We enter the world of C# 8 nullable reference types! What does the migration look like? What are the benefits? Should you be turning on all the flags right now in your apps and libraries?

Follow Us

* Frank: Twitter (http://twitter.com/praeclarum), Blog (http://praeclarum.org), GitHub (http://github.com/praeclarum)

* James: Twitter (http://twitter.com/jamesmontemagno), Blog (https://montemagno.com), GitHub (http://github.com/jamesmontemagno)

* Merge Conflict: Twitter (http://twitter.com/mergeconflictfm), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/mergeconflictfm), Website (http://mergeconflict.fm)

* Music : Amethyst Seer - Citrine by Adventureface (https://soundcloud.com/adventureface)

⭐⭐ Review Us (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/merge-conflict/id1133064277?mt=2&ls=1) ⭐⭐

SUPPORT US ON PATREON: patreon.com/mergeconflictfm (https://www.patreon.com/mergeconflictfm)Support Merge Conflict (https://www.patreon.com/mergeconflictfm)Links:* Containing Null with C# 8 Nullable References (https://praeclarum.org/2018/12/17/nullable-reference-types.html)* Jon Skeet on Twitter (https://twitter.com/jonskeet/status/1074691443460136961)* What's New in C# 8.0 | Microsoft Connect(); 2018 | Channel 9 (https://channel9.msdn.com/events/Connect/Microsoft-Connect--2018/D140?term=C%23%208&lang-en=true)

Favorite Episodes

Matty

* Let’s Be Careful out There with J. Paul Reed and Mary Thengvall (https://www.arresteddevops.com/safety/)

* Punk Rock DevOps with Jay Gordon (https://www.arresteddevops.com/punk-rock/)

* Shouting at the DevOps with Corey Quinn (https://www.arresteddevops.com/shouting-at-the-devops/)

Bridget

* GOTO Chicago 2018 (https://www.arresteddevops.com/goto-chicago-2018/)

Trevor

* Ignite 2018 Catch Up With Jessica Deen (https://www.arresteddevops.com/ignite-2018-jdeen/)

* Ignite 2018 Catch Up With Ed Thomson (https://www.arresteddevops.com/ignite-2018-ethomson/)

* Ignite 2018 Catch Up With Steven Murawski (https://www.arresteddevops.com/ignite-2018-smurawski/)

* Ignite 2018 Catch Up With Donovan Brown (https://www.arresteddevops.com/ignite-2018-dbrown/)

Numbers

* We passed 1,000,000 listens this year

* Most listened to episode of 2018 - Punk Rock DevOps with Jay Gordon (https://www.arresteddevops.com/punk-rock/)

* Second most listened to episode of 2018 - Theatre Geeks Unite and Tech Over the World (https://www.arresteddevops.com/theatre-nerds/)

What happened in 2018?

Bridget

* Travel. And plenty of it.

Matty

* Moved to SF and a bunch of personal stuff

* Visited 8 countries for work

* Spoke at like 20 events or something

* 5 new tattoos

Trevor

* Lot’s of time with Microsoft

* Launched a product (preview)

* Learning guitar! Formally, finally!

Podcast Recommendations

Bridget

* Pod Save America (https://art19.com/shows/pod-save-america)

Matty

* Hidden Brain (https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510308/hidden-brain)

Trevor

* Tech Moan (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5I2hjZYiW9gZPVkvzM8_Cw)

Joe

* extra hot great (https://www.extrahotgreat.com)

Greater Than Code (http://www.greaterthancode.com/) podcast

Check Outs:

Jessica

* Atomist.com (https://Atomist.com)

* glitch (https://glitch.com/)

Matty

* Pagerduty has open-sourced our incident response training - https://response.pagerduty.com (https://response.pagerduty.com)

* Buffalo - rapid web development framework for Go - https://gobuffalo.io (https://gobuffalo.io)

An RSS feed is crucial for a podcast, in fact without one you technically don’t have a podcast, you’re just sharing audio. Regardless, they’re not as simple as they sound always, and there are many RSS feed misconceptions out there that podcasters don’t necessarily release they’re falling for. Mike Dell, from Blubrry’s support team and Your Podcast, joined MacKenzie to discuss the introduction of Pandora into the podcasting industry, in a much larger way than the past. As time goes on, more companies will be getting involved in Pandora submissions. Wrapped up with ideas on what a Blubrry podcast bootcamp would encompass. It’s becoming more popular for organizations to put the call out there to teach minority groups how to podcast and get them more involved.

Top 5 Directories

* Apple Podcasts

* Google

* Stitcher

* TuneIn

* Spotify

Thanks for listening and please subscribe via your favorite podcast app. If you’d like to be a guest on the show reach out to MacKenzie. She’s always looking for fun, new podcasters that use Blubrry services, specifically PowerPress. There is one last episode to be released for 2018, let MacKenzie know what you want to hear in 2019.

Fan of PowerPress? Leave us a review here (https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/powerpress/reviews/).

Show notes:

Pandora is Joining the Podcasting Game (http://press.pandora.com/file/4247784/Index?KeyFile=395749528&utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=podnews.net:2018-11-14): But MacKenzie and Mike are a bit more interested in the podcast genome project.

What Is A Podcast Feed? (https://powerpresspodcast.com/2018/09/12/what-is-a-podcast-rss-feed/): From our blog earlier this year, alleviating confusion on RSS feeds.

Futuro Media and various others creating podcast bootcamps (https://current.org/2018/11/futuro-media-choose-podcast-training/): What would Blubrry included in their own?

This week we bring on an expert in application performance monitoring to tell us all of the things we are doing right, wrong, and ways to improve to have the best application and server experience for our users.

John-Daniel Trask, CEO of Raygun (https://www.raygun.com), breaks down the latest and greatest in tracking crashes, performance, and user feedback in applications. We also learn and investigate how Raygun uses Raygun on their own website to constantly monitor and improve.

Follow Us

* Frank: Twitter (http://twitter.com/praeclarum), Blog (http://praeclarum.org), GitHub (http://github.com/praeclarum)

* James: Twitter (http://twitter.com/jamesmontemagno), Blog (https://montemagno.com), GitHub (http://github.com/jamesmontemagno)

* Merge Conflict: Twitter (http://twitter.com/mergeconflictfm), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/mergeconflictfm), Website (http://mergeconflict.fm)

* Music : Amethyst Seer - Citrine by Adventureface (https://soundcloud.com/adventureface)

⭐⭐ Review Us (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/merge-conflict/id1133064277?mt=2&ls=1) ⭐⭐

SUPPORT US ON PATREON: patreon.com/mergeconflictfm (https://www.patreon.com/mergeconflictfm)Special Guest: John-Daniel Trask.Sponsored By:* Syncfusion (https://www.syncfusion.com/products/xamarin?utm_source=podcasts&utm_medium=list&utm_campaign=mergexampodcy18): Syncfusion offers the largest selection of controls for Xamarin.iOS, Xamarin.Android, and Xamarin.Forms. Check out our components on NuGet and don’t forget to download our Xamarin e-books.

 (https://www.syncfusion.com/products/xamarin?utm_source=podcasts&utm_medium=list&utm_campaign=mergexampodcy18)Support Merge Conflict (https://www.patreon.com/mergeconflictfm)Links:* Merge Conflict: 104: Learning From Our Users (https://www.mergeconflict.fm/104)* Error, Crash & Performance Monitoring For Web & Mobile Apps | Raygun (https://raygun.com/)* Storybook - UI dev environment you'll love to use (https://storybook.js.org/)* Calca - The Text Editor that Loves Math (http://calca.io/)* About - iCircuit - The Realtime Circuit Simulator and Editor (http://icircuitapp.com/)* Real User Monitoring - End User Monitoring For Web & Mobile | Raygun (https://raygun.com/platform/real-user-monitoring)* Application Performance Management | Raygun (https://raygun.com/platform/apm)

(https://i1.wp.com/thewiredhomeschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/everyday-stem.jpg?resize=1280%2C720&ssl=1)

Looking for practical ways to teach your kids STEM topics? Today I share some suggestions for teaching your kids about STEM topics through everyday things like visiting the gas pump or watching sports.

Briefly, the three examples I give in this podcast are:

* At the gas pump – How is fuel made?

* Watching sports – How does a pitcher throw a curveball?

* In your house – Calculate the volume of various objects.

Listen to the episode to hear more.

This is a presentation that I’m working as part of the workshops I offer to homeschool groups and conferences. Get in touch if you’d like to schedule a workshop (https://thewiredhomeschool.com/virtual-workshop/) in the spring or summer.

Shoulder Surgery Updates

Connect Socially!

* Join the Facebook page (https://thewiredhomeschool.com/facebook)

* Follow on Twitter (https://twitter.com/wiredhs)

* Follow on Instagram (https://thewiredhomeschool.com/instagram)

* Follow on Pinterest (http://www.pinterest.com/wiredhs/)

Leave a Voicemail

You can call 518-290-0228 to leave me a message or use SpeakPipe (https://www.speakpipe.com/wiredhs) to record a message with your computer.

Etc.

Want to be notified of any upcoming news regarding the podcast or if I’m speaking in your area? Join my spam-free mailing list (https://www.thewiredhomeschool.com/mailing-list). You’ll receive quarterly updates and news about future projects and I’ll let you know if I’m speaking in your area at a homeschooling convention.

The Wired Homeschool is a proud member of the Tech Podcast Network. For more family-friendly tech podcasts visit techpodcasts.com (http://techpodcasts.com/)

Music for the podcast by Kevin Macleod (http://incompetech.com/).

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. In some cases, I may have been given a free sample of a product to review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsement

The post How to Include STEM in Your Homeschooling Every Day – WHS 238 (https://thewiredhomeschool.com/how-to-include-stem-in-your-homeschooling-every-day/) appeared first on The Wired Homeschool (https://thewiredhomeschool.com).

Do you want to separate your blog posts from your podcast posts on your website?   It might be a bad idea.

First – How to do it if you really really want to in WordPress

* Create a category for the podcast.  DO NOT USE “podcast” as a category.

* Enable Category Podcasting in PowerPress Settings (at the bottom of each setting page)

* In the Category Podcasting menu (found under PowerPress in the sidebar) tick the box that says “Strict Categories” Save settings.

* Back in the category podcasting menu,  Add Podcast Settings to your Category

* All your podcast related settings go in the category podcasting settings for that category NOT the main PowerPress settings.

* Once that is all set up, make a blog post. Select the category for your podcast in the right sidebar AND in the podcast episode box.  The podcast episode box category setting is for the RSS feed and the sidebar is for the website.  You must do BOTH.

* In the Appearance > menus menu, add your podcast category (not called podcast I hope) to the menu where you want it.

* Categorize your blog posts in a single category and add that category to the menu as well.

There is one more way to do it explained in the Podcast called Post Types.  I don’t recommend that method.

Why you do not want to do separate blog posts from your podcast posts

People that want to listen to your podcast, and show up on your website, wouldn’t they want to maybe read your blog posts (without clicking another menu)?   Wouldn’t people that read your blog want to listen to your podcast?   Why go through all the BS separating them?

If one thing is for certain, it’s change and the same can be said for anyone that has a podcast. The latest episode of the PowerPress Podcast talks about continuous change in your podcast. It might not always be on the forefront of your mind but shows do evolve from influence from guests, podcasters, listening to other shows and specific self guided direction. Starting out discussing how frequently podcasters are not always their best marketing team turned into a much longer discussion of taking insight from other and yourself to make sure you’re putting out the best show possible. MacKenzie was joined by Lauren Gombas, host of the show From Blueprint to Solved.

Thanks for listening and please subscribe via your favorite podcast app. If you’d like to be a guest on the show reach out to MacKenzie. She’s always looking for fun, new podcasters that use Blubrry services, specifically PowerPress.

Fan of PowerPress? Leave us a review here (https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/powerpress/reviews/).

Show notes:

Podcasters make for terrible self promoters (https://medium.com/the-firm-voice/podcasters-make-for-terrible-self-promoters-217b21a1a718)

From Blueprint to Solved (http://www.fromblueprinttosolved.com)

Why We Need More Women in Podcasting (http://runwayriot.com/2017/01/22/ladies-lets-go-why-we-need-more-women-in-podcasting/)

(https://cdn3.taliferguson.com/img/tech/586/200.jpg)

Between the Google Home Mini and the latest Amazon Echo Dot, the price and promoted features are pretty similar. This week, we'll try to figure out which one is the best virtual assistant by putting the two smart home devices head-to-head.

Read the complete show notes, comment or rate this episode, view pictures and obtain links from this episode at https://category5.tv/shows/technology/episode/586/ (https://category5.tv/shows/technology/episode/586/)

Running time: 1 Hour 25 Minutes 27 Seconds (http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/cat5tv_h264_sd/~4/hvzZEAt0f3k)

We break down every little bit of the Microsoft Connect(); 2018 event including Visual Studio 2019, .NET Core 3, Xamarin.Forms 4.0, C# 8, and a whole lot more.

Follow Us

* Frank: Twitter (http://twitter.com/praeclarum), Blog (http://praeclarum.org), GitHub (http://github.com/praeclarum)

* James: Twitter (http://twitter.com/jamesmontemagno), Blog (https://montemagno.com), GitHub (http://github.com/jamesmontemagno)

* Merge Conflict: Twitter (http://twitter.com/mergeconflictfm), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/mergeconflictfm), Website (http://mergeconflict.fm)

* Music : Amethyst Seer - Citrine by Adventureface (https://soundcloud.com/adventureface)

⭐⭐ Review Us (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/merge-conflict/id1133064277?mt=2&ls=1) ⭐⭐

SUPPORT US ON PATREON: patreon.com/mergeconflictfm (https://www.patreon.com/mergeconflictfm)Support Merge Conflict (https://www.patreon.com/mergeconflictfm)Links:* What's New in C# 8.0 | Microsoft Connect(); 2018 | Channel 9 (https://channel9.msdn.com/events/Connect/Microsoft-Connect--2018/D140?term=c%23%208&lang-en=true)* Take C# 8.0 for a spin | .NET Blog (https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/dotnet/2018/12/05/take-c-8-0-for-a-spin/)* Making every developer more productive with Visual Studio 2019 | The Visual Studio Blog (https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/visualstudio/2018/12/04/making-every-developer-more-productive-with-visual-studio-2019/)* Announcing .NET Core 3 Preview 1 and Open Sourcing Windows Desktop Frameworks | .NET Blog (https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/dotnet/2018/12/04/announcing-net-core-3-preview-1-and-open-sourcing-windows-desktop-frameworks/)* Empowering every developer to achieve more at Microsoft Connect(); 2018 - The Official Microsoft Blog (https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2018/12/04/empowering-every-developer-to-achieve-more-at-microsoft-connect-2018/)* Connect(); 2018 Xamarin Announcements | Xamarin Blog (https://blog.xamarin.com/connect-2018-xamarin-announcements/)* Amazon.com: The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (Bantam Spectra Book) eBook: Neal Stephenson: Kindle Store (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000FBJCKI/mergeconflict-20)* The Future of Visual Studio and .NET: Visual Studio 2019, C# 8, .NET Core 3, & Xamarin.Forms 4.0 - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ9aIWg2x28)