Podcasts about Steam

After two weeks of R&R, the Duke boys are back! Plenty happened while we were away. Everything from Oblivion Remake leaking (again) to a supposed Xbox console dropping in 2026 circulated, so we have much to pick up at the start of the new year. For starters, a Developer Direct looms and the lineup could be stacked if it's to include The Outer Worlds 2, Fable, DOOM: The Dark Ages, and South Of Midnight as expected. The question on the tip of everyone's tongue is simply this: "What is the mystery fifth game appearance?" In year one, it was Hi Fi Rush. Year two gave it to a rare third party appearance in Square Enix for Visions Of Mana. The Duke debate what could show up! We also dive into Xbox's sudden competition with Valve as they've lept headfirst into challenging Windows with their own OS. How has this accelerated Microsoft's plans without a handheld ready? Plus, grim estimates of Xbox's current console sales and, even worse, Xbox's sales hits to Game Pass titles! Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00:00 - Intro 0:35:13 - Dispelling the Black Myth Wukong… myth? 0:44:29 - Series X & S sales estimates are bleak 1:03:08 - 80% of sales lost on Game Pass titles 1:11:44 - Xbox Cloud Gaming is headed to LG Smart TVs 1:12:38 - Kojima's OD sees a setback 1:16:40 - Xbox rejected a Halo/DOOM crossover for Secret Level 1:21:22 - Jez Corden on more Indiana Jones games 1:24:19 - Season 1 of Marvel Rivals revealed 1:30:54 - Splash Damage cancels Transformers: Reactivate 1:33:52 - SEGA considering its own subscription service 1:37:24 - First look at Virtua Fighter 6 1:41:31 - PlatinumGames says they're planning some things.. 1:44:22 - Will Shen, former lead quest designer at BGS, on massive games 1:52:33 - So, this is where the former Annapurna Interactive team went 1:55:46 - SteamOS is available for third party devices 2:04:14 - Destiny 2 has lost 90% of its Steam players in seven months 2:13:37 - What We're Playing 2:51:47 - Matty's 74 Hours on Xbox 3:06:31 - Xbox Developer Direct soon? 3:30:03 - Oblivion Remake rumors 3:48:17 - Coming soon to Xbox Game Pass 3:51:00 - Game Pass Pick Of The Week Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#XboxNews #XboxHandheld #CES Luke Lohr and Captain Logun discuss the news coming out of CES 2025 to include the collision course of handhelds between Steam, Xbox, Asus, and Lenovo's hardware. Enjoy!   Support XEP: https://www.patreon.com/XboxExpansionPass XEP Merch: https://wren-works.myshopify.com/collections/xbox-expansion-pass-merch The Xbox Expansion Pass (XEP) is a podcast dedicated to interpreting the goings on in the world of video games and analyzing how they impact the Xbox ecosystem. Luke Lohr and Captain Logun discuss various topics throughout the industry. The guests on the show are meant to help gamers expand their knowledge of the gaming industry. Blue Sky: @InsipidGhost | Threads: @InsipidGhost Contact: InsipidGhost@gmail.com Blue Sky: @CaptLogun | Threads: @Capt_Logun Keelhauled: A Sea of Thieves Podcast Please consider leaving a review on iTunes or Spotify. It is the best way to support the show. Thank you!

Big thanks to podcast supporter Magic Mind, who are offering listeners 45% off their concentration shots. A genuine endorsement from me: I take one every morning, and I love them. There's a no-questions-asked refund policy, so you've nothing to lose — give it a shot (pun absolutely intended) at ⁠https://www.magicmind.com/GAMINGLTJAN⁠ *** This week's episode is a look ahead at all the intriguing indie games coming out this year. In the roundup: Dragon Age - The Veilguard, Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, and Balatro. See the video version of the main segment here to check out the games in action: https://youtu.be/Wjfc7bKO50I?si=wkT9jMHrGjkQLNgz. If you like this podcast, you can support it on Patreon. You get instant access to 15 bonus podcast episodes, and an invite to join the awesome patron community: http://patreon.com/gaminginthewild. Thanks to new supporters Michael, Glenn, Meisuko, and Garrick. Also thanks to loyal patrons and tier upgraders Juzzy, Zanem, and Andre, and boss tier patrons Hollow, Mike Sampier, and Shy Guy. And finally, thanks Dovetail for helping me organise the 2025 game release spreadsheet. Dovetail also maintains this Steam curator page, so you can see if games you're browsing come pod-recommended: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/43457463-Gaming-in-the-Wild-%2528unofficial%2529/ Thanks for listening everybody!

00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:20 - Into the Breach (Samantha) 00:11:17 - The Rise of the Golden Idol (Heath) 00:20:35 - Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Chris) 00:30:48 - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Chris/Samantha) 00:43:05 - Steam 2024 Year in Review 00:48:42 - Top 10 Games Played in 2024 01:59:07 - Closing Statements Send us an email at mobiustubespodcast@gmail.com Original release date: January 10th, 2025

I talk with Bryan Blackford about how his game blew up in 2 wild months... ► Check out Drafty Car: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/draftycar/id6470429316 ► Get 50% off Full Time Game Dev for New Year's: https://fulltimegamedev.mykajabi.com/ftgd Couple notes here: 1. Bryan made enough to go full time indie, but is still working his day job. 2. I made a mistake in saying I didn't have a following with BOTH of my games. I was building an audience with Neversong! But with my first game Pinstripe (which is more successful honestly) I didn't have an audience.

Welcome to 2025! Yes, we are still doing this. Chamberlain has doubts about his game of the year 2024 list after finishing Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, then has doubts about Alex's taste after putting time into Dragon Age The Veilguard. Chance decides that Alex is the arbiter of all things good and that Chamberlain is always wrong after roughly ten playthroughs of the Resident Evil 4 remake and quitting Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth after 10 hours. And Alex consumes more co-op games on his Steam deck than than he knew existed.

No citām valodām aizgūtās abreviatūras. Vai vienmēr tās izrunā tā, kā rakstīts? Par to spriežam latviešu valodas stundā. Studijā Latvijas Universitātes profesors, valodnieks un tulks Andrejs Veisbergs un filoloģijas doktore, valodniece Dite Liepa. Runājot par abreviatūrām, Andrejs Veisbergs atzīs, ka lai arī STEM pārvērtušās par STEAM, īsāko abreviatūru nevajadzētu izrunāt „stīm”. Vajadzētu teikt STEM, tas atbilst latviešu valodas abreviatūru atveides principiem. Andrejs Veisbergs arī norāda, ka latviešu valodā varētu teikt UNICEF tieši tāpat kā raksta. Un arī vārdā UNESCO nepārveidot ‘UN' par ‘ju' izrunā.

The complete audiobook is available for purchase at Audible.com: https://n9.cl/d8jab Echoes of the Divine And Other Steampunk Stories By Danielle Ackley-McPhail Narrated by Jennifer Fournier Welcome to a World of Invention. To a mermaid watching airships as she dreams of the sky… to an orphan girl caught between innovation and tradition… From a desperate Lady turning to science to search for the rightful heir… The Age of Steam is full of potential—and peril—for those with the vision to wonder what if? Includes the stories: “Looking Back” “To Reach for Distant Shores” “Windows to the Soul” “On the Wings of an Angel” “Echoes of the Divine” “Trouble on the Water” “Angel de la Muerte” “Ala al-Din and the Cave of Wonders”

Jason, Kirk, and Maddy revisit last year's predictions to see what game they'll be playing this year, then go through some new predictions for 2025, from the Nintendo Switch 2 to... new Half-Life?One More Thing:Kirk: Interviewing your friends & family / StoryCorpsMaddy: Scorcese double feature (Taxi Driver + King of Comedy)Jason: Encanto (2021)LINKS:StoryCorps: https://storycorps.org/Support Triple Click: http://maximumfun.org/joinBuy Triple Click Merch: https://maxfunstore.com/search?q=triple+click&options%5Bprefix%5D=lastJoin the Triple Click Discord: http://discord.gg/tripleclickpodTriple Click Ethics Policy: https://maximumfun.org/triple-click-ethics-policy/2025 PREDICTIONSKIRKAt least one game will be released and then un-released within the yearHollow Knight: Silksong will actually come outValve will announce a new non-VR Half-Life gameThe new Nintendo console will have the word "Switch" in the nameConan O'Brien or Geoff Keighley will appear in Death Stranding 2 (either/both)Valve will announce a new Steam controller that's on par with Steam DeckYou will be able to "pet the dog" in The Game Awards' GOTY, i.e. the game will have a "pet animal" interact promptAt least two TGA GOTY nominees will be for a studio's first gameIn the new Fable, you will be able to plant an acorn and have it grow into a treeSquare Enix will announce Final Fantasy VII.... ReturnBonus: Nintendo will announce they're bringing games to SteamGame: SOMAMADDYA Deadpool video game will get announcedThe Guillemot family will get pushed out of controlling UbisoftMetroid Prime 2 + 3 will get remasters released on a Switch in 2025A full-length film will be screened in FortniteA game made on Roblox will become a huge hit/phenomenon on the scale of Pokemon Go or Among UsMicrosoft/Xbox will remove the requirement for new Xbox games to be able to also run on Xbox Series SHalf-Life 3 will be announcedSilksong will get a release date announcement that will be “it's out right now” (which means I am also implicitly predicting Silksong comes out in 2025)There will be two more prominent live service game failures in 2025 in the style of Concord and Suicide SquadWaluigi will figure into a new Mario gameBonus: Half-Life 4 will be announcedGame: Super MetroidJASONUbisoft will be sold An Xbox studios game will be nominated for GOTY at The Game Awards (it's never happened before!)A non-VR Half-Life game will be announcedA single player playstation game will be announced for PC within 3 months of its PS5 releaseAce Attorney 7 will be announced Bobby Kotick will get involved with the Trump administration in some wayEA CEO Andrew Wilson will step downSwitch 2 will have an availability crisisMetroid Prime 4 will launch on Switch and Switch 2 - day one of Switch 2There will be fewer industry layoffs than last yearBonus: Amazon will pull out of the video game industryGame: Chrono Trigger

RDV Jeux 381 – 2025: les meilleurs jeux à ajouter au backlogAu programme :Nos jeux les plus attendus de 2025Le point sur les rumeurs Switch 2Quoi d'intéressant au CES ?Nos jeux du momentIndiana Jones et le Cercle AncienHogwarts LegacyHorizon Forbidden WestSouth ParkFlint Treasure of OblivionRomancing SaGa 2Tears of the Kingdom1000xResistLe reste des infosLiens :

To kick off 2025 we're looking at Fyrox a game engine built in Rust, largely by one person - Dmitry Stepanov. For an individual project, it's covered an incredible amount of ground, covering the rendering and animation features you'd expect from a game engine, with some features that might surprise you - like Rust scripting support with hot-reloading.As we dive into Fyrox, Dmitry explains what it takes to build a game engine, why he chose Rust (and why he's happy with the choice), and how one person can hope to build a project of that size.–Support Developer Voices on Patreon: https://patreon.com/DeveloperVoicesSupport Developer Voices on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@developervoices/joinFyrox Homepage: https://fyrox.rs/The Fyrox Book: https://fyrox-book.github.io/Rapier Physics Engine: https://rapier.rs/The Mine (on Steam): https://store.steampowered.com/app/898980/The_Mine/Dmitry's Engine: https://github.com/mrDIMAS/DmitrysEngineGJK Collision Detection Algorithm: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert%E2%80%93Johnson%E2%80%93Keerthi_distance_algorithmWPF: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Presentation_FoundationPICO-8: https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.phpKris on Mastodon: http://mastodon.social/@krisajenkinsKris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krisjenkins/Kris on Twitter: https://twitter.com/krisajenkins

Analizamos Among Ashes para PC y PlayStation, y charlamos con su autor. Among Ashes es un sorprendente videojuego de terror que emplea la narrativa de una forma muy hábil. Si tienes dos horas de vida, ni te lo pienses - Among Ashes en Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2430900/Among_Ashes/ - Estudia online en ⁠ UNIR un máster o un grado en videojuegos, diseño gráfico digital, UX o multimedia. Pide más información sin compromiso: https://estudiar.unir.net/es/es-gen-area-ing-formacion-diseno-director-ejecutivo/ - Másters y Grados 100% oficiales; dan acceso a programas de doctorado y a trabajar como profesor universitario - Formación 100% online; estudia sin cambiar tus rutinas - Pensados para gente que trabaja y quiere convertirse en diseñador de lo que le apasiona

Dillon offers up a series of Real or Fake country music artists, takes after watching last night's TGL golf debut, 38 people stranded at a pub in northern England, breaking down Brett's snowball throwing ability, Kim Jong Un's ban on hot dogs, This Weekend in Fun, and more. Enjoy a free one-week trial on Patreon for additional weekly episodes: www.patreon.com/circlingbackpodcast Watch all of our full episodes on our new YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/circlingback  Shop Washed Merch: www.washedmedia.shop  (0:00) Fun & Easy Banter (11:40) Kim Jong Hot Dog Ban (17:30) 38 People Stranded in Pub in Northern England (27:40) Real or Fake Country Music Artists (40:30) TGL Breakdown (52:45) Snowball Guy Brett (1:04:00) This Weekend in Fun Support This Episode's Sponsors Shopify: www.shopify.com/circling  Lucy: www.lucy.co/steam (STEAM for 20% off)  Huel: www.my.huel.com (15% off using STEAM15) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us as OLL hurtles towards it's 19th year, dearest listener, and for Simon's NYE tale of woe - a Kafkaesque Meta magnum opus if ever there was one! (Listeners on our Discord have already had a brief snippet but hear him tell the full story here without him using any F, S, B or C bombs!) Meanwhile we also have a crazy number of Steam games in 2024, Atari teasing a new handheld, Rockstar have bins and Notch teasing Minecraft fans. There's also a date for the next Maraoke (Saturday 8th February, might have a link next week...) and Block Words hits iOS! And I've been saying "BLOCKWORDS" all this time, what a fool! Feed us with your letters! They're what keep us alive!! Send us your 2026 games industry maxim suggestions!! We've got this! Do the thing! Send them to us at team@onelifeleft.com. Or join our Discord and drop a letter in our mailbag channel over there. Link below! TTFN, Team OLL x Links: The OLL Everything (including Discord) Link! http://hello.onelifeleft.com/ The Maraoke Everything Link! https://hello.maraoke.com Block Words Link! https://blockwords.app/ The Shure link! https://tag.gs/OneLifeLeft_Shure Reviews: Astrobot Chained Together Carry the Glass The Exit 8 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Codey and Kev catch up on all the recent news Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:01:06: Feedback 00:08:21: What Have We Been Up To 00:43:30: Game Releases 00:57:44: Game Updates 01:06:41: New Games 01:28:43: Outro Links Harvest Hills Release Chill Town Development Update Dragon Shelter Trailer Steamworld Build Physical Release Echoes of the Plum Grove Digital Art Book Harvest Moon: Home Sweet Home “Controller and Cloud Save” Update Research Story “Shimmering” Update Go-go Town Roadmap Terra Nil “Heatwave” Update Cattle Country Litchi Town Cinnabunny Contact Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript (0:00:30) Codey: Hello, farmers and welcome to another episode of the harvest season. My name is Cody. (0:00:36) Kev: My name is Kevin, and we are back in the sad woodbeam. (0:00:40) Codey: Welcome to a new year. This is actually, this is actually being recorded in the new year. (0:00:41) Kev: Wow. (0:00:44) Kev: Oh yeah. (0:00:46) Kev: The first one. (0:00:49) Kev: Yeah. (0:00:50) Kev: Unlike the last one, which is recorded before a lot of the ones before that, which is wild. (0:00:55) Codey: Yeah, I just, I just finished. (0:00:57) Kev: Oh, wildflowers got a sequel, prequel, and I wouldn’t say it. (0:01:04) Codey: Yeah. So I guess so. Okay. So this episode is about a news catch up, (0:01:09) Codey: but we do want to hear Kev. (0:01:10) Kev: Yup. (0:01:14) Codey: I want to hear. So there’s a couple of things that we have to, (0:01:17) Codey: we have to talk about first, uh, all, but yeah, (0:01:19) Kev: I saw the note (0:01:22) Codey: I’ll put any feedback on game of the year. (0:01:24) Codey: So do you have any feedback on Rusty’s retirement winning game of the year? (0:01:28) Kev: Oh, so like, I’ll tell you what, my feedback is that this is just the, the, the (0:01:36) Kev: revenge of the, the coral island debacle of the previous year. (0:01:40) Kev: That’s what this is. (0:01:41) Codey: No, who would you have well you probably would have had wildflowers win, right? (0:01:41) Kev: Um, me, no, I mean, well, okay. (0:01:49) Kev: Some deep inside baseball, right? (0:01:51) Kev: Like this is, we’ve been talking a little bit on how to structure this (0:01:54) Kev: game the year, because it’s challenging, right? (0:01:57) Kev: with so many games that come out, right? (0:01:58) Kev: And we cover, you know, at most 52 games in a year, and obviously we’re not going to bring 52 games in a year. (0:02:06) Codey: Right (0:02:06) Kev: And furthermore, they’re probably not all going to be games that came out that year. (0:02:12) Kev: So that is a lot of games that we don’t play and consider and, you know, we might be missing things, right? (0:02:22) Kev: So like Wildflowers, we missed it the year it came out. (0:02:26) Kev: came out, so I didn’t put it in. (0:02:28) Kev: It wasn’t in the running for Game of the Year, so I think that we should maybe try (0:02:34) Kev: to aim for next year is like, we already started doing the categories or whatever kind of, (0:02:41) Kev: so I think there should be one for actually 2020, whatever, four, five, whatever, and then (0:02:47) Kev: one that we covered on the show that year, you know what I mean? (0:02:50) Kev: That’s probably how we should structure that, but either way, I mean, yeah, either way, (0:02:55) Kev: But a lot of thought was just not going to be my vote because we didn’t cover it last time. (0:02:58) Kev: I would have gone with Mika of course, but I get it. (0:03:00) Codey: Okay. (0:03:02) Codey: That was me, I was gonna say maybe Mika. (0:03:06) Kev: I will say I haven’t played Rusty’s retirement in myself. (0:03:10) Kev: Like I said, I don’t like the concept of something playing on your screen as you’re doing other stuff. (0:03:20) Kev: I’m the total opposite end of the spectrum from that. It doesn’t tell me at all. (0:03:26) Kev: Um, but I’m sure it’s fine. (0:03:27) Kev: Like what, what I, you know, (0:03:28) Kev: what I want to talk about, it’s great and, and what, right. (0:03:31) Kev: Um, and furthermore, like, uh, I think it was my, I don’t know, brought it up like (0:03:36) Kev: that, you know, it’s breaking more new ground than say Mika’s because Mika, you (0:03:42) Kev: know, there’s no doubt that Mika is definitely standing on the shoulders of (0:03:46) Kev: giants leaning on a Wind Waker aesthetic and the studio Ghibli and all that. (0:03:52) Kev: Um, so, you know, I can appreciate that. (0:03:54) Kev: Um, so, you know, Mika would have been my vote. (0:03:57) Kev: But I don’t know. (0:03:58) Kev: I’m fine with my sister’s time. I’m not complaining. I do like the rule but um but uh but yeah um yeah that’s that’s my only real thought um like yeah it’s fine not my vote but again for two-fold reasons and and I get why you guys picked it so I’m not complaining too much. (0:04:00) Codey: Mm hmm. Okay, yeah. (0:04:13) Codey: Hmm. Yeah, those of us with ADHD, it just tickles that itch for sure. (0:04:24) Codey: Okay, so the second question would be wild society. How are you? How do you? What are your thoughts? (0:04:30) Kev: So, obviously I’m hyped, right, because Studio Drydock has done fantastic work, kind of across the board, right, not just, except maybe the art style, which, you know, I’m not going to defend it per se, but the story they wrote, the mechanics, how they came about it, even their promotion, how they interact with the community. (0:05:00) Kev: Um, just call it stuff across the board, right? (0:05:04) Kev: Um, obviously I’m biased, you know, I’m going to go dove into wildflowers because of Ray and yada, yada, but, um, and bother is a lot of fun and whatnot, but, um, like the fact that we’re getting a sequel, one, that’s great, right, or people, I guess. (0:05:20) Kev: Um, and what’s exciting is that it’s not going to probably be a, you know, one-to-one sequel. We’re not on a farm now. We’re running a hotel bed and breakfast thing. (0:05:30) Kev: I don’t know if you remember, so, you know, I’m interested to see what we’re going to do. I’ll probably put, we had a lot of emphasis on the social interactions and whatnot, but, um, you know, that was, I think, one of the strong suits from wildflowers, like the community of that little island and people interacting and whatnot. (0:05:48) Kev: So, you know, focusing more on that, I think it’s going to be fun. (0:05:52) Kev: Um, I do wonder how the magic will fit into everything because, you know, you use the magic. (0:06:00) Kev: For farming, but here we’re just hosting key parties, question mark. So what are we, you know, what spiking drinks with potions was a feature in wildflowers. (0:06:08) Codey: - Yeah. (0:06:14) Kev: So, um, oh yeah, you’re right. There was like a seance thing. Yeah, right. There you go. That’ll be interesting. Um, but yeah, um, I mean, yeah, of course. (0:06:14) Codey: - Didn’t they have in wilds? (0:06:16) Codey: Didn’t you have a seance in the trailer for wild society? (0:06:28) Kev: Yeah, of course, I’m super excited for it. (0:06:32) Kev: I believe they already confirmed there will be returning characters, which is interesting because they think it’s going to be a fairly large time gap. (0:06:38) Kev: But there are characters who could show up. I can already name two or three of them. (0:06:44) Kev: So it’ll be fun to see them show up. (0:06:50) Kev: This is generally somewhat bad form, but I’m pretty sure the voice in the trailer was Valerie Rose Lohman. (0:06:56) Kev: So I’m sure she’s going to get a character in there. I feel like she has to, right? She has to. (0:06:59) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:07:02) Kev: So, you know, but we’ll see. I don’t know. (0:07:06) Kev: All in all, obviously, I’m very excited. It’s fun. (0:07:10) Kev: Yeah, well, John, my eyes are peeled and I’ll be day one buyer, of course. (0:07:14) Kev: I’m so open. (0:07:15) Codey: Well, and I will say that after everything that you’ve talked about the game and looking (0:07:22) Codey: at wild society, well, maybe we’ll be doing a second harvest of wildflowers this year (0:07:31) Codey: because I want to play it. (0:07:31) Kev: Oh, oh, oh, like, you know, obviously my hyperbolic cartoonish adoration of the game is great now, but like it is still a very solid game. (0:07:44) Kev: Like I cannot recommend enough. (0:07:45) Kev: Like it is up there with the, you know, the top Stardew clones or farming is whatever. (0:07:52) Kev: Um, it’s solid. (0:07:54) Codey: Yeah, yeah, no, it looks great. (0:07:54) Kev: Um, you know, cause you could just pass the, the style, I don’t play many once. (0:08:01) Kev: But hey, that’s good. That’s good. (0:08:02) Codey: So, okay, so, yeah, the, as I’ve already mentioned, today, the topic is news catch up, so we have (0:08:11) Codey: a lot of news to get through, but next section is the what have we been up to section. (0:08:19) Codey: And here’s the final question for Kev. (0:08:22) Codey: - Kev, you have to– (0:08:24) Codey: - I just remember you saying, “oh yeah, I got a puppy,” (0:08:26) Codey: and I’m like, “ah, I need details!” (0:08:28) Codey: And this is the first time we’ve been on a pod together, so… (0:08:30) Kev: Mm-hmm. Okay (0:08:30) Codey: I just remember you saying, “oh yeah, I got a puppy,” (0:08:32) Codey: and I’m like, “ah, I need details!” (0:08:36) Codey: And this is the first time we’ve been on a pod together, so… (0:08:38) Codey: together, so. (0:08:39) Kev: So yeah, um (0:08:42) Kev: Some recording I don’t I don’t remember where or what was the like where the harvest season (0:08:51) Kev: Time-wise where I was when I recorded near puppy (0:08:54) Kev: But okay, so I I feel like I did so, you know (0:09:00) Kev: Here’s show time if you go listen to if you listen to the the Rainbow Road radio the neutral show (0:09:02) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:09:06) Kev: I do with our friend now, it’s so are you things? (0:09:07) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:09:09) Kev: You you could he hear the puppy saga in real life in real time because I’ve given up updates (0:09:14) Kev: But anyways, so, okay, I’m gonna give context for people who might not know I imagine most folks might know (0:09:21) Kev: Things I brought it up here and there but okay. So first of all (0:09:26) Kev: two years ago (0:09:29) Kev: October (0:09:30) Kev: 29th, I know that I know the date it’s weird, but I I have a reference point but we lost our first dog passed away two (0:09:38) Kev: Years ago on October 29th heard (0:09:42) Kev: Whatever do you know it’s new year, whatever (0:09:45) Kev: His name was though though he we had him for 18 years same age as my brother (0:09:50) Kev: toy poodle (0:09:52) Kev: obviously left the big (0:09:54) Kev: hole in the family and all that (0:09:57) Kev: and so (0:09:58) Kev: Uh, but for the first while we were. (0:10:00) Kev: We’d been petless, right? (0:10:01) Kev: Um, uh, Kiyo about a year later, a little, it was actually around the (0:10:06) Kev: same time around November of 2023. (0:10:09) Kev: Well, we got two kitties, um, Daisy and Teddy, and they were very small kittens. (0:10:15) Kev: And they were just a couple, like three, maybe four weeks old when we got them. (0:10:19) Kev: Um, and so that was my first time having cats and, and, and they were fun and, and, (0:10:24) Kev: and all the weird and wonderful and really weird things that cats are. (0:10:30) Kev: But, um, you know, but they’re relatively chill compared to dogs, right? (0:10:33) Kev: They’re a little more low home maintenance. (0:10:36) Kev: Um, uh, anyway, so Q this past year on by like, did you no one realized? (0:10:43) Kev: Well, I was the first one to realize it on the same date, October 29th of 2024. (0:10:48) Kev: Two years to the day after though, though. (0:10:50) Kev: Um, I was given lucky as an early birthday gift. (0:10:54) Kev: Um, so he was a toy poodle, much like the, um, the other was a (0:10:59) Kev: blonde, light brown color. (0:11:01) Kev: is like red cinnamon type of fur color. (0:11:05) Kev: Um, he was two months old, I think when we got him, he was still a really little guy, all in all. (0:11:13) Kev: Um, so yeah, um, we got him, uh, took probably a week or two to pick the name and settled on Lucky. (0:11:20) Kev: That is his name. (0:11:21) Kev: Um, and he has been a handful, like, so Dodo was the chillest guy. (0:11:30) Kev: He was smart. (0:11:31) Kev: He was chill. (0:11:32) Kev: Like he, he, he putty trained himself. (0:11:35) Kev: It was wild. (0:11:37) Kev: Um, uh, and whatnot. (0:11:39) Kev: Um, and, and he was just chill. (0:11:41) Kev: He just loved hanging out in cuddling and whatever. (0:11:43) Kev: Lucky is your stereotypical, you know, or would you think of the dog like puppy storm? (0:11:50) Kev: Like he’s chewing everything, biting everything. (0:11:53) Kev: He’s running. (0:11:54) Kev: He’s very friendly. (0:11:55) Kev: He’s very social. (0:11:56) Kev: He loves meeting people. (0:11:57) Codey: Mm-hmm. (0:11:57) Kev: Sometimes to Marsha Grin because if he ever gets up (0:12:00) Kev: the leash or will run up to other people and so you know but but yeah he (0:12:08) Kev: that he’s been here we set up the Christmas decorations he’s been chewing (0:12:12) Kev: on them so it’s been a handful I mean it’s obviously still very puppy and so (0:12:17) Kev: learning but he is a joy a bundle of joy he’s probably double means maybe even (0:12:24) Kev: triple not triple but at least double in size I’m sure since we got him but he is (0:12:30) Kev: a toy poodle so he’s still gonna be a little guy on all but but yeah he’s part (0:12:37) Kev: of the home now he’s obviously a lot of attention a lot of work now the cats are (0:12:43) Kev: interesting he gets along with one her name is David Daisy she’s pretty chill (0:12:48) Kev: with him usually but sometimes he’ll try to knit and you know nip play with her (0:12:53) Kev: like a dog would replay fighting or whatever and so she did she doesn’t like (0:12:56) Kev: that, obviously, because even though they’re a year old, they’re like, (0:13:00) Kev: he’s already bigger than both of them. (0:13:02) Kev: Um, and then Teddy, uh, I feel so bad cause poor Teddy, he is our sweetheart. (0:13:08) Kev: He is only, he lives up to his name of Teddy. (0:13:10) Kev: He’s a Teddy bear. (0:13:11) Kev: He’s, he’s, he’s sweet and calm and chill, but he’s so skittish and nervous. (0:13:18) Kev: Like he still freaks out over lucky. (0:13:21) Kev: He’s not used to him on like, not even like I’d say 50% like he’ll, he’ll hiss (0:13:28) Kev: and, you know, and do all this stuff. (0:13:30) Kev: keep his distance and obviously Lucky’s just a puppy he just wants to like run up and play (0:13:34) Kev: at him he’s not he’s never you know Lucky doesn’t have a mean boat in his body or anything um (0:13:41) Kev: but he’s just uh had he just not dealing well with the new so yeah um no that’s unfortunate (0:13:46) Codey: Yeah. I’m sure there’ll be best of friends because that’s how it always goes right like (0:13:52) Kev: yeah yeah yeah I imagine it certainly takes time right like obviously like I said never (0:13:57) Kev: had cats before, so I’ve always never had cats and dogs together before. (0:14:00) Kev: And obviously I did some research on that, and yeah, it looks like it can vary, like I said, (0:14:06) Kev: Daisy and Lucky can get along pretty well. But yeah, I’m sure Teddy will just kind of give it (0:14:13) Kev: time. He’s a very giddish sort of fella that’s the only thing about him. But yeah, that is Lucky. (0:14:23) Kev: Hold on. Let me send you a picture. I’m talking about it, but I didn’t even send you a picture. (0:14:26) Codey: I was going to say, please post one in the Slack, so that yeah, if y’all want to see (0:14:28) Kev: Sure, hold on, Lumi. (0:14:30) Kev: Okay, yeah, there you go, there’s your Patreon Slack exclusive. (0:14:36) Kev: Yeah, I’ll have to dig and find them. (0:14:38) Codey: baby toy poodle pics, and I am all for it. (0:14:46) Kev: I’ll try to find some earlier ones when he was real little cuz he was real like, (0:14:50) Kev: he could barely poke out of the grass standing a little. (0:14:54) Codey: Um… (0:14:54) Kev: But he’s a good bit bigger, but he still acts very much like a mate. (0:15:01) Codey: Yeah. That doesn’t go away for a while. Stella’s finally, can you stop? She’s also all up in my (0:15:03) Kev: Yeah. (0:15:08) Codey: business right now. Um, she, uh, only just started getting out of some of her puppyish like (0:15:09) Kev: Speaking of which, yeah. (0:15:18) Codey: behaviors, like, um, Aussies, both healers and shepherds will like bite at ankles, um, (0:15:27) Codey: to like try and herd you. She’s finally- (0:15:32) Codey: to me, she only ever did it to me, which is stupid. My partner would like be like, “get mommy, get mommy” and like she would come up and get my ankles and I would be like, “are you serious?” (0:15:36) Kev: Hmm (0:15:49) Kev: Yeah, oh my gosh, that’s the thing with (0:15:53) Codey: Look at the little lint. Oh, he’s- (0:15:56) Kev: Yeah, though the one on the left aside posted the picture on slack (0:15:59) Kev: He slackers can look at it now or you probably already have but um on the left side (0:16:04) Kev: Yeah, that’s close to when we got him. (0:16:06) Codey: Mm-hmm. Yeah. (0:16:06) Kev: He’s tiny. You can see him next to the leaves like for comparison and then to the right. That’s a more recent picture (0:16:11) Kev: That’s him with Daisy. Um, like I said, he’s bigger now (0:16:15) Kev: but (0:16:16) Kev: But yeah, the biting the biting’s insane cuz honestly though they never did the biting (0:16:21) Kev: But we hear he’s just nipping at everything (0:16:25) Kev: I you know, I have some facial hair. So he it’s not heavy facial hair, but he likes to nibble on it (0:16:31) Codey: It doesn’t, yeah, yep. (0:16:34) Kev: I just, you know, just nip, nip, nip. (0:16:36) Kev: at it. Um, but that’s, yeah, that’s the lucky saga. Um, good, (0:16:41) Kev: you know, good, uh, obviously good times. A lot of work every (0:16:44) Kev: day. Everyone is yelling, because he’s running around (0:16:49) Kev: causing chaos, but we still love him. And, and he, he’s a pretty (0:16:53) Kev: good boy. Like I said, he’s not aggressive or anything like that. (0:16:57) Kev: You know, he’s, he likes to bite because he’s playful or whatever, (0:17:00) Kev: but, um, yeah, he’s a puppy. Yeah. Um, yeah. (0:17:00) Codey: he’s a puppy that’s just puppy behavior classic puppy behavior (0:17:06) Kev: So that is the lucky saga. Um, well, you know, I’ll do it, you (0:17:10) Kev: know, as I look forward to Mark Phillips or whatever, I’ll, I’ll (0:17:14) Kev: bring up news if things happen. Um, but, uh, but yeah. Um, so (0:17:21) Kev: there you go. There, there you go overseas and folks, there, (0:17:23) Kev: there’s your catch up. Um, okay. So aside from that more recent (0:17:24) Codey: What else have you been up to? (0:17:30) Kev: times, um, I talked about it like when we record cause they’d (0:17:36) Kev: just come out. Like I think when, uh, when Al, I think I did (0:17:40) Kev: the episode of Al Marvel Rivals has been on the big ones, the (0:17:42) Codey: Yeah (0:17:43) Kev: Overwatch clone with Marvel stuff. Um, like. Yeah. Yeah. (0:17:46) Codey: That was really fun to listen to because (0:17:50) Codey: You like basically mentioned it and I was like, oh thank goodness that I don’t like games like this (0:17:57) Codey: Because then I don’t have to play it and then you were like, oh no, no (0:17:57) Kev: Yeah. Yeah, the funny thing, the funny thing is we were just talking and just shooting (0:18:00) Codey: Like it’s not what you think he was like, oh no, no, I have to play it (0:18:10) Kev: the breeze before we started recording that episode and I was talking about rivals and (0:18:14) Kev: he mentioned because like the camera thing was like the big thing and he mentioned that (0:18:16) Codey: Yeah! (0:18:18) Kev: and that’s when I was like, I’m going to button this right now so I can save this for the (0:18:22) Kev: show to drop the reveal on. (0:18:25) Codey: Oh, that’s so funny. (0:18:27) Kev: Oh, yeah, I am as best as I can. So there is a weird thing about like being multi-platform (0:18:27) Codey: So yeah, you’re still enjoying it. (0:18:37) Kev: or whatever. So Calvin likes it too, right? So he plays on our PlayStation. I play on (0:18:38) Codey: - Mm-hmm, okay. (0:18:43) Kev: a laptop that I have just so we can both play it or whatever at the same time. And the kicker (0:18:52) Kev: on being PC is I’m not a PC gamer, generally speaking. I can’t do the– (0:18:57) Kev: a mouse and keyboard and all that stuff, right? So I hook up a controller and I play that (0:19:03) Kev: way but I get bodied because there are those insane mouse and keyboard super aiming people. (0:19:11) Kev: And it’s also like you can tell the population skews younger because of course it’s free to (0:19:18) Kev: play so all the teenagers and kids and it’s Marvel, right? They’re hopping on. So they (0:19:23) Kev: They get a lot more practice time than say I do. (0:19:27) Kev: I get bodied. I’m trying my best. I try to focus or whatever, but it can be rough. (0:19:34) Kev: It can be a bit bumpy at times. I won’t lie, but yeah, it’s good stuff. (0:19:40) Kev: And we actually on the end of the first, they call it season zero, whatever the first battle pass, yada, yada. (0:19:48) Kev: So then there’s new content probably in the next week or two coming out, including the Fantastic Four. (0:19:56) Kev: And so, yeah. (0:19:57) Kev: Good, more exciting stuff to look forward to. (0:20:01) Kev: I’m always down for that. (0:20:03) Kev: But yeah, Marvel Rival continues to be a joy in the curse at times. (0:20:07) Kev: But but that that is it is what it is. (0:20:12) Codey: - Are you still playing Spider-Man? (0:20:13) Kev: Let’s see. (0:20:14) Kev: Um, so I play not Spider-Man is hard. (0:20:18) Kev: I’m not going to lie. (0:20:19) Kev: Spider-Man is really hard to play (0:20:19) Codey: Okay. (0:20:21) Kev: because he plays just like the PlayStation Spider-Man games. (0:20:24) Codey: Yeah. (0:20:25) Kev: but in this context, it’s real. (0:20:28) Kev: I struggle with him, and in fact, when I see Spider-Man players, I’m scared, because I know I’m a good player. (0:20:35) Kev: But, let’s see, my go-tos, I think after all this time, like, did you watch Spider-Verse, the first one into the Spider-Verse? (0:20:45) Codey: - Yes. (0:20:46) Kev: Okay, so Penny Parker, the anime one with the robot, the anime Spider-Verse, she’s in this game. (0:20:50) Codey: - Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. (0:20:52) Kev: Um, yeah, she’s a little older, she’s more like, I think college age, I think. (0:20:57) Kev: It’s just, but she still has a robot. (0:20:59) Kev: I play her, she’s fun. (0:21:01) Kev: Um, she’s, she sets up like a little tower that shoots out spider robots and (0:21:05) Kev: mines and stuff, and so you kind of, you’re, you kind of set up an area where (0:21:09) Kev: you defend, um, that’s what she’s good at. (0:21:11) Kev: Um, so she’s my go-to tank, um, for healer, Jeff the Landshark, I don’t know. (0:21:17) Kev: Have you ever seen Jeff Landshark? (0:21:18) Codey: No. (0:21:19) Kev: Um, he, he, oh my gosh. (0:21:22) Kev: Okay. (0:21:22) Kev: So just hold on, let me send you a picture. (0:21:22) Codey: Okay, you’re fine. You could just say like, I’m sure that everyone, every listener probably knows what you’re talking about. So. (0:21:27) Kev: No, you see, here’s the thing. (0:21:31) Kev: No, here’s the thing, Jeff the Landshark in one of the freaks, (0:21:35) Kev: the deep butt pics that no one on Earth knows. (0:21:36) Codey: Oh, okay. (0:21:38) Kev: [LAUGH] Yeah, but Jeff the Landshark, okay, he’s basically a puppy, (0:21:44) Kev: but he’s a shark with legs, he doesn’t talk or anything. (0:21:49) Kev: And he just swims around and or like he can do the shark thing with the fin sick and (0:21:55) Kev: with the fin sick and now I can move around he heals people (0:21:57) Kev: and he shoots ice balls and all sorts of stuff (0:22:00) Kev: he’s fairly straight forward but he’s pretty satisfying (0:22:04) Kev: so he’s my go to healer (0:22:06) Codey: a puppy. But he’s a shark. Okay. (0:22:07) Kev: he acts like a puppy he does all the (0:22:10) Kev: yes he’s a shark yeah (0:22:14) Kev: yeah so he’s my go to healer he’s (0:22:17) Kev: yeah and like I said one of the cool things about rival is they weren’t (0:22:21) Kev: afraid to get some really deep cuts weirdo pics (0:22:24) Kev: Um, like Jeff, uh, (0:22:28) Kev: what is this that I do? (0:22:29) Kev: Alright, there we go. (0:22:31) Kev: Okay. Uh, sorry. (0:22:32) Kev: Um, so that’s my go-to healer just because he is pretty easy to use and he’s adorable. (0:22:38) Codey: Okay, he definitely looks like a puppy. (0:22:39) Kev: Um, he is just a puppy, but he’s all shark with legs. (0:22:46) Kev: Um, like, it’s a weird description, but that is exactly what it is. (0:22:50) Kev: Um, and then for my damage person, I picked Squirrel Girl. (0:22:54) Kev: She has squirrels, she shoots acorns with a sl- (0:22:57) Kev: she’s oh you don’t know squirrel girl ah okay again okay no you know what no (0:22:58) Codey: Squirrel girl dude I don’t know much of Marvel I yeah okay (0:23:07) Kev: again squirrel girl is a pretty deep but so her pull power is she can communicate (0:23:13) Kev: with squirrels like she you know she’s athletic or whatever but her superpower (0:23:20) Kev: is she can communicate with squirrels and so she will you know send armies of (0:23:24) Kev: squirrels on people and so on and so forth. (0:23:27) Kev: Um, she is an incredible character, something of a joke character, but also (0:23:33) Kev: played for like straight, incredible, like, like in her first issue, she goes (0:23:39) Kev: up against Dr. (0:23:40) Kev: Doom and takes him down with an army of squirrels. (0:23:42) Kev: Um, and, and just, she’s the best, like funny character, um, and she (0:23:49) Kev: dresses up kind of like a squirrel. (0:23:50) Kev: Um, and she has one on her shoulder at all times. (0:23:54) Kev: Um, but yeah, she, her name, in fact. (0:23:54) Codey: Okay, okay. (0:23:57) Kev: The moniker she’s often used is The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. (0:24:00) Kev: Again, just because she’s so, like, hyperbolic, um, goofy, um… (0:24:06) Codey: I mean, if a squirrel is trying to come at you, they’re going to get you from working (0:24:10) Codey: at the Wildlife Center, like I used to have this one squirrel that would sit on my shoulder. (0:24:11) Kev: Yeah? (0:24:11) Kev: Yeah. (0:24:16) Kev: Yeah. (0:24:17) Codey: But if he decided that he wanted to run all over and like suddenly be on my back and then (0:24:23) Codey: and suddenly be on my leg. (0:24:24) Codey: like he they they can do some crazy things oh you sent me a picture of her okay (0:24:28) Kev: Oh, yeah. (0:24:30) Kev: Yep. (0:24:32) Kev: Um, yeah, so she’s great. (0:24:34) Kev: People who know her love her. (0:24:35) Kev: She is, she is a, he is adored. (0:24:38) Kev: Like I said, she’s obviously low-tiered. (0:24:40) Kev: She doesn’t get pushed, like, some, but, um, but she, she’s great. (0:24:44) Kev: Um, so yeah, that’s, that’s Squirrel Girl. (0:24:46) Kev: That’s Marvel Rivals, and those are my three. (0:24:48) Kev: That’s my wacky crew. (0:24:49) Kev: Um, let’s see, aside from Rivals, uh, so I picked up a game, uh, just a couple days ago. (0:24:57) Kev: It’s called Armored Core. (0:24:58) Kev: Are you familiar with this? (0:25:00) Codey: No. (0:25:00) Kev: Okay. (0:25:00) Kev: Uh, are you familiar with, from software? (0:25:02) Codey: No. (0:25:03) Kev: Okay. (0:25:04) Kev: The Elden Ring, people. (0:25:06) Codey: Okay, okay. (0:25:06) Kev: Okay. (0:25:07) Kev: So. (0:25:08) Codey: So you don’t, you like pain. (0:25:10) Codey: You like… (0:25:11) Kev: Yes. (0:25:12) Kev: Yes, I do. (0:25:12) Codey: Okay, okay. (0:25:13) Kev: Okay. (0:25:14) Kev: So you’re familiar with Elden Ring? (0:25:15) Kev: Of course everyone is, right? (0:25:16) Codey: Yeah. (0:25:16) Kev: ‘Cause it’s the biggest game that year, whatever. (0:25:18) Kev: Okay, what if I told you the Elden Ring people said, “What if we, okay, now we wanna do a game, but it’s all robots and mecha?” (0:25:25) Kev: that in that case (0:25:27) Kev: gives you armored core (0:25:30) Kev: so it is a (0:25:32) Kev: it is the same level of polish (0:25:34) Kev: a very like grounded (0:25:36) Kev: you know realistic-ish visual style and whatnot (0:25:40) Kev: the challenge (0:25:42) Kev: I don’t think it’s as hard as Elden Ring (0:25:44) Kev: because Elden Ring is hard (0:25:46) Kev: it’s really hard (0:25:48) Kev: but armored core it’s a different flavor (0:25:50) Kev: because you (0:25:52) Kev: you know you’re controlling a robe alright (0:25:54) Kev: so you switch out parts you can (0:25:57) Kev: think you’re whatnot (0:25:59) Kev: and that’s a big part of the puzzle (0:26:01) Kev: like when you’re given (0:26:03) Kev: a new boss or whatever (0:26:05) Kev: they’ll heavily like hint hint (0:26:07) Kev: use this kind of robot (0:26:09) Kev: because if you’re not (0:26:11) Kev: you’re gonna be in trouble right like (0:26:13) Kev: Pokemon type advantages basically (0:26:15) Kev: so (0:26:17) Kev: there’s a lot of love and attention to detail (0:26:19) Kev: being a robot game you can (0:26:21) Kev: paint your robot however you want (0:26:23) Kev: and I’ll spend a lot of time doing that (0:26:25) Kev: Um, and, and, and. (0:26:28) Kev: It’s very fun. (0:26:29) Kev: Um, like I said, I don’t think anywhere near as hard as Elden Ring, but, uh, still satisfyingly challenging. (0:26:35) Kev: Um, it controls like how I’d want to, the robots will fly, they’ll dash, they’ll, you, you held two weapons. (0:26:41) Kev: You can have double guns or a melee weapon and a gun and missiles, all the, all the good stuff. (0:26:47) Kev: It is, it is very straightforward Mecha. (0:26:50) Kev: Um, so if you’re a fan of that, uh, you know, that’s definitely a thumbs up. (0:26:55) Kev: Okay. (0:26:56) Kev: Uh, that’s a lot from me. (0:26:57) Kev: But now, Cody, tell me, what have you been? (0:26:58) Codey: I have been, um, so I’ve still been playing like, uh, pocket and go, um, go, I am burned (0:27:14) Codey: by because, uh, the shiny work party hat weren’t bull was in, um, in the like new year’s challenge (0:27:26) Codey: or whatever. (0:27:28) Codey: And I still have it, like I’ve been playing every time that there’s an event where you can get this worm bowl and I still have it, like I’ve been playing every time that there’s an event where you can get this worm bowl and I still have it. (0:27:36) Kev: Oh no. (0:27:40) Codey: And I still have it, like I’ve been playing every time that there’s an event where you can get this worm bowl and I still have it, like I’ve been playing every time that there’s an event where you can get this worm bowl. (0:27:54) Codey: I’ve been playing every time that there’s an event where you can get this worm bowl. (0:27:58) Codey: And last year I was so mad about it that I got it tattooed onto my body because I was (0:28:05) Codey: like, if I cannot have a shiny party hat worm bowl in the game, I’m going to have one (0:28:12) Codey: as a tattoo. (0:28:14) Codey: And I’ve had plenty of friends be like, oh, I have one. (0:28:17) Codey: I can trade it to you. (0:28:18) Codey: And I’m like, no, no, no, no, no, I need I’m not going to have any traded until I’ve (0:28:22) Kev: do they not know the story of captain cody in the white wormhole (0:28:24) Codey: caught one on my own. (0:28:28) Codey: and the in the worm bowl. Yeah. Moby worm bowl basically. (0:28:32) Kev: actually I don’t think it’s white it’s like purple but anyways um (0:28:38) Codey: Um yeah, so yeah, it is my white whale. Um still didn’t get (0:28:43) Codey: it. I got to shiny Jigglypuff and I refused to click on the (0:28:47) Kev: Mmm! (0:28:49) Codey: hoot hoot. Um and yeah, but no worm bowl. So that game is now (0:28:56) Codey: dead to me until the next time. (0:28:58) Codey: that there is an event that I care about. (0:28:58) Kev: that’s cruel but no it’ll be back like oh that it so I’m not a fan of go it’s (0:29:04) Codey: I know (0:29:08) Kev: when it came out especially I was not an area that was conducive to it and so in (0:29:14) Kev: my whole lifestyle I’m still not the most conducive to it um excuse me um but (0:29:20) Kev: I do think that the party hats are probably like one of the best things to (0:29:24) Kev: come out of that game, especially if you put it on a ridiculous. (0:29:28) Kev: Those Pokemon like weren’t pull that that’s solid. (0:29:29) Codey: Yeah. (0:29:31) Kev: Um, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. (0:29:31) Codey: Because the party hat’s almost too big for him. (0:29:35) Codey: It’s clearly about to fall off. (0:29:39) Codey: Yeah, so that has also started a thing. (0:29:42) Codey: I’m going to be meeting with my artist, again, probably (0:29:45) Codey: during spring break. (0:29:47) Codey: They’re going to be back in town. (0:29:48) Codey: And they’re going to add three more bug-type Pokemon (0:29:53) Codey: with party hats on. (0:29:54) Kev: I was about to say a warble tattoo every year until she catches it (0:29:55) Codey: No, no, we have, um, I think we have a Snome, um, with, with the, a party hat on each of (0:30:04) Kev: Oh, no, no, no, no, oh, that’s good. (0:30:07) Codey: its little bumpies, um, and then I want a Shedinja, but I want, um, it, it to be like (0:30:17) Codey: a ghost. (0:30:18) Codey: Um, no, so it’s a ghost, so it’s a ghost Pokemon, but like, I want it to be like ethereal, look (0:30:18) Kev: Okay, is it not already more ghosts than it? (0:30:25) Codey: game. (0:30:25) Kev: Materiel, alright. (0:30:26) Codey: Like I don’t just want it to look like it looks in the game. (0:30:28) Kev: Mm-hmm. (0:30:30) Codey: And then I want the party hat to also be ethereal. (0:30:32) Codey: And then the last is, uh, not Sizzlepede, Sizzlepede, um, because it’s so grumpy and (0:30:42) Kev: mmm (0:30:42) Codey: I want it to have a black party hat. (0:30:46) Codey: I need my, my emo phase, yeah, my emo phase that was not a phase needs to be somewhere. (0:30:48) Kev: Oscar the grouch at the party. Oh, that’s that’s it (0:30:55) Codey: They’re presented. (0:30:57) Kev: So (0:30:58) Kev: Oh man, these man pokemon like so many solid bug pokemon. These are all solid picks of course. Um (0:31:05) Kev: she didn’t (0:31:06) Kev: it was like (0:31:08) Kev: And how many years been what 20 years since ruby and sapphire it’s still (0:31:12) Kev: my mind how they came up with that concept first you didn’t Joe and like (0:31:14) Codey: I just love it. As an entomologist, like every time I see a cicada shed, I’m just (0:31:16) Kev: you have to have the extra pokeball oh my it’s so good (0:31:26) Kev: yeah oh my gosh and it’s so good right like and (0:31:27) Codey: like, it’s its own thing. It’s a one hit point. Love it. (0:31:42) Kev: like you know obviously coming from Japan right like the whole cicada thing (0:31:46) Kev: schedules like that’s the bug collecting that’s a way bigger there um it’s genius (0:31:51) Kev: so good man bug Pokemon are so cool yeah I like hair across I like a lice upon (0:31:54) Codey: Correct. Send a scourge. (0:31:59) Kev: I like um like the other one and not that sizzle feed the other no no um not (0:32:13) Kev: no the big one Scolipede Scolipede that’s the one been five yeah that’s a good one (0:32:14) Codey: Oh. I think people know by now that I’m going to talk about bugs at some point in every (0:32:18) Kev: big old purple huge train bug oh I love it welcome to the bug appreciate Pokemon (0:32:24) Kev: appreciation podcast (0:32:31) Kev: that’s fine with that (0:32:34) Codey: pod. Yeah, so I’ve been playing that or I guess I’m not going to be playing that for (0:32:40) Codey: a while. Um, I’ve been playing Slay the Spire. So (0:32:44) Kev: Okay, have you- have you in fact slayed the spire? (0:32:45) Codey: Jeff, I have slayed the spire during the daily climbs. So have (0:32:53) Codey: you ever played this game? Okay. Yeah, so it’s like a card and (0:32:54) Kev: I have not but I am familiar with it’s the cards, right? (0:33:00) Codey: you’re going up a tower and slaying things. And there’s four (0:33:03) Codey: different types of characters that you can play, but one of (0:33:05) Codey: them is unlocked at first. But they have this thing called the (0:33:08) Codey: daily climb every day, which is like a random, like, version of (0:33:12) Codey: the game, but with modifiers. (0:33:14) Codey: So it’s like, Oh, you get this character, but every time you add a card to your deck, (0:33:20) Codey: it adds two more copies of that card and you can’t, you can no longer upgrade your cards (0:33:27) Codey: and you’re cursed, like, so it’s, they just like add all this stuff to it. (0:33:31) Codey: And so it’s kind of like a more difficult version and you have to change your gameplay. (0:33:36) Codey: So I have slayed the spire in the daily climbs, but that doesn’t count for achievements. (0:33:40) Kev: Yeah. (0:33:44) Codey: And I cannot for the life of me, beat this game without a daily climb. (0:33:52) Kev: mmm wow oh well hey I know that I know that feeling and then discuss it because ever present (0:33:54) Codey: So my partner has had to do it for me. (0:34:02) Kev: but i’m i’m still belatruing I actually just unlocked the final difficulty just yesterday (0:34:04) Codey: -Oh, yeah. (0:34:08) Codey: Yeah. (0:34:08) Kev: um so i’m i’m there but um I i get it i’m i’m trying to climb my own spire verbally (0:34:16) Codey: Yeah, I’ve, I’ve not quite gotten to Bellatro yet, but that’s because I’ve, I recognize (0:34:22) Codey: based on my love of Slay the Spire that Bellatro would take over my life. So. (0:34:25) Kev: That is correct that I look I look at sleigh as fire and I can see it’s it’s one-to-one (0:34:32) Codey: Yep. (0:34:32) Kev: It’s just a different flavor, but it’s the same concept your cards, and you’re you’re doing your runs with cards (0:34:36) Codey: Yeah. (0:34:40) Kev: Yeah (0:34:41) Kev: That’s good. Good stuff (0:34:44) Codey: - Yep. (0:34:46) Codey: And then I’m still playing Honeygrove, (0:34:48) Codey: still really liked that game. (0:34:51) Codey: Still play it every day, multiple times a day. (0:34:54) Codey: And also I have now begun the final year of my PhD. (0:35:01) Codey: I’m gonna be a bug doctor soon. (0:35:04) Kev: Oh, well, congrats. Okay, congrats. So, uh, not for a second, cause I thought you were talking about Honeygrove, but, um, but, um, uh, okay, so, so I have a friend who’s also been PhDing for a long time now, he’s had unfortunate professors and issues, so it’s dragged on for a long time. (0:35:14) Codey: Oh, yeah, sorry. Switch. (0:35:32) Kev: Um, now you say this. (0:35:34) Kev: Are you like, you know for a fact, that like, it is gonna be this year? (0:35:39) Codey: Okay, well, yeah, so basically, like, I, I set it at this year for this to be like the (0:35:40) Kev: I, I said, I don’t mean to sound threatening, but… (0:35:44) Kev: Uh, don’t re– (0:35:46) Kev: Look, oh– (0:35:53) Codey: last, like, possible time for my timeline. (0:35:59) Codey: Um, I mean, theoretically, like, stuff happens, but I do not have any more field work. (0:36:06) Codey: All I have to do is finish writing one of my chapters. (0:36:09) Codey: I’ve already published one of them in a journal and so that will just literally get like stapled into my dissertation as one of my chapters and I don’t have to look at that again. (0:36:19) Codey: This other chapter that I’m about to publish will be the same thing. So it’ll just be two chapters that my committee can’t say anything about because they’re already published. (0:36:26) Kev: Hmm, yeah, I look at that that’s the way to do it (0:36:29) Codey: So they’ll basically just be like, they’ll just be like, oh, yep, you did that. (0:36:35) Codey: like yep I did um so they’ll only have to (0:36:39) Codey: they can talk about um and it’s just can I get the stuff done in the time that I have and the (0:36:46) Codey: answer is yes um I will try and defend in the summer but um that’s I actually didn’t ever plan (0:36:55) Codey: to defend in the summer but I might be able to um but we’ll see I mean I don’t have to um I have (0:37:05) Codey: guaranteed funding for the rest of the year. (0:37:08) Kev: Oh, that’s great. (0:37:09) Kev: Well, oh, that that’s huge relief then. (0:37:09) Codey: Yeah, PhDs man, they’re great. Well, I guess PhDs in the life sciences, that’s the standard is that you get paid and you get tuition remissions so you don’t have to pay your tuition. (0:37:10) Kev: All right. (0:37:11) Kev: Well, Hey, congrats on that. (0:37:26) Kev: you know like yeah yeah for sure oh absolutely because I have a friend who I don’t think that (0:37:26) Codey: I have health insurance, like all of that stuff. So it’s not true everywhere. (0:37:36) Kev: is the case for him sadly um man like such nonsense like the way to get there the the road to it like (0:37:36) Codey: Yeah. (0:37:46) Kev: I you know I have my undergraduate degree right so like I it it boggles my mind because you know (0:37:54) Kev: up so pretty much up. (0:37:56) Kev: undergraduate it’s very clear like okay here your classes do them all satisfy (0:38:00) Kev: the requirements you get your thing right but once you go past especially the (0:38:06) Kev: PhD it’s it’s all just so nebulous question your checklist is question or (0:38:12) Kev: question your requirements are satisfied when the your professors say they are oh (0:38:20) Codey: Yeah. It’s basically like choose your own adventure. It’s like, undergrads degrees are (0:38:20) Kev: it’s why I don’t I don’t know how yeah man (0:38:26) Kev: I guess (0:38:31) Codey: basically like, okay, here is the proper formula, here you go, you need to have this done this done (0:38:38) Codey: this done, etc, etc. And then for a graduate degree, they’re basically like, here are some (0:38:44) Codey: courses that you need done, but you’ll get these done in the first two years of your degree. (0:38:50) Codey: It’s kind of a big old shrug. It depends on your funding. It depends on your advisors. It depends (0:38:55) Codey: on whatever. And if you have bad advisors, like you said your friend has had, they can keep you (0:39:00) Kev: Yeah. Oh. (0:39:03) Codey: forever. Like one of my friends, one of my friends, her advisor like would not let her defend even (0:39:11) Codey: though she was done, like she’s she was long done, because the advisor could just pay her (0:39:17) Codey: less money than having to like get a post. (0:39:20) Codey: I’m going to go to the postdoc. To do all that work. Yep. (0:39:21) Kev: right right like that’s one that’s one aspect that’s one aspect of it that just seems so grimy (0:39:28) Kev: like there’s clearly an element of very cheap labor for your advisory professors right like (0:39:37) Kev: I mean not yours specifically but like the the system is set up where that can be exploited (0:39:42) Kev: very easily and wow it’s oh academia oh oh (0:39:50) Codey: Yeah, I’m blessed in that, like with the advisors that I have, (0:39:51) Kev: uh-huh (0:39:54) Codey: the advisor that I have now, (0:39:56) Codey: like he doesn’t really do that kind of stuff, (0:39:58) Kev: Mm-hmm. (0:39:58) Codey: but a lot of advisors do, they’ll just be like, (0:40:00) Codey: okay, well, I’m paying for your stuff. (0:40:02) Codey: And because of that, like you also have to help me (0:40:05) Codey: with these other projects. (0:40:06) Codey: So at this one point in the year, (0:40:09) Codey: so you have to drop everything (0:40:11) Codey: and like do this research with me, (0:40:12) Codey: even though it’s not gonna be in your dissertation. (0:40:16) Kev: It is to some degree a hostage situation, isn’t it? (0:40:17) Codey: like. (0:40:20) Codey: Kind of, yeah, and then it’s worse if you’re an international student because (0:40:22) Kev: Haha, that’s uh, huh. (0:40:26) Kev: Oh, oh that sounds terrifying, oh gosh. (0:40:26) Codey: then you have like less protections and yeah. Which is why some of us, some universities (0:40:34) Codey: have unionized and we at my university just recently submitted our letter to the Dean, (0:40:43) Codey: Dean, President, President of the university that we intend to unionize, so thank yous. (0:40:48) Kev: Hey, good for you. That’s great. (0:40:50) Codey: I think he’s crossed there because last time they did this, they threatened people. So (0:40:57) Kev: Oh, oh, fuck. (0:40:57) Codey: they can’t do that. They’re not, that’s illegal, but they did it last time and it didn’t, (0:41:02) Kev: Well, well, I don’t know if you know about strikes in the U.S. (0:41:03) Codey: but we’ll see. Yeah. Oh yeah, we’re gonna, we’re gonna have to do it possibly. (0:41:12) Codey: Hopefully they’ll, they’ll work in good faith and we won’t have to, but we’ll see. (0:41:16) Kev: Oh (0:41:18) Codey: So maybe, maybe. (0:41:20) Codey: Sometime in this year, uh, my, what have I been up to will be striking (0:41:25) Kev: Well, but you know (0:41:27) Codey: because yeah. (0:41:29) Kev: Over on Rainbow Road radio friend. I do a mutual friend Alex. He’s also striking last month. So (0:41:36) Codey: Oh my gosh, we’re just, we’re just rebels. (0:41:38) Kev: Hit him up for some for some tips (0:41:41) Kev: I guess (0:41:43) Kev: Oh (0:41:45) Kev: Oh. (0:41:46) Kev: Oh, labor, academia, good, good times. (0:41:52) Codey: 10 out of 10 would not (0:41:52) Kev: Welcome to the harvest season, where we talk about cozy games. (0:41:56) Kev: Ss, ss, ss, ss, ss, ss, ss, ss, ss. (0:41:57) Codey: We talk about so I mean that’s the joke right is that we play these games where we can live in fantasy worlds where we (0:42:04) Codey: can have a house and (0:42:06) Codey: Afford a house and a and a like all this (0:42:12) Kev: Where’s the unionizing update to research story? (0:42:12) Codey: Because that’s uh, not not reality (0:42:19) Codey: Oh my gosh (0:42:22) Codey: I would love to have a union (0:42:25) Codey: Like storyline in any game like where you just strike that would be (0:42:32) Codey: Amazing. I don’t know how you would incorporate that (0:42:34) Kev: Oh, I mean, like, alright, I’ll give you the relatively low-hanging easy path, the Jojo (0:42:42) Codey: Yeah. Okay, yeah, yeah, I could see that. (0:42:43) Kev: route in Stardew, right, like, yeah, I mean, you got, there’s other people working for (0:42:51) Kev: Jojo already, so, you know, there’s, oh, oh no, I like this, this Spandfic I’m writing, (0:42:58) Kev: oh no, no. (0:42:58) Codey: oh no don’t don’t say this out loud he might listen and then haunted chocolatier will be even (0:43:04) Codey: more delayed because he’ll be like hey wait a minute that’s a great idea (0:43:10) Kev: Unless the ghosts in the Chocolatier, you mean, nice. (0:43:14) Codey: maybe he adds it into that game and stuff uh so yeah that is what we’ve been up to (0:43:18) Kev: Hmm. (0:43:21) Kev: Well, that’s a lot. Happy new- (0:43:23) Kev: Look guys, it’s a new year. There’s been a lot going on. (0:43:25) Codey: It is. It is. We’re. (0:43:28) Codey: We’re here for it. OK, so first we have some game releases. (0:43:34) Codey: So the first one in the list is Harvest Hills. (0:43:39) Codey: So this game released on the 15th of January and or will release. (0:43:46) Codey: Sorry, that’s the future. (0:43:50) Codey: Quote, thanks to the feedback from two major demo updates, (0:43:53) Codey: I’ve been able to fine tune game mechanics and make the experience even better. (0:43:57) Codey: The full game now features… (0:43:58) Codey: …an updated system for growing vegetables and fruits… (0:44:01) Codey: …an improved fertilizing system… (0:44:03) Codey: …a refined leveling system… (0:44:05) Codey: …a brand new product selling system… (0:44:07) Codey: …and more crops, vegetables… (0:44:09) Codey: …vegetables, fruit trees, livestock and homemade product machines. (0:44:15) Codey: My only comment about this is I looked at it and I need more information about those beehives. (0:44:23) Codey: They look… (0:44:23) Kev: - So. (0:44:24) Codey: They look legit. (0:44:26) Codey: Like those look like the standard Langstra Thives. (0:44:28) Codey: And we always paint them each frame or not each frame each body of the hive is always colored in really ridiculous colors and they did that. (0:44:40) Kev: Is that done intentionally or is that done just for giggles? (0:44:46) Codey: I don’t remember so I know that we paint them because you want there to you don’t want the heat like if it’s hot out you don’t want the heat of outside to like cook the hive. (0:44:59) Kev: Oh, oh. Yeah. Sure, sure. (0:44:59) Codey: So you always want it to be light colors but yeah on top of it being like colors I mean you can just have it be fun colors. (0:45:09) Codey: Sometimes you can like make it a color per hot like a certain color per hive or whatever but we always just painted them fun colors so I need. (0:45:18) Kev: Wow. So I’m, I’m looking at the trailer and stuff like my, okay. (0:45:24) Kev: It is more management style, like zoo tycoon, you know, (0:45:29) Kev: floating cam sort of thing, as opposed to starting where you can fill in the (0:45:32) Kev: character, but there’s a character who follows your like air where you click. (0:45:35) Kev: And he runs over there and then does the activity, which are kind of fun. (0:45:38) Kev: I think the coolest thing about here is the visual style. (0:45:41) Kev: Cause it’s almost like origami paper, like three heavy polygonal. (0:45:46) Kev: Um, so I’m like the cows almost look like (0:45:46) Codey: - Mm-hmm, yeah. (0:45:48) Kev: they’re made of origami or a box or something, um, which is charming. Um, so hey, but hey, good, (0:45:56) Kev: yeah, it looks decent enough. Um, I like those cows and you go pretty beehives. That is surprising. (0:46:02) Kev: We don’t have those before, but, um, there you go. January 15th, experience it yourself, (0:46:04) Codey: I like those cows. (0:46:06) Kev: the world of box shaped cows and fun colors. (0:46:13) Codey: So next on our list is Chill Town. (0:46:16) Codey: Um, they have a new announcement on Steam. (0:46:20) Codey: Um, and the gist of it is this just that the project slowed down because of money (0:46:25) Codey: issues, um, and they’re pretty transparent in there about what they are and where (0:46:30) Codey: the money is going and all of that, except for they can’t like mention (0:46:35) Codey: specifics because of confidentiality agreements, but, um, if you’re curious, (0:46:41) Codey: I recommend going and looking at that. (0:46:43) Codey: The biggest thing out of it, other than the fact that it was delayed, is, or is being slowed down, is that the 1.0, they expect it to come out this year, and that when the 1.0 comes out, it will have a museum system, it will have additional quest lines, different seasons and festivals, and clearly bug fixes and gameplay improvements from what is on the early access. (0:47:11) Kev: Uh, all right, so well, I mean, hey, first of all, props to like game development is so hard, right? (0:47:17) Kev: It’s such a brutal space to be quite frank. So yeah, condolences. But they they’re being, um, very, uh, (0:47:23) Kev: Up front and clear about it. Um, so, you know off to them and best of luck, like hopefully they are still on track, right? (0:47:31) Kev: this is one of the parts of early access as much as I uh, (0:47:36)

Nick and Josh are back for 2025. They talk about what they've been playing, pour salt on wounded Splinter Cell fans, and look ahead to some major releases in 2025. In lieu of ratings and reviews we say … FUCK THE ALGORITHM, TELL A FRIEND!We have a new website! Come check it out! https://www.smashinggametime.com/ Thank you to Alex Marvin Clark for our opening theme Hunt Him Down. https://soundcloud.com/lizardbeach?ut...

NSSABC Challenge finale, Planet of the Apes, The Twilight Zone, Steam sales and the infinite backlog of games, and more!

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is Paul Marden.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website SkiptheQueue.fm.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter  or Bluesky for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this podcast.Competition ends on 22nd January 2025. The winner will be contacted via Twitter or Bluesky.  Show references:https://litlablondon.wixsite.com/lit-laboratoryhttps://www.instagram.com/litlablondon/https://www.threads.net/@litlablondonhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/litlablondon/https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Lit-Lab/100090991921959/ Abi Fafolu has a Master's degree in Bioengineering from Imperial College, and over 7 years' experience in public engagement with science. She spent her early career in science engagement, including on the Science Desk of The Guardian Observer and promoting open-access publishing at the European Medical Journal and Springer Nature.Since joining the UK government in 2015, she's worked in strategy, policy and programmes across four government departments including the Office of the Government's Chief Scientific Advisor, Lord Patrick Valance, upholding the role of science and evidence in decision making, and promoting developments in science as a Press Officer to the UK Science Minister. Abi is currently a government policy and strategy maker, and runs the Lit Laboratory (Lab), a "Science and Sip” experience reconnecting underrepresented audiences aged 21 to 40 with science. Transcription:  Paul Marden:  Welcome to Skip the Queue. A podcast for people working in and working with visitor attractions. I'm your host, Paul Marden. Paul Marden:  In today's episode I'm joined by Abi Fafolu, Founder of The Lit Lab. Abi has a Master's degree in Bioengineering from Imperial College, and over 7 years' experience in public engagement with science.Since joining the UK government in 2015, she's worked in strategy, policy and programmes across four government departments. She currently a government policy and strategy maker, and runs the Lit Laboratory, a "Science and Sip” experience reconnecting underrepresented audiences aged 21 to 40 with science.Unfortunately the internet wasn't kind to us when we recorded this conversation, and so the audio quality isn't great, but the conversation definitely was.Paul Marden:Welcome, Abi. Welcome to Skip the Queue.Abi Fafolu: Thanks, Paul. Thanks for having me. Paul Marden: Lovely to have you. Today's a little bit weird because we're recording this just before Christmas, but it's not actually going to go out until the new year. So what I'm going to say is happy New Year to you. I hope you've had a lovely Christmas, but the reality is we haven't had it yet. So strange. Abi Fafolu: Thank you and likewise. Paul Marden:So we always start our interviews with some icebreaker questions which you're never prepared for. So here goes nothing. I've got a couple for you. I think they're quite nice ones actually. What's your go to coffee order when you go to a coffee shop of your choice? Abi Fafolu: Embarrassingly, I saw a skit about this recently where I thought that I had a unique choice, but clearly I've been very moth by the Internet. It is a skinny flat white and the skit that I saw actually was people ordering hot chocolate, which has gone extinct in coffee shops. I think there were a few people doing kind of hot chocolate watching. They were seeing where the people would order hot chocolates and have the binoculars out to watch those people as they made that rare order in the shop. But no, mine is very common. It's a skinny flat white. Paul Marden: Yeah. So mine is just a normal straight up flat white. No nonsense, no fuss, just give me coffee. I just want a nice coffee. My daughter, her order, she's only 11, but she's taken to iced hot chocolate. But what do you call it? Is it iced chocolate like an iced coffee or is it iced hot chocolate? I always stumble over the order and it's never up on the menu. So I always feel a bit awkward asking for whatever it is that she wants. Abi Fafolu: I like that. Paul Marden: Yeah. Okay, next one. What animal do you think best represents your personality? Abi Fafolu: Oh, gosh, I'm probably like a reliable owl or something like that. Yeah. Kind of cosy in my tree when I feel like it, being a bit nosy and flying out to have a look at what's going on. Paul Marden: And every now and again savage on little animals. Abi Fafolu: Oh. I mean, maybe a bit of that, probably. But yeah, I think something like that. Paul Marden: Okay. I think mine would have to be one of those, one of those dogs that is really annoying and full of energy because I'm just, I'm always at like full power. I'm one of two extremes. I'm going full at it. Yeah, I'm just zonked out, shattered at the end. Yeah. Abi Fafolu: Okay. Paul Marden: So I'd probably be like a springer spaniel where loads of walking is necessary to get rid of all the energy. Otherwise I'll be really annoyed.Abi Fafolu: Got you. A little dog who doesn't know that they're little and springs out into the world. Paul Marden:I'm sure there's something Freudian about that. I'm not sure. So we are talking a little bit about your project called the Lit Lab today which as listeners will know I always have a little chat with people before we do the interview and you know, I'm really interested in this concept, the tagline that you talked about which was the idea of getting adults to drink in a Science lab. We first met at the Association of Science and Discovery Centres and you know, we had a lovely conversation whilst were at the ASDC conference and I found out a little bit more about Lit Lab. But I think before we get to that point let's just talk a little bit about you and your background. So tell us about you. Tell us about your background and maybe a little bit about day job. Abi Fafolu: Yes, of course. So I am a Scientist by training. I have a Master's degree in Bioengineering from Imperial College and about 7 years experience in public engagement with Science. So that has looked like working on the Science desk of the observer newspaper, publishing medical research at Spring and Nature, working with the Chief Scientific Advisor and in government and with the Science Minister as well doing kind of comms and press releases. At the moment I work in strategies by working thinking about where my organisation wants to get to and how we do that. And for me I think it probably brings together a lot of the skills and interests I have. Abi Fafolu: It's really about kind of seeing that bigger picture and wondering how things come together and wondering what things will be different and kind of looking at the evidence and friends and things that are going on that help to paint a picture actually of kind of what the options are and gives you a sense of what's possible. So I think there's a thread really through my kind of career history which is a lot about being nosy and having that kind of owl sand view of the world. And yeah, I think my kind of interest and passion in and Science has also kind of given me a lot as well in the subject and things that have piqued my interest. Paul Marden: I think it's such an interesting opportunity for you to being in public policy and Science within government over the last few years. It's a really interesting perspective and it's the kind of career that no kid at school would ever dream is a career. Yeah. You know, kids at school can imagine being a chemist or a biologist, they can relate to that. But the idea that Science exists at the heart of government and influences everything the government does is not something that your average kid would think about doing. So how do you end up falling into a role like that? Abi Fafolu: Yeah, well, I mean, I suppose my reflection on what you've just said is sort of. So I think for me, you know, I'm currently the only person in my network who has a background in Science, so I didn't really have a clear picture of what it would look like to be a Lab Scientist. You know, you do those practicals at school, you meet teachers and, you know, lab assistants who are, you know, models of that for you. But I didn't know anyone that did that sort of work and I wasn't sure if I was good at it. I just knew that I enjoyed it. Abi Fafolu: And I think when I stumbled across the idea that actually there's a whole strand of Science that's about communicating with people, what's going on, about bridging that gap, really, between the doing and the using of Science, that, for me, opened up a whole new world. And a lot of the kind of journey I suppose I've been on in my career is thinking about how to really help people see the impact of the Science in their everyday life. So I think, you know, in publishing, you're at the forefront of all the developments, you see everything that's going on and it's really interesting. But the average person on the street, you know, has no idea how to apply bioengineering techniques that are, you know, novel and coming out of the lab for their everyday life. Abi Fafolu: But then when we have a situation like Covid, where we're starting to look for novel ways to make vaccines, you know, that's the sort of application, I suppose, of the work that people are doing and the interest that drives them. So for me, I think following that curiosity into this kind of world of Science engagement has been a bit of a journey. Paul Marden: So that leads nicely to the association of Science and Discovery Centres, how we met at their conference. There was a lot of talk at the conference, wasn't there, about public engagement? How do we enrich people's lives with Science and help people to feel that Science is part of their them and that they can influence the Science decision making and the direction that Science takes over the next decades. You're a trustee of ASDC, so what does that involve? Abi Fafolu: Yeah, you've said it really. But ASDC's mission is absolutely that, to make Science accessible and inclusive for more people and to be seen as a valuable part of everyday life. So their role broadly is to kind of bring together and support Science engagement centres, discovery centres and other spaces like that together. And I know you've had probably doing a wonderful job of explaining what ASDC does and the value it brings. I won't go too much into that, but as a trustee, I suppose the core of that role is to give support and challenge to the CEO. I suppose you think of it as, you know, a CEO doesn't really have colleagues or peers and so, you know, we're head trusted advisors in her, in this case. Shaaron ASDC. Abi Fafolu: We are the people that help the sense tech decisions and make sure the organisation is living up to its purpose. Paul Marden: Absolutely. So that's a little bit of background. Let's talk about the Lit Lab. Explain to our listeners who know nothing about the Lit Lab. What is it? Let's start with the broad picture of what it does. Abi Fafolu: Yeah, yeah, sure. So the Lit Lab is the UK's first Science and bit. It is a laboratory or Science themed social event where people do fun homestyle Science experiments, make drinks and take part in kind of friendly challenges. It's a social event that is something I do alongside my day job, as I mentioned. And so it runs quarterly at the moment. But essentially people arrive or kind of pop up Science lab, usually in the basement of a bar or a pub. We've done bigger venues like box parking spaces like that as well. But when they arrive they will find kind of their own lab coat and goggles waiting for them. They might get a drink at the bar while they settle in and then we have a host and lab assistant who will walk them through three experiments and two games. Abi Fafolu: So we always start with a drink, we make a drink. We call that our kind of molecular mythology series. So anything from kind of dry ice cocktails, cool kind of layered drinks and then we end with an explosion. So yeah, some of our more popular ones tend to be ones that involve a bit of cleanup at the end. So that's kind of the model for the event and it's really about helping adults to reconnect with Science and have a good time doing it. Paul Marden: Excellent. So you're taking this out into pubs and bars. It sounds like a Science centre in the back of a van or something. So what sort of kit are you taking with you into the event spaces? Abi Fafolu: Yeah, I mean you're not far off with the kind of back of a van analogy. I have a garage full of labware.  But my neighbours always look at me a bit suspiciously when I start to pile up my pipettes and bits of lab coats and that sort of thing. Paul Marden: Awkward conversations with the neighbours as they're watching what you're taking out the garage. Abi Fafolu: I mean, if I suddenly see flashing lights at my door, I'll probably have a sense and someone's got the wrong end of the stick. But no, we, as I said, you know, kind of a small pop up and so really it's a startup and it's got all of the kind of all that comes with that. So, you know, storing lots of kit in my garage means that the event is intimate because there's only so much, you know, test tubes and beepers and chronicle class I can fit in one space. And then we're on the day, kind of a group of lab assistants and me who will set up the stations for guests. So, you know, for different experiments where we're really trying to replicate, you know, the type of materials and tools that you would use to explore the same sort of things. Abi Fafolu: So one of the things that we do in the lab is DNA extraction with home style ingredients, things that you can find in your skin do with skids. But we're using, you know, conical glass and pipettes and syringes so that we're really being accurate with our measurements and people have that chance to get stuck in. Abi Fafolu: But we don't do any tutorials. It's not, it's not a lesson. It's really for people to get hands on and try things out for themselves. So we give them a QR code that they scan for instructions and it will tell them kind of what the stats are. But you can take that all either, you know, you've got all this in front of you and if you want to mix some things together and see how it goes, then that's the, you know, that's the spirit of Science. They're more than happy for people to do that too. Paul Marden: Excellent. So where did the idea come from? How did, how did you come up with the idea for the lit lab? Abi Fafolu: So it's like a lot of people thinking about kind of, you know, what they want to do with themselves and kind of what skills they have and things they're passionate about. Particularly kind of post lockdown where, you know, you had a lot of time to reflect and think about whether you were making the most of, you know, your skills and abilities. I was seeing a lot of kind of social events come out that were particularly focused around sort of activities. People, I think, wanting a bit more purpose as well when they do leave the house, because that was a luxury. We didn't take for granted that when we step out, we're spending time and that means so much. So a lot of activities that people were doing were things like pains and sips. Abi Fafolu: So this is the model, really, that I've reprised, where people buy tickets to an event and they create art and have drinks and really, it's a model that's really growing globally. So I think that the market in America is in the millions, if not billions, as a kind of global event concept, and definitely picking up here as well, but you see it kind of taking off in different formats. So there are pottery and sips and D Day and sips and all sorts of things like this. And so for me, I kind of. I looked at that and I thought, I think I should do something like this, too. And so I spoke to kind of friends and family and I said, I kind of wanted to try out this thing. I think I could make something similar here. Abi Fafolu: And so I got together a group of friends at my mum's church hall, bought some lab coats from Amazon and spent absolutely ages writing loads of Excel sheets about the experiments that we could do and what I need to buy to kind of get that together, and had them for far too long for an evening after work, doing all sorts of great experiments. And they loved it. Abi Fafolu: They thought it was. It was great and really fun. And so, yeah, it kind of took off from there. I thought, you know, this maybe might be something that we can bring to more people. And so since then, with, I think, about 300 guests, we've got, I think, sort of a thousand or so followers on social media. We've been in timeout London and Secret London magazines and that sort of thing. So, yeah, I think it's reaching some of the right people, but I think you could do more. Paul Marden: So for me, I think there's something about it that really attracts me. I'm an extroverted introvert, so I like to be around other people, but it can be challenging going into a new social situation. For me, I might not feel comfortable. What makes me feel comfortable is being in the context of having a shared mission with people. Paul Marden: So the idea of, you know, having these experiments to conduct with people, there's something to focus on rather than just the people that are around you. And you know, I need to speak to everybody. I need to be the life and soul of the party. No, no, I'm focusing on this thing. And the social element of just being with other people happens around you when it's done at its best because it's not taking all your conscious effort. Your conscious effort is focused on this thing that's in front of you. You and the rest of it is just blossoming around you. Abi Fafolu: So yeah, no, absolutely. I think the other part of that is that you're in a room with people with similar interests. Right. You're creating community. There are people there that are really excited and curious about kind of rekindling that passion that they had for Science or that interest that they had. And so there's a real energy of people kind of wanting to get stuck in and being excited kind of for every thing that we bring out. And yeah, it absolutely is, you know, part of my plan for it to be able to build a bigger community around it. And we have some of that online. Abi Fafolu: So there's a lab Patreon site where we share Science news, blogs about kind of running a pop up Science lab, you know, behind the scenes and really helping people to reconnect with Science, even if they're not in that space with people, but also just to find that community with that said interest. Paul Marden: So you come up with these spreadsheets at the beginning. You tracked all your mates in a church hall for the first evening. Was there a lot of experimentation involved in. I'm a meta level here. Yeah, experimentation around the experiments that you want to run. Were there some that you did that just weren't successful? Abi Fafolu: Oh yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So I do have a mega spreadsheet of kind of experiments like I could do a lot of the ones with fior. I've had to rule out the various disappointingly. But we'll see how we can get around that in future. But no, absolutely, there's the constraints of, you know, the idea of this is that a lot of the Science is home style and you could absolutely kind of go home and replicate that. One of the things that we do online is created tutorial videos used to try some of the experiments from the lab. And so what I don't want is to have to find kind of lab grade chemicals because that's not homestyle Science. Paul Marden: No. Abi Fafolu: And so I really want it to be accessible in the truest sense. And so that's a, you know, a philtre for me when it comes to thinking about what sorts of things we could do as much as possible as well. You know, having experiments that have real world kind of application or implication. I talked about the kind of DNA one, you know, the method that we use for that at home is really similar to what we do in the lab. It just has, you know, different types of reagents, you know, more specialised or more tailored to doing that. But yeah, I think being able to really kind of illustrate kind of core concepts in Science as well as do them with materials and things like that are accessible is a strong philtre for me. Abi Fafolu: But thinking about some of the ones, I suppose that haven't made the cut. And as I say that actually I should say that we do have a kind of core set of experiments as well as seasonal ones. So the most recent event was Halloween and we started by making blood transfusion cocktails. So we had blood bags with grenadine in them. We did a kind of gruesome DNA extraction with picking livers, we made potions that are wrapped to finish off the session, that sort of thing. But yeah, a lot of the ones that are kind of more temperamental, I guess, and not so resilient for people who are not going to read the instructions are the types that don't quite make it in. And they can be things like, you know, dry ice doesn't last forever, it eliminates, it evaporates quite quickly. Abi Fafolu: And so there are things like that where, you know, over the course of the kind of two hour event maybe is not the best type of experiment to try and do because by the end of it some people will still have dry ice and some people won't. And I'm not, you know, I'm not in a degree where I can, you know, just turn the corner and get some more. So yeah, some of them are just kind of practical, why they don't quite make the part. But yeah, definitely a longer list of things I try with more opportunities to do. Paul Marden: I talked a little bit about why it piques my interest. But who is the audience that you're seeing coming along to events? Abi Fafolu: Yeah, so I think both from kind of attendance at events and you know, the feedback that we get and the kind of data from that, but also our insights from social media and things like that. We can see that the audience is largely women. So about 70% women age between 21, maybe 45. Interest really in Science culture, trying new things, meeting new people. And I'm especially interested actually as well in targeting minority audiences. So the women, but also black and ethnic minority people who are underrepresented in Science, who maybe, you know, don't have access to Science and that sort of discourse and really just to change perceptions about who Science is for. So I think the idea that you can do Science outside of a classic setting, outside of a lab, outside of research, outside of academia is really important to me. Abi Fafolu: So, yeah, I think it's a broad audience and I think Science is absolutely for everyone. But part of my mission is also to make sure we're reaching some audiences who aren't really. Paul Marden: That's the audience. Are you doing, is this a solo effort for you or have you got teams of lab rats that come along and help you? Abi Fafolu: And so I'm a solo entrepreneur, I am the founder, one of those hats. But on the day of the event I do have a team, we call them lab assistants rather than lab rats. But I do have a team of people who are amazing at preparing the experiments. People so they can get stuck right in troubleshooting any kind of niggling issues, you know, with the experiments on the day and making sure that people kind of know what they're doing. And for me, actually it's been really important to open those opportunities up to up and coming Science communicators. So, you know, people who want that experience really in practising and engaging the public directly with Science. Abi Fafolu: And again, you know, there's nothing quite like this at the moment, so I'm hoping, you know, that's a good opportunity for them as well to kind of pick off those sorts of careers. Paul Marden: Yeah, it's quite nerve wracking, isn't it, doing what you're doing, stepping into a sector where. Or creating your own segment. Yes, you're taking inspiration from things that already exist, but nobody else is doing this. And you've got. It's at the core of being entrepreneurial, isn't it? You've got to test the market and experiment to see where it goes. But that can be quite nerve wracking. So having that team of lab assistants, those people that are helping you on the day, you know, it's invaluable because you can't have eyes in the back of your head when you're at the event, it's really, you know, it's really hard, I guess, to be able to run one of these events, keep it all flowing, solve the problems and be a gracious host at the same time. Abi Fafolu: Yeah, absolutely. And I should say, actually I'm not the host, so I am very much kind of in the background for the events themselves, they are hosted by. I have a few different people that kind of tap into this role, but essentially they're presenters and people whose job it is that have that sort of MC role to keep the crowd engaged and enthused. And again, like I said, they don't teach, they don't set out. Kind of made the story of what we're going to do, but they encourage and, you know, prod and make jokes with the group and that sort of thing. One of the elements of it that I think works well as well is that we try to introduce kind of competition. Abi Fafolu: So if we have, you know, two or three tables, depending where we're doing it, you know, each table is a group that competes and they choose a table name which is made up of a range of things that might be for that month, elements in the periodic table, their favourite horror movie and their favourite brand of alcohol. So they get kind of wacky table names and earn points as they go along. And we actually, for most events, compete for spots or fleets. So if you're a winning table, you'll find a rap of spots coming your way. So, yeah, it's definitely a social event I think we major on as well as Science in our event. Paul Marden: Of course, it does sound a little bit like a kind of classic Science communicator role at the Science Centre, doesn't it? You know, that job to engage people in Science. But you're hiding. You're hiding the vegetables, aren't you? They're learning a little bit about Science, but at the same time they're enjoying themselves and you've got to major on the enjoyment and engagement, otherwise they're never going to learn something. Abi Fafolu: Yeah, no, I absolutely agree with that. And we provide some of that background to people that want it. So, you know, in the same way that you can scan the QR and find out what the instructions are, you can also scan and find out kind of what the Science is behind what you're doing. Because I think, you know, if people are particularly curious, you want to make sure that they have the opportunity to follow up. Paul Marden: Yeah. So you're taking this out to pubs and bars. Have you got future plans to try other types of spaces or to take this to other places? Abi Fafolu: Yeah, so I know that you we're alluding to as well, the kind of theme of this. So, you know, absolutely, we're doing Science, but this is. This is culture, this is creativity, this is all of the things that, you know, make Science real and enjoyable for people as well. So Absolutely. I see it as a kind of creative cultural endeavour. I've done a few events in sort of different contexts. I, for example, was just running a winter fair event called University of East London. And that, I think, gives us the opportunity to have people kind of zip in and out from what we're doing and see it in the context of other things as well. And I think this brings to the forefront even more that, you know, this is something that's for entertainment. Abi Fafolu: You know, like, there's education here, that this is an entertainment concept. So, yeah, I think it really has a place in lots of different spaces and I think there's lots of opportunity, really, to see where it can go. Yeah, absolutely. Would love to work with different types of venues, so universities. But also there are these other cultural institutes, talking museums and places like that, where I think there could be a really nice partnership opportunities there. Paul Marden: Yeah, absolutely. There's an element of. And it was something that somebody said at the ASDC conference. It was one of the questions that got asked at the Skip the Queue episode was all about getting the A into STEAM. So getting. Getting the Art into STEAM. Subjects. There's an element of if you could take this into a bar and a pub, you can take this into art institutions, to galleries, to museums, other cultural institutions. All these sorts of institutions are looking for ways in which they can extend their reach, that they can. Can serve different audiences, generate revenue for themselves at times when the institution is quiet. And this is just a lovely concept to be able to pop the things in the back of the van and take it to institutions and help them to do those things. Abi Fafolu: Yeah, thank you. And I think, just to add to that, I think we're definitely seeing a rise of that with the kind of museum lakes. It's a theme across lots of different venues completely. And. And it's absolutely that. It's about the kind of adult market and recognising, I think that, you know, just because you're an adult doesn't mean that you can't still have fun with the things that you were interested in as a younger person or, you know, hobbies that you don't have the opportunity to do. So, yeah, Science is a hobby, definitely something I'm all the way behind. And I think the kind of adult space is a really good opportunity for that. Yeah. Paul Marden: Oh, completely. I get to masquerade behind my daughter. I'm taking her to Science centres for her benefit. But the reality is I have a whale of a time and I love going to the Science central, Science museum And I'd feel a bit odd going as a single bloke wandering around some of these institutions on your own during the daytime. It might not feel quite right. But a Science late event, I could totally, you know, I've done enough ASDC events at Science centres where we've had the evening meal in a Science centre in the evening and it's been delightful to wander around these places in the evenings. There's a huge amount of opportunity at your local Science centre to find things that engage adults as well as kids. Abi Fafolu: Yeah, absolutely. Paul Marden: What are your goals? Where do you want to take the Lit Lab for the future? Abi Fafolu: Yeah. So, I mean, again, this concept of kind of popping things in the van and kind of rocking up wherever is definitely a perk of the current model, but it still sort of means that at the moment, you know, the little ad is in London big as I am, you know, I don't want that to be a kind of barrier for it and I definitely don't want it to stop the right people from reaching it. So for me it would absolutely be that to be able to reach more parts of the country and particularly, you know, like the cities of culture. I'm thinking that, you know, the Bristols and the Manchesters and the Bradfords next year as the 2025 or this year. Paul Marden: That was slickly done. Well done. Abi Fafolu: Yeah, I think, you know, being able to meet people where they're already exploring these interests and then hopefully see that Philtre out as well would be wonderful. Paul Marden: Okay, so is that partnership model or is that a kind of a franchise model or are you open to conversations with people about how you could deliver this? Abi Fafolu: Yeah, no, absolutely open. I think that's, you know, a perk of being. Being the first, isn't it? But, yeah, all things are on the table and I think that's a wonderful thing. You know, I'm probably still in the. It's my baby face. I can imagine. I can imagine that there's probably a bit of hand holding that would. Would come before any. But yes, I think absolutely open. Paul Marden: Yeah, that's interesting. Well, look, it's been lovely talking to you, finding out a little bit more about you and finding out more about The Lit Lab. I think it's such a wonderful concept. I feel a team rubber cheese evening event coming along soon where I think we bring the team and we do a little bit of Science together. I think that might be a nice idea. Abi Fafolu: Idea more than welcome. I'd love that. Paul Marden: So we always ask our guests to give us a book recommendation. So Abi, what's your recommendation for the listeners today? Abi Fafolu: Yeah, I had a good think about this and you know, in all that I've talked about, I think there's probably also something about reclaiming this kind of nerd label. I think my recommendation is probably going to fall in that space, but I'm happy with that and I own it. But mine is in the genre of sort of mythology, magical realism, fantasy, and I really love Greek mythology. But I'm actually also getting into African mythology, of which there are loads of kind of classic but also kind of up and coming writers. And one that I'm really enjoying now is called She Would Be King by Wayétu Moore. And it's a story of basically the kind of creation of a new space in Liberia during the kind of transatlantic slave trade. Abi Fafolu: And it basically imagines the stories of the three different people in a sort of anthology way, who get powers as they go through the real horrible and inhumane kind of trials of, you know, being part of that. So from America to Jamaica to West Africa, you know, these three people go through different experiences of that and they all get powers that help them to cope with that. And it draws on the types of powers that you might see in African mythology. So it's a really beautiful book and a really inspiring and kind of educational one too. I think there's a lot of, you know, factor accuracy in terms of, you know, what happened and the types of experiences that people accounted. Yeah, that's one of my definite recommendations and I'm actually rereading it at the moment. Paul Marden: Wowzers, listeners. So if you'd like a copy of the book that Abi recommends, normally I'd say get over to X and repost the show announcement on X, but you can do that on bluesky now. So go find us. We are @skipthequeue.fm on Bluesky and do whatever you do to repost a notice on bluesky and say I want Abby's book. And the first person that does that will get a copy of Abi's book sent to them as a gift from us. And I'll be very excited because we'll have more followers on Bluesky. X is a bit of a dumpster fire now, so we are moving rapidly to Bluesky. Abi, it has been delightful to meet you. Paul Marden: If listeners would like to find out more about the Lit Lab, all of your links and your socials and the website will all be posted in the show notes. So listeners, you'll be able to go and find out about where the next Lit Lab events are all on Abi's website. It's been lovely to meet you. Thank you ever so much for coming on the podcast. Happy New Year. Abi Fafolu: Thank you so much. Paul. Thanks so much for having me. And Happy New Year to you too. Paul Marden: Thanks for listening to Skip the Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review. It really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned. Skip The Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcriptions from this episode and more over on our website, SkiptheQueue.fm. The 2024 Visitor Attraction Website Survey is now LIVE! Dive into groundbreaking benchmarks for the industryGain a better understanding of how to achieve the highest conversion ratesExplore the "why" behind visitor attraction site performanceLearn the impact of website optimisation and visitor engagement on conversion ratesUncover key steps to enhance user experience for greater conversionsDownload the 2024 Rubber Cheese Visitor Attraction Website Survey Report

Welcome to DevDive, a conversational podcast where we dive deep into the world of indie game development and uncover the stories behind the games we love! On this week's dive we welcome Ryan Mau, developer of Toastercide, available now on Steam! Ryan, welcome to the show! Toastercide on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2777760/Toastercide/  indieRift Links!: https://linktr.ee/indieRift

Welcome to the Fresh Juice podcast! Your go-to spot for in-depth reviews, insights, and discussions on indie games. We're passionate about uncovering hidden gems in the gaming world and giving indie developers the spotlight they deserve. In each episode, we dive deep into the gameplay, mechanics, and artistry of various indie games. We also feature exclusive interviews with developers, sharing their stories and the inspirations behind their games. THIS EPISODE: This week Tommy and Matty talk about Beyond Citadel, an anime style boomer shooter. They also answer some listener questions submitted in the Discord! Beyond Citadel: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3371240/Beyond_Citadel/ Stay Juiced! If you enjoyed our video, please like, share, and subscribe. Don't forget to hit the bell icon for notifications on our latest episodes. Follow us on our other platforms for more Fresh Juice: Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fresh-juice Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/FreshJuicePod Discord: https://discord.gg/UrCFuV532e For business inquiries or if you're an indie developer wanting to feature your game: freshjuicepod@gmail.com NEWS: Jaded is free on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1932570/Jaded/ REC ROOM: Flycatcher - https://www.flycatcherband.com/ Nosferatu - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosferatu_(2024_film)

In der ersten regulären Folge im neuen Jahr geht es etwas negativer zu als gewohnt. So hat Alex das neue MMORPG Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen angespielt und war nicht so angetan, trotz steigender Spielerzahlen und positiven Bewertungen auf Steam. Zudem haben sich Content Creator zu Ashes of Creation und The Elder Scrolls Online über ihre eigentlichen Lieblings-MMORPGs stark beschwert. Bei den News gab es Positives zu Embers Adrift und Black Desert, aber auch eine traurige Nachricht zu Fractured. Hier wurden viele Mitarbeiter entlassen. Natürlich sprechen wir zudem über WoW, FFXIV und die neusten Entwicklungen bei Lost Ark. 2025 wird es keine Frage der Woche mehr geben. Jedoch richten wir einen Feedback-Thread im Discord ein, wo ihr über die News und Geschichten aus dem Podcast diskutieren könnt. Unser Partner und Sponsor ist Instant Gaming. Dort bekommt ihr günstig Game-Keys, Gems für Guild Wars 2, Spielzeit für WoW und vieles mehr. Hier unser Reflink: https://www.instant-gaming.com/?igr=mmonews. MMO News erscheint jeden Donnerstag. Ihr könnt uns zudem eine E-Mail mit Feedback schreiben oder uns auf Twitter folgen: MMO News Alex Mark Oder unserem Discord beitreten. Wer möchte, kann uns zudem auf Patreon unterstützen oder auf Paypal spenden.

毎週水曜日は最近プレイしているゲームとこれからリリースされるゲームについて語ります。 ▼Steamのストアページ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1281040/Baby_Steps/ Song: Come With Me - Flehmann Music provided by DOVA-SYNDROME 画像生成：Copilot デザイナー #ビデオゲームなうアンドぜん

Fluent Fiction - Hungarian: Whispers in the Steam: Ágota's Journey to Rediscovery Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/hu/episode/2025-01-07-08-38-20-hu Story Transcript:Hu: A köd finoman gomolygott a Széchenyi Fürdőnél, ahogy Ágota óvatos léptekkel közeledett a tavat körülölelő vízpárához.En: The fog gently swirled at the Széchenyi Fürdő, as Ágota approached the vapor surrounding the pool with cautious steps.Hu: Az enyhe téli szél kellemesen simogatta az arcát, miközben a medence felé haladt.En: The mild winter breeze pleasantly caressed her face as she made her way toward the pool.Hu: Szándéka egyszerű volt: nyugalmat találni a mindennapok zűrzavarában.En: Her intention was simple: to find peace amidst the chaos of everyday life.Hu: Ágota hónapok óta vágyott erre a kikapcsolódásra, távol a múlt zavaros érzéseitől.En: Ágota had longed for this escape for months, far away from the confusing feelings of the past.Hu: Mellette Katalin lépkedett, aki azonnal érezte barátnőjének feszültségét.En: Beside her walked Katalin, who immediately sensed her friend's tension.Hu: Tudta, hogy Ágota mostanában menekülni próbál valakitől, valamitől - egy régi szerelem árnyékától.En: She knew that Ágota had recently been trying to escape from someone, something - the shadow of an old love.Hu: A fürdő díszes oszlopai és a víz felszínén táncoló gőz olyan más világot teremtettek, ahol látszólag megállt az idő.En: The bath's ornate columns and the steam dancing on the water's surface created a world where time seemingly stood still.Hu: Miközben Ágota mély levegőt vett és belemerült az enyhén kénes illatú vízbe, próbálta elengedni minden gondját.En: As Ágota took a deep breath and submerged herself in the slightly sulfur-scented water, she tried to let go of all her worries.Hu: A medencében váratlanul feltűnt egy ismerős arc: Bálint.En: Suddenly, a familiar face appeared in the pool: Bálint.Hu: Az időtlen fürdő hirtelen a múlt színterévé vált, és a tüdőjéből kiszökött a levegő.En: The timeless bath suddenly became the scene of the past, and the air escaped from her lungs.Hu: Nem hitt a szemének.En: She couldn't believe her eyes.Hu: Talán csak képzelte, de Bálint ugyanolyan zavartan nézett vissza.En: Perhaps she imagined it, but Bálint looked back just as confused.Hu: Bálint, akinek egykor szíve egész királyságát adta volna.En: Bálint, to whom she would have once given the entire kingdom of her heart.Hu: "Bálint," suttogta csendesen, és Katalin a szavak nélküli beszélgetések mesterévé válva, finoman távolabb húzódott, hogy a két régi szerető beszélhessen.En: "Bálint," she whispered softly, and Katalin, becoming a master of wordless conversations, gently moved away to let the two former lovers speak.Hu: "Ágota," mondta Bálint, lépése megfontolt volt, mintha minden másodperc megfeszítené közöttük a múlt kendőit.En: "Ágota," said Bálint, his steps deliberate, as if each second strained the veils of the past between them.Hu: Ágota egy pillanatra megállt, döntenie kellett.En: Ágota paused for a moment; she had to decide.Hu: Beszéljen, vagy elhallgasson?En: Should she speak, or remain silent?Hu: A szíve zakatolt, de érzései már nem voltak homályosak.En: Her heart raced, but her feelings were no longer unclear.Hu: Tudta, hogy nem menekülhet örökké.En: She knew she couldn't run away forever.Hu: "Beszélnünk kell," mondta végül és a víz tompa hullámai elnyelték a hangját, mégis minden szó tisztán csengett.En: "We need to talk," she finally said, and though the dull waves of the water swallowed her voice, each word rang clear.Hu: A víz langyosan ölelte körül őket, ahogy beszélgettek.En: The tepid water embraced them as they talked.Hu: Megosztották a bennük maradt kérdéseket, kimondatlan szavakat.En: They shared the questions that remained within them, the unspoken words.Hu: Bálint elmondta, mennyire sajnálja, hogy sosem adtak esélyt arra, hogy lezárják a dolgokat.En: Bálint expressed how sorry he was that they never had the chance to close things properly.Hu: Ágota pedig felismerte, hogy múltjuk terhéből semmi nem maradt, csak az, amit magával cipel.En: Ágota realized that of the burdens of their past, none remained except what she carried with her.Hu: A levegő valahogy könnyedebbé vált körülöttük, amikor befejezték a beszélgetést.En: The air somehow became lighter around them as they finished their conversation.Hu: A csend már nem volt kényelmetlen.En: The silence was no longer uncomfortable.Hu: Mindketten más emberek lettek.En: They had both become different people.Hu: Bálint mosolya immár csak szelíd köszöntés volt, nem egy régi szerelem visszhangja.En: Bálint's smile was now just a gentle greeting, not an echo of an old love.Hu: Ágota érezte, hogy valami megoldódott benne.En: Ágota felt that something within her had resolved.Hu: Búcsút intettek egymásnak, és amikor Ágota újra a vízbe merült, egész lényében könnyűség kalapált.En: They bid farewell to each other, and as Ágota submerged herself in the water again, a sense of lightness pulsed through her entire being.Hu: Katalin rámosolygott, tudván, hogy barátnője új fejezet előtt áll.En: Katalin smiled at her, knowing that her friend stood before a new chapter.Hu: Közelebb sodródtak a széllel hintett gőz ködéhez, Ágota úgy érezte, mintha újra szabad lenne.En: As they drifted closer to the fog tinged with the wind, Ágota felt as if she were free once more.Hu: Aznap a fürdő igazi szentéllyé vált számára, húzóerő a jövő felé.En: That day, the bath became a true sanctuary for her, a pulling force toward the future. Vocabulary Words:swirled: gomolygottapproached: közeledettcautious: óvatosbreeze: szélcaressed: simogattachaos: zűrzavarlonged: vágyottescape: kikapcsolódásconfusing: zavarosshadow: árnyékornate: díszessubmerged: belemerültsulfur-scented: kénes illatúworries: gondtimeless: időtlenconfused: zavartanwhispered: suttogtawordless: szavak nélkülideliberate: megfontoltstrained: megfeszítenéveils: kendőkraced: zakatoltunclear: homályosembraced: ölelte körülburdens: terhébőlpulsed: kalapáltdrifted: sodródtaktinged: hintettsanctuary: szentéllyépulling force: húzóerő

It's the year-in-review show, and the Steam survey, and the Linux Kernel commit review. There's also Proxmox news, news on Debian 13, and questions about x.org. Then the guys dove into their predictions from last year, and made new predictions for 2025. Check it out to see how they did! You can find the show notes at https://bit.ly/4fMbHnK and happy new year! Host: Jonathan Bennett Co-Hosts: Rob Campbell, Jeff Massie, and Ken McDonald Want access to the video version and exclusive features? Become a member of Club TWiT today! https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.

Rachelle Dené Poth is an edtech consultant, presenter, attorney, author, and teacher. Rachelle teaches Spanish and STEAM: What's nExT in Emerging Technology at Riverview Junior Senior High School in Oakmont, PA. Rachelle has a Juris Doctor degree from Duquesne University School of Law and a Master's in Instructional Technology, and earned a second doctorate, focused on Educational Technology.Rachelle is an ISTE Certified Educator and a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert. She is a past-president of the ISTE Teacher Education Network and served on the Leadership team of the Mobile Learning Network for five years. She received the ISTE Making IT Happen Award in 2019 and has received several Presidential gold and silver awards for her volunteer service to education.  She was named one of 30 K-12 IT Influencers for 2021. She has been selected as Outstanding Teacher of the Year by PAECT (the Pennsylvania Association for Educational Communications in Technology, the PA affiliate of ISTE) and by the NSBA as one of the "20 to Watch" educators.Since 2019, Rachelle has written seven books. Her newest book is "How to Teach AI."  She has also contributed to eight other books related to education. She presents regularly at state, national and international conferences and provides professional development and coaching for educators.Rachelle is a columnist for Getting Smart and a blogger for Defined Learning and NEO LMS. She has a podcast ThriveinEDU and is the host of a PBL Podcast by Defined Learning on the BAM Radio Network.  Rachelle is also a host of ThriveinEDU Live and leads a community of educators on Facebook.TakeawaysEducators must actively market their books themselves.Newsletters should provide value without overwhelming readers.Social media engagement varies by platform and audience.Visual content significantly boosts engagement.Building a personal brand is crucial for success.Networking is essential for book promotion.Choosing the right platform depends on your target audience.Feedback and reviews are vital for credibility.Planning is necessary for effective educational technology integration.Consulting in education requires a long-term commitment. AI is an integral part of education today.Consultants must focus on meaningful engagements.Authenticity in teaching enhances relatability.Visual branding is crucial for content creators.Professional photography can elevate your brand.Creating content is essential for book marketing.Community support is vital for success.Consistency in messaging helps build an audience.Engaging visuals can capture attention on social media.Building relationships can enhance marketing efforts.Chapters00:00Introduction to the Dr. Will Show01:49Navigating Book Marketing for Educators10:58Building an Engaging Newsletter18:34Choosing the Right Social Media Platform28:34Creating Effective Graphics for Promotion36:47Challenges in Educational Technology Consulting38:30Embracing Technology in Education41:48Redefining Consulting and Business Focus44:35Establishing Your Voice in the AI Landscape46:58Authenticity in Teaching and Content Creation52:58Visual Branding and Graphic Design Strategies58:42The Importance of Professional Photography01:01:06Marketing Your Book: The Hard Work Begins01:07:50Building Community and Consistency in Marketing

WCHS Librarian and Teachers in the Dungeon Master Tom Gross returns to the program to talk about the upcoming S.T.E.A.M. into STAR WARS 2025 which again will be held at the Washington Community High School Saturday, January 11th.,  S.T.E.A.M. into Star Wars Day celebrates Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math, wrapped in a Star Wars theme.  Local artists, authors, podcasters as well as members of the 501st Midwest Garrison will be on hand. Tom Gross and Dan Zehr, part of the WCHS staff and and army of student organizers and volunteers, are putting in a herculean effort to make this event run smooth and successful.  This will be my fourth year supporting the event and third in person and once again I will be on the podcast stage at 10:00am sharp as an opening act for Coffee with Kenobi and Hyperion Hub podcasts which will be doing live shows as well, along with performances from the WCHS Drama club. STEAM into STAR WARS kicks off at 9:30am and runs to 2:30pm.  Once again Tom Gross comes on the program to give us a full rundown and talk about how this just keeps getting better. S.T.E.A.M. web site Tom Gross on Twitter: @draftline  Instagram @cyclinglibrarian Teachers in the Dungeon, with Tom Gross and Dan Rehm https://teachersinthedungeon.weebly.com You can find Dan Zehr & Coffee with Kenobi on nearly every podcast platform. They are also on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and at: Http://www.coffeewithkenobi.com Coffee with Kenobi web Dan Z on twitter: @MrZehr Coffee with Kenobi on Instagram & Twitter: @CoffeeWthKenobi Facebook Dan Zehr articles for Starwars.com https://www.starwars.com/news/contributor/zehrd001 Dan Z Media page: https://danzmedia.com Follow WCH on Twitter at:  @wchs_308library In Homestead Keeping: Star Wars Hi-Tek debutes on Wed Jan 8th. Pre-order page from Steel City Collectibles Hobby boxes contain 1 pack of 20 cards for around 199. 100 base cards, around 6 insert sets, numbered parallels, autographs and sketch cards. Look for 2 numbered parallels, 14 Base Pattern 1, 2 Base Pattern 2, 1 Base Pattern 3, and 1 Base Pattern 6 per box on average. Pre-orders also went live for the next release of Star Wars Unlimited: Jump to Lightspeed which debuts on March 14th. Flipside Gaming pre-order page There are dual deck boxes pre-orders along with the pre-release box, booster box and starter packs - something for a lot of price points. If you have a question or comment, find me on the  socials: Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky Substack, Hive @rebelbasecard  2 more designs are up on the TeePublic store and that is 14 in all! Help out the show and find some cool swag. https://www.teepublic.com/user/rebel-base-card Find me on the Topps Digital Apps like Star Wars Card Trader, Marvel, Disney Collect and BUNT @CORNFEDTECH Help out the show by rating The Rebel Base Card Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. All comments and feedback is appreciated!

It's time for one of our favorite episodes of the year! Join us as we recount our favorite games of 2024, our Steam stats, and our goals for 2025 (none of which are surprising). Check us out on all the socials and Discord to tell us about your 2024 games and what you're excited for this year!Texting a podcast? You know it! Send us a message about the pod with a text!Support the showJoin our discord server for updates, feedback, comments, or just to tell us how to be better at games: https://discord.gg/NMSgXNbzCgCheck us out on all the socials:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/comfyclubpod/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@comfyclubpodFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/ComfyClubPod/

Today we're talking about Minami Lane by Doot and Blibloop! A game about the creating utopia one boba shop at a time, and highlighting the flaws of milquetoast politics!Get Minami Lane on Steam or Switch! Keep up with Cozy Game Pal's work on their website! ---Discussed in the episodeThe Overton Window on Wikipedia---Visit our website!Support the show on Kofi!Follow us on Twitch!Follow the show on Bluesky!Check out The Worst Garbage Online!---Art by Tara CrawfordMusic by _amaranthineAdditional sounds by BoqehProduced and edited by AJ Fillari---Timecodes:(00:00) - The children yearn for overcooked poultry (00:57) - Happy New Zip! (02:36) - What is Minami Lane (05:59) - Please lord let this come to mobile (09:34) - How this fits into the management genre (18:17) - How this fits into real life city management (24:53) - AJ's Big Takeaway (28:01) - Kim's Big Takeaway (29:46) - Chase's Big Takeaway (34:46) - Chase 2028: Building fucking trains already (36:13) - Thanks for listening!

Clef and Tim ring in the New Year talking about the good things and bad with online gaming. Recent plays include Food Chain Magnate, The Great Zimbabwe, Age of Steam, and Nucleum. Join the discord here to get ready for the Winter Formal starting January 10, 2025! Come play some online games!! https://discord.gg/s8hYtWkMS3

In this not-episode, Madelyn and Emma talk how to start a game and no, they don't mean how to launch a game from your computer. Also featuring iconic opening lines, pressing the book buttons, and the Steam refund period.

I don't normally do this, but content warning, this episode talks at length about death and funerals and, while I continue to approach everything with an inappropriate degree of levity, if that's something you're not game to listen to right now, go ahead and skip the first hour of this one. Recommend me your favorite show or video game at podcast@searls.co and I will either play/watch it or lie and say I did. Thanks! Now: links and transcript: Kirkland Signature, Organic Non-Dairy Oat Beverage Die with Zero book The "Prefer tabs when opening documents" setting Aaron's puns, ranked Amazon hoped more people would quit BoldVoice Accent Oracle Cab drivers get Alzheimer's less Video Games Can't Afford to Look This Good LG announces Bachelor's Only TV Can the rich world escape its baby crisis? Why aren't we talking about the real reason male college enrollment is dropping? The Diplomat The Penguin It's in the Game Madden documentary Like a Dragon / Yakuza 7 Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Transcript: [00:00:29] It is our first new year together in this relationship. [00:00:36] Breaking Change survived season one. [00:00:39] We are now in season two. [00:00:43] I don't know what, you know, how seasons should translate to a show about nothing. [00:00:51] I like to talk about how, you know, in different stages of life, we go through different seasons, right? [00:00:58] You know, like maybe, you know, after, you know, the seasonal life when maybe you get married or you have a kid, your first kid and all the changes that kind of go with that. [00:01:08] And if you play multiplayer competitive games, you might go through different seasons. [00:01:15] You know, like if you play Diablo four or Call of Duty, you might be in a particular eight week or 12 week season. [00:01:24] Now, as you grind your battle pass, that's similar in in scale and scope to having a child or having some big life event, because it turns out none of this fucking matters. [00:01:35] Hello, welcome. [00:01:36] This is a this is your kind and friendly host, Justin Searles, son of Fred Searles, son of Fred Searles himself, son of a Fred Searles. [00:01:48] That's yeah, there were there were, I think, three Fred's before me and then my dad was like combo breaker and he named me Justin. [00:02:02] Uh, thank you for subscribing to the advertisement free version of the podcast. [00:02:08] Uh, if you, if you think that there should be an advertisement version of the podcast, feel free to write in a podcast at Searles.co and then pay me money to read about your shit. [00:02:20] And I will do that. [00:02:21] Uh, and, and, you know, I'm happy to have all the conflicts of interest in the world because, uh, if your product sucks and I use it, I can't help myself. [00:02:32] I'm just, I'm just going to say it's bad. [00:02:34] So, uh, that's a real, you know, I, I, if you can't tell, I also run the ad sales department of this journalistic outfit and, uh, that might have something to do with the total lack of, uh, corporate funding. [00:02:48] Well, anyway, this is version 28 of the program. [00:02:54] This, this, this episode's breaking change titled, do you regret it yet? [00:02:59] And that'll make sense, uh, momentarily. [00:03:03] Uh, so, um, it's a big one in a sense, you know, it's something that, uh, there's very little in life that I'm not comfortable talking about. [00:03:14] And that's because, you know, well, I'll just dive right in. [00:03:20] So, so I read it, uh, I read an article, uh, uh, some number of years ago that explained that part of the reason why foot fetishes are so common in men is like part of the brain that identifies feet. [00:03:38] And part of the brain that is like erogenous in its, you know, there's different parts of the brain. [00:03:46] They do different things, but if you got to pick which neuron cluster you lived in as a part of the brain, erogenous zone, that would be sweet. [00:03:53] That'd be a lot more fun than the, um, whatever the, the part of the brain is that gets scared easily, which, uh, because I get stressed and anxious, [00:04:04] even just talking into a microphone with zero stakes on a recording that I could stop. [00:04:08] That makes me no money. [00:04:10] I'm too nervous to remember the fear part of the amygdala. [00:04:13] There it is. [00:04:14] You see, and if it just, and, and that gets back to my point in my particular fucked up brain soup, [00:04:22] the, uh, the, uh, the part of my brain that talks out my mouth hole is right next to the part of my brain that critically reasons through things. [00:04:37] So for me, it is very difficult to process something without talking it, talking it through. [00:04:47] And the idea that something is taboo has always been really uncomfortable for me. [00:04:52] And you can just sort of see the pained look on my face as I try to hold it in like a, like a burp or something. [00:04:57] Like I, I, I got to let it out somehow. [00:05:00] And so I'm, I, you know, I'm glad, I'm glad I get to be here with you. [00:05:05] I hope you find it kind of entertaining. [00:05:06] Unfortunately, the thing to talk about first thing, as I get into the section of this to-do list, that is this podcast titled life is that the big thing that happened since the last major breaking change, uh, uh, back in version 26, which is, I, I, I understand two numbers away from 28. [00:05:30] Uh, the big thing that changed, uh, is, uh, my father, Fred, he of a, a long and proud line of Fred's, uh, he passed away, uh, uh, uh, December 15th. [00:05:45] So just, just shortly after, uh, the previous, the previous version aired and, uh, pretty much every it's January 4th today and we're still working through it. [00:05:59] Um, he had a heart attack. [00:06:02] I think that's fair to say at this point, there's no, you know, no way to be a thousand percent sure, but all the signs suggest that's what it was. [00:06:11] And, uh, you know, without getting into, uh, the, the details, my side of the story is like, I was at Epcot with my brother, Jeremy. [00:06:26] So at least we were together. [00:06:28] Um, Jeremy gets the call and, uh, you know, we were, we were in that little tequila bar, uh, hanging out with a friend of ours who works there. [00:06:40] And, uh, the tequila bar inside of the Mexican pavilion pyramid. [00:06:44] And, uh, he had just brought us out the three kind of specialty cocktails that they got going on right now. [00:06:53] Uh, which is, uh, you know, wasn't, we are in a great time. [00:06:57] It was a lot of fun. [00:06:58] And, uh, Jeremy gets the call. [00:07:00] We process a little bit. [00:07:02] We realized like, we got to get home. [00:07:04] We got to figure this shit out. [00:07:06] You know, he's, he's a, he was a former emergency responder. [00:07:09] So he's really good at, uh, at thinking through the logistical things that you have to do with a relatively cool head. [00:07:16] It, you know, he comes across as like, you know, not drill sergeanty, but somebody who's like, you know, part of being calm and collected in an urgent situation is you have to be very direct. [00:07:28] And boom, boom, boom, boom. [00:07:30] So that was as soon as he knew what was happening. [00:07:35] That's the mode he flipped on. [00:07:37] And the mode that I flipped on was intense, uh, metabolization is the best word I can think of it. [00:07:44] Cause like you have like, like, like, like the saves take four shots of liquor, right? [00:07:48] You will metabolize that at whatever speed you do, and it'll hit you really hard and maybe you'll black out and maybe you'll, uh, you're a slower burn. [00:07:56] But for me, I feel, I feel things, whether they're chemical toxicology report showing up things or emotions, I tend to feel them extremely intensely and, and, and, and, and in a relatively brief burst, you know, uh, if you ever lit in a strip of magnesium on fire, which for some reason I did several times. [00:08:19] I was in, in, in different science lab classes as a kid, it brights, it burns real bright and real hot, but not for very long. [00:08:27] So while, while Jeremy was in his, you know, we got to figure out what to do mode. [00:08:33] Uh, we got to get out of here. [00:08:35] Uh, we gotta, you gotta, you know, we gotta book the next flight to Michigan to take care of this shit. [00:08:43] I was in, I'm going to, I'm going to just take a little, I'm going to pop a little deep squat here in Epcot, uh, right outside this bar. [00:08:56] And I'm going to just allow my vision to get blurry, which it did. [00:09:04] Um, my heart to race, my stomach to turn. [00:09:08] And I just needed that, you know, you lose track of time when something big and, and, and, and, and earth shaken happens. [00:09:20] I [00:09:22] snapped out of it is, you know, it's, it's crude way. [00:09:31] Words don't, words that you use for everyday things end up getting used for big life-changing things. [00:09:40] And it makes it feel smaller. [00:09:43] So even though I'm verbally processing every time I tell the story or think through it and, and talk it out. [00:09:53] I, I, I, I kind of came to my normal Justin senses pretty quickly, uh, where normal Justin senses means, you know, back in the bar, you know, everyone's, you know, who'd heard was upset and immediately like they're in their own kind of sense of shock, even not knowing my dad. [00:10:14] And I, I was, you know, uh, comforting them immediately and, you know, just asking our host, Hey, you know, because as a, as a staff member, he, he's able to get us out of the park a little bit more expeditiously, uh, than having to go all the way out and do this big, you know, what would have felt like a 15 minute walk of shame out of a theme park. [00:10:39] And, uh, yeah, anyway, so he got us out of there, we got home, booked flight, got, went up to Michigan the next day, uh, pretty much immediately. [00:10:50] And, and, and, and, and, and kudos to my brother for, for having that serious first response. [00:10:56] Cause like my first response after asking for, Hey, get us out of here was to see those three specialty cocktails on the table and be like, well, that, that would be a waste and B I could probably use a drink. [00:11:08] And so I, you know, one of them was a sake and, uh, mezcal infusion. [00:11:13] And I was like, well, they'd already poured it. [00:11:16] So I just threw that back on, on my way out the door. [00:11:18] That was probably a good move. [00:11:21] Uh, so we got up to Michigan, right? [00:11:25] And I don't want to tell anyone else's story about how, how they work through stuff and families. [00:11:31] Everyone processes things differently. [00:11:34] Uh, uh, so I'll skip all that shit. [00:11:36] I'll just say that like pretty quickly, the service planning, like that takes over, you know, the, uh, this is the first time I've had an immediate family member pass, but pretty quickly you're like, all right, well, there is this kind of, you know, process. [00:11:53] It's like not dissimilar from wedding planning, but instead of having six months, a year, or if you're an elder millennial, like eight years to plan, you have, uh, a few days. [00:12:07] And fortunately, uh, uh, dad had just by coincidence of, of, of another, uh, person we know passing had found a funeral home that he really liked. [00:12:18] And he, he said he wanted to do that one. [00:12:20] So that, that was off the table. [00:12:21] That was, that worked out. [00:12:23] But, uh, then, you know, even, and that was helpful. [00:12:28] That was really helpful to sit down and, and, and, you know, of course you go to the funeral home, you talk to the funeral home director and super sympathetic there. [00:12:35] It takes a certain kind, right? [00:12:38] A person, you know, you gotta have the strategically placed tissue boxes all over the place and then know when to stop talking and when to hand it and when to back away. [00:12:46] And, you know, dude is an absolute champ, but he's also done this before and he knows the questions to ask. [00:12:55] And it's not to like boil it down into a questionnaire, but it, it's a questionnaire. [00:13:00] It's like, Hey, what do you want? [00:13:01] How do you got to do this? [00:13:02] You know, you're being bang, boom. [00:13:04] What? [00:13:04] And fortunately, uh, collectively we came to the table with a lot of answers to a lot of those stock questions at the ready. [00:13:15] Um, but the thing that stood out to me was, you know, there's going to be a service we're going to have to write an obituary. [00:13:22] They gave us a start and, um, a start is actually the perfect thing to give me when it, when it comes to writing, you know, if you give me a blank page, it could take me all week. [00:13:32] But if you give me something I don't like and like me not writing in a hurry would result in the thing I don't like going out, then all of a sudden I get the motivation to go and write some shit. [00:13:46] So we, we, we, we, we worked together and we cleaned up the eulogy or the, excuse me, the obituary, all these terms you only use sparingly. [00:13:55] Occasionally, uh, got the obituary out, had a tremendous response, maybe from some of you because it was up on the website. [00:14:05] Had a tremendous response from people. [00:14:07] Everyone was shocked. [00:14:08] You know, no one expected that, uh, dad had a tremendously large social network being a dentist for 45 plus years in a community of people who loved him. [00:14:20] And he was genuinely, you know, an incredibly kind and friendly guy everywhere he went. [00:14:26] Uh, so, so that was good. [00:14:29] And you re and, and it was the obituary that made me realize like, well, I, you know, I knew this intellectually, but be like, oh yeah, like next few days here are for them. [00:14:37] It's for everybody else to understand process grief. [00:14:42] And so as soon as the obituary out, I was like, all right, next eulogy time. [00:14:48] So I, uh, I approached it as soon as I knew it's a, when I know something's for me, I let it be for me. [00:14:58] I'm not, I've, I accept myself. [00:15:00] I love myself and take care of myself as best I can. [00:15:03] I don't, I'm not a martyr, right? [00:15:06] Like I don't push down my needs and interests for the sake of other people. [00:15:12] To the point of other people's viewing it as selfish sometimes. [00:15:15] And increasingly over the years, I'm viewing it as like, maybe you, maybe it's the children who are wrong. [00:15:21] Maybe this is just the way to be, because it turns out that when you take good care of yourself, you can show up for other people. [00:15:26] Well, right. [00:15:26] So anyway, I, I, as soon as I knew that like the point of the service wasn't for me, the point of the service was, uh, the other people in the room who, who, some of whom drove hours and stayed overnight in hotels to come be there. [00:15:42] It was, it was to give them something. [00:15:46] So as soon as that bit flipped in my brain, it became very easy to write a eulogy because I, I approached it like work. [00:15:56] I approached it like a conference talk or yeah, like it, I didn't actually open keynote, but I thought about it because that's how, that's how I tend to storyboard and work out conference talks. [00:16:09] And I, I thought about like, well, maybe I just do that and I just don't show the slides, you know, because I think it would be possibly inappropriate to, to have a PowerPoint presentation at your, I, at a funeral. [00:16:23] I don't know. [00:16:24] I guess I had to make one anyway. [00:16:26] We'll talk about that. [00:16:29] So anyway, writing, the eulogy took over. [00:16:31] It went smoothly. [00:16:33] It, I liked how it turned out. [00:16:35] If you subscribe to the newsletter, you'll get a copy of it. [00:16:38] So, so justin.searles.co slash newsletter. [00:16:41] It's called Searles of Wisdom, which of course, you know, me making that sound kitschy right now in this rather grave moment might sound inappropriate to, to, to shill, but you will get a copy of the eulogy. [00:16:53] I'm happy with it, how it turned out. [00:16:56] I, uh, as soon as I wrote it then, of course, and this is what I'm trying to illustrate is like everything just became task A. [00:17:03] Like, okay, task A is complete, task B, no real time in there for processing and thinking through things through. [00:17:11] Uh, so the eulogy took over, wrote it, and as soon as I'd written it, I was now task C, I gotta deliver it, you know. [00:17:21] I don't typically read a script when I speak, uh, but I had to write it all out as if it was being spoken. [00:17:32] And I had to even practice and rehearse it as if I was reading it because I knew that in an emotionally, you know, the best way that people seem to talk about this is like, it's, your emotions are close to the surface as if like any little tiny thing could just break the surface tension and, and, and spill over. [00:17:51] Right. [00:17:52] I knew that out of my control, I might, I might tear up. [00:17:56] I might cry. [00:17:57] I might need a minute. [00:18:01] While delivering this. [00:18:02] And so I, uh, I, I practiced it to be read, but I knew like, man, there's just a, there's a, I call it a 5%, 10% chance that I just have a fucking breakdown and I can't get through this thing. [00:18:18] And the anxiety in the day and a half leading up to the service worrying that I would fail as a public speaker outside the context of, you know, sure. [00:18:32] Everyone would give you a break if your dad just died. [00:18:35] Right. [00:18:35] But this is like the last thing I'm doing for him, you know, in a, in a publicly meaningful way. [00:18:40] And it's also a skill that I've spent a lot of time working on. [00:18:45] And so I wouldn't for me to fail at that by, by breaking or by even, even just failing to deliver it successfully and in a, in an impactful way would have been hard for me. [00:19:05] And it would have been something I probably would be ruminating on here. [00:19:08] We are a couple of weeks later. [00:19:10] And as a result, what happened is the same thing that happens before I give a conference talk in front of a bunch of people at a conference or whatever. [00:19:18] It's the, the, the, the, uh, stress hormone gets released, the adrenaline and the cortisol starts coming out. [00:19:26] And so the morning of the funeral, everyone else is kind of approaching it their own way. [00:19:31] And I'm like, it's game time, you know, like I, I'm dialed in my, you know, all of my instincts are about just getting through that five to seven minute speech. [00:19:47] And no emotional response before then. [00:19:50] And afterwards, to be honest, the biggest emotional response afterwards was the relief of successfully. [00:19:57] And I did successfully deliver it. [00:19:59] And, uh, and then as soon as task C of delivering it is done, then task D starts of now it's the end of a funeral service. [00:20:08] And you've got a receiving line of all these guests coming up and they, you know, they're, they're approaching the open casket and they're, they're coming to, you know, hug you, talk to you. [00:20:17] See how you are. [00:20:18] And there's a performative aspect to that, right? [00:20:22] Like you gotta be like, all right, who's ready for lunch? [00:20:24] That would be inappropriate. [00:20:25] Right. [00:20:26] But the, you know, also talking about how, like, oh, I'm actually mostly focused on how I did a good job. [00:20:32] Giving this speech would separately be maybe, you know, off color, but these are the things that go through our brains in the, in these high impact moments. [00:20:43] When you just have to, when, when, whenever a situation dictates that your behavior be misaligned or the statements about oneself be at all discordant with what's really going on inside you in that literal moment. [00:21:08] And so, so I did my best, uh, of course, to make it about other people and see how they're doing and answer their questions in as, uh, productive a way as possible. [00:21:20] Right. [00:21:20] Give them answers about myself that gave them the things that they needed was my primary response all through. [00:21:29] And then, and then through that, and then task E, the wake. [00:21:32] Right. [00:21:33] And, and, uh, you do, you, you do that. [00:21:35] And then suddenly, uh, well, now you have task F after, after all that stuff of like, okay, well, we've got all this leftover food we got to take home. [00:21:42] So it's like load up the car and, and, and, and help everyone out and see everyone on their way safely. [00:21:48] And then, you know, you're exhausted and you want to just go back and, and, you know, get out of this fucking suit that barely fits. [00:21:58] Nope. [00:21:59] Task G is you got to go turn around, drive 20 minutes in the opposite direction to go back to the funeral home, to pick up all of these flowers. [00:22:05] Cause you, you tell people not to send flowers. [00:22:07] Uh, you, you say, you know, in dad's case, donate to the humane society, but people send flowers. [00:22:14] And then, you know, what do you fucking do with them? [00:22:16] Right. [00:22:17] It's like, well, here's look, if you or someone you're affiliated with sent flowers to this particular funeral, I'm deeply grateful. [00:22:25] And I had a moving moment, actually looking at all the flowers of friends of mine, people who never met dad. [00:22:31] Most of the time, a couple of our neighbors, right. [00:22:35] Who we don't really know well, but they're just really lovely people. [00:22:38] They, they did a bouquet and it was really nice. [00:22:40] You know, flowers are beautiful, but. [00:22:49] Like a cigarette can be really, really nice, but a carton can be a lot. [00:22:53] Uh, you know, a cocktail can be really nice, but drinking a whole fifth is problematic. [00:23:00] When you have so many bouquets that you can't fit them into your vehicle and also the people in the vehicle. [00:23:06] It's all it's, it, it just, it, it becomes a work. [00:23:10] Right. [00:23:11] And so that's what, you know, that's one of the ways in which having this service like this become sort of, you know, like less about the immediate family and more about the surrounding, you know, network of people that somebody knows. [00:23:24] And maybe this is all common sense and, and I should have been more conscientious of this going into the experience, but looking back on it, uh, I was just sort of like, all right, well, here's next task is figure out how to cram all these flowers. [00:23:39] And then you get home and it's like, where'd all these flowers go? [00:23:43] And so you just kind of scatter them throughout the house. [00:23:48] Uh, but they're all, you know, like they're not invasives or they're not like going to survive the long winter. [00:23:53] Like they're, they're now all on their own separate week to two week timer of themselves dying and needing to be dealt with, which is like, you know, a, let's just say an echo or a reverberation of like kind of what you're thinking about. [00:24:07] So maybe, okay, look, I don't want to spend this whole fucking podcast talking about a funeral. [00:24:15] I realize it's like maybe a bit of a downer, but you know, there's other stuff going on to like, I skipped a whole fucking half day activity. [00:24:25] Actually is wedge a task in there between B and C if you're for anyone playing the home game and keeping track of this, not that it's that complicated, uh, you got to come up with a slideshow, right? [00:24:39] So you've got the visitation before the service and we also had it the night before for anyone who couldn't make it or, you know, maybe acquaintances and whatnot, who didn't feel like going to the whole service, whatever it is. [00:24:57] You got to come up with a slideshow, which is theoretically easy these days because there's so many goddamn pictures of all of us. [00:25:04] It's theoretically easy because you have tools like, uh, shared iCloud photo libraries, uh, and shared albums, which, you know, as soon as somebody suggested a shared album, I went into my like pre canned speech. [00:25:20] And I think of, well, actually shared albums predate, you know, modern ways of sharing photos in the photos app. [00:25:25] And so whenever you put anything in a shared album, Apple compresses it pretty badly. [00:25:30] It, it downscales the resolution. [00:25:32] It also, you know, adjusts downward, the quality of the image. [00:25:39] And I got halfway through that spiel and being like, you know, this is going to go up on a 10 ADP TV in the back of a room. [00:25:45] Like it's fine. [00:25:46] That's not the issue. [00:25:47] But then the next issue is, you know, everyone goes in the people and pets and photo library, sees all the pictures of dad that aren't bad. [00:25:56] And we all dump them into the same shared library, shared photo album, which is like, like, that's no one's fault, but mine. [00:26:02] I told people just do that and I'll clear them out. [00:26:04] But then you wind up with, and it turns out, this is how that stupid fucking system works. [00:26:09] The shared photo album will treat all of those duplicates as distinct. [00:26:14] And there's, even though there's duplicate deduping now in the photos app, it does not apply to shared library, shared photo albums. [00:26:21] And on top of that, if somebody adds something to a shared photo album, they can remove it. [00:26:27] But for somebody else, like, like, let's say I added a photo of dad that Becky didn't want in there. [00:26:33] Well, Becky can't go in and remove it. [00:26:35] Only the organizer can remove it or the person who posted it. [00:26:39] So then I had to be the person going through and, like, servicing any requests people had for photos to, like, ban from the slideshow. [00:26:46] Because for whatever reason, you know, it's a sensitive time. [00:26:49] And then after it was all done, you realize the slideshow tools don't work correctly. [00:26:56] Like, just the play button and all the different options in the Mac, like, just don't work correctly in a shared album. [00:27:01] Because, of course, they don't. [00:27:02] So then you've got to copy them all. [00:27:07] You thought I was talking about feelings, but it all comes back. [00:27:11] All comes back to Apple shit. [00:27:13] So you've got to copy them all into your photo library, whoever is going to be running the slideshow. [00:27:17] Create a new slideshow project from there. [00:27:20] Dump them all in there. [00:27:22] And then realize there's no, once you've dumped shit into a slideshow project, there is no way to reorder them. [00:27:27] Short of manually drag dropping extremely slowly in a left-right horizontal scroll dingus. [00:27:34] And you've got 500 pictures or something, just fucking forget about it. [00:27:37] And on top of that, I had all these dupes. [00:27:40] Like, I had manually de-duped as best as I could before. [00:27:43] But first question I get half an hour into the visitation is like, yeah, it just seems weird. [00:27:48] Because, like, there's this one picture of me that's going to come up, like, four times. [00:27:52] I was like, I'm sorry, bud. [00:27:54] I said, oh, it's randomized or whatever, you know. [00:28:01] So after you get all of those into a photo slideshow project, and successfully, I installed amphetamine, which will keep your screen awake. [00:28:11] And you plug that into HDMI, and you know how to put a fucking Mac on a TV. [00:28:15] I don't need to tell you that. [00:28:16] After all of it was done and I got home, the two days later I realized, oh, yeah, shit. [00:28:24] Because now my photo library is full, all of the most recent photos are just shit that was copied, that was already initially in my photo library anyway. [00:28:32] And none of them are showing up in the little dupes thing, of course, because it needs days to analyze on Wi-Fi. [00:28:39] So I went to the recent imports or recently saved tab, and then I had to manually go through and delete, like, 1,400 pictures of my dad. [00:28:50] And then hope that, like, I wasn't deleting one that wasn't a dupe. [00:28:55] So I had to go through and, like, manually tease these out. [00:28:59] It took me a fucking hour and a half. [00:29:02] And, yeah, so then I deleted all those to kind of dedupe it, because I was confident I had copies of all those pictures already somewhere else in the library. [00:29:11] That could have been smoother, is the short version of this story. [00:29:16] And, of course, there's no goddamn good software that does this. [00:29:20] There are two people who have made apps that simply shuffle photos in a slideshow. [00:29:26] And they're bad apps. [00:29:27] So they look old. [00:29:28] It's like they basically had to reinvent slideshow stuff, including the software and the shuffling and the crossfades and the Ken Burns effect and the music and all the stuff that the Apple product does. [00:29:38] They had to reinvent all that just to have a shuffle button, which is what you probably want, especially if you've got a mix of scanned photos and, you know, contemporaneous photos. [00:29:50] Because there's no way you're going to make the timeline actually contiguous. [00:29:54] So instead, like, well, here's, like, a bunch of photos between, like, 2003 and 2017, because that's the digital photography era. [00:30:05] And then in 2018, when we scanned all of our photo albums, suddenly it's just all of the photo albums in random order. [00:30:12] And then you have 2019 to 2024. [00:30:15] Like, it's not a cohesive experience. [00:30:20] Now, I would say, well, you know, it's a visitation. [00:30:23] People are coming and going. [00:30:24] They go in, they visit the casket, and they spend time chatting. [00:30:28] But, like, they don't, though. [00:30:30] All the chairs are pointing at this TV, and people just sat there for more than an hour. [00:30:36] They'd watch multiple. [00:30:37] Like, I thought that having a 45-minute long slideshow, that pacing would be okay. [00:30:43] People watched it two or three times while they chatted, you know, just the state of, the lack of kinetic energy throughout the entire experience of somebody passing. [00:30:54] You know, the phrase sit Shiva from Judaism. [00:30:58] Like, I am somebody who is relatively uncomfortable just sitting around, around other people. [00:31:06] I'm happy to sit around by myself. [00:31:08] I'm doing it right now. [00:31:09] I'm actually pretty good at it. [00:31:10] Ask anybody. [00:31:11] But to not have an activity with other people, and also not to have, like, interesting conversation to have with other people, [00:31:20] to just have to be around and with other people, is really goddamn hard. [00:31:25] And I suspect I'm not the only one who feels that way. [00:31:28] Hence, everyone just staring at the slideshow and making a comment here and there. [00:31:32] So, a couple things did jump out at me about that service and about the visitation, though, that were interesting. [00:31:40] One was, Dad had mentored a couple of younger dentists in his last couple years practicing. [00:31:48] People who had intended to take over the practice. [00:31:51] That's his own long story. [00:31:52] But they were, my age or younger, probably younger, definitely younger, come to think of it. [00:31:59] Splendid people. [00:32:00] Like, super upbeat, super duper energetic, just, like, fun. [00:32:05] They forced my dad to do stuff like go fishing and get out and do things that he normally wouldn't do. [00:32:13] And they blew me away by just saying, like, you know, dad was 72. [00:32:18] He was like, this guy, most dentists, when they get older, the hands get shaky. [00:32:25] Their craft gets sloppy. [00:32:28] But your dad was, he, he, I think he said, he set the standard. [00:32:33] He was just a beast. [00:32:34] He was, and I was like, what do you mean? [00:32:36] Like, actually, I've never really talked to anyone about his craft, right? [00:32:41] Because he didn't want to talk about it. [00:32:44] He was like, his prep work and, and, and how he prepped for each procedure was meticulous and perfect every single time. [00:32:53] And his technique while doing things was, was like, like phenomenal. [00:33:00] And they went into a handful of specifics for me. [00:33:02] And that was really special to me because I, like, I, I know that about myself that I'm chasing this asymptotic goal of perfection, but I didn't have evidence that my dad was as well outside of just stuff around the house. [00:33:16] And you can say that, well, that's perfectionism and that's OCD. [00:33:19] And we both have like, you know, traits of that too. [00:33:20] But the, that was really interesting because everyone had only ever experienced my dad as a patient or somebody who's like really, really gregarious and friendly and good at comforting patients. [00:33:33] But yeah, their stories were really, really encouraging. [00:33:39] And that was, that was one where it's like, I was glad to be able to walk away from that series of experiences and learn new stuff about my dad, uh, new stuff that rounded out the story of him in my mind. [00:33:54] Uh, so I'm really thankful to those guys, uh, because they were able to dive in and baby bird for me, explain like I'm five, like the ways in which he was a great dentist, which is just a thing that like, you know, everyone. [00:34:08] How do you rate your dentist, right? [00:34:10] Well, he's good at comforting me. [00:34:12] He's good at explaining things. [00:34:13] He doesn't upsell me a lot. [00:34:15] You know, I'm not afraid when I'm in the chair with him. [00:34:17] And then afterwards things seem to go pretty well, but like, really like the, the work is a black box. [00:34:22] You can't see what's going on in your fucking mouth. [00:34:24] You're, you're conscious. [00:34:25] You know how you feel before and how you feel after, but it's, uh, that was really cool. [00:34:31] Uh, the other, uh, another dentist that worked for him earlier in, in, in, uh, his career, uh, she, she had previously lost her dad and she said, you know, she said something that felt at the time, extremely true. [00:34:47] That a funeral is like having to host the worst party ever. [00:34:51] Uh, so that just to put a cap on it, that's, uh, accurate. [00:35:00] It felt like a party because I got to see a whole lot of people, friends from college, you know, Mark Van Holstein, the president or former president, but co-founder, founder of, uh, mutually human software in Grand Rapids. [00:35:10] You had my former housemate. [00:35:11] He came out, uh, uh, other kid, uh, other friends from, from middle school, high school made the trick, trick, trick, trick, Jeff and Dan. [00:35:21] It was really great to see so many people under, you know, suboptimal circumstances. [00:35:28] And then of course the whole set of extended family where it's like weddings and funerals, huh? [00:35:33] And then like the obligatory, like, yeah, we should really figure out a way to see each other more. [00:35:37] And it's like true. [00:35:38] And no one doesn't feel that way. [00:35:40] It's just like structurally unlikely the way people's lives work. [00:35:44] Uh, and so there's a sort of, uh, uh, nihilism is definitely the wrong word. [00:35:52] There's a sort of resignation that one has about what even are weddings and funerals and why is it that there's this whole cast of characters in your life that are important or close to you and via affiliation or history in some way. [00:36:12] But that you only see at these really like, like, like, like loud life events where it's a big, the background sound is a huge gong going off that distracts from actually getting to know the people. [00:36:26] If you just, you know, picked them on a random Tuesday and went to lunch, you'd probably learn a lot about the person. [00:36:31] But if it's just in the context of like, you know, like looking at, you know, a tray of sandwiches and having to find something to say, it's all going to be sucked in by the event. [00:36:41] And that's too bad, but that's, that's life, I guess, uh, tasks, you know, H through Z day after I, I had intentionally put off any sort of like looking at stuff, like, like thinking about the logistics, uh, the finances, the legal side, the, all that stuff, life insurance, yada, yada. [00:37:06] Uh, but then, you know, it was a lot of that, right. [00:37:09] For, for the rest of our trip, we were there for, for, for 11 days. [00:37:12] I would say skipping a lot of the minutiae because I, of course, you know, when the, when the, when, when a, when a household had a household or breadwinner passes and they didn't leave instructions, like you got to go and do the forensic analysis to figure out like, what are all the, where is everything? [00:37:32] Right. [00:37:32] That's, that's what it was. [00:37:34] It's all fine. [00:37:36] But the, uh, the tech support son, which is like my, you know, uh, it's not an official designation, but, uh, you know, it's a, it's a role I've stepped into and I feel like I've grown into pretty well. [00:37:48] One of the things that jumped is, all right, so we got a couple of things going on. [00:37:54] One, my mom is in an Apple family organized to buy my dad's Apple ID. [00:37:59] Now what? [00:38:00] All the purchases have been made in general on dad's Apple ID, including their Apple one premiere subscription. [00:38:06] Okay. [00:38:07] Well, you know, next eight, you can imagine my next eight Google searches or coggy searches. [00:38:13] All right. [00:38:14] Well, how do you change head of house or organizer of a family answer? [00:38:19] You cannot. [00:38:19] Okay. [00:38:20] Well, how can I transfer the purchases from an organizer to somebody else in the family? [00:38:28] You cannot. [00:38:28] Okay. [00:38:29] Is there a process by which I can make somebody sort of like a legacy page on Facebook, a legacy [00:38:35] human Apple ID? [00:38:37] No. [00:38:39] Okay. [00:38:40] So what do I do? [00:38:41] And they're like, well, you can call Apple support and they may need a death certificate, [00:38:45] but then you can call them and then they can do some amount of stuff, but some, but you don't [00:38:52] get to know what. [00:38:52] And once you kind of go through that process, the Apple ID gets like locked out or that's a, [00:38:57] that's a risk. [00:38:58] And all the sort of, you know, contingent, other things related to that. [00:39:02] I was like, all right, well, I don't necessarily want to do that as a first resort, but I do got [00:39:09] to figure this out because having just like this extra Apple, having this whole like digital [00:39:14] twin to borrow a, an industry term, continue to be a part of a, you know, an Apple family, [00:39:22] a one password family or all this for years into years, just because the software companies [00:39:27] don't make it logistically possible to die. [00:39:30] Uh, that seems great, you know, like, like, so working through that, you know, like I, I still [00:39:38] don't quite have a solution to that. [00:39:39] I'm just going to get through a couple of billing cycles on all the other stuff first, [00:39:43] before I think too hard about it. [00:39:44] Just kidding. [00:39:45] I've thought really hard about it and I've got a 15 step, you know, uh, set of to do's, [00:39:50] but they're just gonna, I gracefully, mercifully, I mercifully punted them two weeks into the [00:39:56] future. [00:39:56] Uh, I, one of the biggest things other than the Apple family stuff was my, my dad had just [00:40:09] bought a new iPhone 16. [00:40:12] I, and he set it up and all that stuff, but my mom was on an older one, like a 12 pro or a 12 mini or a 13 mini. [00:40:19] And it didn't make sense to leave her with the old phone and the new 16, just like in a drawer, [00:40:30] it made sense to give her the new phone. [00:40:33] Right. [00:40:34] Otherwise that the other phone's old enough. [00:40:36] It's like, I'll just be back in six months or, or, or, you know, like we'll, you'll be wasting [00:40:39] money. [00:40:40] So, and that, you know, just like deleting photos of your dad because of a stupid duplication bug, [00:40:45] having to go through a whole bunch of hoops to, to migrate one phone to the other was like the [00:40:50] next challenge. [00:40:52] Cause here was why it was thorny, right? [00:40:54] If, if all of the bank accounts and multi-factor authentication against banks is almost exclusively [00:41:03] SMS, right? [00:41:04] Cause they didn't get on the bandwagon for a, a T O T P or, you know, like you scan the QR code and you [00:41:11] get an authenticator app to, to show it. [00:41:13] And because they, they certainly don't support pass keys. [00:41:16] Uh, we can't just turn off dad's cellular line until we work through all the financial stuff. [00:41:22] But at the same time, okay. [00:41:25] So like if I'm resetting dad's phone and moving mom's stuff onto dad's phone, then how do I [00:41:30] transfer, how do I get these, how do I make it so that dad's SIM doesn't just disappear? [00:41:35] Cause like last thing I want to do is have to call T-Mobile and explain, and then set up the [00:41:41] old phone from scratch and then have them like, I guess, restart the e-SIM process over the phone [00:41:46] on Christmas, you know, Christmas Eve or whatever. [00:41:51] So I, um, I came up with like a towers of Hanoi solution that I actually kind of liked. [00:41:56] What I did was I transferred dad's SIM from the 16 to mom's 13, call it. [00:42:03] So now she had two SIMs on her phone. [00:42:05] She had her primary SIM and dad's SIM, uh, e-SIM. [00:42:09] Uh, uh, and then I, oh, and the 13 or the 12, whatever has one physical and one e-SIM. [00:42:17] And she fortunately had a physical SIM in there. [00:42:19] So she was able to, to, to receive dad's old e-SIM. [00:42:22] So now the 13 of that stage has a physical, a physical nano SIM and an e-SIM. [00:42:27] And then that allowed me to go to dad's phone, back it up, of course, and all that, and then [00:42:32] wipe it. [00:42:33] Cause it had no cellular plan on it. [00:42:35] And then you set it up new, you set it up for mom. [00:42:40] And during that wizard, you know, you do the direct transfer, they're connected via, you [00:42:45] know, USB cables or whatever. [00:42:46] You set it up for mom. [00:42:49] And she has to, she, it says, Hey, you're ready to transfer your cellular plans. [00:42:56] I'm like, yes. [00:42:56] And then I, it's, I realized it's not, you click, you tap one in it and a check box goes [00:43:02] up next to that number. [00:43:03] And then you check the other one and the check box, the check mark moves. [00:43:07] It's clearly like it doesn't support actually initializing a phone with two SIMs, which means [00:43:14] now it's like, okay, so I'll move for a primary SIM first as part of this direct transfer. [00:43:20] And then the direct transfer, because her router was simultaneously and coincidentally failing, [00:43:25] the direct transfer failed because the wifi timed out. [00:43:30] And when you're in the direct transfer mode between two phones in that setting, you can't [00:43:36] like get to control center and turn off the wifi nick. [00:43:39] So then I've got these two phones that I can clearly tell are timing out in the activation [00:43:43] process while the SIM is moving. [00:43:45] And I'm like, fuck sake. [00:43:47] But it's also like a mesh router and there's three mesh access points throughout the house [00:43:52] and I don't know where they are. [00:43:53] So I, I can't just unplug them and make the SSID go away. [00:43:57] So then I would like throw on my winter coat, it's fucking freezing outside and I start marching [00:44:03] down the street until I can get to like far enough away that they both lose the wifi signal [00:44:09] so that the transfer doesn't fail. [00:44:11] So I, it took 15 houses. [00:44:14] I'm, you know, in, in, in, in, uh, uh, my winter coat, 15 houses, they finally get onto [00:44:21] five G and then the, the, the transfer starts succeeding. [00:44:23] And then I start walking back and then it's just instantly says failed. [00:44:26] So then I get back to the house, start the whole thing over again. [00:44:30] And now of course, mom's primary SIM is like trapped on the first phone or the second, the [00:44:36] new 16, but in setting it up again, it doesn't see it anymore because like it was just at that [00:44:41] perfect moment when all the e-sim juice lands in the 16 or whatever. [00:44:48] So I started the whole process over again. [00:44:50] I, I, I set it up fair and square and then I, I, uh, uh, it all went fine after a few hours. [00:44:59] And then the last thing it does is the 13 or whatever says, Hey, okay, time to delete [00:45:04] me. [00:45:04] And then it's like a, basically two taps and you've deleted the phone that just was the [00:45:08] sender or the old phone in the transfer process. [00:45:11] And I almost habitually clicked it. [00:45:13] And I was like, wait, no, that will delete the SIM, the e-sim. [00:45:16] So click, no, cancel out of that, restart the phone. [00:45:20] And then, and then you can transfer that second SIM back to the first one. [00:45:23] So like when that was just two phones, just moving to e-sims, like again, you know, note [00:45:28] to Apple, like this could probably be made easier. [00:45:31] Uh, it's just, it's edge cases like this, that all software companies are really, really bad [00:45:37] at, uh, especially ones that don't have a great track record of automated testing and stuff [00:45:43] like, so I get it. [00:45:45] I know why it happened. [00:45:47] The other thing that sucked was a dad had an Apple card and if we're not going to have [00:45:52] a phone with dad on it, you don't want, there's no other fucking way to cancel an Apple card. [00:45:57] You have to be on the phone that has the Apple card to cancel it. [00:46:01] But if there's no phone with Fred on it, like that meant I, that forced the issue. [00:46:05] Like I'm not, I'm putting off all the financial stuff, right? [00:46:07] But I had to cancel the Apple card, but I had a balance. [00:46:10] So now I've got to like pay a balance on this Apple card. [00:46:13] And of course the banking connection, he didn't like, like it expired or something. [00:46:18] So I have to go and find the banking information. [00:46:21] I log in, whatever I hit cancel. [00:46:23] And it's, you can cancel the card. [00:46:25] It wants you to pay the balance first. [00:46:27] I tried to pay the exact balance. [00:46:30] It was $218 and 17 cents. [00:46:32] I, and I tried 15 goddamn times. [00:46:35] Uh, I changed to a different bank and it said insufficient balance. [00:46:41] And I was like, does that mean like the checking accounts overdrawn? [00:46:45] So then I'm panicking. [00:46:45] It's like, so I go into the bank account. [00:46:47] I'm like, is it easy overdrawn or what? [00:46:50] Hour of, you know, me retrying and doing this only to realize that there's a fucking bug, [00:46:58] a rounding bug of sub decimal sense. [00:47:02] Because when it said $218 and 17 cents as being the balance owed, it was probably a floating [00:47:09] point under there of $218 and call it 16.51 cents. [00:47:16] Because when I tried to do $218 and 17 cents, it failed. [00:47:21] It's an insufficient balance, which made me think insufficient funds. [00:47:25] But then I had the bright idea to try just one penny less than that. [00:47:28] And it cleared. [00:47:30] It meant that you can't make a payment on the card that is in excess of what is owed on the [00:47:35] card. [00:47:35] And it saw that fraction of a penny as being, oh, hey now, a little too generous. [00:47:40] So an Apple, you know, be good guy, Apple, making sure people can't overpay. [00:47:44] Also, the bad guy, Apple doesn't write tests or use, you know, appropriate data structures [00:47:50] for storing goddamn dollars. [00:47:52] Results in, I can't close this card out. [00:47:56] So eventually, so I got it down to one penny. [00:47:58] And then when it was down to one penny, it let me pay one penny, which is separately hilarious. [00:48:02] So I close the Apple card and then the Apple card says, all right, you're closed now. [00:48:09] The card is removed from all your devices. [00:48:14] Now monitor for the next few months and make payments against anything that shows up in [00:48:18] the statement, right? [00:48:19] Because like, that's how credit cards work. [00:48:20] Things don't post immediately. [00:48:22] I was like, well, I have no idea what was getting charged onto this thing. [00:48:26] What might hit it? [00:48:28] I'd scrolled through a statement. [00:48:31] I had a feeling it wouldn't be bad. [00:48:32] But then of course, like as soon as I wipe that phone, I even restored it. [00:48:36] I restored dad's Apple ID onto another phone because I had a burner phone back when I got [00:48:42] home just to see like, would it, would it, would it, would the, would it, the iCloud sync [00:48:47] work, you know, where your wallet shit just shows up in the new phone just magically after [00:48:52] setup. [00:48:52] And the answer is no, because the Apple card is closed. [00:48:55] So there's no reason to put the Apple card on the new phone. [00:48:58] People would be confused, even though it's just in this removed state of like, watch the [00:49:01] balance, which means now that once the phone gets wiped, there's actually no way to pay [00:49:06] a balance. [00:49:06] If one were to materialize, I guess it would just go to collections. [00:49:10] So now, you know, like, please don't post any transactions to my dad's defunct Apple card. [00:49:16] Cause like, I don't have any fucking way to pay it. [00:49:18] There's card.apple.com. [00:49:19] But like, that's just for downloading statements. [00:49:22] So great job, Apple, like you should really make it easier to die. [00:49:26] Like, fuck, fuck it's sake. [00:49:27] This is a, I realized this has been a lot. [00:49:33] I'm going to move right along. [00:49:37] While we were up, we wanted to just, we needed a break. [00:49:42] It'd been like day after day of the same, you know, emotional and logistical tumult. [00:49:48] Just a real grind. [00:49:49] So we want to go see a movie and like, like, uh, uh, Jeremy had expressed interest in seeing [00:49:53] wicked, which is an autobiography about Ariana Grande as a person, as best I can tell. [00:50:00] Real just, she seems like a piece of shit in real life, but also she got to play one in [00:50:08] a movie. [00:50:08] And so like, uh, it's like one of those things where it's like, well, that Bill Murray just [00:50:12] like plays himself. [00:50:13] And it just so happens that he is such a delightful and interesting person that everything he's [00:50:18] in is always amazing. [00:50:19] So I'm glad she got to play herself. [00:50:21] It seemed well acted, but I knew it was probably just who she is. [00:50:27] Uh, huge fan. [00:50:31] Uh, so anyway, we went to see wicked and all of a sudden, you know, we joked about it beforehand, [00:50:37] but like, I can't, I don't understand lyrics. [00:50:39] I have a thing I've got a, uh, a worm lives inside my brain. [00:50:43] And whenever there's a song playing, uh, that worm starts humming and I can't hear the lyrics [00:50:49] to the song. [00:50:50] I can't understand or discriminate where the words are starting and stopping. [00:50:53] I can't tell what is being said. [00:50:56] And if I can barely make it out, then I'm so overwrought and focusing on what's being said. [00:51:01] Then, then I kind of lose the thread. [00:51:02] Like I'll hear the individual words if I really focus, but then not understand what is being [00:51:08] communicated through lyrics. [00:51:10] At the same time, you go to a musical, you go to like, when I went to Hamilton, this was [00:51:15] like extremely clear. [00:51:16] It's like, Oh, I, I put, we went to Hamilton, uh, when, when Hamilton was still cool and not [00:51:21] seen as some sort of, you know, uh, uh, white supremacist whitewashing by putting BIPOC [00:51:27] people in, in these roles and whatnot, 2020 was a hell of a year, uh, when we went to [00:51:33] Hamilton, I got, they got through the first number and I was like, that was very impressive. [00:51:38] I, I appreciate the, this tonal, you know, interesting take. [00:51:43] This is like very like, like skillfully and artfully, uh, done. [00:51:47] Uh, and then, uh, you know, then they go straight into another song and I turned to Becky. [00:51:54] He was like, is there, is there no talking in this one? [00:51:56] Is there zero spoken dialogue in this? [00:52:00] And it turned out that the answer was yes. [00:52:02] And I was like, I don't understand anything. [00:52:04] And so, uh, when we went to Hamilton, which I'd paid a lot of money to go to, uh, I walked [00:52:09] to the lobby in the middle of the show. [00:52:12] And then I ordered like two thingies of wine, uh, which I paid a lot of money for the wine. [00:52:20] And then I got back to the seat, threw back both wines and fell asleep. [00:52:23] So that was Hamilton for me. [00:52:26] So here I am at wicked and we're in the first little ditty. [00:52:28] And I'm like, I don't understand any of these fucking words. [00:52:33] I don't, I don't know what's happening. [00:52:35] And I've got to worry that this is going to be a song heavy movie, which it was. [00:52:40] So I was like, you know what, like normally I'd be embarrassed to do this, [00:52:44] but I'm going to go to the front and say, like, I'm hard of hearing. [00:52:49] Can I have a subtitle machine dingus? [00:52:52] I knew that theaters had them. [00:52:55] I didn't really know how they worked or what they were, if they were any good. [00:52:58] But I was like, you know, for the sake of science and technology, I'm going to try the [00:53:02] subtitle dingus. [00:53:04] So I went to the front, I went to the little, like, you know, whatever ticket booth, and [00:53:08] they handed me a gooseneck snake thing where the bottom is like, it's like a, a drill that [00:53:17] would bore a tunnel, but it goes in the cup holder. [00:53:20] So it's like a cup holder drill and it screws in. [00:53:23] So it goes in the cup holder. [00:53:25] You screw it in to secure it. [00:53:27] And then there's a long gooseneck, a too long, in my opinion, gooseneck. [00:53:31] It's like probably two feet. [00:53:34] If you don't know the term gooseneck, like, like, like, like bendy, like, like, you know, [00:53:42] relatively thick, not a cable, but like a, like a pole that is pliable. [00:53:48] So you can bend it in all sorts of different directions to kind of adjust it. [00:53:53] And then on the top, it was a, a device that had a blinder on the top so that other people [00:53:59] weren't getting a whole bunch of illumination and seeing subtitles and a radio system in [00:54:05] the center, as well as like a kind of internal projector unit. [00:54:08] And so it was very interesting to see how these worked. [00:54:11] You would, and, and, and honestly, because I was uninterested in the Ariana Grande story, [00:54:16] I was mostly just futzing with, and it gave me something to do for the three and a half [00:54:23] hours. [00:54:23] By the way, I had been told that there was an intermission and I was told that because somebody [00:54:29] had in the game of telephone and said they broke it up into two parts. [00:54:32] So like I went in expecting an intermission and then we're like three hours in, it's almost [00:54:37] like 11 fucking o'clock. [00:54:38] And I'm like, I got to pee, but like, I hear there's an intermission. [00:54:41] How late are we going to be here? [00:54:44] So that was, that kept me busy too. [00:54:46] I had something else to do, but anyway, the, the, the subtitle machine was really interesting [00:54:50] because as you look at it and once you get it configured, right, you realize like while [00:55:00] I was walking down the, the, the corridor, it just said, Hey, you know, go inside the theater [00:55:06] or whatever. [00:55:07] When you go in the side of theater, it'll just start showing up. [00:55:09] And when I looked inside the theater, just at the, at the edge of the theater, it was like, [00:55:14] malfunctioning. [00:55:15] It said like something about an, a reader. [00:55:16] And then I realized, Oh, what's happening here is, and this is really one of those kind [00:55:20] of old school, cool technology, you know, innovations where they couldn't just use a digital system [00:55:27] for this per se. [00:55:28] Like a protocol, right? [00:55:30] Like if you were to build this today, these would be like lithium ion battery devices that [00:55:34] would have some charging dock and some kind of software that ran on, like on top of some [00:55:38] minimal Linux stack. [00:55:40] And then it would use the, the, the theater's wifi to send subtitles, which would require [00:55:46] all of this configuration, right? [00:55:47] Like, okay, now punch in on the touch screen on your subtitle device, like which theater, [00:55:52] which theater you're in and which movie time. [00:55:54] And we'll play it. [00:55:55] Right. [00:55:55] But instead, this was just like a short wave radio system. [00:55:58] So you'd be inside the theater and every theater you, you've never even noticed this. [00:56:03] Probably you're in the theater and you're watching a movie. [00:56:06] And the subtitle machine is just receiving these waves that you can't see because the projector [00:56:13] area, I presume is just always blasting out radio waves of the current line of dialogue. [00:56:20] You just didn't have the device to see it. [00:56:22] And so I got the thing screwed in with Jeremy's help because I'm not very handy and I got to [00:56:29] actually follow along the rest of the movie, which makes me an authority on, on, on being [00:56:34] able to say not that great. [00:56:35] Not very interesting. [00:56:37] I I'm on the Kinsey scale. [00:56:40] I'm all the way to hetero male, which means musical theater is not, doesn't come naturally [00:56:48] to me in terms of being like something that gets me real excited deep down there. [00:56:53] Uh, sorry if that's you, I'm just saying it's not it anyway. [00:57:02] Uh, yeah. [00:57:03] So that was, that was pretty cool. [00:57:05] Uh, other life stuff. [00:57:13] Well, the, the version, I guess tying a bow around the, uh, the trip up there and all [00:57:21] that realizing I've gone an hour on it now. [00:57:25] People, when you move from the Midwest United States to Florida and you do it because you [00:57:35] feel like the Midwest kind of sucks, you know, it's cold. [00:57:38] A lot of the time, uh, a lot of the rest belt States are, well, they're called rust belt. [00:57:45] They're dying economically. [00:57:46] There's less economic activity. [00:57:48] There's less new stuff. [00:57:50] There's less vibrancy. [00:57:51] Uh, when you move from the Midwest to Florida and you have a great setup there and lots of sunshine [00:58:00] and, and, and, and stuff to do people react in very different ways. [00:58:08] No one just says, Oh my God, that's so great for you. [00:58:10] I'm really, really happy for you. [00:58:11] Wow. [00:58:12] That sounds awesome. [00:58:12] I mean, some people kind of do, uh, a lot of people are either jealous or in some state [00:58:20] of denial or, or frustration by it, you know, like you feel abandoned or whatnot. [00:58:27] I think, I think the people who genuinely think the Midwest is better and the people who are [00:58:34] jealous, both end up asking the same question of us Midwestern expats. [00:58:41] And that, that question is, do you regret it yet? [00:58:44] God, I've been down here for four years. [00:58:48] Right. [00:58:49] And here I am. [00:58:50] My dad just died. [00:58:52] Just put on a funeral, you know, staying at a Hampton Inn. [00:58:57] Huh? [00:58:59] A Hampton Inn where like, it was a great experience. [00:59:02] The staff were really great, but like they had a desk in the laundry room that was never screwed [00:59:07] in or, or, or secured properly. [00:59:08] So I set down my brand new MacBook pro and a Coke, a can of Coke. [00:59:13] And then it just collapsed all of it all at once to the floor. [00:59:17] So my MacBook got soaking wet and Coke. [00:59:19] And also the, the unibody enclosure got super scraped up. [00:59:23] And, uh, the, the day before the funeral, I was all, you know, in a lot of neck pain from, [00:59:29] from the fall and the general manager still hasn't gotten back to me. [00:59:33] It was gray outside. [00:59:35] It was cold. [00:59:37] You know, and I, and I was struggling like for activities and things we could do as a [00:59:42] family and, and settled. [00:59:43] Uh, and the best, most entertaining thing to do was the Ariana Grande story. [00:59:50] And they ask, do you regret it yet? [00:59:52] Like totally just straight. [00:59:56] Every time we go back, I thought like, this is going to be the trip. [01:00:00] I go back and I don't have a single person ask me that, but then it came up relative at the [01:00:06] wake. [01:00:09] And I was like, man, thank you for asking. [01:00:11] You know, I think about it a lot. [01:00:14] I love Michigan. [01:00:14] Michigan's beautiful in the summers, but inside I'm like, come on. [01:00:17] No, I don't regret it. [01:00:19] Yes. [01:00:20] I'm already homesick. [01:00:21] Uh, it's fucking awesome here. [01:00:23] I'm not going to lie. [01:00:24] Like I live in goddamn paradise. [01:00:26] I don't know why more people don't do it. [01:00:28] I don't, you know, politics are part of the equation for a lot of folks, uh, politics and [01:00:35] policies. [01:00:36] Uh, and I, and I get it, but man, like I am so much fucking happier here just on a [01:00:42] day-to-day basis. [01:00:43] Like you, you blind out all of the sort of like metal layer stuff and just like my meat [01:00:48] bag gets a lot more sun and a lot more movement and a lot more just stuff going on down here. [01:00:53] And so, no, I don't regret it yet. [01:00:54] Uh, but if I ever do, I'll let you know, I've got a podcast, so I definitely will. [01:01:02] Uh, one thing I do regret is eating so, or is, uh, uh, drinking so little dairy in my [01:01:07] twenties because I have become extremely lactose intolerant. [01:01:12] Uh, so I don't have any lactase to the point where even if I drink lactaid, like, like what [01:01:19] they call like lactose free milk, but, but actually is lactose full milk with also lactase enzyme [01:01:25] added to it so that your tummy will process it. [01:01:28] Even when I drink that, I drank 20 grams two nights ago and the whole next day I was [01:01:33] wrecked. [01:01:33] That's not a lot of fucking milk. [01:01:35] Uh, now you call that an allergy or an intolerance. [01:01:39] Um, but like if I want cereal, like it's going to happen. [01:01:42] So sure you can pathologize it, but I was like, I, I am making a trade with my future self. [01:01:48] Like I'm going to put up with some indigestion so that I can have this deal. [01:01:52] Okay. [01:01:53] We're in, uh, if I had a peanut allergy to the point of like anaphylactic shock, I'd be [01:02:01] having the same negotiation. [01:02:03] I would just probably not take the deal most of the time. [01:02:07] Uh, anyway, I finally caved. [01:02:11] Cause like I talking about politics, I am politically, um, unaccepting intolerant of, [01:02:19] uh, milk alternatives. [01:02:22] Cause it's not milk. [01:02:24] People call almond milk, milk. [01:02:26] That's not milk. [01:02:27] That's just squeezed almond. [01:02:29] And like the amount of water that goes into making an almond is insane. [01:02:32] And so the, whatever almond milk is must be not, not really great from a sustainability [01:02:37] perspective. [01:02:38] And it's just, it's not, it's not what it says on the 10. [01:02:41] It shouldn't be allowed to be called milk. [01:02:43] It's like that fake egg product called just egg. [01:02:45] I was like, that's no, it's unjust egg. [01:02:48] This is not an egg. [01:02:49] Uh, so I, I, I caved and I bought Kirkland dairy-free oat beverage is what it says in the [01:03:00] box and oat milk. [01:03:02] And I had that last night and I'm still mad at myself about it, but here we are. [01:03:08] I'm going to say that's, I'm going to cap it at an hour of life updates. [01:03:16] I knew it would be life heavy. [01:03:18] Um, but, and because it's a heavy period of life right now, but if you're curious after all [01:03:24] of this shit and all the storytelling and all me getting stuff off my chest, I'm actually [01:03:28] doing great. [01:03:29] I'm processing things. [01:03:30] Love my dad dearly. [01:03:31] Um, I, I've taken the moments, you know, to be quiet and still and to spend effort and [01:03:44] time genuinely reflecting and going through old things and, you know, letting feelings happen [01:03:51] and letting those memories come by and doing other