TechZing is an informal bi-weekly chat show aimed at entreprenures and hackers interested in creating their own web app startup. The show is both educational (with practical advice) and conversational.
293: TZ Discussion - The Wildcard
Justin and Jason discuss the latest with Math Academy – Jason’s class, the district program and the software, temperpedic beds, the problem of living in the middle of a “fun” area of town, why Jason doesn’t want stuff and what he does want, Justin’s new “super router”, why getting a storage unit is generally a mistake, Phil’s hack for how to emotionally detach from books he needs to get rid of, the evolutionary advantage and repercussions of human curiosity, Duolingo and granular learning, why Jason thinks learning a foreign languages is rarely worth the time, Justin’s new work-at-home situation, how website design work is drying up, why future actors will have to compete with CGI versions of actors of the past, Justin’s idea to create AI from the DNA level, the path and prospect of strong AI, Jason’s desire to create a synthetic hedge fund using Collective2 and the prospect of a Trump presidency.
292: TZ Discussion - Doing the Business
Justin, Jason and Phil discuss the Math Academy software and the latest with the rollout of the program, the silly idea that children are incapable of abstract thought at age 11, how to raise a creative child, Phil’s experience as an analyst for an angel fund and as a head TA in business school, learning from failure and success, what’s required in terms of a business plan or financial model to get funding, why Jason prefers to ignore competitors, the non-competition between Microsoft and Google, business models, not following for the aesthetic trap and various winning strategies, a brief history of Uber’s rollout, Justin’s futuristic UI concept for Twitter (think Minority Report) and the article where Jason was recently quoted about algorithmic trading.
291: TZ Discussion - No Brain Required
Justin and Jason discuss why they decided not to publish that last show, Jason’s Christmas debacle, how we’re living in the future, the documentary An Honest Liar, how Dean Kamen is solving the world’s drinking water problem, solving problems solution first, the First Robotics competition, Jason’s recent addiction to the mobil game Hex Fvr, Gone Girl, the Bastard Executioner, Homicide Hunter, the Nerdist Podcast interview with Joe Kenda and the Detective podcast, why Jason receives so many emails about his algorithmic trading blog post, Justin’s new project, Jason’s idea of aggregating a handful of trading strategies on Collective2 into a fund of funds, Wealthfront and Betterment, the man who had virtually no brain, Jason’s new math class, the progress with the Math Academy and the software that’s going to power it, the financial pluses and minuses of working for a startup, the stress of running Slack, why Justin thinks the engineers at Slack might snoop on conversations and why Jason is skeptical, treating human disease with the CRISPR technique, The Strain, Nick Bostrom, Super Intelligence, the Open AI initiative and whether true artificial intelligence would have to be imbued with a fear of death.
290: TZ Discussion - Flash in the Pan
Justin, Jason and Phil discuss the demise of Spoke.
289: TZ Discussion - In Silico
Justin, Jason and Phil discuss how Phil got fit and why he got an MBA, the explanatory power of incentives, Jason and Phil’s time together in college, how nanobots in our brains will make us ‘Godlike’, why uploading your conscience will not make you immortal, creating an earth-sized virtual world, why we may not be able to find any alien neighbors, the anti-aging NAD fad, why Justin decided to kill Spoke and his one-month challenge. Executive Producer: Ben Reyes
288: TZ Discussion - Colby Speaks
Justin, Jason and Colby discuss Colby’s strength training program, his view on the accelerated math class and why he designed his own football helmet and defensive playbook, the latest on the Math Academy, Justin’s 7-minute workout and his reinvention of Weight Watchers, Jason’s progress on Operation Superhero and his 3-week sprint concept and the latest on Spoke and Givetronic.
287: TZ Discussion - Fail Slow
Justin and Jason discuss their decision to continue doing the show, why streaming is a pain in Justin’s ass and why the last show was so painful for him, Justin’s path to his latest project – Spoke, Jason’s jury duty service, getting Colby started on “lion-cub training”, the latest with MV Code Club, finding a developer for Givetronic, Colby’s defensive playbook, the latest with Operation Superhero, Justin’s new 7-minute workout and chiropractor, Jason’s criticism ofFear the Walking Dead, the book and upcoming movie The Martian, how most popular songs are written by a duo of middle-aged, Norwegian songwriters and the role of obsessiveness in achieving success.
286: TZ Discussion - Son of a Horse
Justin and Jason discuss why Jason thinks it may be time to put an end to the show, why Justin stopped working on Lyte and why he quit his low-calorie diet, the Chrome plug-in for motivation, nearsourcing work to Mexican consulting firms, Aaron Francis’ commentary on Entreporn, finding a developer for Givetronic, Jason’s thoughts on Bitcoin, the latest with the Math Academy, strength training Colby and why you don’t have to “protect” your startup idea.
285: TZ Interview - Gabriel Weinberg / Stoking the Traction Fire
Justin talks to Gabriel Weinberg about the re-release of his book Traction and the latest news on DuckDuckGo.
284: TZ Discussion – Radical Acceleration at Scale
Justin and Jason discuss Justin’s new diabetes-reversing diet, the growing momentum of the Math Academy and Jason’s new madness, getting Lyte out the door, lessons learned through playing StarCraft that are useful in real life, using unfairness to your advantage, why IQ is more important than people like to admit and the status of Jason’s dual-n back experiment.
283: TZ Discussion - Extraordinary Claims
Justin and Jason discuss Justin’s secret project, Lyte, how he built it and what he sees as its future, the possibility of transforming the math class into a math academy, how Uber is making the world a better place, why inexpensive self-teaching and test-prep books are often better than their equivalent textbooks, Jason’s new color laser printer, Chris Sacca’s anti-portfolio, the U.S. defense department’s interest in hoverbikes, an interview with James Simons, how China is attempting to genetically engineer genius and Jason’s upcoming dual-n-back experiment.
282: TZ Discussion - Socket.io to Your Brain
Justin and Jason discuss the move from Perioscope to Meerkat, Justin’s health update and why he got rid of his treadmill, how Colby blew the curve on the math final, the field trip to Caltech and the visit from the district superintendent, BVP’s anti-portfolio, how to keep from reverting to the mean, teaching kids about money and investments, the story behind CryptoIQ, Justin’s “billion dollar” secret project, Jason’s idea of how to build the Memory Hole on top of Instapaper, Kurzweil’s cyborg predictions, the MagicLeap platform, the possibility of doing another TechZing Summit, the Outernet and whether its signal could be jammed, low-power devices running off WiFi and uBeam’s ultrasound charging technology, ideas on how to interview technical candidates, the difficulty of learning advanced mathematics on your own and whether Justin’s obsession with taking shortcuts has hamstrung him in other ways.
281: TZ Discussion - "Based" on a True Story
Justin and Jason discuss the technical issues of streaming the show using Periscope, the possible resurrection of Empath, Jason’s advising CTO strategy, fear-based parenting, Justin’s secret project and reserving a name in the app store, the Seasteading Institute, nature vs. nurture, the latest with Justin’s “get fit” effort and Jason’s injuries, the athletes who benefitted from Jason’s vertical training protocol, Jason’s spontaneous two-man TechZing Summit, the math team’s performance at the LA Math Cup, when parents take things too seriously, teaching calculus to the math class and plans for the future, the latest with MV Code Club, the upcoming TV shows Limitless, Fear the Walking Dead and Mr. Robot, the inaccuracies of The Imitation Game and Argo, how the story behind the killing of Osama Bin Laden is a myth, the lie about how Syria used chemical weapons against rebel forces and how easily people are manipulated by the media, the TV show The Blacklist and thoughts on streaming with Periscope.
280: TZ Interview - Mike Taber / The Single Founder Handbook
Justin talks with Mike Taber author of The Single Founder Handbook
279: TZ Discussion - Death by Flying Tire
Justin and Jason discuss Jason’s recent near-death experience and how his brother’s childhood friend has a small part on The Walking Dead, the Reddit button, how Jason is trading coding hours for Robocraft hours with Colby, kids and electronics, the iWatch and why people are always checking their phones, the essence of peopling, automatic birthday wishes and thank yous on Facebook, why everything that can be automated eventually will be, Patrick McKenzie’s new startup – Starfigher, remote working and productivity, the relationship between wealth, power and fame, the two federal agents who were indicted for stealing Bitcoins, the movie The Imitation Game, why the Caltech visit was postponed a week, negative social patterns and the heritability of personality traits, iZombie, how the editors of Basic and Applied Social Psychology are no longer accepting p-values, the Reproducibility Project, why null results tend not to be published as often, the latest with MVCC and Justin’s new workout regime at CATZ.