Episode 019: It's not a coding error ... it's a plot twist!

We're almost back to normal following last week's special edition, with Charles back but Mike still MIA, so we recruit best-selling tech author William Gallagher to drop in and tell us a little of the backstory behind last week's short story. We also discuss the new repair program for the iPhone 6 Plus and units that are affected by the malady known as "touch disease," the latest rumor about Apple and future iPhone manufacturing (and pricing in the US and elsewhere), the potential for a trade war, and call out some bad tech journalism -- naturally, framing Apple for stuff -- just for good measure. This of course leads to a discussion of security (including that texting backdoor that sends your Android SMSes to China), and the bad news of the week about the future of AppleScript and Automator and the departure of those technologies' guardian.

Now how much would you pay (with or without a 35 percent tariff)? But wait, there's more! Our children are being indoctrinated in Chinese and Apple's insidious Hour of Code, the new Apple book (wait -- a physical book?) that will cost you about as much as a fixed iPhone 6 Plus, and we wind it up on a high note with the news that Apple is working with researchers and medical firms to use ResearchKit and HealthKit to improve everyone's ability to monitor and seek treatment for Parkinson's Disease (and more). All this and the activity rivalry between William and Charles (and a great tip to improve your activity score), the secrets of William's invoicing system, the true nature of freelancing, and the secret of why Charles never became a programmer despite a promising start back when there were only two bits to worry about. Climb on board and blast off with us for an hour of insight and laughs, cadets!