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North Meets South Web Podcast: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Jacob Bennett and Michael Dyrynda
Jake Bennett and Michael Dyrynda conquer a 14.5 hour time difference to talk about life as web developers
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- 2 weeks ago32 min
Preparing conference talks, mentoring juniors, and planning projects
In this episode, Jake and Michael catch up on the final preparations for Laracon AU, using AI to build and rehearse conference presentations, and the tools and workflows making their lives easier.Michael shares how smooth his custom-built conference ops tool has made organising Laracon and walks through his AI-assisted presentation workflow, using Claude, Keynote, and recorded rehearsals to refine his script, animations, delivery, and timing.Jake shares his own approach to preparing presentations by recording stream-of-consciousness voice memos, turning them into structured outlines, and iterating with AI while preserving his natural speaking style.The conversation also explores smart home technology, the challenges of mentoring junior developers, and how experience shapes the decisions developers make when planning and delivering projects.Show linksLaracon AURoad to LaraconClaudeStagetimerRundown StudioLemonnade
- 4 weeks ago37 min
Whacking trees, conference operations, and AI tests
In this episode, Jake and Michael discuss the value of consistency, the final preparations for Laracon AU, and how AI is changing the economics of building software.Michael shares how his custom-built conference operations platform is simplifying everything from attendee registration and dietary requirements to merchandise, QR codes, and venue deliveries. This leads to a broader conversation about highly specialised software, declining costs of building apps, and whether traditional SaaS subscriptions still make sense.The conversation turns to AI-generated tests, where Michael explains how he's using lessons from Mostly Technical to identify and remove unnecessary tests in his Laravel projects. Jake shares his experience using an AI agent to monitor Facebook Marketplace for a car, and the pair discuss the benefits and privacy implications of increasingly autonomous AI tools.Show linksLaracon AUQuiz MeistersTuplePaperformTypeformSignUpGeniusCloudflare WorkersPuzzle PartyMostly Technical: Feel the AGIMeta Muse
- Sep 17, 202651 min
Home renos, networking the future, and AI software factories?
Michael and Jake celebrate episode 200 in the most outlandish way possible: with no special plan whatsoever.Michael shares an update on his home renovation, including construction progress, verandah engineering, outdoor kitchen plans, landscaping, structured cabling, smoke alarms, CCTV, and the ever-growing list of "small" additions that come with a major building project.They then discuss home networking, with Michael planning a mostly Ubiquiti, while Jake compares notes on his own home network, including reusing old whole-house vacuum pipes as ethernet conduit and planning better Wi-Fi coverage throughout the house.Later, the conversation shifts to software development and AI-assisted coding. Michael describes what he calls - rightly or wrongly - a "software factory" that uses Amp as an orchestrator, GLM 5.3 agents for implementation, spec-driven development, automated code review, browser testing, and overnight agent workflows.The episode wraps with a broader discussion about what AI means for software development, how it enables software for an audience of one, and whether Michael should buy the 24-port PoE switch after all.
- Sep 3, 20261h 7m
Cash Money AI Power Hour
Jake and Michael are joined by TJ Miller, David Hemphill, and Chris Gmyr to talk about the realities of working with non-technical stakeholders that are now empowered to deliver software through AI.Show linksTJ MillerDavid HemphillChris GmyrKFC's Picklecore MenuLuma Brighter LearningZillowRula HealthLaravel NovaLovableLaravel AIRefactoring to CollectionsRectorPHPStan
- Aug 13, 202647 min
Lobster rolls, boom parties, and crashed workers
In this episode, Michael and Jake recap Laracon US Boston, from Malaysian food and an undefeated dodgeball run to Laraprom, the great nachos-with-rice debate, conference logistics, Aaron Francis stepping into Laravel’s VP of Marketing and Community role, and a reminder to make room for silly software.Jake shares his work rebuilding Boom Party, the fast-paced Bomberman clone his team used to play after stand-up, along with hosting decisions and a creative workflow involving Claude, Gemini, and Suno.Michael closes things out with what was supposed to be an easy Pest 5 upgrade but turned into a much bigger test-suite adventure: converting old PHPUnit-style tests, untangling inheritance, tracking down mysterious parallel test failures, discovering the pain of stray exit statements, and ultimately getting repeat runs across an approximately 18,000-test suite down to just eight seconds.Show linksPomplamooseSpindriftIZZELaracon USAaron FrancisSidecarWhimsy-driven development by Christina MartinezBoom PartyFly.io
- Jul 17, 202646 min
Wildfires, Fitness Tracking, and CCTV
Michael and Jake catch up ahead of Laracon in Boston, beginning with Michael's increasingly complicated home extension. Jake shares a family trip to Cedar Point, then the conversation moves to how a Laravel Cloud weekend challenge inspired Michael to build Fitrack, a personal app for coordinating training around a single fitness goal. We then move on to home network and security upgrades, including a larger rack cabinet, a new NAS, locally accessible alarms and CCTV, Power over Ethernet cameras, Home Assistant, HomeKit, RTSP feeds, and using Claude to handle unfamiliar smart-home configuration. We also discuss Kitze hacking his NordicTrack treadmill and Michael’s experience connecting his own treadmill with Apple Fitness.Finally, Michael and Jake look ahead to Laracon, discuss conference merchandise and accommodation in Boston, and finish with a conversation about donuts, candy, and the lengths parents go to when quietly disposing of their children’s leftover sweets.Show linksCedar PointLaravel CloudTaylor’s Laravel Cloud weekend shipping challengeEdwin’s Google Meet alternativeFitrackDavid HemphillHome AssistantAqara camerasKitze's treadmill hackCaleb Porzio on code imprinting on our brainsLaracon USMoxy Boston Downtown
- Jul 2, 202645 min
Better API docs, customer support lessons, and cannoli
Jake shares lessons from rebuilding a permissions system around flexible roles, temporary permission leases, and delegated user management. He also discusses adding Apple Pay and Google Pay, plus designing automated text-message payment flows that use numbered choices instead of complicated keywords.Michael talks about building lender integrations, the importance of adding real context to API documentation, and using Claude to turn JSON specifications into PHP DTOs and enums. He also reflects on his team’s new helpdesk rotation, where direct exposure to users has uncovered long-standing bugs, inefficient manual processes, and opportunities for developers to better understand the people using their software.They finish with the challenges of parenting teenagers, preparations for Laracon US in Boston, including a search for coffee, donuts, bagels, and cannoli. - Club World Cup surprises and sports talk - UFC, LeBron and basketball moves - Rebuilding roles and permissions - Permission leases and delegated management - Apple Pay, Google Pay and text-based payments - Lender integrations and better API documentation - A new developer and the helpdesk rotation - Automated tickets and failed queue jobs - The address autocomplete bug - When tiny code changes create hidden failures - Why support requests need a real ticket - Developers learning directly from customers - Cross-department training and business context - Building trust beyond Slack - Weekly stress, workload and personal check-ins - Parenting teenagers and setting curfews - Planning for Laracon US in Boston - Australian and American school calendars - Vacations, PTO and wrapping up
- Jun 18, 202657 min
Ten years of the show, conference ticketing, and database access
In this milestone 10-year anniversary episode of North Meets South, Michael and Jake reflect on a decade of podcasting, from their first awkward recordings and early Laravel community connections to the friendships, conferences, and recurring topics that have shaped the show over nearly 200 episodes. A large part of the episode focuses on Michael's work-in-progress event ticketing platform inspired by the challenges of running Laracon AU. He explains the limitations of existing conference ticketing systems, the difficulties of collecting attendee information for multiple conference-adjacent events, and his vision for a more attendee-centric system that manages profiles, dietary requirements, event registrations, and conference networks across multiple Laravel events. To wrap up, Michael and Jake discuss giving developers direct database access, the security implications of SSH access, database permissions, and Laravel filesystem configuration, including why enabling exception throwing for filesystem operations can help avoid silent failures.Show linksLaracon AULaracon US TicketTailor Transistor Laravel News PodcastNo Plans to Merge Notes on WorkTalking BusinesslyLarabelles LaraProm WalletWalletLaravel filesystem throw on fail
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About North Meets South Web Podcast
Jake Bennett and Michael Dyrynda conquer a 14.5 hour time difference to talk about life as web developers
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