In what feels like a full-circle moment, James is joined by Alex Lowe and Jim Starling from the Charging Status EV Podcast, which as many of you will know started life here as a co-production between Crossed Wires and The Interface before James has to give up the show to take a job at a CPO.

Now he's free of the shackles of that CPO, we chat the latest EVs, discuss the confusion around charging, look into how car infotainment has changed, and go on random tangents related to Greggs and caravans.

What are your thoughts on EVs, do you have some horror stories about charging, or maybe a great EV you've driven? 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.

"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.

• Charging Status EV Podcast

  • YouTube

  • Apple Podcasts

• Alex Lowe

  • The Interface

  • The Interface Cars on YouTube

• Jim Starling

  • DefinitelyNotAGuru on YouTube

1. 00:00:04: Introductions

2. 00:14:00: Creating with Macs

3. 00:20:35: Talking EVs

4. 00:26:29: Charging Confusion

5. 00:46:25: Infotainment

6. 01:03:47: Security Concerns

7. 01:10:28: Self Driving Future

8. 01:15:21: Wrapping Up

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

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.

"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.

• 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

1. 00:00:04: Introductions

2. 00:05:13: The Elon Evilness Update

3. 00:08:36: Ollie’s Arcade Kickstarter

4. 00:37:09: Retro Gaming

5. 00:51:55: Apple, Nazis, and Acts of Kindness

6. 01:10:57: Wrapping Up

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

• (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

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.

"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.

• 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

1. 00:00:04: Introductions

2. 00:07:39: Apple’s Open Source Contributions

3. 00:10:10: Proprietary Software

4. 00:13:39: Libre Office

5. 00:18:26: Why Do We Need Alternatives to Microsoft Office

6. 00:34:13: Misconceptions About Document Formats

7. 00:43:04: Cloud & Privacy

8. 01:05:08: The Importance of Updates

9. 01:16:28: Wrapping Up

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

• (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

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.

"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.

• 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

1. 00:00:04: Introductions

2. 00:07:17: The State of the IconFactory

3. 00:16:36: App and Icon Design

4. 00:27:22: Designing for Liquid Glass

5. 00:46:26: Icon Variety

6. 00:52:51: More Than Just Icons

7. 01:13:10: Closing Thoughts

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW

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.

"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.

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.

• 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

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.

"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.

• 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

• Build-A-Browser with Jon von Tetzchner

• The Ferrite Attraction with Canis from Wooji Juice

1. 00:00:04: Introductions

2. 00:08:15: Keynote Focus

3. 00:12:32: Version Numbering

4. 00:14:54: Liquid Glass

5. 00:21:59: iPhone

6. 00:31:59: Apple Intelligence

7. 00:35:36: Camera App

8. 00:37:26: Apple Wallet & Digital ID

9. 00:45:24: iPad

10. 00:47:07: Meeting Tim Cook

11. 00:54:56: Back to iPad

12. 01:01:41: HomeKit and CarPlay

13. 01:08:13: watchOS

14. 01:09:45: macOS

15. 01:21:39: Apple TV

16. 01:27:37: Random Stuff

17. 01:35:43: Wrapping Up

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs b...

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.

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.

"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.

• 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)

1. 00:00:04:...

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.

"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.

• 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)

1. 00:00:05: Introductions
2. 00:04:27: Event Thoughts
3. 00:09:11: iPhone 16
4. 00:19:02: Apple Watch Series 10
5. 00:29:54: Apple’s Health Focus
6. 00:36:30: AirPods
7. 00:56:15: iOS & iPadOS 18
8. 01:13:12: Passwords
9. 01:19:57: Math notes
10. 01:26:12: EU Regulators
11. 01:33:53: RCS
12. 01:36:52: Apple Intelligence
13. 01:47:25: Wrapping Up

Intro and outro theme: Ace of Clubs by RoccoW