What makes a beautiful app interface, a stunning icon, or that little bit of UI magic that shows the care poured into the design process? Our returning guest is Gedeon Maheux, co-founder of Icon Factory, who joins Jae and James to talk about how human design will always beat out generative AI and how the latter is having a substantial impact on their business. 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:07:17: The State of the IconFactory 00:16:36: App and Icon Design 00:27:22: Designing for Liquid Glass 00:46:26: Icon Variety 00:52:51: More Than Just Icons 01:13:10: Closing Thoughts Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW  

Did you grow up wishing you could make real 3D objects from your computer, maybe if you're British you remember the cartoon 'Penny Crayon'? Well, in this modern world we live in, you can do all of that with a 3D printer. 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

Yes, we're back again, and you'll get to hear exactly what's kept Jae and James so busy over the last several months. We're joined again by Alex Lowe from The Interface to dissect an Apple keynote, this time the one from WWDC 2025.What do you think to Liquid Glass (or Liquid Gas, though that's a whole different discussion), and are you as excited as we are about the new multi-tasking features coming to iPadOS 26 on more iPads than we had expected. 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:08:15: Keynote Focus 00:12:32: Version Numbering 00:14:54: Liquid Glass 00:21:59: iPhone 00:31:59: Apple Intelligence 00:35:36: Camera App 00:37:26: Apple Wallet & Digital ID 00:45:24: iPad 00:47:07: Meeting Tim Cook 00:54:56: Back to iPad 01:01:41: HomeKit and CarPlay 01:08:13: watchOS 01:09:45: macOS 01:21:39: Apple TV 01:27:37: Random Stuff 01:35:43: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs b...

It's been a hectic few months here for the team, but on November 4th 2024 we sat down with Alex Lowe for coverage of Apple's end of October announcements for their new m4 powered Macs. Apologies this episode is so late in coming to you, but we hope you enjoy the Christmas Present! 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 00:00:04:...

Without fail, Apple released their next iPhone, a new Apple Watch and some new software for their range of devices. What we didn't expect was for Apple to take a step into the hearing aid market with new firmware coming ot the AirPods Pro 2 later this year. 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 00:00:05: Introductions 00:04:27: Event Thoughts 00:09:11: iPhone 16 00:19:02: Apple Watch Series 10 00:29:54: Apple’s Health Focus 00:36:30: AirPods 00:56:15: iOS & iPadOS 18 01:13:12: Passwords 01:19:57: Math notes 01:26:12: EU Regulators 01:33:53: RCS 01:36:52: Apple Intelligence 01:47:25: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Do you remember when smartphones weren't just running Apple or Google's OS, when you really did need a stylus to do anything, and when the very idea of connectivity to the Internet was a expensive affair involving PCMCIA, CompactFlash, or SD based adaptors? Our panel does! 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:07:14: Our First Handhelds 00:18:32: The Pen Computing Era 00:32:42: Palm 00:40:04: Cybiko 00:44:15: Windows CE & PocketPC 00:52:21: The Appeal of Handhelds 00:58:28: The Demise of Standalone Handhelds 01:06:55: What Do We Miss? 01:19:59: First Dumb & Smartphones 01:32:18: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme:

It's Apple Event time again; recorded a few weeks after Apple's WWDC 2024 Keynote, James, Jae, and Alex sit down for a chat about everything Apple announced at the June 10th event. 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:03:33: Skydiving Intro 00:09:55: Apple TV+ 00:16:03: visionOS 2 00:24:39: iOS 18 01:05:05: tvOS & HomeKit 01:13:06: watchOS 01:17:44: iPadOS 18 01:22:12: macOS Sequoia 01:26:12: Passwords 01:33:28: Apple Intelligence 02:05:41: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Apple held their 'Let Loose' event on May 7th, 2024 and not long after the 'dream team' of Crossed Wires Apple coverage gathered to discuss the new iPads, the rather confusing line up of Apple Pencils. 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:04:30: The Let Loose Event 00:08:17: Crushed 00:16:22: iPad Air (M2) 00:25:33: iPad Pro (M4) 00:42:22: Apple Pencil Shuffle 00:55:16: Why No WiFi 7? 01:02:31: Choose An iPad 01:11:36: iOS 18 Accessibility 01:13:55: Pro Apps 01:25:49: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

As centralised social media platforms become more and more hostile, with not only toxicity from undesirable elements but also massive privacy concerns, the Fediverse has become somewhat of a refuge for those who want to share freely and openly, without the worry of appeasing the almighty algorithms. 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:05:57: Shared Hosting for Madtodon 00:11:26: Ditching Twitter 00:14:43: Turfing out TERFs 00:22:21: Why Have Your Own Instance? 00:33:59: Infrastructure 00:50:07: Masto.host Pros & Cons 00:58:50: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

The hype around AI continues to grow, often muddling genuinely useful elements like machine learning, pattern recognition, and properly and ethnically trained large language models with tools like ChatGPT and generative AI tools that have questionable data sources. 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:05:11: Zack’s Story 00:14:55: Assistive Tools vs AI 00:24:38: Due Diligence & Alternative Assessments  00:45:33: Generative AI  00:51:45: AI Hype vs Machine Learning  00:55:00: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

If you’ve ever purchased a new laptop, you’ll know only too well the pain of configuring your new system to get your dream setup. With some manufacturers, looking at you here Apple, your choice of storage and memory are there for the lifetime of the laptop. 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

It’s our pleasure to be joined again by The Iconfactory’s Gedeon Maheux, this time we’re talking less Star Trek and more Tapestry, no not that episode with Q and Picard! 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:03:01: Why Kickstarter? 00:05:54: What is Tapestry? 00:13:47: Endpoints 00:18:43: Rewards 00:22:23: Looking Back at Design Trends 00:30:59: An AI Tangent 00:33:59: An Apple QuickTake  00:41:32: Designing for New Platforms 00:54:01: The Joy of Design 01:02:28: Wrapping Up  Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

With so many choices in browsers on desktop, mobile, and even our vehicles, it’s important to look under-the-hood to understand the differences between the engines that power your favourite browser.  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 00:00:05: Introductions 00:04:20: Why So Many Browsers? 00:18:33: What Makes Vivaldi Different? 00:26:24: Is Chrome Becoming IE6? 00:33:06: App Stores 00:38:36: User Profiling 00:54:23: A Browser in Your Car? 01:03:13: Wrapping Up ...

Whether you work in tech, produce tech content, or just happen to use a smartphone, a single question can spark debate and an explosion of extreme views from both sides. That question is simple, iPhone or Android? 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:03:43: Our Daily Drivers 00:06:57: Personal Choice Matters 00:12:13: Android is not Google 00:15:26: Side loading: Android’s Freedom of Choice?  00:33:15: Android Versions & OEMs  00:42:18: An Expectation of Updates?  00:47:38: Picking Your Device  00:51:05: The Right to Repair  01:07:34: Platform Services & Ecosystems  01:18:17: Beeping iMessage  01:29:01: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

You’ll have heard James and Jae wax lyrical about their love for the UniFi line of networking gear on our live streams and in past episodes with Alex, as well as with Cody from MacTelecom Networks, but this episode is a fairly deep look into why we love UniFi. 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:05:42: A UniFi Overview 00:21:17: Routing  00:25:30: No Subscriptions 00:27:11: The UniFi Magic  00:37:20: Switches, Switches, Switches  00:38:58: WiFi Standards  00:44:21: UniFi Express  01:01:49: UniFi Talk & Protect  01:24:26: PPSK  01:26:25: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: 

Imagine a time when internet access meant using an analogue modem to dial a phone number in order to connect to the internet at speeds of up 7 kilobytes a second! Now imagine trying to play online games such as Doom, Duke Nukem 3D, Quake, Euro 96, and even Bridge, over that connection. 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:05:00: BT Primer 00:10:07: Internet in the 90s 00:16:58: The Rise of Multiplayer Games 00:29:14: The Birth of Wireplay 00:53:22: The Incident  01:04:08: Windows Servers In The Backend  01:12:06: Half Life 01:22:51: The Aftermath 01:36:43: Museum Pieces 01:41:23: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

In what’s starting to become a Crossed Wires tradition, James, Jae and Alex gather to discuss Apple’s latest event, which was scarily short at just over 30 mins long, making this possibly our shortest event coverage episode to date! 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:03:35: The Scary Fast Event 00:07:13: The M3 Family 00:17:21: iMac 00:25:38: M3 Performance 00:31:47: MacBook Pros  00:48:16: Filmed on iPhone  00:53:54: 20 Years of xScope 00:56:01: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

When we think of programming, we may tend to think of Matrix-esque nerds sat in front of green-on-black screens absorbed in code that makes less sense than a chocolate teapot, or we may think of super-star game developers bashing out the latest GTA or similar. 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:03:12: Self Taught 00:15:00: Front-end vs backend 00:18:52: Learning Resources 00:26:14: Solving Problems 00:28:36: Open Source Software Libraries 00:51:02: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Accessibility is essential to allow everyone to enjoy experiences that they may have, in the past, missed out on due to a lack of vision, a lack of hearing, or so many other factors. 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 00:00:04: Introductions 00:03:36: Why is Gaming Accessibility Important? 00:08:37: Blind vs Visual Impairement 00:13:25: Game Studio Attitudes 00:21:13: Channels of Information 00:31:04: Unfair Advantage? 00:36:06: Controls 00:43:14: What Has Driven Accesibility Forward? 00:50:26: A Good Day’s Pay 00:53:19: Accesible Retro Gaming? 00:58:42: What’s Missing? 01:06:30: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Before we go into this week’s new episode, we’d like to thank everyone for their patience whilst both Jae and James have had what can only be described as an insanely busy (and great!) summer. We’re planning to keep new episodes coming out weekly going forward, and we really do have some great episodes already recorded. 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 00:00:00: Podcast Promo: Creator Spotlight 00:00:30: Introductions 00:03:43: What Did We Buy or Not Buy? 00:06:18: Event Thoughts 00:16:52: Apple Watch 00:28:48: iPhone 15 / 15 Pro 01:10:16: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW