thunderbird six

Log2n is a video game design team comprised of five students from Algoma University, in Sault Ste. Marie, Canada. The team is currently taking part in the Dare to be Digital competition at the University of Abertay-Dundee, in Dundee, Scotland. Also joining the team in Scotland, a sixth member, an international student from India. This is the video of the start of the trip. thunderbird six is the official Podcast of log2n. Good luck guys.

Jeff MacArthur and Brian McKechnie from CommandN.tv talking vidcasting, tech and the future of both. Jeff and Brian are part of the team that brings you the hugely popular (how does 7 TB served up in May sound....) vidcast Commandn.tv. Each week the CommandN team delivers fresh tech content, tips hacks and other cool stuff. Dave sat down via Skype with Brian and Jeff and they talked a bit about the future of vidcasting and podcasting and how they got involved. Then they talked a little about what the biggest tech developments of the past year have been and what the Next Big Thing (tm) might be. It was a great time, though as Canadians we all had to end the interview to go watch hockey. Thanks again guys, it was a blast.

Jenn Cutter of OpenAlpha.tv. Jenn hosts one of the coolest vidcasts on the web, OpenAlpha. OpenAlpha covers gaming from a persoanl angle, Jenn covers the gaming world, does the odd review, but mostly talks about stuff like hacks and rarely covered games like her upcoming special on music games. Jenn and Dave talked about the history of games, well their history, and how they both started out on the Intellivision. They discussed the so called 'girl gamer' market and the future of media. Jenn was at E3 (check out her E3 episodes at www.openalpha.tv) and was very impressed with the Nintendo Wii. They ended up by talking about the future of media like vidcasting and podcasting and the often poor translation of games to movies. Huge props to Aaron Crocco of the Geekcast for the tip on recording skype calls, the sound quality on this episode was awesome. Big shout out to the Germans, especially Matt and Andre. Music at the end of this episode is from the band Private Joker with Hundred Times Over, courtesy of www.garageband.com. Finally, if you still do now know what a podcast is, you could always Ask a Ninja.... Thanks again Jenn.

A little bonus, the commercial for the upcoming FuturePlay Conference in London, ON. T6 will be there with round the internets coverage, we are the podcast of record for FP, just like last year. Oh yeah, you may recognize one of the actors, or should i say 'actors' in the ad...

Brodbeck and Brodbeck. Dave and Dan Brodbeck, one a prof and a podcaster, the other a record producer, sat down via Apple's iChat to talk about the current state of the music industry and talk about what kind of bands Dan is recording and has recorded. They talked about the 'Canadian sound' does it exist? Dan weighed in on the filesharing debate talking about the price of music, an how most artists are NOT wealthy guys in mansions, and that they deserve our support. Thanks so much Dan, it was well worth the wait.

Pat Robitaille and Aaron Garner were playing at the Speakeasy on March 31 and they graciously agreed to sit down for an interview with Dave and Isabelle. Pat has a big following in Sault Ste. Marie, indeed, Dave thought Pat was from here, though it turns out he hails from Windsor. Pat and Aaron gave their views on file sharing, on music in general and anssered the age old question, is there a Canadian sound. According to the Nashville Rage, Pat is "...an intensely talented guitarist, which, teamed with his dexterous voice and heart-marksman songwriting skills, make him a star waiting to shine. You haven't seen someone this good and this under-the-radar." Could not have said it better myself. Aaron is recognized as a premier artist and performer in the Georgian Bay region and throughout Central and Souther Ontario. He has played with the likes of Jason McCoy and Mel Brown. His solo stuff is truly awesome. Thanks a lot guys. Next time you are in town the beer is on tbird 6.

Hacking and security with RSnake. RSnake is well known in both tthe hacking world and computer security field. He is a founding member of EHAP (Ethical Hackers Against Pedophilia), an old school hacker and nwo is involved in the computer security industry. Dave and RSnake talked about RFID security, about eCommerce secuirty, the Nigerian scam and compared notes on secruity in Windows XP and OS X. While RSnake pointed out that OS X is probably as insecure as XP Dave reminded him that Macs are much shinier.

Mashup vocalist Katie Enlow and DJ/Producer Luke Enlow. Katie Enlow is a talented Chicago-based singer who has become internationally known for her contributions to the mashup/bootleg world. She is currently working on an album of remixes and mashups produced by some of the world's best bootleg producers. One of the word's best bootleg producers? How about Katie's brother Luke. Luke is based out of Cambridge, MA and has been making mashups for quite a while now. Luke is one of the best known producers out there. Dave, Katie and Luke talked about Dean Gray Tuesday, about the mashup and bootleg scene and the future of the mashup genre. Thanks guys, it was a blast having you on T6.

A conversation with the band High Holy Days. The boys were in town to play the Speakeasy and they sat down with Dave in the Green Room before their gig. The guys talked about their upcoming CD, about touring, about the movie Spinal Tap and about an exciting new distribution model. They will be using the net extensively not only to promote the band and the music, but also to release content. Turns out they know Dan Brodbeck, maybe they can get him on T6. Thanks guys, and rock on.

Seth Shostak of the SETI institute. WOW. That was fun. Seth Shostak, the senior astronomer at the SETI institute in Mountain View CA came on the show to talk about intelligent life on other planets and the search for such life. So, what would happen if and when they do find a signal? Have they had any close calls? What does Seth think about the X Files and Invasion? What is Seth's favourite movie? How did Seth get into studying SETI? Is there really a bigfoot? All of these questions and more answered on episode 26 of thunderbird six. Thanks again to Seth, that ROCKED.

Mr. Caines goes to Korea. Back when Dave worked at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College of Memorial University he had some cool students. One of the was Craig Caines. After completing his degree at SWGC Craig, like many students, decided to go to Asia (specifically Korea in Craig's case) to teach English. Dave and Craig talked about the experience of being an ESL teacher in a different country and talked about the cultural differences and similarities between Korea and Canada. Craig had some great advice for people considering this as an option. Enjoy.

Dan Gowans, the Howdykid. Dave was about to submit the story about the new Computer Games Technology program at Algoma U and it turned out it was already submitted. So, who submitted it? Some guy named Dan Gowans that has a blog called the Howdy Kid. Well in a constant search for content Dave contacted Dan, and the result was episode 24. Dave and Dan talked about blogging and the computer science program at Algoma.

Cory Ondrejka, VP of Product Development for Linden Lab of San Francisco, the creators of Second Life. Dave and Uber Geek Glyn sat down via Gizmo with Cory Ondrejka and talked about everything Second Life. They discussed academic applications of this virtual world, research applications, and even UFO abductions. This is just another example of how games are not only entertaining but can have emergent properties of their own. Thanks Cory!

Conversation with archaeologist, Beatles fan and Webulator (tm) Luke Dalla Bona. The big press conference announcing Algoma U's new MSc in Computer Games Technology just ended and Dave ran into Luke, the owner of pictographics, the company that serves up all of our content. So, Dave and Luke sat down and talked about web development, archaeology and the Beatles. Luke encompasses all three interests. BTW, Dave mixed this episode while giving a neuropharmacology exam, so those of you in PSYC 3506, that is why he had headphones on while you were writing the test.... Thanks Luke! Check out Lukes work at www.auc.ca, and visit www.pictographics.ca.

Originally from the Curve Lake First Nations, in Central Ontario, Drew has spent the last two decades travelling the world and writing about it from the Aboriginal perspective. An award-winning playwright, author, columnist, film maker and lecturer, he has managed to bridge the gap between cultures by tickling the funny bone. Dave and Drew talked about Drew's new book, Me Funny, which is a series of essays about Native humour, oh yeah there are jokes in it too, and Drew shared a few with Dave. There is a Hopi proverb that says "A smile is sacred" and Drew Hayden Taylor believes it, even though he's not Hopi.