Episode 614: 500 Thumbs Down

Daniel and Manton talk about the community drama and impending fiasco of WordPress and Matt Mullenweg vs. WP Engine. They weigh the arguments of either side. Then they consider the larger issue of dependencies we have on the platforms we develop for, and how we strive for independence from platforms that can make or break our business.

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September 30, 2024 at 2:29 pm.

Episode 613: Extremely Fiddly

Daniel and Manton talk about the latest releases of iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia, and the confusion of macOS versioning with the switch from 10.15 to 11. They explore new iOS features like home screen customization. Then Daniel describes the change in macOS Sequoia to limit keyboard shortcuts that use only the option key.

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September 20, 2024 at 3:42 pm.

Episode 612: Let’s Just Say I’m Skeptical

Daniel talks to Manton about the new iPhones, whether they’re buying one or not, and the pros and cons of pickup vs. delivery. They discuss the merit of AppleCare+ particular for iPhones. They consider the new Camera Control button and whether it’s likely to be a “dud” or not.
Daniel and Manton going for the new phones, whether to buy AppleCare+ or not. Finally, they consider the possibility that the new AirPods hardware is feature-locked by software, and whether it’s ethical to charge customers more for features built-in to a hardware device.

Many thanks to our sponsor this week:

Links:

  • Apple Event – Apple’s latest product announcement video featuring iPhone 16 and Apple Watch Series 10.
  • µBrowser – Web browsing app for Apple Watch.
  • Minimized Embiggening – Accidental Tech Podcast episode discussing the possibility of Apple selling software-limited hardware.
  • iFixit – Repair-it-yourself site famous for its hardware teardown.

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September 16, 2024 at 1:31 pm.

Episode 611: Do Not Hallucinate

Manton and Daniel talk about the upcoming Apple special event where new iPhones are expected to be announced. They talk about their respective likelihoods of buying one, and remark on the diminishing importance of smallness in a phone’s physical design. They discuss the nascent Apple Intelligence features in macOS and iOS betas, the general competitive state of AI services, and the virtue of being able to easily switch from one hosted AI services provider to another.

Links:

  • Apple Event – Watch live at 10 a.m. Pacific Time.
  • What to Expect – The Verge’s rundown of anticipated announcements.
  • Apple Intelligence – Apple’s product marketing page for Apple Intelligence.
  • Priority Phishing Email – Cabel Sasser shares his experience with Apple’s AI misclassifying a scam email.
  • Claude – ChatGPT competitor from Anthropic.
  • Prompt Engineering – OpenAI documentation on improving the effectiveness of AI prompts.
  • Apple’s Pre-Prompts – MacRumors reports on the uncovering of OS-bundled prompts in Apple’s apps.
  • Claude’s Pre-Prompts – Documentation from Anthropic about the specific prompts they preload their AI products with.
  • Llama 3 – Open-source LLM software from Meta.
  • xAI Rush in Memphis – Manton’s post about Elon Musk’s huge AI server center in Tennessee.

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September 7, 2024 at 8:21 pm.