The Sniffer

Nora Young and Cathi Bond

Listen to writer/broadcasters Nora Young and Cathi Bond as they freak over the future. They can't believe it. Neither will you.

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520 episodes
Updated Mar 10, 2024

Episodes520

Newest first

Feb 21, 2016 · 9 min
Tech for Better Sleep and Understanding Consciousness
This time, Cathi Bond talks about the Neuroon, an instrumented sleep mask that gives you analytics and suggestions for a better night's sleep, or restorative naps during the day. Nora Young mentions a couple of ways to reduce blue light exposure before sleep, including F.lux, and the Night Shift mode in the iPhone. Meanwhile, Nora talks about this intriguing study designed to learn more about how people slip out of consciousness. To do so, they used fMRI tech to observe brain states under the an
Feb 7, 2016 · 11 min
Streaming Music Trends and Autonomous Car Pushback
On this podcast, Nora Young talks about Apple shuttering its iTunes radio service (via Tech Crunch), and Songza being folded into Google Play Music. What does the future hold for streaming music services? Will we start to see artists making exclusive deals with services and distribution platforms as this article suggests we might? On the next edition of Spark, Nora will do two interviews on a related issue: what do new players in the video content world (formerly known as TV and movies) mean for
Jan 24, 2016 · 11 min
Next Generation Personal Assistants and Cheap, Waterless Toilets
In today's podcast, Cathi Bond talks about the Nano Membrane toilet, designed for use in situations where there are currently no toilets. It's an inexpensive solution that doesn't require water, and yet produces (grey) water and power (via Gizmag). Meanwhile, Nora Young mentions the MyMe camera and personal digital assistant, a sort of Siri-meets-Google-Glass device that you wear unobtrusively around your neck or on your belt (via New York Times). Would you wear something like this? Leave us a
Jan 14, 2016 · 10 min
New in New York and Zuckerberg's New Year's Resolutions
Happy New Year! This time, Nora Young talks about what she observed on a holiday trip to New York, including bathrobe chic (hello Julian Schnabel!), visiting the new Whitney at the foot of the High Line. She also mentions the current obsession with Marie Kondo's The Life Changing Magic of Tidying-Up. Cathi Bond discusses Mark Zuckerberg's New Year's Resolution to build an intelligent personal assistant to run his home. What intrigues Cathi the most is Zuck's approach to setting goals. She's goin
Dec 24, 2015 · 11 min
Holiday Special: Fab Prefab and Farm Drones
It's a holiday tradition here at The Sniffer: our picks for super cool Christmas treats we'd love to have. This year, Nora Young picks this fantastic dining pavilion by Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher (via Design Boom). It's one of a series coordinated by a developer named Robbie Antonio. Check out the whole series here. Cathi Bond, meanwhile, has her eye on a special drone which can be used on the farm, in particular, for crop dusting (via PSFK). Have a wonderful holiday, and all the best for
Dec 8, 2015 · 9 min
360 Cameras, The News, and Mobile Motion
A look at new developments in media this time. Cathi Bond talks about Bublcam, a round, 360 degree camera on a stick. The Toronto-based startup lets you explore spaces immersively. See, for example, this image. In an interview with PSFK, Brendon Montgomery from Buble Technology talks about how VR experiences might change the news. Meanwhile, Nora Young talks about research that looks at motion sickness in virtual reality, and also in HD video with lots of rapid action watched on mobile (via The
Dec 4, 2015 · 8 min
Ingestibles for Health Care and Humanoid Robotics
Nora Young talks about this ingestible monitor for the body's vital signs, courtesy of MIT research. Alongside Proteus, which promises "digital health" via tiny sensors attached to medication, Nora wonders if we're entering a new era of ingestibles for health. Cathi Bond and Nora talk about the potential future of monitored health. Meanwhile, Cathi Bond discusses a new generation of humanoid robot, Surena, from researcher Aghil Yousefi-Koma from the University of Tehran (via IEEE Spectrum). Nora
Nov 15, 2015 · 10 min
Future of Travel and Cutting Edge 3D Printing
On this podcast, Cathi Bond talks about Next Future Mobility, a concept for the future of transit (via Gizmag). The idea is for a modular train-like system where individual cars would pick you up and join up with the bigger train. Nora Young talks about emcee-ing the B3Dimensional conference in October, and some of the cool stuff she saw, including a replica of the Erebus Bell. One of the speakers, Tatjana Dzambazova talked about the use of 3D scanning and printing in a museum context. Check ou
Nov 1, 2015 · 11 min
Future of Social Networks and Paid Content Online
On this podcast episode, dealing with "infobloat" online. This. aims to be a social network built on sharing quality journalism. The hitch is that you are only allowed to share ONE link per day. Sign up here, if you're interested. You can read more about what they're up to here. Would you join? Do you think this kind of thing is sustainable? Nora also mentions Next Draft, one dude's daily email newsletter of smart news stories. Cathi Bond talks about PSFK's report on the Future of Retail 2016. Y
Oct 18, 2015 · 11 min
Ditching Power Cords and Beyond Demographics
On today's podcast, Cathi Bond talks about WallJax wireless electronics chargers. There are two versions, the Float and the EZ, that free you from the tyranny of power cables (via Gizmag) She also talks about FurniQi, furniture with embedded chargers (via Gizmag). How about you? Have you seen cool wireless charger solutions? Let us know in the comments. Meanwhile, Nora Young mentions the recent trend report at Trendwatching. It talks about life beyond demographics, where people increasingly crea
Oct 5, 2015 · 12 min
Virtual Reality for Empathy and Future of Life Extension
On this podcast, Nora Young mentions "In the Eyes of the Animal" a virtual reality project from Marshmallow Laser Feast. The idea is to let you experience life in the forest through the eyes of animals (via Fast Company). Nora and Cathi chat about creative applications of VR for therapy or for empathy. There's so much about VR in the news lately, with Facebook saying it plans to continue to invest in the technology over the long term, and Netflix working with Samsung Gear on VR applications. Cat
Sep 18, 2015 · 10 min
Changing Your Mood with Tech. Making Your Own Avatar with Selfies
In this episode, Cathi Bond talks about Thync, a wearable that uses what they describe as "low-energy waveforms" to boost your energy or calm you down on demand, via patches that you place on your head. You can find helpful reviews here and especially here, where the journalist had a positive hands-on experience. Nora Young says this is part of a broader trend towards tech that targets brain states, especially for calm and focus, such as the Muse brain wave sensing headband, or the contemplative
Aug 23, 2015 · 11 min
Office of the Future and Next Gen Camping
We're back from summer break, and ready to kick off the new season of The Sniffer. This time, back to work, and one last kick at the summer (camping) can. The Atlantic has a great, thought-provoking look at the office of the future. Give it a read here. Nora Young and Cathi Bond kick around some of the ideas. Share your pet peeves about office life in the comments. Meanwhile, Cathi Bond talks about the Polarmond 'sleep system' (via Gizmag, where you can take a look at the images). Say goodbye to
Jul 20, 2015 · 10 min
Facial Recognition Tech and Standing Desk Alternative
Happy Summer! On this podcast, Nora Young talks about new developments in facial recognition technology, and Cathi and Nora riff on the future of tech that knows who you are, and what you're feeling. We mention Facebook's Moments feature, this article from Fusion.net on Face First, a customer facial recognition tool, and the potential of emotion detecting software for, amongst other things, helping screen-bound kids learn to detect subtle facial cues (via Fast Company). Also, you've no doubt hea
Jul 6, 2015 · 9 min
Cool Drones and Writing in an Age of Self-Promotion
It's all about drones these days, isn't it? If you're into capturing active sports, there's the Lily drone/video camera. It's easy to operate - you just toss it in the air - and it captures video and audio from a variety of angles via Gizmag). When the Lily is officially released, it will cost about $1,000, but it's available for pre-order for a little more than half that. It's a natural for adventure tour companies. What do you think? Would you buy it? Plus, these days, writers really have to
Jun 22, 2015 · 11 min
Internet of Things - Smart Homes and Toys
Smart home company, Nest has launched Nest Cam, its new security camera (you can read the details of the product here). Nora Young and Cathi Bond talk use cases, smart homes, and riff on the Internet of Things and our data future. Nora mentions Sandy Pentland and the New Deal on Data (read more here) and concerns about security in smart, internet of things-ified cities. Cathi talks about Avakai, a super cool 'smart' toy. It keeps the physicality of traditional toys that get kids playing in natur
Jun 8, 2015 · 7 min
Curing Digital Distraction and Mindful Tech
This time around, Nora Young mentions Matthew Crawford's new book, The World Beyond Your Head (interesting reviews here and here). In it, he argues that our problem with digital distraction goes all the way back to the Enlightenment view of the self: highly individualistic, cerebral - stuck in one's head, in short. He argues for the kind of engaged, embodied practice that you might find by, say, working on a motorcycle. He also argues for the importance of shared or "joint" attention, such as yo
May 25, 2015 · 7 min
Virtual Reality for Robots, and Super Cool Desks
Gazebo is a virtual world...for robots! It lets researchers test robot behaviour without risking the expensive robot hardware in a real situation (via Technology Review). In this podcast, Nora Young sees it as an example of the creative power of building on top of an open source platform. Cathi Bond wonders about its potential in medical research. Sharetable is a very cool desk designed for people who work with clients. The table has a computer on one side and a sort of 'mirror image' set right
May 4, 2015 · 9 min
Virtual Reality Hangouts, Healthy Vending Machine Food, Solving Mobile Keyboards
Algramo is a Santiago based company aiming to deliver inexpensive, healthy food to low income people in Latin America via vending machines (via PSFK). As in many parts of the world, food deserts mean people in urban low income areas can't get access to healthy food at reasonable prices. A solution for lots of communities? Cathi Bond weighs in. The future of virtual reality has long promised that we'd hang out together with our friends virtually, from the comfort of our separate living rooms. May
Apr 13, 2015 · 11 min
Tech That Watches You and Robot Overlords
Nora Young talks about Virool, a new online ad platform that, with your permission, will use your computer's camera to monitor your reactions to the ads you watch (via Springwise). It's an example, she says, of the increasing trend towards tech that monitors our moods and reactions. See, for example, this story or this one on her show Spark. Cathi Bond, talks about the DARPA Robotics Challenge coming up in June, and in particular, the Atlas robot (via Gizmodo). Nora mentions David McCandless' in