Podcast · Tech & Science

Hypercritical

A weekly talk show ruminating on exactly what is wrong in the world of Apple and related technologies and businesses. Nothing is so perfect that it can't be complained about. Hosted by John Siracusa & Dan Benjamin.

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 1 hr 48 min
Latest: 28 Dec 2012
Language: English

Latest episode

28 Dec 2012 · 1 hr 41 min

Episode 100: 100: Metacritical

John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin end the Hypercritical podcast with a discussion of the show itself, followed by a final Q&A where Dan asks the questions and John attempts to provide sensible answers. Many thanks to all the listeners and the folks in the 5by5 chat room. The journey was the reward. Links for this episode: "I modded my GameCube pad into a Wii Classic Controller", by gummowned - Reddit Address Resolution Protocol - Wikipedia Basic guide to mod a GameCube controller with a Wii Classic Controller PCB - Gummo Hypercritcal (Song A Day #1450) - YouTube Jonathan Mann Song a Day: The…

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

21 Dec 2012 · 2 hr 1 min
Episode 99: 99: New Siracusa County Bros. U
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin follow up on iTunes 11 and Apple's continuing failure to grok online services, then discuss the Wii U, starting with the painful setup process and continuing on to New Super Mario Bros. U, Nintendo Land, and, inevitably, the Wii U GamePad controller. Links for this episode: Order of authors on publications - Academia Stack Exchange Does your brain really have the power to see the world upside-down? Dropbox: The Linchpin - Daring Fireball Dropbox: The Linchpin - Michael Tsai How Nintendo DRM trapped $400 of downloaded games on my failing Wii - Ars Technica The…
14 Dec 2012 · 2 hr 7 min
Episode 98: 98: Hardware Machismo
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin follow up on taping out silicon chips, Apple's seemingly bottomless silicon ambitions, and the pitfalls of labeling people, then discuss Twitterrific 5, the new Google maps app on iOS, iTunes 11, Tim Cook's national news tour, and Apple's upcoming "Made in the USA" Mac. Links for this episode: How to use rlwrap to get a command history in sql*plus - Lutz Hartmann How To Tell People They Sound Racist - YouTube Innovation is a Fight - Rands In Repose Rands - Wikipedia How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Discussing Race - TEDxHampshireCollege A comment on The…
5 Dec 2012 · 1 hr 55 min
Episode 97: 97: Idle Doodles
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin follow up on silicon chip making and misogyny in geek culture, then dive into Hypercritical's first—and likely only—listener Q&A show. All questions entertained! Some questions answered! Links for this episode: No Movie for Old Men On Dickwolves, Ethics, and Why I'm Not Attending PAX East - arthur-ign The Pratfall of Penny Arcade - A Timeline Five Geek Social Fallacies - Michael Suileabhain-Wilson Raymond Chandler's Private Dick - The Atlantic International maritime signal flags - Wikipedia Blue Peter Frequently Asked Questions - BBC John Scalzi - Wikipedia The…
30 Nov 2012 · 1 hr 45 min
Episode 96: 96: Blue Peter
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin reveal John's Wii U in transit, then talk more about Apple, Intel, ARM, and silicon chip fabrication, and finally, the Fake Geek Girl meme, misogyny, and problems with Geek Culture in general. Links for this episode: Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software, by Charles Petzold From NAND to Tetris: The Elements of Computing Systems - nand2tetris.org Cabel's tweet about The Wii U GamePad If Samsung doesn't supply Apple's processors, who will? - Fortune Native Client: Technical Overview - Google Native Client: A Sandbox for Portable, Untrusted…
23 Nov 2012 · 1 hr 48 min
Episode 95: 95: Black Friday
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin discuss the upcoming end of this show, more on Intel vs. ARM, Apple's CPU/GPU needs, and the newly revealed internals of the Wii U console and GamePad. Links for this episode: Advanced Vector Extensions - Wikipedia 5by5 Specials #10: State of the Union for 2012 Intel to fab ARM chips for Apple? It’s possible… - Ars Technica Intel's Tick Tock strategy (image) Silicon - Wikipedia Silicone - Wikipedia Intel set to expand its Hillsboro research fab, D1X - OregonLive.com Haswell’s GPU prowess is due to Crystalwell - SemiAccurate Crystalwell is very wide memory for…
16 Nov 2012 · 1 hr 40 min
Episode 94: 94: Shrink, Shrink, Shrink!
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin revisit the topic of voting technology, then discuss the possibility of Apple using ARM processors instead of Intel processors in its Macs: RISC vs. CISC, process nodes, the x86 burden, and…sewing machines. Links for this episode: Apple Said to Be Exploring Switch From Intel for Mac - Businessweek RISC vs. CISC: the Post-RISC Era (1999) - Ars Technica Reduced instruction set computing - Wikipedia Complex instruction set computing - Wikipedia RISC vs. CISC in the mobile era (2008) - Ars Technica x86 instruction listings - Wikipedia Secret Life of Machines The…
9 Nov 2012 · 1 hr 55 min
Episode 93: 93: A Magic Elf in My Computer
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin talk more about Forstall's departure from Apple, Surface storage, and Fusion Drive, then discuss US voting technology, Google voice search, and how Apple's design problems are more than skin deep. Links for this episode: Why Executives Are Never Fired - Michael Camilleri Gardening leave - Wikipedia Available disk space on Microsoft Surface - Microsoft.com SDXC - Wikipedia Apple fusion drive on late 2010 MacBook Pro - Tomasz Korwel Fusion drive on a pre-10.8.2 version of OS X - Alexandre Torres Achieving fusion—with a service training doc, Ars tears open Apple’s…
2 Nov 2012 · 2 hr 6 min
Episode 92: 92: The Tim Cook Era
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin discuss the latest information about Apple's Fusion Drive and the first big executive reshuffling at Apple in the post-Steve Jobs era: Forstall and Browett are out; Ive, Cue, Federighi, and Mansfield are in. Links for this episode: AnandTech - The Windows RT Review Tweet from Tanner Silva about the cost of a Retina MacBook Pro screen replacement Tweet from Stephen Hackett about glass-covered MacBook Pro screens Tweet from Thomas Brand about screens glued to laptop lids Tweet from jackslash about the Apple logo on the front of the iMac Mac notebooks: About the…
26 Oct 2012 · 2 hr 24 min
Episode 91: 91: Adolescence
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin discuss the new hardware announced at the October 23rd Apple event: the latest Retina MacBook Pro, whether the new iMac is too skinny or too fat, the little information we currently know about Fusion Drive, and, of course, the new iPads, both mini and Retina. Links for this episode: Intel Z68 Chipset & Smart Response Technology (SSD Caching) Review - AnandTech Hypercritical #17: Intruding Gooseneck AnandTech - Seagate's Momentus XT Reviewed, Finally a Good Hybrid HDD Macminicolo Blog (Impressions of the 2012 Mac mini (updated)) Does this aluminum back make me…
19 Oct 2012 · 2 hr 3 min
Episode 90: 90: Salad Days
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin ponder the upcoming Apple event, assess picayune physical details of the iPhone 5 and iPod touch, compare the newly announced pricing for the Microsoft Surface to its possible competitors, and discuss John's approach to getting value from Twitter. Links for this episode: Pentagon Paradox: The Development of the F-18 Hornet, by James P. Stevenson Hypercritical #73: 22 Degrees Daniel Siders on sending a POST for each follower in Tent October 23 Apple event confirmed: “We’ve got a little more to show you” - Ars Technica McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle - Wikipedia iOS…
14 Oct 2012 · 1 hr 37 min
Episode 89: 89: Lazy Sunday
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin relax on a Sunday afternoon and chat about Apple's taste for brute force solutions, the foibles of decentralized systems like Tent and email, and The Magazine, Marco Arment's new Newsstand publication. Links for this episode: The Magazine The Magazine - Foreword Appnetizens Analytics: Posts Per Hour History - appnetizens.com Google Realtime Search Goes Offline - Time.com The Secret of Google's Book Scanning Machine Revealed - NPR.org The Feature The Brief The Brief Explained - Marco.org Marco's tweet about his "LOL" FAQ answer Marco's tweet about the The…
5 Oct 2012 · 1 hr 55 min
Episode 88: 88: Nobody Leaves Email
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin discuss the latest events in the burgeoning App.net community, then explore the competing(?) Tent.io protocol for decentralized real-time social networking. Links for this episode: Real-time computing - Wikipedia Paying Developers is A Bad Idea - Charlie Kindel Ball bearing - Wikipedia Announcing the App.net Developer Incentive Program - App.net Say Hello to Netbot - Tapbots Blog Netbot - Tapbots.com Protocols don't mean much - Dave Winer Tent - the decentralized social web Tent.is (alpha) - Simple Tent Hosting John's tent.io account - siracusa.tent.is As of…
28 Sep 2012 · 1 hr 31 min
Episode 87: 87: Smarter and Harder
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin follow up on Apple's slippery little devices and Apple's mapping woes, then discuss the new iPod touch and iPod nano. John's hypothetical Ferrari is briefly mentioned. Links for this episode: iPod touch - Apple.com iPod nano - Apple.com A letter from Tim Cook on Maps - Apple.com Lightning connector, disassembled - iFixit.com iPhone 5 Teardown, connector portion - iFixit.com Acer AZ3731-UR21P, with PS/2 ports - Amazon.com Close-up picture of those Acer PS/2 ports iPhone 5 wall charger vs. earlier model How Google Builds Its Maps—and What It Means for the Future…
21 Sep 2012 · 1 hr 25 min
Episode 86: 86: Naked Robotic Core
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin discuss the new iPhone 5: its physical design, the case for cases, the new lightning connector, and Apple's trouble with maps. Let the iPhone 6 speculation begin? Links for this episode: iPhone 5 - Apple.com The Amazing iOS 6 Maps The Incomparable #108: Journey: Then We Touched, Then We Sang iPhone 5 deconstructed: packed with power efficient parts - Ars Technica Lightning connector: a follow-up - brockerhoff.net Lightning connector - brockerhoff.net The Impromptu Black iPhone 5 Anodized Aluminum Susceptible to Scratching? - Mac Rumors McDonnell Douglas F/A-18…
12 Sep 2012 · 1 hr 42 min
Episode 85: 85: Just Check the Checkbox!
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin discuss all the things that went wrong during John's Mountain Lion ebook publishing experience. There's more than enough blame to go around. Please note that this episode was recorded before the September 12th Apple event. Links for this episode: OS X Battery Life Analysis from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion - The Mac Observer Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter - Apple Store (U.S.) Apple's battery guide for laptops - Apple.com Apple's battery guide for iPad - Apple.com Apple's battery guide for iPhone - Apple.com Apple's battery guide for iPod - Apple.com About My…
7 Sep 2012 · 2 hr 9 min
Episode 84: 84: Spared No Expense
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin discuss Amazon's new Kindle and Kindle Fire products. Is Amazon Apple's most dangerous competitor, or are the two companies not really in competition at all? Who is Amazon's ideal customer? Finally, John and Dan make their predictions for next week's Apple press event. Links for this episode: Amazon shows off Kindle Fire HD with 4G LTE for $499, WiFi for $299 - Ars Technica Kindle Fire’s 4G package offers 250MB of data a month for $50 a year - Ars Technica Amazon’s new $119 Kindle Paperwhite e-reader comes with front-lit screen - Ars Technica Kindle Fire HD…
31 Aug 2012 · 1 hr 30 min
Episode 83: 83: Dishonorable
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin discuss the Apple v. Samsung court case, the near-comprehensive rumors and leaks about the next iPhone, the possible internals of the rumored iPad mini, and which company we'd like to buy Twitter, if it were actually for sale. Links for this episode: Predicting the “iPad Mini” internals - Marco.org More new iPhone parts, A6 processor, more new 9-pin cables - 9to5Mac Preparing for the iPhone Next: Rumors Analyzed - AnandTech Apple v. Samsung verdict is in: $1 billion loss for Samsung - Ars Technica Hypercritical #67: A Pill That Helps with Whatever Hypercritical…
24 Aug 2012 · 2 hr 7 min
Episode 82: 82: The Opposite of Comprehensive
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin finally complete their discussion of John's Mountain Lion review. Topics include power management, UI simplification, automatic termination, Facebook integration, and plagiarizing from yourself. Links for this episode: OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: the Ars Technica review Secrets, the OS X hidden feature database and preference pane - secrets.blacktree.com Github OS X hidden feature project - mathiasbynens/dotfiles Google's reverse engineering of Mountain Lion's overlay progress bar API Mountain Lion OS X 10.8.1 Improves Battery Life Somewhat - Mac Rumors Google…
17 Aug 2012 · 2 hr 3 min
Episode 81: 81: Channels of Control
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin discuss the latest round of Twitter API changes that further marginalize third-party "traditional" Twitter client applications, with the inevitable follow up about App.Net, the nascent Twitter-like service that takes money directly from its users, rather than selling access to its users to advertisers. Links for this episode: Changes coming in Version 1.1 of the Twitter API - dev.twitter.com Display Guidelines - dev.twitter.com Delivering a consistent Twitter experience - dev.twitter.com Twitter hands down new, strict rules for third-party developers - Macworld…
10 Aug 2012 · 1 hr 40 min
Episode 80: 80: Memory Palace
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin continue to discuss John's review of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. On this episode: iCloud storage APIs and user interface, sandboxing, Gatekeeper, Retina/HiDPI, Scene Kit, Objective-C enhancements, and a bonus diversion into one of John's pet OS X topics: spatial interfaces. Links for this episode: OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: the Ars Technica review danbenjamin's Flixel, image 1 danbenjamin's Flixel, image 2 Memory Palace - Wikipedia Avoiding Copland 2010 - Ars Technica Copland 2010 revisited: Apple’s language and API future - Ars Technica Sponsored by Flixel ,…
3 Aug 2012 · 1 hr 44 min
Episode 79: 79: Grandpa Uncle Joe
John Siracusa is on vacation this week, so we instead present its ersatz replacement, 'Kindacritical', with Dan Benjamin, Marco Arment, and Merlin Mann. Links for this episode: Macintosh 512K - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Timpani - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 70Decibels - CMD+SPACE - 001 - I'm Yelling At Me, With Merlin Mann Photography, and the Tolerance for Courageous Sucking | 43 Folders Report: iPhone 5, iPad Mini Possible Debut on September 12 kung fu grippe • Sure. Thanks. Burst mode. Apple - Siri - Frequently Asked Questions Macworld: Developers dish on iCloud challenges…
27 Jul 2012 · 2 hr 26 min
Episode 78: 78: Sins of the Father
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin discuss—what else?—John's review of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. There's so much to cover that this will have to be a multi-epsiode topic. On this episode: purchase and installation, interface and document model changes, and bundled applications. Links for this episode: About My Mountain Lion Review - John Siracusa gfxCardStatus - codykrieger.com OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: the Ars Technica review Stickies (software) - Wikipedia Central limit theorem - Wikipedia Law of large numbers - Wikipedia RestoreMeNot preference pane Sponsored by DocuSign , Sourcebits , and…
20 Jul 2012 · 1 hr 47 min
Episode 77: 77: Nucleation Site
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin talk more about a potential smaller iPad, OUYA's challenges, what makes a successful Kickstarter project, how the Penny Arcade Kickstarter could have been more attractive to funders, and finally, the strange case of App.net. Links for this episode: Overcompensating for the Length - 2000 Nickels Penny Arcade Kickstarter OUYA: A New Kind of Video Game Console by OUYA - Kickstarter App.net HBO GO Android app Great apps for your new Nexus 7 - TechHive OUYA CEO: We're Confident We Will Deliver - Mashable Only 25% of Kickstarter Tech, Design Projects Deliver on Time…
13 Jul 2012 · 2 hr 6 min
Episode 76: 76: Selling a Dream
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin discuss the OUYA Android-based TV gaming console Kickstarter project, the unprecedented Penny Arcade Kickstarter project to remove ads from its web site for a year, and the Kickstarter phenomenon itself. Also, check the show notes to find a poll about doing an episode all about the PlayStation 3 game Journey. Links for this episode: The reality of the OUYA console doesn’t match the hype: why you should be skeptical - The PA Report Tweet from Minecraft creator Markus Persson about Minecraft on OUYA Penny Arcade's Kickstarter Community Guidelines - Kickstarter…
6 Jul 2012 · 1 hr 33 min
Episode 75: 75: Just a Dinosaur
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin discuss rumors of a new, smaller iPad, Marco Arment's experience with and reporting of this week's App Store data corruption problem, Apple's response, and the continuing, unhealthy separation of developers and their customers in the App Store. Links for this episode: Corrupt App Store binaries crashing on launch - Marco.org Android Developers Blog: Replying to User Reviews on Google Play Replying to App Store reviews - Matt Gemmell John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory - Penny Arcade Aged to Perfection - Design Mind Creating the first laptop (GRiD…
29 Jun 2012 · 1 hr 59 min
Episode 74: 74: Everybody Wants to Rule the World
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin discuss alternate motivations for the Microsoft Surface, Google's new Nexus 7 tablet, the history and value of reparability in computer hardware, and the possibility of electronics that "age well." Also, there's a robot that feels no shame. Links for this episode: Designed Deterioration - Khoi Vinh (2007)) Built to Not Last - Khoi Vinh (2012) The New MacBook Pro: Unfixable, Unhackable, Untenable - Wired.com Follow Up to “Built to Not Last” - Khoi Vinh (2012) Nexus 7 - The new Android tablet from Google Replicant - Wikipedia Nexus One - Wikipedia 'There's No…
22 Jun 2012 · 1 hr 42 min
Episode 73: 73: 22 Degrees
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin discuss the Microsoft Surface. It's a tablet! It's an ultrabook! It runs Office, Windows, and your existing x86 applications…unless it's the ARM version. And why is Microsoft making hardware, anyway? It's all very intriguing. Links for this episode: Jobs: If you see a stylus or a task manager, 'they blew it' - Engadget John's Tumblr blog, also titled Hypercritical Microsoft Surface tablets may not match iPad battery life - Computerworld Microsoft VP creates perfume that smells of money - CNet Microsoft's Surface event video - YouTube Capacitive touchscreens -…
16 Jun 2012 · 1 hr 9 min
Episode 72: 72: Seven Levels of Air Quotes
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin discuss—what else?—WWDC: the hardware and software announcements, John's chances of getting his review done on time, John's WWDC survival gear, and the one time a year where he meets the fans face to face. Links for this episode: Retina MacBook Pro display handling - AnandTech The WINGStand WaterField iPad slip case Tim Cook: New Mac Pro coming “later next year” - Marco.org The new retina MacBook Pro - Apple.com iOS 6 - Apple.com OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion - Apple.com Mac Rumors Mac Pro buyer's guide Tweet about external monitor support on the new MacBook Pro -…
8 Jun 2012 · 1 hr 47 min
Episode 71: 71: Bristling With Controls
John Siracusa and Dan Benjamin discuss the latest crop of iPhone 5 and WWDC rumors, E3 2012, the current state of the traditional game console market, and the elephant in the gaming living room: Apple. Links for this episode: Build and Analyze #80: Please, Go to Starbucks E3: Electronic Entertainment Expo - Wikipedia Video game console - Wikipedia Hypercritical #48: Blue Ocean Xbox 360 technical problems - Wikipedia Quantic Dream's Kara - YouTube Game Boy line - Wikipedia Nintendo DS - Wikipedia Wii U - Wikipedia Wii U GamePad - Wikipedia Wii U Pro Controller - Wikipedia Hypercritical #49:…

About Hypercritical

Hypercritical is a English tech & science podcast from 5by5. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: 5by5
Language: English
Category: Tech & Science
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 1 hr 48 min
Latest episode: 28 Dec 2012
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id414920759

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