Cortex

00:00:00 ◼   ► So Myke, since I was unable to dump one of my LG monitors on you,

00:00:05 ◼   ► have you actually set up your PC gaming monitor with your iPad yet?

00:00:11 ◼   ► I'm very curious about this setup and I need to hear from you what's going on.

00:00:15 ◼   ► I'm not gonna lie, I was a little nervous. I saw you last week and I was a little concerned that

00:00:19 ◼   ► you might bring a big bag.

00:00:20 ◼   ► Here you go, this is what you wanted.

00:00:24 ◼   ► Listen, there's an LG monitor.

00:00:26 ◼   ► Yeah, with my name on it.

00:00:28 ◼   ► right within arm's reach of me that I look at and I resent every day for being a disgusting

00:00:35 ◼   ► piece of technology. And I would just love to gift it to you, Myke.

00:00:38 ◼   ► I know you would. I took a trip down to Dongle Town to make this work because I don't know

00:00:45 ◼   ► why I thought I had a USB-C monitor, it's just something in my brain, but my monitor

00:00:50 ◼   ► because it's in PC land, it has HDMI on one side and like some friggin' VGA nonsense,

00:00:56 ◼   ► I don't even know what it is.

00:00:57 ◼   ► One of those big things with the pins on it, right?

00:01:00 ◼   ► Like we have to screw it in.

00:01:01 ◼   ► - Yeah, yeah, that's VGA.

00:01:03 ◼   ► If you're giving a PowerPoint presentation to a class,

00:01:05 ◼   ► you're gonna need a VGA input.

00:01:07 ◼   ► That's just required.

00:01:09 ◼   ► - I can't tell you why exactly

00:01:10 ◼   ► that's how I have my monitor connected to my PC,

00:01:12 ◼   ► which is what came in the box,

00:01:14 ◼   ► so that's just how it's connected.

00:01:15 ◼   ► And I now await the feedback that will come at me

00:01:19 ◼   ► for why I should or shouldn't be doing that.

00:01:22 ◼   ► But as I've always said,

00:01:23 ◼   ► and it's always been like a thing in the back of my mind,

00:01:26 ◼   ► The monitor that I have was just what I could get,

00:01:29 ◼   ► like for a decent price on Prime.

00:01:31 ◼   ► Like I've always wanted to change this monitor,

00:01:33 ◼   ► but I've yet to really sit down and like look into it.

00:01:36 ◼   ► I think I have my eye on something,

00:01:38 ◼   ► one of the Asus Predator monitors or something it's called,

00:01:41 ◼   ► but I've yet to do it.

00:01:42 ◼   ► It has RGB in it naturally,

00:01:45 ◼   ► but I have some LG ultra wide monitor.

00:01:49 ◼   ► I like the ultra wide monitor,

00:01:50 ◼   ► especially for game streaming,

00:01:52 ◼   ► because you can have like a regular window size

00:01:54 ◼   ► and then just more windows on the side of it, right?

00:01:56 ◼   ► Like you don't need to fill the complete ultra-wide-ness.

00:01:58 ◼   ► But anyway-- - Wait, is it more than 16.9?

00:02:01 ◼   ► I don't know what ultra-wide is.

00:02:02 ◼   ► - Yeah, yeah, I couldn't even tell you what the ratio is,

00:02:05 ◼   ► but it's super wide and not very tall.

00:02:08 ◼   ► - So it's like 3.27, something like that?

00:02:11 ◼   ► - Let's just say yes.

00:02:12 ◼   ► But it's a strange monitor.

00:02:15 ◼   ► But I actually quite like the ultra-wide stuff.

00:02:18 ◼   ► But anyway, so I grabbed a bunch of dongles

00:02:21 ◼   ► and I connected it via HDMI via a USB-C

00:02:25 ◼   ► dongle that I have to my iPad.

00:02:27 ◼   ► And it worked immediately,

00:02:29 ◼   ► which I was surprised about.

00:02:30 ◼   ► Like as soon as I plugged it

00:02:31 ◼   ► into my iPad Pro, the USB-C port,

00:02:33 ◼   ► the monitor came on,

00:02:34 ◼   ► picture was there, crystal clear.

00:02:36 ◼   ► It looked fantastic.

00:02:37 ◼   ► And just like when I used

00:02:40 ◼   ► the mouse on my iPad with iPad OS 13

00:02:43 ◼   ► for the first time a few weeks ago,

00:02:44 ◼   ► it felt kind of strange at first,

00:02:46 ◼   ► like something was fundamentally broken

00:02:48 ◼   ► in what I was doing,

00:02:49 ◼   ► because it's not normal,

00:02:51 ◼   ► but it totally works, it works perfectly.

00:02:55 ◼   ► My main frustration is you have to leave the iPad on.

00:03:00 ◼   ► - Oh.

00:03:00 ◼   ► - You can't turn the iPad off

00:03:02 ◼   ► 'cause that just turns the screen off,

00:03:03 ◼   ► and when the screen's off, the connection's gone.

00:03:06 ◼   ► - Oh, okay, so when you lock your iPad,

00:03:09 ◼   ► you're just locking the computer.

00:03:10 ◼   ► - You lock in the computer, you don't see anything.

00:03:12 ◼   ► All it's doing is mirroring, right?

00:03:15 ◼   ► Unless you have an application

00:03:17 ◼   ► that is using the second screen API,

00:03:21 ◼   ► But then you need both screens.

00:03:22 ◼   ► They're then showing different things.

00:03:24 ◼   ► So there is an API to allow you to show something

00:03:28 ◼   ► different on a monitor, and then also not be pillar boxed.

00:03:32 ◼   ► You don't have the big black bars down the side

00:03:34 ◼   ► where it's showing you the iPad resolution on the monitor.

00:03:37 ◼   ► If you use the second screen API,

00:03:38 ◼   ► you can actually take up more of the screen real estate.

00:03:40 ◼   ► You treat it like a real monitor.

00:03:42 ◼   ► But let's get some games to do this.

00:03:44 ◼   ► - Okay, I was gonna say, wait a second.

00:03:45 ◼   ► So this is the second screen thing.

00:03:47 ◼   ► I never really thought about this,

00:03:48 ◼   ► but this is like when Keynote displays something different

00:03:53 ◼   ► on the projected monitor versus what you see

00:03:56 ◼   ► as the presenter.

00:03:57 ◼   ► - Yeah, there is an API in iPadOS and iOS

00:04:00 ◼   ► that will allow an app to do this.

00:04:01 ◼   ► Like some of the mind mapping applications, for example,

00:04:05 ◼   ► I think MindNode is the one that has it,

00:04:08 ◼   ► will show something different on the monitor

00:04:10 ◼   ► and you can be working on it

00:04:11 ◼   ► and it will show you like a preview

00:04:13 ◼   ► and then overview of the entire mind map or something.

00:04:15 ◼   ► - Yeah, I just never really thought,

00:04:17 ◼   ► - Yeah, GoodNotes does a similar thing

00:04:19 ◼   ► where you can have a different version

00:04:22 ◼   ► that's being projected out than what you're looking at.

00:04:24 ◼   ► Again, for a teacher, so you can have a different thing

00:04:27 ◼   ► that the students are seeing

00:04:28 ◼   ► versus what you were seeing.

00:04:30 ◼   ► Huh, I never really thought about that as a mode,

00:04:34 ◼   ► but I guess now it does matter that some apps can do this

00:04:38 ◼   ► if you're using an external monitor as a computer monitor.

00:04:42 ◼   ► Huh, huh.

00:04:44 ◼   ► - So there are advantages and disadvantages

00:04:46 ◼   ► depending on how you want to use it, right?

00:04:47 ◼   ► Because then, you know, you could in theory then

00:04:49 ◼   ► just put the iPad like on a stand in front of you

00:04:51 ◼   ► and then you have two screens

00:04:52 ◼   ► and they're showing different things.

00:04:54 ◼   ► But if you're just using it regularly,

00:04:55 ◼   ► it's just gonna mirror.

00:04:57 ◼   ► Which makes like any mirroring, right?

00:04:59 ◼   ► Like if you've ever plugged a laptop into a TV,

00:05:02 ◼   ► if you close the laptop, it kills the connection, right?

00:05:05 ◼   ► 'Cause the laptop's not on anymore

00:05:07 ◼   ► unless you like hack around it a little bit.

00:05:10 ◼   ► So, you know, what I would do is

00:05:12 ◼   ► just turn the brightness all the way down,

00:05:13 ◼   ► less distracting, put the iPad in a stand or whatever, and then just let it go, let

00:05:17 ◼   ► it do its thing.

00:05:18 ◼   ► You need a wedding veil for the iPad.

00:05:22 ◼   ► You can lift it up when you want to use the second screen, and then you can pull it down

00:05:27 ◼   ► for when you don't want to see the mirrored screen, because it's just distractingly pointless.

00:05:31 ◼   ► So it'd be a black wedding veil.

00:05:33 ◼   ► iPad wasn't pure on that wedding day.

00:05:35 ◼   ► No, oh my god.

00:05:36 ◼   ► I can see the benefits of this for me from an accessibility standpoint.

00:05:41 ◼   ► In the same way, same thing as the mouse, right?

00:05:43 ◼   ► Like it is not elegant, but it is incredibly functional.

00:05:47 ◼   ► So I can have a bigger screen if I want it, right?

00:05:52 ◼   ► So the pillar box, right, which I said, so pillar box is like the, it's like letter

00:05:56 ◼   ► boxings, you know, you watch a movie, you got like black bars at the top and the bottom.

00:06:00 ◼   ► This is the same, but they're on the sides because the iPad screen is kind of the resolution

00:06:05 ◼   ► more rectangular than typical screens tend to be.

00:06:07 ◼   ► Right, it's not ultra wide.

00:06:08 ◼   ► It's not ultra wide, that's for sure.

00:06:11 ◼   ► uh... so it looked kind of hilarious on the ultra wide it just filled the middle portion of the screen

00:06:15 ◼   ► and there's just massive black bars like about the same width of the iPad on either side

00:06:20 ◼   ► but i can position it

00:06:22 ◼   ► in a much more flexibly

00:06:24 ◼   ► i can put it wherever i want from a high perspective i can have it

00:06:27 ◼   ► further away from me

00:06:29 ◼   ► if i wanted to and if i'm going to be using a mouse a lot

00:06:32 ◼   ► which i think i am this would

00:06:34 ◼   ► totally work for me so

00:06:36 ◼   ► i'm thinking about it more

00:06:38 ◼   ► seriously now that I would want to use a nice big monitor for my iPad setup,

00:06:44 ◼   ► especially the more I'm using it with a mouse.

00:06:46 ◼   ► I think it just makes sense really in a way.

00:06:50 ◼   ► Yeah, this seems to me like it's just obviously your future

00:06:53 ◼   ► working setup for everything that can be done this way.

00:06:59 ◼   ► OK, here's a strange question.

00:07:00 ◼   ► The mouse, if you have an iPad app where you've lifted the iPad veil and so

00:07:06 ◼   ► at two different screens. Can the mouse move between the two screens?

00:07:12 ◼   ► In those situations you can't interact with what's being shown on the second screen I think.

00:07:17 ◼   ► Okay so the second screen is presentation only.

00:07:21 ◼   ► Yeah I think it's presentation only. And like things that you do on the iPad would reflect

00:07:26 ◼   ► on the top screen but I don't think it treats it like... because it couldn't, right? Because you

00:07:32 ◼   ► you can't touch the external display.

00:07:35 ◼   ► - Right, what I'm trying to get thinking here is,

00:07:38 ◼   ► is there a way that you could get a different app

00:07:40 ◼   ► on that second screen?

00:07:41 ◼   ► I wonder if in the future,

00:07:43 ◼   ► we're gonna have dual monitor support for iPad OS.

00:07:46 ◼   ► - I think it is, right?

00:07:47 ◼   ► 'Cause there's that project sidecar thing, right?

00:07:50 ◼   ► I think they're building some of the blocks in place,

00:07:52 ◼   ► which is where you can use your iPad

00:07:54 ◼   ► as a second display for a Mac,

00:07:56 ◼   ► where you can take a Mac window and send it to the iPad.

00:07:59 ◼   ► All of that kind of stuff feels like,

00:08:01 ◼   ► all right, so that's step one,

00:08:02 ◼   ► and then maybe step two is like the other way around.

00:08:05 ◼   ► So I can take something from my iPad

00:08:06 ◼   ► and put it somewhere else,

00:08:07 ◼   ► or I could have an external monitor

00:08:09 ◼   ► and just use it wirelessly if I want.

00:08:11 ◼   ► Like it feels like all of this technology

00:08:14 ◼   ► could eventually all start to come together

00:08:16 ◼   ► if it all works out.

00:08:17 ◼   ► - Yeah, that is a very interesting setup.

00:08:20 ◼   ► But I think this is how you're using a computer

00:08:22 ◼   ► in the future.

00:08:23 ◼   ► - It is probably the most cortex setup of all time.

00:08:27 ◼   ► It is incredibly hacky, pointless for most people,

00:08:32 ◼   ► but would be really useful for people just like me and you.

00:08:36 ◼   ► Right, because it's like, oh, why?

00:08:40 ◼   ► Like, oh, 'cause you wanna use your iPad

00:08:42 ◼   ► more in interesting and weird ways,

00:08:43 ◼   ► and it's ergonomically comfortable.

00:08:46 ◼   ► It's just like, if it automatically time tracked

00:08:49 ◼   ► every time you plugged the HDMI cable in, it'd be done.

00:08:53 ◼   ► - Yeah, I'm interested just to, I'm thinking about,

00:08:56 ◼   ► again, because at some point in the future,

00:08:57 ◼   ► I need to decide what my new office setup

00:09:00 ◼   ► is going to look like once I find another place

00:09:03 ◼   ► and everything.

00:09:04 ◼   ► So I'm just quite curious into,

00:09:06 ◼   ► oh, what's everybody doing that's different

00:09:09 ◼   ► and interesting with their office setups?

00:09:11 ◼   ► - I think what would be good for you in that situation

00:09:14 ◼   ► is like some kind of adaptable and adjustable

00:09:17 ◼   ► from a high perspective workstation

00:09:19 ◼   ► that you could plug either your laptop or your iPad into

00:09:22 ◼   ► depending on the mode that you're in.

00:09:24 ◼   ► 'Cause you only need one cable for all of it, right?

00:09:26 ◼   ► And you can have a mouse and a keyboard

00:09:28 ◼   ► and all that kind of stuff running into a USB-C dongle,

00:09:30 ◼   ► and it will work with both the iPad or the Mac.

00:09:34 ◼   ► - Yeah, or moving just thinking,

00:09:36 ◼   ► going back to the very early episodes of Cortex,

00:09:39 ◼   ► when I showed you that setup that I had,

00:09:41 ◼   ► which was just an iPad on a desk with a keyboard,

00:09:44 ◼   ► it's like, oh, that's interesting.

00:09:46 ◼   ► It's interesting to revisit

00:09:50 ◼   ► if I can simply get a bigger writing screen,

00:09:53 ◼   ► and the addition of a mouse,

00:09:55 ◼   ► because the way I write is a little bit different

00:09:57 ◼   ► than I used to back then,

00:09:58 ◼   ► where I'm moving around parts of a document more,

00:10:02 ◼   ► so I would want to use something like a mouse now

00:10:04 ◼   ► much more than I would have needed to in the past.

00:10:08 ◼   ► So it's just interesting to think of as,

00:10:10 ◼   ► oh, maybe this is a potential option

00:10:13 ◼   ► for the way something could work.

00:10:16 ◼   ► Maybe I could plug an iPad into that new display

00:10:20 ◼   ► that Apple's selling.

00:10:21 ◼   ► I wonder if it's gonna work that way.

00:10:22 ◼   ► - It is unknown right now if it will work.

00:10:26 ◼   ► - I think that would be the best use for that.

00:10:28 ◼   ► - But in theory, it can.

00:10:30 ◼   ► The iPad Pro can output 5K over USB-C,

00:10:33 ◼   ► is something that Apple has told us.

00:10:36 ◼   ► But they have yet to release a product that can support it.

00:10:39 ◼   ► Or, so there's been an update

00:10:41 ◼   ► to your favorite OG monitor, right?

00:10:43 ◼   ► I don't know if you knew that.

00:10:45 ◼   ► They've updated it.

00:10:46 ◼   ► - Great, I'll be sure to buy that upgrade immediately.

00:10:48 ◼   ► - And it has a bunch of additional features

00:10:50 ◼   ► and people seem not excited about it.

00:10:53 ◼   ► But you can plug the iPad into it this time

00:10:55 ◼   ► because it's USB-C and not Thunderbolt 3.

00:10:58 ◼   ► But it will only output 4K, it won't output 5K.

00:11:01 ◼   ► - Is Apple selling those LG screens on their website?

00:11:05 ◼   ► - Yes, Apple have even, they create like support pages

00:11:09 ◼   ► for them too.

00:11:10 ◼   ► They have webcams in them this time,

00:11:11 ◼   ► which is something I didn't have before.

00:11:14 ◼   ► - Yeah, like I'm still holding out for a cheaper version

00:11:18 ◼   ► of their new monitor.

00:11:20 ◼   ► everybody is I don't think it's coming. This is why if they're selling the LG monitors

00:11:25 ◼   ► on their website, I think that that hope is dead. That it's a stake right through the

00:11:30 ◼   ► heart of a cheaper monitor from Apple, because they wouldn't sell those LG things on their

00:11:35 ◼   ► site if they were going to have their own cheaper monitor. In theory, though, like that

00:11:38 ◼   ► pro display, that's still months and months away from from shipping months like towards

00:11:46 ◼   ► the end of the year, maybe next year, but towards the end of the year before that thing

00:11:49 ◼   ► ships and even if Apple did do their own display, it would still be more expensive than the

00:11:56 ◼   ► OG display.

00:11:57 ◼   ► Okay, you're giving me a little bit of hope, Myke.

00:11:59 ◼   ► I don't know if I think that they will do it.

00:12:03 ◼   ► I think that they should do it.

00:12:04 ◼   ► I really do.

00:12:05 ◼   ► I think that Apple should have something that they make themselves which is better than

00:12:10 ◼   ► the OG and not $70 million thousand dollars, which is the actual confirmed price of the

00:12:17 ◼   ► Pro Display XDR.

00:12:19 ◼   ► But yeah.

00:12:21 ◼   ► - That's with the nano screen upgrade.

00:12:23 ◼   ► - Yeah.

00:12:24 ◼   ► That's all we really want, right?

00:12:25 ◼   ► Just like the matte screen for the iPad.

00:12:27 ◼   ► - Yeah, that's all we want.

00:12:29 ◼   ► 'Cause you are now optimally,

00:12:34 ◼   ► ergonomically comfortable using iOS.

00:12:37 ◼   ► Like this is the dream, isn't it?

00:12:38 ◼   ► - I have yet to work out exactly how I'm going

00:12:41 ◼   ► to put all of this stuff into action.

00:12:44 ◼   ► So like I'm still using my iPad a lot of the time

00:12:47 ◼   ► in the standard I use, but now I need to decide like,

00:12:50 ◼   ► all right, do I actually now want to use it in a monitor?

00:12:52 ◼   ► And if I do, I need to change some stuff in the office,

00:12:54 ◼   ► which is what I've been wanting to do anyway.

00:12:57 ◼   ► But that might mean, for example, all right,

00:12:58 ◼   ► maybe I get a good monitor and put it on an arm,

00:13:02 ◼   ► which I can move up and down, right,

00:13:04 ◼   ► and then, you know, and kind of like,

00:13:06 ◼   ► and put it all on the PC desk

00:13:08 ◼   ► and have that all work together.

00:13:09 ◼   ► But I just haven't worked out exactly how I want

00:13:12 ◼   ► that stuff to look yet.

00:13:14 ◼   ► But I do now have a better understanding

00:13:16 ◼   ► at the building blocks that are available to me.

00:13:19 ◼   ► - I have an LG monitor with an arm,

00:13:21 ◼   ► an arm that you can clamp onto the desk.

00:13:23 ◼   ► I can throw that in. - Yeah, no, I'm sure you do.

00:13:25 ◼   ► Yeah, I have no doubt that you do,

00:13:26 ◼   ► but I also wanna get the best gaming monitor,

00:13:29 ◼   ► or a better gaming monitor,

00:13:30 ◼   ► which that thing probably is not.

00:13:33 ◼   ► - Okay, all right.

00:13:34 ◼   ► - Thanks for the offer, though.

00:13:36 ◼   ► - I'll keep thinking about how I can sweeten this deal.

00:13:39 ◼   ► - Okay, you do that.

00:13:40 ◼   ► It is August.

00:13:43 ◼   ► August means a special time around here at Relay FM.

00:13:46 ◼   ► It's when we celebrate our birthday.

00:13:49 ◼   ► - Birthday time.

00:13:49 ◼   ► - Birthday time.

00:13:50 ◼   ► As I mentioned a few episodes ago,

00:13:53 ◼   ► extra special one this time

00:13:55 ◼   ► because we're gonna be celebrating our fifth birthday,

00:13:58 ◼   ► which is a nice round number

00:14:00 ◼   ► that human beings attach meaning to,

00:14:02 ◼   ► probably because it's half of 10,

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00:14:42 ◼   ► a bunch of wonderful wonderful bonus episodes for some of your favorite podcasts including

00:14:47 ◼   ► the Cortex Upgrade crossover that everybody looks forward to every year where we play

00:14:51 ◼   ► a text adventure. This will be our fourth text adventure now. We are playing an 80s

00:14:57 ◼   ► cop inspired adventure called Danger Town Beatdown. It's amazing. We've played it. It's

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00:15:08 ◼   ► at the end of the show so you'll be able to get a taste of what Danger Town Beatdown has

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00:15:18 ◼   ► a month. You can click the link in the show notes to find out more about it or you can

00:15:22 ◼   ► just go to cortexspecial.com and you'll go to a landing page where you can see the trailer

00:15:27 ◼   ► as well and just sign up right there.

00:15:30 ◼   ► We're going to be releasing Danger Town Beatdown on Friday August 16th so you can sign up to

00:15:35 ◼   ► become a member at any point before and you'll get it on the 16th if you sign up

00:15:39 ◼   ► anytime after you can get that plus the entire history of all of the specials

00:15:44 ◼   ► that we've ever done with relay FM so you can go back and listen to our text

00:15:48 ◼   ► adventures you can go back and listen to a bunch of things that have come out

00:15:51 ◼   ► from relay FM shows so there's five dollars a month you can also go to relay

00:15:54 ◼   ► dot FM slash membership if you want to find out more but just check the links

00:15:58 ◼   ► in the show notes and you'll be able to get that I just listened to the final

00:16:02 ◼   ► of Danger Town beat down this morning.

00:16:06 ◼   ► While I was at the gym, you know, gym time,

00:16:09 ◼   ► not a pleasant time, but you know what makes it much better?

00:16:12 ◼   ► Listening to a text adventure.

00:16:14 ◼   ► And as always, Myke puts in an inhuman amount of effort

00:16:19 ◼   ► into creating the soundscape of the environments

00:16:25 ◼   ► that we're in and editing it very nicely.

00:16:29 ◼   ► nicely. So even as the person who participated in the recording itself and knows what happens,

00:16:36 ◼   ► it's great to listen to the version that Myke finalizes and it's like, "Oh, now the world truly

00:16:42 ◼   ► comes alive." And it's a really fun episode that we did this year. So yes, you should definitely,

00:16:47 ◼   ► definitely go check it out at cortexspecial.com. Get that member episode, get all the member

00:16:54 ◼   ► episodes, listen to Myke and I be total idiots, not able to figure out the most simple of

00:17:00 ◼   ► puzzles and a good time is had by all, except perhaps the eternally patient Snellatron who

00:17:07 ◼   ► has to deal with us.

00:17:09 ◼   ► So far, up to where we are, it has been 10 hours of editing so far. So like the fan of

00:17:16 ◼   ► the first draft is done, there's still a bit more to be done, but it's taken 10 hours

00:17:20 ◼   ► so far, but they are my favorite 10 hours I will spend editing for the entire year.

00:17:24 ◼   ► I absolutely adore putting these things together.

00:17:26 ◼   ► It's just like such a fun experience for me to build these like audio worlds.

00:17:31 ◼   ► Like I really put a lot of thought into where everything is and how it's placed.

00:17:36 ◼   ► And it's a really fun exercise.

00:17:38 ◼   ► And so you can go and check that out and all of our previous ones as well.

00:17:41 ◼   ► And we and if you are a relay FM member, you become a relay FM member

00:17:44 ◼   ► and support this show or any show at relay FM.

00:17:46 ◼   ► You'll get all the same perks.

00:17:48 ◼   ► but I just want you to know that I really really really appreciate that so thank you so much.

00:17:52 ◼   ► Thank you very much members. Now for the trailer.

00:17:55 ◼   ► Oh no we're gonna play at the end. Do you want to play at the end?

00:17:57 ◼   ► Oh!

00:17:58 ◼   ► We can play it now or we can play at the end.

00:17:59 ◼   ► No no! Make them wait until the end Myke.

00:18:01 ◼   ► Yeah make them wait until the end.

00:18:02 ◼   ► Make them wait until the end. My mistake.

00:18:03 ◼   ► Okay.

00:18:04 ◼   ► Should we do some #AskCortex questions?

00:18:06 ◼   ► Let's.

00:18:07 ◼   ► Alright let's start off with a question from Leafy.

00:18:09 ◼   ► Leafy would like to know, "Do you use or play with any fidget toys or gadgets while working, thinking or writing scripts?"

00:18:17 ◼   ► You seem like a fidgeter, Myke.

00:18:19 ◼   ► Oh, I am. Oh boy.

00:18:21 ◼   ► So, I want to give you a rundown. This is stuff that I do

00:18:23 ◼   ► Whoa, okay.

00:18:25 ◼   ► whilst recording. This isn't, like, I'm doing this all the time.

00:18:27 ◼   ► Okay.

00:18:29 ◼   ► So right now I have a pad in front of me and a bunch of pens

00:18:31 ◼   ► and so I'll be sitting there and doodling.

00:18:33 ◼   ► I do this the most during Cortex

00:18:35 ◼   ► because we record for a long time

00:18:37 ◼   ► and I try and get rid of all distractions

00:18:39 ◼   ► so I'll play with some pens.

00:18:41 ◼   ► You remember I used to do coloring when we record?

00:18:43 ◼   ► Similar kind of deal.

00:18:45 ◼   ► - The account says a fidget though.

00:18:47 ◼   ► - I'm not done.

00:18:48 ◼   ► - This is, okay.

00:18:48 ◼   ► - This is just part one.

00:18:49 ◼   ► - Okay, we're just setting the stage.

00:18:52 ◼   ► - Yes, so I have various things on my desk

00:18:55 ◼   ► that I will fidget with.

00:18:56 ◼   ► One at the moment is like a broken piece of a pen.

00:19:00 ◼   ► I have like this part of a fountain pen

00:19:02 ◼   ► that's broken in half and I pick that up

00:19:03 ◼   ► and just roll it around in my hands a lot,

00:19:05 ◼   ► I don't know why.

00:19:06 ◼   ► I have a metal fidget spinner,

00:19:09 ◼   ► which I'll spin for you now,

00:19:11 ◼   ► but you don't really get anything from that,

00:19:12 ◼   ► but like I'm spinning it now.

00:19:14 ◼   ► I just dropped it, so I have to edit out a lot of me dropping things.

00:19:19 ◼   ► This is something that I have to deal with a lot.

00:19:21 ◼   ► I have a Relay FM challenge coin, which is available to buy.

00:19:25 ◼   ► I'll put a link in the show notes if you're interested.

00:19:27 ◼   ► That challenge coin is very chunky.

00:19:29 ◼   ► I imagine if you drop it, it's quite loud to edit out.

00:19:33 ◼   ► That is one of the louder things that I have to edit out.

00:19:36 ◼   ► I have a, you know those sim removal tools?

00:19:40 ◼   ► You mean the little paperclip kind of thing?

00:19:43 ◼   ► Yeah.

00:19:44 ◼   ► of those with like a curing tied to it which is like one of those string curing things

00:19:49 ◼   ► in it. Like a little charm, you might have seen these people put them on their phones

00:19:52 ◼   ► and stuff. And it's of the hammer that...

00:19:54 ◼   ► I don't know what this is but it sounds disgusting.

00:19:56 ◼   ► I don't know why you'd think that. But it's of the hammer that Ramona uses in Scott Pilgrim,

00:20:03 ◼   ► that's number one. I have a couple of badges, just like enamel badges, and I also have the

00:20:08 ◼   ► fidget cube.

00:20:09 ◼   ► Okay. And all of this stuff is just piled around you while you're recording shows?

00:20:13 ◼   ► Not piled, it's just lovingly placed on the desk.

00:20:16 ◼   ► In a semicircle?

00:20:17 ◼   ► Oh, I also have a tungsten, like a tungsten cylinder that I try not to play around with

00:20:23 ◼   ► because if I drop this I would 100% break something, including myself,

00:20:27 ◼   ► but that's another thing that I have on the desk.

00:20:29 ◼   ► Okay.

00:20:30 ◼   ► I have lots of stuff because I need to focus and these are the things that help me focus.

00:20:39 ◼   ► I guess I've always imagined you just calmly, pensively coloring while we're recording the shows.

00:20:49 ◼   ► Just, you know, filling in the wings of a butterfly or whatever it is you do.

00:20:55 ◼   ► Doodling. There's a lot of doodling.

00:20:57 ◼   ► Okay. I didn't really think about it as there's a semicircle of objects around you

00:21:03 ◼   ► that you're rotating between picking up and putting down for your fidgeting.

00:21:07 ◼   ► and then adding out the inevitable sounds of me dropping them.

00:21:10 ◼   ► Right. Whatever works for you. There's no judgment here, but there's just much more

00:21:15 ◼   ► than I was expecting. There's much more than I was expecting.

00:21:18 ◼   ► I'm gonna guess you have nothing.

00:21:19 ◼   ► Well, there's the thing that doesn't count, which is when I'm working on a script, I do find it

00:21:28 ◼   ► helpful to pace, but I don't think that counts as a sort of fidget. That's just, it's like a helpful

00:21:34 ◼   ► way to think. In general, no. I don't own anything that's specifically for fidgeting,

00:21:42 ◼   ► but particularly in situations where I'm talking to people, like sometimes on the podcast,

00:21:48 ◼   ► but very often in real life, I will fidget a lot with the buttons on the phone, particularly

00:21:55 ◼   ► the mute switch or the silence ring switch, because flipping that back and forth gives

00:22:00 ◼   ► gives you the happy little tactile feedback, both in terms of the switch itself and the

00:22:04 ◼   ► phone vibrate slightly.

00:22:06 ◼   ► And so sometimes when I'm talking to someone, I will find myself flipping that switch back

00:22:10 ◼   ► and forth, back and forth.

00:22:12 ◼   ► Or the thing that I have trained myself out of after Apple introduced that feature where

00:22:16 ◼   ► if you press the one button five times, it lets off the emergency and starts calling

00:22:20 ◼   ► the police, which again, I didn't quite realize how often I'm doing that while recording a

00:22:26 ◼   ► podcast is just like pressing that button.

00:22:28 ◼   ► But that's a habit I train myself out of relatively quickly, because boy is that some

00:22:32 ◼   ► negative feedback of "press this button five times and there's a terrifying alarm!"

00:22:36 ◼   ► So in general, I don't, but I'm not completely free of this sort of thing.

00:22:45 ◼   ► And yeah, if I'm talking to someone I think I will fidget with the buttons on the phone

00:22:49 ◼   ► sometimes, but that's just about it.

00:22:51 ◼   ► I don't feel like I need to have a dedicated rainbow of fidgeting options before me.

00:22:56 ◼   ► This episode of Quar-Tex is brought to you in part by HelloFresh, the meal kit delivery

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00:23:38 ◼   ► Let me tell you quite frankly, Hello Fresh helped me cook. I believe that cooking is

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00:23:51 ◼   ► of the frustrating parts or the difficult parts taken away from me. So like being able to choose

00:23:56 ◼   ► from a selection of recipes so I wasn't completely overburdened by choice, having all of the

00:24:01 ◼   ► ingredients pre-measured and weighed out for me meant that I didn't have to worry about getting

00:24:05 ◼   ► something wrong and having simple recipe cards that were written in a way that I can understand

00:24:10 ◼   ► it meant that I could learn kind of passively a lot of the skills that I needed that then I would

00:24:15 ◼   ► would be able to cook so many different things. I am a huge fan of HelloFresh. For $80 off

00:24:22 ◼   ► your first month of HelloFresh, go to hellofresh.com/cortex80 and enter the code Cortex80. It's just like

00:24:29 ◼   ► receiving 8 meals for free. Go to hellofresh.com/cortex80 and use the promo code Cortex80 at checkout.

00:24:40 ◼   ► Our thanks to HelloFresh for their support of this show and all of Relay FM.

00:24:44 ◼   ► Lloyd wants to know, how often do you drop your phones?

00:24:48 ◼   ► - I mean, I guess we should really ask

00:24:49 ◼   ► how often you drop your fidget toys, it seems like.

00:24:51 ◼   ► - All the time, I drop my phone about as much.

00:24:53 ◼   ► I drop my phone so much.

00:24:54 ◼   ► I don't know what's happened with this specific phone,

00:24:59 ◼   ► but I have loads of scratches on my screen.

00:25:03 ◼   ► I don't drop this phone more than I've dropped

00:25:05 ◼   ► any other phone, but the iPhone XS Max

00:25:08 ◼   ► seems to scratch more easily

00:25:10 ◼   ► than any of the other iPhones that I've had.

00:25:12 ◼   ► But I keep my iPhone in a case all the time,

00:25:14 ◼   ► even though I love how it feels without the K-SAN

00:25:17 ◼   ► because I drop my phone every few days at least,

00:25:20 ◼   ► I'll drop it somewhere.

00:25:21 ◼   ► And like sometimes, especially with the bigger phones

00:25:23 ◼   ► is way worse because there's more surface area,

00:25:26 ◼   ► you have more of a chance of trying to catch it.

00:25:28 ◼   ► And there have been many times where like on the way down,

00:25:30 ◼   ► you try and catch it and what you actually do is hit it

00:25:32 ◼   ► and it just turns into a death spiral

00:25:34 ◼   ► as the thing is now falling and spinning as it lands.

00:25:38 ◼   ► So that happens quite a lot.

00:25:39 ◼   ► - You accelerate it downward in your attempt to catch it.

00:25:42 ◼   ► This is why I have more scratches on my phone,

00:25:46 ◼   ► but it seems like I'm not dropping it anymore

00:25:48 ◼   ► or any less dramatically,

00:25:49 ◼   ► but this one is scratching more easily.

00:25:52 ◼   ► - Yeah, I don't know.

00:25:53 ◼   ► I feel like I drop it a normal amount,

00:25:55 ◼   ► which is not a lot.

00:25:57 ◼   ► - Which means you do, right?

00:25:58 ◼   ► Let me, like, it happens.

00:25:59 ◼   ► - I totally drop it, but this is also,

00:26:01 ◼   ► I am not and never have been really precious

00:26:04 ◼   ► with my electronics.

00:26:05 ◼   ► I always feel like these are tools to be used.

00:26:08 ◼   ► They're not pieces of artwork to be displayed in a museum.

00:26:11 ◼   ► So I don't really care about scratches on a device,

00:26:14 ◼   ► on the laptops or on any of these things.

00:26:16 ◼   ► So I'm not overly precious about it.

00:26:18 ◼   ► Although this morning I think I had

00:26:20 ◼   ► what was a sort of hilariously dramatic drop

00:26:24 ◼   ► because while I was listening to our members episode,

00:26:28 ◼   ► I happened to be using one of those stair machines

00:26:30 ◼   ► that has a fake staircase that you can walk on at the gym.

00:26:34 ◼   ► And I picked up the phone to make a note for you

00:26:37 ◼   ► about an edit in that episode.

00:26:40 ◼   ► And this day, I didn't happen to have the phone in a case.

00:26:44 ◼   ► So slipperiness is multiplied by 20,000% and dropped it.

00:26:49 ◼   ► And not only of course, do I just drop it straight down,

00:26:53 ◼   ► but I'm dropping it on a staircase that's moving.

00:26:56 ◼   ► So at the gym, it goes clunk, clunk, clunk,

00:26:59 ◼   ► hits three stairs on the way down.

00:27:01 ◼   ► The stairs are going up,

00:27:02 ◼   ► so they give it an extra nice little smack

00:27:04 ◼   ► before it falls off the back and bam,

00:27:07 ◼   ► right down face first on the floor.

00:27:09 ◼   ► So I was like, oh, sorry little buddy.

00:27:11 ◼   ► Normally it's just a drop right down to the floor,

00:27:13 ◼   ► but this is down on an artificial staircase,

00:27:15 ◼   ► which feels like an extra indignity.

00:27:17 ◼   ► But yeah, so I drop phones, everybody drops phones.

00:27:20 ◼   ► - Did it survive that drop?

00:27:21 ◼   ► - Yeah, oh, the phone was totally fine, yeah.

00:27:23 ◼   ► - Good one.

00:27:24 ◼   ► - The phone was completely fine.

00:27:25 ◼   ► The things that don't survive drops are iPads,

00:27:28 ◼   ► which I'm more careful about.

00:27:31 ◼   ► This year, when I was on one of my gradations

00:27:33 ◼   ► working on the airline boarding video,

00:27:37 ◼   ► I had my iPad Pro in my hand.

00:27:40 ◼   ► It had a tremendous drop right onto marble tile

00:27:44 ◼   ► and hit it straight on the corner.

00:27:47 ◼   ► As time is going on, I'm getting that thing

00:27:49 ◼   ► where the screen starts to separate

00:27:52 ◼   ► just a little bit from the edge.

00:27:54 ◼   ► And so it's like, oh, well iPad,

00:27:57 ◼   ► you're not long for this world.

00:27:59 ◼   ► So the iPads are much less resistant.

00:28:00 ◼   ► But the phones, phones are pretty tough.

00:28:02 ◼   ► They're tougher than you give them credit for.

00:28:04 ◼   ► They're like children, they can fall down and they're fine.

00:28:06 ◼   ► Radical Bean asks, "What do you guys use to charge your devices?

00:28:10 ◼   ► Do you have cords everywhere?

00:28:12 ◼   ► How do you manage the cords or do you use Qi charging mats?"

00:28:15 ◼   ► Where are you with this, Myke?

00:28:16 ◼   ► I know I have shared with you my feeling about Qi charging, but I don't remember

00:28:24 ◼   ► if I've shared it with the core Texans.

00:28:25 ◼   ► Qi charging makes me uncomfortable.

00:28:28 ◼   ► I just don't.

00:28:29 ◼   ► Oh, right.

00:28:31 ◼   ► You don't like that it gets warm?

00:28:32 ◼   ► I don't like that.

00:28:33 ◼   ► There's just something about the technology that I don't like and the more I read about how Qi works,

00:28:39 ◼   ► the less comfortable I am with it as a technology. Just like the idea of these magnets just like

00:28:47 ◼   ► spinning around or whatever and warming up like these cords and that's how it works at all.

00:28:51 ◼   ► No, I know. I don't know why I said that. But the idea of just these electrical cords.

00:28:55 ◼   ► There's no moving parts.

00:28:56 ◼   ► There's no moving parts or magnets, but the idea of these electrical cords

00:29:00 ◼   ► just giving off heat to each other. I don't like it. I just don't like it. I don't like the way

00:29:06 ◼   ► that it works. It makes me very uncomfortable. If you place it kind of wrong, things will warm up

00:29:12 ◼   ► because you get all this like excess energy. I'm very much enjoying these descriptions.

00:29:17 ◼   ► I'm not a fan of it. Leave me alone. I don't like it. It makes me uncomfortable and so I just don't

00:29:25 ◼   ► don't use Qi charging. I use a couple of docks. I have one on my desk and one on my bedside

00:29:31 ◼   ► made by Studio Neat. That's how I charge most of my devices typically. Other than that,

00:29:35 ◼   ► there are just cables, there are cables everywhere that are like attached to the desk with various

00:29:40 ◼   ► like cable management systems and there's just cables everywhere.

00:29:45 ◼   ► Yeah, I'm in a particularly sad place with this right now. I mean, aside from the usual,

00:29:52 ◼   ► I love wireless charging, unlike you.

00:29:56 ◼   ► There's something about it that just straight up

00:29:58 ◼   ► makes me happy.

00:29:59 ◼   ► Oh, I didn't have to plug in a wire.

00:30:02 ◼   ► That's great.

00:30:03 ◼   ► Just like when the Roomba does its vacuuming.

00:30:05 ◼   ► Look at all this vacuuming I didn't need to do.

00:30:07 ◼   ► It's 10 times more pleasing.

00:30:10 ◼   ► But of course, the frustration is you can't have

00:30:13 ◼   ► something like a pop socket on the back of your phone.

00:30:16 ◼   ► I've tried several different variants

00:30:18 ◼   ► of different kinds of things.

00:30:19 ◼   ► I'm like trying to find the thing

00:30:20 ◼   ► that can work with inductive charging.

00:30:22 ◼   ► and it does not.

00:30:23 ◼   ► - Yeah, the option that they have available,

00:30:25 ◼   ► which is to remove the plastic part is dumb.

00:30:28 ◼   ► - That is, that's worse than nothing.

00:30:30 ◼   ► - Mm-hmm.

00:30:31 ◼   ► - That is, you know, I refuse, I hate everything about that.

00:30:35 ◼   ► That is, why don't you just thinking embodied?

00:30:40 ◼   ► I have no interest in this in the slightest.

00:30:42 ◼   ► - That is another reason why I'm not interested in cheese,

00:30:44 ◼   ► because I can't, like I don't even bother to do obviously more research

00:30:50 ◼   ► and working out how it actually works because I know I won't be able to use a popsocket

00:30:54 ◼   ► anymore and I can't do that now because that's just a comfortable way for me to use my phone.

00:30:59 ◼   ► Yeah honestly one of my big requests for what iPhone XQ features would be

00:31:09 ◼   ► Qi charging goes farther. Or through the front like whatever you need to do. Yeah or through

00:31:14 ◼   ► the front which is for various reasons that wouldn't work but it's like man just look guys

00:31:18 ◼   ► I just need like 12 millimeters. Can you get me 12 millimeters? And I'm probably fine.

00:31:23 ◼   ► So I just always find myself frustrated and sort of going back and forth between the two of them.

00:31:26 ◼   ► I'm doubly frustrated because currently in my home office, I have two offices worth of stuff

00:31:33 ◼   ► since I closed down the glass cube. I have wires everywhere and I just wanted KonMari this whole

00:31:40 ◼   ► office and I haven't had a chance to do it since I got back from America. But it's like all of this

00:31:46 ◼   ► junk, all of it's got to come out and I want to KonMari everything, only bring back the wires that

00:31:52 ◼   ► I absolutely need and try to try to eliminate as much stuff from this office as I physically can.

00:31:56 ◼   ► But the one charging thing that I am very happy with is I have a charger from 12 South

00:32:04 ◼   ► and it's called, it's like the High Rise Duo, I think is the name of it. And it's just, all it is,

00:32:12 ◼   ► is it's just a little charger that combines a place to put the watch and a place to put

00:32:16 ◼   ► your phone. And that's the one I'm using sort of 80% of the time and it sits on my desk

00:32:21 ◼   ► in the office.

00:32:22 ◼   ► That's not Qi, is it?

00:32:23 ◼   ► No.

00:32:24 ◼   ► That's just like you put it in a stand.

00:32:25 ◼   ► No, it's not a Qi charger and I'm trying to live with it and it does make me a little

00:32:29 ◼   ► sad at the time.

00:32:30 ◼   ► I had one of these and did not like it.

00:32:32 ◼   ► What did you not like about it?

00:32:33 ◼   ► I felt like it, no matter what they said or what I tried to do, it never felt stable enough.

00:32:39 ◼   ► Like it always felt like it was moving around. Doesn't it have a little suction pad on?

00:32:42 ◼   ► on it? Well that's what I don't like about it then, is that it doesn't affix itself to

00:32:46 ◼   ► the desk in any way.

00:32:48 ◼   ► What you don't like about it is it doesn't have a suction pad.

00:32:51 ◼   ► Well but like a lot of things do, so the stuff that I have from Studio Neat, they have these

00:32:55 ◼   ► like suction pads on them, so it doesn't glue it but like it just locks it down, so nothing

00:33:00 ◼   ► can push my phone over or when I put it down, I don't have to like hold on to the stand,

00:33:05 ◼   ► I'm not interested in doing that, and that's what I didn't like about the HiRise, it's

00:33:09 ◼   ► like it would move and I tried to put it down.

00:33:12 ◼   ► It's like, well no, I want it to be completely solid,

00:33:15 ◼   ► especially because you are now like

00:33:17 ◼   ► elevating my phone above the desk.

00:33:19 ◼   ► So if I knock it over, it's gonna be worse, right?

00:33:21 ◼   ► Like so now that product didn't do it for me

00:33:24 ◼   ► for those reasons.

00:33:24 ◼   ► - I can completely understand it.

00:33:26 ◼   ► Also the charger that I hate the most

00:33:27 ◼   ► is the Apple Watch charger.

00:33:28 ◼   ► So most of the time I'm like,

00:33:29 ◼   ► how can I get this thing out of the way?

00:33:31 ◼   ► I don't want just this random wire on my desk.

00:33:34 ◼   ► So that's the one that I happen to use.

00:33:36 ◼   ► I like it, but I guess whatever angle I'm picking it up from,

00:33:39 ◼   ► I'm able to just pull the phone out and the thing does drop off the bottom of it for me

00:33:43 ◼   ► at least but maybe it's because my lightning port is wearing out. Who knows? But I'm generally,

00:33:48 ◼   ► as we all are, eternally unhappy with the various charging solutions and I have way

00:33:55 ◼   ► too many wires in my house right now and I'm generally displeased with charging. Charging,

00:34:02 ◼   ► why do we still need to do it? I'd really rather not.

00:34:05 ◼   ► Ryan wants to know, what is your favorite iPad note-taking app right now?

00:34:10 ◼   ► In terms of, uh, oh I guess in terms of notes?

00:34:14 ◼   ► I'm assuming, like, handwritten stuff, because why else would you say iPad?

00:34:18 ◼   ► Oh yeah, okay, that's what sort of threw me off.

00:34:21 ◼   ► Right, that would be my assumption.

00:34:23 ◼   ► I was thinking I have given up and moved to Notes for notes stuff.

00:34:27 ◼   ► There's no giving up, there's no giving up.

00:34:28 ◼   ► Apple's Notes app is really good.

00:34:30 ◼   ► It is really good.

00:34:32 ◼   ► There's a few features that it's missing that I find somewhat annoying, but it's very solid

00:34:36 ◼   ► with syncing and just having stuff be there, and I appreciate how omnivorous it is

00:34:40 ◼   ► that you can throw almost anything at it and notes will...

00:34:44 ◼   ► At worst it'll create one of those funny little links where you can just click on something and it'll take you to where you're supposed to go.

00:34:48 ◼   ► So it is pretty good, and I use that for a bunch of stuff.

00:34:52 ◼   ► I still love GoodNotes. That's the one that I use for anything

00:34:56 ◼   ► that's handwritten. That's the one that works best for me.

00:35:00 ◼   ► they would add in audio recording,

00:35:02 ◼   ► the way Notability will do, but aside from that,

00:35:05 ◼   ► that's still the one that I use for everything

00:35:07 ◼   ► and I really like it.

00:35:08 ◼   ► - And Notability is my favorite.

00:35:10 ◼   ► I like that application a lot.

00:35:12 ◼   ► I don't know why this is one of the things

00:35:13 ◼   ► that we have a very clear divide about and always have done,

00:35:17 ◼   ► but Notability is the one for me.

00:35:19 ◼   ► I like something that I added recently,

00:35:20 ◼   ► which came into great effect when I was drawing the map

00:35:23 ◼   ► for our text adventure,

00:35:25 ◼   ► was it can automatically recognize shapes.

00:35:27 ◼   ► So I could draw a crude square, just hold,

00:35:30 ◼   ► so like when I finish the square, just hold for a second,

00:35:33 ◼   ► and it would just pop into a shape for me.

00:35:35 ◼   ► So that was very useful.

00:35:36 ◼   ► - GoodNotes does do something like that as well.

00:35:38 ◼   ► But yes. - I'm sure it does.

00:35:39 ◼   ► These applications do basically the exact same things.

00:35:42 ◼   ► They tend to just have one or two things that's different,

00:35:44 ◼   ► and then it's just your own preference

00:35:46 ◼   ► as to which one you like the most.

00:35:47 ◼   ► - Yeah, or I think, from talking to many people,

00:35:50 ◼   ► it's often just a preference about,

00:35:52 ◼   ► 'cause they're each using custom engines

00:35:54 ◼   ► for the handwriting recognition.

00:35:55 ◼   ► - Yep.

00:35:56 ◼   ► And so this can also just be a thing of, oh, I like the way this one does the handwriting

00:36:00 ◼   ► recognition for me personally better than the other one.

00:36:04 ◼   ► But yes, that is a spoiler for the members episode that Myke did use for the first time

00:36:09 ◼   ► digital note system instead of pen and paper for the members episode.

00:36:12 ◼   ► Sorry for the spoiler.

00:36:13 ◼   ► I was shocked.

00:36:14 ◼   ► I was shocked at the end of the episode.

00:36:17 ◼   ► I am intrigued to see, because Apple have opened up their system, like that's in Apple

00:36:24 ◼   ► notes for like hand drawing to developers now so you can just integrate it. It's called

00:36:28 ◼   ► Pencilkit. And I'm wondering if any of the developers of these applications will abandon

00:36:33 ◼   ► their own engines for it.

00:36:34 ◼   ► Oh, I thought that was always the case.

00:36:35 ◼   ► Well, you'd think it's your competitive advantage, right, that you have your own engine. But

00:36:40 ◼   ► now Apple will give you all the tools if you want to use it, which they didn't do before.

00:36:45 ◼   ► There were APIs that you could use to help with the rendering from the Apple Pencil,

00:36:50 ◼   ► But now you can straight up just use the exact toolset that exists in Notes in any application

00:36:56 ◼   ► if it integrates it.

00:36:58 ◼   ► Huh.

00:36:59 ◼   ► Hmm.

00:37:00 ◼   ► I wouldn't be surprised if developers just take that on board.

00:37:04 ◼   ► I mean, I imagine it must be an enormous headache to maintain your own engine like that for

00:37:08 ◼   ► the handwriting stuff.

00:37:10 ◼   ► But again, if it's, like you say, part of your core advantage, it does allow you to

00:37:14 ◼   ► do more stuff.

00:37:16 ◼   ► As a good comparison, our friend Marco does Overcast.

00:37:20 ◼   ► He does all of the audio stuff. He's not using Apple's

00:37:24 ◼   ► built-in things, and that allows him to do very different

00:37:28 ◼   ► things than other podcast players can do. He's building on top of that in some interesting

00:37:32 ◼   ► ways. He's not just using what they give. Yeah, yeah. I'll be curious to see

00:37:36 ◼   ► what happens. I'd always thought that they could use the handwriting stuff, but I guess not.

00:37:40 ◼   ► There was like a part of it that you could use, but

00:37:44 ◼   ► you still had to build your own tools.

00:37:46 ◼   ► Like it was the recognition you could take advantage of,

00:37:49 ◼   ► I think.

00:37:50 ◼   ► - I'll have to test out how the handwriting stuff works

00:37:52 ◼   ► in Apple Notes then and see how I feel about that.

00:37:54 ◼   ► - It's very good.

00:37:55 ◼   ► It's very good.

00:37:56 ◼   ► - Like the latency is unbelievable now.

00:37:59 ◼   ► - It's funny that there's one of those features

00:38:01 ◼   ► that I remember they promoted WWDC a few years ago,

00:38:04 ◼   ► which is the hold your pencil against the screen

00:38:06 ◼   ► and you can start writing a note immediately thing.

00:38:08 ◼   ► - Yeah, I never used that.

00:38:09 ◼   ► - And it's funny 'cause I think about that too

00:38:12 ◼   ► that seems like a feature that I should use all the time

00:38:16 ◼   ► and it never occurs to me to use that.

00:38:18 ◼   ► I just, I never do, even though that seems like

00:38:21 ◼   ► it would be the world's most useful thing.

00:38:22 ◼   ► And I remember thinking, that's amazing

00:38:25 ◼   ► when I saw it demoed and I've probably used it

00:38:27 ◼   ► three or four times just to try it out.

00:38:29 ◼   ► And it just never, never occurs to me to do.

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00:40:37 ◼   ► This may be a bigger conversation, but Mo wants to know, is Grey ever going to come back to Twitter?

00:40:43 ◼   ► What is it? It's August now? Is that right?

00:40:47 ◼   ► I guess it's almost a year that I've been away? Because I went away in September?

00:40:52 ◼   ► What are you laughing at?

00:40:52 ◼   ► Away. I went to the away.

00:40:55 ◼   ► It sounds like a place in a way. I went, you know, away. Like wink wink.

00:41:01 ◼   ► It does feel like going away. It's like, oh, there's all these people in this room talking.

00:41:06 ◼   ► I'm gonna step outside for a little while, guys.

00:41:08 ◼   ► And I'll be back in two weeks, maybe three months.

00:41:11 ◼   ► Oh, actually, now it's almost a year.

00:41:13 ◼   ► That's why it feels like, oh, yes, you have stepped outside

00:41:16 ◼   ► from the conversation that's going on.

00:41:18 ◼   ► I mean, obviously, I don't feel any pressing need

00:41:24 ◼   ► to come back to Twitter.

00:41:27 ◼   ► I think this is a little bit like so many

00:41:28 ◼   ► of the things in our lives that have any kind of urgency,

00:41:33 ◼   ► where the human brain conflates urgency with importance

00:41:38 ◼   ► or novelty with importance.

00:41:41 ◼   ► And when you step away from that for a little while,

00:41:43 ◼   ► you have a clearer view of, oh, none of this is important.

00:41:48 ◼   ► For example, following the news on a daily basis,

00:41:51 ◼   ► you're like, wait a minute,

00:41:52 ◼   ► it feels important because it's urgent,

00:41:54 ◼   ► but it isn't if you step back for a while and you go,

00:41:57 ◼   ► oh, the bigger picture, the daily stuff doesn't matter.

00:42:01 ◼   ► So I kind of feel that way about Twitter.

00:42:03 ◼   ► I'm just like, oh, having stepped back from a while,

00:42:05 ◼   ► I don't feel like being there is super important.

00:42:10 ◼   ► The one thing I have thought of a number of times

00:42:13 ◼   ► over the course of this last year

00:42:15 ◼   ► is times in which it would be useful to use Twitter.

00:42:19 ◼   ► And most of that is the ability to ask an audience

00:42:24 ◼   ► a question or to help with something.

00:42:29 ◼   ► Like there's an example that just happened recently where I thought, "Oh, if I was on Twitter, I would love to just ask everyone for an example of times a certain kind of thing happens in a movie."

00:42:43 ◼   ► And so I could say like, "Oh, I'm thinking about in movies when they do X, where have you seen this in movies?"

00:42:49 ◼   ► And Twitter is like the perfect venue for asking that kind of question, because you'll just get a bunch of people replying, like, "Oh yeah, in this movie that happens at 12 minutes in."

00:42:57 ◼   ► minutes in. So I think at some point I would like to be able to use Twitter for that kind of stuff

00:43:02 ◼   ► again because otherwise it feels like this is a tool that is being pointlessly dormant.

00:43:09 ◼   ► But yeah, I don't have an urgent need to get back to Twitter anytime soon.

00:43:18 ◼   ► But like your ability to use it for those types of things.

00:43:27 ◼   ► You can start doing that.

00:43:30 ◼   ► Any time that you want.

00:43:34 ◼   ► Yeah.

00:43:35 ◼   ► Even in a case of like using it again as a promotional tool for the videos, the

00:43:41 ◼   ► podcasts and the various other endeavors that you have going on.

00:43:45 ◼   ► Yeah.

00:43:46 ◼   ► There's no reason now to not do that.

00:43:50 ◼   ► If you feel like you have a better sense of

00:43:55 ◼   ► how you would want to use it recreationally,

00:43:57 ◼   ► which is not.

00:43:59 ◼   ► - Yeah, I totally know that, I understand that.

00:44:02 ◼   ► Nothing's actually preventing me from coming back.

00:44:04 ◼   ► I'm happy to sit on it for a while longer

00:44:08 ◼   ► and not move forward with that.

00:44:10 ◼   ► I don't know, like with many things,

00:44:14 ◼   ► it's just sort of easier to say,

00:44:16 ◼   ► oh, I'm not doing this thing at all,

00:44:20 ◼   ► than it is to just sort of slide back.

00:44:25 ◼   ► So that's why I keep saying

00:44:27 ◼   ► I don't have an urgent reason to come back,

00:44:29 ◼   ► is because the times where I have thought,

00:44:31 ◼   ► oh, it would be useful to have Twitter for X,

00:44:33 ◼   ► none of those thoughts have been,

00:44:35 ◼   ► oh, I need Twitter to do X.

00:44:39 ◼   ► And so that's why I've been like,

00:44:41 ◼   ► oh, it's slightly inconvenient that I can't do this thing,

00:44:43 ◼   ► but it's totally fine, so whatever.

00:44:46 ◼   ► I'm just gonna keep this project going for a while longer,

00:44:48 ◼   ► for some indefinite period of time.

00:44:50 ◼   ► I mean, the answer to the question is,

00:44:52 ◼   ► I assume that I will come back at some point,

00:44:55 ◼   ► but I think the audience can expect that my presence there

00:44:57 ◼   ► when I do come back will be dramatically decreased,

00:45:01 ◼   ► that would be my expectation.

00:45:03 ◼   ► And it would be much more tool use than casual use.

00:45:08 ◼   ► It's not a thing that I feel like,

00:45:12 ◼   ► "Oh, you know what I need more of in my life is more of this."

00:45:15 ◼   ► So I think it's become more of a work tool.

00:45:18 ◼   ► - Does this count for everything that was related to that?

00:45:22 ◼   ► - Yeah, I think so. - Like, all internet stuff,

00:45:23 ◼   ► like Reddit? - Yeah.

00:45:25 ◼   ► - I don't know what other places you'd really consider.

00:45:28 ◼   ► - Yeah, it was sort of social media, podcasts,

00:45:30 ◼   ► Reddit, Hacker News, like all of that stuff

00:45:32 ◼   ► was kind of lumped together in one big bunch.

00:45:35 ◼   ► So I don't know, I feel that way about a lot of this stuff

00:45:38 ◼   ► is a similar kind of thing.

00:45:41 ◼   ► - Yeah, like the only thing I really miss

00:45:42 ◼   ► as I mentioned in a Q&A video

00:45:44 ◼   ► is I miss the kind of meaniness of the internet.

00:45:46 ◼   ► You know, the internet can be hilarious

00:45:48 ◼   ► in a way that nothing else can be sometimes,

00:45:51 ◼   ► but yeah, there's no urgency.

00:45:52 ◼   ► I mean, Myke, do you think,

00:45:55 ◼   ► you're out there in the wild west of the internet.

00:45:58 ◼   ► Do you think I'm missing anything important here?

00:46:01 ◼   ► - No, but I--

00:46:05 ◼   ► (laughing)

00:46:07 ◼   ► - Great, perfect. - For you, no.

00:46:09 ◼   ► But I do think you are missing out on some ways to promote the work that you're doing.

00:46:17 ◼   ► And I know that you are mostly okay with where everything is, but they are valid tools, and

00:46:27 ◼   ► you saw use in them before, but now you're not doing that, and I think that it would

00:46:34 ◼   ► be worthwhile to reinvestigate that part again.

00:46:37 ◼   ► - Yeah, that's the part that's the clearest win.

00:46:42 ◼   ► - That was the reason to start in the first place,

00:46:45 ◼   ► and there is validity in it.

00:46:47 ◼   ► - Yeah, well, it also just, it made me think of,

00:46:49 ◼   ► back in ye olden days of when I started to use Twitter,

00:46:52 ◼   ► a lot of it was much more,

00:46:54 ◼   ► oh, asking the audience for help kind of stuff,

00:46:57 ◼   ► and then it turns into, hey, I've just made a new thing.

00:47:01 ◼   ► You can see it here.

00:47:03 ◼   ► And I think that, oh, that initial use

00:47:05 ◼   ► is also the clearest win for a use case.

00:47:09 ◼   ► So I can see going back to that in the future.

00:47:12 ◼   ► And I do agree, it's like, oh, it would make more sense

00:47:16 ◼   ► to be promoting my own stuff over the last year

00:47:19 ◼   ► using Twitter, but I'm still of the opinion

00:47:21 ◼   ► that those kind of promotions matter much less

00:47:24 ◼   ► than people think they do.

00:47:26 ◼   ► And so, yes, it is missing out,

00:47:28 ◼   ► but it's not critically missing out on a promotion.

00:47:32 ◼   ► - No, I agree with that.

00:47:33 ◼   ► It's not massively important.

00:47:35 ◼   ► it doesn't necessarily make or break something,

00:47:38 ◼   ► but there is benefit in it.

00:47:41 ◼   ► - Yeah, there is benefit in it, but I'm just not sure.

00:47:45 ◼   ► The number of places where there is potential benefit

00:47:48 ◼   ► to promote your thing is very, very large,

00:47:50 ◼   ► and I don't think it makes a critical difference,

00:47:55 ◼   ► but I don't know, I could see doing something

00:47:58 ◼   ► like even having my Twitter account

00:48:01 ◼   ► like retweet the blog's Twitter account

00:48:04 ◼   ► to just be like, oh, here's when something new has gone up.

00:48:07 ◼   ► Like that's a possible thing to do in the future.

00:48:10 ◼   ► But you say I'm not missing anything,

00:48:11 ◼   ► so that's good enough for me, Myke.

00:48:13 ◼   ► - I think it's different for you

00:48:15 ◼   ► than it is for most people, and for other people.

00:48:18 ◼   ► You know, like I think that there is like a sliding scale

00:48:20 ◼   ► of how important things are.

00:48:21 ◼   ► Like for me, things are a little bit more important,

00:48:24 ◼   ► depending on what it is for you,

00:48:25 ◼   ► but I've actually started changing some of my stuff around

00:48:28 ◼   ► to stop that reliance on social media.

00:48:31 ◼   ► - What do you mean?

00:48:33 ◼   ► I'm back on RSS and have been for about six weeks.

00:48:37 ◼   ► - Okay, how's that going?

00:48:39 ◼   ► That's very sweet.

00:48:40 ◼   ► - It's actually going pretty well

00:48:43 ◼   ► because it went in conjunction with me reading Twitter less.

00:48:48 ◼   ► So for a while, for a long while,

00:48:53 ◼   ► I've moved over to the official Twitter app,

00:48:55 ◼   ► which was in part me trying to make my Twitter experience

00:49:01 ◼   ► worse in some ways.

00:49:03 ◼   ► - Okay, yeah, the official app will do that for sure.

00:49:06 ◼   ► - But it also makes it better in other ways.

00:49:09 ◼   ► I genuinely think if you are somebody

00:49:11 ◼   ► who is looking to reduce the amount of time

00:49:13 ◼   ► you spend on Twitter, using the official app

00:49:15 ◼   ► is the way to do it, because what the official app has

00:49:17 ◼   ► and none of the other apps have is the algorithm.

00:49:20 ◼   ► So whenever I go onto Twitter, I log into what they call

00:49:24 ◼   ► the home tab, which is where things

00:49:25 ◼   ► are algorithmically sorted.

00:49:27 ◼   ► So in theory, I should always be seeing the things

00:49:29 ◼   ► that are most important for me at any time.

00:49:31 ◼   ► So that way I don't need to read everything,

00:49:34 ◼   ► and I don't need to check in as often.

00:49:36 ◼   ► And that has kind of bore itself out

00:49:38 ◼   ► to become a thing that I'm doing.

00:49:39 ◼   ► I read Twitter less.

00:49:41 ◼   ► When I do, I don't read as much,

00:49:43 ◼   ► and I don't pay as attention as much as I used to.

00:49:45 ◼   ► I read it much more mindlessly now than I used to,

00:49:48 ◼   ► which is actually a better thing for me.

00:49:50 ◼   ► I'm not looking for things as much.

00:49:51 ◼   ► I kind of just scroll through

00:49:52 ◼   ► and see if anything catches my attention,

00:49:55 ◼   ► which I find to just be a better way for me to live.

00:49:57 ◼   ► And the way that I deal with what I used to is like,

00:50:00 ◼   ► Will I read Twitter as my news source to be able to get the things I need to talk about

00:50:03 ◼   ► on my shows?

00:50:04 ◼   ► And I just have a small RSS list that I check a couple of times a day.

00:50:08 ◼   ► And I'm actually finding that this is a better thing for me because I catch things that I

00:50:13 ◼   ► may have otherwise missed anyway.

00:50:16 ◼   ► Because that is like a source of stuff that just sits there and it builds up, which on

00:50:20 ◼   ► Twitter is like a much harder thing to deal with, like to go through the backlog, because

00:50:24 ◼   ► as well as all the links, you have all of the opinions about all of the other things

00:50:27 ◼   ► that are constantly happening always.

00:50:29 ◼   ► And RSS doesn't, it can't get messed up like that really

00:50:34 ◼   ► if you keep the subscription list smaller.

00:50:37 ◼   ► It's not being intermingled of anything else.

00:50:39 ◼   ► It's just the stuff that you in theory want to see

00:50:42 ◼   ► or stuff that you're not interested in

00:50:44 ◼   ► but it's still within the realm of what you were expecting

00:50:47 ◼   ► and every time you open Twitter it's completely unexpected

00:50:50 ◼   ► what is gonna be there because it could be anything.

00:50:53 ◼   ► About anything.

00:50:54 ◼   ► So I am tweeting less and just,

00:50:59 ◼   ► myself, I still replied, like that's the main thing that I used to have on now.

00:51:03 ◼   ► It's like, what are people saying to me? What kind of feedback are they giving me?

00:51:07 ◼   ► What does the world want from me? That continues to be my main

00:51:11 ◼   ► use case of it. But that's what I want it for.

00:51:15 ◼   ► I want to get feedback and I want to know what people are interested in. What do they

00:51:19 ◼   ► want to hear me talk about? What are they like? What are they not like?

00:51:23 ◼   ► And so I can continue to get that whenever I need it, whenever I want it,

00:51:27 ◼   ► but I am checking my timeline less. I'm relying on it less.

00:51:32 ◼   ► And I can see it in my screen time numbers, like Twitter is going down.

00:51:36 ◼   ► The hours are going down, the pickups are going down.

00:51:40 ◼   ► Like, it's changing.

00:51:42 ◼   ► And Instagram isn't replacing them?

00:51:44 ◼   ► Instagram is going up, but this is choice though. This was my choice.

00:51:47 ◼   ► Okay.

00:51:48 ◼   ► Right? Like, I'm spending more time on Instagram and it is the app that I open more

00:51:52 ◼   ► because Instagram makes me feel good all the time,

00:51:57 ◼   ► pretty much, better than any other social network.

00:51:59 ◼   ► I get a good feeling from it.

00:52:01 ◼   ► That's how it's been for a long time, and I enjoy that.

00:52:04 ◼   ► These days, if I meet somebody, I am more likely

00:52:07 ◼   ► to follow them on Instagram than anywhere else.

00:52:10 ◼   ► Meet a new person that I'm interested in,

00:52:12 ◼   ► or there's like, I wanna follow a individual

00:52:15 ◼   ► whose work that I enjoy, I go to Instagram

00:52:18 ◼   ► because I actually care about the people and their lives,

00:52:21 ◼   ► and that people are more willing to share things that are happening to them on Instagram

00:52:27 ◼   ► and on Twitter they share things that are not them.

00:52:31 ◼   ► Right it's like here is this thing that happened and my opinion about it or here is this thing

00:52:37 ◼   ► that I'm upset about but it's not about them it's about other things.

00:52:41 ◼   ► That's an interesting distinction.

00:52:42 ◼   ► And I tend to care about the people themselves and what they are doing and what they like

00:52:47 ◼   ► and people share that stuff visually.

00:52:49 ◼   ► and they have text, they just share their opinions.

00:52:52 ◼   ► And I want less opinions and more people

00:52:55 ◼   ► in the content that I consume, like on social media.

00:52:58 ◼   ► So that's kind of where I'm sitting right now.

00:53:01 ◼   ► And I'm pretty happy with the way that things are going.

00:53:06 ◼   ► And I wanna keep pushing that trend of decreasing Twitter

00:53:10 ◼   ► and increasing RSS and Instagram.

00:53:13 ◼   ► Like I don't want to leave Twitter.

00:53:16 ◼   ► I'm not like in that mode that I feel like

00:53:18 ◼   ► it's become a bit of a trend of like,

00:53:20 ◼   ► Twitter's a garbage place, it's full of terrible people,

00:53:22 ◼   ► we must leave, like that's not what I'm doing,

00:53:24 ◼   ► it's just I wanna reduce my own personal reliance

00:53:28 ◼   ► on that service and funnel the energy into other places,

00:53:33 ◼   ► but I still love Twitter for what I've always loved it for,

00:53:36 ◼   ► but I want to need less of my timeline

00:53:41 ◼   ► and put that energy into other avenues.

00:53:44 ◼   ► - Well, it seems like it's working out well for you then.

00:53:47 ◼   ► I'm actually pretty happy with it because it was like some purposeful decisions and

00:53:52 ◼   ► some accidental decisions, but it's all leveling towards something that it wasn't like an official

00:53:58 ◼   ► theme but it was something that I had in my mind for a while.

00:54:01 ◼   ► Right.

00:54:02 ◼   ► And I spoke about it on the show, right?

00:54:03 ◼   ► Like I have an Apple note.

00:54:05 ◼   ► I don't know if I mentioned this, but I had an Apple note that is titled the rules of

00:54:09 ◼   ► engagement and it's got a bunch of things that I wanted to do with social media and

00:54:15 ◼   ► like do's and don'ts and stuff like that.

00:54:17 ◼   ► And I've been adding to it a little bit over time,

00:54:21 ◼   ► but I pinned it, it's one of the only pinned notes

00:54:23 ◼   ► that I have, so I see the title a lot

00:54:25 ◼   ► whenever I open Apple Notes, to remind me that like,

00:54:28 ◼   ► you are supposed to be thinking about

00:54:30 ◼   ► changing the way that you use social media.

00:54:33 ◼   ► And I think that it's been helpful to have that reminder.

00:54:37 ◼   ► Like imagine if I wrote rules of engagement

00:54:40 ◼   ► on a Post-it note and put it on my computer monitor, right?

00:54:42 ◼   ► It's kind of had that effect on me.

00:54:45 ◼   ► Yeah, that's interesting.

00:54:46 ◼   ► It's interesting that you write it down explicitly because everyone who has any

00:54:54 ◼   ► kind of professional appearance on the internet as a public person, you have to

00:55:01 ◼   ► learn and sort out what your own rules of engagement are.

00:55:04 ◼   ► There are a few things that I have in my head about like, oh, internet rules of

00:55:08 ◼   ► engagement, like try to stick to these things, but I've never written them down

00:55:11 ◼   ► explicitly and it's interesting that you've not only written them down

00:55:14 ◼   ► explicitly but you also have it at the top so it's brought to your mind more frequently?

00:55:19 ◼   ► Yeah, they're not all in there. There are a bunch of headings that should have bullet

00:55:23 ◼   ► points in them that don't but it was more like… I had a few interactions over the

00:55:31 ◼   ► space of a couple of days months ago and they were interactions that I was unhappy with

00:55:37 ◼   ► and so it made me realise that I needed to change the way that I was using some of this

00:55:43 ◼   ► stuff. And so I just spent some time thinking about it and I think I've come out of it in a

00:55:52 ◼   ► much better position than I did before. I'm glad to hear that. Next up from All The Pretty Colors,

00:55:58 ◼   ► how important is an awesome name for your motivation on a project? It doesn't need to be

00:56:03 ◼   ► awesome, but it needs to be fitting. I think that's the way I think about code names for projects.

00:56:09 ◼   ► They need to fit. They don't necessarily need to be awesome. You can have awesome fatigue

00:56:15 ◼   ► if you have too many projects with awesome code names.

00:56:19 ◼   ► I'm not really a project name person. I like the way that you do that, right? That you have

00:56:26 ◼   ► like a project and you'll give it a name, right? Like project golem or whatever. Like I like those

00:56:30 ◼   ► names. They're fun. So my co-founder, Steven, whenever we have a big project that we're working

00:56:35 ◼   ► and together. He likes to do this. He likes the way that you do this. So he comes up with

00:56:41 ◼   ► names for these work projects and stuff. But I don't really work like that. The way that

00:56:47 ◼   ► I use projects in my to-do system, they are kind of non-flexible. If I was coming up with

00:56:53 ◼   ► something new, it would most likely be put into an existing project that I already have.

00:57:00 ◼   ► I like with names is like the kind of thing that I just mentioned, right? They're like,

00:57:05 ◼   ► it's theme based. So like I like good names for themes. So something like the rules of

00:57:09 ◼   ► engagement. I was pretty, yeah, pretty happy with that name and I like it and it stuck

00:57:13 ◼   ► in my head.

00:57:14 ◼   ► That's a great name for that.

00:57:15 ◼   ► Thank you. Like my yearly theme names, right? Like I, I've already worked out a couple of

00:57:18 ◼   ► themes for next year and I have some interesting names for them, but I also like my 2019 name,

00:57:24 ◼   ► stabilization and diversification. Like I like them. I like the way that they are solely.

00:57:28 ◼   ► I like the way that they interplay that kind of stuff.

00:57:31 ◼   ► So I like giving names to stuff,

00:57:33 ◼   ► but I just don't, my brain doesn't work on these,

00:57:36 ◼   ► like I'm doing this project for this amount of time

00:57:38 ◼   ► and I'm gonna give it a name.

00:57:40 ◼   ► It's not really how I organize my system.

00:57:43 ◼   ► It's like, you know, mine are like sponsors, preparation,

00:57:46 ◼   ► editing, personal, like cortex, right?

00:57:49 ◼   ► Those are my project names.

00:57:51 ◼   ► I don't come up with these like short names for projects.

00:57:56 ◼   ► I'm more likely to create a to-do

00:57:58 ◼   ► and list some stuff underneath it,

00:58:00 ◼   ► and it be pretty factual about what it is that I'm doing

00:58:04 ◼   ► as opposed to coming up with something fun.

00:58:06 ◼   ► - Yeah, I think the thing about a codename

00:58:08 ◼   ► is they tend to be more useful for long-term projects

00:58:13 ◼   ► that also have the possibility

00:58:18 ◼   ► of changing scope or direction.

00:58:20 ◼   ► So I think about, like that's why I tend to give

00:58:23 ◼   ► all of the video projects codenames,

00:58:26 ◼   ► because it is not unusual that by the time

00:58:28 ◼   ► we get to the end of a thing,

00:58:30 ◼   ► the idea of what it is. - It would never have been

00:58:31 ◼   ► cold what it was originally cold.

00:58:34 ◼   ► - Yeah, so that's why I don't put titles

00:58:36 ◼   ► because I also don't wanna get stuck on a title

00:58:39 ◼   ► as like, oh, this has to be the name for the thing.

00:58:42 ◼   ► And it allows some continuity for thinking about the project

00:58:47 ◼   ► that is separate from the goals

00:58:51 ◼   ► at any particular moment of that project.

00:58:54 ◼   ► So I think maybe that's also partly the differences.

00:58:58 ◼   ► I'll have something that lives in my system maybe,

00:59:00 ◼   ► like with Project Ursus for two years

00:59:04 ◼   ► before it finally becomes driving a Tesla

00:59:06 ◼   ► across the loneliest road.

00:59:07 ◼   ► Like then it, that makes sense to have it exist

00:59:10 ◼   ► as this thing.

00:59:13 ◼   ► - I think my work just doesn't really lend itself

00:59:15 ◼   ► to this in the same way.

00:59:17 ◼   ► - You have more ongoing things.

00:59:19 ◼   ► - Everything is constant always, right?

00:59:21 ◼   ► Like I don't have things that--

00:59:23 ◼   ► (laughing)

00:59:24 ◼   ► - Oops.

00:59:25 ◼   ► - Oh God, that sounds so brutal.

00:59:27 ◼   ► Everything is constant always.

00:59:28 ◼   ► - I don't have things that like,

00:59:30 ◼   ► they're gonna come to an end very much.

00:59:33 ◼   ► - Yes, yes.

00:59:34 ◼   ► - Right, like so, that kind of isn't,

00:59:36 ◼   ► it doesn't make sense to me to come up with this name

00:59:41 ◼   ► in that way.

00:59:42 ◼   ► And I also haven't got, I very rarely,

00:59:45 ◼   ► especially over the last couple of years,

00:59:47 ◼   ► have had anything new that I was working on by design.

00:59:51 ◼   ► So I could imagine giving something like this,

00:59:56 ◼   ► like a code name, as it's being conceived

00:59:59 ◼   ► before it becomes the thing that it is,

01:00:01 ◼   ► and then is ongoing, right?

01:00:02 ◼   ► Like projects that I work on, they are like,

01:00:05 ◼   ► oh, okay, I'm doing all the setup work for something,

01:00:08 ◼   ► and then it's the thing that continues, right?

01:00:11 ◼   ► 'Cause that's just the nature of my work, right?

01:00:14 ◼   ► Where it's not like with your work,

01:00:15 ◼   ► it's like the overall thing continues as I'm making videos,

01:00:20 ◼   ► but that video project ends

01:00:23 ◼   ► and then you move on to a completely different thing.

01:00:24 ◼   ► And I don't really, my work doesn't really

01:00:27 ◼   ► format itself in that way.

01:00:29 ◼   ► - Yeah, codenames lend themselves to launches.

01:00:32 ◼   ► And it just so happens that my YouTube channel,

01:00:35 ◼   ► the videos have nothing to do with each other

01:00:37 ◼   ► and so they can be treated like individual things.

01:00:39 ◼   ► - Yeah, they're all like these own,

01:00:40 ◼   ► these like standalone little projects.

01:00:43 ◼   ► - Whereas I would think you were crazy

01:00:46 ◼   ► if you wanted to codename each episode of Cortex.

01:00:49 ◼   ► It's like, this is not, right?

01:00:50 ◼   ► Yes, each episode launches.

01:00:51 ◼   ► - But it already has a code name.

01:00:52 ◼   ► The code name is the number, right?

01:00:55 ◼   ► Like that's the number, 'cause we don't ever,

01:00:56 ◼   ► and then we come up with a title, right, afterwards.

01:01:00 ◼   ► But yeah, it would be crazy if I just came up

01:01:02 ◼   ► with like an inventive, and they wouldn't be inventive

01:01:05 ◼   ► by the end of it, code name for every episode.

01:01:07 ◼   ► That would make no sense.

01:01:09 ◼   ► - Yeah, but so anyone out there who's thinking

01:01:11 ◼   ► about code names for the projects,

01:01:12 ◼   ► if this pulls on your mind at all,

01:01:15 ◼   ► I would just run with it and be like,

01:01:17 ◼   ► yeah, let me give my projects code names.

01:01:18 ◼   ► because it can just, having a fun code name

01:01:21 ◼   ► or a code name that feels like,

01:01:22 ◼   ► oh, this is very fitting to the theme of the project,

01:01:25 ◼   ► it's just something that helps move

01:01:27 ◼   ► the work along a little bit.

01:01:28 ◼   ► - Can the code name affect your feelings towards a project?

01:01:32 ◼   ► - It wouldn't for me. - Okay.

01:01:35 ◼   ► - I could imagine that it could for people.

01:01:40 ◼   ► Like Project Golem, my aborted,

01:01:43 ◼   ► but perhaps Phoenix-like project at some point.

01:01:46 ◼   ► Like that, I don't have bad feelings about that

01:01:48 ◼   ► because it didn't work out.

01:01:50 ◼   ► And I know it sounds scary to you, Myke,

01:01:52 ◼   ► but the important thing about a project name

01:01:54 ◼   ► is that it's very fitting.

01:01:56 ◼   ► And say were it ever to be revealed,

01:01:58 ◼   ► it should be satisfying to the listener of,

01:02:01 ◼   ► oh, that's why it was named this thing.

01:02:04 ◼   ► It should feel like it should fit.

01:02:06 ◼   ► But so I don't feel that way.

01:02:07 ◼   ► But then if you do, that also just helps you

01:02:11 ◼   ► contain the feelings to whatever that thing is.

01:02:14 ◼   ► It's like, oh, that was the dark time on project whatever.

01:02:17 ◼   ► That was project Longhorn and it didn't turn out the way we hoped and now that whole thing is just gone, right?

01:02:22 ◼   ► Like you can just, you can quarantine it.

01:02:24 ◼   ► Oh, Longhorn.

01:02:25 ◼   ► I still resented that we never got that big clock.

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01:04:36 ◼   ► of this show and Relay FM.

01:04:38 ◼   ► Waver wants to know, "What are your favorite fiction books, series or authors?"

01:04:45 ◼   ► I don't have any.

01:04:46 ◼   ► What?

01:04:47 ◼   ► Is that a joke?

01:04:48 ◼   ► No.

01:04:49 ◼   ► That's not a joke.

01:04:50 ◼   ► What about The Lord of the Rings?

01:04:51 ◼   ► Yeah, and see, this is the thing.

01:04:54 ◼   ► Everybody goes, "Oh, you must totally love Lord of the Rings.

01:04:57 ◼   ► Did you not make two videos on it?"

01:04:59 ◼   ► And you constantly make references to it that I don't understand.

01:05:03 ◼   ► Yeah, but, you know, references are just fun, right?

01:05:06 ◼   ► That's a different thing.

01:05:08 ◼   ► Also, I don't think I constantly make references to it.

01:05:11 ◼   ► They occasionally come up.

01:05:12 ◼   ► - Well, it's one of those things

01:05:13 ◼   ► where it feels constant to me

01:05:14 ◼   ► 'cause people point out the things

01:05:16 ◼   ► that I miss all the time.

01:05:17 ◼   ► Like you say a thing and it's like,

01:05:19 ◼   ► oh, I missed the Lord of the Rings reference again.

01:05:21 ◼   ► - Right, because everyone also knows

01:05:24 ◼   ► that if you don't acknowledge the reference,

01:05:25 ◼   ► you cannot possibly have caught it on a podcast.

01:05:28 ◼   ► - But the thing is though,

01:05:29 ◼   ► if it is a Lord of the Rings one,

01:05:31 ◼   ► I 100% did not get it, right?

01:05:33 ◼   ► Maybe there's a couple of them

01:05:35 ◼   ► like the shall not pass or whatever, I get that one.

01:05:38 ◼   ► And it's my precious and all that nonsense.

01:05:41 ◼   ► - Right, yes.

01:05:42 ◼   ► But also, listeners, you're recording a podcast,

01:05:47 ◼   ► the important thing is flow and stopping the other person

01:05:50 ◼   ► to be like, ah, that's Star Trek.

01:05:53 ◼   ► - There it is, gotcha.

01:05:55 ◼   ► - No, that's no good.

01:05:56 ◼   ► You can do that in real life conversations.

01:05:59 ◼   ► You can't do that in podcast conversations.

01:06:01 ◼   ► So just because someone doesn't acknowledge a reference,

01:06:04 ◼   ► What you should feel, listener,

01:06:06 ◼   ► is the satisfaction of knowing,

01:06:09 ◼   ► I know what he's talking about.

01:06:10 ◼   ► I know that's Microsoft, right?

01:06:11 ◼   ► And you can have that as a little precious gem

01:06:16 ◼   ► that you can hold and feel happy about.

01:06:19 ◼   ► You don't have to tell the host,

01:06:22 ◼   ► oh, you missed the thing, I know all about it.

01:06:25 ◼   ► That's not a necessary component of this.

01:06:27 ◼   ► - I can't tell you anyway.

01:06:29 ◼   ► - Right.

01:06:30 ◼   ► (laughs)

01:06:31 ◼   ► But so no, I have no favorite fiction book series or authors.

01:06:38 ◼   ► None whatsoever.

01:06:39 ◼   ► Why is that?

01:06:40 ◼   ► It sounds like something you're very strong about.

01:06:44 ◼   ► Well, the reason it's strong is it's partly a frustration.

01:06:49 ◼   ► Like, I kind of wish that I did.

01:06:53 ◼   ► But I have a very hard time getting

01:06:58 ◼   ► into fiction books in particular.

01:07:01 ◼   ► Like, it's a very high barrier of entry.

01:07:04 ◼   ► So I'm envious of people who are like, oh, I

01:07:09 ◼   ► love the Wheel of Time series.

01:07:10 ◼   ► It's my favorite ever.

01:07:11 ◼   ► And there's 20,000 pages of written material in this.

01:07:16 ◼   ► And it's just great.

01:07:18 ◼   ► And a new book comes out, and I'm always

01:07:20 ◼   ► really happy about it.

01:07:21 ◼   ► And I don't have one of those things.

01:07:27 ◼   ► I've been reading through the Expanse series lately.

01:07:30 ◼   ► and I'm on book four, or maybe five.

01:07:34 ◼   ► And I'm reading it and it's like, it's fine.

01:07:38 ◼   ► You know, it's fine.

01:07:39 ◼   ► So my frustration is I actually kind of wish that I had this.

01:07:46 ◼   ► Whereas the author that I've read the most of,

01:07:50 ◼   ► without a doubt, has to be Stephen King.

01:07:53 ◼   ► I've read the most number of his books.

01:07:57 ◼   ► But I also think his books are--

01:07:59 ◼   ► We could say that the quality variance is quite high.

01:08:03 ◼   ► Sorry, Mr. King, if you're listening.

01:08:05 ◼   ► Some of the books are not very good.

01:08:06 ◼   ► I guarantee you that he is not.

01:08:09 ◼   ► But if he is, sorry, Stephen.

01:08:11 ◼   ► Some of the books are amazing.

01:08:14 ◼   ► So I can't say that he's a favorite author of mine,

01:08:19 ◼   ► because it more comes down to, oh, I really like The Stand.

01:08:24 ◼   ► And oh, I didn't like Cujo at all.

01:08:27 ◼   ► So it's, I don't know, I feel like it would make it much easier if I could just have an

01:08:32 ◼   ► author where it's like, "Oh, I love everything that this person produces," but I don't. I

01:08:35 ◼   ► tend to be much more individualistic about the books. I mean, you sound surprised you

01:08:41 ◼   ► must have a favorite author or series. But you don't read. I don't even know why I'm

01:08:46 ◼   ► asking you. You don't. You're not literate.

01:08:50 ◼   ► I have a kind of answer, but it's not necessarily what people would want.

01:08:57 ◼   ► But my favorite series of all time is the Scott Pilgrim comic book series.

01:09:05 ◼   ► Oh, that totally counts.

01:09:06 ◼   ► That counts.

01:09:07 ◼   ► Yeah, I think this is the closest thing I can get to counting.

01:09:10 ◼   ► I absolutely love it.

01:09:12 ◼   ► It was one of those things that came to me at just the right time and changed the course

01:09:17 ◼   ► of my life a little bit because it just kind of helped me realize a little bit about who

01:09:20 ◼   ► I was as a person. And it's one of those things where like when you love something so much

01:09:27 ◼   ► you notice it in your own life in places, right? Like there's things that have happened

01:09:30 ◼   ► to me. I'm like, "Oh, that's just like Scott Pilgrim." And I remember them more because

01:09:33 ◼   ► it's like this is a fun thing for me. I absolutely love this. I love it so much. And they just

01:09:38 ◼   ► released the soft cover color version of Scott Pilgrim. So it originally came out in just

01:09:43 ◼   ► black and white. They then released digital versions which are colorized, hardback versions

01:09:49 ◼   ► which are colorized, and paperback versions which are colorized. I thoroughly, thoroughly

01:09:54 ◼   ► recommend if you are going to read Scott Pilgrim that you read one of the colored versions,

01:09:59 ◼   ► not the original black and white. Because there are a couple of characters that are

01:10:03 ◼   ► drawn quite similarly and in the original it is very easy to get them confused and that

01:10:11 ◼   ► will mess up the story a little bit for you. And it did for me on my first run through,

01:10:15 ◼   ► I completely misunderstood a huge part of the story because I got some of the characters

01:10:20 ◼   ► mixed up. So the colorized versions were better, plus the coloring is wonderful, it looks wonderful

01:10:25 ◼   ► and it elevates the book. I'm not a purist like that.

01:10:29 ◼   ► Yeah, I just sort of assumed, I know that these are important to you so I just presume

01:10:34 ◼   ► that you must be a purist about them. No, I'm not one of those kinds of people,

01:10:39 ◼   ► that stuff doesn't doesn't doesn't bother me if it's done right if it I

01:10:43 ◼   ► mean it was done by the original artist right like ah okay that makes a big

01:10:48 ◼   ► difference that makes and worked with the people who put the coloring on right

01:10:52 ◼   ► like it was it this is not something that like the publisher just did right

01:10:56 ◼   ► like the the Brian Lee O'Malley who created the book was involved in that

01:11:00 ◼   ► because he wasn't a colorist he did the original illustration but that wasn't

01:11:06 ◼   ► his thing so he didn't do it, right?

01:11:08 ◼   ► So there are six books, the most recent release,

01:11:11 ◼   ► they've actually combined it into three books,

01:11:13 ◼   ► they've like put the books together.

01:11:15 ◼   ► I thoroughly recommend it, I'm gonna reread it now

01:11:18 ◼   ► because I've really been looking forward to rereading it

01:11:21 ◼   ► and I've been waiting for these new soft covers to come.

01:11:22 ◼   ► So that is my favorite fiction book series of all time.

01:11:26 ◼   ► I love it, absolutely love it.

01:11:28 ◼   ► - I was just trying to even think about

01:11:29 ◼   ► like with nonfiction books about

01:11:32 ◼   ► do I have any kind of favorite author

01:11:34 ◼   ► or even trying to think of who's the Stephen King for me of nonfiction books.

01:11:39 ◼   ► And I just can't, I can't come up with any author where it's like,

01:11:43 ◼   ► Oh, this, this person, I routinely read all of their stuff.

01:11:49 ◼   ► Um, so I don't know.

01:11:51 ◼   ► It's, it is a, it is a continual frustration for me, but I will take

01:11:56 ◼   ► this moment to ask the listeners.

01:11:58 ◼   ► If you have any good book recommendations, particularly nonfiction book

01:12:04 ◼   ► recommendations. Leave them in the Reddit. I'll have my assistant pass on things that

01:12:09 ◼   ► look interesting.

01:12:10 ◼   ► I wondered how this was going to resolve itself, but there you go. That will work.

01:12:15 ◼   ► Part of the reason why I think you can hear, like I sound sort of frustrated, is to go

01:12:19 ◼   ► back to our discussing the gym last time and our deep unhappiness about it. I have been

01:12:26 ◼   ► trying to pair listening to audiobooks with going to the gym, which is something I normally

01:12:33 ◼   ► don't do. But it has also led to this thing of really burning through my list of where I've

01:12:40 ◼   ► written down books that people have recommended to me, and also has made me much more aware of how

01:12:45 ◼   ► shockingly picky I am about books that I want to listen to. Like the number of books, particularly

01:12:53 ◼   ► non-fiction books, where I give them a try and I'm like, I don't know, 10 paragraphs in and they're

01:12:58 ◼   ► And I'm like, "Nope, not for me.

01:13:00 ◼   ► Like, this is not gonna happen, book."

01:13:03 ◼   ► So I feel extra desperate for recommendations

01:13:08 ◼   ► from people for books.

01:13:09 ◼   ► - Have you considered fiction podcasts?

01:13:12 ◼   ► I will recommend "The Adventure Zone."

01:13:16 ◼   ► It's one of my favorite stories ever put together.

01:13:19 ◼   ► There's a lot of it.

01:13:20 ◼   ► - I mean, you know, my podcasts are off my list

01:13:24 ◼   ► at the moment.

01:13:25 ◼   ► I'm not against them in principle.

01:13:27 ◼   ► - Right, but I feel like you are avoiding

01:13:30 ◼   ► a certain type of podcast,

01:13:31 ◼   ► like you are avoiding information, right?

01:13:34 ◼   ► And that's how it always felt to me.

01:13:36 ◼   ► - Yeah, that's fair, that's fair.

01:13:38 ◼   ► - If it's a fictional show,

01:13:40 ◼   ► it's just like an audio book in theory, in theory.

01:13:43 ◼   ► I understand that there is a lot of variance,

01:13:46 ◼   ► but if the story is good and the presentation is good,

01:13:49 ◼   ► couldn't that work?

01:13:52 ◼   ► - I feel like this is the thin end of the wedge

01:13:54 ◼   ► that you're trying to shove in here

01:13:56 ◼   ► to break open this door that I've had closed for a year.

01:13:58 ◼   ► - Your number, you, are not affecting me, right?

01:14:02 ◼   ► Like you're not listening to podcasts.

01:14:04 ◼   ► I'm merely attempting to provide you with an answer.

01:14:08 ◼   ► - Yeah, I mean, again, I wouldn't be opposed to it

01:14:11 ◼   ► in principle, again, especially 'cause I grew up

01:14:14 ◼   ► with radio dramas as a genre.

01:14:16 ◼   ► - Just listen to the adventure zone, just try it.

01:14:19 ◼   ► I mean, it's one of those things where like,

01:14:22 ◼   ► I know you're gonna hate this,

01:14:23 ◼   ► but like you gotta go for a good,

01:14:26 ◼   ► like maybe four or five episodes

01:14:28 ◼   ► for them to really find their stride.

01:14:29 ◼   ► - No, no, when people recommend that kind of,

01:14:31 ◼   ► especially with fiction,

01:14:33 ◼   ► if someone says you've gotta give this thing a go

01:14:36 ◼   ► for a certain length of time with fiction,

01:14:37 ◼   ► I completely understand that.

01:14:39 ◼   ► And I'm always in the position of,

01:14:40 ◼   ► it's a TV show,

01:14:42 ◼   ► but I'm always in the position of

01:14:42 ◼   ► when I recommend "The Wire"

01:14:45 ◼   ► in the very tough sell of,

01:14:46 ◼   ► okay, look, I'm gonna recommend "The Wire,"

01:14:48 ◼   ► but you have to give it a season and a half

01:14:51 ◼   ► before you decide.

01:14:52 ◼   ► - That's good then,

01:14:53 ◼   ► What I'm going to tell you is, the adventure zone is broken up into effectively seasons.

01:14:59 ◼   ► You have to go about a season and a half before you make your final decision.

01:15:03 ◼   ► Now you've got me, Myke!

01:15:04 ◼   ► Right?

01:15:05 ◼   ► Go about a season and a half once they finish kind of the first part of the campaign and

01:15:09 ◼   ► move into the second.

01:15:10 ◼   ► And if you're hooked by then, then I don't know if you will be, but like that's when

01:15:14 ◼   ► it goes from they were playing a campaign to oh now they're making their own complete

01:15:18 ◼   ► story from scratch.

01:15:20 ◼   ► And then it's like you're on that train at that point if you like it.

01:15:24 ◼   ► But my thing about The Wire is it's not just that, you also have to watch the first episode

01:15:28 ◼   ► like three times.

01:15:30 ◼   ► Because the first two times you don't understand a word that anybody's saying about anything

01:15:33 ◼   ► and you don't know who anybody is and no one will explain anything to you.

01:15:37 ◼   ► So watch the first episode three times and then the whole first season of The Wire before

01:15:42 ◼   ► you make a decision on it.

01:15:44 ◼   ► Right yes, but then my other thing is like "oh yes the next season comes around and listen

01:15:48 ◼   ► You're going to be upset, everybody is, but you've got to give it another half season

01:15:53 ◼   ► and then you're in.

01:15:54 ◼   ► Then you'll be like everyone else and say it's your favorite show.

01:15:57 ◼   ► It's wild, right?

01:15:58 ◼   ► How can a TV show be so critically acclaimed, so recommended, but that's the caveats that

01:16:06 ◼   ► need to go with it.

01:16:07 ◼   ► And also don't watch the final season.

01:16:09 ◼   ► No, I'll disagree with don't watch the last one, but I know I'm in a minority on that

01:16:15 ◼   ► one.

01:16:17 ◼   ► My caveat is, everything that takes place inside a school you can skip.

01:16:22 ◼   ► There are three Godfather movies. Don't watch the last one. The first one and the second

01:16:27 ◼   ► one are two of the best movies ever made. Don't watch the third.

01:16:33 ◼   ► This is the way recommendations start going crazy. Okay, so listen, we've gone way off

01:16:37 ◼   ► track here. Listen, people, all I'm asking for, non-fiction books, please, please, I'm

01:16:42 ◼   ► begging you. Give me some recommendations. What do you think is good?

01:16:45 ◼   ► Wait, non-fiction or fiction?

01:16:46 ◼   ► I want nonfiction in particular.

01:16:48 ◼   ► That's what, that's what I'm looking for.

01:16:50 ◼   ► Fiction stuff, whatever.

01:16:52 ◼   ► I just always know that I have a hard time, but it's the nonfiction stuff.

01:16:56 ◼   ► That's great.

01:16:56 ◼   ► And here's, here's the other thing.

01:16:58 ◼   ► Okay.

01:16:58 ◼   ► So listeners, you probably, you're probably thinking, Oh, I know a

01:17:04 ◼   ► book that Grey would totally love.

01:17:06 ◼   ► But what I'm, what I'm looking for is books that are outside the realm of

01:17:13 ◼   ► the things that you know about me.

01:17:15 ◼   ► Right.

01:17:16 ◼   ► So it's like, oh, I have a book on voting systems.

01:17:19 ◼   ► Grey would totally love it.

01:17:19 ◼   ► No, I don't want that recommendation.

01:17:21 ◼   ► Like I'm looking for things that you think are interesting

01:17:23 ◼   ► that I might not have come across.

01:17:25 ◼   ► - And so like don't think about the type of book

01:17:27 ◼   ► that we would do on the Cortex Book Club.

01:17:29 ◼   ► These are not for that.

01:17:30 ◼   ► - Oh, for the love of God, no, no.

01:17:31 ◼   ► I don't wanna hear a single business book recommendation.

01:17:34 ◼   ► - So these are nonfiction books about things

01:17:36 ◼   ► that people have read that they found interesting

01:17:38 ◼   ► that have nothing to do with what people

01:17:40 ◼   ► would normally think you'd enjoy.

01:17:42 ◼   ► - Yeah, like I'm just looking for

01:17:43 ◼   ► what is interesting in the world.

01:17:45 ◼   ► And it is surprising, like the world,

01:17:48 ◼   ► Myke, the world is mostly a desert

01:17:51 ◼   ► and there's only tiny pools of interestingness

01:17:54 ◼   ► for us to find as humans.

01:17:56 ◼   ► - See you next time.

01:17:57 ◼   ► - Don't forget the trailer.

01:18:00 ◼   ► It's 1987 and Detective Jack Slade

01:18:04 ◼   ► and his partner Jetta Chang must take down a crime boss

01:18:08 ◼   ► and restore law and order.

01:18:10 ◼   ► This is Danger Town Beatdown.

01:18:15 ◼   ► (laughing)

01:18:17 ◼   ► - Oh yeah!

01:18:18 ◼   ► - Wow.

01:18:18 ◼   ► - Rated mature, 16 plus.

01:18:20 ◼   ► You're roused from sleep by neon lights

01:18:24 ◼   ► streaming in through your window.

01:18:25 ◼   ► It's 11.58 PM, time to start your day.

01:18:29 ◼   ► - Get coffee should be the first thing to do.

01:18:33 ◼   ► - Should we see what's on the answering machine?

01:18:34 ◼   ► - A voice says,

01:18:36 ◼   ► Slade, you're gonna pay for shutting down our operation.

01:18:40 ◼   ► We have your partner.

01:18:42 ◼   ► Bring us the tape. Come alone.

01:18:45 ◼   ► Uh oh.

01:18:45 ◼   ► [drum roll]

01:18:47 ◼   ► Open up! Let's talk.

01:18:49 ◼   ► The man kicks down the door.

01:18:50 ◼   ► Oopsies.

01:18:51 ◼   ► Oh god.

01:18:51 ◼   ► And enters, blocking the exit.

01:18:53 ◼   ► We did that thing again where we took too long.

01:18:56 ◼   ► He places an envelope on the table.

01:18:58 ◼   ► Consider this an advance to cover gas and tolls.

01:19:02 ◼   ► Oh, I'm slightly confused.

01:19:03 ◼   ► We're trying to be paid off. They want us out of town.

01:19:06 ◼   ► Ohhh.

01:19:07 ◼   ► Somebody does.

01:19:08 ◼   ► I'm so naive.

01:19:09 ◼   ► I didn't know, I didn't realize what was going on

01:19:11 ◼   ► in this arrangement.

01:19:12 ◼   ► - The badge is a Santa Marina police detective's badge.

01:19:17 ◼   ► Your badge.

01:19:18 ◼   ► The gun is a loaded Beretta 92S.

01:19:21 ◼   ► Your gun.

01:19:22 ◼   ► You're outside a rundown apartment building.

01:19:25 ◼   ► There is a strip club here.

01:19:27 ◼   ► How quaint, just like a Norman Rockwell painting.

01:19:29 ◼   ► There's a bright neon sign and the words,

01:19:32 ◼   ► Tiger's Den.

01:19:35 ◼   ► - Well, let's go to the strip club.

01:19:37 ◼   ► See that's some good detective work there, Myke.

01:19:39 ◼   ► You have to inspect the strip club.

01:19:40 ◼   ► - Mm-hmm.

01:19:41 ◼   ► All right, take a look at the wallet.

01:19:45 ◼   ► It contains a $100 bill and a California driver's license.

01:19:50 ◼   ► - Can we take that $100, Myke?

01:19:52 ◼   ► - No. - That's not the bribe money.

01:19:53 ◼   ► - We don't need the money.

01:19:54 ◼   ► - Can we take the guy's ID?

01:19:56 ◼   ► That seems like it might be useful.

01:19:58 ◼   ► It doesn't really feel like stealing.

01:19:59 ◼   ► That feels like evidence.

01:20:01 ◼   ► - Yeah, evidence.

01:20:03 ◼   ► - You know what would be evidence of bribery?

01:20:06 ◼   ► bribery money itself. That's not how that works, I don't think.

01:20:12 ◼   ► Some gang members loiter outside an arcade.

01:20:15 ◼   ► Gang members, okay.

01:20:16 ◼   ► I think they have little "Hello, I'm in a gang" stickers on them, something to identify

01:20:21 ◼   ► them as a gang member.

01:20:22 ◼   ► Yeah, I mean, how else would you know, right?

01:20:23 ◼   ► They're color-coordinated, that's how you know. They're all wearing pink, and that's

01:20:27 ◼   ► how you know they're in the gang. Wave to gang members?

01:20:30 ◼   ► They toss their cigarettes and head inside when they see you.

01:20:33 ◼   ► Oh.

01:20:34 ◼   ► (upbeat music)

01:20:35 ◼   ► - Are you trying to figure out how to ask him

01:20:37 ◼   ► if he's amenable to a bribe, Myke?

01:20:39 ◼   ► Is that what you're doing in this moment?

01:20:40 ◼   ► - I'm trying to figure out if there's anything

01:20:42 ◼   ► we can do other than bribe him.

01:20:44 ◼   ► - Ask O'Brien, can we take care of this in Fargo?

01:20:47 ◼   ► - I don't understand that.

01:20:49 ◼   ► - I thought that was like the code.

01:20:51 ◼   ► - I have no idea how you've gone from not understanding

01:20:54 ◼   ► the concept of a bribe to rolling out phrases like that.

01:20:58 ◼   ► - Why is this so hard?

01:21:01 ◼   ► - I don't understand.

01:21:04 ◼   ► Look around the room.

01:21:05 ◼   ► "Bosti draws a Smith & Wesson 38 Special, shoots you dead and escapes.

01:21:09 ◼   ► The end."

01:21:10 ◼   ► Now I know after hearing that, you're going to want to become a relay FM member, so click

01:21:14 ◼   ► the link in the show notes or go to cortexspecial.com, sign up, and look out for the member special

01:21:19 ◼   ► publishing on Friday, August 16th.