Layoffs, Lies, and Mergers - Episode 662 F5 Live: Refreshing Technology (Audio)

DescriptionThis week, Wendy's wants dynamic prices, gaming studios lay off devs, Wikipedia doesn't trust AI, and Warner Bros. doesn't want Paramount.
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 StoreWendy's plans to use AI to change prices dynamically starting in 2025This week, a piece from Food & Wine brought to the internet's attention Wendy's future pricing plans. The company stated that they are investing $20 million to install new digital menu boards across the company. These boards would give the company the ability to dynamically change prices throughout the day. The move was immediately compared to the much-maligned Surge pricing from Uber, but the company claims that it has been misrepresented.
read full articlePiltch Point with Avram PiltchPowered by PureVPNExtra LifePowered by EksaGaming dev layoffs continue at Sony, EA, Supermassive, and moreFollowing the massive layoffs at Microsoft and Activision, the industry has not slowed down. In fact, layoffs have sped up, rampaging the entire industry. Studios and publishers around the world have followed suit, laying off employees, closing studios, and canceling games.
read full articleNews From the TubesPowered by MalwarebytesWikipedia declares CNET unreliable because of AI-generated contentGenerative AI has caused a lot of trouble over the past year. Articles have been published with completely false information, headlines that are distasteful at best, and images that blatantly violate intellectual property. And, all of this while likely infringing on the copyright of content producers whose content is being used to train these systems without their knowledge or approval. But one publication - CNET - seems to keep popping up as a perpetrator of these issues, and Wikipedia has taken notice.
read full article* DRM Not IncludedPowered by Amazon PrimeWarner Bros. and Paramount end their merger talks without actionThe past few months have been filled with rumors and speculation about the potential merger of two of the major corporate streaming and media giants: Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount. The merger, if it had come to fruition, would have created a major rival for top streaming company: Netflix. But, talks appear to have ended before any action was taken.
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