartoon00:15:38 - The extent of Ben’s knowledge on golf, and Paul talks about playing it in VR00:18:34 - About Apple Arcade, “Platinum Games,” and then Ben has a minor senior moment00:23:30 - Road trips, piloting, and Paul talks about his love of F1 racing 00:29:17 - The Halo system and safety standards in Formula 1 racing00:33:34 - How frequent are fatal accidents in F1 and NASCAR?00:38:45 - Car designs, challenging technical innovations, and is Lewis Hamilton retiring soon?00:42:25 - When Paul realized professional driving was a sport00:45:46 - Paul’s PC racing rig and experiences with iRacing00:50:07 - Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen participates in iRacing events?!00:54:24 - Overcoming hardware failures in F1 races, and the shortcomings of race simulations 01:00:48 - Racing games: Gran Turismo, Need for Speed, Midnight Club, and Burnout 01:04:20 - “Getting mad that Taco Bell isn’t like Mexican food”01:06:03 - Playing arcade racing games on the Sega Dreamcast01:08:45 - Kart racing in Tokyo, Japan… and in Arizona  01:13:35 - Paul shoots down Ben’s AR karting hybrid idea, and their closing thoughts.

This week Emelie joins Ben to discuss the word travel.  First they talk about the interesting places they have each been for work and pleasure.  Driving, flying and riding the train are just a few of the modes of transportation discussed before Ben talks about two ridiculous travel themed “games.”  To close out the show Emelie and Ben share their international and domestic dream vacations: Tokyo, Stockholm, the Grand Tetons, and a specific Disney destination.
00:00:56 - “Ask Cheyenne about her unicycle experience”00:02:43 - Emelie’s one free day in Kauai, and Ben’s childhood fascination with surfing 00:05:42 - Emelie has been playing lots of Beat Saber on the Oculus Quest 00:08:40 - Remembering our favorite rhythm games… DDR, Beatmania, and Rock Band 00:13:20 - The first rhythm game, and Ben has a question for Emelie about VR for travel00:18:00 - Back to Emelie in Hawaii and future vacation plans there00:21:30 - Ben talks about skiing, Emelie asks if “pizza” works, and the “Canada pants”00:27:40 - Emelie’s trips to Mille Lacs Lake, Rocky Point, Pagosa Springs, and So Cal00:32:00 - As a child, Ben was afraid of getting stuck in Canada at Niagara Falls 00:34:25 - AMC’s “Airplane Mode” and “Penn & Teller’s Smoke and Mirrors”   00:40:15 - Trips on trains   00:45:07 - Emelie wants to visit Stockholm, and Ben mentions “Welcome to Sweden”00:51:20 - Travel preferences… solo vs. family, and Australia 00:55:51 - Ben wants to sleep at a capsule hotel in Tokyo 00:59:20 - "First Cabin" themed hotel, staying at a ryokan, bath houses, and hot springs 01:02:28 - Getting a driving permit for a Go-Kart tour, and visiting Super Potato01:06:21 - Themed cafes, vending machines, Gashapon, and fishing for you supper01:09:50 - Maid and butler cafes, and a prison hospital themed bar. 01:11:40 - Grand Tetons for Emelie, and Galactic Starcruiser for Ben 01:15:20 - Saying, not singing “Just the Two of Us,” and vacation advice to close the show.

Spring Break season is upon us, and you know what that means… it’s time for a philosophical debate?  Sure, let’s go with that.  Norah had a question about “Episode 34 - Space” for my guest Paul, so we called her up and recorded her for the program.  We ended up talking about the vastness of space, Ben’s lack of knowledge when it comes to automobiles, and the “Metaverse”.
00:00:52 - “It’s an uncle-free zone here at the Two Vague Podcast.”00:02:24 - Norah’s 3 hour waitress job and remembering Aunt Pat00:04:15 - Ben knows nothing about automobile manufacturers 00:06:04 - Norah’s question about the universe, and Ben needs mushrooms00:08:55 - Ben’s power move suggestion... Marcus 00:11:10 - Norah’s universe in a shoebox, and Ben asks Paul for “space evidence”00:14:50 - The most mass in a galaxy, and Dads00:16:18 - Norah has been contemplating the “Metaverse” 00:19:18 - Paul talks about the book Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson00:21:00 - Ben and Paul try to explain “Second Life” by Linden Lab to Norah 00:23:50 - “Smells of the Metaverse,” and closing the call

For this week’s episode (nearly lost to the evils of SD card data corruption), Cheyenne is running the show!  Cheyenne and Ben talk about Fight Club, their favorite John Hughes films, their favorite characters from pop culture (too numerous to mention individually), and their favorite video games for character customizations.
00:00:30 - Role reversal, consolation prizes, and character00:03:30 - Meatloaf dead on a table and a Fight Club discussion 00:08:20 - Ben and Cheyenne are both characters 00:14:00 - Ben thinks you should watch the movie Weird Science00:16:20 - Music vs. Dad humor 00:18:00 - Ben’s answers for Cheyenne’s character “speed round” 00:22:15 - Favorite movie characters: Jurassic Park, Alien, Leon, and Grosse Pointe Blank00:34:26 - Favorite TV characters: New Girl, The Tick and Breaking Bad 00:45:50 - Favorite book characters: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Fight Club 00:50:30 - Favorite video game characters: “Horizon: Zero Dawn” and the Mass Effect trilogy00:56:49 - Favorite villains: True Romance, Die Hard and Breaking Bad01:03:22 - How actors play villains and Method acting01:06:56 - Cheyenne is impressed with character creation in Dragon’s Dogma 01:08:55 - Genitalia options in Cyberpunk 2077… what’s the point?01:10:58 - Cheyenne was disappointed with character creation in Skyrim, KoTOR and Fallout01:13:17 - Ben’s character creation preferences and how it relates to the story in the game01:15:26 - Ben describes the character customizations in City of Heroes and City of Villains 01:20:30 - Ben plays the role of a little girl to close the show

Paul joins Ben this week to talk about a very expansive word… assorted nerd-geekery ensues on the subjects of telescopes, aliens, Star Wars, Dune, and other memorable science fiction media.  They only scratch the surface of science fiction space games, but their favorites include a list of recognizable properties (to non-Norah’s) and one forthcoming new Bethesda project that Paul hasn’t heard of.
00:01:55 - Ben and Paul talk about painting… “does anybody know the difference?”00:05:27 - What fascinates Paul about space?00:08:37 - “Do you believe in aliens?”00:11:13 - James E. Webb vs Edwin Hubble, and too many Hubbles00:15:32 - Telescopes on the horizon, and planetariums 00:19:37 - Paul and Ben’s thoughts on Astrology, “The Onion,” pizza, and Pluto00:26:03 - Back to aliens, “storming” Area 51, and fueling creativity 00:29:00 - Paul punts E.T., thoughts on science fiction, and “Only a Sith deals in absolutes”00:33:10 - Ben has questions for Paul about the Dune universe00:38:16 - Ben talks about the movie Outland, and Paul talks about “2001: a Space Odyssey”00:42:30 - Ben’s Ridley Scott trivia, STNG, “The Expanse,” and science fiction books00:45:55 - Paul talks about “The Three-Body Problem” by Liu Cixin00:47:50 - “The Legacy of Heorot” by Jerry Pournelle, Larry Niven, and Steven Barnes 00:49:47 - Ben recommends “Jodorowsky's Dune” and “The Orville”00:54:22 - “Star Wars: Squadrons,” “No Man’s Sky,” “Destiny,” and “Anthem”00:58:48 - Thoughts on development hype, game development today, and “Cyberpunk 2077”01:04:37 - Ship combat vs exploration games, and Elite Dangerous01:07:08 - The “Skyrim” in space game Paul hasn’t heard about01:09:30 - How console exclusives impact players and advancements in cross-play 01:12:21 - Reminiscing about video games, NASA tragedies, and landing the Space Shuttle 01:17:15 - Ben’s Ferris Bueller's Day Off / Space Shuttle fun fact and “torso pants”

Ben and Cheyenne are incredibly excited to talk today, but it could just be the word… HYPE (insert airhorn noise here)!  Ben educates Cheyenne on “hype men” in the music of his youth, Public Enemy’s song/video “By the Time I get to Arizona,” the air horn, Beanie Babies, and assorted documentaries.  When the conversation turns to video games, they discuss Cyberpunk 2077, how to promote games successfully with an appropriate level of hype, The Witcher 3, Dragon’s Dogma, and Warframe. 
00:01:00 - Pre-calculus, snapping necks, cashing checks, and the etymology of hype00:03:35 - The dog’s bollocks, word associations, and hip hop music00:07:15 - Ben’s Weezer hot take and some history on Madison, WI alternative 90’s music00:09:45 - Backwards masking to avoid copyright infringements, and then back to hype00:11:55 - The hype man dancer to singer in the musical group The Prodigy00:17:35 - Cheyenne talks about Eminem and Ben talks about Public Enemy 00:20:04 - The origin of Flavor Flav’s clock, and the bathroom clock 00:23:05 - Public Enemy’s “By the Time I Get to Arizona” rap and music video00:27:20 - Artistic expression, politics, dick measuring, and do your work00:32:58 - “…and then the air horn,” and origins in Reggae and Dancehall music00:35:05 -The Hulu show “Dead Asleep,” fidget spinners, Beanie Babies, and Funko Pop!00:42:10 - Cheyenne and Ben talk about Steve Carell00:46:33 - Ben remembers Outlaw Golf for the original X-Box, hype means exposure00:48:11 - Ben and Cheyenne’s "jinx you owe me a Coke" moment  00:52:18 - Can hype be tempered or controlled?00:56:32 - Companies "making it right" for consumers of video games, and Dragon’s Dogma 01:01:18 - Cooperative multiplayer and Ben’s Warframe story 01:05:57 - To close out the show… Cheyenne does her impression of an air horn!

Ben is joined this week by Judy, a rugby player for the Colorado Grey Wolves in the WPL (http://wplrugby.org).  They talk about Judy’s “origin story” and the ins and outs of the game of rugby.  It’s a subject that Ben has very little knowledge of, but his eagerness to learn inspires Judy to teach him the basics.  In the last portion of the show, Ben shares his passion for video games with Judy by showing her trailers for a number of sports games and asking her for feedback.  Is there a console and game purchase in Judy’s future? 
00:00:20 - Ben is compelled to introduce this week’s word with “Dad humor”00:02:00 - “The home of Cheap Trick,” Rugby 7s, and “rugby people are crazy”00:05:00 - Judy tries to announce her early retirement from rugby00:08:50 - Convincing Judy to come back for a second year, and Ben’s bruises00:12:30 - Mascots, Ben’s talks about peccaries, and things change for Judy in the 3rd season  00:16:20 - Judy makes the Allstar team, and she takes a chance because of the pandemic00:20:40 - Training, team "return to play" protocols, and practicing with elite rugby players00:26:15 - Awesome benefits, cranking the siren, and taxing the cleats00:29:30 - Olympic dreams and the Argentina National Team00:33:01- Ben loves Venn diagrams and reciting facts00:37:05 - How to initiate a scrum, the knock-on and kickoff 00:41:10 - Scrum caps to prevent face burns, firecrackers, and the number 8.00:45:30 - The types of backs, feeding the scrum, and the ways to score in rugby00:53:10 - The World Rugby Certification Exam, tackling in rugby, rucking, and mauling00:56:20 - Is Ben ready to play rugby?00:58:15 - Ben shows Judy rugby video games and gets her feedback 01:02:10 - How valuable is a simulator/video game in sports training 01:06:10 - Captain Tsubasa, should there be a rugby equivalent?01:08:57 - Judy and Ben share their closing thoughts

Ben shares never before heard clips from a few previous shows.  Subjects include social media trends, sex toys, old game shows, movie aliens, stop motion animation, and nostalgic games.
00:00:20 - Ben’s introduction of the “Clip Show” and the first two clips 00:01:45 - Evan tries to explain ASMR, POV experiences, and Mukbangs00:04:45 - Rachel doesn’t like ASMR and Ben talks about a Mukbang dating show.00:07:35 - Ben introduces clips from Marily’s Agriculture episode00:09:00 - Sex toys, “The Great Game of the Goose”, 15 minutes and corn00:18:20 - Introducing the clip from Cheyenne’s Context episode00:20:30 - Skulls and lawsuits 00:24:23 - The Language episode clip and Tahnee has many questions 00:28:50 - Ben introduces a long segment removed from Arden’s Tool episode00:30:35 - A brief history of stop motion animation 00:34:15 - A brief history of Phil Tippett00:40:00 - Arden and Ben discuss CGI and “The Thing” movies 00:43:40 - Ben’s “Heroes” literature class story and Arden talks about nostalgia00:47:30 - Arden and Ben discuss remastered games  00:56:30 - Closing the show with a blooper from Phoenix and Jenna’s Religion show