287: Autonomous Excavator

Friend of the show Frank is seeking to delineate when something is a “vending machine” and when it’s just a machine that vends. John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

Thanks to Friend of the Show Casey, we’re talking about weird cars and car classes again. John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

Listener Ivan sent in a link to an autonomous excavator that assembled a six-foot wall out of rocks. Is it the Roomba of construction materials?! John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

A tale of dishwashers and large sinks. John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

We follow up on some feedback about our theme songs, and theme songs in general, while taking on whether we use the Skip Intro button when we should be listening to TV theme songs. John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

It’s baseball’s Opening Day, so here’s our discussion of automated balls and strikes, also known as “Robot Umps,” how they relate to automated Hawk-Eye tennis calls, and why we won’t ever know how good human umpires could actually be. John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

Fresh out of the oven for Pi Day, here’s a discussion of who exactly thinks pizza is a pie. John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

Do you have to leave the airport or get out of the car to claim you’ve been somewhere? (And are you under oath?) John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

Listener Kent is building actual killer robots. John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

What makes a hat a hat? John Siracusa and Jason Snell.