Videos

I have several regular livestreams and produce an edited video roughly once a month.
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Alternative Text Editors and IDEs for macOS

We all love our text editor or IDE of choice, but sometimes it's too easy to get stuck in a rut using the same one because it's comfortable, and it might be worth challenging yourself with something new. In this video, I look at seven alternatives, old and new, macOS-native and cross-platform, feature-packed and more focused, to see if there's anything I might consider to wake myself from my VSCode-shaped hole.

JetBrains AI assistant . How does it compare?

JetBrains is well known for its IntelliJ family of IDEs and has always bundled smart assistive tools. Now, like other vendors and tools, the company has added a privacy-first AI assistant to its full suite. How does it compare to competing tools like Copilot? Does quality suffer for privacy and data sovereignty? I'll take a look!

Learn how to play the drums: What is a drum kit and its history

Kicking off my series on learning how to play the drums based on teaching I've been doing for the past 18 months or so. If you've never played the drums before and want to learn, this series will help you get playing beats quickly. In this first video, I look at what a drum kit is and a brief history.

Creating interactive fiction with Squiffy

It has a strange name, but a few of you asked me to take a look at this simple but clean online tool for creating HTML-delivered interactive fiction. I'm not sure of its maintenance status, but it's well-suited for creating simpler stories requiring a little programming logic.

Audit & Application logging in Temporal

In this video we explain how to extend Temporal to send application and workflow logs to Parseable. You can use this integration to capture audit logs, debug failure, analyse user behaviour and more. #tutorial #logging #temporal #observability #security #audit #opensource

6 tools for running Windows games on macOS

I've been using @parallels Desktop for a while, but with @vmware making Fusion pro free for personal use, I thought it was time to look at alternatives for running #windows #linux and other operating systems on #macos In this video, I look at Parallels Desktop, VMWare Fusion, UTM, QEMU, Crossover from @Codeweavers-Ltd , Wine, and Whisky.

Chris Ward: Writing for Robots

Automated processes and tools have been reading our content for some time, building humongous databases of our carefully crafted words so people can actually find them buried across the vast swathes of the internet. And now, even more automated processes and machines are reading our content, packaging it into large models that make sense to few but bring sense to so many.

GitButler wants to redefine branching in git. Does it succeed?

#Git may be the source of many developers' productivity and frustrations, but its branch concept is fundamental. @gitbutlerapp wants to change this, allowing developers to easily create and switch between changes on virtual branches. It's a slick new desktop app written in #Rust and #Tauri. How well does it work? Do we need it? I take a look.

Too many duplicate audio plugins? Try this free tool

Almost every time you install an audio plugin for a DAW you end up with multiple copies of it as a vst2, vst3, and au file. If you’re like me and want to maintain a clean and tidy computer, all these duplicates that basically do the same thing probably irritate and annoy you, staring at you and teasing you every time you scroll a plugin list.

Editing podcasts quickly with Descript

In this quick video, I look at a handful of the features I use in @Descript   for editing and distributing my podcast, especially the new "Edit for Clarity" feature, which cuts through my tendency to waffle and gets to the point. Like what you see and want to try Descript? Then please follow my affiliate link: https://get.descript.com/hwdvp8thjpih

Superbooth 2024: The weird and wonderful

I'm back at the preeminent event for synths and electronic instruments to try and dig out some of the stranger and more interesting instruments rather than room after room of dial-twiddling cable-patchers. Enjoy!

Cloud-native and Kubernetes threat detection with Falco

I speak with Thomas Labarussias of @sysdig about Falco, a cloud-native security tool designed for Linux systems. Falco uses custom rules on kernel events, enriched with container and Kubernetes metadata, to provide real-time alerts and help you gain visibility into abnormal behavior, potential security threats, and compliance violations, contributing to comprehensive runtime security.

Browser-based podcast recording, editing, and producing

I take a look at a new tool in beta from @Adobe that lets you record and produce podcasts in the browser. Will it replace tools like @Descript or@Riversidefm ? I take a look. 00:00 Intro music 00:02 Intro 00:45 Overview of podcast interface 02:03 Recording 02:54 Adding audio files 03:55 Adding music 04:29 Adding placeholders 04:39 Filters 07:23 Changing clip settings 08:49 Downloading recording 09:14 Share templates 09:46 Inspecting exported recording 11:07 Inspecting exported transcript 12:23 Summary 13:45 Outro music

Bring images and videos to life with AI in DreamFace

I have a little fun and try messing around with animating some boring images of myself using Dreamface's AI-powered mobile app. 00:00 Intro music 00:03 Intro 00:34 Intro to the app 00:46 Creating a speaking avatar 01:31 Creating a singing picture 01:54 Creating a dancing picture 02:19 Image manipulation 02:55 Creating a singing picture 03:00 Reviewing my creations 04:12 Creating a speaking avatar 04:54 Outro 05:51 Outro music

Build games in the browser with Fiero

In this interview and demo I speak with Ruan from Fiero about how their two person team has built an amazing browser-based tool that helps game designers and developers to build 2D games in the browser but distribute them to a wide variety of native platforms including desktop and mobile. https://fierogameengine.com

Writing and managing AsciiDoc in adoc studio

AsciiDoc is a popular markup language amongst technical writers, but tooling options are limited compared to markdown. adoc studio aims to fill that gap, and in this video, I take a look at how it compares to using AsciiDoc plugins in VSCode or an IntelliJ-based IDE.

How many words do you write each day?

WordCounter is a $20 macOS application that shows you how many words you write and where. Does it help make you more productive or is more of an interesting insight? I take a look!

The 9 best transcription tools for audio

In this video, I take a look at some of the best transcription tools for podcasters and how the recent wave of generative AI has changed the tools now available. I look at @Google recorder, macOS dictation, @Otterai , @Riversidefm , TechSmith Audiate, @Descript , @RogueAmoebaVideos Audio Hijack, MacWhisper, and @Adobe@Adobe Premiere

Creepy WW2 Trench

I came across this World War 2 trench on the outskirts of Berlin, and I've never had such an eerie, disconcerting experience.

How to manipulate web page text with PixieBrix and AI

In this video sponsored by PixieBrix, I look at their low-code tool for adding automation and integrations to existing web pages. It takes a different approach to many others out there, and I was intrigued! I look at how to use its inbuilt connections to APIs and how to send and receive data from external ones. I also look at text manipulation and AI features.