The Big Tech Show

Why is Luigi Mangione being lauded as a hero online? What does this response say about online culture? And what does this say about the status of healthcare in the US? Reporter for WIRED magazine, David Gilbert, joined Adrian on The Big Tech Show todaySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is social media now ungovernable? Have we created an online world of manipulation, misinformation, controlled by a handful of billionaires? And if so, what can we do about it? Privacy expert, one of the inventors of social networking and author of Restoring Our Sanity Online, Mark Weinstein, joined Adrian on this week’s episode of The Big Tech Show. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Will Bitcoin continue to soar? Is Apple’s Vision Pro a flop? And should we take meme coins seriously? Producer, JJ Clarke, joined Adrian on this week’s episode of The Big Tech Show to discuss the latest tech news. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a rush to get presents? What tech should you gift this Christmas? And what are Adrian’s top affordable picks? Producer, JJ Clarke, joined Adrian on this week’s episode of the Big Tech Show. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you have a thick phone wallet? Do you use a novelty ringtone or set notifications to ping constantly? Is the crying laughing emoji one of your go-to texting characters? Well, you may not think of yourself this way, but you're middle aged. In this revisited episode of The Big Tech Show from July of this year, Adrian speaks to producer, JJ Clarke. Adrian kicked off the conversation by talking about the older generations' annoying habit of leaving their ringtone on in public places. There was some daylight here between Adrian’s and JJ’s view on this, with the latter stating that he believed it was the time it took to stop the ringing was the issue. Overuse of certain emojis is a hallmark of people who have aged out of the zeitgeist. Adrian spoke about the overuse of the crying laughing emoji. He said it was used like punctuation by this type of phone user and that every message from one of these senders will include them. You can listen to the full episode here on the Irish Independent website or wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are people easy to hack? Are we vulnerable to manipulation? And could this skill be used to gain entry to a property? In this revisited episode of The Big Tech Show from March of this year, Adrian speaks to the people hacker, Jenny Radcliffe. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why are Crypto and Bitcoin on a bull run at the moment? Was it set off by a Trump victory? And how long will it continue? Lory Kehoe, Chief commercial officer and head of international at M2 joined Adrian on this week’s episode of The Big Tech Show. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why is Bluesky getting a million new followers a day? How big is it in Ireland? And how do you find people once you join? Producer, JJ Clarke, joined Adrian on this week’s episode of The Big Tech Show. Bluesky is a social media platform that was founded as part of Twitter in 2019. In 2021, Jay Graber became CEO of the platform, with Dorsey leaving the platform's board in May. The site was initially invitation-only but was then opened to the public. Adrian began by addressing the narrative that people are leaving X and joining Bluesky on account of political ideology. However, he said the main reason users are signing up to the platform is because it is the first alternative to X where users can go and get the news. You can listen to the full episode here on the Irish Independent website or wherever you get your podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is Apple’s new MacBook Pro M4 worth getting? Is it better than an updated MacBook Air? And what type of work requires one? Producer, JJ Clarke, joined Adrian on this week’s episode of The Big Tech Show. For the last week Adrian has been testing out the 16-inch space-black, nano-texture version of the new MacBook Pro M4. He gives his verdict on the laptop which starts at a fairly lofty €2,999. Whereas the entry-level 14-inch M4 model (€1,949) has a few immediate upgrades worth noting, including double the RAM (16GB), a better chip (M4) and its €100 less than the M3 model. You can listen to the full episode here on the Irish Independent website or wherever you get your podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why did the FBI set up their own encrypted phone company? How did it result in the biggest drug trafficking sting in history? And is law enforcement finally catching up with criminals online? Author of Dark Wire and co-founder of 404 Media, Joseph Cox, joined Adrian on this week’s episode of The Big Tech Show. In 2018 the Federal Bureau of Investigation set up ANOM, a supposedly secure smartphone-based proprietary messaging app. It was a sting operation that intercepted millions of messages sent through the service. The ANOM service was widely used by criminals, but instead of providing secure and encrypted communication, it was in fact a trojan horse distributed covertly by the FBI between 2018 and 2021. You can listen to the full episode here on the Irish Independent website or wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.