Pragmatic

Gambling is all about the odds of separating you from your money and todays gambling machines are making lots of it for the government. Ben Alexander returns to discuss the Pokies.

John and Guy English discuss software entropy as it relates to the User Interface and the code itself and explore if there's a way to stop it.

Follow up (Part A) to Downloaded vs Streamed where we look into another big reason why Australian internet is so expensive beyond the lack of economies of scale. Many thanks to Alex Garner for the detailed feedback.

Follow up (Part A) to Maximum Erasability where we touch on the size of the whiteboards and colours used and how that relates to usability and also a handy tip on erasing permanent marker marks using a dry-erase marker. Thanks to Nick Radcliffe.

John is a proponent of downloading. Josh Centers is a proponent of streaming. Which is the one true, most efficient and economical solution?

What is it about WhiteBoards that makes them so invaluable as a collaborative design tool? John is joined by Seth Clifford of Nickelfish to explore the reasons why.

Understanding what is and isn't your core business is critical for success. Horace Dediu joins John Chidgey for a very special episode of Pragmatic where for once John doesn't do all the talking!

Daylight Saving was introduced as a means of conserving energy but does it achieve that in any way? Do the benefits truly outweigh the confusion and frustration it causes? John and Myke Hurley go through the history and draw their own conclusions.

Many people bandy-around the expression The Critical Path but what does it mean? The truth is that it's a part of Project Management and this phrase carries negative connotations for a lot of people but it's a tool to help us get to where we need to be.

Tackling two types of common cable, Speaker cable and HDMI cables. HDMI some obsess over gold plating; Speaker cable some obsess over OFC. Which is worth the extra money or are neither? Hardcore audiophiles may be upset by the contents of this episode.

John and Ben tackle design consensus and dictatorship/auteur styles of design development. Is the dictatorship model better and if so what makes a good dictator?

Follow up (Part A) to The Worlds Most Popular Camera where we look into printing photos and when SLRs will still have the edge but are destined to still be a niche product.

Follow up (Part A) to The Internet Makes It Even Better with a paid alternative to iFTTT Zapier; Replacing LogMeIn with TeamViewer (still has a free tier alternative); and DRM on Internet Connected Devices.

John tackles the Stuxnet virus intended to disrupt Uranium Enrichment in 2010 in Iran and in the process explores what SCADA is, how to purify Uranium and of course, the anatomy of the Stuxnet worm.

Follow up (Part A) to Passion Over Academic Proof where we clarify that yes we still need Universities and Colleges and discuss several readers comments.

Follow up (Part A) to Cause And Effect with more detail on the Aeroperu crash courtesy of listener Dean Lombard.

John critiques the Artemis pCell, a lengthy article about how pCell might work and walks through the key pieces to understanding if this is real life or is this just fantasy; and whether Steve Perlman is the right man to make this dream a reality.

When asked to, or need to use someone else’s software code in your project it’s not always a clear cut choice how to approach it. Do you extend or recode? John and Ben explore the pros-cons and put forward some practices to reduce the potential damage.

The iPhone has disrupted the consumer photography industry and is the most popular camera in the world. But is it the best camera? John explores the limitations of using the iPhone as your only camera, drawbacks of a DSLR and how accessories can help.

John and Ben discuss ways to take reasonable but meaningful safety precautions in the workplace, and around the home.