We Have Concerns

On this special Halloween episode, Anthony and Jeff consider the nature of of the trick or treat tradition and the urban legend of poisoned Halloween candy.  Is asking strangers for food an inherently unsafe activity, or did we manufacture a scare that isn't real? Like the show? Want early episodes and extra content? Support us on Patreon!  http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Hey! If you’re enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen. Here’s the iTunes link:  http://bit.ly/wehaveconcerns Jeff on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/jeffcannata   Anthony on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/acarboni   Article:  http://uproxx.com/gammasquad/2014/10/the-true-american-horror-story-a-brief-history-of-tainted-halloween-candy/

A new Wired article recounts the medieval myth that beavers, when cornered by hunters, would castrate themselves by chewing off their own testicles.  Jeff and Anthony unpack the myth and try to figure out why the Dark Ages were filled with so much dumb. Like the show? Want early episodes and extra content? Support us on Patreon!  http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Hey! If you’re enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen. Here’s the iTunes link:  http://bit.ly/wehaveconcerns Jeff on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/jeffcannata   Anthony on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/acarboni   Article submitted by Doug Colavito:  http://www.wired.com/2014/10/fantastically-wrong-people-used-think-beavers-bit-testicles/

Previously on We Have Concerns... in the Welcome to the Hoverboard Future episode Anthony mocked Jeff's enthusiasm for a mind-bending new technology that indicated that hoverboards may, in fact be possible.  Now, there is a new article on Engadget that describes a working prototype soon making its way onto Kickstarter.  Does Jeff get the last laugh, hovering his way back into the future he's always wanted, or is Anthony still able to poke penny-sized holes in the dream? Like the show? Want early episodes and extra content? Support us on Patreon!  http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Hey! If you’re enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen. Here’s the iTunes link:  http://bit.ly/wehaveconcerns Jeff on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/jeffcannata   Anthony on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/acarboni   Article:  http://www.engadget.com/2014/10/21/we-rode-a-hoverboard/

A new article describes a study in which doctors told patients they would just be getting a shot of vitamins, but instead gave them something a thousand times more powerful.  Whether these subjects thought something strange was happening or not depended entirely upon what the doctors told them they should expect.  This leads Jeff and Anthony to wonder just how much impact our conscious mind can have on our reality, and whether or not we can use this to our advantage. Like the show? Want early episodes and extra content? Support us on Patreon!  http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Hey! If you’re enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen. Here’s the iTunes link:  http://bit.ly/wehaveconcerns Jeff on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/jeffcannata   Anthony on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/acarboni   Article submitted by Sverrir Sigfussen:  http://io9.com/this-moderately-immoral-study-shows-how-we-misidentify-1645992912

Anthony found an article that describes the community around the IBM Model M keyboard, a sublimely clicky keyboard that has spawned cult-like devotion and a second hand black market.  It makes him consider our fetishization of things, and the ties to productivity they create.  Jeff just thinks all those objects are yelling at him. Like the show? Want early episodes and extra content? Support us on Patreon!  http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Hey! If you’re enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen. Here’s the iTunes link:  http://bit.ly/wehaveconcerns   Jeff on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/jeffcannata   Anthony on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/acarboni   Article:  http://www.theverge.com/2014/10/7/6882427/king-of-keys

Researchers have discovered that employees are actually more content taking orders from a robot than a human being in the workplace.  This prompts Anthony and Jeff to wonder what it might take to promote robots into middle management, what the perfect form factor for a boss-bot might be, and how companies might implement their new robo-supervisors. Like the show? Want early episodes and extra content? Support us on Patreon!  http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Hey! If you’re enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen. Here’s the iTunes link:  http://bit.ly/wehaveconcerns   Jeff on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/jeffcannata   Anthony on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/acarboni   Article:  http://www.businessinsider.com/robots-as-bosses-2014-8

As a runner himself, Jeff was very impressed to read of James Lawrence, the endurance athlete who is attempting 50 ultra-distance triathlons, in 50 different states, in 50 straight days.  Anthony, on the other hand, thinks it is unhealthy, obsessive, and downright stupid to push your body to that extreme.  Is this just the Brock Life pushing human abilities to new heights, or a crazy person receiving misplaced admiration for a self-destructive act? Like the show? Want early episodes and extra content? Support us on Patreon!  http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Hey! If you’re enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen. Here’s the iTunes link:  http://bit.ly/wehaveconcerns   Jeff on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/jeffcannata   Anthony on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/acarboni   Article:  http://www.wired.com/2014/10/james-lawrence/?mbid=social_twitter

Anthony has found a story about a Missouri family fleeing their home because between 4500 and 6000 spiders came "bleeding out of the walls".  To which Jeff of course wonders, "What the #%$#?!"  Spider senses tingle, spider stories are shared, and everybody asks how this could possibly happen.

Google's Auto Awesome will take the best areas of slightly different photographs and combine them into one new, never-quite-was best version.  A new article suggests that this kind of artful interpretation of history may prove problematic when AI determines what parts of photos are important.  Anthony argues that no photograph is a true depiction, while Jeff wonders if we will ever remember something accurately again. Like the show? Want early episodes and extra content? Support us on Patreon!  http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns    Hey! If you’re enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen. Here’s the iTunes link:  http://bit.ly/wehaveconcerns   Jeff on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/jeffcannata   Anthony on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/acarboni   Article:  http://petapixel.com/2014/10/07/official-s-now-re-writing-history/

Saturday morning cartoons are no more! And Jeff has decided that this means something really bad for today's youth - but Anthony is certain that it's a good thing, and that Jeff is just a cranky old man yelling at the winds of change.  Does on-demand mean no more shared cultural experience? And where does this leave Capt Crunch in his battle against the soggies? Like the show? Want early episodes and extra content? Support us on Patreon! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns     Hey! If you’re enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen. Here’s the iTunes link:  http://bit.ly/wehaveconcerns     Jeff on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/jeffcannata   Anthony on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/acarboni     Article submitted by Sean Williams:  http://comicsbeat.com/rip-saturday-morning-cartoons-1962-2014/

Anthony has been reading about Chaser, the wonder dog who has learned over 1,000 different words, which makes him wonder how smart Jeff believes canines to be.  Is obedience less intelligent than independence? Is there a bias in measuring intelligence in non-human creatures? Like the show? Want early episodes and extra content? Support us on Patreon!  http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns     Hey! If you’re enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen. Here’s the iTunes link:  http://bit.ly/wehaveconcerns     Jeff on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/jeffcannata   Anthony on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/acarboni Article:  http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-smart-is-your-dog-60-minutes/

Shipyard workers in South Korea have been using Exo Suits to assist them in loading and unloading scrap metal, and Jeff and Anthony desperately want to try it out. But why stop there? Why not replace human limbs with robot ones? How far would they go in selling off their humanity to be able to punch down a wall? The answer may surprise you.   Our show is entirely listener supported! Subscribers get early episodes, extra audio and a monthly live video hangout. More details: http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns   Hey! If you're enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen. Here's the iTunes link: http://bit.ly/wehaveconcerns Here's the Stitcher link: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/we-have-concerns   Send us stories: wehaveconcernsshow@gmail.com   Jeff on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jeffcannata Anthony on Twitter: http://twitter.com/acarboni   Article:  http://phys.org/news/2014-08-shipyard-workers-robot-south-korea.html

An article by Kevin Ashton proposes that saying "no" to things is vital to the creative process.  Anthony and Jeff wonder why they have such a hard time saying "no" and what that might mean about them.    Like the show? Want early episodes and extra content? Support us on Patreon! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns   Hey! If you're enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen. Here's the iTunes link: http://bit.ly/wehaveconcerns   Jeff on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jeffcannata Anthony on Twitter: http://twitter.com/acarboni   Article submitted by Amber Hinden:   http://kevinjashton.com/2013/03/18/creative-people-say-no/

A new article suggests that the Oculus VR headset may be the first step to allowing people to truly experience what it is like to live a different kind of life. This could allow designers to create "empathy engines" whereby users may come to feel emotion for their fellow man in a virtual space.  Anthony and Jeff think this is a great idea, especially if causes douchey diners to tip their wait staff.   Support us on Patreon to get early release episodes and extra content: http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns   Hey! If you're enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen. Here's the iTunes link:  http://bit.ly/wehaveconcerns Here we are on Stitcher:  http://bit.ly/stitcherwhc   Jeff on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/jeffcannata Anthony on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/acarboni   Article:  http://boingboing.net/2014/09/15/the-headset-revolution-will-be.html The Machine to Be Another: http://www.themachinetobeanother.org/

A woman in Oregon has opened a cuddle service for those looking for a bit of personal contact, but definitely no sexy stuff. Anthony works through his own issues with touching, Jeff determines the fair market value of intimacy, and everybody wonders what to do at a pheromone party.   Hey! If you're enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen. Here's the iTunes link:  http://bit.ly/wehaveconcerns And the Stitcher link:  http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/anthony-carboni/we-have-concerns Jeff on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/jeffcannata Anthony on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/acarboni   Article submitted by  @justcallmedjm http://www.examiner.com/article/cuddle-up-to-me-professional-cuddling-service-to-launch-retail-location