Scottish Hill

Image: Scottish Hill, this photo is available to licence on EyeEm.

#184

Friday, November 8, 2019

In This Edition:
Shandon Bells, ISSTA, laser voice commands, connected wipers, local SEO, Blindboy on biofuel & How To Lose A Country!

This week I binged watched the new season of The Young Offenders on the BBC iPlayer and it was the berries! There is so much to love about the show but what stands out for me are the scenes where the actors are clearly pissing themselves laughing in real life, and they keep those scenes in the final cut! Any chance of a fish supper? :-p

#MondayMerchMonthly: Shandon Bells

This month's merch item I launched last monday is Shandon Bells, a photo of a the iconic clock and bell tower in Shandon in Cork City. The image is available to buy as an iPhone skin, on a set of coasters, a laptop sleeve, a tote bag or a range of other products.

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ISSTA 2019

Image: Dr. Kerry Hagan and Professor Miller Puckette (a.k.a. the Higgs whatever) performing at ISSTA 2019

Last week I attended the ISSTA 2019 conference in the excellent CIT Cork School of Music. Check out some photos here of concert 1, concert 2 and concert 3 and Robert Henke's keynote.

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Laser Voice Commands

Image: lightcommands.com

Researchers from Tokyo and The University of Michigan have published a paper showing that it is possible to hijack voice assistants and issue commands using lasers pointed at the microphone. Commands can be issued from up to 350 feet away by vibrating the diaphragm of the device's microphone to simulate a real voice command. The research team successfully hijacked Google Home/Nest, Echo Plus/Show/Dot, Facebook Portal Mini, Fire Cube TV, EchoBee 4, iPhone XR, iPad 6th Gen, Samsung Galaxy S9 and Google Pixel 2 devices.

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Toyota Connected Wipers

Image: Toyota

Toyota in Japan have teamed up with Weathernews on a pilot project that uses windscreen wiper data from connected cars to detect rainfall in Osaka and Aichi.

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Local SEO Guide

Image: Backlinko

Backlinko published a comprehensive guide on the latest local SEO techniques for local businesses. 46% of all Google searches have local intent and 29% of Google SERPs now contain a local map pack in the results. The guide also states that 74% of uses that search for something local on their phone end up visiting a store that day. To optimise your local results listings, your Google Business Profile and NAP (Name, Address and Phone Number) citations are all important.

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Podcast Of The Week: The Blindboy Podcast - Science Week 2019

Image: Acast

This week on his podcast, Blindboy interviewed Jerry Murphy and Clare Watson, two climate researchers working with the MaREI centre in UCC. The interview was part of Science Week 2019 and covers a range of topics about biofuel and how energy production can adapt locally in response to the climate crisis. The two scientists are currently working on a project on the Dingle Peninsula which uses locally produced biofuel to run a local transport bus. The guests also discuss how the agriculture industry in Ireland can transition away from beef production and towards sustainable biofuel production. This informative interview is a welcome injection of hope and opportunity in the landscape of the climate crisis.

Book Review: How To Lose A Country: The 7 Steps From Democracy to Dictatorship - Ece Temelkuran

Image: Waterstones.com

How To Lose A Country is an excellent comparison of the stages involved, tactics deployed and effects felt by the rise of populism in Turkey versus the current political establishments and campaigns in the US, UK and other Western countries. Temelkuran delivers her material using a mix of stark analysis and gut wrenching emotion, weaved together in a tapestry of wit and grave importance. A fantastic read.

If you use this affiliate link to buy the book on Waterstones.com, the commission will go towards running FoundThisWeek.com (thanks!).

About Found This Week

Found This Week is a curated blog of interesting posts, articles, links and stories in the world of technology, science and life in general.
Each edition is curated by Daryl Feehely every Friday and highlights cool stuff found each week.
The first 104 editions were published on Medium before this site was created, check out the archive here.

Daryl Feehely

I’m a web consultant, contract web developer, technical project manager & photographer originally from Cork, now based in Liverpool. I offer my clients strategy, planning & technical delivery services, remotely & in person. I also offer freelance CTO services to companies in need of technical bootstrapping or reinvention. If you think I can help you in your business, check out my details on http://darylfeehely.com

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