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Matthias Wandel & Yacine: The Pleasure of Finding Things Out | The Other Stuff #34

Matthias Wandel (https://www.youtube.com/@matthiaswandel) is an engineer, woodworker, and YouTuber who runs the most-viewed woodworking channel on YouTube. He was an early employee at Research In Motion, assigned employee number 13. Yacine (https://x.com/yacineMTB) is an engineer building autonomous drones. Both of them are tinkerers, explorers, and builders in their own right. They poke at the world, build and test things for themselves, and develop their own understanding. In this conversation, we traced a single thread through Matthias’s entire life: what happens when you grow up in a place where the only way to have something is to make it yourself, and then never stop. We started in Northern Ontario, in his dad’s workshop on a gravel road where the nearest store was an hour away, and followed that instinct through his first encounters with computers, a Bic-pen dot matrix printer on a Commodore 64, two brothers with two machines in a basement heated by a wood stove, lock picking in the Waterloo service tunnels, and what it means to be a nerd. Matthias and Yacine went back and forth on simplicity vs. ease, what LLMs change about the relationship between understanding and building, and why the probability of code getting reused is inverse to the effort you spend making it reusable. Matthias walked through building the DigiSync barcode reader for the motion picture industry, writing almost all the firmware for RIM’s first wireless modem in DSP assembly, watching BlackBerry’s network traffic flip on 9/11, and what it was like to work alongside Mike Lazaridis. He explained why he left BlackBerry while sales were at their peak and how a bandwidth constraint accidentally made his first viral YouTube video. This is a conversation about constraints that become capability, capability that becomes independence, and independence that becomes something you pass on. The Other Stuff is hosted by internetVin, filmmaker, entrepreneur, and possibly the most curious man on Earth. Produced by New. — Timestamps 00:00:00 Intro 00:02:25 ElectroBoom and Styropyro 00:09:55 Potato Guns and Air Guns 00:23:34 Growing Up in Northern Ontario 00:37:16 First Computers and the Bic Pen Printer 00:43:22 Markus Wandel and the Basement 01:00:19 University of Waterloo 01:03:37 Service Tunnels and Lock Picking 01:10:07 What Is a Nerd? 01:11:34 LLMs and Simplicity vs. Ease 01:31:19 How RIM Started 01:44:01 Building the Wireless Modem 01:58:43 Reusability and Optionality 02:14:13 The BlackBerry Pager 02:33:50 BlackBerry and 9/11 02:48:13 Lazaridis and Balsillie 03:05:28 The YouTube Channel 03:26:01 The Capacitance Sensor 03:42:41 Passing It On — The Other Stuff Podcast: ⁠https://⁠ [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]⁠otherstuffpod.com⁠ [http://otherstuffpod.com/]  * YouTube: ⁠youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK0osV4LBB6zLfDk-KDV9FtDg7y0bJ3AW⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK0osV4LBB6zLfDk-KDV9FtDg7y0bJ3AW] * Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f⁠ [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f] * Apple: ⁠https://⁠ [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]⁠podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-other-stuff-with-internetvin/id1828762531⁠ [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-other-stuff-with-internetvin/id1828762531] * Twitter: ⁠https://⁠ [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]⁠x.com/otherstuffpod⁠ [https://x.com/otherstuffpod] * Instagram: ⁠https://⁠ [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]⁠instagram.com/otherstuffpod⁠ [https://instagram.com/otherstuffpod] internetVin ⁠ * ⁠https://⁠ [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]⁠x.com/internetvin⁠ [https://x.com/internetvin ] New * ⁠https://⁠ [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]⁠x.com/newsystems_⁠ [https://x.com/newsystems_] * ⁠https://⁠ [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]⁠instagram.com/newsystems_ [https://instagram.com/newsystems_]

HudZah: The Collapse of Permission Structures | The Other Stuff #33

HudZah (https://x.com/hud_zah [https://x.com/hud_zah]) is someone exploring what it means, and what it takes, to operate at the edge of what is possible. In this conversation, we traced HudZah's path from Riyadh to Sri Lanka to Waterloo. A childhood split across three countries, shaped by rationed wifi, a single HP desktop, and the discovery that what you build on a computer can change the world around you. We talked about coding HTML on Notepad at ten, building soundboard apps that funded his own move to Canada, and what it's like to grow up in a place with no permits, no regulators, and no one telling you what you can't do. We explored the birth of esports through Half-Life mods, the machines behind the food we love, and a baklava maker in San Francisco whose irrational pursuit of quality you can taste in a single bite. We discussed how AI is collapsing the walls between disciplines, what that does to the identities we built around expertise, and why individual agency might be the only variable that matters now. This is a conversation about curiosity, permission, and what happens when the cost of crossing boundaries drops to zero. The Other Stuff is hosted by internetVin⁠, filmmaker, entrepreneur, and possibly the most curious man on Earth. Produced by New. — Timestamps 00:00:00 Introduction 00:03:38 Growing Up in Riyadh 00:05:59 Saudi Shawarma and Broasted Chicken 00:16:39 School in Saudi Arabia 00:21:48 The HP Desktop and First Lines of Code 00:25:55 YouTube Rabbit Holes and Gaming 00:45:35 The Birth of Esports 01:02:43 Valve's Employee Handbook 01:05:12 Indie Games and Pure Pursuit 01:06:05 Stardew Valley and ConcernedApe 01:07:03 Moving to Sri Lanka 01:10:34 SnapAPaper and Seeing Real Users 01:13:47 Soundboards, Shopify, and Funding the Move 01:27:38 Landing in Canada at 17 01:36:25 AI and Collapsing the Distance Between Disciplines 01:47:02 Identity, Expertise, and Permission Structures 02:00:32 The Baklava Maker in San Francisco 02:18:26 Machines Behind the Food We Love 02:36:02 Frederic Tudor and the Ice King 02:42:29 HudZah Flips the Interview 02:49:05 Being a Parent — The Other Stuff Podcast: https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]otherstuffpod.com [http://otherstuffpod.com/]  * YouTube: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK0osV4LBB6zLfDk-KDV9FtDg7y0bJ3AW [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK0osV4LBB6zLfDk-KDV9FtDg7y0bJ3AW] * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f] * Apple: https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-other-stuff-with-internetvin/id1828762531 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-other-stuff-with-internetvin/id1828762531] * Twitter: https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]x.com/otherstuffpod [https://x.com/otherstuffpod] * Instagram: https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]instagram.com/otherstuffpod [https://instagram.com/otherstuffpod] internetVin ⁠ * https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]x.com/internetvin [https://x.com/internetvin ] New * https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]x.com/newsystems_ [https://x.com/newsystems_] * https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]instagram.com/newsystems_ [https://instagram.com/newsystems_] The music used during the introduction is "Sitting by the Lake in Zurich" by Sweatson Klank. Available on Bandcamp: https://sweatsonklank.bandcamp.com/track/sitting-by-the-lake-in-zurich [https://sweatsonklank.bandcamp.com/track/sitting-by-the-lake-in-zurich]

Falcon: A Romance of Many Dimensions | The Other Stuff #32

Ahmed Saleh, Steven Yuen, and Gabriel O’Flaherty-Chan of Falcon (https://falcon.so/ [https://falcon.so/]). Falcon is a new design tool for curious designers. Their team is based in the West End of Toronto. In this episode, we explored the games, tools, and software that shaped each of us growing up, from Doom and Zelda to Macromedia Flash and KidPix, and how those early experiences rewired our understanding of what computers could be. We discussed Falcon’s approach to building creative tools: the idea that anything can be anything if you expose the right primitives, the concept of mutation as a design principle, and why the beginning of the creative process deserves far more attention than the optimization at the end. Along the way, Gabe walked us through ray tracing from first principles, demonstrated geometry nodes in Blender, and showed how Falcon can turn math into fire, visuals into audio, and signals into whatever you want them to be. We talked about why most design tools today are built around optimization rather than expression, the false thesis of simplicity, and how the dimensions of the tools we inherit quietly become the boundaries of what we think is possible. This is a conversation about software, self-expression, and how the tools we use shape the world we live in. The Other Stuff is hosted by internetVin⁠, filmmaker and entrepreneur and possibly the most curious man on Earth. Produced by New. — Timestamps 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:42 Doom and id Software 00:16:14 Open World Games 00:36:05 Ray Tracing 00:45:14 Blender Demo 00:50:07 Early Web 00:56:20 Macromedia Flash Era 01:00:34 2Advanced 01:10:52 KidPix and Expressive Tools 01:21:03 Mutations in Design Tooling 01:30:41 Node Editors and Falcon 01:44:45 AI and Creative Tools 01:49:59 Craftsmanship and Intent 02:00:50 Worldview Over Technology 02:09:03 Making Fire with Math 02:17:28 Information Density 02:28:40 Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions — The Other Stuff Podcast: https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]otherstuffpod.com [http://otherstuffpod.com/]  * YouTube: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK0osV4LBB6zLfDk-KDV9FtDg7y0bJ3AW [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK0osV4LBB6zLfDk-KDV9FtDg7y0bJ3AW] * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f] * Apple: https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-other-stuff-with-internetvin/id1828762531 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-other-stuff-with-internetvin/id1828762531] * Twitter: https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]x.com/otherstuffpod [https://x.com/otherstuffpod] * Instagram: https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]instagram.com/otherstuffpod [https://instagram.com/otherstuffpod] internetVin ⁠ * https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]x.com/internetvin [https://x.com/internetvin ] New * https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]x.com/newsystems_ [https://x.com/newsystems_] * https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]instagram.com/newsystems_ [https://instagram.com/newsystems_]

Tommy Trinh: Unveiling The Now | The Other Stuff #31

Tommy Trinh (@tommytrinh) is a co-founder of New. In this episode, we explored Stewart Brand's pace layering diagram and the slow-moving forces underneath everything – culture, myths, values, and the narrative structures that have been recurring throughout the history of humankind. We kept finding the Epic of Gilgamesh in places we didn't expect: anime, wrestling, video games. From there we traced the evolution of games as a medium, from early first-person shooters to souls-like difficulty to simulators to AI-generated worlds, and what each genre reveals about why people play. The last stretch of the conversation was about something harder to name. We shared how things have started to feel uninspiring, how it feels like we're in a state of limbo between how the world used to work and whatever comes next. The meta is too visible, media feels formulaic, and the thresholds that used to structure our sense of what's possible have quietly dissolved. What is even unknown anymore when an LLM can explain anything? Does the value of direct experience go up as the baseline of what's virtually accessible rises? What are the new thresholds? How do you posture yourself within a shift you can feel but can't fully articulate? This is a conversation about the stories we keep telling, the games we keep playing, and what becomes worth pursuing when the map has been filled in. The Other Stuff is hosted by internetVin⁠, filmmaker and entrepreneur and possibly the most curious man on Earth. Produced by New. — Timestamps 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:23 Pace Layering & Myths 00:15:13 The Epic of Gilgamesh 00:25:46 GoldenEye & id Software 00:41:48 The Neo Geo 00:57:38 NBA Jam & Def Jam 01:02:13 Wrestling is Anime 01:19:53 Souls-like 01:30:38 Simulators & Realism 01:47:28 AI in Games 02:05:48 Death Stranding & Kojima 02:15:40 Yellowknife 02:32:03 Searching for New Frames 02:52:00 Baselines & Thresholds 03:01:15 Frequency, Intensity, & Speed 03:06:38 Nostalgia & Primitive Technology — The Other Stuff Podcast: https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]otherstuffpod.com [http://otherstuffpod.com/]  * YouTube: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK0osV4LBB6zLfDk-KDV9FtDg7y0bJ3AW [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK0osV4LBB6zLfDk-KDV9FtDg7y0bJ3AW] * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f] * Apple: https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-other-stuff-with-internetvin/id1828762531 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-other-stuff-with-internetvin/id1828762531] * Twitter: https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]x.com/otherstuffpod [https://x.com/otherstuffpod] * Instagram: https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]instagram.com/otherstuffpod [https://instagram.com/otherstuffpod] internetVin ⁠ * https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]x.com/internetvin [https://x.com/internetvin ] New * https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]x.com/newsystems_ [https://x.com/newsystems_] * https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]instagram.com/newsystems_ [https://instagram.com/newsystems_]

Andrew McLuhan: The Medium Is the Message | The Other Stuff #30

Andrew McLuhan (@amicusadastra) is a poet, artist, and punk-rocker. In this conversation, we spent over three hours on five words: the medium is the message. Andrew explained why his grandfather saw the medium as an environment rather than just an instrument, and why environments shape us most when we’re not paying attention to them. We talked about the miracle of language—how one person can push sounds out of their mouth and another person can understand them—and how each new technology quietly redefines what it means to be human. We explored figure and ground, oral versus literate culture, the shift from mechanical to electrical ages, and why hip hop and punk rock share the same irreverent impulse. Despite everything, Andrew is an optimist. He sees the beauty around him. He also brought homemade maple syrup from his farm and we discussed whether shawarma was the medium or the message. This is a conversation about media, perception, and how we might not always be aware of the things changing us. The Other Stuff is hosted by internetVin⁠, filmmaker and entrepreneur and possibly the most curious man on Earth. Produced by New. — Timestamps 00:00:00 Introduction 00:04:30 Prince Edward County & Main Duck Island 00:07:10 The Marysburg Vortex 00:16:50 What Does “The Medium Is The Message” Actually Mean? 00:36:24 The Smartphone Exercise 00:44:26 Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man 01:08:56 Buckminster Fuller & Interdisciplinary Thinking 01:25:56 Marshall’s Journey to Cambridge 01:43:06 Why This Work Matters 01:51:53 AI, Privacy & Feeding Context to LLMs 02:00:17 Media Ecology vs Media Literacy 02:08:12 Making Maple Syrup 02:23:44 Sandwiches as a Medium 02:34:35 The Polydicks & Punk Rock 02:45:51 Wu-Tang & Poetry 02:53:42 Leaving Literacy Behind 03:06:08 The Future of Technology — The Other Stuff Podcast: https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]otherstuffpod.com [http://otherstuffpod.com/]  * YouTube: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK0osV4LBB6zLfDk-KDV9FtDg7y0bJ3AW [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK0osV4LBB6zLfDk-KDV9FtDg7y0bJ3AW] * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f] * Apple: https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-other-stuff-with-internetvin/id1828762531 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-other-stuff-with-internetvin/id1828762531] * Twitter: https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]x.com/otherstuffpod [https://x.com/otherstuffpod] * Instagram: https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]instagram.com/otherstuffpod [https://instagram.com/otherstuffpod] internetVin ⁠ * https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]x.com/internetvin [https://x.com/internetvin ] New * https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]x.com/newsystems_ [https://x.com/newsystems_] * https:// [https://open.spotify.com/show/1kImmU1R1DYTeM1AKZRWkx?si=2feeadb93ad4419f]instagram.com/newsystems_ [https://instagram.com/newsystems_]