The Future of Voice Emulation and Autofocus Glasses

In this episode, the Digg CEO drops by to give a private demo of the iOS app that may or may not change your scrolling habits forever. We also dive into reports that Apple’s been sniffing around Perplexity in a possible bid to stay in the AI race it forgot to enter. Kevin opens up about launching his new podcast *Less Than One*, sobriety milestones, and post-fire clarity. Alex reveals the kitchen remodel purgatory he’s barely survived. Plus: autofocus glasses that might kill bifocals, a whole tangent on local LLMs, and a brief appearance from Jeffrey Dahmer’s hypothetical smart speaker voice. It’s a lot. It’s Diggnation.

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Public Diggnation Assets: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1k7ZxENxqQl0TLqGwusbsRPS3wkY5PFk0?usp=drive_link

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00:00 - Episode Introduction & Welcome  
00:53 - Kevin’s Sobriety Journey  
03:33 - New Podcast “Less Than One” & Minimalism Deep Dive  
07:27 - Kitchen Remodel Woes & Swedish Death Cleaning  
09:16 - Unify Gear Talk & Justin's Summer of Skin  
10:59 - Listener Shoutouts
18:08 - Apple Reportedly Eyes Perplexity AI Acquisition  
25:31 - Offline LLMs, Elevenlabs, and DIY Voice Assistants  
30:31 - Autofocus Glasses That Might Kill Bifocals  
43:16 - Tesla FSD in Austin vs. Waymo in the Real World  
58:25 - Nvidia Invests in TerraPower: Nuclear Energy Gets a Boost  
1:04:02 - Molten Salt & Kinetic Energy Storage: Nerding Out  
1:06:09 - Digg iOS Alpha App Demo + What “Gems” Are  
1:17:36 - Digg Alpha Tour: TLDRs, AI Summaries & Scroll-Worthy Features  
1:24:50 - Final Thoughts, Wrap-Up & Shirt Talk

People Mentioned:

Alex Albrecht – Co-host of Diggnation  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Albrecht

Kevin Rose – Co-host of Diggnation, host of *Less Than One* podcast  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Rose

Justin Mezzell – CEO of Digg, led the private iOS alpha demo  
https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-mezzell/

Mauricio Balvanera – Diggnation producer and Digg Director of Video and Audio Experiences  
https://www.linkedin.com/in/maubrowncow/

Jason Fried – Co-founder of 37signals/Basecamp, first guest on *Less Than One*  
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-fried/

Jason DeFillippo – Podcast producer/editor (Grumpy Old Geeks, Art of Charm)  
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpdefillippo/

Sam Altman – CEO of OpenAI  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Altman

Elon Musk – CEO of Tesla, discussed in Tesla FSD segment  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk

Bill Gates – Chairman of TerraPower, mentioned for nuclear energy investments  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates

Arnold Schwarzenegger – Cited as a humorous AI voice example  
https://www.linkedin.com/in/arnoldschwarzenegger/

Products & Technologies Mentioned:

Less Than One Podcast – Kevin Rose’s new audio-only show  
https://lessthanone.show

Polycade Arcade Machine – modern plug-and-play arcade cabinet  
https://polycade.com

Unify Products – in-wall speakers and amps used as Sonos alternative  
https://store.ui.com 

Autodesk Fusion 360 – CAD software used for 3D printing custom components  
https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/

Perplexity AI – AI-powered search engine and research tool  
https://perplexity.ai

Amazon Alexa – voice assistant used for smart home control  
https://www.amazon.com/alexa

Apple Intelligence & Siri – discussed in context of underwhelming AI rollout  
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2024/06/introducing-apple-intelligence/

OpenAI – referenced in AI competition and hiring  
https://openai.com

Claude by Anthropic – AI chatbot alternative to GPT models  
https://claude.ai

Eleven Labs – AI voice cloning from short audio clips  
https://elevenlabs.io

Waymo – Alphabet’s self-driving car division  
https://waymo.com

BMW i4 – electric vehicle mentioned during troubleshooting segment  
https://www.bmwusa.com/vehicles/all-electric/i4.html

Google Gemini – AI-enhanced search used for tech help  
https://gemini.google.com

TerraPower – nuclear energy company backed by Bill Gates  
https://www.terrapower.com

New Scale Power – developer of small modular nuclear reactors  
https://nuscalepower.com