Tech News Weekly (Video)

• (01:20) Autonomous technology is coming to the battlefield. Zachary Fryer-Biggs from the Center for Public Integrity talks about the complicated ethical considerations of AI-driven war machines.
• (18:31) Samsung is ready to re-release the Galaxy Fold and detailed a number of improvements made to the design to prevent them from unintentional damage in the hands of consumers.
• (24:45) Tech addiction is the perfect reason to look into the Light Phone 2. Michael Zelenko from OneZero spent a few weeks with the minimal phone and shares his thoughts.

Host: Jason Howell

Guests: Zachary Fryer-Biggs and Michael Zelenko

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• (01:49) Alfred Ng from CNET talks about how Ring video doorbells are being used by police for surveillance.
• (14:36) Credit cards might be old tech, but Geoffrey Fowler from the Washington Post shows how they can carry the same privacy burden as the phone in your pocket.
• (31:22) Tech patents can be downright ridiculous, and Rose Eveleth from Slate reveals why companies have so many of them in their arsenal if they'll never become something real.
• (44:18) Virtual Reality is being used to train would-be bosses in the art of firing employees.
• (48:54) Apple announced its next iPhone announcement and is promising Innovation at the event.

Hosts: Jason Howell and Mikah Sargent

Guests: Alfred Ng, Geoffrey Fowler, and Rose Eveleth

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

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• (01:43) Darren Loucaides from OneZero discusses the impact of the "like" button. Increasingly, social networks seem to be pondering the idea of hiding or removing metrics but engagement and profit may suffer.
• (17:23) Brian Merchant, author and writer for Gizmodo, reveals the troubling nature of Zeel, a service that primarily connects massage therapists with those seeking their services. Despite promising a no-tolerance policy for inappropriate behavior, contractors who have worked for Zeel say that's simply not the case.
• (36:22) Matt Laslo, a freelance correspondent for WIRED, provides a closer look at Section 230 — legislation that's been in place since the 1996 Communications Decency Act — and how changes to it could affect the internet.

Hosts: Jason Howell and Mikah Sargent

Guests: Darren Loucaides, Brian Merchant, and Matt Laslo

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

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• (01:43) Parmy Olson from the Wall Street Journal shows how startups like Engineer.ai are using artificial intelligence as a buzzword more than an actual description of its technology.
• (12:25) Everyday people are firing up phone farms in their living rooms to make extra cash according to Joseph Cox at Vice.
• (25:21) Keren Elazari, founder of BSidesTLV, talks about the hacker community found at Defcon, Blackhat and BSides events.
• (38:57) WeWork filed it's IPO and Alex Wilhelm from Crunchbase takes a closer look at some of the abnormalities of the S-1.

Hosts: Jason Howell and Mikah Sargent

Guests: Parmy Olson, Joseph Cox, Keren Elazari, and Alex Wilhelm

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

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• (01:15) Russell Holly from Android Central separates fact from fiction on the link between violence and video games.
• (15:13) Dan Ackerman of CNET helps us unpack the Samsung Unpacked event.
• (28:45) Arol Wright from XDA Developers explores and explains the complicated and confusing smartphone market in Venezuela.

Hosts: Jason Howell and Mikah Sargent

Guests: Russell Holly, Dan Ackerman, and Arol Wright

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

• (01:42) The SMART Act would regulate addictive features in social media, and Emily Birnbaum from The Hill defines what that would mean.
• (15:07) Andrew Martonik from Android Central talks about Google's Pixel 4 leak strategy, how its working, and whether key features will be enough for consumers.
• (27:11) Apple earnings show how the company is diversifying its offerings, and Lory Gil from iMore shares how the drop in iPhone revenue could impact business.
• (43:27) Chrome 76 is addressing an insecure loophole in Incognito mode that will also allow site visitors to get free content from publishers.
• (49:27) An innocuous tweet about hygiene sparked a world-wide discussion around privilege and who has the right to clean themselves.

Hosts: Jason Howell and Mikah Sargent

Guests: Emily Birnbaum, Andrew Martonik, and Lory Gil

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

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• (1:41) Iain Thomson from The Register has a bone to pick with US Attorney General William Barr's comments that encryption isn't for the masses.
• (14:31) Google made changes to search that aimed to keep fraudulent repair businesses from running ads, and Kevin Purdy from iFixit says its affecting legitimate repair businesses too.
• (30:11) Elon Musk recently announced his investment in Neuralink brain-computer interface. Emily Mullin from OneZero discusses the benefits and ethical considerations of such technology.

Host: Jason Howell

Guests: Iain Thomson, Kevin Purdy, and Emily Mullin

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

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• (01:24) Zachary Crockett from The Hustle talks about Sweeper, professional online sweepstakes enterers who have devised systems for increasing the odds of winning prizes and cash.
• (16:34) The town of Rockdale, Texas hoped cryptocurrency would revitalize the local economy. Mark Dent, writing for Backchannel, details how that plan collapsed with the price of Bitcoin.
• (27:22) Mikah Sargent, future host of Tech News Weekly, talks about the challenges renters face when hoping to fill their home with smart devices.

Host: Jason Howell

Guests: Zachary Crockett, Mark Dent, and Mikah Sargent

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

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- (01:16) Apple announced new MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs, but the old MacBook is going away and that is an opportunity for change according to Raymond Wong from Mashable.
- (14:39) Sam Machkovech from Ars Technica talks about the sacrifices that Nintendo made to bring the Switch Lite to release.
- (20:54) Facebook is striking deals behind the scenes to bring exclusive VR versions of Assassin's Creed and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell to the Oculus catalog.
- (23:48) Google made a change to its Stadia FAQ that reveals a bit more about what game ownership on the cloud platform actually means.
- (28:52) CNET's Dan Ackerman talks about Amazon's upcoming Prime Day, some of the deals that can be found, and how to get in on the action even if you aren't a Prime member.

Host: Jason Howell

Guests: Raymond Wong, Sam Machkovech, and Dan Ackerman

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

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- (01:48) Mark Zuckerberg took to the stage at the Aspen Ideas Festival, and Salvador Rodriquez from CNBC discusses why the topic of regulation was top of mind for Facebook at the event.
- (16:38) With the release of iPadOS and Catalina betas, Dan Moren from Six Colors has been busy testing them out so you don't have to.
- (33:03) Jason gives a first look at the new and unexpected sudden release of the Raspberry Pi 4, as well as the desktop kit that turns that little computer into a full scale desktop setup.

Host: Jason Howell

Guests: Salvador Rodriguez and Dan Moren

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

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