Podcasts about mac geek gab

The Road to Macstock takes us to Dave Hamilton, who previews his Macstock session, "From Curiosity to Capability," which will focus on practical AI workflows anyone can use. Dave discusses how generative AI has changed coding, project management, proposals, productivity, and procrastination for him. The session will encourage experimentation as a way to get involved as AI tools rapidly evolve.  Show Notes: Chapters: [0:00] Introduction to Dave Hamilton and the Road to Macstock [2:17] Dave previews "From Curiosity to Capability" [4:12] AI, neuroplasticity, productivity, and learning by doing [6:28] Coding changes, agentic tools, and the Mac Geek Gab app update [11:30] Agentic AI as project management beyond coding [13:01] Starting small, using the right mindset, and avoiding blind trust [15:04] AI as a procrastination eliminator [16:30] Real-world business proposal example using Claude Cowork [20:16] Goals for the MacStock session and audience participation [23:33] Moving between ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini [26:17] How AI memory, context, and front-end tools affect answers [28:53] Encouraging practical AI use through examples [31:16] Macstock discount codes and why attendees should come [31:53] Macstock camaraderie, hallway conversations, and community [34:06] Where to find Dave Hamilton's podcasts and social links [35:15] Closing invitation to Macstock and Ecamm Creator Camp Guests: Dave Hamilton, a seasoned tech enthusiast, podcaster, and publisher, has dedicated the past three decades to aiding computer users globally. Known for his insightful advice and valuable product recommendations on the Mac Geek Gab podcast, Dave also enjoys an esteemed reputation as the founder of BackBeat Media, a network of fiercely independent publishers. His online publishing journey took off with The Mac Observer, an acclaimed Apple news site he co-founded in 1998 and led to its successful acquisition in 2021. Beyond his tech-savvy persona, Dave embraces a vibrant life filled with music and family in the New Hampshire seacoast. He passionately performs with bands Bitter Pill and Fling, among other musical projects, creating a harmonic balance between his love for technology and music. Alongside his wife, Lisa, he raised their two children amidst this symphony of innovation, passion, and independent spirit, showcasing the power of embracing one's interests and using them to make a meaningful impact in the world. Connect with him on his three podcasts, Mac Geek Gab, Business Brain, and Gig Gab. Support:      Become a MacVoices Patron on Patreon      http://patreon.com/macvoices      Enjoy this episode? Make a one-time donation with PayPal Connect:      Web:      http://macvoices.com      Twitter:      http://www.twitter.com/chuckjoiner      http://www.twitter.com/macvoices      Mastodon:      https://mastodon.cloud/@chuckjoiner      Facebook:      http://www.facebook.com/chuck.joiner      MacVoices Page on Facebook:      http://www.facebook.com/macvoices/      MacVoices Group on Facebook:      http://www.facebook.com/groups/macvoice      LinkedIn:      https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuckjoiner/      Instagram:      https://www.instagram.com/chuckjoiner/ Subscribe:      Audio in iTunes      Video in iTunes      Subscribe manually via iTunes or any podcatcher:      Audio: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesrss      Video: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesvideorss

Geek Pride Day kicks off an episode packed with the kind of tips you’ll actually use. You’ll learn why Shift+Tab is your fastest escape from a runaway numbered list, how holding the lower-left CarPlay button summons Siri, and why copy/paste (and drag-and-drop) between apps still beats exporting and re-importing every time. You’ll also get the real story on Comcast’s email migration (spoiler: it’s not mandatory), discover why the Screenshot app blows past Command-Shift-5 (and -4), and figure out how to shut down the fake browser notifications hijacking your Mac. Then it’s into the meaty stuff: whether those no-name fast chargers are quietly cooking your devices, and the brands the guys actually trust to plug in without worry. Public charging stations look innocent until they aren’t, so the crew breaks down power-only cables, data blockers, and the chillingly clever O.MG Cable from Hak5: Don’t Get Caught handing a stranger the keys to your iPhone over a free USB port. You’ll get strategies for sharing organized photo libraries with the non-Mac humans in your life, dock recommendations for driving external monitors from your laptop, and a stacked Cool Stuff Found run featuring Gifski for gorgeous animated GIFs, WhatCable.uk for decoding that mystery USB-C cable in your drawer, Talk For Me v3 piping text-to-speech into FaceTime calls, and free GigSky eSIM data for Visa Signature cardholders heading abroad. Press play, take notes, and keep your gear (and your data) yours. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1143 for Monday, May 25th, 2026 May 25th: Geek Pride Day MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a Function101 Apple TV Button Remote The MGG Merch Store is Live! Quick Tips 00:00:01 Ben-QT-Use Shift+Tab to back out of a numbered list 00:03:31 Todd-QT-Hold Lower-Left CarPlay button to invoke Siri 00:04:39 QT-Remember you can copy/paste images between apps Drag-and-Drop often works, too, even while switching apps 00:07:02 Eric-QT-1142-The Comcast Email switch isn’t mandatory Upgrade your comcast.net email experience to Yahoo Mail 00:16:15 J-QT-Use the Screenshot app for more screenshot flexibility Store your screenshots on a shared drive (iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Synology Drive, etc) OnyX Sponsors 00:20:05 SPONSOR: Even Realities G2. Use promo code MGG at evenrealities.com to get 10% off Even Ring 1 and/or Even Clip when you add them to your Even G2 order. 00:22:06 SPONSOR: BBEdit, the power tool for text from Bare Bones Software; now with integrated Notebooks and extended language support. Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:23:37 Rick-How do I stop fraudulent notifications on my Mac? Check your browser's notifications Check your browser extension 00:30:54 Joe-Are No-Name-Brand Fast Chargers Safe? An incomplete list of brands we trust Anker Chargers Baseus Chargers Ugreen Chargers Satechi Chargers 00:40:15 Adam Savage's Tested Channel Power Only Cables for “Public Charging Stations” Hak5 – O.MG Cable Data Blocker Pass Through Connectors 00:49:50 Kenneth-Sharing organized photos with all my family, including non-Mac-users Flickr Pro Or your cloud-based USB stick options: Dropbox (for Photo Sharing) Google Drive (for Photo Sharing)  00:57:32 Brent-What docks do you recommend for my laptop with external monitors? Cool Stuff Found 01:03:47 Ben-CSF-Gifski, a free, full-featured Movie-to-Animated GIF converter 01:08:12 Gary-CSF-WhatCable.uk to learn what your USB-C Cables can do 01:09:32 Darrin-CSM-Talk For Me v3.0 allows Text To Speech to be routed into FaceTime and voice calls 01:12:01 J-CSF-Free GigSky eSIM plans with Visa Signature Cards US Mobile's Unlimited plan comes with an included Apple Watch plan, too! 01:14:04 ATC-Darknet Diaries Podcast EP 161: MG – With the developer of the O.MG Cable from Hak5 01:15:30 MGG 1143 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab iOS app Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

You’ll sharpen your daily tech game this week: add names directly to Mail recipient fields, kill those sneaky iOS nickname pop-ups before they embarrass you, and stay alert to Low Power Mode. Long-press your steering wheel button to summon Siri faster, welcome ChatGPT and Perplexity to CarPlay, untangle Apple’s App Entitlements, and stream HLS video right inside the updated MGG iOS app. Don’t Get Caught treating your LLM like a glorified search bar—re-task it as a brainstorming partner, let agents check each other’s work, troubleshoot stubborn email issues, and have it build its own skills using Claude Code and CoWork. Your questions and tips drive the back half: disconnect AirPods from your Mac in one tap with ToothFairy or Control Center, dial in rock-solid remote screen sharing using Jump Desktop, Zoom, and Tailscale, stop your iPhone ringer from accidentally flipping, and plan your escape from Comcast email by grabbing a real domain through Cloudflare, Namecheap, or GoDaddy. Then it’s Cool Stuff Found season—Bartender 6 reclaims your menu bar, the Syntech case protects your Apple Vision Pro, and the Mila Air3 and Honeywell HEPA purifiers clean up your air. Plus a heap of love for Eufy lawnmowers, vacuums, and doorbells, all wired together with Homebridge and Home Assistant. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1142 for Monday, May 18th, 2026 May 18th: Send an Electronic Greeting Card Day MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a Function101 Apple TV Button Remote The MGG Merch Store is Live! Quick Tips 00:00:01 Ben-QT-Add a name to the Mail recipient field 00:03:43 Beware of Nicknames showing on iOS You can disable this! 00:08:08 The lessons we learn about our tech when traveling 00:08:49 QT-Be aware of Low Power Mode. Also App Tamer 00:13:56 Larry-QT-Long Press Steering Wheel Voice Command to activate Siri 00:16:14 ChatGPT and Perplexity are allowed to use CarPlay now 00:18:00 Apple's App Entitlements 00:19:26 Mac Geek Gab iOS App adds HLS video 00:22:35 David-QT-Use an LLM to troubleshoot your email 00:24:33 Re-assign your LLM, re-task it. Treat your LLM like a brainstorming assistant. Claude CoWork (and Claude Code) 00:29:45 Let your agents check one another 00:33:16 Have your LLM create skills for you Reviews 00:36:26 Jamcycler-MGG Review-My Favorite Podcast Sponsors 00:38:02 SPONSOR: Keeper. Right now, Keeper is offering our listeners 60% off personal and family plans at https://Keepersecurity.com/MGG. This offer is only for podcast listeners! 00:39:41 SPONSOR: Shopify. In 2026, stop waiting and start selling with Shopify. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial and start selling today at https://Shopify.com/MGG 00:41:28 SPONSOR: Gusto. Get three months free when you run your first payroll when you start at https://gusto.com/MGG Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:43:07 Gino CO-How can I easily disconnect my AirPods from my Mac? ToothFairy Or Control Center Or Sound Menu Opt-plus-Mute/Volume keys will bring you to System Settings Sound Pane 00:49:09 Paul-Best Method for Screen Sharing? Jump Desktop Tailscale 00:55:04 Barb-How can I stop from accidentally toggling my iPhone ringer on and off? 00:57:13 Roger-What to do about Comcast email going away? Cloudflare Registrar Namecheap GoDaddy Cool Stuff Found 01:02:21 DLH-CSF-Bartender 6 / Pro / Mega 01:04:53 ATC/PP-CSF-Syntech Apple Vision Pro Case 01:09:25 CSF-Mila Air3 Purifier 01:11:37 n-Greg-CSF-Honeywell Allergen Plus HEPA Large Room Air Purifier 01:12:41 Some love for Eufy Eufy Lawnmower Eufy Vacuums Eufy Doorbells Homebridge Home Assistant 01:24:36 MGG 1142 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab iOS app Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

Brett records an episode without Christina and Jeff and chats with Melissa Davis (The Mac Mommy) about her start as a mommy blogger and longtime Mac podcaster, her tech-support work, and the strange lack of closure when online friends disappear. They trade mental-health and chronic-illness updates, Adderall vs. Vyvanse, difficulty finding curious doctors, and being labeled “worried well.” Don’t worry, they nerd out on mechanical keyboards, Karabiner, and remapping keys. GrAPPtitudes include Bartender 6 Pro, Sortio for AI tagging, Sketch Party TV, and Karabiner. Sponsor OneSkin improves your skincare routine with science-backed skin care products. With over 10,000 five-star reviews and validation from clinical studies, OneSkin has made a name for itself in the skincare industry. If you’re interested in trying OneSkin for yourself, you can get 15% off your order with the code OVERTIRED at oneskin.co/OVERTIRED. Chapters 00:00 Meet Melissa Davis 00:56 Early Podcast Days 02:20 Tech Support Seniors 05:52 Digital Legacy Work 06:50 Sponsor: OneSkin 08:14 Mental Health Check In 08:34 Insomnia And Focus 13:19 Doing Time Tracker 16:04 Suspenders And Stenosis 20:18 Mobility And Home Hacks 22:10 Melissa Health Update 23:25 ADHD Meds And Mutations 25:25 Curious Doctors Matter 27:59 Vyvanse Vs Adderall 30:26 Tracking Mood With Data 32:27 Cane And Somatic Therapy 36:09 Somatics For EDS 36:50 Yoga Modifications 38:19 Polycystic Liver Shock 39:20 Fatphobia In Healthcare 40:56 Pole Dancing Reality Check 41:55 Mechanical Keyboard ASMR 45:56 Nail Art And Picking 49:09 Keyboard Layout Rabbit Hole 01:00:59 Shortcuts And Muscle Memory 01:03:12 GrAPPtitude App Picks 01:14:07 Karabiner Power Tips 01:17:30 Wrap Up And Thanks Show Links hEDS Doing Timing Royal Kludge Keyboard Gamakey Silent Linear Switches EPOMAKER Switch Benefit Section EPOMAKER AegisSil Keycaps Set SketchParty TV Karabiner Sortio Bartender Pro Day One Join the Conversation Merch Come chat on Discord! Twitter/ovrtrd Instagram/ovrtrd Youtube Get the Newsletter Thanks! You’re downloading today’s show from CacheFly’s network BackBeat Media Podcast Network Check out more episodes at overtiredpod.com and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Find Brett as @ttscoff, Christina as @film_girl, Jeff as @jsguntzel, and follow Overtired at @ovrtrd on Twitter. Transcript Nails and Keys with Melissa Davis (The Mac Mommy) [00:00:00] Meet Melissa Davis Brett: Hey, this is Brett Terpstra. I am without my usual cohorts, Christina and Jeff. Um, so I, I wanted to, you know, get a, get an episode out for all of you listeners, and I reached out to Melissa Davis, known as The Mac Mommy. Um, I don’t, I, I don’t know if they’re still known as The Mac Mommy, but in m- in my lifetime they have been. Um, Melissa, why don’t you introduce yourself, let people know, like, M-Ma- long time, like Mac personality, podcaster. Tell us where you came from. Melissa: Where did I come from? Outer space. Uh, I came from being a mom. I, I, I will admit, this is hard to admit, But I will admit I started out as a mommy blogger. That’s, like, kind of a bad word nowadays. Brett: back, back, yeah, this is way Back when Melissa: [00:01:00] Yeah. Early Podcast Days Melissa: so we’re talking, like… Well, my oldest is gonna be 20, Brett. My oldest is gonna be 20 this summer. End of, end of June he’ll be 20 years old. So that’s about how long I’ve been doing podcasting. I mean, I started, I started, like, when… Well, you know what? I started listening to Adam Christianson’s The MacCast Brett: But you know what? I started Sure. Like one of the very first podcasts, Yeah. Melissa: still, I still listen to him on the Mac Geek Gab. Like, his voice is just so soothing to me. I used to… Like, that was the f- Back when I had, I had, I remember I had, like, an old G4, uh, Quicksilver Mac, and in the stinky little back room of our old house. And I used to, I used to download the podcasts, burn them on a CD, put them in my Walkman, ’cause I didn’t have an iPod yet at the time. I wasn’t that… I was never really that cutting edge. And I’d burn them on a CD, I’d put the CD in my Walkman, and then I would sit and nurse, I would nurse my baby. I, [00:02:00] and I would have to tuck the, uh, the headphones, you know, I’d have the ear- the, the wired, kinda like I have now, uh, and tuck it behind my back, like, behind my shoulder, because otherwise he’d, like, yank on the cord. And I would just listen to podcasts while I nursed. And I… And then, uh, then I met Victor Cajiao, and I started just kind of being, like, a serial podcaster, showing up here and there, and then it just kinda grew from there. Tech Support Seniors Melissa: Um, and I do… So I do tech support. I’m an IT tech s- tech support person. I… People call me their computer guru. I mostly work with, uh, the senior population, our, our vintage people, which I, I’m slowly becoming one of them. We’re all, we’re all gonna go that way. Brett: I feel like anyone who does Mac tech support deals with probably an, a, a population that skews older. Melissa: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, it’s actually, it’s actually more– I will say it’s actually more difficult to work with somebody younger. Like, especially people my age or people [00:03:00] that are like, say, in their sixties I consider pretty young, 70 even. Uh, yeah, so but it’s, you know, the people are so, so interesting. You can learn so much. I love working with this population because they’re like encyclopedias, and the stories they tell you and the things you learn, it’s pretty amazing. And I could just, I could just spend– I have actually spent all day with some of them. Some of us just have really great chemistry and, you know, it’s… They– I, I’m also– I have ADHD, that’s no secret. And I think when you get older, um, not– it doesn’t affect everybody, but I do see a lot of what could be either they, they have ADHD or it’s like a– Brett: they have Melissa: of creeps in and it’s just a natural process of aging, cognitive decline. So, yep. Brett: have a lot of patience. Sure. S- some of my, some of my most interesting relationships over the last 10 years have been with, uh, Mac users in their late 70s, [00:04:00] 80s. And, uh, like they’ve been– They’re very– Like, they’re definitely… The people that I’ve known have been technically capable and very interested in learning. That’s why they follow me. That’s how I meet them, right? They’re like, they read my blog, which is just all nerd stuff. And, and so they’re, they’re technically competent, and they’re doing things that I can only aspire to be doing in my 70s and 80s. Um, I had a guy who was writing his memoirs at, in between like mountain bike rides. And so here’s the thing, though, is when you, when you know someone online and they’re in their 80s and you stop hearing from them for a Melissa: Yes. Yes. Brett: you have to assume that they have passed on. and that is sad, and you never really get any closure because you don’t know their friends or family. You [00:05:00] never get like a notice, an obituary. You don’t, you don’t know where these people go, um, and you don’t know how to check in on them once your normal channels of communication are severed. Melissa: Yeah, we’re at that age where we probably start reading the obituaries. Like, I haven’t heard from so-and-so in a while. Let me check the obits." Brett: I had, I had– Before NVUltra went on for, what’s it, like five years now, uh, without a release, um, I had a project called BitWriter with David Halter. And Melissa: remember you mentioning that, yeah. Yeah, and you wondered. Mm-hmm. Brett: he stopped responding. Melissa: you find out any at all? Any, Any, concrete… Brett: Nothing. I have put feelers out everywhere I can think of. I have no idea what happened to him. Melissa: went Richard Simmons, huh? Brett: yeah. Yeah. With less Melissa: No contact. No contact. Aw. Digital Legacy Work Melissa: I, I’m lucky that, uh, in my line of [00:06:00] work, I do typically hear from the family if they’ve passed on, because I form kind of a bond with a lot of people. I, I typically don’t lose clients unless they die, so… Brett: and you have some, like, in real life connections to Melissa: Oh, yeah. Yeah, I do, I do both. I do… I have some clients where I’ve never met them in person, I’ve only ever done remote. Uh, and then, but most of my clients are, are local, the majority of them. But I, I still s- see them remotely too, so yeah. I’ve, I’ve actually been hired by some people, um, mostly I’ve had two male clients who they got a terminal illness, they knew they were terminal, and they followed me online and they pretty much hired me to take care of their surviving spouse. So that, that was… that’s a difficult thing, but I’m just honored that they chose me to, to help them out with that. So I’ve kind of been a bit of a digital undertaker in that regard. Sponsor: OneSkin Christina: I want to take a moment to share something that has significantly improved my skincare routine, OneSkin. [00:07:00] So we all have those days when our skin doesn’t feel its best, and I’ve certainly been in that boat, especially recovering from surgery. And I was tired of navigating through endless products that promised results, but often fell short. And that’s when I discovered OneSkin. It was founded by scientists dedicated to longevity, and this brand stands out for its commitment to real science over marketing hype. They tackle the fundamental question of how to actually slow down skin aging rather than just masking it. And their groundbreaking ingredient is, uh, ZeroS01, and it’s a proprietary peptide designed to help deactivate the damaged cells that contribute to aging skin. Since incorporating OneSkin into my routine, I’ve actually been noticing some improvements. My skin feels smoother. It looks more vibrant. Um, it’s definitely more moisturized, and so this is benefiting from its focus on supporting collagen and strengthening the skin barrier. With over 10,000 five-star reviews and validation from clinical studies, OneSkin has made a name for itself in the skincare industry. If [00:08:00] you’re interested in trying OneSkin for yourself, you can get 15% off your order with the code OVERTIRED at oneskin.co/overtired. That’s 15% off at oneskin.co/overtired using the code OVERTIRED. Thank you for supporting our show by checking them out Mental Health Check In Brett: Um, so do you wanna do a mental health Melissa: Sure. Brett: I, I know, I know you’ve listened to the show before. I know you know how this works. Melissa: how this works. Brett: Would you like to start? Melissa: I think I would like to hear you start, and then I’ll, I’ll add on Brett: that sounds good. Insomnia And Focus Brett: Um, so sleep continues to be a major issue for me. Um, I actually for four days in a row last week, I got eight hours of sleep a night, which was insane. I felt so good. Um- The first night… So I take [00:09:00] Lamictal for bipolar, and if I miss my evening dose, I crash and I sleep in the next morning, and I sleep soundly. Like, it’s the best sleep I can get. And then I wake up and all of a sudden the withdrawal kicks in, and then I’m shaky and dizzy for half an hour after I take the dose. Um, but that’s after, like, a solid night of sleep, and it never works two nights in a row. And, like, I’ve tried, like, maybe if I take Lamictal in the mornings instead of the evenings, maybe I’ll sleep through the night. It doesn’t work after that first missed dose. Um, but then I just, without making any changes in my lifestyle, started sleeping, and I thought finally after, like, two years of insomnia, I had turned a corner, because I can’t remember the last time I got eight hours of sleep for more than two nights in a [00:10:00] row. And then it ended, and then I was up. I’ve been up since 2:30 today. Melissa: I wondered, yep. Brett: I mean, I went to bed at 8:00, so that’s still nine, 10, 11, 12, 11, Melissa: I actually dozed off on the couch around 8:30. Like, if only I could just be in my bed right now, just be, like, transported. Yeah. Oh. Brett: Oh, I, I wish. If I could go back to bed… Like, sometimes I’ll, I’ll lay back down around 7:00 or 8:00 and get, like, another half hour of sleep, but it’s really that, like, uninterrupted block of deep sleep that I need, not… I take naps during the day, and I can usually fall asleep for half an hour, um, given that I’m usually functioning on five hours of sleep anyway. But anyway, um, I– That, that’s just kind of par for the course for me, so, like, any, any of our listeners know that that’s gonna be the first thing I report. Melissa: are you, [00:11:00] like, kinda competing? Like, are you trying to get eight hours because that’s what’s prescribed? Have you ever thought about Brett: be- actually, what works eight and a half, like I’ve, I’ve… Back when I had the option to sleep more than five hours, like, I did a lot of kind of experimentation and Melissa: know where your sweet spot is. Brett: Well, it… See, the sweet pot- spot changes as you age, though, and you need less sleep as you get older. So, so I can’t say for sure that eight and a half hours is still my sweet spot. Um, and I think honestly, if I can sleep seven hours, I feel pretty good, and I consider seven hours a good night’s sleep. Melissa: Yeah, ’cause mine’s like between four and six. Brett: really? Yeah. See, Melissa: feel Brett: I don’t function well. Oh, I don’t function well on anything less than seven hours. Melissa: I just have a love-hate relationship with sleep. I just don’t– I just hate to sleep. I just would rather be doing other things. Life is [00:12:00] just too interesting. Brett: I get that. I– get that. I– as someone who’s bipolar and has had like manic episodes where I’m up for five days straight, like I, I love not sleeping. Um, w- when, when I have the mania to give me energy and back it up. It’s when I’m just dragging all day and feel like a zombie. The thing– The, the plus side to it is the more tired I am, up to a certain point, the better I can focus. Like my brain slows down and it’s really easy for me to get into hyperfocus. And like most mornings I’m up at, you know, 2:30, 3:00 and I just start coding. And I can not only hyperfocus, but I can switch focus between three or four different projects like simultaneously. I hit compile on one, I move on to the next one, and I can rotate [00:13:00] through them and like keep track of all of it. And then right around 10:00 AM, my ability to do that ends and suddenly I like flip to a project and I cannot for the life of me remember what I was doing, which is why I’ve spent my life building note-taking apps and, and time tracking tools. Melissa: Yep, same thing. Doing Time Tracker Brett: dude, h- d- I don’t… You might not be familiar with my project Doing. Melissa: N-no, but I– you alluded to something. that’s not what you’re working on with Dan though, is it? Brett: No, no, that’s gonna be Melissa: Dan on that too. I, I, don’t know what it is yet, but yeah, I’m, I’m Brett: Oh, it’s… Yeah, it’s gonna be cool. Melissa: that’s so exciting. Brett: no, Doing is a command line tool where you can type things like, “Doing now podcasting with Melissa,” and it starts a timer for like what I’m doing now, and then I can ask it if I leave and come back, I can say, “What was I doing?” And it’ll tell me, [00:14:00] “You’re podcasting with Melissa.” Obviously, that’s a weird example ’cause I’m not gonna leave in the middle of this. But then it can give you like totals, time, tag-based time totals, uh, for your week and everything. It can show you like what you finished yesterday. Um, it’s not so much a task tracking app as it is a tool for keeping track of what you’re doing in the moment. Um, for, for people like me who switch between four projects at once, it’s really handy. And some guy, some fucking guy Melissa: Some fucking guy. Brett: it, rewrote it in Rust, and it is really good. it is really good. Uh, he like, I- Oh yeah, I use Melissa: Okay, ’cause Brett: This is, this is separate. this is this is a little more ‘ intentional than Timing. Um, I use both. They kind of work together, and Doing can actually import Timing’s JSON exports. So you can turn your, you can turn [00:15:00] all your Timing data into command line, uh, readable Doing files. Um, but anyway, this guy rewrote it in Rust with my permission, and he gave me full credit on the page. And I think I’m switching ’cause Doing is written in Ruby, and Ruby is slow, and Rust is fast. And like my Doing file where it stores all of my current projects, like my Doing items, gets so big that it can take Doing like up to five seconds to respond when I ask it, “What was I doing today?” Which is five seconds is a long time on the command line. Um, and his Melissa: pretty instantaneous. Brett: his version is like 100 milliseconds. Boom. But anyway, Melissa: It’s almost like you built your own little AI thing. Like, what was I doing? What Brett: kinda, kinda, yeah. Melissa: you doing, Dave? Brett: This is, this [00:16:00] was built long before AI was a common thing, but the other thing that’s contributing to my mental health Suspenders And Stenosis Brett: is suspenders. Melissa: Ah, yes. Brett: So I have I have gained 100 pounds, um, not, n-not of my own choice, but like I had rapid weight gain and I recently got a stenosis diagnosis, which I hate the Melissa: telling you, I’m telling you, we’re like 23 and me here. I’ve got that too. Brett: apparently during one of my, like when I gained 50 pounds in like six weeks, my body was looking for places to store all the new fat and decided my spine might be a good place for that. Um, so I have fat in my spine and I have degrading discs. This is separate from my love of suspenders, so I’ll get back to [00:17:00] that. I, um, Melissa: Wait till you get it in your eyeballs. Brett: Oh, for real? Melissa: Yeah, you can have… I have, um, what’s it called? Cholesterol. Yeah, if you look at your eyes really close, if you see like a white kind of w- ridge around your irises, that’s cholesterol. Brett: Oh, wow. Yeah, I hope, I hope that hasn’t happened yet, but who knows? Um, Melissa: Brings out Brett: I– So I have all this, I have all this extra weight and I had a lot of trouble with belts. A, belts hurt ’cause they dig into my, my gut, and they don’t really work. I, every, every time I stood up, my butt crack showed and I had to like wiggle my pants up. And then I I tried a pair of suspenders and it was like a l- a switch had been flipped. All of a sudden my pants just stayed up without any constriction around my waist, just like they just stayed with me wherever I went. And now I can, [00:18:00] I can tuck my shirts in and it actually looks kinda cool when you got the suspenders look going on. Which means, so like for a long time I only wore one brand of shirt, um, and because they, it was, it fit my belly and it was long enough and like it wasn’t, wasn’t baggy around the top and didn’t hang off my belly like a muumuu. Melissa: Mm-hmm, Brett: And like, so I, I, I only wore this brand of shirt and I own like 15 of them, and I would just cycle through Melissa: dresses, they’re just your Walmart $10 cotton tank dress. Love it. Brett: Yeah. But now that I can tuck my shirts in and feel okay about it, I can buy those extra large nerd shirts, ones with funny slogans and stuff on them. And normally those would hang straight down off my belly, and I hate the way that looks. But now I can tuck those in, which means I can get back to wearing funny, [00:19:00] ironic T-shirts, and it, it’s like opening up a whole new world of possibilities Melissa: That is a bonus for mental health. Brett: every day now I put on my suspenders and it makes me happy. Um, Melissa: wonderful. It’s almost like a, like a mobility aid. Brett: Kinda, yeah. Melissa: yeah. Brett: of, I– So I, I have a monopod, um, like a tripod that folds up into a walking stick, and it’s nice and light and it is an adjustable height ’cause it’s designed to be used as a camera tripod. Um, and I’ve started walking with it Melissa: yeah. kinda like you’re Brett: I c- yeah. Yeah. Like one of my fat friends has s- literal like ski poles. They’re like half height ski poles and they walk with them and it helps them a ton, and I Melissa: Yeah, hikers use those. Brett: try that out. But a walking stick [00:20:00] really does help with my stenosis, but I can still, even with a stick, I can only walk for about five minutes, which is about .3, Melissa: Yeah. Brett: 3, .3 miles. Um, and then I have to stop and sit, and it’s been a real pain, literally. Mobility And Home Hacks Melissa: And is standing difficult, too? Brett: standing is worse than walking. Melissa: thing, yeah. Standing’s worse. Brett: Yeah. Like if I am in the kitchen and I’m at the stove cooking, before the onions start to brown, I have to sit Melissa: Yeah. Yep. Brett: Uh, so we now have a stool in our kitchen, Melissa: Do you have one in the shower? Brett: yes. Well, our shower, our shower has a nice, like the back of the tub is a seat. Melissa: Oh, okay. Yeah. Brett: I don’t know if this house was designed by old people or not, but, um, but it’s certainly everything is relatively [00:21:00] accessible in that way. Um, but the stool in the kitchen means I can cook dinner. Emptying the dishwasher is the worst for me. That just like bending over, picking stuff up, and then just moving back and forth, like the five feet across our kitchen. My– I, it takes me three stops, three rests to get a dishwasher emptied. Um, and then I’m kind of ruined after that. I hate it. And I hate that I Melissa: stress mat? Brett: What’s that? Oh, you mean Melissa: mat to stand on? Gotta get, gotta Brett: think that would help? Melissa: Oh, yeah. Yeah, I have Brett: used to have one Melissa: and one in front of the kitchen, and I don’t even, I don’t even, do the cooking. Brett: Ha. I used to, I used to have one of those in front of the stove when I w- when I didn’t have pain, but just because I was really getting into cooking and I was spending a lot of time, and I was starting to feel it in my knees. Um, yeah, maybe I should do Melissa: I think it’s a fatigue [00:22:00] mat, I think they call it. Brett: Yeah. Melissa: Yeah, Brett: That sounds Melissa: plus they look cool if you get little designs on them and stuff. Yeah. Oh, we could spend the day talking about just mobility aids and ergonomics and all that kind of stuff. Melissa Health Update Brett: Well, it’s your turn. Talk about whatever you like. Melissa: Yeah, you give me some ideas to talk about. Um, yeah, I struggle with a lot of the same things that you do. Um, I’m always like kinda comparing notes every time you post something. I’m like, "Oh No, ‘Cause you talked about Have you … You haven’t started the injections yet, have you? Brett: No, and they just delayed those. I don’t get them until like June 20th or something. Melissa: nervous about those for you, because I’ve had those and I’ve decided to just swear off them, so I’ll just kinda give you just a heads-up. I mean, it does raise your blood sugar, so that’s not great, and, um, it can give you the roid rage, kinda make you angry, so that’s something to watch out for, and more weight gain, so …But it’s like one of those things where you just have to kinda try [00:23:00] it and see if it works, because if it does work, then you could be more mobile and then maybe drop a few pounds and get some of that weight off of your spine. But if it doesn’t work, just know that that can happen, Brett: my doctor did not mention any of those side effects, so good to Melissa: Yeah. Yeah. It’s, it’s the chronic life, so that’s, that’s what, that’s what, uh, affects my mental health, so I’m, I’m really good at faking it. I am actually … I will say I’m actually feeling a little bit more even. ADHD Meds And Mutations Melissa: I’m on, uh … I love when you talk about different prescriptions and stuff. Uh, I just mentioned, so I’m taking Adderall. That is, ugh, it’s a mixed bag. Um, I wanted to ask you about Vyvanse, cause that’s the next thing for me, but it’s, like, super expensive, so I’m trying to make Adderall work as best I can, but I’m, I’m in the process of playing with the dosage. But I think she told me, like, the highest was 30. The thing is, uh, I’ve had genetic testing done, and [00:24:00] I have this condit- not a condition, but it’s a I’m a mutant. It’s a genetic mutation called, it’s, it’s just initials. It’s MTHFR, lovingly known as Brett: you process your, your, chemicals twice as … fast. I have Melissa: Yes, faster processing in the liver. So that’s when she told me, ’cause she started, uh, me out on methylphenidate, and I was like, “Well, what about Adderall?” Because it, I see it work for my kids, you know? The kids are chip off the old block, right? And so I’ve had them tested too, and all three of us are positive for that. It’s lovelin- lovingly known as the motherfucker gene mutation. Um, yeah, so, and it is. It’s, it’s quite a bitch, um, ’cause it causes a whole bunch of other problems. And of course, we’ve talked about Ehlers-Danlos, so I have, uh, hypermobile Eh- Ehlers-Danlos. I’m having a hard time … I’m just having a hard time with that in general, mental health wise, because there’s just not enough awareness about it, enough people, and doctors, doctors and nurses. And you know, I’ll, I’ll say I wanna, I would love to be able to get [00:25:00] to a point where I can just say, “I have H-E-D-S,” or heads or what- however they’re gonna pronounce it, and, like, somebody know what that is when I go in for an appointment. But I still have to explain it, you know? And then that, that cuts into my time. ‘Cause they only … When you’re, when you’re our age, they only give you, like, 15 minutes, if that. When you’re much older, ’cause I’ve had to take, I’ve had to take family members to the doctor, they get a whole lot more time. But, uh, you know, it’s like, "Oh, you’re, you’re too young to be this sick. You’re too young to be this old," Brett: Right. Yeah. Curious Doctors Matter Brett: Um, I did– I found that doctor for me that knew exactly what all those acronyms meant, knew exactly, like, not only did they know what POTS was, they knew like seven different kinds of POTS and what tests to use to narrow it down. And then she got called up to National Guard Melissa: Oh, I wondered, I wondered, what happened to that doctor, ’cause it sounded so Brett: I waited. I was on a, I was on– I w- I had an appointment scheduled that was gonna be six months from the time she [00:26:00] left. Um, and I had it scheduled, and it was on July 7th. And then I got a letter in the mail saying that her Guard duty had been extended, and now I can’t see her again until September. And, like, I’ve, I’ve tried seeing other doctors that work with her, but none of them have the knowledge she has, and it was such a relief Melissa: Is this the curious one? Okay. I always think about you whenever I’m either looking for a provider or in the, in the midst of, of getting, you know, shuffled around to a new provider. I’m like, “I hope they’re curious,” ’cause that made– that meant so much to me when you explained about how a doctor needs to be curious. I’m like, “That’s what I need.” I need somebody… Or even just my therapist. I have a new, a new therapist that I see, and she’s really curious, and I really, really like that about her. That’s something that helps with mental health, is when somebody’s curious, ’cause I’m Brett: it goes h- it goes hand in hand with credulousness. Like, [00:27:00] first they have to be willing to believe you, and like, especially when it comes to invisible issues like EDS. Like, you have to be willing to believe a person and then be curious enough to look for answers. Like, the first step is believing, and the second step is curiosity. Melissa: Yes. I’ve already had my patient record marked as… Have you ever heard this one? Worried well. Brett: No. Melissa: I looked it up. It’s basically hypochondriac. Brett: Yeah, that’s what I was gonna guess. That Melissa: Yep. I actually– I was proud of myself because I actually did confront the doctor about it and I said, “What does this mean?” I said, “I, I looked it up and it kinda concerns me ’cause it makes me look like a hypochondriac.” And she said, "Oh, no, no, that’s just a, a code that we use when we don’t have something else to assign to it so that insurance will pay." Bullshit. Brett: Yeah, right? I feel like that’s exactly the kind of [00:28:00] thing insurance doesn’t pay. Melissa: Mm-hmm. so Vyvanse Vs Adderall Brett: what do you wanna know about Vyvanse? Melissa: Um, a- and I know it’s different for everybody, but I just kinda wondered what your take was on it. Um, how– can you compare it to Adderall at all for me, Brett: Yeah. Melissa: no comparison? Brett: it’s basically a non-abusable, I would call it lower lying version of, of Adderall. Like, it’s in the same family of stimulant as Adderall, but it can’t– It isn’t processed or it’s… I don’t remember how the mechanics of it work, but you can’t snort it basically. Like, it doesn’t, it doesn’t do anything Melissa: Which I wouldn’t wanna do anyway ’cause there’s nothing up here. Brett: Sure. Sure. And then, yeah, I’m not suggesting that was gonna be a problem for you. Um, but it’s also, like, it’s way, um, for me anyway, it’s way calmer. [00:29:00] Um, and there are people that say it doesn’t do anything at all. Um, especially a lot of people, a lot of people say the generic version doesn’t do anything, um, and that the name brand version does, but I haven’t found that to be true. Like the generic, which you’re correct, still costs like 200 bucks a month, um, for the generic. Um, but it is– It’s not my favorite. Melissa: I wondered why– what made you stop taking it. Did it just not work for you? Brett: No, I still take Vyvanse. Um, yeah. Um, I used to take, um, Focalin, which I loved. Melissa: That really worked for my kiddo, yep. Brett: but it also triggered my mania, Melissa: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Brett: so I was always walking this line of like, do I wanna be super productive and manic with like weeks of depression in between, [00:30:00] or do I just wanna be somewhat productive and stable? Um, which is why I’ve stuck with Vyvanse, and my doctor loves it enough for me that she won’t, she won’t prescribe anything else for me at this point. Like, I’ve asked about switching. I’ve asked about moving back to Adderall and things like that, but, Melissa: It seems like you’re, like you’re kinda on an evening out. Brett: Yeah, I haven’t had a manic episode for a couple years now. Tracking Mood With Data Melissa: Do you track it? Do you– Like, have you ever seen those– I keep seeing these ads for it ’cause, you know, the algorithm feeds us the stuff for wearables that are, um, called– I think it’s called Visible, so it makes your symptoms more visible instead of invisible. Like, do you track it? Do you Have you nerded out on your own data? Brett: like my mania and depression? Melissa: Yeah, like do you track it and look at graphs or anything like that to Brett: See, I’ve never had to use an external tool because I can just look at GitHub contribution graphs, and I can look at [00:31:00] my RSS feed, and I can see exactly, like for a period of like eight years, I can pinpoint exactly where my manic episodes were, um, because that data is historically preserved out there on the internet for all to see. Um, it’s, yeah, it’s– Well, and that’s, like I built tools that gathered that, those various sources of data. Um, and then there was a, a tool called, um, I forget. Melissa: cool, though? Hmm. We’ll think Brett: But it could pull, it could pull in all that data. Um, Bell Beth Cooper, Hello Code, I can’t remember the name of the app. Melissa: Yeah, it’ll come to you eventually. Brett: sure. Uh, but it could pull in like your GitHub, uh, commits along with like what the weather was at the time, how many songs you listened to that Melissa: Oh, day one sorta does that, yeah. Brett: Does it now? Melissa: A little bit, yeah, your locations, [00:32:00] um, if you turn on some of those things. Like not– I don’t think it does the music and things like that, but Brett: I haven’t used it for a while. I haven’t used it for a Melissa: I was gonna switch to the journal app. I was actually really… I held off on upgrading to Tahoe for the longest time, but that one kept nagging at me ’cause I thought, oh, you know, maybe. I mean, as much as I love Day One, I, I thought about, I thought about actually switching over, but no. I tried it. I’m, I’m gonna stick with Day One. Brett: Cool. All right. Cane And Somatic Therapy Brett: Um, so did you have, did you have more to add to your Melissa: Oh, I was gonna, I was gonna add on to what you were talking about with the suspenders. I did start… I think you probably… Well, yeah, you commented on it. Um, I started using a cane, and that I have mixed feelings about that. Um, I should have brought it in here so I could show you. I’ll show you later, ’cause, uh, anyway, it’s, it’s purple. I did get a pimp cane. That’s what my husband calls it. I thought, damn it, if I’m gonna use, like, a cane, then it’s gonna be [00:33:00] purple, and I’m gonna like looking at it, as much as I hate to use it, so. So I’ve been trying to use it. I… What you were talking about with, uh, with finding a curious doctor, I do have new physical therapist, um, so I’m really happy about that. Same kind of thing where she’s super booked. I think that’s just how it is. Like, the really good ones, they’re good, and, you know, it shows because it’s, it’s hard to get in to see them. So yeah. So I’m, I’m looking forward to that. We’re gonna be doing… Have you heard of somatic therapy? Brett: Yeah. Melissa: Yeah. So ha- have you tried it? Do, do you like it? Okay. That’s, that’s what I’m embarking on. Brett: I actually have a friend who teaches classes in it. Melissa: Oh, Al probably knows about that. Brett: y- yeah, Melissa: Yeah, I’ll, I’ll Brett: and it is, it is amazing how hard just doing things, doing motions you’re used to, but doing them very slowly and intentionally. It is like you– Just like, Just like, doing y- like a clamshell where you drop your knee, you’re [00:34:00] on your back and you drop your knee down to the side and bring it back up. Like that motion, most of us, even infirmed people can do that okay. You try to take… You try to do that and take like five breaths in each direction, and you’ll start shaking. It’s very Melissa: Ah, uh-huh. Yep. Brett: Yeah, but it’s good. Like it’s g- it really retrains your muscles. It really, it strengthens, retrains, and helps with, uh, finer motor control. Melissa: Oh, that’s interesting. Yeah, I, I’m, I’m a little bit on the skeptical end of it, so that’s why I’m, I’m glad that, that you, you vouch for it too. It’s like I know that it works, but I just… I guess I wanna understand the science of it a little bit more. Like, for example, I’ve tried, uh, acupuncture, and I just didn’t feel like it did, did anything for me. I think you have to be, like, a believer, and I just Brett: think so. Melissa: I, I, I even did that on purpose knowing that I kinda felt like it wasn’t gonna work. I was like, well, what if I just go into this? ‘Cause, [00:35:00] ’cause I talk to people and they’re like, "Well, you have to believe in it." I’m like, but what if I don’t? I just don’t, you know? I’m, I see it Brett: it’s not medicine if you have to believe in it. Melissa: Yeah. I mean, I see it work for other people. I know there’s, you know, such a thing as placebos and things like that, and I don’t know, it’s, it’s woo-woo and I, I, I like woo-woo stuff. I, it just, it didn’t do anything for me, so… It’s not to say that it doesn’t work for other people, but it just did not work for me, and I, I kind of, I, maybe I just, uh, did that on purpose when I, I try- probably just tripped myself up going into it thinking, well, I just don’t believe it, so if it works, then there must be science behind it. And then, then, I’ll believe. But it didn’t work out, so. So the, I’m a little bit on the fence about the somatic thing, but the, the, the gal that I’m working with is just so, she has EDS herself, and like, like what you were saying, like, she, she knows all about it and she could even, you know, tell me the, the type that she has, and I was like, I met, I met, actually last week I met two zebras in one week. [00:36:00] You, you’re familiar with the, the zebra mascot? If you, uh, the saying goes, if you hear hooves, think horses. But we’re not horses, are we? Yeah, so Yeah, so that’s, that’s our, our Somatics For EDS Melissa: EDS Brett: somatic– somatics you don’t have to believe in for them to work. Melissa: Okay, that is Brett: it’s an actual physical therapy method that trains the finer muscles, um, that surround your larger muscles and, and strengthens those, and it– Yeah, it’s for real. It’s, yeah, it’s not like a… It’s soma- I think, Melissa: w- totally Brett: ’cause I I had the same reaction when someone said somatics, ’cause I think, “Oh, that’s some holistic idea of the body, um, of soma,” and it’s… No, it’s, it’s got legit physical therapy behind it. Melissa: And, Yoga Modifications Melissa: you used to do a lot of yoga too, so that probably makes Brett: I still do. Melissa: Yeah? That’s [00:37:00] wonderful. Brett: it’s gotten really hard. Um, I can’t, I can’t– So I get dizzy Melissa: Yeah. Brett: going from sitting to standing, um, and my back gives out if I am in, like, horse or warrior two for more than a couple minutes. Um, and I can’t do cobras because I have a belly like a nine-month pregnancy. Um, so I have to do, like, prenatal yoga, um, which is actually a thing. Melissa: that’s a good idea. I’m glad you brought that up. I should look Brett: a- and I do chair yoga, um, where I I take the class that everyone else takes, but I modify it to work with… Like, there, there are defined moves that you do with a chair instead of. Instead of doing down dog, you do, like, a 90-degree down dog holding the back of a chair. Um, and you put, like, a knee on the chair to do warrior two, so you’re actually [00:38:00] resting. And Um, and you can do it fully seated too and get at least the arm exercises out of it. So I’ve been trying to maintain, maintain flexibility and some endurance. I’m not doing yoga the way I used to do it, but I am still Melissa: I’ve seen some of your poses. It’s pretty impressive. Brett: Yeah, back in the day. Melissa: W- when you could be upside down. Polycystic Liver Shock Melissa: I should look into that because I, you know, although I’m done having babies, like far done having babies, I have… You probably know about this too, I have polycystic liver disease, which is a really rare type of liver disease, and it’s not fatty liver. Oh my God, I have to keep telling doctors that. That’s the other thing. It’s like, it is not fatty liver. It is not. It- they’re cysts. It’s a totally different thing. I’m basically full of bubbles. So I… But it feels like that’s why I went in to get it. I didn’t actually get that checked. I found it accidentally when I went in for an heart, for a heart CT. That’s when they found it, and for a, a breast MRI, so [00:39:00] both those, those types of scans caught it. The other parts were fine, so my heart’s fine, so that’s a relief. But yeah, so this was a bit of a shock. And so I don’t know exactly what it means moving forward, um, but my entire liver is, like, engulfed in cysts, so. Right? But my blood work is, is fantastic right now, so I’m just gonna keep Brett: That’s good. Melissa: hoping it stays that way. Brett: That’s something. Fatphobia In Healthcare Brett: Um, I I have heard for a long time about, um, doctors being fatphobic and, and always assuming that, um, always assuming that your health i-issue is because you’re fat and not even looking for underlying issues, which has been an interesting experience for me because that really never happened to me. Melissa: Mm. Brett: Um, at least not once I switched to Gundersen from, like, a local clinic. Then I realized that it’s not just being fat that gets you [00:40:00] stigmatized, it’s being a fat woman. Melissa: Mm, I was gonna say try having a uterus and being Brett: yeah. Yeah. Um, like I talked to one of my best friends, April, who he’s, has been on Melissa: by, women doctors. Brett: Yeah. Yeah. And that’s, that’s what April tells me. She tells me all these horror stories. Even after finding care she trusted, she still has to deal with people saying, “Well, if you just lost some weight.” Like, she’s been fat her whole life. She’s in better shape than most skinny people Melissa: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Brett: I mean, she does sit-ups with 50-pound plates and does, like, five, 10 miles at a time on her, like, on her bike and, like, she’s in great shape and still has to walk with the ski poles, and she’s getting her second knee replaced this week. And, like, it, it’s just infuriating to hear the way that doctors dismiss Melissa: You know what the problem is, Brett? Brett: goes through [00:41:00] when Pole Dancing Reality Check Melissa: Not enough doctors have watched fat pole dancers. That is the problem right there. They need more education. Brett: Um, yeah. There’s, there are a couple of, um, queer burlesque shows Melissa: shows, yes. Brett: in my area that almost always include a plus-size pole dance, and it is amazing to Melissa: Oh, it’s mesmerizing. It should be an Olympic sport. Remind me to send you the, the link to, unless you’ve already seen it, have you seen the Deadpool pole dancer? Brett: No, I don’t think Melissa: you are in for a treat. We might just have to put that in the show notes, but I don’t know, I don’t know if your listeners are that, are into that It’s fully clothed, but it’s, there’s even blue Crocs involved. Brett: So this is nobody that you’re seeing on the Melissa: I wondered, yep. I wondered, yeah. Aw, he looks so soft. Mm. Mechanical Keyboard ASMR Brett: So you’ve [00:42:00] gotten really into mechanical keyboards. Melissa: have, I have. In fact, uh, I was gonna, I was gonna see how this might sound, but I, I brought my little box of key caps to show you so that I could say, welcome to my ASMR channel. Brett: That would… is is that a thing? I bet there are ASMR, like, key switch testing. Melissa: yeah, yeah. I’ve run across a couple of videos where, you know, they’ll have a hashtag ASMR in there, and that’s, that’s what it is. Do you experience ASMR yourself? Brett: No. Melissa: No? So when you listen to those videos you don’t get like the s- the tickling of the spine and stuff? Brett: No. Melissa: I do. It actually, it goes, it… I forget. I always forget what the acronym stands for, but it, you know, has something to do with the meridian. So if you can i- imagine your brain like split in half, and I feel it right on this side. It goes, it goes like the, down the back of my head, behind my ear, and down into my shoulder. It [00:43:00] is the funkiest feeling, and I love it. I love it so much. Even when we were talking about animals in the, in the beginning and I even had a cat that would come and just like kind of lick my ear and, oh, I just, I love that. Most people cannot stand that sound. They have the opposite condition where they can’t handle somebody chewing gum. My grandfather had that. Um, some, some kinda, it ends in a tonia. Misatonia or something like that, um, where… I don’t know. Do you have any of those like sound sensory issues? I have a lot of Brett: really don’t. I’m very, I’m very, like, sound Like, I like loud, heavy music. Like, that does something for my psyche. Um, but general sounds, they neither bo-bother me nor stimulate me. Melissa: imagine what that’s like. I just can’t. I’m So bothered, and my kids too, and you know, ugh, God, Brett: So El Melissa: has been problematic. Brett: El is, El is, definitely sensitive to sound, um, in a way that Like, even my [00:44:00] mechanical keyboards can’t be, can’t be on the same floor of the house as Elle. We pretty much live in silence, and that’s fine for me most of the time because, like, it just doesn’t affect me either way. So, like, keeping things quiet is easy, and I focus well in silence. And then when Elle’s gone, I blast my music, and w- when I’m in the car, I blast my music, and then the rest of the time I live in the quiet place. Melissa: Mm-hmm. In The Quiet Place. Brett: Yeah. Melissa: Yeah, we have- something a little similar, but m- my husband and I have, uh… We have our his and hers kind of setup here in, in the, in our den, in our inner study. So he’s got his side and I’ve got my side. So we’re together, and he does a lot of grading papers, and he’s really good about putting his, his earbuds in and just tuning the whole world out. He’s… It’s fascinating to watch that man just [00:45:00] execute. I mean, I just am so envious of people who can just execute. But the, the, the, yeah, the sensory, it’s all about the sensory stuff for me when it comes to keyboards. I actually thought about… I don’t know how popular it would be, but I also thought about making a podcast, a video podcast, that would highlight the intersection of nail art and mechanical keyboards. Because I’ll tell you, that’s actually what… I’ve always loved mechanical keyboards, but yeah, the, the one that I had, someone had given me a, a Matias, and oh, it’s, it’s so loud, but it’s like high-pitched. It’s kinda sharp. And it was even kind of annoying to me after a while. And then it does not, it’s not a mechanical keyboard in that you can’t pull the switches out, so you’re kinda stuck with what you got. Like, you might be able to change the key caps if you could find them, but couldn’t change the switches. And something happened to the S key, and I was like, “All right, it’s over,” so. But I can’t get rid of them either, so one of these days I wanna have like a display of, of keyboards. [00:46:00] Nail Art And Picking Melissa: But what got me, what got me into saying, “Okay, I’m finally, I’m just gonna invest in a keyboard because it’s ergonomically important to me,” is I have… And I can’t pronounce it, so I’m not even gonna try, but there’s a condition, and it’s a self-diagnosed thing. But I, I am a picker. I pick my skin a lot. Um, I think it’s called derma something Anyway, so I wasn’t gonna try to pronounce it. But, uh, I’ve always had that condition since I was a kid. I didn’t even know it was a thing. I just thought everybody get, uh, picks. But then during the pande- during the pandemic, it got super bad. Like, I had, I had, um, some panic attacks and, you know, as a lot of probab- people probably did. But it got so bad to the point where I had picked my fingers and they were bleeding and they were throbbing and they were hurting. And I said to one of my kids, I said to my youngest, I said, “Can you just, like, if I, if I’m picking, can you just let me know?” And then I regretted doing that because then he took it on as this, like, full-time job, you know? And it kinda [00:47:00] gave him anxiety, and I thought, “Oh, okay, that, that was a bad thing to do.” So I s- I let him off the hook. I said, “No, you don’t have to tell me anymore.” Um, because, yeah, ev- even if I went to, like, just kinda, like, clean under my nail or something. So it was actually causing a real problem for the family that I was just picking so much. And it’s not just my fingers, it’s, like, other parts of my body. So I thought to myself, “Well, what can I do about this?” And so I started putting fake nail tips on. And I hate to be all, like… I don’t know, I’m not, I try not to be, like, a very vain person, but I really started kinda falling into the nail art side of things, and I, I just recently learned how to do gel and work with, um, uh, what’s it called? Uh, not resin. So I… Oh, that’s another ASMR thing. Do you like to watch resin pours? Brett: I do, actually, yes. Melissa: that’s… Okay, so if you like resin pours, if you like to watch the viscosity and the way the, the chemicals, like, form together and when they, when they mix colors in and stuff, [00:48:00] that’s what it’s like with nail art but on more of, like, a macro level because it’s, you know, you’re working with small stuff. Like, just, just recently I learned how to do… So I’m showing Brett this on, on camera, but I recently learned how to do the kind of nail polish that you take a magnet and you run the magnet along it, and it makes this, like, a cat’s eye. Brett: Yeah, that’s cool. Melissa: I love it. So, so that, so combining nail art then, and I thought, “Well, now I’ve got these long nails,” but all of my keyboards have been these flat, really low-profile keyboards. And, you know, I just, I started to dread it. So then I was kinda caught between a crossroads. Like, either I leave nails off and I can type really, really fast and have high accuracy with no nails, but then as soon as, as soon as I get, like, a little snag or something, then I start picking and then it’s just, it’s all over then. Or I try to find a way to work with these nails. So that’s what I started thinking, “Well, maybe if I had higher keys.” And so then I just, yeah, rabbit hole. [00:49:00] Went down the rabbit hole, and I’ve, I’ve just kinda been there ever since. And, uh, it really, I think, uh… Let’s see. How long ago did this start? It’s only been about maybe like six months or something like that, so. Keyboard Layout Rabbit Hole Melissa: But in that time so I’ve started, um, building a collection of switches. So I’ve been really interested in both the key caps and the switches. Um, I’ve got my baseboards. I like my Royal Kludge the best. This is… I’m gonna show Brett my Royal Kludge. So, so this is what it’s looking like right now. Brett: Yeah. Melissa: It is very purpley. Um, I did post some pictures. I can… I don’t know if you do pictures in show notes, but I could take some pictures for you It’s got a knob. It’s got, um… Let me see if I can do it real Brett: Do you use the knob. I have a couple keyboards with knobs and even a joystick, and I never actually use them Melissa: Good question. Um, I, I use it, I try to use it for volume at [00:50:00] times, and that’s probably what I use it for the most. But this one does have a… Let’s see if I can get this into focus here, backwards and upside down. It’s gonna be upside down, but you see how you can put, you can put your logo Brett: Oh, yeah. Nice. Melissa: got my The Mac Mommy little logo on there. Otherwise, it gives you the time in military format, so that’s kind of handy to have. Um, but yeah, it’s… To be honest, I, I love the, I love this Royal Kludge because it’s nice and heavy, and I love the form factor. It’s got a number pad, um, because I’m, because I am a grown-ass adult and I need a number pad. Um, but it’s nice and heavy. It doesn’t, it doesn’t move around my desk a lot. I kind of have to type, like, kind of crooked, ’cause that’s just the way my neck goes to the wrong way and stuff like that. So I like being able to fit it on my desk. I have a, I had a larger one made by Red, uh, what is it? Redragon. This is the one that I started [00:51:00] out with. Gonna make lots of noise here. But as you can see, this one is way bigger. And it was, as much as I liked it, I mean, I fell in love with it, but what was happening was my accuracy was, like, really thrown off because I fe- I kept feeling like it just needs to be, like, a couple centimeters to the right or a couple centimeters to the left. It just wasn’t centered very well. So this one, my husband gets all the hand-me-downs, so that one went over onto his desk. Uh, and then I also have a baby keyboard here, and this is another Redragon. This is my little mini one. Brett: that’s, that’s the kind of keyboard I mostly use, like a 70% keyboard. Melissa: Yeah, I think this one’s even 60. Um… Brett: My– The one I’m using right now is, uh, 60. There’s no, there’s no function row, there’s no arrow, there’s no keypad or, like, arrow pad. Um, Melissa: No [00:52:00] arrows? How do you live without arrows? Oh, do you, you mapped your keys to something Brett: so it looks like this, Melissa: nice. I love the Brett: that the, the space bar is split in two. Yeah, my, my, my partner says it looks like, uh, gay ’80s. It’s all pink and blue and purple. Um, but the, the space bar is split, and the right half of mine functions as something called a mod key, and when I hold that down, then my I, J, K, and L keys become arrow keys. Melissa: Oh, wow. Brett: once you get used to it, you never have to take your hand off the home row. Melissa: Oh my God, that must be amazing. Brett: It– Yeah, once you get used to it, it, it’s so… Like, g- moving to a keyboard that doesn’t have that is kind of tortuous. On my MacBook Pro, I have remapped it using Karabiner so that Melissa: [00:53:00] That’s what I’m using. Brett: if I hold, the semicolon down with my pinky, then H-I-J-K-L become, Melissa: Oh, nice. Brett: become arrow keys, so I still don’t have to move my hand all the way down and to the right. Like, that’s such a inefficient movement that then I have to, like… Because I don’t have great feeling in my fingers, so finding, on a low-profile keyboard, finding the, the homing buttons again Melissa: Oh, do you use the humming buttons? See, that’s the thing, I was never taught that. I mean, I took like a ty- I took like a typewriting class back in high school, and I just didn’t like it. I, I just taught myself. I just… I’m an autodidact that way, so I just taught myself. Brett: my dad, back in 1984, we had a typing program on our PCjr, and I Melissa: It wasn’t Mavis Beacon, was it? Brett: remember. I don’t remember. All I know is, like, It taught you touch typing, and it would give you [00:54:00] these lessons, and you would basically just mirror what was on screen. And at the age of seven, I was typing at about 68 words per minute on an, on an old IBM PCjr keyboard. Um, got a lot faster through high school and everything. But yeah, I was, I was, from day one, I was raised to be a touch typist, and, and I took all the classes they had in school. Melissa: But you still touch Brett: labs. Yeah. Melissa: Uh-huh, yeah. So you don’t do the home rows. Brett: No, that is touch Melissa: Oh, touch typing, so you do feel… for the bumps. Brett: Yeah, I feel for the bumps, and then I just, like, my f- my key, my fingers never really leave the Melissa: Oh, yeah. See, I wish I could do Brett: centered home row. Yeah. It’s, it, it’s good. Um, Melissa: And you’re using the split, so my gosh. Brett: What– You get used to that too. Um, like, [00:55:00] I can’t do it with the split far apart. I’ve seen people use, like, splits, like, way out to the sides, and I can’t, my, my brain doesn’t do that. Like, my hands have to be within, like, six inches of each other. Melissa: I always thought, it would be so cool to have something where you could have it, like, raised up like this, right? And use your hands sideways. Brett: Yeah. Well, that’s I mean, that’s essentially, I have, on the bottom of this keyboard, I have these risers. Melissa: Oh, uh-huh. Oh, Brett: So it sits, right now I have it at about a 45-degree tent, tent, tent. Um, but it can go up to more like an 80-degree tent, where you’re actually Melissa: Wow. Brett: uh, almost like you’re clapping, you’re typing. Um, I don’t Melissa: of that. I have a, a, handshake mouse. Brett: Vertical mouse. Melissa: You like… Is that what you have for a mouse too? Brett: no, I, I love Melissa: Trackballs. Oh, trackpads. Oh, okay. Brett: Apple’s Magic Trackpad changed my life. I’ve never used– I’ve never gone back to a [00:56:00] mouse since the first Magic Trackpad came out. Melissa: So you’re all about the gestures then? Brett: yeah, Melissa: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. That’s great. Brett: Bet- bet- better touch tool for the win. Melissa: You know what it is for me, is because of the type of work that I do, and this is very much true for both of us, you do these things because of the type of work that you do. The type of work that I do, I’m in everybody’s homes, so I have to ty- I have to be able to type and use their mouse and, I mean, it’s actually a very dirty job. So I keep hand wipes with me everywhere. Um, that, that was why during the pandemic I was like, “I am not coming to your house and I am not touching the stuff that you just picked your nose and…” Yeah, mm-mm. But, so, so i- it’s been kind of keeping me almost like a purist in a way as far as keyboards have gone all these years. I, I finally just kind of let go and embraced this recently, th- which is why I’m so excited and why I’m just kind of nerding out on it, because when, when I worked [00:57:00] in, like, I’ll call it the industry, um, I got my f- my start in prepress. So I worked in prepress, I was a typesetter, and we had… That’s what I kind of miss. We had the old clunky beige keyboards, and I had my muscle memory such that I think my o- my Option key would have, like, the indentation of my nail on it. You know? ‘Cause I had, just like you have, keys that are programmed. I could… I was a Quark queen. I don’t know if you’re familiar with QuarkXPress? Brett: Oh, yeah. Yeah. I was a graphic designer. I I know Quark. Melissa: Yeah, I loved it. I was… And, and I used it back in the OS 9 days, OS 7 really, is when I started out. Uh, I did not like the OS X vers- OS 10 version of Quark. Did not like it at all. Brett: No, but that’s Melissa: it was slow. Brett: Adobe came out with, what was, what was Adobe’s… InDesign. Yeah. By the time I had started, by the time I had started my own ad agency, we were all InDesign. Melissa: Oh, [00:58:00] nice. Okay. I mean, it was a Brett: and none of the, none of the print shops expected Quark files Melissa: Yeah. Oh, it was so expensive. I remember I had to buy it when I was in college, and I remember it cost, like, $800. I’m probably still paying for that, damn it, in interest. Yeah, so that, that’s how I got my start originally, and that’s how I was doing… I, I went to… So I have, I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts. I went to college in order to be a designer. I wanted to be a designer designer, and that’s what I, what I thought I was good at and thought that I liked doing, ’cause, you know, “Oh, you’re a girl. Go to art school. You like to draw.” You know? I’m always bitter about that because I really wish that I would’ve been able to go… I mean, this was, you know… I’m, I’m 51, so this was back in the day where girls, girls don’t do computers and girls don’t do coding. G- girls don’t do computer science. They didn’t even call it computer science. They didn’t even call it graphic design back then. It was commercial art. Um, so I studied that and, you know, I liked it ’cause I thought, “Well, this is what I could, I could take my art and make [00:59:00] a living into it.” And then fast-forward, um, I just started to fall in love with the technical troubleshooting side of things. So as, as good as I was at the technical typesetting and the technical, like, putting prepress things together, you know, um, uh, key sheets and s- you know, things like that. Do you remember, was there, uh, did you ever use a program called Quick Keys? That was one of the ones Brett: familiar. Melissa: you could map your own keys to things. So w- when I was in prepress and doing typesetting, I used that program and I, I mapped all my keys, and I had all these quick keys and stuff so I could go really, really fast, you know? So when they wanted something done fast, they gave it to me, and I could just fly through documents with this. But then as people learned that I was good at this kind of stuff and troubleshooting, they’re like, “Oh, hey, Roger needs, you know, has a problem. Can you go help him?” So I’d go over to his cubicle, I sit down, and he’s got nothing. You know, he’s got [01:00:00] no quick keys, no nothing, and you just kinda get lost because your muscle memory just adapts to it. And I couldn’t help people the way… And, and that was what it was about for me. I really liked more helping people and troubleshooting and the technology side of things than the actual design process. So I kind of went to the other side with it. And so I just kind of, like, vowed that, okay, I’m not gonna do any kind of, like, customization on my own workstation because then I’ll, my, my muscle memory will map to it, and then when I go to sit down to help somebody else, I won’t… You know, I’ll be so much in my own world that I won’t be able to help them. And so I just kind of, like, remained a, a pu

Buckle up, geeks! This week’s Quick Tips have you refreshing the App Store like a pro, turning Finder’s Quick Actions into a PDF-combining powerhouse, swiping that iOS cut/copy/paste bar like a power user, and finally taming horizontal scrolling on your non-Apple mouse. Then it’s tales from the road: Adam wrestles eSIMs into submission with a Starlink cameo, Linda accidentally invents her own ISP, Mint Mobile’s tablet plan steps into the spotlight, and Dave shares what he learned from TP-Link about the FCC saga you’ll want in your ears before your next router purchase. Your questions get the full treatment, too. VaShaun learns how to keep his SSID intact when switching providers (including travel router magic!), Jim battles a stubborn Trash with rm, lsof, and fuser so you Don’t Get Caught staring at undeletable files, and GW finally gets a straight answer on why sync is so hard. Cool Stuff Found rounds it out with WhiteScreen.Online turning your devices into panel lights, Zenringer landing at half price, the Basic Bookmark Checker tidying your digital life, the Flipper Zero cloning whatever’s clonable, and the OBDEleven gen 3 unlocking your car’s hidden settings. Hit play and geek out. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1141 for Monday, May 11th, 2026 May 11th: National Technology Day MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a Function101 Apple TV Button Remote The MGG Merch Store is Live! Quick Tips 00:00:01 Michael-QTR-Refresh Appstore Update 00:03:00 Bill-QT-Making a PDF with “Quick Actions” Menu in Finder Apple Support Combine PDFs 00:05:30 Lucas from Chicago-QT-Swipe the bar/menu of cut/copy/paste options on iOS 00:07:16 ACTUALLY combining PDFs on the Mac in the Finder Combine files into a PDF on Mac (in Finder) 00:09:12 David-QT-Horizontal Scrolling with a Non-Apple Mouse! Stories from Travels 00:11:43 Adam and The eSIM Starlink Internet eSIMDB US Mobile 00:21:51 LindaNET (because Linda had a DSL line and resold her high speed internet) 00:22:32 Mint Mobile Tablet Plan 00:26:04 Dave vs. TP-Link and The FCC Sponsors 00:28:00 SPONSOR: CarGurus. Meet CarGurus Discover, a new search feature where you can look for vehicles based on the way you think—using your own words. No more being boxed in by filters. Check it out at https://cargurus.com/ 00:29:11 SPONSOR: NordLayer Browser. The business browser built for how modern work actually happens — giving IT the visibility and control to secure SaaS, stop phishing, and prevent data leaks right at the source. 00:30:08 SPONSOR: CleanMyMac. Get Tidy Today! Try 7 days free and use our code MACGEEK for 20% off at clnmy.com/MACGEEK Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:31:30 VaShaun-Can I Keep my SSID when I get a new provider? Use your home's same SSID/password on your travel router so everything connects all the time 00:39:01 Jim-How do I empty a stubborn Trash on my Mac? rm vs. rmdir vs. rm -rf sudo lsof +D /path/to/folder sudo fuser -v /path/to/folder Command-Shift-Period in Finder shows hidden files 00:50:27 GW-Why is Sync “Hard?” Cool Stuff Found 00:58:11 Stephen-CSF-WhiteScreen.Online turns your device into a panel light 01:01:12 Michael-CSM-Zenringer (link gets you half price for MGG listeners) 01:02:16 Donald-CSM-1128-Basic Bookmark Checker to clean things up! 01:03:13 Rob in STL-CSF-Flipper Zero for cloning (your?) badges and more 01:06:34 Richard-CSF-1111-ODBEleven gen 3 for tweaking your car’s settings 01:09:11 MGG 1141 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab iOS app Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

Pilot Pete and Dave open Episode 1140 with a rapid-fire round of quick tips you’ll wish you’d known sooner: long-press the App Store icon to jump straight to Updates, long-press a folder to break down its notifications, push iOS updates to your iPhone through your Mac, and delete apps before they auto-update. You’ll also discover that iPad status bar elements respond to mouse clicks, that not every airline demands a passport scan for TSA Touchless, and where to grab a free customizable QR code generator. Then Javier drops by the Don’t Get Caught segment with a warning: run a beta macOS on your daily driver only with your eyes wide open to what could break. In the mailbag, you’ll troubleshoot a Notes folder that keeps un-deleting itself, get walked through iCloud Data Recovery, plan a Fastmail migration and a clean EarthLink exit, weigh OneNote and Apple Notes as Evernote alternatives, decode why your copyright date is stuck in the past, and figure out how much life remains in a 2019 MacBook Pro. Angel cues up the question everyone’s asking: what is an MCP server? And Cool Stuff Found delivers right on cue with the new Fastmail MCP Connector, a Keyword Navigation extension for Chromium browsers, and the I Love a Piano app that turns your iPhone into a pocket keyboard. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1140 for Monday, May 4th, 2026 May 4th: Star Wars Day (and Dave Brubeck Day) MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a Function101 Apple TV Button Remote Congrats to March's SoundSource winners: Ian, Robert, and Jeff The MGG Merch Store is Live! Quick Tips 00:00:01 WillRun4Fun-QT-Long press on the App Store for Updates 00:03:27 Ventmore-Long press on a folder with multiple notifications to see a breakdown 00:07:33 Dan DCZDB-QT-Update your iPhone's iOS via your Mac iOS Version History iMazing 00:09:57 JanLandy-QT-Delete apps from your iPhone before they update 00:10:58 Ben-QT-You can mouse-click iPad status bar elements 00:11:59 Terry-1138-Not every airline requires your passport to be scanned for TSA Touchless 00:15:37 Nora-QT-Free Customizable QRCode Generator Don't Get Caught 00:18:04 Javier-DGC-Run a beta OS on your daily driver with your eyes open to the possibilities of problems Sponsors 00:26:36 SPONSOR: OneSkin. Born from over a decade of longevity research, OneSkin's OS-01 Peptide is proven to target the visible signs of aging, helping you unlock your healthiest skin now and as you age. Get 15% off OneSkin with the code MGG at https://www.oneskin.co/MGG  #oneskinpod #ad Reviews 00:29:24 SleepyCBR-MGG Review-Best podcast Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:30:00 Wallace-Notes keeps un-deleting my folder! 00:35:45 iCloud Data Recovery 00:38:09 Steve-Fastmail Migration and EarthLink Exit Strategy 00:51:09 Judy-What non-Evernote options do I have? Microsoft OneNote Apple Notes 00:53:57 Todd-Why the Out of Date Copyright Date? 00:59:06 Marty-How much life does my 2019 MacBook Pro have left in it? 01:08:32 Angel-What is an MCP server/interface? Cool Stuff Found…and Made! 01:11:27 Stephen-CSF-Fastmail MCP Connector 01:14:53 Bram-CSM-Keyword Navigation for Chromium Browsers 01:18:32 Max-CSM-I Love a Piano iPhone piano 01:22:23 MGG 1140 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab iOS app Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

This week’s episode is a Cool Stuff Found marathon, packed with gems you need to bookmark. You’ll get a launcher upgrade with TinyStart, a slick dual-pane file manager in VoidCommander, T-Mobile router control via HINTControl, and a borescope camera Pilot Pete can’t stop talking about. Dave hauls in a clamp-on desk power strip, the Levoit EverestAir-P purifier, and the Airversa AP2, while Adam fires up his Pit Boss combo grill. You’ll also hear about AirPod foam tips that actually stay put, a surprising detour into the evolution of lifetime warranties, and why LTT’s TrueSpec USB cables might finally end your “does this cable do everything?” guessing game. On the AI front, you’ll dig into building SKILLS.md files for your agents, a HomeAssistant MCP server, and the Plaud NotePin S for capturing ideas on the go. Round it out with the Audigo pocket recording studio, a new Steve Jobs biography covering the NeXT years, leather DavisCase iPhone cases, the Smartlet One dual watchband, and Akko Insurance for when things go sideways. Don’t Get Caught missing a single tip. Hit play, take notes, and grab your chance at a free year of Plex Pass in this month’s giveaway. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1139 for Monday, April 27th, 2026 April 27th: World Pinhole Photography Day MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a Plex Pass for a Year Congrats to March's SoundSource winners: Ian, Robert, and Jeff The MGG Merch Store is Live! Cool Stuff Found 00:00:01 Dan DXZDB-CSF-TinyStart, a launcher and emoji picker 00:04:05 MenuMeters 00:04:29 Istvan-CSM-VoidCommander, a dual-pane file manager for Mac Use VOID40 for 40% off 00:06:35 Paul-CSF-1138-HINTControl to control your T-Mobile Home Internet router 00:07:44 Uncle Jamie-CSF-CalCs adds Calendar Complications for Apple Watch 00:09:13 Steven-CSF-Blip for Dropbox File Transfer to External Drives 00:11:43 Adam-CSF-Pit Boss Competition Series 1230CS1 Combo Grill 00:15:40 Pilot Pete-CSF-Teslong Borescope Camera 00:19:25 Dave-CSF-Anker Clamp-on-Desk Power Strip 00:23:54 Ben-CSF-CharJenPro Air Foam Airpod Ear Tips Comply Foam Tips for AirPods 00:27:49 The Evolution of Lifetime Warrantees LLBean Craftsman 00:29:32 Dave-CSF-Levoit EverestAir-P purifier 00:32:52 Dave-CSF-Airversa AP2 00:33:36 AirDoctor 00:32:20 Hector D. Byrd 00:37:34 Sensibo Smart HEPA Filters Sponsors 00:38:31 SPONSOR: NordLayer Browser. The business browser built for how modern work actually happens — giving IT the visibility and control to secure SaaS, stop phishing, and prevent data leaks right at the source. 00:39:48 SPONSOR: Gusto. Get three months free when you run your first payroll when you start at gusto.com/MGG 00:41:02 SPONSOR: BBEdit, the power tool for text from Bare Bones Software; now with integrated Notebooks and extended language support. MOAR Cool Stuff Found 00:42:18 Chris-CSF-Plaud NotePin S note-taker 00:45:14 Steve Hammond-CSF-HomeAssistant MCP server 00:47:45 Todd-CSF-Mac Power Users 841 re: teaching AI skills Robot Assistant Field Guide 00:52:07 Building SKILLS.md files for your AI Agents 00:54:34 QT-Google Docs will show you Google-search-suggested links only if you’re logged in Even MORE CSF 00:55:42 CSF-Audigo – Pocket-sized recording studio. Single mic: $249, and you can use up-to-four at once 01:00:49 Eddie-CSF-LTT TrueSpec USB Cables Dave's The USB/Thunderbolt cables Dave travels with that support “everything” 01:09:17 Andrew-CSF-Steve Jobs in Exile – The Untold Story of NeXT, and the Remaking of an American Visionary 01:11:08 Hans-CSF-DavisCase leather iPhone cases 01:13:39 Kent-CSF-Prestige iPhone Case ESR Screen Protector 01:16:16 Bob-CSF-Smartlet One Classic dual watchband to wear Apple Watch and another watch 01:19:36 Jeff-CSF-Akko Insurance Recommended by a Repair Professional – CrackedGadgets.com 01:22:09 MGG 1139 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab iOS app Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

This week on Mac Geek Gab 1138, Pilot Pete, Adam, and Dave tackle your burning questions and deliver the tips that keep your tech humming. You’ll learn how to properly delete images from your iPhone, sort out mesh networking headaches with T-Mobile, and decide whether Updatest and HomeBrew belong in your app-updating toolkit (spoiler: brew install topgrade is a game-changer). Struggling with limited bandwidth? TripMode lets you pause iCloud downloads on demand. Plus, the crew digs into why Plex Remote Access suddenly quit working and how Claude Code can help you recompile apps on the fly. The quick tips are stacked this week: skip the remount dance by using Finder Sidebar for network shares, generate QR codes straight from your clipboard, and tap Show Highlights in Notes to track edits. Listener Dave’s keyboard shortcut (Left-Control + Left-Command + Right-Shift…and then power) will save your Mac from accidental restarts while cleaning the keyboard, and a Synology power supply swap might save your wallet. Don’t Get Caught slipping on the latest Apple Pay hack that drains accounts from locked iPhones, or blindsided by Backblaze now excluding iCloud Drive from backups. Round it out with tickIQ for tracking your mechanical watches, and you’ve got another solid episode in the books. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1138 for Monday, April 20th, 2026 April 20th: National Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Day MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a Plex Pass for a Year Congrats to March's SoundSource winners: Ian, Robert, and Jeff The MGG Merch Store is Live! Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:03:42 Gary-How do I delete images from my iPhone? 00:09:05 Jim-Which Mesh setup will work with my home and TMobile? 00:21:20 Ian-Is Updatest (and HomeBrew) good for updating apps? 00:23:35 Using Claude Code to recompile apps brew upgrade brew install topgrade 00:29:05 GW-How to Pause an iCloud Download when bandwidth is limited? TripMode 00:38:02 Dr. Brad-Why did Plex Remote Access stop working Plex Support Forum – for Plex Media Server Sponsors 00:45:22 SPONSOR: CarGurus. Meet CarGurus Discover, a new search feature where you can look for vehicles based on the way you think—using your own words. No more being boxed in by filters. Check it out at https://cargurus.com/ 00:46:41 SPONSOR: OneSkin. Born from over a decade of longevity research, OneSkin's OS-01 Peptide is proven to target the visible signs of aging, helping you unlock your healthiest skin now and as you age. Get 15% off OneSkin with the code MGG at https://www.oneskin.co/MGG  #oneskinpod #ad 00:48:19 SPONSOR: Shopify. In 2026, stop waiting and start selling with Shopify. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial and start selling today at https://Shopify.com/MGG Quick Tips 00:00:01 Jeff-QT-Instead of remounting network shares, just use the Finder Sidebar 00:49:56 Peter-QT-Shortcut to create a QR Code from Clipboard Contents. 00:51:51 QT-Show Highlights in Notes.app to see who edited the Note and when 00:54:09 Dave-Use Left-Control, Left-Command, + Right-Shift to keep your Mac from accidentally restarting KeyboardCleanTool 00:57:50 JP-QT-Synology Power Supply May Be Cheaper Repair Option Don't Get Caught 01:02:05 DGC-Can you steal $$ from a locked iPhone? This Apple Pay Hack Can Drain Your Account Without Unlocking Your iPhone 01:11:03 Paul-DGC-Backblaze now excludes iCloud Drive Cool Stuff Found 01:14:13 DLH-CSF-tickIQ to measure and track your mechanical watches 01:18:26 MGG 1138 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab iOS app Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

You’ve got quick tips galore this week: if your iPad battery’s draining mysteriously, your Apple Pencil might be the culprit, so pop it off when you’re not using it. Want custom emoji? Now you can create your own. LaunchBar fans, there’s a slick way to jump straight into System Settings, and if you’re self-hosting Bitwarden, the guys walk you through adding a local server with Cloudflare Tunnels. Pilot Pete also breaks down getting your digital ID working at TSA — and makes a compelling case that it’s actually more secure than handing over your physical license — plus there’s a look at TSA’s new Touchless ID system. On the AI side, if agentic browsing still makes you nervous, Dave and Pete have practical advice for easing in, and they dig into why the app you use matters just as much as the LLM behind it — including a look at Claude’s upcoming Mythos model. You’ll hear how to tighten your AI agent’s security awareness (Don’t Get Caught slipping on that one), use Comet to become the ultimate “Reply Guy,” let your LLM tell you which apps are available in Setapp, and even have your chatbot generate QR codes . Wrapping up, there’s a fix for Mail not seeing updated Contacts Groups, a cost breakdown of building your own 2026 27-inch iMac, and an honest conversation about whether Plex is getting worse. Press play and enjoy learning at least five new things, folks! 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1137 for Monday, April 13th, 2026 April 13th: National Scrabble Day The MGG Merch Store is Live! MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a Plex Pass for a year! Congrats to March's SoundSource winners: Ian, Robert, and Jeff Quick Tips 00:00:01 Ian-QT-1136-Apple Pencil can drain an iPad battery 00:03:37 PilotPete-QT-Create Your Own Emoji 00:06:24 Ben-1136-CSF-Use LaunchBar to launch System Settings 00:08:22 Adding a local Bitwarden server Cloudflare Tunnels Cloudflare Workers Uplock app for Apple Passwords 00:21:39 PilotPete-QT- getting digital ID to work at TSA & why it's likely more secure than your license 00:25:59 TSA Touchless ID Sponsors 00:30:28 SPONSOR: CleanMyMac. Get Tidy Today! Try 7 days free and use our code MACGEEK for 20% off at clnmy.com/MACGEEK 00:32:01 SPONSOR: Pocket Hose. For a limited time, you can get a FREE pocket pivot and their 10-pattern sprayer with the purchase of ANY size Copper Head hose. Just text MGG to 64000. AI Side Quest 00:33:40 The Flora-Bama Club 00:35:59 Andy-What can I do if I'm not yet comfortable with agentic browsing? 00:41:20 Your AI app matters as much as the LLM 00:45:08 What's up with Claude's new Mythos LLM? 00:48:42 Jason-QT-Tighten Your AI Agent’s Security Awareness! 00:51:32 Using Comet to help you be “Reply Guy” 00:53:46 Todd-QT-Let your LLM tell you which apps you can get in Setapp 00:55:49 Roy-QT-Let your chatbot create QR codes iQR for QR Codes Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:58:33 Joe-Why is Mail not seeing my updated Contacts Group? 01:04:12 Brent-Cost breakdown of the 2026 27″ iMac 01:06:16 Matt-Is Plex getting worse? If so, can it get better? Emby Jellyfin 01:19:31 MGG 1137 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab iOS app Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

You get a rapid-fire run of Mac tips that actually make your daily workflow smoother instead of noisier. From finally being able to change your Gmail address and using Markdown to escape Apple Notes, to smarter ways to attach glass screen protectors, auto-mount network shares, prune that graveyard of old Bluetooth devices, and squeeze better battery life from your iPad Pro, this episode keeps you moving instead of doomscrolling. If you're shopping monitors for a Mac mini, curious why Find My wants light, or looking to travel with the right iPhone car mount, you'll walk away with practical, field-tested ideas you can apply immediately. Then you dive into a real-world warning shot: Adobe quietly touching your /etc/hosts file and what that means for taking control back on your own Mac so you Don't Get Caught. You'll also hear listener-vetted iPhone cases—from rugged bumpers and leather shells to newer clear cases that don't yellow—so you can carry your iPhone with confidence and a bit more style. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1136 for Monday, April 6th, 2026 April 6th: New Beer's Eve MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a Plex Pass for a Year Congrats to March's SoundSource winners: Ian, Robert, and Jeff The MGG Merch Store is Live! 00:03:01 Grappling With The Weather Quick Tips 00:00:01 QT-You can now change your Google/Gmail username 00:04:47 Todd-QT-Use Markdown to migrate from Apple Notes Bear app's instructions for migrating from Apple Notes 00:06:46 Clif-QT-Install Glass screen protectors in a steamy bathroom 00:09:33 Chris Powers-QT-Connect (more) Reliably to Network Shares on Startup Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:13:38 Greg in NC-How do I bulk-clean-up my Bluetooth devices? ToothFairy for macOS 00:20:17 QT-Bluetooth name changes are saved on the Bluetooth device, not on your iPhone 00:23:57 Randy Walker-How long should my iPad Pro 11″ M2 be able to hold a charge? CoconutBattery Low Power Mode Is it iCloud Syncing? 00:30:02 Larry-Which 5K monitor for my new Mac mini? Refurb LG UltraFine 5K – $799 ViewSonic VP2768-4k – $549 ViewSonic VP2788-5K – $929 Philips 4K UHD 27” – $499 (unavailable) BenQ PD2730S – $1,099 KTC 5K 27” – $549 LG 27UP850K-W 4K – $334 00:46:25 Joe-Why does Find My need light? 00:48:09 Leveraging Claude Code 00:50:08 Uncle Jamie-What iPhone car mount do you travel with? USB A to USB C Adapters iPhone Dash-mount Cradle Sponsors 00:56:39 SPONSOR: Gusto. Get three months free when you run your first payroll when you start at gusto.com/MGG Don't Get Caught 00:57:59 Adam-DGC-Adobe Messed with My /etc/hosts file…and yours, too! Your Favorite iPhone Cases 01:06:09 Chris-CSF-Incipio Duo iPhone Case 01:07:17 NASANut-CSF-Spigen iPhone cases and screen protectors 01:09:20 Clif-The new, cheap clear cases don’t yellow like they used to 01:10:35 Dan-Wuwedo is a bumper/open case for $13 01:12:40 Thad-CSF-Check out Bullstrap Leather Cases 01:13:43 Todd-CSF-Nomad Leather Case and the case for screen protectors 01:15:26 Tony-CSF-Fierre Shann Leather iPhone Cases 01:17:18 CSF-Mujjo Leather iPhone Case 01:18:36 MGG 1136 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab iOS app Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

You're about to spend an hour geeking out about the moments when your tech life goes sideways and how to keep it all under control. You'll hit World Backup Day prep, tame your email with smart rules and categories, turn your AirPods into stealth earplugs, and learn Mac power tricks like killing stubborn processes and using Reminders so your birthday rewards never slip by. Along the way, you'll hear from listeners about pre-emptively swapping NAS drives, upsizing your Synology, and the best way to get your movie library playing cleanly on your iPad. Then you'll dive into the fun stuff that happens when the internet spits you out in the wrong place, from working around VPN restrictions to making sure you Don't Get Caught when networks get weird. You'll remember John Martellaro and his dents in the universe, plus load up on Cool Stuff Found like AirTag sleeves for your Apple TV remote, faster AirDrop-style sharing with Blip and LocalSend, and even AI that can drive your car with Comma 4. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1135 for Monday, March 30th, 2026 March 30th: National Pencil Day Pentel Twist Erase MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a copy of SoundSource from Rogue Amoeba! 00:05:05 World Backup Day is tomorrow! Fastmail backs up your email! Quick Tips 00:00:01 Bill-QT-1134-Set macOS to always open new documents in tabs 00:09:09 P2-QT-use noise cancellation with AirPod in one ear Using AirPods as earplugs Comply Foam Tips for AirPods 00:14:00 SXSW: Shokz OpenDots One Shokz OpenFit Pro 00:18:46 David-QT-Host your own cloud mail rules Spark Mail SaneBox Claude CoWork and Dispatch 00:24:48 n-Ben-QT-1131–Train Apple’s Mail Categories for your own emails 00:26:17 John-QT-Use killall -9 if you really need to kill a process killall -9 “[process name]” killall -KILL “[process name]” Check Activity Monitor's View menu 00:37:17 Tim-QT-Use Reminders to remember your birthday rewards Sponsors 00:38:30 SPONSOR: BBEdit, the power tool for text from Bare Bones Software; now with integrated Notebooks and extended language support. 00:39:41 SPONSOR: Stamps.com With Stamps.com you can send from your computer or phone 24/7. No long lines, no low supplies, open any time. Go to stamps.com and use code mgg to get sixty days risk-free! Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:41:01 JP-Should I Replace Drives Pre-emptively in my NAS? Synology Monthly Disk Health Report Synology Hot Spare 00:47:14 How about adding larger drives to your NAS? 00:51:06 Roger-What’s a better way to display and play movies on my iPad? VLC Infuse Plex 00:55:42 Mark-How can I use a VPN and bypass VPN restrictions 01:00:02 CSF-GoodReader for playing movies 01:00:43 GW-Glowing MacBook Apple Logo 01:03:00 Remembering John Martellaro and the dents he put in the universe Finding John Martellaro's Space Shuttle Lander Simulator for Apple ][ Cool Stuff Found 01:08:04 James-CSF-Elago AirTag sleeve for AppleTV 4K remote 01:09:45 -n-Ahkeens-CSF-1132-Blip is reliable, AirDrop-style replacement Allison-CSF-Blip to give a better AirDrop-like experience LocalSend 01:11:53 Greg-CSF-Comma 4 uses AI to drive your car 01:18:05 MGG 1135 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly More shows Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab iOS app Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

You'll come away from this episode with a faster, smarter iPhone and Mac workflow dialed in. You learn how to boss Siri around for brightness, Dark Mode, CarPlay directions, and per‑source audio levels, so your phone actually behaves in the car and on the couch. You tap into power‑user gestures like two‑finger‑tap to open links in a new Safari tab, Quick Actions to spin anything into a PDF, and Option‑click display rotation on the Mac. You even get sneaky with ad‑supported games by flipping Airplane Mode, and peek at where on‑device AI is heading with tools like Locally AI from the SXSW “more personal computer” session. Then you shift into solving real listener problems so your Apple gear finally stays in sync with you. You clean up contact groups, fix that iPad Mail inbox that doesn't match your other devices, and fight back against toll‑free robocalls. You hear which iPhone cases and glass protectors the geeks actually trust, plus protection options like Verizon Home Protect and automation tools like Crank to trigger actions based on what you're doing. The whole way through, you're reminded of the Mac Geek Gab mantra: Don't Get Caught missing the tweaks, tricks, and Cool Stuff Found that make your Apple life smoother. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1134 for Monday, March 23rd, 2026 March 23rd: World Math Day MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a copy of SoundSource from Rogue Amoeba! Congrats to February's winners! The MGG Merch Store is Live! Quick Tips 00:00:01 Ian-QT-Hey Siri, turn up the brightness 00:03:50 Scott-QT-1133-Tell Siri to toggle Dark Mode 00:10:08 Vira-CSF-Locally AI – run models on your iPhone locally SXSW: A More Personal Computer: How AI is Transforming Desktops 00:11:58 Bill-QT-Spoken Directions in CarPlay Adjusting the volume of the different sources on your iPhone (Siri, Music, Maps, more) “Hey Siri, speak louder” 00:17:06 Henry-QT-Two-finger-tap to open links in a new Mobile Safari tab 00:18:03 ETC-QT-Use Quick Actions to create a PDF 00:22:44 Mickey-QT-Hold Option to get Display Rotation options in System Settings 00:23:40 Adam's wife-Stop Ads with Airplane Mode in ad-supported games Sponsors 00:28:37 SPONSOR: Gusto. Get three months free when you run your first payroll when you start at gusto.com/MGG 00:29:53 SPONSOR: Pocket Hose. For a limited time, you can get a FREE pocket pivot and their 10-pattern sprayer with the purchase of ANY size Copper Head hose. Just text MGG to 64000. 00:31:23 SPONSOR: Shopify. In 2026, stop waiting and start selling with Shopify. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com/MGG 00:32:49 SXSW: Phil Schiller & David Pogue Fireside Chat David Pogue Apple: The First 50 Years Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:43:49 Joe-Question about Contact groups 00:48:32 Bill-How come my iPad shows different Mail than everything else? 00:54:45 Craig-Robo Calls showing up from Toll Free Numbers 00:59:52 Scott-What iPhone cases does everyone use? OpenCase Mujjo Leather Case Tempered Glass Screen Protectors Cool Stuff Found 01:14:02 Steve-CSF-Verizon Home Protect for $25/month is a great AppleCare+ alternative 01:16:35 Joe-CSF-1133-Crank can launch actions based upon user-configurable criteria 01:19:23 MGG 1134 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab iOS app Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

You get dropped right into geek therapy this week as you bounce from cult-favorite movies to Pixar shorts, then straight into practical Mac and iOS wins. You learn how to use the twenty-minute rule to bail on bad movies guilt-free, long-press your iPhone's brightness to reveal Dark Mode and other hidden controls, and turn Live Listen into your stealth superpower for staying connected in noisy rooms. You also tighten up your iOS workflow by wrangling multiple photos, files, and links at once, and even rethink how often you actually need to say “Hey” to your devices. Don't Get Caught missing the little system tweaks that make your Apple gear feel brand new again. From there, you dig into real-world listener problems and come away with a cleaner network, a smarter Mac, and a more resilient data setup. You troubleshoot eerie eero behavior and learn how to coax stubborn 2.4 GHz-only devices onto your Wi-Fi, then set your Mac to auto-launch apps on wake with tools like Keyboard Maestro and Advanced SleepWatcher. You untangle VPN weirdness, then go full NAS-ty with guidance on migrating to a new Synology and choosing the right model using MGG's comparison as your roadmap. You wrap it all with Cool Stuff Found: Setapp's new plans, rock-solid MailBackupX, US Mobile for nerdy cellular control, ForeverNotes for wrangling your brain, Titanium Software utilities, AppleCare+ plus Apple One savings, and TP-Link's Wi-Fi Toolkit turning your iPhone or iPad into a pocket network analyzer. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1133 for Monday, March 16th, 2026 March 16th: Robert Goddard Day MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a copy of SoundSource from Rogue Amoeba! Congrats to February's winners! The MGG Merch Store is Live! 00:03:39 Movie Reviews and Ratings RocketMan with Harland Williams Hoppers from Pixar Twenty Minute Rule for Movies Project Hail Mary Lego Quick Tips 00:00:01 Si-QT-Long press brightness to toggle Dark Mode and more 00:09:17 Joel-QT-Use Live Listen to stay in touch 00:11:25 Pilot Pete-QT-Multiple Photos, Files, Links handling in iOS 00:15:55 Do you still say Hey? Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:19:30 Larry-Eerie things going on with the Eero 00:29:04 Setting up eero for 2.4GHz devices 00:31:32 Father John-How can I launch an app when my Mac wakes up? Desktop Icon Manager Advanced SleepWatcher for macOS 00:38:04 Michael-Why US VPN issues? 00:41:05 Revelations During Geek Therapy Sponsors 00:47:38 SPONSOR: Pocket Hose. For a limited time, you can get a FREE pocket pivot and their 10-pattern sprayer with the purchase of ANY size Copper Head hose. Just text MGG to 64000. 00:49:10 SPONSOR: Sundays for Dogs. Every bite of Sundays is clean and made from real meat, fruits, and veggies, with no kibble. Stanley loves it! Go right now to sundaysfordogs.com/MGG50 and get 50% off your first order. Or, you can use code MGG50 at checkout. 00:50:43 SPONSOR: Tempo. For a limited time, Tempo is offering my listeners SIXTY PERCENT OFF your first box! Go to TempoMeals.com/MGG. Gettin' NAS-ty 00:51:58 Patrick-How do I migrate my data to a new Synology? 01:00:47 Mike-Which Synology NAS should I buy? Comparing MGG-focused Synology NAS Cool Stuff Found 01:09:35 CSEvolved-Setapp adds new single-app purchase and subscription plans 01:12:07 Mark-CSF-MailBackupX to backup your Mail 01:13:01 Tony-CSF-US Mobile is built for nerds (Tony’s Referral Code: 6B9EAD23) 01:14:32 bbwerner on Threads-CSF-ForeverNotes for getting your notes in order 01:15:28 Niceville Steve-CSF-Titanium Software Utilities other than OnyX 01:16:41 Use AppleCare+ with Apple One to get bulk savings on AppleCare+ 01:20:21 CSF-Wi-Fi Toolkit from TP-Link for iPhone and iPad 01:21:24 MGG 1133 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab iOS app Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

You start this episode by supercharging your daily Apple workflow with rapid-fire Quick Tips: speaking the time from your wrist, taming screenshot previews, unzooming a stuck iPhone screen, batch‑moving iOS apps, and sharpening Live Text and document photos so you can capture, control, and share exactly what you want without friction. You also learn how to keep Chrome from quietly hijacking your mic levels before Zoom calls, plus clever ways to organize appliance manuals using NotebookLM and Apple's Books app so that the answers you need are always a quick search away—Don't Get Caught hunting for docs or fighting your own settings again. From there, you dive into Mac Developer Gab with the MGG iOS app as a living example of how AI‑assisted coding becomes a collaborative partner instead of a replacement, including practical use of Claude Code's Plan Mode to map changes before writing a line of code. Then you pivot into Apple's newly “affordable‑first” lineup—MacBook Neo, Air, and Pro, the new Studio Displays, iPhone 17e, and iPad Air M4—breaking down which model actually fits your real‑world use and budget, before wrapping with fixes for flaky AirDrop using the NFC “boop” trick and remote‑controlling Apple TV via hubs so your gear does what you want, when you want it. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1132 for Monday, March 9th, 2026 March 2nd: National Banana Cream Pie Day MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a copy of SoundSource from Rogue Amoeba! Congrats to February's winners! The MGG Merch Store is Live! Quick Tips 00:00:01 Dave C-QT-Hold two fingers on your watch screen to speak the time 00:07:16 Todd-QT-Turn Off Full Screen Preview ScreenShot change 00:09:18 Gary-QT-Three-finger triple-tap to unzoom your iPhone 00:15:10 Pilot Pete-QT-Move Multiple iOS Apps at Once! Mac Developer Gab 00:16:57 Updating the Mac Geek Gab iOS app Developing with AI Assisted Coding is a Collaborative Process 00:29:46 Using Claude Code's Plan Mode Back to Quick Tips 00:31:33 Gene-QT-Live Text Made Better 00:36:14 Pilot Pete-QT-Level Your Phone e.g. for Document Photos 00:37:59 Dave-QT-In Chrome, Disallow WebRTC to adjust the input volume to keep your mic set for Zoom calls 00:40:16 Joe-QTRevisited-1071-Use NotebookLM to store Appliance Manuals 00:43:00 Tony-QT-1131-Put User Manuals in the Books app Sponsors 00:43:58 SPONSOR: Stamps.com With Stamps.com you can send from your computer or phone 24/7. No long lines, no low supplies, open any time. Go to stamps.com and use code mgg to get sixty days risk-free! 00:45:24 SPONSOR: CleanMyMac. Get Tidy Today! Try 7 days free and use our code MACGEEK for 20% off at clnmy.com/MACGEEK 00:46:56 SPONSOR: Shopify. In 2026, stop waiting and start selling with Shopify. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com/MGG Reviews 00:48:29 Happy Camper-MGG Review-It's what you learn after you know it all 00:49:17 digger4-MGG Review-Excellent show 00:49:29 StillRiverEditions-MGG Review-Makes the Apple universe fun, as it should be. 00:50:11 Neo-Wombat-MGG Review-Five Stars 00:51:25 New Macs and More! Affordability seems to matter to Apple today! Comparing the MacBook Neo, Air, and Pro Where are the updates to the Mac mini and more desktops? MacBook Neo – $599 – This is essentially macOS on an iPad MacBook Air M5 – $1099 MacBook Pro M5 – $1699 27-inch Studio Display and Studio Display XDR – $1599 iPhone 17e – $599 iPad Air M4 – $599 Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 01:07:35 Dan-How to Tame AirDrop Wonkyness Use the iPhone NFC “Booping” Trick 01:15:21 Clif-Can I control my Apple TV remotely? Jubilee Hub Harmony Hub 01:21:45 MGG 1132 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

You drop into an iMessage quick tip and quickly branch into a whole toolkit for running your Apple life smarter. You learn faster ways to edit messages, how Slack's up-arrow muscle memory carries over, and why platforms limit your edit window. From there, the show rolls into clever NFC and QR workflows for appliance manuals, Time Machine fixes over SMB on Synology, and a deep dive on spam and email hygiene: Fastmail's undelete safety net, SaneBox's smart filtering, Apple Mail's categories, plus when to reach for SpamSieve or even your own chatbot to watch junk folders so you Don't Get Caught losing important mail. The crew also compares real‑world email providers, DNS setups (Cloudflare, Google, Quad9), and router‑level changes that stabilize your network. You get a reality check on legacy cruft—Trip Mode, MacFUSE, ancient launch agents—still loading after years of Migration Assistant, and how tools like Lingon and CleanMyMac help you audit what's secretly running. On the fun-and-productivity side, you hear honest impressions of Apple Vision Pro: tabletop-style multiplayer games like Demeo, surprisingly usable virtual desktops, the importance of dual straps and decent cases, and when to skip hotel Wi‑Fi in favor of hotspots or a UniFi travel router so your Macs, iPads, and headsets all “think” they're at home. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1131 for Monday, March 2nd, 2026 March 2nd: National Banana Cream Pie Day MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a copy of SoundSource from Rogue Amoeba! Congrats to February's winners! The MGG Merch Store is Live! Quick Tips 00:00:01 Fernando-QT-Command+E lets you edit your most recent iMessage on the Mac 00:07:39 Ian-QT-Put NFC Tags or QR Codes on your tools with links to user manuals iFixIt Repair Guides and Manuals 00:11:03 That's not Multitasking, That's Cheating 00:13:16 Ben-QT-Select & Move Junk Mail Without Displaying its Content Private Internet Access hides you from spammers 00:15:03 Ernesto-How do you deal with spam email? SaneBox 00:25:20 Fastmail DOES offer a restore-from-backup option 00:27:13 Build domain-specific rules to filter spam SpamSieve 00:31:34 David-Which email provider do you use? Dave – Fastmail and Gmail Adam – Gmail/Google and iCloud Pete – Bluehost and iCloud 00:34:42 Migrating mail to a new provider Sponsors 00:38:24 SPONSOR: Gusto. Get three months free when you run your first payroll when you start at gusto.com/MGG 00:39:54 SPONSOR: BBEdit, the power tool for text from Bare Bones Software; now with integrated Notebooks and extended language support. Audit your apps, Login Items, and Launch Agents 00:41:22 Pilot Pete-QT-MacOS 26 How I Fixed My Time Machine Backups on Synology after Tahoe 00:44:53 Tanel-DGC-Be aware of what you installed years ago MacFUSE CleanMyMac Lingon 00:54:10 Will-QT-DNS Adjustment fixes Hinky Internet (That's a Technical Term!) Cloudflare DNS: 1.1.1.1 Google DNS: 8.8.8.8 Quad9: 9.9.9.9 OpenDNS What do you use for Wi-Fi in Hotel Rooms? 01:00:13 UniFi Travel Router 01:02:15 Tethering to your iPhone Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 01:06:40 Rob-How do you like your Apple Vision Pro? How do you use it? Demeo on Apple Vision Pro, Meta Quest, and more Syntech Apple Vision Pro Case Belkin Case for Apple Vision Pro 01:22:06 MGG 1131 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

You start this episode leveling up your daily workflows with fast, memorable tweaks: styling text in Notes with a long press, dropping today's date into Google Sheets with a quick shortcut, testing your real-world network speed from the Mac, and turning any clipboard grab into a Preview window so you can annotate or export in a flash. You also learn that canceling an in‑app subscription doesn't instantly nuke Family Sharing, why Safari's pinned tabs might be quietly chewing resources, and how to right-size your browser use so it serves you instead of hijacking your Mac. From there, you dive into practical tools for real life: apps to tame your family's book library, a screensaver utility that slows things down, and current router picks spanning UniFi, TP-Link Wi‑Fi 7 options, Eero, and Orbi so your network actually matches your workloads. You hear how to orchestrate multiple AI agents, safely archive and truly back up your mail, and keep your own chatbot from eating your inbox, plus Cool Stuff Found like Omerta, YouTube on Apple Vision Pro, and more—because in the Apple tech world, as in life, Don't Get Caught without the right tools and backups in place. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1130 for Monday, February 23rd, 2026 February 23rd: Pinocchio Day MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a Copilot Money! Congrats to January's winner, Amanda Colyer! The MGG Merch Store is Live! Quick Tips 00:00:01 Tom-QT-Long-press Aa in iPhone Notes to choose text styles 00:05:03 Avraham-QT-Use Command-Semicolon to enter current date into Google Sheets 00:06:46 Russell-QT-Use your Mac’s networkQuality to test your speed 00:10:30 Rob-QT-Paste Clipboard into Preview with Command-N 00:11:54 QT-You don’t immediately lose Family Sharing when you cancel an in-app subscription On the subject of browsers… 00:13:28 Allison-1128-Safari’s Pinned Tabs can be resource hogs 00:17:18 How much are you using your browser these days, anyway? Sponsors 00:19:30 SPONSOR: Tempo. For a limited time, Tempo is offering my listeners SIXTY PERCENT OFF your first box! Go to TempoMeals.com/MGG. 00:20:58 SPONSOR: Sundays for Dogs. Every bite of Sundays is clean and made from real meat, fruits, and veggies, with no kibble. Stanley loves it! Go right now to sundaysfordogs.com/MGG50 and get 50% off your first order. Or, you can use code MGG50 at checkout. 00:22:30 SPONSOR: Shopify. In 2026, stop waiting and start selling with Shopify. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com/MGG Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:23:58 Alan-What software exists to catalog my family’s book library? CLZ Books Libib BookBuddy Sofa Tap Forms Pro Goodreads 00:31:22 Ken-How do I slow down my Mac’s screensaver? ArtSaver 00:34:54 Phillip-Which router do you recommend today? UCG Max TP Link Wi-Fi 7 Deco BE67 (or BE68 at Best Buy) TP Link BE63 (also Wi-Fi 7) Eero Pro 7 Orbi Wi-Fi 7 Reviews 00:45:40 Manhattan Glen-MGG Review-Great Show AI Learned Something! …  or … AIn't It Cool? (Ok, obviously we need a segment name for our AI talk) 00:48:49 William-How do I set up multiple AI agents for my task? 00:55:05 Todd-QT-Use Perplexity’s website to download files it has created 00:57:09 Your mail might not be as backed-up as you think MailSteward 01:06:57 My Chatbot ate my Inbox OpenClaw Cool Stuff Found 01:16:53 ATC-CSF – Omerta – Don't Get Caught 01:19:42 Eakster-CSF-YouTube for Apple Vision Pro is here! 01:23:18 MGG 1130 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

You get a firehose of genuinely useful Apple tips this week, starting with new muscle-memory moves you'll actually use: cycling app windows with Cmd + `, nodding or shaking to answer AirPods, dragging apps straight from iOS search, and building Focus-specific home screens so the right icons appear at the right time. Edge Light turns your Mac into a cleaner on‑camera rig, Display Buddy tames external monitor brightness, and custom macOS keyboard shortcuts plus Dock CPU meters give you fast, surgical control over your Mac. Then you level up your living room: master the Apple TV remote's scrub wheel, undo accidental scrubs, jump in precise increments, push video from iPhone to Apple TV, and fling audio to HomePod with a tap. Even Reminders gets a glow‑up so you can punt a pile of alerts in one shot instead of playing whack‑a‑mole. From there, you zoom out to “meta” geekery: backing up critical Notes (or moving to OneNote, Ulysses, or Obsidian), even flirting with a git repo to sync prefs and personal data like a developer. On the road, you learn how to keep CarPlay tappable with gloves, and in the cloud you explore why chatbots forget context, when to bring in tools like Claude, Perplexity's Comet, Atlas, Gemini, or Claude's Chrome extension, and how having an always‑on troubleshooting assistant changes how you work. Listener reviews cap it off by framing the show as a kind of PhD in troubleshooting, all so you can experiment, push your tech harder, and, of course, don't get caught.​ 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1129 for Monday, February 16th, 2026 February 16th: Innovation Day MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a Copilot Money! Congrats to January's winner, Amanda Colyer! The MGG Merch Store is Live! Quick Tips 00:00:01 Michael Ilin-QT-Press Cmd + ` to cycle all windows of that app 00:03:06 PilotPete-QT-Nod or Shake to answer your AirPods 00:05:49 Clif-QT-Relocate iOS apps by dragging from search results Eufy Smart Scale Withings Sleep Pad 00:07:47 Different home screens for different Focus Modes 00:11:16 QT-Use Edge Light for video calls in macOS 26.2-and-later 00:16:17 Use Display Buddy to control the brightness of your screen 00:18:09 Russell-QT-Map your own keyboard shortcuts in macOS settings Brave Browser's LEO AI 00:23:03 The value of an always-on troubleshooting assistant Eney 00:26:32 Doug-QT-Set Activity Monitor to show CPU Usage in Dock 00:30:40 Apple TV Remote Quick Tip Masterclass EyeDentify-QT-Undo Accidental Scrubs on Apple TV Using the Apple TV remote's scroll-wheel emulator to scrub in a fine-tuned way Double-tap scroll wheel edges to jump forwards or backwards Use Siri Commands, too 00:35:16 Dom Bettinelli-QT-Tap iPhone to Apple TV remote to transfer video to Apple TV 00:37:15 Tap your iPhone to your HomePod to transfer audio 00:37:45 Jeepster-QT-Procrastinate Multiple Reminders at Once Sponsors 00:41:17 SPONSOR: CleanMyMac. Get Tidy Today! Try 7 days free and use our code MACGEEK for 20% off at clnmy.com/MACGEEK Don't Get Caught 00:43:56 Steve-DGC-1128-Duplicate important Notes as backup Microsoft OneNote Ulysses Obsidian 00:54:56 What about a git repo to sync… prefs, notes, whatever? Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:55:53 Steve Hammond-How can I control CarPlay with gloves on? Capacitive Gloves for Screens and Phones 01:00:30 DJ Mac-ChatGPT and others regularly forget what I’ve told them Try claude.ai/giggab for half-price Claude Pro 01:08:16 William-1128-How do I get my browser to surf for me? Perplexity – Comet browser ChatGPT – ChatGPT Atlas browser Gemini – Gemini in Chrome Claude – Claude in Chrome extension Reviews 01:15:08 gdubs-MGG Review-A PhD in troubleshooting 01:16:08 michaefs-MGG Review-A great podcast 01:16:57 d32bus-MGG Review-Excellent show 01:17:39 MGG 1129 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

This week on Mac Geek Gab 1128, you dive into a treasure chest of Cool Stuff Found with Pilot Pete, Adam Christianson, and Dave Hamilton. From DockLock Lite keeping your Dock in check to Backdrop 2.0's animated lock screens and BookMacster's bookmark magic, you'll uncover smart Mac tricks you didn't know you needed. The geeks take a nostalgic tangent into podcasting history before jumping into the now: Agentic browsers like ChatGPT's Atlas and Perplexity's Comet that are reshaping how you browse today. Safari killing your Tahoe? Find out why Apple's AI choices might change how your Mac thinks. Then it's back to more gems: Bootable clones return with SuperDuper, World Clock Widget makes global time simple, and Fastmail's new desktop app joins BusyCal and Fantastical in taming your digital life. You'll also learn how not to get caught with Apple Notes overwriting your data (keep the app open until it syncs!). Wrapping up, apps like Pixeldrop, Shutter Declutter, and Brick help you tidy photos, redact safely, and silence distractions. Plus, creative NFC tag hacks that make your smart home even smarter. As always, the MGG crew makes sure you Don't Get Caught. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1128 for Monday, February 9th, 2026 February 9th: National Clean Out Your Computer Day MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a Copilot Money! Congrats to January's winner, Amanda Colyer! The MGG Merch Store is Live! Cool Stuff Found 00:00:01 Bruce-CSF-Neo Network Utility 00:03:30 Oskar-CSM-Backdrop 2.0 adds Custom Live Wallpapers to the macOS Lock Screen 00:04:53 Pensacola Craig-CSF-DockLock Lite to keep your Mac’s Dock from jumping 00:06:11 Jim-CSF-1118–BookMacster by Sheep Systems to edit, sort, and sync bookmarks across browsers 00:08:26 Tangent: A discussion about how podcasting (and Maccast and Mac Geek Gab) got started 00:13:35 PilotPete-CSF-ChatGPT Atlas Browser Comet from Perplexity 00:15:00 Using Agentic Browsers is not the future…it's the present! 00:26:04 And Safari might be killing your Tahoe 00:28:48 AI integrated into your operating system Apple needs to choose wisely 00:35:47 CSF-Eney Beta from MacPaw Sponsors 00:37:21 SPONSOR: Sundays for Dogs. Every bite of Sundays is clean and made from real meat, fruits, and veggies, with no kibble. Stanley loves it! Go right now to sundaysfordogs.com/MGG50 and get 50% off your first order. Or, you can use code MGG50 at checkout. 00:39:42 SPONSOR: Shopify. In 2026, stop waiting and start selling with Shopify. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com/MGG MOAR Cool Stuff Found 00:41:32 Bruce-CSF-1127–ClipGrab to download YouTube videos (free download) 00:42:54 Kirschen-CSF-KeyClu replaces CheatSheet Use Brew! brew install –cask keyclu 00:45:25 Larry-CSF-SuperDuper WILL do bootable Clones on macOS 26 Using CCC Backup to create legacy bootable copies of macOS Idea: create a bootable external and stop once macOS is installed, leaving it ready for Migration Assistant (or anything else) 00:52:36 Andrew-CSF-World Clock Widget app UTC=Universal Time Coordinated Swatch Internet Time 00:56:33 David-CSF-Fastmail Desktop App for Mac BusyCal Fantastical Spark Mail Cardhop Don’t Get Caught with notes Syncing 01:01:42 DGC-Apple Notes only syncs when the app is open on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. This can lead to sync overwrites if one device makes a change without having the latest copy. Back to Cool Stuff Found 01:04:58 Bob-CSF-1107-Shutter Declutter helps process photos 01:11:00 rnDoug-Mole, a system maintenance tool 01:12:18 DanDXZDB-Pixeldrop for selectively redacting part of a photo Don’t Get Caught with your data buried in PDFs 01:14:20 DGC-Save redacted PDFs as a single layer so people can't see your layers Back on Track with CSF 01:14:50 CSF-Brick to block distracting apps and notifications on your iPhone 01:19:38 Creatively Using NFC Tags Use NFC Tags with the Home app 01:21:48 QT-Re-use NFC Tags that other people send you! 01:24:04 MGG 1128 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

You move fast in this episode, stacking Quick Tips that shave friction off your day almost immediately. You tell Siri to take notes on command, record audio directly inside Notes with native transcripts, and pull off smarter gestures in CarPlay Maps and iOS 26 Safari that feel hidden in plain sight. You tame the Camera side button, rename files faster from Finder and app toolbars, and generally remind yourself that small muscle-memory tweaks compound into real time saved. This is the kind of workflow polish that keeps you ahead instead of catching up. Then the conversation sharpens. You dig into why troubleshooting advice can be too eager to fix the wrong problem, unpack what “absolute mode” thinking really means, and react to Apple's acquisition moves and fresh AirTag releases. Listener questions take you into practical territory like grabbing a single frame from video, sharing iCloud calendars with Android users, and understanding how features get quietly “nerfed,” leading to Pilot Pete’s perfectly named Newly Effectuated Reduced Functionality. You wrap with Cool Stuff Found that spans Vision Pro accessories, immersive gaming, and travel-ready power. The throughline is clear: know what still works, notice what's been taken away, and adapt before it costs you time. Don't Get Caught. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1127 for Monday, February 2nd, 2026 February 2nd: The Record of a Sneeze Day MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a copy of Copilot Money! The MGG Merch Store is Live! Quick Tips 00:00:01 Gene-QT-Hey Siri, Take a Note 00:03:48 Ian-QT-In Notes, Record Audio and Save the transcript natively! (Use the paper clip icon) 00:06:52 rnDoug-QT-1126-Zoom in CarPlay Maps with a special double-tap (and Peter, too) 00:10:32 Tom-1126-Hold down on URL Bar to close tab (and more) on iOS 26 00:11:13 Bill-QT-1126-Swipe Up on URL bar for All Tabs View on iPhone 00:12:53 Todd-QT-Camera Settings to Get Side Camera Button to do your bidding! 00:17:44 Bill-QT-1126-Rename files in Finder and from apps’ Toolbar Sponsors 00:21:24 SPONSOR: Tempo. For a limited time, Tempo is offering our listeners SIXTY PERCENT OFF your first box! Go to TempoMeals.com/MGG. 00:22:52 SPONSOR: Gusto. Get three months free when you run your first payroll when you start at gusto.com/MGG We Need To Talk 00:24:12 Craig-ChatGPT is too hasty to troubleshoot my tech issues ChatGPT Absolute Mode Hey, Did You Hear? 00:41:23 Apple acquires secretive Q․ai startup for $2 billion 00:45:40 New AirTags from Apple Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:50:21 Rob-How can I copy one frame from a video? yt-dlp (install with ‘brew install yt-dlp') PullTube and Downie (also available in Setapp) What does NERF stand for when someone kills functionality Newly Effectuated Reduced Functionality 01:03:04 Larry-How can I share my iCloud calendar with an Android user? OneCalendar Sync for iCloud Cool Stuff Found 01:09:04 Adam-CSF-Apple Vision Pro Dual Knit Band Demeo on Vision Pro 01:12:29 DLH-CSF-Anker Prime 25W 3-in-1 Travel charger 01:16:36 MGG 1127 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly MGG's CES 2026 Sponsors Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

You dive into Mac Geek Gab 1126, kicking off with quick tips like batch renaming files in Finder using Craig’s method, then celebrating Lotus 1-2-3 Day with a wild tangent on competitive spreadsheeting and full-contact spreadsheet battles—think TCAS systems in airplanes morphing into “Car As A Service” dreams. More tips follow: three-finger pinch on Mac for quick zoom, pinch iPhone Safari screens for all tabs, time zone hacks for jet lag flyers, Fn key emoji picker, and disabling cellular data on cruise ships to avoid roaming nightmares. Don’t Get Caught hits hard with Michael’s Password Hell survival and Larry’s warning on that pesky Apple Search bug in Settings—hold off nuking your iPad. You tackle listener queries next, troubleshooting Bob’s Lightroom + Dropbox Trash Bin woes, hunting DLH’s missing CarPlay Maps pinch-to-zoom (maybe iOS 26?), verifying Eric’s MacUpdater safety, and fixing Sandy’s wonky Contacts app step-by-step. Packed with Pilot Pete, Adam Christianson, and Dave Hamilton’s signature geeky banter, this episode drops January 26, 2026—grab it before tech glitches trip you up. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1126 for Monday, January 26th, 2026 January 26th: Lotus 1-2-3 Day MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a copy of Ecamm Live or Carbon Copy Cloner 7! The MGG Merch Store is Live! Quick Tips 00:00:01 Craig-QT-You can batch rename files in Finder 00:05:01 January 26th: Lotus 1-2-3 Day 00:06:40 Competitive Spreadsheeting Full Contact Spreadsheeting TCAS System in airplanes Tangent: Car as a service 00:13:11 When can we move to Car As A Service? MOAR Quick Tips 00:19:30 Steve-You can also three finger pinch on the Mac! 00:22:56 Todd-Pinch iPhone Screen in Safari to reveal the All Tabs display 00:24:16 Time hack: when flying across time zones, start your day on the time zone you will be ending on 00:25:11 Craig-QT-Use Fn to bring up the Mac emoji picker 00:27:48 Jim-QT-For cruisers, disable cellular data on the ship Sponsors 00:30:35 SPONSOR: Shopify. In 2026, stop waiting and start selling with Shopify. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com/MGG 00:31:48 SPONSOR: Copilot Money. Your money, beautifully organized, now across every device. For a limited-time, get 26% off your first year when you sign up at https://try.copilot.money/macgeekgab. Get two months free with code ‘macgeekgab'. 00:33:12 SPONSOR: BBEdit, the power tool for text from Bare Bones Software; now with integrated Notebooks and extended language support. Don't Get Caught 00:34:24 Michael-DGC-Password Hell is a Real Place Bitwarden Access became Uplock 00:53:17 Larry-DGC-Known Bug in Apple Search in Settings – Don’t Nuke-n-Pave Your iPad just yet Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:54:26 -n=Bob-?-Why Lightroom + DropBox TidBits Article Won’t Let me Put Files in the Trash Bin? 01:00:18 DLH-Where is CarPlay Maps pinch to zoom? Maybe in iOS 26 01:04:49 Eric-Is MacUpdater still safe for now? 01:06:17 Sandy-Contacts is being weird…how do I unweird it? 01:17:55 MGG 1126 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly MGG's CES 2026 Sponsors Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

You start with Quick Tips that tighten up your daily Apple workflow fast. You learn how CarPlay scrubbing actually works while driving, how Siri can jump forward or back in precise time chunks, and why Apple's vision for Siri, Gemini, and personal intelligence matters more than the hype suggests. You unlock practical wins like copying Voice Memos transcripts, using Continuity for clipboard magic across devices, mastering iPhone copy and paste gestures, and understanding when dragging photos quietly converts them to JPEGs. Along the way, you revisit Apple Newton roots, discover why tools like Yoink still matter, and pick up slick tricks for prepping images in Messages and pausing voice recordings mid-thought. Then you move into real-world problem solving. You figure out how to record a selfie video on iPhone while reading a script without breaking your flow, why Sign in With Apple is still worth using, and how to monitor drive health without guessing. You finally get clarity on weird Trash behavior, stop your mouse from waking your Mac, and understand why green bubble RCS and SMS sometimes fail on macOS. The episode wraps with a discussion about Apple Creator Studio tools like Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Compressor, MainStage, and premium content across Apple's productivity apps. Listen to sharpen your instincts so when it counts, you Don't Get Caught. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1125 for Monday, January 19th, 2026 January 19th: Brew a Potion Day MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a copy of Ecamm Live or Carbon Copy Cloner 7! The MGG Merch Store is Live! MGG's CES 2026 Sponsors: BusyCal (with code MACGEEK10)! Eero Ecamm for Zoom integration MacPaw CCC Backup Quick Tips 00:00:01 Chris-QT-CarPlay lets you scrub while driving 00:04:01 QT-Use Siri to skip forwards and backwards in specific time increments 00:06:18 The future of Siri, Gemini, and Personal Intelligence 00:14:33 QT-See and copy transcripts from Voice Memos 00:15:44 QT-Continuity works for Clipboard Too 00:18:21 iPhone Copy/Paste Gestures 00:21:55 Doug-QT-Dragging photos on iPhone converts them to JPEG Copying/Pasting on the Apple Newton Yoink 00:27:01 Jeff-QT-Dragging an image into Messages preps it to send 00:28:15 Pete-QT-Pause Voice Recording on iOS 00:29:54 How do I record a selfie video on my iPhone while being able to read a script? Teleprompter for Video for iPhone Also Teleprompter is free with in app purchases 00:34:43 GW-QT-Don’t forget about Sign in With Apple Sponsors 00:38:50 SPONSOR: Tempo. For a limited time, Tempo is offering my listeners SIXTY PERCENT OFF your first box! Go to TempoMeals.com/MGG. 00:40:22 SPONSOR: Stamps.com. Try Stamps dot com risk-free for sixty days at stamps.com and use code mgg! Sixty days gives you plenty of time to see exactly how much time and money you’re saving on every shipment. 00:41:42 SPONSOR: CleanMyMac. Get Tidy Today! Try 7 days free and use our code MACGEEK for 20% off at clnmy.com/MACGEEK Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:43:12 Andy-What should I use to monitor drive health? Disk Drill DriveDx Techtool Pro for repairing APFS volumes 00:48:52 Gary-Why Sometime Trash? Why Sometimes NO Trash? 00:59:37 Andrew-How can I keep my mouse from waking up my Mac? 01:03:25 Caleb-Why can’t I send green bubble RCS/SMS messages from my Mac? Cool Stuff Found 01:07:19 CSF? Apple Creator Studio Logic Pro Pixelmator Pro Final Cut Pro Compressor MainStage Premium content for Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Freeform, Motion and more 01:18:31 MGG 1125 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly MGG's CES 2026 Sponsors Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

Podcasting, especially video podcasting, can be a great way to share your message with the world. There are so many things to learn and do, but it's hard to know where to start if you've never done it before. Producing a podcast can initially seem daunting; it's easy to feel overwhelmed when starting something new. Using a Video First approach with Ecamm Live will make it much easier and save you lots of time. The Flow is here to help. We'll take you step-by-step through creating a video podcast, from planning and production to promotion and monetization. You'll learn how to build an efficient workflow that will make your content shine, leaving you to focus on creating great content. Dave Hamilton is back from CES, and he didn't just attend, he covered it live. In this episode of The Flow, Katie and Doc sit down with Dave Hamilton, co-host of ‪@MacGeekGab‬ and founder of BackBeat Media, to break down what he saw, heard, and learned while reporting live from CES. From emerging tech trends to the realities of live podcasting on the show floor, this conversation pulls back the curtain on how large-scale tech events are covered in real time and what creators can take away from it. We explore how live reporting changes the way stories are told, what technology actually matters (versus what just looks flashy), and how podcasters can think differently about workflow, gear, and audience connection when covering events. You'll learn:

You walk the CES 2026 floor with Pete and Dave and quickly realize this episode is about practical gear that earns its place in your life. You hear about clever headphones, smarter thermostats, compact travel tech, and simple photo organization that fixes real annoyances without overthinking them. The crew cuts through the hype, calling out what feels thoughtful versus what just looks flashy, so you can spot the difference between tools that solve problems and gadgets that will gather dust. Then things get broader and more futuristic without losing focus. You explore consumer health tech that is finally becoming accessible, modular controllers that rethink how you interact with devices, and open-ear audio that fits real-world use. Robots take over yards and floors, smart calendars and water sensors aim to reduce daily friction, and networking gear shrinks without giving up power. It is a fast tour of ideas that are close enough to touch, if not already shipping, with one consistent reminder guiding the whole conversation: stay curious, stay selective, and Don't Get Caught chasing shiny things that do not actually improve your day. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1124 for Monday, January 12th, 2026 January 12th: National Curried Chicken Day MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a copy of Ecamm Live or Carbon Copy Cloner 7! The MGG Merch Store is Live! MGG's CES 2026 Sponsors: BusyCal (with code MACGEEK10)! Eero Ecamm for Zoom integration MacPaw CCC Backup Cool Stuff Found at CES 2026 00:03:41 TDM Twist Headphones 00:06:36 Eve Thermostat 00:08:08 FotoStax – $25 for a 10-pack 00:11:09 Targus Voyager EXP – $89.99 00:14:04 NOMATIC Travel Pack 00:15:52 Eloquens Email AI Autoresponder 00:21:25 Consumer-focused Blood Glucose Monitors Abbott Lingo, Stelo by Dexcom, Isaac from PreEvent, Y-Brush Halo, Actxa Core Smart Ring Sponsors 00:27:27 SPONSOR: Copilot Money. Your money, beautifully organized, now across every device. For a limited-time, get 26% off your first year when you sign up at https://try.copilot.money/macgeekgab. Get two months free with code ‘macgeekgab'. 00:28:49 SPONSOR: Shopify. In 2026, stop waiting and start selling with Shopify. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com/MGG 00:30:25 SPONSOR: Gusto. Get three months free when you run your first payroll when you start at gusto.com/MGG MOAR Cool Stuff Found at CES 2026 00:31:33 Modue – Modular controllers for gamers, creators, and more 00:35:00 Shokz OpenFit Pro Earbuds 00:38:58 Robot Lawn Mowers Yarbo M-Series, Segway Navimow, Worx, Lymow 00:43:58 Robot Vacuums Eureka E10 Evo Plus – $299 Eureka Z50 $799 Roborock Saros Rover 00:51:13 Skylight Calendar 2 00:53:28 Droplet Smarthome Water Sensor from Hydrific 00:58:04 TP-Link Aireal Digital in-app assistant 01:00:31 TP-Link BE3600 Wi-Fi 7 Portable Travel Router TL-WR3602BE 01:03:21 CubicScreen.com 01:06:22 MGG 1124 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly MGG's CES 2026 Sponsors Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network The Mac Geek Gab iPhone app Follow us on Mastodon Mac Geek Gab on Mastodon Adam Christianson on Mastodon Dave Hamilton on Mastodon Pilot Pete on Mastodon Mona for Mastodon (for Mac, iPhone, iPad) Adam Christianson on X/Twitter

You kick off the year by tightening your Apple habits, starting with smart Quick Tips that actually stick. You build year-based music playlists for offline listening, flip on Airplane Mode when you're out of service to save serious battery, and let the Health app handle reminders for meds and eye drops so nothing slips. You're reminded of power-user staples like Cmd-Shift-5 for screenshots, learn how Google Sites can double as a surprisingly effective bookmark manager, and get clarity on when and how to disable VPNs properly, including on Apple TV for region-locked content. Along the way, you discover tools that reliably track Apple refurb inventory and dig into the oddly fascinating logic behind Safari's tab close order. Then it's time to not get caught. You hear why Time Machine now warns you when your backup drive is too small, why storing Notes “On My Device” can bite you later, and how increasing cloud storage often means increasing local storage, too. Listener questions keep things practical, from tracking a missing Apple TV remote to deciding when an iPad beats a laptop. A deep dive into strange Safari tab behavior brings it all home, followed by Cool Stuff Found that helps you update Macs more intelligently, evaluate startup risks, replicate Mac setups with Ansible, and even capture insights from podcasts using AI. It's a fast, practical reset that helps you start the year sharper, safer, and a little more in control. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1123 for Monday, January 5th, 2026 January 5th: National Whipped Cream Day MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a copy of Ecamm Live or Carbon Copy Cloner 7! The MGG Merch Store is Live! MGG's CES 2026 Sponsors: BusyCal (with code MACGEEK10)! Eero Ecamm for Zoom integration MacPaw CCC Backup Quick Tips 00:00:01 Joe-QT-Make Year-based Music playlists for offline listening 00:04:44 John-QT-Use Airplane Mode to save your battery when you’re out of service 00:06:53 Steve-QT-Use the iPhone Health app to remind you about medications, eye drops, and more! CES 2026 Sponsor: BusyCal (with code MACGEEK10)! 00:12:26 Avraham-QT-Remember to use Cmd-Shift-5 for Screenshots 00:17:36 Andrew-QT-1115-Use Google Sites as your Bookmarks manager 00:21:32 Jason-QT-1122-Shut off your VPN from within the app, not Settings 00:23:03 Joe-QT-Use AppleTV VPN for region-locked content 00:28:51 Ben-1121-Refurb Tracker reliably tracks Apple refurb inventory 00:30:22 Ben-QT-There’s Logic to Safari Tabs Close Order…right? Don't Get Caught 00:32:11 Doug-DGC-Time Machine now warns you if your drive is too small CES 2026 Sponsor: CCC Backup CES 2026 Sponsor: MacPaw 00:41:29 Jose-DGC-1104-Be aware if you’re storing Notes On My [Device] 00:43:50 Doug-DGC-Increasing cloud storage means increasing local storage Reviews 00:46:37 Apv9-MGG Review-Absolutely Essential LIstening for Apple Users! Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:47:41 Skylar-Can I track my Apple TV remote? 00:50:17 Which remote control do you use? 00:53:27 Glenn-When do you reach for your iPad vs. your laptop? OmniOutliner 01:02:54 Juergen-Why the crazy tab behavior? 01:09:20 CES 2026 Coverage Sponsors Eero Ecamm for Zoom integration Cool Stuff Found 01:11:39 Steve-CSF-Latest for updating your Mac’s software SwitchGlass 01:13:01 Arvydas-CSF-MacPersistenceChecker to risk-score all your startup items 01:14:17 Alan-CSF-1121-Use Ansible to replicate user preferences between Macs 01:15:16 Dan-CSF-SnipD AI-powered Podcast app for capturing and learning from episodes 01:17:09 MGG 1123 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly MGG's CES 2026 Sponsors Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

You dive straight into practical macOS and workflow wins, starting with macOS 26's new ability to record video by window and moving quickly into keeping your Homebrew setup clean, current, and fast. You learn how simple display resolution tweaks can hide the MacBook notch or eliminate it entirely, and why audio problems like AirPods mic failures often come down to overlooked system behavior. Along the way, you're reminded to stay alert to sneaky gotchas like expiring Tailscale devices, VPNs that never fully disconnect, and cables that quietly become the weakest link. Don't Get Caught assuming the obvious is working as expected. Then it's on to listener questions that hit real-world pain points: avoiding international cell charges even when using an eSIM, understanding why not all MVNOs are equal, and keeping vacation photos manageable by killing duplicates before they pile up. You dig into OS version mismatches, whether AI actually helps tech support when used correctly, and why asking AI to explain the “why” matters. Cool Stuff Found rounds things out with tools for sleep and stress tracking, app update management, USB speed visibility, smarter System Settings navigation, notch-aware utilities, nostalgic screen savers, and shortcut mastery. It's a fast-moving episode packed with ways to tighten your setup, reduce friction, and stay one step ahead. Happy new year, y’all! See you in 2026! (don’t worry, that’s next week, right on schedule!) 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1122 for Monday, December 29th, 2025 December 29th: Still Need To Do Day MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a copy of OpenIn! The MGG Merch Store is Live! MGG's CES 2026 Sponsors: BusyCal (with code MACGEEK10)! Eero Ecamm MacPaw CCC Backup Quick Tips 00:00:01 Ben-QT-macOS 26 now adds video recording by window 00:04:47 Pilot Pete-QT-Upgrade Your Homebrew Install! brew upgrade brew install topgrade brew install speedtest-cli 00:10:37 Michael-QT-1121-Use a different Display Resolution to hide the notch 00:11:39 Antony-CSF-1121–Say No To Notch to disable your MacBook’s Notch entirely Don't Get Caught 00:12:23 Andrew-DGC-AirPods Mic Failure 00:18:37 Chris-DGC-Be aware Tailscale device expiration 00:21:02 Tom S-DGC-Your VPN might still be connected! 00:23:48 Pilot Pete=DGC-Really! Try Different Cables Sponsors 00:29:14 SPONSOR: Copilot Money. Your money, beautifully organized, now across every device. For a limited-time, get 26% off your first year when you sign up at https://try.copilot.money/macgeekgab. Get two months free with code ‘macgeekgab'. 00:30:45 SPONSOR: Gusto. Get three months free when you run your first payroll when you start at gusto.com/MGG Reviews 00:31:58 BobCleaver-MGG Review-Thanks for the excellent info Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:32:56 Greg-How to avoid International Charges on Cell Phone while Traveling eSIMdb for finding eSIMs 00:39:42 Not all MVNOs are created equal 00:43:22 Robert-How do you manage your photos on vacation? Remove duplicate photos and videos on Mac 00:49:21 Todd-Any Issues with iOS 26 and Not macOS 26? 00:53:42 Joe-Does AI make tech support’s job easier? Ask the AI to teach you WHY a proposed solution is good Cool Stuff Found 01:01:48 Bob-CSF-AutoSleep for sleep and stress tracking Heart Analyzer 01:04:20 Jeepster 8675309-CSF-Updatest for keeping your Mac’s apps up-to-date MacUpdater 01:08:26 Dan-CSM-USB Connection Information puts USB speeds in your menu bar 01:09:40 Allison-CSM-Mind Map of System Settings 01:11:51 CSF-AirNotch Pro Dual 01:13:55 SccrHallways-CSF-Flying Toasters Screensaver is back! 01:16:28 DJ Mac-CSF-CheatSheet to see all your keyboard shortcuts 01:17:54 MGG 1122 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly MGG's CES 2026 Sponsors Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

You dig into the little things macOS quietly does for you, starting with the surprising truth about Clipboard History and why macOS 26 might feel slower than you’d expect. You explore ways to rein things in, from taming runaway apps to making better use of iPhone Mirroring and clever video capture tricks. Along the way, you're reminded that old hardware still has value if you give it purpose, and that blind trust in AI troubleshooting can lead you astray faster than it helps. This is where staying curious beats staying complacent, and where “Don't Get Caught” is more than a catchphrase. Then you move into the real-world problem solving that defines Mac Geek Gab: networking quirks that break expectations, WiFi settings that ignore reservations, and router updates that change the rules midstream. You also get clear, practical guidance on buying the right Mac, migrating only what you actually need, hunting down duplicate files, and reclaiming menu bar space from the notch. Even photo libraries get a reality check, helping you decide what truly needs to live inside Photos. It's a fast-moving episode packed with answers you can use immediately, designed to keep your setup efficient, intentional, and frustration-free. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1121 for Monday, December 22nd, 2025 December 22nd: International Day of Mathematics MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a copy of OpenIn! The MGG Merch Store is Live! MGG's CES 2026 Sponsors: BusyCal (with code MACGEEK10)! Eero Ecamm MacPaw CCC Backup Quick Tips 00:00:02 QT-Turns out macOS keeps your Clipboard History? 00:04:59 macOS 26 is slowing down Dave's Macs App Tamer helps a little bit 00:15:00 Adam-QT-Use your iPhone Mirroring on your Mac 00:17:59 Dale-QT-Video capture your devices’ “I’m Charged” states 00:19:27 Kent-QT-CSF, or One Thing To Do With an Old iPad DAKboard.com Sponsors 00:22:27 SPONSOR: Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance. Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at https://www.rula.com/mgg #rulapod 00:23:41 SPONSOR: BBEdit, the power tool for text from Bare Bones Software; now with integrated Notebooks and extended language support Don't Get Caught 00:24:57 Beware of Troubleshooting with ChatGPT and Gell-mann Amnesia 00:27:59 Pilot Pete-DGC-Private WiFi Address doesn't honor DHCP Reservation 00:32:36 Craig-DGC-Updated my Orbi and it won't let me set DHCP Reservations within the Dynamic DHCP Pool IP Range MGG Reviews 00:43:36 NYCkRon-MGG Review-Learn new things 00:44:29 Scotty Southard-MGG Review-Outstanding Mac Tips, New Stuff Found and Great Knowledge Sponsors 00:46:33 SPONSOR: Copilot Money. Your money, beautifully organized, now across every device. For a limited-time, get 26% off your first year when you sign up at https://try.copilot.money/macgeekgab. Get two months free with code ‘macgeekgab'. Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:48:18 Elbert-How much Mac shall I buy? Refurb.me 00:58:40 Jose-Can I migrate just my user settings to a new Mac without migrating an entire account? 01:05:13 Gary-How can I easily find duplicate files on my Mac? MacPaw's Gemini 2 (it's in Setapp!) Find Any File Scripts for Duplicate Finding 01:08:04 David-How do I keep Fantastical (or any app) from being hidden by my menu bar notch! Command-Drag that menu bar icon! Set a keyboard shortcut for it 01:13:27 Donald-Do I have to import all my photos into a library? 01:16:58 MGG 1121 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly MGG's CES 2026 Sponsors Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

You jump straight into a rapid-fire run of Quick Tips that quietly level up how you use your devices every day. You learn how iOS 26 now shows charging time right on the lock screen, how to build polished collages in Pages or Canva without paying a dime, and how to finally extract and archive your full iMessage history using proper database tools instead of hacks. Along the way, you tweak haptics for better feedback, realize the iOS Stocks app works just fine on a Mac, and discover how a simple Command-Shift-2 move inside ChatGPT can instantly pull screenshots into your workflow. The throughline is efficiency without sloppiness, because convenience is great until it compromises control. Don't Get Caught. Then things get deeper, and more fun. You wrestle with real-world troubleshooting, from intermittent freezing in Tahoe to why subjective sleep scores still matter if you want to manage what you monitor. Siri's growing confusion about dates and times turns into a full-blown intercontinental misunderstanding, and the team breaks down the alphabet soup of 5G variants so you know what your phone is actually using. The final stretch becomes a live, unscripted tech support jam session, digging into creative AirTag placement, pasting clipboards as keystrokes, and reorganizing applications with surgical precision. It's messy, methodical, and exactly how real problem-solving happens when the mics are on and the answers are not obvious. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1120 for Monday, December 15th, 2025 December 15th: International Tea Day MGG Monthly Giveaway – Enter to win a copy of OpenIn! The MGG Merch Store is Live! MGG's CES 2026 Sponsors: BusyCal (with code MACGEEK10)! Eero Ecamm MacPaw CCC Backup Quick Tips 00:00:01 QT-iOS 26 lock screen has charging time 00:04:38 Jim-QT-Use Pages to Make a Collage! Don’t Pay! Canva, too. 00:07:37 Chris-QT-Get a useable complete iMessage History DB Browser for SQLite Base for SQLite on Setapp 00:09:33 Robert-CSF-1118–iMessage-Exporter to archive your iMessages 00:12:46 Todd-QT-1119-Increase Haptic Prominence 00:14:15 Bill-QT-Stocks App iOS QT Works on a Mac too! 00:15:52 QT-Command-Shift-2 in ChatGPT immediately adds a screenshot of your most-recent window Shottr A discussion about using ChatGPT, et al, and finding your place on the continuum between privacy and convenience. One year free Perplexity subscription if you have PayPal VS Code CoPilot ChatGPT integration Google Antigravity 00:26:16 QT-ChatGPT, use these screenshots to help me build a formula for Google Sheets Sponsors 00:27:27 SPONSOR: Udacity is an online learning platform with courses in AI and Tech. For 40% off your order, head to Udacity.com/MGG and use code MGG. 00:28:44 SPONSOR: CleanMyMac. Get Tidy Today! Try 7 days free and use our code MACGEEK for 20% off at clnmy.com/MACGEEK Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:29:59 Kirit-Tahoe, freezing from time to time 00:34:19 Bob, MD-1119-If sleep score is so subjective, why use it? That which is monitored is managed 00:41:17 Antony-Does Siri Know What Day It Is? 00:48:19 What's the difference between 5G, 5G+, 5G UC, and 5G UW? 00:51:48 Time For an Intercontinental Misunderstanding Sponsors 00:53:32 SPONSOR: Aura Frames. Relive your favorite holiday traditions—every day. Visit AuraFrames.com and get $45 off Aura's best-selling Carver Mat frames – named #1 by Wirecutter – by using promo code MGG at checkout. MOAR Quick Tips 00:55:30 Scott-QT-Creative Air Tag Locations 00:57:42 Pilot Pete-QT-Paste Clipboard as Keystrokes – Native to Mac OS 01:09:20 Chris-QT-Add folders to label Applications 01:19:43 MGG 1120 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly MGG's CES 2026 Sponsors Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

This week on Mac Geek Gab, you, Pilot Pete, Adam Christianson, and Dave Hamilton dive headfirst into a whirlwind of Quick Tips and real-world Apple wisdom. You'll learn how to clean up those pesky “recovered” Messages folders, fine-tune your Apple TV profiles, and even adjust the contentious “Liquid Glass” effect […]

You'll come out smarter — and maybe even safer — after this week's Mac Geek Gab with Pilot Pete, Adam Christianson, Dave Hamilton, and a triumphant return from John F. Braun. From unlocking hidden gems in iOS 26's Health app and securing your Mint Mobile account with Number Lock to […]

This week on Mac Geek Gab, you're climbing to new heights—literally and geekily—with Pilot Pete, Adam Christianson, and Dave Hamilton. With big, 6,000-foot energy, you'll inhale knowledge (not bear spray!) with Quick Tips like disabling auto-return to apps, blazing through iPhone setup using a wired Phone-to-Phone connection, and printing photo […]

You kick things off with a stack of Quick Tips that make your Apple gear feel smarter. From getting a free year of Perplexity Pro, to turning on CarPlay widgets in iOS 26, to using ChatGPT itself to search for Mac Geek Gab answers (like which dash cam Pilot Pete […]

This week's Mac Geek Gab kicks off with quick tips you'll actually use: from setting custom backgrounds in iOS 26 Messages to automating iPhone restarts with Shortcuts, spotting hidden savings on AppleTV+, and even using freezer bags to tame cable chaos. You'll also learn the power of politeness, how Adaptive […]

You dive right into the Apple event fallout with Pilot Pete, Adam, and Dave weighing their wish lists against reality. The iPhone 17 shines with its blistering 3000-nit display, always-on ProMotion, liquid-cooling in the Pro models, and a storage bump to 256GB minimum. The real curveball? The iPhone Air. Sleek, […]

This week's Mac Geek Gab is packed with quick tips and clever workarounds you can actually use. You'll learn how to silence your partner's alarm with Siri, calm down watchOS 26's Liquid Glass by reducing transparency, and keep your AirPods secure with Croakies or a magnetic strap. You'll even pick […]

Learn how to use hyphens for strike-through in Messages, schedule a Mac restart, and even tell Siri or Alexa to run one-time automations. Master plus-addressing in iCloud Mail for cleaner inboxes and privacy with Hide My Email, and keep Safari's tab bar neat by ditching Favorite Icons. And of course, […]

This week's Mac Geek Gab with Pilot Pete, Adam Christianson, and Dave Hamilton packs in quick tips, clever hacks, and gear finds to level up your Apple life. You'll learn how to instantly turn screenshots into PDFs, scan docs like a pro, and understand why most Macs can't handle 20Gbps […]

Mirrors killing your Wi-Fi? You're not imagining it. This week on Mac Geek Gab 1102, you'll learn how metal surfaces sabotage your signal…and what to do about it. From smarter ways to manage your Apple Watch unlocks (hint: avoid accidental calls) to clearing your iPhone's keyboard dictionary without going full […]

You're diving into Mac Geek Gab 1100, where quick tips flow faster than USB-C power. Learn how dragging files into a blank Finder space automatically creates folders, and why AppleCare One's $20/month plan might be worth a look. You'll get hacks for AirPods Pro as earplugs, scanning docs to a […]

Recorded LIVE at Macstock 2025, this episode of Mac Geek Gab is a true “Stump The Geeks” showdown! With zero prep and a crowd full of curveballs, Dave, Pete, and Adam tackled real-time questions and Quick Tips on the fly. You'll hear how to enable iPhone Mirroring for Mac notifications, […]

You're swimming in Quick Tips this week on Mac Geek Gab 1098! You'll learn how to fix flaky Apple TV Wi-Fi, make your AirPods fit better (hint: flip 'em), and finally tame Hot Corners with a smart modifier key. Discover the secret to custom routes in Apple Maps on iOS […]

You're about to level up your tech game with Quick Tips and Cool Stuff Found that'll make you wonder how you ever lived without them. From keeping tabs on low AirPods battery via the Today view widget to renaming your Spaces for better Mac workflow, it's all here. Discover magnetic […]

Ready to upgrade or migrate your Mac? You'll learn the smartest way to do it from Adam's shiny new M4 MacBook Pro to migration tips that help you avoid the dreaded cruft. Whether you're going Mac-to-Mac over Thunderbolt or restoring from Time Machine, we've got you covered. Don't forget those […]

You're gonna love this jam-packed episode of Mac Geek Gab! Dive in with a barrage of Quick Tips, like turning your wonky circle sketches into perfect shapes, compressing image sizes with Mail and Squash, and even tricking Safari into showing you paywalled content. Your fellow geeks also bring sharp insights—from […]

In this week's Mac Geek Gab, you, Pilot Pete, Adam Christianson, and Dave Hamilton dig deep into everything Apple announced for macOS 26 “Tahoe” and beyond. Get the scoop on which Macs make the cut, how Spotlight finally grows up into a proper launcher—with clipboard history—and why Shortcuts just became […]

This week on Mac Geek Gab, you'll learn how to outsmart your tech before it tries to outsmart you. Pilot Pete, Adam Christianson, and Dave Hamilton deliver a barrage of Quick Tips, including reviving dead notifications by force-quitting Notification Center, rethinking your Dock layout for remote desktops, and leveraging iOS's […]

Ever wished you could merge your Apple accounts or automate your lawn care? This week's Mac Geek Gab has you covered! Discover how to finally merge your Apple accounts, combining your purchases and iCloud data seamlessly. Dave, Adam, and Pete dive into the long-awaited solution for those juggling multiple Apple […]

Are you tired of struggling with Wi-Fi issues and tech frustrations? This episode of Mac Geek Gab has you covered with solutions to common problems and clever tips to enhance your tech experience. Dive into a world of Wi-Fi troubleshooting as the Pete, Adam, and Dave discuss solutions for UPS […]

This week's Mac Geek Gab is bursting with power-user gold, thanks to Dave, Pilot Pete, and Adam Christianson. You'll learn how to command Time Machine from Terminal like a pro, tame your iCloud email identities, and even resize your Dock to fit your vibe. Quick Tips fly fast, from dragging […]

This week on Mac Geek Gab 1087, you get packed with Quick Tips to sharpen your workflow: send lyrics via text from Apple Music with a long press, use ChatGPT smarter for search, and master the magical Cmd-Opt-Shift-V paste for plain text. Discover how Hazel tames your Downloads folder, 1Password […]

This week's Mac Geek Gab is your fast lane to smarter tech moves, featuring Pilot Pete, Adam Christianson, and Dave Hamilton steering you through the latest Quick Tips and listener Q&A. You'll learn how to turn your car's Source button into a play/pause controller, why stuffing your user manuals into […]