“"Can science be funny?" is answered with a resounding YES” MyReviewer.com … more

Series 2, Episode 04: INPUT AND OUTPUT

Click here for more episodes

If you’re using the player above to listen to this episode, click here to open this page in a new browser window so you can visit the links below without losing your place.

In this episode, Steve explains how computers talk to each other behind our backs, Helen co-writes a song with a popular internet search engine (if you can’t work out which one, Google it) and Matt brings an Oscar-winning algorithm to the table.

  • 00:56 – Steve’s bit
  • 16:18 – Matt’s bit
  • 36:24 – Helen’s bit

Want to get in touch? We’re on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or email podcast@festivalofthespokennerd.com

If you’d like inbox updates about this podcast and our plans for future live shows, join our mailing list. If you’re into merch, DVDs, downloads or books check out the Spoken Nerd Shop. If songs are your thing, Helen has created a free album on Bandcamp with all the tracks from Series 1 and 2.

Corrections and clarifications:

  • MikoKisai (and many others since he first noticed it…) has kindly pointed out that at various points, Steve gets his acronyms wrong: API is short for application programming interface, not application protocol interface. Cheers Miko!
  • Steve Howe also pointed out an error from Helen: A major and F# minor are the “same” key, not A major and C# minor as she said.
  • Darci Peeps on YouTube pointed us towards a great video from Iñigo Quilez, the developer on Brave whose phone number was used as the seed for generating realistic vegetation.

And here’s a heap of Unnecessary Detail from this episode:

A Podcast Of Unnecessary Detail is part of the Acast Creator Network. Thanks for listening!

Join our mailing list

more info