e566 — Making Fetch Happen

e566 — Making Fetch Happen

Author: Michael Rowe, Michael Martine, Andy Piper August 31, 2026 Duration: 22:46
Mean Girls program from The Cape Playhouse, Dennis, MA with the the theater set in the background.
Picture by Michael Martine, Dennis, MA, August 2026

Published 31 August 2026

e566 with Michael M and Andy who strive to make fetch happen with AI podcast search and news aggregation, spoof computers (Mactini & MacBook Wheel), Doom ports & mods, Flying Toasters, falling Acme anvils and a whole lot more!

Michael M and Andy get together while Michael R is away, starting and ending the episode with some classic lines from stage and screen.  Michael M is freshly back from seeing the Cape Playhouse’s rendition of Mean Girls, which was such a delight.  

Turning then to AI – the cohosts start off with a story about making podcasts searchable and usable by AI agents.  This reminds Andy of Particle, an app that both he and Michael use occasionally to review the news.  Next, they both use the Cringebot 3000 to make up some LinkedIn posts.

Then, a series of hacks – beginning with a super fun one, the Apple Mactini, not to be confused with Dr. Dorian from Scrubs favorite drink – the appletini.  The Mactini is not a watered down cocktail, rather it is a one button computer that Tucker Osman made based on the spoof of an Apple TV commercial from 20 years ago, and that remained true to the spoof in it’s function.  The Onion made a spoof of a click wheel (from the iPod) Mac in 2009 – and you can see that video in in the notes below.  After checking out a number of LEGO gaming PCs, Andy shares the story of the eenk firmware for Xteink devices to create the choose your own adventure games we’ve been sharing on the podcast recently.

Longtime listeners will know that the Games at Work team collects Doom stories, and for this episode, there are a couple of new examples.  There’s a story about Doom running on the EMFCamp Tildagon Badge, a mod called Mr. Friendly whose objective is to help the monsters recover from the latest space marine rampage, and an article about Anthropic’s Claude playing the game.

Closing out the show, Andy and Michael take a look at a port of the After Dark screen savers which you can now experience again thanks to Afterglow.  They also look at a review of the Coyote vs Acme film that is premiering, and the linkage to Looney Tunes, and Ben Moor’s talk entitled “Pronoun Trouble”.

And, as mentioned at the start of the show notes, the ending for the episode ties everything up with an Elmer Fudd bow where we is hunting Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, and Daffy of course utters the classic line in his classic voice, “You’re despicable.”

What is your favorite Acme product?  Have your bots 🤖 drop our bots 🤖 a line at @gamesatwork_biz@mastodon.social (our home for now) and let us know! 

These show notes were lovingly hand crafted by a real human, and not by a bot.  All rights reserved.  That’s our story and we’re sticking to it.

Selected Links

Mean Girls @ The Cape Playhouse

Mean Girls 2026

AI

TechCrunch article: Radar makes podcasts searchable — and usable by AI agents

Particle.news

LinkedIn CringeBot 3000

Hacks

hackster.io article: The Apple Mactini Just Became a Real Computer

Games at Work e529: Shake, Shake, Shake Your iPhone (for the Onion MacBook Wheel)

Brick Fanatics article: New LEGO gaming PCs revealed, and you can make them at home

eenk custom firmware for the Xteink ESP32 series of e-ink reader devices

Doom

Mr. Friendly

Hackaday article: Claude Plays Doom

Miscellany

Afterglow for After Dark Flying Toasters

Games at Work e382: Know it when I see it (for the creepy AI generated flying toaster)

IGN article: Coyote vs. Acme Review

Ben Moor post: Pronoun Trouble

Rabbit Fire (1951) on r/looneytunes (for the Rabbit Season, Duck Season bit, which is such a classic)


The weekly conversation hosted by Michael Rowe, Michael Martine, and Andy Piper, Games At Work dot Biz, explores the intersection where our digital play and professional lives collide. This isn't just a review show; it's a deep dive into the technology that powers our hobbies, the business behind the leisure, and the cultural news shaping both worlds. Each episode feels like pulling up a chair with three friends who are as passionate about the craft of game development and the evolution of hardware as they are about the pure joy of finding a great new title. You'll hear specific discussions on everything from the latest graphics card impacting performance to the narrative design of an indie darling, all filtered through the lens of professionals who live in the tech space. The Games At Work dot Biz podcast operates on the belief that the games we play and the tools we use are inextricably linked, offering listeners a consistently thoughtful and engaging analysis that goes far beyond a simple score. Tune in for a regular dose of insightful commentary where the serious business of technology meets the serious fun of games.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

Games At Work dot Biz
Podcast Episodes
e567 — Infinite Pong World Model [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:29
e567 with Michael M and Andy - Stories and discussion on Xteink reader mods, PONG, mathematical innovations for dice, walled garden vs open vibe coding, World Models, AI productivity and a whole lot more!
e565 — Building Minas Tirith [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:27
Photo by iridial on Unsplash Published 17 August 2026 e565 with Andy, Michael and Michael – invisible prompt injections in legal briefs and resumes, podcasting games, No Man’s Sky & Pokemon Go’s anniversaries, LEGO and a…
e564 — Saving Drowning People With Spiders [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:03
Photo by Zac Taheriyan on Unsplash Published 10 August 2026 e564 with Michael, Andy and Michael – a spider filled episode with AdTech and lifesaving robotic implications, VR Mario Kart, quantum lawn mowing, identity mana…
e563 — Space Nerds in Space [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:44
Photo by Michael Martine, Chapel Hill, NC Aug 2026 Published 3 August 2026 e563 with Michael, Michael and Andy – Games at Work Game, and a cornucopia of other games: Haex, Pathbind Quest, a physical cockpit for Halcyon D…
e562 — Field Notes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:58
Photo by Michael Martine, Hamptonville, North Carolina, Oct 2018 Published 27 July 2026 e562 with Andy and Michael M – EMFCamp recap, whole lot of LEGO love, the game of life, a Playdate mini MMO, AR assisted murals and…
e561 — For the Birds [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:38
Photo by Michael Martine, South Yarmouth MA, July 2026 Published 13 July 2026 e561 with Michael, Andy and Michael – arial-aquatic robotic locomotion, Puffin wingspan, e-ink mini PDAs, maker marketplaces such as Tindie, L…
e560 — Sweating the Small Stuff [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:10
Photo by nik biziuk on Unsplash Published 6 July 2026 e560 with Andy, Michael and Michael – stickshift & phone handsets with Ian Bogost, camping at EMF Camp 2026 & Mountain Quest 2026, brain cooling, dwarf lemurs, World…
e559 – Welcome to the Matrix [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:40
Photo by Francis Painchaud on Unsplash Published 29 June 2026 e559 with Michael R and Andy – it’s a catch-up and geek out on things we’ve been doing, games we’ve been playing, and topics we’ve been thinking about… includ…
e558— Exploding Bananas [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:55
Photo by Gabriel Meinert on Unsplash Published 22 June 2026 e558 with Michael M and Andy – slowing things down with games where you walk, fly, sail, throw bananas and play ball, along with 3D printing innovation, a new f…
e557 – The British are Coming! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:52
Andy talks to fellow Brit Ian "epredator" Hughes about all things AAA gaming, all with a British slant - from IP, to studios, and actors. Plus, the fully-funded Virtual Worlds museum.