Crossed Wires

Content Warning: This episode talks about the potential harm of social media in quite some detail, and whilst no details are discussed, we do make mention of people ending their lives as a result of social media. In future, we will endeavour to add such warnings to the front of any episode audio too. 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 [email protected], 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:03:56: Equality of Opportunity 00:08:41: Theatre In The Pandemic 00:15:08: Kirk, Spock, and an iPad Pro 00:22:59: Emerging From Lockdown 00:32:35: Connectivity Challenges 00:37:31: The Dark Side of Social Media 00:46:49: Where Is Your Phone Right Now? 00:56:26: Genuine Relationships 01:01:55: Having Core Values 01:06:01: Continuity Camera Uses 01:09:59: iPad Art Tools 01:14:20: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and closing theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Over the last few years, I’ve become much more of what could be considered a ‘Gamer’, being a Mac user somewhat excluded me from modern gaming and I’d play much more casual games on my iPhone and iPad. After picking up a Nintendo Switch, I started to enjoy playing mainstream titles again, and as a result became interested in the gaming industry itself. 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 [email protected], 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:03:08: Efficiency & Quality Of Journalism 00:05:10: The Curse of the Fast News Cycle 00:11:36: Apple’s Place In Gaming 00:13:22: The Nintendo Switch Cycle 00:15:59: New Players In Mobile Gaming 00:23:13: Game Makers Are Humans Too 00:31:56: Getting What You Pay For 00:41:47: Moderation In Online Games 00:53:16: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and closing theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Over the last ten years or so, we’ve seen a huge growth in the number of messaging platforms. With Google recently putting massive pressure on Apple to adopt the RCS standard, I wanted to have a discussion about the security and privacy of the various platforms, especially when we compare them to plain-old SMS. 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 [email protected], 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:02:51: What’s Wrong With SMS? 00:06:42: Google’s Push For RCS 00:11:21: Messaging App Usage Around The World 00:15:20: Undesirables 00:17:16: Chatting In The USA 00:18:33: End To End Encryption? 00:24:32: Meta’s P...

There’s a very common saying within the IT support space, that there are two types of users; those who have lost data and those who are going to. The only way to stop data loss is to make sure you have a robust backup strategy. Because backup is so important, with both Jae and James having personal experience with losing valuable data and now being Backblaze users ourselves, we go on a fanatically deep dive into both backup and cloud storage with our guest Pat Patterson, Backblaze’s Chief Technical Evangelist. 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 [email protected], 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 00:00:05: Introductions 00:10:29: The Importance Of Transparency 00:19:30: Spinning Rust Vs SSDs 00:21:20: The Importance Of Backups 00:24:17: How Backblaze Works 00:27:09: Local Backups Are Still Good 00:27:43: Value For Money? 00:29:56: How Long Deleted Files Are Retained 00:31:56: Cloud Storage Vs Local Filesystem 00:37:00: Extended Version History Clarification 00:38:18: The Real Cost Of Losing Data 00:40:54: Cloud Object Storage 00:49:09: Backblaze B...

As energy costs are at an all-time high, many people are looking for ways to cut costs and become more self-sufficient. When it comes to solar power, there are effectively two ways to do this, a whole-home solar setup that requires a reasonably complex installation, usually by professionals, or a more off-grid approach that isn’t wired into your home’s electrical systems. Rees made a fascinating video based on his DIY project for the latter, that video then went somewhat viral on YouTube. 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 [email protected], 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:01:45: Going Viral 00:11:30: DIY Solar Vs Whole Home 00:13:45: Why This Project? 00:15:26: Upfront Costs & Payback Time 00:19:53: Planning Permission? 00:22:52: How Much Can The Panels Generate? 00:27:00: Charge Controllers 00:28:46: Learnings From The Setup 00:33:02: Off Grid Phone Charging 00:35:42: Unexpected Cost Savings 00:38:07: Benefits Of PoE Or Low Voltage 00:42:52: Cost of Living 00:49:34: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

When I first joined Twitter, I remember the excitement and intrigue over this new platform, using great third-party apps and having intelligent conversations with people. Sadly, those days look like they have already, or are soon going to be, gone and lots of people are looking for a new place for their social interactions. 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 [email protected], 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:04:01: The Fediverse & ActivityPub 00:11:50: What Is Mastodon? 00:14:25: Mastodon Features 00:19:46: No Ads 00:21:51: Content Promotion, Rules, Timelines 00:26:59: Filtering The Fediverse 00:33:02: Equal Apportunities 00:37:03: The Deluge Of New Users 00:45:46: Server Architecture 00:47:34: Self-Hosting & Federation 00:51:33: More Than Just Mastodon 01:01:23: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Yes, this is a podcast episode of a podcast with two podcasters talking about podcasting, say that as quickly as you can and you may win a prize!* 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 [email protected], 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:03:13: The Podcasting Community 00:05:42: What Are Podcasts? 00:09:37: Podcast App Choice 00:12:06: How Podcasts Get Delivered 00:16:37: Co-Marketing Your Show 00:20:54: What Makes A ‘Good’ Podcast? 00:25:51: A Bit About Descript 00:28:10: Transcription 00:33:32: Listener Engagement 00:39:02: Tips For New Podcasters 00:41:05: Being A Good Listener 00:43:50: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

When you ask most people about email, they probably show a genuine lack of interest, it’s not new and it’s not fancy. But, email still plays a hugely important part in our daily lives, and even more so in business. 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 [email protected], 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 00:00:05: Introductions 00:03:47: Why Do We Still Need Email? 00:08:05: Email Services 00:18:38: A Word About Apple 00:19:50: Masked Email & Domains 00:24:09: Pricing Model & App Usage 00:27:06: Calendars & Contacts 00:33:36: Fighting For The Users Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

As many of you know, the Amiga A600 was my childhood computer, so when I saw Ravi doing a DJ set in ‘The Cave’ with Neil a few years back, I was mesmerised. I’m not musical, but music technology has always been an interest. So it was genuinely exciting to chat with Ravi about how he uses these incredible retro systems. 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 [email protected], 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:02:02: An Amiga Laptop? 00:06:04: Music On The Amiga? 00:14:21: Hardware & Software Setup 00:25:19: DJing With Other Retro Game Systems 00:26:41: PT1210 00:34:46: Favourite Sets 00:40:17: Amiga 37 00:42:57: Modern Experiences 00:46:46: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Amanda Sloan is a friend I’ve known for years, actually longer than I’ve known James; I’ve known both for a long time. Amanda and I first met when I replied to her tweet about a hippy village floating on the water. I once met her and her partner Thom for coffee when they came through my state; I also worked with Amanda on the podcast network Dragon Powered Studios. 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 [email protected] 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:06:10: Freelance Copywriting 00:10:37: Starting Out Freelancing 00:15:04: Freelancing Tools 00:22:30: How Can Tech Hurt Freelancers 00:28:04: Keeping Client Logins Safe 00:31:44: Doing Things Differently? 00:36:32: Recognising Your Limitations 00:39:04: Dealing With Awkward Clients 00:46:53: Advice For New Freelancers? 00:51:45: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

It’s my first time hosting a podcast since my 19 months hiatus from my former show. I had a great time returning to podcasting, and I believe James wasn’t too disappointed in my skills. Our guest was someone I was going to interview on my previous show but sadly didn’t have the chance to at the time due to a job change that took my time away from podcasting. 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 [email protected] 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:06:29: Tech In The Bedroom 00:15:54: Eating Late? 00:20:19: What You Sleep On 00:30:38: The Demise Of Radio 00:41:24: Sleep Apps 00:46:24: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

One of the things that frustrate me the most about my eyesight issues, along with a few other problems, is that I can’t tinker with hardware as much as I’d like to. So, when I discovered Action Retro on YouTube, I admit I became hooked on Sean’s videos of doing unthinkable things to old Macs and many other systems. 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 [email protected] 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:02:26: Floppy RAID 00:04:29: Pushing Vintage Tech To The Limits 00:11:22: Weirdest System? 00:14:50: A Thing For PowerPC 00:18:33: The Mike Judge Connection 00:20:25: Challenges 00:23:46: Most Time-Consuming Project? 00:28:47: Getting Old Systems Online 00:39:17: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

I’ll be the first to admit my music taste doesn’t usually extend to Hip Hop, beyond some very cheesy 90s Christian tracks. Still, when Manny reached out via the fantastic SquadPod community, I knew we had to chat about how technology and Hip Hop go hand in hand, and how Hip Hop has influenced so much and can have such a positive impact on the world. 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 [email protected], 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:05:38: The Basic Hip Hop Tech 00:15:05: The Influence Of HIp Hop 00:27:32: Debunking The Negatives 00:36:25: Getting Into HIp Hop In 2022 00:49:09: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

A lot of my memories of being younger revolve around summer holidays to the seaside, where there was always a reasonably well stocked arcade not far away. I’d spend a lot of my summer spending money on various games, which at the time were so engaging. 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 [email protected]. 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:06:53: The Draw Of The Arcade 00:09:43: Arcade Innovations 00:18:25: Desert Island Arcade Games 00:22:32: Sky Skipper – The Unreleased Game 00:34:11: Arcade In A Mill? 00:42:29: Collecting, Emulation & FPGA 00:48:16: Wrapping Up 00:51:40: A Switch Addendum Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

It wouldn’t be an Apple Event without every tech podcast in the world gathering to share their thoughts on what the fruit company had to announce. We’ve tried to take a bit of a different approach and share what we genuinely thought was interesting, as well as our personal views on whether you should upgrade. 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 [email protected], 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:01:52: Thoughts On The Event Itself 00:03:41: Apple & RCS 00:06:54: AirPods Pro 00:20:27: Goodbye, Series 3 00:21:24: Apple Watch Series 8 00:33:46: Watch SE 00:39:48: Watch Ultra 00:49:00: iPhones 00:53:20: Camera Improvements 00:58:07: Emergency SOS Via Satellite 01:04:01: 14 Pro & Pro Max 01:13:33: Software Updates 01:14:44: Listener Comments 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

Although we’re not a retro-exclusive show, we do seem to have a lot of guests from the retro community; this week is no different as it’s my delight to be joined by Dan Wood and Ravi Abbott who make up two-thirds of The Retro Hour podcast. 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 [email protected], 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 00:00:05: Introductions 00:03:48: The Computer Chronicles 00:10:27: Ravi’s Computing Beginnings 00:15:11: What Do We Consider Retro? 00:19:21: Why Use Retro Systems? 00:40:45: Favourite or Oddball Systems 00:49:48: Where To Start? 00:53:53: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Yes, it’s another retro-themed episode, but with a focus on not only vintage Macs but also the world of desktop publishing and pre-press that was shaken up by the arrival of the Macintosh and tools like Aldus PageMaker and QuarkXpress. 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 [email protected], 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 00:00:05: Introductions 00:06:52: Why Vintage & Retro? 00:16:45: Vintage Mac 00:34:12: Desktop Publishing 00:46:47: The Impact Of Postscript 00:50:55: PageMaker, Quark Xpress, Photoshop 00:59:14: Pre Press 01:02:22: Printing Complexities 01:09:11: Looking Back at 90s Apple 01:22:58: Collecting Vintage Macs 01:47:46: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

For those of you wondering about the title of this episode, well you’ll have to listen to figure that out. Pig eating habits aside, it was a genuine pleasure to chat with Ryan about his time supporting various Sim-related titles by Maxis, as well as hearing the rather innovative way he got the job. 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 [email protected], 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:10:21: The Sim Copter Easter Egg 00:14:23: Favourite Support Moment 00:19:36: The PC Engine 00:21:41: TurboGrafx 00:27:51: Japanese Tax & Copyright Oddities 00:29:39: CD-ROM Before PlayStation 00:30:10: Sh’m’ups 00:32:46: CD Audio 00:34:48: What Happened Next? 00:35:43: Replacement Inlays 00:47:23: Region Locking? 00:50:08: Also Available For Nintendo 00:54:19: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

With such a diverse range of stories being told online through platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and more, it’s crucial that we look at the journey to make the ability to share those stories more accessible. It was great to chat with Pam about how things have changed so much in filmmaking over the years and get her valuable insights into why art and storytelling are so important in our digital age. Please do make sure you check out her podcast, and of course if you have experience with digital storytelling, we’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to [email protected], 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 Art Heals All Wounds Podcast: Website | Twitter Final Cut Pro LumaFusion DaVinci Resolve DJI Osmo Mobile The Theatre Lab Hector Armienta Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions 00:03:05: Accessibility In Filmmaking 00:19:13: The Importance of A Complete Story 00:22:17: The Impact of Art 00:41:05: Get Your Story Out There 00:45:12: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

As I hope comes across in the episodes, great audio is something I really believe is essential for any content creator; there’s nothing worse than a great-looking YouTube video that has audio that sounds like it was recorded in the bathroom. That’s where the new Vocaster range from Focusrite comes in, and so with the kind help of Arielle from SquadCast, I was able to arrange a chat with Dan to go a bit deeper into what Vocaster is and why it may be the right fit for podcasters, YouTubers, and many other storytellers. I want to say a huge thanks to Dan for taking the time to chat, and for how open and honest he was when we talked about the competition. You can genuinely hear Dan’s passion for audio and Focusrite come through. It’s worth mentioning that this isn’t a paid promotion episode, no money has changed hands and Focusrite haven’t asked for any editorial control of the episode. However, for full transparency during our chat Dan did very kindly arrange for a Vocaster One to be sent out to me at no cost, but this was not based on any conditions or content requirements. What’s your experience been with audio interfaces and recording setups? We’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to [email protected], 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 Focusrite Vocaster Focusrite on Twitter SquadCast (Affiliate Link) Chapter Times 00:00:05: Introductions 00:03:21: Focusrite’s Legacy 00:04:54: The Vocaster Line 00:09:09: Auto Gain And Driving Microphones 00:13:40: Vocaster Models & Features 00:35:47: Studio Bundles 00:41:19: The RodeCaster Pro 00:44:40: Pricing & Value 00:46:59: Vocaster Hub 00:48:40: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

As many of our regular listeners will know, I’m a bit of a smart home addict and my platform of choice is Apple’s HomeKit. To dive a bit deeper into the platform I invited Stephen Robles from the HomeKit Insider podcast to come and chat about the good, the missing, and the frustrating parts of the HomeKit ecosystem in 2022. What’s been your HomeKit experience so far, good or bad, we’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to [email protected], 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 Stephen Robles on Twitter and YouTube HomeKit Insider podcast: Apple Podcasts / Website Eve Matter release delayed until Fall 2022 – Apple Insider Chapter Times 00:00:05: Introductions 00:02:37: HomeKit Origins 00:03:43: Why We Choose HomeKit 00:07:19: HomeKit Limitations 00:15:49: Matter 00:18:31: Cameras, Doorbells and HomeKit Secure Video 00:20:56: Synology and Plex 00:22:51: Automation and Scenes 00:29:19: Keys and Smart Locks 00:32:26: Upcoming HomeKit Devices 00:41:08: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

For someone who can’t (due to my eyesight) drive, I think it’s fair to say I’ve picked up fairly substantial interest in the future of electric vehicles, as they’re the foundation needed for fully self-driving cars that someone like me could own. Alex kindly came back to the show, albeit in a different role, to discuss where we are in 2022 regarding electric cars. We take a look at who’s making vehicles right now, beyond the behemoth that is Tesla, as well as factors like charging accessibility, range concerns, affordability, and of course environmental impact. I’ll admit this is very much a UK-centric episode; that’s simply because that’s the experience Alex and I have to share. That does, of course, mean that if anyone has experience with electric cars in other countries and regions we’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to [email protected], 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. Note from James (November 2022): This episode of Crossed Wires was the catalyst for Charging Status, so do make sure you check out those episodes where Alex and I talk more UK focussed EV news every month. Episode Links The Interface: Website / Twitter Elon Musk says the Tesla Cybertruck will go on sale in 2023 Polestar announces support for Apple CarPlay Ora Funky Cat EV will cost £30,495 in the UK when it launches later this year Maxus announces new T90EV, first electric pickup truck to go on sale in the UK New electric Vauxhall Astra-e to launch in 2023 New Volkswagen ID. Buzz priced from £57,115 in the UK Gridserve opens its second ‘Electric Forecourt’ in Norwich Tesla to open up its Super Charger network to 3rd party EVs EDF Energy: Electric Cars and the Environment Chapter Times 00:00:05: Introductions 00:02:05: What About Tesla? 00:05:02: Combustion Sales Ban 00:06:38: Other EV First Makers 00:09:22: The Cost Of EVs 00:10:30:...

Suppose you’ve watched any amount of online video, particularly on YouTube. In that case, you’ll likely have seen those ads for the ‘miracle’ tech products that claim to be able to do anything from cut your power bills to turning your internet up to 11. In reality, most of these are scams and don’t meet even half of the claims they make. That’s why I invited Krazy Ken all the way from the secret Computer Clan lair to come and talk to us about his efforts to debunk these scams on his YouTube channel. I’ve been a fan of Ken’s content for some time, particularly his scam busing series where he not only proves these scams don’t work but actually gets into why they can’t work. It was a genuine pleasure to have Ken on the show, I’m always really grateful when ‘larger’ creators are willing to come and chat on our fledgling show. I really hope you enjoy this episode, I’d love to hear your stories of products that may not have lived up to their marketing, or if you’ve seen blatant tech scams online. This is exactly the sort of thing we want to help educate people on, to make being online and using tech safer for everyone. Episode Links Links are little light this episode, mostly because I don’t want to give any extra traffic to any of the scam products we mention! Ken on Twitter Computer Clan on YouTube Scam Tech Playlist Chapter Times 00:00:05: Introductions 00:04:25: The Rise of Scam Tech 00:09:50: Dissecting The Scam Tech 00:15:06: Fake Backstories 00:16:21: The StarScope Saga 00:18:53: Most Interesting Scams 00:25:49: Classic Mac Diversion 00:27:02: Scam Spotting Checklist 00:43:55: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

This is an episode I’m really excited to have been able to record, and I’d like to start by thanking Chris Angel for their willingness to come and talk to me so openly about the things they’ve learned as both a member of the LGBTQAI+ community and as someone who is studying UI and UX design. Accessibility is a real passion of mine, as someone with a disability I’ve always been keen to make sure sites, apps, application forms etc are as accessible as possible. As our culture is changing, we need to make sure that that same level of accessibility is afforded to everyone, especially marginalised groups like the LGBTQIA community I want to make it very clear that whilst we at Crossed Wires always appreciate comments and feedback on episodes, we will not tolerate any form of hate or abuse levelled at either myself, or any member of the Crossed Wires team, or our guests. Any comments we feel don’t meet that standard will be removed, and similarly, any abusive social media posts will be reported to the relevant platform. With that out of the way, please do enjoy this episode. Let us know your experiences of accessibility, good or bad, either here or over on 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 Chris Angel Murphy on Twitter, Instagram Allyship is a Verb Podcast Gender Sexuality Info Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions 00:04:21: Defining Accessibility 00:08:43: Data Capture 00:16:46: HR, Onboarding, Finance 00:23:53: When Biological Sex Is Required 00:28:21: Challenges of Changing Your Identity 00:38:02: Deadnames, Birth Names, Former Names 00:39:30: Media Representation 00:46:08: Making Mistakes And GDPR 00:50:08: Sir? Ma’am? 01:00:26: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Not long after speaking with Cody from Mac Telecom Networks about all things UniFi, I reached out to Alex at HostIFi, as I’d heard about their cloud hosted UniFi controllers from several of the UniFi centric YouTubers I follow, to see if we could do a bit of a follow up. Alex very kindly agreed and we sat down to have a chat about what HostIFi is and to understand a bit more about the use case and a typical deployment. Networking is something that I really get excited about, even if I don’t always have the budget to afford the latest gear. If you’ve got any UniFi stories you’d like to share, we’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to [email protected], 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 Alex Lowe on Twitter HostIFi – Website / Twitter Ubiquiti UISP MarzBarVlogs on YouTube Chapter Times 00:00:05: Introductions 00:02:37: HostIfi 00:08:41: Pricing & Ubiquiti Hardware 00:12:37: Managing Updates 00:17:19: The Relationship With Ubiquiti 00:21:01: Deployment 00:33:15: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

It’s been two weeks since Apple’s 2022 WWDC keynote, so myself and our newest team member, Jae, sat down to dissect some of the key announcements and the things that really got us excited. Because we’ve had a bit of time to do some more research on some of the new features, I hope that comes across and you enjoy our thoughts and observations. There’s lots we just didn’t have time to cover, for example there’s some very exciting things happening with HomeKit and Matter, but you can rest assured plans are in progress to have a full ‘State of HomeKit in 2022’ style episode. Please do share your WWDC thoughts on things you found exciting, or if you think we’re downright wrong (it does happen) in the comments, both here and over on 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 Jae on Twitter James on Twitter WWDC 2022 Keynote The Talk Show Live from WWDC – YouTube / Audio Only (Overcast) Rene Ritchie’s video ‘Why is Stage Manager M1 Only’ Security Research on Password Best Practice – Arvind Narayanan on Twitter WWDC Developer Session on Passkeys Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions 00:03:20: WWDC 2022 00:07:03: Developers! 00:12:22: The Talk Show Live 00:16:54: The M2 00:22:49: The New MacBook Air 00:28:03: Stage Manager On IPad 00:34:39: A Quick Word On Device Support 00:38:07: Safety Check 00:43:38: watchOS 9 00:44:37: Medication Reminders 00:53:19: Passkeys 01:02:46: Apple Pay and Wallet 01:13:38: Locksceen 01:20:11: Focus 01:22:28: Messages & collaboration 01:25:56: Continuity camera 01:30:44: Metal 3 and Gaming 01:35:52: CarPlay 01:43:15: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

In this ‘bumper’ edition of the show, I sat down with Andrew and Paul from the Addict magazines, which are wonderful publications focussing on the Amiga and retro culture and technology in general. As well as talking shop, getting some genuinely interesting behind the scenes views into what making a physical (and digital) magazine in 2022 is all about, we go for a bit of a nostalgia trip on the subject of our memories of magazines and computer and video game shops of the 90s. I really hope you enjoy this episode, apologies for any audio issues sometimes these can’t be helped when recording remotely. Do you have memories of newsagent experiences, or a favourite tech magazine, we’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to [email protected], 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 Paul on Twitter The Addict Magazines Chapter Times 00:00:05: Introductions 00:13:57: Magazine & Retail Memories 00:36:08: Pixel Addict 00:41:46: Pitching Ideas 00:46:35: The Personal Element 00:50:21: Past, Present, and Future 00:57:21: The Journey To WHSmith 01:11:50: Deadlines & Proofreading 01:19:29: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

As someone who has a visual impairment, and therefore is technically classed as disabled, accessible technology is something that’s incredibly important to me. So, when I saw a retweet about Enabled Play I reached out to Alex Dunn, their CEO, to see if he’d like to come and chat about the technology on the show. As you’ve probably guessed, he said yes and so we sat down to talk about how important accessible, or assistive, technology is and get a great insight into what Enabled Play is, how it works and how it can make gaming, education, and work accessible to people with a wide range of disabilities, as well as being fantastically cool new tech. I really hope you find this episode insightful, if you’ve got any stories of accessibility, good or bad, to share we’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to [email protected], 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 Alex Dunn on Twitter Enabled Play XBox Adaptive Controller Raspberry Pi Anker USB-C Hub for iPad Air / Mini / Pro Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions 00:02:03: Why Accessible Tech? 00:10:23: What Is Enabled Play? 00:13:04: On Device Processing 00:16:49: The Cost Of Accessible Tech 00:21:29: Commodity Hardware 00:22:15: Tilt & Expression Controls 00:32:23: Working With Devices 00:45:50: Pricing & Availability 00:52:51: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

In this episode, it’s my great pleasure to chat with Neil from RMC Retro, the chief Cave Dweller himself. It would be fair to say that my biggest source of retro content has come from other cave dwellers, or those closely associated with the retro community. Neil has built a full-time YouTube channel and now an exhibition space around ‘The Cave’ and we talk about how he started out with making YouTube videos to sell his collection, moving on to the popular ‘Trash to Treasure’ series, and of course how a colouring book brought in the much-needed funds to open the cave to the public. I really hope you enjoy listening to our chat, it was a lot of fun to record and chat about some of our nostalgia for retro computing. Do let us know your experiences with retro tech in the comments, we’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to [email protected], 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 Neil (RMC Retro) on Twitter and YouTube The RMC Retro site Amiga 500 Trash to Treasure (Part 1) Visiting The Cave Cleaning the Acorn Electron Rob from Ressurection Retro The MiSTer MultiSystem Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions 00:06:02: Growth of The Channel 00:11:13: Trevor & Lord Sugar 00:13:18: The Cave 00:27:21: The Fake Retro Shop Experience 00:31:19: The MiSTer MultiSystem 00:38:00: Donations 00:41:10: Wrapping Up & Finger Gravy Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

In this episode, I talk with network consultant and YouTuber, Cody from MacTelecom Networks who also happens to be Canadian so is typically a nice-guy. Fair warning, there’s an absolute UniFi bias in this episode, but no-one from Ubiquiti has been involved in any part of this production. It’s been an interesting few years for home networks, especially as more of us have been working from home and have needed a stable and reliable connection that, despite their bold claims, no ISP router can really provide. So, myself and Cody chat about what people can consider for a better experience as well as delving into the world of UniFi, particularly because of the recent release of the UniFi Dream Router. I really hope you find this episode insightful, it was a real blast recording with Cody. If you’ve got any network experiences you want to share, we’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to [email protected], 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 Cody on Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram MacTelecom Networks UniFi Dream Router UniFi Flex Mini TP-Link Deco M5 on Amazon UK TP-Link Omada NetworkChuck on YouTube Learn Linux TV on YouTube CBT Nuggets Udemy IT Certification Courses Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions 00:03:54: YouTube Videos 00:09:33: Home Networking 00:16:04: A Slight StarLink Detour 00:18:13: Alternatives to ISP Routers 00:23:46: The UniFi Dream Router & WiFi 6 00:30:23: The Importance Of VLANs 00:32:58: UniFi Limitations & pfSense 00:38:07: Network Oddities 00:48:57: Learning Resources 00:54:36: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

In this episode, I chat with SquadCast’s co-founder, Zachariah Moreno, about how things got started, what problems SquadCast aims to solve and some of the really cool behind-the-scenes technical details of how shows like Crossed Wires get recorded through their service. I’m genuinely excited by what’s coming in the next version of SquadCast, and I’m eternally grateful to Zachariah and the team for creating such a reliable platform. I should probably also say that I really should make local backup recordings too, I know things can go wrong with any service, my point was more that I didn’t feel as worried about not doing so with SquadCast. What’s been your experience with podcast recording, particularly remotely? We’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to [email protected], 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. Thanks again to Zachariah for joining me for this episode! Episode Links Zachariah Moreno on Twitter SquadCast Between Two Mics: Arielle & Zach on SquadCast’s Biggest Update Yet Audio Hijack GarageBand 3 – iChat Recording (MacWorld Review) Chapter Times 00:00:05: Introductions 00:03:09: The Challenges of Remote Recording 00:07:37: Technical Hurdles On iOS 00:08:47: Desktop Browser Support 00:10:23: The Magic of SquadCast 00:18:06: Not Just Audio 00:22:51: The Future 00:31:03: Investing In Quality 00:35:25: Closing Thoughts Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

In this episode, I’m really pleased to introduce Jack to you all. We met through the RMCRetro Discord server and after realising we shared a lot in common I invited Jack to come and join me for a discussion around some of our biggest frustrations around the complexities of tech. We chat about the joys of keeping devices updated, the ups and downs of smart home tech, and everyone’s least favourite part of tech, passwords! This is a bit more of a discussion episode, but I hope you enjoy it and as I mention in the show please do use the comments section to leave us your thoughts and share some of your own tech frustrations. Episode Links Jack’s YouTube Channel Windows 10 Release Details Pulseway RMM Home Assistant HomeBridge HomeKit over Thread (Eve) Philips Hue ZigBee on Wikipedia 1Password BitWarden Chapter Times 00:00:05: Introductions 00:08:01: Frustrations Of Windows Updates 00:17:00: The Benefits Of RMM Tools 00:20:51: Updates For Other Devices 00:28:53: Smart Home Tech 00:50:44: Thread & Matter 00:53:37: Managing Passwords 01:03:56: Corporate Two Factor 01:05:49: Security Theatre 01:13:03: Northern Cultural References 01:13:57: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

This week, I’m joined by Stu Little, a content creator and former photo journalist who now specialises in content around editing professional video on an iPad using apps like LumaFusion, Node Video, and other great tools. We talk about the importance of audio in videos, and how great audio solutions don’t have to cost a huge premium, as well as doing some deeper dives into the tools Stu uses on his iPad to produce his content as well as some of the challenges he faces. I really hope you enjoy this episode, I certainly learned a lot from Stu and will absolutely be putting some of his tips into practice for the YouTube channel. What’s been your experience of working with mobile video, good or bad, we’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to [email protected], 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 Stu Little on Twitter and YouTube Apple’s iPad Air Filmic Pro Mark Blank-Settle on Twitter BOYA BY-M2 iPhone lavalier microphone DJI Osmo Mobile 5 iMovie 3 Press Release from Apple LumaFusion by LumaTouch Node Video Mojo Chapter Times 00:00:05: Introductions 00:02:21: The iPad For Content Creation 00:05:32: Capturing Video On iPhones 00:11:47: Stabilisation 00:16:43: Audio 00:33:37: Editing & Production Tools 00:54:27: Game Capture & Streaming 00:58:01: iPad Challenges 01:05:05: Wrap Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

After being accused (rightfully so) of crimes against Amiga, my guest Rees of Ctrl-Alt-Rees joins me to talk about his Atari obsession, dive deeper into some of the history of the Atari and how the Amiga very nearly became an Atari product rather than a Commodore one! As always, a huge thanks to Rees for taking the time to chat, it was a fun episode to record and I absolutely learned some things about the Atari I didn’t know about. What are your memories of the Atari range of computers, did you have one, did you hate them? We’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to [email protected], 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 Rees (Ctril-Alt-Rees) on Twitter, YouTube The Atari 8-Bit Machines The Atari ST Family The MiStR MultiSystem Bad Influence’s Jaguar preview. ‘Do The Math’ Jaguar ad. Rees’ ‘Atari Show & Tell’ on RMCRetro. Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions 00:01:54: Rees’ Atari Beginnings 00:05:40: Celebrity Modding 00:07:40: Old Consoles On Modern Displays 00:11:13: Early Atari Home Systems 00:13:46: The Atari ST Family 00:24:11: Jack Tramiel 00:25:26: The Falcon 00:28:38: Bad Influence & The Jaguar 00:35:26: Atari In The Modern Age 00:43:06: Outro Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

After a bit of a Twitter exchange on the back of some app piracy frustration, I invited James Thomson (best known for his wonderful calculator app, PCalc) to come and chat about all things piracy and app pricing. We take a few tangents down subscription pricing, app store reviews, upgrade paths and some essential discussions about the Mac Studio and M1 Ultra. It was a real pleasure to record with James, especially given some audio challenges we had along the way. A huge shoutout to Squadcast for making the whole process painless, the issues we had didn’t come out on their local recordings and to say it saved the episode would be an understatement. I really hope you enjoy this episode, do you have any thoughts on app pricing, the app store, or even piracy. If so, we’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to [email protected], 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 Thomson (@jamesthomson) on Twitter PCalc Website iMac G4 James’ Tweet About the Pirate Audio Hijack by Rogue Amoeba Apple Announce WWDC 2022 Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions 00:02:15: Bundled Apps 00:03:52: Dealings With Pirates 00:09:23: Subscriptions & Upgrade Pricing 00:12:22: Weeding Out Genuine Requests 00:14:27: App Pricing 00:19:40: The Realities Of Support 00:21:26: Processor Transitions & App Store Only 00:31:09: Respect For Paid Software 00:35:29: WWDC & Apple Silicon 00:42:33: Plugs & Outros Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Keeping with our retro theme, I talk with YouTuber and RetroHour host, Dan Wood, about all things Amiga. We take a look at the costs, and risks, of purchasing original Amiga hardware today, the upgrades you could put into these original machines, as well as things to watch out for. Then, moving swiftly on we talk a bit about emulation, the mess that is the Amiga copyright and of course piracy! Before putting Dan on the spot for his favourite Amiga games and apps, what Amiga chat could be complete in 2022 without talking about The A500 Mini as a little teaser for Dan’s fantastic video. I really hope you enjoy this episode, a huge thanks to Dan for his time and insights. Make sure you subscribe in your podcast app of choice, tell your friends. If you have fond Amiga memories we’d love to hear from you, so send a note over to [email protected], 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 Dan Wood on YouTube The Retro Hour Podcast Amiga 500+ on Wikipedia Eben Upton – Show and Tell – Amiga 600 and the Raspberry Pi Dan’s video on the Pi400 with Amibian Amibian: Amiga Environment for the Raspberry Pi MiSTer Multisystem Amiga Forever by Colanto Dan’s full review of The A500 Mini Chapter Times 00:00:05: Introductions 00:06:31: Original Amiga Hardware 00:13:53: Modern Upgrades 00:28:50: The Pi, Amiga ROMs, And Commodore 00:34:34: The A500 Mini 00:45:11: Amiga Favourites 00:52:01: Closing Thoughts Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

In our first episode of the new Crossed Wires podcast, James is joined by Stoo Cambridge, most famous for his work on the iconic graphics of Cannon Fodder by Sensible Software. We also talk about the tools available back in the late 80s and early 90s, and of course The Colouring Book of Retro Computers. I really hope you enjoy this episode, I’m so grateful to Stoo for taking the time to come and chat with me and share some wonderful little tidbits. Make sure you subscribe to get the latest episodes straight to your podcast player of choice. If you like what you hear, please do tell your friends, family, Uber driver, dentist… Do you have any fond memories of Cannon Fodder, or working with tools like Deluxe Paint back in the day? If so, we’d love hear from you, so send a note over to [email protected], 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 Cannon Fodder at Wikipedia Sensible Software at Wikipedia Deluxe Paint on Amiga – A Retrospective (Dan Wood on YouTube) BBC Micro Live (1985) – Commodore Amiga Debut (Mike on YouTube) The Computer Programme on archive.org The Colouring Book of Retro Computers at RMCRetro.store RMC Retro – The Cave on YouTube Affinity by Serif (Designer, Photo, Publisher) Krita – Open source digital painting software The Design Droid – Stoo’s online store Chapter List 00:00:00: Introduction 00:01:56: Graphics & The Amiga 00:06:58: The Graphics Of Cannon Fodder 00:15:32: The Poppy Controversy 00:21:40: The Colouring Book Of Retro Computers 00:33:14: Modern Tools 00:39:55: Reflecting On The Past 00:50:38: Obligatory Self Promotion 00:57:20: Wrap Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW