The Really Useful Podcast

Has Elon Musk gone too far with the new Twitter verification program? And what did police find when they raided Mullvad VPN? We've got the answers to these questions and a list of the best free PC games. PLUS: how do mechanical keyboards work, and do you need one?

Christian Cawley and Gavin Phillips host this podcast. You can contact them on Twitter: @thegadgetmonkey and @gavinspavin, with your suggestions for future topics.

You can subscribe to the Really Useful Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music and Audible, Player FM, or copy the RSS feed into your podcast player.

Find the shownotes at MakeUseOf.

In this week's tech podcast for technophobes, we look at the latest news and warn you about a frightening new telephone scam. We also check what Elon Musk has been up to in the past week. Did he ever launch that cologne?

This week, we chat about the following tech news that matters:

• HBO Max Renamed to "Max"
• Why NPR and PBS Quit Twitter 
• Elon Musk BBC Interview

We've got these tips and explainers:

• How AI Voice Generators Have Become a New Security Threat
• What Is Your Router's WPS Button For?

We finish the show with the following recommendations:

• 70mai Dash Cam Omni
• Anbernic RG35XX

Christian Cawley and Gavin Phillips host this podcast. You can contact them on Twitter: @thegadgetmonkey and @gavinspavin, with your suggestions for future topics.

You can subscribe to the Really Useful Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music and Audible, Player FM, or copy the RSS feed into your podcast player. 

This week's podcast brings you a collection of in-depth explainers, which will show you how AI can (or cannot) create jokes, a look at the earliest portable computers, and the ways in which VPNs have evolved and improved.

This week, we bring you the following tech explainers, tips, and tricks:

• Can AI Make Us Laugh?
• Early Portable Computers
• How VPNs Have Evolved

Christian Cawley, Gavin Phillips, and Ben Stegner host this week's podcast. You can contact them on Twitter: @thegadgetmonkey, @gavinspavin, and @stegnersaurus, with your suggestions for future topics.

You can subscribe to the Really Useful Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music and Audible, Player FM, or copy the RSS feed into your podcast player.

Our weekly tech podcast for technophobes brings you the latest tech news that will affect you and some tips and tricks to help you get better results from your electronics.
For this week's show, we asked ChatGPT to help out with outlining and even writing the show. Here's a bit more information on how we used ChatGPT to script the podcast.

This week, we chat about the following tech news that matters:

• ChatGPT banned in Italy over privacy concerns
• Twitter's blue ticks disappear as Musk attacks NY Times
• Mobile phone inventor made first call 50 years ago
  • The Mother of All Demos

We've got these explainers:

• Can All Ransomware Be Decrypted?
• How to Fix Games That Won't Work in Windows
• Reasons to Use Office Online/Microsoft 365

We finish the show with the following recommendations:

• RoomGPT
• Booom AI Quiz
• HelloTalk

Christian Cawley hosts this week's podcast, and is joined by Ben Stegner. You can contact them on Twitter: @thegadgetmonkey and @stegnersaurus, with your suggestions for future topics.

You can subscribe to the Really Useful Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music and Audible, Player FM, or copy the RSS feed into your podcast player. 

This week, we chat about the following tech news that matters:

• Twitter Removing Legacy Verified Blue Checks
• Linus Tech Tips YouTube Channel Hacked, Promotes Crypto Scams
• Amazon Expands Fire TV Lineup

We've got these tips and explainers:

• The Biggest Problems With OpenAI and ChatGPT
• Can Trojans Replicate Themselves?

We finish the show with the following recommendations:

• Dockcase Explorer Edition
• Sim Racing Cheaters

Christian Cawley and Gavin Phillips host this podcast. You can contact them on Twitter: @thegadgetmonkey and @gavinspavin, with your suggestions for future topics.

You can subscribe to the Really Useful Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music and Audible, Player FM, or copy the RSS feed into your podcast player.

This week, we chat about the following tech news that matters:

• New Twitter Scam Targets Online Banking Customers With Retweets
• Fake ChatGPT Chrome Extension Steals Facebook Logins
• OpenAI Launches ChatGPT 4
• Meta Verified Launches in USA
• Meta Drops NFT Support in Facebook and Instagram

We've got this ChatGPT-4 explainer:

• Differences Between ChatGPT 3.5 and ChatGPT 4

We finish the show with the following recommendations:

• Samsung 43-inch Q60B QLED HDR TV
• Duelyst II on Steam

Christian Cawley and Gavin Phillips host the tech podcast for technophobes. You can contact them on Twitter: @thegadgetmonkey and @gavinspavin, with your suggestions for future topics.

You can subscribe to the Really Useful Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music and Audible, Player FM, or copy the RSS feed into your podcast player.

You can subscribe to the Really Useful Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music and Audible, Player FM, or copy the RSS feed into your podcast player.

This week, we chat about the following tech news that matters:

• MiniDisc Connected to Nintendo Wii U
• Proton VPN Launches Browser Extension
• Acronis Denies Large Data Breach

We've got these tips and explainers:

• What Is Snake Keylogger?
• How to Change Your Email Address
• There Is No ChatGPT Windows Client

We finish the show with the following recommendations:

• Firewalla Purple SE
• Final ZE8000 earbuds

Christian Cawley and Gavin Phillips host this podcast. You can contact them on Twitter: @thegadgetmonkey and @gavinspavin, with your suggestions for future topics.

The Nintendo Switch is six years old this month. Released on March 3rd, 2017, the versatile game console has proved hugely successful, becoming home not just to Nintendo Switch games, but also titles from Nintendo's back catalog.

In this special edition of the Really Useful Podcast, we look at how the Switch has proved so popular, and look at why it is still the console to buy for group and solo gaming.

• Why You Should Still Buy a Nintendo Switch in 2023
  • Change the Default Controls on GoldenEye 007 on Nintendo Switch
  • Nintendo Wii U Consoles Dying
• The Games That Made the Nintendo Switch a Success
• How to Connect a Nintendo Switch to Your TV Without a Dock
• How to Record Gameplay Videos on the Nintendo Switch
• Yes, the Nintendo Switch Has Achievements

 We finish with these recommendations:

• Game Boy Advance Library
• Boomerang Fu

Christian Cawley and Ben Stegner host this week's podcast. You can contact them on Twitter: @thegadgetmonkey and @stegnersaurus, with your suggestions for future topics.

Beware emoji financial advice! We take a look at perhaps the craziest tech news ever, attempt to decipher Spotify's latest NFT flirtation, explore digital currencies, and find out if ChatGPT will steal your job. We've also got some tips for keeping your robot vacuum clean.

You can subscribe to the Really Useful Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music and Audible, Player FM, or copy the RSS feed into your podcast player.

This week, we chat about the following tech news that matters:

• Federal Judge Rules That Emojis Count as Financial Advice
• Spotify Partners With NFT Projects to Test NFT-Locked Curated Playlists
• Activision Hack Exposes Employee and Game Data

We've got these tips and explainers:

• Digital Currency vs. Cryptocurrency: What's the Difference?
• Reasons Why You Should Buy a Steam Deck Dock
• Tips to Prolong Your Robot Vacuum's Lifespan
• The Types of Jobs Most at Risk From AI

We finish the show with the following recommendations:

• "Weird Al" Yankovic's Unfortunate Return of the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour
• Scrawl Online

Christian Cawley and Gavin Phillips host this podcast. You can contact them on Twitter: @thegadgetmonkey and @gavinspavin, with your suggestions for future topics.

You can subscribe to the Really Useful Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music and Audible, Player FM, or copy the RSS feed into your podcast player.

This week, we chat about the following tech news that matters:

• Samsung to Revive Fan Edition Phones with Galaxy S23 FE
  • Oppo Reno8 Pro 5G Review
    
    
• Instagram Launches Broadcast Channels
• Meta Plans Paid Verification Badge for Facebook and Instagram

We've got these explainers:

• How VPNs Have Evolved
• How to Connect an Android Phone to a TV

Christian Cawley hosts this week's podcast, and is joined by Ben Stegner. You can contact them on Twitter: @thegadgetmonkey and @stegnersaurus, with your suggestions for future topics.