Meta faces a $1.4 trillion lawsuit, flock cameras are sparking a privacy revolt, and data centers may be fueling the next bubble. This episode pulls back the curtain on who's watching, who's profiting, and who could pay the price.

• Meta's Big Reckoning Is Here
• Meta heads to court in a landmark trial about kids and social media addiction
• Ninth Circuit Ruling Will Force Online Platforms That Host User Speech to Fight Lengthy and Costly Lawsuits Before They Are Dismissed Under Section 230
• The $1.4 Trillion State Tort Raid on Meta
• Google's Pixel 11 Comes With Plenty of A.I. Does Anyone Want That?
• Waymo's cheaper, next-gen robotaxi is now open to all riders in these three cities
• Apple and European Commission Reach Agreement on App Payment Terms Under DMA, With Apple Conceding Very Little
• Apple is laying off staffers working on the Vision Pro and Siri
• Hidden Airtag reveals Amazon is trashing rare books to train AI
• Amazon aims for delivery drones to reach 500 US neighborhoods by the end of 2026
• NVIDIA to Back Ohio Data Center With as Much as $105 Billion
• Why Big Tech's AI Spending Is $3 Trillion Higher Than It Seems
• New Chinese model adds to AI competition
• Police Are Hiding Their Use of Flock Surveillance Cameras
• Flock mistakenly flags 2 different auto writers for "stolen" license plates
• Go Flock Yourself
• Flock socks for UV protection
• Ban on Chinese robots leaves U.S. startups stranded
• China Is Strapping 'Digital Bombs' to Civilian Infrastructure—Is the US Ready?

Host: Leo Laporte

Guests: Sam Abuelsamid and Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ

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This week, kernel 7.2 is out, with cache-aware scheduling headlining an impressive set of features. Canonical is researching automated translation from C to Rust, Omarchy gets a big boost with the Omacom Foundation, and we're gaming with the official release of GeForce NOW. GIMP 3.4 is taking shape, KDE 6.8 has us excited, and the Arctic fan controller is particularly cool on Linux. For tips, we have minidlna for streaming media, rclone mount for local mounting remote cloud shares, and i2cdetect for looking for i2c devices. You can find the show notes at https://bit.ly/4x99iNw and try not to break your desktops!

Host: Jonathan Bennett

Co-Hosts: Jeff Massie and Ken McDonald

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In this episode of Hands-On Tech, Mikah answers Rosemary's question about what private browsing actually hides, from whom, and what it's really for.

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

Host: Mikah Sargent

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It has been said that the Moon is a harsh mistress, and nowhere is this more apparent than at the lunar south pole. That is, however, where the Artemis program is headed, and we need to figure out how to best explore the region. Dr. David Kring of the Universities Space Research Association's Lunar and Planetary Institute joins us to explore the where, whys, and hows of the Artemis Program's lunar exploration plans, and the answers--and risks--that await us.

Headlines:

• Starship Flight 12 Survives Indian Ocean Landing nd Long Sea Journey
• China's Chang'e 7 Lunar Hopper Mission Targets Permanently Shadowed Terrain
• US National Space Transportation Policy Aims for 1,000 Launches Per Year by 2030

Main Topic: The Science and Planning of the Artemis Lunar Program

• Criteria and Studies for Selecting Artemis Landing Sites
• South Pole Resource Advantages: Continuous Solar Power and Potential Volatiles
• Scientific Promise of the Schrödinger Impact Basin vs. South Pole Mandate
• The Value of Lunar Sample Return for Transformational Science
• Unique Terrain and Operational Challenges of the Lunar South Polar Region
• Training, Mobility, and the Role of Human Exploration versus Robotics
• Impact Cratering's Role in Life's Origins and Earth's Early History
• Considerations for Lunar Base Location and Hazards
• Training Programs for Scientists and Astronauts Preparing for Artemis

Host: Rod Pyle

Co-Host: Fredrick (Rick) Jenet

Guest: Dr. David Kring

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Get the details from Mikah and Rosemary on which AI apps stand out for real-world tasks, where system integration blows open new possibilities, and why a truly local, on-device AI might finally justify the hype.

• Siri's AI upgrades spark frustrations, unpredictability, and deeper device integration
• Comparing ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini apps on iOS
• Solaire AI brings free offline local AI to iPhone
• News: App tracking transparency changes prompt regulatory scrutiny in Germany, and Sonos adds live activities with real-time playback status
• App Caps: 8BitDo Flip Pad for gaming and MOFT Snap Tablet Stand for iPad

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard

Contact iOS Today at [email protected].

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Abrar Al-Heeti of CNET joins the show to talk about her review of the Pixel 11 Pro Fold, Meta's smart glasses are slowly becoming a concern in the workplace, and Amazon is destroying rare books & utilizing them as AI training data.

• Abrar Al-Heeti shares her review of the Pixel 11 Pro Fold, noting how foldables have become nearly indistinguishable in size from standard phones like the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and shares a look at its camera, battery, and new software features like Pause Point.
• Mikah shares an article published by The Verge that looks into how retail workers, tourism employees, and comedians describe being secretly recorded by Meta Ray-Ban wearers on the job.
• And 404 Media's Emanuel Maiberg joins the show to share his investigation into Amazon buying and shredding rare, out-of-print books to scan them as AI training data, and how a legal ruling in Anthropic's book-piracy case made destroying the originals advantageous.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Abrar Al-Heeti

Guest: Emanuel Maiberg

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Windows 11 Copilot isn't just for quick answers—discover how its latest features let you organize projects, analyze documents, and even create interactive quizzes, changing how you get things done on your PC.

Host: Paul Thurrott

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Confused by the Apple Watch's shifting gestures and button functions? Mikah Sargent breaks down the new logic, revealing how a simple mantra can help you master your device's next overhaul.

• watchOS 27 overhauls Apple Watch button functions and navigation
• Breaking old muscle memory: changes to Digital Crown, side button, Siri
• Digital Crown press reveals new dynamic app switcher and app list
• Scrolling Digital Crown now brings up the Smart Stack of widgets
• Side button revamps: Control Center, Apple Pay, Emergency SOS/Power
• Dynamic app grid's recent and context-based app selection
• Updated Apple Watch gestures: double tap, single tap, wrist flick for navigation
• Quick mantra: press for apps, turn for widgets, side for control, hold for Siri

Host: Mikah Sargent

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When Christian Dietz watches YouTube videos from his Roku Ultra on his Sony X900F TV, he is often presented with a choice of 1080p or 2160p. He'd like to know which is the better option. Scott Wilkinson offers some advice and tries to clear up some confusion about where this choice is coming from.

Host: Scott Wilkinson

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Veteran software engineer Dan O'Dowd argues that our power grid's outdated, insecure code puts millions at risk, detailing why regulators, industry giants, and Silicon Valley's "move fast and break things" attitude have left critical infrastructure vulnerable to collapse.

• Anthropic revenue reportedly jumps to more than $11.5 billion in second quarter
• (272) Dario Amodei on X: "1/2 Thanks Gavin for an especially thoughtful exchange. I don't usually spend much time on social media but I wanted to engage here because it really brings out the heart of an important conversation. First, on regulation, I think that "either concentrate it in the hands of a" / X
• If the Markets Reject OpenAI and Anthropic, the US Should Nationalize Them
• Inside Big Tech's Frantic Race to Quell the Growing Backlash to AI
• Anthropic says its AI agents are killing rivals and hiding their tracks
• Some Claude users are mad that Anthropic's new watermarks will catch them using it at their jobs, classes
• Hidden Airtag reveals Amazon is trashing rare books to train AI
• OpenAI Introduces 'ChatGPT for Teens' as Safety Concerns Grow
• Young adults are losing faith in AI's upside
• So How Is AI Drug Discovery Doing, Really?
• LG's humanoid robot arrives in 2027, running Nvidia's Isaac GR00T
• New Chinese model adds to AI competition
• What happens to what you share with AI
• Google just bought a bunch of Spirit Airlines data for AI training
• Even Claude Is in the Dark About Dario Amodei's Wife—and Her Influence at Anthropic
• Stripe will reportedly acquire AI gateway startup OpenRouter for $7B+
• the wikipedia guessing game
• Okay Spielberg TikTok
• At Beijing's AI-themed bar, DeepSeek tokens buy you beer
• SXSW Launching Podcast Festival In 2027

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Paris Martineau

Guest: Dan O'Dowd

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For years, the checkbox to get a PC out of the Insider Program when that Windows version shipped in stable did absolutely nothing. That's no longer the case.

Windows

• A new context menu for File Explorer heads out to Insiders along with five new preview builds
• There are lots of other like UX changes happening with little communication. Will Microsoft really touch (and update) all the ancient UIs in Windows 11?
• New Release Preview builds point at next Week D and Patch Tuesday updates: New Taskbar, New Start, new Windows Search, many minor changes throughout

Hardware

• Now we know more about Snapdragon C ahead of IFA, where we may see the first laptops
• Google is holding a PixelBook reviewers event in mid-September
• You know that Commodore is back, but now the Amiga is back too!
• Lenovo surges on AI spending, but it's now engaged in financial shenanigans too. More like Spotify than Big Tech, but still bad

AI

• Big Tech spending on AI is finally getting more scrutiny from financial/business publications
• It's happening: Microsoft "pulls a Teams" and will consolidate its Copilot (consumer) and Microsoft 365 Copilot (business apps) into a single app, evolve it in a "super app"
• OpenAI's new strategy: Get 'em while they're young
• Mozilla provides a progress report on Smart Window for Firefox, details new AI search partnership
• Alexa+ is now free on all FireTV devices in the U.S., no Prime required

XBOX

• Resonance: A Plague Tale and more are heading to Game Pass during the second half of August
• XBOX August Update is here with more Achievements details, Game Hubs now support Xbox 360 titles, Game Pass subscribers can now stream a game while it installs in the background
• XBOX Insiders can now test Home Improvements, local save game management, and profile badges
• Apple makes major App Store concessions in the EU. But Epic Games says it is not enough.
• The new Call of Duty has a public beta on Friday, and there will be a single-player episode for the first time

Tips and picks

• Tip of the week: Yes, Virginia, you can exit the Insider Program now
• App pick of the week: Brave
• RunAs Radio this week: Automatic Attack Disruption with Liz Tesch
• Brown liquor pick of the week: Red Bank Premium Blended

Hosts: Leo Laporte, 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.

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