Episode 443: Immediate Electric Smugness

Published: Sept. 19, 2019, 8 p.m.

DISCUSSED: Merlin has a cool new voice from talking to friends late last night; Dan has an automotive collision anecdote, while Merlin has thoughts on how preparation fails us in extreme moments; in follow-up, Listener Steve has terrific advice on dealing with bad hotel room technology; your hosts love insider information from pilots and other category pros; Dan ordered a watch, and Merlin is apparently not actually wrecking a plane; the guys respond to listener letters about ages of people in movies, Dan's world-destroying Disney fact (that he can't remember), plus a listener's concern about company password hygiene; and finally, Dan has great news about refreshing an iMac, but less great news about household password hygiene.

\n\n

Links for this episode:

\n\n

  • Inteset Universal Remote Control Device Code Lookup
  • Steve Whittaker (@swhitt) / Twitter
  • Steve Whittaker on Twitter: "@hotdogsladies Also I always enable VIP mode on my hotel thermostat if it matches this guy: https://t.co/19pNzwgRCx" / Twitter
  • Hotel remote trick
  • Cockpit Confidential: Everything You Need to Know About Air Travel: Questions, Answers, and Reflections, Patrick Smith, eBook - Amazon.com
  • AskThePilot.com \xbb THE ULTIMATE RESOURCE SITE FOR EVERYONE WHO FLIES
  • Toward better Master Passwords | 1Password
    The strength of a password creation system is not how many letters, digits, and symbols you end up with, but how many ways you could get a different result using the same system.
    \n
  • xkcd: Password Strength
  • 129 Cars - This American Life
    We spend a month at a Jeep dealership on Long Island as they try to make their monthly sales goal: 129 cars. If they make it, they'll get a huge bonus from the manufacturer, possibly as high as $85,000 \u2014 enough to put them in the black for the month. If they don't make it, it'll be the second month in a row. So they pull out all the stops.
    \n
  • Amazon.com: Samsung T5 Portable SSD - 1TB - USB 3.1 External SSD (MU-PA1T0B/AM), Black: Computers & Accessories
    (Merlin's hotel room SSD drive. Load it up!)
    \n
  • DIY Bundle 1.0TB OWC 6G SSD and HDD Kit for 21.5" iMac (2012 and later)
  • Brought to you by:\n\n