Pragmatic is a discussion show contemplating the practical application of technology. Exploring the real world trade offs we look at how great ideas are transformed into products and services that can change our lives. Nothing is as simple as it seems.
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After building my own Soundbooth a few years ago and subsequently learning that Vic was selling his own woodworking creations, I just had to go in-depth with Vic about Woodworking...what it means to be one and what tools can make it so much easier. After a handful of life updates, we spend the rest of those two hours diving into everything about Woodworking and Vic's workshop.
With heavily digitally modified images and fully AI-generated images now being regularly posted as being real, what can we trust? John and Clay tackle the challenges of flagging photo modifications, and propose a potential solution for ensuring a photographic chain of trust. Can it be done?
After some updates about the past few months, Vic and I touch on the Starlink and SpaceX Direct To Cell technology. How it works and the ways in which it differs from other entrants like Iridium.
Having recorded and edited over 130 video episodes of various shows, John discusses everything he's learned with Vic, reflecting on gear choices and changes and the tradeoffs between scripting and not and finally editing. All of this to reach a singular conclusion...video is harder.
Vic joins John to discuss all things Whisky/Whiskey as John launches a new Video Podcast of the same name. Think of Pragmatic...but applied to Whisky...in a video form. We cover everything from Mash Bills to Distilling, Barrel Influence and lots and lots more.
Scott Willsey returns to pull apart the Google AI Overviews feature, the risks of trusting LLMs and Generative AI and the OpenAI Scarlett Johansson saga. Also John's returning to the USA in September and embracing Dumb Watches along with a host of other updates.
Vic and John discuss southbooth cooling progress, the lack of Apple Vision Pro internationally, Johns new Electric Ride on Mower, briefly about cricket and finally the US DoJ Anti-Trust case against Apple.
Vic joins John to go discuss the new iPhone 15 Pro Max Lenses for photos and video, using the Meta Quest 3 and trying out the Fuji Real3D Camera vs iPhone 15 Pro Max Spatial Videos in anticipation of the upcoming Apple Vision Pro.
Vic joins John to go through a mixed bag of topics including the two most recent Apple Events, selling lenses, the new 5x iPhone Pro Max Lens, Johns day job company being potentially bought and split as well as the Soundbooth and some conference speaking.
Vic joins John to look at the history of Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality and Augmented Reality as we pre-assess the pros and cons of AR and VR and the upcoming Apple Vision Pro.
With some initial discussion of the Twitter Appocalypse and M2 Mac Mini, John and Vic dive into the Apple Watchs evolution since 2015 to present and discuss whether or the newest Apple Watch design can be thought of as the ultimate Ultra.
Following Johns appearance on Episode 100 of Podcasting 2.0, John is joined by Dave Jones to workshop the soundbites tag enhancements, as well as touch on BitCoin and Crypto strengths and weaknesses in the longer term.
Clay joins John to walk through the key moments of the WWDC keynote for 2022 and look at what each means for us and also the broader populace. Whilst John is sad about the Trash Can being Ventura-canned, there were lots of things to smile about too.
Russell returns to Pragmatic to discuss his experiences with renewable energy, both the Model S and Model 3 and we dive into the finer issues with glanceless controls and other concerns regarding Tesla's User Interface.
Wind Farms are getting bigger and spreading throughout the world both on and off-shore. Vic joins John to talk about Wind Turbines, John's new Tesla and the launch of the new Video podcast/vodcast Pragmatic Electric.
Where have all the chips gone? Scott Willsey joins John to look at how the shifting automotive use of ICs, a drought, a pandemic and poor planning amongst other things has led to an unprecedented global chip shortage with no end in sight.
Watching photography evolve in the past few years had demonstrated with computing power comes the possibility of ditching the SLR entirely and going mirrorless. Clay returns to discuss the mirrorless revolution. And yes, Clay called it first.
Lockdowns due to the pandemic of 2020-2021 has shifted a lot of peoples computing needs with working from home on their computer now a real driver for many people. We look at how it's impacted John and take a walk down history lane of Vic and John's various Macs for the past few decades and how it led to a controversial purchase.
A team of podcasters and developers are working on the next evolution of podcasting they call Podcasting 2.0. Dave Jones joins John to talk about their goals, RSS, XML and JSON pieces and how they fit together. To top it all off, we also dive into BitCoin, Lightning and distributed monetisation in podcasting.
Ian Norman from Lonely Speck joins John to talk about photographing the MilkyWay with just your DSLR and without spending a fortune. We cover everything from Star-Trackers, Red-light filter removal, Pollution Filters, Focussing techniques, Image stacking and lots more.
Casey returns to join John in an episode where we explore all things NAS - specifically the Synology. How we use it, what we use it for and how we neither of us can ever live without one anymore!
SpaceX and Elon Musk have been accelerating a project to provide high-speed, low latency broadband internet around the world via Satellites and are calling it StarLink. Radek joins John to deep dive into what StarLink is trying to accomplish, why it's a such a different approach to the problem and why it might actually succeed where others have failed.
After a brief chat about John's App-in-progress Timeless Day, Ronnie Lutes joins to dissect the problems and pitfalls of poorly shielded or cheap USB 3 devices and how they can create BlueTooth drops out, Trackpad bullet chattering, Mouse stuttering and more and how one might diagnose and fix these issues. A must listen for those with suspected interference on their PC or Mac wireless devices.
Myke Hurley returns to the show to follow on with Optimal Interfaces, now looking into application specific advantages of the different user interfaces we have available to us for our specific use cases. We also consider an apocalyptic world where we can only have one device and what it would be.
In an episode that could not be put off any longer, Merlin Mann joins John to unpick the habit of procrastination, how to identify when you're doing it, why you're doing it and how to stop yourself from doing it and get yourself back on track.
