December 15, 2015 at 2:30PM •
1 hour 27 minutes
TOPIC: Maybe quit being so "busy."
This week, Dan and Merlin drop a lot of science on the miraculous taxonomies of Judaica. Mazel Tov!
For the big topic, Merlin launches into an animated jeremiad on words meaning things, with a focus on being terminally "busy" versus being willfully "time-constrained."
December 8, 2015 at 3:00PM •
1 hour 57 minutes
TOPIC: Sunrise, Sunset.
This week, Dan and Merlin celebrate their 250th episode with an extensive discussion of McDonaldland and its horrific culture and citizenry.
The main topic addresses the ““sunsetting”” of the Mailbox iOS app—and what it highlights about deciding where to put our stuff, what apps we choose to use, and what contingency plans it's probably wise to have in place.
December 1, 2015 at 2:00PM •
1 hour 49 minutes
TOPIC: Personal Crazy Walls
This week, Dan and Merlin start by covering a lot of things that you might actually be thinking of.
The meat of the episode focuses on a listener question about deciding what things go where—leading to a pretty nerdy exegesis of Notes vs. text files, reminders vs. task managers, and where stuff goes vs. where it probably should go.
November 24, 2015 at 1:30PM •
1 hour 32 minutes
TOPIC: More Songs About Buildings and Food
This week, Dan and Merlin talk about transitions, microwave ovens, air conditioning, and the likelihood of salmonella.
November 17, 2015 at 2:30PM •
1 hour 23 minutes
TOPIC: A Mark on a Page
This week, Dan and Merlin kick off by talking about Dan's recent interview with "Weird Al" and how he's such an interesting harbinger of changing times for media and platforms.
Next, Merlin responds to a listener's question about how he uses a notebook, which leads to an extended dissertation on how to ruin your notebook in the best way possible. Nothing doesn't go in here.
November 10, 2015 at 2:00PM •
1 hour 54 minutes
TOPIC: Medieval or Renaissance?
This week, Dan and Merlin start out by helping listeners learn to identify the subtle differences between all things Renaissance and Medieval.
The remainder of the show is split between an in-depth introduction to the Plex media ecosystem, and a philosophical and practical meditation on choosing how to spend a given day.
November 3, 2015 at 5:00PM •
1 hour 57 minutes
TOPIC: First impressions of the new Apple TV
This week, Dan and Merlin talk about the triumphs and travails of their first few days with the fourth generation Apple TV.
October 27, 2015 at 6:15PM •
1 hour 55 minutes
TOPIC: You are who you choose to be.
This week Dan and Merlin talk about making buying decisions, dealing with unsolicited email, preventing stupid from sticking to you, and finding systems that may or may not work.
October 20, 2015 at 1:15PM •
1 hour 35 minutes
TOPIC: It's Business All the Way Down.
This week, Dan and Merlin talk about joys and frustrations of contemporary consumer technologies. So great yet so frustrating. So powerful yet so hobbled. It's weird how, as great as the newest tech ever gets, we so quickly find we're bumping right up against business, business, business.
Then, there's some more discussion of updates in iOS 9 and what we can now do with iPhone 6s, highlighting the astonishing power of trackpad mode.
Finally, some updates on Dan's cord-cutting and how one may choose how and what we're each willing to pay for—and how it's just no fun to amortize other people's garbage with your own time.
October 13, 2015 at 8:00PM •
1 hour 33 minutes
TOPIC: Procrastination is a life sentence.
This week, after some high-level discussion on the topics of Marvel and media reduxes, Dan and Merlin (maaaaybe) wrap up their initial and very positive impressions of iOS 9 on modern Apple devices.
More fawning talk of Siri, plus tips on easily adding items to Reminders and Notes.
Dan also lays out his freeing new philosophy and implementations for doing sane email on an iPad.
Then, Merlin goes off a little on why constantly feeling bad about yourself is a terrible idea.
