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Curing phobias with VR; petrol stations of the future; where to store photos…

Tech Talk with Mathew Dickerson

Can VR technology help with a fear of spiders and needles? Can robots be used to comb and untangle hair? Why are NBN installations and repairs being delayed? How secure are your security cameras? Have you ever thought about renting out your driveway …

2021

Lasering weeds; Bending light around corners; Johnnycabs in the real world…

Tech Talk with Mathew Dickerson

How many people does it take to remove the weeds from 8 hectares of onions? Can light travel around corners? Would you like to try an EV before you buy? Tax time = scam time? The gentlemen of the cyberattack industry. Can a smartphone help you “see…

2021

3D Printing: The future of building? Tech Talk Column 249

Tech Talk Column

3D Printing: The future of building?…

2021

Who needs Google Ads? Tech Talk Column 248

Tech Talk Column

Stick with me while I do some back of the envelope maths. Google performs 3.5 billion searches every day. Assume that is one visit to Google per search. Google has country specific domains (google.com.au for Australia for example). Argentina (just pi…

2021

Is my phone listening to me? Tech Talk Column 247

Tech Talk Column

I bought a new red car a couple of years ago. “I can’t believe how many red cars are on the road now,” I remember thinking. Red cars currently make up about eight per cent of new car purchases which, if anything, is slightly down on what it has…

2021

Everything is better with Bluetooth…even Apple. Tech Talk Column 246.

Tech Talk Column

Fairfax Tech Talk Column When it comes to business product development, is it better to be the first to market or be the best on market? If you believe the marketing from one particular potato chip company, the best outcome is to be both. “The Orig…

2021

The Venn Diagram of Social Media Anonymity. Tech Talk Column 245

Tech Talk Column

When John Venn first wrote about the different ways of representing propositions by diagrams in 1880, I am pretty certain that he didn’t have ID proof on social media at the forefront of his mind, but a Venn diagram of the current proposal before g…

2021

Airless tyres. Tech Talk Column 244

Tech Talk Column

I can remember the days of my youth. Not a care in the world with my main priority of finishing my homework so I could get on my BMX bike and ride the streets with my friends. The feeling of wind in my hair, sun on my face and…damn. A puncture. The…

2021

How are supernovae going to help fight bushfires? Tech Talk Column 243

Tech Talk Column

Just over a year ago we were coming out of one of the worst bushfire seasons on record. 18.6 million hectares burnt out; 34 lives lost; 2,600 homes; 1 billion animals. It was also a year ago that we went in to a virus-induced lockdown and the world c…

2021

Was George Orwell a time traveller? Fairfax Tech Talk Column 242

Tech Talk Column

I have an admission to make. When people make general reference to swiping left or swiping right, I never know which is the correct direction. Having been married since 1995 I have never had reason to download a dating app. With 270 million people wo…

2021

Home Health Technology – Fairfax Tech Talk Column 241

Tech Talk Column

Recently I had the chance to sit down to dinner with our National Rural Health Commissioner, Professor Ruth Stewart. Among many topics of conversation was the average life expectancy for Australians. We are at an all-time high with life expectancy at…

2021

Reshaping the car – Fairfax Tech Talk Column 240

Tech Talk Column

In 2015 I visited the Mount Buller Alpine Resort. In summer. I attended the Australian MTB Summit and one session in particular stuck with me. Scot Nicol, the founder of Ibis Bicycles, delivered a discussion on the future of MTB. In his early days of…

2021

Half of Aussies are freeloaders – Fairfax Tech Talk Column 239

Tech Talk Column

Very early in my business career, I had a customer who I considered to be a great client. He was buying products and using our services and paying his bills. I got on famously with him. He started to be a little tardy paying bills but I wasn’t that…

2021

Most annoying phone habits – Fairfax Tech Talk Column 238

Tech Talk Column

Finding a lifelong partner is a difficult and complicated exercise. From initially meeting someone to agreeing to spend your lives together there is a journey of discovery. Your visions for the future, your values and overall compatibility. Deal-brea…

2021

Mixing virtual and physical pool – Fairfax Tech Talk Column 237

Tech Talk Column

I am a bit of a fan of pool – the cue sport rather than the water. I grew up in a household where games of pool with my family were a regular occurrence – be they rivalries with siblings or trying to beat Dad or even the all-in version of Kelly P…

2021

Player up! – Fairfax Tech Talk Column 236

Tech Talk Column

“Stop playing those video games and focus on what you are going to do after you finish school” is a common expression heard in the Dickerson household when yours truly is trying to get my kids to stop playing games and do their homework. I would …

2021

A face that pays for you – Fairfax Tech Talk Column 235

Tech Talk Column

It is not often that I see a member of the Gen Z cohort lost for words but I recently experienced this rare spectacle. A long-term client had made a purchase and handed over a cheque as payment. They left the store and my Gen Z staff member asked abo…

2021

Technology goes down the toilet – Fairfax Tech Talk Column 234

Tech Talk Column

Over the holidays I have been introducing my kids to some classic TV shows, including Gilligan’s Island. I still haven’t worked out why five passengers took so many bags of luggage on a ‘three hour tour’ and surely Thurston Howell III, w…

2021

Technology has gone to the dogs – Fairfax Tech Talk Column 233

Tech Talk Column

It is a familiar scene in our household. Early each morning our Maltese Poodle and Toy Poodle scratch at the front door to alert the humans in the house that they are ready to go outside. Very obligingly, a human slides out of bed and lets the two do…

2021