For Immediate Release

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:36 — 38.9MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS | Subscription Options

If you peruse search results for “the metaverse,” it will seem like half the content you find focuses on defining it. At Nvidia, executive Richard Kerris thinks it’s pretty easy to define. “The metaverse is not a place,” he says. “It’s the network for the next version of the Web.” Neville and Shel explore that definition and related developments in this short midweek FIR episode.
Continue Reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 15:39 — 36.7MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS | Subscription Options

Research conducted by Google found that nearly 40 percent of Gen Z are using Tik Tok and Instagram for search instead of Google. It’s a real-world example of significant shifts exhibited by this group of 10-to-22-year-olds. By 2025, they will represent 30 percent of the workforce and be a considerable presence in the consumer marketplace.
Continue Reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 13:06 — 30.9MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS | Subscription Options

A lot is fueling the debate over whether workers should be able to continue working remotely, at least some of the time, or get themselves back to the office. The debate pits workers against leaders, and the assumption is that it’s just a matter of how each side perceives what’s best. But anthropologists see another factor at play: most leaders come from a different generation than those employees who want remote or hybrid work to become the new normal.
Continue Reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:31:48 — 211.0MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS | Subscription Options

Topics up for discussion in the monthly long-form episode include the following:L

• Are holograms about to go mainstream?
• There is outrage over revelations of massive wrongdoing by Uber. Will everyone keep riding them anyway?
• Uses of NFTs are expanding far beyond collectible artwork for investment purposes.
• How Wikipedia remediated dozens of fake articles could be a lesson for the rest of the world.
• Bad guys are extorting gift cards in exchange for removing negative online reviews.

Dan York’s report explores NFT adoption by Reddit and Snap; Instagram’s move to let creators confine posts to subscribers; Facebook’s test of multiple profiles; Twitter’s latest innovations; and mobile live-streaming with Starlink.
Continue Reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:12 — 33.4MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS | Subscription Options

Soon golfers and fans of the sport will be able to interact one-on-one with the legendary Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus. Well, not Nicklaus himself, but his digital twin. Nicklaus spent hours in a studio having every facial expression and gesture recorded. The first digital twin will be of his 37-year-old self, but more are planned. And rest assured, Nicklaus won’t be the last celebrity to make himself “available” as a digital twin in the online world. And there’s more to digital twins than celebrities.
Continue Reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:54 — 39.6MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS | Subscription Options

While some assume NFTs are on their way out as the value of digital artwork has plummeted, brick-and-mortar retailers are increasingly finding ways to offer the ability to mint NFTs right in their stores. In this episode, Neville and Shel look at some of the latest developments in the evolution of collectible NFTs.
Continue Reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 13:35 — 32.0MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS | Subscription Options

For years, Ernst & Young auditors have been cheating on an ethics test required for them to retain their Certified Public Accountant status. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has levied a record $100 million fine, both for the cheating and the Big Four accounting firm’s failure to assist in the SEC’s investigation. Now that it has all gone public, what can E&Y do to rebuild trust among its clients and the public? Neville and Shel share what reputation experts have to say along with their own recommendations.
Continue Reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:42 — 6.8MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS | Subscription Options

Big Four accounting firm KPMG has committed $30 million to the metaverse in order to establish an “innovation hub” and train employees so they will be prepared to work with clients as the metaverse becomes a more common interface. Like many organizations, KPMG is citing breathtaking figures as it predicts the metaverse’s eventual value. Neville and Shel discuss KPMG’s move, various metaverse valuations, and other metaverse-related news and information in this FIR short.
Continue Reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:53 — 7.7MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS | Subscription Options

As the economy cooks, inflation ratchets up, and interest rates rise, some companies are faced with laying off staff. As we have moved to remote and hybrid work, how those layoffs are handled is changing. But is it ever a good idea to lay someone off over Zoom or Teams? And if so, are there good and bad ways to go about it?
Continue Reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 15:28 — 7.1MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS | Subscription Options

From the title of this episode, you might think we were talking about company sources going on background when speaking to a reporter. (Quick advice: Don’t. Either be on the record or don’t talk to a journalist.) But that’s not what this episode is about. Instead, we’re talking about Zoom backgrounds (or Teams, or Skype, or Webex, or Google Meet, or whatever). With flexible work the order of the day in many organizations, is it time to give serious consideration to what people see behind you in a call? There’s a book (that’s right, an entire book) on the subject. We cover it in 15 minutes.
Continue Reading →