AwesomeCast 734: Birds, Bytes & Barrel Rolls: Tech Takes Flight

On this episode of AwesomeCast, Michael Sorg, Dave Podnar, and Katie Dudas dive into geeky goodness and tech trends with plenty of laughs and thoughtful discussion. Dave unboxes his TMS Vegas 2025 swag bag and shares insights on community-building through podcast merchandise. Katie introduces the Merlin Bird ID app by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, perfect for identifying bird sounds offline. Sorg finally rides Kennywood’s Steel Curtain coaster and gives us a coaster-lover’s review. The crew also discusses the importance of game ownership vs. price hikes in Chachi’s Video Game Minute rant. Plus, there’s a touching moment celebrating the engineer who saved Apollo 13. They close with a look at Surf Social, a new content aggregation app from the creators of Flipboard, and preview upcoming projects in video streaming, pro wrestling, and tech production. Subscribe and share the awesome: www.AwesomeCast.com 🎁 TMS Vegas 2025 Swag – Dave reviews the event’s creative swag bundle featuring 3D printed frogs, challenge coins, and fan art by Scott and Carter Johnson. 🐦 Merlin Bird ID App – Katie shares her experience with this free app for bird sound recognition, powered by Cornell Lab. Works offline and helps with citizen science. 🎢 Steel Curtain at Kennywood – Sorg shares his long-awaited ride and praises the coaster’s nine inversions and Pittsburgh Steelers theming. 🎮 ChachiSays Video Game Minute Rant – Chachi talks about the real concern: digital game ownership vs. price hikes. GTA VI’s $2B budget is just the start . 🚀 Apollo 13 Engineer Tribute – Dave honors the late engineer behind the duct tape fix that saved the Apollo 13 crew. 📰 Surf Social App Review – Sorg demos this beta app by the Flipboard team that aggregates Mastodon, BlueSky, and YouTube feeds with advanced customization. 📆 Upcoming Events – Highlights include 880 Wrestling’s rooftop show at Penn Brewery, a local documentary livestream at Harris Theater, and AutoDrive Challenge video coverage with drone support.