In this episode, Jake and Michael catch up on the final preparations for Laracon AU, using AI to build and rehearse conference presentations, and the tools and workflows making their lives easier.

Michael shares how smooth his custom-built conference ops tool has made organising Laracon and walks through his AI-assisted presentation workflow, using Claude, Keynote, and recorded rehearsals to refine his script, animations, delivery, and timing.

Jake shares his own approach to preparing presentations by recording stream-of-consciousness voice memos, turning them into structured outlines, and iterating with AI while preserving his natural speaking style.

The conversation also explores smart home technology, the challenges of mentoring junior developers, and how experience shapes the decisions developers make when planning and delivering projects.

Show links

• Laracon AU
• Road to Laracon
• Claude
• Stagetimer
• Rundown Studio
• Lemonnade

In this episode, Jake and Michael discuss the value of consistency, the final preparations for Laracon AU, and how AI is changing the economics of building software.

Michael shares how his custom-built conference operations platform is simplifying everything from attendee registration and dietary requirements to merchandise, QR codes, and venue deliveries. This leads to a broader conversation about highly specialised software, declining costs of building apps, and whether traditional SaaS subscriptions still make sense.

The conversation turns to AI-generated tests, where Michael explains how he's using lessons from Mostly Technical to identify and remove unnecessary tests in his Laravel projects. Jake shares his experience using an AI agent to monitor Facebook Marketplace for a car, and the pair discuss the benefits and privacy implications of increasingly autonomous AI tools.

Show links

• Laracon AU
• Quiz Meisters
• Tuple
• Paperform
• Typeform
• SignUpGenius
• Cloudflare Workers
• Puzzle Party
• Mostly Technical: Feel the AGI
• Meta Muse

Michael and Jake celebrate episode 200 in the most outlandish way possible: with no special plan whatsoever.

Michael shares an update on his home renovation, including construction progress, verandah engineering, outdoor kitchen plans, landscaping, structured cabling, smoke alarms, CCTV, and the ever-growing list of "small" additions that come with a major building project.

They then discuss home networking, with Michael planning a mostly Ubiquiti, while Jake compares notes on his own home network, including reusing old whole-house vacuum pipes as ethernet conduit and planning better Wi-Fi coverage throughout the house.

Later, the conversation shifts to software development and AI-assisted coding. Michael describes what he calls - rightly or wrongly - a "software factory" that uses Amp as an orchestrator, GLM 5.3 agents for implementation, spec-driven development, automated code review, browser testing, and overnight agent workflows.

The episode wraps with a broader discussion about what AI means for software development, how it enables software for an audience of one, and whether Michael should buy the 24-port PoE switch after all.