Back to Work

#536: Fonzie Slap

June 22, 2021 at 10:00AM • 1 hour 20 minutes

DISCUSSED: Merlin and his wife realize the moment they crossed a line; in Follow-Up, your hosts celebrate the late great Fred Willard; in further Follow-Up, the state of the union in smart voice devices is considered; and, finally, the long arc of calendar talk starts to wind down with some hard talk on disambiguation and actually really getting real.

#535: Long-Term Play Value

June 15, 2021 at 8:00PM • 1 hour 24 minutes

DISCUSSED: Dan finally gets more three-six-five, and Merlin gets extremely deep in the stack. Also, just a little more calendar talk, including a model for deciding where something goes.

#534: Manga and Others

June 8, 2021 at 7:00PM • 1 hour 55 minutes

DISCUSSED: Merlin runs into some problems reporting live from the show floor; is social media making us as happy as we'd like to think?; thoughts on pro wrestlers and the films of John Carpenter; finding the triggers for action that you didn't know you needed; recommendations for videos and Firefox extensions; why we use the web browsers that we use; your hosts dive into their favorite announcements coming out of WWDC; how exactly do you decide where something should go?; Dan reveals he has become the third kind of calendar person; exploring the ineffable (but indisputably real) value of finding technologies and experiences that you actually enjoy; and, finally, Merlin shares a novel misunderstanding with a voice dingus.

#533: A Container for Your Future Plans

June 1, 2021 at 6:45PM • 1 hour 46 minutes

DISCUSSED: Part one of a deep dive into calendars.

#532: That's Not My Ghost

May 25, 2021 at 2:00PM • 1 hour 36 minutes

DISCUSSED: Merlin is full of beans this week.

#531: Where Grog Got Eaten

May 18, 2021 at 2:45PM • 1 hour 13 minutes

DISCUSSED: A classic, old-school “Odds ’n Sods” episode that includes: Apple’s audio upgrade announcement; AirTags and the promising future of UWB; lots of thoughts on anxiety; caffeine weaners; tongue-rolling; and a salt and pepper of media recently enjoyed (and now recommended).

#530: Nouns in America

May 11, 2021 at 5:00PM • 1 hour 7 minutes

DISCUSSED: Merlin has been cracking nuts, and Dan is enjoying a beverage; in Follow-Up, Dan has made great progress with his new voice assistant; Merlin has thoughts on choosing a dingus ecosystem that’s right for you; words mean things, and often you want the right “procedure word”; Merlin has some good Back to Work-adjacent media recommendations; do we really want to rebuild The Embarcadero Freeway? Really?; and, Dan has some new scholarship on the films of Stanley Kubrick.

#529: Different Flavors of Fear

May 4, 2021 at 3:45PM • 1 hour 26 minutes

DISCUSSED: Dan is actively gaslighting Merlin, and this can be proven; please stop stealing focus; praise for Ferris Bueller in general and the knees of Sloane Peterson in particular; passing thoughts on fear, procrastination, impostor syndrome, and solving the right problem; Merlin is delighted to discover a much-improved Little Snitch; Dan has thoughts on his Ford’s weird button; in gadget updates, Dan has found some useful headphones and has thoughts on trying to use his new Google dingus; finally, just in general, try to keep your hands away from the dragon’s mouth.

#528: Half a Parachute

April 27, 2021 at 1:30PM • 1 hour 30 minutes

Merlin has a whole new setup, and Dan has a whole new TV.

#527: Classic Mentos Situation

April 20, 2021 at 3:00PM • 1 hour 4 minutes

DISCUSSED: Merlin is reporting live from the show floor; sleep is complicated; food is complicated, too; Dan tries to build muscles the right way; he also has strong feelings about TV shopping; Merlin just wants someone to tell him which is The Good One.