F5 Live: Refreshing Technology (Video‪)‬ PLUGHITZ Live

DescriptionThis week, Fire OS might be dropping Android, Modern Warfare 3 is losing maps, Omegle is leaving the net, and SAG-AFTRA is getting back to work.
ParticipantsScott ErtzHostScott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.
Avram PiltchHostAvram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.
OpeningPowered by TeknoAXENifty GiftiesPowered by Microsoft StoreAmazon Fire OS looks to be replaced by Linux flavor over AndroidSince Amazon first launched its line of Fire hardware, they have used an altered version of Android, based on the Android Open Source Project, as their Fire OS. This decision allowed the company to get to market quickly and power a wide variety of devices. It also allowed for a robust ecosystem of apps, though not distributed through Google Play. Now, the company wants to move away from Android and into its own home-grown platform, which is codenamed Vega.
read full articlePiltch Point with Avram PiltchPowered by PureVPNExtra LifePowered by EksaCall of Duty Modern Warfare 3 maps getting pulled over massive bugsCall of Duty Modern Warfare 3 just launched this week and Activision is already under fire for the game's performance. In particular, the company has had to pull several of the multiplayer maps because the functionality makes them completely useless.
read full articleNews From the TubesPowered by MalwarebytesOmegle is gone after years of inappropriate usage and lawsuitsThis week, the controversial online chat service Omegle was shut down. The service has long been a location for inappropriate behavior, including exposing kids to adult content and grooming kids. The site's owners claim that the service is just not feasible, but the real reason may be an agreement as part of a lawsuit settlement.
read full article* DRM Not IncludedPowered by Amazon PrimeThe SAG-AFTRA strike is over, restarting film and TV productionsAfter months of shutdown, Hollywood is about to get back to work. Following the settlement of the Writers' Strike several weeks ago, the SAG-AFTRA strike has also been resolved. This means that productions that have been halted by both Hollywood strikes are able to resume filming this week.
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DescriptionThis week, Apple's sales drop, Blizzard's future is revealed, Sam Bankman-Fried's fate is sealed, and YouTube's Terms of Service is enforced.
ParticipantsScott ErtzHostScott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.
Avram PiltchHostAvram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.
OpeningPowered by TeknoAXENifty GiftiesPowered by Microsoft StoreMac sales collapse 34%, but Apple hopes new hardware will helpThis week, two things happened in the Apple universe: the company announced a refresh for its Mac lineup, and sales numbers for its current Mac lineup were released. The latter certainly indicates that Apple needs the former to increase sales for the company's computers because the latter showed a collapse in sales equaling a roughly 34% decrease year-over-year from 2022 to 2023.
read full articlePiltch Point with Avram PiltchPowered by PureVPNExtra LifePowered by EksaBlizzCon 2023: Highlights and lowlights from this year's eventThis year's BlizzCon, Blizzard's annual announcement fiesta, comes at an interesting time for the company. It is the first BlizzCon since the approved merger of Activision Blizzard with Microsoft Gaming, and likely the last where Microsoft has no influence on the direction of the company. The company announced what they see as the direction of their products over the short and long term, seeing a plan for Microsoft to benefit from.
read full articleNews From the TubesPowered by MalwarebytesSam Bankman-Fried, FTX crypto-fraudster, guilty on all countsA year ago, the crypto-exchange FTX collapsed. It took with it a lot of money, value, cryptocurrency, and trust in the industry. Since then, governments around the world have been investigating and prosecuting the executive leadership of the company over various versions of fraud. This week, former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted on all 7 counts in the US and now faces over a century behind bars.
read full article* DRM Not IncludedPowered by Amazon PrimeYouTube's crackdown on ad blockers is getting aggressive with usersSince nearly the day Google purchased YouTube, the company has been fighting against users who have ad blockers installed. They have tried various tactics over the years, such as messages and delays. But now, Google is taking its battle against ad blockers to a new level, blocking users from watching any content on YouTube entirely.
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DescriptionThis week, Panos Panay leaves Microsoft for Amazon, SAG-AFTRA strikes against games, Amazon is sued by the FTC, and the WGA strike is over.
ParticipantsScott ErtzHostScott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.
Avram PiltchHostAvram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.
OpeningPowered by TeknoAXENifty GiftiesPowered by Microsoft StorePanos Panay, Microsoft's former head of devices, headed to AmazonA couple of weeks ago, shortly before Microsoft's announcement event for the next generation of Surface devices, Panos Panay announced his departure from the company. The timing was curious, as Panay created the Surface line and has overseen its growth. But, his future was not clear - until this year. Now we know that he is headed to Amazon to oversee devices and services at the company.
read full articlePiltch Point with Avram PiltchPowered by PureVPNExtra LifePowered by EksaSAG-AFTRA adds videogame industry to its list of active strikesStarting on July 14, 2023, SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) voted to strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The strike has been ongoing and, along with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike, has brought Hollywood to a complete standstill. Now, the WGA strike has ended, but SAG-AFTRA has decided to add the videogame industry to its list of industries with which they have complaints.
read full articleNews From the TubesPowered by MalwarebytesAmazon sued by FTC and 17 states over antitrust and monopoly behaviorsFor years, Amazon has been accused of anti-competitive behavior. From price fixing to product duplication, nearly every aspect of the company's business practices has been investigated and scrutinized. Now, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Attornies General from 17 states have filed suit against Amazon claiming that the company uses "anticompetitive and unfair strategies" to drive up prices for both buyers and sellers on the platform and off of it.
read full article* DRM Not IncludedPowered by Amazon PrimeThe writers' strike is over, but without actors it may not matterOn May 2, 2023, the Writers Guild of America began a strike against the big Hollywood studios. The strike essentially meant that most productions were shut down because, without writers, not much could be done. Some productions already had scripts written, which meant filming could continue until SAG-AFTRA also went on strike. This week, the WGA Strike came to an end, meaning that writers can get back to work. But, with the actors still on strike, does it matter at all?
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DescriptionThis week, hackers disabled most of Las Vegas, Unity destroyed its value, Microsoft had an AI nightmare, and the EU fined TikTok.
ParticipantsScott ErtzHostScott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.
Avram PiltchHostAvram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.
OpeningPowered by TeknoAXENifty GiftiesPowered by Microsoft StoreLas Vegas hackers using basic tactics to bring city to a standstillOver the past few weeks, a seemingly powerful hacking scheme has been going on in the city of Las Vegas. Casinos from both Caesar's Entertainment and MGM have been brought to a standstill. And, while it would appear to be a sophisticated attack by a group of professionals, the reality is far less impressive. The team behind the attacks is surprisingly young and uses standard social engineering to achieve their goals.
read full articlePiltch Point with Avram PiltchPowered by PureVPNExtra LifePowered by EksaUnity changes fee structure & entire industry revolts against platformIt has been an interesting few weeks for the video game industry. Starfield released with ironic issues rendering a field of stars. The head of Fortnite has left Epic Games. But the one action that happened that has captivated the entirety of the industry is a very weird announcement from Unity Technologies that completely changes the way developers may use the gaming engine and how they will pay for its usage.
read full articleNews From the TubesPowered by MalwarebytesMicrosoft allows another insulting AI-generated article on StartWe know that AI-generated content is often garbage. The content is often garbled and incorrect, with boilerplate text and details of unrelated events. But an interesting new trend has emerged in recent weeks - purely insulting articles. These articles are beginning to find their way onto mainstream websites - particularly Microsoft Start (MSN News). This includes this week's article calling a former NBA player "useless" for having the audacity to die.
read full article* DRM Not IncludedPowered by Amazon PrimeEU fines TikTok $368 million for violating child privacy regulationsTikTok has often found itself in hot water - sometimes with consumers and sometimes with governments. It seems that nearly every major government in the world has taken an interest in the Chinese-owned company and its practices. Some are interested in the way the algorithm surfaces content, while others are interested in how they store data. The latter is what has led the EU, through Ireland's Data Protection Commission, to fine TikTok $368 million over the handling of children's privacy and data handling.
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DescriptionThis week, Microsoft is defending Copilot users, ReedPop is abandoning E3, X wants to keep its secrets, and Sony sues a TV Museum for copyright violation.
ParticipantsScott ErtzHostScott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.
Avram PiltchHostAvram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.
OpeningPowered by TeknoAXENifty GiftiesPowered by Microsoft StoreMicrosoft will assume responsibility for Copilot plagiarized contentIn recent months, AI technologies, especially Generative AI, have become a hot topic. It seems every company wants to provide the service, but consumers are worried about the ethical and legal position of the output. In particular, people are worried about prosecutable plagiarism coming from these systems. In order to help alleviate some of those fears, Microsoft has created the Copilot Copyright Commitment, a promise to take responsibility for any issues from its AI Copilot technologies.
read full articlePiltch Point with Avram PiltchPowered by PureVPNExtra LifePowered by EksaE3 is almost certainly done for good as ReedPop abandons sinking shipThe past decade or so has been rough for the former gaming behemoth: the Electronic Entertainment Expo, better known as E3. The managing organization, the ESA, has been a powder keg of chaos and general incompetence. The COVID-19 pandemic, or more specifically the lockdowns, created massive problems for the already struggling event. ReedPop jumped in to help try to right the ship, but this week, the company said it was ending its relationship with E3 and the ESA was on its own going forward.
read full articleNews From the TubesPowered by MalwarebytesX Corp. sues California to keep its secret sauce from the usersSince Elon Musk took over Twitter, things have been chaotic, to say the least. Between name changes, policy changes, and a nearly complete employee change, keeping up with what's going on can be a challenge. One thing that was promised upon takeover was that the new Twitter, which is now called X, would be open, transparent, and less regulated. That hasn't exactly been the reality, and California's content moderation law AB 587 looks to force open the doors revealing the way social networks, including X, work inside.
read full article* DRM Not IncludedPowered by Amazon PrimePreservation vs Copyright: Sony issues strikes against TV MuseumThere is a fine line between what does and doesn't fall under fair use. That line came into clear view this week as the Museum of Classic Chicago TV received a series of copyright strikes from Sony Pictures Entertainment. The strikes revolve around episodes of Bewitched from the 1960s that had been posted to YouTube under the concept of preservation. The strikes would have terminated the channel had SPE followed through on the threat, but backed down when Chief Curator Rick Klein removed the content.
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DescriptionThis week, Scientology fights Right to Repair, Lenovo is gaming on the Go, the FCC upholds broadband labels, and Spectrum customers are mad at Disney.
ParticipantsScott ErtzHostScott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.
Avram PiltchHostAvram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.
OpeningPowered by TeknoAXENifty GiftiesPowered by Microsoft StoreRight to Repair under attack by a bizarre new enemy: ScientologyLast week, something strange happened in the realm of Right to Repair - Apple changed its position. It was a shock to most people in the industry who have followed Apple's public attacks on users' ability to work on their own devices. This week, however, we've got an even bigger shock, but this time coming out against Right to Repair bill amendments. This new adversary is the always controversial Church of Scientology, or specifically one of its subsidiaries.
read full articlePiltch Point with Avram PiltchPowered by PureVPNExtra LifePowered by EksaLenovo Legion Go: A Windows hybrid of a Switch and a Steam DeckOver the past few years, portable gaming has become a big business. Nintendo got it started, but now everyone in the gaming industry wants to participate. From Valve to Sony, many gaming companies are creating their own portable gaming devices. The most recent company to announce is Lenovo, showing off the Legion Go.
read full articleNews From the TubesPowered by MalwarebytesFCC is not interested in ISP complaints about listing all feesLast year, the FCC announced upcoming labeling rules for internet service providers (ISPs). These rules require, among other things, that all fees added to the base service fee for internet service, be individually listed on the bill. ISPs didn't like the idea of these rules and said so. This week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) responded to complaints by simply telling the companies, too bad, sad story.
read full article* DRM Not IncludedPowered by Amazon PrimeCancel Disney Plus trends after Disney and Spectrum deal failsIf you're a Spectrum cable customer, you might have noticed a series of missing channels. This is because a contract negotiation between Disney and Charter broke down at the last moment. This left Charter without the rights to these channels. Both companies have blamed the other for the issue, and customers are left without access to those networks. Customers have responded negatively in favor of Charter, calling for a boycott of Disney+ in response.
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