Back To Work

This week: Dan may or may not be sanguine, and Merlin is having another meetup; comics, movie and TV discussion (and recommendations) abound; Cash is impatient for a red DS; the magic of ubiquitous capture is extolled; Merlin has a problematic thumb and spends hours on the phone with AT&T; a book about anxiety is endorsed; handles for the emotional suitcase are offered; a new unicorn is born; and, Merlin has a summer project for you to try. Links for this episode:Ungainly X-Mann Meetup #23 — Merlin MannMERLIN MANN (Back to Work, Roderick on the Line, Reconcilable Differences, Do By Friday, You Look Nice Today, et al.) invites you to drop by Two Cats Comics on the evening of Thursday, July 26th to hang out, talk about comics, and just say, “Hi.” It's free and it's fun. Merlin’s Playlists — Merlin MannSometimes I make playlists, especially for the particularly musical episodes of podcasts I do. I really like making these, so I'll probably do more. Stopping the Noise in Your Head : the New Way to Overcome Anxiet

Dan's ex-cold, some media recommendations, strobe light problems, Dan's new phone, bad eyeglasses, your fault versus your problem, plus listener feedback about estimating hours and costs. Links for this episode:#850: The Fake Review Hunter — Planet Money — OvercastFrequently Asked Questions - ReviewMeta BlogGame Night (film) - Wikipedia(2) Marques Brownlee - YouTubeBrought to you by: Mack Weldon (Visit MackWeldon.com and use the code B2W for 20% off your first purchase). Casper (For a limited time, visit Casper.com/savings and save up to $225 off your order. Limited time only!)

Discussed this week: head colds, Florida, vitamin shots, Pleiades, Pigeon Pose, a new kind of spam, some media recommendations, iOS 12, and a listener question about a job they just don’t wanna do. Links for this episode:Making Vitamin B12 Injections Accessible to Everyone in the Bay AreaGot Vitamin B12’s fun, pop-up style Happy Hours take place in 20 different locations around the Bay Area. Trained and licensed medical professionals are at every Happy Hour to provide personalized guidance for our B12 injection cocktail menu and serve up the shot of your choice. You don't need to make an appointment. Just come to Got Vitamin B12 for the healthiest cocktail out there! Learn the King of Hip Openers: Pigeon Pose (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana) - Yoga JournaliOS 12 Beta: Our Favorite Tidbits and Hidden Features (So Far) – MacStoriesiOS 12 public beta is out for all - Six ColorsIsle of Dogs on iTunesVisionary director Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs tells the story of Atari Kobayashi, 12-year-old ward to corrupt Mayor Kobay

Follow-up on the Benjamin family phone plan, what it's like to use a phone that's not a phone anymore, excitement for Siri Shortcuts, an AR measurement app recommendation, Dan's new TV recommendations, some travel headphone recommendations, massive disruption in the fizzy water space, some pseudo-insider-ish follow-up on Siri, plus Dan's adventure back into the world of Android and how it went. Links for this episode:troglodyte modeMeasureKit - AR ruler app for iOS 11Whatever you want to measure, we have a tool for that WWDC 2018 - Videos - Apple DeveloperIntroduction to Siri Shortcuts - WWDC 2018 - Videos - Apple DeveloperSiri Shortcuts FAQ: Everything you need to know! | iMoreRise Up on the App StoreSafe (TV series) - WikipediaCharlize Theron Finally Speaks Out About Her Failed Romance With Sean Penn, Says She Didn't 'Ghost' Him | Entertainment TonightBad Boys (1983 film) - WikipediaAmazon.com: Sony Noise Cancelling Headphones WH1000XM2: Over Ear Wireless Bluetooth Headphones with Case - Blac

This week, Dan and Merlin talk about some of their favorite announcements at the big computer show. They also deep dive into how to handle the Benjamin family's need for a new phone. Links for this episode:Libby, by OverDrive - an app for library ebooks and audiobooksHow Instagram’s algorithm works | TechCrunchWorldCat.org: The World's Largest Library CatalogiOS 12 Preview - AppleiOS 12 FAQ: Everything you need to know! | iMoreiOS 12: The MacStories Overview – MacStoriesUnder the banner of helping users gain more understanding and control of how they use their devices, iOS 12 introduces improved features for Do Not Disturb and notifications, alongside a brand new area of analytics and monitoring controls called Screen Time. Apple iOS 12 update: the 17 biggest new features coming to the iPhone - The VergeAmazon.com: Tech21 Evo Mesh Protection Case for iPhone 7 Plus 5.5 Clear + Black: Cell Phones & AccessoriesApple iPhone product line comparison | Comparison tables - SocialCompareHobby HorseBrought to

Discussed this week: media dustups, the deleterious career effects of social media, a week or so of Instagram, love of dogs, a podcast appearance, two great services for spotting fake Amazon reviews, some Netflix recommendations, Inspector Gadget, remastering Star Trek, kids and black & white movies, serious mail, inventing The Sabbath, and some freestyle advice. Links for this episode:@hotdogsladies/Political Twitter on TwitterFree Agents #48: Lousy With the Stink of Freedom, with Merlin Mann - Relay FMPodcaster Merlin Mann joins us to discuss his long journey as an independent worker, during which he's pivoted from tech guy to productivity expert to a specializer in cult hits. Fakespot | Analyze and identify fake reviewsWant to analyze the reviews of a product? ReviewMeta.com - Amazon Review CheckerReviewMeta.com analyzes millions of reviewsand helps you decide which ones to trust How merchants use Facebook to flood Amazon with fake reviews - The Washington PostThere, an economy of paid reviews has flou

Discussed: trust my method, beards, foo bar baz, casting Mysterio, villains of Peter Spiderman, an unpaid debt to Dan, medieval electric billing, endorsing Evil Genius and Belief, the power of Spotify podcasts via Alexa, more on Apple TV and voice commands, the pain of scrubbing, 4k HDR via Movies Anywhere, a question on soundbars, Hulu's awesome new "Live Guide" (finally!), a word on TV remote usability, eero's new "Labs," updates to Spark, a new light therapy lamp, and some suggestions on getting a FitBit. Links for this episode:Help article: How do I use the Fitbit app to capture GPS data?Introducing eero Labs: Building the future of home WiFi - The DownloadThe Live TV Guide Has Arrived – Hulu Press SiteNetflix - "Evil Genius"Amazon.com: Verilux HappyLight Liberty 10,000 LUX Light Therapy Energy Lamp: Health & Personal CareUse Siri on your Apple TV 4K or Apple TV (4th generation) - Apple Support"Fast-forward two minutes." A movie is missing from my Movies Anywhere library – Movies Anywhere He

Discussed: lame patents, Salvador Dalí, allergy season, backpack discrimination, friend cosplay, things Dan can't say, AT&T woes, Merlin saw a bear, a YouTube rabbit hole, and some excellent historical Disney content. Dan and Merlin answer a listen's questions about sleep tracking and leveraging Alexa at the office. Links for this episode:Ungainly X-Mann Meetup #22 — Merlin MannMERLIN MANN (Back to Work, Roderick on the Line, Reconcilable Differences, Do By Friday, You Look Nice Today, et al.) invites you to drop by Two Cats Comics on the evening of Thursday, May 17th to hang out, talk about comics, and just say, “Hi.” It's free and it's fun. Vintage Disneyland Tickets: The Disney Look - 1977Custom Alexa responses can now be created right from the Alexa app | AFTVnewsAlexa Routines are a powerful feature that allow you to automate a series of customizable actions using a single voice command of your choice. So when you say “Alexa, I’m leaving,” for example, you can have multiple actions occur, such as tu

Discussed: time flies, nesting dolls, cloud saves for Switch, oy vey the service subscriptions, wheat and chess boards, WiFi and health, abdomen cinchers, more Netflix recommendations, the hollow face illusion, Marked 2 update, and a couple more recommendations. Dan and Merlin answer a listener's question about balancing work momentum and "down time." Links for this episode:Ungainly X-Mann Meetup #22 — Merlin MannMERLIN MANN (Back to Work, Roderick on the Line, Reconcilable Differences, Do By Friday, You Look Nice Today, et al.) invites you to drop by Two Cats Comics on the evening of Thursday, May 17th to hang out, talk about comics, and just say, “Hi.” It's free and it's fun. Marked 2 - Smarter tools for smarter writersMarked is a previewer for Markdown files. Use it with your favorite text editor and it updates every time you save. With robust features for previewing, reviewing and exporting beautiful documents, you can work in plain text while reveling in rich formatting. See what's new! Hollow-Face illu

Discussed: places that are closed, dinosaur eyes that follow you, a TV show about makeup, some thoughts on Infinity War, the joy of content that really nails the medium, more on B2W shirts, Merlin hates everything, eminent domain, Dan has questions about Venom, Merlin recommends Uncanny X-Force (Remender & Opeña), and Rob Liefeld's pouch life. Your hosts also answer listener questions about finding a mentor and knowing if it's time to move on from a job. Links for this episode:You might want to stop taking your vitaminsUngainly X-Mann Meetup #22 — Merlin MannMERLIN MANN (Back to Work, Roderick on the Line, Reconcilable Differences, Do By Friday, You Look Nice Today, et al.) invites you to drop by Two Cats Comics on the evening of Thursday, May 17th to hang out, talk about comics, and just say, “Hi.” It's free and it's fun. T Rex Optical Illusion - How The Trick Works! - YouTubeImgur: The magic of the InternetAmazing T-Rex Illusion - How to make ?! - YouTubeFace Off (TV series) - WikipediaRick Baker (@the

Discussed: Dan's gummi vitamins, vitamins in general, the childhood shame of those weird plaque pills, exotic sickness images, Fifth Disease comes to Austin, Dan's car troubles, Faraday Cages and how to build them, a potential t-shirt for you. Dan was cleaning out his garage, and Merlin has a lot to say about the philosophy and practical components of getting rid of junk at scale. Also, Dan really kills it on eBay. Merlin is very excited about Fantastic Four coming back and has some potential warnings about the new Wes Anderson film. Spoilers: there's nothing weak about knowing what freaks you out. Also, the boys discuss why Merlin changed his mic setup. Which is fascinating. Links for this episode:A little-known California law is Silicon Valley's secret weapon - VoxApple, Google give high tech workers an extra $90 million in “no-poach” suit | Ars TechnicaUngainly X-Mann Meetup #22 — Merlin MannMERLIN MANN (Back to Work, Roderick on the Line, Reconcilable Differences, Do By Friday, You Look Nice Today

This week, the boys discuss Drafts, The Archive, Merlin's love of Spotify, some great playlists, and weird rules for cheerleaders. In extensive follow-up, your hosts talk about the listener who was having trouble with addressing employees and social media use. This goes lots of interesting places. Next up, even more input from listeners on social media policies and living life in a fishbowl. Links for this episode:Drafts | Agile TortoiseDrafts (@draftsapp) | TwitterVector with Rene Ritchie: 033: Drafts, with Greg Pierce and Merlin MannDrafts is developed by Greg Pierce and used the hell out of by Merlin Mann. They sit down together to talk direction, workflows, and what's coming next. Upgrade #189: Obsolescence Isn’t What It Used to Be - Relay FMBaby's Breath · Bill Callahan"Wild, Wild Country" playlist on SpotifyHow N.F.L. Teams Use Social Media to Promote, and Control, Cheerleaders - The New York TimesSmog - Your Wedding - YouTubeBurt Bacharach - The Look of LoveKey & Peele - Substitute

Bula vinaka, bee tee dubs nation! This is an epic odds and sods episode, replete with TV follow-up, font follow-up, and Wild, Wild Country follow-up, along with book recommendations, happy Splatoon 2 talk, and a pretty terrible 70s board game. Also, ubi sunt retail amirite? Also, your hosts finally (finally!) address a listener's excellent and very difficult question about her millennial employee's use of social media. Lot of levels! Links for this episode:Rules of Thumb: A Life Manual: Tom Parker: 9780761150732: Amazon.com: BooksThe Order of Things: Hierarchies, Structures, and Pecking Orders: Barbara Ann Kipfer: 9780761150442: Amazon.com: BooksDrawing on the Right Side of the Brain: The Definitive, 4th Edition: Betty Edwards: 9781585429202: Amazon.com: BooksToys R Us blames Amazon, Target, Walmart for dealing death blow over holidaysKid80s.com: M&M's "Thanks, Easter Bunny" Commercial from the 80s - YouTubeSplatoon 2 for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Game DetailsSplatoon 2 - Turf War Gamepla

This week, Dan and Merlin discuss Jessica Jones and the problem of super power constitution, plus some more Netflix recommendations ("Look away! Looooook awaaaaay!"). They also do a dive into updates on the monospace fonts they like and use. Next, up they talk about the new app, The Archive, contrasting with nvALT. Finally, your hosts answer an excellent listener question about struggling to manage more experienced developers. Links for this episode:The Archive (macOS) • Zettelkasten MethodJessica Jones (TV series) - WikipediaAlias (comics) - WikipediaMax (comics) - WikipediaKrysten Ritter - WikipediaAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - WikipediaTop 10 Programming FontsIntroduction | IBM PlexGetting Apple’s SF Mono Font in macOS – Shashikant Jagtap – Mediumsource-foundry/Hack: A typeface designed for source codeRoboto Mono - Google Fontsmozilla/Fira: Mozilla's new typeface, used in Firefox OSDIN Schriften™ - Desktop font « MyFontsFactor Rainbows | Worksheet | Education.comRainbow method to find all factors of a num

This week, your hosts say "Bula Vinaka!" They also discuss phone cards, some Netflix recommendations, Merlin's phone usage, and "accidentally" getting punched in the face by your kid. Of course, they also talk about the TV and voice control ecosystems. They also respond to listener questions about better active listening, and how they each take notes for podcasts. Links for this episode:AT&T Fiji Commercial - YouTubeNetflixWild Wild Country | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix - YouTubeNetflixNetflixFlint water crisis - WikipediaList of Movies and TV Shows on Netflix | FlixableCustomer relationship management - WikipedianvALT - BrettTerpstra.comWould ‘Black Panther’ Work As TV? Plus Guilty Pleasures and New Music In the Mailbag | The Watch (Ep. 236 ) — The Watch — OvercastMichael Wolfe's answer to Why is Dropbox more popular than other programs with similar functionality? - QuoraBrought to you by: Squarespace (Start your free trial site today, at Squarespace.com and when you sign up make sure to us

This week, your hosts discuss Steely Dan, digital mastering, The Police, Dune, high-quality VCRs, and Dan's brother-in-law's close call. Next, they dive into a fascinating article on why projects fail. Finally, the boys respond to a listener's question about cautious workplace enthusiasm. Links for this episode:The meaning of snafu, clusterfuck, and shitshow: There's a difference — Quartz at WorkSPARS code - WikipediaBrought to you by: Squarespace (Start your free trial site today, at Squarespace.com and when you sign up make sure to use the offer code ITSYOURSHOW to get 10% off your first purchase). FreshBooks (To claim your month long unrestricted free trial, go to FreshBooks.com/backtowork and enter BACK TO WORK in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section).

This week, your hosts talk about some stuff they're doing, loving Spotify, some Echo podcast-listening tips, the attraction of Google Drive, some thoughts on backup strategies, getting swole, the joys of rock tumbler ownership, scary times in Austin, weird iMac problems, some more thoughts on backup strategies, Merlin's obsession with drumming videos, and yet more Apple TV foibles. Links for this episode:Ungainly X-Mann Meetup #21 — Merlin MannAmazon adds follow-up mode for Alexa to let you make back-to-back requests | The VergeMindfulness in Plain English - Audiobook | Audible.comBeatles '66 - Audiobook | Audible.comAll the Pieces Matter - Audiobook | Audible.comThe Dragonet Prophecy - Audiobook | Audible.comSpotifySpotify Integration - FiresideAmazon.com: My Pod: Alexa SkillsHome - My PodUsing Google Drive - New Features, Benefits & Advantages of Google Cloud StorageMicrosoft OneDriveGoogle Photos - WikipediaHow to use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac - Apple SupportShirt PocketSuperDu

This week, your hosts talk about using Windows, technology modalities, making sane decisions as a developer, reality TV, 20th anniversary of The Dude, Merlin's new fondness for Spotify, analyzing takes on the HomePod, options for high-quality in smart speakers, dealing with recurring financial (and psychological) eels, competitive heat in the smart home ecosystem, Canadians, and the name of Scotland Yard. They also answer a listener question about feeling overwhelmed by content options. Links for this episode:Amazon Alexa (Choose default music services) STAMP - Move to Apple Music, Spotify or Google MusicStamp moves tracks and playlists across various services - Apple Music, Spotify, Google Music and others! Amazon.com: AcuRite 01014M Weather Station with AcuRite Access for Remote Monitoring: Home & KitchenUnder the Radar #120: Productivity by Inefficiency - Relay FMAdopting inefficient hacks to save developer time, since hardware is so fast that it's often a worthwhile tradeoff. Under the Radar #70: The

This week, Dan and Merlin talk about weather as a thing and giving up on Cash's dumb iPad problem. This leads to discussion about the risks, opportunities, and frustrations of having lots of data in different places (probably). The main topic this week is an exploration of TickTick. Neat app. They also almost talk about Black Panther. Links for this episode:TickTickOverview · TickTick User GuideDew point - WikipediaJaz drive - WikipediaMusicBrainz PicardQueen - Somebody To Love (Official Video) - YouTubeTickTick - Todo & Task List - Chrome Web StoreSTAMP - Move to Apple Music, Spotify or Google MusicNetflixBrought to you by: FreshBooks (To claim your month long unrestricted free trial, go to FreshBooks.com/backtowork and enter BACK TO WORK in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section). HelloFresh (For $30 off your first week of HelloFresh, visit HelloFresh.com and enter promo code BACKTOWORK30).

This week, Dan and Merlin talk a little too much about Harry Potter, but also manage to cover some other media properties as well as the shockingly limited options for British casting. Dan has a new task management app, and Merlin decides to give it a spin too. The need for help from the jackals who make Cash's iPad app is escalated. In a somewhat classic style, the conversation moves to considering Big Issues around work, friction, modality, usability, and apps for pound-sign productivity. Twitter, its apps, and its perplexing (lack of?) company direction are discussed. Merlin has something like a razor for this. Dan is told that he is upset. Links for this episode:Thought-terminating cliché - RationalWikiA thought-terminating cliché is a saying, often a tautology, that is repeated in order to relieve the stress of cognitive dissonance by avoiding all further consideration of a matter. Everyday examples include "it is what it is," "it's just common sense," and "you gotta do what you gotta do." 5by5 | Back