Burps Radio - Pop Culture & News Podcast

Back in December there was a horrible shooting that took place in San Bernardino, California. It was a terrorist attack no question and ten people ended up dead. So because it was a terror attack, the investigation was given over to the FBI. The shooter had an iPhone that apparently had all his plans on it and so the FBI needs access to the information on the phone. They had access to his iCloud account and all his information beforehand, but through human error ended up erasing the password. And so now they lost all of their access to the shooter's information. So now, the FBI is insisting that Apple creates a backdoor into this one particular iPhone so they can gain access to it and continue their investigation. The problem with that though it this creates a dangerous precedent where there would now exist software that, if put into the wrong hands could be used to access not just this one iPhone, but anyone's iPhone. So as of recording this episode, Apple has refused to create a backdoor into the shooter's phone.

Uber is a great application that allows you to get a car to pick you up, all without having to hail a taxi. And often times it's safer because each driver has a rating out of five stars, and it tells you their license plate on the app, so you can verify that it is in fact the car you're supposed to be getting. If you get into a taxi sometimes you don't know who's picking you up. Granted, the Uber drivers have taken advantage of their passengers at times. But so have taxi drivers. Predators have painted their cars up like taxis and have done nefarious things with people. I would feel a lot safer in an Uber than in a taxi. And so the the war with Uber vs. taxi drivers wages on.

Silence is golden. Or at least it’s the key to a stress-free life. Apparently cutting out noise is a good way to reduce stress and anxiety. But for some people, especially those with tinnitus, they need to have noise happening all the time. We also talk about the Zika virus that’s going around and how people are calling for the eradication of mosquitos.

David Bowie passed away on Sunday leaving the world of music in total shock. He had been battling liver cancer for eighteen months, but none of his fans or friends knew what he was going through. His impact on the world of music is undeniable and will surely be missed. Through his various characters such as Ziggy Stardust and The Thin White Duke, he reinvented himself every few years. But he managed to stay true to himself and always did the kind of art that he wanted without compromising himself. His latest album, Blackstar was release just two days before his passing on his 69th birthday, and was his final send off for his life. It was intended to be his farewell and it certainly served that purpose.

Ashley Madison was hacked in the last few weeks leading to peoples' private information exposed. The dating website which markets itself as a tool to have an affair was hacked into by seemingly someone who is opposed to how it operates. It brings up some moral issues on the whole marriage thing and whether it's a breach of that contract.

Tinder has changed the way people date. So much so that it has psychological effects. It's become like shopping where people feel they have millions of options and no matter what they choose, they feel like they're settling. My advice is to stay away so you don't get Tinder brain.

A recently married Ontario couple decided to give up everything and live in a camper van. They're trying out minimalism which is a concept of living with only your basic necessities. So this couple travels across Canada in a camper van.

We are celebrating twenty episodes of Burps Radio with a special no-topic show. Just whatever pops into our heads is what you're going to get. Thank you for those who have stuck by us and here's to another twenty episodes!

Kanye West was invited to perform at the closing ceremonies at the Pan-Am games. There was a huge outcry from the Canadian public who felt that he should not be performing and instead should have been replaced by an artist from Toronto. There was even a change.org petition calling for his removal from the ceremonies. What people missed however is that Pitbull and Serena Ryder are part of the show as well. Pitbull is also from the US and Serena Ryder was born and raised in and around Toronto. The whole event is for countries all across America which includes Canada, The US, Mexico and all of Central and South America. This is why Kanye West should perform at the Pan-Am games.

Plenty of Fish is one of the most popular dating websites in the world. The site was just sold for over half a billion dollars to Match Group, the company that owns both Tinder and OKCupid. Plenty of Fish sold for $575M and its owners are reeling in the success of the site. The site has been around for a long time, but is not exactly the best when it comes to matching people. It feels more like "Here are some people that live near you, you should date them." Maybe with this sale, we'll see a better matching system but as far as free sites go OKCupid seems to be the at the top of their game.

Ringo Starr turned 75 yesterday. His contributions to The Beatles always seem to be overlooked. Being the drummer in a band full of highly regarded songwriters isn't an easy task. But just because he didn't write a lot of the songs doesn't mean he wasn't an essential part of the band. Ringo Starr celebrates his 75th birthday with much love and support from the music community.

The O.C. went of the air in 2007, but that hasn't stopped show creator Josh Schwartz from reviving the teen drama for a one-night-only performance of a musical version of the series. The O.C. is back as a musical but is that really the best thing for a show like that? A show like that could maybe be turned into a play without music, but to have those characters all of a sudden break out into song is a bit of a shift for the show. But we'll see how it goes, stranger things have happened. Spider-man musical anyone? It's only a one night thing so hopefully we won't have to put up with the teen drama and hormone induced subplots for too long.

President Barack Obama was on Marc Maron's podcast WTF where he gave a lengthy interview. Topics ranged from his childhood, favourite comedians, race relations and politics in general. The whole interview is worth checking out. But there was one part that made news headlines. When talking about race in the US he said the n-word. He was essentially saying that just because it's no longer polite to say that word, doesn't mean racism has gone away. The irony is that when Barack Obama says the n-word and people freak out, those are the people he's talking about.

Yuccie is a new term to describe a twenty-something who doesn't quite fit in with the hipsters and is turned off by the yuppies. Described as someone who is artistically creative but is OK with making money, the yuccie is somewhere in the middle. But with all these terms and labels for people, when do we just become people?

Computer programmer Egor Homakov figured out how to hack Starbucks to essentially give him unlimited amounts of coffee. He basically found a glitch in their system and manipulated it so that his gift card could be filled up an infinite amount of times.