This week we’ve got my explanation of how programming keeps me from writing, then a small topic about Taming the Terminal by Tom on the Internet, followed by my extensive review of the screen capture tool Capto, and we’ve got Bart Busschots with the first half of Security Bits. We saved the Security Mediums and a few Notable News articles for next week so we have lots of content for the holidays.
Hi, this is Allison Sheridan of the NosillaCast Apple Podcast, hosted at Podfeet.com, a technology geek podcast with an EVER so slight Apple bias. Today is Sunday, December 15, 2019, and this is show number 762.
I’d like to thank the folks who have contributed content for the shows for the next couple of weeks (or who have promised some content). Frank Petrie has a great piece he did on a few menu bar apps he really loves. He sent me the recording a few weeks ago, but I’m going to tease you and make you wait till the last show of the year for it.
Jill McKinley has recorded two pieces for us. The first one, which I’ll play next week, is about her experiences using the MacBook Pro she bought from me after decades as a Windows user. It’s really great fun. You may remember Jill’s debut on the NosillaCast when she countered my thoughts with a piece entitled “Sleep Tracking Isn’t Stupid”. Her second piece walks us through some more tech she uses to enhance her sleeping. I’ll play that one alongside Frank’s on the year end show.
George from Tulsa has promised something and whatever it is I’m sure it will be awesome, and you’ll get that next week. Finally, Dorothy, aka MacLurker recorded a conversation with me concluding the quest she told us about to find a new, secure email system. This is quite lengthy as she explains the tools she used to weigh the options, the criteria she used, and the process she’s using to migrate to her new email service. It’s super OCD so you guys are going to love it. I’m saving that one for the last week of the year as well.
Finally, Bart figured out a way to split Security Bits in half so we’ll get half this week and half next week. This way he can take the holidays off too and not do a Security Bits for the last show of the year.
Thank you SO much to all of the contributors who will make sure that the NosillaCast never misses a show and yet I still get to take some time off to play with my family for the holidays. If you have a contribution you’ve been working on, we still have room for more content!
Chit Chat Across the Pond
Before I start this week’s show though, I’d like to blame Bart for the lightness of the content I actually contributed. Here’s the problem. Programming By Stealth has really started to hook me. Our latest programming assignment, which is to create a web app for currency conversion, has been SO much fun that I’ve neglected my writing something fierce. I am loving programming right now.
As I said to Dorothy and Bart, I still feel like the two of them are doing sky dives in fighter jets and I’m falling off my tricycle with training wheels, the small victories are glorious. I worked for nearly 2 weeks just to get a dropdown menu to populate with country names and currency codes. I found out later on that I did something harder than either Dorothy or Bart’s solution so I’m feeling pretty dang smug about it. Well, except for the part where Dorothy and Bart helped break some mental logjams for me so I could succeed.
Here’s a funny thing I’ve discovered about programming. You never stop working on your code when it’s going well. That’s when the adrenaline kicks in and you think you can conquer the world so you do more. You only take a break when you’ve been beating your head against the wall for hours and hours. It’s always good to take that break because a brisk dog walk or a bike ride can absolutely shake loose the problem and let you see the solution.
This week’s Chit Chat Across the Pond was another Programming By Stealth episode where Bart continued his mini-series recapping all of the different hats JavaScript objects wear; doing a lot of redux to cement the concepts that have been spread over so many lessons. He takes a really interesting approach this week to his teaching. He explains a concept and then instead of having a contrived example, he shows us exactly how that concept works in action in his homework solution from PBS 85. His solution to the homework assignment is, of course, beautiful and elegant. Beautiful he gives credit to Bootstrap, elegant he would probably give credit to jQuery.
I am really enjoying these redux segments because they cement things that were still wobbly, or perhaps even gone from my memory. Each time through I’m finding I understand how to even categorize the information in my brain. I explained to Bart that I think he’s actually changing the way my brain is wired now.
You can find Bart’s tutorial shownotes and listen along at bartbusschots.ie/…
Blog Posts
Taming the Terminal – by Tom on the Internet
Capto – More than a Screen Shot Utility
Support the Show
As you continue your holiday shopping using the Amazon Affiliate Links (by going to podfeet.com/amazon, I’d like to thank Eric Fontenot for taking Frank’s advice and sending along a direct donation using PayPal. Not only does this show that Eric is a listener of high taste and sophistication, it shows that he’s an all-around swell guy who appreciates the content that we produce every week without fail at the Podfeet Podcasts empire. If you’d like to be sophisticated and swell like Eric, head over to podfeet.com/paypal and send along a one-time donation of your choosing.
Security Bits – 15 December 2019
That’s going to wind this up for this week. Don’t forget to send in your Dumb Questions, comments and suggestions by emailing me at [email protected], follow me on twitter @podfeet. Remember, everything good starts with podfeet.com/. podfeet.com/patreon, podfeet.com/facebook, podfeet.com/slack! And if you want to join in the fun of the live show, head on over to podfeet.com/live on Sunday nights at 5pm Pacific Time and join the friendly and enthusiastic NosillaCastaways. Thanks for listening, and stay subscribed.