Chit Chat Across the Pond

CCATP #536 - David Sparks on Video Field Guide Books

May 11, 2018 02:55 - 51 minutes - 23.8 MB

This week we had David Sparks, AKA MacSparky himself on the show to talk about iBooks Author, writing his famous Video Field Guides, how he traded in his saxophones for children, how he believes in "cooking ideas" and his love of mind maps. If you haven't learned from David Sparks, you haven't lived.

CCATP #535 - Bart Busschots on PBS 53 of X — Bootstrap Utilities

May 06, 2018 01:09 - 58 minutes - 27.4 MB

We're finally back to a new episode of Programming By Stealth after a few weeks chatting with different things like GDPR and DNS with Bart Busschots. In this installment, Bart starts explaining the Utilities available in Bootstrap. We'll learn how easy it is to use the pre-built CSS styles in Bootstrap to color text, add borders, spacing, text alignment and fonts all with semantic phrases that actually make sense! In an odd bit of luck, Bootstrap had been updated and Bart's code didn't re...

CCATP #534 - Bart Busschots on GDPR

April 19, 2018 02:18 - 1 hour - 45.5 MB

In another Lite version of Chit Chat Across the Pond, Bart agreed to come on and explain the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. This is a regulation that will take effect across the European Union starting on 25 May 2018. Bart first gives us an overview, outlining the main objectives, the 7 core principles, and explains how a regulation differs from a directive. From there he defines the terminology and concepts which are critical to understanding the regulation. He explains the...

CCATP #533- Bart Busschots on Choosing a DNS Resolver

April 15, 2018 01:28 - 1 hour - 46.5 MB

In this "Lite" version of Chit Chat Across the Pond (within a NosillaCastaway's definition of Lite), Bart teaches us about DNS Resolvers and helps give us the information to choose the right one for us. To get us there he starts by explaining the background technologies. He explains DNS and how there's two kinds of servers, he explains DNS Name resolution and why caching is important, and the security problems (and solutions) of DNS. Then he explains how third-party DNS providers can solve s...

CCATP #532 - Joe Dugandzic Answers NosillaCastaways' Home Automation Questions

April 04, 2018 17:54 - 1 hour - 41.2 MB

Joe Dugandzic of smarterhomelife.com joins us again, this time in a crossover episode. We start by him asking me to describe my progression in Home Automation from my first smart lightbulb to the more advanced capabilities Steve and I enjoy today. But then we turn the table around and I ask Joe a series of questions submitted by NosillaCastaways. If you'd like to see the video version of the show, check it out at: https://youtu.be/TlGtzGRL5o0

CCATP #531 - Bart Busschots on PBS 52 - Introducing Bootstrap 4

March 31, 2018 23:40 - 1 hour - 31.5 MB

We're finally back after spring break, and we're going to be moving on from JavaScript while we learn about Bootstrap. Bootstrap is a set of open source libraries which provide pre-built foundations for creating responsive and good looking websites. It's an easy episode with easy and fun homework I think you'll enjoy. Before we got started I talked about a fantastic post Will (aka @beiju) wrote to me to help me understand JavaScript objects better. If you've been struggling like I have o...

CCATP #530 - Bart Busschots on PBS 51 Cellular Automata Wrap-up

March 04, 2018 00:48 - 1 hour - 33.5 MB

As our last episode of Programming By Stealth before our spring break, Bart wraps up our Cellular Automaton. He goes through his solution to the PBS 49 challenge first, and then he walks us through three examples of how a user could produce three different representations with our code. He demonstrates how to build a Conway Game of Life, the Maze Rule, and Brian's Brain. It's fun to see it all wrapped in a bow ending this long project. We'll be back on March 31st with a whole new project....

CCATP #529 - Mike Potter on Macstock Conference and Expo

February 21, 2018 03:41 - 1 day - 20 MB

I asked Mike Potter to join us on Chit Chat Across the Pond this week with the express purpose of trying to convince you to come to Macstock Conference and Expo on July 20th and 21st. Do not listen to this episode if you don't want to be talked into it because I guarantee you'll want to after hearing Mike and me talk about how interesting and fun and inclusive and geeky it is. During the show Mike gives us a special $10 off coupon (discount off the $179 early bird price). That coupon code...

CCATP #523 - Bart Busschots on PBS 50 - Building a Web App on Video

February 18, 2018 18:53 - 2 hours - 56.6 MB

This week Bart and I celebrate 50 episodes of Programming By Stealth. As Bart points out, we've been at this for two years now. I'm so happy he's stuck with me on this and he says he's got literally years of material yet to go. To commemorate this occasion, Bart got the crazy idea to build a web app live on video. We used a YouTube Live Hangout on Air while he shared his screen. He started with a blank canvas and when he was done we had a working web app. The video is probably a better e...

CCATP #522 - Bart Busschots on PBS 49B of X - Object Revision & Improving Our Cellular Automata

February 11, 2018 03:18 - 1 hour - 49.9 MB

As promised last week, Bart Busschots brings us the second half of Programming By Stealth 49. We start by going through a lot of revision on JavaScript objects. It's really great to have all of this all in one place, and I got to ask a few questions that have been bugging me for a long time. I understood every bit of this and really enjoyed it, but I'm not going to lie, his little 6-part test after the revision baffled me a bit. But after we slog through that part, Bart gets us back on trac...

CCATP #521 - Bart Busschots on PBS 49A of X - Challenges from PBS 48

February 04, 2018 00:46 - 58 minutes - 27 MB

In this week's episode of Programming By Stealth, Bart had intended to work on improving our Cellular Automata, but we ended up spending a lot more time on reviewing the challenges from last week that we stopped before getting to the new stuff. The good news is that we're going to do the Cellular Automata improvements in only one week (it will be PBS 49B), and we have no homework for the week! As always, Bart's excellent tutorial shownotes are available at bartbusschots.ie/....

CCATP #520 - Tom Merritt on How Social Media Makes Us Feel

January 26, 2018 03:01 - 46 minutes - 21.5 MB

Tom Merritt, host of the Daily Tech News Show along with many other fine podcasts, joins me to talk about how social media makes us feel. We talk about how we feel about pictures of food, how we curate Twitter, who in our family takes the photos, whether Instagram is a happy place, how we have real-life friends we only know online, how communities are awesome and how sometimes even Facebook is a place to share a deeply personal story. You can find links to all of Tom's podcasts and his books...

CCATP #519 - Bart Busschots on PBS 48 of x – A Closer Look at ‘this’ and ‘static’

January 21, 2018 00:16 - 1 hour - 42.5 MB

Bart decided to take a closer look at the JavaScript keywords 'this' and 'static' and boy am I glad he did. He said it was the hardest lesson he's put together so far. It's a convoluted topic but he gives great explanations as always. You can find his tutorial at bartbusschots.ie/...

CCATP #518 - Joe Dugandzic on How He Went from Youtuber to Full Time Project/Marketing Manager at Lynky

January 09, 2018 15:00 - 36 minutes - 17.2 MB

Joe Dugandzic of Smarter Home Life has been on the show several times in the past year talking about Home Automation. This time he's on to talk about how being a Youtuber working on Home Automation landed him a full-time job at a home automation startup company called Lynky. It's a story of his technical chops, grammar skills, his good sense about marketing, and his deep knowledge of Home Automation that helped him become the marketing and project manager for the Lynky Home Intelligence Hub.

CCATP #517 - Bart Busschots on PBS 47 - ES6 Polymorphism

January 07, 2018 02:07 - 1 hour - 38.2 MB

In this installment of Programming By Stealth, Bart teaches us about inheritance (relationships between classes) and polymorphism. Now he said polymorphism is a concept that throws most first-level college students, but in an odd twist, I didn't find it confusing at all! Plus, he lets us play with cows, ducks and turkeys in his example so it's loads of fun. We also have a great new study tool created by Dorothy, aka MacLurker. She created an index of terms so you can jump right to the b...

CCATP #516 - Bart Busschots on PBS 46 - ES6 Spread Operator, Arrow Functions & Classes

December 22, 2017 01:40 - 1 hour - 30.3 MB

In this installment of Programming By Stealth, Bart adds one more thing to the list of changes to arrays, and that's the spread operator. Then we'll learn how to get rid of the "const self = this" kludge for callbacks using the arrow functions. After that, we learn the basics of classes, a concept introduced in ES6 which brings JavaScript into the world of other C-style languages. Bart's excellent written tutorial for this installment is available here: bartbusschots.ie/... Bart at the...

CCATP #515 – Allison Hartley on Trials & Tribulations of a New iPhone

December 16, 2017 21:37 - 45 minutes - 21.5 MB

This week our guest is Allison Hartley. Allison is the Manager of the Napa Branch of the California department of Rehabilitation, and a podcaster. She co-hosts both the Tech Doctor Podcast with Dr. Robert Carter (dr-carter.com/...) and That Blind Tech Show (blindabilities.com/...). Allison joins us to talk about the less than smooth experience she had upgrading to iPhone X. You might think it was hard because she's blind, but accessibility had nothing to do with it. We talk a bit about...

CCATP #514 - Bart Busschots on PBS 45 – ES6 Arrays & Strings

December 11, 2017 19:53 - 52 minutes - 24.5 MB

In this week's Programming By Stealth, Bart starts by actually giving me credit for leading him to rethink his strategy on the use of const and let. He was nudged along in the strategy by the most awesome Jill. Then Bart goes on to reveal even more of the joy that is JavaScript ES6. He explains ES6 Arrays, how to loop through Arrays, and in a change that brings a tear to my eye, the simpler way you can now loop over Strings and how concatenation is a thing of the past when building stri...

CCATP #513 - Tom Merritt on Net Neutrality

December 09, 2017 03:20 - 22.1 MB

Tom Merritt, host of Daily Tech News Show joins us to explain the implications of the different rulings of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding Internet traffic in the United States. He'll attempt to clarify the difference between the 2002 ruling where broadband was declared an information service provider and the 2015 ruling where it was changed to a common carrier. And of course we'll talk about the implications of the vote by the FCC next week on this issue.

CCATP #512 - Kaylee on Tech in Japan

December 03, 2017 00:46 - 1 hour - 33.4 MB

This week our guest is Kaylee of the Zettai Geek Dayo podcast. You con find the podcast at platypuspodcasts.com and you can find Kaylee on Twitter at @kayleedayo.

CCATP #511 - Bart Busschots on PBS 44 - ES6 Arguments & Objects

November 26, 2017 21:17 - 57 minutes - 27 MB

In this installment of Programming By Stealth, Bart Busschots teaches us new ways to deal with arguments and objects in JavaScript ES6. We learn how to set default argument values for functions in a way that is self-documenting. He explains how variadic (aka Rest) arguments allow you to shove all of the arguments of a function into an array. Then he walks us through how to use for ... in loops to loop over objects. He reminds us of the difference between instance and static properties and ...

CCATP #510 - Dr. Maryanne Garry on Many Memory Questions

November 19, 2017 03:32 - 1 hour - 36 MB

This week our guest is Dr. Maryanne Garry, a professor from the University of Waikato in New Zealand. Dr. Garry is a scientific researcher into memory, memory distortions, false memories, the myth of repression and its overlap with the law. This is her fourth appearance on Chit Chat Across the Pond, and has pretty much ruined everything we think we knew about memory. She's back to answer even more questions we have about new research into memories.

CCATP #509 - Bart Busschots on PBS 43 - Introducing JavaScript ES6

November 12, 2017 22:15 - 1 hour - 44.7 MB

In this installment of Programming By Stealth, Bart spends most of the time talking through his solution to the previous challenge, where we added start and stop buttons to our Game of Life. In his solution he actually modifies the prototype to accommodate the ability to add these buttons. He explains his process and his decisions along the way. I'm not going to lie, this one confused me quite a bit in the middle but we both hope it's because we've been away from the hard-core JavaScript ...

CCATP #508 - Allison Sheridan Tells Her Woman's Story

November 02, 2017 01:07 - 1 hour - 31 MB

I've been impressed by the women who have stepped forward and told their stories about what life is like for us. I don't have any salacious tale to tell but rather a thousand paper cuts type of story. I thought about doing a monologue but I was terribly anxious about talking through this, so I reached out to Bart Busschots because I trusted him to help me. I decided to push the audio out in both the NosillaCast and Chit Chat Across the Pond feeds, well, because I wanted you to hear it.

CCATP #507 - Bart Busschots on PBS 42 – Playing the Game of Life

October 29, 2017 21:16 - 1 hour - 46.6 MB

CCATP #507 for October 29, 2017, and I'm your host, Allison Sheridan. It is also a Programming By Stealth, installment 42 of X with Bart Busschots. It's finally time to tie all the bits and pieces we've learned together and create our first web app. Armed with our HTML, CSS, jQuery and JavaScript knowledge, and our Cellular Automata Prototype, Bart walks us through how to bring the Game of Life...to Life! It's a lot of fun and I understood a great deal of it (I'm not gonna lie, it wasn't...

CCATP #506 - Mark Fawcett on In-Home Apple Tech Support

October 19, 2017 02:24 - 53 minutes - 25.1 MB

I met Mark Fawcett at Macstock Expo in Chicago last year and we hit it off immediately. Mark does in-home tech support for Apple products, and he's full of great stories of the fun he has doing this job. After 20 years as a TV and video producer, he finds his new job more fulfilling and fun. I had a great time hearing his crazy stories of some "interesting" clients and I'm sure you'll enjoy the conversation too. And of course I tease him about the name of his company, MacMen.

CCATP #505 - Bart Busschots on PBS 41 - Form Events

October 14, 2017 00:39 - 1 hour - 42.2 MB

In this episode of Programming By Stealth, Bart ties up the last of the loose ends related to web forms. He teaches us about form events, which are critical to making our web forms not only accessible to screen readers but to allow our users to tab around to the different fields and interact with them without using a mouse. We learn about the keypress event and learn what it means for 31 to be the space key.

CCATP #504 - Erica Peterson on Moms Can: CODE

October 03, 2017 21:52 - 41 minutes - 19.4 MB

Erica Peterson of Moms Can: CODE joins us this week to talk about her new startup designed to help mothers who code to connect and collaborate. We talk about her life as a mother of a five-year-old, while coding, while teaching high school biology, creating a startup and running a non-profit. The non-profit is called Science Tots, which is focused on bringing STEAM activities to non-science-based events.

CCATP #503 - Bart Busschots - PBS 40 of x - HTML5 Custom Validations with jQuery

September 30, 2017 22:47 - 1 hour - 51.9 MB

In a shocking turn of events, I actually followed all of Programming By Stealth this week! Bart walked us through his solution to last week's HTML5 Forms Validation homework, and in so doing highlighted some especially clever things he did. I was pretty pleased with my own version of the homework, and in fact Bart gave me a gold star for one thing I did. Bart also explains how he used CSS to make his form even more readable. In the second half of the episode he shows how to use jQuery ...

CCATP #502 - Megan Morrone on iPhone 8

September 24, 2017 00:12 - 48 minutes - 22.7 MB

Megan Morrone joins us today. Megan is the host of iOS Today with Leo LaPorte and host of Tech News Today with Jason Howell on the TWiT network. She's got the new, shiny iPhone 8 Plus so I asked her on to tell us what she thinks about it. Megan talks about how the glass back feels, the fun she's been having with Portrait lighting and how she hasn't even tried the 4K 60fps video yet. She give us a tip for wireless charging - the Seneo Qi Wireless Charging Stand. iMore has a link to a code ...

CCATP #501 Bart Busschots - PBS 39 of x - HTML5 Form Validation

September 16, 2017 01:07 - 1 hour - 34.8 MB

This week Bart Busschots joins us to talk about HTML Form Validation. We'll get back to our Cellular Automata next week. Bart has also decided that we're going to get our feet a little bit yet by using GitHub where we'll be getting the challenges and solutions from now on. You can see Bart's awesome tutorial at bartbusschots.ie/...

CCATP #499 - Joe Dugandzic on Illustrated HomeKit Product Guide

September 06, 2017 17:26 - 42.1 MB

I asked the fabulous Joe Dugandzic to come back on the show to talk us through the comprehensive HomeKit compatible product guide he created. For a long time there weren't a lot of HomeKit devices to enjoy but now that the market is filling up, having a really well organized page with all of the options is very valuable. Joe has organized the page into categories rather than by vendor. He's got lighting, outlets and sockets, wall dimmers & switches, security devices like locks and ca...

CCATP #500 Bart Busschots – PBS 38 of x – Taking Stock

September 02, 2017 22:16 - 1 hour - 38.3 MB

We finally reached 500 episodes of Chit Chat Across the Pond (episode 499 will be next week) so who better to have on the show than Bart Busschots who started it all? In our first Programming By Stealth after our summer vacation, Bart decided to do a retrospective on what we’ve learned to date from HTML to CSS to JavaScript. I thought it was a great episode because it refreshed my memory on so much that we’ve done. He even put together a set of quiz questions for each section and shockingly...