Back to Work

#519: Designated Toilet

February 23, 2021 at 2:30PM • 1 hour 11 minutes

DISCUSSED: Dan has updates on Texas's recent weather events and the unanticipated cascading effects on complex and interconnected infrastructures; then, for dessert, your hosts explore the delights and insights of the "isolated tracks" rabbit hole.

#518: 10% of a Headache

February 16, 2021 at 1:15PM • 1 hour 11 minutes

DISCUSSED: As The Lone Star state struggles with a surfeit of anomalous weather events, your hosts dig into the challenges inherent to all sorts of complex, interconnected systems.

#517: How Daddy Make That Paper

February 9, 2021 at 2:30PM • 1 hour 8 minutes

DISCUSSED: Doing pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good; Dan discovers a shark is menacingly circling one of his product names; there's a reason Merlin is not in the corner office; your hosts fondly recall the Avon products of their youth; Dan shares a terrific anecdote about George Harrison and Phil Collins; please don't use my things for things those things aren't things to be used for; Mission: Impossible movies are very good; if you want to really appreciate something, it helps to make yourself be an amateur again; a recommendation for a very smart Mac location managing app; Merlin presents a lengthy and disordered jeremiad on HomeKit, HomeKit apps, and the new iOS playground; which is mostly all just to say: why are email apps still so terrible?

#516: The Steely Dan Dad

February 2, 2021 at 2:15PM • 1 hour 3 minutes

No way am I even going to attempt a description this week.

With that said:

[this is a good one]

#515: Please Do Not Tapdance for Me

January 26, 2021 at 2:00PM • 58 minutes

DISCUSSED: There are things that one wants to see less or fewer often; is this particular button actually hooked up to anything?; there is literal must-see TV and you must see it literally immediately; everything is catching on fire; four basic steps for being a successful adult (who has to deal with other adults); thoughts on creativity and focal length; the process of unpandemicizing, or: do we still know how to put a Casual Corner in a mall?; Dan is loving his iPad; Merlin introduces a theory on The Velocity of Writing Instruments; and, finally, a quick celebrity cameo.

#514: Chicken Wipe

January 19, 2021 at 12:45PM • 1 hour 2 minutes

DISCUSSED: Dan continues to explore the exciting possibilities of his latest hardware acquisition.

#513: A Preferred Testicle

January 12, 2021 at 6:00PM • 1 hour 16 minutes

DISCUSSED: life's relentlessness continues apace; Cash enjoyed Dan's modified Godfather trilogy; celebrating Lil' Inappropriate Books; a terrific recent use of "Layla"; some Inside Baseball talk about a recommended app segment; then, for the balance of the episode, your hosts start diving into Dan's exciting new acquisition and how best to put to good use.

#512: You Have a Mustard Fetish

January 5, 2021 at 3:30PM • 1 hour 12 minutes

DISCUSSED: Merlin looks at a shelf and then, for some reason, discusses it; walls and Japanese beds and jokey-sized dishwashers all benefit from wheels; life is different when you live on a boat; it's important to find the right tool for the job; some people see forests, while others see trees; Merlin performs his very good Gordon Ramsey impression; Merlin also performs his very good David Lynch impression; in Follow-Up, we learn the extremely unsatisfying reason Personal Requests weren't working on a HomePod; there is discussion of the power of Siri alongside frustrations with its poor documentation; interesting bugs are discussed; your hosts explore the similarities between good documentation and good recipes; weird comic book feet are explored; tips on good media your hosts are enjoying; and, finally, there's some rapid-fire app and scripting recommendations.