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Tech Fiddling

Oct 17, 202529 minEp. 291
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Episode description

Thanks for listening!

Website with donation link:https://redcircle.com/shows/a48341c0-b884-4c41-beb2-418786447214

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TECH NEWS:

  • APPLE RELEASES SOME UPGRADED DEVICES
  • VISION PRO COMPETITOR DROPS ON OCTOBER 21ST
  • THIN PHONES ARE APPARENTLY NOT IN
  • TROUBLE IN PIXEL 10 LAND
  • T-MOBILE SATELLITE MESSAGING NOT VERY SECURE
  • META TO KILL DESKTOP MESSAGING APPS


TECH I'M USING:

  • USING APPLE'S TEXT MESSAGE TRANSLATE FEATURE


ENTERTAINMENT NEWS:

  • APPLKE TV+ BECOMES JUST APPLE TV
  • NETFLIX AND SPOTIFY TEAM UP FOR VIDEO PODCASTS


PODCAST NEWS:

  • ADVENTURES WITH THE RODECASTER DUO
  • THE WTF PODCAST TAKES ITS FINAL BOW


email: ofntpodcast@gmail.com

socials: stay off them

web: https://www.podpage.com/ofnt-old-fart-new-tech

music and effects: purple-planet.com and pixabay.com



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Transcript

[SPEAKER_02]: a factual data creation facility production. [SPEAKER_02]: Recorded live. [SPEAKER_02]: Because let's face it, the alternative wouldn't be very practical. [SPEAKER_02]: It's the O-F-N-Team Oddcast. [SPEAKER_02]: Now, here's your host, a man who's a year older, [SPEAKER_01]: Welcome to the OFNT podcast episode 291, which I'm calling a tech fiddling today, celebrate yet another trip around the sun. [SPEAKER_01]: I hope to have any more.

[SPEAKER_01]: When sure these future trips, I try and exercise as much as I can. [SPEAKER_01]: The hardest thing is getting my diet in order. [SPEAKER_01]: At Ice Cream and soda icebergs on today, certainly some health things though. [SPEAKER_01]: I'm still getting acquainted with the new Roadcaster Doer. [SPEAKER_01]: So, excuse any missteps during this recording. [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, now how you like the new sound? [SPEAKER_01]: Well, let's say we get this birthday episode started now.

[SPEAKER_03]: Oh, yes, new. [SPEAKER_03]: Okay. [SPEAKER_03]: Okay. [SPEAKER_03]: Five. [SPEAKER_03]: Four. [SPEAKER_03]: Three. [SPEAKER_03]: Five. [SPEAKER_03]: Four. [SPEAKER_03]: Four. [UNKNOWN]: Four. [UNKNOWN]: Four. [UNKNOWN]: Four. [UNKNOWN]: Four. [UNKNOWN]: Four. [UNKNOWN]: Four. [SPEAKER_01]: tech news. [SPEAKER_01]: The giant fruit company, aka Apple, just finished a busy week announcing a corner copier of updates for various products. [SPEAKER_02]: Wait a moment.

[SPEAKER_02]: Was there some sort of Apple event that I somehow missed? [SPEAKER_01]: No, all the announcements were made by Press release. [SPEAKER_01]: Now, why would the giant fruit company do it this way? [SPEAKER_01]: First of all, it's cheaper. [SPEAKER_01]: Secondly, the updates to the products were minimal.

[SPEAKER_01]: Basically, the MacBook Pro iPad Pro, and let's not forget the red-headed stepchild of Apple's current hardware lineup of the Vision Pro, had their CPUs updated to the Apple Silicon M5 chip, which brought along all the benefits of the new chip. [SPEAKER_01]: which were 20% faster processing and better graphics performance. [SPEAKER_01]: Cosmetically, all these devices remain the same.

[SPEAKER_01]: The exception being the Vision Pro, which got a new mesh headband or something in the Apple C1X modem, the latter being internal not cosmetic. [SPEAKER_01]: Another thing announced by Apple S week was the availability of the iPad Air Magic keyboard attachment in the color black. [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not tempted by any of these updates, so that I must confess the mini LED display of the MacBook Pro. [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe give it a look.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I decided to just hang on to my M2 chip 15 inch MacBook Air, until in all its green version of it hits the market in a couple of years. [SPEAKER_01]: Even then I'd probably be more interested in a new Mac Mini into display. [SPEAKER_01]: I find that I do most of my everyday computing on my M4 MacBook Pro, which I purchased [SPEAKER_01]: What we didn't get was an updated Apple TV 4K.

[SPEAKER_01]: If Apple announced a new model of the streaming box with some sort of FaceTime camera, be it built in or have a way of attaching a webcam, well I'd be all in. [SPEAKER_01]: Are you planning on upgrading to any of these new devices Apple just announced? [SPEAKER_01]: While I do enjoy clowning on the super expensive Apple Vision Pro, the competitor to what has to be Apple's lowest selling device lately is about to make its entrance. [SPEAKER_01]: Don't leave us hanging.

[SPEAKER_02]: What is this competitor and who's behind it? [SPEAKER_01]: Well, that would be Samsung with its Android XR headset. [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, that's right. [SPEAKER_01]: I'd forgotten about that. [UNKNOWN]: Uh-oh. [SPEAKER_01]: As have most of us, I think. [SPEAKER_01]: Nine to five Google.com reports said Samsung will hold an event on October 21st, where the company is expected to announce their own take on augmented reality goggles.

[SPEAKER_01]: According to nine to five Google, this new AR headset is expected to cost around $1800, which is some 1200 bucks cheaper than Apple's Vision Pro. [SPEAKER_01]: Wow! [SPEAKER_01]: If Samsung can deliver features and performance that approaches that of the Vision Pro, then they might have a hit, albeit a minor one on their hands. [SPEAKER_01]: It'll be down to how good the software for devices and third-party developers support, which of course is critical.

[SPEAKER_01]: ARNVR headsets are still a niche market. [SPEAKER_01]: My question about this device are... [SPEAKER_01]: Wilders had said integrate with a desktop operating system like the Vision Pro does with Mac OS. [SPEAKER_01]: If so, which one? [SPEAKER_01]: Chrome, OS or Windows? [SPEAKER_01]: Perhaps both. [SPEAKER_01]: Wilders' headset was developed jointly with Google and Qualcomm. [SPEAKER_01]: I haven't seen nor heard of Microsoft taking an interest in this project.

[SPEAKER_01]: Lately, Google has been busy making Chrome OS an extension of the Android mobile operating system. [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe this project and those that are still in the pipeline are the reason for this. [SPEAKER_01]: I have no interest in augmented or virtual reality goggles no matter who manufactures them. [SPEAKER_01]: Now augmented reality glasses or spectacles, if you will, are a different story.

[SPEAKER_01]: I feel that, like Apple's vision pro, these Samsung AR headsets, are but a stepping stone to true augmented reality glasses. [SPEAKER_01]: Well, that's my opinion, and I'm sticking with it. [SPEAKER_01]: In another Samsung vs. Apple Battle of rival products, this one is between their respective thin phone entries.

[SPEAKER_01]: According to numerous sources, Samsung has canceled plans for a follow-up to this year's S25 Edge, and this was supposedly due to anemic sales and battery life. [SPEAKER_01]: Even though Apple's iPhone Air almost immediately sold out when first offered in China last Friday, a report from a Japanese investment and securities firm, claims that Apple has already reduced production of the iPhone Air due to, well, you guessed it, underwhelming sales and battery life.

[SPEAKER_01]: I kind of saw this coming back in September on iPhone launch day. [SPEAKER_01]: As soon as pre-orders opened up for the iPhone 17 series, both the regular iPhone and Pro iPhone chip and date slip to beyond the release day. [SPEAKER_01]: The iPhone Air was still available for immediate shipment or in-store pickup on release day. [SPEAKER_01]: While these thin is in-phone seem futuristic, there's still too many compromises with them. [SPEAKER_01]: Especially concerning the battery.

[SPEAKER_01]: Samsung will replace the S25 Edge and it's upcoming lineup with the S26 Plus. [SPEAKER_01]: And by all indicators, Apple will eventually replace the iPhone Air. [SPEAKER_01]: I think we'll be seeing the Air return for at least one more year, just like the iPhone Mini which stuck around for another year despite low sales. [SPEAKER_01]: There are also rumors of the highly anticipated iPhone fold being pushed back until 2027.

[SPEAKER_01]: So the air could fill that gap until the fold is finally ready for prime time. [SPEAKER_01]: According to AndroidBlease.com, Google has been having problems lately, both software and hardware related with their newly released Pixel 10 phones. [SPEAKER_01]: The latest problem is the random crashing of applications. [SPEAKER_01]: To quote the article, reports of these crashes have been pouring in since last weekend.

[SPEAKER_01]: Users are complaining of sudden repeated app crashes, causing an error message at states, [SPEAKER_01]: Reinstalling the app and clearing its cache a does nothing to fix to problem. [SPEAKER_01]: What's preplexing to users is this apparent bug has appeared out of nowhere and isn't affecting older pixel phones. [SPEAKER_01]: The online Android community believes that this bug is the result of a recent Play Store update.

[SPEAKER_01]: It recommends a workaround that requires the user to install the latest October Play Store update and then reinstall it. [SPEAKER_01]: As for Google, they have yet to acknowledge this problem, so who knows when they'll get around to rolling out an updated order to fix it. [SPEAKER_01]: I suspect this has something to do with the new Tensor chip which powers the Pixel 10.

[SPEAKER_01]: Only was it manufactured using the fairly new 3 nanometer process, but the new manufacturer of the Tensore is TMC, which also makes Apple silicon chips. [SPEAKER_01]: Previously, Tensore chips were source exclusively from Samsung chip foundries. [SPEAKER_01]: or something has changed with a new tent, or G5, and Google now has to figure out what that change is. [SPEAKER_01]: And fix the software side of it. [SPEAKER_02]: But then again, what do you really know?

[SPEAKER_02]: You're just an old geezer sitting in front of a microphone? [SPEAKER_01]: Well, that of course is true, and sometimes the truth hurts. [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, I apologize for being a little critical there, by the way. [SPEAKER_02]: Happy Birthday! [SPEAKER_01]: No problem. [SPEAKER_01]: I've developed a thick skin over my many years. [SPEAKER_01]: And thank you for the birthday wishes. [SPEAKER_01]: Coming from you, that means absolutely nothing to me.

[SPEAKER_01]: Who's being critical now? [SPEAKER_01]: Well, that would be me. [SPEAKER_01]: Anyhow, it's problems like this that pop up on Android that keeps me from considering using the operating system and even pixel phones as my daily driver. [SPEAKER_01]: In some more tech news, it will make you go. [SPEAKER_01]: Over the last couple of years or so, many companies like Apple and Google, for example, have long to satellite-based messaging services.

[SPEAKER_01]: Amongst them is my cellular carrier of choice, T-Mobile. [SPEAKER_01]: While Wired Magazine reports that findings from UC San Diego and the University of Maryland have found that the data sent and received by T-Mobile satellite messaging service is unencrypted. [SPEAKER_01]: And they were able to retrieve and read these messages using an off-to-shelf satellite receiver that cost less than $800.

[SPEAKER_01]: What makes this situation even worse is that apparently the U.S. military is a customer of the service, and their data was exposed to, well isn't that just dandy. [SPEAKER_01]: Is it fair to say that no method of digital communications is a secure for personal privacy and security? [SPEAKER_03]: Yes. [SPEAKER_01]: Just think of it this way. [SPEAKER_01]: Always assume that when you walk out of your home, you're on camera.

[SPEAKER_01]: And if you want to keep something private, well, don't use digital means to share that information. [SPEAKER_01]: matter what messenger or digital method you're using. [SPEAKER_01]: At this point, it would be better to go back to analog phone lines and show wave number stations. [SPEAKER_01]: Facebook Messenger, while I guess now it's called Meta Messenger, or just Messenger, is a big part of my lovely wife's online life.

[SPEAKER_01]: The Messenger app is her main way of communicating with friends and relatives, who are scattered around the globe. [SPEAKER_01]: That she even uses Messenger to keep in touch with local friends. [SPEAKER_01]: For me, not so much. [SPEAKER_01]: I have messenger loaded up on my iPad and Macmini, and this whole reason that I have it on those two devices is to communicate with my wife when she's traveling.

[SPEAKER_01]: My iPad is always located downstairs while my Macmini is permanently upstairs. [SPEAKER_01]: That way if she happens to call, I have a convenient way to answer. [SPEAKER_01]: Well, that's all about to change. [SPEAKER_01]: Now, as Apple Insider.com is reporting that Meta is discontinuing messenger desktop apps both Mac and Windows operating systems. [SPEAKER_01]: The desktop apps have already been pulled from their respective app stores.

[SPEAKER_01]: Meta hasn't given a hard date for when the desktop apps will stop working. [SPEAKER_01]: Just saying that users will receive a message telling them that they have 60 days to use the app until the plug is pulled. [SPEAKER_01]: If you want to continue using Messenger on desktop devices, you'll have to log it to Facebook.com on your web browsers. [SPEAKER_01]: I'm thinking that meta-note long wants to maintain or update the app when Windows or Mac OS updates.

[SPEAKER_01]: To come using, the tech I used or rather struggle with the most over the last week was my new audio interface, the Roadcaster Duo. [SPEAKER_01]: Next week, I'll be attempting to explore the device's other features. [SPEAKER_01]: I just couldn't muster the courage to screw around with the current settings I arrived at after going through so much effort to get the thing to work properly. [SPEAKER_01]: I talk about this extensively in the podcast section.

[SPEAKER_01]: I also got to try out Apple's Tech's Message Language Translation feature. [SPEAKER_01]: The reason my mobile carrier, T-Mobile, believes that my native tongue is Spanish, except what it comes to notifying me that the bill is due. [SPEAKER_01]: That's always in English. [SPEAKER_01]: In order to transfer my lovely wives in my phone number over to our new phones, I had to disable the Simthef Protection feature on our account.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I re-enabled it on Monday hence the text message from T-Mobile in Spanish. [SPEAKER_01]: Looking at the message, I saw just underneath it the word, translate with a question mark. [SPEAKER_01]: I thought to myself, well, why not? [SPEAKER_01]: By pressing on the message bubble, a menu pops up asking what language you'd like to translate. [SPEAKER_01]: The choices were English to Spanish, or Spanish to English.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm assuming if the phone detects other languages, that would be part of the choice is also. [SPEAKER_01]: Or not. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that's also a possibility. [SPEAKER_01]: Of course I chose Spanish to English, and the phone then had to download both languages. [SPEAKER_01]: Huh. [SPEAKER_02]: You'd figure that being that you selected English as your preferred language while setting the phone up, it would already have English aboard.

[SPEAKER_01]: One would assume so, but according to the phone, that was in the case. [SPEAKER_01]: It took longer than expected to download the almost two gigs of data. [SPEAKER_01]: I thought that amount of data was excessive, but perhaps all of the available languages not just English and Spanish were also downloaded. [SPEAKER_01]: After the download completed, I repress the message bubble, selected translate and waited for the translation to appear. [SPEAKER_01]: and waited, and waited.

[SPEAKER_01]: I gave up after a bit, and decided to come back to it later, figuring the data wasn't finished absorbing into the operating system yet during my first attempt. [SPEAKER_01]: A little while later, I tried again, and this time the translation was instantaneous. [SPEAKER_01]: It's too bad Apple doesn't have any of my wife's native languages available. [SPEAKER_01]: They did. [SPEAKER_01]: I'd be able to spy on her conversations with friends and relatives.

[SPEAKER_01]: Um, of course not. [SPEAKER_01]: I'm still liking my new iPhone 17 Pro Max and have realized that the blue color of the phone resembles out of my old Nokia E63. [SPEAKER_01]: That phone was my first big-boy phone. [SPEAKER_01]: I love that phone which explains the connection I thought I was developing with the 17 Max. [SPEAKER_01]: You know the connection that I went on and on about a couple of episodes ago? [SPEAKER_03]: Yes?

[SPEAKER_01]: Well I think I was actually experiencing nostalgia. [SPEAKER_01]: Not that's not a bad thing, but it isn't the same as forming an attachment. [SPEAKER_01]: And to tame it news, I've been pretty busy lately, so I haven't really watched much on television. [SPEAKER_01]: I'll share that will all change when the weather turns colder, but here in Tennessee, it really doesn't get as cold as the winter did up in New York. [SPEAKER_01]: I do have a lot of shows to catch up on, though.

[SPEAKER_01]: Only murders in the building, slow horses in foundation and aim a few. [SPEAKER_01]: Speaking of which, slow horses in foundation are on Apple TV+, but according to a recent article from MacRumors.com, Apple TV+, will be renamed to just Apple TV in the near future. [SPEAKER_01]: I'll make sense. [SPEAKER_01]: Though there might be some confusion with Apple's streaming box. [SPEAKER_01]: The article quotes Apple's IDQ is saying, quote, our hardware is called Apple TV 4K for TV.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think that's fine, and the app is called Apple TV. [SPEAKER_01]: It's been called Apple TV on our third party products as well. [SPEAKER_01]: So I don't think there'll be a problem at all, unquote. [SPEAKER_01]: Well, Mr. Q, that remains to be seen, doesn't it? [SPEAKER_01]: King of all streamers Netflix is adding video podcasts to its lineup. [SPEAKER_01]: This news appeared on 95Mac.com and many other news outlets.

[SPEAKER_01]: The source of these podcasts is none other than Spotify. [SPEAKER_01]: Spotify will be pulling the video podcasts it supplies to Netflix off from YouTube, making them exclusive to both Netflix and Spotify. [SPEAKER_01]: This is seen as a move defender of the giant that is Google and YouTube. [SPEAKER_01]: I recall Spotify trying this exclusiveness in the past. [SPEAKER_02]: How did that work for them? [SPEAKER_01]: As I recall, it didn't work out too good for them.

[SPEAKER_01]: I wonder if the video podcast that appear in Netflix will be compensated. [SPEAKER_01]: And if so, how will it be calculated? [SPEAKER_01]: Going to a press release from Netflix to deal is wide-ranging with a ringer's sports podcast network through crime and pop culture shows being the main subjects. [SPEAKER_01]: the deal is set to start in early 2026.

[SPEAKER_01]: List of shows confirms that all the podcasts that are slated to show up on Netflix are owned by Spotify, but still, these shows currently break in a heap of cash for their host via YouTube. [SPEAKER_01]: But them now exclusive to Spotify and Netflix, I'm sure that monetary bananza will be sorely missed. [SPEAKER_01]: I'd wager that more people consume these shows on YouTube than they do on the other two platforms.

[SPEAKER_01]: In order to continue watching them, consumers will be having to pony up first subscription to Netflix, which isn't cheap, where it's very least create a Spotify account. [SPEAKER_01]: I feel that many will just move on to other shows that cover the same topics and forget about Netflix and Spotify exclusives. [SPEAKER_01]: What do you think? [SPEAKER_01]: Update, the ringer sports network's video podcast will also be carried on the Samsung TV plus [SPEAKER_01]: podcast news.

[SPEAKER_01]: I hadn't tended to use my newly purchased road-caster dual audio interface to record last week's episode, but that things didn't work out for me. [SPEAKER_01]: After setting the dual up, I wasn't able to listen back to what I had recorded. [SPEAKER_01]: I had to engage the dual chat feature in order to playback audio, while these sparse instructions that came with the unit said otherwise.

[SPEAKER_01]: Even after eventually figuring out the proper setting by trial and error, the audio recorded sounded completely different than what it had sounded like in my headphones while recording. [SPEAKER_01]: The audio had a low and muddy sound and was unusable. [SPEAKER_01]: I quickly switched back to the Personus interface to record last week's episode.

[SPEAKER_01]: Monday I spent the day scouring the internet for information about the duo along with fiddling around with it to see if I could figure something out. [SPEAKER_01]: This included switching digital audio workstation software, trying different settings and even purchasing an SD memory card for the duo. [SPEAKER_01]: I thought that by recording the audio directly onto the duo, I could then export the audio file to my digital audio work station for editing and processing.

[SPEAKER_01]: Despite all this, I got the same low and muffled results. [SPEAKER_01]: Late evening, after just about giving up, I seemed to have solved the issue. [SPEAKER_01]: Though thanks to road or the internet, it was strictly figured out by the trial and error method. [SPEAKER_01]: I believe that unlike many of the audio interfaces on the market currently, the World Caster Duo was mainly designed to be used with the Windows Operating System. [SPEAKER_01]: I, of course, use Apple's Mac OS.

[SPEAKER_01]: Other manufacturers interface are basically plug and play for Macs. [SPEAKER_01]: Not so to duo. [SPEAKER_01]: When those base machines, usually require specialized drivers to be installed and order for a lot of these other audio interfaces to work properly. [SPEAKER_01]: Mac OS usually doesn't require this. [SPEAKER_01]: Thinking that perhaps the duo needed external drivers from Mac OS, I looked on the road website but found none.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, some enterprising authors should put out a roadcaster for dummy's book. [SPEAKER_00]: Have you actually checked? [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, I didn't check Amazon, unfortunately such a book doesn't exist, at least not yet. [SPEAKER_01]: The Roadcaster's series of interfaces are powerful pieces of tech, bringing just about every feature you can think of, and even some you wouldn't have thought of.

[SPEAKER_01]: In my opinion, besides making the Roadcaster dual and pro for that matter expensive to buy, only other options available to the users of these interfaces make them too complicated to use. [SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure that has something to do with it, but I try to keep the old grey matter occupied by figuring out tech problems and other things.

[SPEAKER_01]: My late father, who shared the same birthday with me, was always messing around with in a new tech of his time, things like cameras, stereos, and video-requorders. [SPEAKER_01]: The day that I realized that he was getting on in years was when he asked me what was the purpose of an iPod. [SPEAKER_01]: When I explained that you could listen to music and podcasts, he still didn't get it. [SPEAKER_01]: He was confused about how you got that content onto the iPod.

[SPEAKER_01]: No matter how I explained the procedure to him, he just couldn't comprehend it. [SPEAKER_01]: By being an avid fan of tech and how it works, I'm trying to stay off that day where I don't understand any tech. [SPEAKER_01]: Though I know that day is inevitable.

[SPEAKER_02]: Well, that's great and [SPEAKER_01]: Alright, there are other brands of audio interfaces on the market that try to compete with the Roadcaster, Mackie Zoom and Plathora of Chinese based outfits, but they're either just as complicated or don't have the features of the Roadcaster. [SPEAKER_01]: The best competitor to the Roadcaster was the, or is the, Louis XXX, which is an interface that I've used until recently.

[SPEAKER_01]: It does just about everything the Roadcaster dual can, but it's much simpler to use. [SPEAKER_01]: The downside of the loot is that the digital tool analog audio converter is so powerful or not as good as the ones in the road, and there's no Bluetooth capability. [SPEAKER_01]: Connecting outside sources to the loot is a pain and it's impossible for some users to connect a cell phone to it. [SPEAKER_01]: And that's due to a hardware bug. [SPEAKER_01]: I found that out the hard way.

[SPEAKER_01]: Also, loot seems to have stopped supporting the Connect 6, but I haven't gotten a firmware update nor an update for the software that controls the interface in over two years. [SPEAKER_01]: Instead, loot's cheaper and less capable Connect 2 seems to be getting the company's attention. [SPEAKER_02]: Well, they're probably selling more of that model. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I'm sure they are.

[SPEAKER_01]: If Louis were to release a version two of the Connect 6, while I'd give it a serious look, at one point the dual had me so frustrated that I was about to return it. [SPEAKER_01]: Think goodness I happened to stumble upon a configuration setting for the USB output, which defaulted to reducing the audio gain by 12 decibels. [SPEAKER_01]: Once I adjusted that, everything started working better.

[SPEAKER_01]: As far as the sound of the dual goes, I'm used to it but I feel there's a slight, how can I describe it? [SPEAKER_01]: It's like your voice sounds to yourself when suffering with nasal congestion. [SPEAKER_01]: Just slightly but enough to bother me. [SPEAKER_01]: I'm using the Rodeuel now. [SPEAKER_01]: How do you think it sounds compared to previous episodes? [SPEAKER_01]: The thing I like the most about the duo is it's noise gate. [SPEAKER_01]: It's the best one I've ever used.

[SPEAKER_01]: It really does show out room noise to the max. [SPEAKER_01]: I haven't dared to try and pair my phone to the duo via Bluetooth yet, until I could find more time to learn about the device in his intricacies. [SPEAKER_01]: Last Monday, the podcast world lost one of its oldest independent podcasts. [SPEAKER_01]: The WTF podcast hosted by Mark Marin dropped its last episode, which was number 1,686 last week. [SPEAKER_01]: Wow! [SPEAKER_01]: And that's a lot of episodes.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yes. [SPEAKER_01]: Mr. Marin has been cranking out episodes of the WTF podcast in September of 2009. [SPEAKER_01]: And the show reached its peak with episode 613, which dropped on June 22nd of 2015. [SPEAKER_01]: That's when President Barack Obama was the guest. [SPEAKER_01]: That episode marked the first time a sitting President of the United States appeared on a podcast. [SPEAKER_01]: Mr. Marron is a comedian who hosted a show on the now-de-funct-air America radio network.

[SPEAKER_01]: Air America was supposed to be the answer to the conservative talk radio hosts who ruled the airways back then as they still do now. [SPEAKER_01]: He was fired and rehired a few times from the doomed left-leaning network over the years. [SPEAKER_01]: His last firing came in 2009, and that's when he [SPEAKER_01]: In fact, someone possession of his Air America ID card, the first couple of episodes of WTF, were recorded at his former employers New York Studios on beknownst to them.

[SPEAKER_01]: From there, he relocated to California. [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, where else, in turn, the garage of his house into a recording studio. [SPEAKER_01]: Pretty good one in my opinion. [SPEAKER_02]: Is it much nicer than yours? [SPEAKER_01]: Oh yeah, with better equipment, too. [SPEAKER_01]: I wish I could set up in my garage. [SPEAKER_01]: My studio. [SPEAKER_01]: If you want to call it one, occupy the smallest room of my house and doubles as my fitness room.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's also the easiest room in the house. [SPEAKER_01]: Still, it's a lot less noisy than the recording space I used up in New York. [SPEAKER_01]: Anyway, with smooth selling for the WTF podcast, which made its money from advertisements, that isn't until podcasting incorporated became a thing.

[SPEAKER_01]: This gave shows like WTF stiff competition, and by 2022, WTF started losing listeners and sponsors, and then the bottom fell out of the podcast ad market, with a go-in-montary [SPEAKER_01]: Well, this drove the final nail into the WTF coffin, with Mr. Marin deciding to end the long run of the show. [SPEAKER_01]: You went on a farewell podcast tour, which didn't do much for his reputation.

[SPEAKER_01]: He came off too many as bitter and jealous, especially a fellow comedian and podcaster Joe Rogan, who he partially blamed for his show's downfall. [SPEAKER_01]: While I seldom listen to the WTF podcast, [SPEAKER_01]: He was a great host and drew many top-notch guests over the years. [SPEAKER_01]: It's also said seeing another independent podcast end. [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm sure there will be more to follow as Main Dream Media continues to crumble.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now I wonder what Mr. Maron will be doing with his studio. [SPEAKER_01]: Well, that's a good question. [SPEAKER_01]: As I've recommended it previously, he could rent it out to other podcasters, or even don't eat the time and space to them. [SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure there's a text right off somewhere in doing that. [SPEAKER_01]: Perhaps he'll eventually miss podcasting after taking a break. [SPEAKER_01]: He'll come back to it.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'll have to come up with a different format, though. [SPEAKER_01]: The street, interview type of show [SPEAKER_01]: No. [SPEAKER_01]: With the music it's playing, as another episode as well as this year's muted birthday celebration, winds down, I hope you enjoyed this episode. [SPEAKER_01]: I enjoyed making it for you. [SPEAKER_01]: If you like what you heard, well you can make a donation using the link in the show notes.

[SPEAKER_01]: Any and all donations will be greatly appreciated. [SPEAKER_01]: You can always reach me at ofntbookest at gmail.com if you're so inclined and you're [SPEAKER_01]: Remember, don't listen to what they say. [SPEAKER_01]: Why? [SPEAKER_01]: What they do? [SPEAKER_01]: What are you waiting for? [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not willing to share my birthday cake with you, so get off my lawn. [SPEAKER_01]: Stay skeptical. [SPEAKER_01]: Ah, I'm out. [SPEAKER_01]: See you!

[SPEAKER_02]: And that folks is the end of the show.

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