Chit Chat Across the Pond

Latest Episodes:

CCATP #844 — Adam Engst on Full Disk Access on macOS Oct 28, 2026

Show notes

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.

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CCATP #843 — Dr. Bonnie Maldonado on A Career Spent Saving Babies from Preventable Diseases Oct 27, 2026

Show notes

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

CCATP #842 — Adam Engst on Broken Wrist and Voice Control Oct 02, 2026

Show notes

Adam Engst is the owner and writer of the longest-running Apple newsletter, TidBITS. Writing is literally his business. Imagine what would happen if he couldn't write. That's exactly what he faced when he broke one wrist and badly sprained the other. Since it's Adam we're talking about here, you know he turned this "adventure" into an article explaining how the accessibility features in OS 27s have helped him stay relatively productive. You might think he simply started using dictation, and while that's part of the solution, it's more nuanced than that. macOS and iOS are quite different in the maturity of their dictation engines, which required him to learn Voice Control. You can read his article explaining more at [tidbits.com/...](https://tidbits.com/2026/09/21/what-a-broken-wrist-taught-me-about-ios-27-dictation-and-macos-voice-control/)

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CCATP #841 — Steve Sheridan on Filming and Editing Video of a Solar Eclipse Sep 14, 2026

Show notes

This week, our guest is the lovely Steve Sheridan, here to talk about the technology behind how he captured and produced an amazing video of the total solar eclipse we witnessed in Spain this year. Links to Steve's videos:

Read an unedited, auto-generated transcript with chapter marks: CCATP_2026_09_14

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CCATP #840 — Adam Engst on From HyperCard to AI-Assisted Programming Aug 28, 2026

Show notes

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

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CCATP #839 — Adam Engst on A Better Route Planner for Stress-free EV Trips Jul 23, 2026

Show notes

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

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CCATP #838 — Darrin Altman on Talk for Me Jul 08, 2026

Show notes

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

CCATP #837 — Why AI Agents Fill Adam Engst With Dread Jun 25, 2026

Show notes

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/...

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CCATP #836 — Jane Jordan on Blind Programming and Knitting Jun 11, 2026

Show notes

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 @jane_jordan@dragonscave.space.

CCATP #835 — Adam Engst on Dictation and Contacts Hackery May 28, 2026

Show notes

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

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