e514 — Leroooooy Jenkins!

Photo by WTFast on Unsplash Published 19 May 2025 e514 with Michael R and Andy – generative ads & LEGO, Aston Martin x Apple CarPlay Ultra, new Vision Pro UX, an Internet Roadtrip, Leroy Jenkins and so much more. While Michael M is away, Michael R and Andy start off with some generative AI topics: advertisements and LEGO.  Per the Ars Technica article, Netflix has announced it has created GenAI advertising that it will show during streaming video in 2026.  And some exciting news in the GenAI space for LEGO – a model that generates stable (not diffuse!) LEGO structures from text prompts. Next up: several Apple stories, starting with Aston Martin working with Apple’s CarPlay Ultra, which combines data and visualizations from the car as well as from the iPhone. Then, some articles on Apple’s Vision Pro, since the launch, and new capabilities allowing scrolling in a new way. Then, Michael R and Andy share a cornucopia of fun.  A website with the first few of 10,000 drum machines.  A fixer of broken QR codes.  A web-based team driving game called Internet Roadtrip, reminiscent of Twitch Plays Pokemon, and a little like Desert Bus too.  And especially a reflection on the 20th anniversary of Leroy Jenkins.  Do check out the article in the show notes  below, and see also the embedded story from 20 years ago. What’s your favorite Leroy Jenkins story?  Have your bots 🤖 drop our bots 🤖 a line at @gamesatwork_biz@mastodon.social (our home for now) and let us know! These show notes were lovingly hand crafted by a real human, and not by a bot.  All rights reserved.  That’s our story and we’re sticking to it. Selected Links AI Netflix will show generative AI ads midway through streams in 2026 Netflix is trying to grow ad revenue quickly. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/05/netflix-will-show-generative-ai-ads-midway-through-streams-in-2026/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social — Ars Technica (@arstechnica@mastodon.social) 2025-05-14T20:49:34.591Z Ars Technica article: Netflix will show generative AI ads midway through streams in 2026 PC Mag article: LegoGPT Eliminates AI Weirdness, Creates Brick Designs You Can Actually Build arXiv paper: Generating Physically Stable and Buildable LEGO Designs from Text Huggingface: LegoGPT Demo Apple Wall Street Journal article: They Paid $3,500 for Apple’s Vision Pro. A Year Later, It Still Hurts. Bloomberg article: Apple Readies Feature That Lets Vision Pro Users Scroll With Their Eyes The Verge article: Apple will let the Vision Pro ‘see’ for you Fun Stuff 10k Drum Machines HumanQR Adafruit blog post: Need to get away? Take an Internet Roadtrip! Neal.Fun Internet Road Trip Games at Work e77: (Hive)Mind Blowing for multiplayer Pokemon NPR All Tech Considered article: Here’s What Happens When Thousands Play Pokemon Together Desert Bus Express 2025 PC Gamer article: WoW’s Leeroy Jenkins, one of the internet’s oldest memes, turns 20 years old—and after looking back on what we wrote in 2005, I feel like we’ve failed Leeroys everywhere Rock Paper Shotgun article: Doom: The Dark Ages review Web 11.0 mashup junkie, and co-founder / co-host of the GamesAtWork.biz podcast. My views are my own. Michael Martine