Crossed Wires

James Bilsbrough & Jae Bloom

A technology podcast that aims to take a positive look at technology and computing. We aim to have genuinely engaging chats with folks doing interesting things in tech that make a positive impact.

  1. Ollie's Space Junk

    FEB 2

    Ollie's Space Junk

    We're always delighted to have returning guests on the show, and so we're pleased to have Gedeon Maheux from The Iconfactory join us again. This time we're talking about the Kickstarter for their wonderful retro gaming app, Ollie's Arcade. We also delve into retro-gaming memories, have a very open discussion about Apple, Nazis, ICE, and why little acts of kindness can really make a difference in our not so great world at the moment. What are your retro gaming memories, do you remember playing Snake, or even the original Frenzic? We'd love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server. If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page. Affiliate Promotion "Don't you people backup? I backup, and I don't even know what backing up means!" - Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship If you have any kind of file that's important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you'll want to make sure it's kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn't really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too. Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn't in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up. Episode Links Mastodon Links: Jae: jae@mastodon.me.uk James: jsbilsbrough@mastodon.me.uk Gedeon: gedeonm@mastodon.social IconFactory: Iconfactory@iconfactory.world IconFactory Website Ollie's Arcade on KickStarter Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions 00:05:13: The Elon Evilness Update 00:08:36: Ollie’s Arcade Kickstarter 00:37:09: Retro Gaming 00:51:55: Apple, Nazis, and Acts of Kindness 01:10:57: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW Chapters (00:00:04) - Introduction(00:05:13) - The Elon Evilness Update(00:08:36) - Ollie’s Arcade Kickstarter(00:37:09) - Retro Gaming(00:51:55) - Apple, Nazis, and Acts of Kindness(01:10:57) - Wrapping Up

    1h 25m
  2. Liberated Office

    JAN 6

    Liberated Office

    It's been a lot longer than we planned between episodes, but we're happy to be back in 2026 with a great chat with Mike Saunders from The Document Foundation who maintain the wonderful LibreOffice suite. We chat about why it's important to have alternatives to Microsoft Office, the history of LibreOffice, why a truly open document format is so important as well as random detours into the concept of modern word processors for vintage hardware! What's your view on LibreOffice and the reasons for needing alternatives to things like Office 365 and Google Docs? We'd love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server. If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page. Affiliate Promotion "Don't you people backup? I backup, and I don't even know what backing up means!" - Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship If you have any kind of file that's important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you'll want to make sure it's kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn't really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too. Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn't in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up. Episode Links Mastodon Links: Jae: jae@mastodon.me.uk James: jsbilsbrough@mastodon.me.uk LibreOffice: libreoffice@fosstodon.org The Document Foundation tdforg@fosstodon.org LibreOffice The Document Foundation Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions 00:07:39: Apple’s Open Source Contributions 00:10:10: Proprietary Software 00:13:39: Libre Office 00:18:26: Why Do We Need Alternatives to Microsoft Office 00:34:13: Misconceptions About Document Formats 00:43:04: Cloud & Privacy 01:05:08: The Importance of Updates 01:16:28: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW Chapters (00:00:04) - Introductions(00:07:39) - Apple’s Open Source Contributions(00:10:10) - Proprietary Software(00:13:39) - LibreOffice(00:18:26) - Why Do We Need Alternatives to Microsoft Office?(00:34:13) - Misconceptions About Document Formats(00:43:04) - Cloud & Privacy(01:05:08) - The Importance of Updates(01:16:28) - Wrapping Up

    1h 23m
  3. Designed by Humans

    08/04/2025

    Designed by Humans

    What makes a beautiful app interface, a stunning icon, or that little bit of UI magic that shows the care poured into the design process? Our returning guest is Gedeon Maheux, co-founder of Icon Factory, who joins Jae and James to talk about how human design will always beat out generative AI and how the latter is having a substantial impact on their business. Do you have a favourite app design, or maybe an icon that always gives you a certain feeling? We'd love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server. If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page. Affiliate Promotion "Don't you people backup? I backup, and I don't even know what backing up means!" - Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship If you have any kind of file that's important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you'll want to make sure it's kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn't really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too. Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn't in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up. Episode Links Mastodon Links: Jae: jae@mastodon.me.uk James: jsbilsbrough@mastodon.me.uk Gedeon: gedeonm@mastodon.social IconFactory: Iconfactory@iconfactory.world IconFactory Louis Mantia's Blog Previous Appearances by Gedeon: Can You Hear Me - iPhone 16 Event Weaving a Tapestry A Good Day to Podcast Ollie, Space Karen, and an API Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions 00:07:17: The State of the IconFactory 00:16:36: App and Icon Design 00:27:22: Designing for Liquid Glass 00:46:26: Icon Variety 00:52:51: More Than Just Icons 01:13:10: Closing Thoughts Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

    1h 22m
  4. 3D Load Letter

    07/14/2025

    3D Load Letter

    Did you grow up wishing you could make real 3D objects from your computer, maybe if you're British you remember the cartoon 'Penny Crayon'? Well, in this modern world we live in, you can do all of that with a 3D printer. Our guest is friend of the show and all-round self-hosting nerd, James Smith, who has been working on Manyfold which is a self-hosted project you can use to manage all of your 3D model files. Of course, none of that will make any sense if you don't know your Z-Axis from your extruder, and so James and James attempt to give a comprehensive guide to 3D printing, with an unintentional bias towards filament based printing. Have you gotten into 3D printing yet, maybe you've got some horror stories to share of prints gone wrong, or want to share your amazing creations? We'd love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server. If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page. Affiliate Promotion Backblaze "Don't you people backup? I backup, and I don't even know what backing up means!" - Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship If you have any kind of file that's important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you'll want to make sure it's kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn't really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too. Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn't in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up. Hetzner Need to host your own instance of Manyfold, or any other app or service that can run on Linux, then check out Hetzner, with hosting in the EU and great rates on both AMD and Ampere powered ARM servers, as well as great pricing on storage including object storage and hosted NextCloud. Episode Links James Smith on Mastodon Manyfold: Website / Mastodon / Public Instance Benchy - Public domain 3D printer test model Ender-3 V3 SE Bambu Labs Cloud Dependancy - Louis Rossman on YouTube Slicers: OrcaSlicer Slic3r 3D Design TinkerCad - Free web based model creation from AutoDesk FreeCad - Open-source CAD software for Mac, Linux, and Windows Online Model Sites: Thingiverse Printables Mentioned models: NES Switch Cartridge Case V2 by flyingpurplecow - Thingiverse

    1h 44m
  5. Liquid Gas

    07/07/2025

    Liquid Gas

    Yes, we're back again, and you'll get to hear exactly what's kept Jae and James so busy over the last several months. We're joined again by Alex Lowe from The Interface to dissect an Apple keynote, this time the one from WWDC 2025. What do you think to Liquid Glass (or Liquid Gas, though that's a whole different discussion), and are you as excited as we are about the new multi-tasking features coming to iPadOS 26 on more iPads than we had expected. Oh, and you'll be pleased to know we got the website back up and running! We're still adding more features, but this new site is very much focussed on Crossed Wires as a tech and creative services provider. As always, we'd love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server. If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page. Affiliate Promotion "Don't you people backup? I backup, and I don't even know what backing up means!" - Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship If you have any kind of file that's important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you'll want to make sure it's kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn't really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too. Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn't in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up. Episode Links WWDC 2025 Keynote - Apple Developer / YouTube Tom's Guide Interview with Craig & Joz - Tom's Guide / YouTube The Interface AirPlay video coming to CarPlay - 9to5 Mac Mentioned Episodes Build-A-Browser with Jon von Tetzchner The Ferrite Attraction with Canis from Wooji Juice Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions 00:08:15: Keynote Focus 00:12:32: Version Numbering 00:14:54: Liquid Glass 00:21:59: iPhone 00:31:59: Apple Intelligence 00:35:36: Camera App 00:37:26: Apple Wallet & Digital ID 00:45:24: iPad 00:47:07: Meeting Tim Cook 00:54:56: Back to iPad 01:01:41: HomeKit and CarPlay 01:08:13: watchOS 01:09:45: macOS 01:21:39: Apple TV 01:27:37: Random Stuff 01:35:43: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs b...

    1h 46m
  6. Intelligence Powered

    12/24/2024

    Intelligence Powered

    It's been a hectic few months here for the team, but on November 4th 2024 we sat down with Alex Lowe for coverage of Apple's end of October announcements for their new m4 powered Macs. Apologies this episode is so late in coming to you, but we hope you enjoy the Christmas Present! We discuss how these style of announcements works better for content creators, the power of the new m4 chips, and the unbelievable size of the new Mac mini. Apple Intelligence played a major role in all of the product announcements, so we discuss our thoughts on the utility of Apple's AI efforts. Of course, this was recorded before Apple Intelligence came to the UK in the latest iOS and macOS updates. Have you picked up any of the new m4 based Macs, or maybe you have some views on Apple Intelligence? We'd love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server. If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page. Charity Support: To Write Love on Her Arms As you'll hear in the episode, Jae has recently gone through a difficult mental health journey and so as well as sharing her story, we're also trying to raise $1,000 for the wonderful mental health charity, To Write Love on Her Arms, and you can donate directly via https://crossedwires.net/charity. We use Tiltify, which means all of your donations go directly to the charity. Affiliate Promotion "Don't you people backup? I backup, and I don't even know what backing up means!" - Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship If you have any kind of file that's important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you'll want to make sure it's kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn't really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too. Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn't in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up. Episode Links Apple's Product Announcements: iMac Mac mini MacBook Pro All of Apple’s Macs now start with 16GB of RAM (The Verge) Apple’s Craig Federighi Explains Apple Intelligence Delays, Siri’s Future and More | WSJ (YouTube) A new home for Pixelmator (Pixelmator Blog) Chapter Times 00:00:04:...

    1h 26m
  7. Can You Hear Me?

    10/07/2024

    Can You Hear Me?

    Without fail, Apple released their next iPhone, a new Apple Watch and some new software for their range of devices. What we didn't expect was for Apple to take a step into the hearing aid market with new firmware coming ot the AirPods Pro 2 later this year. As with any other Apple event, Jae and James are joined by Alex Lowe from The Interface and this time returning guest Gedeon Maheux from The Iconfactory comes along for the ride, which far less Star Trek diversions than you may expect! What did you think about Apple's new products and their latest software? We'd love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server. If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page. Affiliate Promotion "Don't you people backup? I backup, and I don't even know what backing up means!" - Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship If you have any kind of file that's important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you'll want to make sure it's kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn't really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too. Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn't in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up. Episode Links Watch the Apple Event The Interface - Alex's tech and automative news and review site. The Iconfactory - Great apps and services from Ged and co! Walaroo - Fantastic wallpapers for your Mac and iOS devices Gedeon Maheux on Mastodon Educating AI - Our chat with Zack about how AI impacted his high school graduation. Using the Passwords App (Apple) Chapter Times 00:00:05: Introductions 00:04:27: Event Thoughts 00:09:11: iPhone 16 00:19:02: Apple Watch Series 10 00:29:54: Apple’s Health Focus 00:36:30: AirPods 00:56:15: iOS & iPadOS 18 01:13:12: Passwords 01:19:57: Math notes 01:26:12: EU Regulators 01:33:53: RCS 01:36:52: Apple Intelligence 01:47:25: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

    2h 3m
  8. Handholding

    09/09/2024

    Handholding

    Do you remember when smartphones weren't just running Apple or Google's OS, when you really did need a stylus to do anything, and when the very idea of connectivity to the Internet was a expensive affair involving PCMCIA, CompactFlash, or SD based adaptors? Our panel does! Joining us once again are the wonderful Dan Vincent, Sean (aka. Action Retro), and Steve (aka Mac84) to dive into the world of handheld computing before the iPhone and Android era. We try to stay on topic, which proves a challenge with Sean's unusual definitions of handhelds cropping up along the way. What are your handheld computing memories, where you in camp Palm or firmly in the Pocket PC / Windows CE... pocket? We'd love to hear from you, so please send us a note to podcast@crossedwires.net, or why not come join the discussion on our Discord server. If you liked this episode or any of our content, we’d greatly appreciate any little bit of support you can throw our way over at our Ko-Fi page. Affiliate Promotion "Don't you people backup? I backup, and I don't even know what backing up means!" - Nicola Murray, Secretary of State for the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship If you have any kind of file that's important to you, be that a treasured family photo, your latest research paper, or just the list of the co-ordinates of your best places in Minecraft, you'll want to make sure it's kept safe, right? Well, just syncing that to the cloud isn't really enough, you need a proper backup strategy too. Part of a good backup strategy is having a backup that isn't in the same place as your computer, and this is where a good cloud backup service is so important. Our friends at Backblaze provide simple, reliable, and affordable backup options for your Mac or Windows PCs for just $9/month. You can get a 15 day free-trial when you follow this link to sign up. Episode Links Guests Dan Vincent: Userlandia (YouTube) / Mastodon Sean: Action Retro (YouTube) / Mastodon Steve: Mac84 (YouTube) / Mastodon yBasic - Palm DB - The BASIC app Sean used on his Palm Graffiti (Palm OS) - WikiPedia Casio Cassiopeia E-125 - WikiPedia Springboard: the secret history of the first real smartphone (Full Documentary) - The Verge on YouTube The Cybiko Experience: a Handheld Computer for Year 2000 Teens - LGR on YouTube Nokia N-Gage QD - WikiPedia Chapter Times 00:00:04: Introductions 00:07:14: Our First Handhelds 00:18:32: The Pen Computing Era 00:32:42: Palm 00:40:04: Cybiko 00:44:15: Windows CE & PocketPC 00:52:21: The Appeal of Handhelds 00:58:28: The Demise of Standalone Handhelds 01:06:55: What Do We Miss? 01:19:59: First Dumb & Smartphones 01:32:18: Wrapping Up Credits Intro and outro theme:

    1h 40m

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

A technology podcast that aims to take a positive look at technology and computing. We aim to have genuinely engaging chats with folks doing interesting things in tech that make a positive impact.