The Big Tech Show

This week, Adrian Weckler and Dr Mick O’Kerrigan from RecommenderX discuss 20 of the dumbest, faddiest tech ideas in recent years.From connected forks and ‘smart umbrellas’ to 3D televisions and digital photo frames, the two mercilessly condemn the worst of our tech gadgets to their hall of shame.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“I run a sports club – does this mean I have to ask them for permission to email now?”“Is it the end of cold-calling?”“What about if I want to email everyone about a charity I’m supporting?”These are the practical questions that many are asking as Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force.Adrian Weckler sits down with Daragh O’Brien (founder of data privacy expert firm Castlebridge) to go through dozens of layman questions about what will now happen in everyday business – and normal life – under the new law.Adrian also drops in on Pointy, the Dublin startup that has seen its product-discovery technology adopted by one in seven Dublin retail outlets. He talks with company founders Mark Cummins and Charles Bibby about their story and what the future has in store.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adrian is joined by culture journalist Roisin Kiberd and INM’s head of product (and Sunday Independent columnist) Steve Dempsey to pore through some of the biggest tech tissues of the week.- Do people have a right to know that they’re talking to a robot (such as Google’s Duplex)? Is it amazing or creepy?- Has Ireland made a mistake in choosing 16 as the digital age of consent rather than 13, like the UK? While there are pros and cons to the higher age, there’s a nagging feeling that it may be unenforceable and, ironically, let tech companies off the hook for properly catering to young teenagers (as it can now assume they’re all 16).- Twitter starts hiding replies from those it deems to be ‘trolls’;- Facebook’s removal of fake accounts and millions of pieces of content involving extreme violence or pornography;- Airbnb to be banned from parts of Amsterdam – will more and more cities follow?- Banks trawling through your social media – honesty or a step too far?- How Elon Musk and Grimes got together over a nerdy science fiction joke about artificial intelligence.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What sort of power do ‘influencers’ really yield?Adrian sits down with one of the most powerful social media figures in Ireland, who is a wanted man by commercial brands.James Kavanagh explains what he does, why it works and how he is now earning a multiple of what he did in previous jobs.Honesty and originality, he says, are key attributes, as well a particularly strong work ethic. He discusses how coming from a family of strongly motivated individuals, including his famous brother (Conor McGregor’s trainer), has influenced his aptitude to graft.James also talks about why Snapchat — the platform that originally gave him his biggest boost — now appears to be “stagnating” compared to Instagram.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What’s the story with self-driving cars coming to Ireland? How will it all affect insurance? Will middle-aged men be able to bear giving up ‘control’ of their ‘rides’? And which cars already have significant self-driving capabilities?Adrian sits down with two people who know all about it, Geraldine Herbert (Sunday Independent and editor of wheelsforwomen.ie) and Philip McNamara, co-founder of Mobility X, which is looking at the near future for autonomous vehicles.The panel also look at the problems being faced with electric cars in Ireland, particularly why Irish people won’t buy them. And there’s a discussion on the very worst type of passengers which you might get stuck with.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Communications Minister Denis Naughten sits down with Adrian and Fearghal O’Connor to talk of plans to make high speed broadband an “enforceable legal right” in Ireland.The Roscommon TD also says that a new mobile coverage map for Ireland will become available at the end of the year, showing where all the blackspots are.And after weeks of controversy, Minister Naughten also answers a few questions about media plurality in Ireland and when a ministerial opinion differs from a personal opinion when talking on the phone.Other topics covered include the struggle of electric cars in Ireland, why the Minister himself doesn’t drive one and the future of Eir.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Adrian sits down with the Emmy award-winning Boston tycoon who is the last man standing in Ireland’s controversial National Broadband Plan – Enet chairman David McCourt. Joined by Sunday Independent deputy editor Fearghal O’Connor, they discuss politics, Donald Trump, Angelina Jolie and the prospects for rural Ireland.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Adrian talks about digital consent, kids, Facebook, privacy and all points in between with Dylan Collins, the Tipperary founder and chief executive of SuperAwesome, a ‘kid tech’ company he founded five years ago and which is now valued at over $100m.Adrian and Dylan debate some basic truths about the internet and social media, and also look Mark Zuckerberg’s performance in front of the US Congress during the week.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian is joined by the CTO of Europe’s biggest airline, Ryanair. John Hurley talks about the barrier to putting wifi in the planes, those trumpet noises and whether Ryanair can really become the “Amazon of travel”. He also explains why, despite things like reserved seating now on offer, Ryanair won’t ever be getting into ‘business class’. The Sunday Independent’s deputy business editor, Fearghal O’Connor, is on hand to keep things civilised.The panel also unbox Apple’s new sixth generation iPad and wonder aloud why telecoms executives and aviation executives tend to wear the same clothes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What are the rules when it comes to dating people you work with? In tech companies, there are some interesting new guidelines emerging.To discuss this, Adrian is joined by Green Party leader Eamon Ryan TD and Irish Independent journalist Katie Byrne.The three also discuss the future for electric cars and whether we’re caught up in too many techno-fuelled upgrade bubbles, resulting in poor environmental practices.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.