Space Javelin

Surprise Labor Day episode, cadets, despite the absence of co-Cap'n Mike and our usual tendency to take off holiday weekends. There was just a lot of miscellaneous news that wouldn't keep, so Cap'n Charles brought in another MacNN alumni to stand in as the crew tackles high intrigue and low journalism, from tales of trade secrets heisting to overly-aggressive airline restrictions on the MacBook family, another win for privacy advocates, new repair programs and news of repair option expansions, tracking tech and new gear on the horizon, tariffs taking effect, and the obscure history of Adobe Indesign. All this and more, cadets, so look for Mike's shuttlecraft to return next week with a fresh supply of bleeps, and until then just remember -- the future is flat!

Telltale returns from the dead, WoW Classic has queues for their queues, Disney remasters some classics, and Atomicrops… is a thing.

Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/94/

The last couple of episodes have run a bit short due to a dearth of quality news, cadets, but this week we're making up for that with one that runs just a couple minutes long. We've got interesting new details on Disney+, speculative prices for Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade (along with a confirmed November launch for all three), new Apple hardware in the pipeline for the rest of the year, the care and feeding of your Apple Card, and plenty of super-dumb lawsuits, bad judicial decisions, new gear, and epic Samsung and ChasePay fail. All that and Cap'n Mike on a Hulk-like beep rampage -- so secure your space junk, cadets, or kiss your asteroids goodbye!

Sega's HUMANKIND is coming for Civilization. Kerbal Space Program is getting a sequel. WoW Classic to get enormous login queues.

Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/93/

We're finally orbiting around a planet with less drama, cadets, but don't expect shore leave to last for terribly long. Cap'ns Mike and Charles have time to rant about the further abuse (by Apple *and* consumers) of the word "Pro" and various dumb patent and court actions this past week, not to mention the continuing freak-out and battery health and third-party batteries. That's not to say there wasn't notable news, though!

For instance, the 2015 15-inch MacBook Pro may not be allowed on airplanes, Apple seems set on September 10th as New iOS Hardware Day, and the gang (very briefly) mention new finds on iOS 13 wallpaper and new materials for the seemingly-coming-soon Apple Watch Series 5. The good ship Ireland is joining Apple in an appeal of the European Commission's tax-avoidance fine, the company says it has created 2.4 million jobs in the US alone, Apple Arcade looks to be close on the heels of Apple Card for a launch in the near future, T-Mob and AT&T team up to fight robocalls (a little), and turns out Facebook and Microsoft also have contractors listening in to (respectively) snippets of Show and Cortana audio captures.

There's new info about the Capital One hacker and Amazon Web Services, Huawei is taking a page from Apple's playbook when it comes to folding phones ("let the other guy do it poorly first"), Apple's seeing RED over a video codec patent, Corellium tries to defend the indefensible, the crew take a look at a new monitor and an upgraded USB-C travel dock, and there's also a public service announcement about the dangers of free (and shifty paid) VPNs. All this and iJustine, cadets, so all Gonds should report to the learning hall for the Final Cut immediately!

It's been a bit of a slow news week this orbit, cadets, but there's still a lot of news and shenanigans to track down -- including rumors of an iPhone "Pro" and a future folding iPhone (and/or iPad), statistics and/or guesses about Apple Watch, iPad, and overall notebook sales; the great news that Apple is finally getting serious about a bug-bounty program (and Apple Music for Android), and the weird news that Filemaker is changing it's name back to Claris. And that's not all!

Cap'ns Mike and Charles take a first look at the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 and 10 Plus, as well as the Ikea Symfonisk AirPlay 2 speakers they mentioned last week, discuss the bad reporting on Apple's new battery warnings and the Galaxy Book S, note a method by which FaceID can be used against one's will and also a potential (but not major) bug in Contacts. There's also news of a impressive Disney streaming bundle, analysts saying the obvious about smart speakers, stupid surveys, and Amazon's Ring giving police your doorbell videos without a warrant. Be sure to wear your special anti-FaceID glasses, cadets ... apparently, you're on Candid Camera!

What we know of Pokémon Sword & Shield expands, the main storyline of Final Fantasy XIV condenses, and in The Outer Worlds anyone can die.

Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/92/

Alliteration is a weakness, cadets, but the sheer bulk of stupid, obnoxious, silly, or irritating fails this week managed to obscure some of the bigger stories of the week, and calls for some literary larks. This time, just to be different, Cap'ns Mike and Charles dispose of one of the week's major talking points -- Apple's fiscal Q3 results -- in a mere 90 seconds, with some follow-up commentary on the surprising difficulties befalling Cook & Company's main rivals. We move away from finance fast, friends, and forage the forrest of fail for fiascos, fatuous flops, and faux pas! Oops, sorry. And yet there's more!

The crew also go granular on the "voice clips from smart speakers" controversy, note Apple Card's terms and conditions, welcome CBS All Access to Apple's TV app and note HBO Max as the new home of streaming "NuWho" (2005-on Doctor Who -- yes, there's more than that of it), praise (yes praise) some government moves that are pro-consumer (for once), study Intel's latest 10nm chips, and lambast Verizon for not understanding the world "unlimited" (go sit in the corner next to AT&T, ya morons!).

What th' Fail this week singes BMW, the trade war, Equifax, Capital One, idiotic lawsuits, and an Apple bug that ought to have been fixed by now. All this and a tutorial on the T2, and how to keep the HammerCast and Space Javelin episodes filed nicely -- along with yet another life saved by Apple Watch and a man named Mac Book who has a low bribe point. Carefully puncture your space suits with your Ford-era WIN buttons, cadets ... it's all the armor you need to fight the fusillade of fabulists!

Joe and Duane briefly on D&D dominance, Discord server folders, Warhammer video game licenses, and… cat vomit?

Show notes: https://hammercast.fm/91/

Apple releases a basket full of updates (and even some for owners of older equipment), buys Intel's 5G modem business, turns on ECG for Apple Watch owners in Canada, prepares to launch the Apple Card in the US, and poaches a Tesla VP -- that's what we call an Apple (story) a day, cadets! Elsewhere, the DOJ gives the "new T-Mobile" a lifeline, the House passes an anti-robocall bill, LG catches HomeKit fever, and it's rumor season once again -- and that's not all!

There's also the behind-the-scenes story of last week's warp-core meltdown (lucky we had backups!), some unusually great news from corporate America, Bloomberg still won't own up to their fabricated "spy chip" story, the Galaxy Fold is threatening to return in September, the Attorney General launches a distraction investigation, Equifax pays out for its data breach, and Amtrak's Wi-Fi amounts to flakes on a train!

All this and an Engineering Report on new gear and an overview of the current Desktop Publishing app offerings, cadets, so set the WAYBAC Machine to the early 1990s and strap in for holographic graphic artists debating the merits of Pagemaker versus MS Publisher! Ready, Set, Go!