On this oddly timed edition, Matt and Rich hike into the uncanny valleys of machine music. From the Laurel Canyon folk rockers that never existed, to featured artist scams, AI generated music is heading to a playlist near you. 

Is Mattsplained’s new country anthem AI slop or simply the best? Does Richard really own a sequined jumpsuit or have his own intro music to announce it? These are questions that no one ever thought to answer before the advent of AI.

Slop, scams and copyright strikes. We’re truly halfway to hell.

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Malaysia is producing more tech graduates than ever, yet many still struggle to land the right jobs. Hackathons are changing that — evolving from coding contests into platforms for peer learning, coaching, and real-world problem solving. Alex Liew, Chairman at PIKOM, and TK Choo, Director at Kabel, join us to unpack how hackathons are bridging the employability gap while helping businesses attract and retain digital-savvy talent.

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An awkward clinch on a jumbotron is an odd place for Matt and Rich to start their thoughts, but, in 2025, the world of tech is a strange place to be.

Is this case of inopportune infidelity a teachable moment? Is it an illustration of the pervasive power of surveillance capitalism? The swift justice of netizens? The tone-deaf detachment of tech elites? All or none of the above?

Matt and Rich take their digital paranoia a step further, covering border controls, burner phones and authoritarian apps. And Matt argues that polluted skies are somehow better for us. Or something.

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Last Friday, a Microsoft-Crowdstrike update error caused one of the worst IT outages in history and this impacted over 8.5 million Microsoft devices around the world.

To provide more scope on this, more than 3,000 flights within, into, or out of the US were cancelled on July 19, with more than 11,000 delayed. Planes continued to be grounded in the days since, with nearly 2,500 flights cancelled within, into, or out of the US, and more than 38,000 delayed, three days after the outage occurred.

The outage also significantly impacted the healthcare industry, with some healthcare systems and hospitals postponing all or most procedures and clinicians resorting to pen and paper, unable to access Electronic Health Records. On the same day, CrowdStrike CEO, George Kurtz, apologised to the company’s customers and partners for crashing their Windows systems.

In light of this recent incident, today we breakdown how important cybersecurity is to modern-day businesses, some of the early preparation efforts companies should consider to avoid being in a similar situation and what to expect next in such fallout cases. Helping us with this is Eli Serota, Director in Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Communications at FTI Consulting.

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The geeks talk about a way to stop autoplaying videos in Facebook, Bluetooth gets a big upgrade to complement smart homes, robots will make the best fake news, Amazon moves into meal-kit market and the King of The Crowd features Spinbox, a DIY portable Turntable kit which makes vinyl easy and fun.

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Mr Happy. Little Miss Fun. Mr Daydream. Little Miss Sunshine. Mr Cheerful. Little Miss Brainy. Fun Friday can only offer you a Mr Grumpy who thinks he’s a Mr Clever. That’s still better than his drag alter ego, Little Miss Fabulous. Today, Kulturpop’s doom prophet Matt Armitage asks: should you, really?

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In the new digital economy, traditional ways of running a business are swiftly becoming outdated. Disruption is happening across every sector. If large businesses do not make efforts to innovate their own business - someone else will. One way to start embracing digital adoption is through collaboration with digital companies, adopting the right culture in the organisation to drive productivity. We speak to Muhundhan of MDEC and Jordan of Rainmaking Innovation about making their way into digital adoption.

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The recent WannaCry malware has thrown a spotlight on the issue of cyber security and many are now asking just how cyber secure their nation is, and what are the main malware threats that businesses and consumers should be aware of. Recently Malwarebytes, a leading malware remediation solutions providers, released its Malaysian State of Malware report that examined more than 1 billion malware infections across almost 200 countries. We learn about the threats that looms businesses around the region and how to stay protected against malware.

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Karamjit Singh and Anushia Kandasivam from Digital New Asia.com (DNA) talk about:

0:18 - Gaming – Malaysia’s Silent Religion

10:26 - Julo Raises Seed Funding Led By Skystar

16:40 - ‘You May Become Irrelevant In The Blink Of An Eye’

21:38 - Mulah Pivots To Establish Foothold In Malaysia

29:33 - Analysts Divided On Telco M&As

36:02 - Signature Market Attracts Record 161 ECF Investors

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Your IOT devices, like your IP Security Cameras and such are an open invitation to cyber security risks. According to Akamai's State of the Internet/security Q1 2017 report, Mirai DNS Water Torture Attacks, a DNS query flood included in Mirai malware was the extremely prevalent in the first quarter attacking the financial services industry. Michael Smith, Akamai's Chief Technology Officer for Security in Asia Pacific & Japan goes through the report and what you should be know about the state of the Internet.

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It's a byte-sized Game Time episode as Jeff Sandhu games alone in the studio and talks about:

0:53 - Wild West Online Gameplay Demo

2:56 - Oculus Rift Bundle Promo

5:54 - Jump, A New Subscription Based Gaming Platform

7:31 - No Man's Sky Big Anniversary Update

9:30 - Is Gaming Actually Bad For You?

14:40 - Star Wars Battlefront II Multiplayer Demo, Out Soon.. With A Caveat!

16:38 - PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Full Release

18:41 - Facebook Ties Up With PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds For Live Streaming

20:01 - Half Life Still Gets An Update After 19 Years

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The geeks talk about the Transit Elevated Bus (TEB), also known as the 'car-eating' bus in China, AI that produces images in unconventional styles, Kodak's smartphone- Ektra, how AI can identify colours by studying bees, old brains can't hear similar sounds but a drug can change that, and down in the dumps goes to Sound Heroes: a bluetooth speaker of the future.

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The tech industry has been responsible for many miracles over the last two decades but nothing has been quite as meteoric as the rise of Kulturpop’s Matt Armitage. As listeners to BFM, you might think you’re getting Matt free, but you’re ignoring the mental and psychological his words are having on you. Today, it’s time to pay the price.

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First came steam and water power; then electricity and assembly lines; then computerization. And now we have the 4th industrial revolution, some call it Industry 4.0, but whatever you call it, it represents the combination of cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things and the Internet of Systems. It’s the idea of smart factories in which machines are augmented with web connectivity and connected to a system that can visualise the entire production chain and make decisions on its own. Today in the studio we talk to Yang Berbahagia Dato’ CM Vignaesvaran Jeyandran about how the 4th industrial revolution is taking place in Malaysia and we should be doing to embrace it.

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Today Rich Bradbury and Matt Armitage discuss the growing fear and anger surrounding unchecked advances in artificial intelligence (AI): the potential impact of AI on the job market, the ethical implications of AI-generated content, and the lack of regulation in the AI industry.

Matt references the movie "Surrogates" to illustrate the potential dangers of relying too heavily on technology, and highlights the increasing disconnect between humans and the technology they depend on. He also discusses the rise of AI agents, which are more autonomous and capable than traditional chatbots, and the potential for these agents to displace human workers.

The episode concludes with a discussion of the potential dangers of AI, including the possibility of AI-caused catastrophic harm to humanity. Matt references the predictions of former OpenAI employee Daniel Kokotajlo, who believes that AI could destroy or catastrophically harm humanity by 2027. Matt emphasizes the need for guardrails and regulation in the AI industry to mitigate these risks.

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The modern world has many ridiculous riddles, such as when to squeeze and when to juice, or when is a bus not a bus. It seems that the tech industry has an amazing ability to reinvent things that were perfectly fine to begin with and therein lies the problem - Has the tech world run out of things to invent? Have we misinterpreted convenience with invention to the extent where what we claim to be “world’s first” transitions into becoming global effluents? Here is Kulturpop’s Matt Armitage's take on innovative solutions and the reinvention of the wheel.

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The geeks talk about the colour-changing tattoos that can monitor your health, the successful voyage of the Boaty McBoatface submarine, Kangaroo confuses Volvo's driverless car, Facebook in talks to produce TV-quality show, Gmail's offers a range of AI-generated responses, the Bluesmart Series 2: Smart luggage system and Feather, the furniture rental business.

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Earlier this year, our neighbours down south were affected by a data breach at the Ministry of Defence in Singapore, executed by breaching the web-connected computer terminals, and together with the recent WannaCry episode, it has left enterprises in the region wondering about their organisation’s security. Building a zero-day threat defence is crucial and to explain further, we speak to Francis Teo, the Southeast Asia Regional Director of Hillstone Networks.

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Jeff Sandhu & Umapagan looks back at the month of June and picks our their highlights of the month in tech.

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Jeff Sandhu & Umapagan looks back at the month of June and talks about Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods, CES Asia 2017 happened in China, Apple’s WWDC 2017, why iOS 11 is putting Apple in the right direction and highlights from this year’s E3.

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This morning there will be no robot overlords trying eradicate humanity, no dark computer intelligence trying to beat us at mahjong and no psychotic vending machines waiting to lecture us on sustainability. Today, Kulturpop’s Matt Armitage is taking us on a road trip.

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The geeks talk about the launch delay of a KFC chicken sandwich to the edge of space, the time for e-SIM, Amazon Prime Wardrobe that lets you try clothes before you buy, a solution to stop a wobbly suitcase ruining your holiday and the King of the Crowd features UrbaNext, that could convert any bike to electric in a minute by just changing your front wheel.

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A few weeks ago, the world was rocked by the malicious WannaCry cyberattack that infected over 200,000 machines, including logistics giant FedEx, Spanish telco Telefonica and the British National Health Service. Just as governments and cybersecurity vendors were reassuring the world that the worst was over and the situation was under control, reports have emerged that another cybersecurity attack is underway, and that this could be even bigger and have worse repercussions than WannaCry. We speak to David Allott, Cyber Defense Director APAC at McAfee to talk about Adylkuzz and the threat it brings to organisations.

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BFM's resident gamers, Jeff Sandhu & Richard Bradbury, speak to Michelle Tan of Fundeavour.com and learn the trade to be a professional gamer as they discuss the highs and lows of this year's E3 2017.

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As we countlessly hit snooze on our phone alarms every morning, we often question ourselves – Why do we work? The conventional answer would be because we need to earn a living. However, is it as simple as that? Kulturpop’s Matt Armitage is here to shine some light on the trendline between tech and work as well as how millennials view work today.

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In this episode of Tech Talk, we address the pressing issue of deepfake fraud in the financial sector with Frederic Ho, the Vice President of Asia Pacific at Jumio. Based on Jumio's 2024 Online Identity Study, we explore consumer confidence in banking fraud-protection measures and their specific concerns about deepfakes. Frederic will discuss how deepfakes pose unique threats to financial services and provide concrete examples of deepfake-powered fraud.

We'll look into the specific measures financial institutions and technology providers are implementing to strengthen defences against these cyber threats and the role of regulatory frameworks in this effort. Additionally, we'll cover consumers' expectations regarding reimbursement and accountability, and the importance of educational initiatives for raising awareness about deepfake risks.

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The geeks talk about GrabHeli in Jakarta, how chatbots learn to negotiate and drive a hard bargain, a type of bacteria powered by light that could one day help survive heart attack and the King of the Crowd features Mixxtape, a nostalgic and iconic glory makes a comeback - a fully functional Bluetooth music player.

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We live in a world where jigsaw puzzles are made to fit perfectly and dots on a colouring sheet are meant to be joined together. Both forms of linkage, both forms of connection. Today, however, we see an elevated version of connection- One where objects themselves communicate with each other and one where these objects are allowed to collect and exchange data. Being a mildly understated concept, we have Kulturpop’s Matt Armitage with us to break down the anatomy of The Internet of Things as well as to present his verdict on the notion.

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Waiting for a package to be delivered can be frustrating as deliveries mostly happen during office hours. Furthermore, customers often miss the delivery window and proceed to worry about the safety of their packages. To ensure the convenience of online shopping, the Singapore government has created a nationwide system of delivery lockers from which the public can retrieve packages ordered online.

FreshTurf, a technology company in Singapore, soughts to create a secure way of making these lockers available to any delivery company wishing to utilize the service. Think of it as the Uber of delivery lockers. We speak to one of the co-founders of Fresh Turf, Jarryl Hong about the creation of this blockchain startup and all its operations. 

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Jeff Sandhu and Richard Bradbury gets back online to review Alienation on the PS4. Is this the best arcade shooter game on the PlayStation console and is this worth your money? And updates on the world's most powerful console machine, Xbox Scorpion, and why Jeff isn't that all excited about Tekken 7.

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Just as humans evolve, so too does the process of innovation. There was once upon a time an era where you would hear the nostalgic, whirring noises of a rotary dial in every office, or the abrupt taps from flipping a flip phone closed instead of the gentle clicks from locking an iPhone. But, then came the era after computers- An era filled with new gadgets and tools that is nearly impossible to keep up with. Has innovation reached its prime and stagnated? Could this be the beginning of what we would like to call, the innovation crunch? Kulturpop’s Matt Armitage is here to present us with an idea as to where innovation stands in the world today, as well as where he sees it going.

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The geeks talk about politicians' social media blow-ups, Stephen Fry’s warning for the web, Google co-founder building the world's largest airship, Matt’s King of the Crowd featuring the Banana Phone, a phone with appeal, the unveiling of the robot priest in Germany, and 25,000 private photos from cosmetic surgery clinic being published by hackers.

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The IBM Bluemix Garage is an initiative that leverages the IBM Bluemix cloud platform and agile development methodologies to create a bridge between the scale of enterprises and the culture of start-ups. The result? An ecosystem of innovation that thrives on collaboration. We speak to Rachel Reinitz, the CTO of Bluemix Garage and Shawn Murray, the Global Director for Bluemix, about the creation of Bluemix Garages around the world and you can leverage this for your business.

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Karamjit Singh, Goh Thean Eu and Anushia Kandasivam from Digital New Asia.com (DNA) talk about:

0:18 - Soft Space Sealed Series A and set so scale aggresively

5:34 - Celcom Outlines Game Plan To Gain Share In Second Half

9:47 - Fusionex updates

15:03 -  E-Commerce Ready For Innovation

18:52 - SEA Ripe For ‘Massive Opportunities’ Through Digital In Next Decade

22:14 - Gobi Partners Exit Malaysian Beauty E-Commerce Site Hermo With 91% IRR

25:53 - CollectCo Makes E-Commerce Convenient Again

30:44 - Carousell Moving On With AI

32:11 - Cyberjaya A Model For Smart City Developments

34:32 - Bank Negara Calls For Ideas With Fintech Hacks

35:43 - HMD Global Marks New Chapter For Nokia Smartphones

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Freedom of speech and expression are all about our right to make a statement. However, where is the line drawn between expressing one’s frustration on a Facebook comment and valid censorship? Kulturpop’s Matt Armitage is here throw some light on what the media has been calling The Facebook Files, a drop of confidential company documents that outlines Facebook’s policies towards policing the site and moderating content.

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The geeks talk about the brain eating itself after chronic sleep deprivation, a 94-year-old professor who develops a longer-lasting battery, our brains preferring invented visual information to real information, Google’s AlphaGo AI defeating the world’s best human Go player, Ke Jie, Matt’s King of the Crowd featuring RompHim, a romper specially designed for men, healthy mice being produced from sperm frozen in space, the truth the whole truth and nothing like the truth, and how much $100 of bitcoin from 7 years ago is worth today.

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Join hosts Richard Bradbury and Matt Armitage for a fascinating journey through the latest in weird and wonderful scientific breakthroughs. In this episode, we explore:

• Bionic legs with neural interfaces that are changing lives and blurring the line between human and machine

• Fish-friendly hydropower turbines that could revolutionize renewable energy

• Why night owls might just be smarter than early birds (sorry, morning people!)

• How Lego is becoming an unexpected hero in scientific research labs worldwide

• The future of "self-shaping" wooden buildings that twist and form themselves

From MIT's cutting-edge prosthetics to DIY lab equipment made from children's toys, this episode is packed with mind-bending innovations that sound like science fiction but are quickly becoming reality.

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Victor Yap from PC Mag SEA highlights the biggest tech news of the month and also reviews the Dell XPS 13 2017 edition in #GadgetInFocus (GIF Review).

0:27 - Sony Launches Sony 4K OLED

2:13 - Microsoft EDU Goes Official: The Simplified Windows That Is Designed For Education

6:22 - Samsung Launches Samsung Galaxy S8

9:44 - Microsoft Build Highlights (Build 2017)

9:57 - Build 2017: Microsoft Partners With HP and Intel To Develop More Cortana Devices

10:32 - Build 2017: Microsoft Unveils Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

12:02 - Build 2017: Windows Mixed Reality Motion Controller Goes Official

13:17 - Build 2017: Acer Windows Mixed Reality Headset

14:20 - Wannacry Ransomware Accidental Hero

18:15 - Sony Square Project in Tokyo

23:41 - Acer Predator 21 X Gaming Notebook Priced At RM40,000!

26:26 - Google I/O Conference 2017

31:15 - Sony CEO, Kaz Hirai Turned Around Sony In 5 Years And Sees Highest Profit Since 1998 

34:42 - GIF Of The Month: Dell XPS 13 (2017 Edition)

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What better way to start Fun Friday than to fill everyone’s heads with worms? Millions of tiny electric worms have been boring into the brain of Kulturpop’s Matt Armitage, turning it from a nice Emmental-like consistency into a binary cottage cheese. All it will take to repair it is a pocketful of Bitcoin.

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The geeks talk about the strange world of patents, Apple patenting a pizza box, the complexity and implications of microbes, what former NSA employee, Edward Snowden, is saying on the Wannacry epidemic, Facebook’s promise to combat the spread of fake news, the potential death of the MP3, and Matt’s King of the Crowd features Knops, which are noise cancelling headphones that can tune out unwanted noise around you!

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Data is like the oil flowing down the fuel pipe, it is a resource and a currency of the future. With the data companies on the rise, our personal information is being seen, heard and monitored. The data companies were able to analyse and predict our behaviour. This week, Matt Armitage talks about the energy of tomorrow, data and how we are actually on a higher ground.

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The geeks talk about a faster Facebook prototype translator, how Snapchat moves a step closing to Instagram, Foodpanda, Waze’s ultimate customisation to allow users to record their voice, augmented reality surgery, touch sensitive surface using conductive spray paint and Matt’s King of the crowd is Zero Breeze, a portable air conditioner that is the size of a pet carrier!

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Believe it or not, the PayWave technology has been in Malaysia for the last decade. However, there has been a number of viral news about how your 16 digit credit/debit number and expiry date can be lifted through the PayWave technology. KB Ng, Country Manager for Visa Malaysia is busting the misconceptions and shares his vision on the future of payment gateway.

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You wore that forensic suit. You shaved your body hair. You taped plastic sheeting over every inch of your killing ground and melted everything down with acid. You might think you’ve committed the perfect crime, but, as Kulturpop’s Matt Armitage has found, microbes could still land you in jail.

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The Geeks talk about the ‘exercise pill’, Facebook adds moderators, Echo Look, the AI fashion police and King of the Crowd is about Swarovski momenzzGLOBE.

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The word digital means many different things to almost every sector. For some, it’s about real-time data, access, platforms, business models, automation and so forth. As for the design and manufacturing industry, it brings all of that with an additional value to the end consumer. Kajin Teoh, Technical Business Consultant at IME Group of Companies urges manufacturers to keep up with the world of smart factories.

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The Geeks talked about increase revenue growth in music labels today, crime fighting robots, Uber promises Flying Cars by 2020 and King of the Crowd is about PAPR Watch.

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Today on Tech Talk, we speak with David Holland, Managing Director of Swag at Employment Hero on the intricacies of AI-driven recruitment platforms, their possible integration with existing and traditional HR systems as well as their role in predicting and meeting future hiring needs.

We’ll also discuss the benefits these platforms bring to businesses and job seekers alike along the challenges and future trends in AI-driven recruitment technologies moving forward.

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Last week Kulturpop’s Matt Armitage was predicting the impending loss of our digital heritage to obsolete formats and forced upgrades. This week he wants to balance the scale with some of the formats that are fighting against their own obsolescence.

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The usage of video in analytics is significantly underutilised for operational, business and public safety data. Over at Hitachi Data System’s, video is believed to be the solution to enhance operational efficiency and customer experience. Keith Roscarel is the Director of Public Safety and Smart Cities for Asia Pacific unravels the benefits of video analytics.

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