Podcasts about jackbox

In this episode, Greg sits down with Jim Welch, a composer turned developer turned studio founder whose creative journey spans Dragon Ball Z trailers to launching a party game in the spirit of Jackbox. We explore Jim's path from audio to entrepreneurship, the founding of The Devhouse Agency, and why his team is now investing in original IP. From creative leadership to WebGL distribution strategy, this episode is packed with insights for anyone building in games, immersive tech, or creative services.

TEQUILA it'll all make sense once you listen and that's about it!

Je suis de retour du WEG, notre Week-Eng Gaming entre ami, avec non seulement de la fatigue, mais une énorme quantité de jeux à discuter! On parle entre autre de Doom: The Dark Ages, JackBox 7, Ultimate Chicken Horse, Jump King et LLamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story. Je vous partage aussi mes impressions de trois jeux que j'ai pu compléter en COOP, Iron Meat de Retroware, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind de Digital Eclipse et G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra de Maple Powered Games. C'était aussi mon anniversaire alors je réponds à vos questions concernant mes cadeaux, notamment les pires cadeaux que j'ai reçu! Bonne écoute! Diffusion originale: le 20 mai 2025► Pour nous supporter et accéder à du contenu exclusif: https://ko-fi.com/fredgemus ► Vous pouvez aussi nous suivre et laisser une note positive: C'est gratuit et le meilleur encouragement! ► Écoutez nous en direct au https://www.twitch.tv/elgemusio ► Pour suivre tous mes projets et m'encourager, visitez le https://fredgemus.com/ ► Rejoignez notre communauté Le HUB sur Discord: https://discord.gg/qPDEaYqzXt ► Musique par Rudy Berhnard. Découvrez le ici: linktr.ee/rudyberhnard► Montage et diffusion en audio: Fanie Grégoire au www.fanie.ca

This time, Tom shares his adventures in Mexico, and Julie has tales to tell from Greece. Then, we kick of our discussion of video games that feel like board games with Eric's obsession with Blue Prince, before moving on to a bunch of other electronic games, including some that have made the leap to boardgames. We open up the mailbag for a question and Tale of Horror, and break down our Roses, Thorns, and Hula Hoops. 00:57 - Following the Script 01:21 - Announcements: Dice Tower Cruise and East 02:24 - Tom in Mexico 06:27 - Julie in Greece 06:48 - Video Games that Feel Like Board Games 08:05 - Blue Prince 10:42 - Slay the Spire 11:24 - Balatro 16:22 - PS Remote Play 19:26 - Final Fantasy Tactics 21:26 - Citizen Sleeper 22:21 - Sunderfolk 23:35 - Jackbox 24:57 - Telltale Games 26:24 - Making the Jump to Board Games 36:25 - Question/Tale of Boardgaming Horror 44:28 - We Love Cats 46:41 - Ito 49:55 - Donald Duck in Happy Camper 54:51 - The Morrison Game Factory 58:20 - Lynx 59:43 - Camino a Xibabla Questions? Tales of Horror? tom@dicetower.com  

Today's broadcast is C1E94 for Theme Thursday, April 24th, 2025 (Switch 2 pre-order day.....take 2......we hope!). Today's broadcast is a celebration of the music from the various mainline installments of the Jackbox Party Pack – the greatest "social lubricant" in the history of video games - and the longest run-time [quote] "ordinary" Channel 1 episode in Nerd Noise Radio history, So, buckle up for nearly 2 ½ hours of the sweet sweet sounds which have made family gatherings and other social events so survivable!     Tracklist!     Track # / Party Pack # / Track Name / Minigame / Composer(s) / Timestamp     B1) Intro - 00:00:00     01) PP04 - Lobby - Monster Seeking Monster - Andy Poland - 00:05:16     02) PP01 - Theme - You Don't Know Jack 2015 - Andy Poland - 00:08:13     03) PP07 - Presentation 3 - Talking Points - Brian Chard - 00:10:15     04) PP04 - Final Round Reveal - Survive the Internet - Brian Chard - 00:12:37     05) PP03 - Artwork Creation - Tee K.O. - Brian Chard - 00:14:16     06) PP04 - Gameplay Music 1 - Bracketeering - Brian Chard - 00:16:32     07) PP10 - Are We Not Birds? - Dodo Re Mi - Nate Sandberg - 00:20:28     08) PP01 - Background Loop - Drawful - Andy Poland - 00:22:55     09) PP02 - Lobby - Earwax - Andy Poland - 00:24:43     10) PP02 - Draw Music A - Bidiots - Randy Sly - 00:28:22     11) PP03 - List of the Dead Songs - Trivia Murder Party - Randy Sly - 00:29:26     12) PP08 - Draw - Weapons Drawn - Elise Wattman - 00:31:19     13) PP04 - Round 1 Draw 1 - Civic Doodle - Andy Poland - 00:33:55     14) PP01 - Main Theme - Drawful - Andy Poland - 00:37:02     15) PP03 - Timer Music 2 - Fakin' It - Andy Poland - 00:38:46     16) PP07 - Write - Talking Points - Brian Chard - 00:41:16     17) PP03 - Slogan Creation - Tee K.O. - Brian Chard - 00:43:27     18) PP04 - Final Round Twist - Survive the Internet - Brian Chard - 00:45:47     19) PP05 - Rap Loop 14 - Mad Verse City - Andy Poland - 00:47:48     20) PP05 - Rap Loop 15 - Mad Verse City - Andy Poland - 00:48:49     21) PP06 - Background 1 - Joke Boat - Andy Poland - 00:49:48     22) PP08 - Deliberation 7 - The Poll Mine - Brian Chard - 00:54:19     23) PP08 - Vote 2 - Drawful Animate - Andy Poland - 00:56:06     24) PP05 - Gameplay 6 - Zeeple Dome - Brian Chard - 00:58:11     25) PP03 - Theme - Tee K.O. - Brian Chard - 01:00:41     26) PP07 - Emergency - The Devils and the Details - Brian Chard - 01:03:53     27) PP04 - Question Music 1 - Fibbage 3 - Andy Poland - 01:04:27     28) PP05 - Write Loop 1 - Mad Verse City - Andy Poland - 01:05:20     29) PP10 - Serious Business Chat - Fixy Text - Kelly Shuda - 01:08:20     30) PP06 - Background 2 - Joke Boat - Andy Poland - 01:10:25     31) PP09 - Final Round - Fibbage 4 - Andy Poland - 01:12:25     32) PP04 - Final Round Write - Survive the Internet - Brian Chard - 01:15:33     33) PP02 - Choose Music B - Earwax - Andy Poland - 01:16:59     34) PP06 - Deliberation Room - Push the Button - Andy Poland - 01:18:40     35) PP05 - Rap Loop 11 - Mad Verse City - Andy Poland - 01:21:17     36) PP01 - Background Loop 1 - Word Spud - Andy Poland - 01:21:46     37) PP01 - Background Loop 4 - Lie Swatter - Andy Poland - 01:22:19     38) PP01 - Background Loop 5 - Lie Swatter - Andy Poland - 01:23:45     39) PP01 - Background Loop 2 - Word Spud - Andy Poland - 01:25:11     40) PP05 - Lobby - Split the Room - Brian Chard - 01:26:17     41) PP02 - Draw Music B - Bidiots - Randy Sly - 01:29:02     42) PP08 - Question Series 1 - The Wheel of Enormous Proportions - Andy Poland - 01:30:29     43) PP10 - Lobby 2 - Dodo Re Mi - Nate Sandberg - 01:34:12     44) PP05 - Final Round - Split the Room - Brian Chard - 01:36:05     45) PP03 - Round 3 Write - Quiplash 2 - Andy Poland - 01:38:17     46) PP07 - Friday - The Devils and the Details - Brian Chard - 01:42:16     47) PP05 - Draw Final - Patently Stupid - Andy Poland - 01:44:28     48) PP01 - Lobby Theme - Lie Swatter - Andy Poland - 01:46:22     49) PP02 - Bid Loop B - Bidiots - Randy Sly - 01:48:02     50) PP01 - Main Question - Fibbage XL - Andy Poland - 01:50:02     51) PP05 - Write Loop 2 - Mad Verse City - Andy Poland - 01:50:46     52) PP06 - Slotting 2 - Role Models - Brian Chard - 01:51:45     53) PP09 - Write 1 - Roomerang - Brian Chard - 01:54:33     54) PP04 - Chat Music 2 - Monster Seeking Monster - Andy Poland - 01:56:35     55) PP05 - Credits (feat. Simeon Norfleet Sr.) - Mad Verse City - Andy Poland - 01:58:05     56) PP04 - Choose Music 1 - Fibbage 3 - Andy Poland - 02:00:10     57) PP08 - Draw 2 - Drawful Animate - Andy Poland - 02:00:50     58) PP05 - Write Loop 3 - Mad Verse City - Andy Poland - 02:03:57     59) PP08 - Composition 3 - Job Job - Brian Chard - 02:06:50     60) PP01 - Choose Music - Drawful - Andy Poland - 02:08:22     61) PP10 - Main Question 3 - Timejinx - Elise Wattman - 02:10:26     62) PP02 - Background B - Bomb Corp - Andy Poland - 02:13:07     63) PP10 - Flirty Write 1 - Fixy Text - Kelly Shuda - 02:15:03     64) PP10 - Main Question 1 - Timejinx - Elise Wattman - 02:16:06     65) PP09 - Round 2 Scoreboard 2 - Quixort - Nate Sandberg - 02:18:54     66) PP08 - Unused Idea 2 - The Wheel of Enormous Proportions - Andy Poland - 02:19:45     67) PP09 - Appraisal Reveal - Junktopia - Elise Wattman - 02:22:14     68) PP07 - Lobby - The Devils and the Details - Brian Chard - 02:24:08     69) PP04 - Credits - Fibbage 3 - Andy Poland - 02:27:18     B1) Outro - 02:29:54        Music Block Runtime: 02:24:40 / Total Episode Runtime: 02:40:16    ----------------------------------------------------------------------     The promised basic nerdy stats:     Tracks by Party Pack:     PP01 - 10  PP02 - 6  PP03 - 6  PP04 - 10  PP05 - 11  PP06 - 4  PP07 - 5  PP08 - 7  PP09 - 4  PP10 - 6     Tracks by Composer:     Andy Poland - 38  Brian Chard - 18  Randy Sly - 4  Elise Wattman - 4  Nate Sandberg - 3  Kelly Shuda - 2  Simeon Norfleet Sr (feat) - 1     JBPP Minigames NOT featured in this episode:     PP02 - Quiplash XL - Andy Poland  PP03 - Guesspionage - Brian Chard  PP05 - YDKJ: Full Stream - Andy Poland  PP06 - Trivia Murder Party 2 - Andy Poland  PP06 - Dictionarium - Brian Chard (w/ Andy Poland)  PP07 - Quiplash 3 - Andy Poland  PP07 - Blather ‘Round - Randy Sly and Andy Poland  PP09 - Nonsensory - Andy Poland  PP10 - Hypnotorious - Andy Poland  PP10 - Tee K.O. 2 - Brian Chard     (Note: I wish I'd made it a requirement on myself to feature at least one track from each minigame….alas. But hey, if that's 10 minigames excluded, the simple math is that means that's 40 minigames INCLUDED - why am I hearing echoes of the old “four out of five dentists recommend trident gum” commercials?)    Our Intro and Outro Music is Funky Radio, from Jet Grind Radio on the Sega Dreamcast, composed by BB Rights.    Produced using a nearly equal mix of Audacity and Ardour in Fedora Workstation Linux on an ASUS ROG Zephyrus 14 (2023) laptop with perhaps a little support from a Dell Latitude 7480 (running Fedora COSMIC Linux), a 2017-spec DIY gaming PC (running Bazzite Linux) or the Steam Deck (running Steam OS Linux). Recorded with a Shure SM7B XLR dynamic microphone on a RØDE PSA1+ boom arm through a Cloudlifter and a Focusrite 4i4 XLR-to-USB interface!    You can also find all of our audio episodes on https://archive.org/details/@nerd_noise_radio as well as the occasional additional release only available there, such as remixes of previous releases and other content.    Our YouTube Channel, for the time being is in dormancy, but will be returning with content, hopefully, in 2022. Meanwhile, all the old stuff is still there, and can be found here:     https://www.youtube.com/user/NerdNoiseRadio    Occasional blogs and sometimes expanded show notes can be found here:    nerdnoiseradio.blogspot.com.    Nerd Noise Radio is also a member of the VGM Podcast Fans community at     https://www.facebook.com/groups/VGMPodcastFans/    We are also a member of Podcasters of Des Moines at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1782895868426870/    Or, if you wish to connect with us directly, we have two groups of our own:     Nerd Noise Radio - Easy Mode: https://www.facebook.com/groups/276843385859797/ for sharing tracks, video game news, or just general videogame fandom.    Nerd Noise Radio - Expert Mode: https://www.facebook.com/groups/381475162016534/ for going deep into video game sound hardware, composer info, and/or music theory.    Or you can reach us by e-mail at nerd.noise.radio@gmail.com    You can also follow us on Threads at https://www.threads.net/@nerdnoiseradio , Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/nerdnoiseradio?igsh=MWF4NjBpdGVxazUxYw== , Mastodon at https://universeodon.com/@NerdNoiseRadio , and BlueSky at  And we are also now on TuneIn, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Vurbl, Amazon Music and Audible!     But frankly, probably the absolute best way you can connect with us is on our new Discord Channel: "Nerd Noise Radio – Channel D", which includes various sub-channels for all sorts of different types of connection and conversation:     https://discord.gg/GUWdaXUw    Thanks for listening! Join us again in May for C1E95 (Channel 1, Episode 95): Subject TBD - Delicious VGM on "Noise from the Hearts of Nerds"! And wherever you are - Fly the N!    Cheers! 

And, lo, for it is true: One Life Left have our second Super Special Guest in a row on today's show! For we are this day thus joined by Andy Robertson, video game journo and founder of Family Gaming Database, here to talk about Kickstarter hell with Ludoscene which, if you're very quick, you might still have time to back HERE!!! And it is told that should One Life Left get three SSGs in a row then the skies will turn as dark as your mobile phone on dark theme and the seas will be a bit choppy and not great to swim in. So it is said, so shall it be... Sorry about that. As well as all that we've got Switch 2 tech details, $100 for GTA6 and Jackbox games get smart (TV) plus letters, reviews and more! We also have another Maraoke coming up on Friday 14th March at Loading Bar, Stoke Newington High Street, London. Tickets available HERE!! Sneaking a quick message in for my cats: Happy Birthday, Rocket & Logan! 10 years old today! Where has the time gone etc etc... not that they'll understand a word of this but it's the thought that counts. Has Balatro (or any game) annoyed you? Do you have 10 minutes to watch a game trailer?? Have you lost your internet banking details, or found Simon's??? Let us know at team@onelifeleft.com. Or join our Discord and leave a letter for us on there - 100% guaranteed to leave you with a warm sense of achievement. Link below! TTFN, Team OLL x Links: The OLL Everything (including Discord) Link! http://hello.onelifeleft.com/ The Maraoke Everything Link! https://hello.maraoke.com Block Words Link! https://blockwords.app/ The Shure link! https://tag.gs/OneLifeLeft_Shure Reviews: Balatro Metal Gear Solid 2 Quizzle StepMania (DDR) Season: A Letter to the Future Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With Bereta and Morgan both out this week, Zaragoza regales you (assuming you've already been sufficiently galed) with a fed-up diatribe of first-world-problem proportions. That's right, we're talking about adult stuff on this episode, like how cell phones are inherently fraudulent, all while multitasking with some Jackbox. It's the kind of content only the best can pull off, which is why we're CONFIDENT it'll work next time! Music/SFX: If you like our sounds, sign up for ONE FREE MONTH on us at Epidemic Sound! Over 30,000 songs: http://share.epidemicsound.com/n96pc Follow The Valleyfolk across the digital globe: http://twitter.com/TheValleyfolk http://instagram.com/TheValleyfolk http://facebook.com/TheValleyfolk Follow the group on their personal socials: Joe Bereta: http://twitter.com/JoeBereta http://instagram.com/joebereta Elliott Morgan: http://twitter.com/elliottcmorgan http://instagram.com/elliottmorgan Steve Zaragoza: http://twitter.com/stevezaragoza http://instagram.com/stevezaragoza Kevin Plachy: https://twitter.com/pakkap_ https://www.instagram.com/pakkap AT&T... more like JERKBOX, am I right?

I denne episoden fortsetter vi med Jackbox spillene, og vi tar for oss The Jackbox Party Pack 3, 2 og Cards Against Humanity (+ Bad Cards og Politisk Ukorrekt). OBS: 18-årsgrense video.Bonus låt: ❔ Echoes of the Night

Welcome back to another episode of the Online Warriors Podcast! This week we have a very special episode! The gang discusses the latest in Movies and Gaming! - Jurassic World: Rebirth (5:54) - Mike Tyson's Punch Out Speed Run (18:10)  - Fantastic 4: First Steps (26:34) Then we talk about what the gang has been up to: - Illeagle plays Blasphemous and watches Severance (37:55) - Techtic plays Jackbox and has a DnD Brunch (41:01) - Nerdbomber watches The Broken Hearts Gallery and plays AK-xolotl (44:24)   Special shoutout to our Patreon Producers: Steven Keller and Loyd Weldy!   We'd like to thank each and every one of you for listening in every week. If you'd like to support the show, you can drop us a review on your favorite podcast platform or, if you're feeling extra generous, drop us a subscribe over at Patreon.com/OnlineWarriorsPodcast. We have three tiers of subscriptions, each of which gives you some awesome bonus content! As always, we appreciate you tuning in, and look forward to seeing you next week! Stay safe and healthy everyone! Find us all over the web: Online Warriors Website: https://www.onlinewarriorspodcast.com Online Warriors Twitter: https://twitter.com/onlinewarriors1 Illeagle's Twitter: https://twitter.com/OWIlleagle86 Nerdbomber's Twitter: https://twitter.com/OWNerdbomber Techtic's Twitter: https://twitter.com/OWTechtic Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/onlinewarriorspodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onlinewarriorspodcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwOwzY6aBcTFucWEeFEtwIg Merch Store: https://onlinewarriorspodcast-shop.fourthwall.com/

Today's talk: Lexington Lab Band. A sandwich is getting a 20/10 online. Jackbox update. SPORTS (the NBA) KWAYI: Twitter. Patreon My Website.

This week we discuss the big news that Forza Horizon 5 is coming to PlayStation this year. What does this mean for Xbox owners? Will it be cross-progression? How does this affect PlayStation as a whole? Xbox's live service games are seemingly dropping elsewhere one by one, will this fill the gap PlayStation has cleared after cancelling theirs? We ponder a fair few questions with what could come next. In Game of the Week, Josh has been playing Citizen Sleeper 2 and replaying Cyberpunk 2077 for the eighth(!) time, Kat has been having a right laugh playing the new Jackbox collection, Rossko has been playing Elden Ring, yeah we can't believe it either and Miles can finally talk about the month he's had playing Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2Hey if you like our podcast why not leave us a review?! You can do it on Apple where you can also spread the love and on Spotify with their star ratings. Everything helps and we'd really appreciate it. Thank you.Theme Music – De Jongens Met de Zwarte Schoenen by RoccoW & xyce. | Edited and produced by Ross Keniston | Published by Acast.Team: @FNGRGNS / Rossko – @RosskoKeniston / Paul – @ThePaulCollett / Greg – @GregatonBomb / Josh – @jshuathompson / Sean – @Omac_Brother / Toby – @toby_andersen / Kat – @RainbowDropx / Tom – @T_Woods93 | Facebook: FingerGunsUK / Twitch: twitch.tv/fingergunsdotnet / Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/fngrgns.bsky.social Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Web-based party games are making a comeback, now with the infusion of generative AI. Among the startups joining the trend, the current forecast looks good for one startup, Little Umbrella, which leverages AI for its social party games.  The company announced on Thursday its $2 million seed funding round. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

and by "we" I do in fact mean "Sam" but its important to use clickbait when we can 100th Episode Giveaway and AMA: ⁠⁠https://forms.gle/78f225a4BWqDtrEAA⁠⁠ Support us on Patreon: https://shorturl.at/jlyD7 Tell us what you're playing: https://forms.gle/TZG6Mp1GY6jpPxtZ9 JOIN THE DISCORD: https://discord.gg/eQjmAwjGy2 Check out the merch: FakeGamerGirls.redbubble.com Check out our website: fakegamergirls.com Insta: https://www.instagram.com/fakegamergirlspod/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fakegamergirlspod Thank you Emilio Cedeno for our incredible cover art! Thank you cetra for our theme music! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fakegamergirls/support

Jackbox Games sind ja am besten für ihre Party Packs bekannt und haben damit moderne Classics wie "Quiplash" hervorgebracht. Aber im Jahr 2024 hat sich das Team an andere Projekt rangetraut - wie zum Beispiel "The Jackbox Survey Scramble". Danny aus der Controller-Redaktion hat das neue Game für uns angespielt.

Summary provided by summarization of the YouTube transcript, generated by ChatGPT, reviewed by Andy For the full show notes check out the blog at Video Game Tango! --- https://www.videogametango.com ---   Indiana Jones Game and High PC Requirements The guys expressed enthusiasm for the upcoming Indiana Jones game, but the discussion quickly shifted to concerns over its demanding PC specs. The game requires an Intel i7 10700K or Ryzen 5 3600, 16–32GB of RAM, and high-end GPUs like the RTX 2060 or RX 6600, even for minimum settings. For ultra settings, players would need top-tier GPUs like the RTX 4080. The high system requirements are seen as indicative of poor optimization. Comparisons were drawn to Cyberpunk 2077 and Red Dead Redemption 2, with Red Dead praised for its visuals and optimization despite being older. Frustration was voiced about the increasing trend of prioritizing hardware power over optimization.   Blizzard Updates – Warcraft and WoW Additional updates from Blizzard included news about Warcraft 1 & 2 remakes and player housing in World of Warcraft. Warcraft 1 & 2 are being remastered with higher resolutions and updated art. However, the original versions are being removed from platforms like GOG, sparking criticism. Blizzard announced that World of Warcraft would finally introduce long-requested player housing, although details are scarce. The discussion touched on GOG's legacy of successful optimization and their approach to preserving classic games for modern audiences.   Updates on AAA Gaming Bubble and Laura Frier's Commentary Laura Frier, a former executive in the gaming industry, was discussed for her YouTube videos analyzing the AAA gaming space. Her videos touch on key issues like the mismanagement of major projects, "toxic positivity", and the industry's inability to align with gamer feedback. She criticizes AAA studios for not listening to gamers and instead relying on overly positive reviews from gaming media. The conversation also delved into societal issues like backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in gaming. Toxic masculinity and resistance to changes in the gaming industry were highlighted as ongoing challenges.   Ubisoft's Decline and X Defiant Cancellation The guys discussed Ubisoft's decision to discontinue development on X Defiant, a free-to-play first-person shooter, due to poor market performance and profitability concerns. Ubisoft also shut down production studios in San Francisco, Osaka, and Sydney, with layoffs affecting 150 employees. The company's ongoing struggles were attributed to over-reliance on the games-as-a-service model, which is unpopular with many gamers. Broader criticism of Ubisoft included the underwhelming performance of Star Wars Outlaws and declining investor confidence, with their stock losing half its value in 2023.   Intel's New Graphics Cards (Battle Mage Series) Intel's upcoming line of Arc graphics cards, code-named Battle Mage, was introduced as a potential disruptor in the graphics card market. The B570 and B580 models aim to compete with Nvidia's RTX 4060 at significantly lower prices. The B580 could offer a 10–40% performance boost over the RTX 4060 while being $100–$150 cheaper. These cards are targeted at the mid-tier budget market, making PC gaming more accessible. The guys expressed hope for Intel's success to increase competition in the GPU space and lower inflated prices.   Indie Game Spotlight – Gnomes A unique indie game called Gnomes was highlighted for its creative mix of gameplay styles. Gnomes is a tower-defense game with roguelike elements and strategic resource management. Players build gnome villages while defending against waves of invading goblins. The game features a modular map system, synergies between different upgrades, and quirky aesthetics. Gameplay blends elements of Lemmings (UI), Loop Hero (strategic loop mechanics), and Luck Be a Landlord (meta-progression and upgrades). The guys praised the game's demo for its balance, fun mechanics, and whimsical vibe. They encouraged players to try the free demo available on Steam and speculated on a release within the coming months.   Broader Gaming Industry Trends and Community Plans The discussion concluded with reflections on the gaming industry's struggles with innovation, reliance on PR over quality, and the need for more competition. The guys expressed nostalgia for the golden age of gaming when the market offered more diverse and polished titles. They plan to stream the PC Gaming Show on December 5th and the Game Awards on December 12th. Social games like Jackbox may be hosted during the holidays for friends and community members alike!  

Hey guys. If you're hearing this the same day that I am posting it on the feed, then I am doing a 24 hour livestream TOMORROW, Saturday November 23 starting at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central, at twitch.tv/woebegonepod to celebrate 4 years of WOE.BEGONE. This is the 3rd year in a row we've done a 24 hour livestream and it's always a ton of fun. We'll write some music (and maybe even perform some live), play some games like Jackbox, Nancy Drew, and Zoombinis, pick up where we left off last year with a WOE.BEGONE season listen-along (we're up to season 3 at this point), and so much more. This event is a blast every year and usually results in my brain leaking out of my ears by the end of it, so stop by twitch.tv/woebegonepod this weekend and say howdy. Again, that is twitch.tv/woebegonepod from 4pm Eastern/3pm Central starting tomorrow, Saturday November 23 and going for a full 24 hours. I hope to see you there. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tam's back in the hosting seat and joined by Grubb, Dan, and Mike to tell him all about Giant Bomb's wild Extra Life 2024 stream and give their updated thoughts on Black Ops 6, the latest Jackbox games, and Pokémon TCG Pocket. After that: News from Nintendo, PlayStation, and more, and YOUR emails!

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 joins the list of people and entities that want to check out your ears. Also: Survey says there's a new Jackbox game! In the news: Concord developer shuttered, Animal Crossing cuts loose, Something Something Tim Walz Dreamcast Something Something, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jackbox games is back. A night of Fibbage with a few friends of the show, but first, we talk about the hurricane as well as what we think of Kate Bush. We welcome back to the show Larry Hanlon and Robert Kansa for our trivia challenge. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/davisanddavis/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

-Huge Pokemon Hack and Leak: https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/massive-pokemon-leak-exposes-beta-designs-source-codes-and-plans-for-upcoming-titles-180208503.html -Xbox showcase this week: https://www.ign.com/articles/xbox-partner-preview-announced-for-this-week-featuring-alan-wake-2-expansion-and-more -PSX version of Quake 2 for download: https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/a-modder-has-recreated-the-1999-playstation-version-of-quake-2-into-quake-2-remaster-and-will-release-it-for-free-on-october-5th/ -Xbox Game Studios gets new leader: https://www.engadget.com/gaming/craig-duncan-to-succeed-alan-hartman-as-xbox-game-studios-head-170254040.html -Microsoft v Random gamers; Activision acquisition. https://www.ign.com/articles/microsoft-settles-gamers-antitrust-lawsuit-over-69-billion-activision-blizzard-acquisition -How about a wireless controller for your original nintendo? https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/9/24266019/nintendo-nes-expansion-port-retrotime-bluetooth-wireless-controller -Jackbox meets board games! https://kotaku.com/sunderfolk-preview-blizzard-gloomhaven-jackbox-d-d-1851669222

On this episode of On Board Games, Erik and Bruce talk about games (and other things) they've played including: Flip 7 Endeavor Deep Sea Balatro Mobile Mini Poker Chips (BGG Thread here) Jackbox Survey Sample   You can get a discount on Zencastr.com using this link. (30:26) Next, they talk about the systems behind game design, the AI of the game itself. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Inverse Genius: http://www.inversegenius.com/   Patreon account: http://www.patreon.com/obg   Twitter: @onboardgames RSS Feed: http://onboardgames.libsyn.com/rss Email us: onboardgamesmailbag@gmail.com On Board Games Guild at Board Game Geek

Clayton Ashley, video editor for Polygon and co-host of Temporal Culture War, puts his board gaming skills to work with the prompts: Wontonly colorful, Art restoration, Social deduction (like Werewolf) With two options synergizing so much, it isn't hard to find an art angle... but how to include the social deduction aspect? Should this be a physical game or a Jackbox property? And how do we even pitch Jackbox anyway??? Listen to Clayton's excellent new podcast, Temporal Culture War! It's great! Visit the DFTBA Big Game Hunger merch shop at bit.ly/jennamerch. Support this show, and submit your OWN random prompts, by subscribing at Patreon.com/TheJenna. Email the show at BigGameHungerPod@gmail.com. Big Game Hunger is part of the Multitude Collective of podcasts. Created and hosted by Jenna Stoeber. Big Game Hunger is a weekly video game podcast where Jenna Stoeber and a guest get three random prompts and have to make the big next game based on them.

This week we react to the reveal of the PS5 Pro, and we talk more about Astro Bot and Warhammer 40k Space Marine 2. Aaron also tells us about The Jackbox Naughty Pack, and we chat briefly about some of the latest gaming news! [News of the Week] PS5 Pro revealed Astro Bot getting a free DLC Microsoft laying off another 650 employees from it's gaming division Everyone at Annapurna resigns  Rumor suggests a mid-October reveal for the Switch 2 A new Tony Hawk game on the way? Satisfactory 1.0 launches Stardew Valley recreated in Lego [What We're Playing/Watching] Dr. Katz The Jackbox Naughty Pack Astro Bot  Warhammer 40K Space Marine 2

Jackbox's Naughty Pack Teases, Valve Gobbles Up Another Studio, Retroid Pockets Learn Linux, and Hacker League Brings Carball Back.

Send us a Text Message.In this episode...--> We're discussing all the biggest trailers and announcements from Gamescom Opening Night Live, including Borderlands 4, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Sid Meier's Civilization 7, and more.--> A new censorship controversy has embroiled Black Myth Wukong just ahead of its release, sparked by a guidelines doc that prohibits streamers from mentioning an absurd list of topics, such a "feminist propaganda" and COVID-19.--> Jackbox's Naughty Pack will be released on September 12 with a retail price of $21.69 (we assume the 69 is intentional).--> Skydance is producing the live-action Eternal Champions movie, adapted from the 1993 game originally published by Sega for the Genesis. Yes, you read that right... an Eternal Champions movie.--> Also: Top 3 New Releases, Gaming History 101!We love our sponsors! Please help us support those who support us!- Check out the Retro Game Club Podcast at linktr.ee/retrogameclub- Connect with CafeBTW at linktr.ee/cafebtw- Visit A Gamer Looks At 40 at linktr.ee/agamerlooksat40- And a special shoutout to our friends at Pixel Pond (pixelpondllc.com)Hosts: donniegretro, wrytersview, retrogamebrewsOpening theme: "Gamers Week Theme" by Akseli TakanenPatron theme: "Chiptune Boss" by donniegretroClosing theme: "Gamers Week Full-Length Theme" by Akseli TakanenSupport the Show.

Beginning, Q is a little loud, sorry fellas. : )   JOIN US NEXT WEEK, YOU NERDS. 6:30PM PST. :) Live on Twitch Wednesdays! http://www.twitch.tv/TheUglyMugs https://discord.gg/RvE6TVANRF http://bit.ly/UglyMugsGlasses https://temu.to/k/usutFqUc01hx0cc Or the code 'fav48137' at checkout. Really means a lot to us. :) https://www.humblebundle.com/subscription?partner=uglymugspodcast Email us stuff! Uglymugspodcast@gmail.com Joint Twitter: @TheRealUglyMugs https://www.heroforge.com/tap/?ref=uglymugs Justin: @LongShot_Heroes Tiktok: @cliffxthurst Quincey: @QuinceyRoberson Tiktok: @qballscollectables Socky: @sockysquidrings Twitch: @sockysquid

Mais um Lá do Bunker da semana, que começa falando de Um Lugar Silencioso: Dia Um, novo filme da franquia. Também comentamos a Sony encerrando a produção de mídia física, e a confirmação dos filmes de Demon Slayer. Para encerrar o cast, a viajante Pri Ganiko e Cakes Sousa comentam a gamescom latam e o evento incrível de Black Desert na França. Bora ouvir! Ruff Ghanor Aproveite as promoções e jogue a história do Garoto-Cabra: https://jovemnerd.page.link/Ruff_Ghanor_Promocoes Pesquisa Jovem Nerd Ajude o Jovem Nerd: https://jovemnerd.page.link/Pesquisa_JovemNerd_LadoBunker Citados no programa Um Lugar Silencioso: Dia Um traz emoção ao apocalipse | Crítica: https://jovemnerd.com.br/noticias/criticas/um-lugar-silencioso-dia-um-critica Um Lugar Silencioso: Dia Um não usou computação gráfica para o gato Frodo: https://jovemnerd.com.br/noticias/filmes/um-lugar-silencioso-gato-nao-teve-computacao-grafica Sony vai encerrar produção de mídia física, incluindo blu-rays: https://jovemnerd.com.br/noticias/filmes/sony-vai-encerrar-producao-de-midia-fisica-incluindo-blu-rays Trilogia de filmes de Demon Slayer é confirmada; veja o teaser: https://jovemnerd.com.br/noticias/animes-e-mangas/trilogia-de-filmes-de-demon-slayer-e-confirmada-veja-o-teaser Demon Slayer supera limitações do mangá em 4ª temporada regular | Crítica: https://jovemnerd.com.br/noticias/animes-e-mangas/demon-slayer-4a-temporada-critica Saiba onde continuar Demon Slayer no mangá, após o arco dos Hashira: https://jovemnerd.com.br/noticias/animes-e-mangas/saiba-onde-continuar-demon-slayer-no-manga 7 animes para assistir na ausência de Demon Slayer: https://jovemnerd.com.br/noticias/animes-e-mangas/animes-para-assistir-na-ausencia-demon-slayer Nintendo quer trazer os controles clássicos do Switch Online para o Brasil: https://jovemnerd.com.br/noticias/games/nintendo-entrevista-gamescom-latam-2024 Primeiro Zelda em português indica mais localização em jogos grandes no futuro, diz Nintendo: https://jovemnerd.com.br/noticias/games/zelda-em-portugues-localizacao-nintendo Persist Online terá o mesmo DNA de Tibia, afirma CipSoft: https://jovemnerd.com.br/noticias/games/persist-online-entrevista-criadores-tibia-gamescom-latam Zeenix terá bateria com duração de uma a cinco horas: https://jovemnerd.com.br/noticias/games/zeenix-tectoy-bateria-gamescom-latam MOBAs são a porta de entrada para os RTS, diz diretor de Stormgate: https://jovemnerd.com.br/noticias/games/stormgate-diretor-entrevista-gamescom-latam Coletânea de minigames, Jackbox quer ser o jogo das festas de família: https://jovemnerd.com.br/noticias/games/jackbox-entrevista-gamescom-latam-2024 Pokémon GO terá evento presencial no Brasil em 2024: https://jovemnerd.com.br/noticias/games/pokemon-go-tera-evento-presencial-no-brasil-em-2024 Como o Brasil conquistou a desenvolvedora de World of Warships: https://jovemnerd.com.br/noticias/games/world-of-warships-no-brasil-entrevista-gamescom-latam Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom ganha trailer em português brasileiro: https://jovemnerd.com.br/noticias/games/zelda-echoes-of-wisdom-ganha-trailer-em-portugues-brasileiro Black Desert: "Queremos fazer mais pelos aventureiros brasileiros", diz CEO da Pearl Abyss: https://jovemnerd.com.br/noticias/games/black-desert-pearl-abyss-quer-fazer-mais-pelos-aventureiros-brasileiros-entrevista-evento Black Desert celebra 10 anos com nova classe, Terra do Amanhecer: Seul e mais: https://jovemnerd.com.br/noticias/games/black-desert-10-anos-nova-classe-terra-do-amanhecer-seul-e-mais Black Desert Mobile anuncia Banquete de Heidel para julho: https://jovemnerd.com.br/noticias/games/black-desert-mobile-banquete-de-heidel-para-julho Reels da viagem de Black Desert: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8upEiUOa0Q/ Telegram Entre no nosso canal do Telegram! https://t.me/CanalNerdBunker Apresentação Pri Ganiko -- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/priganiko / X/Twitter: https://x.com/priganiko Cakes Sousa -- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cakes_sousa / X/Twitter: https://x.com/cakes_sousa Edição Doug Bezerra -- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dougbezerra

On this episode of The GAP Luke Lawrie and Joab Gilroy talk about Boston beating a bunch of battered teams in the NBA. The games they've been playing this week include Blade and Sorcery, Diablo 4, Starfield, Resident Evil 4 VR, Espire 1: VR Operative, Espire 2: Stealth Operatives, It Sleeps Below the Haar, and more. Over in the news Nintendo reveals Metroid Prime 4 and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Jackbox is releasing a megapicker, and Bethesda is doing weird things with DLC yet again. This episode goes for 1 hour and 50 minutes, it also contains coarse language. Timestamps – 00:00:00 – Start 00:20:22 – Grand Theft Auto V 00:26:14 – Starfield 00:34:49 – It Sleeps Below the Haar 00:42:33 – Espire 1: VR Operative 00:43:58 – Espire 2: Stealth Operatives 00:49:13 – Diablo 4 01:01:18 – Resident Evil 4 VR 01:08:42 – Blade and Sorcery 01:18:22 – News 01:29:54 – Weekly Plugs 01:39:56 – End of Show Subscribe in a reader iTunes / Spotify

This week Jordan and Jesse welcome back Arnie Niekamp of Jackbox Games and Hello from the Magic Tavern for a conversation about Street Fighter The Movie The Game, great movie novelizations, and much more!Style that makes you feel as good as you look—get started today at stitchfix.com/JJGO.Get 30% off your first order, plus free shipping today at Microdose.com, promo code JJGO. It's available nationwide.

This week: Switch 2 leaks, JackBox is Naughty, Xbox plans, TMNT: Wrath of the Mutants, Rose & Camellia Collection, Lunar Lander Beyond, and more! Yooo! Subscribe and rate us via iTunes Subscribe on: Amazon Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, iHeartRadio DISCORD LINK Watch us on TWITCH! RSS feed: http://sidequesting.podbean.com/feed Hosts: Dali, J.J., Zach, Taylor, Sam, Tom With Special Guest: No One NEWS: Xbox Showcase 2024 announced Fallout is HUGE Switch 2 leaks JackBox Naughty Pack announced WHAT WE'RE ENJOYING: Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown TMNT: Wrath of the Mutants (review) Rose & Camellia Collection (review) Lunar Lander Beyond (review) Review codes supplied by publishers SnackQuesting: Nothing! Music Intro: Professor Kliq – Bust This Bust That Music Outro: N.I.M. – Choice Comments? Questions? Email us at: podcast @ sidequesting.com Image courtesy: GameMill

Al and Anton discuss this week's biggest Switch news. Jackbox Naughty Pack , Funko Fusion ,Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord ,Astor: Blade of the Monolith ,Surmount, Garry's Mod,Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door , That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ISEKAI Chronicles ,Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection Update II ,Double Dragon ,River City Girls 2 ,Shadow of the Ninja - Reborn, Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact ,LEGO ,Mighty Gunvolt, Mighty Gunvolt Burst, and PuzzMiX, Inti Creates Gold Archive Collection,Rogue Legacy 2 ,Hyperdimension Neptunia: Re;Birth ,Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island ,Swarovski bejewelled Nintendogs Nintendo DS,Vampire Survivors ,Star Wars: Hunters ,The Plucky Squire , Hi-Fi Rush, Nintendo Switch 2 The Gaming BlenderCould you design a video game?Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the Show.

Stellar Blade, Fortnite Festival, Dune 2 and more – Geekoholics Anonymous Video Game Podcast 442 On this weeks episode we blab about the following Games and topics: Whatcha Been Playing? Stellar Blade Fortnite Festival Rock Band 4 News: Cross Platform / PC / Misc. Fallout 4's next-gen update is available now Capcom raises full-year earnings forecast on better than expected game sales BlizzCon 2024 will not happen, Blizzard has announced Steam amends refund policy, nixing advanced access loophole in the process Jackbox is getting risqué with adults-only Naughty Pack Batman: Arkham Shadow announced for VR ahead of late 2024 release Take-Two reportedly closing Private Division studios Roll7 and Intercept Games New Fortnite Star Wars crossover event revealed PlayStation Helldivers 2 already ranks 7th in lifetime US dollar sales for Sony published games New PS5 shareable links will let recipients join multiplayer sessions without being PSN friends Nintendo Garry's Mod ordered to remove all Nintendo content from Steam Workshop Nintendo Switch 2 report details magnetic Joy-Con, Pro Controller compatibility Xbox Starfield's Shattered Space story expansion is launching this fall Starfield's May patch adds 60fps target for Series X, land vehicles footage teased PSA's: Epic Games Store Freebies: Cat Quest II and Orcs must die! 3 PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for May: EA Sports FC 24, Ghostrunner 2, Tunic, Destiny 2: Lightfall  Free 4 All Dune 2 Help support the show: - Subscribe to our Twitch channel http://twitch.tv/geekoholics - Use our Epic Creator Code: GEEKOHOLICS when purchasing items in Fortnite or buying games on the Epic Games Store - Please review the show (bit.ly/geekoholics) on Apple Music, Apple Podcasts and to share with your friends. Reviews help us reach more listeners, and the feedback helps us to produce a better show. Join our Discord server: CLICK HERE Don't forget to follow our Social Media Feeds to keep up to date on our adventures: Youtube Twitter Instagram Facebook Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! You can reach me on Twitter @RicF

TUESDAY HR 5 The K.O.D. - His highness is enjoying the series ShoGun way to much. Bring back a classic. Angel loud wrong about JackBox and Jack In The Box. Monster Messages & Hot Takes The chicken calls back

This week we are celebrating a birthday for the 4th year in a row with my sister Emilie alongside my fiance Shelby as Emilie turns 23 today! Join the chaos as we play some Jackbox games and think like a stoner returns. Does inner family trauma come out? Does a drink increase strength throughout the episode? Does Devin get too gone and start word vomiting? Listen to the episode and find out!

Brad Williams is the CEO and Co-Founder of WebDevStudios, a WordPress website design and development agency. His company of over 40 people has done work for Microsoft, Campbell's Soup Company, Starbucks, and so many more. Work like this can only be done with amazing teams, so listen in as Brad shares how they've accomplished this while maintaining a remote work model from the very beginning. In the modern world of distributed work places, this episode is a must-listen!Key Takeaways:Why it's important to give back and how your team can benefit.How to build a company culture without a water cooler.How team relationships affect client relationships.What not  to overlook when identifying and mitigating team conflict.When and how to engage with and listen to your team.Why you shouldn't take yourself too seriously.What Brad implements from his time in the Marines (and what he doesn't).Mentions:S'Up: https://sup2.playplay.io/Jackbox.tv: https://jackbox.tv/Connect with Brad:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamsba/ Website: https://webdevstudios.com/ About the Amazing Teams PodcastWe started this podcast because we love teams, especially amazing ones. Michael Jordan said it best, "Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships." This is what we're all about!Our mission is to help others build amazing teams by having authentic conversations with remarkable people who are building amazing teams. We will explore the tactics, strategies, and frameworks that have helped them succeed.The Amazing Teams Podcast is produced by HeyTaco. Please share your feedback with us here: https://amazingteams.com/feedback.

One, two, three, one, two, three, drink...the girls reluctantly relive some of their haziest memories. Follow LTP on Social Media

Christy Cabaniss, Director of Missionary Discipleship is our guest.0:30:   Mike and Christy are new to Cleveland (sorta)...1:40:   FD has almost never missed Christmas.2:20:  FD's going back to Rome during the Christmas season.2:50:  Marion's (Mike's wife) family Christmas Party.3:25:  Christy celebrates Christmas "day" differently.4:00:  On Signing up for Christmas ministries.4:30:  Selling a house during Christmas....5:00:  How to stay in touch with others when you're away.5:40:  Jackbox games are fun.6:20:  Writing letters, making cards, calls during the holiday.7:00:  Sending old pictures, etc with family7:40:  Sending reminders of home to people.8:30:  Home prepared things are also cool. 9:15:  You need not be alone. 9:50:   Church Search:  Nativity of Our Lord in Akron.10:50:  Readings for both the 4th Sunday of Advent and Christmas Morning.13:00:  FD's love for Sufjan Stevens' Christmas Album.  Here is the Sufjan Yule Log. 14:40:  WHO should make a Hallmark Movie? 

This Week's Panel - Big Ell, KooshMoose, FuFuCuddilyPoof, Matrarch This Week's Discussion - It's time for the question(s) of the week!  QuestionS of the Week! - Black Friday Deal! Two questions for the price of one!  Vulgar Lego — What are you thankful for? Northern Lass — What is the best Xbox game played with family or friends during the holidays and why? (If picking Jackbox, please provide games within Jackbox that the family seems to enjoy!) Also, if your family plays board games, maybe throw out some ideas there too! Show Discussion: Happy Thanksgiving season to everybody! We totally don't start the show talking about Thanksgiving food. Not. At. All. Koosh dived into the new Game Pass title, the climbing adventure game, Jusant! We welcome back Matrarch to the panel! She has been playing a long RPG! Has this been a nice change of pace? Find out on Achievement Hunting 101! Games Mentioned: Kooshmoose - Jusant Matrarch - World of Final Fantasy Maxima [2:12 AM] happy Thanksgiving Kenny   The Master Raters return with what they believe are some good 4 star games.  Games featuring wisecracking Irishmen, talking corn, toilets that face each other and death being spanked. You know, good ones. Trust us.  We're the Master Raters.   AH101 Podcast Show Links - https://tinyurl.com/AH101Links Year of the Veiner spreadsheet - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VkAvMjmVmXLjRWS61eoMimaoovUz7fr7uPsD6DQPIz4/edit?usp=sharing Intro music provided by Exe the Hero. Check out his band Window of Opportunity on Facebook and YouTube

This is a recap of the top 10 posts on Hacker News on November 18th, 2023.This podcast was generated by wondercraft.ai(00:37): OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEOOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38325552&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(02:25): New York may ban noncompete employment agreements and Wall Street is not happyOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38316870&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(04:09): Details emerge of surprise board coup that ousted CEO Sam Altman at OpenAIOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38321003&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(05:51): Frigate: Open-source network video recorder with real-time AI object detectionOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38321413&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(07:32): Starship Integrated Flight Test 2 at 7 Am Central TimeOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38317247&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(09:17): Death by AI – a free Jackbox style party game. AI judges your plans to surviveOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38318889&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(10:55): Lockheed is now tracking phones and walkie-talkies from spaceOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38322966&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(12:46): Cryptographers solve decades-old privacy problemOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38320675&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(14:26): Calibre – New in Calibre 7.0Original post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38316846&utm_source=wondercraft_ai(16:00): Berkeley Mono TypefaceOriginal post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38322793&utm_source=wondercraft_aiThis is a third-party project, independent from HN and YC. Text and audio generated using AI, by wondercraft.ai. Create your own studio quality podcast with text as the only input in seconds at app.wondercraft.ai. Issues or feedback? We'd love to hear from you: team@wondercraft.ai

Sara is a team lead at thoughtbot. She talks about her experience as a professor at Kanazawa Technical College, giant LAN parties in Rochester, transitioning from Java to Ruby, shining a light on maintainers, and her closing thoughts on RubyConf. Recorded at RubyConf 2023 in San Diego. -- A few topics covered: Being an Assistant Arofessor in Kanazawa Teaching naming, formatting, and style Differences between students in Japan vs US Technical terms and programming resources in Japanese LAN parties at Rochester Transitioning from Java to Ruby Consulting The forgotten maintainer RubyConf Other links Sara's mastodon thoughtbot This Week in Open Source testdouble Ruby Central Scholars and Guides Program City Museum Japan International College of Technology Kanazawa RubyKaigi Applying mruby to World-first Small SAR Satellite (Japanese lightning talk) (mruby in space) Rochester Rochester Institute of Technology Electronic Gaming Society Tora-con Strong National Museum of Play Transcript You can help correct transcripts on GitHub. [00:00:00] Jeremy: I'm here at RubyConf, San Diego, with Sara Jackson, thank you for joining me today. [00:00:05] Sara: Thank you for having me. Happy to be here. [00:00:07] Jeremy: Sara right now you're working at, ThoughtBot, as a, as a Ruby developer, is that right? [00:00:12] Sara: Yes, that is correct. Teaching in Japan [00:00:14] Jeremy: But I think before we kind of talk about that, I mean, we're at a Ruby conference, but something that I, I saw, on your LinkedIn that I thought was really interesting was that you were teaching, I think, programming in. Kanazawa, for a couple years. [00:00:26] Sara: Yeah, that's right. So for those that don't know, Kanazawa is a city on the west coast of Japan. If you draw kind of a horizontal line across Japan from Tokyo, it's, it's pretty much right there on the west coast. I was an associate professor in the Global Information and Management major, which is basically computer science or software development. (laughs) Yep. [00:00:55] Jeremy: Couldn't tell from the title. [00:00:56] Sara: You couldn't. No.. so there I was teaching classes for a bunch of different languages and concepts from Java to Python to Unix and Bash scripting, just kind of all over. [00:01:16] Jeremy: And did you plan the curriculum yourself, or did they have anything for you? [00:01:21] Sara: It depended on the class that I was teaching. So some of them, I was the head teacher. In that case, I would be planning the class myself, the... lectures the assignments and grading them, et cetera. if I was assisting on a class, then usually it would, I would be doing grading and then helping in the class. Most of the classes were, uh, started with a lecture and then. Followed up with a lab immediately after, in person. [00:01:54] Jeremy: And I think you went to, is it University of Rochester? [00:01:58] Sara: Uh, close. Uh, Rochester Institute of Technology. So, same city. Yeah. [00:02:03] Jeremy: And so, you were studying computer science there, is that right? [00:02:07] Sara: I, I studied computer science there, but I got a minor in Japanese language. and that's how, that's kind of my origin story of then teaching in Kanazawa. Because Rochester is actually the sister city with Kanazawa. And RIT has a study abroad program for Japanese learning students to go study at KIT, Kanazawa Institute of Technology, in Kanazawa, do a six week kind of immersive program. And KIT just so happens to be under the same board as the school that I went to teach at. [00:02:46] Jeremy: it's great that you can make that connection and get that opportunity, yeah. [00:02:49] Sara: Absolutely. Networking! [00:02:52] Jeremy: And so, like, as a student in Rochester, you got to see how, I suppose, computer science education was there. How did that compare when you went over to Kanazawa? [00:03:02] Sara: I had a lot of freedom with my curriculum, so I was able to actually lean on some of the things that I learned, some of the, the way that the courses were structured that I took, I remember as a freshman in 2006, one of the first courses that we took, involved, learning Unix, learning the command line, things like that. I was able to look up some of the assignments and some of the information from that course that I took to inform then my curriculum for my course, [00:03:36] Jeremy: That's awesome. Yeah. and I guess you probably also remember how you felt as a student, so you know like what worked and maybe what didn't. [00:03:43] Sara: Absolutely. And I was able to lean on that experience as well as knowing. What's important and what, as a student, I didn't think was important. Naming, formatting, and style [00:03:56] Jeremy: So what were some examples of things that were important and some that weren't? [00:04:01] Sara: Mm hmm. For Java in particular, you don't need any white space between any of your characters, but formatting and following the general Guidelines of style makes your code so much easier to read. It's one of those things that you kind of have to drill into your head through muscle memory. And I also tried to pass that on to my students, in their assignments that it's. It's not just to make it look pretty. It's not just because I'm a mean teacher. It is truly valuable for future developers that will end up reading your code. [00:04:39] Jeremy: Yeah, I remember when I went through school. The intro professor, they would actually, they would print out our code and they would mark it up with red pen, basically like a writing assignment and it would be like a bad variable name and like, white space shouldn't be here, stuff like that. And, it seems kind of funny now, but, it actually makes it makes a lot of sense. [00:04:59] Sara: I did that. [00:04:59] Jeremy: Oh, nice. [00:05:00] Sara: I did that for my students. They were not happy about it. (laughs) [00:05:04] Jeremy: Yeah, at that time they're like, why are you like being so picky, right? [00:05:08] Sara: Exactly. But I, I think back to my student, my experience as a student. in some of the classes I've taken, not even necessarily computer related, the teachers that were the sticklers, those lessons stuck the most for me. I hated it at the time. I learned a lot. [00:05:26] Jeremy: Yeah, yeah. so I guess that's an example of things that, that, that matter. The, the aesthetics or the visual part for understanding. What are some things that they were teaching that you thought like, Oh, maybe this isn't so important. [00:05:40] Sara: Hmm. Pause for effect. (laughs) So I think that there wasn't necessarily Any particular class or topic that I didn't feel was as valuable, but there was some things that I thought were valuable that weren't emphasized very well. One of the things that I feel very strongly about, and I'm sure those of you out there can agree. in RubyWorld, that naming is important. The naming of your variables is valuable. It's useful to have something that's understood. and there were some other teachers that I worked with that didn't care so much in their assignments. And maybe the labs that they assigned had less than useful names for things. And that was kind of a disappointment for me. [00:06:34] Jeremy: Yeah, because I think it's maybe hard to teach, a student because a lot of times you are writing these short term assignments and you have it pass the test or do the thing and then you never look at it again. [00:06:49] Sara: Exactly. [00:06:50] Jeremy: So you don't, you don't feel that pain. Yeah, [00:06:53] Sara: Mm hmm. But it's like when you're learning a new spoken language, getting the foundations correct is super valuable. [00:07:05] Jeremy: Absolutely. Yeah. And so I guess when you were teaching in Kanazawa, was there anything you did in particular to emphasize, you know, these names really matter because otherwise you or other people are not going to understand what you were trying to do here? [00:07:22] Sara: Mm hmm. When I would walk around class during labs, kind of peek over the shoulders of my students, look at what they're doing, it's... Easy to maybe point out at something and be like, well, what is this? I can't tell what this is doing. Can you tell me what this does? Well, maybe that's a better name because somebody else who was looking at this, they won't know, I don't know, you know, it's in your head, but you will not always be working solo. my school, a big portion of the students went on to get technical jobs from after right after graduating. it was when you graduated from the school that I was teaching at, KTC, it was the equivalent of an associate's degree. Maybe 50 percent went off to a tech job. Maybe 50 percent went on to a four year university. And, and so as students, it hadn't. Connected with them always yet that oh, this isn't just about the assignment. This is also about learning how to interact with my co workers in the future. Differences between students [00:08:38] Jeremy: Yeah, I mean, I think It's hard, but, group projects are kind of always, uh, that's kind of where you get to work with other people and, read other people's code, but there's always that potential imbalance of where one person is like, uh, I know how to do this. I'll just do it. Right? So I'm not really sure how to solve that problem. Yeah. [00:09:00] Sara: Mm hmm. That's something that I think probably happens to some degree everywhere, but man, Japan really has groups, group work down. They, that's a super generalization. For my students though, when you would put them in a group, they were, they were usually really organized about who was going to do what and, kept on each other about doing things maybe there were some students that were a little bit more slackers, but it was certainly not the kind of polarized dichotomy you would usually see in an American classroom. [00:09:39] Jeremy: Yeah. I've been on both sides. I've been the person who did the work and the slacker. [00:09:44] Sara: Same. [00:09:46] Jeremy: And, uh, I feel bad about it now, but, uh, [00:09:50] Sara: We did what we had to do. [00:09:52] Jeremy: We all got the degree, so we're good. that is interesting, though. I mean, was there anything else, like, culturally different, you felt, from, you know, the Japanese university? [00:10:04] Sara: Yes. Absolutely. A lot of things. In American university, it's kind of the first time in a young person's life, usually, where they have the freedom to choose what they learn, choose where they live, what they're interested in. And so there's usually a lot of investment in your study and being there, being present, paying attention to the lecture. This is not to say that Japanese college students were the opposite. But the cultural feeling is college is your last time to have fun before you enter the real world of jobs and working too many hours. And so the emphasis on paying Super attention or, being perfect in your assignments. There was, there was a scale. There were some students that were 100 percent there. And then there were some students that were like, I'm here to get a degree and maybe I'm going to sleep in class a little bit. (laughs) That is another major difference, cultural aspect. In America, if you fall asleep in a meeting, you fall asleep in class, super rude. Don't do it. In Japan, if you take a nap at work, you take a nap in class, not rude. It's actually viewed as a sign of you are working really hard. You're usually working maybe late into the night. You're not getting enough sleep. So the fact that you need to take maybe a nap here or two here or there throughout the day means that you have put dedication in. [00:11:50] Jeremy: Even if the reason you're asleep is because you were playing games late at night. [00:11:54] Sara: Yep. [00:11:55] Jeremy: But they don't know that. [00:11:56] Sara: Yeah. But it's usually the case for my students. [00:11:59] Jeremy: Okay. I'm glad they were having fun at least [00:12:02] Sara: Me too. Why she moved back [00:12:04] Jeremy: That sounds like a really interesting experience. You did it for about two years? Three years. [00:12:12] Sara: So I had a three year contract with an option to extend up to five, although I did have a There were other teachers in my same situation who were actually there for like 10 years, so it was flexible. [00:12:27] Jeremy: Yeah. So I guess when you made the decision to, to leave, what was sort of your, your thinking there? [00:12:35] Sara: My fiance was in America [00:12:37] Jeremy: Good. [00:12:37] Sara: he didn't want to move to Japan [00:12:39] Jeremy: Good, reason. [00:12:39] Sara: Yeah, he was waiting three years patiently for me. [00:12:44] Jeremy: Okay. Okay. my heart goes out there . He waited patiently. [00:12:49] Sara: We saw each other. We, we were very lucky enough to see each other every three or four months in person. Either I would visit America or he would come visit me in Kanazawa. [00:12:59] Jeremy: Yeah, yeah. You, you couldn't convince him to, to fall in love with the country. [00:13:03] Sara: I'm getting there [00:13:04] Jeremy: Oh, you're getting Oh, [00:13:05] Sara: it's, We're making, we're making way. [00:13:07] Jeremy: Good, that's good. So are you taking like, like yearly trips or something, or? [00:13:11] Sara: That was, that was always my intention when I moved back so I moved back in the Spring of 2018 to America and I did visit. In 2019, the following year, so I could attend the graduation ceremony for the last group of students that I taught. [00:13:26] Jeremy: That's so sweet. [00:13:27] Sara: And then I had plans to go in 2020. We know what happened in 2020 [00:13:32] Jeremy: Yeah. [00:13:33] Sara: The country did not open to tourism again until the fall of 2022. But I did just make a trip last month. [00:13:40] Jeremy: Nice [00:13:40] Sara: To see some really good friends for the first time in four years. [00:13:43] Jeremy: Amazing, yeah. Where did you go? [00:13:46] Sara: I did a few days in Tokyo. I did a few days in Niigata cause I was with a friend who studied abroad there. And then a few days in Kanazawa. [00:13:56] Jeremy: That's really cool, yeah. yeah, I had a friend who lived there, but they were teaching English, yeah. And, I always have a really good time when I'm out there, yeah. [00:14:08] Sara: Absolutely. If anyone out there visiting wants to go to Japan, this is your push. Go do it. Reach out to me on LinkedIn. I will help you plan. [00:14:17] Jeremy: Nice, nice. Um, yeah, I, I, I would say the same. Like, definitely, if you're thinking about it, go. And, uh, sounds like Sara will hook you up. [00:14:28] Sara: Yep, I'm your travel guide. Technical terms in Japanese [00:14:31] Jeremy: So you, you studied, uh, you, you said you had a minor in Japanese? Yeah. So, so when you were teaching there, were you teaching classes in English or was it in Japanese? [00:14:42] Sara: It was a mix. Uh, when I was hired, the job description was no Japanese needed. It was a very, like, Global, international style college, so there was a huge emphasis on learning English. They wanted us to teach only in English. My thought was, it's hard enough learning computer science in your native language, let alone a foreign language, so my lectures were in English, but I would assist the labs in japanese [00:15:14] Jeremy: Oh, nice. Okay. And then, so you were basically fluent then at the time. Middle. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, well, I think if you're able to, to help people, you know, in labs and stuff, and it's a technical topic, right? So that's gotta be kind of a, an interesting challenge [00:15:34] Sara: I did learn a lot of new computer vocabulary. Yes. [00:15:39] Jeremy: So the words are, like, a lot of them are not the same? Or, you know, for, for specifically related to programming, I guess. [00:15:46] Sara: Hmm. Yeah, there are Japanese specific words. There's a lot of loan words that we use. We. Excuse me. There's a lot of loan words that Japanese uses for computer terms, but there's plenty that are just in Japanese. For example, uh, an array is hairetsu. [00:16:08] Jeremy: Okay. [00:16:08] Sara: And like a screen or the display that your monitor is a gamen, but a keyboard would be keyboard... Kībōdo, probably. [00:16:20] Jeremy: Yeah. So just, uh, so that, they use that as a loan word, I guess. But I'm not sure why not the other two. [00:16:27] Sara: Yeah, it's a mystery. [00:16:29] Jeremy: So it's just, it's just a total mix. Yeah. I'm just picturing you thinking like, okay, is it the English word or is it the Japanese word? You know, like each time you're thinking of a technical term. Yeah. [00:16:39] Sara: Mm hmm. I mostly, I, I I went to the internet. I searched for Japanese computer term dictionary website, and kind of just studied the terms. I also paid a lot of attention to the Japanese professors when they were teaching, what words they were using. Tried to integrate. Also, I was able to lean on my study abroad, because it was a technical Japanese, like there were classes that we took that was on technical Japanese. Computer usage, and also eco technology, like green technology. So I had learned a bunch of them previously. [00:17:16] Jeremy: Mm. So was that for like a summer or a year or something [00:17:20] Sara: It was six weeks [00:17:21] Jeremy: Six weeks. [00:17:21] Sara: During the summer, [00:17:22] Jeremy: Got it. So that's okay. So like, yeah, that must have been an experience like going to, I'm assuming that's the first time you had been [00:17:30] Sara: It was actually the second time [00:17:31] Jeremy: The second [00:17:32] Sara: Yeah. That was in 2010 that I studied abroad. [00:17:35] Jeremy: And then the classes, they were in Japanese or? Yeah. Yeah. That's, uh, that's, that's full immersion right there. [00:17:42] Sara: It was, it was very funny in the, in the very first lesson of kind of just the general language course, there was a student that was asking, I, how do I say this? I don't know this. And she was like, Nihongo de. [00:17:55] Jeremy: Oh (laughs) ! [00:17:56] Sara: You must, must ask your question only in [00:17:59] Jeremy: Yeah, Programming resources in Japanesez [00:17:59] Jeremy: yeah. yeah. That's awesome. So, so it's like, I guess the, the professors, they spoke English, but they were really, really pushing you, like, speak Japanese. Yeah, that's awesome. and maybe this is my bias because I'm an English native, but when you look up. Resources, like you look up blog posts and Stack Overflow and all this stuff. It's all in English, right? So I'm wondering for your, your students, when, when they would search, like, I got this error, you know, what do I do about it? Are they looking at the English pages or are they, you know, you know what I mean? [00:18:31] Sara: There are Japanese resources that they would use. They love Guguru (Google) sensei. [00:18:36] Jeremy: Ah okay. Okay. [00:18:38] Sara: Um, but yeah, there are plenty of Japanese language stack overflow equivalents. I'm not sure if they have stack overflow specifically in Japanese. But there are sites like that, that they, that they used. Some of the more invested students would also use English resources, but that was a minority. [00:19:00] Jeremy: Interesting. So there's a, there's a big enough community, I suppose, of people posting and answering questions and stuff where it's, you don't feel like, there aren't people doing the same thing as you out there. [00:19:14] Sara: Absolutely. Yeah. There's, a large world of software development in Japan, that we don't get to hear. There are questions and answers over here because of that language barrier. [00:19:26] Jeremy: Yeah. I would be, like, kind of curious to, to see, the, the languages and the types of problems they have, if they were similar or if it's, like, I don't know, just different. [00:19:38] Sara: Yeah, now I'm interested in that too, and I bet you there is a lot of research that we could do on Ruby, since Ruby is Japanese. [00:19:51] Jeremy: Right. cause something I've, I've often heard is that, when somebody says they're working with Ruby, Here in, um, the United States, a lot of times people assume it's like, Oh, you're doing a Rails app, [00:20:02] Sara: Mm hmm. [00:20:03] Jeremy: Almost, almost everybody who's using Ruby, not everyone, but you know, the majority I think are using it because of Rails. And I've heard that in Japan, there's actually a lot more usage that's, that's not tied to Rails. [00:20:16] Sara: I've also heard that, and I get the sense of that from RubyKaigi as well. Which I have never been lucky enough to attend. But, yeah, the talks that come out of RubyKaigi, very technical, low to the metal of Ruby, because there's that community that's using it for things other than Rails, other than web apps. [00:20:36] Jeremy: Yeah, I think, one of the ones, I don't know if it was a talk or not, but, somebody was saying that there is Ruby in space. [00:20:42] Sara: That's awesome. Ruby's everywhere. LAN parties in college [00:20:44] Jeremy: So yeah, I guess like another thing I saw, during your time at Rochester is you were, involved with like, there's like a gaming club I wonder if you could talk a little bit about your experience with that. [00:20:55] Sara: Absolutely, I can. So, at RIT, I was an executive board member for three or four years at the Electronic Gaming Society. EGS for short, uh, we hosted weekly console game nights in, the student alumni union area, where there's open space, kind of like a cafeteria. We also hosted quarterly land parties, and we would actually get people from out of state sometimes who weren't even students to come. Uh, and we would usually host the bigger ones in the field house, which is also where concerts are held. And we would hold the smaller ones in conference rooms. I think when I started in 2006, the, the, the LANs were pretty small, maybe like 50, 50 people bring your, your, your huge CRT monitor tower in. [00:21:57] Jeremy: Oh yeah, [00:21:57] Sara: In And then by the time I left in 2012. we were over 300 people for a weekend LAN party, um, and we were actually drawing more power than concerts do. [00:22:13] Jeremy: Incredible. what were, what were people playing at the time? Like when they would the LANs like, [00:22:18] Sara: Yep. Fortnite, early League of Legends, Call of Duty. Battlegrounds. And then also just like fun indie games like Armagedtron, which is kind of like a racing game in the style of [00:22:37] Jeremy: okay. Oh, okay, [00:22:39] Sara: Um, any, there are some like fun browser games where you could just mess with each other. Jackbox. Yeah. [00:22:49] Jeremy: Yeah, it's, it's interesting that, you know, you're talking about stuff like Fortnite and, um, what is it? Battlegrounds is [00:22:55] Sara: not Fortnite. Team Fortress. [00:22:58] Jeremy: Oh Team Fortress! [00:22:59] Sara: Sorry. Yeah. Oh, yeah, I got my, my names mixed up. Fortnite, I think, did not exist at the time, but Team Fortress was big. [00:23:11] Jeremy: Yeah. that's really cool that you're able to get such a big group there. is there something about Rochester, I guess, that that was able to bring together this many people for like these big LAN events? Because I'm... I mean, I'm not sure how it is elsewhere, but I feel like that's probably not what was happening elsewhere in the country. [00:23:31] Sara: Yeah, I mean, if you've ever been to, um, DreamHack, that's, that's a huge LAN party and game convention, that's fun. so... EGS started in the early 2000s, even before I joined, and was just a committed group of people. RIT was a very largely technical school. The majority of students were there for math, science, engineering, or they were in the computer college, [00:24:01] Jeremy: Oh, okay. [00:24:01] Sara: GCIS, G C C I S, the Gossano College of Computing and Information Sciences. So there was a lot of us there. [00:24:10] Jeremy: That does make sense. I mean, it's, it's sort of this, this bias that when there's people doing, uh, technical stuff like software, um, you know, and just IT, [00:24:21] Sara: Mm hmm. [00:24:23] Jeremy: there's kind of this assumption that's like, oh, maybe they play games. And it seems like that was accurate [00:24:27] Sara: It was absolutely accurate. And there were plenty of people that came from different majors. but when I started, there were 17, 000 students and so that's a lot of students and obviously not everyone came to our weekly meetings, but we had enough dedicated people that were on the eboard driving, You know, marketing and advertising for, for our events and things like that, that we were able to get, the good community going. I, I wasn't part of it, but the anime club at RIT is also huge. They run a convention every year that is huge, ToraCon, um. And I think it's just kind of the confluence of there being a lot of geeks and nerds on campus and Rochester is a college town. There's maybe like 10 other universities in [00:25:17] Jeremy: Well, sounds like it was a good time. [00:25:19] Sara: Absolutely would recommend. Strong Museum of Play [00:25:22] Jeremy: I've never, I've never been, but the one thing I have heard about Rochester is there's the, the Strong Museum of Play. [00:25:29] Sara: Yeah, that place is so much fun, even as an adult. It's kind of like, um, the, the Children's Museum in Indiana for, for those that might know that. it just has all the historical toys and pop culture and interactive exhibits. It's so fun. [00:25:48] Jeremy: it's not quite the same, but it, when you were mentioning the Children's Museum in, um, I think it's in St. Louis, there's, uh, it's called the City Museum and it's like a, it's like a giant playground, you know, indoors, outdoors, and it's not just for kids, right? And actually some of this stuff seems like kind of sketch in terms of like, you could kind of hurt yourself, you know, climbing [00:26:10] Sara: When was this made? [00:26:12] Jeremy: I'm not sure, but, uh, [00:26:14] Sara: before regulations maybe. ha. [00:26:16] Jeremy: Yeah. It's, uh, but it's really cool. So at the, at the Museum of Play, though, is it, There's like a video game component, right? But then there's also, like, other types of things, [00:26:26] Sara: Yeah, they have, like, a whole section of the museum that's really, really old toys on display, like, 1900s, 1800s. Um, they have a whole Sesame Street section, and other things like that. Yeah. From Java to Ruby [00:26:42] Jeremy: Check it out if you're in Rochester. maybe now we could talk a little bit about, so like now you're working at Thoughtbot as a Ruby developer. but before we started recording, you were telling me that you started, working with Java. And there was like a, a long path I suppose, you know, changing languages. So maybe you can talk a little bit about your experience there. [00:27:06] Sara: Yeah. for other folks who have switched languages, this might be a familiar story for you, where once you get a job in one technology or one stack, one language, you kind of get typecast after a while. Your next job is probably going to be in the same language, same stack. Companies, they hire based on technology and So, it might be hard, even if you've been playing around with Ruby in your free time, to break, make that barrier jump from one language to another, one stack to another. I mean, these technologies, they can take a little while to ramp up on. They can be a little bit different, especially if you're going from a non object oriented language to an object oriented, don't. Lose hope. (laughs) If you have an interest in Ruby and you're not a Rubyist right now, there's a good company for you that will give you a chance. That's the key that I learned, is as a software developer, the skills that you have that are the most important are not the language that you know. It's the type of thinking that you do, the problem solving, communication, documentation, knowledge sharing, Supporting each other, and as Saron the keynote speaker on Wednesday said, the, the word is love. [00:28:35] Jeremy: [00:28:35] Sara: So when I was job hunting, it was really valuable for me to include those important aspects in my skill, in my resume, in my CV, in my interviews, that like, I'm newer to this language because I had learned it at a rudimentary level before. Never worked in it really professionally for a long time. Um, when I was applying, it was like, look, I'm good at ramping up in technologies. I have been doing software for a long time, and I'm very comfortable with the idea of planning, documenting, problem solving. Give me a chance, please. I was lucky enough to find my place at a company that would give me a chance. Test Double hired me in 2019 as a remote. Software Consultant, and it changed my life. [00:29:34] Jeremy: What, what was it about, Ruby that I'm assuming that this is something that you maybe did in your spare time where you were playing with Ruby or? [00:29:43] Sara: I am one of those people that don't really code in their spare time, which I think is valuable for people to say. The image of a software developer being, well, if you're not coding in your spare time, then you're not passionate about it. That's a myth. That's not true. Some of us, we have other hobbies. I have lots of hobbies. Coding is not the one that I carry outside of the workplace, usually, but, I worked at a company called Constant Contact in 2014 and 2015. And while I was there, I was able to learn Ruby on Rails. [00:30:23] Jeremy: Oh, okay. So that was sort of, I guess, your experience there, on the job. I guess you enjoyed something about the language or something about Rails and then that's what made you decide, like, I would really love to, to... do more of this [00:30:38] Sara: Absolutely. It was amazing. It's such a fun language. The first time I heard about it was in college, maybe 2008 or 2009. And I remember learning, this looks like such a fun language. This looks like it would be so interesting to learn. And I didn't think about it again until 2014. And then I was programming in it. Coming from a Java mindset and it blew my mind, the Rails magic also, I was like, what is happening? This is so cool. Because of my typecasting sort of situation of Java, I wasn't able to get back to it until 2019. And I don't want to leave. I'm so happy. I love the language. I love the community. It's fun. [00:31:32] Jeremy: I can totally see that. I mean, when I first tried out Rails, yeah, it, like, you mentioned the magic, and I know some people are like, ah, I don't like the magic, but when, I think, once I saw what you could do, And how, sort of, little you needed to write, and the fact that so many projects kind of look the same. Um, yeah, that really clicked for me, and I really appreciated that. think that and the Rails console. I think the console is amazing. [00:32:05] Sara: Being able to just check real quick. Hmm, I wonder if this will work. Wait, no, I can check right now. I [00:32:12] Jeremy: And I think that's an important point you brought up too, about, like, not... the, the stereotype and I, I kind of, you know, showed it here where I assumed like, Oh, you were doing Java and then you moved to Ruby. It must've been because you were doing Ruby on the side and thought like, Oh, this is cool. I want to do it for my job. but I, I thought that's really cool that you were able to, not only that you, you don't do the programming stuff outside of work, but that you were able to, to find an opportunity where you could try something different, you know, in your job where you're still being paid. And I wonder, was there any, was there any specific intention behind, like, when you took that job, it was so that I can try something different, or did it just kind of happen? I'm curious what your... The appeal of consulting [00:32:58] Sara: I was wanting to try something different. I also really wanted to get into consulting. [00:33:04] Jeremy: Hmm. [00:33:05] Sara: I have ADHD. And working at a product company long term, I think, was never really going to work out for me. another thing you might notice in my LinkedIn is that a lot of my stays at companies have been relatively short. Because, I don't know, I, my brain gets bored. The consultancy environment is... Perfect. You can go to different clients, different engagements, meet new people, learn a different stack, learn how other people are doing things, help them be better, and maybe every two weeks, two months, three months, six months, a year, change and do it all over again. For some people, that sounds awful. For me, it's perfect. [00:33:51] Jeremy: Yeah, I hadn't thought about that with, with consulting. cause I, I suppose, so you said it's, it's usually about half a year between projects or is It [00:34:01] Sara: varies [00:34:01] Jeremy: It varies widely. [00:34:02] Sara: Widely. I think we try to hit the sweet spot of 3-6 months. For an individual working on a project, the actual contract engagement might be longer than that, but, yeah. Maintainers don't get enough credit [00:34:13] Jeremy: Yeah. And, and your point about how some people, they like to jump on different things and some people like to, to stick to the same thing. I mean, that, that makes a lot of, sense in terms of, I think maintaining software and like building new software. It's, they're both development, [00:34:32] Sara: Mm hmm. [00:34:32] Jeremy: they're very different. Right. [00:34:35] Sara: It's so funny that you bring that up because I highly gravitate towards maintaining over making. I love going to different projects, but I have very little interest in Greenfield, very little interest in making something new. I want to get into the weeds, into 10 years that nobody wants to deal with because the weeds are so high and there's dragons in there. I want to cut it away. I want to add documentation. I want to make it better. It's so important for us to maintain our software. It doesn't get nearly enough credit. The people that work on open source, the people that are doing maintenance work on, on apps internally, externally, Upgrades, making sure dependencies are all good and safe and secure. love that stuff. [00:35:29] Jeremy: That's awesome. We, we need more of you. (laughs) [00:35:31] Sara: There's plenty of us out there, but we don't get the credit (laughs) [00:35:34] Jeremy: Yeah, because it's like with maintenance, well, I would say probably both in companies and in open source when everything is working. Then Nobody nobody knows. Nobody says anything. They're just like, Oh, that's great. It's working. And then if it breaks, then everyone's upset. [00:35:51] Sara: Exactly. [00:35:53] Jeremy: And so like, yeah, you're just there to get yelled at when something goes wrong. But when everything's going good, it's like, [00:35:59] Sara: A job well done is, I was never here. [00:36:02] Jeremy: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know how. To, you know, to fix that, I mean, when you think about open source maintainers, right, like a big thing is, is, is burnout, right? Where you are keeping the internet and all of our applications running and, you know, what you get for it is people yelling at you and the issues, right? [00:36:23] Sara: Yeah, it's hard. And I think I actually. Submitted a talk to RubyConf this year about this topic. It didn't get picked. That's okay. Um, we all make mistakes. I'm going to try to give it somewhere in the future, but I think one of the important things that we as an industry should strive for is giving glory. Giving support and kudos to maintenance work. I've been trying to do that. slash I have been doing that at ThoughtBot by, at some cadence. I have been putting out a blog post to the ThoughtBot blog called. This week in open source, the time period that is covered might be a week or longer in those posts. I give a summary of all of the commits that have been made to our open source projects. And the people that made those contributions with highlighting to new version releases, including patch level. And I do this. The time I, I, I took up the torch of doing this from a co worker, Mike Burns, who used to do it 10 years ago. I do this so that people can get acknowledgement for the work they do, even if it's fixing a broken link, even if it's updating some words that maybe don't make sense. All of it is valuable. [00:37:54] Jeremy: Definitely. Yeah. I mean, I, I think that, um, yeah, what's visible to people is when there's a new feature or an API change and Yeah, it's just, uh, people don't, I think a lot of people don't realize, like, how much work goes into just keeping everything running. [00:38:14] Sara: Mm hmm. Especially in the world of open source and Ruby on Rails, all the gems, there's so many different things coming out, things that suddenly this is not compatible. Suddenly you need to change something in your code because a dependency, however many steps apart has changed and it's hard work. The people that do those things are amazing. [00:38:41] Jeremy: So if anybody listening does that work, we, we appreciate you. [00:38:45] Sara: We salute you. Thank you. And if you're interested in contributing to ThoughtBot open source, we have lots of repos. There's one out there for you. Thoughts on RubyConf [00:38:54] Jeremy: You've been doing programming for quite a while, and, you're here at, at RubyConf. I wonder what kind of brings you to these, these conferences? Like, what do you get out of them? Um, I guess, how was this one? That sort of thing. [00:39:09] Sara: Well, first, this one was sick. This one was awesome. Uh, Ruby central pulled out all the stops and that DJ on Monday. In the event, in the exhibit hall. Wow. Amazing. So he told me that he was going to put his set up on Spotify, on Weedmaps Spotify, so go check it out. Anyway, I come to these conferences for people. I just love connecting with people. Those listening might notice that I'm an extrovert. I work remotely. A lot of us work remotely these days. this is an opportunity to see some of my coworkers. There's seven of us here. It's an opportunity to see people I only see at conferences, of which there are a lot. It's a chance to connect with people I've only met on Mastodon, or LinkedIn, or Stack Overflow. It's a chance to meet wonderful podcasters who are putting out great content, keeping our community alive. That's, that's the key for me. And the talks are wonderful, but honestly, they're just a side effect for me. They just come as a result of being here. [00:40:16] Jeremy: Yeah, it's kind of a unique opportunity, you know, to have so many of your, your colleagues and to just all be in the same place. And you know that anybody you talk to here, like if you talk about Ruby or software, they're not going to look at you and go like, I don't know what you're talking about. Like everybody here has at least that in common. So it's, yeah, it's a really cool experience to, to be able to chat with anybody. And it's like, You're all on the same page, [00:40:42] Sara: Mm hmm. We're all in this boat together. [00:40:45] Jeremy: Yup, that we got to keep, got to keep afloat according to matz [00:40:49] Sara: Gotta keep it afloat, yeah. [00:40:51] Jeremy: Though I was like, I was pretty impressed by like during his, his keynote and he had asked, you know, how many of you here, it's your first RubyConf and it felt like it was over half the room. [00:41:04] Sara: Yeah, I got the same sense. I was very glad to see that, very impressed. My first RubyConf was and it was the same sort of showing of [00:41:14] Jeremy: Nice, yeah. Yeah, actually, that was my first one, too. [00:41:17] Sara: Nice! [00:41:19] Jeremy: Uh, that was Nashville, Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's, yeah, it's really interesting to see because, the meme online is probably like, Ah, Ruby is dead, or Rails is dead. But like you come to these conferences and yeah, there's, there's so many new people. There's like new people that are learning it and experiencing it and, you know, enjoying it the same way we are. So I, I really hope that the, the community can really, yeah, keep this going. [00:41:49] Sara: Continue, continue to grow and share. I love that we had first timer buttons, buttons where people could self identify as this is my first RubyConf and, and then that opens a conversation immediately. It's like, how are you liking it? What was your favorite talk? [00:42:08] Jeremy: Yeah, that's awesome. okay, I think that's probably a good place to start wrapping it. But is there anything else you wanted to mention or thought we should have talked about? [00:42:18] Sara: Can I do a plug for thoughtbot? [00:42:20] Jeremy: yeah, go for it. [00:42:21] Sara: Alright. For those of you out there that might not know what ThoughtBot does, we are a full software lifecycle or company lifecycle consultancy, so we do everything from market fit and rapid prototyping to MVPs to helping with developed companies, developed teams, maybe do a little bit of a Boost when you have a deadline or doing some tech debt. Pay down. We also have a DevOps team, so if you have an idea or a company or a team, you want a little bit of support, we have been around for 20 years. We are here for you. Reach out to us at thoughtbot.com. [00:43:02] Jeremy: I guess the thing about Thoughtbot is that, within the Ruby community specifically, they've been so involved with sponsorships and, and podcasts. And so, uh, when you hear about consultancies, a lot of times it's kind of like, well, I don't know, are they like any good? Do they know what they're doing? But I, I feel like, ThoughtBot has had enough, like enough of a public record. I feel It's like, okay, if you, if you hire them, um, you should be in good hands. [00:43:30] Sara: Yeah. If you have any questions about our abilities, read the blog. [00:43:35] Jeremy: It is a good blog. Sometimes when I'm, uh, searching for how to do something in Rails, it'll pop up, [00:43:40] Sara: Mm hmm. Me too. Every question I ask, one of the first results is our own blog. I'm like, oh yeah, that makes sense. [00:43:47] Jeremy: Probably the peak is if you've written the blog. [00:43:50] Sara: That has happened to my coworkers They're like, wait, I wrote a blog about this nine years ago. [00:43:55] Jeremy: Yeah, yeah. So maybe, maybe that'll happen to you soon. I, I know definitely people who do, um, Stack Overflow. And it's like, Oh, I like, this is a good answer. Oh, I wrote this. (laughs) yeah. Well, Sara, thank you so much for, for chatting with me today. [00:44:13] Sara: Absolutely, Jeremy. Thank you so much for having me. I was really glad to chat today.

Detective Frankenstein here. You didn't happen to see a Brooke Breit wandering around here, holding a basket of feets, have you? Not her own feet, to be clear. No, this is a basket full of stranger feets - and they aren't hers to sell. On this episode, Brooke Breit and Jenna make a body-swapping lost-romance game with the prompts: Frankensteins Poetic Detective Follow Brooke Breit on Twitter @brookebreit and on Twitch @brookebreit! Thank you for listening to Big Game Hunger! Follow BGH at BigGameHunger on Instagram. Email us at BigGameHungerPod@gmail.com. Support this show, and submit your OWN random prompts, by subscribing at Patreon.com/TheJenna Big Game Hunger is part of the Multitude Collective of podcasts. Edited and mixed by the talented Mischa Stanton, and created and hosted by Jenna Stoeber.

Every week TWIG brings you a variety show full of segments ranging from news, reviews, interviews, and everything in-between to satisfy your geeky appetite!This week in geek:- Introductions- Razer Kishi V2 (Gaming Accessory Review)https://www.razer.com/ca-en/mobile-controllers/xbox-cloud- Geek News- PDP XBOX Series X|S & PC Purple AFTERGLOW WAVE Wired Controller (Gaming Accessory Review)https://pdp.com/en-ca/products/xbox-series-x-s-pc-afterglow-wave-wired-controller-purple- Weird News- The Jackbox Party Pack 10 (Xbox Series X Review)https://www.jackboxgames.com/games/the-jackbox-party-pack-10- What's Next?Show Notes:Your Geekmasters:Mike "The Birdman" - https://twitter.com/BirdmanDoddAlex "The Producer" - https://twitter.com/DeThPhaseTWIGFeedback for the show?:Email: feedback@thisweekingeek.netTwitter: https://twitter.com/thisweekingeekSubscribe to our feed: https://www.spreaker.com/show/3571037/episodes/feediTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-geek/id215643675Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Lit2bzebJXMTIv7j7fkqqGoogle Podcasts: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3ByZWFrZXIuY29tL3Nob3cvMzU3MTAzNy9lcGlzb2Rlcy9mZWVkWebsite: http://www.thisweekingeek.netNovember 5, 2023This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/3571037/advertisement

Rich and Amanda talk about the top games of 2023 that they didn't get a chance to play. Games: Beneath Oresa, Jackbox 10, Spider-man 2, Cyberknights: Flashpoint Early Access, and World of Horror. To contact us, email call@gamerswithjobs.com! Send us your thoughts on the show, pressing issues you want to talk about, or whatever else is on your mind. Links and Show Notes

The guys are back after a week off fully recharged and ready to go.  Chris has the details on yet another rumored Gargoyles return, Willie gives his initial impressions on Jackbox Party Pack 10 and Bachman tackles the SAG-AFTRA's dumb Halloween costume guidelines before getting into the latest on Daredevil Reborn.   For a full rundown of the show check out our show notes: https://bit.ly/ATGN537   Look for us LIVE Sunday mornings (11 AM EST) by checking out http://www.geeks.live  or http://live.atgnpodcast.com, where you will be either to participate via our chat room. We are also available via Twitter (@ATGNPodcast) Facebook (facebook.com/ATGNPodcast) e-mail (atgnpodcast(at)gonnageek.com) or our ATGN Hotline at 304-806-ATGN.     All Things Good And Nerdy is a proud member of the Gonna Geek Network.

It's October, and that's Castlevania month now! We join writer Lucas White to analyze a whole bunch of games. We're talking cyberpunk (again), Jackbox, Dragon Quest 2, and a whole bunch of others. Then we do something different for the variety minute and cover the Castlevania timeline. We top it all off with an analysis of Rondo of Blood. Join us for the wild ride.Time Stamps:0:00 Introduction4:30 Dragon Quest 2 (1987)11:00 Cyberpunk 2077 (2020)19:00 Alan Wake (2010)26:45 Jackbox Party Pack 10 (2023)37:15 Omega Quintet (2015)Variety Minute49:30 The Castlevania timelineGame of the Week1:14:30 Castlevania: Rondo of Blood

Get ready to laugh, compete, and challenge your friends in this episode of the Nintendo Pals Podcast!

On this episode, I share some thoughts about the announcement of PlayStation's Jim Ryan saying that he's retiring after a 30-year career in games. I also chat with the team from the Jackbox game before their 10th-party pack is released. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/spawnonme/message

Cast: Christian Humes, Dan Weine & Tom CaswellPokémon: 388 - GrotleOfftopic: Taskmaster, Tie-Dye, Urinals, King Gestures, One PieceGames: Baldur's Gate 3, JackBox, The Room VR, As Dusk Falls, Fall GuysPodcast Game: Who's That Pokémon?!Questions, Comments, Complaints, Corrections!?Call: 805-738-8692Twitter: @UnrankedPodcastEmail@UnrankedPodcast.comDiscordhttps://discord.gg/wkvu88KvTVYouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/unrankedpodcastStreamshttps://twitch.tv/GreatBriTomhttps://twitch.tv/BigDan815Merchhttps://www.teepublic.com/stores/unranked-podcastHarmony: Echos of Powergetharmonyeop.comHost ContactsTwitter@TunaTargaryen, @BigDan815, @GreatBriTomGamertagsTheChooms, Tuna Targaryen, TheBigDan815, GreatBriTomNintendo Friend CodesChristian: 4405-3172-5821Alex: 5443-2451-6915Dan: 2588-5184-0411Tom: 1369-5857-5388PSN:TunaTaygaryen, BigDan815, GreatBriTom Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

About JeremyJeremy is the Director of DevRel & Community at CircleCI, formerly at Solace, Auth0, and XDA. He is active in the DevRel Community, and is a co-creator of DevOpsPartyGames.com. A lover of all things coffee, community, open source, and tech, he is also house-broken, and (generally) plays well with others.Links Referenced: CircleCI: https://circleci.com/ DevOps Party Games: https://devopspartygames.com/ Twitter: Iamjerdog LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremymeiss/ TranscriptAnnouncer: Hello, and welcome to Screaming in the Cloud with your host, Chief Cloud Economist at The Duckbill Group, Corey Quinn. This weekly show features conversations with people doing interesting work in the world of cloud, thoughtful commentary on the state of the technical world, and ridiculous titles for which Corey refuses to apologize. This is Screaming in the Cloud.Corey: This episode is sponsored by our friends at Logicworks. Getting to the cloud is challenging enough for many places, especially maintaining security, resiliency, cost control, agility, etc, etc, etc. Things break, configurations drift, technology advances, and organizations, frankly, need to evolve. How can you get to the cloud faster and ensure you have the right team in place to maintain success over time? Day 2 matters. Work with a partner who gets it - Logicworks combines the cloud expertise and platform automation to customize solutions to meet your unique requirements. Get started by chatting with a cloud specialist today at snark.cloud/logicworks. That's snark.cloud/logicworksCorey: Welcome to Screaming in the Cloud. I'm Corey Quinn. I generally try to have people that I know in the ecosystem on this show from time to time, but somehow today's guest has never made it onto the show. And honestly, I have no excuse other than that, I guess I just like being contrary about it. Jeremy Meiss is the Director of DevRel and Community at CircleCI. Jeremy, thank you for finally getting on the show.Jeremy: Hey, you know what? I woke up months and months ago hoping I would be able to join and never have, so I appreciate you finally, you know, getting that celestial kick in the ass.Corey: I love the fact that this is what you lie awake at night worrying about. As all people should. So, let's get into it. You have been at CircleCI in their DevRel org—heading their DevRel org—for approximately 20 years, but in real-time and non-tech company timeframes, three years. But it feels like 20. How's that been? It's been an interesting three years, I'll say that much with the plague o'er the land.Jeremy: Yes, absolutely. No, it was definitely a time to join. I joined two weeks before the world went to shit, or shittier than it already was. And yeah, it's been a ride. Definitely see how everything's changed, but it's also been one that I couldn't be happier where I'm at and seeing the company grow.Corey: I've got to level with you. For the longest time, I kept encountering CircleCI in the same timeframes and context, as I did Travis CI. They both have CI in the name and I sort of got stuck on that. And telling one of the companies apart from the other was super tricky at the time. Now, it's way easier because Travis CI got acquired and then promptly imploded.Security issues that they tried to hide left and right, everyone I knew there long since vanished, and at this point, it is borderline negligence from my point of view to wind up using them in production. So oh, yeah, CircleCI, that's the one that's not trash. I don't know that you necessarily want to put that on a billboard somewhere, but that's my mental shortcut for it.Jeremy: You know, I'm not going to disagree with that. I think, you know, it had its place, I think there's probably only one or two companies nowadays actually propping it up as a business, and I think even they are actively trying to get out of it. So yeah, not going to argue there.Corey: I have been on record previously as talking about CI/CD—Continuous Integration slash Continuous Deployment—or for those who have not gone tumbling down that rabbit hole, the idea that when you push a commit to a particular branch on Git—or those who have not gotten to that point, push the button, suddenly code winds up deploying to different environments, occasionally production, sometimes staging, sometimes development, sometimes by accident—and there are a bunch of options in that space. AWS has a bunch of services under their CodeStar suite: CodeBuild, CodeDeploy, CodePipeline, and that's basically there as a marketing exercise by CI/CD companies that are effective because after having attempted to set those things up with the native offerings, you go scrambling to something else, anything else. GitHub Actions has also been heavily in that space because it's low friction to integrate, it's already there in GitHub, and that's awesome in some ways, terrible in others. But CircleCI has persistently been something that I see in a lot of different environments, both the open-source world, as well as among my clients, where they are using you folks to go from developer laptops to production safely and sanely.Jeremy: Absolutely, yeah. And I think that's one thing for us is, there's a niche of—you know, you can start if you're into AWS or you're into Google, or you're in—any of those big ecosystems, you can certainly use what they have, but those are always, like, add-on things, they're always like an afterthought of, “Oh, we're going to go add this,” or, “We're going to go add that.” And so, I think you adequately described it of, you know, once you start hitting scale, you're eventually going to start to want to use something, and I think that's where we generally fit in that space of, you know, you can start, but now you're going to eventually end up here and use best-in-class. I spent years Auth0 in the identity space, and it was the same kind of boat is that, you know, sure you can start with hopefully not rolling your own, but eventually you're going to end up wanting to use something best-in-class that does everything that you want it to do and does it right.Corey: The thing that just completely blows my mind is how much for all these companies, no matter who they are and how I talk to them, everyone talks about their CI/CD flow with almost a sense of embarrassment. And back in the days when I was running production environments, we use Jenkins as sort of a go-to answer for this. And that was always a giant screaming exemption to the infrastructure-as-code approach because you could configure it via the dashboard and the web interface and it would write that out as XML files. So, you wound up with bespoke thing lots of folks could interact with in different ways, and oh, by the way, it has access into development, staging, and production. Surely, there will be no disasters that happened as a result of this.And that felt terrible. And now we've gotten into a place where most folks are not doing that anymore, at least with the folks that I talk to, but I'm still amazed by how few best practices around a lot of this stuff has really emerged. Every time I see a CI/CD pipeline, it feels like it is a reimplementation locally of solving a global problem. You're the director of DevRel and have been for a few years now. Why haven't you fixed this yet?Jeremy: Primarily because I'm still stuck on the fact you mentioned, pushing a button and getting to XML. That just kind of stuck me there and sent me back that I can't come up with a solution at this point.Corey: Yeah, it's the way that you solve the gap—the schism as it were—between JSON and YAML. “Cool, we're going to use XML.” And everyone's like, “Oh, God, not that.” It's like, “Cool, now you're going to settle your differences or I'm going to implement other things, too.”Jeremy: That's right, yeah. I mean, then we're going to go use some bespoke company's own way of doing IAC. No, I think there's an element here where—I mean, it goes back to still using best-in-class. I think Hudson, which eventually became Jenkins, after you know, Cisco—was it Cisco? No, it was Sun—after Sun, you know, got their hands all over it, it was the thing. It's kind of, well, we're just going to spin this up and do it ourselves.But as the industry changes, we do more and more things on the cloud and we do it primarily because we're relocating the things that we don't want to have to manage ourselves with all of the overhead and all of the other stuff. We're going to go spit it over to the cloud for that. And so, I think there's been this shift in the industry that they still do, like you said, look at their pipelines with a little bit of embarrassment [laugh], I think, yeah. I chuckle when I think about that, but there is a piece where more and more people are recognizing that there is a better way and that you can—you don't have to look at your pipelines as this thing you hate and you can start to look at what better options there are than something you have to host yourself.Corey: What I'm wondering about now, though, because you've been fairly active in the space for a long time, which is a polite way of saying you have opinions—and you should hear the capital O and ‘Opinions' when I say it that way—let's fight about DevRel. What does DevRel mean to you? Or as I refer to it, ‘devrelopers?'Jeremy: Uh, devrelopers. Yes. You know, not to take from the standard DevOps answer, but I think it depends.Corey: That's the standard lawyer answer to anything up to and including, is it legal for me to murder someone? And it's also the senior consultant answer, to anything, too, because it turns out the world is baked and nuanced and doesn't lend itself to being resolved in 280 characters or less. That's what threads are for.Jeremy: Right [laugh]. Trademark. That is ultimately the answer, I think, with DevRel. For me, it is depending on what your company is trying to do. You ultimately want to start with building relationships with your developers because they're the ones using your product, and if you can get them excited about what they're doing with your product—or get excited about your product with what they're doing—then you have something to stand on.But you also have to have a product fit. You have to actually know what the hell your product is doing and is it going to integrate with whatever your developers want. And so, DevRel kind of stands in that gap that says, “Okay, here's what the community wants,” and advocates for the community, and then you have—it's going to advocate for the company back to the community. And hopefully, at the end of the day, they all shake hands. But also I've been around enough to recognize that there comes that point where you either a have to say, “Hey, our product for that thing is probably not the best thing for what you're trying to do. Here, you should maybe start at this other point.”And also understanding to take that even, to the next step to finish up the answer, like, my biggest piece now is all the fights that we have constantly around DevRel in the space of what is it and what is it not, DevRel is marketing. DevRel is sales. DevRel is product. And each of those, if you're not doing those things as a member of the company, you're not doing your job. Everybody in the company is the product. Everybody in the company is sales. Everybody in the company is marketing.Corey: Not everyone in the company realizes this, but I agree—Jeremy: Yes.Corey: Wholeheartedly.Jeremy: Yes. And so, that's where it's like yes, DevRel is marketing. Yes, it is sales. Because if you're not out there, spreading whatever the news is about your product and you're not actually, you know, showing people how to use it and making things easier for people, you're not going to have a job. And too often, these companies that—or too often I think a lot of DevRel teams find themselves in places where they're the first that get dropped when the company goes through things because sometimes it is just the fact that the company has not figured out what they really want, but also, sometimes it's the team hasn't really figured out how to position themselves inside the business.Corey: One of the biggest, I'll call it challenges that I see in the DevRel space comes down to defining what it is, first and foremost. I think that it is collectively a mistake for an awful lot of practitioners of developer relations, to wind up saying first and foremost that we're not marketing. Well, what is it that you believe that marketing is? In fact, I'll take it a step beyond that. I think that marketing is inherently the only place in most companies where we know that doing these things leads to good results, but it's very difficult to attribute or define that value, so how do we make sure that we're not first up on the chopping block?That has been marketing's entire existence. It's, you know that doing a whole bunch of things in marketing will go well for you, but as the old chestnut says, half your marketing budget is wasted and you'll go broke figuring out which half it is.Jeremy: Yeah. And whenever you have to make cuts, generally, they always, you know, always come to the marketing teams because hey, they're the ones spending, you know, millions of dollars a quarter on ads, or whatever it is. And so yeah, marketing has, in many ways figured this out. They're also the team that spends the most money in a company. So, I don't really know where to go with that isn't completely off the rails, but it is the reality. Like, that's where things happen, and they are the most in touch with what the direction of the company is going to ultimately be received as, and how it's going to be spoken about. And DevRel has great opportunities there.Corey: I find that when people are particularly militant about not liking sales or marketing or any other business function out there, one of the ways to get through them is to ask, “Great. In your own words, describe to me what you believe that department does. What is that?” And people will talk about marketing in a bunch of tropes—or sales in a bunch of tropes—where it is the worst examples of that.It's, “Terrific, great. Do you want me to wind up describing what you do as an engineer—in many cases—in the most toxic stereotype of Uber and 2015-style engineer I can come up with?” I think, in most cases if we're having a conversation and I haven't ended it by now, you would be horrified by that descriptor. Yeah. Not every salesperson is the skeezy used car salesman trying to trick you into something awful. Actual selling comes down to how do we wind up taking your pain away. One of my lines is, “I'm a consultant. You have problems and money. I will take both.”Jeremy: That's right [laugh]. Yeah, that's right.Corey: If you don't have a painful problem, I have nothing to sell you and all I'm doing is wasting my breath trying.Jeremy: Yeah, exactly. And that's where—I'll say it two ways—the difference between good marketing teams are, is understanding that pain point of the people that they're trying to sell to. And it's also a difference between, like, good and bad, even, DevRel teams is understanding what are the challenges that your users are having you're trying to express to, you're trying to fix? Figure that out because if you can't figure that out, then you or your marketing team are probably soon to be on the block and they're going to bring someone else in.Corey: I'm going to fight you a little bit, I suspect, in that a line I've heard is that, “Oh, DevRel is part of product because we are the voice of the community back into the development cycle of what product is building.” And the reason that I question that is I think that it glosses over an awful lot of what makes product competent as a department and not just a function done by other people. It's, “Oh, you're part of the product. Well, great. How much formal training have you had as part of your job on conducting user research and interviews with users and the rest?”And the answer invariably rounds to zero and, okay, in other words, you're just giving feedback in a drive-by fashion that not structured in any way and your product people are polite enough not to call you out on it. And that's when the fighting and slapping begins.Jeremy: Yeah. I don't think we're going to disagree too much there. I think one of the challenges, though, is for the very reason you just mentioned, that the product teams tend to hear your product sucks. And we've heard all the people telling us that, like, people in the community say that, they hear that so much and they've been so conditioned to it that it just rolls off their back, like, “Okay, whatever.” So, for DevRel teams, even if you're in product, which we can come back to that, regardless of where you're at, like, bringing any type of feedback you bring should have a person, a name associated with it with, like, Corey at Duckbill Group hates this product.Corey: Uh-oh [laugh]. Whenever my name is tied to feedback, it never goes well for me, but that will teach me eventually, ideally, to keep my mouth shut.Jeremy: Yeah. Well, how's that working for you?Corey: I'll let you know if it ever happens.Jeremy: Good. But once you start making the feedback like an actual person, it changes the conversation. Because now it's like, oh, it's not this nebulous, like, thing I can not listen to. It's now oh, it's actually a person at a specific company. So, that's one of the challenges in working with product that you have to overcome.When I think about DevRel in product, while I don't think that's a great spot for it, I think DevRel is an extension of product. That's part of where that, like, the big developer experience craze comes from, and why it is a valuable place for DevRel to be able to have input into is because you tend to be the closest to the people actually using the product. So, you have a lot of opportunities and a big surface area to have some impact.Corey: This episode is sponsored in part by our friends at Strata. Are you struggling to keep up with the demands of managing and securing identity in your distributed enterprise IT environment? You're not alone, but you shouldn't let that hold you back. With Strata's Identity Orchestration Platform, you can secure all your apps on any cloud with any IDP, so your IT teams will never have to refactor for identity again. Imagine modernizing app identity in minutes instead of months, deploying passwordless on any tricky old app, and achieving business resilience with always-on identity, all from one lightweight and flexible platform.Want to see it in action? Share your identity challenge with them on a discovery call and they'll hook you up with a complimentary pair of AirPods Pro. Don't miss out, visit Strata.io/ScreamingCloud. That's Strata dot io slash ScreamingCloud.Corey: I think that that is a deceptively nuanced statement. One of the things I learned from an earlier episode I had with Dr. Christina Maslach, is contributors to occupational burnout, so much of it really distills down—using [unintelligible 00:16:35] crappy layman's terms—to a lack of, I guess what I'm going to call relevance or a lack—a feeling like you are not significant to what the company is actually doing in any meaningful way. And I will confess to having had a number of those challenges in my career when I was working in production environments because, yeah, I kept the servers up and the applications up, but if you really think about it, one of the benefits of working in the system space—or the production engineers base, or DevOps, or platform engineering, or don't even start with me these days—is that what you do conveys almost seamlessly from company to company. Like, the same reason that I can do what I do now, I don't care what your company does, necessarily, I just know that the AWS bill is a bounded problem space and I can reason about it almost regardless of what you do.And if I'm keeping the site up, okay, it doesn't matter if we're streaming movies or selling widgets or doing anything, just so long as I don't find that it contradicts my own values. And that's great, but it also is isolating because you feel like you're not really relevant to the direction of what the company actually does. It's, “Okay, so what does this company do?” “We make rubber bands,” and well, I'm not really a rubber band connoisseur, but I could make sure that the website stays up. But it just feels like there's a disconnect element happening.Jeremy: That is real. It is very real. And one of the ways that I tried to kind of combat that, and I help my team kind of really try and keep this in mind, is we try to meet as much as possible with the people that are actually doing the direction, whether it be product marketing, or whether it's in product managers, or it's even, you know, in engineering is have some regular conversations with what we do as a company. How are we going to fit with that in what we do and what we say and all of our objectives, and making sure that everything we do ties to something that helps other teams and that fits within the business and where it's going so that we grow our understanding of what the company is trying to do so that we don't kind of feel like a ship that's without a sail and just floating wherever things go.Corey: On some level, I am curious as to what you're seeing as we navigate this—I don't know if it's a recession,' I don't know if it's a correction; I'm not sure what to call it—but my gut tells me that a lot of things that were aimed at, let's call it developer quality of life, they were something of a necessity in the unprecedented bull market that we've seen for the last decade at some point because most companies cannot afford to compete with the giant tech company compensation packages, so you have to instead talk about quality of life and what work-life balance looks like, and here's why all of the tools and processes here won't drive you to madness. And now it feels like, “Oh, we don't actually have to invest in a lot of those things, just because oh yeah, like, the benefits here are you're still going to be employed next week. So, how about that?” And I don't think that's a particularly healthy way to interact with people—it's certainly not how I do—but it does seem that worrying about keeping developers absolutely thrilled with every aspect of their jobs has taken something of a backseat during the downturn.Jeremy: I don't know. I feel like developer satisfaction is still an important piece, even though, you know, we have a changing market. And as you described, if you're not happy with the tool you're using, you're not going to be as productive than using the tool or using—you know, whether it's an actual developer productivity tool, or it's even just the fact that you might need two monitors, you're not going to be as productive if you're not enjoying what you're doing. So, there is a piece of it, I think, the companies are recognizing that there are some tools that do ultimately benefit and there's some things that they can say, we're not going to invest in that area right now. We're good with where we're at.Corey: On some level, being able to say, “No, we're not going to invest in that right now,” is the right decision. It is challenging, in some cases, to wind up talking to some team members in some orgs, who do not have the context that is required to understand why that decision is being made. Because without context, it looks like, “Mmm, no. I'm just canceling Christmas for you personally this year. Sorry, doesn't it suck to be you? [singing] Dut, dut.” And that is very rarely how executives make decisions, except apparently if they're Elon Musk.Jeremy: Right. Well, the [Muskrat 00:21:23] can, you know, sink any company—Corey: [laugh].Jeremy: — and get away with it. And that's one thing I've really been happy with where I'm at now, is you have a leadership team that says, “Hey, here's where things are, and here's what it looks like. And here's how we're all contributing to where we're going, and here's the decisions we're going to make, and here's how—” they're very open with what's going on. And it's not a surprise to anybody that the economic time means that we maybe can't go to 65 events next year. Like, that's just reality.But at the end of the day, we still have to go and do a job and help grow the company. So, how can we do that more efficiently? Which means that we—it leaves it better to try and figure that out than to be so nebulous, with like, “Yep, nope. You can't go do that.” That's where true leadership comes to is, like, laying it out there, and just, you know, getting people alongside with you.Corey: How do you see DevRel evolving? Because I think we had a giant evolution over the past few years. Because suddenly, the old vision of DevRel—at least in some quarters, which I admit I fell a little too deeply into—was, I'm going to go to all the conferences and give all of the talks, even though most of them are not related to the core of what I do. And maybe that's a viable strategy; maybe it's not. I think it depends on what your business does.And I don't disagree with the assertion that going and doing something in public can have excellent downstream effects, even if the connection is not obvious. But suddenly, we weren't able to do that, and people were forced to almost reinvent how a lot of that works. Now, that the world is, for better or worse, starting to open up again, how do you see it evolving? Are we going right back to a different DevOps days in a different city every week?Jeremy: I think it's a lot more strategic now. I think generally, there is less mountains of money that you can pull from to go and do whatever the hell you want. You have to be more strategic. I said that a few times. Like, there's looking at it and making sure, like, yeah, it would be great to go and, you know, get in front of 50,000 people this quarter or this year, whatever you want to do, but is that really going to move the bottom line for us? Is that really going to help the business, or is that just helping your Delta miles?What is really the best bang for the buck? So, I think DevRel as it evolves, in the next few years, has to come to a good recognition moment of we need to be a little bit more prescriptive in how we do things within our company and not so willy-nilly return to you know, what we generally used to get away with. That means you're going to see a lot more people have to be held to account within their companies of, is what you're doing actually match up to our business goal here? How does that fit? And having to explain more of that, and that's, I think, for some people will be easy. Some people are going to have to stretch that muscle, and others are going to be in a real tough pickle.Corey: One last topic I want to get into with you is devopspartygames.com, an online more or less DevOps, quote-unquote, “Personality” assortment of folks who wind up playing online games. I was invited once and promptly never invited back ever again. So first, was it something I said—obviously—and two what is that and how—is that still going in this post-pandemic-ish era?Jeremy: I like how you answered your own question first; that way I don't have to answer it. The second one, the way it came about was just, you know, Matty and I had started missing that interaction that we would tend to have in person. And so, one of the ways we started realizing is we play these, you know, Jackbox games, and why can't we just do this with DevOps tech prompts? So, that's kind of how it kicked off. We started playing around doing it for fun and then I was like, “You know, we should—we could do this as a big, big deal for foreseeable future.”Where's that now is, we actually have not done one online for—what is it? So probably, like, eight, nine months, primarily because it's harder and harder to do so as everybody [laugh]—we're now doing a little bit more travel, and it's hard to do those—as you know, doing podcasts, it takes a lot of work. It's not an easy kind of thing. And so, we've kind of put that on pause. But we actually did our first in-person DevOps Party Games at DevOpsDays Chicago recently, and that was a big hit, I think, and opportunity to kind of take what we're doing virtually, and the fun and excitement that we generally would have—relatively half-drunk—to actually doing it actually in-person at an event. And in the different—like, just as giving talks in person was a different level of interaction with the crowd, the same thing is doing it in person. So, it was just kind of a fun thing and an opportunity maybe to continue to do it in person.Corey: I think we all got a hell of a lot better very quickly at speaking to cameras instead of audiences and the rest. It also forced us to be more focused because the camera gives you nothing in a way that the audience absolutely does.Jeremy: They say make love to the camera, but it doesn't work anyways.Corey: I really want to thank you for spending as much time as you have talking to me. If people want to learn more about who you are and what you're up to, where should they go?Jeremy: Well, for the foreseeable future, or at least what we can guess, you can find me on the Twitters at @Iamjerdog. You can find me there or you can find me at, you know, LinkedIn, at jeremymeiss, LinkedIn. And you know, probably come into your local DevOpsDays or other conference as well.Corey: Of course. And we will, of course, put links to that in the show notes.Jeremy: Excellent.Corey: Thank you so much for being so generous with your time. It is always appreciated. And I do love talking with you.Jeremy: And I appreciate it, Corey. It was great beyond, finally. I won't hold it against you anymore.Corey: Jeremy Meiss, Director of DevRel at CircleCI. I'm Cloud Economist Corey Quinn and this is Screaming in the Cloud. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave a five-star review on your podcast platform of choice, whereas if you've hated this podcast, please leave a five-star review on your podcast platform of choice, along with an angry, irritated comment talking about how CI/CD is nonsense and the correct way to deploy to production is via the tried-and-true method of copying and pasting.Corey: If your AWS bill keeps rising and your blood pressure is doing the same, then you need The Duckbill Group. We help companies fix their AWS bill by making it smaller and less horrifying. The Duckbill Group works for you, not AWS. We tailor recommendations to your business and we get to the point. Visit duckbillgroup.com to get started.

Diamond Sharp's Super Sad Black Girl is a love letter to her hometown of Chicago, where the speaker finds solace and community with her literary idols in hopes of answering the question: What does it look like when Black women are free?Lorraine Hansberry and Gwendolyn Brooks appear throughout these poems, counseling the speaker as she navigates her own depression and exploratory questions about the “Other Side,” as do Sandra Bland, Rekia Boyd, and other Black women who have been murdered by police. Sharp's poetry is self-assured, playful, and imaginative, reminiscent of Langston Hughes with its precision and brevity. The book explores purgatorial, in-between spaces that the speaker occupies as she struggles to find a place and time where she can live safely and freely. With her skillful use of repetition, particularly in her series of concrete poems, lines and voices echo across the book so the reader, too, feels suspended within Sharp's lyric moments. Super Sad Black Girl is a compassionate and ethereal depiction of mental illness from a promising and powerful poet.Join us for this livestream of the in-person book launch event for Super Sad Black Girl with Diamond Sharp, Eve Ewing, Raych Jackson and Jamila Woods. -------------------------------------------------- Speakers: Diamond Sharp is a poet and essayist from Chicago. Super Sad Black Girl is her debut collection of poems. Dr. Eve L. Ewing is a sociologist of education and a writer from Chicago. She is the award-winning author of four books: the poetry collections Electric Arches and 1919, the nonfiction work Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago's South Side, and most recently a novel for young readers, Maya and the Robot. She is the co-author (with Nate Marshall) of the play No Blue Memories: The Life of Gwendolyn Brooks. Rachel “Raych” Jackson is a writer, educator and performer. Her poems have gained over 2 million views on YouTube. She is the 2017 NUPIC Champion and a 2017 Pink Door fellow. Jackson recently voiced 'DJ Raych' in the Jackbox game, Mad Verse City. She voices Tiffany in Battu, an upcoming animation recently picked up by Cartoon Network. Her latest play, “Emotions & Bots”, premiered at the Woerdz Festival in Lucerne, Switzerland. Jamila Woods is a Chicago-bred singer/songwriter and award-winning poet whose inspirations include Gwendolyn Brooks and Toni Morrison. Following the 2016 release of her debut album HEAVN, Woods received critical acclaim for her singular sound that is both rooted in soul and wholly modern. Her 2019 sophomore release LEGACY! LEGACY! featured 12 tracks named after writers, thinkers, and visual artists who have influenced her life and work. She is a Pushcart Prize-winning poet and co-editor of BreakBeat Poets: Black Girl Magic (2018). Watch the live event recording: https://youtu.be/W_yl0SZR050 Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org Follow us on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/haymarketbooks