Crossed Wires Crossed Wires Podcasts

The hype around AI continues to grow, often muddling genuinely useful elements like machine learning, pattern recognition, and properly and ethnically trained large language models with tools like ChatGPT and generative AI tools that have questionable data sources.



With returning guests, Prof. Catherine Flick and our very own Zack, we talk about the challenges of AI in the academic space. Zack also shares his own experience of being caught using ChatGPT to complete a final essay he, by his own admission, had left until the last minute.



Are you academia, have you been tempted to use AI shortcuts or maybe are a teacher or professor who has had experience with students taking those shortcuts? We'd love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.



If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.



Affiliate Promotion




"Don't you people backup? I backup, and I don't even know what backing up means!" - Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship




If you have any kind of file that's important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you'll want to make sure it's kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn't really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.



Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn't in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.



Episode Links




Prof Catherine Flick - Website / Mastodon




Chapter Times




00:00:04: Introductions



00:05:11: Zack’s Story



00:14:55: Assistive Tools vs AI



00:24:38: Due Diligence & Alternative Assessments 



00:45:33: Generative AI 



00:51:45: AI Hype vs Machine Learning 



00:55:00: Wrapping Up




Credits



Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

If you’ve ever purchased a new laptop, you’ll know only too well the pain of configuring your new system to get your dream setup. With some manufacturers, looking at you here Apple, your choice of storage and memory are there for the lifetime of the laptop.



Worst still, if you have a failed component on your laptop you’re often faced with expensive and proprietary repair options that can often cost nearly as much as the laptop itself.



Nirav Patel founded Framework to tackle these issues by creating laptops that push the boundaries of what we’d expect to be upgradable in our modern thin and light world.



What do you think about the Framework laptop, is it something that may be on your tech wish list? Do you think laptops, and tech in general, should last longer than a podcast episode? We’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.



If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.



Affiliate Promotion




“Don’t you people backup? I backup, and I don’t even know what backing up means!” – Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship




If you have any kind of file that’s important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you’ll want to make sure it’s kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn’t really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.



Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn’t in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.



Episode Links




Framework – The Framework laptops



Framework Marketplace – See all the various components you can buy for your Framework laptop



Linux on the Framework Laptop – Details of Framework’s official support for both Ubuntu and Fedora



Dell Inspiron 9100: $4,800 Pentium 4 Laptop from 2004 – LGR (YouTube)



Checking on my Investment in Person – Framework Laptop Factory Tour – Linus Tech Tips (YouTube)




Chapter Times




00:00:04: Introductions



00:02:15: Right to Repair & Sustainability



00:05:38: Upgrading a Mobile Platform



00:08:42: The Framework Laptop



00:11:05: Linus Drop Tips



00:12:48: Modular IO



00:15:52: Memory & Storage



00:16:50: Main board and more ?



00:18:47: Framework 16 Input Deck



00:21:28: Reusing a Framework Mainboard



00:23:35: Framework 16 GPU



00:26:07: Linux Support



00:27:53: Final Thoughts from Nirav



00:29:30: Wrapping Up




Credits



Intro and outro theme:&nbsp

It’s our pleasure to be joined again by The Iconfactory’s Gedeon Maheux, this time we’re talking less Star Trek and more Tapestry, no not that episode with Q and Picard!



Project Tapestry is their latest KickStarter project, and the goal is to create a one-stop-shop for reading the influx of things that matter to you on the web. As long as the site has an open and accessible endpoint for you to get the data, you should be able to bring that into Tapestry.



We also talk about some of the challenges of designing apps for changing design styles, different platforms, and of course take some minor course corrections into sci-fi and Apple in general.



Will you be backing Project Tapestry? At the time of posting this episode, there’s just 7 days left to go and the team have some really cool rewards still up for grabs. 



What are your thoughts on how apps are designed? What’s your favourite Q appearance in The Next Generation? We’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.



If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.



Affiliate Promotion




“Don’t you people backup? I backup, and I don’t even know what backing up means!” – Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship




If you have any kind of file that’s important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you’ll want to make sure it’s kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn’t really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.



Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn’t in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.



Episode Links




The Iconfactory – Website | Mastodon



Gedeon Maheux – Mastodon



Project Tapestry – Kickstarter



Why Tapestry? – Iconfactory Blog



Ollie, Space Karen, and an API – Gedeon’s first appearance on the show talking about the demise of the Twitter API




Chapter Times




00:00:04: Introductions



00:03:01: Why Kickstarter?



00:05:54: What is Tapestry?



00:13:47: Endpoints



00:18:43: Rewards



00:22:23: Looking Back at Design Trends



00:30:59: An AI Tangent



00:33:59: An Apple QuickTake 



00:41:32: Designing for New Platforms



00:54:01: The Joy of Design



01:02:28: Wrapping Up 




Credits



Intro and outro theme: 

With so many choices in browsers on desktop, mobile, and even our vehicles, it’s important to look under-the-hood to understand the differences between the engines that power your favourite browser. 



Be that Chromium, WebKit, or Gecko, not all browsers are created equal and have varying features and views on the rights of their users. We’re honoured to be joined by Jon von Tetzchner, the CEO of Vivaldi, an open-source and privacy first Chromium powered browser that could replace Google Chrome.



Jon also explains why we need regulation on the increasingly scary amount of user-profiling that’s happening across the web itself, not to mention many browsers and services. 



Do you remember using the early versions of Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Opera, or something equally vintage? Or, maybe you had to develop sites that required myriads of tweaks to make them work across platforms and interpretations of web standards. 



We’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.



If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.



Affiliate Promotion




“Don’t you people backup? I backup, and I don’t even know what backing up means!” – Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship




If you have any kind of file that’s important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you’ll want to make sure it’s kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn’t really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.



Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn’t in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.



Episode Links




Vivaldi – Website | Mastodon



Jon von Tetzchner – Mastodon



Mosaic – Wikipedia



Opera Mini – Wikipedia



W3C – The World Wide Web Consortium



Secure DNS – Chromium Blog



Fastmail – Privacy focussed email, get 10% off your first year with this link.



Digital Identity – Our chat with Helen Horstmann-Allen from Fastmail



Vivaldi steers in-car browsing: Now available in the all-new Ford and Lincoln infotainment system




Chapter Times




00:00:05: Introductions



00:04:20: W

Whether you work in tech, produce tech content, or just happen to use a smartphone, a single question can spark debate and an explosion of extreme views from both sides. That question is simple, iPhone or Android?



We’re joined by our Zack, one of Jae’s nephews and a longtime Android user and advocate to have an honest discussion about why we like the platforms we’ve settled on and where we see potential issues. 



Our chat touches on some core issues like security updates, the challenge of a multitude of Android OEMs, cross-platform messaging, ecosystem lock-in, and the important of right to repair and the longevity of hardware.



What’s your daily driver, do you have strong feelings about the Fruit Company or the one with all the Droids? If you can keep it respectful, we’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.



If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.



Affiliate Promotion




“Don’t you people backup? I backup, and I don’t even know what backing up means!” – Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship




If you have any kind of file that’s important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you’ll want to make sure it’s kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn’t really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.



Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn’t in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.



Episode Links




Android Open Source Project – The core of Android, that isn’t always Google powered.



iPhone Models Compatible with iOS 17 – Apple Support



Samsung Commits to Four Years of Security Updates – Samsung Newsroom (2021)



Signal – Cross platform, end-to-end encrypted messaging



iFixIt.com – Guides for device repair




Chapter Times




00:00:04: Introductions



00:03:43: Our Daily Drivers



00:06:57: Personal Choice Matters



00:12:13: Android is not Google



00:15:26: Side loading: Android’s Freedom of Choice? 



00:33:15: Android Versions & OEMs 



00:42:18: An Expectation of Updates? 



00:47:38: Picking Your Device 



00:51:05: The Right to Repair 



01:07:34: Platform Services & Ecosystems 



01:18:17: Beeping iMessage 



01:29:01: Wrapping Up




Credits



Intro and outro theme: 

You’ll have heard James and Jae wax lyrical about their love for the UniFi line of networking gear on our live streams and in past episodes with Alex, as well as with Cody from MacTelecom Networks, but this episode is a fairly deep look into why we love UniFi.



We’re joined by Alex Lowe and Evan McCann, the hosts of UI Chat, a monthly Ubiquiti focussed podcast that is definitely our go-to resource for the latest news from the UniFi maker. 



We talk about some of the new products, though it’s worth mentioning that this episode was recorded in mid-December 2023 and so pre-dates the new U7 Pro and Swiss Army Knife Ultra access points, as well as the new Pro Max switches.



Have you used UniFi at home or at work, or maybe you disagree with our views and prefer [insert other brand name here] for your network. We’d love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server.



If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page.



Affiliate Promotion




“Don’t you people backup? I backup, and I don’t even know what backing up means!” – Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship




If you have any kind of file that’s important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you’ll want to make sure it’s kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn’t really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too.



Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn’t in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up.



Episode Links




UI Chat on Apple Podcasts



The Interface – Alex’s great tech news site



McCann Tech – Evan’s blog with wonderful deep dives on UniFi gear



UniFi Products

Express – The new all-in-one gateway, controller, and access point that Jae now uses to replace her previous eero setup.



Dream Router – The R2D2 like gateway, switch, controller and access point that James uses



Talk – Affordable VoIP platform which has less features than a traditional PBX, but is incredibly easy to configure.





Meet UniFi (YouTube Playlist) – The Jack Quaid (aka Lt. Bradwert Boimler) UniFi ads




Chapter Times




00:00:04: Introductions



00:05:42: A UniFi Overview



00:21:17: Routing 



00:25:30: No Subscriptions



00:27:11: The UniFi Magic 



00:37:20: Switches, Switches, Switches 



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