March 7, 2021 - Episode 589

F5 Live: Refreshing Technology (Video)

Description

This week, Big Tech is in the crosshairs, Fall Guys is entering the Metaverse, and Sony is out of video sales.

Participants

Scott Ertz

Host

Scott 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 Piltch

Host

Avram'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.

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Biden Administration recruits Tim Wu, an anti-Big Tech advisor

The Biden Administration is in the process of nominating and campaigning for confirmation to positions across the Federal government. However, not all positions require confirmation, and those tend to go to people who might not have a chance at confirmation. This could be because they have ruffled the feathers of those who confirmation they need, like Neera Tanden. Others may be because their ultimate goals go against the party. That is more where Tim Wu falls.

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Extra Life

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Epic purchases Mediatonic, developer of popular game Fall Guys

Mediatonic is a name that 2 years ago, no one would have recognized, and had little public value. However, last year they took the gaming world by storm with the release of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout. This game is especially popular among online streamers, attracting 3.5 million followers on Twitch. The game is also known for its memes, many of which start on the game's official Twitter account. Epic Games recognized the value of the game and its developer, bringing them into the fold.

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News From the Tubes

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Google claims Privacy Sandbox is just as valuable for advertisers

As Google's deadline to retire third-party tracking cookies approaches, many industries have asked what the future holds. Will Google come up with another way to create a unique tracking ID, or does it have another plan up its sleeve? The company addressed the elephant in the room this week, claiming that its days of tracking individuals are over thanks to Privacy Sandbox.

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PlayStation Store to remove all TV and movies later this year

Digital video has become a big business, spurred on by the 356 days of "15 days to slow the spread" here in the US. We have seen companies that were not previously in the space enter, and others that were in the space change the way they offer their content. One company that is trying to finish off that transition is Sony, which has announced the end of sales and rentals in the PlayStation Store.

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