Topical: Recent Episodes
Daniel “Jelly” Farrelly and Russell Ivanovic
In the ongoing war between good and evil, Russell and Jelly just want to figure out which side they’re on. As they journey on their quest for clarity, they tear apart one topic at a time, leaving no doubt… or survivors.
How often do you consider how your life will be in the future? If the book of your life ended now, how would the epilogue read? Russell and Jelly discuss the concept of looking forward and planning for the unseen future, whether it’s scary or hopeful, and what they think the future might be like for them.
Nothing lasts forever; eventually the heat death of the universe will claim us all. Russell and Jelly consider the ending of things from their lives—school, jobs, relationships, TV shows and podcasts—and how these experiences have affected them and shaped who they are.
If you work for a big company, chances are, you’ve considered “going indie” at some point. The opposite is also true, as many indies pack up their things and join big companies in search of something different. Jelly and Russell consider the career moves they’ve made, and why they’d “sell out” if it ever came to that.
If you’re hungry, or tired, chances are you’re not going to be able to reach your fullest potential. Russell and Jelly take a look at the concept of basic needs, how they affect us, and whether some of these needs can be offset with something like a “universal basic income”.
Fitness trackers, from the Fitbit to the Apple Watch, are everywhere, and theoretically helping people improve their fitness, but are they all that they’re cracked up to be? To find out, Russell and Jelly look at how they exercise (or… don’t) and how fitness trackers have motivated them, both in the early days and after some time.
From Bitcoin to Dogecoin, the internet is filled to the brim with digital currency, and both Russell and Jelly have toyed with the idea of making it rich. But with support still lagging, and a significant amount of bad press surrounding the idea, has digital currency had it’s day?
First impressions count. The judgements we make about people or things when we first encounter them can sometimes stay with us for a long time, and colour our perceptions. Russell and Jelly take a hard look at their first impressions of each other, how they watch movies and TV shows, and why first impressions can often be completely and utterly wrong.
With Apple’s hardware in a state of stagnation, more and more people are revisiting the idea of the Hackintosh—custom-built PCs running OS X—which boast superior performance, but require additional maintenance and care. Russell’s a little scared that he’s missing out on the fun, so he and Jelly discuss what building one entails, whether it’s really worth it, and whether Apple cares about this resurgence.
Russell and Jelly discuss the social phenomenon that is Pokémon Go, an augmented reality game that has players everywhere going out into the world, collecting digital creatures and meeting real-life people. You’d be forgiven for thinking that this isn’t really that big a deal, but with so many stories of the community coming together, is there more to this game than just catching ‘em all?
There’s a plethora of management tools and methods dedicated to getting things done, and so Russell and Jelly throw it all out the window to talk about how they approach the things they need to remember to do, appointments the have coming up, and bills they need to pay.
Building Lego sets, reading books, and playing video games are hobbies that many people enjoy around the world, but exactly what people enjoy differs wildly from person to person. Russell and Jelly look at their own hobbies and consider some of the deeper questions about the things we love to do.
On the eve of the federal election in Australia, Russell and Jelly turn their focus to politics. Together, they discuss the concept of preferential voting, referendums and the way that government works… or doesn’t work, depending on your point of view.
Having just visited the—strikingly different—campuses of Facebook and Apple during their recent visit to San Francisco, Russell and Jelly think back to the various campuses they’ve worked and studied in. Together they compare their experiences and mostly just try to make sense of things.
Russell’s ready to finally tackle the big philosophical questions that people ask: How did we get here? Why are we here? What happens after we die? He and Jelly look at where we turn for the answers, and how these questions are tied to our beliefs, our biology, and society itself.
There’s no time of the year quite like the lead up to Apple’s developer conference, which sees the tech community start to bubble with the excitement and anticipation of the new things Apple is about to announce. Russell and Jelly look at why we love to speculate about new things, and whether doing so just leads to inevitable disappointment.
Every relationship endures conflict, whether it be platonic, professional, or romantic. Even interactions with complete strangers can be ridden with conflict, so Jelly and Russell spend a little time considering the ways that they handle conflict in the various parts of their lives, and how it affects them.
The way we perceive ourselves is important, but the way we think others perceive us can drive us to do things we would never normally do. Russell and Jelly take a long, hard look at whether changing so that we’re seen in a different light is healthy, and if it can even help in bettering oneself at all.
Sitting on the other side of the table from an interview panel can be daunting, but have no fear! Jelly and Russell reminisce about job interviews they’ve been to—and those they’ve helped conduct—to come up with a foolproof way to get the job of your dreams… or maybe not?
It turns out launching an app isn’t as easy as it might seem. Russell and Jelly, who have one or to launches under their belt, recount the processes they go through and the things they do to try and make it successful.
From the ones we attended as kids to the ones we organise as adults, parties are the way we celebrate big events in each other’s lives. Russell and Jelly look at the kinds of parties they’ve attended, share some stories about the things they do to get through the evening, and even share some ideas for helping to organise the event! So helpful.
Cars are at a tipping point right now, where electric motors are starting to be more and more common. The question is, however, when will buying an electric car be as reasonable and normal as buying a fuel-powered car, and will the concept of self-driving cars be ushered in as part of this move towards an alternative power source?
Cars are a fairly big part of most adults’ lives, and it’s almost like they live a life of their own. Jelly and Russell share stories about the cars they’ve had over the years, their first experiences buying a car, and the accidents they’ve had.
If you’re a software developer, and you’ve ever been asked how long it’ll take to build an app, your reaction was probably to back away slowly… or maybe to just turn and run. But why is it so hard to figure out how long it takes to write software, and what can you do to avoid the process being drawn out indefinitely?
Apple’s caught flak for both not innovating enough, and also not spending enough time nailing the bugs in their software. But are these two issues contradictory? Russell and Jelly look at their experiences as product developers, why hard calls have to be made, and how all this relates to the issues Apple faces with their software.
The first day of April is loved and reviled by people all over the world for it’s practical jokes. From joke features in our favourite websites and apps, to joke articles and press releases from blogs and news sites. Every year, the April Fools phenomenon gets larger and larger, and idiots that think they’re big comedians record hilarious podcasts about random nonsen… UGH. I give up, this episode is a flippin’ joke, and not in a haha funny way, it’s just SAD. Why do these two losers even bother? COPY WRITER OUT.
Shopping can be fun, and it can be excruciating, but we all have our preferred approach when it comes to buying things. Russell and Jelly take a look at Retail based on their experience on both sides of the counter, sharing stories and techniques on how to make it through the sale.
Russell has some pretty specific ideas about homeschool, and given that Jelly spent a good most of his teens actually getting homeschooled, he’s on a mission to find out how it all really works. Is it different to normal school? How do grades work? Do you have to be chained to a desk in a cellar somewhere?
Having just had solar panels installed, Jelly’s getting pretty keen about living off the grid, or at least relying less on it. He and Russell talk about ways that you might reduce your reliance on utility companies, why you’d do it, and whether you have to go full dreadlocks.
Jelly and Russell have been on both sides of the beta testing process, and talk about what it’s like across the spectrum: from those that just post new builds and are otherwise quiet, to the betas that are more like being a part of a community, with Slack channels and cats.
The topic on everyone’s lips is the case of Apple vs. the FBI over the unlocking of an iPhone formerly used by a terrorist. With the government wanting Apple’s assistance bypassing some of iOS’s security features, the case has potential for consequences that reach much further than what’s apparent at first glance. But how far?
Television has changed a lot over the years, both in regards to technology and also how we watch it. Russell and Jelly take a look back at the sorts of things that have impacted the shows they love, like how stories have become more and more continuous in nature, how things have started to transition to the internet, and how the advent of high-definition affected things.
Pronouns are something you learn about as part of basic English, but they play a big role in people’s lives. Russell and Jelly look at how pronouns can make people feel excluded—or worse, offended—and discuss how simple changes can make big differences.
Languages! They’re what separates us from things that don’t have languages, and like any good standard, there’s also a whole lot of them out there. Russell and Jelly chat, in one of their all-time favourite languages, about what it’s like to know multiple languages (or not know, in Jelly’s case), how languages are learned, and how it affects their work and travel.
Chat rooms are everywhere on the internet, and are part of what makes it a great communication tool, but often it can devolve into a cesspool of hatred and offensive behaviour. Russell and Jelly discuss why this is the case, where the overall problem lies, and how this can be solved in the future. You know, for the sake of the children… and the cats.
TV shows like Star Trek have explored the concept of space travel for decades, and more recently, we’ve started to see a transition to looking at it in a more current light, with movies like Gravity and The Martian. This begs the question: are we going to explore space in the real world, and are we likely to see that in our lifetime?
Shows that investigate the narrative around a murder are becoming incredibly popular, with podcasts like Serial and the new Netflix series Making a Murderer. The real questions, though, are: why this type of show is so compelling, and is it actually reducing someone’s pain to a story for the purpose of entertainment?
Taking up residence in another country is an exciting thought for many people… but where do you even start when you make the decision to move to a different part of the planet? Jelly gets all the details on this special crossover episode, from finding a place to live to getting cash out at the airport.
Once a year, people all over the world make the decision, short-lived though it might be, to better themselves. They make the commitment to go to the gym, eat better, or quit a bad habit, causing Jelly and Russell to question why this happens, and whether it can ever actually be successful.
Christmas is here and Santa has been and gone for another year, causing Russell and Jelly to take a hard look at the cultural phenomenon that is Santa Claus. Kids love him and parents proselytise him, but he’s not exactly the most modern of characters… so while they’re at it, our hosts bring him into the modern world with a little inspiration from their favourite superheroes!
With Apple moving to devices that charge using a lightning cable, Jelly feels like it’s the perfect time for he and Russell to look at the things that power our modern devices, from the disappointing lack of inductive charging to tales of espionage within the industry.
It’s almost impossible to completely avoid caffeine in the modern age. From coffee and tea, to chocolate and sodas, it’s one of the most prevalent — and accepted — drugs on the planet. Jelly and Russell look at their experiences, from how they first got into coffee, to addiction, and even a little science about how coffee affects the human body.
Stress is a pretty normal — and somewhat negative — part of life, so Russell and Jelly take a look at how stress affects them: from the kind of stress they deal with, to the way it tends to accumulate, and finally how they deal with it… or at least try to deal with it.
Russell and Jelly have both been on Twitter since around 2008, and since that time it’s gone through many changes, both good and bad. They reflect back on how the social network has grown, how it differs from the other social networks like Facebook, the way it’s morphed over the years, and where it’s inevitably headed.
While living in a hotel room in Sydney for two weeks, Jelly’s been eating out on a regular basis. He and Russell talk about how you’re trained as a kid to consider fast food a treat, how your treatment of eating out changes as you get older, as well as afflictions like Macca’s Regret and Second-cup Syndrome.
Jelly’s been doing quite a few preorders lately, and so he and Russell look at how preorders work, how they affect the games and tech industries, and where Kickstarter falls in the world of preordering goods.
Winning is awesome, losing not so much. But is there more to it than that? Russell and Jelly were both told as kids that “winning doesn’t matter”, so they look at how they win and lose in everyday life; from Jelly’s traumatic childhood sports stories, to Russell’s attempts at finding success in failure.
Prompted by a comic which poses the concept of a machine that can tell you how you’re going to die, Russell and Jelly talk about a topic that most people would rather avoid: death. How it’s treated in fiction and the effect it has in real life are vastly different, and ultimately they find that there really aren’t enough Batmen.
Russell and Jelly are feeling a little more mature than usual, so they take a look at their experiences in buying and owning their own homes, from the positives it brings to how the responsibility can affect more than just your everyday finances.
Product placement exists in almost all TV shows and movies in one form or another, and this has Jelly very intrigued. He and Russell look at some examples from popular culture, and ways products are shown and advertised as part of, and sometimes in conflict with, a story’s plot.
Jelly’s clearly been thinking about the Apple Pencil a little too much, as he’s got user interfaces on his mind. He and Russell discuss how we interact with devices today, and more importantly, how that might change in the future and what needs to happen to take us there.
The latest Apple event has got Russell thinking about how Apple market their new products, and how no other company seems to be able to match their effectiveness. He and Jelly discuss reasons why this might be, and what it might be like in a reality where Apple didn’t use terrible jokes in their marketing.
The latest version of Apple’s mobile OS comes with a built-in way of blocking content within Safari, which has cause quite a stir online, particularly amongst journalists who rely on ads for their livelyhood and the tech industry which is creating these new apps. #notallwebsites
What are you like when drunk? There’s only really one way to find out, so Russell and Jelly get their drink on to look at drinking, from the social aspects to hangovers.
Jelly’s looking for some travel tips, so he and Russell discuss some of their past holidays, recounting mis-adventures and some of their more notable instances of culture shock.
When Russell and Jelly can’t agree on whether podcasts under 30 minutes are definitively better, they bring in an expert to help them solve the mystery with science. While they’re at it, they learn what it’s like to make a science podcast for a major broadcaster.
Regardless of whether you consider yourself a cat person or a dog person, you’ll find that pets become an integral part of your life. But how attached can you become to your pet, and how does their shorter lifespan affect your relationship with them? Even more importantly, however, how do they see you, and is your cat really plotting to kill you?
If you’d never gravitated towards the profession you chose for your career, would you be the same person? Are you defined by your career choice? If Russell and Jelly had never gotten into IT, they both agree their career paths would be vastly different, but as to themselves, they’re completely at odds.
Sometimes in life, you find yourself asking if you even deserve the successes you’ve received, and whether you’re as good as your peers. Jelly certainly has recently, and he and Russell take the opportunity to look at what Imposter Syndrome is, how it can affect you, and what it takes to get over it.
With 10 years under it’s belt, Facebook has gone from being a tiny college start-up to being not just the world’s largest social network, but also a fundamental part of people’s lives. But is it anything more than just a platform for staying in touch with family members you’d rather forget existed?
Technical debt is something that every developer finds themselves dealing with at some point. As code ages, the need to maintain and update older code becomes more and more important, but how and when do you do that?
Humans are emotional beings, and when you give them an outlet like the internet, there’s bound to be some emotional carnage. When a sneaky visitor attempts to subvert Jelly’s hosting chair, the three decide to explore how emotions affect life on the internet, and what happens when you log off.
In making products, and software in particular, at what point can you call your venture a success? Jelly and Russell take a look at their own ventures and try to determine the best model for creating and selling apps, and how to make such a thing sustainable.
It’s Jelly’s birthday, so Russell breaks out the helium balloons and the two get to the bottom of what birthdays are all about. Along the way they talk about what their ideal birthdays would be, buying gifts and the change that social media has brought to the party.
Having just gotten back from his trip to San Francisco, Russell has just a touch of jet lag. He and Jelly talk about what they’re each like when they’re tired and how easily they can each push through. They then move on to talking their strategies for beating jet lag, from setting their clocks to the destination timezone, to some crazy Australian invention that shines light in your eyes…?
It’s a discussion that’s been brewing amongst developers for many years. In an effort to decide once and for all, Russell and Jelly talk through their preferences for mail clients, photos apps and everyone’s favourite web-based chat app to figure out the solution.
Now that Jelly’s working from home, it seems like the perfect opportunity for he and Russell to discuss the differences between that and working in an office. They discuss what they each struggle with, and Jelly gives some suggestions on how to make working by yourself a little easier.
Russell’s visit to San Francisco has allowed him to briefly experience what being a celebrity is like, from many different angles. He and Jelly discuss what it’s like to be on various sides of this experience, both being recognised, recognising others and watching others be recognised, and try to figure out the important question: is The Rock more famous than the President?
Russell is in San Francisco to attend Google and Apple’s respective developer conferences. Both happen at roughly the same time of the year, and even in the same building. Nevertheless, the two conferences are quite different, and might even say a lot about the differences between the two companies themselves.
From speaking to writing to Matrix-style information download, Jelly and Russell tackle the concept of people communicating with each other, and try and figure out what the ultimate form of communication looks like. Along the way they discuss the flaws with various kinds of communication, along with the issues they have when communicating with each other.
It’s Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday. Jelly and Russell are looking forward to the weekend, but how exactly do people get themselves out of work mode and into… non-work mode? They enlist the help of Russell’s pals from Shifty Jelly to figure out what people do on their weekends, and whether it even makes a difference.
Jelly and Russell are unexpectedly joined by a mysterious guest. Having established that he has the power to just drop into podcasts at will, they decide to go with it and explore the seedy world of Independent Podcasting. What they learn is both equal parts disturbing and intriguing.
Finding the wherewithal to get off of the couch can take some effort, but never fear! Russell and Jelly discuss what it takes to get motivated to do things… and complete them probably. After a good nap, of course.
Jelly’s quit his day job, so he and Russell talk about different kinds of work: working for an employer, freelancing, and creating your own products. Having done all three between them, they talk lessons learned, pros and cons, and try and figure out what the best approach for each option is.
After Jelly discovers that MSN still exists, he and Rusty find themselves sucked down a rabbit hole of sensationalist headlines. In an effort to understand humanity’s need for entertainment, they sacrifice their browser history and attempt to understand why clickbait headlines exist. The things they discover will shock and surprise you!
At a listener’s request, Jelly and Russell tackle the concept of a minimum viable product and the process they go through when deciding on features that go into their respective apps. Along the way, they discuss the concept of feature regret, and whether the concept of an “opinionated app” is a good thing or a bad thing.
Nobody is perfect, especially Jelly, who has recently received some criticism through the internet. This lead to some reflection on how one deals with negative feedback, both constructive and not-so-constructive, and how to make it so you don’t feel quite so sad afterwards.
Samsung cops a lot of flak for cloning Apple devices, which is something Russell doesn’t think they deserve any more. In fact, he’s convinced that they actually made the right business move to duplicate the iPhone when building the Galaxy S.
Russell’s favourite place for thinking through the problems he faces is the shower (don’t worry, he wears a tuxedo), so he and Jelly talk about their favourite ways to solve problems with down time, whether by showering, walking or building Lego.
If anything is certain, it’s that Jelly has a really odd nickname. He also has some pretty specific ideas about how others should refer to him, so he and Russell discuss the origin of their online handles, the names they prefer other people call them by, and why Jelly should have taken his wife’s name when he got married.
Sure, Apple now have a $10,000 watch which is made out of a special gold, but is this the beginning of an Apple which no longer produces things that we care about? Russell certainly thinks so.
Russell wants to start a podcast, but Jelly’s not sure. He doesn’t have a lot of time on his hands (worst excuse ever), but he’s at least willing to hear Russell out. Along the way, they talk Crossy Road, whether there is a limit to the cuteness of puppies, and evil laughs.