Wed, 10 December 2025
The 2025 MacVoices Holiday Gift Guide #6 kicks off with a lively mix of community banter and practical tech recommendations by Bart Busschots, Kirschen Seah, Mike Burke, and Chuck Joiner. Picks include a rechargeable wallet tracker, travel-friendly guided tour apps, sustainable coffee gear, foldable keyboards, a compact control surface, a powerful dictation tool, and pro-level video-switching software, each reflecting the interests of the panel members. (Part 1) MacVoices is supported by CleanMyMac from MacPaw. Get Tidy Today! Try 7 days free and use my code MACVOICES20 for 20% off at clnmy.com/MACVOICES. Show Notes:Chapters: [0:00] Gift Guide introduction Links: Kirschen Seah Chipolo CARD - Rechargeable wallet tracker card, Bluetooth tracker, item locator, passport finder compatible with Apple Find My or Find Hub Elgato Stream Deck Neo – 8 Customizable Keys, 2 Touch Points RoadID Apple Watch ID Optional IDProfile AirFly SE from 12South Mike Burke: GuideAlong MacWhisper Pro “The Holding It Together” Bundle Gaffers Tape (2" x 30 Yards) Strong Hold, Easy to Rip, Residue-Free Professional Grade Floor Tape for Electrical Cords, Matte Finish Non Reflective, Weather Resistant BongoTies Original Bongo Ties A5-01 - 10 Pack ~ Professional cable ties made of natural rubber and bamboo Paracord Planet 550lb Paracord – 7 Strand Type III Tactical Parachute Cord SOOOEC 100 Pack Reusable Zip Ties Assorted Sizes 6+8+10+12 Inch Peak Design Tech Pouch Bart Busschots: OXO Brew Rapid Brewer - Portable Coffee Maker OXO Good Grips Silicone Reusable Bags – 4 Piece Lunch Set Thule EuroWay G2 920 Bike Rack for car Peak Design Roller Pro Carry-On Lego Star Trek: U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D Brick Popper - World's Fastest Separator Tool - Efficient Remover for Kids and Adults Chuck Joiner: ProtoArc Foldable Bluetooth Keyboard, XK01 Folding Wireless Portable Keyboard with Numeric Keypad, Full-Size Travel Keyboards for iPad Tablet Smartphone Laptop Switcher Studio OWC 2TB Express 1M2 40Gb/s Portable NVMe SSD USB4 (Thunderbolt Compatible/USB-C) Ultra Fast External SSD Drive Lexar 2TB ES5 Magnetic External SSD, Up to 2000MB/s, Compatible w/MagSafe Guests: Mike Burke is a corporate technical trainer and automation enthusiast who specializes in creating structured systems that blend productivity techniques with practical technology solutions. Drawing on his background as a former high school science teacher, Mike brings a methodical, educational approach to complex technical concepts. Through his blog and YouTube channel, he shares insights on macOS automation technologies including Keyboard Maestro, AppleScript, and shell scripting. Mike is passionate about the concept of “digital mise en place” — creating thoughtfully organized digital environments that eliminate friction and support creative work. When not exploring new automation techniques, Mike can be found documenting his family’s quest to visit all U.S. National Parks. His web site is TheMikeBurke.com.
By day, Bart Busschots is a Linux sysadmin, cyber security expert, and Perl programmer, as well a keen amateur photographer when ever he gets the time. Bart hosts and produces the Let's Talk podcast series - a monthly Apple show that takes a big-picture look at the last month in Apple news, and a monthly photography show focusing on the art and craft of photography. Every second week Bart is the guest for the Chit Chat Across the Pond segment on Allison Sheridan's NosillaCast. You can get links to everything Bart gets up including a link to his photography and his personal blog. Kirschen Seah’s background is Computer Sciences with interests in Software Engineering, User Experience, and Mac OS X / iPhone OS development. She started programming with BASIC in 1978 on an Apple ][ and have over 30 years of experience in the field. Kirschen worked on OPENSTEP (precursor to Mac OS X Cocoa) graphical prototyping applications initially when she joined Rockwell Collins (now Collins Aerospace) in 1999, and was a Senior Principal Systems Engineer in the Flight Management Systems department focussed on the user interface for pilot interaction. Prior to joining Rockwell Collins Kirschen worked at Acuity (formerly ichat) developing interactive user interfaces for live chat customer service agents. Now retired, there’s now more time to share technical insights on her blog, develop useful scripts (Python, shell), and write Shortcuts. Kirschen is really motivated to share her experience to help fellow software practitioners develop better skills – be that in good design, implementation, or computer science fundamentals. Find her at FreeRangeCoder.com. Support: Become a MacVoices Patron on Patreon Enjoy this episode? Make a one-time donation with PayPal Connect: Web: Twitter: Mastodon: Facebook: MacVoices Page on Facebook: MacVoices Group on Facebook: LinkedIn: Instagram: Subscribe: Audio in iTunes Subscribe manually via iTunes or any podcatcher: Audio: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesrss |
Tue, 9 December 2025
The MacVoices Live! panel touches on Microsoft’s warning about a risky experimental AI agent in Windows, raising concerns about big tech pushing features before security is understood. Chuck Joiner, Marty Jencius, Brian Flanigan-Arthurs, Eric Bolden, Jim Rea, Web Bixby, and David Ginsburg debate age-verification proposals from Roblox and Pornhub, explore Coinbase’s new prediction market, and react to a massive WhatsApp data breach affecting billions of phone numbers. MacVoices is supported by Incogni. Take your personal data back with Incogni! Get 60% off an annual plan at incogni.com/CHUCK and use code CHUCK at checkout.. Show Notes:Chapters: [0:00] Opening, sponsor mention, and setup for AI security discussion Links: Critics scoff after Microsoft warns AI feature can infect machines and pilfer data Roblox demands an AI-verified selfie to prevent kids from chatting to adults Pornhub Is Urging Tech Giants to Enact Device-Based Age Verification Coinbase said to launch Kalshi-powered prediction market Against The Rules podcast * Episode 4: “A Hard Way to Make an Easy Living” — explores how sports betting worked before legalization, the betting sharps, and differences between old-school versus online gambling. * Episode 7: “Little Big Short” — discusses restrictions on online sportsbooks (for example in California), featuring perspectives from pastors, Native Americans, and short-sellers. * Episode 8: “The Integrity Landscape” — covers how betting based on inside information hasn’t gone away, and the problems this raises for athletes — especially in college sports. * Episode 10: “Anybody Can Win, but Everybody’s Gonna Lose…” — looks at online gambling and the risks to individuals, especially younger people; includes reflection by the host on protecting his son from gambling’s lure. “ WhatsApp security flaw exposed 3.5B phone numbers – including yours “Wanna bet? Online prediction markets wager that you will” - CBS Sunday Morning Guests: Web Bixby has been in the insurance business for 40 years and has been an Apple user for longer than that.You can catch up with him on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, but prefers Bluesky. Eric Bolden is into macOS, plants, sci-fi, food, and is a rural internet supporter. You can connect with him on Twitter, by email at embolden@mac.com, on Mastodon at @eabolden@techhub.social, on his blog, Trending At Work, and as co-host on The Vision ProFiles podcast. Brian Flanigan-Arthurs is an educator with a passion for providing results-driven, innovative learning strategies for all students, but particularly those who are at-risk. He is also a tech enthusiast who has a particular affinity for Apple since he first used the Apple IIGS as a student. You can contact Brian on twitter as @brian8944. He also recently opened a Mastodon account at @brian8944@mastodon.cloud. David Ginsburg is the host of the weekly podcast In Touch With iOS where he discusses all things iOS, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch, and related technologies. He is an IT professional supporting Mac, iOS and Windows users. Visit his YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/daveg65 and find and follow him on Twitter @daveg65 and on Mastodon at @daveg65@mastodon.cloud. Dr. Marty Jencius has been an Associate Professor of Counseling at Kent State University since 2000. He has over 120 publications in books, chapters, journal articles, and others, along with 200 podcasts related to counseling, counselor education, and faculty life. His technology interest led him to develop the counseling profession ‘firsts,’ including listservs, a web-based peer-reviewed journal, The Journal of Technology in Counseling, teaching and conferencing in virtual worlds as the founder of Counselor Education in Second Life, and podcast founder/producer of CounselorAudioSource.net and ThePodTalk.net. Currently, he produces a podcast about counseling and life questions, the Circular Firing Squad, and digital video interviews with legacies capturing the history of the counseling field. This is also co-host of The Vision ProFiles podcast. Generally, Marty is chasing the newest tech trends, which explains his interest in A.I. for teaching, research, and productivity. Marty is an active presenter and past president of the NorthEast Ohio Apple Corp (NEOAC). Jim Rea built his own computer from scratch in 1975, started programming in 1977, and has been an independent Mac developer continuously since 1984. He is the founder of ProVUE Development, and the author of Panorama X, ProVUE's ultra fast RAM based database software for the macOS platform. He’s been a speaker at MacTech, MacWorld Expo and other industry conferences. Follow Jim at provue.com and via @provuejim@techhub.social on Mastodon. Support: Become a MacVoices Patron on Patreon Enjoy this episode? Make a one-time donation with PayPal Connect: Web: Twitter: Mastodon: Facebook: MacVoices Page on Facebook: MacVoices Group on Facebook: LinkedIn: Instagram: Subscribe: Audio in iTunes Subscribe manually via iTunes or any podcatcher: Audio: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesrss |
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