Brad & Will Made a Tech Pod. artwork

Brad & Will Made a Tech Pod.

242 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 11 hours ago - ★★★★★ - 456 ratings

Each Sunday, Brad Shoemaker and Will Smith discuss a new technology topic. Come for the long-form conversations about virtual reality, space travel, electric cars, refresh rates, and a whole lot more.

Support the pod on Patreon: http://patreon.com/techpod

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Episodes

41: The Great Simian Mathematician

June 28, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 57.6 MB

Another Apple episode already? Yeah, we didn't expect it either until WWDC brought such a bounty of new stuff to talk about. In addition to ARM-based Macs, somehow iOS managed to be the most interesting thing at this year's conference. Home screen widgets! Multitasking! App defaults? After all these years?! Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreo...

40: Gigantic Flaming Luminous Orb

June 21, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 55.9 MB

Oh, the horror! This week we recount some of the tech disasters from our past. From near-miss electrocutions to ruined prototype hardware, PC-building boondoggles, all-night server restores, and extremely lucky data recovery, relive some of our best and worst moments getting hands-on with hardware and software. Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://pa...

39: The Eternal Optimist

June 14, 2020 13:00 - 54 minutes - 50.2 MB

Things are rough out there, so this week we recorded a free-wheeling episode about tech-ish self-care strategies for things like exercise, meditation, lighting, and so forth. Plus: Will's making his own MiSTer case! Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our boom...

38: Embrace, Extend, Extinguish

June 07, 2020 13:00 - 55 minutes - 51.1 MB

It's time for infosec episode, the sequel! Will recounts the hackery he's dealt with since our initial podcast about online security a few weeks ago, then we grade the big tech companies on their privacy efforts (or lack thereof) and dig into the what, how, and why of modern data collection -- and how to stop it. Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://...

37: Mr. Reginald Edit

May 31, 2020 13:00 - 40 minutes - 37.7 MB

Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod Here's the American Cinematographer deep dive on The Mandalorian's production that we mentioned a couple weeks ago. Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can su...

36: The Frankencoder Liiiiiiives

May 24, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 68.3 MB

With everyone trapped indoors, streaming video on the Internet is an especially good way to connect with people right now. This week we did a broad survey of practical streaming tech, from hardware and software setups to codecs and protocols, Brad's latest questionable tech project, and the ever-present danger of streaming Will's inbox live to the world. Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, your name in the credits, and other great benef...

35: Every Polygon Is a Pixel

May 17, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 65.4 MB

With the advent of another generational Unreal Engine tech demo, it's time to have a live watch party and then mull over what the UE5 tech means for asset creation, real-time lighting, and other trends in game development, and then gush over the Unreal-driven virtual sets in TV productions like The Mandalorian. Graphics! Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: ...

34: My Other Computer Is a Datacenter

May 10, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 58.5 MB

Friend of the pod Brian Fitzpatrick of Tock Inc. and ORD Camp stops by to talk about the early days of big data at Google, shipping 1500-pound rack servers, working on widely used open-source software, and how to score a half-ton irradiated electromagnet. Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod Google Takeout Tock Google Corkboard...

33: Prudiest Common Denominator

May 03, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 57.5 MB

By all accounts, Apple is moving its laptops to ARM sooner than later. What's this transition going to mean for existing MacOS software? How many days straight will your new MacBook run on battery? Can we envision a big old Mac Pro running on an itsy bitsy ARM chip? These questions and more, pondered herein! Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patre...

32: Bless the Drive

April 26, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 76.2 MB

Time for another Q&A! This week we discuss listener-submitted emails about the ultra-sandboxed future of Windows 10X, a short mouse retrospective, waiting for the right time to build a new PC, electron beams 'n electromagnets, questionable phone upgrades, and our personal histories of taking stuff apart and putting it back together. Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support t...

31: Virtuals on Virtuals on Virtuals

April 19, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 59.8 MB

This week we reach into our grab bag of homebound projects to chat about the tech stuff we're up to lately, from Will's ray-traced camera obscura and adventures in Behringer mixing to Brad's efforts to bring a FrankenMiSTer to life and get to the bottom of the great shingled hard drive scandal of 2020. Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com...

30: The Neighborhood Software Pirate

April 12, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 71.1 MB

Special guest time! Digital Eclipse's Mike Mika joins us to talk about the early days of programming video games, how not to get murdered by your arcade machine, reverse engineering classic games without source code, the coming CRT apocalypse, and what the new console hardware means for old games. Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/tech...

29: Have Laser, Will Cut

April 05, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 72.7 MB

In this grab bag of an episode, we cover topics ranging from ground loop isolators to the MiSTer, fixing holes in air mattresses, modern uses for 3D printing, an in-depth primer on coronavirus testing, reclaiming that precious blue screen of death, and more stories from our quarantined home life. Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techp...

28: Low Bidet-lability

March 29, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 73.5 MB

Serious Eats Food Safety The YouTube Food Video Social Distancing Strategies for Curbing COVID-19 COVID Tracking Project   As always, we couldn't make this show without our Patrons. Special thanks to our Producer-level Patrons!  Executive Producer - David Allen Associate Producer - Iain Baillie Associate Producer - Graham Banks Associate Producer - Sam Buck Associate Producer - Ezekiel Holiman Associate Producer - Paul Reust Associate Producer - Thomas Shea Support the Pod! Contribut...

27: The Week That It Happened

March 22, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 83.5 MB

Microsoft and Sony dumped a treasure trove of Xbox and PlayStation hardware specs this week, and we do our best to break down the APIs and SOCs, ponder ultra-fast flash storage and ray tracing, speculate about how the new boxes will affect development going forward, and more!Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/tech...

26: Come On Downe to Dongle Towne!

March 15, 2020 16:00 - 41 minutes - 38.6 MB

Here's Will's ridiculous portrait ultra-wide monitor: https://imgur.com/a/yy3EJNp Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

25: Put a Doober in the Wall

March 08, 2020 16:45 - 54 minutes - 49.7 MB

Anker 5-port 60W USB Charger Anker Quick Charge 3.0 Battery Anker Wireless Charging Pad Anker Wireless Charging Stand Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

24: The Mad Max Threshold

March 01, 2020 17:22 - 38 minutes - 35.6 MB

d.Light Solar Lantern + Phone Charger MPOWERD inflatable Solar Lantern BigBlue 5V 28W Solar Charger Anker Backup Battery Lifestraw Personal Size Lifestraw 1Gallon Bag UV Light Water Sterilizer Ensure Milk Chocolate Emergency Crank-Powered Radio A Big Car Camping Tent Sleeping Bags Bleach Tea Lights Emergency Blanket First Aid Supplies Gas Shutoff Wrench Can Opener Wet Wipes Demolition Tool Gerber Shard Pliers Multitool Medicine dropper Fire starters Electric Match Je...

23: Some Real Karen Energy

February 23, 2020 15:01 - 51 minutes - 47.7 MB

Q&A time! On our latest emails episode we cover topics like Raspberry Pi media servers, backing up old Nintendo games, dystopian uses for biometric data, COM ports in 2020, Will's travails with Netflix customer chat, and the ancient, forgotten magic of LightScribe.Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

22: Like a '70s Oldsmobile

February 16, 2020 19:26 - 1 hour - 73.2 MB

Our super-definitive ordering of every Windows concludes with the all the modern ones: XP and SP2, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, and 10. Remember the Start Screen? Remember WinFS? Remember hooking your unpatched PC straight into your Internet connection? After this episode, you will!Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

21: WINDOWS ON TRIAL

February 09, 2020 14:00 - 57 minutes - 53 MB

Don't miss Will's old magazine reviews of Windows 2000 and Millennium Edition. It's like traveling through time! Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

20: It's Like a USB Condom

February 02, 2020 20:46 - 48 minutes - 44.9 MB

Information security is more important than ever these days, so it's time to talk best practices, from two-factor authentication to Yubi keys, password strength, drive encryption, financial security, and more. Don't miss out on free food like we did!Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

19: The Codec-sperts

January 26, 2020 18:30 - 50 minutes - 46.8 MB

It's that time again: emails! We're computer-heavy this week with questions about our favorite PC cases and understanding video formats, but we also make time for silicon wafers and diamond-resin grinding wheels, the Kessler Syndrome, and the great meatloaf battle of beef versus pork.Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon...

18: A Cave for Your Hard Drives

January 19, 2020 21:54 - 59 minutes - 54.8 MB

This week we're getting NASty... network-attached storage, that is. From wi-fi-enabled USB drives to Synology to FreeNAS and beyond, this episode is a wide-ranging deep dive on network storage options, RAID, ZFS, dealing with open-source media streaming and home automation, NUT servers, and more!Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: htt...

17: Jimmy Dean Organic

January 12, 2020 20:49 - 58 minutes - 54.1 MB

Another Consumer Electronics Show has come and gone, and while we dodged the Vegas bullet this year, we still read all the news: Bluetooth LE audio, fake pork, Sony's fake car, Intel's possibly real GPU, AMD's bazillion chiplets, 360Hz monitors, and more!Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

16: Heavy HDMI

January 05, 2020 21:44 - 57 minutes - 52.6 MB

Will and Brad turn Qs into As in another mailbag edition of the Tech Pod. Topics include getting hands-on with Half-Life: Alyx, next-gen console minspecs, why there's never a queue to watch Watchmen, Brad's long HDMI cable, and the state of AMD's latest CPU designs.Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

15: Bob Iger Will Eat You

December 30, 2019 01:10 - 1 hour - 75.3 MB

A new decade is nigh, so what better time to look back on the tech trends that defined the twenty-tens... teens... whatever. From smartphones to 3D movies, home laser cutters to endless payments of $10 a month, settle in for a look back at the decade that was!Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

14: It's Just Math

December 22, 2019 21:37 - 59 minutes - 54.8 MB

This week we dip our toes into the wild world of ray tracing, from the physical basics to emerging APIs, a brief history of GPU design, what the ray tracing solutions might look like in the new consoles, and a DIY tech demo you can do at your kitchen table!Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

13: Tech the Halls!

December 15, 2019 20:14 - 1 hour - 55.9 MB

Programmable lights: www.twinkly.com Homebridge: https://github.com/nfarina/homebridge Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

12: I Have a Website!

December 01, 2019 18:50 - 1 hour - 56 MB

You ask and we answer! This week, we tackle relevant tech topics like chicken farming, vaporware, drive-by-wire, upgrading a 486 to a 586, and what will definitely be the final email about cooking rice in a pressure cooker. Enjoy! Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

11: Spatchcock Central

November 24, 2019 18:24 - 53 minutes - 49.5 MB

The annual giving of thanks is almost upon us, so Brad and Will sat down to chew the well-rendered bird fat about a few of the technologies they're thankful for, from noise-canceling headphones to... speedy Windows installs?Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

10: The Corgi of Cars

November 17, 2019 18:48 - 59 minutes - 54.5 MB

That self-driving car GIF Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

9: Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access

November 10, 2019 17:00 - 55 minutes - 50.7 MB

Apologies for the crackling in the audio! A recording snafu forced us to use a backup recording that wasn't as high quality as we would have liked. Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

8: The One Where We Go Dark

November 03, 2019 20:03 - 53 minutes - 49 MB

The best reference material I found on quantum computing (It's a comic). Scott Aaronson's blog with a ton of good quantum computing info. Larry Osterman on Microsoft's backwards slashes.  The time Pixar deleted Toy Story 2.  Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

7: Singularities All Around Us!

October 27, 2019 17:00 - 52 minutes - 48.5 MB

The technological singularity may or may not be looming in our future, so we attempt to get to the bottom of singularities past and present, quantum intelligence, civilizational collapse, and other cheerful subjects. Plus: a hands-on report and one (1) email!Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

6: Spray the Frame Hose

October 20, 2019 17:00 - 1 hour - 80.9 MB

This week we crack open the time capsule with the first episode we ever recorded, about screens! From their humble origins with the first analog TVs to modern ultra-fast gaming monitors and adaptive sync in next-gen consoles, we go deep on this most refreshing topic.Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

5: Punch a Couple of Nuns

October 14, 2019 01:35 - 1 hour - 59.4 MB

This week, we talk about supply chain. Why did the iPod Nano beget the iPhone? What's the big deal with batteries? What does the Gmail launch have to do with supply chain? Find out the answers to these questions (and more!) on this week's Tech Pod. Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

4: A Bomb That Sits on Your Stove

October 06, 2019 20:11 - 51 minutes - 47.5 MB

This week we had the brilliant idea of talking about food tech while we were starving. Pressure cookers! Air fryers! The Maillard reaction! N-nitrogen dewars? Roto-stators? Do people really put sugar in grits? All that and more on our most delicious episode yet!Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

3: 340 Trillion Trillion Trillion

September 29, 2019 18:04 - 1 hour - 66.9 MB

Here's the mid-'90s memo outlining the use of private address ranges like 192.168.0.0 for internal network use. If you happen to be Robert G. Moskowitz, we'd love to chat! https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1918 Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

2: Captain Crunch's Electric Car

September 23, 2019 00:24 - 1 hour - 56.3 MB

Batteries power everything from phones and laptops to cars now, but it feels like the technology is lagging behind. Brad and Will talk about different types of batteries and how they work, share some good guidelines for care and maintenance of the lithium batteries that are in most of your mobile devices, and contemplate Will's high-tech high school romantic life.Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in th...

1: We're Gonna Need JNCOs For That

September 15, 2019 22:00 - 55 minutes - 50.9 MB

Brad and Will contemplate their own mortality while discussing this week's Apple event. Topics include Apple's newest iPhones, Watches, iPads, and services. There's also at least one banger of a segue. Enjoy!Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

0: Sweatpants Tech Podcast

September 12, 2019 17:23 - 47 minutes - 44 MB

On this inaugural episode, Brad and Will share their technological origin stories and why they've always loved tech. Hear the reason they're making a podcast, the stories of their first PC builds, and their love of Socket 7. Enjoy! Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

Twitter Mentions

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