10 tech resolutions for a new year and a new decade
From specifics like email to backups, to big issues like reading deeper and rediscovering boredom. Here's 10 ways to fix our tech usage in the 2020s.
How Bob Ross saved my sanity
After an accident last year, Seamus couldn't sleep for months. Bob Ross's Twitch channel was just what the doctor never ordered.
"Why Are You The Only One?"
My son is at that threshold where he wants to align his own opinions and fandom with his peers, and I’m one of the ‘weird’ parents who is telling him that some YouTubers are OK and others are not.
Streaming TV killed the cinema star (and Byteside's best of 2019)
What does Xbox Series X mean for the future of consoles? And why are Michael Bay and Martin Scorsese going direct to Netflix?
The 10 Winningest Game Awards Moments And Reveals
After 5 years, The Game Awards has carved out its patch as an end of year celebration of the games industry that has the pretence of Hollywood awards shows
A Better Internet
The internet is a mess. But is it the internet’s fault? Thinking about climate change arguments and UK projected election results and measles outbreaks, they all have problems that are exacerbated by the state of today’s internet. Bad ideas can propagate faster than ever, and the unsubstantiated can
From sublime TV to ridiculous fandoms
Nic's been watching the fantastic Watchmen while Seamus has been annoyed at just how few people will get to watch Tokyo 2020 in 4K.
Rewriting the rules again and again
Google. Facebook. Uber. Ring. So many of this week’s stories point out how many services start with great intentions but end of doing whatever it takes to get big and make all the money. When you’re big enough, you can just change your mission statement, change your terms
Cybering the drones for a dead queen
It's a week of nuisances for our intrepid hosts this week. Nic wants to see the death of calling anything cyber again, and Seamus is bemused by Facebook's PR
Too much Star Wars?
This week Nic and Seamus talk Minecraft Earth and get a little sidetracked reminiscing about the first days of Pokemon Go.
We Can Be Better
There’s so much ‘bad faith’ argument and activity in the world right now. So few political leaders actually doing any leading. Most just doing a lot of protecting and avoiding. It’s bollocks. But this week it’s been great to see Cannon-Brookes and Twiggy Forrest get behind an
Death Stranding aka The Postman 2
This week we talk about why Seamus has quit Facebook (but not exactly deleted it), how Nic is preparing to automate his new home, and the Disney+ 4:3 ratio
On Quitting Facebook
This week I decided enough was enough. The mental gymnastics around why I *must* stay on Facebook came to an end. I’m not exactly deleting Facebook, but I am done using it as a place to offer up my attention as a commodity. Instead, I will use it as
From Icecrown to Icewind
This week Seamus and Nic talk about Shay's trip to BlizzCon 2019 - the games and the politics - before looking into retro RPGs on the Switch, the new Airpods
Back from BlizzCon
Last week I was at BlizzCon in the USA, so we skipped an issue of the newsletter. It was my first time at the event and as a long-time fan and writer about all things Blizzard games (makers of Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, and Hearthstone) it
Critical mass hysteria
Nothing digital succeeds anymore without a big enough snowball to propel it forward. It’s kind of obvious. But it underpins everything today, and a lot of this week’s stories. From Microsoft’s game streaming service Mixer wooing another big Twitch streamer to change platforms, to TikTok deepening its
Ten keys to annoying Seamus
Nic and Seamus talk Pixel 4, Sonos Move, and the whole "Is Marvel cinema?" conundrum, plus Disney, err, Plus. Seamus also has a big problem with big gaming
From Space Daks to Afterlife Pranks
Great seeing a bunch of you at PAX Australia last weekend! It was my first time with the family and it changed my perspective in amazing ways. The kids loved it on the ‘life changing’ end of the scale. I felt like they really felt more validated in their love
A gift for esports: do you have what it takes?
A special panel recorded live at PAX Australia 2019! Featuring a trio of amazing industry experts to explore the topic of shifting gears from just playing to
The PAX Australia edition
Nic and Seamus catch up face-to-face at PAX Australia 2019 live in Melbourne to talk about the show, what they saw, what they did, what panels they were
