Chit Chat Across the Pond

This week our guest is my friend and yours, Adam Engst of TidBITS. Adam recently wrote an article about the kerfuffle caused by Apple's message to developers about how it's going to tighten full disk access controls. I asked Adam to come on the show and explain first what happened and what he thinks the solution(s) could be. Here's a link to Adam's article: Why Full Disk Access Matters—and What Apple Should Fix During our conversation, Adam mentioned his app, SetShot, which shows you what has changed in your System Settings vs. the defaults and can take snapshots to see what you've changed over time. He brings it up because while his app only needs read access, Apple makes him ask for full disk access, which is both read and write. Join the Conversation: [email protected] podfeet.com/slack Support the Show: Patreon Donation Apple Pay or Credit Card one-time donation PayPal one-time donation Podfeet Podcasts Mugs at Zazzle NosillaCast 20th Anniversary Shirts Referral Links: Setapp - 1 month free for you and me 15% off Carbon Copy Cloner Wispr Flow - 1 month free for you PETLIBRO - 30% off for you and me Parallels Toolbox - 3 months free for you and me Learn through MacSparky Field Guides - 15% off for you and me Backblaze - One free month for me and you Eufy - $40 for me if you spend $200. Sadly nothing in it for you. PIA VPN - One month added to Paid Accounts for both of us CleanShot X - Earns me 25%, sorry nothing in it for you but my gratitude

On our trip to Spain to see a total solar eclipse, we met the amazing Dr. Bonnie (Yvonne) Maldonado. I have to say I have a bit of a crush on her because she has one of the _coolest_ jobs of anyone I know. And I know Dr. Andrea Ghez, who won a Nobel Prize in Physics! Bonnie has spent her career studying viruses in order to save the lives of babies across the globe. Bonnie starts her story with her sister as children of immigrants and the first to attend college. She completed her undergrad at my alma mater, UCLA, and then she'll tell you how much _fun_ she had in medical school at Stanford (seriously). Then there was the little jaunt out to Johns Hopkins for a smidge of research. She's worked in the Federal Government as part of ACIP, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (the people who figure out what vaccines children should have based on the science and data from the CDC). I don't want to spoil the story, but Bonnie is one of the most amazing people I've ever met. She's also really fun to hang out with! Learn more about Bonnie at [med.stanford.edu/...](https://med.stanford.edu/maldonadoepigroup/aboutus.html) Read an unedited, auto-generated transcript with chapter marks: CCATP_2026_10_12

Adam Engst, writer and longtime TidBITS publisher, recounts an Elliptigo crash that left both wrists unusable and exposed gaps in Apple’s fall detection. He explores iOS dictation, macOS Voice Control, hands-free editing, custom vocabulary, microphone technique, and why Google Docs struggles with speech. They also discuss privacy, aging, accessibility, and how Claude helped him build better tools.

Steve Sheridan, a technology enthusiast and videographer, takes us behind the scenes of filming a total solar eclipse in Spain. He discusses a frantic tripod recovery, a four-camera setup, audience reactions, shadow bands, and immersive 360-degree footage. He also explores synchronizing everything in Final Cut Pro, shaping 95 seconds of totality into a compelling story, and the lessons learned in post-production.

In yet another delightful conversation with Adam Engst, he fires up the WABAC machine and walks us through his journey to never successfully become a programmer. Two periods in time allowed him to unleash his creativity: HyperCard in the 1980s and today with AI-assisted programming. The basis for the conversation was his article on TidBITS titled Decades After HyperCard, AI Is Democratizing Development Again. Read an unedited, auto-generated transcript with chapter marks: CCATP_2026_08_27 Join the Conversation: [email protected] podfeet.com/slack Support the Show: Patreon Donation Apple Pay or Credit Card one-time donation PayPal one-time donation Podfeet Podcasts Mugs at Zazzle NosillaCast 20th Anniversary Shirts Referral Links: Setapp - 1 month free for you and me 15% off Carbon Copy Cloner Wispr Flow - 1 month free for you PETLIBRO - 30% off for you and me Parallels Toolbox - 3 months free for you and me Learn through MacSparky Field Guides - 15% off for you and me Backblaze - One free month for me and you Eufy - $40 for me if you spend $200. Sadly nothing in it for you. PIA VPN - One month added to Paid Accounts for both of us CleanShot X - Earns me $25%, sorry nothing in it for you but my gratitude

CCATP #839 for July 23, 2026, and I'm your host, Allison Sheridan. This week our guest is Adam Engst of TidBITS. Back in April, we talked about his first long road trip with his new Hyundai IONIQ 5 electric vehicle. It's been a few months, and with the aid of some tools, he has a new strategy to talk about in planning extensive driving adventures. How Planning Made My Second Long EV Trip Stress-Free Read an unedited, auto-generated transcript with chapter marks: CCATP_2026_07_23 Join the Conversation: [email protected] podfeet.com/slack Support the Show: Patreon Donation Apple Pay or Credit Card one-time donation PayPal one-time donation Podfeet Podcasts Mugs at Zazzle NosillaCast 20th Anniversary Shirts Referral Links: Setapp - 1 month free for you and me 15% off Carbon Copy Cloner Wispr Flow - 1 month free for you PETLIBRO - 30% off for you and me Parallels Toolbox - 3 months free for you and me Learn through MacSparky Field Guides - 15% off for you and me Backblaze - One free month for me and you Eufy - $40 for me if you spend $200. Sadly nothing in it for you. PIA VPN - One month added to Paid Accounts for both of us CleanShot X - Earns me $25%, sorry nothing in it for you but my gratitude

On the Mac Geek Gab, they have a listener segment they call Cool Stuff Found. But once in a while, someone writes in with Cool Stuff Made. On episode 1143, Darrin Altman wrote in about an app he wrote originally for himself but has made available in the App Store. The app is called Talk for Me from mobiletouchtech.com/.... You see, Darrin has lost his ability to speak, so his app does what it says on the tin: it talks for him. You know I just had to ask Darrin if he’d come on the show, and to my delight, when I asked him, I found out he’s a long-time listener to the NosillaCast — since 2005! You’ll hear Darrin participating in this conversation, and the voice you hear is coming from his app Talk For Me.w

In this week's episode of "Stay off my lawn!", we have Adam Engst here to talk through his recent article on TidBITS: [Why AI Agents Fill Me with Dread](https://tidbits.com/2026/06/24/why-ai-agents-fill-me-with-dread/) Adam is an avid lover of technology and is very willing to try new things. He uses LLMs to help him write better, he uses AI tools to help him search the Internet, and he loves AI-assisted coding. But agentic AI lives in a whole 'nother category for him. In the discussion, Adam mentioned Lex, an AI-based word processor at lex.page/... Referral Links: Setapp - 1 month free for you and me 15% off Carbon Copy Cloner Wispr Flow - 1 month free for you PETLIBRO - 30% off for you and me Parallels Toolbox - 3 months free for you and me Learn through MacSparky Field Guides - 15% off for you and me Backblaze - One free month for me and you Eufy - $40 for me if you spend $200. Sadly nothing in it for you. PIA VPN - One month added to Paid Accounts for both of us CleanShot X - Earns me $25%, sorry nothing in it for you but my gratitude

When you post online, and you know I'm following you, beware that if you say something interesting, you might be in danger of being asked onto one of my shows. That's what happened to blind knitter and programmer, Jane Jordan. In our conversation, she talks about how she keeps track of her knitting patterns using an abacus and her unique process for learning how to program. After Jane and I were done talking, I discovered that she has been listening to the NosillaCast since she got her first Mac, in June of 2005, only one month after the show got started. I thought we'd just bumped into each other on Mastodon. How crazy is that? If you'd like to connect with Jane, you can find her on Mastodon at @[email protected].

In this week's episode of Chit Chat Across the Pond, we go into the dark abyss that is Adam Engst's brain and learn how that brain influences his choice of dictation engines. He then explains how he's hacked Apple's dictation into correctly spelling unusual names of places by creating fake contacts. As always it's a fun ride, and as always he has a terrific post on the subject at tidbits.com/... Read an unedited, auto-generated transcript with chapter marks: CCATP_2026_05_28 Referral Links: Setapp - 1 month free for you and me 15% off Carbon Copy Cloner Wispr Flow - 1 month free for you PETLIBRO - 30% off for you and me Parallels Toolbox - 3 months free for you and me Learn through MacSparky Field Guides - 15% off for you and me Backblaze - One free month for me and you Eufy - $40 for me if you spend $200. Sadly nothing in it for you. PIA VPN - One month added to Paid Accounts for both of us CleanShot X - Earns me $25%, sorry nothing in it for you but my gratitude