The Big Tech Show

This week’s €1.5bn EU fine against Google for shutting rivals out of its online ad system begs the question: is Google too big? Should it be broken up? And if so, what about Facebook and Amazon?In the US, this is exactly what Democratic US presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren is proposing. But is it feasible? And what would it mean in terms of services?To discuss the practical and legal considerations around this, Adrian is joined by Philip Andrews, the head of the EU & Competition Law Group at McCann FitzGerald and by Donal O’Donovan, business editor of the Irish Independent.The panel looks at how much of our lives are spent using Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon and whether there’s any hope for new entrants to the market. They also wonder whether Europe’s muscular regulatory approach toward the big tech firms is sufficient or whether more radical anti-trust remedies are needed.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the roles for 5G is to connect self-driving cars. But before that happens, this generation of cars is currently being linked up to 4G networks for safety, upgrade and entertainment purposes.This week, Adrian talks to Barry Napier whose Cubic Telecom is one of Europe’s main providers of mobile connectivity to cars and other everyday things we use.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So Mark Zuckerberg wants Facebook to be a ‘privacy first’ company. Totally expected, right?This week, Adrian and Castlebridge founder Daragh O’Brien dig down into Mark Zuckerberg‘s new corporate mission to see whether it holds water.They discuss the chances — or not — of Facebook being allowed by Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner to make messages from Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger ‘interoperable’, as Zuckerberg sets out.And they look at what Ireland’s new Online Safety Commissioner will be expected to do.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What's it like being Facebook's policeman?This week, Adrian sits down for an in-depth chat with Helen Dixon, Europe's most powerful data protection commissioner.They talk about Facebook, her approach and what exactly it takes for her office to kick off a probe.Helen has some surprising revelations, such as her office's recent look at whether Facebook is secretly recording us through our phones (and what they found).Adrian also asks Helen whether GDPR is causing endless pop-ups on websites that get ignored and if it has helped the big tech firms while hurting small players and startups.And theres lots more, from CCTV to what the office is planning in the future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adrian sits down with a German artificial intelligence expert to talk about why Europe isn’t doing AI right.In particular, Dr Stefan Heumann argues that member states and the European Union need to start taking AI seriously as a concerted effort if Europe is to compete with China and the US.Dr Heumann is a member of the management board of Stiftung Neue Verantwortung (SNV), a non-profit think tank working at the intersection of technology and public policy in Germany.Adrian spoke to him at the Institute of International and European Affairs in Dublin.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After a very big week of broadband announcements in Ireland, Adrian sits down with the person promising the most radical plan.Imagine boss Sean Bolger says that his wireless broadband company will build a new national network to connect over 1m homes, including 400,000 of the 540,000 rural homes currently earmarked under the National Broadband Plan.This, he says, will be done by building hundreds of sites (such as masts) around the country, which will deliver the service to antennae on rural homes.But is this just another promise from a telecoms company? When will the rural homes he’s planning on connecting see the service?And does this mean he intends to scupper or challenge the state-subsidised scheme, which would use taxpayers’ money to do an enhanced fibre-based version of the same thing?Bolger has decades of experience in the Irish telecoms market. His was the company behind the WiMax wireless service that rose and fell some years ago.But rural Ireland may be his biggest challenge yet.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You started a company. You sold it for over €60m. Now you’re going back to start something new from scratch.The question is: why? Why get back into the trenches and try to prove yourself all over again?“It's the struggle, the fight. It's pulling together the most talented people to do their respective jobs and having that team become greater than the sum of their parts.”That’s Alan Coleman, the Dubliner who sold homegrown telecoms billing company Britebill for a fortune in 2016. He’s back with a new startup, Sweepr, and he’s aiming higher.He’s this week’s podcast guest on ‘The Big Tech Show’.One of the questions Adrian asks is what gets a startup entrepreneur really motivated.“Once I have an idea in my mind that this is inevitably going to be the way in which the world works, I then think, ‘why couldn't I do that? Why shouldn't it be me that starts the path to that inevitable outcome?’ I'm an extreme optimist.”Adrian and Alan also talk about privacy, the Ring doorbell and what’s coming next in tech.“There’s an enjoyment out of taking something that is literally a fleeting thought and building it up into a working company,” says Coleman.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, a double-header: one of Ireland’s best known venture capitalists talks money, while a tutor for beginners discusses what we need to know.Adrian catches up with entrepreneur and Draper Esprit financier Brian Caulfield to talk about the state of things for funding and company-building in Ireland today.Then he meets Aisling Mackey, Ireland’s ‘computer tutor’ to talk about some of the skills that we should brush up on.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How relevant are colleges? This week, Adrian sits down with the president of Dublin City University, Prof Brian MacCraith, to talk what universities do well and what they struggling with.Adrian asks Prof MacCraith why Irish universities keep slipping down the international ratings. He also asks about the possible introduction of a student loan system or higher fees for richer students, two things long recommended to keep Irish universities afloat but which no political party here will accept.The two also discuss whether online learning services such as Galway-based Alison.com or US-based Udacity and Coursera are chipping away at the basic rationale for having physical universities in the first place.Prof MacCraith also denies that there is a ‘snob factor’ with regard to Irish kids choosing a ‘northside university’.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Podcast host Adrian Weckler has been writing columns saying that web shopping — and Amazon in particular — is seriously altering the fortunes of offline retailers and the future of the ‘high street’.But the head of one of Ireland’s biggest retail chains, Harvey Norman’s Blaine Callard, thinks this is baloney.This week, Adrian invites Blaine on to tell him why.Blaine tells him that empty spaces in high streets and run down shopping centres are a misreading of the data and have more to do with parking charges, bad zoning and plain bad retailing than Amazon.He also reserves delivers harsh verdicts on retailers such as Clerys and Sears.Adrian remains unconvinced, but gives Blaine a good run at why he thinks the media are running with a false narrative.The two recorded the podcast in Harvey Norman’s newest flagship outlet, the 58,000 square foot store in Tallaght.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the wake of a Huawei executive arrested for spying in the EU, do western countries face a threat to their national security from Chinese telecom and tech companies? Or is the current controversy over who builds 5G networks being infused with scaremongering and paranoia by US politicians and commentators?Adrian sits down with Declan Ganley, the long-time Irish telecoms executive who claims that China has a military-industrial ethos which threatens western security. Adrian puts it to Declan that there is little evidence so far linking telecoms rollout that involve Chinese infrastructure firms with spying or other nation state activities. But Declan isn’t convinced, arguing that there is a greater national ‘mission’ in China that cannot be ignored.The two also debate how 5G licences should be rolled in future, with Declan arguing that the current system is broken.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s arguably the most talked-about tech question of our time – is Facebook listening to your physical conversations to serve you ads? An increasing number of people are convinced that this is the case. To take a technical and ethical dive into the issue, Adrian is joined by three people who are deeply knowledgeable about the science, marketing and cultural tech behind what it would all entail. Facebook ad expert Damien Mulley doesn’t believe it’s happening and explains why. Dr Patricia Scanlon, founder of voice AI specialist firm Soapbox Labs, is sceptical but thinks it might be possible under certain circumstances. And culture journalist Roisin Kiberd takes a step back to consider its place in our wider relationship with tech.If you like informed, in-depth commentary on a big tech issue of the day, this is worth your time.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the demise of Facebook among younger people to the death of DSLR cameras and Amazon’s destruction of high street retail, Adrian looks at what to expect in the year ahead.He’s joined by Patrick Walsh, founder of the coworking space, Dogpatch Labs in Dublin. Along the way, they also discuss why people are turning off traditional offices and whether alternatives, such as Ludgate and Republic Of Work in Cork, Portershed in Galway and HQ in Tralee will mop up the business of hosting growing tech firms.This is the 52nd Big Tech Show podcast of 2018 – a big thank you to all our listeners for tuning in over the year.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is audio a missed opportunity for newspapers? A bold young Irish startup, NOA, has struck deals with publishers such as Bloomberg, the New York Times and the FT to create a new audio news service from those publications’ daily news stories.The idea, according to NOA’s Gareth Hickey and Shane Ennis, is to create a ‘Spotify for News’. Adrian chats about the idea and wonders about what kind of audio delivery might work best. Inevitably, he slips into a few impressions of well-known radio and advertising people he thinks might do it well.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Phones, smartwatches, hifi, tablets, laptops – Adrian goes through some of the best tech to get over Christmas and recaps on what has impressed during the year.He’s joined by up-and-coming creative Jake McCabe, a hifi and video expert who dabbles in all things tech.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All the statistics show that when it comes to VC cash, men get almost all of it. In fact, they snag way more than the percentage of startups they solely found.In conversation with two Irish VC investors and a startup COO, Adrian wonders if it’s partly down to male founders simply being less shy about making grandiose, bold statements about their firms. And what should investors actually do about it? Is positive discrimination desireable? Or should it be a slow evolution?Giving expert analysis on the funding climate, as well as life around Irish startups, are this week’s guests: Edel Coen (investment executive with Draper Esprit, a pan-European venture capital firm), Isabelle O’Keeffe (principal at Suir Valley Ventures) and Austin Spivey (chief operating officer of Wia Technologies).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the original dot com boom, all you needed was an idea and you were showered with millions in funding. But is the same now happening with cryptocurrency and blockchain?This week, Adrian meets David Wachsman, the founder of the world’s largest Blockchain focused PR agency. It has chosen Dublin as its headquarters to serve Europe.Adrian asks whether crypto is a bandwagon that people are jumping on. The two talk about possible use cases versus actual examples of blockchain in action now.David also deals with the question of why so many fringe industry players have been catapulted into a starring role just because they are now involved in the crypto industry.And Adrian talks about examples of ethical breaches in journalism within crypto-oriented media organisations, specifically the issue of articles for cash.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian throws off the shackles in a free-ranging conversation with the Irish Independent’s environment editor, Paul Melia. The two discuss the current state of big tech companies, why electric cars are a tough sell at present and the credibility gap that cryptocurrency evangelists sometimes suffer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when the tech company you build becomes wildly successful? Do you change?At the Web Summit, Adrian sat down with the Des Treanor, co-founder of Intercom, the €1bn software firm. They talked about dealing with success, company culture, artificial intelligence and where Intercom goes from here.The Big Tech Show is brought to you this week by PwC.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adrian returns to Dublin following Apple’s MacBook Air and iPad Pro launch. Joined by Sunday Independent business correspondent Michael Cogley and INM head of product Steve Dempsey, he goes through the most important features of what was announced and asks whether pro tablets can be a long term replacement for current laptops.Irish Independent business editor Donal O’Donovan joins the discussion to figure out whether the Web Summit, which kicks off in Lisbon on Tuesday, matters to Irish business. Is the event too closely tied with founder Paddy Cosgrave? And does Cosgrave’s foray into political topics help or hinder the conference?There’s also a look at the politics and ethics around the mass walkout at Google during the week, followed by a dissection of what may be holding up the National Broadband Plan.This week’s episode is brought to you in conjunction with PwC.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark Little is one of Ireland’s most recognisable media technology figures. From being an anchorman on RTE television to founding Storyful to becoming boss of Twitter in Ireland, he has seen the business from all angles.Now he’s back with a new venture that aims to reinvent app-based news. Together with former journalist and Facebook executive Aine Kerr and ex-Storyful collaborator Paul Watson, Little has launched ‘Kinzen’.Adrian sits down to talk to Little, Kerr and Watson about the problem they’re trying to solve and what lies ahead for the news business.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When do comedy and technology mix? Why is social media so much to the fore in critical analysis of current events? This week, Adrian chats to a contemporary master, David Schneider, about the role of comedy and social media in our daily lives. Schneider is one of the writers and actors on seminal British comedy series such as 'The Day Today' and 'I’m Alan Partridge’.Adrian also catches up with Lory Kehoe, the Irish boss of the blockchain specialist company, Consensys. They discuss some of the applications for blockchain in business today and whether it cold have a role in creating new economic models for the media industry.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a week that saw the resignation of the Minister responsible for the National Broadband Plan, Adrian asks some blunt questions about whether the whole rural rollout plan is going to be delayed and, if so, for what reasons. Adrian is joined in analysing the whole sorry saga by the Irish Independent’s political correspondent, Laura Larkin and the Sunday Independent’s business correspondent, Michael Cogley.Adrian also catches up with Oisin Hanrahan, the Dublin tech entrepreneur who raised almost €100m for the US online service firm Handy Technologies, after the company was sold to Nasdaq-listed Angi Homeservices.And Adrian gets a hands-on look at the latest range of updated Amazon gadgets, from the Echo speakers to the new Echo Input, as they prepare to launch into the Irish market.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you ask for money for your startup?That’s the question that Adrian put to Peter O’Malley, the co-founder of a new startup that has raised €1m from a variety of ‘business angels’ that include Paddy Cosgrave, CPL boss Anne Heraty and former Paddy Power chief Breon Corcoran.Is there a difference between approaching ‘friends and family’ and business contacts? What sort of plan do you need to have in place?Peter talks about his own experience and how he and co-founder Galen Lowney realised that there was space in the market for their startup, Advisable.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you ask for money for your startup?That’s the question that Adrian put to Peter O’Malley, the co-founder of a new startup that has raised €1m from a variety of ‘business angels’ that include Paddy Cosgrave, CPL boss Anne Heraty and former Paddy Power chief Breon Corcoran.Is there a difference between approaching ‘friends and family’ and business contacts? What sort of plan do you need to have in place?Peter talks about his own experience and how he and co-founder Galen Lowney realised that there was space in the market for their startup, Advisable.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian talks tech and politics with Tommy Collison, an Irish transplant to Seattle. Tommy brings us up to date on where tech and politics intersect in Silicon Valley.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With almost two weeks of rigorous testing under his belt, Adrian Weckler assesses the iPhone Xs and Xs Max . Is the screen on the Xs Max too big? Has battery life improved? Is the Xs now the best cameraphone, or is Huawei’s P20 Pro still in top spot? And can that big, big price be justified, or is it worth waiting for next month’s iPhone Xr?Adrian also meets Jamie White, the young Dublin entrepreneur who set up Start Summit and Leading Social, a marketing agency specialising in social media strategies for big companies.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian reports from Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California where he was on hand to test out the newly-launched iPhone Xs Max, Xs and Xr phones.The big talking points are around that new 6.5-inch screen, a whopper by Apple’s standards.But the other surprise feature came in the shape of the new Apple Watch Series 4’s ECG sensor and ‘fall detection’ feature.Separately, Adrian talks to the futurist Lucie Greene about how the big tech companies are likely to affect our lives in coming years.Greene is the author of 'Silicon States: The Power and Politics of Big Tech and What It Means for Our Future'.Greene gives a glimpse of a dystopian near-future while avoiding much of the over-egged hysteria that sometimes compromises work in this genre.Voting via block-chain or emergency services on demand (with 'surge pricing' models built in) may be on the way, she says, as Silicon Valley ramps up its designs on cities and towns.Greene also takes a look at the political manoeuvres of big tech companies and their founders, from how Uber and AirBnB riles up local communities to the once-likely presidential ambitions of Mark Zuckerberg.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian Weckler talks to the global IT security celebrity and virus hunter Mikko Hypponen.Hypponen, chief research officer at F-Secure, says that we should be taking threats from North Korea a lot more seriously than we do.He also explains why, in the hierarchy of worst malware outbreaks in recent years, Petya was probably worse than Wannacry.And he hears how Adrian is guilty of perpetuating one of the stupidest security practices in Ireland today.(Hypponen is one of the keynote speakers at this year’s Dublin Information Sec 2018, taking place in the RDS on October 15th.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian talks to Daniel Gross, who grew up in Israel and went to Silicon Valley as a teenager to seek fame and fortune through the famous accelerator, Y Combinator.He set up a company called Cue and sold it to Apple for a reported $35m in 2013 before going to work for the tech giant. Last year, he left Apple to become a partner in Y Combinator and now he’s a founder of Pioneer, which says that it is looking for ‘lost Einsteins’ or talented young people who aren’t getting a chance in life.His thesis is that there’s massive potential in young people who are missing out because they don’t come from the ‘right’ background.Pioneer is being backed by Patrick Collison and the famous investor and former Netscape founder Marc Andreesen, who are both helping to fund it.Adrian and Daniel talk about his life, what inspired him and why he wants to help people get ahead.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian sits down for an exclusive chat with Ryan Smith, the charismatic Utah founder of the €2bn software firm Qualtrics.As well as being one of the fastest growing tech companies in the world, Smith is on a mission to battle cancer. He started his company when he quit college to look after his father, who was diagnosed with cancer. While his dad survived, Qualtrics’ Irish boss Dermot Costello passed away earlier this year from cancer. (Costello, a huge presence in the Irish tech industry, spoke about this at length in a written interview with Adrian in January when he new he had only days to live. You can read it in full here: https://www.independent.ie/business/technology/news/tech-boss-choosing-to-define-his-life-by-optimism-not-illness-36456505.html)Smith talks about Costello’s importance to him personally and to Qualtrics and explains why the company has named its new Dublin headquarters after Costello.He also talks about his zeal for ‘5 For The Fight’, the $50m campaign he set up to battle cancer via research and how the Irish chapter has already raised close to €200,000 in less than a year.Smith also talks about the “underbelly” of the tech boom, which comes as in the form of soaring rents and property prices.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian and the panel discuss the thorny question of whether social media services should be allowed — or obliged — to kick people off for airing views and opinions that are considered extreme or dangerous.It’s an issue that Twitter is currently hamfistedly trying to deal with in the case of Alex Jones, the American conspiracy theorist whose InfoWars channel has been accused of stirring up violent sentiment through its broadcasts and editorials. (Jones has argued that the September 11th terrorist attacks in the US were “an inside job” and that the Sandy Hook massacre, which killed innocent children, never happened.)Facebook and YouTube have kicked Jones and Infowars off. Are they right?Is this a question of freedom of speech or sensible policing by the social networks?Joining Adrian to debate the issue are Constantin Gurdiev, a professor of finance and a former editor of Business & Finance, and Jason O’Mahony, a political pundit and regular columnist with the Times Ireland Edition and Sunday Times.Gurdiev argues that it’s an overstep on the part of the social networks to ban voices, even ones as repugnant as Jones, as social networks are public spaces now.O’Mahony says that it’s proportionate to ban characters like Jones.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

They came to Dublin to seek success and fortune.This week, Adrian Weckler sits down with two ambitious, successful young entrepreneurs who have one thing in common: they came to Dublin for the promise of its tech industry.What did they find? Is Dublin the real tech capital they had heard about? Can you make it big here? What about those who say that Dublin is just a glorified big outsourcing centre for multinationals?American Austin Spivey (head of operations for Wia Technologies) and Sergei Lyubka (co-founder and CTO Of Cesanta) give a frank assessment of what’s good and bad about Dublin.Unsurprisingly, accommodation comes across as a nightmare.“I’ve found it harder to get an apartment here than in San Francisco,” says Spivey. “I would say that it’s really tough.”On the other hand, the quality of the people in Dublin and the number of other companies performing at a high level is a big draw, say Spivey and Lyubka.“Dublin is a proper tech capital,” says Lyubka. “Most of our market is the US so we could locate anywhere but Dublin is where we want to be.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Adrian Weckler looks at the list of sins Facebook is again having to answer for. Joined by political correspondent Laura Larkin and business editor Donal O’Donovan, the panel assesses Facebook’s excuses to an Irish government committee and looks at what might happen in the short term. Will there be a Digital Safety Commissioner? Will any political regulation actually materialise? And do people really care about all the hoopla around Facebook in the first place?The matter of a fresh tech bubble is also explored, partially triggered by Facebook’s huge fall in valuation after its earnings report last week. But are today’s tech companies really overvalued or is this just more doom-mongering by commentators hoping to be correct at some point? The panel looks at the companies involved and the basic factors that could prove or disprove the existence of bloated valuations.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is a downside to tech cities. On the US west coast, where the biggest tech companies have their headquarters, there is also terrible homelessness.In this podcast episode, Adrian goes to Seattle, arguably America’s fastest-growing tech metropolis.He poses the question; why is homelessness is so bad in a city that’s booming so much?While Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing and other huge firms soar, so does the number of people in tent cities alongside roads in the city.It’s a dystopian scenario. Adrian asks the leaders of local homelessness organisations why it’s happening and talks to one local politician about the connections between big tech companies and the poverty problem.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Having tested dozens of handsets this year, Adrian Weckler gives his verdict on what the best cameraphone on the market is at present.It comes down to a battle between three models: Huawei’s P20 Pro, Apple’s iPhone X and Samsung’s Galaxy S9 Plus. Adrian picks the winner, the runner up and the also-ran, as well as a budget alternative.Adrian also looks at some of the best summer technology gadgets on the market right now, including the best new drone, portable power bank and travel camera.Adrian also asks an awkward question: should the biggest tech companies be doing more to get involved with local communities in Ireland?He looks at the cases of Google, Facebook and Apple and compares them to a time 100 years ago when giant companies like Guinness felt a deeper responsibility to helping out in the communities they operated in.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian gets a behind-the-scenes tour of Microsoft’s campus headquarters in Redmond, Seattle.This includes a preview of the latest in he company’s ‘mixed reality’ headset, Hololens. It also includes a discussion on the ethics and future of artificial intelligence, which Microsoft is laying great emphasis on.The company also lays out some futuristic plans, including a data centre under the sea.And it gives a complete rundown of what the office of the future might look like, including giant collaborative touchscreens and meetings controlled by voice assistants.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian Weckler talks to two women directing crucial operations in two of the world’s biggest tech companies.The Big Tech Show travelled to Seattle to meet Emma Williams, the Dubliner who’s now Microsoft’s corporate vice president for Office Products Group.As she tells Adrian, it was originally the study of Old Norse and Anglo Saxon English in Trinity College that gave Williams a propensity to learn open source code.20 years on, Williams is directing some of Microsoft’s most important products, having left her mark on Bing, artificial intelligence and one of its newest initiatives, Microsoft Teams.Adrian then met Emily Vacher, Facebook’s director of trust and safety.A former FBI agent, Emily recounts why she joined America’s famed law enforcement agency and how that led to a career in Facebook. She also talks about the tech giant’s latest initiative in Ireland, where Facebook has teamed up with An Garda Siochana to distribute alerts whenever there is a credible threat of a child being abducted.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How has it come to a situation where a big tech company announcing 1,000 new jobs is freaking people out?This week’s Amazon jobs announcement has led to a backlash from people who feel it will put extra pressure on rents and infrastructure in the capital.“Where will they live?”“Oh great, even higher rents...”“Why are these jobs all in Dublin?”“How many will come from abroad?”20, 10 or even five years ago, big job announcements were seen as a huge boost to the country.Today, they’re seen as a threat.Adrian Weckler and Irish Independent environment editor Paul Melia discuss the origins of the problem and potential solutions.The resentment appears to come from those trying to buy a home or rent an apartment. The already sparse stock of available accommodation gets thinner and thinner. A two-bedroom terraced ex-council home that sold for €280,000 three years ago now costs €400,000. A 450 square foot one-bed apartment that cost €900 now costs €1,200.Engineers can afford to pay this. Retail or service industry workers can’t.At the heart of the problem is the feeling that we haven’t gotten our act together on housing and infrastructure.So more and more of us are being squeezed out of parts of the city where rents and house prices are rocketing.But instead of blaming ourselves (planners, politicians, councillors, lawyers and countless Nimby-addled community associations) for the Wild West property market, we’re turning on companies offering new jobs.If only multinational firms would stop coming in with these jobs, things might be easier for ‘ordinary people’.Get lost, Google. Feck off, Facebook. Adios, Amazon.But are we that bad at steering our own country?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Are robots actually becoming intelligent?”“Is my job under threat from intelligent machines?”“How close are Google, Amazon and Apple to giving me a real assistant?”“Is Elon Musk right that machines are going to wake up and start killing us?”These are the practical questions that dominate today’s discussions around artificial intelligence.Adrian Weckler sits down with AI expert and founder of SoapBox Labs, Patricia Scanlon, to go through dozens of ordinary questions about what will now happen in normal life with AI on the rise.The two also discuss the latest developments in voice recognition technology, including the question over whether we should have a right to know when we’re talking to a chatbot.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.