September 13, 2020 - Episode 572 F5 Live: Refreshing Technology (Video)

DescriptionThis week, time is ticking for TikTok, Apple is trying to support game streaming, and Amazon is literally under fire.
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 StoreTikTok deadline is possibly here and a sale is unlikely to be finalizedSince the original executive order was issued, the deadline for TikTok's sale or closure has been a little confusing. The executive order set a September 15, 2020 deadline for a US company to purchase the US operations or face a complete ban within the country. Later, a second order was issued, giving a deadline in November. However, comments from President Trump this week suggest that the original deadline of this Tuesday will stand.
read full articlePiltch Point with Avram PiltchPowered by PureVPNExtra LifePowered by RazerApple changes App Store rules, but doesn't go far enough for MicrosoftWhile Apple may still be fighting against Epic's challenge to the App Store policies, it appears that the company is trying to make nice with the other group of companies who dislike the policies: streaming game brands. Previously, streaming services like Xbox Game Streaming (Project xCloud) and Facebook Gaming were not allowed on Apple's mobile devices because the content could not be individually moderated by Apple. However, since Microsoft and Facebook called them out publicly, Apple seems to have worked to make it possible.
read full articleNews From the TubesPowered by RiffTraxAmazon plagued by price gouging and defective product claimsThis week has not been a good one for Amazon. Since the beginning of the lockdown, price gouging has been a huge problem with online marketplaces. However, Amazon has worked to prevent third-party sellers from using the site to take advantage of shoppers. They have removed over a million listings and 10,000 sellers from the platform for price gouging. But, it turns out that Amazon's first-party prices are also out of control.
read full article* DRM Not IncludedPowered by Amazon PrimeDisney is under fire for filming Mulan in vicinity of prison campsBased on the response to previous Disney live-action remakes, there was going to be a lot of trouble with Mulan, but what actually happened had nothing to do with the actual content. Instead, controversy arose when the ending credits rolled and the company openly thanked the Publicity Department of CPC Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Committee. If you are unfamiliar with this segment of the Chinese government, you would not be alone. They are responsible for the propaganda against the Uyghur Muslims, which has been used to force over 1 million into re-education camps. Those camps are where scenes from the movie were filmed.
read full articleClosingPowered by Tech Podcast Network