Podcasts about Belkin

Send us Fan MailWatch the video!https://youtu.be/TKCB57qXVuYIn the News blog post for May 29, 2026https://www.iphonejd.com/iphone_jd/2026/05/in-the-news830.html00:00 From the Beach!04:01 iWishlist12:39 Papal AI19:29 Slim Charging23:04 Phone Ball26:45 Daily Tips32:18 Movin' On Up!35:34 Global Running Day Badge37:20 In the Show! Space Spin Off40:23 Perfect Fit Grip43:32 Brett's Music Rec: Sonny Side Up!47:53 Jeff's iTip: Use the Good Cameras for iPhone SelfiesRiley Hill | Slate Pad: iPadOS 27 Wishlist: Features I Want to SeeMia Sato | The Verge: Pope Leo calls for being ‘profoundly human' in the age of AIMichael Burkhardt | 9to5Mac: Hands-on: Belkin's new 5K MagSafe battery bank offers a kickstand in a slim designJohn Gruber | Daring Fireball: Footage From the LA-Houston MLS Match That Apple Shot Using iPhone 17 Pro CamerasAnkur Thakur | iDownloadBlog: Lesser-known iPhone features I use every single day!Glenn Fleishman | Six Colors: Orange you glad I didn't say emojiJason Cross | Macworld: Surprise! Your iPhone, iPad, or Mac is worth a little more todayJuli Clover | MacRumors: Earn a Running Day Apple Watch Activity Award on June 3Ryan Christoffel | 9to5Mac: Apple TV's new space-race thriller does something unique, first reviews hereApple: Designing the Hikawa Grip & Stand for iPhone: an accessible accessoryBrett's Music Rec: Sonny Side Uphttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonny_Side_Up Jeff's alternative recommendation:St. Thomas by Sonny Rollinshttps://music.apple.com/us/album/saxophone-colossus/1440952935 Jeff's iTip: Use the good cameras for iPhone selfieshttps://pogueman.substack.com/p/how-to-unlock-your-mac-with-your Support the showBrett Burney from http://www.appsinlaw.comJeff Richardson from http://www.iphonejd.com

Thank you to Belkin for sponsoring this episode! Visit https://glnk.io/7kzn0/kitandkrysta7n9 to get the Belkin Charging Case Pro for Nintendo Switch 2.Thank you to Raycon for sponsoring this episode! Visit http://www.BuyRaycon.com/KitAndKrysta to get 15% off the Everyday Earbuds*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Hello and welcome to episode 224 of the Kit & Krysta Podcast! We're still doing our very fun look back at the first year of Nintendo Switch 2 and this week, we'll be examining the game line-up to see how it stacks up. We compare it to the first year of the Switch and also to the first year of the PS5. For fun, we also compare it to the first year of the Wii U! Also in this episode, we talk about how we think Nintendo did celebrating Mario's 40th Anniversary. We're playing some new games including Yoshi's Mysterious Book and want to tell you how we're liking it! We round it out with some very insightful questions from our community. All this and more is coming right up! 0:00 - Happy (almost) anniversary to the Nintendo Switch 212:43 - Let's look at the Switch 2 first year game line-up1:02:59 - News news news1:26:42 - Games we're playing (Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, Bubsy 3D, Mina the Hollower, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Rugrats Retro Rewind) Patreon shout-outs- All Hail the Final Boss - Aaron Hash - Thank you Super Stars: MaruMayhem, Eigenverse, Mike Chin, Roy Eschke, vgmlife, Link The Hero of Winds, Angela Bycroft, Thomas O'Rourke, Kyle LeBoeuf, Andrew Youhas, Chilly, krashuri, Master Discord, Travis Torline, EchoLadair, MSMPokeGamer, RBurns, KITT 10K, Adrien, Nafon Clover, TheSharkAmongMen, RainTech, KissMyFlapjack, Paul Gale Network, Cameron, Fredrik Ulf Konradsson, Catsually NerdyFollow Us! https://www.patreon.com/kitandkrystahttps://twitter.com/kitandkrystahttps://www.tiktok.com/@kitandkrystahttps://www.instagram.com/kitandkrysta/http://www.facebook.com/kitandkrysta/https://bsky.app/profile/kitandkrysta.bsky.social-Kit & Krysta

What happens when one knife brand builds its entire identity around traditional American slip-joint patterns and then starts making locking, flipping versions of every single one? You get a collection that is hard to look away from. In Episode 672 of The Knife Junkie Podcast, host Bob DeMarco puts the full lineup of locking Jack Wolf Knives folders on camera, showing each one beside the slip-joint sibling that inspired it. Designer Ben Belkin has been at this for a while now, and seeing the whole collection together tells a story that no single knife can tell on its own.Before getting to the main segment, Bob runs a pocket check featuring the Spyderco Military (the original, not the Military 2 he is thinking about buying), the Great Eastern Cutlery #15 Boy's Knife, the Brock Blades Magni XL in 3V steel, and the CRKT HZ6 (ESK) from designer James Williams. Knife Life News covers four standout releases: the CRKT M16 nearly 30th anniversary edition at $48, the long-awaited TOPS Badger Creek at $300, the We Knife Notchline at $254, and the Civivi High Grass bird-and-trout fixed blade at $63. Bob also walks through the history of the Kephart knife in the show's "First Tool" segment, covering how Horace Kephart arrived at one of the most copied camp knife designs in history.The State of the Collection introduces four recent additions: the Spyderco Native Chief in CPM-CruWear and Crucarta, the Spyderco Yojimbo 2 Breast Cancer Awareness Sprint Run in hot pink and black (exclusive at Knives Ship Free), the Fisher Blades Harvey PK compact fixed blade, and a preview of the brand new Jack Wolf Knives Feelbetter Jack, the knife that inspired the entire main segment and the May 2026 release from the brand.The main segment walks through all seven locking Jack Wolf Knives models: the Gunslinger Jack (three runs), the Afterhours Jack, the Diamondback Jack (Bob's personal favorite in the whole lineup), the Primo Jack, the Bionic Jack, the Benny, and the Feelbetter Jack. Each locking folder appears alongside the slip-joint it came from, giving a rare look at how Belkin translated traditional patterns into modern locking folders without losing what made the originals worth building in the first place. Full-height hollow ground S90V blades, premium bolsters, and meticulous fit and finish across the board.Whether you own a Jack Wolf Knives knife, have one on the wish list, or have just been hearing the name and wondering what the fuss is about, this episode will show you everything you need to know. Bob has carried and used these knives, not just collected them, and that comes through in every comparison on screen.Find the list of all the knives shown in the show and links to the Knife Life News stories at https://theknifejunkie.com/672. Support the Knife Junkie channel with your next knife purchase. Find our affiliate links at https://theknifejunkie.com/knives. You can also support The Knife Junkie and get in on the perks of being a patron, including early access to the podcast and exclusive bonus content. Visit https://www.theknifejunkie.com/patreon for details. Let us know what you thought about this episode and leave a rating and/or a review. Your feedback is appreciated. You can also email theknifejunkie@gmail.com with any comments, feedback, or suggestions. To watch or listen to past episodes of the podcast, visit https://theknifejunkie.com/listen. And for professional podcast hosting, use our preferred platform: https://theknifejunkie.com/podhost.

Thank you to Cash App for sponsoring this episode! Download Cash App Today: [https://capl.onelink.me/vFut/vtl4t6ru] Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App's bank partner(s). Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. See terms and conditions at https://cash.app/legal/us/en-us/card-agreement. Discounts and promotions provided by Cash App, a Block, Inc. brand. Visit http://cash.app/legal/podcast for full disclosures. Thank you to Hims for sponsoring this episode! Visit http://www.Hims.com/KitAndKrysta for your personalized health plan Thank you to Belkin for sponsoring this episode! Visit https://glnk.io/7kzn0/kitandkrysta7n9 to get the Belkin Charging Case Pro for Nintendo Switch 2.*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Hello and welcome to episode 222 of the Kit & Krysta Podcast! Today we want to talk about Shigeru Miyamoto and his complicated legacy working at Nintendo for nearly 50 years! His role has changed so much from when he first started at the company in the 1970s and has really evolved into something completely different. How will people remember Mr. Miyamoto when he finally decides to retire? These are the big questions we're asking. Also in this episode, more news has emerged about Nintendo's financials. Nintendo's stock is plummeting and we discuss if Nintendo is worried about this. We also have more comments from Nintendo global president Shuntaro Furukawa on what the company is doing to keep Switch 2 momentum high despite the upcoming price hike. We also started to play Indiana Jones on the Switch 2 and we're super impressed with this version of the game and we'll tell you why. We also finished Mixtape, the new indie game that's getting all sorts of buzz. We have so much in this jam-packed episode so settle on in! 0:00 - Welcome to episode 2229:20 - Shigeru Miyamoto's legacy 59:44 - News news news 1:21:04 - Games we are playingPatreon shout-outs- All Hail the Final Boss - Aaron Hash - Thank you Super Stars: MaruMayhem, Eigenverse, Mike Chin, Roy Eschke, vgmlife, Link The Hero of Winds, Angela Bycroft, Thomas O'Rourke, Kyle LeBoeuf, Andrew Youhas, Chilly, krashuri, Master Discord, Travis Torline, EchoLadair, MSMPokeGamer, RBurns, KITT 10K, Adrien, Nafon Clover, TheSharkAmongMen, RainTech, KissMyFlapjack, Paul Gale Network, Cameron, Fredrik Ulf Konradsson, Catsually NerdyFollow Us! https://www.patreon.com/kitandkrystahttps://twitter.com/kitandkrystahttps://www.tiktok.com/@kitandkrystahttps://www.instagram.com/kitandkrysta/http://www.facebook.com/kitandkrysta/https://bsky.app/profile/kitandkrysta.bsky.social-Kit & Krysta

Can staying at one company for 20 years actually be your greatest competitive advantage in a world of job-hoppers? Belkin CEO Steve Malony shares his remarkable journey from a door-to-door salesman to the head of a global electronics giant. He discusses the career philosophy and mindset that fueled his growth, and explains how Belkin kept the world connected during the chaos of the 2020 pandemic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

「iPhone 17e」の画面も背面も鉄壁ガード、Belkinからケースやフィルム登場　米軍規格の耐衝撃性能。　ベルキンは、iPhone 17eに対応したアクセサリーシリーズを2026年5月8日にAmazonにて発売した。目玉となる「Belkin SheerForce Clear Liteシリーズ for iPhone 17e / 16e」は、厚さ2mmで重さ37gの軽量設計ながら、2mの落下試験に合格したクリアケースだ。特殊なUV耐性設計により、透明ケース特有の黄ばみを抑制する。

Thank you to Belkin for sponsoring this episode! Visit https://glnk.io/7kzn0/kitandkrysta7n9 to get the Belkin Charging Case Pro for Nintendo Switch 2. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Hello and welcome to episode 220 of the Kit & Krysta Podcast! This week, we want to talk about Nintendo Direct. It's the biggest thing in the Nintendo community (and even beyond) and it feels like Nintendo's been doing these forever but we also haven't had a big Nintendo Direct all year so what's going on? Also in this episode, where is this rumored Star Fox game? In our news section we discuss Final Fantasy 14 coming to Switch 2 and the latest Xbox news. We're also playing a new game that has major game of the year potential. All this and more is coming right up! 0:00 - Where is Star Fox? 9:30 - Is this the end of the Nintendo Direct era?1:03:38 - News news news (Final Fantasy 14 coming to Switch 2, Xbox heading in a new direction, PlayStation DRM)1:26:10 - Games we're playing (Vampire Crawlers, Replaced, Windjammers 2) Patreon shout-outs- All Hail the Final Boss - Aaron Hash - Thank you Super Stars: MaruMayhem, Eigenverse, Mike Chin, Roy Eschke, vgmlife, Link The Hero of Winds, Angela Bycroft, Thomas O'Rourke, Kyle LeBoeuf, Andrew Youhas, Chilly, krashuri, Master Discord, Travis Torline, EchoLadair, MSMPokeGamer, RBurns, KITT 10K, Adrien, Nafon Clover, TheSharkAmongMen, RainTech, KissMyFlapjack, Paul Gale Network, Cameron, Fredrik Ulf Konradsson, Catsually NerdyFollow Us! https://www.patreon.com/kitandkrystahttps://twitter.com/kitandkrystahttps://www.tiktok.com/@kitandkrystahttps://www.instagram.com/kitandkrysta/http://www.facebook.com/kitandkrysta/https://bsky.app/profile/kitandkrysta.bsky.social-Kit & Krysta

Únete a nuestro canal y apoya a FUERA DE SERIES: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFNyyACx7XbgZ4-S4jzNnGQ/join Bienvenidos a Fieras en Juego, el podcast donde hablamos de videojuegos, tecnología, gadgets, libros y cultura geek… sin filtro y con ganas de debatirlo todo. En este programa repasamos toda la actualidad del momento: la subida de precio de PS5 y el impacto que puede tener en la industria, el nuevo tráiler de Stranger than Heaven de los creadores de Yakuza, los despidos masivos en Epic Games y el cierre del estudio Dark Outlaw Games por parte de PlayStation. Además, analizamos la situación del hardware con la escasez de memoria y cómo Sony ha llegado incluso a suspender la venta de tarjetas SD y CFexpress. También traemos nuestras impresiones de Tomodachi Life: Una vida de ensueño, uno de los juegos más peculiares de Nintendo, y comentamos novedades como el regreso de Yoshi en Switch 2. En tecnología, repasamos los nuevos portátiles gaming ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 y G16, los gadgets de Belkin para creadores de contenido y la sorprendente decisión de OpenAI de cerrar Sora. Y en cultura geek, hablamos de libros con las novedades de NOVA y Norma Editorial, el universo de Brandon Sanderson con Blightfall, la recomendación de Play Nice y la polémica reflexión del autor de The Witcher sobre el precio de los libros.

CardioNerds (Dr. Hamza Patel, Dr. Jenna Skowronski, and Dr. Apoorva Gangavelli) discuss advanced heart failure and LVAD management with Dr. Mark Belkin, Advanced Heart Failure & Transplant Cardiologist, and Dr. Chris Salerno, Cardiothoracic Surgeon. They explore the nuances of right ventricular (RV) physiology, perioperative hemodynamic optimization, long-term complications, sensitization and transplant considerations, and the evolving role of GDMT in LVAD patients.  This episode highlights the delicate interplay between surgical and medical management in achieving optimal outcomes for patients living with durable mechanical circulatory support.Audio editing by CardioNerds Academy intern, student doctor, Pace Wetstein. Enjoy this Circulation 2022 Paths to Discovery article to learn about the CardioNerds story, mission, and values. CardioNerds Heart Success Series PageCardioNerds Episode PageCardioNerds AcademyCardionerds Healy Honor Roll CardioNerds Journal ClubSubscribe to The Heartbeat Newsletter!Check out CardioNerds SWAG!Become a CardioNerds Patron! Pearls “The right ventricle sets the stage.” — LVAD success hinges on RV performance; a struggling RV can turn a perfect LVAD surgery into a perfect storm.  “Watch the ratios.” — A PAPi < 2 and RA:PCWP >0.6 signal high risk for RV failure post-implant; trends and response to optimization matter more than static numbers.  “From hemocompatibility to hemodynamics.” — The LVAD field has moved from fighting pump thrombosis to mastering long-term RV failure and aortic insufficiency.  “Not all antibodies are created equal.” — LVAD-related sensitization often resolves post-transplant, reminding clinicians to interpret PRA trends in context.  “Recovery is possible.” — The RESTAGE-HF trial and emerging SGLT2 data hint at a new era: not just sustaining life with LVADs but restoring native heart function.  Notes Notes drafted by Dr. Hamza Patel. 1. Hemodynamic & Vasoactive Management of the RV  Use norepinephrine and vasopressin for pressor support; consider dobutamine as inotrope of choice.  Consider avoiding early milrinone due to hypotension and reduced coronary perfusion.  Use inhaled NO or epoprostenol selectively; institutional variation depends on cost and supply.  Key hemodynamic markers:  PAPi = (PA systolic – PA diastolic) / RA pressure.  PAPi < 2 → increased RV failure risk.  RA:PCWP ratio ≈ 0.6 normal; ≈ 1 → severe RV dysfunction.  RV reserve—the ability to improve these indices with optimization—is a stronger predictor of outcomes than baseline numbers alone.  NOTE: there is no robust data to guide vasoactive medical decision-making and there is substantial institutional variability in practive.  2. Long-Term LVAD Complications  MOMENTUM 3 trial: HeartMate 3 reduced pump thrombosis (10 → 1 %), stroke (14 → 5%), and GI bleed (77 → 43 %).  Persistent issues: driveline infections, RV failure, and aortic insufficiency.  Driveline care: silver sulfadiazine (Silvadene) cream linked to lower infection rates (Cowher & Kenmore 2025).  Field now focuses on hemodynamic-related adverse events—the next frontier in LVAD outcomes.  Innovation ahead: smaller drivelines and fully implantable LVADs to eliminate infection risk.  3. Sensitization and Transplant Candidacy  LVADs may induce de novo HLA antibodies, complicating transplant matching.  These antibodies tend to be transient and less cytotoxic, often resolving post-transplant.  Sensitization degree varies by device and patient; management strategies are center-dependent.  The field is redefining which antibodies are truly LVAD-induced versus incidental.  4. GDMT & Myocardial Recovery  GDMT data in LVAD patients limited—excluded from major HFrEF trials.  RESTAGE-HF: aggressive GDMT post-LVAD yielded 52% explant rate within 18 months.  SGLT2 inhibitors: emerging evidence of reverse remodeling and reduced LV size (Belkin et al., THT 2025).  GDMT promotes recovery but requires cautious titration to avoid hypotension and RV strain.  5. Future of LVAD Therapy  The fully implantable LVAD remains the goal—wireless energy, no driveline, and fewer infections.  Short-term focus: device miniaturization, improved energy efficiency, and better hemocompatibility.  HeartMate 3 remains gold standard until next-generation systems mature.  References Mehra MR et al. NEJM 2018 — MOMENTUM 3 Final Report.  Takeda K et al. JHLT 2020 — Predictors of RV Failure After LVAD.  Imamura T et al. Circ Heart Fail 2017 — Hemodynamics and RV Adaptation Post-LVAD.  RESTAGE-HF Trial, JHLT 2019.  Cowher J, Kenmore C et al. 2025 — Driveline Care & Infection Outcomes.  Belkin M et al. THT 2025 — SGLT2 Inhibition and Reverse Remodeling Post-LVAD. 

Liuba Belkin discusses her recent study on workplace gratitude.Paper: More Than Words: A Risk Regulation Model of Supervisor Gratitude Expression, Felt Appreciation, and Subordinate VoiceLearn more about Liuba Belkin.

Belkin is ending support for most Wemo smart home devices, raising fresh concerns about IoT e-waste and long-term reliability. Chuck Joiner, David Ginsburg, Brian Flanigan-Arthurs, Marty Jencius, Jim Rea, Norbert Frassa, Guy Serle, Jeff Gamet, and Eric Bolden also react to a new generation of AirTags with louder alerts and longer range, share real-world tracking and wallet stories, and explains Apple Cash's higher instant transfer fees.  MacVoices is supported by Squarespace. Check out https://www.squarespace.com/MACVOICES to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using offer code MACVOICES. Show Notes: Chapters: 00:28 Welcome and panel intro09:19 Wemo support shutdown and what still works12:50 Standards-based devices and open-source alternatives16:07 Sponsor message17:44 New AirTags: louder sound, longer range, setup requirements23:10 Real-world “unknown AirTag” tracking alert story25:23 Wallet trackers and bag-tracking use cases28:48 Apple Cash instant transfer fee increase explained Links: PSA: Belkin ending support for most Wemo smart home accessories this weekhttps://9to5mac.com/2026/01/27/psa-belkin-ending-support-for-most-wemo-smart-home-accessories-this-week/ Bose made the consumer friendly move to open source its SoundTouch speakershttps://www.engadget.com/audio/speakers/bose-made-the-consumer-friendly-move-to-open-source-its-soundtouch-speakers-163459024.htmlApple Unveils New AirTag With Longer Range, Louder Speaker, and Morehttps://www.macrumors.com/2026/01/26/apple-announces-new-airtag/ Apple Cash Users Will See Instant Transfer Fees Increase in Februaryhttps://www.mactrast.com/2026/01/apple-cash-users-will-see-instant-transfer-fees-increase-in-february/ Guests: Eric Bolden is into macOS, plants, sci-fi, food, and is a rural internet supporter. You can connect with him on Twitter, by email at embolden@mac.com, on Mastodon at @eabolden@techhub.social, on his blog, Trending At Work, and as co-host on The Vision ProFiles podcast. Brian Flanigan-Arthurs is an educator with a passion for providing results-driven, innovative learning strategies for all students, but particularly those who are at-risk. He is also a tech enthusiast who has a particular affinity for Apple since he first used the Apple IIGS as a student. You can contact Brian on twitter as @brian8944. He also recently opened a Mastodon account at @brian8944@mastodon.cloud.   Norbert Frassa is a technology “man about town”. Follow him on X and see what he's up to. Jeff Gamet is a technology blogger, podcaster, author, and public speaker. Previously, he was The Mac Observer's Managing Editor, and the TextExpander Evangelist for Smile. He has presented at Macworld Expo, RSA Conference, several WordCamp events, along with many other conferences. You can find him on several podcasts such as The Mac Show, The Big Show, MacVoices, Mac OS Ken, This Week in iOS, and more. Jeff is easy to find on social media as @jgamet on Twitter and Instagram, jeffgamet on LinkedIn., @jgamet@mastodon.social on Mastodon, and on his YouTube Channel at YouTube.com/jgamet. David Ginsburg is the host of the weekly podcast In Touch With iOS where he discusses all things iOS, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch, and related technologies. He is an IT professional supporting Mac, iOS and Windows users. Visit his YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/daveg65 and find and follow him on Twitter @daveg65 and on Mastodon at @daveg65@mastodon.cloud.   Dr. Marty Jencius has been an Associate Professor of Counseling at Kent State University since 2000. He has over 120 publications in books, chapters, journal articles, and others, along with 200 podcasts related to counseling, counselor education, and faculty life. His technology interest led him to develop the counseling profession ‘firsts,' including listservs, a web-based peer-reviewed journal, The Journal of Technology in Counseling, teaching and conferencing in virtual worlds as the founder of Counselor Education in Second Life, and podcast founder/producer of CounselorAudioSource.net and ThePodTalk.net. Currently, he produces a podcast about counseling and life questions, the Circular Firing Squad, and digital video interviews with legacies capturing the history of the counseling field. This is also co-host of The Vision ProFiles podcast. Generally, Marty is chasing the newest tech trends, which explains his interest in A.I. for teaching, research, and productivity. Marty is an active presenter and past president of the NorthEast Ohio Apple Corp (NEOAC). Jim Rea built his own computer from scratch in 1975, started programming in 1977, and has been an independent Mac developer continuously since 1984. He is the founder of ProVUE Development, and the author of Panorama X, ProVUE's ultra fast RAM based database software for the macOS platform. He's been a speaker at MacTech, MacWorld Expo and other industry conferences. Follow Jim at provue.com and via @provuejim@techhub.social on Mastodon. Guy Serle, best known for being one of the co-hosts of the MyMac Podcast, sincerely apologizes for anything he has done or caused to have happened while in possession of dangerous podcasting equipment. He should know better but being a blonde from Florida means he's probably incapable of understanding the damage he has wrought. Guy is also the author of the novel, The Maltese Cube. You can follow his exploits on Twitter, catch him on Mac to the Future on Facebook, at @Macparrot@mastodon.social, and find everything at VertShark.com. Support:      Become a MacVoices Patron on Patreon     http://patreon.com/macvoices      Enjoy this episode? Make a one-time donation with PayPal Connect:      Web:     http://macvoices.com      Twitter:     http://www.twitter.com/chuckjoiner     http://www.twitter.com/macvoices      Mastodon:     https://mastodon.cloud/@chuckjoiner      Facebook:     http://www.facebook.com/chuck.joiner      MacVoices Page on Facebook:     http://www.facebook.com/macvoices/      MacVoices Group on Facebook:     http://www.facebook.com/groups/macvoice      LinkedIn:     https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuckjoiner/      Instagram:     https://www.instagram.com/chuckjoiner/ Subscribe:      Audio in iTunes     Video in iTunes      Subscribe manually via iTunes or any podcatcher:      Audio: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesrss      Video: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesvideorss

Belkin is ending support for most Wemo smart home devices, raising fresh concerns about IoT e-waste and long-term reliability. Chuck Joiner, David Ginsburg, Brian Flanigan-Arthurs, Marty Jencius, Jim Rea, Norbert Frassa, Guy Serle, Jeff Gamet, and Eric Bolden also react to a new generation of AirTags with louder alerts and longer range, share real-world tracking and wallet stories, and explains Apple Cash's higher instant transfer fees.  MacVoices is supported by Squarespace. Check out https://www.squarespace.com/MACVOICES to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using offer code MACVOICES. Show Notes: Chapters: 00:28 Welcome and panel intro 09:19 Wemo support shutdown and what still works 12:50 Standards-based devices and open-source alternatives 16:07 Sponsor message 17:44 New AirTags: louder sound, longer range, setup requirements 23:10 Real-world "unknown AirTag" tracking alert story 25:23 Wallet trackers and bag-tracking use cases 28:48 Apple Cash instant transfer fee increase explained Links: PSA: Belkin ending support for most Wemo smart home accessories this week https://9to5mac.com/2026/01/27/psa-belkin-ending-support-for-most-wemo-smart-home-accessories-this-week/ Bose made the consumer friendly move to open source its SoundTouch speakers https://www.engadget.com/audio/speakers/bose-made-the-consumer-friendly-move-to-open-source-its-soundtouch-speakers-163459024.html Apple Unveils New AirTag With Longer Range, Louder Speaker, and More https://www.macrumors.com/2026/01/26/apple-announces-new-airtag/ Apple Cash Users Will See Instant Transfer Fees Increase in February https://www.mactrast.com/2026/01/apple-cash-users-will-see-instant-transfer-fees-increase-in-february/ Guests: Eric Bolden is into macOS, plants, sci-fi, food, and is a rural internet supporter. You can connect with him on Twitter, by email at embolden@mac.com, on Mastodon at @eabolden@techhub.social, on his blog, Trending At Work, and as co-host on The Vision ProFiles podcast. Brian Flanigan-Arthurs is an educator with a passion for providing results-driven, innovative learning strategies for all students, but particularly those who are at-risk. He is also a tech enthusiast who has a particular affinity for Apple since he first used the Apple IIGS as a student. You can contact Brian on twitter as @brian8944. He also recently opened a Mastodon account at @brian8944@mastodon.cloud.   Norbert Frassa is a technology "man about town". Follow him on X and see what he's up to. Jeff Gamet is a technology blogger, podcaster, author, and public speaker. Previously, he was The Mac Observer's Managing Editor, and the TextExpander Evangelist for Smile. He has presented at Macworld Expo, RSA Conference, several WordCamp events, along with many other conferences. You can find him on several podcasts such as The Mac Show, The Big Show, MacVoices, Mac OS Ken, This Week in iOS, and more. Jeff is easy to find on social media as @jgamet on Twitter and Instagram, jeffgamet on LinkedIn., @jgamet@mastodon.social on Mastodon, and on his YouTube Channel at YouTube.com/jgamet. David Ginsburg is the host of the weekly podcast In Touch With iOS where he discusses all things iOS, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch, and related technologies. He is an IT professional supporting Mac, iOS and Windows users. Visit his YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/daveg65 and find and follow him on Twitter @daveg65 and on Mastodon at @daveg65@mastodon.cloud.   Dr. Marty Jencius has been an Associate Professor of Counseling at Kent State University since 2000. He has over 120 publications in books, chapters, journal articles, and others, along with 200 podcasts related to counseling, counselor education, and faculty life. His technology interest led him to develop the counseling profession 'firsts,' including listservs, a web-based peer-reviewed journal, The Journal of Technology in Counseling, teaching and conferencing in virtual worlds as the founder of Counselor Education in Second Life, and podcast founder/producer of CounselorAudioSource.net and ThePodTalk.net. Currently, he produces a podcast about counseling and life questions, the Circular Firing Squad, and digital video interviews with legacies capturing the history of the counseling field. This is also co-host of The Vision ProFiles podcast. Generally, Marty is chasing the newest tech trends, which explains his interest in A.I. for teaching, research, and productivity. Marty is an active presenter and past president of the NorthEast Ohio Apple Corp (NEOAC). Jim Rea built his own computer from scratch in 1975, started programming in 1977, and has been an independent Mac developer continuously since 1984. He is the founder of ProVUE Development, and the author of Panorama X, ProVUE's ultra fast RAM based database software for the macOS platform. He's been a speaker at MacTech, MacWorld Expo and other industry conferences. Follow Jim at provue.com and via @provuejim@techhub.social on Mastodon. Guy Serle, best known for being one of the co-hosts of the MyMac Podcast, sincerely apologizes for anything he has done or caused to have happened while in possession of dangerous podcasting equipment. He should know better but being a blonde from Florida means he's probably incapable of understanding the damage he has wrought. Guy is also the author of the novel, The Maltese Cube. You can follow his exploits on Twitter, catch him on Mac to the Future on Facebook, at @Macparrot@mastodon.social, and find everything at VertShark.com. Support:      Become a MacVoices Patron on Patreon      http://patreon.com/macvoices      Enjoy this episode? Make a one-time donation with PayPal Connect:      Web:      http://macvoices.com      Twitter:      http://www.twitter.com/chuckjoiner      http://www.twitter.com/macvoices      Mastodon:      https://mastodon.cloud/@chuckjoiner      Facebook:      http://www.facebook.com/chuck.joiner      MacVoices Page on Facebook:      http://www.facebook.com/macvoices/      MacVoices Group on Facebook:      http://www.facebook.com/groups/macvoice      LinkedIn:      https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuckjoiner/      Instagram:      https://www.instagram.com/chuckjoiner/ Subscribe:      Audio in iTunes      Video in iTunes      Subscribe manually via iTunes or any podcatcher:      Audio: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesrss      Video: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesvideorss

What happens when AI bots get their own social network, Silicon Valley execs cozy up to power, and Apple takes a cut from creators? This week's panel calls out the bold, bizarre, and often problematic ways tech's biggest players are reshaping everything from AI assistants to your everyday privacy. There's a social network for AI agents, and it's getting weird Moltbook is the most interesting place on the internet right now Exposed Moltbook Database Let Anyone Take Control of Any AI Agent on the Site Pentagon clashes with Anthropic over military AI use, sources say Salesforce signs $5.6B deal to inject agentic AI into the US Army Angry Norfolk residents lose lawsuit to stop Flock license plate scanners SpaceX wants to put 1 million solar-powered data centers into orbit Elon Musk reportedly wants a June SpaceX IPO to align with his birthday, the planets Tesla hits a grim milestone: its second straight year of decline Tesla says production-ready Optimus robot is coming soon Microsoft reports strong cloud earnings in Q2 as gaming declines What We Learned From Meta, Microsoft and Tesla Apple tells Patreon to move creators to in-app purchase for subscriptions by November Apple CEO Tim Cook 'heartbroken' after repeated ICE killings in Minneapolis A rival smart glasses company is suing Meta over its Ray-Ban products TikTok, YouTube, and Meta are headed to court for a landmark trial over social media addiction The 'Social Media Addiction' Narrative May Be More Harmful Than Social Media Itself TikTok users freak out over app's 'immigration status' collection — here's what it means A Waymo hit a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica Autonomous cars, drones cheerfully obey prompt injection by road sign Samsung's TriFold phone will cost $2,899 in the US Groundhogs are bad at predicting weather, but they're valuable animal engineers Satellites encased in wood are in the works Belkin reminds users that its Wemo smart home products are shutting down this week Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Gary Rivlin, Devindra Hardawar, and Victoria Song Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: monarch.com with code TWIT Melissa.com/twit helixsleep.com/twit canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT expressvpn.com/twit

What happens when AI bots get their own social network, Silicon Valley execs cozy up to power, and Apple takes a cut from creators? This week's panel calls out the bold, bizarre, and often problematic ways tech's biggest players are reshaping everything from AI assistants to your everyday privacy. There's a social network for AI agents, and it's getting weird Moltbook is the most interesting place on the internet right now Exposed Moltbook Database Let Anyone Take Control of Any AI Agent on the Site Pentagon clashes with Anthropic over military AI use, sources say Salesforce signs $5.6B deal to inject agentic AI into the US Army Angry Norfolk residents lose lawsuit to stop Flock license plate scanners SpaceX wants to put 1 million solar-powered data centers into orbit Elon Musk reportedly wants a June SpaceX IPO to align with his birthday, the planets Tesla hits a grim milestone: its second straight year of decline Tesla says production-ready Optimus robot is coming soon Microsoft reports strong cloud earnings in Q2 as gaming declines What We Learned From Meta, Microsoft and Tesla Apple tells Patreon to move creators to in-app purchase for subscriptions by November Apple CEO Tim Cook 'heartbroken' after repeated ICE killings in Minneapolis A rival smart glasses company is suing Meta over its Ray-Ban products TikTok, YouTube, and Meta are headed to court for a landmark trial over social media addiction The 'Social Media Addiction' Narrative May Be More Harmful Than Social Media Itself TikTok users freak out over app's 'immigration status' collection — here's what it means A Waymo hit a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica Autonomous cars, drones cheerfully obey prompt injection by road sign Samsung's TriFold phone will cost $2,899 in the US Groundhogs are bad at predicting weather, but they're valuable animal engineers Satellites encased in wood are in the works Belkin reminds users that its Wemo smart home products are shutting down this week Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Gary Rivlin, Devindra Hardawar, and Victoria Song Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: monarch.com with code TWIT Melissa.com/twit helixsleep.com/twit canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT expressvpn.com/twit

What happens when AI bots get their own social network, Silicon Valley execs cozy up to power, and Apple takes a cut from creators? This week's panel calls out the bold, bizarre, and often problematic ways tech's biggest players are reshaping everything from AI assistants to your everyday privacy. There's a social network for AI agents, and it's getting weird Moltbook is the most interesting place on the internet right now Exposed Moltbook Database Let Anyone Take Control of Any AI Agent on the Site Pentagon clashes with Anthropic over military AI use, sources say Salesforce signs $5.6B deal to inject agentic AI into the US Army Angry Norfolk residents lose lawsuit to stop Flock license plate scanners SpaceX wants to put 1 million solar-powered data centers into orbit Elon Musk reportedly wants a June SpaceX IPO to align with his birthday, the planets Tesla hits a grim milestone: its second straight year of decline Tesla says production-ready Optimus robot is coming soon Microsoft reports strong cloud earnings in Q2 as gaming declines What We Learned From Meta, Microsoft and Tesla Apple tells Patreon to move creators to in-app purchase for subscriptions by November Apple CEO Tim Cook 'heartbroken' after repeated ICE killings in Minneapolis A rival smart glasses company is suing Meta over its Ray-Ban products TikTok, YouTube, and Meta are headed to court for a landmark trial over social media addiction The 'Social Media Addiction' Narrative May Be More Harmful Than Social Media Itself TikTok users freak out over app's 'immigration status' collection — here's what it means A Waymo hit a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica Autonomous cars, drones cheerfully obey prompt injection by road sign Samsung's TriFold phone will cost $2,899 in the US Groundhogs are bad at predicting weather, but they're valuable animal engineers Satellites encased in wood are in the works Belkin reminds users that its Wemo smart home products are shutting down this week Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Gary Rivlin, Devindra Hardawar, and Victoria Song Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: monarch.com with code TWIT Melissa.com/twit helixsleep.com/twit canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT expressvpn.com/twit

What happens when AI bots get their own social network, Silicon Valley execs cozy up to power, and Apple takes a cut from creators? This week's panel calls out the bold, bizarre, and often problematic ways tech's biggest players are reshaping everything from AI assistants to your everyday privacy. There's a social network for AI agents, and it's getting weird Moltbook is the most interesting place on the internet right now Exposed Moltbook Database Let Anyone Take Control of Any AI Agent on the Site Pentagon clashes with Anthropic over military AI use, sources say Salesforce signs $5.6B deal to inject agentic AI into the US Army Angry Norfolk residents lose lawsuit to stop Flock license plate scanners SpaceX wants to put 1 million solar-powered data centers into orbit Elon Musk reportedly wants a June SpaceX IPO to align with his birthday, the planets Tesla hits a grim milestone: its second straight year of decline Tesla says production-ready Optimus robot is coming soon Microsoft reports strong cloud earnings in Q2 as gaming declines What We Learned From Meta, Microsoft and Tesla Apple tells Patreon to move creators to in-app purchase for subscriptions by November Apple CEO Tim Cook 'heartbroken' after repeated ICE killings in Minneapolis A rival smart glasses company is suing Meta over its Ray-Ban products TikTok, YouTube, and Meta are headed to court for a landmark trial over social media addiction The 'Social Media Addiction' Narrative May Be More Harmful Than Social Media Itself TikTok users freak out over app's 'immigration status' collection — here's what it means A Waymo hit a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica Autonomous cars, drones cheerfully obey prompt injection by road sign Samsung's TriFold phone will cost $2,899 in the US Groundhogs are bad at predicting weather, but they're valuable animal engineers Satellites encased in wood are in the works Belkin reminds users that its Wemo smart home products are shutting down this week Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Gary Rivlin, Devindra Hardawar, and Victoria Song Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: monarch.com with code TWIT Melissa.com/twit helixsleep.com/twit canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT expressvpn.com/twit

What happens when AI bots get their own social network, Silicon Valley execs cozy up to power, and Apple takes a cut from creators? This week's panel calls out the bold, bizarre, and often problematic ways tech's biggest players are reshaping everything from AI assistants to your everyday privacy. There's a social network for AI agents, and it's getting weird Moltbook is the most interesting place on the internet right now Exposed Moltbook Database Let Anyone Take Control of Any AI Agent on the Site Pentagon clashes with Anthropic over military AI use, sources say Salesforce signs $5.6B deal to inject agentic AI into the US Army Angry Norfolk residents lose lawsuit to stop Flock license plate scanners SpaceX wants to put 1 million solar-powered data centers into orbit Elon Musk reportedly wants a June SpaceX IPO to align with his birthday, the planets Tesla hits a grim milestone: its second straight year of decline Tesla says production-ready Optimus robot is coming soon Microsoft reports strong cloud earnings in Q2 as gaming declines What We Learned From Meta, Microsoft and Tesla Apple tells Patreon to move creators to in-app purchase for subscriptions by November Apple CEO Tim Cook 'heartbroken' after repeated ICE killings in Minneapolis A rival smart glasses company is suing Meta over its Ray-Ban products TikTok, YouTube, and Meta are headed to court for a landmark trial over social media addiction The 'Social Media Addiction' Narrative May Be More Harmful Than Social Media Itself TikTok users freak out over app's 'immigration status' collection — here's what it means A Waymo hit a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica Autonomous cars, drones cheerfully obey prompt injection by road sign Samsung's TriFold phone will cost $2,899 in the US Groundhogs are bad at predicting weather, but they're valuable animal engineers Satellites encased in wood are in the works Belkin reminds users that its Wemo smart home products are shutting down this week Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Gary Rivlin, Devindra Hardawar, and Victoria Song Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: monarch.com with code TWIT Melissa.com/twit helixsleep.com/twit canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT expressvpn.com/twit

What happens when AI bots get their own social network, Silicon Valley execs cozy up to power, and Apple takes a cut from creators? This week's panel calls out the bold, bizarre, and often problematic ways tech's biggest players are reshaping everything from AI assistants to your everyday privacy. There's a social network for AI agents, and it's getting weird Moltbook is the most interesting place on the internet right now Exposed Moltbook Database Let Anyone Take Control of Any AI Agent on the Site Pentagon clashes with Anthropic over military AI use, sources say Salesforce signs $5.6B deal to inject agentic AI into the US Army Angry Norfolk residents lose lawsuit to stop Flock license plate scanners SpaceX wants to put 1 million solar-powered data centers into orbit Elon Musk reportedly wants a June SpaceX IPO to align with his birthday, the planets Tesla hits a grim milestone: its second straight year of decline Tesla says production-ready Optimus robot is coming soon Microsoft reports strong cloud earnings in Q2 as gaming declines What We Learned From Meta, Microsoft and Tesla Apple tells Patreon to move creators to in-app purchase for subscriptions by November Apple CEO Tim Cook 'heartbroken' after repeated ICE killings in Minneapolis A rival smart glasses company is suing Meta over its Ray-Ban products TikTok, YouTube, and Meta are headed to court for a landmark trial over social media addiction The 'Social Media Addiction' Narrative May Be More Harmful Than Social Media Itself TikTok users freak out over app's 'immigration status' collection — here's what it means A Waymo hit a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica Autonomous cars, drones cheerfully obey prompt injection by road sign Samsung's TriFold phone will cost $2,899 in the US Groundhogs are bad at predicting weather, but they're valuable animal engineers Satellites encased in wood are in the works Belkin reminds users that its Wemo smart home products are shutting down this week Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Gary Rivlin, Devindra Hardawar, and Victoria Song Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: monarch.com with code TWIT Melissa.com/twit helixsleep.com/twit canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT expressvpn.com/twit

US gas projects tied to data centers surge, videogame stocks dive after Google unveils “Project Genie”, Belkin shuts down cloud services for most Wemo smart home devices. MP3 Please SUBSCRIBE HERE for free or get DTNS Live ad-free. A special thanks to all our supporters–without you, none of this would be possible. If you enjoyContinue reading "Reddit-Style Moltbook Emerges With OpenClaw AI Agents Interacting – DTH"

This week, a whirlwind tour of the handheld news from CES 2026, Switch 2 grips, AR glasses, new chips from AMD, the OneXSugar Wallet, and more. Also available on YouTube here. Links and Show Notes The Portable Gaming News from CES NOW LIVE: Nintendo just officially revealed the new purple/light green Switch 2 Joy Genki Grips: Made to be Held by Human Things Pocket8 Makes PICO–8 Playable On Your iPhone touchHLE homepage The Xreal 1S glasses get a spec bump and 3D conversion The OneXSugar Wallet is the first gaming handheld with a folding screen You can charge Belkin's new Switch 2 power case without opening it Qualcomm's next-gen Snapdragon X2 laptops are here — and they brought a new friend AMD heard you like powerful gaming portables — so here are new Strix Halo chips Lenovo Legion Go 2 with SteamOS launches in June, priced at $1199 Lenovo's new concept gaming laptop goes wide. Really wide. GameSir X Hyperkin Reveal A Controller With GC, N64 & SEGA Attachments Subscribe to NPC XL NPC XL is a weekly members-only version of NPC with extra content, available exclusively through our new Patreon for $5/month. Each week on NPC XL, Federico, Brendon, and John record a special segment or deep dive about a particular topic that is released alongside the "regular" NPC episodes. You can subscribe here: https://www.patreon.com/c/NextPortableConsole Leave Feedback for John, Federico, and Brendon NPC Feedback Form Credits Show Art: Brendon Bigley Music: Will LaPorte Follow Us Online On the Web MacStories.net Wavelengths.online Follow us on Mastodon NPC Federico John Brendon Follow us on Bluesky NPC MacStories Federico Viticci John Voorhees Brendon Bigley Affiliate Linking Policy

For this podcast,  Jon Westfall and I are joined by guest panelist Frank McPherson to discuss the highlights and "worst of" picks from CES 2026. I shared my recent experience with the new Alexa.com browser interface, which showed impressive "vertical integration" when the AI automatically offered to recreate sunset triggers for my new Amazon Smart Switch. This was a necessary upgrade because Belkin is bricking my old WeMo device at the end of the month, a frustrating trend of "cloud-killing" hardware we've also seen from companies like Google and Nest. We also explored LEGO's "Smart Play" announcement, specifically the Smart Bricks featuring motion sensors and sound synthesizers coming to Star Wars kits in March. While Frank expressed concern that these pre-set sounds might stifle a child's imagination, Jon argued that such immersion helps LEGO stay relevant against competitors like Funwhole. In the second half of our conversation, we looked at the evolution of e-ink, including the TCL "NextPaper" tablet, which uses 120Hz LCD technology to mimic a paper-like display. Frank explained that he prefers writing by hand on these devices for memory retention, while we debated whether the $2,000 Samsung Trifold is too bulky to be practical. I speculated that the thinness of the iPhone Air could be the precursor to a future Apple foldable. We were also quite interested in mobile accessories from Clicks, specifically the Power Keyboard with an integrated battery that Jon pre-ordered and the Communicator, a purpose-built Android device that restores the physical keyboard and SD card slot. To wrap up, we touched on the return of the Pebble Round 2 with its two-week battery life and Claude AI integration, the stair-climbing Roborock Saros vacuum, and the Rocket Smart Glasses which feature built-in diopter adjustments.

Brett and Christina host an OG episode. Christina talks about her upcoming spinal surgery and navigating insurance hassles. Brett talks about his sleep issues, project progress, and coding routines. They dive into the complexities of USB-C cables, from volts to data rates. And TV’s just ‘okay’ now, except for some softcore gay porn. Kagi search saves the day. Happy holidays — and get some sleep. Sponsor Copilot Money can help you take control of your finances. Get a fresh start with your money for 2026 with 26% off when you visit try.copilot.money/overtired and use code OVERTIRED. Shopify is the commerce platform behind 10% of all eCommerce in the US, from household names like Mattel and Gymshark, to brands just getting started. Get started today at shopify.com/overtired. Show Links CaberQu BLE cable tester Umami Analytics Plausible Analytics Kagi The Comfortable Problem of Mid TV – The New York Times Fallout Heated Rivalry (TV Series 2025– ) – IMDb Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Greetings 00:40 Christina’s Health Update 05:05 Brett’s Sleep and Work Routine 12:19 USB-C Cable Confusion 22:03 Sponsor Break: Shopify 24:26 Sponsor Break: Copilot Money 26:57 Exploring Rocket Money and Web Interfaces 27:21 Discovering Umami Analytics 28:06 Nostalgia for Mint and Fever 28:44 The Decline of RSS and Google Reader 31:45 Switching to Kagi Search Engine 32:33 The Rise of AI-Generated Content 40:46 TV Shows: Is TV Just Okay Now? 47:24 The Cultural Phenomenon of Heated Rivalry 52:50 Wrapping Up and Holiday Wishes Join the Conversation Merch Come chat on Discord! Twitter/ovrtrd Instagram/ovrtrd Youtube Get the Newsletter Thanks! You’re downloading today’s show from CacheFly’s network BackBeat Media Podcast Network Check out more episodes at overtiredpod.com and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Find Brett as @ttscoff, Christina as @film_girl, Jeff as @jsguntzel, and follow Overtired at @ovrtrd on Twitter. Transcript Universal Serial Bitching Introduction and Greetings [00:00:00] Brett: Hey, you’re listening to Overtired. I am Brett Terpstra, and it’s just me and Christina Warren this morning. How you doing, Christina? Christina: Doing pretty good. Doing pretty good. Yeah. This is the, this is the OG Overtired configuration. Brett: right back to basics. Um, Christina: We do miss you Jeff, though. Ho, ho, ho. Hope that Jeff is having a great holiday with his family. Brett: we’ll have to have some, uh, gratuitous Wiki K hole that you go down just to, to commemorate the olden days. Um, so yeah, let’s, uh, let’s, let’s do a quick check-in. Christina’s Health Update Brett: Um, I’m curious about your health and all of the wildness that’s going on with your spine and whatnot. Christina: Yeah. Yeah. Um, same. I wanna hear about you too. Um, so, uh, Christina’s cervical spine update, as it were. Um, I am [00:01:00] still waiting to, as we’re recording this, which is like. Uh, three days before Christmas, uh, I’m still waiting to hear from the, uh, hospital to see if I can, when I can get scheduled. Um, insurance has sort of been a pain in the ass, so when I talked to them last week, they were like, we sent them some paperwork. We’re still waiting for some things back then. I called the insurance company and the, the, uh, like my insurance is like, has like an intermediary service that is supposed to contact the insurance company on your behalf and that person, but like, I can’t contact them directly. And then that person was like, oh, you don’t need pre-authorization. Go ahead and schedule the surgery. And I’m like, this doesn’t feel right. Um, so, but, but we, we went ahead and we called back the, you know, the, the surgeon, um, his office and they were very nice and we were like. They say that we can get on the books. So I don’t know when that will be. I’m hoping that it will be, you know, like the first week of January, um, or, or, or thereabouts. Um, but I don’t know. Um, [00:02:00] so I am still kind of in this like limbo stage where I don’t know exactly when I’m gonna have the surgery, except hopefully soon. And, um, and, and for anyone who hasn’t caught up, I, uh, I have a bulging disc on C seven on my cervical spine, and I’m going to get a, um, artificial disc replacement. Um, so they’re gonna take out the, you know, bulging bone and all that and put in, uh, some synthetic piece and then hopefully that will immediately relieve the, the pain that has been primarily through the left side of, uh, my arm and my shoulder, um, uh, down through my fingers. But it’s been on my right side a little bit too. So hopefully when that is done, it’ll be a relatively short recovery. Um, I’ll have an early scar and um, I will be, you know, not. Uh, the pain right now, like the levels aren’t terrible, but I’m pretty numb, uh, on my, my, my left arm, my, my right arm, um, uh, or right fingers I guess too, but, but really it’s, it’s, uh, the, the, the left side [00:03:00] that’s the worst. And traveling. Um, I’m, I’m in Atlanta with my family right now and, you know, kind of doing other things is just not, it’s not great. So, um, hopefully I’ll be getting surgery sooner rather than later. But obviously all that stuff does impact your mental health too, when you’re in pain and, and you, you know, are freaked out too about, you know, like, even though like they do, you know, it, it’s not an uncommon surgery and, and it, and it should be fine, but you know, there’s always these things in the back of your mind. You’re like, okay, well what if something goes wrong or whatever. So I’m just, I’m looking forward to, um, you know, light at the end of the tunnel, but um, still kind of in a holding pattern with that. So Brett: Wow. So that scar’s, that scar’s gonna be on your throat. Christina: Yeah, Brett: Wow. Christina: yeah. Like probably like. No, not really. I’m, I mean, I’m hoping that it’ll be, uh, like no, it really won’t be at all. Brett: I, I, I would like to have it. I can understand why you wouldn’t. Christina: yeah, I mean, you know, I will obviously, you know, uh, hopefully it’ll be like low enough to be [00:04:00] primarily covered by shirts or other things, although, who knows? ’cause I do like to wear like, lower cut things sometimes. I don’t know. It, it’ll hopefully, you Brett: I heard chokers are coming back. Christina: Yeah, I don’t, unfortunately. I think it’s gonna be too, uh, low for that. Brett: Okay. Christina: uh, like, it, it’s gonna be, I think like it might hit against my laryn is, is what they say. That’s the other thing too. I might have, you know, some hoarseness after, won’t we permanent? Um, you know, knock on wood. Um, Brett: go on Etsy, you can get, um, they’re for BDSM, they’re like neck, uh, they hold your chin up. They’re like posture enhancers. Uh, but they sell them within leather with like corset straps. ’cause they’re like A-B-D-S-M accessory. That would work. Christina: No, no. Not even once. Uh, not even once. I mean, look, a good group of people who wanna do that, uh, I I will not be wearing a collar of any sort of that sort of thing. Uh, I, I, I don’t, I don’t really wanna, wanna be part [00:05:00] of, uh, one of that, those types of, you know, uh, Harlequin romance novels. , Brett’s Sleep and Work Routine Brett: All right, well, I will go ahead and check in. Um, I, I’m sleeping really well for like two days at a time, and then I’ll have. A string of like five or six hours of sleep, which isn’t nothing. Um, but it’s not quite enough for me to not feel tired all the time. And two nights of sleep is not enough for me to catch up on sleep. And, um, so I’m kind of, this has been going on for like a year though, so it’s, I’m just kind of, I’m used to it and I’ve learned to operate pretty well on six or seven hours of sleep, even though historically like I need eight and a half. Um, but I’m doing okay and I get up about four every morning and I start coding and I usually code from like four to noon, so an eight [00:06:00] hour workday, uh, with a breakfast somewhere in there. And, um, I’ve made really good progress. Marked is, as far as I can tell, ready to go wide with the beta. Um. I think I’ve solved every bug that’s been reported so far. I only have about a hundred testers right now, um, but I’m gonna open it up, uh, try to get maybe a thousand testers for a couple weeks and then go for a live release. The biggest thing that I’m running into is problems with getting the, like free trial and the purchase mechanisms working, which is the exact same thing that’s holding up NV Ultra right now. Um, so if I can figure it out for Mark, I can port it to NV Ultra. I can have two apps out there making money, hopefully never have to get a job again. Um, I’m teamed up right now with Dan Peterson, formerly of One Password. Um, and we’re [00:07:00] working on some iOS apps and. And, uh, apex. My, my, all my Universal markdown processor is, it’s coming along really well. I’ve, I’ve put it out there. Um, I’ve talked to John Gruber a little bit about it. He’s gonna give it more of a workout and get back to me. Um, but I think, I think it’s getting to a point where I would be comfortable integrating it into Mark and even talking to some other, uh, apps about using it as their default processor, um, and kind of alleviating some of the issues people run into with, uh, differences in syntax. Um, I. I, I, I talked to Devon, think, uh, Eric from Devon think about using it. ’cause they use multi markdown right now, uh, which has a lot of cool features, but is not [00:08:00] really in sync with what most of the web is using these days. Um, so I talked to them about it and they’re like, oh, we had the exact same idea and we’re almost done with our own universal processor. Um, and theirs is gonna output like RTF and things that I don’t need apex to do. ’cause you can just pipe apex into panoc and do everything you need. So anyway, I’m, I’m tired. I’m, I’m in good spirits. I. I’m dealing fine with winter. My, I’m alone on Christmas, which is gonna be weird. Um, my family’s outta town. Elle is house sitting I’ll, I’ll go visit Elle, but most of the day I’m gonna be like by myself on Christmas and I don’t drink anymore. And I, I don’t, I don’t know how that’s gonna go yet. Um, initially I thought, oh, that’s fine. I like being alone. But then, [00:09:00] then the idea of like, not having anyone to talk to you on Christmas day started to feel a little depressing. Christina: Yeah. Yeah. Um, but, um, hopefully, um, when, when will, uh, when will I’ll be back from, from house sitting. How long is, uh, are, are they going to be Brett: I think. I think the people, the, the house owners come back Thursday or Friday. Christina: Okay. Brett: Then we’re gonna take off and go up to Minneapolis to hang out with her family for a weekend. So, I don’t know. It’ll, it’s gonna be fine. It’s gonna be fine. We’re gonna like cook on Christmas Eve and, and have leftovers on Christmas day. It’ll be fine. Christina: Yeah, yeah. Well, but, but it, but, but that is weird. Like, I’m sure like to be, you know, not, not, not, not with like your usual crew, but, um, [00:10:00] especially without the alcohol there. But that’s probably a good thing too. Brett: Yeah, I guess. Um, I will have all the cats. I’ll be fine. I have to take care of the dog too. Christina: Have, have you heard any updates, like, um, I guess, um, about when you were, you know, you were in the hospital a few times over the last year with, with various things. Did you ever get any definitive update on what that was? Brett: On which one? I have so many symptoms. Which one are we talking about? Christina: Well, I guess I, I guess when you, you know, you’ve had to be like hospitalized or Brett: The pancreatitis. Christina: had the pancreatitis. Brett: the, the fact that it hasn’t happened again since I stopped drinking, um, really does indicate that it was entirely alcohol that was causing the problem. Um, so yeah, I’m just, I’m never gonna drink again. That’s fine. It’s, it’s all fine. Um, I did, I did get approved to get back on Medicaid. Um, so [00:11:00] yeah, I haven’t gotten the paperwork in the mail yet. Uh, but my old card should just start working and I’ll be able to, my, my new doctor wants a whole bunch more tests, including an MRI of my pituitary gland. Um. Like testosterone tests and stuff that I guess is more specific to what she thinks might be going on with me. Um, but now I can, I can actually get those tests That would’ve been just a huge out-of-pocket expense over the last couple months. So I’m excited. I’m excited to be back on Medicaid. I wish everyone could have Medicaid. Christina: Yeah, that would be really nice. That would be really nice if, if, if we had systems like that available, um, for everyone. Um, but. Instead, you know, if they’re, like, if you have really great health, I mean, you, you pointed those out. Like you have really great health insurance if you [00:12:00] can prove that you, you know, make absolutely no money. Um, but, but that opens up so many other, you know, issues that most people aren’t lucky enough to be able Brett: right. Yeah, totally. Christina: right. Brett: All right, well do you, okay, first topic. USB-C Cable Confusion Brett: How much do you know about USBC cables and the various specs? Christina: Uh, Brett: you know a shit ton. Christina: I do, unfortunately, I know a lot. Brett: So I, I had been operating under the assumption that there were basically, you had like data USBC cables, you had, uh, thunderbolt USBC cables and you had like, power only USPC cables. It turns out there’s like 18 different varieties of different, uh, like vol, uh, voltage, uh, amperage, uh, levels, like total wattage basically. And, um, and transfer speeds. And, [00:13:00] um, and there’s like maximum links for different types of cable. And it, it, I started to understand why like. One device would charge with one cable and another device would not charge with the same cable, even though they all have the same connector. Christina: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think this is, this is why, um, some of us have been really like eye rolly at the EU for their pronouncements about certain things, because simply mandating a connector type doesn’t actually solve the problem. Brett: No, it actually confuses it a little bit Christina: I think Yeah, I was going to say exactly. I think in some cases it makes it worse. Right? And, and then you have different, like, and, and then getting SB four into it, uh, uh, versus like, like, like, like various Thunderbolt versions. Like that adds complications too, because technically SB four and Thunderbolt four should basically be the same, but they’re not really, there are a couple of things that Thunderbolt might have that [00:14:00] USB four doesn’t necessarily have to have, although for all intents and purposes they might be the same. And then of course, thunderbolts five is its own thing too. So like I bought off of Kickstarter, I got like this, you know, like a cable charger, basically like, like a connector thing. It was like $120. For this, this, this thing that basically you can plug a cable into and you can see its voltage and um, or not voltage, I guess it’s uh, you know, amperage or whatever. And you can see like, it, it, it’s transfer speed and you can basically like check that on like a little display, which is useful, but the fact that like, you have to buy that sometimes. So like figure out, well, okay, well which cable is this? Right? And then, uh, to your point about lengths, right? So like, okay, so you want something that’s going to be fast charging but also high speed data transfer. Alright, well that means that you, the cable’s gonna have to be stiff. It’s not gonna be able to be something that’s really bendable. Um, which of course is what most people are going to want. So like you can get a fast charge, like a 240 wat or a hundred and, you know, 20 wat or, or [00:15:00] whatever, um, like a USB 2.0 transfer speed cable. But if you want one that’s, uh, going to be, you know, fast charging and. Fast data transfer, then like that’s a different type. And they have like limited lengths, which again, can also be associated with like Thunderbolt or Thunderbolt. You know, cables are much more expensive. Um, and, uh, uh, you know, the, the, the, but their, their lengths are limited. Um, yeah. Uh, it’s very confusing. Brett: Did you know that in rare circumstances there are even devices that will only charge with an A to C cable. Christina: Yes, Brett: That’s so insane. Christina: yeah, no, I’ve run into that myself and then that’s a weird thing and I don’t even know how that should work. ’cause it’s, it’s, it’s a bizarre thing. You’re like, okay, well I thought this was just like a, you know, maybe like a dumb end, but it’s like, no, there’s like, you know, basically a microchip Brett: Like a two pin to two pin. Christina: at this point. Brett: Like two pen to two pen, no pd like you would think that would work with C to C, [00:16:00] but somehow it has to be A to c. I am getting one of those cable testers. I asked for one for Christmas so I could figure out this pile of cables I have and like my Sonos Ace headphones are very particular about which cables and what, um, charging hub I hooked them up to Christina: Right. Oh, yeah, hubs. I was gonna say, hubs introduce a whole other complication into this too, because depending on what hub you’re using, if you’re using a USB hub, it may or may not have certain things versus a Thunderbolt hub versus something else, versus just like, um, you know, a power brick. Like, yeah. Brett: Yeah. It’s fun stuff you. Christina: Yeah. No, it’s annoying. And, um, like, and what, what’s frustrating about this is like some of the cables that they’re better, like you can look at the, you know, the bottoms of them and you can see like they will have like the USB like four, or they might have 3.2, or they might have, you know, like the thunderbolt, you know, um, uh, icon [00:17:00] with, with, with its version. So you can figure out is this 20 gigabits, is this 40, is this 80? Um, but um. That’s not a guaranteed thing, and that also doesn’t guarantee authenticity of stuff, right? So a lot of the cables, you know, you buy off the internet can be, you know, and they might be, or even at stores, right? Like you’re, you’re not buying something from, even if you get things from Belkin or whoever, like, those things can have issues too. Um, although they at least tend to have better warranties. I bought a Balkan, um. Uh, like a, a, a PD cable, like a two 40 cable that I think it was like, you know, uh, 10 feet longer something. It was supposed to have some sort of long warranty and, and because the, the, you know, um, faster transfer ones, um, are, even though it was braided, you know, it stiff and it, it broke, like there was, uh, the, like the, you know, the connect with the part of the, the, the cable near the, the end, um, did that thing that typically apple cables do, where like, it, it sort of [00:18:00] fraying and you started like seeing the exposed wires and then like, you start to like, feel like, you know, like an electric charge, like Brett: A little tingle. Christina: you’re Yeah. And you’re like, okay, this isn’t good. Um, and so I at least had my Amazon receipt, so I was able to like. Get them to mail me a new one relatively easily. And like Anchor has an okay warranty too. But it’s one of those things you’re like, okay, when did I buy this? I was like, I didn’t even buy this a year ago, and this thing already crapped out. Um, versus, you know, you can get some really nice braided cables that are flexible, but they’re just gonna be 2.0 speeds. Um, and, and then if you buy, you know, you just buy like some random cable, you know, like at the airport or whatever. You’re like, all right, well, I don’t even know Brett: Great. Christina: anything about this. Uh, yeah, Brett: I have heard good things. I’ve heard good things about the company. Cable Matters. Christina: Yeah. Yeah. They make good stuff. They make good stuff. But again, at least the cables matters, cables that I have have been primarily stiffer cables because they tend to be like the, the higher transfer [00:19:00] speeds. So, um, like I have a cable, cable matters Thunderbolt cable, and I have like a USB four cable, I think. Um, but like, these are cables that like. I don’t, I mean, I, I have one that I, I kind of travel with, but I don’t, um, either keeping it as little cable matters, uh, uh, plastic, um. Like, so they come in like these, these case, uh, not these cases. Uh, they come in like these, uh, almost like Ziploc bag type of things. Um, which is a great way to ship cables honestly, you know, rather than using a box and, and like I, and I might toss one of those in a suitcase or a backpack, um, rather than having like the cable just out there loose. But I do that primarily because again, like they’re stiff and they’re not the sorts of things that I necessarily want, like in the bottom of my bag, you know, potentially getting broken and, and, and, and twisted and all of that. Um, they are overpriced for what they are and they are definitely not like, they’re not a high transfer cable, but if you can find ’em on sale, the beats, cables, the, the, the, the, the, the branded Beats cables, I actually like them better [00:20:00] than the apple cables that are the same thing, because they are, they’re longer, uh, by, you know, um, a, a few inches than, um, the, the Apple ones. But they’re still braided and they’re nice. And I was able to get, I dunno, this was a, this was not even Black Friday, but this was. Um, you know, sometime in like early November, I think, um, or maybe it was like late October. It might’ve been a Prime Day thing, I don’t know, but they were like eight or $9 a piece, and so I bought like five or six of them. Um, and they are, you know, uh, uh, PD and like, like, like fast charging peoples, they might not be 240, but I think they’re, they’re, they were like a hundred and you know, like 20 watts or whatever. But, um, you know, not high transfer speeds, but if you’re wanting to just quickly charge something and have it, you know, be a, a decent length and be like flexible. Those I don’t, those I don’t hate. Um, anchor makes pretty good cables. You green seems to be the company that’s sponsoring everyone now for various things. [00:21:00] But, um, I don’t know. I’ve started using MagSafe more and more, uh, like wireless charging when I can for some things, at least for phones, Brett: yeah. I actually have some U green wireless charging solutions that are really good. Christina: Yeah. Yeah. I just got one of their, uh, their 10,000 million pair battery fast charging battery things because now the MagSafe, uh, can be like up to, you know, 30 watts or whatever, or 25 watts or, or, or, or whatever it is. Like it’s, um, a lot more, um, usable than, you know, when it was like 10 or, or, or even 15. You’re like, okay, this, this is actually not going to be like the, the slowest, you know, charging thing known to man. But of course, obviously it’s like you can use it with your phone and with your AirPods, but the rest of the things out there don’t, don’t all support shi too, so, Brett: Right. Christina: yeah. Brett: All right. So, um, I want to talk about TV a little bit. Christina: Yeah. I think before we do that though, we should probably Brett: oh, we should, we [00:22:00] have two sponsors to fit in Jesus. I should get on that. Sponsor Break: Shopify Brett: Um, let’s start with, uh, let’s start with Shopify. This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Have you been dreaming of owning your own business? In addition to having something to sell, you’ll need a website, a payment system, a logo, a way to advertise to new customers, et cetera, et cetera. It can all be overwhelming and confusing, but that’s where today’s sponsor, Shopify comes in. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world, and 10% of all e-commerce in the us From household names like Mattel and Gym Shark to brands. Just getting started, get started with your own design studio with hundreds of ready to use templates. Shopify helps you build beautiful online store to match your brand style, accelerate your content creation. Shopify is packed with helpful AI tools that write product descriptions, page headlines, and even enhance your product photography.[00:23:00] Get the word out like you have a marketing team behind you. Easily create email and social media campaigns wherever your customers are scrolling or strolling. And best yet, Shopify is your commerce expert with world-class expertise and everything from managing inventory to international shipping, to processing returns and beyond. If you’re ready to sell, you’re ready for Shopify. Turn your big business idea into with Shopify on your side. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today@shopify.com slash Overtired. Go to shopify.com/ Overtired. That is shopify.com/ Overtired. Thanks Shopify. Christina: Thank you Shopify. Brett: It’ll be, it’ll be just tight as hell by the time people hear it. But that was rough. I, that, that, that, that read, you just heard I [00:24:00] edited like six places. ’cause I kept, I, I don’t know. I’m tired. I’ve been up since, I’ve been up since two today. Christina: Yeah. Shit, man. That’s, yeah, you again, like you’ve been having like sleep issues. It’s, it’s, Brett: Maybe, maybe I shouldn’t be doing sponsor reads. Christina: No, no, no, no, no. Uh, no. We definitely wanna talk about tv. Do you wanna do, do we wanna do our second, um, uh, uh, ad break Brett: let’s do a block. Let’s make it a Christina: Let’s do it. Block. Alright, fantastic. Sponsor Break: Copilot Money Christina: Alright, well, since we are about to go into 2026, this is a great time to, uh, think about your finances. So are you ready to take control of your finances? Well meet copilot money. This is the personal finance app that makes your money feel clear and calm with a beautiful design. Smart automation copilot money brings all of your spending, saving and investment accounts into one place. It’s available on iOS, Mac, iPad, and now on the web, which is really great, uh, because I know, uh, for me anyway, that’s one of my one kind of things [00:25:00] about some of these like tools like this is that there’s not a web app. I’m really bothered by it. This is, you know, it’s a frustration that like the Apple card, for a long time, you know, you couldn’t really access things on, on the web. Even now it’s still kind of messy, like being able to handle things on the web. But as we enter 2026, it is time for a fresh start. And so with the, uh, mint shutdown and rising financial uncertainty, consumers are seeking clarity and control. And this is where copilot money comes in. So copilot money can help you track your budgets, your savings goals, and your net worth seamlessly. Plus, with the the new, um, web launch, you can enjoy a sudden experience on any device, which is really good. And guess what? For a limited time, you can get 26% off your first year when you sign up through the web app. New Year’s only don’t miss out on the chance to start the new year with confidence. There are features like automatic subscription tracking, so you’ll never miss upcoming charges again. Copilot money’s privacy first approach ensures that your data is secure and their team is dedicated to helping you stress less [00:26:00] about money. So whether you’re a finance pro or just starting out, copilot money is there to help you make better decisions. Visit, try dot copilot money slash Overtired and use the code Overtired to sign up for your one month free trial and embrace financial clarity. That’s try.copilot.money/ Overtired. Use the coupon Overtired. And again, that is 26% off for your first year. So thank you copilot money for, uh, sponsoring this week’s, uh, uh, episode. Oh, one other note about copilot money. They were, um, an apple, uh, design award finalist. So it’s a really well designed app and, um, we love to see, um, apps like this available on, on the web as well as iOS and, and MAC os. Brett: I have started using it very much because of the web version, and it is, it is really good. Christina: yeah, yeah. No, yeah. For, yeah, for me, that is like a, an actual like. Concrete requirement. Exploring Rocket Money and Web Interfaces Christina: Any money Brett: Like I’ve, I’ve [00:27:00] paid, I have about eight months left. I paid for a year of, of Rocket Money or whatever it’s called now. Um, and I’ve always loved that app, but yeah, it does not have a web interface. And once I started trying copilot out, I realized how much I really did want a web interface for that stuff, you know? What else have you seen? Discovering Umami Analytics Brett: Umami the analytics platform. Christina: Yes. Brett: It is so good. And it’s, it’s open source and you can self-host. And it is like, I, I’ve been using Fathom Analytics for a long time and I like Fathom, but Umami is, it has like all of the, uh, advanced stuff you would get with Google Analytics, but with like way more privacy focus and you’re not giving information to Google for one. Um, and the interface is beautiful. I love that. It’s so good. Christina: Yeah. Um, umami is really good. I think, uh, there’s another one, I’m [00:28:00] trying to think of what it was called. There are a number of these various, um, analytics, uh, hosted things, but no, umami is definitely a really good one. Nostalgia for Mint and Fever Christina: And I like, um, it reminds me, um, it was, what was it? It was Mint. It was Mint, Sean Edmond’s Mint. Which Brett: I was just gonna ask you if you remembered that. Christina: yeah, which was, which was one of the, uh, plausible analytics. It’s another one too. Um, which is also like, um, they, they have a hosted version, but you can also self-host. Um, and then that’s also a, a, a, another, uh, good one. But yeah. Um, was like my, my all time favorites, uh, you know, app. I, I, I loved that. Brett: Um, what was his RSS one? Uh, fever? Fever. Christina: was, was the best fever, was the best. The Decline of RSS and Google Reader Christina: And it was funny, like I, I think I’ve talked about this before, I was more insulated and like less upset than some people by the, the Google reader death because I had a, a, I’d been using Fever for so long, and then obviously, you know, stuff being updated and doesn’t really work [00:29:00] super well with like, the latest versions of PHP and things like that. But, you know, a lot of people were really, understandably and, and still more than a decade on, you know, very upset by the death of, um, Google reader. But I think because I, I had paid for and used, you know, my own, um, self-hosted fever installation, and then there were apps that people used for, you know, APIs and whatnot to build, you know, Macs or iOS apps or, or whatever. Like, I, I was obviously upset about Google Reader being shut down, but I was like, okay, you know, I, I can just, you know, move on to something else. And, um, and I’ve used, uh, feeder, um, not, not, not feeder, um, Brett: Reader Christina: is. No, no. Maybe, uh, it’s, uh, not Feed Demon. Um, that was like the OG one. Um, it’ll come to me, um, because I, I, yes. Thank you. Feed Ben. Thank you, thank you. One of the ones that’s still around, uh, from like the, of the, you know, various Google reader alternatives, like many of them. You know, closed up shop.[00:30:00] Brett: Yeah. Christina: if they kind of realized, you know, by Google reader, like this is the, unfortunately a niche market. Um, now that didn’t help the fact that like, you know, when people, when web browsers Safari, I think started at first and then Firefox did, and then, you know, uh, Chrome was, was fairly early too. Like when all the web browsers took away like RSS buttons to make it easy to subscribe to feeds or to auto discover feeds, and you had to like install like a, an extension or whatever to do that. Like, that all helped with the, the demise of RSS in a lot of ways. And of course, people moving everything into closed platforms and, and social networks and stuff that, you Brett: In, in the tech world though. So I have, my blog gets about 20,000 visits a week, but it gets 30,000 RSS downloads, like, uh, like daily, 30,000 readers are, are, are pulling my site. Um, so RSS is far from dead in the tech world. Christina: Right. Well, [00:31:00] well, I think, I think in a certain demographic, right? I think if you were to ask like a new, like college grads, I don’t think that any of them are using RSS at least not actively, right? Like, I mean, you might have a few, but like it’s, it’s just not gonna be like a thing where they’re gonna be, act like they might be using some apps that do similar types of things and might even pull in feed sources maybe. But it, it’s, it’s just not like a, like when, when I was graduating from college or in college, like everybody had, you know, RSS clients and that was just kind of a, a known thing. Brett: Yeah. So speaking of traffic, um, I don’t, did I mention that I got delisted on Bing and Christina: You did, Brett: I am, I’m back Christina: figure that out? You’re back now. Okay. Brett: I’m back now. Switching to Kagi Search Engine Brett: And, um, I have switched to using Kaji, um, as my primary search engine and they replicate all of duck duck go’s bang searches. Christina: Yes. Brett: So I Christina: one of the things I love about them. [00:32:00] Yes. Brett: I was pleased to see there’s a Bang Turp search on Kaji. Um, I actually use Christina: or is it kgi? Because I think I’ve always called it kgi. Yeah, it’s KA, it’s K, it’s KAGI. For anybody who’s who’s, uh, I don’t know how to, how, how, if it’s kgi, kgi, um, uh, you know, Kaji, whatever, Brett: It’ll be in the show notes. What the fuck ever, we’ll just call it KGI. Um, and yeah, so like I was super happy ’cause I used the Bang Turp to search my own site. I just got used to doing that. The Rise of AI-Generated Content Brett: Um, and, but it is like you can, the reason I switched to said web, uh, search engine is um, because you can report sites that are just AI slop and they will verify those reports and remove or flag slop sites in your search results. ’cause I was getting sick, even with DuckDuckGo, like five out [00:33:00] of 10 results were always, I’d get in, I’d get there, I’d get one, maybe two paragraphs into, uh, an article and realize, oh, someone just typed in my search term into chat GPT and then Christina: Oh yeah. Brett: automated it. Christina: Oh, I was gonna say there, there it is. Automated at this point. And, and like, to be clear, like a lot of search results, even before like the rise of like genre of AI were a variant of this, where you would see like people like buying older domain names that expired. Well, yeah, but even before that happened mean that, that obviously when, when, when the Christina Warren and Brett Terpstra and then they, they changed your name. Um, I Brett: know, like Jason Turra or Christina: Or something like that. Yeah, it was, it was, it was, it was weird. Um, I mean, you know, um, does that site, did, did have they given up the ghost on that? I’m curious. Um, yeah. Wow. Okay. They are still, well, no, they haven’t published anything since November 30th. So something has happened where they, uh, are [00:34:00] they, they’re definitely cutting down on, on various things. Um, oh no. Paul Terpstra. Oh my God. Paul Terpstra. You are still, Brett: Yeah. Christina: you were like the one author there that I see on this website. Um, now what was, what was messed up about, about this? Um, although no. Okay. Their homepage, the last one they say is like, OCT is like, uh, November, um, uh, 30th. But if you click on the, the Paul trips to handle, then like you see, um, December 22nd, uh, which is, which is today as we’re recording this, Brett: Wow, I didn’t even realize. Christina: Yeah. So, alright. So that is still, somehow that grift is still going on. But yeah, I mean, even before the rise of those things, you would see, you know, sites that would either buy up dead domains and then like, have like very similar looking content, but slightly different maybe, you know, like, uh, you know, injected with a bunch of, you know. Links or whatever, or you would see people who would, you know, do very clearly SEO written and, and probably, you know, [00:35:00] like, again, pre generative ai, but, you know, assisted slop content. But yeah, now it’s, it’s just, it’s crazy. Like, and it doesn’t help that, like the AI summaries, which can be useful, but, um, and they’re getting better, which is good only because they’re so prominent. Like, I’m not a fan of them. But if you’re not using an alternative search engine, like, you know, you see these AI summaries and like if they’re bad and sometimes they are then. Brett: Often Christina: You know, well, they’re, they’ve gotten better, uh, is the only thing I would say. I, I still wouldn’t rely on them, but I’ve, I’ve noticed a, like, I’ve noticed a, a genuine, like uptick in like, improvements and in like, how awful they are probably in like the last six weeks, which is damning with faint praise. I’m not at all saying it’s good. I am simply saying, it’s like, I’m primarily thinking for like, people who are like, like less tech savvy relatives who are going to just go to, you know, bing.com or, or google.com and then see those sorts of things. Right. Um, and, uh, you know, we’re not gonna be able to convince them to go to a, a, a third [00:36:00] party search engine. Um, although, you know, some people, like, I think my mom was using Duck to Go for a while as like her default on her iPhone, um, which I was, I was like proud of her about, but I was also kind of like, uh, that’s got its own issues. But no, I, I like ka a lot. Um, I, I’ve Brett: Well, and it’s so keyboard driven, like DuckDuckGo has good keyboard shortcuts. KAGY slash Kaji has even better keyboard shortcuts. Like you can navigate and control everything with, uh, like Gmail style, single key keyboard shortcuts, which I really like. Christina: Yeah. Yeah, I like that too. And then they, they, of course, they make like a, a web kit, um, like a browser, um, that, that has, they’ve back ported, um, you know, a lot of chrome extensions too. I personally don’t see the point in that. Um, I, I think that if you’re going to be like that committed to, like, using like the, you know, the web extension format and like using like more popular extensions, you might as well [00:37:00] just use a Chrome fork if you don’t wanna use Chrome, which is fine, but like, you could use a browser like Helium, which, which we talked about last show, which has, um, the, the, the hash bangs kind of integrated in, or you could use, you know, if you wanted to use, um, um, you know, the, the, the, the Brett: o is Orion, is Orion the one you’re talking about that? Yeah. Christina: that, that, yeah, that, that, that, that, that, that’s Katy’s thing. And that was actually originally how I heard about them was because it was like, oh, this is interesting. Um, you know, this is a kind of an interesting, you know, kind of alternative browser. And then it turned out that that was just kind of a, in some ways, kind of a front to promote the, the search engine, which is the real, you know, thing. Um, which is fine, right? I mean, that, that was Google’s model. Um, Brett: Well, and we should mention for anyone who hasn’t tried it, it is a paid service. Um, and you are getting search results with no ads and, and spam, uh, ai, slot protection and all of the benefits you would expect from a paid service. So [00:38:00] I think, like for me, five bucks a month gets me, I think 300 searches, which is. Plenty for me, like, I guess I, I’m still waiting to see, I’ve never counted how many searches I do a month, Christina: Yeah, Brett: you know, like three searches a day, uh, would come out to like 90 searches a month and I have 300 available, so I think I’ll be fine. Christina: yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah, basically being able to get to do 10 a day, which in most cases is fine. What I’ve done is I’m on, like, they have a, a, a family plan, um, and they don’t care. They even, I think in their documentation, or at least they did, they do not care if you are like actually in a family with the people that you are on or not. So if you, you know, find some folks that you wanna kind of sync up with, you can like, you know, be on a family plan together and you can save money, um, on, uh, whatever their, uh, um, their pricing [00:39:00] stuff is. So, um, so me, me and Justin Williams are, uh, in a, uh, Brett: Justin Williams, I haven’t heard that name in forever. Christina: Yeah. Yeah. We went to C Oasis together. We went both nights in Los Angeles, um, in August. Yeah. Um, or September rather. Um, yeah, so, okay, so this is how this works. They have, their starter plan is, is $5 a month, which includes, and they do have an AI assistant too. So it was funny, they had the AI slot protection, but they also have like an AI assistant that you can use and like an AI summarizer and whatnot. Um, that’s $5 a month. And then there’s the professional plan, which is, so that’s for 300 searches a month for the standard AI for starter $5 a month. The professional plan is unlimited searches and standard ai, that’s $10 a month. And then the ultimate is, um. Uh, everything in professional plus you get like premium model access, which, okay, but the family plan, um, is, is the, so you can do one of two things. You have a duo [00:40:00] plan, which is two professional accounts for a couple, which is $14 a month plus sales tax. So it’s, uh, you know, average of $7 per person, which I think is what Justin and I are on. And then there’s a family plan with up to six family members. And again, they don’t care if you are actually in a family or not, and that’s $20 a month. So the real thing to do if you’re wanting to like, you know, save on this is like find five friends, Brett: Yeah. Christina: get on the $20 a month, you know, family plan thing. Spread the, spread the cost, and that way you can get the, you know, professional plan for, for, for less. But to your Brett: All right. Christina: most people, it’s probably $300, 300 searches a month is probably plenty. And if you search a lot like we do, I, I think it is worth paying for. Brett: yeah, yeah. All right. TV Shows: Is TV Just Okay Now? Christina: anyway, but we wanted to talk about tv, so let’s Brett: Well do, we’re, we’re at 50 minutes already, so I think we need to choose whether we do TV or gratitude. What Christina: do you have a [00:41:00] gude, like a good one? Brett: I, I, no, I have a, I have a throwaway one. Christina: Okay. Brett: I, it was one of those, like, I looked at my doc and I was like, oh, I don’t think I’ve talked about that even though I probably have, um, yeah, let’s just talk about tv. So I, I have been noting, and my question in the show notes was, is TV just okay now? Because I’ve been watching, I watched Stranger Things, pluribus Down, cemetery Road, platonic, and all of it was, it was entertaining, but it wasn’t like, must watch tv. None of it was like, none of it was as good as like Modern Family. Modern Family was fucking good. Tv, like family friendly and just like I’ve, I’ve been through that series so many times and it’s always fun and it’s always better than like pluribus. I like the, I like the concept kind of, it’s not. not all that, um, engaging, I guess.[00:42:00] Christina: I like it. But, Brett: Yeah. I don’t hate it like I do, I do like it, but it’s not like, I don’t, I don’t count the days until the next episode comes out and I miss, I miss things being really good. So you had a couple responses to that though. Christina: Well, I mean, I tend to agree with you. So first of all, there, I put in the, in the show notes, um, there’s a link to a thing that, uh, that James and Pozak wrote for the, the New York Times, uh, God a year and a half ago now called, um, the Comfortable Problem of Mid tv. And he said it, it, it’s got a great cast, it looks cinematic, it’s, um, fine and is everywhere. And kind of talking about like, you know, we went from like the era of like peak TV to now being, um. You know what, what he’s dubbed like mid tv and I think that there’s, there’s some truth to that. Um, and, and, and he even says at the beginning, let me say up front, this is not an essay about how bad TV is today, just the opposite. There’s, um, little truly bad high profile television made anymore, um, is it’s more talking about, um, like [00:43:00] what we have instead Today is something less awful, but in a way more sad, the willingness to retreat, to settle to trade, the ambitious for the defendable. And I think that there’s some truth to that. Um, I think that we see this movies now too, and with movies it’s actually much more of a problem. Like there’s some really high highs. Um, but because the movie industry is in such a bad place, um, it, it’s that much more notable when like, you don’t have like a big strong slate of, of things. And so, you know, it, it, it’s more of a problem. TV for, for better or worse, has become the dominant entertainment form. And yeah, I think that it, it, it’s fine. Uh, but there are very few things that I’m like, oh, wow, yeah, that, that’s like, you know, the wire. Um, not that anything is, but you know what I mean? But is, but even like, you know, pluribus, which I really like. I actually think that’s, um, my, my favorite show of, of, um, 2025, um, at least new show. Um, well, maybe the studio. The studio. I might have, I, I, I might put, Brett: That was pretty Christina: above that. But, but, but, but [00:44:00] like, it’s one of those things where I’m like, okay, you know, um, it’s not breaking bad, right? Like, if we’re gonna be comparing Vince Gilligan shows, and maybe that’s unfair, but, you know, it just, but, but still, like, you know, you’re gonna be compared to your last hit. And, and, and, and that is what it is. Um, I will say though, like, I haven’t watched Stranger Things in years, and I don’t, I don’t, I don’t think I can force myself to like, care about that again, but I’ve heard kind of mixed Brett: That’s where L is too, L doesn’t care. And, and then there’s the whole like two cast members being Zionists kind of turned a whole bunch of people off and Christina: Well, and well, David Harbor, David Harbor’s whole Lily Allen thing. Are you, are you, are you familiar with this floor at all? Brett: No. Christina: Okay. You know who Lily Allen is? Brett: Yes. Christina: Okay. So she and David Harbor were married and, um, she wrote an album called, uh, uh, west End Girl that, that came out, uh, like in November, which is actually a really good album, [00:45:00] which is like White Girl Lemonade, where she just basically reads him to filth for being an absolute piece of shit. Like, apparently like, you know, they were together, they were married or whatever. She goes off to London to perform in a play and he’s like. Oh, we’re gonna be away for months. I, I wanna sleep with other people. And so they kind of like, she kind of accepts getting into an open relationship with him, even though she didn’t really want to be, which look that her, that’s her bad, whatever. But then he proceeds to like, do things that was not what they’d agreed upon on, upon the parameters of their, of their relationship. And then she’s just like brutally honest about the entire thing. And so as you’re listening to this album, you’re just learning more and more about like, David Harbor’s like sex life and, um, and stuff. And, and like, it’s just on blast. It’s incredible. Um, but, uh, yeah, so there’s, there’s some of that stuff. There’s, I, I don’t know, like I don’t, I don’t really follow the rest of the cast stuff except that, uh, the girl who plays, um, 11 like. Frequently want to smack because just the most annoying [00:46:00] celebrity in on the planet. But like, putting that aside, um, I just, I stopped caring. It took them too long between seasons and the, and, and, and the budget for that show was also so insane. I’m like, you, you cost more than strain than thinking of Thrones. Game of Thrones is, was even at its worst, was a better show than Stranger Things. So like it, yeah. But but that goes to your point. Like, it’s like, it’s okay. Brett: Yeah. Yeah, Christina: Um, I will say the new season of Fallout just, um, premiered and so far I I’m still really enjoying that. Um, Brett: yet to see it. Christina: you should, you should definitely watch the Brett: What is it on? Christina: uh, Amazon Brett: Okay. Christina: and, uh, and it’s, and it’s really, really good. Um. And this year they are doing the episodic, um, not episodic, the weekly drop, right. Rather than the binge thing. So the first season, uh, they dropped it all at once and um, and I was a little bit worried. I was like, fuck, does that mean they don’t [00:47:00] believe in this? What are they going to do? Wound up being like Amazon’s biggest hit after their Lord of the Rings, um, you know, thing. And so it was immediately kind of picked up for a second season and it was picked up for a third season before the second season even, uh, premiered. Um, and uh, and that might be the final one. Um, they’re saying, but, but, but, but who knows? But, but so far anyway, like they’ve only, there’s only been one episode, but it’s, it’s been good so far. The Cultural Phenomenon of Heated Rivalry Christina: Um, but, but what I was gonna talk to you about is the gay hockey show. Brett: Which is. Christina: It’s called Heated rivalry. It’s on HBO Max. It was originally just supposed to be on, uh, a Canadian streamer called Crave. And um, then at the, like, the, the like 11th hour, HBO Max picked it up and was like, okay, we’ll play this in, um, some of our territories and other things. And I wanna be very clear, this is not high art at all. This is like, no way. Like this actually in some ways it, it personifies [00:48:00] the TV is just okay now thing, but in other ways it’s actually a little bit more interesting just because the cultural phenomenon that has happened around it in like the last, like, like it hasn’t even been out a month and it’s only six episodes, although they are also going to be getting a second season. Um, it’s sort of wild how, like I went from, I’d seen a trailer for it and I was like, okay, whatever. And like it came out, I think like right after Thanksgiving. Then like within like two or three weeks, like literally I wasn’t following anything around it, but my Instagram, my TikTok, Twitter, everything that I was seeing was just all about the discourse around the show. And it’s like a bunch of us all seem to have to have discovered it. Like one weekend where we were like, okay, we’re gonna actually sit down and watch the gay hockey show. Um, and this is exactly what it is. It is a gay hockey show. So it is based on, there was a series of books that this, uh, female, uh, writer Rachel Reed wrote, um, uh, about like, uh, I think like they were like eBooks, types of thing. Um, uh, I think although there, there is now I [00:49:00] think like a, a hard cover release because they’ve been so popular and they’re just, it’s just ero, it’s just smut, right? It’s basically fanfic dressed up in something else. And the idea was like, okay, you have like these, you know, male like hockey players who are closeted and kind of have like this, this romance that, that starts from like 2008, um, through like, I dunno, like, like 2017 or 2018. And there are a number of different. Books or stories in the universe. But the one that people liked the most was the, the second book, which is called Heed Rivalry. You don’t really need to know any about that. The big thing about the show is that it is essentially like soft core gay porn. Um, but yet it’s like weirdly compelling in a way. Like, it, it is very, like, there’s, there’s some sweet aspects to it. Like you were before the, the show, you were saying, oh, it’s kinda like Heart Stopper could not be further from Heart Stopper. ’cause Heart Stopper is very sweet and twee and kind of like loving and like whatnot. This is like. You know, like guys in their twenties with amazing asses, [00:50:00] you know, like doing things to one another kind of an in secret. And, and the, the thing is, there’s not a whole lot of plot. Like the plot is the porn. Because, because the whole thing is, is that like they don’t spend, they don’t have a time to spend a lot of time together because they’re, they’re closeted and their rivals. Oh, that’s the whole conceit. It’s like they’re these two great hockey players and they, they, they, um, you know, um, play for opposing teams and they’re like, each other’s biggest rivals, but like, they’re, they’re fucking, um, and uh, it, it’s, uh, again, it’s not high art at all, but Brett: the target audience for this? Christina: And here’s the interesting thing. So the books are almost entirely read by women, um, and which, which makes sense. There’s, there’s a lot of like, you know, like, male, male, like, um, like the history of slash fiction goes back to like, like Fanfic in general, like goes back to like women writing, like Spock and, and, uh, um, what’s the space together? Kirk Together. Yeah. Um, and so the books are almost entirely, uh, consumed by, by women and probably straight women, although probably some queer women too. Um, but the [00:51:00] show seems to be a mix of gay men, straight women, all, although I’ve seen a lot of lesbians. As well. Um, yeah, yeah, because again, like the discourse is just kind of ridiculous and, and the memes are fun. Um, the guy who created it, he’s gay or created the, the, the television adaptation. He’s gay and, uh, I think he’s done a, a, a pretty good job with it. The, the leads are the thing that’s like incredible, like the, especially the guy who plays the, the Russian character, Ilya, uh, that actor is really, really good and he’s Texan, and yet he does like a great Russian accent and, um. And, and he’s very attractive. And like I, I, I can see like why a lot of people are into it, but it’s funny ’cause like New York Magazine, like they weren’t even covering the show, which, why would you, it was like some Canadian kind of, you know, you know, thing that barely gets picked by HBO. Then it takes off and now like they’re covering it. The, the last time I remember New York Magazine covering a show like this, like Vociferously was Gossip Girl, like 18 years ago. Um, [00:52:00] and it kind of reminds me of that, where like everybody woke up one day when they’re like, oh, this is like a cultural moment now. So again, not good television, probably not gonna necessarily be for everyone, but, but it’s a moment. And like, I kept seeing edits, I kept seeing Mo, I kept seeing edits on TikTok and stuff and I was like, okay, do I have to watch the gay hockey show? All right, I have to watch the gay hockey show so that it’s, we might be at the point where like TV is just okay, but at least there are some good like moments about, whereas the culture, we can all like agree. Okay, we’re all gonna be talking about this one thing. Brett: That sounds like what I’ll be doing on Christmas Day. Christina: Oh my God. Actually that would be a great thing to watch on Christmas. And I think that the final episode is gonna come out like the day after Christmas, so there you go. Brett: Done Deal. Cool. Wrapping Up and Holiday Wishes Brett: All right, well thanks for, we’re recording this the same morning. The show’s supposed to come out, so I gotta do some editing, but uh, but [00:53:00] thanks for showing up while you’re in Atlanta and yeah, this has been a classic, a fun classic Overtired. Christina: absolutely. Well, um, get some sleep, uh, take care of yourself. Um, happy holidays. Um, uh, hope that a, a Christmas isn’t too weird for you. And, um, and happy New Year. Brett: you too. Get some sleep.

Episode 3170 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about 25th Division Vietnam Vet Mike Belkin. The featured story is titled: Vietnam War Veteran and Bronze Star Winner Addresses Glen Lakes Veterans & Friends. It appeared on … Continue reading →

The discussion opens with a public service warning about the latest fire-related product recall and how refunds are being handled. Chuck Joiner, Marty Jencius, Brian Flanigan-Arthurs, Jeff Gamet, Eric Bolden, David Ginsburg, Mark Fuccio, Web Bixby, and Jim Rea then shift on Massimo's legal battle with Apple over Apple Watch health-sensor patents, the size and strategy of Massimo's business, licensing deals with other tech firms, and the broader issues of patent protection.  Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code CHUCK at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://incogni.com/chuck Show Notes: Chapters: [0:00] Show intro and Incogni sponsorship mention[0:39] Panel introductions and banter[5:24] Public service announcement on Belkin fire-related recalls[6:24] How the recalled Belkin stand works and refund process[7:51] Safety concerns and recall responses from Belkin[9:24] Humor around recalls and missing the “recall bingo card”[9:39] Jim Ray returns to the panel[10:20] Incogni ad read and data broker explanation[12:22] Overview of Massimo's $634 million judgment against Apple[13:35] Will Apple Watch sales be impacted and appeal expectations[14:30] Why Massimo keeps litigating and company size[15:33] Discussion of Massimo's product focus and consumer vs. medical gear[17:06] Licensing to other companies and comparisons to court outcomes[18:30] Partnerships with Google and Wear OS ecosystem[19:48] Financial perspective on Massimo and legal strategy[21:48] Importance of protecting intellectual property through litigation[22:46] Closing thoughts on patent enforcement and future appeals Links: Belkin recalls three products over fire hazardshttps://9to5mac.com/2025/11/13/belkin-reacall-notice-fire-hazard/ Masimo wins $634M in Apple Watch patent infringement verdicthttps://appleinsider.com/articles/25/11/15/masimo-awarded-634m-in-apple-watch-patent-infringement-verdict Redesigned Apple Watch Blood Oxygen feature faces new ITC scrutinyhttps://9to5mac.com/2025/11/14/redesigned-apple-watch-blood-oxygen-feature-faces-new-itc-scrutiny/ Guests: Web Bixby has been in the insurance business for 40 years and has been an Apple user for longer than that.You can catch up with him on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, but prefers Bluesky. Eric Bolden is into macOS, plants, sci-fi, food, and is a rural internet supporter. You can connect with him on Twitter, by email at embolden@mac.com, on Mastodon at @eabolden@techhub.social, on his blog, Trending At Work, and as co-host on The Vision ProFiles podcast. Brian Flanigan-Arthurs is an educator with a passion for providing results-driven, innovative learning strategies for all students, but particularly those who are at-risk. He is also a tech enthusiast who has a particular affinity for Apple since he first used the Apple IIGS as a student. You can contact Brian on twitter as @brian8944. He also recently opened a Mastodon account at @brian8944@mastodon.cloud. Mark Fuccio is actively involved in high tech startup companies, both as a principle at piqsure.com, or as a marketing advisor through his consulting practice Tactics Sells High Tech, Inc. Mark was a proud investor in Microsoft from the mid-1990's selling in mid 2000, and hopes one day that MSFT will be again an attractive investment. You can contact Mark through Twitter, LinkedIn, or on Mastodon. Jeff Gamet is a technology blogger, podcaster, author, and public speaker. Previously, he was The Mac Observer's Managing Editor, and the TextExpander Evangelist for Smile. He has presented at Macworld Expo, RSA Conference, several WordCamp events, along with many other conferences. You can find him on several podcasts such as The Mac Show, The Big Show, MacVoices, Mac OS Ken, This Week in iOS, and more. Jeff is easy to find on social media as @jgamet on Twitter and Instagram, jeffgamet on LinkedIn., @jgamet@mastodon.social on Mastodon, and on his YouTube Channel at YouTube.com/jgamet. David Ginsburg is the host of the weekly podcast In Touch With iOS where he discusses all things iOS, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch, and related technologies. He is an IT professional supporting Mac, iOS and Windows users. Visit his YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/daveg65 and find and follow him on Twitter @daveg65 and on Mastodon at @daveg65@mastodon.cloud. Dr. Marty Jencius has been an Associate Professor of Counseling at Kent State University since 2000. He has over 120 publications in books, chapters, journal articles, and others, along with 200 podcasts related to counseling, counselor education, and faculty life. His technology interest led him to develop the counseling profession ‘firsts,' including listservs, a web-based peer-reviewed journal, The Journal of Technology in Counseling, teaching and conferencing in virtual worlds as the founder of Counselor Education in Second Life, and podcast founder/producer of CounselorAudioSource.net and ThePodTalk.net. Currently, he produces a podcast about counseling and life questions, the Circular Firing Squad, and digital video interviews with legacies capturing the history of the counseling field. This is also co-host of The Vision ProFiles podcast. Generally, Marty is chasing the newest tech trends, which explains his interest in A.I. for teaching, research, and productivity. Marty is an active presenter and past president of the NorthEast Ohio Apple Corp (NEOAC). Jim Rea built his own computer from scratch in 1975, started programming in 1977, and has been an independent Mac developer continuously since 1984. He is the founder of ProVUE Development, and the author of Panorama X, ProVUE's ultra fast RAM based database software for the macOS platform. He's been a speaker at MacTech, MacWorld Expo and other industry conferences. Follow Jim at provue.com and via @provuejim@techhub.social on Mastodon. Support:      Become a MacVoices Patron on Patreon     http://patreon.com/macvoices      Enjoy this episode? Make a one-time donation with PayPal Connect:      Web:     http://macvoices.com      Twitter:     http://www.twitter.com/chuckjoiner     http://www.twitter.com/macvoices      Mastodon:     https://mastodon.cloud/@chuckjoiner      Facebook:     http://www.facebook.com/chuck.joiner      MacVoices Page on Facebook:     http://www.facebook.com/macvoices/      MacVoices Group on Facebook:     http://www.facebook.com/groups/macvoice      LinkedIn:     https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuckjoiner/      Instagram:     https://www.instagram.com/chuckjoiner/ Subscribe:      Audio in iTunes     Video in iTunes      Subscribe manually via iTunes or any podcatcher:      Audio: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesrss      Video: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesvideorss

The discussion opens with a public service warning about the latest fire-related product recall and how refunds are being handled. Chuck Joiner, Marty Jencius, Brian Flanigan-Arthurs, Jeff Gamet, Eric Bolden, David Ginsburg, Mark Fuccio, Web Bixby, and Jim Rea then shift on Massimo's legal battle with Apple over Apple Watch health-sensor patents, the size and strategy of Massimo's business, licensing deals with other tech firms, and the broader issues of patent protection.  Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code CHUCK at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://incogni.com/chuck Show Notes: Chapters: [0:00] Show intro and Incogni sponsorship mention [0:39] Panel introductions and banter [5:24] Public service announcement on Belkin fire-related recalls [6:24] How the recalled Belkin stand works and refund process [7:51] Safety concerns and recall responses from Belkin [9:24] Humor around recalls and missing the "recall bingo card" [9:39] Jim Ray returns to the panel [10:20] Incogni ad read and data broker explanation [12:22] Overview of Massimo's $634 million judgment against Apple [13:35] Will Apple Watch sales be impacted and appeal expectations [14:30] Why Massimo keeps litigating and company size [15:33] Discussion of Massimo's product focus and consumer vs. medical gear [17:06] Licensing to other companies and comparisons to court outcomes [18:30] Partnerships with Google and Wear OS ecosystem [19:48] Financial perspective on Massimo and legal strategy [21:48] Importance of protecting intellectual property through litigation [22:46] Closing thoughts on patent enforcement and future appeals Links: Belkin recalls three products over fire hazards https://9to5mac.com/2025/11/13/belkin-reacall-notice-fire-hazard/ Masimo wins $634M in Apple Watch patent infringement verdict https://appleinsider.com/articles/25/11/15/masimo-awarded-634m-in-apple-watch-patent-infringement-verdict Redesigned Apple Watch Blood Oxygen feature faces new ITC scrutiny https://9to5mac.com/2025/11/14/redesigned-apple-watch-blood-oxygen-feature-faces-new-itc-scrutiny/ Guests: Web Bixby has been in the insurance business for 40 years and has been an Apple user for longer than that.You can catch up with him on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, but prefers Bluesky. Eric Bolden is into macOS, plants, sci-fi, food, and is a rural internet supporter. You can connect with him on Twitter, by email at embolden@mac.com, on Mastodon at @eabolden@techhub.social, on his blog, Trending At Work, and as co-host on The Vision ProFiles podcast. Brian Flanigan-Arthurs is an educator with a passion for providing results-driven, innovative learning strategies for all students, but particularly those who are at-risk. He is also a tech enthusiast who has a particular affinity for Apple since he first used the Apple IIGS as a student. You can contact Brian on twitter as @brian8944. He also recently opened a Mastodon account at @brian8944@mastodon.cloud. Mark Fuccio is actively involved in high tech startup companies, both as a principle at piqsure.com, or as a marketing advisor through his consulting practice Tactics Sells High Tech, Inc. Mark was a proud investor in Microsoft from the mid-1990's selling in mid 2000, and hopes one day that MSFT will be again an attractive investment. You can contact Mark through Twitter, LinkedIn, or on Mastodon. Jeff Gamet is a technology blogger, podcaster, author, and public speaker. Previously, he was The Mac Observer's Managing Editor, and the TextExpander Evangelist for Smile. He has presented at Macworld Expo, RSA Conference, several WordCamp events, along with many other conferences. You can find him on several podcasts such as The Mac Show, The Big Show, MacVoices, Mac OS Ken, This Week in iOS, and more. Jeff is easy to find on social media as @jgamet on Twitter and Instagram, jeffgamet on LinkedIn., @jgamet@mastodon.social on Mastodon, and on his YouTube Channel at YouTube.com/jgamet. David Ginsburg is the host of the weekly podcast In Touch With iOS where he discusses all things iOS, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch, and related technologies. He is an IT professional supporting Mac, iOS and Windows users. Visit his YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/daveg65 and find and follow him on Twitter @daveg65 and on Mastodon at @daveg65@mastodon.cloud. Dr. Marty Jencius has been an Associate Professor of Counseling at Kent State University since 2000. He has over 120 publications in books, chapters, journal articles, and others, along with 200 podcasts related to counseling, counselor education, and faculty life. His technology interest led him to develop the counseling profession 'firsts,' including listservs, a web-based peer-reviewed journal, The Journal of Technology in Counseling, teaching and conferencing in virtual worlds as the founder of Counselor Education in Second Life, and podcast founder/producer of CounselorAudioSource.net and ThePodTalk.net. Currently, he produces a podcast about counseling and life questions, the Circular Firing Squad, and digital video interviews with legacies capturing the history of the counseling field. This is also co-host of The Vision ProFiles podcast. Generally, Marty is chasing the newest tech trends, which explains his interest in A.I. for teaching, research, and productivity. Marty is an active presenter and past president of the NorthEast Ohio Apple Corp (NEOAC). Jim Rea built his own computer from scratch in 1975, started programming in 1977, and has been an independent Mac developer continuously since 1984. He is the founder of ProVUE Development, and the author of Panorama X, ProVUE's ultra fast RAM based database software for the macOS platform. He's been a speaker at MacTech, MacWorld Expo and other industry conferences. Follow Jim at provue.com and via @provuejim@techhub.social on Mastodon. Support:      Become a MacVoices Patron on Patreon      http://patreon.com/macvoices      Enjoy this episode? Make a one-time donation with PayPal Connect:      Web:      http://macvoices.com      Twitter:      http://www.twitter.com/chuckjoiner      http://www.twitter.com/macvoices      Mastodon:      https://mastodon.cloud/@chuckjoiner      Facebook:      http://www.facebook.com/chuck.joiner      MacVoices Page on Facebook:      http://www.facebook.com/macvoices/      MacVoices Group on Facebook:      http://www.facebook.com/groups/macvoice      LinkedIn:      https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuckjoiner/      Instagram:      https://www.instagram.com/chuckjoiner/ Subscribe:      Audio in iTunes      Video in iTunes      Subscribe manually via iTunes or any podcatcher:      Audio: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesrss      Video: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesvideorss

Ruslan Belkin (Head of Platform Engineering @ Inflection AI) joins us to deconstruct fundamental shifts in engineering leadership. We explore the future of user interfaces, his “sci-fi” approach to establish & test product vision, & how to leverage “investor decks” for better decision-making and project validation. Ruslan also dives into the complexities of building emotional intelligence into AI systems, cultivating an outcome-oriented engineering culture & avoiding process traps. Plus, we discuss how to keep up with the velocity of change (including when new research necessitates a major pivot), synthetic data & the future of data as a defensibility strategy, & why agent reliability is the massive opportunity ahead. ABOUT RUSLAN BELKINRuslan Belkin joined Inflection after co-founding Jelled.ai—acquired by Inflection in 2024—and previously served as CTO of Nauto. Earlier in his career, Ruslan held senior engineering roles at Twitter, LinkedIn, Netscape, and other pioneering Silicon-Valley companies, bringing more than two decades of experience at the intersection of data platforms and machine learning. SHOW NOTES:How leading engineering teams is evolving: Moving from code as the source of truth to specs/documentation as the source of truth (2:44)Why an eng org's good hygiene / health will create better output (5:12)A framework for product vision: Envisioning the future "viscerally" like a sci-fi novel, stress-testing assumptions, and focusing smart people on the problem (9:04)Hiring in the modern era: Why software engineering is becoming "tooling and data engineering" and the importance of hiring for openness to new research (18:20)Gen Z vs. Millennial engineers: Ruslan's observation that Gen Z is more outcome-oriented and has a lower tolerance for "corporate euphemisms." (22:24)Ruslan's favorite frameworks for effective decision making: Using an "investment deck" to validate projects, avoid disbelief and lack of focus. (25:19)Keeping up with the velocity of change: How to curate research inputs and determine when a new paper (like DeepSeek) requires a strategic pivot. (32:57)The new burden of leadership: Why the velocity of AI requires leaders to be "right more often" and how to use models to increase research rigor. (36:27)The "Data Wall" and Synthetic Data: Why we have hit the wall for text data and how synthetic data generation loops will drive the next wave of defensibility. (41:35)The "March of 9s": Analyzing the trajectory of the AI market and why increasing agent reliability is the massive opportunity ahead. (46:25)Rapid fire questions (48:18) LINKS AND RESOURCESRuslan's Talk at ELC Annual 2025The War of Art - Steven Pressfield's guide to inspire and support those who struggle to express their creativity. Pressfield believes that “resistance” is the greatest enemy, and he offers many unique and helpful ways to overcome it.A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains - Artificial intelligence entrepreneur Max Bennett chronicles the five “breakthroughs” in the evolution of human intelligence and reveals what brains of the past can tell us about the AI of tomorrow. This episode wouldn't have been possible without the help of our incredible production team:Patrick Gallagher - Producer & Co-HostJerry Li - Co-HostNoah Olberding - Associate Producer, Audio & Video Editor https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-olberding/Dan Overheim - Audio Engineer, Dan's also an avid 3D printer - https://www.bnd3d.com/Ellie Coggins Angus - Copywriter, Check out her other work at https://elliecoggins.com/about/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Timestamps: 0:00 CEOs = Trash Panda-touilles 0:11 Apple cans Mac Pro, delays iPhone Air 2 1:44 Windows activation loophole closed 2:48 AI Bubble fears intensify 4:38 Ohsnap! 5:23 QUICK BITS INTRO 5:33 Obsolete Nest Thermostats still send data 6:12 Google, Samsung flagging battery-draining apps 6:40 Belkin recalling iPhone stand, power banks 7:22 Netflix party games using phone as controller 8:03 Teams blocks screenshots NEWS SOURCES: https://lmg.gg/s8QzK Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this final episode of our series with Chet Pipkin, founder of Belkin and an investor and advisor shaping innovation in education, sustainability, and hospitality, we zoom out to explore the major forces he believes will define the future. Chet reflects on how he recognized the rise of personal computing in the 1980s and shares the “next big waves” he's watching now, including AI, energy, wellness, and the transformation of education.We discuss how these shifts could influence how people live, learn, and engage with the world—and what that means for hospitality leaders seeking to create meaningful experiences in a rapidly changing environment. For anyone interested in understanding the broader context shaping guest expectations and opportunities ahead, this conversation offers a valuable perspective. A few more resources: If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can send me a message here with questions, comments, or guest suggestions If you want to get my summary and actionable insights from each episode delivered to your inbox each day, subscribe here for free. Follow Hospitality Daily and join the conversation on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram. If you want to advertise on Hospitality Daily, here are the ways we can work together. If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve! Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

Is Gold Now a Meme Stock? Gold Price Rally Looks Dangerous | Michael Belkin by Sprott Money

Chet Pipkin built Belkin into a billion-dollar global company, and today, he's applying those same leadership principles in hospitality through Desolation Hotel in Lake Tahoe. In this conversation, he shares how his leadership philosophy has evolved and why empowering people at every level is essential to organizational health. At the end, Chet also reveals what he sees as the biggest risk leaders face as their organizations grow—and how to overcome it. A few more resources: If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can send me a message here with questions, comments, or guest suggestions If you want to get my summary and actionable insights from each episode delivered to your inbox each day, subscribe here for free. Follow Hospitality Daily and join the conversation on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram. If you want to advertise on Hospitality Daily, here are the ways we can work together. If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve! Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

Chet Pipkin, founder of Belkin and Desolation Hotel, shares how he's bringing decades of experience building one of the world's largest consumer technology companies into the hospitality industry. From EV charging to booking systems and even something as simple as checking out a bike, Chet explains how he designs every touchpoint with technology to feel effortless.In this episode, he breaks down his philosophy of removing friction, solving real problems, and keeping people—both guests and team members—at the center of the experience.If you've ever struggled to make your technology truly work for you, this episode offers a clear, practical framework for simplifying systems and elevating service. A few more resources: If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can send me a message here with questions, comments, or guest suggestions If you want to get my summary and actionable insights from each episode delivered to your inbox each day, subscribe here for free. Follow Hospitality Daily and join the conversation on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram. If you want to advertise on Hospitality Daily, here are the ways we can work together. If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve! Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

When Chet Pipkin moved from founding Belkin to creating Desolation Hotel, he brought with him a deep curiosity about how people experience the world—and a lifelong habit of solving problems through design.In this episode, Chet shares how he and his team built Desolation Hotel to create what he calls “aha moments”—those small surprises that make a guest's stay effortless and memorable. From EV chargers and Dyson hair dryers to stocked kitchenettes and heated floors, every detail is intentional. But what matters most isn't the amenities themselves—it's the way Chet thinks about hospitality: removing friction, anticipating needs, and empowering guests to have the experience they want.If you care about designing thoughtful guest experiences, leading with authenticity, and learning how product thinking can elevate hospitality, this conversation offers powerful insight into what true care looks like in practice. A few more resources: If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can send me a message here with questions, comments, or guest suggestions If you want to get my summary and actionable insights from each episode delivered to your inbox each day, subscribe here for free. Follow Hospitality Daily and join the conversation on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram. If you want to advertise on Hospitality Daily, here are the ways we can work together. If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve! Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

David has a new house, and no idea what to do with it. So he taps The Verge's Jennifer Pattison Tuohy to help him make the place a lot smarter. Jen and David go room by room, figuring out how to improve everything from his lighting to his fridge to his front door. Some of the decisions are easy, like betting on Matter. Some are more complicated: what do you do when you have a split household between Android and iOS? Some are downright existential — how much would you spend for a better cup of coffee? Jen has ideas, and a vast set of product recommendations as well. Kitchen: Fridge - Bosch ⁠100 Series⁠ ⁠I found the first Matter smart fridge⁠ ⁠Samsung⁠  Bosh ⁠Home Connect app⁠ ⁠Echo Show 8/11⁠ ⁠Echo Show 15⁠ ⁠Echo Dot Max⁠ ⁠Thermomix⁠ ⁠My smart kitchen: the good, the bad, and the future⁠ ⁠GE Profile Nugget Ice maker⁠ ⁠Typhur Dome 2 air fryer⁠ ⁠Instant Pot Pro⁠ ⁠Bosch 800 Series Coffee Machine⁠ Living Room ⁠FireTV Omni⁠ ⁠FireTV Stick with voice remote⁠ ⁠Inovelli smart switches⁠ ⁠Philips Hue essentials bulbs⁠ ⁠Philips Hue lights get bigger, brighter, and cheaper with a major product refresh⁠ ⁠Philips Hue Bridge Pro / Motion Aware⁠ ⁠Inside Philips Hue's plans to make all your lights motion sensors⁠ ⁠Ikea Bilresa Buttons⁠ ⁠Lutron Caseta⁠ ⁠SmartWings shades⁠ ⁠Sonos / Hue⁠ Bedroom: ⁠Philips Hue Twilight⁠ ⁠Fall into smarter lighting⁠ ⁠Switchbot Air Purifier table⁠ ⁠AIDot WeLov Air Purifiers⁠ ⁠Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor⁠ ⁠Ikea Alpstuga air quality monitor⁠ Belkin⁠ Boost Charge Pro⁠ ⁠Echo Spot⁠ ⁠Big Ass Fans⁠ Kids room: ⁠Echo Glow⁠  ⁠Echo Dot Kids⁠ ⁠Switchbot robot vacuum K11 Plus⁠ Office Basement: ⁠Philips Hue downlights⁠  ⁠Nanoleaf downlights⁠ ⁠Nanoleaf Blocks⁠ ⁠Nanoleaf Skylight ⁠ ⁠Sense Plus Switch⁠ ⁠Nanoleaf launches a smart switch after eight years of trying⁠ ⁠Govee Floor lamp⁠ ⁠Philips Hue Floor Lamp⁠ ⁠Nanoleaf Floor Lamp⁠ ⁠Nanoleaf 4D Screen Mirror⁠ ⁠Gardyn Studio Gen 2⁠ ⁠Aqara Smart Lock U300 Lever Lock⁠ Garden ⁠Hue Festavia Globe Outdoor Lights⁠ ⁠Nanoleaf String Lights⁠ ⁠Lifx String lights⁠ ⁠Eve Aqua⁠ ⁠Apollo PLT-1 indoor plant multisensor⁠ Others: ⁠All Ikea's new stuff⁠ ⁠Shelly Relays⁠ ⁠Third Reality Zigbee sensors⁠ ⁠Zooz Z-Wave sensors⁠  ⁠Eve Energy smart plug⁠ Home Assistant ⁠The little smart home platform that could⁠ ⁠Home Assistant Green⁠  ⁠Home Assistant Connect ZBT-1⁠ ⁠Home Assistant Z-Wave⁠ ⁠Home Assistant Energy Management⁠ Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chet Pipkin, founder of Belkin and now Desolation Hotel, shares how he's applying decades of experience in innovation and leadership to reimagine what a hospitality business can be. After growing Belkin into a global technology brand, Chet turned his attention to creating meaningful, sustainable experiences in Lake Tahoe—guided by a one-page business plan rooted in simplicity, clarity, and purpose.In this conversation, he explains the five principles behind Desolation Hotel, how focusing first on people leads to exceptional guest experiences, and why profitability and positive impact don't have to be at odds. Listeners will gain insight into how clarity of intent can transform both business performance and community contribution in hospitality today.Also see:Why I'm Building Hotels as "Immersive Portals" - Chet Pipkin, Desolation HotelReconnecting With What Feeds the Soul - Chet Pipkin, Desolation Hotel A few more resources: If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can send me a message here with questions, comments, or guest suggestions If you want to get my summary and actionable insights from each episode delivered to your inbox each day, subscribe here for free. Follow Hospitality Daily and join the conversation on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram. If you want to advertise on Hospitality Daily, here are the ways we can work together. If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve! Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

What makes someone who's reached the highest levels of entrepreneurship and corporate leadership step into the world of hospitality? In this episode, Chet Pipkin—founder of Belkin and now Desolation Hotel—shares the experiences that shaped his vision of hotels as an "immersive portal." A few more resources: If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can send me a message here with questions, comments, or guest suggestions If you want to get my summary and actionable insights from each episode delivered to your inbox each day, subscribe here for free. Follow Hospitality Daily and join the conversation on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram. If you want to advertise on Hospitality Daily, here are the ways we can work together. If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve! Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

Today we're kicking off a new series with Chet Pipkin, founder of Belkin, who's now building Desolation Hotel — a hospitality brand rooted in nature, balance, and meaning.In this episode, we get into why he's doing this work. You'll hear how time in nature grounds him, what “feeding the soul” means in a world of constant connection, and how that personal motivation is shaping the hospitality he's now creating in the Lake Tahoe area. A few more resources: If you're new to Hospitality Daily, start here. You can send me a message here with questions, comments, or guest suggestions If you want to get my summary and actionable insights from each episode delivered to your inbox each day, subscribe here for free. Follow Hospitality Daily and join the conversation on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram. If you want to advertise on Hospitality Daily, here are the ways we can work together. If you found this episode interesting or helpful, send it to someone on your team so you can turn the ideas into action and benefit your business and the people you serve! Music for this show is produced by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound: Music Identity Design for Hospitality Brands

Belkin says a range of smart household devices including doorbell cams and light switches will soon become useless as the company plans to end support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ben Belkin of Jack Wolf Knives returns to The Knife Junkie Podcast to discuss the remarkable growth and diversification of his knife company. Host Bob DeMarco explores how Jack Wolf evolved from a premium slip joint maker into a multi-line brand with offerings at every price point.Ben shares the good, better, best product strategy that guides his business, from the entry-level Gateway series with pin construction and steel bolsters to the flagship slip joints made of titanium that built the brand. The conversation covers the exciting JW Kollab line of modern folders designed with talented young makers like Nick Rogers, Chris Ortiz, and Jacob Ginsburg, which serves as an innovation lab for testing new features and construction methods.Learn about the USA-made Prickly Pear project, manufactured by Misfits Machining, and the collaboration with LT Wright Knives that produced handmade Vampire Hunter fixed blades.Ben discusses the challenges of planning products two years in advance, the evolution of Jack Wolf's Blade Show presence from an eight-foot table to a 20-foot booth, and why customer service remains one of the most important aspects of his business.This episode offers valuable insights for knife collectors, aspiring makers, and anyone interested in building a successful business through quality products, exceptional service, and strategic partnerships. Ben's philosophy of never compromising quality while serving customers at different price points offers a masterclass in smart business growth.Visit the episode page at https://www.theknifejunkie.com/633 for show notes and additional resources. Find Jack Wolf Knives online at https://www.jackwolfknives.com and follow them on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/jackwolfknives.Be sure to support The Knife Junkie and get in on the perks of being a patron, including early access to the podcast and exclusive bonus content. Visit https://www.theknifejunkie.com/patreon for details. You can also support The Knife Junkie channel with your next knife purchase. Find our affiliate links at https://theknifejunkie.com/knives.Let us know what you thought about this episode and leave a rating and review. Your feedback is appreciated. You can also email theknifejunkie@gmail.com with any comments, feedback, or suggestions.To watch or listen to past episodes of the podcast, visit https://theknifejunkie.com/listen. And for professional podcast hosting, use our podcast platform of choice: https://theknifejunkie.com/podhost.

On the evening of January 27, 2001, Roxana Verona arrived at the Etna, NH home of her friends Half and Susanne Zantop for a dinner the couple had planned with friends that night. When no one answered the door, Verona entered the home and found the brutalized bodies of Half and Susanne, both dead from multiple stab wounds.The murder of the Zantops shocked the tiny community of Etna and the faculty and students of Dartmouth College, where the couple worked at the time of their deaths. The murder baffled local police, who had very little experience with violent crime, much less murder. The first few weeks of the investigation were hampered by an overwhelming number of unhelpful tips from the public and considerable time was wasted on chasing false leads. When investigators finally caught up with the killers nearly a month later, their identities were not at all what anyone was expecting, and their motive for the murder made even less sense.ResourcesBelkin, Douglas, and Lois Shea. 2001. "Slayings cast pall over Dartmouth." Boston Globe, Janaury 30: 1.Belkin, Douglas, and Marcella Bombardieri. 2001. "A faculty couple at Dartmouth slain." Boston Globe, Janaury 29: 1.—. 2001. "Officials won't discuss motive or how evidence led to pair." Boston Globe, February 18: 1.Bombardieri, Marcella, and Tom Farragher. 2001. "1 NH suspect to be arriagned today." Boston Globe, February 21.Butterfield, Fox. 2002. "Teenagers are sentenced for killing two professors." New York Times, April 5.Eddy, Kristina. 2001. "Town jholted by death of two professors." Concord Monitor, January 29: 1.Hookway, Bob. 2002. "Zantop killing was randon." Valley News, February 20: 1.Lehr, Dick, and Mitchell Zuckoff. 2003. Judgment Ridge: The True Story Behind the Dartmouth Murders. New York, NY: Harper Collins.Mooney, Brian, and Kathleen Schuckel. 2001. "Bid for a ride via CB trips up NH suspects." Boston Globe, Febraury 20: 1.New York Times. 2002. "Youth dreamed of adventure, but settled for killing a couple." New York Times, May 18.Storin, Matthew. 2001. "To our readers." Boston Globe, February 21.Tillman, Jodie. 2001. "Dartmouth College reacts." Concord Monitor, Janaury 29: 8.Zuckoff, Mitchell, and Shelley Murphy. 2001. "Love affair eyed in NH killings." Boston Globe, February 16.—. 2001. "Love affair eyed in NH killings." Boston Globe, February 6.—. 2001. "Vt. youth sought in NH killings." Boston Globe, February 17: 1.Zuckoff, Mitchell, Marcella Bombardierri, Douglas Belkin, and Rachel Osterman. 2001. "Zantops were close, but a study in contrasts." Boston Globe, February 16: 1. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How often do big, meaningful shifts inside a company actually start small? And more importantly, how do you avoid squashing them before they have a chance to grow? Agility requires more than vision—it requires giving your team the power to act on that vision. Today we're going to talk about how a global company like Belkin empowered its employees to lead a sustainability transformation from within. To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome Steve Malony, CEO of Belkin. About Steven Malony Steven Malony is the CEO of Belkin International, a role he has excelled in since 2021, following nearly 20 years with the company. Malony began his career at Belkin as a sales representative for Apple resellers in the U.S., where his commitment to understanding customer needs and delivering value helped him rise through the ranks. His deep focus on relationships with distributors, partners, and end users, combined with a relentless drive to innovate, has shaped Belkin's global success and aligned with the company's core values of customer-first service. Before becoming CEO, Steven held various leadership roles in sales and management, where he was responsible for driving strategic direction, performance, and international operations. He demonstrated exceptional resilience and strategic foresight, particularly during challenging times such as the global pandemic. Under his leadership, Belkin successfully navigated the separation of Linksys, integrated the Phyn brand, and maintained strong financial performance. In addition to his role at Belkin, Malony provides strategic guidance to the FIT team, overseeing the production of Apple products like Beats Audio. Since becoming CEO, Malony has overseen significant growth at Belkin, with revenue, gross profit, and operating profit all experiencing substantial increases. His ability to leverage the company's design, manufacturing, and sales capabilities, especially through FIT, has positioned Belkin for continued success. A champion of corporate culture, he has fostered a sense of community within the organization, empowering teams and launching voluntary employee groups called VIBEs to further enhance Belkin's workplace environment. Steven Malony on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-malony-67786b/ Resources Belkin: https://www.belkin.com https://www.belkin.com The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnow Catch the future of e-commerce at eTail Boston, August 11-14, 2025. Register now: https://bit.ly/etailboston and use code PARTNER20 for 20% off for retailers and brandsDon't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: https://bit.ly/agile150" Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstromDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://www.theagilebrand.showCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

How often do big, meaningful shifts inside a company actually start small? And more importantly, how do you avoid squashing them before they have a chance to grow?Agility requires more than vision—it requires giving your team the power to act on that vision.Today we're going to talk about how a global company like Belkin empowered its employees to lead a sustainability transformation from within.To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome Steve Malony, CEO of Belkin. About Steven Malony Steven Malony is the CEO of Belkin International, a role he has excelled in since 2021, following nearly 20 years with the company. Malony began his career at Belkin as a sales representative for Apple resellers in the U.S., where his commitment to understanding customer needs and delivering value helped him rise through the ranks. His deep focus on relationships with distributors, partners, and end users, combined with a relentless drive to innovate, has shaped Belkin's global success and aligned with the company's core values of customer-first service.Before becoming CEO, Steven held various leadership roles in sales and management, where he was responsible for driving strategic direction, performance, and international operations. He demonstrated exceptional resilience and strategic foresight, particularly during challenging times such as the global pandemic. Under his leadership, Belkin successfully navigated the separation of Linksys, integrated the Phyn brand, and maintained strong financial performance. In addition to his role at Belkin, Malony provides strategic guidance to the FIT team, overseeing the production of Apple products like Beats Audio.Since becoming CEO, Malony has overseen significant growth at Belkin, with revenue, gross profit, and operating profit all experiencing substantial increases. His ability to leverage the company's design, manufacturing, and sales capabilities, especially through FIT, has positioned Belkin for continued success. A champion of corporate culture, he has fostered a sense of community within the organization, empowering teams and launching voluntary employee groups called VIBEs to further enhance Belkin's workplace environment. Steven Malony on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-malony-67786b/ Resources Belkin: https://www.belkin.com https://www.belkin.com The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnow Catch the future of e-commerce at eTail Boston, August 11-14, 2025. Register now: https://bit.ly/etailboston and use code PARTNER20 for 20% off for retailers and brandsDon't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: https://bit.ly/agile150" Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstromDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://www.theagilebrand.showCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A New Era of Internet Regulation Is About to Begin Australia is quietly rolling out age checks for search engines like Google Bluesky is rolling out age verification in the UK House "crypto week" could change how Americans use, save money Latest stablecoin bill addresses foreign issuers, national security safeguards Grok team apologizes for the chatbot's 'horrific behavior' and blames 'MechaHitler' on a bad update Grok 4 seems to consult Elon Musk to answer controversial questions European Union Unveils Rules for Powerful A.I. Systems Gemini can now turn your photos into video with Veo 3 Denmark to tackle deepfakes by giving people copyright to their own features Belkin shutting down these Wemo smart home products in 2026 It's YouTube vs. Netflix as the Streaming Wars Come Down to 2 Jack Dorsey launches a WhatsApp messaging rival built on Bluetooth GameStop's Nintendo Switch 2 stapler sells for more than $100,000 on eBay after viral mishap Professor Oak's voice actor, James Carter Cathcart, has died Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Harper Reed and Amy Webb Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: expressvpn.com/twit NetSuite.com/TWIT bitwarden.com/twit shopify.com/twit oracle.com/twit

A New Era of Internet Regulation Is About to Begin Australia is quietly rolling out age checks for search engines like Google Bluesky is rolling out age verification in the UK House "crypto week" could change how Americans use, save money Latest stablecoin bill addresses foreign issuers, national security safeguards Grok team apologizes for the chatbot's 'horrific behavior' and blames 'MechaHitler' on a bad update Grok 4 seems to consult Elon Musk to answer controversial questions European Union Unveils Rules for Powerful A.I. Systems Gemini can now turn your photos into video with Veo 3 Denmark to tackle deepfakes by giving people copyright to their own features Belkin shutting down these Wemo smart home products in 2026 It's YouTube vs. Netflix as the Streaming Wars Come Down to 2 Jack Dorsey launches a WhatsApp messaging rival built on Bluetooth GameStop's Nintendo Switch 2 stapler sells for more than $100,000 on eBay after viral mishap Professor Oak's voice actor, James Carter Cathcart, has died Host: Leo Laporte Guests: Harper Reed and Amy Webb Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: expressvpn.com/twit NetSuite.com/TWIT bitwarden.com/twit shopify.com/twit oracle.com/twit

Belkin will end support for its WEMO smart home products. Johns Hopkins University researchers developed an autonomous surgical robot that can do most of a gallbladder removal. How to tweak Windows 11 to look and feel more like Windows 10. And it's time again for our Friday Fun Quiz, this time about Samsung history. Starring Tom Merritt, Robb Dunewood, Patrick Norton, Len Peralta, Roger Chang, Joe. To read the show notes in a separate page click here! Support the show on Patreon by becoming a supporter!