Summary: It's been a while! The boys meet in a local establishment to discuss Jody's only topic idea in a long time...'scale'; How do you scale as a human? Recording in public made Jody self-conscious, but Matt still talks a bunch about the education system. Jody had to scale immediately to 2 children ...he's still struggling with that. Matt scales his knowledge to N-students-per-day Matt might be able to adjust value of N to be inspiring or depressing how depressing this number might be. Jody was impressed with Matt's handling of Net Neutrality for his students Matt answers with direct call to action to vote...nice way to scale that message :) take opportunity to discuss NN since it went well at the Indy over the holidays A bit of SpaceX talk led into recommendations: Elon tried to catch the Falcon Heavy fairing with a boat named Mr. Steven Matt says the boat's name is a reference to a sci-fi book series, but couldn't come up with the title at the time... It's the "Culture Series" by Iain M. Banks Other SpaceX boat names come from these books (like "Of Course I Still Love You" and "Just Read the Instructions"), but the origin of the good-ship Mr. Steven is unclear Matt had never heard of Ray Kurzweil You might recognize the name as a brand of music synthesizer from the 1980s (same guy) Or you might also be hoping that The Singularity Is Near and that you'll soon be able to live forever once you upload your mind into...well, something other than your body One of Jody's top sci-fi pics is Altered Carbon Which now has new life as a heavily-promoted Netflix series Jody watched immediately and recommends, even if it goes to far with the ultra-violence Matt's new/expensive hobby...Airsoft Army LARP-ing! Matt's foam sword gun: Dr. Katz...you know what the music means Podcast picks: Jody: This Week in Virology (the kind that make you sick) Can be super-technical when they review virology papers, but stick around for science-communication, funding, or public health discussions This interview w/Dr. Julius Youngner was a great episode Malicious.life This one happened to be top of Jody's feed when Matt asked for picks Dig the host's great accent! The 3-episode arc covering Stuxnet is a good jump-off point (Stuxnet Part 1, Stuxnet Part 2, Stuxnet Part 3) Story Pirates...for the kids Command Line Heroes Matt: Omnibus, Jody & Matt's podcasting/music hero John Roderick w/everyone's Jeopardy hero Ken Jennings...what's not to like? (other than the annoying house-ads) Friendly Fire (another John Roderick vehicle) MBMBaM (My Brother, My Brother and Me) Oh No Ross & Carrie I Only listen to the Mountain Goats Still Processing Slow Burn (a Slate.com show about Watergate) 

At Least You're Trying

At Least You're Trying, 63: Internet of Eels

Summary: It's the first recording in a long time. Matt has tales of the magnet lab. Did his hover-board project get off the ground? Follow-up It's been a while since we've recorded an episode over Skype. We almost remember how... Matt's in a new school year The Christina Carther Old Seminole Heights Bicycle Pub Crawl is upon us again Thanks to Pat Of The Forthcoming Patcast for the awesome t-shirt design: Matt's magnet lab experience Matt worked on a "hover-board"...of sorts Matt regaled Jody with a photo essay of interesting whiteboards and chalkboards Jody retaliated with choice page from his newly rediscovered Quantum Mechanics Notebook Not mentioned in the show, but Jody delights in this 3d magnets video (the really good stuff starts about 3min into the 10min video) Hendo hover board Halbach array Matt's guide rail pics? Matt mentions the free-to-use CAD software from AutoDesk, Fusion 360 As if by magic, Jody finds that there are Fusion 360 classes at the Tampa Hackerspace trailing off... baby update from Jody A&B are talking...more A than B Here's a brief and terrible glimpse into Jody's life as a parent of twins...yes that's Baby-B biting Baby-A while Jody tries to wrangle them into place for a decent baby photo Recent SpaceX test-fire explosion 

At Least You're Trying, 62: Eddy Currents

Summary: Yes it's been a while, but NO, they have not quit trying! Today it's an exercise in marginal sound quality as the boys venture out into the world for supplies, then venture into deep intellectual waters (or not) regarding Jody's nominal topic: PROGRESS?? Fake Follow Up Matt has not yet reached "peak testing", but he can't be far off. Jody is determined to lose 10lbs Since beginning of March 2016, he's been running 3-miles, 3-times per week Phife Dog from A Tribe Called Quest dead at age 42 from diabetes complications And Prince!...link video from George Harrison tribute Who's the 3rd in the cluster? China the wrestler? John Oliver covers Puerto Rico's budget crisis Matt cited some Bigiest Loser research Matt's at 32 runs for the year New side-project for Jody: Minecraft as a service! Large Hadron Collider has weasel problems Real Follow Up Matt lands his hard-science research fellowship! #hardscienceforasoftman egg crate foam machine 3D printable magnets! Jody's Non-Scary Topic: Progress? Have computers made any difference or is overall productivity still the same? Baader-Meinhoff phenomenon xkcd, should I automate this? Matt heard on NPR that productivity is down... Jody mentioned accessing Britney Spears' medical records It's not a random example, her records were accessed without authorization MS Twitter-bot, Tay, went a bit sideways Frinkiac, the Simpsons search engine That's right...you can check your memory of your favorite Simpsons episode whenever you feel the need! After Dark A certain pharmacy no longer sells cigarettes Esperanto 

At Least You're Trying, 61: Podcasters in Cars Getting SD Cards

Summary: Dammit Neil! It happened again. But despite some lost bits, the boys manage to record most of a show. About space! Follow Up (Real): Matt's been running! 11/100 done already! Jody thinks Matt's new shoes are just ugly enough to keep pace Jody's Spouse-person gave her own grades for Jody after episode-59 "..most categories are better than he thinks, and one is worse." Follow Up (Fake): Tryers, please post an ALYT review in iTunes, we’ve had the same 2 reviews forever and one of them still looks like sock-puppetry or astro-turfing (not sure which applies) by Matt Topic: Space! Jody and Matt were planning to share personal favorites from the annals of spaceflight, and why they’re significant...but you know, time constraints Why do humans do space travel? What is its true value to humanity (both practical and more ephemeral)? One of Jody’s earliest childhood memories is barging into an adult Trivial Pursuit game with a correct answer to, “What was first animal launched into space?” It was clearly a monkey, but the adults were unsure, possibly confused by the Cosmonaut Hero Dog Laika That’s right, the dog is famous enough to be on postage! Jody went to Space Camp / Rocket Camp at MOSI, memories are all-a-jumble Space!...Media! That movie "Space Camp" Is that the guy from Revenge of the Nerds? There was an HBO series Jody watched while in college...it’s probably From the Earth to the Moon It was the right time for Jody to be exposed to that sort of engineering culture The Commander Thinks Aloud by The Long Winters Song Exploder episode Bowie's in Space 

At Least You're Trying, 60: Funnier the First Time

Summary: It's time to put 2015 to bed. In this year-end wrap up, the boys talk cryptography, space, restaurants, and internet open signs. Then they go on to give themselves grades in four subjects for 2015, and discuss how 2016 could be different. Follow Up (Real): Matt keeps thinking of more and more applications for the "Internet Open Sign" switch...but he's forgotten them all Jody talks with Ten Gallon Hat Man after episode-58, and decides to give Google Keep a try (it hasn't gone well). Follow Up (Fake): Sea Salt restaurant in St. Pete, FL Not recomended by GBRB, by the way Farm Table Kitchen for confusingly named, but tasty cocktails GreenBookRedBook.com Dine Time App Reserve your ramen or Cracker Barrel table now! Signal Android App, want bullet-proof encryption for your mundane SMS chatter? Diversity report episode of Start Up podcast Deft handling of race from white people. WisdomOfChopra.com Studies show: a) Chopra’s statements are indistinguishable from random nonsense b) some people find literally anything profound, whilst others are particularly seduced by the preudoprofiundity of new-agey BS c) those in that latter group are worse at reality. Also, what does a good skeptic do when science appears to confirm the narrative she prefers about the world? Topics: Space! SpaceX just did a wildly impressive thing. Where does it fit in the history of space related achievement? Mr. Pieces believes it's more significant than the moon landing. Matt and Jody are sending this topic into the future where they can hopefully handle it properly Year in review: we give ourselves grades in various "subjects" of life. Eg: fitness, $-management, jobby-job performance, percolating creative tasks, husbandry, home maintenance, etc. Jobby-Job Matt = B- Jody = B- Home Maintenance Matt = C- Jody = C- Health and Fitness Matt = D (but he already did run #1 of 100 for 2016, so there's that) Jody = C+ Husbandry and Parenting Matt = C Jody = B+ 

At Least You're Trying, 59: Fewer Hazy Mornings

Summary: They're back for real this time, with a topic, no less! This week Jody pitches Matt his percolating creative ideas for some feedback (and minimal snark). (Real) Follow Up Matt and his partner headed back to NOLA tomorrow… And there was just a mass shooting (17 injured) in the 9th Ward More worryingly, Matt might be getting sick (early warning signs present now), which is never a good thing in NOLA This American Life, 10 years after hurricane Katrina Toups' Meatery #Toothless Tiger is doing OK after her full mouth extraction- she can eat wet or hard food, amazingly Jody’s Pitch Deck Intro "Internet of Things", a tired buzz-term for Jody, but still fresh and completely acceptable to Matt Since hearing Jody's topic idea, Matt keeps thinking of more and more applications for the “Internet Open Sign” switch. Diesel Generator Alert Monitor best intro into the deck (despite limited user base of 1 guy/1 family-business) The Don has an acquaintance who sells diesel generator add-on modules that make the generators run more efficiently Jody is baffled by this, but it's a family business that's been running for a long time, so he assumes it must work Matt's skeptic alarms are sounding, but he accepts Jody's hand-waving Currently the generator add-on module has an "everything is not OK" light THE PITCH: connect the warning light to the internet so it can send an email or an SMS when something goes wrong Proof of concept alert monitor xIsOpen Started as The Don's idea, specifically for tennis courts THE PITCH: the local Recreation Center has soft-surface tennis courts that have to be closed down if they're too wet. Wouldn't you like to be able to know if the courts are open before you leave the house? Rec Center employees don't want to have to field continuous phone calls, and they don't like telling people who have just driven across town that the courts are closed They would much rather have a nice, friendly switch to throw that can update a web page in real-time for everyone to see The Don hacked on the hardware previously, and already had a domain name, TennisCourtsOpen.com The Don went the extra mile and made a fancy case for the hardware (yes, the tennis ball glows green for "open" or red for "closed) Jody thinks this idea should also be used for the pool at the Rec Center which suffers from similar weather-related closures In fact, Jody also thinks this will work well for any restaurant that can't quite keep consistent hours Matt The Foodie probably knows a few places in this category Android fancy text entry app THE ITCH: Jody is continually frustrated with Evernote and other text capture apps on Android and on the web THE PITCH: reduce friction for text capture on Android, start typing and then decide what to do with it Similar to the Drafts app on iOS Jody made a tiny bit of progress here with what could be the web-based portion of this app Jody's "minimum viable" text box on web page demo...emphasis on minimum (NOTE to listeners who actually follow that link, if you're baffled by a non-cooperative, fat cursor, type 'i' and things will probably work more like you expect) Jody tries to blow Matt's mind with the included vim-style modal editing. Jody has written about his efforts to learn this weird trick to editing text (hint, vi has a steep learning curve) Podcast Hosting and Content Management System THE ITCH: Jody should have automated some processes for ALYT a long time ago, but instead he could leverage those efforts into an entire podcast platform! THE PITCH: setting up an online presence for a podcast is complicated. This service would provide a website for blogging and show notes, hosting of audio files, and podcast feed (re-)generation. This kind of grandiose thinking from Jody can be non-productive, or procrastination in disguise Jody is waiting until Dan Benjamin releases his podcast content managent system, but he won't ship! Dan's system will be a for-pay service (probably), but Jody will still use it if it's good The 5by5 service from Dan will include lots of fancy analytics for advertisers (not an important feature for Jody or ALYT...yet) Amy Hoy’s 30x500 theory. Jody’s math was way off on this, but it’s still a good guideline. No, this is not the same as podcasts on Spotify, or Google Music...the shows would still live on the open web. Things Matt wants internet-ed Some of this discussion was lost due to a smaller than expected SD card in the Matt's Zoom audio recorder This was harder than Matt thought it would be, he's not sure if this is a failure of his imagination, or if he's just reasonably happy with the currently available information about his things. Matt wants his car to be able to communicate at a more granular level what’s wrong with it when the CEL comes on, and maybe to keep track of more maintenance data (but right now there's a lovely Moleskine notebook for that). Matt notes this is already already a reality for some newer cars Matt doesn’t need to talk to his fridge or other appliances Possibly a security system. Matt and his partner have considered installing one. If Matt's HVAC was more than passably effective, he might want to internet with it, but as it is, there wouldn’t be much point Summing up It's much harder to scrape together contiguous time block for Jody to record ALYT, but he can consistently steal away to fix a small bug or make progress on these projects These projects have been a great balance of steady forward progress and technical challenges (which is very pleasing to Jody) Jody acquired many useful internet-plumbing skills while podcasting with Matt and they keep being useful on side-projects Jody's complained previously that his setup of the ALYT website was too well-planned and so he doesn't get to tinker with it. Thanks to The Don for giving Jody something interesting to work on 

At Least You're Trying, 58: One Switch to Rule Them All

Summary: Testing...testing...does this thing still work? The boys recorded a little preview/bonus episode to tease the triumphant return of ALYT. Planning session 10 installs of ALYT Android app, double digits! Matt's now teaching adults...and they don't ask good questions Topic suggestion for episode 58, “Jody’s Pitch Deck” Not discussed Jody feeling the itch to record (finally) Matt manages to get the phone of his dreams Having kids as time travel babies == tiny zombies Neil Degrsse Tyson inverviews Edward Snowden Part 1 Part 2 Jody's not into the Star Talk show format, but this interview was good audio Pluto close-ups, Mars-water, are Matt's students excited? 

At Least You're Trying, 57.5: A Stack of URL's

Summary: First, some updates on Babies and careers, then a hint of a TOPIC: Have you ever felt inspired and deflated at the same time? Fake Follow Up Jody has a strange experience at church...volunteer in charge of audio teaches Jody’s spouse the hard lessons learned from the Zoom recording device Lessons learned by this podcast but in another context...maybe we are helping people Baby update, 6 months old, teeth are happening, crawling soon, B removes his own sock Pieces family moving to SC...and proud we are of all of them New Vertical Ventures location in St. Pete...Xanadu! try to find rendering and real images from new gym Jody’s spouse found a good Kickstarter for programmable jewelry Legal help from LSBEsq: Infographic on your rights in a police encounter Matt’s Partner’s Career One-Plus-2 will be announced today...and Matt still can't get it since he needs an invite to spend his money, and possibly a VR headset to view the announcement Jody ate a Carolina Reaper pepper Carl Sagan's amazing The Demon Haunted World. Matt's favorite skeptical gateway book. Link to Jody blog post on blocking link bots Topic: The "Inspiration/Deflation Sine Curve" Matt's APSI learnings and challenges Delores is a rock star Do you ever feel inspired, and deflated at the same time? 

At Least You're Trying, 57: Don't Fear the Reaper

Summary: On another topic-less episode, we get a baby update, talk about machine learning and science journalism, food, blogging, food-blogging, and a little bit of sports ball. Finally, Matt practices his canine psychology. Summer Matt has 3 vacations in 4 weeks Bonnaroo (previously discussed), then beach, then NOLA Read all about Matt & his partner's NOLA adventures here: Part 1, and Part 2 Listener Science Link Also known as rant-bait for Matt Lady Sportsball, Esq. sent us this article about machine learning in science Spoiler, this is not the birth of Skynet But Jody and Matt both excited by the progress made by this combination of humans, data, code, and computers Matt slowly shipping content to GBRB It’s been pretty fun. How do I know what the Blahg wants to be? Is that even an important question? How do I know if anyone is reading it? (Analytics?) How do I get it out into the world? Just keep telling people? Do I have to pay for FB to be extra creepy? Shout out to Rooster, and congrats on their expansion. You'll find Rooster at the very top of Matt's "Favorites" page on the blog he may have mentioned. Matt's Sportsball update Merlin Mann & John Siracusa argue about the social value of sports. (It's a long show, but the sportsball argument begins right around 1:21.00) US WWC team triumphs!, Le Tour has been exciting. British Grand Prix was excellent too. Couldn’t get into Wimbledon this year (too much going on) 

At Least You're Trying, 56: Meager Internet Fame

Summary: Quick turnaround, right? We're back with a Bonnaroo report, some real follow-up about tech choices, and a eulogy for TCL's truck. It's actually kind of a sad show, but Matt saves it at the end. Follow-up: Matt calls Big Red and gets a discount just for asking Bonnaroo Report! Summer Matt in his natural environment: Alabama Shakes: Matt's pick for performance of the festival. Jody needs closure on Matt’s food blog...it’s an open-loop that’s been eating at his soul. The only solution is for Jody to finalize the internet plumbing and Matt to ship the first post...FIRST! The title is chosen, and the URL procured: greenbookredbook.com The dog is back (briefly), and it makes babies seem that much weirder (to Jody) Life-change-let-down for Mr. Pieces He’s didn’t get the out of state job...ALYT sympathizes ALYT eulogizes TCL’s truck: 

At Least You're Trying, 55: This is a Family Show

Summary: Yes, it's been a few weeks, so the boys have some catching up to do. We get a baby update, some literary recommendations, and some insight into how Matt will be spending his time and money this summer. Follow Up Title suggestions for Matt's blog pouring in Blog will also review food trucks encountered in Matt's wanderings (he's invented a separate evaluation scheme just for the trucks) Matt's notebook went down to Miami Memorial Day weekend to try 4 restaurants Recent comments on open science and reproducibility On The Media interview with Ben Goldacre was good. Best pull-quote: “This issue has been protected by a force-field of its own tediousness.” A MUST READ for sci-enthusiasts and skeptics everywhere: http://io9.com/i-fooled-millions-into-thinking-chocolate-helps-weight-1707251800 Good article on “p-Hacking” and other problems with the way scientists use statistics: http://www.nature.com/news/scientific-method-statistical-errors-1.14700 Matt's takeaway from both items above: There are systemic problems that are clouding our thinking and restricting the advancement of science (especially in areas where the data are noisiest; e.g. the Health Sciences and pop-psych), but thought-leaders across disciplines are waking up to this fact. Awareness in growing, and Bayes will have his day soon. Pint of Science was good for Matt, Jody, and respective partners - Matt saw: Nuclear Medicine, epigenetics, immunotherapy for cancer, Haptics/design Jody attended bacterial resistance, archeological 3D imaging, and waste water recycling Fake Follow Up Podcasts are now on Spotify Jody wants to use this as a jump-off for some Solutioneering to re-invent podcasting, but he’s going to restrain himself since it’s not that kind of episode More podcasting news...Merlin and Siracusa now have a podcast together Jody is excited; 1st episode in his queue now Reconcilable Differences Testing, the AP Exam and John Oliver Matt learned something new about Audacity (also related to testing) Turns out, software used to produce this show can also rescue AP exams Matt researches his next phone/carrier Google Project Fi vs Cricket or StraightTalk. Pros & Cons, etc. Jody recommends Ting (at least they advertise loyally on other podcasts) Matt’s Partner made a Square Space site for her business! It’s been fun watching her figure stuff out for herself, and become her own web designer See it at FamilyCenterofTempleTerrace.com The Goodtimes group is gearing up for another Red Bull Soapbox event. Ideas so far: Lebowski theme (various vehicles), Indiana Jones (Motorcycle & sidecar), slinky (possibly with articulated center and double-ended steering) Summer Matt and Summer lists: Watch all the sports (TDF, WWC, Wimbleton, etc.) Learn some R (the open-source statistical programming language) Jody can help with this one: The R Podcast, now defunct and with some rough audio, but it's worthwhile RStudio, cross platform development environment for R Hadley Wickam and his fantastic R packages Shed project 2.0 Office project 2.0 Refinish floors Ship the Foodie Blog Run 25 Times (80 miles) Help my Dad with his move/new house Sailing Adventures TOPIC: ??? We can't be bothered with a real topic when there's all this follow up.

At Least You're Trying, 54: From Future, Through Present, To Past

Summary: It's a hectic/last-minute show. Jody tries not to be distracted by babies, while Matt manages to escape the dreaded Barcelona Two-Step. FU Be a part of history! Name Matt’s foodie blog! Jody's blue-sky suggestions (URL's have been researched by Jody and are available for reasonable prices): gentlemanfoodie.com mattsfoodblog.com matteatworld.com (comes with the great initialism of 'MEW') FFU Good episodes lately of the Roderick on the Line podcast Jody scores a new listener, “The Don” 5by5 at the movies, “The Big Lebowski” Episode 216 of Back To Work podcast making Matt feel guilty: Verbs and nouns Anxiety at work and home for Matt. “It’s like part of me wants to be unhappy.” Matt got got his dream schedule for next year, but is he too comfortable? Matt's curriculum project for this summer is starting well, but is it too easy? 

At Least You're Trying, 53: No Bears In 2015

Summary: Jody and Matt are playing catch-up this week, reuniting after an interminable hiatus to hear about the babies, learn about memory, and discuss the conduction of a proper taste-test. ALYT- The Technology Company! Seriously, check out Jody's cool new ALYT app in the Google Play store. He's justifiably proud of it, and would love your feedback! You can find it here, or with a quick search on the play store. Thanks, Tryers! Jody's early experiences with kids Names withheld for tin-foil hat reasons An "easy" day of labor became a hectic couple hours and then it was in to the OR The data during labor looked good (solidly in the "gray zone"): The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right Purchase the book using that link to support ALYT! Ignaz Semmelweis, for anyone not familiar with the fascinating story of the man who saved countless mothers' lives by pushing the concept of antiseptic procedures in the mid 1800's. With all of the craziness surrounding hospital/labor/delivery and the accompanying sleep deprivation, Jody is reminded about scuba diving: During scuba certification check-out dives, sometimes the dive master will make you do a simple math problem or draw a fish At depth, simple math can just plain elude you...even though you feel normal Once your little sketch of the fish makes it back to the surface, it looks like the creation of a deranged toddler, not something from your own hand. As Matt puts it: What you think you drew What you actually drew Now that the twins are here, Jody still feels like himself, but it's hard to draw the fish New phone for Jody == Nexus 6 C'mon, big 6! This is a large phone, all the great apps now fit on one home screen Camera gets good photos of babies Great for the internet plumber on the go Volume button placement right next to power button is slightly annoying Which gives Matt an idea for... Future Topic Tease: Technology Choices Matt needs a new phone soon, and is contemplating switching carriers Cable Cutting: Is it time? I think we can help people here. Matt on Restaurants & Memory Jody once offered to host a blog for Matt, and Matt may finally have something to blog about: Restaurants Jody writes on his blog Jody reminds Matt he still needs a domain name, probably from our friends at hover.com Matt & His Partner were inspired to try a bunch of new (to them) places by Laura Reiley's list of 50 best TB restaurants Matt & His Partner get new journals to record impressions in real time. Moleskine Classic Notebook, Pocket, Ruled, Black, Hard Cover (3.5 x 5.5) The idea is to avoid the pitfalls and limitations of memory, i.e. "The Brian Williams effect." Interested in what Matt was saying about B.W. and memory in general? Check out this excellent post on the topic by the always reliable Dr. Novella from Neurologica Blog. Taste Testing Matt first heard about the "triangle test" he mentioned on This American Life, he thinks, but he can't find the episode The wikipedia article on discrimination testing eplains a lot of what Matt was talking about. Bulleit Rye, they're not a sponsor, but they make the best value/money Rye in Matt's opinion. The Pseudoscience of wine tasting: Neurologica Covers this well and provides links to the original science for anyone interested. Women On 20's! Help to make it happen by casting your vote here: Womenon20's.org, and be sure to tell your friends! Matt voted for Margaret Sanger, Clara Barton, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton 

At Least You're Trying, 52: It's Hard to Draw the Fish

It's a laid back, vacation episode this week. After a lovely call-in from LSB, esq., the boys talk work, cars, AI, and Basilisks. No, really.

At Least You're Trying, 51: Think of All the Ways You Can Be Wrong

There's bleeps and bloops galore as Jody and Matt attempt their first ever call-in show to celebrate episode 50.

At Least You're Trying, 50: Thoughtful Silences

Two friends found a way to have (and share) the conversations that had gone missing from the rest of their lives.