Stolendroids Podcast

Samsung is up to their old tricks with phones that explode and Collin is up to his old ways of dying again, but this week he's doing it in Ireland where they filmed scenes from Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Apparently, if you upset the Ahch-To Nuns, they'll toss you right off the side of a cliff. No worries though as Jake from Movies That Make Us was kind enough to fill in and provide his always entertaining insight into the news of the week. 

Speaking of... Google continues to prove to consumers that if you buy their hardware, you'll regret your decision. Kind of like if you bought Uber stock the morning of their IPO. Also, it seems that Disney may be turning Hulu into a grown-up version of Disney+ and a familiar face is returning to video game consoles. And while we're on the subject of video games, how about them loot boxes? Aren't they just the worst? Well, there's a U.S. Senator who seems to think so and he's taking steps to make them illegal. I really don't like government getting involved in basically anything, but I'm all for this. 

• Ghost Rider and Hellstrom coming to Hulu
• Earthworm Jim sequel coming with a catch
• Senator introduces a bill to ban loot boxes

• Samsung Galaxy S10 5G has a meltdown
• Uber suffers a disappointing first day of trading after IPO
• Google kills Nest

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It seems that ever since people started leaving cable companies for streaming services, all of the TV networks have started launching their own streaming services. NBC is reportedly the latest looking to enter the arena even though they already own one-third of Hulu. Ironically, it's rumored that they are going to be selling that to Disney who will, of course, be launching their own streaming service later this year. So what will they do with Hulu? We speculate. 

On the other side of the show, Facebook continues to show that they really don't care about privacy by getting hit with three violations from three different countries in one day. It's okay though. Your data is totally safe with them. And you're totally not a product that they buy and sell as if it were cheese. If only there were other social networks out there... But there are! Collin managed to dig up one from the past that apparently is still a thing. 

Finally, apologies for some of the terrible audio quality. No, Collin wasn't recording in the bathtub. He just has a fool for a co-host who happened to walk off with his equipment and was unable to return it to him before the episode was recorded.

• DC cuts Swamp Thing short
• Disney looking to buy Comcast’s portion of Hulu
• NBC to launch own streaming service
• Get ready to visit Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge

• PS5 to launch in 2020
• Facebook doesn’t seem to understand the concept of privacy laws
• Ello is still apparently a thing

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Because we posted two episodes last week, and because we are still recovering from spending the weekend at FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention, we honestly had no intention of posting an episode this week. I intended to record a quick something saying "We're not doing an episode this week because of the previously mentioned reasons" and that would be that. Instead, though, I saw a few things that I felt I needed to share my thoughts on so instead of no episode, you get an abbreviated Zohner only episode. If you like it, maybe I'll do it again. Or not. It was really hard. And does anyone want to listen to just me? I know that I don't.

• A pretty girl shows that she is a terrible person
• Mark Hamill to the rescue

• Equifax is still awful
• 
  

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Few television shows have had such a cultural impact as The Twilight Zone. Its episodes are just as entertaining and culturally relevant 60 years later as they were when the series premiered in 1959. The show was the brainchild of Emmy Award-winner Rod Serling, who served as host and wrote more than 80 episodes of the original show's 150-plus episode run through 1964. 

And just as there are few shows that have had the type of impact that The Twilight Zone has, there are few individuals that I know of who know more about the series than Arlen Schumer. Arlen will be making his first appearance at FanX 2019 this weekend where he will be giving a VisuaLecture entitled "The 60th Anniversary of The Twilight Zone" on April 19 at 2:00 PM. 

Additionally, Arlen will also be doing lectures celebrating Steve Ditko and Neal Adams. "Ditko: Spider-Man, Dr. Strange & More" will be April 19 at 6:00 PM and "50 Years or Neal Adams' Batman" will be on April 20 at 3:00 PM. Right now all three panels are scheduled for room 150G in the Salt Palace; however, the times and location may change so pay close attention to your app if you're planning on attending. And if you're not planning on attending, you should. This is a great opportunity to learn something new. 

You can follow Arlen on his website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and YouTube. And if you're not able to pick up a copy of his book, The Silver Age of Comic Book Art at FanX, you can always get it here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It seems that we recorded this episode a day too soon this week since a lot of news (like the Star Wars trailer) happened to come out the following day. I guess that's what we get for trying to be effective. Don't worry on that though. There will definitely be a podcast coming your way where we discuss some of what we missed. 

As for tech news, Google seems to dominate our discussion with its decision to raise prices on YouTube TV. They're doing some good stuff though when it comes to Microsoft Office files but then there's the question of how long they'll have products that will actually support what they're doing. This is where the Google Graveyard comes into play. Did you know that Google's average product lifespan is just over four years? That seems short to me. But with as many products as Google has, maybe it's actually long. 

One day we'll figure this thing out. Until then, enjoy this week's show.

• Disney+ Streaming Service Shows (Originals, Star Wars, Marvel)
• No intermission for Avengers: Endgame, because apparently, we need them?!

• YouTube TV increases the monthly rate and adds 8 Discovery Channels
• Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides will soon Natively Edit Microsoft Office Files
• Google Graveyard, Ft. new Current for Enterprise app
• Yahoo! offers to settle huge data breach with a big pile of cash

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Collin has some serious beef with Apple this week which is weird since he's a pretty big fan of their stuff. To be fair though, it's with Face ID which does kind of suck. But to make matters worse, not only is Collin not happy with Apple, they announced a product cancellation and Netflix isn't making Apple's user's lives any easier. Maybe this week will be better.

Meanwhile, at the movies, James Gunn's The Suicide Squad made headlines this week with some casting news and Rian Johnson makes us wonder if he understands Star Wars. Correction. We wonder if he even likes Star Wars. And Shazam! is performing better than anyone expected, both critically and at the box office. Have you seen it yet? What did you think?  

• The Suicide Squad casting news
• Viola Davis returns
• Idris Elba will not be playing Deadshot
• Rian Johnson Is OK With the Possibility of Star Wars: Episode IX Retconning The Last Jedi
• Shazam! Box office

• Why Face ID detection will always be a bad idea
• Apple Scraps AirPower
• Netflix drops support for AirPlay

• Zohner: Spark for Android
• Collin: Braille Smartwatch

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've been back for a little over a month, but Stolendroids just doesn't feel the same without trying to crank out a podcast on a weekly basis. At 2:00 AM. While trying to do a dozen other things related to the website. With no recording equipment. Yep. the more things change, the more they stay the same. Will we ever learn? Probably not.

Anyway, Stolendroids Podcast is back with some familiar voices and we're going back to our roots with the show. We're still bringing you tech news, but we're also mixing in geek-culture items that have caught our eye. We hope you like the new format. If you want to share your thoughts, feel free to drop us a message at [email protected]. The address still works and we'll still read your feedback on the show (unless you tell us not to).

What do you think about our new theme music? I think it's pretty sweet. Thanks to Cody Crabb for composing it for us!

• Disney/Fox Merger
• Star Wars Poster Leak

• Your 5G indicator is fake
• Galaxy S10 5G gets a street date
• Samsung Galaxy S10 5G is fast… in Korea
• Google kills Inbox, Google+
• Apple goes Subscription Happy

• Zohner: Detective Comics: 80 Years of Batman Deluxe Edition
• Collin: Scoopski Potatoes

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thank You.

Thank you for listening to Stolendroids Podcast week after week for the past seven years. Your support has meant the world to us and we've strived to always do our very best for you. Episode 364 is the last episode of The Stolendroids Podcast. Thank you again for making everything worth it and for encouraging us on this adventure.

Sincerely,

Zuke Arakaki

Jeremiah Zohner

Bryan Schmidt

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zuke’s Favorite: The Wes Anderson Genre

Schmidty’s Favorite: Take On Me (Floppotron)

Zohner’s Favorite: Behind the scenes at Disneyland

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So the studies are in and, surprise surprise, it turns out the video games to not make you a crazy murder-happy sociopath! I know it's hard to understand, but it turns out that this study has been done before . . . repeatedly. What does, perhaps, indicate that you're a sociopath is when you use the stolen information of over 50 MILLION Facebook users to create a campaign to become President. Oops.

Headlines:

* Violent video games don't breed violence

* Strava changes their policy on who sees what

* Trump-linked firm harvests user data from 50 million Facebook users without permission...

* ...but was it a breach?

* YouTube Kids just wants to educate about the lizard hybrids in power

* Equifax exec charged with insider trading

* EU wants to filter all code uploaded to the Web

* Broadcom drops Qualcomm bid

* AMD has its own Spectre Meltdown problem

* TSA isn't searching your phones. They just want to see everything that's on them

* Fitbit reveals new wearables

* Blackberry: Still good if you're in a drug cartel!

* Google Maps introduces new way to give addresses in places where they may not exist

Zuke’s Favorite: The Last Jedi fixes all Star Wars space battles

Zohner’s Favorite: Avengers Assemble

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.