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 siteWatch the Event - Apple EventsiPad Pro - Apple.comiPad Air - Apple.comApple Pencil - Apple.com, including showing features and helping you see compatibility for the different pencil models.The Case for iPad Pro - VergecastiOS 18 Accessibility Features - Apple PressroomFinal Cut Pro for iPad - Apple.comLogic Pro for iPad - Apple.com Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions00:04:30: The Let Loose Event00:08:17: Crushed00:16:22: iPad Air (M2)00:25:33: iPad Pro (M4)00:42:22: Apple Pencil Shuffle00:55:16: Why No WiFi 7?01:02:31: Choose An iPad01:11:36: iOS 18 Accessibility01:13:55: Pro Apps01:25:49: 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 serviceMasto.host@mastodon.social - Masto.host on MastodonInfrastructure | 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.ukMastodon on GitHub Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions00:05:57: Shared Hosting for Madtodon00:11:26: Ditching Twitter00:14:43: Turfing out TERFs00:22:21: Why Have Your Own Instance?00:33:59: Infrastructure00:50:07: Masto.host Pros & Cons00:58:50: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clu

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: Introductions00:05:11: Zack’s Story00:14:55: Assistive Tools vs AI00:24:38: 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 laptopsFramework Marketplace – See all the various components you can buy for your Framework laptopLinux on the Framework Laptop – Details of Framework’s official support for both Ubuntu and FedoraDell 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: Introductions00:02:15: Right to Repair & Sustainability00:05:38: Upgrading a Mobile Platform00:08:42: The Framework Laptop00:11:05: Linus Drop Tips00:12:48: Modular IO00:15:52: Memory & Storage00:16:50: Main board and more ?00:18:47: Framework 16 Input Deck00:21:28: Reusing a Framework Mainboard00:23:35: Framework 16 GPU00:26:07: Linux Support00:27:53: Final Thoughts from Nirav00:29:30: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme:

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 | MastodonGedeon Maheux – MastodonProject Tapestry – KickstarterWhy Tapestry? – Iconfactory BlogOllie, 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: Introductions00:03:01: Why Kickstarter?00:05:54: What is Tapestry?00:13:47: Endpoints00:18:43: Rewards00:22:23: Looking Back at Design Trends00:30:59: An AI Tangent00:33:59: An Apple QuickTake 00:41:32: Designing for New Platforms00:54:01: The Joy of Design01:02:28: Wrapping Up  Credits Intro and outro theme:

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 | MastodonJon von Tetzchner – MastodonMosaic – WikipediaOpera Mini – WikipediaW3C – The World Wide Web ConsortiumSecure DNS – Chromium BlogFastmail – Privacy focussed email, get 10% off your first year with this link.Digital Identity – Our chat with Helen Horstmann-Allen from FastmailVivaldi steers in-car browsing: Now available in the all-new Ford and Lincoln infotainment system Chapter Times 00:00:05: Introductions00:04:20: W

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 SupportSamsung Commits to Four Years of Security Updates – Samsung Newsroom (2021)Signal – Cross platform, end-to-end encrypted messagingiFixIt.com – Guides for device repair Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions00:03:43: Our Daily Drivers00:06:57: Personal Choice Matters00:12:13: Android is not Google00:15:26: 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:

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 PodcastsThe Interface – Alex’s great tech news siteMcCann Tech – Evan’s blog with wonderful deep dives on UniFi gearUniFi 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 usesTalk – 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: Introductions00:05:42: A UniFi Overview00:21:17: Routing 00:25:30: No Subscriptions00:27:11: The UniFi Magic 00:37:20: Switches, Switches, Switches 00

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.orgWireplay: creating the first online gaming platform in the UK – Phil Ashby on Dev.toWireplay calling – hello 1996! – AshbysoftHalf-Life: 25th Anniversary Documentary – Valve on YouTubeWireplay invades Brisbane – AusGamers – Adam Williams on YouTube Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions00:05:00: BT Primer00:10:07: Internet in the 90s00:16:58: The Rise of Multiplayer Games00:29:14: The Birth of Wireplay00:53:22: The Incident 01:04:08: Windows Servers In The Backend 01:12:06: Half Life01:22:51: The Aftermath01:36:43: Museum Pieces01:41:23: Wrapping Up

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 eventMacBook Pro (Apple.com)iMac (Apple.com)Behind the scenes at Scary Fast: Apple’s keynote event shot on iPhone and edited on MacHappy 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: Introductions00:03:35: The Scary Fast Event00:07:13: The M3 Family00:17:21: iMac00:25:38: M3 Performance00:31:47: MacBook Pros 00:48:16: Filmed on iPhone 00:53:54: 20 Years of xScope00:56:01: 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 / GitHubRooftop 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: Introductions00:03:12: Self Taught00:15:00: Front-end vs backend00:18:52: Learning Resources00:26:14: Solving Problems00:28:36: Open Source Software Libraries00:51:02: 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 MastodonLast of Us Part II: Is this the most accessible game ever? – BBC NewsVirtually Superior: A Playstation VR 2 review – Brandon’s PS VR2 reviewRetro Collective – The Cave and Arcade Archive Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions00:03:36: Why is Gaming Accessibility Important?00:08:37: Blind vs Visual Impairement00:13:25: Game Studio Attitudes00:21:13: Channels of Information00:31:04: Unfair Advantage?00:36:06: Controls00:43:14: What Has Driven Accesibility Forward?00:50:26: A Good Day’s Pay00:53:19: 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 AlexApple Event – Watch on Apple’s website Chapter Times 00:00:00: Podcast Promo: Creator Spotlight00:00:30: Introductions00:03:43: What Did We Buy or Not Buy?00:06:18: Event Thoughts00:16:52: Apple Watch00:28:48: iPhone 15 / 15 Pro01:10:16: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

Cloud Gaming is something you might have heard about; you may have even used a service like GeForce NOW, Xbox Cloud Gaming or even the recently departed Google Stadia. Jae and James sat down with Jay Hamilton and Omega of Thoughtable Network to talk about OnLive and also the modern cloud gaming services. OnLive is the technology that PlayStation Now is built on and understanding the past is important to understanding the present. We wanted to look at the past to learn how it may portend to the future of cloud gaming. Have you used OnLive? Have you used a Cloud Gaming service? What is your experience? We’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server. If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page. Affiliate Promotion Interested in launching your own cloud gaming service or any type of online service? Then you need an amazing hosting platform like Linode by Akamai. If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux based cloud computing needs, you can get $100 of free credit with Linode, cloud computing by Akamai, when you sign up here. Episode Links Thoughtable Network – Jay and Omega’s NetworkOnLive – WikiPediaPlayStation Now – Sony’s Cloud Gaming PlatformGoogle is shutting down Stadia – The VergeGeForce NOW – nVidia’s Cloud gaming PlatformAmazon Luna – Amazons’ Cloud gaming offering, a mix of Prime games and offer subscription modelsXbox Cloud Gaming – Includes Game PassBoosteroid – Bring your own games streaming platform Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions00:04:20: Remembering OnLive00:16:37: The State of Cloud Gaming00:31:51: The Key to Cloud Gaming00:48:27: Cloud Hesitancy01:02:52: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

It’s been over 6 years since Nintendo released their hybrid-console, the massively popular Switch to the world and it would be fair to say that this combination home console and portable gaming device has had a huge impact on the gaming world.  For the longest time, the Switch was my only games system (not including my iPhone and iPad of course), and the wide range of games certainly makes it an attractive system for many people. Many a family gathering has inevitably ended up in a Mario Kart Grand Prix, or a humiliating defeat at the hands of my nephew in Super Smash Brothers Ultimate. I’m joined this week by Chris from Switch Weekly to take a look back at the last 6 years of the Switch, why it’s so appealing, where there are some potential improvements, and what the future may hold for Nintendo’s next system. Do you have a Switch, have you experienced joy con drift, or maybe you’ve got a game recommendation from the vast eShop library! We’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server. If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page. Affiliate Promotion If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux based cloud computing needs, you can get $100 of free credit with Linode, cloud computing by Akamai, when you sign up here. Episode Links Switch Weekly: Newsletter / MastodonChris Brandrick – Mastodonoverkill.wtf – Gaming news site Chris edits. The State of Switch 2023 – Switch Weekly Survey ResultsSkull & Co. Jump Gate Dock Review – Crossed Wires on YouTubeNyxi Wizard – GameCube like joypad for SwitchHori Split Pad Pro – Alternative joy con style controllerPXN 9607X – James’ Switch ControllerSwitch Online – Nintendo UK Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions00:03:49: The Appeal of the Switch00:12:52: Hardware00:22:07: The Joys of Joy Cons00:28:46: Other Controllers 00:32:01: LABO & Mario Kart Home Circuit 00:36:40: Games 00:50:31: Switch Online 00:58:53: The Future 01:05:18: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

If you’re like me and enjoy a good novel, with gripping stories, fleshed out characters, and developed worlds of intrigue then you may wonder how it all comes together into the finished product.  My guest this week is self-published author and tech nerd, Matt Gemmell. We talk about how Matt uses just his iPad to plan and write his stories, how he self-publishes his work and all the elements that need to come together to get a novel onto the bookshelves, both digital and physical. We also talk about the importance of a good keyboard, and do a bit of a beginners guide into the world of mechanical keyboards, a hobby that has no doubt raised many a financial question in any writer’s relationship! Have you delved into the world of writing, or maybe you’re a mechanical keyboard nerd who has stories to tell of your most intrepid builds? We’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server. If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page. Affiliate Promotion If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux based cloud computing needs, you can get $100 of free credit with Linode, cloud computing by Akamai, when you sign up here. Episode Links mattgemmell.scot – Matt’s website including links to all his socials, podcast, and novels.Ulysses – macOS and iOS writing app that Matt usesMarkdown – John Gruber’s original documentation for the text-to-HTML languageISBN (Wikipedia)Mechanical Keyboard Switches Explained: Types, Colors, & More (How To Geek)Ducky – Very popular line of mechanical keyboardsKeychron – A great range of mechanical keyboards for Mac, iOS, and Windows Chapter Times 00:00:05: Introductions00:03:31: iPad and Markdown 00:21:34: The Publishing Process 00:31:27: Support Your Library!00:33:49: The Importance of a Keyboard 00:52:15: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

First of all, sincere apologies for the delay in getting this episode out to you all. Editing a nearly four hour recording session down really is somewhat of a mission, especially with a full-time job and live streaming in the mix. Fear not, though, we’ll be back to our weekly episodes from now on, with new episodes every Monday morning (UK time) to cure those Monday blues! It wouldn’t be a big Apple event without gathering in a SquadCast session to dissect all of announcements and give our take on what’s coming up in the next major software releases, as well as looking at the latest hardware, especially the Vision Pro. We’re delighted, as always, to be joined by Alex Lowe and the occasional contribution from our live-stream chat! What was your opinion on what Apple showed off this year? Whatever your thoughts, we’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server. If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page. Affiliate Promotion If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux based cloud computing needs, you can get $100 of free credit for 60 days with Linode, cloud computing by Akamai, when you sign up here.Thanks to our friends at SquadCast for making this epic recording session possible. If you want a great way to record your remote podcast with studio quality audio and video you can find out more here Episode Links The Interface – For all your tech news needs! Crossed Wires Live – Make sure you catch our live streams on TwitchWWDC 2023 Keynote Video – Apple Developer WebsiteApple Vision Pro Impressions! – MKBHD (YouTube)Apple adds pronoun fields with privacy focus to Contacts app on iOS 17 – 9to5 MaciOS and iPadOS 17 drop support for iPhone X, first iPad Pros, and other old devices – Ars TechnicamacOS Sonoma drops support for another wide swath of Intel Macs – Ars TechnicaApple TV hardware will get VPN access with tvOS 17 – Android AuthorityCloud Backup & Storage – Our chat with Pat Patterson from Backblaze Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions00:03:28: Keynote Delivery00:06:21: 15 Years of the iOS App Store00:07:23:  Vision Pro01:00:32: AFFILIATE: Grinding Coffee          01:02:12: Mac Hardware01:02:58: 15” MacBook Air01:10:10: M2 Max / Ultra Mac Studio

Over the last few months, we’ve been looking for a home for all of the data we generate for the whole of Crossed Wires, everything from artwork, show notes, episode plans, all of our stream layouts, and much more. We tried iCloud shared folders, since we’re both firmly in the Apple ecosystem, but to be blunt they just aren’t built for large amounts of data or more flexible sharing options. We were reluctant to trust our data to Google, and we certainly didn’t need all the functionality of Office 365. Then, along came Nextcloud, an open-source, self-hosted solution that brings together so many different features like file storage across multiple storage solutions, collaborative document editing and much more. This week, we talk with Jos Poortvliet, the co-founder and marketing director over at Nextcloud, to dig deep into the history of Nextcloud, what makes it such a compelling option and a genuinely strong alternative to things like Office 365 and Google Workspace, as well as nerding out on some of the available apps and other little gems. Do you use a cloud service for your own data, or maybe you look after the systems for your business, big or small. Whatever your experience, we’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server. If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page. Affiliate Promotion If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux based cloud computing needs, including running your very own Nextcloud instance, you can get $100 of free credit with Linode, cloud computing by Akamai, when you sign up here. Episode Links Nextcloud – WebsiteNextcloud – MastodonYour Data in Nextcloud – Great details on how your data is managedNextcloud Ethical AI Rating – Looking at how to rate different AI solutions based on their openness Related Episodes Open (Source) for Business – Talking about how important Open Source is for business with Tom LawrenceExperimenting with Linux – A chat with Nick from The Linux Experiment about all things LinuxChatting AI Ethics – A discussion with Dr. Catherine Flick about AI Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions00:07:04: What is Nextcloud00:21:48: Why You May Need An Alternative to Office 365 etc.00:35:30: Monetisation of Nextcloud00:40:48: Nextcloud Hub00:45:11: Storage Backends00:51:19: Deployment Options01:04:19: Talk, Office, and File Sync01:21:59: Apps01:32:11: Nextcloud AI01:41:35: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

As many of you may know, or figured out very quickly, I’m a massive Star Trek fan, to the point that I can probably quote many episodes and movies line-for-line, with or without my dubious Shatner impression. Growing up in the late 80s and through the 90s, there was always Trek on TV, be it re-runs of the original series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and even Voyager.  Seeing the wealth of technology, like a computer you could talk to, devices as thin and light as a paper notebook that you could work on and view data on wherever you went. It seemed so far into the future, but yet here we are in 2023 with more voice assistants than Tribbles, iPads as far as the eye can see, and wireless communication that would make even Data jealous. This week, my returning guest is a fellow Trek nerd and all round interface design guru, Gedeon Maheux from The Icon Factory. It was so much fun to nerd out with Gedeon, whilst narrowly avoiding Picard season 3 spoilers for you all. We dissect how technology has been inspired by Star Trek, and where we may have advances beyond some of the things we saw, certainly in earlier Trek. Are you a Trek nerd like us, or maybe you’ve just seen bits of it but don’t know your Warp Core from your Genesis Device? Whatever your experience of Star Trek, good or bad, we’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server. If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page. Affiliate Promotion If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux based cloud computing needs, you can get $100 of free credit with Linode, cloud computing by Akamai, when you sign up here. Episode Links gedblog – Gedeon’s Blog with links to socialsThe Icon Factory – great design, apps and freebiesOllie, Space Karen, And An API – Gedeon’s first appearance on the show to talk about Twitter’s APIMike Okuda – Twitter via Nitter.net Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions00:02:31: A Quick Twitter Update00:05:54: Star Trek Picard Season 300:09:32: Tech Clearly Inspired by Trek00:23:40: Communications & Voice Assistants00:36:17: Security Codes00:45:10: Reconciling TOS Tech00:52:39: The UI of LCARS01:03:33: Favourite Trek Moments01:11:52: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

As our politicians and elected officials debate the dangers of TikTok and end-to-end-encryption (E2EE), we need to look beyond the hysteria and scapegoating to the actual issues and how we have sensible discussions about what the risks of social media platforms actually are. We’re joined by Rachel Hanson, a parent and elected official herself, to try to unpack what the real issues are and why simply banning social media services can lead to far more dangerous information control by our governments that could lead to more and more marginalisation of those already in need of accurate and verified information. We know this episode may spark some different views and discussions, and we really do want to give you space to share thoughts thoughts. As long as you can follow our community guidelines, please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server. If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page. Affiliate Promotion If you want great pricing with fantastic customer support for all your Linux based cloud computing needs, you can get $100 of free credit with Linode, cloud computing by Akamai, when you sign up here. Episode Links Rachel Hanson – LinkTreeMontana becomes first state to ban TikTok – Gizmodo‘TikTok bill’ is far too broad and could apply to almost any tech – Ars TechnicaHands off My TikTok. Banning It Would Hurt the Most Marginalized | Opinion – NewsweekTikTok fined £12.7m for UK data protection law breaches – The Guardian Factsheet: Amendment to the Online Safety Bill to help tackle child sexual exploitation and abuse online  – UK Home OfficeDon’t Scan Me – Open Rights Group Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions00:03:43: The Impact of TikTok00:16:08: The Negatives of TikTok00:26:56: Privacy & Consequences00:40:59: The Control of Information00:57:12: Social Media for Elected Officials01:06:24: E2EE & The Challenge of CSAM01:20:52: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW