Hi, this is Allison Sheridan of the NosillaCast Apple Podcast, hosted at Podfeet.com, a technology geek podcast with an EVER so slight Apple bias. Today is Sunday, March 15, 2020, and this is show number 775.
I really think I should build a random number generator to tell you the episode number since I can’t seem to crack the code on how to add 1 to the previous number. Thanks to Bob Morgan for pointing out that last week’s show was not NosillaCast #744, it was 774. I swear to you I got straight As in Calculus, but this addition thing baffles me.
We do have a fun-filled tech show to distract you from all of the happenings in the world today. We’ll learn about the myQ connected garage door opener from LiftMaster at CES, I’ll tell a story that will make you wonder why anyone chooses Android. Then we’ll go back to CES and learn about electric vehicle wall chargers from a company called Wallbox. If you’re thinking your toothbrush isn’t as smart as it should be, you’ll enjoy the interview with Colgate about the Plaqless Pro. Fitting prosthetic limbs is a painstaking and painful process, so we’ll talk to Radii Devices who told us about some tools they’re developing to reduce the number of fittings to reduce pain points via their heat-map type applications. Then we’ll cleanse our palates as I tell you about my favorite new distraction for iOS, Android and even the web, called Fluid Simulation.
Chit Chat Across the Pond
This week’s guest on Chit Chat Across the Pond seems to be your favorite guest: Dr. Maryanne Garry of the University of Waikato. I asked Maryanne to come on the show this week to help me break down a research paper I read that’s not actually in her area of expertise. Nonetheless, she does help me understand the testing methods used and how useful the conclusions of the paper might be.
The paper we talked about came to my attention via the Daily Tech News Show. The paper is available as open access, and is entitled “Relating Natural Language Aptitude to Individual Differences in Learning Programming Languages” on Nature.com. It’s about a study done out of the University of Washington which hypothesized that learning to program did not depend on math skills, but rather was more correlated with language-learning skills. If found to be true, this questions why we usually have higher-level math requirements in universities for programming courses.
I can imagine pretty every nerd listening (which is all of us) getting our hackles up at the very thought that math isn’t more important to programming than the ability to learn languages. That was certainly my first reaction, but reading the details of the paper and going through it with Maryanne brought me around to thinking there’s definitely some merit to the idea.
You can find this episode in your podcatcher of choice under Chit Chat Across the Pond Lite, and of course, as always you can listen over at www.podfeet.com/….
Blog Posts
CES 2020: myQ Connected LiftMaster Smart Home Products
I Really Don’t Understand Why People Choose Android
CES 2020: Wallbox Electric Vehicle Chargers
Support the Show
This week on pledge break, I’m not going to ask you for money. Instead, I’d like to ask you to help me evangelize the podcasts. If you listen to an episode of one of the shows and you learn something or you’re entertained, please consider Tweeting, Facebooking, TikToking, or Instagramming about the show. Let your followers know that you get value here and more people will come to join the party.
You can make it easy on yourself and follow me on Twitter and retweet my spam about the show, or join our Facebook group and share my spam from there. I’m not too good at Instagramming stuff because there’s no Mac client, but I’m going to try to get better at it so you can follow me there too @podfeet. Warning though, it’s mostly pictures of my grandson getting a cake pop.
If you have any questions on how to do this, follow the masters, Frank Petrie and Roger Nash. They are dedicated retweeters/sharers/likers who keep the fun flowing!
Too much work to do any of this? How about dropping a review on Apple Podcasts? Those seem to matter quite a bit too! If even this is too much work, how about telling your friends and family about the show? Chris Ashley of the SMR Podcast always tells his listeners to put their friends in a headlock and make them subscribe.
Thank you for any way you choose to support the show!
CES 2020: Colgate Plaqless Pro Smart Electric Toothbrush
CES 2020: Radii Devices, Personalized Fitting of Prosthetic Devices
“Become Happy” and “Connect to our Big Universe” with Fluid Simulation App
That’s going to wind this up for this week. Don’t forget to send in your Dumb Questions, comments and suggestions by emailing me at [email protected], follow me on twitter @podfeet. Remember, everything good starts with podfeet.com/. podfeet.com/patreon, podfeet.com/paypal, podfeet.com/facebook, podfeet.com/slack! And if you want to join in the fun of the live show, head on over to podfeet.com/live on Sunday nights at 5pm Pacific Time and join the friendly and enthusiastic NosillaCastaways. Thanks for listening, and stay subscribed.