Essence Of Zen: After Dark
The EoZ Podcast brings you Geek Nerd Culture Discussions. Topics range from gaming news to recent tech releases, alongside potentially important software security. Check the episode title to get an idea of what will be discussed.
Episodes
S04E08 | MythosAI Missed this During the Daybreak, Ubuntu and Google Betrayal!
Why, hello there!We're bringing you another late one! But we're making way! Listen to Zane and Louis lament over the AI Wars, the early signs of Apple consolidation, and their frustration with Ubuntu's decisions.Oh - and let's not forget Google clamping down on what may now be labelled "wasted resources".
S04E07 | Idiocracy, The Stupid Rich, Zane Rants
...
S04E06 | Grim Adventures of VibeRot
Apologies for the late releases! Life be lifing as they say.Want the Sources? Check out our new format of forming shownotes through our site! https://essenceofzen.org/grim-adventures-of-viberot-after-dark-s04e06/
S04E05 | AI is a Waste!? The Dark Manipulative Side of AI
W're back! Blame ArchLinux for the delays!Anyways - this episode continues off from episode 4 -- Zane and Louis have an hour going over AI topics and how some of the evilest money hungry people in the world even labels AI as a waste!Sit back and stay tuned!
S04E04 | MicroSlop, System76 Is Smart, Steam vs NY
Hey. Delayed Release. Schedules have been crazy, and Zane is moving primary systems - the one he edits on for example - over to Linux. Thanks for bearing with us!That being said - remember to call your loved ones, check in on them, and also take time for yourself every now and then. Much love.- Zane
S04E03 | Outages, AI, Aliens, and Microsoft
Listen to Zane and Louis get sidetracked constantly due to the various choices and situations that Microsoft has put themselves in. Admittedly, the episode was planned last minute 😅
S04E02 | 30% Sane 70% Crashing Out
A lot has happened during the 4 weeks since the last episode and Zane seems unhinged because of it!Listen in as Louis remains sane, while Zane continues to let the insanity slip through as both watch the structure of our society collapse, even within the tech space!
S04E01 | New Year Same Tangents
Zane and Louis catch up after not seeing each other for a year!Fair warning: This is a long episode - and we're looking for your feedback, would you want us to stay in about an hour's range, or are you in for longer episodes? Please let us know down below!
S03E08 | The Long Lost Season Finale
Zane Louis return after a hiatus to end
S03E07 | Tech Catch-Up Part 2: Google Kills AGAIN!
Part 2 of the last session is here! We cover some more Google end of life for services, some AI news - because every day something happens with AI - and also, some very frightening events around 23andMe... a company that has stored and sold DNA data of its users... was hacked...
This and more, After Dark
S03E06 | Tech Catch Up: Google and Apple
Back like we never left! Except, yea, it's a beefy session, so this episode is split into 2!
Today's episode covers some previous YouTube drama this year, some proud shilling over some sponsorships, and covering some of the news around the new Pixel 8 from Google, and the iPhone 15 from Apple.
Enjoy!
S03E05 | Apple, What in the Actual World?
Part 2 from the previous session.
Zane and Louis get into some of the Apple WWDC - primarily... the weird marketing choice for a certain head-gear.
S03E04 | Google Kills Yet Again
This episode has been split into two parts due to being 3 1/2 hours 😅
Welp - here's the first half of our return talking Gaming Showcases, Ocean Exploration, potentially crossing some lines, and - as usual - taking shots at Google for their homicide of their own products platforms and services.
S03E03 | AI Realized, but Not Yet Established
Apologies for the late upload for Audio Only - Spotify migrating Anchor.fm into their platform is causing some issues for us.
ANYWAYS - come join Zane & Louis as they go on and on... and on... and... on... about Artificial Intelligence, even though it's probably better to simply say "Machine Learning" for now still.
S03E02 | Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI (Eggs)
Sorry for such a late release - Zane was hit with a series of events that completely upended his schedule.
We'll find time to come back to update this description with the links to the mentioned creators in this episode. Thank you for understanding!
S03E01 | AI Will be our End... Of the Year Discussion!
Zane Louis return near the end of the year to catch up on some big stories in tech and gaming before sharing a few laughs and rants.
Come listen about the Steam Deck, Pokemon, new GPUs from AMD and Intel, new AR and VR tech, Facebook Meta, Tesla, and Twitter – as well as news around a Nuclear Fusion breakthrough; all wrapping up with commentary on the increase in AI technologies and our culture as
S02E11 | Oof, the Gaming Industry, but Hang in There!
Sorry for this being super late, Zane's fridge crapped out so that cut in on the podcast work.
Today we're going to go over some news in regards to Sony's Vice President, George Cacioppo, as well as some more info on Bobby Kotick. Brighter highlights to the episode, we cover some Game Awards news!
S02E10 | Holiday 2021 is Looking Rough
We're nearing the end of the season, as well as the end of the year! Lots of news in this session, so it's quite the chunky episode!
S02E09 | The Game Industry is Under a Lens Right Now
Better late than never; we're back with Zane and Andy to go over the news around Epic vs Apple, some game's we've been into, the horrible situation involving Blizzard, and of course, Playstation's State of Play.
See you guys in the next episode!
S02E08 | The Future of Manufacturing and The State We're In
Strap in for a long one! Louis and I catch up on a lot of the tech related news and even then we couldn't fill all the news into the session.
Overall though - this episode is filled with tangents, tech news, and opinions on the Current state and future of manufacturing in general.
[Show Notes]
S02E07 | EA and CDPR Hacks Proves they’re not Invincible!
After a delay in sessions due to timing, a car accident, and general shifts in availability - we’re ready to dive in on some juicy content involving Hacking, Game Shows, and Ultra-violent Cartoons!
[Show Notes]
S02E06 | Crpyto & Elon, Chip Shortage, Future of Electric Hardware
After Dark returns from a break - that was needed, trust us - to bring you some info around the tech-space, with a pinch of gossip.
Also - we’re rusty! Taking a month off will do that to you!
Filmed on May 31st, 2021
[Show Notes]
S02E05 | Sony’s Fall, Microsoft’s Rise, and LootBox Lingo
Andy dusts off his microphone as he's back on the air as we talk about the shift in how the gaming community views the two Console Company Juggernauts. Oh, also we want to talk about LootBoxes again.
[Show Notes]
S02E04 | The Snyder Cut and Movies!
Hey! Today's a special episode as we bring on our first guest of the season, Ishtyaq Ponir!
In this episode Ishtyaq and Zane spend time talking about the Snyder Cut, their take and view on it - as well as other movies and the industry through their eyes.
Hope you enjoy the show as we hope to bring other guests on in the future!
S02E03 | Cyber Crimes Expansion - Deep Fakes
Today’s discussions not only cover some of the new tech - but also some news resulting from the misuse of technology for criminal activity!
So let’s dive in about Business, folding phones, EVs and how some pretty messed up people exist in this world!
[Show Notes]
S02E02 | CD Projekt Red - EA - Reality Check
Heads up - we, for whatever reason, get caught up on talking about Butts in this episode... you all can thank EA for that 😅
[Show Notes]
S02E01 | New Year, New Controversies and CES!
After Dark is back in 2021 — New Year, New Season, now with a video version of the podcast!
Because it’s the new year, we had a LOT happen before doing this session and as such a lot of our recording session. We have a cold open where we catch up with a few things. So just a heads up as it’s not often we talk about such things in a session.
[Show Notes]
S01S01 | Andy's Social Contract with Games
This special is exert from Episode 14. Here is a take that Andy has over the contract gamers have with the games they play.
Enjoy.
S01E23 Finale | Love for the Galaxy Fold 2, Apple Making Moves? And AMD Flex on Flexing!
Zane and Louis are back on the air — Today is a special day! It’s the Season 1 Finale! We’re going to talk about Zane’s experience with his Fold2, Apple’s plans for their next conference event, Google doing... something we guess... and AMD popping bottle after bottle celebrating the fruits of their hard labor!
[Show Notes]
S01E22 | Microsoft Acquires Bethesda while Console Wars Intensifies
Zane and Andrew are back on the air — Cyberpunk is looking GOOD! Nintendo being Nintendo. And Bethesda under Microsoft!? SAY WHAT!? (we knew they were looking to sell)
[Show Notes]
S01E21 | Mobile Tech Future: Adding Variety? Or Same Same but Different?
Zane and Louis are back on the air — Today’s episode covers a general “wtf is Walmart doing?” question that we all ask everyday, along with what Microsoft, apple, and Huawei are up to.
[Show Notes]
S01E20 | An Epic battle with an Apple and is Backwards Compatibility a Big Deal?
Zane and Andrew are back on the air — mainly covering discussions around backwards compatibility among consoles, as well as the spicy debate around Epic vs Apple.
That being said, there’s also some juicy news around Microsoft and EA.
[Show Notes]
S01E19 | Protect Your Data! Tesla is Trying to Protect Theirs
Zane and Louis are back on the air — this time going into topics around new mobile phones around the corner, Tesla’s beef with Rivian, and google’s horrible naming standards.
What’s more, we’d like it if everyone attempted to keep their data as safe as possible!
[Show Notes]
S01E18 | Should Online Gaming be Free? Microsoft coming in HOT!
Zane and Andrew are back on the air — Discussing Microsoft’s strong steps in building an ecosystem that’d allow players to play whereever on nearly whatever you have. That aside - we get into the question “Should online gaming be made free?”
[Show Notes]
S01E017 | The Special Ingredient in Apple’s Pie - It’s ARMs
Zane and Louis are back on the air — going over Apple WWDC, and Apple as a whole! Their iOS 14 Beta, Big Sur, and Apple moving to ARM!
I would like to apologize for this late release, many things prevented me from applying the time I needed to edit, and once I started editing the session required extra work.
[Show Notes]
S01E16 | Cyberpunk Pokemon of Civilizations!
Zane and Andrew are back on the air to dive back into discussions around Pokemon since the release of one of two highly awaited DLCs for Sword and Shield: Isle of Armor!
Discussions also include recent footage and talk around Cyberpunk, as well as some unexpected shift in development for Civilization’s (the game) competiton: Humanikind.
Enjoy the show!
[Show Notes]
S01E15 | Live Discussion on PS5's Reveal
Zane and Louis are back on the air, this time it “WAS” live via the Essence Of Zen channel on YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook to discuss Sony’s presentation about their future of gaming and, of course, the reveal of the Playstation 5
Audio Content related to games within this episode belong to Sony and the respective teams and developers behind them.
As such this episode has no advertisements from u
S01E14 | The Social Contract & Sony’s Future of Gaming
Zane and Andrew are back on the air — After pushing back our session a week, we were just on time for Sony’s Future of gaming event! So we’re going to to discuss that, and how that may bode for future game confrences.
Also! A very interesting concept by Andy, on the Social Contract we, as consumers, make with products and works of art!
[Show Notes]
From My Heart, Off My Chest - From Me, Zane, Personally
Debated if I was going to do something like this - and If I were, to what extent and in what format. The platforms we have are not large, and I rather not portray ill intent from such action. But I wound up wanting to add my voice to the mix, in some capacity, and here it is.
If anyone has any questions or discussions wanted from these, you can find me on most platforms as @ZenOokami and other con
S01E13 | SpaceX In Space! 2020 is 20/20, and Microsoft WSL!
Zane and Louis are back on the air — today our techy duo cover some Windows Subsystem for Linux news alongside continued effects of covid, and of course the start of Space X making history with NASA.
In preparation for the release of this episode - a lot has been going on in the world, and I hope everyone is staying safe, staying sane, and staying strong through these difficult times. And, from me
S01E12 | How Spoilers Affects Your Experience, Unreal 5 Looks Great, Future Price of Games
Welcoming back Andrew to the show! Since the last time he’s co-hosted, a lot has happened around the gaming industry as a whole. So sit back as we discuss the Unreal Engine, Pricing in the industry, next gen consoles and their supposed jump in power and technology - and finally, the Last of Us II situation - and how spoilers can impact a work of art.
[Show Notes]
S01E11 | China on the Moon with TinFoil! Microsoft’s New Tech, and AMD Still Rocking!
Zane and Louis are back on the air — Today they cover the conversations about China wanting to make a moon research base, that just so happens to be at the southpole where something... strange resides... Microsoft is still pushing strong with their Surface line, and AMD keeps throwing out banger after banger after banger.
[Show Notes]
S01E10 | Moto is Back, Steam Subscription, AMC vs Universal
Zane and Louis are back on the air — Today’s a LONG episode, too many tangents but today’s topics are around Motorola returning to normal cellphones, Nintendo account hacks, AMC’s beef with Universal, as well as the new standards for WiFi 6!
[Show Notes]
S01E09 | CS Legend Passes, One Plus 8, Bricked Macs
Zane and Louis are back on the air — Today with sad news about a legend in the computer science field, as well as mathamatics. Less bad news, we are getting reports of MacOS updates bricking macbooks. On the positive side, One Plus is making waves with their new One Plus 8 and 8 Pro — even though it’s definitely not in their normal price range.
[Show Notes]
S01E08 | Zoom is not Secure, Samsung Chip Battle, iPad Pro, and Nintendo Making Money
Zane and Louis are back on the air -- stronger than 5G I might add -- discussing the growth of virtual meeting platforms such as Zoom, Skype, Teams etc, after bringing up some inner arguments at Samsung over Qualcomm vs Exynos chips. Let's not also forget Nintendo and their money printing factory that is Animal Crossing!
[Show Notes]
S01E07 | Privacy and Piracy, the Future of Digital Ownership
Today Zane and Louis really dig deep in the discussion of virtual ownership. What does it mean to "buy" a "digital" product. What peaks this question is the events surrounding Plex and how some are attempting to push responsibility on to Plex for what users do with their product.
It's an interesting conversation nevertheless.
[Show Notes]
S01E06 | The Future of Gaming, Gaming Scams, and the Essence of Crowd Funding!
Today's episode we see Zane and Andy go in depth about their perspectives on the future of gaming, along with "crowd funding" within the indie market and its place in the gaming industry! Feel free to sit back and listen to talks about Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Patreon, Kickstarter, and even Gaming events cancelled due to COVID-19.
[Show Notes]
S01E05 | Google: Software's Hitman - And some Tangents
We said we'd do an episode over Google killing off projects - well here we are!
Please note - been especially busy as of late, as well as been having stomach issues so editing has been difficult and as such spent lesser time on audio control. Thanks for understanding!
[Show Notes!]
S01E04 | Android's Future, EV Hummers, Blackberry Going Away? and Hackathons
Zane and Louis bring you updates around what's going on with Blackberry, Hummers, what Hackathons are like and why students should be interested in them, what Pablo Escobar's brother is doing, and where the future of Android is headed.
We also have a short message sent in from a fellow podcaster, Stevie! Who you can find him and others over at Convrs8 and FCX -- go give em a listen!
[Show Notes]
S01E03 | Pokemon, Game Delays, Industry Quality Assurance
Hey! We've got a special treat! After Dark is moving to a weekly show (for the most part) with the co-host for the show filling in on the then off-week is Andy! He works in the Game Industry and will be sharing his thoughts, opinions, and passion in today's episode.
Let's dive into the every-changing world of Pokemon, a potential competitor for Pokemon Games, and a general discussion on Game Delay
S01E02 | IoT Dead Weight, Phone Leaks, and Health News!
Sonos back-tracks on their "recycle mode" that bricks a device "for your safety".
Samsung and Apple out here leaking stuff, don't know why, they have the money for a plumber.
And hope for future cancer treatments? Let's hope so!
Join Zane and Louis this week as they cover these topics plus a bunch of tangents (thanks, Zane, honestly...)! And if you're curious about the notes for the show, find the
S01E01 | CES, Electric Cars, and Apple
Join Zane & Louis as they adjust to making podcasts again!
Today's topics:
Apple
Electric Vehicles
CES 2020
You can find our exact document used during the show:
HERE
After Dark is Back - Here's what to expect!
Zen here to inform you the return of the podcast!
As to date, we'll currently be planning for 1 episode every 2 weeks with some extra content in between every so often.
This year your host will be yours truly, Zen, along with my co-host Louis "ThatMexikan" Sandoval as well as Andy AKA Pyrranha.
The podcast will cover topics embedded in the Geek and Nerd culture - so each episode may cover 1 or mor
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