Reconcilable Differences

This week’s main topic goes into kids and security. Or, more specifically, what kids learn (or don’t) about password hygiene and the broader landscape of basic InfoSec.

This week kicks off with some discussion of humidity, noisy clothing, an attempted delivery, and that whole ongoing “are flats a thing?” debate. Under protest, Merlin is persuaded by John to discuss a recent acquisition of new technology. Merlin thinks security is a little like a mall, and John gauges success by a relative dearth of complaints. The pronunciation of “aunt” is discussed.

In a mini-topic, John has some things to say about garlic. Merlin’s convenience cubes are explored, while John shares several ways to leverage and deploy this pungent treat. The complex relationship between children and garlic is appraised.

Merlin is at the end of his rope, while John declares that no system is good.

Are schools missing an opportunity to model better behavior when it comes to using devices? How even could you teach kids why they can’t use the cat’s name as a password? Will they end up just reverting to the mean, such as it is?

Things wrap with some spoiler-free TV talk. Both of your hosts enjoy that cowboy show with the lady from Downtown Abbey.

(Recorded on Tuesday, December 5, 2017.)

GUNNERY SERGEANT HARTMAN: If it wasn't for dickheads like you, there wouldn't be any thievery in this world, would there?

If you are working in a sensitive environment, is front door security all you need to secure a building? Don’t you need additional checks or e-keys to enter some rooms? This no longer applies to iOS. Once you have a passcode, you then have access to everything. Let us have a look at what you can do to the user and their data once you have their i-device and know their passcode.

"Security is a process, not a product. Products provide some protection, but the only way to effectively do business in an insecure world is to put processes in place that recognize the inherent insecurity in the products. The trick is to reduce your risk of exposure regardless of the products or patches."

For this week’s main topic (and Spoiler Slot), we find Merlin playing "The Last of Us."

This week kicks off with the traditional monthly discussion of Skype. Even as John disallows another word from the program, Merlin tries to explain the intricate interplay between all the great shows. Your hosts agree there are too many services they pay for and that credit cards are annoying.

In a lively mini-topic, John brings up teaching kids to cook. How do you prepare your progeny for eventually feeding themselves? Merlin feels like he missed a window, and John couldn’t opt out of Home Ec. Merlin finds kids un-persuadable, and John shares his household edict on dealing with the perception of childhood injustice. Sometimes, you gotta know when to adjust the shower curtain.

For this week’s main topic (and Spoiler Slot), we find Merlin playing The Last of Us. This one’s too good to spoil, but, suffice it to say, John declares it’s a very hard game, while Merlin still hasn’t even learned how to use a ladder. (Caution: the spoiler horn for The Last of Us fires off at 1:18:45)

(Recorded on Tuesday, November 21, 2017.)

Make your own gooey, delicious macaroni and cheese with this no-fail macaroni and cheese recipe. You'll learn how to get the perfect creamy macaroni and cheese consistency, plus the history of mac and cheese and how it became popular in America.

The song's lyrics tell a story set in a future in which many classes of vehicles have been prohibited by "the Motor Law". The narrator's uncle has kept one of these now-illegal vehicles (the titular red Barchetta sports car) in pristine condition for some "fifty-odd years" and keeps it hidden at his secret country home (previously a farm before the enactment of the aforementioned Motor Law).

The Problem: It’s a private moment John had with the roast beef.

Dad Hole, garbage robots, Northern European runts, and a system forged in the crucible of terrible people.

This week kicks off with Merlin having a rare on-air beverage to celebrate, but not too many, unless he feels like it. John helps Merlin remember some things that he couldn't remember he’d forgotten. Luckily, we record this program.

John thinks the water fountain story has been robbed of its power, and Merlin learns that cornhole is real. John tackles the first of several unfounded points about himself, but Merlin still thinks John is arbitrary. Britishisms are debated.

This leads to a nostalgic visit to The Early Internet and a recollection of how each of your hosts chose to roll with signatures and sign-offs and whatnot. John employs a little dash, and Merlin apologizes for trying to digitally impress a celebrity. He is the worst.

The stern admonishments continue as John lashes Merlin for not making Max buy a new phone differently. John prefers to stay in his bathrobe since they usually come in the morning. Excitingly, new iPhones are discussed.

Merlin lashes himself for accidentally stepping on John’s Full Media Blackout. In his defense, he was cooking tofu a new way at the time. John reminds us that he can erase memories from his mind. Thor: Ragnarok is lightly discussed. Merlin’s sweet precious angel made another doodle in her bastik and seems to be warming up to her little kennel. Unsurprisingly, John has notes.

The first mini-topic is hot dogs. Yes. Hot dogs. So, for a while, your hosts talk about hot dogs kind of a lot. Remember: you are paying NOTHING for this content.

Your hosts tread lightly through the minefield of primary school culture celebrations. Merlin has a terrible time coming up with memorable ancestral garb, and John has concerns about how well the factual roots of a given family tree will play with ten-year-olds. Merlin flatly refuses to apologize about macaroni and cheese.

Hot dogs are further discussed.

In what ends up being a main topic, John wants to address why Merlin is so steamed about Steam. The balance of the episode finds your hosts arguing about passwords, security, paranoia, and what we should do when confronted with two text fields and a button.

This week's challenge: play Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator.

And don't tell me there isn't one bit of difference between null and space, because that's exactly how much difference there is.

Many mini topics.

This week, John drives, and Merlin leads from behind.

Your hosts are pretty sure they remember talking about having trouble remembering whether they’ve talked about memory before, but no way does that stop them from taking their deepest dive yet into the many troubles with human memory. Or, at least it’s the deepest dive that they can remember taking. For now. Anyway.

This leads to an exploration of cognitive tricks and the potentially narrow line between science and balderdash. How even will we solve this rebus? Should it have been a nice top hat instead? And, how do we feel about medical(-ish) health panaceæ that may work but no one really knows why?

Merlin has a long history of cockamamie, and John fervently hopes that he only ever develops problems Real Science understands. The contemporary bugaboo of gluten and its ilk are discussed and argued by both anecdote and analogy. Elaine looks like she put on five, ten pounds.

Then arrive many mini-topics.

There’s some follow-up and further clarification on Merlin’s Fancy New TV which leads to some YouTube talk and consideration of how these youths today consume media.

Next up, the boys talk about misheard lyrics and score the results of a recent private argument about same. John really prefers the slam dunk when he can get it. Merlin can't even remember which songs he couldn't remember the lyrics to. (Again with the memory.) Confessions about other embarrasing things they never knew are revealed. Merlin thinks he's a little too left-brained, and John's not having this terrible mnemonic.

Beloved nineties comedy programs are recalled with fondness.

This pivots to some talk about, of all things, podcasts, and Merlin gets a little wispy talking about a program he really misses doing. John reveals that he has finally capitulated and listened to Merlin's actual favorite podcast. No spoilers, but you will learn what happened when John got up on this sauce doctor's blessing with his dog tongue.

John dissects The Original Peaches' recent guest appearance by Mr. Jordan. Merlin reiterates how much he hates comedy podcasts.

Things wrap with John's concerns about Roderick's tech world. Merlin tries to defend himself, but John's concerns about Roderick seem to just expand.

Fight fight fight. Bite bite bite. It's The Reconcilable Differences Show.

(Recorded on Tuesday, October 24, 2017.)

So what's the difference?

In a word: design.

The E7 has glass around the edges and a speaker bar along the bottom, while the C7 is a study in minimalism, with a vanishingly small frame. Personally I actually like the C7's design better, although both are beautiful enough to earn my top mark of "10" in the design category.

Just like last year's E6, the E7 receives LG's "picture-on-glass" treatment. The OLED module -- the thing that creates the picture -- is applied to a glass back panel, leaving the edge of the TV made of a quarter-inch of glass bordering the black around the image. It's a striking effect.

Celiac disease is thought to affect roughly one percent of the population. The good news: it can be treated by quitting gluten. The bad news: many celiac patients haven’t been diagnosed. The weird news: millions of people without celiac disease have quit gluten – which may be a big mistake.save in overcast

A show about clinical depression...with laughs? Well, yeah. Depression is an incredibly common and isolating disease experienced by millions, yet often stigmatized by society. The Hilarious World of Depression is a series of frank, moving, and, yes, funny conversations with top comedians who have dealt with this disease, hosted by veteran humorist and public radio host John Moe. Join guests such as Maria Bamford, Paul F. Tompkins, Andy Richter, and Jen Kirkman to learn how they’ve dealt with depression and managed to laugh along the way.

If you’ve enjoyed any comedy in the last 20 years, there’s a good chance Neal Brennan helped make it. He’s a veteran comic, writer, director, and co-creator, with Dave Chappelle, of the acclaimed Chappelle’s Show. Over the past 20-plus years, he’s also tried everything he could think of to tame his depression. Hear Neal’s epic journey to feeling pretty good.save in overcast

“There’s something so human about taking something great and ruining it a little so you can have more of it.”

“Someone is staring at you in ‘personal growth.’”

Things have changed. Like, we wanted to stay "Podcast Humble" for as long as possible, but when you're fielding as many A-List phone convos as we have over the past few days, it's tough to stay true to your roots.

Suggested talking points: Phone Calls With Celebs, My Hairy Friend, Game Jail, Clean Plate Club, Noodleboy, Hot Cereal, Busting a Nut

19:18 - I work at a software company, and we have a communal kitchen with shared dishes. During lunch the other day, I caught a coworker lifting a plate to his face and licking it clean. I had a full-on panic attack in my head as I watched in horror as he continued unabated in his quest to get every morsel of sauce off a plate that I could very well be using tomorrow. My question is this: are you hiring, because now I need a new job. -- Clean Plate Club in Atlanta, GA

We discuss Rings, live at the Regent Theater in downtown L.A., with special guest Jordan Morris of Jordan Jesse Go!

This week: automated systems and Merlin's new TV.

This week kicks off with Merlin’s Bon Jovi snobbery and John’s concerns about Bono. The excellent Vietnam War series is discussed and mutually endorsed.

With the overdue return of Ordinary Time, your hosts cover some exciting Nest IQ Cam follow-up and debate face recognition in the macOS Photos app.

There’s some worrisome follow-up on those iOS password pop-ups and how they could potentially be exploited by ne’er-do-wells.

Merlin gives Jeremy five stars, which (eventually) segues into this week’s main topic, Automated Systems. Specifically, the ones that Merlin thinks create way more work than they save. John says it’s just shotgun spray and probably not a big deal. Merlin’s not having it and still feels scared to check into a hotel. What algorithm makes the system freak out? Your hosts crave an interaction model even CGP Grey could love.

This week’s B story is Merlin’s New TV. After initially telling John the wrong model (oops), your hosts dive into this new world of 4K and Ultra HD. Cables are rerouted, adapters are installed, and gyroscopes are slowly mastered. John is still holding out, and, oy vey, all these wires and bars!

The whites are so white!

(Recorded on Tuesday, October 10, 2017.)

There are two hard things in computer science: cache invalidation, naming things, and off-by-one errors.

The main topic this week is Twitter.

This week kicks off with a meander through Skype avatars, back-to-school night, and personal metadata quirks. Merlin feels bad about getting a new TV, and John assures him it probably won’t be terrible. On separate occasions, John and Merlin both demonstrate a lot of restraint.

Merlin apparently doesn’t know how to (not) turn off his PlayStation, so John walks him through it. Paul’s in the basement, Sahm’s on the roof, and Merlin doesn’t even know how to make fun of John to his satisfaction. Typical.

Your hosts accidentally discuss tech, John provides a sitrep on his mouse offensive, and Merlin admits grudging admiration for his sugar ants. John’s dog has a regression, and Merlin’s cat costs him another grand.

Your hosts discuss their following decisions, their bespoke mute and block strategies, and some of the Sisyphean methods for trying to stay out of a canoe. Merlin feels bad about lots of things, but John ain’t no follow-back girl. Merlin says handle does not equal-equal person, and John thinks celebrities don’t actually read their timelines. Merlin responds to the Republican candidate’s texts, and nobody texts John hardly at all. Who’s Holden Caulfield now?

Things wrap with the airing of grievances about children and their terrible habits. John’s son has excellent hair.

(Recorded on Tuesday, September 19, 2017.)

"Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."

The earliest attribution of this to Gandhi yet located is in a T-shirt advertisement in Mother Jones, Vol. 8, No. 5 (June 1983)

…but beyond that, the spacing between the bars, carrier name, and wi-fi icon is uneven and it’s really bothering me.

Main topic this week is Household Pests. The gloves are off as extreme measures are employed to deal with John’s mouse invaders.

This week kicks off with dives into religious time, talking like a wizard, kid manners, and the times your hosts did and mostly did not get recognized. Google me!

John gets hung up on Merlin’s avatar choices, and both hosts get Happy-Go-Jackie on the junkiness of Apple’s Mac apps. John’s kid made a comic, and Merlin has some diminished expectations for his Cat Lady and her van.

Then, there’s an improbable amount of Seinfeld discussion.

So much for that vegetarian snake and all the sickening fraud and malfeasance of the Big Extermination industry. It’s not pretty, and it won’t be popular, but nobody loves seeing a mouse in the house.

Brace yourself for extensive mouse lore and the eldritch contents of John’s tentpole.

(Recorded on Tuesday, September 5, 2017.)

"Playing the notoriety card"

After this episode recorded: John is in Dongle Hell.

"You could not step twice into the same river."

"Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."

This week kicks off with some Daisy updates and surprisingly deep dives into online banana quizzes and proper application of The Bristol Scale.

Merlin hates having a freezer full of fruit, and John has frankly had it with all the Britishisms. Merlin kindly offers to buy John a new dingus, and John demurs with extreme prejudice.

Moving onto John’s doggy spy camera, your hosts find much to dislike about many IoT devices. John reviews Merlin’s recent Amazon review and schools him on how to avoid creaming his audio the next time his Mac wants to die.

Why do kids just talk into the air, and since when did blindly issuing commands to Dad become such a thing? I’m in the BATHROOM.

Lacking time for a Big Topic, the boys talk more about webcam stress, smoke detector travails, and what a monstrous parent one would have to be to let their kid know about The Flop House. Aloha.

The Bristol stool scale, Bristol stool chart (BSC), Bristol stool form scale, or BSF scale is a diagnostic medical tool designed to classify the form of human faeces into seven categories.

This week Fraser and Federico welcome special guest Merlin Mann to discuss opportunities for improvements that may - or may not - arrive in iOS 11.

This week’s main topic is Mid-Life Crisis. What even is it? How do you know if you’re having one, and how many will there be?

This week kicks off with some travel woes, news stress, and how Merlin is laboring to save “Planty.” John learns his concerns about Merlin’s multitasking afternoon bath habits were well-founded. The beauty of non-obvious movie effects and CGI are lauded.

How come there’s so few movies about women going through this? John dings Merlin for yucking on Red Corvette Guy’s yum.

There’s some spirited discussion of power ballads and soaring hard rock opera. 'Cause nothin' lasts forever—even cold November rain.

At about 1:44:49, your hosts retire to the Spoiler Slot for (yes, finally) a look back at The Leftovers Season 3. They remember some of what happened and even some of the order in which it happened. What was so exhilarating and so frustrating and so ultimately satisfying about this very weird show?

Stick around after the end for some insight into how even John’s estimable Terminal skills couldn’t save the first hour of Merlin’s audio. So it goes.

(Recorded on Tuesday, August 15, 2017.)

Relay FM memberships start at $5 a month. Aside from transaction fees, all of the money from your membership goes to the Relay FM hosts whose shows you support. We encourage you to choose your favorite shows to make sure your money goes to them directly.

(Merlin's wife says this is what "Planty" is)

This week’s main topic concerns "Liking Things to Be a Certain Way."

This double wraparound episode kicks off with updates on John’s ongoing struggle with Daisy’s potty habits. Merlin tries to help, but John suffers neither his analogy nor his blatant Male Answer Syndrome. Merlin still thinks John may be a doggie racist. Further, few differences are reconciled in debating which are the best MCU movies.

Merlin’s daughter goes to theme camps, and John pushes back on assuming how much stuff in movies is intentional. Conspiracy theories around The Shining are discussed. Gold? Mirrors? Goofy? Are you getting this?

After teasing a long-overdue Spoiler Slot (that never ends up actually happening), your hosts wonder whether every working actor in the U.K. will eventually be on Doctor Who.

Coats, backpacks, FUNtainers™, and doll shoes all have their place, so why is it so hard to keep them there? Preferences for Mac configuration are explored at length, and no, you can’t see their desktops. John says he needs more bulwarks, and Merlin doesn’t disagree.

Your hosts wrap by considering how individual perceptions and personal hang-ups divide family and other stakeholders.

(Recorded on Thursday, July 19, 2017.)

Avengers assemble! We discuss Joss Whedon’s Marvel movie, which has been a hit with audiences and critics. But some members of our panel don’t agree. How much do expectations factor in to one’s enjoyment of a movie? Has the bar for summer action blockbusters been set too low by the likes of “Transformers 2”? Should every action-adventure movie aspire to be something more? Why is this the first time that the Hulk has been portrayed properly in a film? Grab your cosmic cubes and prepare for 90 minutes of movie-smashing discussion.

FUNtainers!