Zengineering: A Philosophy of Science, Technology, Art & Engineering

Latest Episodes:

091 - with Alexsandra Guerra of Nori - On The Stories of Climate Change Mar 04, 2020

Show notes

What’s the happs, Zengineers?

We’re back with our old friends at Nori, this week talking to Alexsandra Guerra Co-Founder & Director of Corporate Development, and 30 Under 30 GreenBiz 2019 Award Winner. For those in the know, this continues our collection of the Nori founding team, as we’ve had both Christophe and Paul on as well (see their episodes in the show notes below).

We didn’t want to just rehash Nori in this convo, but some updates are always nice. We talk to Alexsandara about her background and how she found herself building Nori, and then we embark on an adventure to discuss how we all think about and deal with climate change in our own lives with the goal of staying AWAY from the technical. If you listen often, you know this was a challenge for Adam and Brian, and, interestingly, for Alexsandra as well.

What we all know is that climate change is a complex technical issue, but what we realized during this conversation is that we need to spend an equal amount of time (if not much more) thinking about and talking about how it manifests in our every day lives, through our thoughts, our worries, and our actions. We then need to tell more stories!

Lucky for us all, Alexsandra is starting a podcast to do just this, and she promises to kick that off right here on Zengineering (BREAKING NEWS!!). We’re kinda kidding. She’s only thinking about it, but we support the move. Let her know that you do too, by reaching out!

As always, we really enjoyed this convo and hope you do too.

Support the show: http://support.zengineeringpodcast.com

Visit our website for more episodes: https://zengineeringpodcast.com

Cheers,

Adam & Brian

Show Notes

Nori: https://nori.com/

Alexsandra on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexsandraguerra/

Nori’s Podcast (Alexsandra is a host): https://nori.com/reversing-climate-change

Big Magic (Book): https://www.amazon.com/Big-Magic-Creative-Living-Beyond/dp/1594634726

Granular (Farm Management Software): https://granular.ag/

Zengineering Episode 064 — with Christophe Jospe of Nori — On Climate Change — Part 4 — Reversing It: https://zengineeringpodcast.com/064-with-christophe-jospe-of-nori-on-climate-change-part-4-reversing-it-a5fd4ba27ea3

Zengineering Episode 075 — with Paul Gambill — On The True Cost of Carbon and Reversing Climate Change: https://zengineeringpodcast.com/episode-075-with-paul-gambill-on-the-true-cost-of-carbon-and-reversing-climate-change-717a563b10d6

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090 - On Apple and Encryption Backdoors Feb 13, 2020

Show notes

Hey Zengineers!

We’re back with a quick one to hit a timely topic (again!) Encryption backdoors are back in the news, so were hitting it again. If you want to know what’s going on with the latest fight between Apple and the government, and all the grumbling the Attorney General and the President have been doing about encryption, we’ve got you covered.

As always, there are some links to follow in the notes if you want to dig in any deeper.

Thanks for listening!

Adam & Brian

Notes:

Zengineering Episode 009 - https://zengineeringpodcast.com/episode-009-on-hacking-cryptography-and-the-fbi-vs-apple-dbe904c43ea7

Apple and San Bernardino - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI%E2%80%93Apple_encryption_dispute

Apple and Pensacola - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/14/technology/apple-iphone-pensacola-shooting.html

Social Key Recovery - https://twitter.com/vitalikbuterin/status/1086464158319558657?lang=en

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089 - with Mike Rosolio - On Video Game History Jan 07, 2020

Show notes

Howdy, Zengineers,

This week we’ve got our most popular guest, back for another romp down memory lane. Yes, Mike Rosolio returns to discuss the history of Video Games with us. There are some secret reveals, but I can’t remember if they are so secret that they weren’t mentioned in the show. If they are, they’ll be cut. If they’re not, then you’ll hear them. What a cliffhanger? Is that the right phrase? I don’t think so.

Anyway, this week we chase down some fun memories discussing our own experiences with video games over our lives. All three of us are part of an age group that really grew up with video games as they were emerging as a global force. When we were very young, they were still only for the most cutting edge tech nerds. Now, everyone gets to be addicted to them.

Mike brings some real depth to this conversation as he’s not only the greatest player of video games we know, but he’s also a major history buff. We chase down some of the major developers and artists in the video game business world world, discuss Mario, Nintendo Power, weirdly over-sexualized characters from Soul Caliber, and the increasing and current moral complexities that modern games encounter.

As always, it’s a great convo with Mike, and we hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed talking. We know we do... like listening to ourselves.

Ya know what I mean. Yeah. We do. Endless loop. Loop.

Support the show: http://support.zengineeringpodcast.com
Visit our website for more episodes: https://zengineeringpodcast.com

Cheers,
Adam & Brian

Show Notes

Nintendo Power: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Power
Ninja Gaiden Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCnZtUS4tCw
Shigeru Miyamoto: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shigeru_Miyamoto
Final Fantasy V1 Famous Opera Scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe3pGU9jcag
Legend of Zelda, Breath of Wild: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rPxiXXxftE
Play Tetris, free, online: https://tetris.com/play-tetris

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088 - On Government - Part 1 - An Operating System for the United States Dec 24, 2019

Show notes

Happy Holidays, Zengineers,

Adam is our conductor this week, guiding the train down the historical tracks of political exploration. Did you know that Adam went to law school? Of course you did. It comes up all the time. Yes. We do too, but he takes all the jokes really well, considering, ahem ... that he’s a lawyer. Zing!
When studying the law, Adam wrote his thesis on how the law mimics software and how software mimics the law. It’s an interesting, powerful, and relevant comparison to make. Through this episode we hope you’ll come to appreciate why attorneys, programmers, judges, engineers, accountants, and more, all produce things they call “Code.” Remember Hammurabi’s Code? That shit was harsh, but concepts of that early foundation still persist today. Never forget this.

We discuss historically different types of government, how they have been evolutions of each other, and how constitutional government starts from these founding operating systems. This foundation formed over millennia by generations testing out new ideas and new structures, often through trial and error. This stuff is NOT perfect, and don’t let anyone tell you any different. That would be a disservice to our world.

We hope you enjoy our ramblings and have found a new way to look at the governmental structure and evolution of our world. There will be more to come. Yes, that sentence does have a lot of different meanings. Yes, we meant to do that. No, we’re not sorry.

Support the show: http://support.zengineeringpodcast.com

Visit our website for more episodes: https://zengineeringpodcast.com

Cheers,
Adam & Brian
PS. Say hi to your families for us!!

Show Notes

Living Constitution: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_Constitution
Virginia Ratifies the Equal Rights Amendment: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/11/06/us/politics/virginia-ratify-equal-rights-amendment.amp.html
John Oliver, Equal Rights Amendment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCBYJZ6QbUI

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087 - with Sam Rad - On Blockchains, Supply Chains, and Paradigm Shifts Dec 10, 2019

Show notes

Our friends, the Zengineers,

We are joined this week by anthropologist, technologist, speaker, and author, Samantha Radocchia, AKA, Sam Rad. Yeah, that's a great full name and great nickname. Way to be named, Sam!!

We've been excited about this conversation for a while because, from the very beginning, we knew we were going to talk about a lot of our shared passions. Sam is not only the author of Bitcoin Pizza (how Adam and her started talking), but she also co-founded and operated a technology startup merging blockchain and manufacturing supply chain. What a rad combo! See what we did there? Of course you do. Our listeners are sharp as tacks. Needless to say we took a lot of fun turns exploring technology, manufacturing, blockchain, and even competitive skydiving, with Sam.

What has she learned from all this experience? Well similar to some other sages we've spoken to, technology is wildly complex, its pace is changing the world in ways we must work hard to understand, and, if done right, we can form these technologies to make the world not only more successful, but just plain better for every one and every thing.

We hope you enjoy Sam's joyful energy and wise insights as much as we did.

Support the show: http://support.zengineeringpodcast.com

Visit our website for more episodes: https://zengineeringpodcast.com

Cheers,

Adam & Brian

Show Notes

Sam on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantharadocchia/

Sam's new book, "Bitcoin Pizza": https://www.amazon.com/Bitcoin-Pizza-No-Bullshit-Guide-Blockchain-ebook/dp/B07TYHKVLF

Sam's Supply Chain Startup: https://www.chronicled.com/

Saving Time, Working Remotely: https://twitter.com/madisonkanna/status/1154169387470823425?s=21

Dropzone Trailer (yes, it is an awesome movie about competetive skydiving featuring true classics like Wesley Snipes and Gary Busey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX17-NVFgGY

And ... one more for the history books, the Aspen Extreme Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn5Q_fjvKVQ

Fav Quote: "You know how you know a good expert? They try to tell you they aren’t an expert."

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086 - with Peter Dering - On Peak Design, Kickstarter, and Living Carbon Neutral Sep 24, 2019

Show notes

Heyo, Zengineers!

This week, we get to be fan boys of our guest. As you all know, Adam and I are life long photographers, so you can imagine our joy when Peter Dering of Peak Design agreed to join us for a few hours to share his experience designing and selling fantastic photography gear, and creating hugely successful Kickstarter campaigns. To our surprise, the connections went even deeper.

Peter was happy to share his thoughts on building great products and a company culture that have a positive impact on customers, employees, and our planet. We talk about the inspiration to start Peak Design, how it happened, and early successful Kickstarter campaigns (of which Adam and Brian both participated with great gusto).

From here we were surprised to spiral a bit off course from where we thought we were headed. In fact, we barely discussed photography. Instead we strayed into a common area of conversation recently on the cast, Climate Change, and what the hell to do about it. As the CEO of a company that makes physical products, an outdoor adventurer, and a generally well read and good dude, Peter understands the challenges facing the world around the release of carbon into our atmosphere. To do his part, he's started an initiative called Climate Neutral to encourage other businesses to reduce and eliminate their carbon footprint. Once again, we're big fans.

We hope you enjoy this winding adventure through the mind and explorations of Peter Dering!

Support the show: http://support.zengineeringpodcast.com
Visit our website for more episodes: https://zengineeringpodcast.com

Cheers,
Adam & Brian

Show Notes

Peter on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-dering-54760718/

Peak Design: https://www.peakdesign.com/

Peak Design's latest succesful kickstarter campaign for the Travel Tripod: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/peak-design/travel-tripod-by-peak-design/posts/2564456

Peak Design's Mission (it's great): https://www.peakdesign.com/pages/mission

Peak Design's Sustainability Strategy (also great): https://www.peakdesign.com/pages/sustainability

Climate Neutral (Peter's Climate Innitiative): https://www.climateneutral.org/

Mutual Benfit Corporation: https://info.legalzoom.com/difference-between-nonprofit-mutualbenefit-corporation-27224.html

Project Wren (carbon offsets): https://projectwren.com/

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085 - with Jeffery A. Martin - On Happiness, Fundamental Wellbeing, and Flow States Sep 11, 2019

Show notes

What’s up, Zengineers?

We’ve got a real fun one this week. We’re joined by Dr. Jeffery Martin. He is a founder of the Transformative Technology space, serial entrepreneur and social scientist who researches personal transformation and the states of greatest human well-being.

Jeffery spent the last 10 years conducting the largest international study on persistent non-symbolic experience (PNSE), which includes the types of consciousness commonly known as: enlightenment, nonduality, the peace that passeth understanding, unitive experience, and hundreds of others. More recently, he has used this research to make systems available to help people obtain profound psychological benefits in a rapid, secular, reliable, and safe way. Whoa … lots to dive into there that are a good fit for Zengineering. One could say, Jeffery studies Zengineering. What a fun guest.

We talk with Jeffery a little about his background and how he got into this stuff. Would you be surprised to hear that money wasn’t bringing him happiness, so he started chasing what would? We discuss his books, organizations, research, his personal explorations, and what he’s uncovering about humanity and our pursuits of happiness, or contentedness, or good lives, or whatever it is you think you’re after. Let’s scientificize it and let’s try to compare our experiences. This was a great convo and Jeffery was a delight to chat with. We hope you enjoy this episode. Definitely check out the show notes to learn more.

Support the show: http://support.zengineeringpodcast.com

Visit our website for more episodes: https://zengineeringpodcast.com

Cheers,

Adam & Brian

Show Notes:

Jeffery’s website: https://drjefferymartin.com/

Jeffery on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjefferymartin/

Jeffery on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jefferymartin

Transformative Tech Academy: https://ttacademy.co/

Jeffery’s latest book: https://www.amazon.com/Finders-Jeffery-Martin/dp/1572425563

Explorers Courses: https://explorerscourse.com/

VIDEOS of Jeffery: http://www.nonsymbolic.org/

VIDEO: Reaching for Maslow’s Missing Level: The Further Reaches of TransTech? with Dr. Jefferey Martin - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWKDWLcCr0Y

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs

The relationship between money and happiness: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/relationship-money-happiness/

California Institute for Human Science: https://www.cihs.edu/

The default mode network: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Default_mode_network

TPN vs. DMN - Neural Mechanisms and Mindfulness | Exploring The Business Brain: https://exploringthebusinessbrain.com/tpn-vs-dmn-neural-mechanisms-mindfulness/

VIDEO: How we can use light to see deep inside our bodies and brains | Mary Lou Jepsen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awADEuv5vWY

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084 - On Stuff - Headphones Aug 21, 2019

Show notes

Hi, Zengineers!

That's right! It's time to learn about stuff. You know, those everyday things that we all interact with but we don't always take time to think too much about. This week, that stuff, is headphones!

These crazy things are everywhere these days (mostly because we all carry a portable music player at all times). Just 25 years ago, you were probably still a bit of an audiophile if you were rocking headphones on the reg. These days, you'd be the weirdo if you weren't.

But what has enabled this rise in listening technology and how does it work? These are great questions we get into in this super fun episode with a little bit of pop, a little bit of tech, and a little bit of random walking down the path of exploration.

Also, check out our episode, "On Digital Audio, Apple, and Headphone Jacks" to compliment this one: https://zengineeringpodcast.com/episode-018-on-digital-audio-apple-and-headphone-jacks-2cec90261056

Cheers,

Adam & Brian

Our Headphones

Bose QC35 IIs: https://www.amazon.com/Bose-QuietComfort-Wireless-Headphones-Cancelling/dp/B0756CYWWD/ref=sr_1_3?crid=25P2T2G5FYU24&keywords=bose+qc35+ii&qid=1564246289&s=gateway&sprefix=bode+qc35%2Caps%2C312&sr=8-3
Logitech gaming: https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-G935-Wireless-DTS-LIGHTSYNC/dp/B07MP4HT95/ref=sr_1_10?keywords=logitech+gaming+headphone&qid=1564246257&s=gateway&sr=8-10
Inexpensive bluetooth earbuds: https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-G935-Wireless-DTS-LIGHTSYNC/dp/B07MP4HT95/ref=sr_1_10?keywords=logitech+gaming+headphone&qid=1564246257&s=gateway&sr=8-10
Really inexpensive bluetooth earbuds: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KVKZS87/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Brian's old headphones: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SLVAVAY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Show Notes

Loudspeakers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudspeaker
Headphone history: https://www.stuff.tv/features/headphones-complete-history
Another history of headphones: https://visual.ly/community/infographic/technology/history-headphones
Getting a better headphone fit with Sugru: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2B5mmL-61A

Juris Links From Intro:

https://debtsettle.co

https://www.producthunt.com/posts/debtsettle-by-juris

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083 - with Greg Kieser - On AI Superintelligence Jul 30, 2019

Show notes

What's happening, Zengineers?

This week we're joined by Author, Technologist, Entrepreneur and Angel Investor, Greg Kieser. He shared his most recent book, "Dear Machine, A Letter to a Super Aware/Intelligent Machine (SAIM)" with us a few months ago, and then was kind enough to hop on an episode with us to talk about it.
Greg's background in technology businesses has exposed him to what a lot of modern technology workers are sensing, but Greg has taken the time to put pen to paper (stylus to screen?), and share these thoughts with the world.

As we discuss in this episode, a lot of things around the world (almost everything) is changing at unprecedented paces, and it seems as thought this accelerated rate of change is going to continue with no end in sight. What is really going to happen as computers begin to have a sentient understanding of the world? Where will these technologies take us? Where will we end up? Will it even be "us" anymore?

Greg's book is a comprehensive exploration of what's going on with and how to think about Artificial Intelligence, and with computational technology as a whole. It was a great read and made for a wonderful conversation that we hope you enjoy as well.

Support the show: http://support.zengineeringpodcast.com
Visit our website for more episodes: https://zengineeringpodcast.com

Cheers,
Adam & Brian

Show Notes

Greg's latest book: https://www.amazon.com/Dear-Machine-Letter-Super-Aware-Intelligent-ebook/dp/B07MY9132H
Greg's Think Tank and Angel Investment Group: http://supersystemic.ly/
Greg on Twitter: https://twitter.com/gregkieser
Greg on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-kieser-76a76913/
Interplanetary Fest: https://interplanetaryfest.org/
John Henry Holland: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_Holland
Tierra Computer Simulation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tierra_(computer_simulation)
Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom: https://www.amazon.com/Superintelligence-Dangers-Strategies-Nick-Bostrom/dp/1501227742
Fecal Transplants, yup, those kinda fecals: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/gastroenterology_hepatology/clinical_services/advanced_endoscopy/fecal_transplantation.html
The Singularity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity

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082 - On Curating A Media Diet Jul 18, 2019

Show notes

Heyo, Zengineers!

Podcasts are all the rage these days. "What a hip new form of media," they say. "Adam and Brian are so cool for hosting their own podcast." It's true. We're super cool. That's cuz media drives culture. It always has.

This week we're diving into a discussion around media and how to manage a healthy relationship with it in the modern world. For instance, you probably shouldn't only listen to Zengineering Podcast, even though we know you really want to.

In this episode we chase the evolution of media and how it's lead to Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram and all the other apps we use daily. We talk more about social media than makes Brian comfortable and more than he thinks it deserves to be discussed, but there's a reason. It's the most prolific form of media we've created yet as a species. Stories circle the globe in a matter of minutes.

It was just a few hundred years ago that most people never left their home town. Crazy. We made that up, but maybe it's true. There we go, making media confusing. We talk a bit about media's transition based on our data consumption, and also based on rapidly evolving device technology and constantly refreshing UIs. Then we confront the rise of the algorithms, and the new complexities the world is coming to terms with.

How should we think about incoming ideas in the modern age. How much skepticism is healthy and how much emotion should our media induce? Is mindfulness really as important a concept as some suggest? Who knows? We sure don't, but we're happy to talk at you about it anyway. Is that ok? We think so. We also hope you enjoy the conversation.

Support the show: http://support.zengineeringpodcast.com
Visit our website for more episodes: https://zengineeringpodcast.com

Cheers,
Adam & Brian

Show Links

Limbic System: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbic_system
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/
"Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discus people." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

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