TW116: Back on the Mac and Blocking the Noise

Michael got his MacBook back and shares the apps and tools he immediately reinstalled—including Audio Hijack, Raycast, Hazel, and Little Snitch—plus what didn’t quite make the cut. Damashe walks through Homebrew tips, Markdown Service Tools setup, and how to fix symlink issues for missing binaries. They also dive into Mac App Store automation with mas, speaker setup logistics for live events, and whether to send signal to a subwoofer first or last in the audio chain.

They also cover:

• Autoplay and accessibility considerations in web players
• Comparing Raycast, LaunchBar, and Alfred for Mac navigation
• The realities of editing audio with a giant powered speaker in your office
• Speaker feedback issues with the Shure Beta 87A and experiments with the Q2U
• Why most apps shouldn't request local network access—and when it's okay
• Little Snitch vs. BlockBlock for app-level firewall protection
• Homebrew cleanup, Hazel automation, and uninstall tips
• Using Perplexity and GPT for real-world tech support and research
• Frustrations with Gemini on Android and Google's assistant transitions
• GitHub Copilot changes, Claude for coding, and the fading GitHub Pro tier
• Ubiquiti Device Bridge, mesh Wi-Fi fixes, and fiber dreams
• The dangers of not running a backup audio recording
• An idea to revisit old episodes and reflect on how far they’ve come
• Whether they’ll ever do a feedback episode (spoiler: maybe tomorrow)

And yes—there’s KFC grease jokes, egg prices, Flipboard flashbacks, and why the Technically Working bot is the real one to follow on Mastodon.

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