Now he's free of the shackles of that CPO, we chat the latest EVs, discuss the confusion around charging, look into how car infotainment has changed, and go on random tangents related to Greggs and caravans.

What are your thoughts on EVs, do you have some horror stories about charging, or maybe a great EV you've driven? We'd love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

"Don't you people backup? I backup, and I don't even know what backing up means!" - Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship

If you have any kind of file that's important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you'll want to make sure it's kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn't really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.

Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn't in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.

Episode Links

• Charging Status EV Podcast

  • YouTube

  • Apple Podcasts

• Alex Lowe

  • The Interface

  • The Interface Cars on YouTube

• Jim Starling

  • DefinitelyNotAGuru on YouTube

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions

2. 00:14:00: Creating with Macs

3. 00:20:35: Talking EVs

4. 00:26:29: Charging Confusion

5. 00:46:25: Infotainment

6. 01:03:47: Security Concerns

7. 01:10:28: Self Driving Future

8. 01:15:21: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

We also delve into retro-gaming memories, have a very open discussion about Apple, Nazis, ICE, and why little acts of kindness can really make a difference in our not so great world at the moment.

What are your retro gaming memories, do you remember playing Snake, or even the original Frenzic? We'd love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

"Don't you people backup? I backup, and I don't even know what backing up means!" - Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship

If you have any kind of file that's important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you'll want to make sure it's kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn't really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.

Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn't in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.

Episode Links

• Mastodon Links:

  • Jae: jae@mastodon.me.uk

  • James: jsbilsbrough@mastodon.me.uk

  • Gedeon: gedeonm@mastodon.social

  • IconFactory: Iconfactory@iconfactory.world

• IconFactory Website

• Ollie's Arcade on KickStarter

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions

2. 00:05:13: The Elon Evilness Update

3. 00:08:36: Ollie’s Arcade Kickstarter

4. 00:37:09: Retro Gaming

5. 00:51:55: Apple, Nazis, and Acts of Kindness

6. 01:10:57: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

We chat about why it's important to have alternatives to Microsoft Office, the history of LibreOffice, why a truly open document format is so important as well as random detours into the concept of modern word processors for vintage hardware!

What's your view on LibreOffice and the reasons for needing alternatives to things like Office 365 and Google Docs? We'd love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

"Don't you people backup? I backup, and I don't even know what backing up means!" - Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship

If you have any kind of file that's important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you'll want to make sure it's kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn't really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.

Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn't in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.

Episode Links

• Mastodon Links:

  • Jae: jae@mastodon.me.uk

  • James: jsbilsbrough@mastodon.me.uk

  • LibreOffice: libreoffice@fosstodon.org

  • The Document Foundation tdforg@fosstodon.org

• LibreOffice

• The Document Foundation

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions

2. 00:07:39: Apple’s Open Source Contributions

3. 00:10:10: Proprietary Software

4. 00:13:39: Libre Office

5. 00:18:26: Why Do We Need Alternatives to Microsoft Office

6. 00:34:13: Misconceptions About Document Formats

7. 00:43:04: Cloud & Privacy

8. 01:05:08: The Importance of Updates

9. 01:16:28: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Do you have a favourite app design, or maybe an icon that always gives you a certain feeling? We'd love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

"Don't you people backup? I backup, and I don't even know what backing up means!" - Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship

If you have any kind of file that's important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you'll want to make sure it's kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn't really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.

Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn't in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.

Episode Links

• Mastodon Links:

  • Jae: jae@mastodon.me.uk

  • James: jsbilsbrough@mastodon.me.uk

  • Gedeon: gedeonm@mastodon.social

  • IconFactory: Iconfactory@iconfactory.world

• IconFactory

• Louis Mantia's Blog

• Previous Appearances by Gedeon:

  • Can You Hear Me - iPhone 16 Event

  • Weaving a Tapestry

  • A Good Day to Podcast

  • Ollie, Space Karen, and an API

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions

2. 00:07:17: The State of the IconFactory

3. 00:16:36: App and Icon Design

4. 00:27:22: Designing for Liquid Glass

5. 00:46:26: Icon Variety

6. 00:52:51: More Than Just Icons

7. 01:13:10: Closing Thoughts

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Our guest is friend of the show and all-round self-hosting nerd, James Smith, who has been working on Manyfold which is a self-hosted project you can use to manage all of your 3D model files.

Of course, none of that will make any sense if you don't know your Z-Axis from your extruder, and so James and James attempt to give a comprehensive guide to 3D printing, with an unintentional bias towards filament based printing.

Have you gotten into 3D printing yet, maybe you've got some horror stories to share of prints gone wrong, or want to share your amazing creations? We'd love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

Backblaze

"Don't you people backup? I backup, and I don't even know what backing up means!" - Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship

If you have any kind of file that's important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you'll want to make sure it's kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn't really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.

Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn't in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.

Hetzner

Need to host your own instance of Manyfold, or any other app or service that can run on Linux, then check out Hetzner, with hosting in the EU and great rates on both AMD and Ampere powered ARM servers, as well as great pricing on storage including object storage and hosted NextCloud.

Episode Links

• James Smith on Mastodon

• Manyfold: Website / Mastodon / Public Instance

• Benchy - Public domain 3D printer test model

• Ender-3 V3 SE

• Bambu Labs Cloud Dependancy - Louis Rossman on YouTube

• Slicers:

  • OrcaSlicer

  • Slic3r

• 3D Design

  • TinkerCad - Free web based model creation from AutoDesk

  • FreeCad - Open-source CAD software for Mac, Linux, and Windows

• Online Model Sites:

  • Thingiverse

  • Printables

• Mentioned models:

  • NES Switch Cartridge Case V2 by flyingpurplecow - Thingiverse

  • Fusion 360 IKEA Skadis Peg Models by Rkimmell73 - Thingiverse

• OctoPrint

• Klipper

• Sea Dog Game Studios - Table top gaming by Jae's sister and brother-in-law, lots of 3D printing

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions

2. 00:03:39: What is 3D Printing?

3. 00:08:17: A Resin PSA - Wear Gloves

4. 00:10:16: Filament Printing

5. 00:20:08: Open Hardware

6. 00:29:13: Calibration and Setup

7. 00:31:31: Bambu Labs

8. 00:38:34: Slicers

9. 00:44:00: 3D Modelling

10. 00:50:01: Manyfold

11. 01:03:24: OctoPrint & Klipper

12. 01:11:23: Troubleshooting Prints

13. 01:21:28: Multi-Colour Prints

14. 01:30:07: Random Thoughts

15. 01:37:23: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Oh, and you'll be pleased to know we got the website back up and running! We're still adding more features, but this new site is very much focussed on Crossed Wires as a tech and creative services provider.

As always, we'd love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

"Don't you people backup? I backup, and I don't even know what backing up means!" - Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship

If you have any kind of file that's important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you'll want to make sure it's kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn't really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.

Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn't in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.

Episode Links

• WWDC 2025 Keynote - Apple Developer / YouTube

• Tom's Guide Interview with Craig & Joz - Tom's Guide / YouTube

• The Interface

• AirPlay video coming to CarPlay - 9to5 Mac

Mentioned Episodes

• Build-A-Browser with Jon von Tetzchner

• The Ferrite Attraction with Canis from Wooji Juice

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions

2. 00:08:15: Keynote Focus

3. 00:12:32: Version Numbering

4. 00:14:54: Liquid Glass

5. 00:21:59: iPhone

6. 00:31:59: Apple Intelligence

7. 00:35:36: Camera App

8. 00:37:26: Apple Wallet & Digital ID

9. 00:45:24: iPad

10. 00:47:07: Meeting Tim Cook

11. 00:54:56: Back to iPad

12. 01:01:41: HomeKit and CarPlay

13. 01:08:13: watchOS

14. 01:09:45: macOS

15. 01:21:39: Apple TV

16. 01:27:37: Random Stuff

17. 01:35:43: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

We discuss how these style of announcements works better for content creators, the power of the new m4 chips, and the unbelievable size of the new Mac mini.

Apple Intelligence played a major role in all of the product announcements, so we discuss our thoughts on the utility of Apple's AI efforts. Of course, this was recorded before Apple Intelligence came to the UK in the latest iOS and macOS updates.

Have you picked up any of the new m4 based Macs, or maybe you have some views on Apple Intelligence? We'd love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Charity Support: To Write Love on Her Arms

As you'll hear in the episode, Jae has recently gone through a difficult mental health journey and so as well as sharing her story, we're also trying to raise $1,000 for the wonderful mental health charity, To Write Love on Her Arms, and you can donate directly via https://crossedwires.net/charity. We use Tiltify, which means all of your donations go directly to the charity.

Affiliate Promotion

"Don't you people backup? I backup, and I don't even know what backing up means!" - Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship

If you have any kind of file that's important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you'll want to make sure it's kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn't really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.

Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn't in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.

Episode Links

• Apple's Product Announcements:
  • iMac
  • Mac mini
  • MacBook Pro
• All of Apple’s Macs now start with 16GB of RAM (The Verge)
• Apple’s Craig Federighi Explains Apple Intelligence Delays, Siri’s Future and More | WSJ (YouTube)
• A new home for Pixelmator (Pixelmator Blog)

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:04:23: Announcement Summary
3. 00:06:23: 16 Gigs!
4. 00:11:58: Bottom Charging
5. 00:14:29: iMac
6. 00:22:52: Mac mini
7. 00:38:46: MacBook Pros
8. 00:46:44: Bumping the Air & WiFi 7
9. 00:57:31: Apple Intelligence
10. 01:06:18: Pixelmator
11. 01:12:03: The Value of macOS
12. 01:18:20: Jae’s Mental Health Journey
13. 01:21:15: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

As with any other Apple event, Jae and James are joined by Alex Lowe from The Interface and this time returning guest Gedeon Maheux from The Iconfactory comes along for the ride, which far less Star Trek diversions than you may expect!

What did you think about Apple's new products and their latest software? We'd love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

"Don't you people backup? I backup, and I don't even know what backing up means!" - Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship

If you have any kind of file that's important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you'll want to make sure it's kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn't really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.

Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn't in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.

Episode Links

• Watch the Apple Event
• The Interface - Alex's tech and automative news and review site.
• The Iconfactory - Great apps and services from Ged and co!
• Walaroo - Fantastic wallpapers for your Mac and iOS devices
• Gedeon Maheux on Mastodon
• Educating AI - Our chat with Zack about how AI impacted his high school graduation.
• Using the Passwords App (Apple)

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:05: Introductions
2. 00:04:27: Event Thoughts
3. 00:09:11: iPhone 16
4. 00:19:02: Apple Watch Series 10
5. 00:29:54: Apple’s Health Focus
6. 00:36:30: AirPods
7. 00:56:15: iOS & iPadOS 18
8. 01:13:12: Passwords
9. 01:19:57: Math notes
10. 01:26:12: EU Regulators
11. 01:33:53: RCS
12. 01:36:52: Apple Intelligence
13. 01:47:25: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Joining us once again are the wonderful Dan Vincent, Sean (aka. Action Retro), and Steve (aka Mac84) to dive into the world of handheld computing before the iPhone and Android era. We try to stay on topic, which proves a challenge with Sean's unusual definitions of handhelds cropping up along the way.

What are your handheld computing memories, where you in camp Palm or firmly in the Pocket PC / Windows CE... pocket? We'd love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

"Don't you people backup? I backup, and I don't even know what backing up means!" - Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship

If you have any kind of file that's important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you'll want to make sure it's kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn't really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.

Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn't in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.

Episode Links

• Guests
  • Dan Vincent: Userlandia (YouTube) / Mastodon
  • Sean: Action Retro (YouTube) / Mastodon
  • Steve: Mac84 (YouTube) / Mastodon
• yBasic - Palm DB - The BASIC app Sean used on his Palm
• Graffiti (Palm OS) - WikiPedia
• Casio Cassiopeia E-125 - WikiPedia
• Springboard: the secret history of the first real smartphone (Full Documentary) - The Verge on YouTube
• The Cybiko Experience: a Handheld Computer for Year 2000 Teens - LGR on YouTube
• Nokia N-Gage QD - WikiPedia

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:07:14: Our First Handhelds
3. 00:18:32: The Pen Computing Era
4. 00:32:42: Palm
5. 00:40:04: Cybiko
6. 00:44:15: Windows CE & PocketPC
7. 00:52:21: The Appeal of Handhelds
8. 00:58:28: The Demise of Standalone Handhelds
9. 01:06:55: What Do We Miss?
10. 01:19:59: First Dumb & Smartphones
11. 01:32:18: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Apologies this has taken longer than usual to get out to you, work and other commitments have definitely gotten in the way. We will have more amazing episodes coming at a more regular pace for you going forward.

What do you think to Apple's AI (Apple Intelligence) future, are you concerned because of the growth of AI in general, or reassured based on their privacy first approach? We'd love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

"Don't you people backup? I backup, and I don't even know what backing up means!" - Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship

If you have any kind of file that's important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you'll want to make sure it's kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn't really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.

Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn't in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.

Episode Links

• The Interface - Alex's tech and automotive news site.
• Apple Events - Watch the WWDC24 Keynote

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:03:33: Skydiving Intro
3. 00:09:55: Apple TV+
4. 00:16:03: visionOS 2
5. 00:24:39: iOS 18
6. 01:05:05: tvOS & HomeKit
7. 01:13:06: watchOS
8. 01:17:44: iPadOS 18
9. 01:22:12: macOS Sequoia
10. 01:26:12: Passwords
11. 01:33:28: Apple Intelligence
12. 02:05:41: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

We also take a detour to look into why WiFI 7 not being included in the new iPads is not as big of a factor as some may think.

Finally, we discuss the powerful new features in Apple's pro apps for iPad, Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro and how these new features make iPad a powerful creative tool more than ever before.

Are you planning to buy a new iPad, are you excited by the new features of Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro on iPad? We'd love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

"Don't you people backup? I backup, and I don't even know what backing up means!" - Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship

If you have any kind of file that's important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you'll want to make sure it's kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn't really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.

Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn't in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.

Episode Links

• The Interface - Alex's fantastic tech and automative news site
• Watch the Event - Apple Events
• iPad Pro - Apple.com
• iPad Air - Apple.com
• Apple Pencil - Apple.com, including showing features and helping you see compatibility for the different pencil models.
• The Case for iPad Pro - Vergecast
• iOS 18 Accessibility Features - Apple Pressroom
• Final Cut Pro for iPad - Apple.com
• Logic Pro for iPad - Apple.com

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:04:30: The Let Loose Event
3. 00:08:17: Crushed
4. 00:16:22: iPad Air (M2)
5. 00:25:33: iPad Pro (M4)
6. 00:42:22: Apple Pencil Shuffle
7. 00:55:16: Why No WiFi 7?
8. 01:02:31: Choose An iPad
9. 01:11:36: iOS 18 Accessibility
10. 01:13:55: Pro Apps
11. 01:25:49: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

There are some fantastic Mastodon issues for you to join, but what if you want a bit more control, or want to build your own community, or represent your brand? You could setup your own server, assuming you have the skills and patience to do so, or you could take advantage of a service like Masto.host.

Our guest, Hugo, provides what he describes as 'Shared Hosting for Mastodon' at incredibly affordable prices and with some much appreciated transparency on infrastructure and update policies.

We talk about how things got started, his encounter with TERFs and the freedom to refuse service to anyone because of the decentralised nature of the fediverse. We also do a bit of a deep dive into the infrastructure setup for Masto.host and the measures Hugo has put in place in the aim to give everyone a great experience.

Do you have your own instance, or maybe have some stories to share of instances gone wrong? We'd love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

"Don't you people backup? I backup, and I don't even know what backing up means!" - Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship

If you have any kind of file that's important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you'll want to make sure it's kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn't really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.

Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn't in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.

Episode Links

• Masto.host - Hugo's Mastodon hosting service
• Masto.host@mastodon.social - Masto.host on Mastodon
• Infrastructure | Masto.host - Details of how the Masto.host infrastructure works, as Hugo describes in the episode.
• Mastodon - Into the Fediverse - Our chat with James Smith of Mastodon.me.uk
• Mastodon on GitHub

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:05:57: Shared Hosting for Madtodon
3. 00:11:26: Ditching Twitter
4. 00:14:43: Turfing out TERFs
5. 00:22:21: Why Have Your Own Instance?
6. 00:33:59: Infrastructure
7. 00:50:07: Masto.host Pros & Cons
8. 00:58:50: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

With returning guests, Prof. Catherine Flick and our very own Zack, we talk about the challenges of AI in the academic space. Zack also shares his own experience of being caught using ChatGPT to complete a final essay he, by his own admission, had left until the last minute.

Are you academia, have you been tempted to use AI shortcuts or maybe are a teacher or professor who has had experience with students taking those shortcuts? We'd love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

"Don't you people backup? I backup, and I don't even know what backing up means!" - Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship

If you have any kind of file that's important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you'll want to make sure it's kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn't really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.

Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn't in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.

Episode Links

• Prof Catherine Flick - Website / Mastodon

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:05:11: Zack’s Story
3. 00:14:55: Assistive Tools vs AI
4. 00:24:38: Due Diligence & Alternative Assessments 
5. 00:45:33: Generative AI 
6. 00:51:45: AI Hype vs Machine Learning 
7. 00:55:00: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Worst still, if you have a failed component on your laptop you’re often faced with expensive and proprietary repair options that can often cost nearly as much as the laptop itself.

Nirav Patel founded Framework to tackle these issues by creating laptops that push the boundaries of what we’d expect to be upgradable in our modern thin and light world.

What do you think about the Framework laptop, is it something that may be on your tech wish list? Do you think laptops, and tech in general, should last longer than a podcast episode? We’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

“Don’t you people backup? I backup, and I don’t even know what backing up means!” – Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship

If you have any kind of file that’s important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you’ll want to make sure it’s kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn’t really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.

Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn’t in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.

Episode Links

• Framework – The Framework laptops
• Framework Marketplace – See all the various components you can buy for your Framework laptop
• Linux on the Framework Laptop – Details of Framework’s official support for both Ubuntu and Fedora
• Dell Inspiron 9100: $4,800 Pentium 4 Laptop from 2004 – LGR (YouTube)
• Checking on my Investment in Person – Framework Laptop Factory Tour – Linus Tech Tips (YouTube)

Chapter Times

• 00:00:04: Introductions
• 00:02:15: Right to Repair & Sustainability
• 00:05:38: Upgrading a Mobile Platform
• 00:08:42: The Framework Laptop
• 00:11:05: Linus Drop Tips
• 00:12:48: Modular IO
• 00:15:52: Memory & Storage
• 00:16:50: Main board and more ?
• 00:18:47: Framework 16 Input Deck
• 00:21:28: Reusing a Framework Mainboard
• 00:23:35: Framework 16 GPU
• 00:26:07: Linux Support
• 00:27:53: Final Thoughts from Nirav
• 00:29:30: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Project Tapestry is their latest KickStarter project, and the goal is to create a one-stop-shop for reading the influx of things that matter to you on the web. As long as the site has an open and accessible endpoint for you to get the data, you should be able to bring that into Tapestry.

We also talk about some of the challenges of designing apps for changing design styles, different platforms, and of course take some minor course corrections into sci-fi and Apple in general.

Will you be backing Project Tapestry? At the time of posting this episode, there’s just 7 days left to go and the team have some really cool rewards still up for grabs. 

What are your thoughts on how apps are designed? What’s your favourite Q appearance in The Next Generation? We’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

“Don’t you people backup? I backup, and I don’t even know what backing up means!” – Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship

If you have any kind of file that’s important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you’ll want to make sure it’s kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn’t really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.

Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn’t in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.

Episode Links

• The Iconfactory – Website | Mastodon
• Gedeon Maheux – Mastodon
• Project Tapestry – Kickstarter
• Why Tapestry? – Iconfactory Blog
• Ollie, Space Karen, and an API – Gedeon’s first appearance on the show talking about the demise of the Twitter API

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:03:01: Why Kickstarter?
3. 00:05:54: What is Tapestry?
4. 00:13:47: Endpoints
5. 00:18:43: Rewards
6. 00:22:23: Looking Back at Design Trends
7. 00:30:59: An AI Tangent
8. 00:33:59: An Apple QuickTake 
9. 00:41:32: Designing for New Platforms
10. 00:54:01: The Joy of Design
11. 01:02:28: Wrapping Up 

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Be that Chromium, WebKit, or Gecko, not all browsers are created equal and have varying features and views on the rights of their users. We’re honoured to be joined by Jon von Tetzchner, the CEO of Vivaldi, an open-source and privacy first Chromium powered browser that could replace Google Chrome.

Jon also explains why we need regulation on the increasingly scary amount of user-profiling that’s happening across the web itself, not to mention many browsers and services. 

Do you remember using the early versions of Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Opera, or something equally vintage? Or, maybe you had to develop sites that required myriads of tweaks to make them work across platforms and interpretations of web standards. 

We’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

“Don’t you people backup? I backup, and I don’t even know what backing up means!” – Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship

If you have any kind of file that’s important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you’ll want to make sure it’s kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn’t really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.

Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn’t in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.

Episode Links

• Vivaldi – Website | Mastodon
• Jon von Tetzchner – Mastodon
• Mosaic – Wikipedia
• Opera Mini – Wikipedia
• W3C – The World Wide Web Consortium
• Secure DNS – Chromium Blog
• Fastmail – Privacy focussed email, get 10% off your first year with this link.
• Digital Identity – Our chat with Helen Horstmann-Allen from Fastmail
• Vivaldi steers in-car browsing: Now available in the all-new Ford and Lincoln infotainment system

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:05: Introductions
2. 00:04:20: Why So Many Browsers?
3. 00:18:33: What Makes Vivaldi Different?
4. 00:26:24: Is Chrome Becoming IE6?
5. 00:33:06: App Stores
6. 00:38:36: User Profiling
7. 00:54:23: A Browser in Your Car?
8. 01:03:13: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

We’re joined by our Zack, one of Jae’s nephews and a longtime Android user and advocate to have an honest discussion about why we like the platforms we’ve settled on and where we see potential issues. 

Our chat touches on some core issues like security updates, the challenge of a multitude of Android OEMs, cross-platform messaging, ecosystem lock-in, and the important of right to repair and the longevity of hardware.

What’s your daily driver, do you have strong feelings about the Fruit Company or the one with all the Droids? If you can keep it respectful, we’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

“Don’t you people backup? I backup, and I don’t even know what backing up means!” – Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship

If you have any kind of file that’s important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you’ll want to make sure it’s kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn’t really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.

Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn’t in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.

Episode Links

• Android Open Source Project – The core of Android, that isn’t always Google powered.
• iPhone Models Compatible with iOS 17 – Apple Support
• Samsung Commits to Four Years of Security Updates – Samsung Newsroom (2021)
• Signal – Cross platform, end-to-end encrypted messaging
• iFixIt.com – Guides for device repair

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:03:43: Our Daily Drivers
3. 00:06:57: Personal Choice Matters
4. 00:12:13: Android is not Google
5. 00:15:26: Side loading: Android’s Freedom of Choice? 
6. 00:33:15: Android Versions & OEMs 
7. 00:42:18: An Expectation of Updates? 
8. 00:47:38: Picking Your Device 
9. 00:51:05: The Right to Repair 
10. 01:07:34: Platform Services & Ecosystems 
11. 01:18:17: Beeping iMessage 
12. 01:29:01: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

We’re joined by Alex Lowe and Evan McCann, the hosts of UI Chat, a monthly Ubiquiti focussed podcast that is definitely our go-to resource for the latest news from the UniFi maker. 

We talk about some of the new products, though it’s worth mentioning that this episode was recorded in mid-December 2023 and so pre-dates the new U7 Pro and Swiss Army Knife Ultra access points, as well as the new Pro Max switches.

Have you used UniFi at home or at work, or maybe you disagree with our views and prefer [insert other brand name here] for your network. We’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

“Don’t you people backup? I backup, and I don’t even know what backing up means!” – Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship

If you have any kind of file that’s important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you’ll want to make sure it’s kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn’t really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.

Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn’t in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.

Episode Links

• UI Chat on Apple Podcasts
• The Interface – Alex’s great tech news site
• McCann Tech – Evan’s blog with wonderful deep dives on UniFi gear
• UniFi Products
  • Express – The new all-in-one gateway, controller, and access point that Jae now uses to replace her previous eero setup.
  • Dream Router – The R2D2 like gateway, switch, controller and access point that James uses
  • Talk – Affordable VoIP platform which has less features than a traditional PBX, but is incredibly easy to configure.
• Meet UniFi (YouTube Playlist) – The Jack Quaid (aka Lt. Bradwert Boimler) UniFi ads

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:05:42: A UniFi Overview
3. 00:21:17: Routing 
4. 00:25:30: No Subscriptions
5. 00:27:11: The UniFi Magic 
6. 00:37:20: Switches, Switches, Switches 
7. 00:38:58: WiFi Standards 
8. 00:44:21: UniFi Express 
9. 01:01:49: UniFi Talk & Protect 
10. 01:24:26: PPSK 
11. 01:26:25: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Our guests this week, Phil and Stu Ashby, helped to create and run Wireplay, a dial-up based online gaming service from BT (yes, the telephone company) in the mid-nineties. We go on some really deep tangents on the workings of modems, why just enabling anonymous dial-up internet access may spark some questions, and the challenges of keeping latency in online gaming at a (for the time) remarkable 100ms over dial-up. There’s also a discussion of how having Windows Servers in your backend can be somewhat painful.

Do you remember using Wireplay, or a similar service? We’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

“Don’t you people backup? I backup, and I don’t even know what backing up means!” – Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship

If you have any kind of file that’s important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you’ll want to make sure it’s kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn’t really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too. 

Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn’t in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.

Episode Links

• Do you remember Wireplay? How BT helped to pioneer online gaming around the world – BT via Archive.org
• Wireplay: creating the first online gaming platform in the UK – Phil Ashby on Dev.to
• Wireplay calling – hello 1996! – Ashbysoft
• Half-Life: 25th Anniversary Documentary – Valve on YouTube
• Wireplay invades Brisbane – AusGamers – Adam Williams on YouTube

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:05:00: BT Primer
3. 00:10:07: Internet in the 90s
4. 00:16:58: The Rise of Multiplayer Games
5. 00:29:14: The Birth of Wireplay
6. 00:53:22: The Incident 
7. 01:04:08: Windows Servers In The Backend 
8. 01:12:06: Half Life
9. 01:22:51: The Aftermath
10. 01:36:43: Museum Pieces
11. 01:41:23: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

We unpack what the new m3 powered Macs mean in terms of performance, with Apple specifically targeting those who have yet to convert from Intel based Macs and early m1 adopters, why 8 GB of memory is probably enough for most average users. 

We’re also very honoured to join our friends at The Iconfactory in celebrating 20 years of xScope. Make sure you listen to the end of the episode for a wonderful offer.

Apologies this episode has been delayed in releasing, a few family issues have meant James has been rather distracted from his editing duties. We are working to get episodes out on a more frequent schedule, but we really do thank you all for your patience and continued support of the show.

What do you think to the new m3 lineup, is there anything you think Apple should have done differently? We’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

Of course, if you’ve decided it’s time for a new Mac, you’ll want to make sure all your important data is kept backed up – especially when you’re on the go and maybe don’t have access to that huge external drive you use for Time Machine. 

Well, may we recommend Backblaze’s cloud backup, at just $9 / month for unlimited backups your new Mac will thank you. Use this link to sign up for your free 15 day trial and help support us here at Crossed Wires.

Episode Links

• The Interface – Alex’s fantastic site covering tech and more! 
• Scary Fast – Watch the Apple event
• MacBook Pro (Apple.com)
• iMac (Apple.com)
• Behind the scenes at Scary Fast: Apple’s keynote event shot on iPhone and edited on Mac
• Happy Anniversary, xScope! – Use code XSCOPE20 through December 4th, 2023 for 60% off the regular price. Thanks to Gedeon and the team for extending this wonderful offer to our amazing listeners.

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:03:35: The Scary Fast Event
3. 00:07:13: The M3 Family
4. 00:17:21: iMac
5. 00:25:38: M3 Performance
6. 00:31:47: MacBook Pros 
7. 00:48:16: Filmed on iPhone 
8. 00:53:54: 20 Years of xScope
9. 00:56:01: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

The reality is that programming is very much a problem solving exercise, and languages like Ruby provide a set of tools for how to map out logic and present results to the average computer user. 

Our guest this week is a long-time friend of the show, Joel Drapper, who has recently been working on some powerful new open-source Ruby libraries that can help developers speed up their work and save a lot of confusion. Joel also tells us a bit about his own journey to becoming a programmer, and points to some great resources for those who are interested to get started themselves.

We’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux based cloud computing needs, you can get $100 of free credit with Linode, cloud computing by Akamai, when you sign up here.

Episode Links

• Joel Drapper: Mastodon / Naming Things / GitHub
• Rooftop Ruby – Joel and Colin’s Ruby podcast.
• Practical Object-Oriented Design, An Agile Primer Using Ruby – A starting guide to Ruby.
• Grokking Algorithms – An illustrated guide to understanding how algorithms work.
• Treehouse – A great online resource for learning Ruby and other tech stuff.

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:03:12: Self Taught
3. 00:15:00: Front-end vs backend
4. 00:18:52: Learning Resources
5. 00:26:14: Solving Problems
6. 00:28:36: Open Source Software Libraries
7. 00:51:02: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

As many of you will know, both Jae and James are visually impaired, and so making one of our favourite pastimes more accessible for those with a wide range of sight conditions is a truly exciting topic for us. 

So, Jae reached out to Brandon Cole, an incredibly talented and respected accessibility consultant with credits within the Forza series, not to mention his incredible work on The Last of Us games, so we could sit down and have a chat about all of the work he does as well as a discussion on why accessibility for the blind and visually impaired poses many challenges we may not have considered before.

Do you have any experience with accessibility features in games, or maybe the lack of them? We’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux based cloud computing needs, you can get $100 of free credit with Linode, cloud computing by Akamai, when you sign up here.

Episode Links

• BrandonCole.net – Brandon’s website
• @SuperBlindMan – Brandon on Mastodon
• Last of Us Part II: Is this the most accessible game ever? – BBC News
• Virtually Superior: A Playstation VR 2 review – Brandon’s PS VR2 review
• Retro Collective – The Cave and Arcade Archive

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:03:36: Why is Gaming Accessibility Important?
3. 00:08:37: Blind vs Visual Impairement
4. 00:13:25: Game Studio Attitudes
5. 00:21:13: Channels of Information
6. 00:31:04: Unfair Advantage?
7. 00:36:06: Controls
8. 00:43:14: What Has Driven Accesibility Forward?
9. 00:50:26: A Good Day’s Pay
10. 00:53:19: Accesible Retro Gaming?
11. 00:58:42: What’s Missing?
12. 01:06:30: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

We sat down to record with good friend of the show, Alex Lowe of The Interface, to take a look at Apple’s most recent event and their new iPhone and Watch product lines. We’ve tried to focus on the big features, rather than rattle through the entire keynote verbatim, and we really hope you enjoy our analysis.

We’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion: Backblaze

With macOS Sonoma recently released, in fact on the day we recorded this episode, it’s always important to remind ourselves to ensure we have good backups before any major system update. 

Our friends at Backblaze make backing up your Mac, or even your Windows PC, incredibly easy with truly automated backups with simple restoration should anything happen. Their recent pricing change means that now for just $9 / month per computer everyone gets the same great unlimited storage but now with a year of file history at no extra cost.

Find out more, and get your 15 day free trial, by following this link.

Episode Links

• The Interface – Podcasts, tech news, and more from Alex
• Apple Event – Watch on Apple’s website

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:00: Podcast Promo: Creator Spotlight
2. 00:00:30: Introductions
3. 00:03:43: What Did We Buy or Not Buy?
4. 00:06:18: Event Thoughts
5. 00:16:52: Apple Watch
6. 00:28:48: iPhone 15 / 15 Pro
7. 01:10:16: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Jae and James sat down with Jay Hamilton and Omega of Thoughtable Network to talk about OnLive and also the modern cloud gaming services. OnLive is the technology that PlayStation Now is built on and understanding the past is important to understanding the present. We wanted to look at the past to learn how it may portend to the future of cloud gaming.

Have you used OnLive? Have you used a Cloud Gaming service? What is your experience? We’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

Interested in launching your own cloud gaming service or any type of online service? Then you need an amazing hosting platform like Linode by Akamai. If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux based cloud computing needs, you can get $100 of free credit with Linode, cloud computing by Akamai, when you sign up here.

Episode Links

• Thoughtable Network – Jay and Omega’s Network
• OnLive – WikiPedia
• PlayStation Now – Sony’s Cloud Gaming Platform
• Google is shutting down Stadia – The Verge
• GeForce NOW – nVidia’s Cloud gaming Platform
• Amazon Luna – Amazons’ Cloud gaming offering, a mix of Prime games and offer subscription models
• Xbox Cloud Gaming – Includes Game Pass
• Boosteroid – Bring your own games streaming platform

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:04:20: Remembering OnLive
3. 00:16:37: The State of Cloud Gaming
4. 00:31:51: The Key to Cloud Gaming
5. 00:48:27: Cloud Hesitancy
6. 01:02:52: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

For the longest time, the Switch was my only games system (not including my iPhone and iPad of course), and the wide range of games certainly makes it an attractive system for many people. Many a family gathering has inevitably ended up in a Mario Kart Grand Prix, or a humiliating defeat at the hands of my nephew in Super Smash Brothers Ultimate.

I’m joined this week by Chris from Switch Weekly to take a look back at the last 6 years of the Switch, why it’s so appealing, where there are some potential improvements, and what the future may hold for Nintendo’s next system.

Do you have a Switch, have you experienced joy con drift, or maybe you’ve got a game recommendation from the vast eShop library! We’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux based cloud computing needs, you can get $100 of free credit with Linode, cloud computing by Akamai, when you sign up here.

Episode Links

• Switch Weekly: Newsletter / Mastodon
• Chris Brandrick – Mastodon
• overkill.wtf – Gaming news site Chris edits. 
• The State of Switch 2023 – Switch Weekly Survey Results
• Skull & Co. Jump Gate Dock Review – Crossed Wires on YouTube
• Nyxi Wizard – GameCube like joypad for Switch
• Hori Split Pad Pro – Alternative joy con style controller
• PXN 9607X – James’ Switch Controller
• Switch Online – Nintendo UK

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:03:49: The Appeal of the Switch
3. 00:12:52: Hardware
4. 00:22:07: The Joys of Joy Cons
5. 00:28:46: Other Controllers 
6. 00:32:01: LABO & Mario Kart Home Circuit 
7. 00:36:40: Games 
8. 00:50:31: Switch Online 
9. 00:58:53: The Future 
10. 01:05:18: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

My guest this week is self-published author and tech nerd, Matt Gemmell. We talk about how Matt uses just his iPad to plan and write his stories, how he self-publishes his work and all the elements that need to come together to get a novel onto the bookshelves, both digital and physical.

We also talk about the importance of a good keyboard, and do a bit of a beginners guide into the world of mechanical keyboards, a hobby that has no doubt raised many a financial question in any writer’s relationship!

Have you delved into the world of writing, or maybe you’re a mechanical keyboard nerd who has stories to tell of your most intrepid builds? We’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux based cloud computing needs, you can get $100 of free credit with Linode, cloud computing by Akamai, when you sign up here.

Episode Links

• mattgemmell.scot – Matt’s website including links to all his socials, podcast, and novels.
• Ulysses – macOS and iOS writing app that Matt uses
• Markdown – John Gruber’s original documentation for the text-to-HTML language
• ISBN (Wikipedia)
• Mechanical Keyboard Switches Explained: Types, Colors, & More (How To Geek)
• Ducky – Very popular line of mechanical keyboards
• Keychron – A great range of mechanical keyboards for Mac, iOS, and Windows

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:05: Introductions
2. 00:03:31: iPad and Markdown 
3. 00:21:34: The Publishing Process 
4. 00:31:27: Support Your Library!
5. 00:33:49: The Importance of a Keyboard 
6. 00:52:15: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

It wouldn’t be a big Apple event without gathering in a SquadCast session to dissect all of announcements and give our take on what’s coming up in the next major software releases, as well as looking at the latest hardware, especially the Vision Pro. We’re delighted, as always, to be joined by Alex Lowe and the occasional contribution from our live-stream chat!

What was your opinion on what Apple showed off this year? Whatever your thoughts, we’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

• If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux based cloud computing needs, you can get $100 of free credit for 60 days with Linode, cloud computing by Akamai, when you sign up here.
• Thanks to our friends at SquadCast for making this epic recording session possible. If you want a great way to record your remote podcast with studio quality audio and video you can find out more here

Episode Links

• The Interface – For all your tech news needs! 
• Crossed Wires Live – Make sure you catch our live streams on Twitch
• WWDC 2023 Keynote Video – Apple Developer Website
• Apple Vision Pro Impressions! – MKBHD (YouTube)
• Apple adds pronoun fields with privacy focus to Contacts app on iOS 17 – 9to5 Mac
• iOS and iPadOS 17 drop support for iPhone X, first iPad Pros, and other old devices – Ars Technica
• macOS Sonoma drops support for another wide swath of Intel Macs – Ars Technica
• Apple TV hardware will get VPN access with tvOS 17 – Android Authority
• Cloud Backup & Storage – Our chat with Pat Patterson from Backblaze

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:03:28: Keynote Delivery
3. 00:06:21: 15 Years of the iOS App Store
4. 00:07:23:  Vision Pro
5. 01:00:32: AFFILIATE: Grinding Coffee          
6. 01:02:12: Mac Hardware
7. 01:02:58: 15” MacBook Air
8. 01:10:10: M2 Max / Ultra Mac Studio
9. 01:14:10: Mac Pro
10. 01:30:37: iOS / iPadOS 17
11. 02:35:51: macOS Sonoma
12. 02:49:24: Audio & Home
13. 02:56:51: tvOS 17
14. 03:04:40: Gaming on the Mac
15. 03:09:15: Presenter Mode
16. 03:11:34: watchOS 10
17. 03:14:04: Health
18. 03:18:15: A Beta PSA & Bacblaze Promo
19. 03:21:20: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

We tried iCloud shared folders, since we’re both firmly in the Apple ecosystem, but to be blunt they just aren’t built for large amounts of data or more flexible sharing options. We were reluctant to trust our data to Google, and we certainly didn’t need all the functionality of Office 365.

Then, along came Nextcloud, an open-source, self-hosted solution that brings together so many different features like file storage across multiple storage solutions, collaborative document editing and much more.

This week, we talk with Jos Poortvliet, the co-founder and marketing director over at Nextcloud, to dig deep into the history of Nextcloud, what makes it such a compelling option and a genuinely strong alternative to things like Office 365 and Google Workspace, as well as nerding out on some of the available apps and other little gems.

Do you use a cloud service for your own data, or maybe you look after the systems for your business, big or small. Whatever your experience, we’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux based cloud computing needs, including running your very own Nextcloud instance, you can get $100 of free credit with Linode, cloud computing by Akamai, when you sign up here.

Episode Links

• Nextcloud – Website
• Nextcloud – Mastodon
• Your Data in Nextcloud – Great details on how your data is managed
• Nextcloud Ethical AI Rating – Looking at how to rate different AI solutions based on their openness

Related Episodes

• Open (Source) for Business – Talking about how important Open Source is for business with Tom Lawrence
• Experimenting with Linux – A chat with Nick from The Linux Experiment about all things Linux
• Chatting AI Ethics – A discussion with Dr. Catherine Flick about AI

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:07:04: What is Nextcloud
3. 00:21:48: Why You May Need An Alternative to Office 365 etc.
4. 00:35:30: Monetisation of Nextcloud
5. 00:40:48: Nextcloud Hub
6. 00:45:11: Storage Backends
7. 00:51:19: Deployment Options
8. 01:04:19: Talk, Office, and File Sync
9. 01:21:59: Apps
10. 01:32:11: Nextcloud AI
11. 01:41:35: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Growing up in the late 80s and through the 90s, there was always Trek on TV, be it re-runs of the original series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and even Voyager. 

Seeing the wealth of technology, like a computer you could talk to, devices as thin and light as a paper notebook that you could work on and view data on wherever you went. It seemed so far into the future, but yet here we are in 2023 with more voice assistants than Tribbles, iPads as far as the eye can see, and wireless communication that would make even Data jealous.

This week, my returning guest is a fellow Trek nerd and all round interface design guru, Gedeon Maheux from The Icon Factory. It was so much fun to nerd out with Gedeon, whilst narrowly avoiding Picard season 3 spoilers for you all. We dissect how technology has been inspired by Star Trek, and where we may have advances beyond some of the things we saw, certainly in earlier Trek.

Are you a Trek nerd like us, or maybe you’ve just seen bits of it but don’t know your Warp Core from your Genesis Device? Whatever your experience of Star Trek, good or bad, we’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux based cloud computing needs, you can get $100 of free credit with Linode, cloud computing by Akamai, when you sign up here.

Episode Links

• gedblog – Gedeon’s Blog with links to socials
• The Icon Factory – great design, apps and freebies
• Ollie, Space Karen, And An API – Gedeon’s first appearance on the show to talk about Twitter’s API
• Mike Okuda – Twitter via Nitter.net

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:02:31: A Quick Twitter Update
3. 00:05:54: Star Trek Picard Season 3
4. 00:09:32: Tech Clearly Inspired by Trek
5. 00:23:40: Communications & Voice Assistants
6. 00:36:17: Security Codes
7. 00:45:10: Reconciling TOS Tech
8. 00:52:39: The UI of LCARS
9. 01:03:33: Favourite Trek Moments
10. 01:11:52: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

We’re joined by Rachel Hanson, a parent and elected official herself, to try to unpack what the real issues are and why simply banning social media services can lead to far more dangerous information control by our governments that could lead to more and more marginalisation of those already in need of accurate and verified information.

We know this episode may spark some different views and discussions, and we really do want to give you space to share thoughts thoughts. As long as you can follow our community guidelines, please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux based cloud computing needs, you can get $100 of free credit with Linode, cloud computing by Akamai, when you sign up here.

Episode Links

• Rachel Hanson – LinkTree
• Montana becomes first state to ban TikTok – Gizmodo
• ‘TikTok bill’ is far too broad and could apply to almost any tech – Ars Technica
• Hands off My TikTok. Banning It Would Hurt the Most Marginalized | Opinion – Newsweek
• TikTok fined £12.7m for UK data protection law breaches – The Guardian 
• Factsheet: Amendment to the Online Safety Bill to help tackle child sexual exploitation and abuse online  – UK Home Office
• Don’t Scan Me – Open Rights Group

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:03:43: The Impact of TikTok
3. 00:16:08: The Negatives of TikTok
4. 00:26:56: Privacy & Consequences
5. 00:40:59: The Control of Information
6. 00:57:12: Social Media for Elected Officials
7. 01:06:24: E2EE & The Challenge of CSAM
8. 01:20:52: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

So, it was my great honour to sit down with Canis to talk about his developer pedigree, going all the way back to the BBC Micro and the birth of ARM, all the way through to wrangling multi-channel audio, digging through a locked filing cabinet in a disused lavatory to find details about the ALAC format, and turning what can be a frustrating experience into one of the easiest audio editing tools I’ve used for a very long time.

Do you have stories of audio editing nightmares, have you used Ferrite to produce audio, or maybe you’ve got some questions about editing audio on the iPad. Whatever your experiences, we’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux based cloud computing needs, you can get $100 of free credit with Linode, cloud computing by Akamai, when you sign up here.

Episode Links

• Wooji Juice: Website / Twitter (via Nitter.net)
• Ferrite – Apple App Store
• Electronic Dreams: How 1980s Britain Learned to Love the Computer – Amazon UK
• Steve Jobs Introduces the App Store (2008) – YouTube

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:05:05: What’s in a Name?
3. 00:07:31: The First iPhone & App Store
4. 00:11:09: The Creation of Ferrite
5. 00:21:53: Recording on iOS
6. 00:37:24: Pre Production
7. 00:42:38: The Pricing Model
8. 00:47:06: Editing Experience
9. 00:58:08: Dealing with Silence
10. 00:59:47: Handy Features
11. 01:04:44: Exporting
12. 01:15:11: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

We’re delighted to have Catherine join us again to take a deep dive into the ethics that surround the hype that is AI. We talk about the issues around copyright, data accuracy and vetting, biasses in datasets, as well as how these AI tools can never be sentient in the way that everyone’s favourite artificial intelligence, Lt. Cmdr Data was shown to be in Star Trek.

What are your views on the world of AI, do you have experience using machine learning and AI models in your own work or studies? We’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux based cloud computing needs, you can get $100 of free credit with Linode, cloud computing by Akamai, when you sign up here.

Episode Links

• Catherine Flick: Website / Mastodon
• ChatGPT – We are not endorsing the use of this or any LLM (Large Language Mode), simply pointing to a credible source to access ChatGPT.
• Tay: Microsoft issues apology over racist chatbot fiasco – Early AI chatbot my Microsoft
• Google Photos labeled black people ‘gorillas’ – Example of AI Messing Up
• Adobe Unveils Firefly, a Family of new Creative Generative AI – Adobe merging AI together with their products
• Sharing sensitive business data with ChatGPT could be risky – Example of the risk of AI and sensitive data

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:03:40: What Do We Mean By AI?
3. 00:13:55: The Failures of Narrow AI
4. 00:24:46: Where Does the Data Come From? 00:34:57: Dealing With Copyright 00:44:19: Creative AI and ML Tools
5. 00:49:12: Using AI in Work and Academia
6. 01:02:50: Feeding Personal Data
7. 01:10:57: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Our guest, and good friend of the show, Alex has worked with wireless technologies for quite some time and kindly agreed to give a fair chunk of his time to help us explore some of the common myths around WiFi, the history of the technology, how mesh WiFi is a far better solution than the plethora of range extenders and boosters that really don’t help a poor WiFi signal.

What’s your experience with the wonderful world of WiFi, do you have any burning questions you want us to address, or pro tips you’ve found for your own setup? We’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the disscussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux based cloud computing needs, you can get $100 of free credit with Linode, cloud computing by Akamai, when you sign up here.

Episode Links

• Alex: Mastodon / The Interface
• WiFi Standards Explained – Lifewire
• Should I Worry About Mobile Phones – YouTube
• What is Mesh WiFi – TechQuickie (YouTube)
• How the Internet Saved Florida – 2 Days with the ITDRC – Crosstalk Solutions (YouTube)
• UniFi Dream Router – Ubiquiti Store
• TP-Link Deco – Product Page
• Eero by Amazon – Product Page
• Eero DFS Support – Eero Blog
• Wireless ISP Starry Files for Bankruptcy – The Verge
• OpenWireless.org – EFF

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:01: Adopt a Listener
2. 00:01:07: Introductions
3. 00:07:27: What Does WiFi Stand For?
4. 00:08:15: History of WiFi
5. 00:14:09: WiFi 6E
6. 00:14:50: Frequencies
7. 00:19:27: WiFi Router vs Access Point
8. 00:21:21: Crowded WiFi
9. 00:23:28: HomePods and WiFi 4
10. 00:25:43: Ethernet Is Always Better
11. 00:29:41: Common WiFi Misunderstandings
12. 00:37:08: Is Wireless Dangerous?
13. 00:41:42: WiFi Extenders & Boosters
14. 00:46:37: Mesh WiFi
15. 01:00:45: Should You Replace Your ISP Router
16. 01:05:34: Subscription Features
17. 01:07:35: UniFi Dream Router Pricing
18. 01:10:18: HomeKit Routers
19. 01:13:53: WISPS
20. 01:24:49: Making The Most of Your Existing WiFi
21. 01:29:54: Understanding WiFi Channels
22. 01:35:44: Too Much Mesh?
23. 01:39:16: MU-MIMO
24. 01:40:30: “Gaming” Routers?
25. 01:43:30: Guest Networks
26. 01:49:11: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Back then, I went by the name of Frazley and ran FrazlCast, which was a World of Warcraft fan podcast. I showed this episode to James, and we both thought that it would be great to bring this episode to you as our first in a series we’re lovingly calling “From the Archives”.

I was given the honour to sit down with John Staats, who designed and built half of Vanilla WoW’s dungeons and raids. This was a lovely look into game design and the challenges that John and his team faced while building the iconic game of World of Warcraft. My friend Ali of the Dungeon Fables podcast joined me for this fun interview! I know some of you will be have been listeners of my former podcast as well! Thank you for being along for my journey.

Did you ever play World of Warcraft or Vanilla WoW? We’d love to hear from you, so please do send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or join the discussion over on our Discord server.

Support Us

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

Whilst your WoW data is nice and safe in the Blizzard cloud, you’ll definitely want to make sure that your preciously crafted macros, your carefully configured add-ons and UI settings, and those all important DPS reports (Hello, Peter?) are backed up. For simple, stress free, cloud backups from just $7 per month, try our friends Backblaze for 15 days for free, and get your backups in order.

Episode Links

• Dungeon Fables – Ali’s podcast about the lore of the dungeons in World of Warcraft
• The WoW Diary – John Staats’ book about designing and developing the World of Warcraft
• Loki’s Minions Capture The Flag Mod – John Staat’s Former Mod
• Tabletop Board Game Cafe – A cafe in Ohio
• Malted Meeple – One of John’s favourite drinks
• Interviews and Articles with John about the Dev Diary – For more interviews and articles by John Staats

Credits

• Intro by Brandon T. Blaylock
• Outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

As the 90s came closer to the millennium we also saw a new craze from Japan for dancing games, notably Dance Dance Revolution by arcade legends Konami, or Dancing Stage as it was known in Europe. These dance based games really saw a following and even to this day dance games are incredibly popular.

My guest this week is here to talk about both nostalgic experiences, especially as he’s working on a one-quarter sized all-in-one DDR mini-Arcade build using an Intel NUC, a custom input board and more lights than Blackpool Illuminations.

We delve into lots of nerdy details on the famed ‘Sega Tower of Power’, as well as pondering what may have been if Sega hadn’t ended their console hardware with the too-little-too-late DreamCast.

We’re sure this conversation is going to spark some debate, especially as we may have trash talked more than a few rivals, so we’d love to hear from you; send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or join the discussion over on our Discord server

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux based cloud computing needs, you can get $100 of free credit for 60-days when you sign up here with our friends Linode, cloud computing by Akamai

Episode Links

• Naoki’s Retro Corner – YouTube Channel
• Making my own Dance Dance Revolution Cabinet – Naoki’s Retro Corner (YouTube)
• Exploring The Wild World of DDR Controllers – kkclue (YouTube)
• Project OutFox – Rhythm game sim for the Raspberry Pi
• Dance Dance Revolution – Wikipedia
• MiSTerCade – JAMMA for Mister
• The Sega Genesis Mini is getting its own ridiculous mini tower – Polygon
• Mega CD – Wikipedia
• 32X – Wikipedia
• Sega Saturn – Wikipedia

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:00: Adopt A Listener
2. 00:01:05: Introductions
3. 00:06:20: A Brief iMovie Chat
4. 00:09:08: Why Arcade Builds?
5. 00:13:44: Quarter Scale DDR
6. 00:36:33: Modern Dance Games
7. 00:39:32: Project Outfox
8. 00:43:02: Arcade Experience Scale
9. 00:47:11: Saga Mega Drive
10. 00:57:23: Mega CD
11. 01:09:44: 32X
12. 01:14:55: Tower of (Unstable) Power
13. 01:23:35: Saga Saturn
14. 01:38:23: Sega’s Legacy Today
15. 01:46:17: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

We’re probably all fed up of the increasing complexity of logging into our favourite websites and apps, but the reality is that passwords, multi-factor authentication and now ‘passwordless’ ways of proving our online identity are more important than ever.

Talking with Sascz, we try to address some of the common questions around keeping ourselves safe in a digital world, as well as wincing at some of the painful examples we’ve seen of bad security habits that make even 16309, 12345, or 000 Destruct 0 look like strong password choices.

This is absolutely an episode where we want to hear your feedback, your experiences, and maybe things you’ve learned from our discussion. Maybe you have a different viewpoint on some of the things we’ve raised, so please send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or join the discussion over on our Discord server

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux based cloud computing needs, you can get $100 of free credit when you sign up with our friends Linode here.

Episode Links

• Alexander (Sascz) Hermann: Website | Twitter
• Time-based one-time password (TOTP – WikiPedia
• You Should be Afraid of SIM Swaps – Malicious Life
• iCloud Hide My Email
• Fastmail Masked Email
• Free Password Generator by 1Password
• Password Managers
  • 1Password
  • BitWarden
  • KeePass
  • iCloud Keychain
• WSJ Journal Article: Criminals Use iPhones To Steal Digital Lives
• Password Entropy: The Value of Unpredictable Passwords (Okta)
• About the Security of Passkeys (Apple)
• Windows Hello

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:02:16: AFFILIATE PROMO: Linode
3. 00:03:12: Guest Intro – Alexander
4. 00:08:27: An Old Problem
5. 00:11:51: Vulnerabilities
6. 00:15:10: Social Engineering
7. 00:26:38: Being Mindful of Social Media Posts
8. 00:31:44: Software Updates
9. 00:36:47: Endpoint Security
10. 00:40:15: Protecting the Average User
11. 00:47:42: Protecting Our Phones
12. 00:56:26: Whole Disk Encryption
13. 00:57:20: Multi Factor Authentication
14. 01:04:58: Passwords Matter
15. 01:10:48: Strong Passwords & Password Generation
16. 01:20:50: Corporate Authentication
17. 01:26:37: Zero Trust
18. 01:28:00: Password Managers
19. 01:38:17: Passwordless
20. 01:45:18: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Well, Jack and Sam braved the wild west of the early days of DV cameras and editing, even using an Amiga powered NLE, to produce a video on some old film cameras for their blog. We chat about not only the experience of capturing and editing, but also talk about how sometimes the older ways of capturing moments can be more enjoyable.

Do you have any fun, or even haunting, memories of working with digital video in the pre-iPhone and SD Card era? We’d love to hear from you, so why not send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or join the discussion over on our Discord server

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux based cloud computing needs, you can get $100 of free credit when you sign up here with our friends Linode.

Episode Links

• Jack & Sam’s Blog
• Sam’s Instagram
• Cannon XL1
• Bronica EC-TL (CameraQuest)
• Pentax ME Super (Wikipedia)
• Digital Video Editing with a 68060 | Macrosystem Casablanca (WHAT CRAP HAVE YOU BOUGHT NOW? – YouTube)
• iMovie (Wikipedia)
• Apple Power Macintosh G4 1.42 DP (EveryMac.com)
• Final Cut Pro (Wikipedia)
• MicroMV and me – Tiny Videotape, big impact (Techmoan – YouTube)

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:01: Podcast Recommendation: Art Heals All Wounds
2. 00:00:34: Introductions
3. 00:05:02: Let’s Male A Video
4. 00:10:01: Canon XL1 & Early DV
5. 00:17:06: iPhone Transfer Frustration
6. 00:19:43: Is Capturing Easier?
7. 00:21:31: FireWire
8. 00:25:10: The Attraction of Film
9. 00:30:19: Macrosystems Casablanca
10. 00:39:09: An iMac, Jamming Cameras, and a Power Mac G4
11. 00:49:17: Final Cut Woes
12. 00:57:03: Are Old Tools Better?
13. 00:59:14: The Impact of iMovie
14. 01:04:57: Wrapping Up
15. 01:17:28: PODCAST TRAILER: Art Heals All Wounds

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

For this milestone episode, we thought you may like a bit of an insight into how each episode of the show reaches you after we record and edit it. 

We reached out to Craig Hewitt the founder of Castos, our hosting provider for the podcast, and he kindly agreed to come and chat to us about what podcast hosting is, why good quality hosting is important, as well as looking at some of the challenges of distributing podcasts across so many platforms.

Are you a podcaster yourself, or maybe you’d like to learn more about Castos, or maybe you’ve had some fun stories with podcast hosting over the years. Whatever your experience, we’d love to hear from you, so please send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or join the discussion over on our Discord server

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Affiliate Promotion

As you’ll hear in the episode, we’ve had our own data loss incident here at Crossed Wires and if we didn’t have Backblaze powering our backups we’d have had to spend hours re-exporting every MP3 we’d ever created for the podcast. They provide simple and elegant backups for just $7 a month, and because it’s running in the background, you never have to worry about if your files are being safely backed up to the cloud. Sign up for your 15-day free trial here and make sure you never lose those important files again.

Episode Links

• Sign up for Castos (Affiliate Link)
• Craig Hewitt on LinkedIn
• RSS (Wikipedia)
• Castos Blog
• Castos Academy
• Castos Pricing
• Audience – Castos Original Podcast
• Dynamo by Castos – Free podcast artwork generator

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:01: Podcast Recommendation: Art Heals All Wounds
2. 00:00:34: Introductions
3. 00:06:28: What Is Podcast Hosting?
4. 00:11:21: Self-Hosted vs Paid Hosting
5. 00:16:51: Seriously Simple Podcasting WordPress Plugin
6. 00:19:51: The Importance of Support
7. 00:22:09: The Unexpected RSS Feed Impact
8. 00:29:45: Analytics
9. 00:37:40: Pricing & What You Get
10. 00:43:57: Automatic Transscription
11. 00:46:08: Democratisation of Podcasts
12. 00:48:43: AFFILIATE PROMO: Backblaze
13. 00:50:46: Importing a Podcast
14. 00:53:25: Free Tools for Podcasters
15. 00:54:58: Private Podcasting
16. 01:01:09: Wrapping Up
17. 01:09:14: PODCAST TRAILER: Art Heals All Wounds

Credits

• Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW
• Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
  https://uppbeat.io/t/danijel-zambo/stardust
  License code: VBAWDT54LJT6XLFW

My guest this week is Nancy May of the Eldercare Success podcast; we have a chat about how technology can be used to help with the care of elderly relatives, how we can keep our older tech users safe online, how even the simplest gadgets can help in a care situation, and possibly most importantly we look at the concept of the accessibility of modern services which are taken over by digital payments, self-service checkouts, and ask the question if we’re doing tech for tech’s sake.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on how tech can be both a blessing and a problem for the older generation, especially if you have stories to share. Why not send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or join the discussion over on our Discord server

Affiliate Promotion

During this episode, we talked a lot about keeping things simple for our older tech users. One of the most critical parts of our digital lives is ensuring we have proper backups of our treasured memories within our photos, videos, and many other documents and messages. Our friends at Backblaze provide a simple, set-and-forget, unlimited cloud-based backup solution for just $7 / month, why not start your 15-day free trial here.

Supporting the Show

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Episode Links

• Eldecare Success Podcast – Website / Apple Podcasts
• Caremanity – Twitter / Facebook
• How to Survive 911 Medical Emergencies – Caremanity
• Telecare (AgeUK)
• Apple Watch Family Setup (Apple Support)
• Using HomePods as an Intercome (Apple Support)
• Power of Attorney (Wikipedia)

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:00: Podcast Recommendation: Art Heals All Wounds
2. 00:00:36: Introductions
3. 00:09:24: A Quick POA Primer
4. 00:10:42: Aggressive Marketing & Scams
5. 00:28:32: Elder Care Home Hacks
6. 00:35:35: TVs & Remotes
7. 00:39:49: Smart Home & Voice Assistants
8. 00:47:08: The Problem with Wearables
9. 00:48:51: The Accessibility of Services
10. 01:05:50: Tech for Tech’s Sake?
11. 01:14:04: Wrapping Up
12. 01:16:59: PODCAST TRAILER: Art Heals All Wounds

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

We’re thrilled to have Chris Adams join us for this week’s episode. We take a deep dive into how we can try to understand the impact our tech usage has on the environment, and some cool things happening across the industry to try and improve energy usage and the environmental cost of manufacturing. 

What are your views on the relationship between technology and the environment? We’d love to hear from you, so please send your thoughts to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or join the discussion over on our Discord server

Promotion

As of this episode, we’ve partially completed our migration to Linode because they have a bit more transparency about their green credentials. If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux-based cloud computing needs, you can get $100 of free credit when you sign up here.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Episode Links

• Chris Adams on Mastodon
• ClimateAction .tech
• The Green Web Foundation
• Green Web Check
• The Green Web Library
• CO2 .js
• Backblaze Rides the Nautilus Data Center Wave
• A way to think about the environmental impact of streaming services like Netflix
• Microsoft will soon push Xbox owners into energy-saving Shutdown mode [Ars Technica]
• Greening of Streaming
• Working with RIPE NCC and the IETF for a greener internet
• Could Coal Waste Be Used to Make Sustainable Batteries?
• Sören Enholm – How to navigate toward more sustainable digital equipment? [Green IO Podcast]
• Previous Episodes Mentioned
  • Cloud Backup & Storage with Pat Patterson
  • Something, Something, Blockchain with Dr. Catherine Flick

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:02:40: Crossed Wires’ Green Status
3. 00:04:30: Water Usage For Cooling & Power Generation
4. 00:08:43: Solar?
5. 00:11:54: Fellowship
6. 00:14:34: Building Green Websites & Apps
7. 00:21:20: Why Should We Care?
8. 00:28:24: Gaming & Streaming Energy Savings
9. 00:36:54: The CID Model
10. 00:40:49: Green Routing?
11. 00:49:46: Vampire Usage vs. Real Change
12. 00:52:45: Batteries
13. 00:57:11: Device Cycles
14. 01:10:24: Is Smart Home Tech Worth It?
15. 01:14:57: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

On this episode, James and Jae talk with Bradly of the American Heart Association. We discussed his background in charity work and the steps that the AHA has gone through as they’ve been embracing the medium of streaming as a charity fundraising tool.

While discussing the work that AHA does, we also talk about aspects of heart health that individuals may not realise, and some steps we can all take to improve our daily heart-health. As a fair warning, this episode contains a number of heartfelt puns from Jae. 

We’d love to hear your stories and experiences with not only heart-health, but also ways in which technology may have helped you raise funds for charities. Drop us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net or come join the discussion in our Discord

Supporting Crossed Wires

This week, we’d love yout o support AHA where possible, but if you’re also able to help us pay the bills around here it would be hugely appreciated. The best way to do that is to head over to our KoFi page and drop us a tip for as little as $1.

If you’re looking for a home for your latest Linux based project, our friends at Linode provide top-quality servers and have been doing so since 2003. Best-of-all, their pricing is incredible! So, if you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux-based cloud computing needs, you can get $100 of free credit when you sign up here.

Episode Links

• American Heart Association
  • American Heart Association on Tiltify
  • American Heart Association Discord
• Charity Fundraising Tools:
  • Tiltify
  • Twitch Charity Functionality
  • PayPal Giving Fund
  • YouTube Giving
• Crossed Wires on Twitch

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:03:34: Why AHA Is So Important
3. 00:09:21: Why Fundraising?
4. 00:18:25: Streaming to Fundraise
5. 00:30:53: Incentives to Donate
6. 00:38:23: Other Ways to Give
7. 00:41:23: Hands Only CPR & FAST
8. 00:44:32: Some Closing Thoughts

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

However, the term Linux can get somewhat confusing, does it refer to the underlying kernel or a specific distribution and its desktop experience? It doesn’t help that some Linux fans can become very passionate when talking about their favourite distribution and why it’s the only one you should even remotely consider.

To try and untangle this mess, I’m joined by Nick from The Linux Experiment to clarify exactly what the different parts of a Linux-based operating system are, why some people may be scared to give it a try, as well as looking at the hardware requirements, software availability, as well as taking a look at the future of Linux on ARM, and what Valve’s Steam Deck has done for gaming on Linux in general.

What’s been your experience with Linux? Do you daily drive a particular distribution that you love, or does the thought of moving away from Windows or macOS send shivers down your spine? We’d love to hear from you, so please send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or join the discussion over on our Discord server

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Promotion

Since we’re talking about Linux, and as we mentioned in the episode our website is running on a Ubuntu server which we’re in the process of moving to our new partner, Linode – now part of Akamai.

If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux-based cloud computing needs, you can get $100 of free credit when you sign up here.

Episode Links

• The Linux Experiment – YouTube / PeerTube / Website
• Nick on Mastodon
• The Linux Foundation
• Distributions
  • Fedora
  • Ubuntu
  • Linux Mint
  • Pop!_os
  • Tiny Core Linux
  • Puppy Linux
  • Asahi LInux
• Desktop Environments
  • GNOME
  • KDE
  • Cinnamon
• Software
  • GIMP
  • Audacity
  • KDEN Live
  • LIbreOffice
  • 1Password for LInux
  • BitWarden
  • Unofficial OneDrive Client for Linux
• Videos
  • FRANCE BANS MS Office 365, Google Docs in schools: Linux & Open Source newsv – The LInux Experiment (YouTube)
  • How to use APPLE and iCloud Apps and Services on LINUX – The Linux Experiment (YouTube)
  • What the HECK is Hannah Montana Linux? (Yes, It’s Real) – Krazy Ken’s Tech Misadventures (YouTube)

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:06:56: What is Linux?
3. 00:11:36: Desktop Environments
4. 00:15:31: Why Switch from Windows or macOS?
5. 00:21:21: But will it run….
6. 00:26:47: Hardware Requirements & Non Supported OSes
7. 00:30:23: What Scares People About Linux?
8. 00:43:17: Software Options
9. 00:50:14: Linux on ARM
10. 00:56:25: Gaming on Linux
11. 01:04:58: Desert Island Distro
12. 01:10:13: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

To challenge this perception, we take the opportunity to sit down and talk with Bezerker of Unshackled Fury on aspects of MMORPGs we might not think about: How these types of games can foster a community, and how they help individuals who might not feel connected to people in the physical world.

Ethically we also talk about the dangers of MMORPGs. We tried to strike a fine balance between not having Jae, a self-confessed WoW fan-girl, talking too positively about these games and potentially risking missing the deeper intrinsic problems that these types of games create.

Have you had any experience in MMORPGs whether being a player yourself or someone whose family/friends were players? We’d love to hear from you, so please send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or join the discussion over on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Episode Links

• Unshackled Fury Podcast
• Berzerker on Twitter
• World of Warcraft
• Deaf community guild beats WoW Sepulcher of the First Ones

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:21: Introductions
2. 00:08:22: Understanding MMORPGs
3. 00:21:45: What can you play WoW on?
4. 00:26:36: The Addiction Factor
5. 00:35:36: The Birth of Team Chat
6. 00:44:13.: The Good & Bad of The Community
7. 01:06:12: A Special Announcement
8. 01:11:48: Wrapping Up

Credits

• Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW
• Dialogue from South Park episode ‘Make Love, Not Warcraft’ used under fair-use. South Park and all related titles, logos and characters are trademarks of Comedy Partners.

It’s my pleasure to have Tom join us, having been a fan of his YouTube content for quite some time. He’s become one of the most recognised sources of knowledge for the wonderful open-source firewall project, pfSense, and sharing valuable insights on other projects such as XCP-ng, TrueNAS, and many more.

We take a look at what we mean by open source, why many businesses still prefer closed source solutions from big names, the security considerations of both closed and open source projects, and talk a bit about Pop!_os by System76.

What’s been your experience with open-source solutions, particularly in business, have you had any good or bad experiences you’d like to share? We’d love to hear from you, so please send a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or join the discussion on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Episode Links

• Tom Lawrence on Mastodon
• Lawrence Technology Services
• Lastpass December 2022 Security Incident: What Happened and What’s Not Encrypted – Lawrence Systmes (YouTube)
• XCP-ng
• BitWarden
• LibreOffice
• Nextcloud
• TrueNAS
• Pop!_os by System76

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:07:48: What Does Open Source Actually Mean?
3. 00:16:06: A Bit On XCP NG
4. 00:19:04: The Attachment to Closed Source Solutions
5. 00:25:57: What About Google?
6. 00:31:41: Microsoft Loves Open Source?
7. 00:33:28: Cloud vs On Premise
8. 00:43:17: Software Bill of Materials
9. 00:49:14: Tech YouTubers
10. 00:51:31: A PopOS! Confession
11. 00:59:16: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Returning guest, Jeff Butts of The Mac Observer, was kind enough to join us for a discussion of not only the new products, but also a few detours into gaming on the Mac, some of Apple’s new HomeKit features, and a few thoughts on the state of the Apple Silicon transition.

Are you going to be buying any of the new M2-based systems, maybe as your first Apple Silicon Mac? Are you as happy as we are to see the HomePod return? We’d love to hear from you, so please send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or join the discussion over on our Discord server.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Episode Links

• Jeff Butts on Mastodon
• The Mac Observer
• Apple introduces new Mac mini with M2 and M2 Pro (Apple Newsroom)
• Apple unveils MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max (Apple Newsroom)
• 2nd Generation HomePod
• How To Use Your HomePod’s Temperature and Humidity Sensors (The Mac Observer)
• Apple advances user security with powerful new data protections (Apple Newsroom)
• Jeff’s previous appearance ‘Green Bubbles’
• Our chat with Noah about the Steam Deck

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:03:47: Apple’s Change of Announcement Style
3. 00:11:37: More M2 Chips
4. 00:11:57: Mac Mini
5. 00:22:44: Mini Goes Pro
6. 00:26:17: Gaming on the Mac
7. 00:31:58: Mini Size Changes?
8. 00:33:07: MacBook Pros
9. 00:41:27: New HomePod
10. 00:47:48: Sound Recognition for Smoke Alarms
11. 00:52:43: The Benefits of the Apple Ecosystem
12. 00:54:32: Advanced Data Protection
13. 01:06:26: How Are Apple Looking for 2023?

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

On Thursday, Twitter announced that this was intentional and that many third-party apps would no longer have API access. This caused no end of frustration for developers like Iconfactory. So it’s my pleasure to be joined by Gedeon, their principal and designer, to try to unpack what exactly happened, and the impact this has had and will continue to have on their business.

What are your memories of the good old days of Twitter, did you have a favourite third-party app you used? We’d love to hear from you, so please send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or join the discussion over on our Discord server. Of course, you can also follow us on Mastodon

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Episode Links

• Gedeon Maheux on Mastodon
• Iconfactory: Website / Apps / Blog
• Twitter bans third-party apps (TechCrunch)
• Ivory by Tapbots
• Our chat with James Smith on Mastodon and the Fediverse

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:06:27: The Original Twitter App Experience
3. 00:08:55: The Last Big API Changes
4. 00:11:32: What Happened to the API?
5. 00:16:54: The Importance of 3rd Party Apps
6. 00:20:27: Moving to Mastodon?
7. 00:25:03: The Financial Impact
8. 00:35:19: Why Do We Think This Happened?
9. 00:49:34: The Core Twitter Experience Rule?
10. 00:53:12: APIs on Other Platforms?
11. 00:58:53: The Future is Mastodon
12. 01:03:35: A Done Deal
13. 01:08:07: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

We talk about the hardware itself, the impressive software stack built upon SteamOS, how many games perform, as well as looking at where it holds up against things like the Nintendo Switch, and the powerful emulation made possible in such a portable platform.

it’s also worth mentioning that James’ side of recoring was done entirely on the Steam Deck, and that’s in no small part due to how awesome SquadCast is.

Have you got your hands on Steam Deck, or is there something holding you. back? We’d love to hear from you, why not send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or join the discussion over on our Discord server

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Disclaimer: This episode was recorded in December 2022, before the current investigation into allegations of domestic violence made against Justin Rolland. We won’t comment on this further, but we wanted to be transparent that the episode does mention his studio’s game, ‘High on Life’. For those who, for whatever reason, want to skip any mention of the game, we talk about this between 00:29:00 and 00:31:21; we’ve marked this as a chapter in the episode.

Episode Links

• Steam Deck HQ: Website / Mastodon / YouTube
• Steam Deck Tech Specs (Valve)
• Bugsnax (Steam)
• ProtonDB
• Decky – A Steam Deck plugin loader

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:06:14: Missing OLED and Game Gear Homage?
3. 00:09:17: Hardware and Verified Games
4. 00:14:57: Proton
5. 00:18:44: Price Points & Storage Options
6. 00:25:16: Controllers
7. 00:29:00: High On Life
8. 00:31:21: Software & Performance Tweaks
9. 00:37:38: Challenges with Certain Games and Launchers
10. 00:43:32: Sony Games on Steam Deck
11. 00:44:41: Nintendo, the Switch, and Emulation
12. 00:50:11: What Could Valve Have Done Better?
13. 00:55:52: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Catherine brought so much insight to help us understand what exactly cryptocurrencies and the blockchain are, and why they’re not as great as those involved in them think. We also dig into how NFTs got into the video game industry and of course the environmental impact of the blockchain.

We know this topic can stir up a lot of discussions, and we’d love to hear from you (as long as we can all keep things civil). So, send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or join the discussion over on our Discord server

Episode Links

• Dr Catherine Flick: Mastodon / Website
• WWF UK faces backlash over ‘destructive’ plans to sell ‘eco-friendly’ NFTs (Sky News)
• ACM Code of Ethics
• A critical professional ethical analysis of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
• The Missing Cryptoqueen: Apple Podcasts / BBC Sounds
• Cross-cultural patterns in mobile playtime: an analysis of 118 billion hours of human data

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:16:05: Privacy & The Ick Factor
3. 00:24:17: What Is Blockchain?
4. 00:34:26: Lack of Financial Protection
5. 00:39:42: Regulation?
6. 00:43:15: Virtual Currences vs Proof of Work / Stake
7. 00:49:57: The Environmental Impact
8. 00:54:32: Decentralised
9. 01:00:20: NFTs & Video Games
10. 01:18:17: Solving Actual Problems
11. 01:22:40: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

In this episode, Zachariah Moreno joins me again, this time to talk about how things have been going for them since we last spoke, including their hugely ambitious V5 launch, and what 2023 holds for the platform. We even do a bit of brain-storming on how streaming could work within SquadCast.

Up front, Zachariah and I talk about the way in which SquadCast are directly helping us here at Crossed Wires. For full transparency, in exchange for our continued feedback and testing of features, we are being kindly provided with their ‘Studio’ plan at no cost. I can’t express how grateful we are to the team, in particular Zachariah and Arielle, for their continued support and encouragement.

If you do want to check out SquadCast, please do use our affiliate link either in the links or at the bottom of our site. Our affiliate links really do help to pay the other bills around here, and one day will make it possible for Jae and I to make this our full time jobs.

Do you have any experience of remote recordings, or maybe you want to ask about some of our workflow? We’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or start a discussion in Goodpods.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Episode Links

• Zachariah Moreno: Twitter / Website
• SquadCast (Affiliate Link)
• Dynamo by Castos– Podcast image generation tools
• Descript
• Edit Eddy by Headliner
• SquadCasting – Zach’s previous appearance on the show
• Zach’s video on echo cancellation (YouTube)

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:05: Introductions
2. 00:01:20: Some Transparency
3. 00:05:01: SquadShots
4. 00:06:24: Pricing Simplifcation
5. 00:11:30: Backstage
6. 00:13:54: Equipment Management
7. 00:18:39: State of Play on iOS
8. 00:22:49: The V5 Launch
9. 00:30:36: Mastering with Dolby
10. 00:32:58: Beyond Podcasting
11. 00:45:23: The Importance of Quality
12. 00:49:39: Streaming?
13. 01:02:00: Fix It In Pre
14. 01:05:31: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and closing theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

I’m really pleased to be joined by returning guests Dan Vincent and Sean from Action Retro, as well as new guest Steve from Mac84TV. We had a truly enjoyable and insightful chat about Apple’s world-changing computer.

As well as plenty of comedic moments, our improvised ‘Desert Island Mac’ spot, and plenty of tangents, we talk about our ‘Report Cards’ for Apple in 2022 (at least at the point we recorded back in October), and what got the panel into collecting Macs.

This is a bit of a longer episode, but I really hope you enjoy this panel style episode We’ll absolutely be doing more episodes like this going forward.

— James

Do you have memories of classic Macs, maybe you’ve been there the whole journey, or have a favourite Mac you’d love to tell us about. We’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or start a discussion in Goodpods.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Episode Links

Due to the current state of Twitter, we’re not actively promoting Twitter links where possible. Thankfully, all of our guests are on Mastodon, so please do find them there

• Dan Vincent: Userlandia/ Mastodon
• Sean (Action Retro:) YouTube/ Mastodon
• Steve (Mac84): YouTube / Mastodon / Website
• ‘Digital Identity’ – Our chat with Helen from Fastmail

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:07:17: What Got You Into Macintosh?
3. 00:17:13: A Mobile GPS Diversion
4. 00:25:13: Mac Collections
5. 00:48:27: From Beleaguered to PowerPC and Intel
6. 01:02:59: Apple’s Report Card
7. 01:22:09: Desert Island Mac
8. 01:32:24: Windows Competition?
9. 01:34:52: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and closing theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

The pandemic hit the theatre industry particularly hard, and my guest this week had a number of personal struggles to work through which made things more challenging for him. Andrew has been working in theatre for a long time, and is a huge Star Trek fan, so with plenty of time on his hands he discovered a talent using his iPad Pro and an Apple Pencilto recreate some of his favourite scenes from Star Trek and other shows that meant something to him.

We also talk about how technology helped the theatre industry recover from the pandemic, particularly in regards to remote auditions and virtual experiences.

However, the real depth of our chat focuses on the negative impact that social media can have on our own lives and our relationships with others. This is a really challenging discussion, and I can say I certainly took a lot of Andrew’s thoughts onboard for my own life and my own relationships.

This is such a deep and important discussion and we’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or start a discussion in Goodpods.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Episode Links

• Andrew Keates
• Secret Cinema
• Focus Mode and Do Not Disturb for iOS
• Continuity Camera (Apple Support)
• Procreate (App Store)

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:03:56: Equality of Opportunity
3. 00:08:41: Theatre In The Pandemic
4. 00:15:08: Kirk, Spock, and an iPad Pro
5. 00:22:59: Emerging From Lockdown
6. 00:32:35: Connectivity Challenges
7. 00:37:31: The Dark Side of Social Media
8. 00:46:49: Where Is Your Phone Right Now?
9. 00:56:26: Genuine Relationships
10. 01:01:55: Having Core Values
11. 01:06:01: Continuity Camera Uses
12. 01:09:59: iPad Art Tools
13. 01:14:20: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and closing theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

My guest, Matthew Bliss, runs ‘The Dead Drop’ gaming podcast which is a 10-minute or less twice-weekly show focussed on concise gaming news from across the industry.

We talk about the problems with a lot of gaming journalism, the rumour mill, the attacks on developers over game features and release dates, as well as the state of game payment, content moderation, and the general state of play when it comes to gaming.

What’s your take on the current state of gaming, do you have views on micro-transactions for example? We’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or start a discussion in Goodpods.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Episode Links

• Matthew Bills on Twitter
• The Dead Drop
• jPod – Book (GoodReads) / TV Series (Just Watch)
• Our Chat with Stoo Cambridge from Sensible Software
• NoClip Documentary on DMA Design (YouTube)
• Blizzard axes Overwatch 2 phone number requirement in update on game’s rocky launch (Polygon)
• Hideo Kojima Ousted from Konami (GameRant – 2015)

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:03:08: Efficiency & Quality Of Journalism
3. 00:05:10: The Curse of the Fast News Cycle
4. 00:11:36: Apple’s Place In Gaming
5. 00:13:22: The Nintendo Switch Cycle
6. 00:15:59: New Players In Mobile Gaming
7. 00:23:13: Game Makers Are Humans Too
8. 00:31:56: Getting What You Pay For
9. 00:41:47: Moderation In Online Games
10. 00:53:16: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and closing theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

This episode came about in part due to a Twitter exchange with The Mac Observer, on the back of an article about Google’s RCS push, in which the TMO team mentioned WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger as alternative messaging options. You can imagine that got me somewhat riled up, due to my very public aversion to Meta, so after a nice back and forth with Jeff we agreed to put together this episode to really explore what the various platforms have to offer and why a secure chat app may not always be a private one due to worrying metadata collection practices.

You’ll notice that we focussed mostly on messaging apps, rather than chat apps like Discord or Slack, and that’s really down to the nature of the discussion, as we’re really focussing in on ‘mobile messaging’ with your contacts rather than larger community apps.

Since recording, Sunbird has come along as a way to get iMessage up and running on Android devices. We

We’d absolutely love you to chime in on this one, as I’m sure many of you have differing views on this topic. As long as those views are civil and respectful, we’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or start a discussion in Goodpods.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Episode Links

• Jeff Butts on Mastodon / Twitter
• The Mac Observer: Website / Twitter
• Tim Cook Makes Apple’s Stance on RCS Clear – The Mac Observer
• RCS End to End Encryption: Google Messages Only
• Signal
• What Data Do Signal Have?
• How Signal Handles Contacts
• Is Telegram Secure – Heimdall Security
• WhatsApp Security – They label this as privacy, but as you’ll hear it’s actually how they secure your chats, privacy is a whole different thing.
• WhatsApp Rebuked Over Contacts Storage (BBC News – 2013)
• Viber
• I Refuse to Sign Up to Viber, Here’s Why – Hayden James

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:02:51: What’s Wrong With SMS?
3. 00:06:42: Google’s Push For RCS
4. 00:11:21: Messaging App Usage Around The World
5. 00:15:20: Undesirables
6. 00:17:16: Chatting In The USA
7. 00:18:33: End To End Encryption?
8. 00:24:32: Meta’s Products
9. 00:25:36: The Contact Discovery Issue
10. 00:28:23: What Do We Mean By Privacy?
11. 00:33:04: Beware Of Metadata
12. 00:34:26: Facebook Messenger
13. 00:36:51: Telegram
14. 00:38:48: Hateful Speech Online
15. 00:40:23: The Importance Of Accountability
16. 00:42:46: Signal Benefits
17. 00:44:07: Privacy Nutrition Labels
18. 00:45:02: Cross Platform Experiences
19. 00:46:50: A Quick Viber Check
20. 00:47:00: WeChat
21. 00:48:28: Sensitive Content Needs E2EE
22. 00:52:23: iMessage, Green Bubbles, Android
23. 01:04:38: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

We look at why backup is so important, the difference between syncing your data to a cloud service like iCloud, Dropbox, or OneDrive and actual cloud backups, as well as exploring more about cloud object storage in the form of Backblaze B2. As well as talking actual storage, we also take an important look at how our increasing need for storage can have a real environmental impact and what Backblaze are doing to try to tackle this by means of their partnership with Nautilus.

Do you have data loss horror stories, or want to share your backup strategy with us? we’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or start a discussion in Goodpods.

As a little bit of an aside, this is our first episode to be released first on our new site and hosted by Castos. We made the move sooner than planned because we found out that our previous host, Substack, had been stripping the MP3 chapters from our episodes – so sincere apologies about that.

For full disclosure, we do have an affiliate link with Backblaze (thanks to Pat for pointing us towards their affiliate program in our post-show chat). This doesn’t give you any discount, but if you are considering getting setup with their cloud backup plans, using our affiliate link may just help us pay the bills around here, and that’s hugely appreciated.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Episode Links

• Backblaze
• Pat Patterson (MetaDaddy) on Mastodon / Twitter
• Backblaze Cloud Backup (Affiliate link)
• Backblaze B2
• Backblaze Drive Stats – Q3 2022
• Querying a Decade of Drive Stats Data
• Mat Honan Hack (WIRED)
• Backblaze Rides the Nautilus Data Center Wave
• CyberDuck
• Forklift
• Iconik

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:05: Introductions
2. 00:10:29: The Importance Of Transparency
3. 00:19:30: Spinning Rust Vs SSDs
4. 00:21:20: The Importance Of Backups
5. 00:24:17: How Backblaze Works
6. 00:27:09: Local Backups Are Still Good
7. 00:27:43: Value For Money?
8. 00:29:56: How Long Deleted Files Are Retained
9. 00:31:56: Cloud Storage Vs Local Filesystem
10. 00:37:00: Extended Version History Clarification
11. 00:38:18: The Real Cost Of Losing Data
12. 00:40:54: Cloud Object Storage
13. 00:49:09: Backblaze B2
14. 01:03:24: Simplicity Vs Proper Backup Strategies
15. 01:05:06: The Environmental Impact Of Storage
16. 01:14:26: B2 For Free?
17. 01:18:34: Implementing B2
18. 01:22:34: Personal Backup And Linux?
19. 01:26:00: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

It was great to chat with Rees about the actual setup involved, things he learned from this project, what going viral really feels like, and some great general discussion about solar and off-grid power.

Have you had any fun with solar power, maybe you’ve got a whole-home system or have been tinkering with an off-grid solution like Rees’, we’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or start a discussion in Goodpods.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Episode Links

• ctrl-alt-rees: YouTube / Website / Mastodon / Twitter
• Rees’ solar videos (YouTube Playlist)
• MPPT Charge Controllers – Renewablewise
• How PoE Splitters Work – FS Community
• EcoFlow River 2 – Portable power system

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:01:45: Going Viral
3. 00:11:30: DIY Solar Vs Whole Home
4. 00:13:45: Why This Project?
5. 00:15:26: Upfront Costs & Payback Time
6. 00:19:53: Planning Permission?
7. 00:22:52: How Much Can The Panels Generate?
8. 00:27:00: Charge Controllers
9. 00:28:46: Learnings From The Setup
10. 00:33:02: Off Grid Phone Charging
11. 00:35:42: Unexpected Cost Savings
12. 00:38:07: Benefits Of PoE Or Low Voltage
13. 00:42:52: Cost of Living
14. 00:49:34: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Enter Mastodon, an open-source social platform powered by ActivityPub and part of the wider Fediverse. My guest this week is James Smith, an open-source developer who also happens to run the Mastodon instance I joined in the last week or so.

We chat about what precisely the Fediverse is, looking back at the early days of the internet for some context, as well as going fairly deep into the what, why, and how of Mastodon. James also shares the story of what happened to his server during the rapid ‘abandon ship’ style departure from the bird site and how one high-profile member meant a quadrupling of server costs! 

One thing to be very upfront about, Jae and I have pretty much decided we won’t be active on Twitter. However, because we don’t want to cut off our amazing listeners who are still on the bird powered platform, our Twitter account is staying put, as well as our new home on Mastodon, which because of the nature of the platform means we have more scope in terms of content.

Have you jumped into the Fediverse yet, or is something holding you back? If you have comments, or have some questions about Mastodon and need some help, we’d love hear from you, so send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or start a discussion in Goodpods.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Episode Links

• James Bilsbrough on Mastodon
• James Smith on Mastodon
• Crossed Wires on Mastodon
• Join Mastodon
• Fediverse
• Pixelfed
• Funkwhale
• PeerTube
• Fedifinder – Find your Twitter contacts on Mastodon
• Debirdify – Another way to find Twitter contacts.

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:04:01: The Fediverse & ActivityPub
3. 00:11:50: What Is Mastodon?
4. 00:14:25: Mastodon Features
5. 00:19:46: No Ads
6. 00:21:51: Content Promotion, Rules, Timelines
7. 00:26:59: Filtering The Fediverse
8. 00:33:02: Equal Apportunities
9. 00:37:03: The Deluge Of New Users
10. 00:45:46: Server Architecture
11. 00:47:34: Self-Hosting & Federation
12. 00:51:33: More Than Just Mastodon
13. 01:01:23: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

You’ll have heard Arielle’s name pop up on many episodes of this show, as she’s been such an incredible supporter of both the show and me personally as a podcaster through the SquadPod community, as well as other great resources and her energetic Twitter presence.

Whether you just listen to lots of podcasts, are already a podcaster, or are looking to start a podcast, I think you’ll find something of value in this week’s episode. It was a genuine pleasure to chat with Arielle and we’d absolutely love your thoughts on both listening to and creating podcasts, send those over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or start a discussion in Goodpods.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

(*) Please note, no actual prize is available, though if you want to send in audio clips we’ll absolutely feature the best one on our social media!

Episode Links

• Arielle on Twitter
• Earbuds Podcast Collective
• SquadCast [Affiliate Link]
• Descript
• Headliner
• Buzzsprout
• PocketCasts
• Overcast
• Castbox
• Audio Hijack
• Ferrite

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:03:13: The Podcasting Community
3. 00:05:42: What Are Podcasts?
4. 00:09:37: Podcast App Choice
5. 00:12:06: How Podcasts Get Delivered
6. 00:16:37: Co-Marketing Your Show
7. 00:20:54: What Makes A ‘Good’ Podcast?
8. 00:25:51: A Bit About Descript
9. 00:28:10: Transcription
10. 00:33:32: Listener Engagement
11. 00:39:02: Tips For New Podcasters
12. 00:41:05: Being A Good Listener
13. 00:43:50: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

We talk with Helen about the concept of your digital identity, and how owning your email domain and being the customer, not the product, can make a huge difference to your email, calendar, and contacts experience.

It was a great pleasure to have Helen join us, especially given her wealth of experience and knowledge in the email space. We really appreciate the behind-the-scenes work that went into getting this episode together, especially the willingness of Fastmail to partner with us for this episode.

What’s your experience with email been like? We’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or start a discussion in Goodpods.

To help you get started with Fastmail, they’ve very kindly set up a discount link so that you, our wonderful listeners, can get 10% off your first year of Fastmail service. 

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Episode Links

• Helen Horstmann-Allen on Twitter
• Fastmail acquires Pobox in 2015
• Fastmail
• Masked Email integration in 1Password
• Digital Citizen Podcast – Website / Apple Podcasts

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:05: Introductions
2. 00:03:47: Why Do We Still Need Email?
3. 00:08:05: Email Services
4. 00:18:38: A Word About Apple
5. 00:19:50: Masked Email & Domains
6. 00:24:09: Pricing Model & App Usage
7. 00:27:06: Calendars & Contacts
8. 00:33:36: Fighting For The Users

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Ravi also talks about the recent Amiga 37 event in Germany, DJing for a horror movie festival in the woods, as well as his rather ambitious A600 laptop build. 

If you’re like me, you’ll have some fond memories of Amiga game music, and of course the tunes from the demo scene; I’d love to hear your memories of that music, maybe even your favourite tracks. Send those over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or start a discussion in Goodpods.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over via our Ko-Fi page.

Episode Links

• Ravi on YouTube / Twitter
• Amiga A600 – Centre for Computing History
• PT1210
• Mod Files

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:02:02: An Amiga Laptop?
3. 00:06:04: Music On The Amiga?
4. 00:14:21: Hardware & Software Setup
5. 00:25:19: DJing With Other Retro Game Systems
6. 00:26:41: PT1210
7. 00:34:46: Favourite Sets
8. 00:40:17: Amiga 37
9. 00:42:57: Modern Experiences
10. 00:46:46: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Amanda co-runs Geek Herring, is a writer, does workshops and more. She also streams on Twitch in her off-hours, but gosh knows how she has the time. She also works in freelance, which is one of the reasons we asked her to come and chat to us for this episode.

We’d love to hear about your freelancing experiences or any questions you may have, so please leave a comment below, email us via podcast@crossedwires.net or start a discussion over Goodpods.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our new Ko-Fi page.

Episode Link

• Amanda Sloan’s Website
• Amanda Sloan on Twitter
• Geek Herring
• Amanda Sloan on Twitch
• 5 Day VA Challenge

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:06:10: Freelance Copywriting
3. 00:10:37: Starting Out Freelancing
4. 00:15:04: Freelancing Tools
5. 00:22:30: How Can Tech Hurt Freelancers
6. 00:28:04: Keeping Client Logins Safe
7. 00:31:44: Doing Things Differently?
8. 00:36:32: Recognising Your Limitations
9. 00:39:04: Dealing With Awkward Clients
10. 00:46:53: Advice For New Freelancers?
11. 00:51:45: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

We talked with Drew Ackerman about his podcast, along with clarifying what the name means! We also discussed various things that can help our ability to sleep, but can also inhibit our ability to properly sleep. We had such a great time recording, and we believe you will enjoy listening to this one if you don’t fall asleep part way through.

We’d love to hear your sleep stories, and any apps you may find helpful, so please leave a comment below, email us via podcast@crossedwires.net or start a discussion over Goodpods.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our new Ko-Fi page.

Episode Links

• Sleep With Me Podcast
• Sleep With Me on Twitter

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:06:29: Tech In The Bedroom
3. 00:15:54: Eating Late?
4. 00:20:19: What You Sleep On
5. 00:30:38: The Demise Of Radio
6. 00:41:24: Sleep Apps
7. 00:46:24: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Sean and I discuss what inspired him to get started with his channel, some of his more exciting systems to work with, as well as a slightly random detour to talk about Mike Judge’s inspiration for Office Space. Sean also shares some valuable tips for those wanting to tinker with vintage systems.

We’d love to hear your stories of crazy upgrades you’ve done to vintage tech, so please do leave a comment below, email us via podcast@crossedwires.net or start a discussion over on Goodpods.

If you liked this episode, or indeed any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our new Ko-Fi page.

Episode Links

• Sean (Action Retro) on Twitter / YouTube
• Sean’s Floppy Raid (YouTube)
• Office Space (IMDB)
• 68kmla Forum
• Tinker Different
• Frogfind – DuckDuckGo frontend for vintage systems by Sean
• 68knews – Sean’s vintage frontend for Google News

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:02:26: Floppy RAID
3. 00:04:29: Pushing Vintage Tech To The Limits
4. 00:11:22: Weirdest System?
5. 00:14:50: A Thing For PowerPC
6. 00:18:33: The Mike Judge Connection
7. 00:20:25: Challenges
8. 00:23:46: Most Time-Consuming Project?
9. 00:28:47: Getting Old Systems Online
10. 00:39:17: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

It’s very clear from chatting with Manny that Hip Hop’s roots are in innovation and doing new things with existing content and technology that were never meant to be used in the way they were and still are.

Do you have stories of how music, especially Hip Hop, has influenced your life, we’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or start a discussion in Goodpods.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Episode Links

• Manny Faces: Website / Twitter
• Hip Hop Can Save America Podcast
• The Get Down (Netflix)
• Slip Mat (Wikipedia)
• dJay by algoriddim
• Serato

Chapters

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:05:38: The Basic Hip Hop Tech
3. 00:15:05: The Influence Of HIp Hop
4. 00:27:32: Debunking The Negatives
5. 00:36:25: Getting Into HIp Hop In 2022
6. 00:49:09: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

This week, a chat with Alex who has a huge collection of arcade machines, and is working with Neil from RMC Retro to open a wonderful interactive arcade museum in the same mill that houses The Cave. It’s also the last ever episode of the show to be recorded in the old studio at my previous flat, I moved out literally a few days after this was recorded.

Alex and I discuss the early days of arcade, where the arcade started to decline, not to mention the amazing story of an unreleased Nintendo made game, Sky Skipper, which Alex and friends were able to lovingly re-create.

If you have fond memories of the arcade, this is absolutely an episode you’ll enjoy and I’d love to hear your stories in the comments below, on Goodpods, or just drop us an email to podcast@crossedwires.net.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Episode Links

• Arcade Archive on YouTube / Twitter
• Pepper’s Ghost (WIkiPedia)
• Alex’s Sky Skipper reveal at Arcade Club (YouTube)
• Sky Skipper on the Nintendo Switch eShop

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:06:53: The Draw Of The Arcade
3. 00:09:43: Arcade Innovations
4. 00:18:25: Desert Island Arcade Games
5. 00:22:32: Sky Skipper – The Unreleased Game
6. 00:34:11: Arcade In A Mill?
7. 00:42:29: Collecting, Emulation & FPGA
8. 00:48:16: Wrapping Up
9. 00:51:40: A Switch Addendum

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Before we recorded, we opened up a little discussion thread on our original Substack site to get your thoughts about the event, and we’d like to take the chance to say a huge thank you to everyone who has already commented. If you have any thoughts about this event, we’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or start a discussion in Goodpods.

Just a quick note to say that we recorded this on 8th September, just over 24 hours after the actual event. Since we recorded, we’re aware there’s been more information come out about some of the things we talked about.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Episode Links

• Apple Event Video
• Apple Watch Model Comparison
• Apple Support – End to End Encryption
• Great Article on L1, L2, L5 GPS – GIS Resources

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:01:52: Thoughts On The Event Itself
3. 00:03:41: Apple & RCS
4. 00:06:54: AirPods Pro
5. 00:20:27: Goodbye, Series 3
6. 00:21:24: Apple Watch Series 8
7. 00:33:46: Watch SE
8. 00:39:48: Watch Ultra
9. 00:49:00: iPhones
10. 00:53:20: Camera Improvements
11. 00:58:07: Emergency SOS Via Satellite
12. 01:04:01: 14 Pro & Pro Max
13. 01:13:33: Software Updates
14. 01:14:44: Listener Comments
15. 01:22:06: FInal Thoughts

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit crossedwires.substack.com

Rather than looking at specific systems, we had a more broad chat about what makes retro so fascinating for us all, what some of our favourite systems are, as well as reliving some fond memories and self-incriminating confessions.

What are your views on retro? Do you disagree with what we consider to be a retro system, do you have memories about encounters with systems, or maybe you had involvement in the development of the systems themselves, or software for them? We’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or start a discussion in Goodpods.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Episode Links

• The Retro Hour: Website / Twitter
• Dan Wood: Twitter / YouTube
• Ravi Abbott: Twitter / YouTube
• The Computer Chronicles (Archive.org)

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:05: Introductions
2. 00:03:48: The Computer Chronicles
3. 00:10:27: Ravi’s Computing Beginnings
4. 00:15:11: What Do We Consider Retro?
5. 00:19:21: Why Use Retro Systems?
6. 00:40:45: Favourite or Oddball Systems
7. 00:49:48: Where To Start?
8. 00:53:53: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

It was a genuine pleasure to chat with Dan, I hope you find his experience and knowledge as informative and entertaining as I did.

I’d also like to say a huge thank you to everyone all for your patience, this episode was delayed by a week due to me having to move home and all the fun and games that entails.

Do you have memories of using older PowerPC or 68k Macs, maybe you worked in print or desktop publishing. If so, we’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or start a discussion in Goodpods.

Episode Links

• Dan Vincent on Twitter
• Userlandia
• Aldus PageMaker – WikiPedia
• QuarkXpress – WIkiPedia
• Vintage Apple
• Mac84 – YouTube
• Action Retro – YouTube
• This Does Not Compute – YouTube
• Computer Clan Rare & Retro Tech- YouTube

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:05: Introductions
2. 00:06:52: Why Vintage & Retro?
3. 00:16:45: Vintage Mac
4. 00:34:12: Desktop Publishing
5. 00:46:47: The Impact Of Postscript
6. 00:50:55: PageMaker, Quark Xpress, Photoshop
7. 00:59:14: Pre Press
8. 01:02:22: Printing Complexities
9. 01:09:11: Looking Back at 90s Apple
10. 01:22:58: Collecting Vintage Macs
11. 01:47:46: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

We also take a look at a console that, I have to admit, I didn’t know much about until this episode. Known in Japan as the PC Engine and the TurboGrafx in North America, it was a 4th generation game console with some impressive features.

Ryan has also recently launched his own line of replacement inlays for the PC Engine / TurboGrafx and NES controllers. We chat about some of the challenges he faced in getting these made and launched.

Do you have memories of the PC Engine / TurboGrafx, or any of the Maxis games? If so, we’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to podcast@crossedwires.net, leave a comment on the post, or start a discussion in Goodpods.

If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.

Episode Links

• GrafxGear: Website | Twitter
• TurboGrafx-16 / PC Engine – WikiPedia
• Maxis – WikiPedia
• RMC Retro: PC Engine Trash to Treasure (Pt1) – YouTube
• Portable PlayStation MiniDisc Concept – IGN

Chapter Times

1. 00:00:04: Introductions
2. 00:10:21: The Sim Copter Easter Egg
3. 00:14:23: Favourite Support Moment
4. 00:19:36: The PC Engine
5. 00:21:41: TurboGrafx
6. 00:27:51: Japanese Tax & Copyright Oddities
7. 00:29:39: CD-ROM Before PlayStation
8. 00:30:10: Sh’m’ups
9. 00:32:46: CD Audio
10. 00:34:48: What Happened Next?
11. 00:35:43: Replacement Inlays
12. 00:47:23: Region Locking?
13. 00:50:08: Also Available For Nintendo
14. 00:54:19: Wrapping Up

Credits

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW