Total Mikah (Audio)

By TWiTTechnology

Total Mikah (Audio) episodes

November 04Windows Weekly 1008: The Thurrottification of Tech
Microsoft's business unit shuffle and shrouded AI spending spark a sharp conversation on whether shareholders and users can trust what's hidden behind new financial reports. Also, Start11 v3 adds Start widgets and menu sharing, plus Taskbar Islands, app groups, and more. Finally, LM Studio is the obvious place to start with local AI, and it works on any PC (not just an RTX Spark). Just be sure to get the right app.
Microsoft Earnings
Microsoft earned a net income of 36.6 billion on revenues of $92.3 billion in the quarter ending September 30, 2026

Those are both double-digit gains over the year-ago quarter, or 32 percent and 19 percent growth, respectively, year-over-year (YOY)

We were promised more transparency, but what we got is a mixed bag

Microsoft is too complicated a business for only two top-level business segments

Windows revenues from PC makers down 27 percent (!)

XBOX gets a hard revenue number, and it's not bad

Microsoft spent $45.2 billion on capex (AI) expenses, up 30 percent - this is not the real number - and it will get bigger

No paid Copilot numbers, weird

Microsoft "earned" $10 billion in revenue from OpenAI - OpenAI still owes Microsoft money - MS stake in OpenAI is down; no one said why
Windows
We talked about this last week, but I now have two sources at Microsoft confirming that Microsoft's AI strategy is the reason it's fixing Windows 11

Microsoft discusses its work to make Windows 11 fit in 8 GB of RAM

Microsoft Edge is the first Windows browser to support accelerated app launches

Experimental and Experimental 26H1 get new inline actions for the new Windows Search
Hardware
It's been weird watching other reviewers try to figure out RTX Spark, but this much is clear: This platform is not ready

Baby steps: A few minor victories after weeks of defeats
More earnings
AMD up 45 percent to $13.4 billion

Intel up 21 percent to $16.5 billion

Google/Alphabet up 25 percent to $127.6 billion

Apple up 12 percent to $114.5 billion

Amazon up 12 percent to $202 billion
AI/dev
Three and a half years after it should have happened, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI agree to let sites opt out of scraping

OpenAI to unify chat and Work but not Codex

Google says schools that disable AI will lose access to Google Search - They're integrated. It's nice to see Google channeling Microsoft again

.NET Conf is next week, and Microsoft just posted the schedule
XBOX and gaming
There was a bit of drama when XBOX COO left after only a few months on the job, and now there's more

New titles coming to Game Pass in early November

The next Elder Scrolls game is ES VI Sentinel

GTA VI to rival Call of Duty - in the amount of disk space it requires
Tips and picks
App pick of the week: Start11 v3

App pick of the week #2: LM Studio

RunAs Radio this week: PowerShell 7.7 and DSC 3.3 with Jason Helmick

Brown liquor pick of the week: Caol Ila 12

*Thumbnail courtesy of Joe Esposito in Club TWiT

These show notes have been truncated due to length. For the full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/1008

Hosts: Paul Thurrott, Richard Campbell, and Mikah Sargent
Sponsors:
helixsleep.com/windows
originhq.com/windowsweekly
trustedtech.team/twit
canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT
2 hr 29 min
November 03Security Now 1103: Exposing Bad Consumer Crypto
What happens when a 27-year-old gets handed the keys to completely refactor nearly all of Cisco's code? This week's episode dives into tech's strangest management bets and the friction brewing inside one of the industry's giants.
Cisco gives a 27-year old the task of recoding 98% of their software with AI.

A serious but not earth shaking vulnerability found in PXE booting.

The largest ($6.3 BILLION) financial heist in history (with crypto).

710 Polymarket gambling wallets emptied of $2.7 million.

A new robots.txt control for AI bots, and agreement to obey it.

Google generates haiku from the first orbital AI.

From our listeners: Does stealth updating make sense, how to move web servers off the Internet, books don't contain knowledge, a small company attacked by powerful AI, how would an "AI kill switch" be implemented.

Another new and worrisome application of reverse-engineering AI

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1103-Notes.pdf

Hosts: Steve Gibson and Mikah Sargent

Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.

You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.

For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.

Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!

Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit
Sponsors:
hoxhunt.com/securitynow
threatlocker.com/twit
trustedtech.team/twit
bitwarden.com/twit
2 hr 49 min
November 01Hands-On Tech 291: Internet Cookies
On this episode of Hands-On Tech, Bill writes in to ask what cookies actually do, whether rejecting them on every site's banner accomplishes anything real, and whether there's a way to stop being asked dozens of times a day.

Send in your questions for Mikah to [email protected], and he'll answer them in a future episode!

Host: Mikah Sargent

Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech

Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!

Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.
Sponsor:
joindeleteme.com/twit-biz
27 min
October 29Tech News Weekly 461: The Mac Finally Gets Touchy
Amazon unveiled a new Echo device lineup. Proton's AI manifesto. Understanding the PHP2Shell flaws, and Apple unveiled its first-ever touchscreen MacBook Pro!
Mikah looks at Amazon's new Echo lineup the company unveiled earlier this week, including the Echo Show 16, Echo Studio, and Amazon's first digital photo frame.

404 Media's Joseph Cox joins the show to discuss his reporting on Proton's aggressive AI push, including employee re-interviews about AI use and a CEO who called pen-testing concerns "loser thinking."

TechCrunch's Zack Whittaker talks about the recent PHP2Shell critical vulnerability that was discovered last week and how the coordinated patch rollout largely held, why a mass-hacking wave seems to have been avoided, and why millions of sites may still be vulnerable.

And D. Griffin Jones breaks down Apple's announcements of new hardware this past week, including the first touchscreen MacBook Pro and a new iPad mini.

Host: Mikah Sargent

Guests: Joseph Cox, Zack Whittaker, and D. Griffin Jones

Download or subscribe to Tech News Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!

Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit
Sponsor:
PaloAltoNetworks.com/Idira
1 hr 5 min
October 29Hands-On AI 5: Why Does AI Sound So Generic?
Ask a chatbot the same thing twice, and you might expect two different answers. Mikah Sargent runs one everyday request through ChatGPT five times and gets back the same basic text, two of them word for word. He explains where differences come from, what research says about why tuned chatbots can narrow the range of their answers, and why these replies left out what only he knew. Then he fills in the blanks and adds examples to show what prompt engineering really means, with four habits for getting answers you'd actually use.

Send your AI questions to [email protected]

Host: Mikah Sargent

Download or subscribe to Hands-On AI at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-ai

Want access to the ad-free audio and video and exclusive features? Become a member of Club TWiT today! https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.
Sponsor:
threatlocker.com/twit
32 min
October 29iOS Today 826: De-Distract Your Devices
Are you drowning in notifications before you even finish your morning coffee? This episode explores clever Focus tweaks and next-level notification controls that can reclaim your sanity and protect your attention.

• Managing device distractions: Do Not Disturb and Focus basics

• Apple Watch and iPhone notification mirroring explained

• Customizing Focus modes for work, sleep, and driving

• Sharing Focus status and syncing settings across devices

• Letting important contacts break through Focus barriers

• When to create custom Focus modes beyond Apple's defaults

• Vacation Focus workaround to silence Microsoft Teams notifications

• Experiences and pros/cons with Apple Intelligence Reduce Interruptions

• Tiered approach to notifications across iPhone, Apple Watch, and Notification Center

• How to triage and silence notifications for sanity

• Screen Time insights for adjusting Focus and habits

• News: Focus features boost automation and Siri Shortcut integration

• iOS 27 gesture changes—Siri AI vs Notification Center in Control Center

• App Caps: Apple's Invites app and Brick device for strong app blocking

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard

Contact iOS Today at [email protected].

Download or subscribe to iOS Today at https://twit.tv/shows/ios-today

Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!

Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.
Sponsor:
PaloAltoNetworks.com/Idira
41 min
October 28Windows Weekly 1007: A Sea of Blues and Greens
Microsoft released new Windows 11 Experimental builds. A new round of buyout offers has been presented to 25% of Microsoft's global workforce. Microsoft fixed a major Authenticator flaw for Android. And... no major XBOX news?
Windows
Paul has confirmed a theory weʼve discussed about why Microsoft is really improving Windows 11 this year.
Windows Insider Program
Four new builds - Mobile device controls in Quick Settings, native Internet speed test.

Corporate
Microsoft offers buyout offers to almost 25 percent of its global workforce.
Hardware
This week in Paulʼs RTX Spark local AI coding fails - plus, the first step is realizing itʼs not you, itʼs the technology.

Some advice for using AI.
Software
Microsoft fixes major Authenticator flaw on Android.

PowerToys adds two new utilities, so many other updates.

The Browser Company announces the inevitable end of Arc browser.
AI
Anthropic files for IPO, warns that its work could end humanity.

Canva releases its first AI model, for images.

Opera brings local AI to its desktop web browsers with WebAI standard-to-be.

Apple is bringing AI assistant to its iWorks apps - Apple copies Microsoft again!
XBOX and Gaming
No real news this week, which is rare, but a few thoughts about the new Call of Duty.
Tips and Picks
Tip of the Week: Yes, the Windows Setup workarounds still work in 26H2.

Windows 11 version 26H2 arrived recently and Iʼve now tested the installer on multiple Arm64 and x64 PCs and the local account workarounds we all know and love still work. My advice: Use Rufus to create install media.

App pick of the week: Mozilla Firefox

With a year or so of major improvements to its web browser, Mozilla has launched a big ad campaign to get Firefox users back.

RunAs Radio this week: PostgreSQL with Elizabeth Christensen

Brown liquor pick of the week: Vardberg Born

Hosts: Mikah Sargent, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!

Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit
Sponsors:
PaloAltoNetworks.com/Idira
joindeleteme.com/twit-biz
bitwarden.com/twit
2 hr 50 min
October 27Security Now 1102: A Strategic Plug Pull
A newly uncovered PHP vulnerability put nearly 70% of the internet at risk, sending governments and enterprises into a frenzy as AI-powered attackers raced to exploit a flaw that had lurked unnoticed for 14 years. Hear why this could be just the start of an unrelenting wave of security crises.
We take a detailed look at the many facets and aspects of last week's wild PHP ride:

What happened.

How it happened.

Why it happened.

How it could have been prevented.

How it impacted many of our listeners.

We consider the implications of what is said to be coming next and the idea of temporary "strategic disconnection" from the Internet

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1102-Notes.pdf

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Steve Gibson

Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.

You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.

For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.

Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!

Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit
Sponsors:
threatlocker.com/twit
doppel.com
hoxhunt.com/securitynow
originhq.com/securitynow
material.security
2 hr 55 min
October 25This Week in Tech 1107: Spicy Hinges
Apple's folding iPhone Duo lands with unique new features, an evolving developer scene, and early hardware hiccups that raise eyebrows. Also, a PHP bug threatens 70% of the world's websites while AI rapidly changes how exploits are found and patched. Find out how a single overlooked flaw sparked a global scramble and what it reveals about the fragile backbone of the modern web.
iPhone Duo review

GM outlines plan for next-gen EV platform, Level 4 autonomous cars

TechCrunch Mobility: Blue-green is the color of autonomy (NHTSA proposes cyan AV lights)

Spotify launches its first native in-car app, on Audi's Android Automotive cars

Hackers Exploited the PHP Vulnerabilities Days Before They Were Patched

The non-gamer CEO racing to save Microsoft's Xbox

Saudis Aided Family of Engineer Accused of Bugging OpenAI, Prosecutors Say

How iTunes came back from the dead

Host: Mikah Sargent

Guests: Glenn Fleishman, Allison Johnson, and Sam Abuelsamid

Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech

Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!

Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit
Sponsors:
ZipRecruiter.com/twit
doppel.com
tanium.com/mythos-twit
superhuman.com
namecheap.promo use code TWIT
2 hr 45 min
October 25 Hands-On Tech 290: Protecting Yourself From Sim Swapping
On this episode of Hands-On Tech, Mikah answers a question from Otis, who relies on the 6-digit text-message codes his bank sends at sign-in but has started to worry about SIM swap attacks, and wants to know whether those codes are still worth anything and whether he can lock down his number at the carrier.

Host: Mikah Sargent

Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech

Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!

Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.
22 min

About Total Mikah (Audio)

From the publisher's feed

A compilation of podcasts from TWiT.tv host, Mikah Sargent. Subscribe to this feed to get access to all the TWiT.tv audio and video episodes featuring Mikah.